Juan Valdez

[Arizona Free Enterprise Club @azfec]

🚨 This is big!

Five days ago Tempe had only stopped sharing Flock data.

Today they turned the cameras off, ended the contract, and said they will not replace the system.

“But it could help solve crimes” is not a blank check for 24/7 tracking of everyday drivers.

Next Up: Scottsdale, Prescott Valley, Tolleson, Mesa, Gilbert, and every council still pretending that privacy is optional.

Arizonans are making their voices heard!

[Juan Valdez @HandPickedBeans]

@GilbertYourTown Your turn!!

[City of Tempe, AZ @Tempegov]

Tempe has turned off its Flock automated license plate reader system and will end its contract with the company. The cameras are no longer collecting license plate data, and Tempe will not seek another company to replace the system.

While the cameras have helped Tempe Police solve crimes, recent misuse of automated license plate reader systems in Arizona and nationwide has raised concerns about the risks that come with the technology.

Tempe Police has found no misuse of its own Flock system.

Flock will remove its cameras, and previously collected data will be automatically deleted after 30 days unless it is connected to an ongoing case or investigation.

Read through the slides to learn more about the decision and what it means for Tempe.

[Insider Wire @InsiderWire]

#BREAKING: Trump's DOJ will reportedly back ending the National Firearms Act.

[Juan Valdez @HandPickedBeans]

Thank you @AJamesMcCarthy! As soon as I saw your picture I made it my iphone background! Looks fantastic. The screen grab was pretty pixelated as a desktop background though. But this download looks amazing as a desktop.

[Andrew McCarthy @AJamesMcCarthy]

Want a cool wallpaper like mine?

3 of my favorite eclipse shots are now available in high quality 4k and mobile crops. Download the bundle for free as a thank you for supporting my work for all this time 🫶

See it listed with my prints here:
https://t.co/cW1f6Ae9kB

[Andrew McCarthy @AJamesMcCarthy]

Want a cool wallpaper like mine?

3 of my favorite eclipse shots are now available in high quality 4k and mobile crops. Download the bundle for free as a thank you for supporting my work for all this time 🫶

See it listed with my prints here:
https://t.co/cW1f6Ae9kB

[Jen's Two Cents. 🎙 @JensTwoCentsAZ]

🚨 Six jurisdictions. Eight days.
➡️ Pinal County. Chandler. Apache Junction. Tempe. Goodyear. Surprise.

I've mapped out all the developments from January to today which might help explain what's happened in this past week.

Special thank you to @glangley and @LPMaricopa for their input.
➡️ READ THIS EXCLUSIVE REPORT: https://t.co/AvGcsowKNP

[Rep. Andrew Clyde @Rep_Clyde]

🚨 BREAKING: I’ve received confirmation from the Trump Administration that the DOJ will NOT appeal our historic court victory against the NFA.

THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP and Attorney General Blanche, for delivering the most significant Second Amendment win in OVER 90 YEARS!

[Marques Brownlee @MKBHD]

So yeah that total solar eclipse was once again the coolest thing I've ever seen. This time we managed to shoot an entire video and podcast episode DURING the totality. That's coming soon! In the meantime, enjoy this drone clip from above Zaragoza, Spain. 8x speed

[Nahel Belgherze @WxNB_]

TOTALITY.

Castrojeriz, Burgos, Spain minutes ago.

[Juan Valdez @HandPickedBeans]

@GilbertYourTown Time to follow their lead and stop violating the right of all your residents.

[Maricopa County Libertarian Party @LPMaricopa]

🚨CHANDLER HAS CANCELLED THEIR FLOCK CONTRACT!!! 🎉
https://t.co/88Y0fGB1sx

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

I needed to move a sofa.

I mentioned this to an American. He said, "You know anybody with a truck?"

I did not know anybody with a truck.

He looked at me with real concern. Not pity. Concern. The way you look at a man who has told you he does not have a name.

"You gotta know somebody with a truck."

I asked how one acquires such a person.

He said, "You just do."

This is the third time I have received that answer in this country. It is the answer to everything here. You just do. There is no process. There is only the eventual fact of having.

He said, "Ask Kevin."

I do not know a Kevin. He said Kevin like I should. He said it the way you say a shared uncle.

I met Kevin four days later. Kevin owns a truck. Kevin does not own a truck for himself. Nobody owns a truck for themselves. Kevin owns a truck for a fifteen mile radius.

Inside I said: THIS MAN HAS TAKEN A VOW. HE DID NOT ANNOUNCE IT. HE SIMPLY PURCHASED A BED AND ACCEPTED THE CONSEQUENCES.

Kevin arrived on Saturday. He brought the truck. He also brought a second man.

I had not asked for a second man.

The second man's name is Tony. Tony came because Kevin came. Tony did not know me. Tony did not ask what we were moving. Tony brought gloves.

They moved the sofa in eleven minutes.

I offered them money. Both of them laughed at the same time, which felt rehearsed and was not.

I asked what I owed them.

Kevin said, "Buy the pizza."

That is the price. That is the entire economy. The truck costs one pizza and the pizza is not negotiable and the pizza is also not expensive and everyone knows what size.

Inside I said: THE FEE IS FIXED ACROSS THE ENTIRE NATION AND WAS SET BY NO ONE.

We ate on the floor because the sofa was against the wall and none of us wanted to be the first to sit on it.

Tony told me his daughter plays soccer. I asked if she is good. He said, "She's aggressive."

I still think about that.

Three weeks later, Kevin texted me.

"You free Sunday? Helping Tony move a fridge."

He did not ask if I wanted to. He informed me of a fridge.

Inside I said: I HAVE BEEN CALLED UP. I DID NOT ENLIST. THE PAPERS WERE FILED ON MY BEHALF.

I went. I moved the fridge. I have no truck. I contributed only arms.

Afterward, a man I had never met asked me if I knew anybody with a truck.

I said, "Yeah, I got a guy."

I have a guy.

I am somebody's guy now, too. Tony has told two people about me.

He describes me as "the guy who's strong for his size."

I have never been prouder of a sentence in my life.

[Mason @webdevMason]

How normal well-adjusted people become libertarians

[Patrick Schreiner ☧ @pj_schreiner]

I've always loved this meditation from G.K. Chesterton.

[Juan Valdez @HandPickedBeans]

I beg to differ…

[Cards of History @GodPlaysCards]

For all you amazing parents out there.

[Tristan Haggard @TristanHaggard]

AI is not a demon... It's far worse... it's a Redditor

[doomer @uncledoomer]

the engineers who design these machines for weird random physical tasks in manufacturing are so cool. "hey we need a bottle stander upper machine, can you do it?" "sure thing, itll be a big wheel and we'll slap em. we'll just the slap the shit out of em"

[Juan Valdez @HandPickedBeans]

@realPatrickJr Super stressed and anxious lately, plus weird night leg cramps. Just ordered some - will give it a shot!

[Juan Valdez @HandPickedBeans]

I joke about my $1000 salsa. And people always remark how much money we must save on eggs, and I always respond that it’s still probably cheaper to buy them in the store. But nothing tastes as good as something I grew myself, even if that flavor is just in my head.

[big_pedestrian @big_pedestrian]

Just as lawns were an 18th Century display of ostentatious wealth, hobby farms are the new conspicuous consumption. I spent 3 years and $2,000 of inputs to produce a bowl of blueberries—each as precious and beautiful as a sapphire. You can get similar berries at Costco for $7.98.

[Sarah Salviander @sarahsalviander]

God could have crafted any universe, yet He chose one to astonish His children with breathtaking beauty. Why? I believe it’s His nature - God is beautiful, and so is His handiwork. It’s also because He loves us. Like a king with vast resources building a grand, beautiful home for his family, the King of Kings, with limitless power, created a vast and stunning universe for His family.

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?" - Psalm 8:3-4

[Juan Valdez @HandPickedBeans]

@andrewmiller Who hurt you as a child? 🤣

[Juan Valdez @HandPickedBeans]

Preach brother! 😀

[Matt Whitman⚡ @MattWhitmanTMBH]

You know how sometimes you see a new idea, and you're like, "that's great, the world just got a little bit brighter," and then other times you see a new idea, and you're like, "the capacity of humanity to befoul every beautiful thing knows no boundaries; a pox on this blasphemous abomination and anything like it that may follow in its accursed footsteps."?

This is the second one.