Mishka
@mishkaa.bsky.social
Tolerating gerontocracy, housing theory of everything understander, abundant housing, abundant transit. Also computer and math stuff
I am once again asking if it's possible to issue a massive class action lawsuit against state DOTs or engineering boards for negligence in Traffic Engineering licensure for perpetuating poor road designs that actively enable deadly driving patterns
OB Cycler@obcycler.bsky.social · 4d agoDoorzone bike lanes are engineering malpractice.
I wrote about OpenAI's Astra results, how AI will dissolve mathematics, and how people will cope about it: borretti.me/article/math...
Mathematics Without Mathematicians
We must know. We shall not know.
borretti.me
Absolute HEATER of an endorsement making the clear case that Jane Kim would be an unmitigated disaster for California’s insurance ratepayers. www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/arti...
Endorsement: Ben Allen for California insurance commissioner
OPINION: In a race with no Republican, some California voters may see an opportunity to take a chance on a radical candidate for state insurance commissioner. That would be a terrible mistake.
sfchronicle.com
Wild that vacancy rates going up really does drive down prices exactly like YIMBYs said would happen.
NBC10 Boston@nbcboston.com · 3w agoBoston apartments aren’t what you'd call affordable. But they’re cheaper than they used to be. on.nbcboston.com/aueiOR5
“Germany remains hesitant, even as China has already eaten much of German industry’s lunch and is preparing to start on dinner.” Read the report in full here: buff.ly/nK7LkXJ
China shock 2.0: The cost of Germany's complacency
Germany is ground zero of the second China shock, but Berlin is not fighting back, even as the shock erodes the country’s engineering sectors that are vital to its economic security.
buff.ly
Xenophobia reliably stays confined to the bounds initially established, and never expands to exclude additional folks.
Let's go!!
Ronnie Coleman: Yeah Budy, Lightweight Baby!
ALT: Ronnie Coleman: Yeah Budy, Lightweight Baby!
static.klipy.com
Molly Knight@mollyknight.bsky.social · 2mo ago🚨LA mayor update🚨 Nithya Raman now only trails Spencer Pratt by 7,000 votes —1% point behind, with 194,000 left to count. In today’s batch Nithya added 22k, Bass added 20k, and Pratt only added 10k. Nithya is on track to send Spencer Pratt packing by tomorrow. Bye bitch. 👋
Infill housing requires around a third less in up-front infrastructure costs, and generate more property taxes than comparable greenfield development. As cities wrestle with budget shortfalls, they should allow more of this type of development. www.vox.com/future-perfe...
My latest column for @newscientist.com subscribers and for library users is about what exactly a quantum field is and how physicists arrived at needing them! ⚛️🧪 "a quantum field determines how many particles can be created or destroyed at each point in space." Enjoy!
Why do particle physicists like spending time in fields?
The concept of a field plays a key role in particle physics, but what exactly is it? From its origins in the study of magnetism to the quantum fields of today, columnist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein goes ...
newscientist.com
Palmer drought index. Worst ever. Worse than the dust bowl. Fire season is coming.
Someone out there decided it would be a good idea to put a German Shepherd in charge of babysitting a bunch of Doberman puppies and they were 100% correct
Like a basic one to me that you see a lot online is when there is a new development in California someone says in the comments “Ugh more rentals? There are so few homeownership opportunities in the city! Why do devs only want to build rentals?” Not knowing that this is a policy choice we’ve made.
Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰@urbanlandrent.bsky.social · 3mo agoI think liberals/progressives tend to attribute (bad) outcomes to the inevitability of market logic but I think this assumes markets are more static and less influenced by legal structures than they are. Like “profits” and “investment” and “prices” are not set in stone.
Opposition Melts Away as Durazo Announces Major Changes to SB 1361 “SB 1361 simply says transit decisions should be based on legitimate transportation planning issues,” she said, “not opposition tied solely to SB 79 height or density standards.” cal.streetsblog.org/2026/04/23/o...
Opposition Melts Away as Durazo Announces Major Changes to SB 1361 - Streetsblog California
“SB 1361 simply says transit decisions should be based on legitimate transportation planning issues,” she said, “not opposition tied solely to SB 79 height or density standards.”
cal.streetsblog.org
Hi, what is your stance on ULA reform?
Faizah Malik (she/her)@faizahforla.bsky.social · 4mo agoA Westside for All of Us I’m running for city council because the Westside needs an honest leader that will fight for all of us. In just 5 weeks ballots drop! Voting will be open from May 5th until June 2nd. Let’s bring it home.
An mRNA treatment for PANCREATIC CANCER was in trials, among many other uses. Choosing to end this research is choosing to sentence millions to an early, painful death
The UnPopulist@theunpopulist.net · 4mo agoKennedy canceled $500 million in mRNA research and announced no new mRNA projects will ever be initiated—killing the technology that produced the fastest vaccine rollout in human history.
There’s no such thing as “the bad guys” that can be applied to an entire population of people. You have the moral reasoning of a child.
Jesse Duquette@jesseduquette.bsky.social · 4mo agoSpoiler alert: we’ve always been the bad guys
a bit of a poem by kazakh writer olzhas suleimenov for a moment of triumph over space and many evil, pointless woes
This is a post about why Elizabeth Warren seems so strangely ill-equipped for this moment in American politics, but it's really about the limitations of left-populism as an answer to right-populism. publiccomment.blog/p/what-s-goi...
What's going on with Elizabeth Warren?
On the perils of economic populism
publiccomment.blog
publiccomment.blog/p/what-s-goi...
What's going on with Elizabeth Warren?
On the perils of economic populism
publiccomment.blog
Ned Resnikoff@resnikoff.bsky.social · 4mo agoWorking on a long post for the newsletter about why Elizabeth Warren has turned out to be so strangely ill-equipped for this historical moment
Great to see Janice Hahn advocating for more Metro riders on the Metro board. It's currently almost entirely comprised of politicians.
Dissolve the Metro board
Sacramento should reform this dysfunctional body. It's holding LA back.
futureis.la
Janice Hahn@supjanicehahn.bsky.social · 4mo agoThere is a new committee determining the future makeup of Metro's Board of Directors—and I think it's time for Metro riders to be on the Board. If you want to learn more or share your thoughts, join one of Metro's upcoming listening sessions: thesource.metro.net/have-a-say-i...
@adamtooze.bsky.social has a list of five things China should do to gain hegemony. I agree with all of them and ideally would add a pledge to not use force against Taiwan. The problem is I’m not sure China wants to be a hegemon.
An underrated addendum to the Bowling Alone story is that North America's largest bowling operator (Bowlero) is a publicly traded company whose business model involves buying mom and pop alleys, shutting down the leagues, and trying to attract casual, higher paying, one-off players.
1. Here’s a thread on #NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) and the challenges of change in cities: First off, although it might feel that way, NIMBY isn’t unique to your city, and it’s (probably) not worse in your city than anywhere else. It’s also not surprising, since it’s largely about human nature.
Nithya's housing platform is so good. Hard to overstate how rare it is to get the exact right person up for the exact right job at the exact right time. She actually knows what she's doing, which is something that we haven't experienced in the mayor's office in AWHILE
Nithya for Mayor
Nithya Raman is running for Mayor of Los Angeles.
nithyaforthecity.com
The ironclad law of American politics: gas price goes up, presidential approval goes down
the whole Rae Huang bit is strange to me Nithya is the most progressive member of the city council who knocked off an incumbent in 2020 and won by an even bigger margin in 2024 (despite her district being gerrymandered against her) LA doesn’t need a “community organizer” longshot left candidate!
When our local economy is strong, all of us can succeed. When we envision a healthy neighborhood it includes good jobs and businesses run by people we know, friends, family, and neighbors.
So much of the opposition to “new” things in cities (eg bike lanes, townhomes) comes down to “X doesn’t work for me, so we shouldn’t build that.” Why that gut reaction? Pure selfishness? Or a wrong impression that we all need/want the same thing? Or what else?
