Benjamin Ross

Complexity of interchanges at multi-lane expressway with separate free & toll lanes confuses drivers & creates safety hazard. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/transportation/fatal-beltway-crash-express-lanes-braddock-road/3964277/

27% of families in New York City with children and income below $100,000 live in apartments with more than two people per bedroom. gift link] [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/nyregion/nyc-overcrowding-homeless.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Zk8.uKgb.yMUGk-TwtO6O&smid=url-share

After Houston's Astrodome sits empty two decades plus, support fades for preservation. Despite the better-than-most case for genuine landmark status that can be made for the first indoor baseball stadium […]

If younger people can't afford to live in your county, your county doesn't have a future - no matter how much the older, more affluent homeowners might hate the idea of change.

A classic. Reporter fails to pay attention to what the nimbys actually say.
Reporter: Critics fear that [very modest] upzone won't produce "housing that is actually affordable for county residents"
Then quotes critic who fears it will "just provide more affordably priced rental units" […]

Trump & China: TACO gift link] [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/20/us/politics/trump-china-technology.html?unlocked_article_code=1.X08.vV0m.heUT4E1iWQAj&smid=bs-share

If the birthday card had come out before the election, it would have had little effect.
Six months into Trump's term, Epstein is the vehicle onto which MAGA has loaded its repressed disillusionment with the regime's plutocracy, corruption & brutality.

@w7voa Was this a driverless car? I read all the way to the end of the article and there is no mention of any human who might have been at fault.
A particularly egregious example of news media absolving people who kill with motor vehicles.

If the birthday card had come out before the election, it would have had little effect.
Six months into Trump's term, Epstein is the vehicle onto which MAGA has loaded its repressed disillusionment with the regime's plutocracy, corruption & brutality.

For DC's upcoming report on how historic preservation promotes equity, here's a fine case study.
Guy bought historic townhouse in Alexandria in 2021. Converted three apartments “into something that Louis XIV would be proud of.” A 6-bedroom house with inlaid marble, gold leaf ceilings, gold […]

Please don't add things we don't want or need. Bus and bike lanes aren't helpful and discriminate against families for whom public transportation is not an option. I drive past empty bike lanes on a regular basis. There are other ways to help the environment and improve our community that don't harm thousands of residents.

Bus and bike lanes discriminate against families for whom public transportation is not an option.

At this point, Trump & Epstein is giving off vibes of Stalin & Kirov.

I'm on the Davka Smolah podcast. Talking with socialist zionists about my recent article on the way forward for Jewish progressives. Relating anti-Israel animus to the turn by much of the left away from the politics of solidarity and common interests toward a politics of charity & "allyship." […]

DC historic districts, where it's very hard to build new housing, contain 20% of city's population. All but a few are wealthy white areas. DC Office of Planning agrees to study historic districts' equity effects.
Then it turns around & turns study over to preservation advocates […]

Our brain-dead political reporting. Progressive endorsed by Bernie & AOC wins primary in landslide. NYT reports result as "Mamdani momentum withers."
Lazy media, please tell us where candidates stand on issues. Stop fixating on their age & identity […]

@philipncohen.com A little unfair to include Thunberg & AOC, given age, and Pope & Dalai Lama, given oaths. If you drop the latter two, all but one male have 3+ which is way above average for US elite population.

Lord’s Vengeance The Department of Homeland Security posted an explicitly Christian nationalist and violent...

This video makes me think better of the prophet Jonah:
The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai: Go at once to Nineveh... Jonah, however, started to flee to Tarshish [the end of the known earth in the opposite direction]
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/lords-vengeance

I wonder if one contributor to people ignoring weather warnings is Nextdoor trying to boost engagement by sending out weather alerts every time there's a thunderstorm in the vicinity. Which is pretty much every afternoon at this time of year around here.

The young applicant had scored 4.0 marks in math and physics. The recruiter congratulated him. But what the recruiter didn’t know was that in Norway, the best grade was a 1.0, not a 4.0, the top grade in American schools. In fact, a 4.0 in Norway was barely passing — something like a D on American report cards. In reality, his academic record in Norway had been anything but impressive. He did not want to be dishonest, Dr. Giaever would say in recounting the episode with some amusement over the years, but he also did not correct the interviewer. He got the job.

Is this the same New York Times that is covering Mamdani's college application as a scandal?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/science/ivar-giaever-dead.html

@emptywheel.bsky.social He flew from the US to Rome via Moscow. And his lawyer says it was a "connecting flight"?

Trump Says US Must Send More Weapons to Ukraine, Days After Ordering Pause in Deliveries President Donald Trump said the U.S. will have to send more weapons to Ukraine, just days after ordering a pause in critical weapons deliveries to Kyiv.

I knew that this week was going to be Trump's TACO week, with Bibi's visit & the tariff deadline. But this takes the cake! https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/07/08/trump-says-us-must-send-more-weapons-ukraine-days-after-ordering-pause-deliveries.html

The Single Most Important Element In Creating Good Cities — Streetsblog USA A lot of U.S. cities are getting their "right of way" all wrong — and urbanists can help by getting to know this poorly-understood concept.

This is really good.
usa.streetsblog.org/2025/07/07/t...

@danwentzel The Gulag was concentration camps. Called that in Russian (kontzentratzionslager). The name is an acronym fot state adminstration of camps.

@actfortransit.bsky.social Isn't that the section of University Blvd where some loud people in nearby neighborhoods insist that we can't allow any more housing because it would slow down traffic?

@enobacon Elon is a normie???

Zohran Mamdani was asked about "globalize the intifada". He dodged the question. Lots of politicians dodge questions.
I'm less upset by Mamdani dodging the question, which told me little I didn't already know, than by the people (some I respect) denying he dodged the question or saying the […]

My article just out:
Progressive Jews (and non-Jews too!) need to revive the social democratic politics of solidarity. It brings poor & middle together, in contrast to the politics of far-left "allyship" & elite charity which both drive them apart […]

At Camden Yards, some of the biggest changes are between innings The club’s new chief marketing officer met with members of the team this season and asked what entertainment factors they’d like to see added during the game.

No, the Orioles' problem is not that Camden Yards doesn't have enough electronic cheerleading. https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/oriole-park-at-camden-yards-changes-in-game-entertainment-K3YFARGRH5GVLPS455NM6DVM3Q/?schk=YES&rchk=YES&mc_cid=ff24180413

The Hell No‼️ Committee For Friendship Heights says, "If we [sic] don't speak up, the council will pass ZTA 25-02."

🥳, but! Make sure YOU speak up. Please ask the County Council to pass ZTA 25-02 as a first step toward legalizing missing middle housing! actionbutton.nationbuilder.com/share/SPK-QE...

Proposal before City Hall would eliminate requirement for developers to build parking A new bill before the Baltimore City Council would eliminate the requirement to provide a minimum amount of off-street parking for new development.

Baltimore city council to consider eliminating minimum parking rquirements. https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/transportation/baltimore-parking-mandate-housing-requirement-TBWNPPT3KNEQRF7NOZUCE7HHPY/?schk=YES&rchk=YES&mc_cid=c9df1e3075