Aaron Villere
@villere.bsky.social
Bike/ped planner. Enthusiast of sidewalks, bikeways, and buses, much like a toddler. Opinions are my own.
worth tying this into the political economy of the slave south as well. from roughly the 1820s onwards, slavery became enormously lucrative in ways that had never been seen before. slave traders became millionaires. large planters had tremendous purchasing power. just huge amounts of wealth.
Better Things Are Possible@internethippo.bsky.social · 5d agoAntebellum politics is fascinating, the South kept getting policy concessions and whipped themselves up into a paranoid rage anyway, essentially because they couldn't stand being culturally judged for having slaves
Gotta say I think this is a decent move—a lot of the MAHA folks are politically incoherent, and if there’s opportunity to disrupt the pipeline from “I don’t like pesticides” before it reaches vaccine and birth control denial, that seems a worthy effort.
Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · 7d agoWOOF no thank you
I tried to read it last year and just kept bursting into laughter—never has a book arrived so profoundly past its expiration date, Klein and Thompson were describing a politics that no longer exists.
Perry Bacon@perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 2w agoIn my last job (Washington Post Opinion section), I was asked repeatedly to write about the book "Abundance." I kept making excuses. Finally, I just bluntly stated that there are many, many books published about politics and it was strange that the entire political media was obsessed with this one.
This is the letter kids got at the end of Dolly’s Imagination Library. I defy you to read this and not cry.
Mamdani loves city staff. In govt, execs have little control over hiring, firing, bonuses, promotions or demotions. Mamdani knows the trick is tapping govt workers' love of the meaningfulness of their work, inspiring them to their best, and protecting them in tough times
Warren Wells, AICP@warrenjwells.bsky.social · 3w agoMamdani just keeps on smashing the "do good things actually" button that every other US mayor keeps locked in the basement.
100, I’m old enough to remember Obama getting roughed up over “lipstick on a pig.” It’s not a new playbook and yet media keeps running it because they want Rs to win.
mtsw@mtsw.bsky.social · 4w agotake note of which media outlets run with this "ossoff attacks women" framing — they are our enemies, Trump's enablers who try to help him rule over us like a king
One of my favorite stories was a few activists in Seattle installing bollards on a bike lane. The City removed them, and then within a couple weeks reinstalled their own City-approved bollards because the City Engineer cared. Cities can just do this stuff! It builds trust and good will!
wishda@wishda.bsky.social · last mo.The DSA in Wilmingotn, N.C. has created a "crisis" by putting benches at city bus stops, after literal decades of the city promising and failing to do so.
I think I always answer this but the Pitt-in-the-closet scene in Burn After Reading. The audience palpably turned against the movie, hilarious moment.
Boner Vivant@dougtilley.bsky.social · last yr.Got me thinking.. What's the strongest reaction you've seen an audience member have to a scene in a cinema? During the birthday party scene in SIGNS I saw a whole row of young women literally throw their popcorn in the air like a cartoon.
Lol but here’s the thing: in my experience East Coast workers already start the day late and West Coasters start early. At the very least continental time zone makes sense! Hawaii is the wild card here.
Kat Abughazaleh@katmabu.bsky.social · 2mo agono one wants to consider my insane pitch which is to eliminate timezones across the planet so we’re all on the exact same time and force everyone to change their conception of what a day is
“Our public transit isn’t failing; it’s being intentionally starved.” Pitch-perfect messaging and framing from @elisejoshi.bsky.social. Transit advocates everywhere: watch this video, learn from it, apply to your local contexts, repeat.
Trump’s war on science comes for bikes and Vision Zero. Proven Safety Countermeasures are a set of street design tools that FHWA career engineers judge to have been proven to improve safety. They delisted Bike Lanes, Road Diets, and three speed management tools. highways.dot.gov/safety/prove...
We've updated our story with recollections from several of Louisa's colleagues at the Boston Transportation Department, who are mourning together today. ”She loved people, and everyone on our team,” says BTD planner Jen Rowe. mass.streetsblog.org/2026/07/10/l...
Louisa Gag, Longtime Street Safety Advocate, Identified as Thursday's Homicide Crash Victim - Streetsblog Massachusetts
Family members have identified the victim of Thursday morning's homicide crash near Roxbury Crossing as Louisa Gag, a longtime street safety advocate and transportation planner at Boston's City Hall.
mass.streetsblog.org
The top 10 US neighborhoods in terms of added housing supply, 2020–25: 1—Downtown Nashville 2—Central Philly 3—Downtown Brooklyn 4—Downtown Seattle 5—Downtown Salt Lake City 6—Downtown Miami 7—NoMa DC 8—South Bronx 9—Downtown Denver 10—Navy Yard DC Explore: www.urban.org/urban-wire/w...
Mexico’s Socialist President to Roll Out Universal Healthcare For 120 million people novaramedia.com/2026/04/10/m...
Mexico’s Socialist President to Roll Out Universal Healthcare
Mexico’s 120 million citizens will begin to enjoy free, universal access to healthcare from next year, following a decree by socialist president Claudia Sheinbaum.
novaramedia.com
Zuckerberg ruined the mental health of an entire generation of teenage girls and thought, he needs to do the same to teenage boys.
This is one of those things that sounds insane and tin-foil-hat but I literally heard a family member say a version of it this very week. Wild times we live in.
Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 3mo agoYou're not supposed to say this, but conservatives hate HPV vaccines because they think that removing the risk of cervical cancer from sex incentives women to be sluts. It's been a Christian thing since way before RFK Jr. was around, everybody knows what it's about, but you have to pretend not to.
there are still many, many reasons to be skeptical and worried because ICE is fucking evil and could pivot, but this is a MAJOR defeat for trump. even the reddest of red areas were like fuck no we don't want a concentration camp in our town. it became politically untenable bc people fought back.
This is a real “fuck that one guy in particular” weather forecast.
Sam@samd.bsky.social · 3mo agolmfao the simulated radar projects a severe thunderstorm directly over DC during the fight
Here’s the deal, I know he annoys a lot of my lefty friends but I think a President Buttegieg would absolutely get the moment we’re in. He was talking SCOTUs expansion in 2020, he at least has a theory of power.
Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 3mo agoButtigieg: We sit in a in a country that's got the wrong number of people on the Supreme Court, possibly the wrong number of representatives in the House of Representatives. And by the way, when you consider the disenfranchisement of the people of DC, we have the wrong number of states in the US
I think it should be between families and their doctors but surgery itself is exceptionally rare: Out of 121,000 US youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria in a five year period, just 0.6% received surgical care (per a Reuters analysis of EHRs). Just 14% received any medical treatment at all.
gwen howerton@kissphoria.bsky.social · 3mo agoTalarico saying he's against "gender reassignment surgery for minors" to lots of nodding and impressed gestures from the Barro/Yglesias crowd and a lot of the politics press is, I think, a great example of how much the well has been poisoned on trans healthcare
Yep, this is the message, say it over and over.
James Talarico@jamestalarico.bsky.social · 3mo agoThere’s been a lot of talk in this race about what makes a "real man." A man does what’s right when no one is watching. He upholds his commitments to his family and neighbors. He doesn’t lie, cheat, & steal his way through life. Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves.
Nice profile article in the latest @taprootedmonton.ca re: Bikeology.ca's mission, motivations, and our Big Launch Party on May 31! Kudos to @stephanieswensrude.bsky.social for clear, accurate reportage! edmonton.taproot.news/news/2026/05... #bikesky #WomenRideBikes #feministsky
Bikeology launches with push to design cycling with women in mind
A new non-profit is seeking to encourage more women and girls to ride bicycles by combining community events with advocacy aimed at making cycling infrastructure safer and more practical for all.
edmonton.taproot.news
“One of Trump’s enemies” being a woman he raped.
Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 4mo agoCNN: The DOJ has launched a new criminal investigation into one of Trump's enemies, E. Jean Carroll. The source is telling CNN that the investigation now is focused on whether she committed perjury during her two civil lawsuits against the president.