It's funny IMO that Berkeley, California was one of very first jurisdictions to ban straws/plastic bags -- you know, for the environment -- But soon as we learned the actual leading source of plastic pollution? Crickets. Performative progressivism. www-pbs-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.pbs....

"The people of San Francisco vote for liberal politicians, but when it comes to protecting the beauty of their city, they are hard-line conservatives." —Mayor Art Agnos

Its really understated how much of a turnaround Richmond, CA has. In the 1990s Richmond was a homicide capital of the west coast! There were blocks in Richmond I could not walk or wear red shoes on for fear of being shot.

GREENLAND UPDATE: 🇬🇱🇬🇱🇬🇱🇬🇱🇬🇱🇬🇱 Message from the Premier of Greenland

Drivers are so stupid they dont realize they're the main beneficaries of this policy. Making driving harder for people who dont need to drive (like me) frees up space for drivers who do need to drive.

i don't like Santa Baby

Only reason the court did this is that they're now genuinely worried that total lawlessness will be used against them in the future. They had to draw the line somewhere but still give Trump otherwise tremendous leeway to do whatever he wants.

Thanks El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll for holding a powerful vigil yesterday for Donna Revecho, who was killed while crossing San Pablo Ave. It was inspiring to join dozens to stand up for safe streets. We need to hold Caltrans accountable to make San Pablo safer & prevent more tragedies!

Today in extremely Berkeley headlines

Actual Challenge Mode: One Mustn't Go.

BART needs to start making PSAs onboard trains telling people to put their headphones in and stop blasting noise from their phones. It's genuinely getting annoying and this is all post-pandemic bad behavior.

Amazing results in New York remind me how disappointing it is that congestion pricing efforts have stalled in San Francisco. With congestion pricing, Muni service could be robustly funded, transit ridership would climb, and traffic through much of the Bay Area would significantly decrease.

This is a bizarre article about BART’s fiscal precarity that endlessly quotes from former Orinda Senator Steve Glazer, including the baseless assertion that if the regional measure fails the system could preserve service levels through vague executive salary cuts. sfstandard.com/2025/12/21/b...

I dont like that BART has delays almost daily now, but the freeway does too. No one blames Caltrans or declares they'll stop driving when you encounter traffic due to accidents, faulty infrastructure, or police activity.

Local realtor Eric Gellerman has a good monthly newsletter...

Im watching the Channel 5 video on the white-only settlement in Arkansas and the ringleader says is "we're a community of European traditions like the nuclear family." What's funnier: Americans thinking Europeans think of themselves as a single race or thinking the nuclear family is traditional.

i really want a little kitten so I can name them nimby.

In Santa Monica, the FPPC has disqualified pro-housing Councilmember Jesse Zwick from all future housing votes. They said that because he works for a housing non-profit, he’s “conflicted” and must recuse. Pretty absurd. The NIMBY deep state strikes again. www.smdp.com/state-regula...

Holy smokes the quotes here are deranged. He's pro-housing and pro-immigration but people on here are fantasizing about executing him because they can't read

State building code should supercede local code for situations like this. If it's been there for decades and hasn't been a flood, fire or mold hazard, and it meets state code, it's fine. The only purpose a more stringent city code serves is a shakedown.

Im in the South Bay and the backup to get to Great Mall is severe. You move like an inch per light cycle. So i did a hack: park on the street just outside the great mall and walk 10 mins to it. The South Bayers are shocked. The biggest invention since sliced bread.

Yes, it’s entirely true that many of the migrants who came under the Biden admin did not have housing arranged for them when they arrived and so ended up in homeless shelters at first, at times for months, while they got on their feet. This is 100% true, not an anti-immigrant gotcha, just the facts.

Rest In Power to Betty Reid Soskin www.grandviewindependent.com/betty-reid-s...

This is a man who called himself an atheist until he was apprised that that was a political liability in Ohio. Now he calls himself a Catholic, while flouting the church's theology and holding the church itself up to ridicule.

"Real-estate agents are noticing more throuples and polycules buying homes together, often with everyone’s name on the deed." www.wsj.com/real-estate/... (gift link)

“.. based on the data we have to date; it looks like manufacturing is experiencing more of a slump than is generally recognized ..” @deanbaker13.bsky.social cepr.net/publications...

Not having 2 workers on a train means a surplus of workers tha could be used for more train frequency, janitorial duties, station safety etc. It doesnt mean mass unemployment.

The NY TWU turned opposed congestion pricing as well. Really seems like they're laser-focused on extracting the rents they can from a static or declining system rather than participating in a positive-sum program to expand transit service to more New Yorkers

An immigrant works a dangerous job to protect Americans. It puts him in medical debt. Now he also has to worry about being deported by ICE when he goes to work or takes his kid to a soccer tournament. Feel safer?

I think on some level conservative NIMBYs oppose more housing because they dislike the idea of young people having more choices in how their lives are going to unfold

Another Oakland area earthquake. Very slight; felt like a truck drove by. We're getting a lot of little tremors lately. Wonder if the climax coming after 30 years of waiting. Make sure you have an earthquake emergency kit! berkeleyca.gov/safety-healt...

Nextdoor doesnt surprise me anymore but was astonished by the claim that the TEMPO bus lanes on International Blvd are rarely used (15,000 riders a day, 10 minute intervals).

Trump has begun lifting American sanctions on companies that sell weapons to the Russian military. The Russians have finally offered enough money to the Trump family and Trump is 100% on Russia's side now.

My new age hippie neighbor wears a shirt with this on it and every time i see her im like : Dont rant. Dont rant. Dont rant.

Its neoliberal to not have two people driving a subway train in 2025!! Should every subway have a cabose too?

My favorite holiday meal

"A rapist yelled at America last night. A rapist insisted that he was the greatest president in history. A rapist declared that he did more than any other president has in eight years, which, if measured by destruction and death, perhaps, perhaps." rudepundit.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-ra...

The US sided with regressive countries to strip LGBT inclusion from a UN disability bill 😣 The original text simply noted that persons with disabilities experience amplified barriers when their disability interacts with diverse contexts, such as sexual orientation and gender identity.

I think the coming de-Stalinization of Trump from public buildings, plaques etc will be very therapeutic for a nation that has never really experienced this level of deranged, cult of personality outside of Hollywood movies and schooling on other nations Turns out it can happen here after all

An American beast. Tamed. #WorldBollardAssociation

I think a huge amount of this is comparative anxiety and also future expectations. Being a 25 yo no-college worker not able to buy a car or a TV felt normal in 1965. Not so much in 2025.

Anyone who spends a lot of time at young conservative conferences can tell you this is fairly common. Or who goes to a happy hour in D.C. for AEI, Heritage or any of the other big conservative think tanks.

Costco in West Oakland is great for everyone. Blue collar workers and young men especially reeling with high unemployment in Oakland need these pro-union, good paying jobs. it also helps reverse a food desert and brings tax revenue to Oakland instead of Emeryville. Lots of wins here.

Canary in the coal mine for the state of subsidized low income housing in California. www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/a...

Do you ever just stare at a BART station and think about the workers that built these things a half century ago?

I think there's a lot to this but honestly in my opinion the underlying dynamic that makes Zohran friendly to YIMBY orgs is just that he's heard the case for increased housing supply and agrees with it