Chris Dwan (he/him)

5 Sept 2023

The most important thing to remember about Somerville social media is that most of Somerville is not on Somerville social media.

somervillema.legistar.com City of Somerville, Massachusetts - Meeting of Sustainability and Infrastructure Committee on 10/26/2026 at 6:00 PM

Good evening everybody! How about that fall weather? Right? What a great night to take in a meeting of the Sustainability and Infrastructure committee of Somerville's City Council. somervillema.legistar.com/MeetingDetai... 1/?

Man, I'm going to miss @jtforward2.bsky.social holding people in power to account. The end of this meeting is well worth watching. 17/?

Anyway, that was it. Words were said. It's what a councilor does. G'night. 18/18

somervillema.legistar.com City of Somerville, Massachusetts - Meeting of Sustainability and Infrastructure Committee on 10/26/2026 at 6:00 PM

Here's a picture of the tree before Eversource killed it. So tired. 15/?

Eversource literally told me that this tree was dead. It's like dealing with the godfather here. 16/?

somervillema.legistar.com City of Somerville, Massachusetts - Meeting of Sustainability and Infrastructure Committee on 10/26/2026 at 6:00 PM

Councilor @jtforward2.bsky.social is doing his cross-examination thing, calling out the frankly pathetic inconsistencies in what the city council is being told by Eversource, Verizon, and the other companies. 13/?

I'm so tired, y'all. I watched Eversource kill the big mature tree in front of my house over the course of two years. I reported it. I wrote letters. I went out and sat against the tree so they wouldn't cut it down. So tired. 14/?

somervillema.legistar.com City of Somerville, Massachusetts - Meeting of Sustainability and Infrastructure Committee on 10/26/2026 at 6:00 PM

If anybody was at risk of taking the comments by the utility companies seriously, I would encourage you to remember the incident where Eversource stalled so long on moving a pole that they actually just painted the bike lane around it back in 2018. 11/?

Occasional reminder about the frankly comical lean of the pole at the intersection of Kent and Somerville. 12/?

somervillema.legistar.com City of Somerville, Massachusetts - Meeting of Sustainability and Infrastructure Committee on 10/26/2026 at 6:00 PM

Item 4: "That [various city folks] appear before this Council to discuss the process of monitoring progress on addressing double poles and abandoned wires, with the goal of eliminating the potential hazards, tree damage, and nuisances associated with both." 9/?

Item 5: "That representatives from Eversource, National Grid, Comcast, Xfinity, Astound, and Verizon appear [and] discuss plans for addressing double poles and abandoned wires, with the goal of eliminating the potential hazards, tree damage, and nuisances associated with both." 10/?

somervillema.legistar.com City of Somerville, Massachusetts - Meeting of Sustainability and Infrastructure Committee on 10/26/2026 at 6:00 PM

Councilor @jtforward2.bsky.social concludes, saying that he feels like every question and limitation that has been brought up tonight is answered in detail in the actual text of the ordinance. 7/?

Item 3: "Chris Dwan submitting comments re: utility double poles." It me. 8/?

somervillema.legistar.com City of Somerville, Massachusetts - Meeting of Sustainability and Infrastructure Committee on 10/26/2026 at 6:00 PM

Councilor @jtforward2.bsky.social is holding forth about the fact that buildings in Ward 2 have literally fallen over and damaged adjacent buildings for lack of anybody checking in. Also, some of these are rat palaces. 5/?

Well folks, you heard it here first (unless you're logged in): ISD says that the current state of the art is to enforce public health and nuisance issues of vacant properties on a complaint basis. I guess I'll just start putting in 311 complaints? 6/?

somervillema.legistar.com City of Somerville, Massachusetts - Meeting of Sustainability and Infrastructure Committee on 10/26/2026 at 6:00 PM

I logged in a bit late, just in time to hear @jtforward2.bsky.social asking whether it might be better to simply enforce the vacant property ordinance that we have on the books rather than hiring consultants and talking to neighboring communities about how to maybe make a new law. 3/?

It's laughable (in a negative way) that we have properties like this one in Davis just rotting in plain sight AND we have a vacant property ordinance and yet we have city staff making sad noises about how nothing can be done. bsky.app/profile/some... 4/?

Chris Dwan (he/him)@somershade.bsky.social

I’m willing to bet that this impressively decorated property in Davis is not on the city’s vacant property registry.

somervillema.legistar.com City of Somerville, Massachusetts - Meeting of Sustainability and Infrastructure Committee on 10/26/2026 at 6:00 PM

Item 2: "That the Director of Inspectional Services update this Council on enforcement of the vacant properties ordinance." It recently made the local news that none of the three mayors who have been in office since this law was passed have prioritized 2/?

The fight between the various systems that want to auto-fill passwords for me serves to reveal that really a lot of damn systems have my passwords.

theatlantic.comA Mathematician Reads the AI FutureMy field is as much an expression of the human spirit as music and literature. Is it for the machines now?

This is a good and thoughtful take on AI that circles towards, I think, the right question: Why are we doing all these things in the first place? 1/? www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

Talking about this over coffee this bright, crisp Sunday morning, my spouse said ‘consider knitters, nobody needs to knit. Machines are way better at it. We’re not dumb. Why do we do it?’ That’s the right question. 3/? ravelry.com

ravelry.comRavelry

So think on that, my fellow nerds and nerd adjacents. Why do we do any of it, and how do we turn these machines towards helping with the ‘why’ rather than just the ‘what.’ For now, I shall be planting my fall garlic, not because it’s efficient, but because it’s what I want to do with my time. 4/4

theatlantic.comA Mathematician Reads the AI FutureMy field is as much an expression of the human spirit as music and literature. Is it for the machines now?

This is a good and thoughtful take on AI that circles towards, I think, the right question: Why are we doing all these things in the first place? 1/? www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

fdmts.bandcamp.comBach Cello Suite #1, by Chris Dwan6 track album

For example, I have devoted more hours than I care to mention in an attempt to learn, perform, and record a piece of 300 year old cello music. I am painfully aware that recordings already exist that are superior to mine on every metric. And yet I play. 2/? fdmts.bandcamp.com/album/bach-c...

nytimes.comTrump Offers a Private Dinner to Top 220 Investors in His MemecoinThe offer, which caused President Trump’s memecoin to surge in price, was his family’s latest effort to profit from cryptocurrencies.

We need to keep front-of-mind that basically all of Trump’s acts are actually very illegal - not in the ‘c’mon bro - everybody does it!’ sense, but in the ‘people regularly go to prison for that shit, and for good reason’ sense. 1/?

Chris Dwan (he/him)@somershade.bsky.social

It's worth remembering how wildly illegal it is for government employees to use their office for personal profit. It's shameless bribery, right out in the open. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/t... 1/?

statnews.comFormer FDA officials blast DOGE as ‘one of the biggest disasters in American history’Three former FDA chiefs criticized the DOGE cuts to the agency, saying they robbed the FDA of institutional knowledge that will take years to restore.

And that’s not even mentioning the generational damage he has done to the capacity of the federal government to do its basic functions. 3/? www.statnews.com/2026/10/14/f...

All of which is to say: Why the hell is this election even close? Good morning. 4/4

Chris Dwan (he/him)@somershade.bsky.social

It's worth remembering how wildly illegal it is for government employees to use their office for personal profit. It's shameless bribery, right out in the open. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/t... 1/?

nytimes.comU.S. Rushes to Withdraw Bombers From U.K. Air Base After New Threats (Gift Article)The withdrawal came with unusual speed, following what U.S. officials said were threats of an Iran-based plot against the installation.

We should use plain language to describe how catastrophically Trump’s unprovoked war in Iran has gone. They did surgical strikes that disabled our ability project force regionally and are driving US assets into retreat -globally-. 2/? bsky.app/profile/some...

Chris Dwan (he/him)@somershade.bsky.social

Trump’s war in Iran is going so badly that we’re retreating from threats in Britain. The only sensible conclusion is that Trump et. al. are on a mission to destroy the United States as a world power. This is humiliating. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/04/u...

Occasional reminder: Do not ever ever ever click on a link in a text message from an unknown number. Do not give them your financial details. These are incredibly likely to be scams. This applies even if the text claims to be from a charismatic political candidate who you want to support.

I took the time to respond to one of them.

Ceramic street art. I’m listening.

I found this ‘share the road’ sign poignant today. Sure buddy. That’s gonna work. Also, ‘just say no’ and ‘wait for marriage.’

Reader, they did not give 4 feet to pass. Also, ‘bikes ok’ for the otherwise unmarked bus lane is special.

It’s a beautiful fall day, and I plan to ride my bicycle right past a perfectly good political fundraiser and continue on towards the sea.

nytimes.comTrump Officials Seek Block on Alaska Senate Race Results if the Republican Dan Sullivan Loses (Gift Article)The department, in a highly unusual lawsuit, argued that confusion over candidates with similar names could taint the election result.

There it is. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/u...

Still no body camera footage in Somerville, for those who are tracking such things.

forbes.comBillionaires Palmer Luckey And Ben Lamm Spin Up Startup To Genetically Engineer Military DogsBen Lamm of de-extinction startup Colossal has teamed up with Palmer Luckey’s team at Anduril to create a dog that’s optimized for military use. The new “warhounds” will be cloned and gene edited.

I am begging you, please just work on medicine or food security or housing or reducing addiction or teaching kids to be wise and compassionate or justice for marginalized communities or … basically anything except literally actualizing @aptshadow.bsky.social’s Dogs of War.

Amy Feldman@amyfeldman7.bsky.social

*NEW* Colossal Biosciences’ Ben Lamm and Anduril’s Palmer Luckey team up on a new startup to genetically engineer war dogs for the military. Warhound comes out of stealth at $1.2B valuation For @forbes.com with @iainmartin.bsky.social and @mhunterhart.bsky.social www.forbes.com/sites/amyfel...

bloomberg.comMusk Giving Tops $445 Million in Midterm Election Push for GOPWith a fresh infusion of cash to his super political action committee in the first two weeks of October, Elon Musk has now given more than $445 million in the current election cycle and become one of ...

I object to the word ‘giving.’ The richest people I know are the cheapest people I know. Billionaires don’t pick up the check or take care to make sure the rounds they pick up are reasonably balanced like normal people do. He didn’t give shit. He bought somebody.

David Gura@davidgura.bsky.social

NEW, from Bloomberg News: “Elon Musk has now given more than $445 million in the current election cycle.”

mass.streetsblog.orgEyes On the Street: Somerville's 'Corridor of Death' Gets Less Deadly - Streetsblog MassachusettsDrivers haven't killed anyone in the "Corridor of Death" since 2021, and the number of driver-inflicted injuries in the area has declined nearly 80 percent since 2021, according to MassDOT crash data.

Drivers haven't killed anyone in the "Corridor of Death" since 2021, and the number of driver-inflicted injuries in the area has declined nearly 80%. I'm proud to have been a part of the push that got these changes made sooner rather than later. 1/? mass.streetsblog.org/2026/10/22/e...

When I say we forged alignment, for a brief afternoon freakin' -everybody- was singing from the same sheet of music. In retrospect, it's a heck of a picture. 8/?

I will stop there. Activism works, and it's built on finding common ground. G'night. 9/9

Shoutout to the O.Gs who were out there doing tactical urbanism by repurposing construction barrels literal years before the rally. Change takes years and a diversity of tactics is how you win. 6/?

Look, the current configuration is imperfect - but here's what was there just five years ago. It's getting better. 7/?

The Corridor of Death rally was where SASS (Somerville's Alliance for Safe Streets) found our feet. We made a banner, put up fliers in (I think) five languages, invited an activist marching band, and by god we got some attention. 4/?

I banged the drum pretty hard. I remember that it felt good to be able to push hard and see motion on the thing being pushed. 5/?

Thinking back on the chilly spring morning when I took a run down in that area and photo documented the absolute "what the actual fuck?" that was the infrastructure there before we got out and started yelling. 2/?

In just a year, by forging alignment from city staff through the mayor and the council and up to our state and even federal delegation, we had a signalized crosswalk and other significant improvements. It took relentless pressure. 3/?