Ray Straatsma

E-bikes are an amazing transportation tool. Especially in urban places. We should make them more accessible along with building safe bike infrastructure. Go after the illegal bikes/electric motorcycles and don't forget about those cars that actually kill almost 40,000 Americans a year.

A post from r/boston showing a Cybertruck stuck in the snow

Death, taxes, Cybertrucks getting stuck in adverse weather

Another ICE shooting, another round of Republican buts and prayers

ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy as he came home, say school officials Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to Texas

“Liam’s older brother, a middle schooler, came home 20 minutes later to find his father and brother missing”

No one should vote to fund this or say that it can be improved with proper training. At this point, "Abolish ICE" is the moderate position.

A masked ICE officials with a 5 year old child

This guy went to work today, put a mask on, kidnapped a 5 year old child, and then used him as bait so both he and his father could be sent behind bars

Lessons from YIMBYism: Taking “Abundance” Back to Its Fundamentals Lessons from YIMBYism examines how supply-side reforms, public investment, and state capacity can make progressive social policy work as intended.

Love to see @rooseveltinstitute.org publishing @resnikoff.bsky.social saying his usual correct and good things rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

More madness

No Kings is projected on to a mountainside above the town’s lights

Davos, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum.

It’s a forceful, thoughtful and cerebral speech, well worth reading in full.

Ever wondered what a downtown pedestrian streets looks like on a Monday evening in the middle of January in Montreal?

I will never get over the fact that the Republican Party chose as its standard-bearer, and this country elected as its President, quite possibly the worst human being on the planet.

The Mad Orange King repeats and repeats his lies, and the rabble eat it up.

Now the actual military has to dress like it’s not the military cuz federal law enforcement agencies dress too much like the military

Opinion | Renee Good wasn’t the first person shot in her car by ICE. The justification followed a familiar script. Mike Fox: The officer who shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis might never have to defend his actions before a judge or jury.

Great piece by my Cato colleague. “Since July, immigration agents have shot at least six people behind the wheel of a vehicle. The same playbook is used each time: the agent says they “feared for their life” as a vehicle was “weaponized” against them. Juries should decide, but we tie their hands.

They’re targeting and invading Minnesota. Cutting off all of our federal funding and flooding our state with federal agents with no purpose. They’re here to terrorize, cause chaos to justify their unlawful cruelty. Enough.

Lying Is A Trump Sacrament

The US stands alone in dismissing the problem of climate change.

ah yes, the best way to explain and understand the world is by ignoring experts and practitioners and turning our attention to the “average American,” whatever that means

Timezones are so weird. Australia is in 2026, Canada is in 2025, and the United States is in 1939.

Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…

* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M

So YES this has been a huge success.

Muting a Black woman to claim the vote was unanimous is so incredibly on the nose

Point/Counterpoint: No Blood For Oil vs. Exactly How Much Oil Are We Talking About?

The Onion, 23 years ago.

theonion.com/no-blood-for...

Unbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science, writ large. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that has underpinned half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, and increased resilience.

This is the fossil fuel industry spraypainting the lens on the security cameras while they carry off the heist
www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Trumpflation:

NCAR is quite literally our global mothership.

Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources.

Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.

Unbelievable.

wow.

our infrastructure was built for a climate that no longer exists...

we're not even at 1.5C of warming

The blacktop on McKenzie in front of UH has a different kind of issue - rippled & bumpy. Again poor contractor work. I’ve heard it’s due to be fixed as well - soon I hope.

Great letter