Scott Urban

Senator Tuberville on x writing a response to the @endwokeness account Original tweet from @EndWokeness - “less than 25 years apart” Image 1 - the twin towers as they are hit by a the planes on 9/11/2001 Image 2 - Mayor Mamdani sitting on a prayer rug while hosting an Iftar at city hall Quote tweet from Senator Tuberville - “the enemy is inside the gates.”

Let there be as much outrage from politicians in Washington when kids go hungry as there is when I break bread with New Yorkers.

My local council plans to close our outdoor pool (after a decade of outsourced neglect) so if anyone on here has contacts who’ve fought that and won, preferably without making the pool pricey and inaccessible…. i would *love* to hear from you (my email is in bio).

Oil Prices Could Easily Go Much Higher If the Strait stays closed, look out above

Krugman: "I’ve seen some alarmists warn that a long war in the Gulf could lead to oil at $150 a barrel. That looks low to me." paulkrugman.substack.com/p/oil-prices...

Memo to Mamdani: Make This Summer's World Cup A Car-Free Paradise - Streetsblog New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani should showcase New York's cultural mosaic by setting up World Cup viewing parties in car-free streets this summer.

Norman's piece is right on: car free watch parties all over town is exactly how the city should celebrate the World Cup

Also: boycott Trump-bootlicking-FIFA official fanzones

Mamdani linking free buses to sports events in NJ subtracts a lot of the urgency of "economic relief for struggling NYers"

"Cars are the most absurd means of transport in a city. They are parked 95 per cent of the time. It takes two tonnes to move someone who weighs 70 kilogrammes. And the denser the city, the more absurd it is."

Trump administration underestimated Iran war’s impact on Strait of Hormuz | CNN Politics The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, accord...

2/ "The Pentagon and [NSC] significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes ... agency analysis and forecasts that would be integral elements of the decision-making process in past administrations were secondary considerations."

Trump administration underestimated Iran war’s impact on Strait of Hormuz | CNN Politics The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, accord...

"Top Trump officials acknowledged to lawmakers during recent classified briefings that they did not plan for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to strikes."

www.cnn.com/2026/03/12/p...

Richly informative follow-these-folks starter pack.

He basically says "It's OK that uninformed 20-year-olds who never applied for a grant or reviewed one were making the decisions to cancel these outright, you see, because we read books."

The lawyer asks: "Which books?"

"Oh, there were no books."

Screen grab from link above. "The largest sources of transportation greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 were light-duty trucks, which include sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, and minivans (37%); medium and heavy-duty trucks (23%); passenger cars (20%); commercial aircraft (7%); other aircraft (2%); pipelines (4%); ships and boats (3%); and rail (2%)"

I had a person argue with me that airplanes create the most greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. transportation sector. I pointed at the parking lot across the street and said, "No, it's the cars! Look at them all!"

To be more specific, it's the pickup trucks and SUVs.

www.epa.gov/ghgemissions...

"Every signal that America no longer considers itself bound by the rules it wrote chips away at that asset. When it goes, the costs hit at home, landing in higher mortgage rates, car loans, credit card rates and a government that can no longer afford its own ambitions."

My favorite thing is when people act as if a car and a bicycle pose the same risk to vulnerable road users

Image contrasting Trump's propoganda with the reality on the ground in Iran

This isn't liberation, this is an ecological disaster⁠
⁠
Over the weekend, Tehran was plunged into darkness after US and Israeli strikes on oil depots across the city

Toxic chemicals were unleashed into the atmosphere, polluting the air people breathe and turning the rain acidic

The best part:

More people taking the bus since Oxford temporary congestion charge Data from bus companies shows more people are using local bus services since Oxfordshire County Council introduced a temporary congestion charge in Oxford.  The data from Go Ahead, which owns six loca...

Right I know this is shocking, but guess what? The Oxford Congestion Charge is seeing LESS congestion and MORE people taking the bus. Try this one simple trick etc etc.

news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/more-people-...

Another thing to add to the "every leader who shied away from this for political reasons looks quite silly now" pile.

I'll bet the air quality data is stunningly good too...

More people taking the bus since Oxford temporary congestion charge Data from bus companies shows more people are using local bus services since Oxfordshire County Council introduced a temporary congestion charge in Oxford.  The data from Go Ahead, which owns six loca...

Bus use in Oxford is up around 8% since the county council introduced a temporary congestion charge, with operators reporting faster journeys, improved services and growing passenger numbers across the city and wider county.

Read more ➡️ news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/more-people-...

Mamdani is considering ending free street parking in NYC. This would be another huge boost to NYC residents' quality of life, reducing traffic in ways that would be comparable to congestion pricing. And it would be another step in ending suburban free-riding on NYC.

white text on black City: We unanimously declare a climate emergency! We must make change no matter what the cost, humanity's survival depends on it! Community: Can we put in a protected mobility lane? City: No, we'll lose parking spots

An emergency

So I’m wondering what more it would take for everyone to finally understand that, just like he was famously awful as a businessman, Trump is completely and thoroughly horrible at managing the economy? Other than turning off Fox News, I mean.

Joe Rogan says “people feel betrayed” by Trump's war in Iran: “He ran on no more wars”

Why isn’t Elizabeth Warren the Senate Minority Leader?

Always a good read...

I'm not saying they are the most important things on the list, but this report completely misses transport independence and the design of streets.

Amazing.

Trump appears to be uniting a nation, unafraid of death, in a holy war against its aggressor; an aggressor that has killed hundreds of its children, bombed hospitals & aid centres and poisoned it’s capital city.

Trump has no ability to end this on his own terms. A generation-defining catastrophe.

Skills on the Move: Linking Labour Mobility and Vocational Training Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is often touted as an important tool in low- and middle-income countries struggling with high levels of unemployment and large skills gaps. As a ...

Imagine visionary collaboration to train migrant workers with skills critical to the energy transition.

Investing in migrants’ human capital as a strategic resource.

The brilliant @helen-dempster.bsky.social @cgdev.org and @irexintl.bsky.social are not just imagining it. They’re building it —>

The Lord Mayor of Chester learns to ride a bike The Lord Mayor of Chester is taking on one of her biggest fears during her mayoral year. Cllr Sherin Akhtar has not ridden a bike since childhood. When she started to learn she crashed badly and hurt ...

It’s never too late to learn to ride 🚲

The Lord Mayor of Chester is learning to cycle — supported by @bikeright.co.uk, who deliver Bikeability training in local schools & adult cycle skills sessions.

Great to see cycle training building confidence at every age.

How ICE Plans to Put 8,500 Immigrants in This Georgia Warehouse (Gift Article) Experts say the initial designs raise health, safety and security concerns.

🧊 GEORGIA ICE CAMP

👉 Take a look at plans for an ICE concentration camp at a mega-warehouse in Social Circle, Georgia (gift link) 👀

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How about no? How about drive less? How about stop building towns and cities that force driving? How about we stop subsidising drivers to the tune of £4 to every £1 of tax they pay?

There’s no such thing as a green car. What you’re thinking of is a less bad car that we’re at risk of having more of, and driving more, because we’ve been convinced it’s a green car.

Again, see the thread.