SamUpstate
@sam.upstate.blog
A suburban dad enjoying and celebrating life in New York's Capital District.
Working to improve the world by supporting public education and strong, walkable communities.
He/him
https://sam.upstate.blog
🚴🏻♂️🌳🥃🖋🏳️🌈
Working to improve the world by supporting public education and strong, walkable communities.
He/him
https://sam.upstate.blog
🚴🏻♂️🌳🥃🖋🏳️🌈
Reposted by SamUpstate
This feels like an underappreciated problem:
"Of more than 700 locations sampled, 61% exceeded aquatic life thresholds set by the EPA...60% of samples blew past the accepted healthy drinking water standard."
"Of more than 700 locations sampled, 61% exceeded aquatic life thresholds set by the EPA...60% of samples blew past the accepted healthy drinking water standard."
High levels of road salt in Pa., N.J., Del. pollute streams months past winter
Road salt applied during winter storms runs off into the groundwater and emerges in surface water streams months later. Advocates say roads can be made safe with less salt.
whyy.org
December 17, 2025 at 4:21 PM
This feels like an underappreciated problem:
"Of more than 700 locations sampled, 61% exceeded aquatic life thresholds set by the EPA...60% of samples blew past the accepted healthy drinking water standard."
"Of more than 700 locations sampled, 61% exceeded aquatic life thresholds set by the EPA...60% of samples blew past the accepted healthy drinking water standard."
Reposted by SamUpstate
Pretty much the actual best thing you can do to "combat the right" is just keep not using Twitter. Reactionary ideology works by playing into people's emotions and biases. They use people's real fears to sell them on solutions which sound rational but don't work. 1/3
December 16, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Pretty much the actual best thing you can do to "combat the right" is just keep not using Twitter. Reactionary ideology works by playing into people's emotions and biases. They use people's real fears to sell them on solutions which sound rational but don't work. 1/3
Reposted by SamUpstate
Primary them all and block anybody who comes with the “at this crucial juncture the most important thing is that we win.” if they believed that they wouldn’t do this and with friends like them nobody needs enemies
Here are the 28 Dem Senators who voted to advance the first federal ban on trans athletes & a federal definition of sex that would make trans & intersex people non-existent: Angela Alsobrooks (MD), Tammy Baldwin (WI), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE), Chris Coons (DE), ->
By a vote of 76-23, S 1071 passes the motion to proceed to the motion to concur. Won't know who voted for this until the roll call is uploaded, but safe to say it passed with the support of at least 24 members of the Democratic caucus. (Rand Paul probably voted nay and Steve Daines has been absent).
December 16, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Primary them all and block anybody who comes with the “at this crucial juncture the most important thing is that we win.” if they believed that they wouldn’t do this and with friends like them nobody needs enemies
Today's bake followed Paul Hollywood's recipe for white tin bread. I've made it before, and it's a great simple loaf (easy enough for an amateur like me to manage). It made great grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, as well as being great with butter and jam.... https://sam.upstate.blog/?p=2265
December 15, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Today's bake followed Paul Hollywood's recipe for white tin bread. I've made it before, and it's a great simple loaf (easy enough for an amateur like me to manage). It made great grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, as well as being great with butter and jam.... https://sam.upstate.blog/?p=2265
Reposted by SamUpstate
Herman Melville on moderates, all the way back in 1857:
May 27, 2024 at 8:27 PM
Herman Melville on moderates, all the way back in 1857:
Reposted by SamUpstate
Seems like a weird thing to tweet on the day when your boss said he’d pardon someone convicted of sending 400 tons of cocaine into the US.
November 29, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Seems like a weird thing to tweet on the day when your boss said he’d pardon someone convicted of sending 400 tons of cocaine into the US.
Reposted by SamUpstate
Dear foreign nationals in war-torn countries, terrorism hot-spots, and amidst our enemies:
If you help the United States, we’ll fuck you over and abandon you. Not the individual servicepeople or intelligence officers — they’ll fight for you. I mean the depraved, soulless leadership of the nation.
If you help the United States, we’ll fuck you over and abandon you. Not the individual servicepeople or intelligence officers — they’ll fight for you. I mean the depraved, soulless leadership of the nation.
So now they’re going to be doing individualized re-review of tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees’ cases on TOP of the re-review of 200,000+ refugees who entered under Biden?
November 27, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Dear foreign nationals in war-torn countries, terrorism hot-spots, and amidst our enemies:
If you help the United States, we’ll fuck you over and abandon you. Not the individual servicepeople or intelligence officers — they’ll fight for you. I mean the depraved, soulless leadership of the nation.
If you help the United States, we’ll fuck you over and abandon you. Not the individual servicepeople or intelligence officers — they’ll fight for you. I mean the depraved, soulless leadership of the nation.
We should be saying his name more: James McCrery.
And we should look into the other buildings and projects he's done and start viewing them with distaste and distrust. (Apparently that list includes a number of Catholic churches.)
And we should look into the other buildings and projects he's done and start viewing them with distaste and distrust. (Apparently that list includes a number of Catholic churches.)
Imagine going down in history as the architect that ruined The White House.
November 27, 2025 at 11:33 AM
We should be saying his name more: James McCrery.
And we should look into the other buildings and projects he's done and start viewing them with distaste and distrust. (Apparently that list includes a number of Catholic churches.)
And we should look into the other buildings and projects he's done and start viewing them with distaste and distrust. (Apparently that list includes a number of Catholic churches.)
Reposted by SamUpstate
The Trump regime is literally allowing this stuff to be sprayed on our food.
Wild turkeys off the menu in Maine after ‘forever chemicals’ found in birds
Contamination of wildlife with Pfas, which can increase risk of cancer, a growing problem in US
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:07 AM
The Trump regime is literally allowing this stuff to be sprayed on our food.
Reposted by SamUpstate
Two people were shot at a gas station in my rural town in Mississippi today.
I guess 500 troops are gonna have to be taken away from their families during the holidays to come occupy my small town now too, huh?
I guess 500 troops are gonna have to be taken away from their families during the holidays to come occupy my small town now too, huh?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration orders 500 more National Guard members to Washington after shooting, Hegseth says.
November 27, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Two people were shot at a gas station in my rural town in Mississippi today.
I guess 500 troops are gonna have to be taken away from their families during the holidays to come occupy my small town now too, huh?
I guess 500 troops are gonna have to be taken away from their families during the holidays to come occupy my small town now too, huh?
Reposted by SamUpstate
The Target boycott that AFT joined on Labor Day is seeing success. This holiday season, we're doubling down to demonstrate organized labor's economic power, as well as the consequences of ignoring the will of workers and the good of working families.
www.aft.org/news/we-aint...
www.aft.org/news/we-aint...
We ain’t buying it: Why we boycott Target
For a long time, Target—that popular mega store that seemed to hit just the right combination of low prices and of-the-moment swagger—was everyone’s darling, the go-to spot for everything from groceri...
www.aft.org
November 27, 2025 at 3:23 AM
The Target boycott that AFT joined on Labor Day is seeing success. This holiday season, we're doubling down to demonstrate organized labor's economic power, as well as the consequences of ignoring the will of workers and the good of working families.
www.aft.org/news/we-aint...
www.aft.org/news/we-aint...
Reposted by SamUpstate
If you want to see how quickly everyone goes into manufacturing consent mode, compare the full-court press tonight to the response to any of the people ICE has shot in the last few months, some of whom died.
November 27, 2025 at 1:21 AM
If you want to see how quickly everyone goes into manufacturing consent mode, compare the full-court press tonight to the response to any of the people ICE has shot in the last few months, some of whom died.
This was my first attempt at creating a non-alcoholic cocktail using a "non-alcoholic spirit." The name is a nod to the fact that if it were made with full-proof gin, it would be a buck, but it parallels a Shirley Temple. 1 1/2 oz Free Spirits' Spirit of Gin 3/4... https://sam.upstate.blog/?p=2253
November 27, 2025 at 3:34 AM
This was my first attempt at creating a non-alcoholic cocktail using a "non-alcoholic spirit." The name is a nod to the fact that if it were made with full-proof gin, it would be a buck, but it parallels a Shirley Temple. 1 1/2 oz Free Spirits' Spirit of Gin 3/4... https://sam.upstate.blog/?p=2253
Reposted by SamUpstate
Reposted by SamUpstate
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by SamUpstate
Whoever at Google thought it was a good idea to make the Gmail mobile app search results default to "most relevant" instead of "most recent":
That was a terrible idea and you should feel bad about yourself for having had it.
That was a terrible idea and you should feel bad about yourself for having had it.
November 25, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Whoever at Google thought it was a good idea to make the Gmail mobile app search results default to "most relevant" instead of "most recent":
That was a terrible idea and you should feel bad about yourself for having had it.
That was a terrible idea and you should feel bad about yourself for having had it.
Reposted by SamUpstate
Physical mail, land lines, now increasingly even email — I find it tragic the way we will sooner abandon a once revolutionary communication technology than regulate* its use by those who seek to sell us junk by feigning familiarity.
*or even cease to subsidize, in some cases.
*or even cease to subsidize, in some cases.
November 25, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Physical mail, land lines, now increasingly even email — I find it tragic the way we will sooner abandon a once revolutionary communication technology than regulate* its use by those who seek to sell us junk by feigning familiarity.
*or even cease to subsidize, in some cases.
*or even cease to subsidize, in some cases.
Reposted by SamUpstate
Instead, corps decided the better business mode was to have their LLMs plagiarize the source material, rewording it to give the illusion of possessing intrinsic knowledge. This enabled them to con executives into believing these machines can think and will one day surpass human intelligence. 2/2
November 24, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Instead, corps decided the better business mode was to have their LLMs plagiarize the source material, rewording it to give the illusion of possessing intrinsic knowledge. This enabled them to con executives into believing these machines can think and will one day surpass human intelligence. 2/2
Reposted by SamUpstate
GPT would have been such a great technology if LLMs were just used to augment search engines. Their natural language processing ability means they can find relevant content no matter how you phrase your query. No more keyword matching, just ask a question, or describe what you’re looking for. 1/2
November 24, 2025 at 8:25 AM
GPT would have been such a great technology if LLMs were just used to augment search engines. Their natural language processing ability means they can find relevant content no matter how you phrase your query. No more keyword matching, just ask a question, or describe what you’re looking for. 1/2
This is a pretty solid version of ordinary Guinness (which is already a fairly low ABV at 4.2%). It's not quite as clean in its flavor (though in fairness, I'm comparing the NA version from a can to my memory of regular Guinness on draft), but it's a decent NA... https://sam.upstate.blog/?p=2240
November 22, 2025 at 12:26 AM
This is a pretty solid version of ordinary Guinness (which is already a fairly low ABV at 4.2%). It's not quite as clean in its flavor (though in fairness, I'm comparing the NA version from a can to my memory of regular Guinness on draft), but it's a decent NA... https://sam.upstate.blog/?p=2240
Reposted by SamUpstate
Yes, Trump is an extraordinary pathology in American politics. But it’s run-of-the-mill GOP politicians who have empowered RFK Jr to kill innumerable children with his lunacy.
Trump has murdered at least 83 people with extrajudicial military strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats.
He needs to face consequences for this.
His secretary of DHHS, RFK Jr., will kill several orders of magnitude more with this disinformation.
He needs to face consequences for this.
His secretary of DHHS, RFK Jr., will kill several orders of magnitude more with this disinformation.
This is completely disgusting. Today, the CDC updated their vaccine safety page. It now says:
“The claim "vaccines do not cause autism" is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism”.
“The claim "vaccines do not cause autism" is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism”.
November 20, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Yes, Trump is an extraordinary pathology in American politics. But it’s run-of-the-mill GOP politicians who have empowered RFK Jr to kill innumerable children with his lunacy.
Reposted by SamUpstate
the nuzzi story is fun and all but at the center of it is the elevation of a man who has dedicated his life to making children catch preventable diseases to a position where he can enact harm at enormous scale
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 3:19 AM
the nuzzi story is fun and all but at the center of it is the elevation of a man who has dedicated his life to making children catch preventable diseases to a position where he can enact harm at enormous scale
Reposted by SamUpstate
There’s one person squarely to blame for Trump’s corruption, authoritarianism & assault on democracy: John Roberts. He’s enabled so much of Trump’s lawlessness while somehow escaping accountability for it
New cover story from @pemalevy.bsky.social & me
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
New cover story from @pemalevy.bsky.social & me
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
This is all John Roberts’ fault
Trump owes his corrupt and abusive reign to one man.
www.motherjones.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:27 PM
There’s one person squarely to blame for Trump’s corruption, authoritarianism & assault on democracy: John Roberts. He’s enabled so much of Trump’s lawlessness while somehow escaping accountability for it
New cover story from @pemalevy.bsky.social & me
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
New cover story from @pemalevy.bsky.social & me
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by SamUpstate
Trump in a room with a very charismatic person results in like half a day of Trump agreeing with everything that person said, so this has the potential to be very, very funny.
Trump says he’s meeting with “communist” Mamdani at the White House on Friday
November 20, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Trump in a room with a very charismatic person results in like half a day of Trump agreeing with everything that person said, so this has the potential to be very, very funny.
Reposted by SamUpstate
If the President can impose his own taxes and use the proceeds to spend on his own projects, all without Congress, we have a dictatorship not a constitutional republic.
BREAKING: Deputy White House Chief of Staff James Blair said the administration is eyeing ways to give millions of Americans $2,000 dividend checks from tariff revenue without congressional approval, per Bloomberg.
November 19, 2025 at 2:46 AM
If the President can impose his own taxes and use the proceeds to spend on his own projects, all without Congress, we have a dictatorship not a constitutional republic.