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Reposted by Chirag Lala

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 2d

i think the key to understanding a lot of establishment discourse is that basically only the left and liberals are capable of being viewed as subjects capable of judgement which is why GOP rule is essentially treated as a force of nature

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 2d

The media trots out the "deplorable" comment from a decade ago to castigate the left. Once a week now Trump implies that the military should destroy democrats, and it is just how things are.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump to the Navy: "We have to take care of this little gnat that's on our shoulder called the Democrats."

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 10d

Isn’t there a thing with Westminster systems of a leader seeking a safe seat post-leadership-selection?

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 10d

My current curiosity for UK politics: does Burnham take the leadership?

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 10d

@jmooreotto.bsky.social content! Spent the afternoon trainspotting the commuter rail with him.

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 17d

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 18d

Back in NYC for Climate Week. Cheers to this glorious city.

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Materialist Gnostic @walmsley.bsky.social · 18d

something to note is that the reason this is possible is the perpetual limbo our immigration system keeps people in. the solution to this is not just limiting the power of the presidency, it is making it easier for people to become fully citizens, with all the protections that entails

Gergely Orosz @gergely.pragmaticengineer.com · 18d

Those on an H1B cannot return to the US from tomorrow (Sunday) unless paying $100K. This is an out-of-the blue presidential action. We’ll see software engineers stranded abroad.

One easy to predict outcome: those on US visas will travel less… for work, for conferences etc.

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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 18d

For those who aren't familiar, H1B visas aren't just used in the tech industry. They are also widely used by universities, hospitals, engineering firms, and other industries that rely on extensive training. Fees were previously under $5k -- still high, but doable, and many employers would pay them.

Gergely Orosz @gergely.pragmaticengineer.com · 18d

Those on an H1B cannot return to the US from tomorrow (Sunday) unless paying $100K. This is an out-of-the blue presidential action. We’ll see software engineers stranded abroad.

One easy to predict outcome: those on US visas will travel less… for work, for conferences etc.

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 18d

Imagine accusing Japan and Singapore of transcending cold economic calculus.

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 18d

The “common and enduring culture” is as vibes-y and anti-material as the “Japanese social norms are what let them have trains and clean streets” we sometimes hear as an explanation of Japan’s livability.

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 18d

Paul Embery open a single book on Japan challenge

But you need only look at a country such as Japan to
see that this isn’t the case. A highly civilised, advanced
democracy, Japan maintains rigid control over
immigration — not by closing its borders completely,
but simply by ensuring the numbers are modest and
manageable — while fostering a deep and abiding sense of
patriotism and belonging among its people. A common
and enduring culture, built on socially conservative
values, helps to sustain a universal moral code. Japan
is a nation whose citizens feel they are part of something greater than themselves. That belief, that sense
of themselves as one nation and one people, transcends
cold economic calculus (though it is also worth pointing
out that much of Japan’s post-war economic success
was built around the type of Keynesian interventionism
that any party of the mainstream Left could embrace).
Ask the people of Japan whether they would wish to see
their country become suddenly more liberal and cosmopolitan, and its borders more porous, and most would
likely say no.

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 18d

The funny thing about “voters chose deflation” is that it makes the same infamous assumption from the 1970s that deflation is what must accompany stagnation.

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 18d

Seeing commentary in India amounting to “look what your striving got you, NRIs.”

Trumpist xenophobia here reinforcing anti-emigrant prejudices abroad.

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 18d

My favorite 2019 GE lore is that John McDonnell’s economic program ran into the cluster that was Corbyn’s leadership.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 19d

Greens membership surge after public split between Corbyn and Sultana

Almost 1,400 people sign up in 24 hours, as party sees 10% increase in member numbers after Zack Polanski’s leadership win The Green party’s membership has jumped by more than 1,000 people in a day after a public split between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana cast doubt on the viability of the pair’s new leftwing party. Almost 1,400 people signed up to the Greens in the 24 hours since the bitter disagreement emerged, in which Corbyn and his allies referred Sultana to the information watchdog after claims that she started collecting membership subscriptions without authority. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 25d

A fantastic way to kickoff Yimbytown. Hope to see folks there!

California YIMBY @cayimby.bsky.social · 25d

[BILL ALERT] SB 79, which broadly legalizes more homes near high quality transit stops, has passed the Senate floor! The bill is now on the Governor’s desk. Learn more: cayimby.org/legislation/...

SB 79 (Wiener): Transit-Oriented Development and Upzoning

SB 79 will make it faster and easier to build multi-family housing near transit stops, like train and rapid bus lines, by making it legal for more homes to be built in these areas and streamlining exi...

cayimby.org

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 25d

Good addition!

I was the thinking of stuff like the flight experience, larger cars, QR codes in restaurants, tourist destinations et al.

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California YIMBY @cayimby.bsky.social · 25d

[BILL ALERT] SB 79, which broadly legalizes more homes near high quality transit stops, has passed the Senate floor! The bill is now on the Governor’s desk. Learn more: cayimby.org/legislation/...

SB 79 (Wiener): Transit-Oriented Development and Upzoning

SB 79 will make it faster and easier to build multi-family housing near transit stops, like train and rapid bus lines, by making it legal for more homes to be built in these areas and streamlining exi...

cayimby.org

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Jamie Pew @jpew.bsky.social · 25d

SB 79 PASSES!

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · Sep 6

Last hurrah for me and the tax credits till IRA 2.0!

Leased my first EV!

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · Sep 6

(1) Wasn't this basically the IRA and IIJA?

(2) Isn't the main reason we observe these huge omnibus bills because Congress fails to legislate normally?

theoretical vibe physicist @matthewraskob.bsky.social · Sep 6

A couple of weeks ago I was reading something (I forget the provenance) that suggested Democrats should learn from the Republicans’ success passing a single, massive bill containing their priorities, & I really think that would be a gravely wrong lesson to take.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Sep 5

there will not be a liberal unitary executive. it is possible, perhaps, to have a liberal imperial congress and we should strive for it.

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · Sep 4

The lawyers v engineers debate is silly.

Everyone knows economists should rule.

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · Aug 31

20% of India's trade is with the US and its nominal GDP is now bigger than Britain's and by PPP exceeds Japan's. It is among the fastest growing world economies. If you can't figure out that universities should be teaching Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit you deserve to decline into irrelevance

Pratima @ismipratima.bsky.social · Aug 31

This is how I feel every time I talk to someone about these cuts and feel this implicit expectation that I have to convince them by defending the importance of language learning. Just because the world has gone mad doesn’t mean I’m the one who has some explaining to do.

Excerpt from an op ed by Daisy Rockwell: “As I write these lines, I struggle to explain why humanistic study and language learning are not only important to the University of Chicago, but to our society at large. I struggle, because the importance of such things are truths that I, and many of my peers, hold to be self-evident. Why is there a sudden race to embrace a future where robots replace us all? Why is there an ardent hope that it will no longer be necessary to learn how to speak new languages or translate literature? Why is there a longing to see human knowledge production fail in the face of machine learning? What makes a future ruled by Dr. Who–style Daleks so attractive to, well, just about everyone in charge?”

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · Aug 31

I live in VT so it's very easy to do day trips.

Really curious if there was a decade when it "NYC-ified" or if Montreal was always such a great place for tourism and urban life. (Quebecois politics being a big asterisk on education, immigration, and services unfortunately)

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · Aug 31

This from @aarmlovi.bsky.social is the best path forward with AVs. It's also @johnericson.me thought iirc.

Labor, congestion, vehicle utilization, and safety are all constraints on mobility (and hence growth). Let's use automation to tackle all and enhance our transit systems.

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29 U.S.C. § 157 @organizingpower.bsky.social · Aug 30

If you had told me in 2012 that Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign manager would be posting like this 13 years later i would not have believed you

Tweet from Stuart Stevens:

When Democrats take the House, they must understand they are not a governing party.
They are a dissident movement.
Act like it.
First day:
- cut off all funding of Exec. Branch
-vote to nationalize Starlink and SpaceX
-defund ICE
That's the first day.
On the second, get more aggressive.
There is nothing in the middle of the road but yellow lines and dead armadillos.

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