Voters have been trained by mainstream media & Republican propaganda to think that "moderate" & "left" are about culture war, not economics. That's why you get the poll numbers that pro-corporate Dems & their media allies use.

Rollover Collision [at the Deadly Intersection of Columbia Pike/29 and Fairland Rd] Leaves Ten People Injured; Cyber Truck Split in Half mocoshow.com/2026/07/18/r...

And you thought we had a vetting problem with Platner? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/u...

You can count on the French. Here developing a space cuisine device that will enable astronauts to choose their own recipes and prepare tasty meals in weightlessness.

The number of miles driven in Maryland, divided by the state's population, closely tracked the US average until the pandemic. Since then it has been significantly below the US average. (This may differ from the number of miles driven by Maryland residents.) Source: frontiergroup.org/resources/wh...

Musk's Boring Company vaporware just won't go away. Awards a free 1-mile tunnel to Baltimore Ravens, who never ran their proposal past the city. Plan collapses within a day. www.thebanner.com/community/tr...

Maryland State Highway Administration has a "Safety Initiative" called "Serious About Safety." An implied admission that most of the traffic engineering profession's constant talk about safety hasn't really been serious.

One of the many marvels of US traffic law is that a driver who obstructs a traffic lane for several minutes gets honked at, quite possibly ticketed, and in some places jailed if it's done as a protest. Even worse if it's done on foot or on a bicycle. But if on line for a drive-thru, no problem!

Important story about weaponization of anti-Israel politics in a dispute that's about union democracy & alleged corruption. Important context: The United Auto Workers is now about 3/4 industrial union and 1/4 a union of grad students & professionals. paydayreport.com/leaked-uaw-t...

This is an excellent introduction for those unfamiliar with the history. There's one significant detail it doesn't get quite right, though. A thread. Today's DSA understands its relationship to the Democratic Party differently from how Michael Harrington did. 1/n www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/m...

Two basic principles that zoning regulations are based on. 1) A healthy community needs family-sized apartments, not studios & 1-bedrooms. 2) We must not allow new housing to overcrowd the schools and increase the school budget.

Half my Bluesky stream (the more annoying half, to be sure) would vanish if people took this incontrovertible point seriously. The Democratic Party is a coalition & has no single "base." talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/why-t...

On a train you can get small talk all the way.

This is an excellent introduction for those unfamiliar with the history. There's one significant detail it doesn't get quite right, though. A thread. Today's DSA understands its relationship to the Democratic Party differently from how Michael Harrington did. 1/n www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/m...

This Brooklyn story is such a classic that I feel obligated to share it with all my followers.

It’s wild what keyboard warriors will say online to dehumanize those of us who can’t afford to buy a detached home.

Hard to tar an entire political point of view with the Platner vetting debacle when there's also a Swalwell vetting debacle, not to even mention Matt Gaetz & Tony Gonzales. (And I certainly have political differences with the consultants who launched Platner.)

Price charged by @mcdotnow.bsky.social to park on weekdays in two spaces on a street in Bethesda. On the left: 8 cents per day* On the right: $2.25 per hour *But only if you live in a single-family house in the neighborhood. Otherwise, you can't park there at all.

Looks like Britain will get a PM with some real understanding of railroads. "An extraordinary journey from the pages of the tank container industry press to the steps of Downing Street." h/t @snilttroll.bsky.social bulk-distributor.com/2026/07/form...

Safety theater at its worst. How can an "eye-catching" message that takes time to figure out - in giant type on a billboard high above the road - get drivers to "keep their eyes on the road" and "slow down"? Even traffic engineers know large type speeds traffic. www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/m...

New York's bus plan breaks with BRT orthodoxy. Instead of years-long planning studies, "rapid bus corridors will be implemented through a combination of short-term & long-term projects, which will include quick-build street improvements..." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/n... www.nyc.gov/html/dot/dow...

It is more accurate to say Sanders style social democrats are winning everywhere, but DSA and leftist media try to claim those candidates as their to burnish their influence. DSA is pissed at Bernie, AOC, and Mamdani at least twice a week because they are too smart to toe the DSA line.

Architectural design standards are a prime example of something I've observed about bureaucracy. 500 people working together can make a decision that's worse than what any one of the 500 would have decided on their own.

How to do it: 1. More frequent buses. 2. Evaluate. 3. Target capital improvements based on ridership & location of bottlenecks. How NOT to do it: 1. Expensive, time-consuming planning process. 2. Expensive, time-consuming construction. 3. More frequent buses.

This is not the way to think of it. The Senate election results in different states are not statistically independent. They are strongly correlated, but not entirely. You bet on the national trend by pushing in every remotely winnable state (don't leave out Florida, Kansas, or even Mississippi).

Repelled by DSA's tankie foreign policy stance & destroy-Israel litmus test? Don't back pro-corporate Democrats. It's wrong & will only strengthen the worst elements in DSA. Back genuinely democratic economic progressives, who still far outnumber the tankie-friendly. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/07/n...

When you try to "preserve neighborhood character" in a neighborhood that burned down, you are admitting that "neighborhood character" is entirely about the socioeconimcs of the people that live there and has nothing to do with buildings.

One thing to note about Platner is that the Washington consultants who plucked him out of obscurity, while they broke with Washington consultant-think in many ways, were very much doing Washington consultant-think when they picked a combat veteran without poliltical experience to run.

When you try to "preserve neighborhood character" in a neighborhood that burned down, you are admitting that "neighborhood character" is entirely about the socioeconimcs of the people that live there and has nothing to do with buildings.

Just walked by a car, a USPS truck, and an Amazon delivery truck all parked in the bus lane in the 2 blocks from Woodmont Ave to Bradly Blvd. Now Amazon truck has left and UPS truck is there. Enforcement urgently needed if Red Line shutdown bus lanes are to succeed.

This is exactly right: "The ascendant DSA is a boon to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose own brand of extremism thrives on creating an Israel-against-the-world mentality." forward.com/opinion/8359...

Red Line shutdown got a serious (if less than ideal) response from @mdsha.bsky.social & @wmata.com: frequent shuttle buses & bus lanes. MoCo's infrequent peak-only shuttle bus to Glenmont & bikeshare price cut seem designed for press releases, not to help riders. Bus lane enforcement? We shall see.

Extraordinary look at a family of Jewish patriots in the Revolutionary War & their descendants, among them Emma Lazarus, a Supreme Court justice, and a New York Times publisher. Today they look at the US and some have moved to Israel or taken out Portuguese passports. forward.com/culture/8321...

There's a need for an explicitly social democratic political organization that stands clearly against both the pro-corporate wing of the Democratic Party and the no-enemies-to-the-left politics that dominates DSA. A multitude of activists & thinkers have that politics; a focus point is needed.

The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro and all other Johns Hopkins University Press books 40 percent off through July 8. Free domestic shipping for orders > $75. www.press.jhu.edu/books

Chait's profile of DSA's national leadership is, sadly, very accurate (although shaky on early history). But he gets the remedy wrong. The economic system is broken & voters demand an alternative. Most (not all) DSA-endorsed electeds are small-d democrats & the Democratic Party should embrace them.

you know, when someone says something like "these are the things that need to be done to avert disaster" and your response is "you think democrats will do that?!?" all you're telling me is that you think politics is a spectator sport

DSA's real problem is buried inside this article. A chapter poll found 39.3% of members identified as anarchists, 35.7% as Marxists & 10.7% as democratic socialists. Tankies, anarchists etc are freeloading on the popularity of democratic socialist ideas. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/o...

Judge issues final order that forces Trump to keep funding new Hudson River rail tunnels. Calls his attempts to stop funding "flagrantly illegal." [gift link] www.nytimes.com/2026/06/29/n...

A classic! Guy who lives in 20-story condo fights "dense and high-rise development" across the street. Another guy from same building is "very angry." Says he wants new people in area but 7 or 8 stories is "something else." Signs actually say “Not In Our Backyard”! www.thebanner.com/economy/grow...

And when a bus with 60 passengers has to wait 90 seconds at a light before it can turn onto an arterial road, it means that a driver alone in a car one mile away gets priority over 60 people who have already arrived at the corner.

One calculation that blew my mind: When I push a pedestrian beg button to cross an arterial road w/ 40 mph spd limit. Wait of 90 sec means a car 1 mile away gets to priority to clear the intersection before I am allowed to cross the road. I am standing roadside breathing particulates

In a campaign I worked on in Boston long ago, 1 of the 6 opponents was named William P Foley. Born William Patriarca Intraversato, he changed his name to resemble Willliam J Foley Sr & Jr, long-serving DA & Boston City Councillor. William P once got elected to the Boston School Committee. 1/2

I know of few sights as aggressively contemptuous of transit riders than the prison-like architecture of the Montgomery Mall transit center. (Seen from thedirection of the mall, the main destination it serves.

"Not enough community input" should be the free space in the middle of the nimby bingo card, since it's never the case that you don't get that square.

Great piece! One thing I'd add. There isn't a single scale from "moderate" to "progressive." Economic progressives are often pro-Israel social-issue moderates, and pro-corporate moderates often wind up running on "woke" cultural issues because their economic message has no mass appeal.

Have you looked at cutting light cycle (likely ~120 sec) in half at non-bottleneck intersections? This is a no-cost intervention (less than a day's work) that has negligible effect on drivers & gives significant time & $$ savings, especially where buses make left turns to enter or leave main road.

One of the ways the ADL is failing is by ignoring wedges. Lander: Meretz-ish progressive Zionist, pro-Ukraine, quit DSA because it was pro-7.10, friendly to Hakeem Jeffries. Chevalier: Putinist, clownish, against interracial marriage, attended a pro-7.10 protest, anti-Jeffries. Don't lump them.

Bus emission concern is the absolute biggest waste of time

I think part of the reason Trump bailed out on the housing bill is that he instinctively doesn't like the bill. He likes high real estate prices and wants development to be tightly & arbitrarily regulated so that you can't build new housing unless you bribe a politician.