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Alex Hiniker

@hiniker.bsky.social

140 followers 120 following 230 posts

Disarmament fan after working with landmine and cluster bomb clearance programs in Cambodia, Laos, and Lebanon. Syria also has a place in my heart. I dig public transit and local government, too. Proudly from PG County. Now in Pittsburgh.

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Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 9h

And thanks to Twitter in the early 2010s, I both learned and shared so much about my favorite topics. People respectfully shared a range of perspectives. I eventually met some people in real life who remain good friends to this day.

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 9h

Reconnected with a college friend through Friendster [RIP] and attended their wedding, where I met someone who helped me get my first job in international development when I couldn't even get a response to other applications. Kickstarted a 20-year career in the field.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 1d

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

Reposted by Alex Hiniker

Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 2d

write that novel, pitch the movie, apply for that job. life and short and imposter syndrome is over

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 2d

crazy that one of the most storied institutions in american journalism is going to be run by two people with basically no experience to do it

Exclusive | CBS News taps Adam Rubenstein — once ostracized at NY Times for liking Chick-fil-A — as new deputy editor

Sources expect Rubenstein will effectively run the Free Press now that Weiss will be busy steering the editorial direction of shows like “60 Minutes,” “Face The Nation” and …

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 2d

The thing is, I love that Pittsburgh pride. But I guess there are limits.

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 2d

You think that's bad? Go on and read the comments on the PPG article posted on Facebook (you don't have to click on the link, so I don't think you're violating the strike).

It's fascinating. People are fascinating.

www.facebook.com/share/p/19nc...

www.facebook.com

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 2d

I particularly appreciate her (your?) Spanish teacher's comment.

"An excellent choice!! We are in good hands. Bari was in my Spanish class at Shady Side Academy. Always the best!!
Bravo y buena suerte."

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 2d

This post is tempting fate. Curious to hear an update in 24 hours.

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, and I find the Facebook comments from the hometown of Bari Weiss (Pittsburgh) even more telling than a NY Post article.

www.facebook.com/share/p/19uj...

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 4d

When I worked in/around the UN, I'd often see the Syrian ambassador who backed the deadly regime that killed countless people and destroyed the lives of many more.

I'd say "kuss ummak" loud enough for him to hear, but not loud enough for him to know it was me.

But sometimes he did. Like here.

man in a suit standing on a street looking into the camera

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 8d

"Two of the defense officials expressed shock...at the cost and danger, in terms of operational security, of assembling the military’s top officers to listen to a rant. 'He wants to talk about ‘garbage,’' one said, referencing the secretary’s use of the term. 'That’s the definition of it.'"

Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 8d

EXCLUSIVE: Trump and Hegseth Gathered U.S. Military Leaders for an “Embarrassing” Rant

theintercept.com/2025/09/30/t...

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 9d

The Arab Spring.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9d

Pritzker: "In any other country, if federal agents fired upon journalists & protesters when unprovoked what would we call it? If officials marched down streets harassing civilians & demanding their papers, what would we say? I don't think we'd have trouble calling it what it is: authoritarianism"

Reposted by Alex Hiniker

Tanisha @tanishaevonne.bsky.social · 12d

“Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.”
-Assata Shakur

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 11d

From Laos to Gaza to Ukraine, we must confront the war beneath our feet

"The haunting parallels remind us that wars never really end when the fighting stops. They live on in the ground itself, demanding generations of courage and resources to undo."

www.salon.com/2025/09/27/f...

From Laos to Gaza to Ukraine, we must confront the war beneath our feet

With unexploded bombs, wars never really end — even after the fighting stops

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 13d

Yes, okra and also cotton, another plant I grew but did not harvest. I do enjoy the flowers, which change from yellow to purple and open and close before forming cotton bolls.

open cotton boll

closed green ball with green leaves growing on a stem

open delicate yellow flower

delicate pinkish flower folding

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 13d

This lecture series about cities at war is free and open to all, thanks to @offuniversity.bsky.social.

The topics and speakers are excellent.

I highly recommend checking it out.

offuniversity.org/current-cour...

Much of urban research on cities at war discusses the effects of armed conflict on urban space and the militarization of urban space in the same breath. While we acknowledge that similar urban forms…

offuniversity.org

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 13d

Yes, it was worth growing for the flowers alone.

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 14d

Hello, okra-loving friend! I tried growing okra once. The flowers are breathtaking! But I only got like one okra a week so it wasn't very efficient.

Delicate yellow flower on purple stem with okra growing from other purple stems

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 14d

In South Sudan, slimy okra stew is comfort food. And it's really good!

Here's a recipe for the slimy okra lovers out there (I've never tried making it):
Bamia Mafrooka | Blended Okra Stew - youtu.be/3HkdRszKGpI?...

Bamia Mafrooka | Blended Okra Stew 🇸🇸🇸🇩

YouTube video by Asedo’s Kitchen

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 16d

Also, don't listen to the people who are seemingly doing everything everywhere, listen to the people who are doing the work on the thing.

Eman Abdelhadi @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social · 16d

We're going to be in movement for the rest of our lives, there's a world to win & so much between us and freedom. How do we make struggle sustainable? So ask yourself, what is the best use of my skills and resources. Limit yourself to that work, because you can't be everywhere.

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 17d

I always thought of the Offspring's Self Esteem as a 90s version of Build Me Up, Buttercup. Not sure what it would be in 2025.

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 17d

(This is my dad in front of his print shop, which was located on 18th Street in DC and called Rainbow Press. He died in 2020, but his friend Doug Goodhill has a photo series of all the people working along 18th Street at that time, in case anyone is interested in learning more.)

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 17d

Too often, only the terrible things in DC make it to the public eye, but there is a beautiful, longstanding punk history that warrants recognition.

Proud to be born in DC to a dad who ran the Rainbow Press on 18th Street, which supported such movements in the 70s.

Man standing at a door to a shop with the sign "Rainbow Press"

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 17d

"We must center humanitarian needs in all conversations about conflict and recovery...solidarity isn't just a feeling but a responsibility. It means more than bearing witness; it means standing up, speaking out and stepping in."
Thoughtful reflection on war legacies.
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

War doesn't end with a ceasefire. Ukraine needs real disarmament, not a checkbox. | Opinion

This International Day of Peace, remember solidarity is not just a feeling but a responsibility. Don't accept inevitability of generational suffering

www.usatoday.com

Reposted by Alex Hiniker

TransitCenter @transitcenter.bsky.social · 18d

“Why does transit seem to be in an endless emergency? Why is it so easy to assume that transit’s financial situation is hopeless? Because we have constructed our transportation funding streams to make transit’s costs visible, while the costs of car dependence are mostly concealed.”

Jarrett Walker @humantransit.bsky.social · 19d

I have a major piece in Bloomberg Citylab today. Should the US let transit fail, as Pennsylvania is already doing? And if not, what are the arguments we need to let it succeed?

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Should We Let Public Transit Die?

Urban-rural hostility is fueling a public transportation crisis in US cities. But demands to abandon bus and train riders ignore the economic and social costs of cutting service.

www.bloomberg.com

Alex Hiniker @hiniker.bsky.social · 22d

@jael.bsky.social All I can find is their Facebook page, but it looks like they're actively talking about this on it.

www.facebook.com/taylor.frazi...

www.facebook.com