Brianinja

Zero input from the biggest city in the state on a *high speed rail plan* because @brandon4chicago.bsky.social is incapable of appointing leaders, much less good ones.

I mean I'm at the pool for my kiddo's lessons. Otherwise can't help ya.

The House and Senate changeovers between 2007, 2009, and 2011 are just mind-blowing. That we had a 60-D Senate just 17 years ago is hard to fathom.

I'd like to pull a geospatial analysis of the Chicagoland area, possibly even just the suburbs, of the likelihood of a crash versus the census tract modal share.

woman smiling Local woman excited about ditching the car for the unreliable bus that comes every 3.5 hours - "it's the inconvenience that really attracted me."

Local woman excited about ditching the car for the unreliable bus that comes every 3.5 hours - "it's the inconvenience that really attracted me."

A single panel comic with two figures and a Punisher skull graphic in the style of the astronaut mem. The figure on the left is facing the Punisher skull and is wearing a black baseball cap turned backward and black clothing with a vest marked ICE on the back, along with a belt with pouches on it. The text of his speech bubble says: ‘Wait, the Punisher hates cops?’ His back is turned to the figure on the right, which is holding a pistol to the back of ICE man’s head. He is meant to be Frank Castle dressed in black. The text of his speech bubble reads: ‘Always has’.

Well this matches the surge seen in 2024 in the Chicago metro area. @rideillinois.bsky.social does a great job visualizing the discrepancy:
rideillinois.org/advocacy/fat...

A two-column reference chart titled "DOs and DON'Ts: Framing and Terminology" for pro-housing messaging. The left column (green, labeled "Do") recommends everyday, friendly language, while the right column (gray, labeled "Don't") lists jargon, scare tactics, and anti-housing frames to avoid. Examples of preferred vs. avoided terms include: "Housing shortage" instead of "Housing crisis"; "More choices and availability" instead of "Building and construction"; "Homes" instead of "Units"; "Displacement" instead of "Gentrification"; "Duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and townhomes" instead of "Missing middle"; "Affordable/unaffordable" instead of "Expensive/inexpensive"; and "Allow homes of all shapes and sizes" instead of "End single-family zoning." The chart contains approximately 20 term pairs total, guiding advocates to use people-centered, accessible language when discussing housing policy.

These DOs and DON'Ts for housing messaging totally slap

welcomingneighbors.us/messaging/

h/t @welcomingneighbors.us

I would guess they mean that the little green men and better supplied insurgent campaign of the Donbas allowing for a regional takeover against the ill prepared national army is instead an ill prepared insurgent campaign crushed by a national army of little green men but still have token resistance.

A big shout out to @the-downballot.com too!

The Democrat who vacated the seat is a conservative who was appointed by Louisiana's far-right governor to oversee the regulation of alcohol and tobacco. Apparently the woman who was elected to succeed him is light years to his left.

We're all desensitized to Democratic overperformances in special elections, but there does seem to have been a pretty significant shift in the past month

Turns Out Congestion Pricing Has Been Good for Drivers in the Suburbs, Too Traffic has improved inside and out of Manhattan.

For the former there isn't a good argument against it:

Toll the Kennedy and Ike, you cowards.

The lack of car free households in the NW, despite an AMAZING number of transit corridor options (multiple Metra and L lines) is heartbreaking.

Same here. Really wish we could get the legislature lookup from a different source popularized to be number 1 instead (and/or implement it in a more easier to locate and use fashion on the ILGA site)

4 frame comic. The first frame shows a loon diving underwater. Text reads : across inuit nunaat, the loon is a symbol of healing and clear-sightedness. in the popular story of lumaaq, a loon helps a boy regain his vision by leading him underwater. Second frame shows the two loon sculptures at the Greenlandic parliament. Text reads : in inatsisartut, the Greenlandic parliament currently in recess due to the white house threats, two loon sculptures by Jens rosing preside over the debates. because of loons' sonorous voice, they evocate eloquence and awareness. Third frame shows someone in a crowd brandishing a flag with the Minnesota Rebel Loon design on it. Text reads : it's a special kind of poetic dialogue to see loons popping up in Minneapolis as symbols of resistance and resilience. Fourth frame shows a group of loons in the water. Text reads: from kalaallit nunaat/greenland to Minnesota, loons are reminding us to stand up for what's right.

What loons teach us.

Small rubber traffic separator between a bike lane and road

Legislation has been introduced in Illinois to require the department of transportation to consider quick build bike lanes for rapid implementation

ilga.gov/Legislation/... #SB3627

Suburban buses should have infrared front-facing strobes to trigger traffic signal pre-emption like emergency vehicles do. Every second an every-20-minutes (or worse) bus has to wait for a red light is a total waste of time and resources.

Okay that YouTube clip audio was completely different from the replay. That is nuts.

GM: Charisma check.

Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]

GM: that’s a d6 how did you

Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊

It very clearly drops off precipitously from cheering the USA athletes, to a rumbling roar of discontent, then Vance appears on the broadcast, then when he's off screen the cheering resurfaces. You gotta be deaf to not notice that.

We just watched the NBC replay and you could hear the booing. Not sure what censoring they're talking about.

one of the greatest human triumphs of my lifetime is the relentless, unceasing, heroic effort by DECADES' worth of doctors and scientists to find a cure for a disease much of the world didn't take seriously for years because it predominantly affected a community they thought kinda deserved it

Border Patrol boss Gregory Bovino tossed from Las Vegas bar Former U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino was reportedly asked to leave a Las Vegas bar out of safety concerns for the venue’s customers.

“Gregory Bovino was reportedly asked to leave a Las Vegas bar out of safety concerns for the venue’s customers”
lasvegassun.com/news/2026/fe...

Evanston Township High School student Ryan McComb built a really cool real-time aggregator site that collects data points on prediction markets, fundraising data and a bunch of other stuff for #IL09

👇🏼 Super cool stuff
il9.org

Trump is a ra[c or p]ist

🤔…both.

Mongolia looks awesome, I want her to call her hunting eagle over to peck out my liver

Official government website of the Illinois General Assembly Welcome to the Official government website of the Illinois General Assembly

Sen. Ram Villivalam has filed a bill (HB 3419) to ensure that at least one board member on the NITA and service board is a person with a disability who uses the system.

ilga.gov/Legislation/...