“The [Copenhagen] modal split in 1970 was about 10% biking. But then we got the oil crisis…So that was the changing point and now there’s more than a 30% bike modal split.”
We can change our cities. Because of the high price of gas, or just because it’s clearly the smart thing to do. #UrbanTruth
This is all worth a read, but I especially liked this extra example:
“in Youngstown, during the summer months from 2016 to 2018, violent crime fell at twice the rate on streets surrounding vacant lots transformed into gardens and play spaces by community residents“
Doorstep play space matters!
Me to whiny baby drivers who complain about traffic calming: CRY HARDER!
My class was scheduled to read Thomas Schelling this month in our course on Nuclear Weapons and World Politics. It turned out to be a current affairs course. Here's part 1 of my series on reading Schelling in this crisis.
open.substack.com/pub/musgrave...
cc @juliaazari.bsky.social and @brookebikesmke.bsky.social
It can be a decent research assistant. However, I say that as a PhD who believes the primary benefit of a PhD is learning precisely how stupid (smart) you are. People don’t know what they don’t know, and you have to cross-check and verify everything. AI will not replace the benefits of liberal arts.
I have been trying out different research projects that an ambitious middle or high school social studies student might want to learn more about. It’s fascinating how it is helpful on some things and absolutely awful on others.
😍
anti-trans Dems ate shit last night
Orwell wept
Minneapolis speed cameras:
The number of drivers detected going 10 mph over the speed limit where cameras were placed dropped by more than 50% in the first three months after cameras went live.
This is correct. And our Constitution seems incapable of stopping it. Democrats are powerless without 2/3 of the senate to remove him and Republicans just won’t.
Wrote a thing about the lessons of the 2003 Iraq invasion for the current situation. tl;dr, the world is a serious place and we're an increasingly unserious country goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/lessons-fr...
While also informing him that he better respect it
I’d wear that like a badge of honor tbh
Yes, but so is waging war on the people of Minnesota. Which I consider a clear case of treason.
With Democrats like this, who needs Republicans?
I need everyone to brace themselves for the fallout of this, which is going to be dems embracing Anthropic as a #resistance corporation, and likely Open AI as well.
they're already shoving this shit down our throats, now they'll try and claim its to "own" trump.
No - National Standard wire company in Niles, Michigan; my grandfather moved from there to Aroma Park, Illinois where I was born. I have more family in Niles as Illinois, I think.
Ironically, 200 years later the American Civil War destroyed what wealth my ancestors had built up as they moved from MD -> NC -> TN, where the Army of the Cumberland marched through and destroyed what they had. My great-grandfather ultimately moves north and that's how I ended up in IL.
I did find out recently that my great uncle (21 generations back) was Robert the Bruce. My ancestor married his sister in a deal that gave my family (Frasers) land in Aberdeenshire.
My distant grandfather fled after the Scottish Committee of Estates ordered him and the family raise money and troops after Charles I was executed. They had no money as the Marquess of Montrose destroyed the family's grain/wealth 4 years prior. He arrived in Maryland in 1649.
That's the exact best use of AI that I've found. I've used Gemini for a lot of genealogical/historical research. It's not perfect, and you should check everything, but it's been extraordinarily useful. I've basically spent the last year studying the English Civil War (and my family's place in it).
Paramount should enjoy its growing news monopoly while they have it because when Democrats win back power we are going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates. All of them.
See, what you should do is just make some large AVs, and they could take a bunch of people at once. You could cut down on traffic that way. You could connect a bunch of them together to carry more people! You could even have them go down a specific route dedicated to transit. And, like, at set times
New meta-analysis of 26 published studies concludes that AVs will lead people to use cars a lot more — which would thicken congestion and worsen pollution (even if AVs are electric).
"AV deployment is anticipated to lead to an overall increase in Vehicle Miles Traveled."
doi.org/10.1016/j.tb...
Washington Post Headline: Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency
Donald Trump’s plan to steal the 2026 midterm elections is already underway.
I loved Phantasmagoria. Long Live Roberta Williams!
Sometimes I wonder what my motivation is at this stage in my career. And it's this. Making sure small-minded men die mad about my inclusion. And propping the door open for as many smart and kind people as I can.
