Matthew Hall
@emjamesvestibule.bsky.social
Curmudgeon, layabout, straphanger, houser, sewer socialist and SF/F ranter. ♿ He/Him
The masks are on but the masks are off.
January 9, 2026 at 1:15 AM
The masks are on but the masks are off.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
The no-angeling is already in full swing.
January 8, 2026 at 4:19 PM
The no-angeling is already in full swing.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
masked, unidentified goons who assault and murder with impunity. a literal gestapo.
This is the ICE agent who murdered a woman by shooting her multiple times in the face.
January 7, 2026 at 7:36 PM
masked, unidentified goons who assault and murder with impunity. a literal gestapo.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
A Washington Post article suggests that, beyond a certain threshold, larger homes don't make people happier. Instead, well-being is correlated with affordable housing in walkable neighborhoods where they feel socially connected.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
![Excerpt reads: "Prioritize your neighborhood
Neighborhoods drive our happiness (or unhappiness) more than we think.
When Lina Martinez, director of POLIS, the Center for Wellbeing Studies at Universidad Icesi in Colombia, studied the happiness of households in the city of Cali, she couldn’t find much difference between poorer and richer areas. “Their happiness is pretty much the same,” she said. But that changed when she isolated neighborhood conditions, such as access to transit, health care and parks. “The conditions of the neighborhood affect happiness,” she said. “I can’t link that to the space where [people] live.”
That aligns with findings from a 2023 study of the Vancouver metro area: Researchers found no significant differences in well-being between people living in single detached homes, duplexes, townhouses, laneway houses and apartment buildings (basement units smaller than 300 square feet were the only negative exception). What did people say they missed most in their neighborhood? Affordability, proximity to family and friends, and a sense of community. Home design was eighth on the list."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ks3gpa6ftoyaq7hmf6c4qx4c/bafkreicapfknasylzk2lqzaxxeb5mchgnru75obggn45dusda6j5zogvuu@jpeg)
January 7, 2026 at 4:29 AM
A Washington Post article suggests that, beyond a certain threshold, larger homes don't make people happier. Instead, well-being is correlated with affordable housing in walkable neighborhoods where they feel socially connected.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Reposted by Matthew Hall
the real doom loop is service cuts to our transit system. if you cut frequency on an already infrequent system, it’s going to hurt ridership, which will lead to more cuts and fare hikes, which further hurt ridership. all of that of course adds future liabilities to the rest of the transport system
Proposed 2026 Transit Service Changes
Weigh in on proposed service efficiencies and cuts for Aug. 23, 2026, as TriMet reduces spending.
trimet.org
January 6, 2026 at 5:34 AM
the real doom loop is service cuts to our transit system. if you cut frequency on an already infrequent system, it’s going to hurt ridership, which will lead to more cuts and fare hikes, which further hurt ridership. all of that of course adds future liabilities to the rest of the transport system
Reposted by Matthew Hall
Portland: In the absence of leadership on the transit funding crisis, @trimet.org now proposes VERY serious service cuts, with possibly more to come. These are a mixture of some restructuring ideas from our previous work, and some bad losses of frequency. 1/n
January 5, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Portland: In the absence of leadership on the transit funding crisis, @trimet.org now proposes VERY serious service cuts, with possibly more to come. These are a mixture of some restructuring ideas from our previous work, and some bad losses of frequency. 1/n
Reposted by Matthew Hall
they're doing it for gender, imo
It’s genuinely wild that the United States spent decades building an elaborate rules-based international order which de facto cemented its permanent status as the dominant global hegemon, sustained by ideology rather than might, and now is just blowing it all up for literally no reason
January 6, 2026 at 1:57 AM
they're doing it for gender, imo
Reposted by Matthew Hall
It was such a joy to celebrate Hanukkah with Mandy, Kathryn and their son, Gideon. As Jewish New Yorkers across our city prepare to light candles and mark the seventh night today, I wish you and your families a Hanukkah full of light and love.
youtu.be/KIxAKyioXng
youtu.be/KIxAKyioXng
Happy Hanukkah
YouTube video by Zohran Mamdani for NYC
youtu.be
December 20, 2025 at 1:58 PM
It was such a joy to celebrate Hanukkah with Mandy, Kathryn and their son, Gideon. As Jewish New Yorkers across our city prepare to light candles and mark the seventh night today, I wish you and your families a Hanukkah full of light and love.
youtu.be/KIxAKyioXng
youtu.be/KIxAKyioXng
Reposted by Matthew Hall
When Rob Reiner was on his all-time epic run at the start of his career, he had an opportunity to read a script that was looking for a production partner, and he lost his mind for it. He decided Castle Rock had to have it, no matter what.
December 15, 2025 at 7:37 AM
When Rob Reiner was on his all-time epic run at the start of his career, he had an opportunity to read a script that was looking for a production partner, and he lost his mind for it. He decided Castle Rock had to have it, no matter what.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
Indianapolis Star, November 22, 1918
December 12, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Indianapolis Star, November 22, 1918
You will be visited by 3 spirits
December 9, 2025 at 4:24 AM
You will be visited by 3 spirits
Nothing but hatred for people who wield the word "normal."
December 7, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Nothing but hatred for people who wield the word "normal."
Reposted by Matthew Hall
"I keep thinking that evil would like nothing better than to have us feel awful about who we are."
November 29, 2025 at 7:32 PM
"I keep thinking that evil would like nothing better than to have us feel awful about who we are."
Kim Stanley Robinson's bibliography begs to differ.
There is basically zero YIMBY literature and sci-fi other than Toni Morrison's Jazz and The Expanse.
November 30, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Kim Stanley Robinson's bibliography begs to differ.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
i have never been nostalgic for the past before i was born and reading history only reinforces this. running water is good. not losing children to preventable diseases is good. human beings not being property is good.
November 28, 2025 at 3:43 AM
i have never been nostalgic for the past before i was born and reading history only reinforces this. running water is good. not losing children to preventable diseases is good. human beings not being property is good.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
November 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
13. Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
November 5, 2025 at 8:09 AM
13. Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
If nothing else, at least we are living in the golden age of board games.
October 10, 2025 at 12:31 AM
If nothing else, at least we are living in the golden age of board games.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
When you meet someone who wants you to be institutionalized, prosecuted, or killed, you should be asking yourself: what do I have in common with this person?
Tomorrow from Ezra Klein
Tomorrow from Ezra Klein
September 19, 2025 at 1:16 AM
When you meet someone who wants you to be institutionalized, prosecuted, or killed, you should be asking yourself: what do I have in common with this person?
Tomorrow from Ezra Klein
Tomorrow from Ezra Klein
Reposted by Matthew Hall
A grim reminder: these people will never be satisfied. There’s no point at which they will say “we’ve won, let’s enjoy life.” They will always be looking for someone else to punish, to revile, to dehumanize. They’re empty without that.
September 18, 2025 at 3:04 AM
A grim reminder: these people will never be satisfied. There’s no point at which they will say “we’ve won, let’s enjoy life.” They will always be looking for someone else to punish, to revile, to dehumanize. They’re empty without that.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
Feel free to continue arguing over the shooter's motives, but please understand that *it doesn't matter*.
There's a organized political movement that plans to suppress, arrest, or kill its political opposition. It it seeking pretexts. Anything will do. If it's not this, it'll be something else.
There's a organized political movement that plans to suppress, arrest, or kill its political opposition. It it seeking pretexts. Anything will do. If it's not this, it'll be something else.
September 15, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Feel free to continue arguing over the shooter's motives, but please understand that *it doesn't matter*.
There's a organized political movement that plans to suppress, arrest, or kill its political opposition. It it seeking pretexts. Anything will do. If it's not this, it'll be something else.
There's a organized political movement that plans to suppress, arrest, or kill its political opposition. It it seeking pretexts. Anything will do. If it's not this, it'll be something else.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
An amendment to sunset the funding bill’s .1% transit payroll tax increase in 2028 seems likely to pass. If it does, transit agencies will benefit from a .2% payroll tax for exactly two years, and lawmakers will be right back where they are now in 2027–staring down a fiscal cliff for public transit.
August 31, 2025 at 11:37 PM
An amendment to sunset the funding bill’s .1% transit payroll tax increase in 2028 seems likely to pass. If it does, transit agencies will benefit from a .2% payroll tax for exactly two years, and lawmakers will be right back where they are now in 2027–staring down a fiscal cliff for public transit.
There really isn't any nice way to tell strangers their perfume/cologne is disgusting and they're overdoing it.
August 14, 2025 at 12:35 AM
There really isn't any nice way to tell strangers their perfume/cologne is disgusting and they're overdoing it.
Reposted by Matthew Hall
Help they closed one street to cars to open it to people and now my restaurant a mile away is dying
July 31, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Help they closed one street to cars to open it to people and now my restaurant a mile away is dying