the fact that there is free parking at all in manhattan is wild to me

Gahhahahahahha

LONG THREAD: My reporting on the insurance crisis has forced me to rethink some of my assumptions about where the most serious risk lies when it comes to wildfires that result in home loss. Like many, I assumed the phenomenon was most heavily concentrated in or near wooded areas. Think Paradise, CA

I’d like to end by sharing some reporting on a compelling counterexample to our broken fire relationship: the Karuk of N. California who, along with other tribes & non-Native allies, are bringing back a time immemorial fire tradition. I wish them well. www.boisestatepublicradio.org/environment/...

And here’s the part of our interview where Dr. Balch tied it all together. It’s what she calls the “scary side of the coin.”

Further, the SRP has also seen some of the quickest acceleration in fire speed. Already fast, our grassfires are getting EVEN FASTER.

Here are two key quotes from Dr. Balch:

Here’s a table from the paper of the 20 fastest fires in the contiguous US between 2001 and 2020. Pay particular attention to the dominant vegetation column (spoiler: GRASSLANDS!)

And here’s a key finding from a separate 2023 paper. ~80% OF BUILDINGS DESTROYED IN THE WEST OCCURRED DURING GRASSFIRES! www.fs.usda.gov/nrs/pubs/jrn...

If you don’t work in climate/water/atmos sciences you might not know how big of a deal NCAR is. The closest is like if particle physics lost CERN. The collider, the staff, the institutions. It’s like if US social science lost census.gov. It’s like if IEEE *and* Digikey disappeared.

Me and my point access buddies have utensils grasped in our hands and we are banging our fists on the dining table screaming for more density at Talaris

House Our Neighbor’s Housey mascot and Humpy the Salmon meetup when

Every time my opps blink I daylight another creek

birdwatchers want to live in the Talaris site for quick and easy access to Union Bay Natural Area

it's *december*

What are your five favorite episodes of television, any show, any genre? I'll start: 1. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia— "Mac Finds His Pride" 2. Rutherford Falls — "Halloween" 3. Reservation Dogs — "Hunting" 4. Modern Family — "The Future Dunphys" 5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer — "Hush"

Oh I actually woke up thinking about this and really thought it was a horrible dream that I hallucinated last night. Can’t be real

I…can’t even wrap my head around this. This is catastrophic and I have no words.

everyone was talking about this last night our infrastructure was built for a climate that no longer exists

So probable cause is now just...going to an East African restaurant

This is fucking grim. Somebody invented a white guy, an "IT professional" named Edward Crabtree, who stopped the Bondi shooting and spread it all over the internet, which was picked up by AI agents and slop aggregation sites. The real hero is a fruit stand owner named Ahmed el Ahmed.

couldn't agree more. there's nowhere in Seattle RRFBs are good replacement for a 4-way stop. I especially dislike them where greenway routes cross arterials. Drivers do not yield unless you aggressively step or roll into the road even with lights activated. and sometimes, they don't even stop.

our bifurcated & malicious land use policies enrich homeowners while harming renters no other country focuses affordable/multifamily housing on the most toxic streets to the degree the US does this also have massively poor public health outcomes. EVs don't solve this www.wsj.com/real-estate/...

If you have a little extra cash right now, consider making a donation to @foodjusticec2c.bsky.social — they are a grassroots organization that works with farmworkers in the Skagit Valley, which just endured its worst flooding in history.

Oops! As it turns out I made a mistake! I just realized (thanks to this new feature + a few quality checks 😅) that I misnamed the source file and that previously I was not loading the certified precinct results! This error has been corrected. If you've used this tool before you might want to rerun!

Western Washington is currently experiencing record flooding from a series of strong atmospheric rivers. 12 rivers are at major flood stage. 100,000 people await evacuation orders. Will some places see less severe climate impacts than others? Yes. Does anywhere promise safe haven? Absolutely not.

Seems like folks wanna know how to see the actual areas that will likely be flooded - made a quicker new video to show you that: youtu.be/FP133HfNOCE

Made this quick vid to show u guys how to see what's going on w/ the flooding right now Or rather I made it quickly, but it's not quick 😆. I don't believe in short form vid content bc it hurts my brain. I think ppl should watch long boring things lol u can always watch on 2x 🤷🏻‍♀️ youtu.be/GVhGU75u-cY

Put in where you live and see where ppl are most politically similar to u based on this most recent election! Bonus extra credit points to whoever can figure out which 2 precincts in the whole city are most politically far apart!!! lol

Pro tip: use social media to meet cool people to do things you cant or shouldn't talk about on social media and then you can occasionally use socials to nod and be like "oh hey" and do bits and support each other's public stuff while having inside jokes and knowledge which is extremely fun and cute

I can't wait to take it later today!

It's over. Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut. www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...

I've become deeply radicalized against gambling. It's just getting more evil the longer it's allowed to fester unregulated

we are approaching him giving himself a month on the calendar, right?

So: @theurbanist.org is holding our holiday party next Tuesday, which is also our biggest fundraiser of the year. I'll be there, and if you spring for the VIP ticket you even get to hear me make some remarks about how pivotal Urbanist reporting will be in 2026. www.eventbrite.com/e/the-urbani...

I'm going to keep saying this in my effort to speak it into reality: Supreme Court should have at least 100 Justices with rotating panels (and maybe an en banc option). No single Justice should have so much power and they shouldn't be names everyone knows.

Two independent studies found that AI chatbots were better at persuading voters than political ads. The most persuasive bots also lied the most. This is something that humans working in psyops have known for decades. AI is psyops at scale. www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/04/1...

Omg this explains why I’ve gotten called a journalist (derogatory, I think) from shitposting! Also why YouTubers are calling themselves journalists now. WOW omg it all makes sense. And also no, don’t do this lol

Okay, some Seattleites are valid

When will Seattle get a council member who will write this in all caps on their bsky???

So true. I'd just add: the ascent in influence—from the lowest rung on the proverbial ladder of engagement to the many of the most powerful organizational roles in the city—is much flatter than many tend to assume. But the catch, and the key, is to engage consistently and as part of an organization.

I really can't emphasize enough that if you care about local politics, all you gotta do is show up. Just a regular schmegular person showing up. Literally just show up consistently in person and within a remarkably short amount of time, you will have a shocking amount of influence.

Out of 4 of my recent regular bus stops, 3 of them are at gas stations. Lol why do we do this? Also none of them have separation btwn the sidewalk & the gas station so sometimes cars like to use a lil sidewalk to go around a car at one pump to the pump in front of it lol what fun

Relatable Corvid

Excited to hear that Seattle e-cargobike freight/delivery initiative has launched. Pumped our new mayor will be pre-disposed to wanting it to succeed, Go @seattledot.bsky.social and thank you for your help, @c40cities.bsky.social #ClimateInfluence will be big. sdotblog.seattle.gov/2025/11/20/s...

Farm workers stand in solidarity with striking Starbucks workers. Starbucks baristas have been fighting for a fair union contract for close to 4 years. Just like many farm workers, @sbworkersunited.org is fighting back against greedy union busting employers. #NoContractNoCoffee

For anybody unfamiliar with the last 10+ years of housing politics in America, San Francisco legalizing 8-story apartments in most of the city including its wealthy neighborhoods (and up to 65 stories in some places!) is like PETA opening a steakhouse.

Big housing news in San Francisco today: the Board of Supervisors (their equivalent of City Council) votes to upzone the entire western half of the city. Currently much of the westside is houses. Commercial streets get a height boost. Diagrams & maps below from sfplanning.org/sites/defaul...

#Seattle peeps! Join us Saturday…Plz repost. @shirleyswirley.bsky.social @analogist.net @katestarbird.bsky.social @romich.bsky.social @gramsofgnats.bsky.social @theneedling.com @holz-bau.bsky.social @hdhill.bsky.social @vivmccall.bsky.social @seattletru.bsky.social @seattleindivisible.bsky.social

“During its regular meeting tonight, Spokane City Council voted yes to impose a 12% tax on commercial parking lots across the city.” If you want more of something, subsidize it. If you want less of something, tax it. #Spokane clearly wants less asphalt, which will also result in…