Jan Straka
@janstraka.bsky.social
Tom Lehrer + Terry Pratchett fan. Liberal democracy nostalgia. Not an official opinion of anything or anyone.
Reposted by Jan Straka
🎉 Some important #CrossBorderRail news! 🎉
After thinking about the idea for more than a decade (yeah, this is later than a DB train!) I am finally starting to plan building a railway organisation for lobbying work. We're soft launching the idea today
Details 👇
jonworth.eu/european-rai...
After thinking about the idea for more than a decade (yeah, this is later than a DB train!) I am finally starting to plan building a railway organisation for lobbying work. We're soft launching the idea today
Details 👇
jonworth.eu/european-rai...
European Rail Passengers Union: lobbying for passengers, cross border
It has been something in the back of my mind for more than a decade: how could railway passengers be better represented to campaign for improvements in international rail? Here's a piece I wrote in 20...
jonworth.eu
December 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
🎉 Some important #CrossBorderRail news! 🎉
After thinking about the idea for more than a decade (yeah, this is later than a DB train!) I am finally starting to plan building a railway organisation for lobbying work. We're soft launching the idea today
Details 👇
jonworth.eu/european-rai...
After thinking about the idea for more than a decade (yeah, this is later than a DB train!) I am finally starting to plan building a railway organisation for lobbying work. We're soft launching the idea today
Details 👇
jonworth.eu/european-rai...
Reposted by Jan Straka
Nejlepší pomoc regionům je třímilionová Praha
December 3, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Nejlepší pomoc regionům je třímilionová Praha
Reposted by Jan Straka
Tady volné proluky a povrchová parkoviště v centru, 1 512 062 m2 plochy, při pěti patrech cca 120 tisíc bytů. Bohužel by se někomu mohl změnit výhled, takže naserte si a jděte bydlet do Fulneka.
October 21, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Tady volné proluky a povrchová parkoviště v centru, 1 512 062 m2 plochy, při pěti patrech cca 120 tisíc bytů. Bohužel by se někomu mohl změnit výhled, takže naserte si a jděte bydlet do Fulneka.
Reposted by Jan Straka
Praha, druhé nejdražší bydlení v EU.
Nový Metropolitní plán: tady je cca 30km2 kde se nikdy nesmí změnit výhled.
Nový Metropolitní plán: tady je cca 30km2 kde se nikdy nesmí změnit výhled.
October 21, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Praha, druhé nejdražší bydlení v EU.
Nový Metropolitní plán: tady je cca 30km2 kde se nikdy nesmí změnit výhled.
Nový Metropolitní plán: tady je cca 30km2 kde se nikdy nesmí změnit výhled.
"Památkáři nechtěli stromy a zeleň, město chtělo víc parkování." !!!
Tady například developer na vlastní náklady postavil první moderní pražskou ulici se zasakováním srážkových vod do zeleně, základ městských klimatických opatření. Památkáři nechtěli stromy a zeleň, město chtělo víc parkování. Aktuálně město "pomáhá" hlavně tím, že nepokutuje ani auta v cyklostezce.
October 16, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Památkáři nechtěli stromy a zeleň, město chtělo víc parkování." !!!
Reposted by Jan Straka
Here's the deal, SNCF workers
SNCF exists to transport passengers. It does not exist - primarily! - to keep you in work
france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/normandie/se...
If you want to make the case against régions giving contracts to others, BE BETTER jonworth.eu/connecting-t...
SNCF exists to transport passengers. It does not exist - primarily! - to keep you in work
france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/normandie/se...
If you want to make the case against régions giving contracts to others, BE BETTER jonworth.eu/connecting-t...
Ouverture du train régional à la concurrence : "Ce sera beaucoup plus compliqué et beaucoup plus cher, il ne faut pas se leurrer"
Suite à l'attribution des liaisons TER de "l'étoile ferroviaire caennaise" à RATP Dev face à l'historique SNCF par la Région, les syndicats de cheminots normands se mobilisent contre l’ouverture à la ...
france3-regions.franceinfo.fr
October 14, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Here's the deal, SNCF workers
SNCF exists to transport passengers. It does not exist - primarily! - to keep you in work
france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/normandie/se...
If you want to make the case against régions giving contracts to others, BE BETTER jonworth.eu/connecting-t...
SNCF exists to transport passengers. It does not exist - primarily! - to keep you in work
france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/normandie/se...
If you want to make the case against régions giving contracts to others, BE BETTER jonworth.eu/connecting-t...
Reposted by Jan Straka
Besides it being almost farcical - having these unelectrified and/or one track lines (cf also Ceske Budejovice-Linz) connecting east-west europe as if it's still the 1880s, this is now a security issue too- if the need should arise to transfer material/soldiers, the infrastructure is just not ready.
September 10, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Besides it being almost farcical - having these unelectrified and/or one track lines (cf also Ceske Budejovice-Linz) connecting east-west europe as if it's still the 1880s, this is now a security issue too- if the need should arise to transfer material/soldiers, the infrastructure is just not ready.
Reposted by Jan Straka
Damn Germany - and *especially Bayern* - cannot get its shit together to renovate railways.
Electrifying Hof-Nürnberg (and also Hof-Regensburg) makes obvious sense, but it drags and drags.
There'd also be EU money for this! #CrossBorderRail importance too bahnblogstelle.com/238249/
Electrifying Hof-Nürnberg (and also Hof-Regensburg) makes obvious sense, but it drags and drags.
There'd also be EU money for this! #CrossBorderRail importance too bahnblogstelle.com/238249/
Pläne für Sachsen-Franken-Magistrale weiter auf Eis
Trotz wirtschaftlicher Vorteile bleibt der Ausbau der Sachsen-Franken-Magistrale gestoppt. Wann es weitergeht, ist offen - dabei steigen die Fahrgastzahlen deut
bahnblogstelle.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:06 AM
Damn Germany - and *especially Bayern* - cannot get its shit together to renovate railways.
Electrifying Hof-Nürnberg (and also Hof-Regensburg) makes obvious sense, but it drags and drags.
There'd also be EU money for this! #CrossBorderRail importance too bahnblogstelle.com/238249/
Electrifying Hof-Nürnberg (and also Hof-Regensburg) makes obvious sense, but it drags and drags.
There'd also be EU money for this! #CrossBorderRail importance too bahnblogstelle.com/238249/
Reposted by Jan Straka
Disordered doubt isn’t about healthy scepticism. It’s a systematic effort to break trust in evidence, institutions, and truth itself. It thrives by creating confusion rather than clarity.
September 9, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Disordered doubt isn’t about healthy scepticism. It’s a systematic effort to break trust in evidence, institutions, and truth itself. It thrives by creating confusion rather than clarity.
Reposted by Jan Straka
Great thread comparing what happened with Nixon with what is *not* happening with Trump.
In essence: the abdication of the gatekeepers.
In essence: the abdication of the gatekeepers.
It is quite astonishing how many people- and the institutions that they are part of- appear not to have realised or simply do not care that “a republic, if you can keep it” implies the need for the active upholding of the Constitution
Trump on deploying the National Guard to Chicago: "I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the president of the United States."
August 26, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Great thread comparing what happened with Nixon with what is *not* happening with Trump.
In essence: the abdication of the gatekeepers.
In essence: the abdication of the gatekeepers.
Reposted by Jan Straka
"I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the president of the United States."
Les Etats-unis, c'est moi.
Les Etats-unis, c'est moi.
Trump on deploying the National Guard to Chicago: "I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the president of the United States."
August 26, 2025 at 8:10 PM
"I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the president of the United States."
Les Etats-unis, c'est moi.
Les Etats-unis, c'est moi.
Reposted by Jan Straka
In this case, Inversionism isn’t anti-imperialism. It’s reaction dressed up as principle. And its function isn’t to understand the world, it’s to preserve an identity built entirely around opposition to the West, whatever the cost.
August 3, 2025 at 8:25 AM
In this case, Inversionism isn’t anti-imperialism. It’s reaction dressed up as principle. And its function isn’t to understand the world, it’s to preserve an identity built entirely around opposition to the West, whatever the cost.
Reposted by Jan Straka
Incredible
This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.
August 13, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Incredible
Reposted by Jan Straka
Současná legislativní úprava navrhování cykloinfrastruktury již dlouho nevyhovuje a vede k nebezpečným, nepřehledným a komplikovaným situacím. Pojďme probrat několik možných úprav, kterými by Ministerstvo dopravy mohlo modernizovat naší mobilitu uvnitř měst.
July 8, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Současná legislativní úprava navrhování cykloinfrastruktury již dlouho nevyhovuje a vede k nebezpečným, nepřehledným a komplikovaným situacím. Pojďme probrat několik možných úprav, kterými by Ministerstvo dopravy mohlo modernizovat naší mobilitu uvnitř měst.
Reposted by Jan Straka
Mr Blonde’s “I'm gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It's amusing, to me” is now less a line from a movie, and more a statement of public policy for far too many governments.
Remembering Michael Madsen
Remembering Michael Madsen
July 3, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Mr Blonde’s “I'm gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It's amusing, to me” is now less a line from a movie, and more a statement of public policy for far too many governments.
Remembering Michael Madsen
Remembering Michael Madsen
Reposted by Jan Straka
🧵 Several people have raised questions about what I meant by "deservedly so" when referring to the decline of institutional trust. It's a fair question, so I want to explain that, because it sits at the heart of my work on how democracies collapse when their epistemic foundations rot.
The conditions that have led to what’s happening in the US today exist in democracies around the world.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
June 9, 2025 at 7:39 PM
🧵 Several people have raised questions about what I meant by "deservedly so" when referring to the decline of institutional trust. It's a fair question, so I want to explain that, because it sits at the heart of my work on how democracies collapse when their epistemic foundations rot.
Reposted by Jan Straka
Takže 21, krát 85 bytů, to je teoreticky 1785 bytů.
Milé, ale 1785 bytů je podle dnešního ÚP *kompletní* kapacita celé milionové Prahy! A to ještě velmi teoretická, protože na většině těch pozemků už nějaká budova stojí. "Prázdné" jsou tyto čtyři:
Milé, ale 1785 bytů je podle dnešního ÚP *kompletní* kapacita celé milionové Prahy! A to ještě velmi teoretická, protože na většině těch pozemků už nějaká budova stojí. "Prázdné" jsou tyto čtyři:
June 10, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Takže 21, krát 85 bytů, to je teoreticky 1785 bytů.
Milé, ale 1785 bytů je podle dnešního ÚP *kompletní* kapacita celé milionové Prahy! A to ještě velmi teoretická, protože na většině těch pozemků už nějaká budova stojí. "Prázdné" jsou tyto čtyři:
Milé, ale 1785 bytů je podle dnešního ÚP *kompletní* kapacita celé milionové Prahy! A to ještě velmi teoretická, protože na většině těch pozemků už nějaká budova stojí. "Prázdné" jsou tyto čtyři:
Reposted by Jan Straka
Tohle od nedávno zemřelého #DonaldShoup znáš? 😀
April 18, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Tohle od nedávno zemřelého #DonaldShoup znáš? 😀
Vsude kolem Prahy zastavujeme pole, abychom mohli mit pole uvnitr Prahy. K polim kolem Prahy draze stavime infrastrukturu, abychom si pak stezovali, ze lide chteji dojizdet do Prahy. Vysledny stav nevyhovuje prakticky nikomu, ale aspon to bylo pro vsechny hodne drahe. Cesko 2025.
Praha nejen nepodporuje výstavbu, ale dokonce je ochotna platit za to, aby mezi dvěma sídlišti zůstalo hořčičné pole. 🤦
Trojmezí by mohla být úžasná velká nová čtvrť vč. hezkého parku. Ale město chce pole.
www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/ekono...
Trojmezí by mohla být úžasná velká nová čtvrť vč. hezkého parku. Ale město chce pole.
www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/ekono...
Praha bude jednat s miliardáři o výkupu pozemků v Trojmezí - Seznam Zprávy
Hlavní město Praha oprášilo plány na odkup pozemků v lokalitě Trojmezí od soukromých majitelů. Mezi největší vlastníky patří v území skupiny Kaprain a CPI. Místo bytů plánuje Praha zachovat Trojmezí j...
www.seznamzpravy.cz
May 15, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Vsude kolem Prahy zastavujeme pole, abychom mohli mit pole uvnitr Prahy. K polim kolem Prahy draze stavime infrastrukturu, abychom si pak stezovali, ze lide chteji dojizdet do Prahy. Vysledny stav nevyhovuje prakticky nikomu, ale aspon to bylo pro vsechny hodne drahe. Cesko 2025.
Reposted by Jan Straka
There was an old tweet that stuck with me: "If you can easily walk to the coffee shop but your barista has a one hour commute, you don't live in a walkable 15 minute city; you live in a theme park"
as someone who lives nextdoor to both supportive housing and public housing, i need people to understand that the best locations for both are going to be the central neighborhoods in a metropolitan area, where there is easy and reliable access to services and jobs.
May 12, 2025 at 4:21 PM
There was an old tweet that stuck with me: "If you can easily walk to the coffee shop but your barista has a one hour commute, you don't live in a walkable 15 minute city; you live in a theme park"
Reposted by Jan Straka
One of the most urgent contemporary challenges is getting people in Western Europe to accept that what used to be implausible, no longer is.
May 9, 2025 at 11:35 AM
One of the most urgent contemporary challenges is getting people in Western Europe to accept that what used to be implausible, no longer is.
Reposted by Jan Straka
Prokop: „Zvykli jsme si na to, že drtíme nízkopříjmové a celý systém jede na nich, z minimální mzdy se jim vezme cca 120 tisíc ročně, oni se v systému nevyznají, tak si nestěžují, a pomáháme těm bohatým. Je to stejné uplácení voličů, jako když se přidává důchodcům.“
✅
✅
April 23, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Prokop: „Zvykli jsme si na to, že drtíme nízkopříjmové a celý systém jede na nich, z minimální mzdy se jim vezme cca 120 tisíc ročně, oni se v systému nevyznají, tak si nestěžují, a pomáháme těm bohatým. Je to stejné uplácení voličů, jako když se přidává důchodcům.“
✅
✅
Reposted by Jan Straka
A very old Soviet joke, from an especially dark time:
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.
March 27, 2025 at 10:21 PM
A very old Soviet joke, from an especially dark time:
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
Reposted by Jan Straka
As someone once said of Conservatism, but it perhaps has a far wider application:
"There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
Original source: Frank Wilhoit at crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...
"There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
Original source: Frank Wilhoit at crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...
March 12, 2025 at 10:50 AM
As someone once said of Conservatism, but it perhaps has a far wider application:
"There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
Original source: Frank Wilhoit at crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...
"There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
Original source: Frank Wilhoit at crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...