Stan Oklobdzija
@stano.bsky.social
7.5K followers 1.9K following 6.2K posts
Ass. Prof. Public Policy @ UC Riverside | Build Better Cities Through Better Government | 1st Gen 🇺🇸: 🇷🇸/ Việt Nam Cộng Hòa | 躺平 | Ham chơi stanokl.github.io | https://everyoneiswelcome.substack.com/ 📍: The Inland Empire, California.
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stano.bsky.social
We're so fortunate that our presidential democracy's collapse came at the hands of the dumbest little children alive. Imagine if Pinochet and his generals sniffed glue in their off hours.
stano.bsky.social
Take National Guard troops away from their families and jobs at a moment's notice for a pudding brained authoritarian's social media clout, billet them on the floor of county buildings and then send a bunch of them back to Texas because people online called them "Gravy Seals."
nslayton.bsky.social
The Texas Military Department confirmed to @taskandpurpose.com it had replaced some of the 200 National Guard troops sent to Chicago for not being "in compliance" with validation standards. This came after photos of heavyset NG members were widely mocked. taskandpurpose.com/news/texas-n...
Some Texas National Guard troops replaced in Illinois after failing to meet standards
An unspecified amount of Texas National Guard troops were replaced in Chicago, shortly after photos of their appearance were mocked.
taskandpurpose.com
stano.bsky.social
70 percent of faculty as of 2021 were contingent compared to 24 percent who were tenured. A hiring and promotion system that only extends basic job security and free speech protections to less than a quarter of employees is awful and should be discarded. Why do we divide and conquer ourselves?
stano.bsky.social
Hmm so I guess tenure really is just for shielding sex pests and deadwood while also creating a caste system for academia. Maybe we can just abolish this terrible system after all?
stano.bsky.social
I thought the city removed entitlements for the project and that's what pissed the owner off.

Regardless, the city could change the zoning to entice another developer into buying it off that guy who apparently is in dire financial straits.
VIEWPOINT: The forgotten property at Village West | Claremont COURIER
https://youtu.be/ySvZYCHPNhE by Matt Weinberger When you visit downtown Claremont, you can’t help but notice that large, empty brown plot of land.
claremont-courier.com
stano.bsky.social
Also Claremont has a literal Parks and Rec style pit about a five minute walk to their train station.
stano.bsky.social
Transit agencies need to get into the real estate game.
stano.bsky.social
Now that SB 79 has passed, hopefully it changes incentives for transit agencies to redevelop the land they hold for surface parking near stations. Just rode past Pomona North and saw that Metro added a new surface lot to compliment Metrolink's existing one.
stano.bsky.social
There's a very strong argument to be made that a democratic order collapses when elections are no longer between parties that adhere to liberal democratic norms, traditions and philosophies. At that point, a constitution should be redrawn.
stano.bsky.social
The reason we've coalesced on "Democrats win every election" as a safeguard is that the obvious solution to a political movement that's abandoned democratic principles is outlawing it. There's a reason that fascist parties are illegal in much of Europe.
stano.bsky.social
It's quite understated that the reason America lapsed into authoritarianism is that Republicans refused to police their own party because our country and our constitution mean absolutely nothing to them.
jonmladd.bsky.social
This is an essential. "Democrats need to beat the Trumpists in elections that we ensure are free" is the best strategy for the next 2-4 years. But it is not a long-term strategy! The only possible long-term strategy is that someone else needs to defeat the Trumpists for control of the Repub Party.
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
“Win every election” is not a viable strategy for preventing authoritarianism
stano.bsky.social
I also don't think the people of California should be subject to this Roger Taney ass illegitimate Supreme Court who says the dictator is immune for prosecution when he deserves to rot in a prison cell.
stano.bsky.social
One of the main reasons I'm in favor of Blue State secession is because I no longer wish to live in a 3rd World country where the dictator's family enriches itself by trading in official acts.
atrupar.com
Trump's conversation with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is caught on a hot mic. Hard to tell exactly what they are talking about, but Subianto asks Trump about meeting Eric Trump and Don Jr, who supposedly have nothing to do with government while they run the family business.
stano.bsky.social
Extremely basic information is kept secret by legislative bodies. Think about how long it takes for a roll call vote to go up on congress.gov.
stano.bsky.social
I think people don't understand that the quality of journalism is directly influenced by the quality of open information laws. Political journalists are as obsequious as they are because they literally can't do their job without access to privileged information like when a bill will be heard.
beijingpalmer.bsky.social
I don't understand why U.S. reporters so regularly seem to let politicians get away with 'I haven't seen that' about stuff a) they obviously know and b) is directly relevant to their job. Did they sign some kind of agreement never to ask a follow-up question?
atrupar.com
REPORTER: We know the president moved forward with mass layoffs. We're also learning there were significant cuts to staff at special education services. Are you comfortable with those cuts?

MIKE JOHNSON: I haven't seen the specifics of that and I don't know
stano.bsky.social
As a broader point, there are certain professions that entirely walled off to anyone whose parents were not in the top 10% of American income earners and journalism is now one of those professions. Reporters, especially for national outlets, look at those in the bottom 90% like they're foreigners.
opinionhaver.bsky.social
There’s also another aspect of this: reporters are cosmopolitan, urbane people that live in cities. Many of them have internalized the fact that people like them are not “real Americans”. So they attempt to correct for this perceived inauthenticity
whstancil.bsky.social
The psychology that twists coverage in Trump’s favor is transparent, once you accept that psychology plays a role. They want to be perceived as neutral by their peers, and they know their peers suspect them of anti-Trump bias. So they demonstrate independence by scrutinizing Dems and praising Trump.
stano.bsky.social
It's not racism. The average European, especially the average Portuguese, is far more racist than even the average White Louisianan.

The problem is that our constitution gave us a system of government that is uniquely terrible and designed to produce poor outcomes.
stano.bsky.social
I could not get over going around Portugal with the information that it was poorer than Louisiana in my head.
stano.bsky.social
The bleakest thing about this video is that all the things this guy loves about the UK are relatively cheap and easy to build. Alabama could have a better train system than England inside of 10 years if we decided that was a priority. We are a rich country that chooses to live like a poor one.
stano.bsky.social
The most loser thing about America is the defensive crouch we fall into when another part of the world is doing some basic task of governance far better than we are.
4freedoms.es
One of the first things I learned working as a lobbyist is that you NEVER, EVER can give as a model any law or policy from another country.

American leaders are absolutely convinced that outside the US you only find dragons and barbarism. Nothing can be learned from other places.
stano.bsky.social
You got a recipe for that instant pot butter chicken?
Reposted by Stan Oklobdzija
navmecheng.bsky.social
> It is 2025 BC. I am a soldier from one of the outlying provinces called to defend the pyramid in Memphis

> It is 2025 AD. I am a soldier from one of the outlying provinces called to defend the pyramid in Memphis
Soldiers at the Bass Pro Shops pyramid in Memphis, TN.
stano.bsky.social
@congresstran.bsky.social has to study Article I before he's invited back to the nhậu.