Some things I've learned about legislative advocacy, and I think my record speaks for itself. 1. Start by asking for everything you want. Stop preemptively negotiating against yourself. The process of passing the bill will whittle it down. Why started with a whittled down product?

"For the first time ever, more people are employed by remodeling companies than by single-family and multifamily developers combined." (h/t @josephpolitano.bsky.social) www.theargumentmag.com/p/americas-e...

The best thing about Vote Blue No Matter Who is that it unloads a lot of cognitive burden. I wanted Tom Steyer to be in the Governor's race, but he's not so I'm gonna vote for Becerra. I don't follow his campaign at all: I'm voting for him because he's not a Republican.

I've seen enough. Michigan is a weird state

there is a strain of lefty discourse where you can’t come to any unflattering conclusions about the populace—those must be explained away by how they are being acted upon by capital—but I think you’ll understand things better if you understand capital can also exploit weaknesses it didn’t create

Banking. Infinitely easier. Big banks suck, but they sucked then too. I’m in a credit union and it’s great.

I somehow missed this when I posted the same thing! There’s also much less smog!

The hole in the ozone layer is gone! That was like, a scary ass thing when I was a kid

Air travel is fine. There are just more opportunities to forego creature comforts in exchange for a lower fare, which is why most people don’t travel long distances by bus anymore.

Food, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.

I sent @slotkin.senate.gov a message about the importance, but inadequacy, of @schumer.senate.gov's proposed anti-corruption tribunal and got a canned response about Trump's attacks on "freedom of speech." Also a thing but not the thing I was writing about! talkingpointsmemo.com/the-weekende...

The Low-Energy Response to the GOP’s ‘High-T’ Politics

talkingpointsmemo.com

Slotkin tells me on Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens, “the most important thing is putting a check and balance on Donald Trump, so I will support whoever wins.”

#a2Council endorsements: There is still time to vote. If you want a more sustainable and more affordable Ann Arbor, vote for Taylor. www.damnarbor.com/2026/08/elec...

Election Endorsement: Reelect Mayor Taylor for a Progressive Future

The short endorsement In recent months, rents in Ann Arbor have declined faster than the national average. Via: Realpage . Housing and affor...

damnarbor.com

I'm going to be really disappointed if this fake landlord-backed anti-progress "DSA" crew has successfully conned the supposedly intelligent denizens of Ann Arbor into backing them. I am prepared for disappointment. It's the maga-fication of everything, pseudo-intellectual edition.

maybe someday I will make a list of what is involved in hiring employment lawyers from the management side of the table, and what you can deduce as a worker about the choices that your bosses make. it's almost impossible to find lawyers that aren't union-busters, but some are worse than others.

Folks I won’t tell you not to feel your feelings, but this is rage bait. He’s talking about expanding beyond politics into things like live sports.

The Verge@theverge.com · 2d ago

Bluesky's new CEO Toni Schneider on the platform's reputation for being a liberal bubble: "Yes, we definitely want that to change. It is already changing. It certainly wasn’t designed to attract one specific group of people."

Opinion: Department of Defense Commissaries may sound appealing, but it's American taxpayers who will take the hit, subsidizing discounts they may never even use.

USA TODAY Opinion@usatodayopinion.usatoday.com · 2d ago

Opinion: Mamdani's idea may sound appealing, but it's NYC taxpayers who will take the hit, subsidizing discounts they may never even use.

“We can't solve a housing crisis without building more housing.” SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS 🗣️

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 2d ago

We can't solve a housing crisis without building more housing. Today we broke ground on the Casanova Residence, which will soon be nearly 100 affordable and supportive homes with on-site services for New Yorkers. Every new home is a step toward a City that everyone can afford.

this is not true. there was no conspiracy. it didn't matter whether the streetcars were publicly owned (seattle, detroit) or private (los angeles, atlanta). a thread (because i wrote a whole-ass book on this): 1/?

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 3d ago

Is everyone aware of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy? In the mid-20th century, auto and oil interests bought up electric streetcar systems across the US and systematically replaced them with bus routes and paved roads, funneling commuters toward private cars.

#A2Council lead photo is another example of a development that would be banned under a 3-unit-per-parcel residential zone limit...

Welcoming Neighbors Network@welcomingneighbors.us · 2d ago

A tour in Denver makes the case for missing middle housing: more flexibility, more home choices, same neighborhoods you love.

I wrote about this NYC congestion pricing study earlier this year, noting that most driving time savings accrues to people who never venture into the zone at all (i.e., driving within Queens or Long Island). IOW some of the most vociferous critics of CP are among its biggest beneficiaries.

Congestion Pricing’s Unexpected Winners: Suburban Drivers

NYC’s controversial toll program hasn’t just sped up trips inside Manhattan, a new paper finds. It’s easing traffic in outer boroughs and neighboring counties.

bloomberg.com

If you are an AI critic, listen to @doctorow.pluralistic.net's recent @onthemedia.bsky.social interview. His critiques of the critics framing of the debate and how to fight back for creative, worker and consumer power is spot on: www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

F@#$ the AI Overlords | On the Media | WNYC Studios

The race to build the most advanced artificial intelligence continues to dominate the headlines. On this week’s On the Media, who does this new technology actually serve? Plus, how ev...

wnycstudios.org

On the beach across from urbanist Bluesky’s favorite development

I worked for New York’s largest medical center at the start of the pandemic. There were morgue trucks on the streets. They set up emergency medical tents in Central Park. Healthcare worker colleagues died. It is horrific that RFK Jr is on national TV lying that ICUs were empty.

A point i have made in many "AI and the future of work" panels, with direct reference to Ruth Schwartz Cowen's foundational 'More Work For Mother.'

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 2w ago

13. Hence our dismal conclusion: rather than finding that LLMs free us to do a better job of what we were doing before they came along, they shift scientific incentives (and the playing field of academic competition) in ways that compel us to do more and more, faster and faster, less and less well.

"Bartleby is not a self-starter or self-motivated and he did not make an effort to fit into, much less champion, our workplace culture."

I Cannot Recommend My Former Coworker Bartleby for Your Scrivening Position

“Bartleby is not a self-starter or self-motivated and he did not make an effort to fit into, much less champion, our workplace culture.” Aug 1 2020 Aug 1 202...

buff.ly

This is a nightmare situation unfolding in Spokane.

Spokane Rising@spokanerising.com · 4d ago

Holy crap. Level 3 (GO NOW!) zone now includes urban Spokane, south of Francis to Wellesley. Level 2 (GET SET!) zone now extends east of Division. Not to be alarmist, but at this rate, it’s not inconceivable that the Old Trails Fire merges with the Fairview Fire.

Something I'll never understand - if I want to make substantial enough changes to my house, it has to go through a neighbourhood consultation process, but someone on my block can buy a vehicle that significantly increases the chances one of my kids gets run over.

David Zipper@davidzipper.bsky.social · 5d ago

Which vehicles most endanger the drivers of other cars? Giant pickup trucks — and the Dodge Charger Source: www.iihs.org/news/detail/...

Progressive LA Mayoral Candidate Nithya Raman told Vanity Fair that her main difference with DSA is on housing. www.vanityfair.com/story/nithya...