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mmjs86.bsky.social
vlado
@mmjs86.bsky.social
Brooklyn, NY

Bikes, buses, trains and the Balkans. I build things with computers and networks. I write about cities, transit and bikes. he/him.
Galeb and the port of Rijeka - name a more iconic duo

(Galeb was struck by an out of control Turkish cargo ship last night, close to where it was sunk by Allied aircraft in 1944 when it served in the Kriegsmarine during WWII. Galeb had *just* finished a many years long restoration)
February 14, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by vlado
Jako me veseli da sa vama mogu podijeliti svoj tekst o sjajnoj izložbi Vojin Bakić: Princip nade u Gradskom muzeju Bjelovar.

Ako ste u prilici, posjetite Bjelovar - ovo je izložba koja svojim konceptom i izvedbom zaslužuje svu pažnju koju dobiva.
Više od ponovnog otkrivanja
U Zagrebu se, nakon mnogo godina, 2022. pojavila “nova” skulptura Vojina Bakića. U Preradovićevoj ulici, u prizemlju arhitektonski ...
kulturpunkt.hr
February 14, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Jako me veseli da sa vama mogu podijeliti svoj tekst o sjajnoj izložbi Vojin Bakić: Princip nade u Gradskom muzeju Bjelovar.

Ako ste u prilici, posjetite Bjelovar - ovo je izložba koja svojim konceptom i izvedbom zaslužuje svu pažnju koju dobiva.
Više od ponovnog otkrivanja
U Zagrebu se, nakon mnogo godina, 2022. pojavila “nova” skulptura Vojina Bakića. U Preradovićevoj ulici, u prizemlju arhitektonski ...
kulturpunkt.hr
February 14, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by vlado
So after some technical issues, the newsletter is finally out

This week
- EU law on ticketing
- Chinese investment in European rail
- A bullshit ring line
- Good week for Una line
- Bad week for Bane NOR that made their own line collapse
- And an old picture from Cottbus
jonworth.eu/chinese-inve...
Chinese investment in European railways
In the Newsletter this week Free to read: How to fix railway ticketing in the EU Analysis: Chinese investment in European railways Bullshit Meter this week: Loop line connecting British and Irish citi...
jonworth.eu
February 13, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by vlado
Rip to any future dem secef that is going to have to deal with this shit sandwich
February 13, 2026 at 3:54 PM
I think one of the layers to this is that we really shouldn't be trying to emulate SNCF for passenger experience. The French get a lot of things right, but their railway is very passenger hostile despite engineering marvels
I don't really see a solution to this, and it's not like it's a phenomenon unique to the East Coast or America. If you want to book a last-minute train from Paris to Bordeaux today, you're paying €130 (~$155) for a 2 hour ride. If you want to book a last minute trip today to Philadelphia, it's $145.
FWIW East Coast cities are so close together that most people are never going to plan their @Amtrak NEC trips out weeks in advance.

They’ll do it a day or so out and get blown away by the prices.
February 13, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by vlado
we live in the ruins of a greater civilization
February 13, 2026 at 3:12 AM
Reposted by vlado
Every photo from Minneapolis looks like this. Cops decked out with guns and full tac gear facing off against people in bathrobes, parkas, and sweatpants armed only with whistles and cell phones.

Yet every verified MAGA chode on X dutifully calls it a riot or violent insurrection.
February 11, 2026 at 11:50 PM
I'd add that progression through unofficial tiers is already built into enlargement -- it's been a while since the last opt out expired, but a major "tier" is the temporary opt out of freedom of movement for workers, which can last up to 7 years after accession

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom...
Everybody says you can't have a two-tier EU, but in practice different tiers already exist: for countries inside the Euro and those outside; for those covered by the mutual defence clause and those not. So this plan would put even more forms of EU integration in this same category.
🚨🚨Welcome news: The #EU is hatching an unprecedented plan that could give #Ukraine partial #membership in the bloc as early as next year, as Brussels tries to shore up the country’s position in Europe and away from #Moscow. 🧵
www.politico.eu/article/5-st...
February 11, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by vlado
None of this makes any sense, but the TFR over El Paso is apparently being lifted. If I slept another hour today I would have missed this event entirely.

WTF

bsky.app/profile/repe...
At the urging of my office, the FAA is rightfully lifting the Temporary Restricted Airspace.

I will again reiterate there is no threat to El Paso or the surrounding areas.
February 11, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by vlado
One of the questions I am often asked about the forthcoming EU reform of rail ticketing is how to handle disruption when trains are compulsory reservation

The solution: safe overcrowding, and deploying an idea from PKP IC

All explained here 👇
jonworth.eu/how-to-safel...
How to safely overload a high speed train (and why it matters for the debate about ticketing reform in the EU)
Imagine you're making a simple international trip: Frankfurt (Main) Hbf to Lyon Part Dieu. One change of train, in Strasbourg*. But your Frankfurt - Strasbourg train is delayed, and you miss the Stra...
jonworth.eu
February 11, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by vlado
After four freezing weeks on the picket line, it finally looks like the nurses strike in New York City is nearing its conclusion.

Nurses have seemingly won agreements that will give them a lot, but not all, of what they were after.

hellgatenyc.com/nysna-strike...
February 9, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by vlado
Not at all surprised to learn that Bad Bunny has a historical adviser. His halftime show was a reminder that our history and culture are deeply intertwined with the rest of the western hemisphere. We should think of his performance as part of #America250. #SuperBowl
news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one.
Bad Bunny collaborated with UW–Madison history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo on Puerto Rican narratives that accompany the new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
news.wisc.edu
February 9, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Bad Bunny's halftime show is the best of the America that I got to know as an immigrant, its weird and complicated and full of contraindications, and yet it's home to all of us no matter where we come from or who we are

Anti fascism in America is everywhere and it comes in uniquely American flavors
What a moment.
February 9, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by vlado
Shutting it down for the night. I hope everyone revels in the fact that antifascists are going to win. May tomorrow bring us more justice and some peace.
February 9, 2026 at 2:43 AM
Reposted by vlado
the web edition of New Session Issue 4 is now live!

featuring work from:
@jana-aych-ess.bsky.social
@asterolsen.bsky.social
@mbbischoff.com
@ultraviolet.gay
@mhn-hello.bsky.social
@moribund.club
...and more!

read it here: web.issue4.anewsession.com
February 8, 2026 at 12:40 AM
Reposted by vlado
Man I have a ton of great memories and emotional attachments to Lloyd Center. Also, it’s time for it to go
February 8, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by vlado
It is not true that "no one cares unless it's in their backyard." ICE has been built up for yrs, & many Americans have been opposed to these camps (& to incarceration in general) for years. Ofc, when abstract plans turn into concrete plans, local communities resist in concrete ways. This make sent.
It only took them 12 months to build massive concentration camps all over the USA. You’d think there would be more uproar, but no. No one cares unless it’s in their backyard.
February 8, 2026 at 9:52 AM
Reposted by vlado
February 7, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by vlado
o rly
February 7, 2026 at 5:08 PM
February 7, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Prekrasno obnovljen spomenik Vojina Bakića žrtvama željezničke nesreće na Glavnom kolodvoru 1974. Spomenik je na Mirogoju.
February 7, 2026 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by vlado
Once again, it turns out “fully autonomous” means “a guy in the Philippines.”
It Turns Out Waymos Are Being Controlled by Workers in the Philippines
During a Congressional hearing, Waymo's chief safety officer, Mauricio Peña, was grilled over the company's reliance on overseas workers.
futurism.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:37 PM
At first I struggled to explain to my partner what was happening, since there's no good English word for it (it's not booing), and then I settled on whistling, but derogatorily
Italians typically whistle instead of booing. It’s the overwhelming sound you hear.

Bravo Milano, bravo 👏🏻
JD Vance loudly booed at the Winter Olympics today.
February 7, 2026 at 8:53 AM
Reposted by vlado
In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined a more gratuitous sign that AI is a bubble than “chance the rapper, sponsored by coreweave.” It’s beautiful. It’ll be in a movie someday
February 7, 2026 at 6:33 AM