Ben Harkins

Father, Gamer, Outdoorsman. Trans rights are human rights.
he/him

[David Sirota @davidsirota]

a diarrhea plague and a killer heat wave while we’re doing a Middle East war, the emperor’s army is killing people in the streets, and everyone outside the palace is facing an affordability famine — we’re in the middle of one of those apocalyptic Biblical prophecies

[Merriam-Webster @MerriamWebster]

@DPD_ We're just trying to tell you that the world is going to roll you.

[Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC]

If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it.

[NYTPitchbot @DougJBalloon]

Liberals say that our democracy is in its death throes. They’re wrong—our republic is in its death throes.

[Ben Harkins @LefthandHawk]

@RobertGReeve I got super excited for this project when I saw it on my feed, but then I started going through the project write up and immediately got turned off. I'm so tired of AI bs.

[Rep. Betty McCollum @BettyMcCollum04]

Republican politicians sold out our waters for the profits of a Chilean billionaire. But the fight continues.

My legislation, the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act, would permanently protect the pristine waters of the BWCA for future generations.

[Circe @vocalcry]

No you don’t get it when Trump says “a whole civilization will die tonight” he is being hyperbolic and posturing unlike when Iran says “death to America” which is actually a very serious threat and should definitely serve as the basis for an invasion

[Governor Jared Polis @GovofCO]

The Santa Fe area will be a great addition to Colorado. It is no secret that Colorado and New Mexico are two of the best places to live, work, and play, and we would be thrilled to welcome our friends in Northern New Mexico to our great state and to protect them from aggression from Texas. Let’s be serious, there’s no way that Texas could handle actually annexing this land. We can protect the rich culture, including the arts and restaurant scenes in these communities, while also mutually strengthening our economies and avoiding spreading Texas’s failed leadership any further. Not to mention the fact that this will mean more Pueblo chiles for all. This isn’t like Trump trying to take over Greenland; it’s totally different and definitely legal. I look forward to building on Colorado's past 150 years by growing our state in this next chapter. The partition of New Mexico will go down in history as a big win for Colorado.

[mert @mert]

I don't get how you are considered unemployable past 70-80 years old and yet that's the age group exclusively running most countries

[Janel Comeau 🍁 @VeryBadLlama]

apparently when I said I wanted to see Les Misérables someday, I should have clarified that I did not mean "unfolding on the streets around me in real time"

[Chad Bockius @bockius]

Southwest Airlines turned millions of loyal customers into hostages. And they're celebrating it.

I'm one of them.

20+ years. Two credit cards. Companion pass. Bought gift cards. Recruited everyone I knew.

Then they killed open seating. Killed bags fly free. Gutted everything that made them @SouthwestAir.

Will I keep flying them? Yes. But not out of loyalty. Out of lock-in.

My status still protects me. My bags are still free. I can pick my seat. Companion pass works.

Strip those away? I'm gone tomorrow. Cheapest and fastest. Done.

Loyalty: I choose you.
Lock-in: I'm stuck with you.

They look the same on a balance sheet. Completely different animals.

This pattern is everywhere. Adobe made cancellation so painful the FTC sued them. HP put DRM chips in ink cartridges. Insurance companies charge loyal customers 40% more - the UK literally banned the practice. Netflix said "love is sharing a password" in 2017 then cracked down on it in 2023.

The inflection point: when the conversation shifts from "how do we earn this?" to "how do we keep them from leaving?"

That's where loyalty dies and lock-in begins.

Southwest says it'll add $1.5B in revenue. Wall Street cheers.

What's the cost of turning mavens into hostages?

What's a brand you were loyal to that you're now just locked into?

[Ben Harkins @LefthandHawk]

@WeBeHarebrained Reddit

[Ben Harkins @LefthandHawk]

This makes me unreasonably happy.

[Lydia Kauppi @lydiakauppi]

FELLAS ITS BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA
(Edmund Fitzgerald Day Meme Dump)

[Ben Harkins @LefthandHawk]

@pumpkinpotion @DonBluth @DonBluthStudios Seconded! This one will always be my favorite

[thatonemaddy.bsky.social @thatonemaddy]

Watching Gen Z men veer right hits different for Millennials. We lived through Columbine, 9/11, the Iraq War, 2008 crash, 2016 election, covid, abortion bans, & now this. We watched institutions repeatedly fail us while older generations selfishly protected the status quo. 🧵1/

[Boze Herrington, Library Owl 😴🧙‍♀️ @SketchesbyBoze]

Langston Hughes

[Ben Harkins @LefthandHawk]

@literally_chad Disappointed that I'm online enough to realize this memery is an absolute banger

[Swamp Witch Advice @SwampAdvice]

I’m afraid to say you must still be good. It is tempting to sink into the mud and let it close over your head, but you must still be good because the world needs your goodness. Take all the time you need and then we’ll begin together.

[Ben Harkins @LefthandHawk]

@Npakaderm That... That may be the end of me. Did you open the app? Is it only a model?

[Ben Harkins @LefthandHawk]

@emilykmay Yancy (Vince Vaughn) in the new Bad Monkey show really impressed me in this regard.