Laura Wolf-Powers

WHAT?

The sheer malevolent genius in making disasters and systemic failures into the responsibility of individuals, woo. Like, sorry, but a well-stocked go-bag is no substitute for a functioning FEMA and a robust renewable energy infrastructure.

Gaza is starving. Where are the American Jewish leaders? A fear of being labelled antisemitic still deters American Jews and Jewish institutions from taking a position that is morally correct.

The mass starvation & killing of Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli gov’t is a chillul hashem, a desecration of God.

Jewish leaders who criticized Zohran Mamdani for three words he doesn’t use should raise their voices loudly here as well.
forward.com/opinion/7575...

I think you know where to find me

blindingly obvious that dem leadership embraced the plan in carville’s “lay low and let trump self immolate” op-ed, also detailed by centrist squish lakshya jain in posts on here. and that means not being seen as obstructive. which, when the GOP cannot do something on their own, means helping them

Or just because I am an unreconstructed Gen-Xer

Dear @hellgatenyc.com I was one of your first Believer subscribers back in the day & it’s worth every penny but I’m a little hurt that I have never gotten swag or an invite to one of your now-cool parties / is it because I ranked @bradlander.bsky.social higher than @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social ?

After ten years of service, the head of FEMA’s urban search and rescue team has resigned, citing mounting frustration with Trump-era bureaucracy that he says hindered the agency’s response to the deadly flooding in Texas.

DNJ judges don’t have to accept any filings from an office the legitimacy of which they don’t recognize …

I have a chapter in the New Planning Histories edited volume. Lots of great chapters covering a range of topics and cities!
link.springer.com/book/9789819...

Map of Class 1 railroads in the United States. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._Class_I_railroads#/media/File:US_railway_map.webp

U.S. Ton-Miles of Freight. Over the past decade, US railroads have carried less and less tonnage, as trucks have carried more. Source: https://www.bts.gov/content/us-ton-miles-freight

Union Pacific may acquire Norfolk Southern, creating 1st continent-spanning US railroad, entrenching an oligopolistic market.
www.wsj.com/business/dea...

Rather than having a publicly owned railway, we have a few big companies that have been losing market share to trucking for a decade.

#StephenColbert to U.S. Senate would also be helpful.

What the Trump Administration is doing to Social Security is a scandal.

Fear Government Control of Markets? It’s Trump, Not Mamdani, Who’s Your Problem. Today on TAP: Trump’s Pentagon just became the majority shareholder in America’s only rare-earths mine. Where’s the Republican outrage?

prospect.org/blogs-and-ne...

Colbert will be all right, maybe even better off. The world's his oyster and I'm sure MSNBC and Netflix will come calling. He could stand up the biggest late night YouTube channel in days. But they are just torching the Late Show, an institution, solely to appease a dictator. And that fucking sucks.

Norfolk Southern pocketed $115M from CIM for previously worthless land, when the City of Atlanta agreed to subsidize the private Gulch project with $1.9 Billion of taxes.
Keisha's pitifully small return was extra jobs NS brought from Norfolk VA.
Will Atlanta lose all NS jobs 7 years later?

Important new work on EITC and healthy food purchasing.

More evidence on how less complicated/restrictive safety net programs can be helpful for diet and health.

Gets us out of a “people are just doing poverty wrong” mentality and more toward addressing root causes.

#academicsky 🛟 🥗

I was on New York’s rent board. Zohran Mamdani’s ideas aren’t pie in the sky | Leah Goodridge The Democratic mayoral candidate has faced controversy over his calls for a rent freeze. But the plan has plenty of precedent

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Factories Were Pushed Out of Cities. Their Return Could Revive Downtowns.

Nice to see the NYT check in on this topic a decade later (w/o citing the academic research on the topic). It’s a big tent though! Everyone is welcome to the party. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/13/b...

NO KINGS
#acrylicart #art #painting #nokings

Not for Sale. OK to repost ✊🇺🇸

Public Transit Does Not Need To Make Money

Just like public schools, libraries, and health clinics, the more people take advantage of public transit, the better off we are as a society.
It's worth the cost to make it free.

No doubt "more data" could be useful, but the headlines here make clear that - in TX (and all over the US!) - THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS NOT A LACK OF DATA. It is a lack of political will and policy tools to make and enforce smart land use and building rules.

Omfg

NYC Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams confronted a senior ICE agent today outside Manhattan’s immigration courts, demanding answers after several people were detained without due process.

Now it’s a “700% increase in assaults.” Ten will get you twenty that DHS bumps up their phony stat to a nice round 1000% before the end of the summer.

In view of the public statement by the American president Donald Trump presented on a social network this Wednesday afternoon (9), it is important to emphasize: Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being tutored by anyone. The judicial process against those who planned the coup d'état is the sole responsibility of the Brazilian Judiciary and, therefore, is not subject to any kind of interference or threat that undermines the independence of national institutions. In the context of digital platforms, Brazilian society rejects content involving hate, racism, child pornography, scams, fraud, and speech against human rights and democratic freedom. In Brazil, freedom of expression is not to be confused with aggression or violent practices. To operate in our country, all national and foreign companies are subject to Brazilian legislation. It is false information, in the case of the commercial relationship between Brazil and the United States, regarding the alleged American deficit. Statistics from the United States government itself confirm a surplus of that country in the trade of goods and services with Brazil in the amount of 410 billion dollars over the last 15 years. In this sense, any measure to increase tariffs unilaterally will be responded to in light of Brazil's Law of Economic Reciprocity. The respect and intransigent defense of the interests of the Brazilian people are the values that guide our relationship with the world.

About that letter from Trump- Lula responds. "In Brazil, freedom of expression is not to be confused with aggression or violent practices. To operate in our country, all national and foreign companies are subject to Brazilian legislation."
x.com/LulaOficial/...

The Broadband Story Abundance Liberals Like Ezra Klein Got Wrong | Washington Monthly Ezra Klein and abundance liberals blame red tape for broadband delays. But the real story behind Biden’s BEAD program is far more complicated.

Great Washington Monthy piece challenging the Abundance Boys claims that the obstacle to building is regulations by liberals washingtonmonthly.com/2025/07/09/t... They show it is overwhelmingly corporate power blocking competition.

Half my brain: “Where am I on my summer to-do list?” The other half: “The U.S. government is literally rounding people up and sending them to concentration camps.”

🏙️ NEW in #UrbanStudies

📄"Resisting desperation for development: The power of community-based disruption in rewriting the culture of public–private redevelopment"

✍️ @mzgough.bsky.social @drkatehowell.bsky.social

🔍Community resistance in Navy Hill challenges growth-driven planning.

buff.ly/WZLvYee

Seriously? $GRFT? It’s like mocking decency is a new badge of honor…