Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · 11h

massive contrast between real free speech issues in 2025—masked govt goons abducting grad students for politically incorrect op-eds and shooting pastors praying outside govt sites

versus

the Supreme Court’s pick of a free speech “issue”—wildly popular bans on conversion therapy

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 1d

The first Law Dork oral argument report of the new Supreme Court term is a doozy: Chiles v. Salazar, over Colorado’s conversion therapy ban.

Supreme Court likely to strike down Colorado's conversion therapy ban

A lesson in how defining the case often resolves the case.

www.lawdork.com

Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · 1d

a real “home” in Charleston Meadows—a 75 year old decaying plywood box with no insulation that nonetheless is worth $2.6 million (paying $1800/year in property taxes)

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · Aug 21

the all-ages helmet rule is crazy because *by the county’s own data* e-bikes look significantly safer than acoustic bikes, which lack the helmet mandate

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · Aug 15

this rural Hallingdalsveien segment of Norwegian route 7 has better pedestrian infra than like 99% of US state highway milage lol

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · Jul 24

parking lot in the third photo is new. there was a building there just a few years ago. would bet there was a project there waylaid by SF's disastrous cost of construction and commercial office rent crises

www.mfamerica.com/projects/bra...

www.google.com/maps/@37.776...

www.google.com

Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · Jul 23

absolutely absurd

the average new car costs $48,000 and the average used car costs $25,000. the light rail is $1300 / year for unlimited adult rides and $0 / year for unlimited kid rides

there is no world where the light rail is the "luxury" option

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · Jul 22

880% AMI affordable housing development in Palo Alto

$60M project to build 37 studios/SROs, 8 1BDs, and 5 2BDs. that’s $1.1M per bedroom

the construction cost crisis is REAL

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · Jul 9

will SSJ not be improved by HSR?

the Fremont zag looks painful too. is CC thinking about taking a more direct path at the cost of not serving the current Hayward / Fremont stations?

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · Jun 20

do you have data on condos as investment?

my SF Bay Area intuition is that condos are some of the worst appreciating real estate assets, making them terrible investments, but I’m not sure how SFBA-specific this is

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · Jun 14

the normies are winning

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 22

further, it looks like the Trump DHS made the Harvard announcement **AFTER** a district court issued a preliminary injunction barring DHS from revoking intl students' SEVIS records

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 22

if Republicans succeed in taking away CA's power to set auto emissions standards—and poison tens of millions of CA'ns in the process—

@governor.ca.gov and the Legislature MUST pursue an aggressive VMT reduction policy. no more freeways, dense infill housing, etc etc

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · May 22

Update: This happened last night—Senate Republicans went nuclear, overruling the parliamentarian and blowing up the filibuster to repeal California's vehicle emissions standards.

Many Republicans will likely cite this precedent as reason to bypass the filibuster to pass the reconciliation bill too.

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · May 21

Senate Republicans are set to go nuclear today, blowing up the filibuster to repeal California’s vehicle emissions standards—after spending YEARS promising to preserve the filibuster once they retook the chamber. slate.com/news-and-pol...

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 21

all I want is a 3BR condo in a single stair building for $800k

at the rate the legislature is tackling condo liability and building codes, that’s never gonna happen

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 16

CVNTY!! you killed it 🦚

Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 16

I agree the best explanation is the political argument—prop 13 totally insulates landholders from rising prices

but prop 13 also penalizes moving. if you move (unless you’re over 55 via prop 19), you give up your prop 13 subsidy. that disincentive itself constrains supply

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 16

the GOP is overtly and brazenly looting the public fisc. most of this administration needs to be prosecuted and incarcerated for bribery, corruption, and similar. no exceptions; no leniency.

this needs to be the cornerstone of the Democratic platform in 2028.

www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...

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Reposted by Peter

The Onion @theonion.com · May 13

Gavin Newsom Sits Down For Podcast With Serial Killer Who Targets Homeless

SACRAMENTO, CA—Promising his podcast listeners an engaging and enlightening conversation, California Gov. Gavin Newsom reportedly sat down Tuesday with a serial killer who targets the homeless populat...

theonion.com

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 8

anyone else remember Newsom's first State of the State address? what did he say about CAHSR?

www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco...

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 8

but also...so satisfying to see immediate negative consequences, which were easily foreseeable, for indefensible behavior

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 7

how is this roughly proportional under Dolan? is rough proportionality a toothless tiger?

charging 3x the rate for what are likely the smallest, most affordable homes feels anything but roughly proportional

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 6

my 12-day FIL crash course covered this literally on day 1

it’s clear the author began with zero FIL knowledge and a project (“use post-1868 FIL to challenge birthright citizenship”), then never bothered to update his priors

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 5

wild how Republicans have become the party of autarky

Craig Kafura @ckafura.bsky.social · May 5

A majority of Americans (55%) now say the United States should pursue a policy of global free trade, up from 35% in June 2024.

More new data on trade from @global-affairs.bsky.social / @ipsosus.bsky.social : : brnw.ch/21wSqeN

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · May 2

agreed. supposedly climate-conscious MA wants to build 12 new lanes of highway (!!) along the riverfront

IMO it's an abuse of the Reconnecting Communities program to rebuild the exact kind of infrastructure RC is supposed to remove / mitigate

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · Apr 29

the U.S. spends $223 billion / year on highways, or $700 / person / year

user fees only cover half of that cost. the other half, plus all local street spending, is pure subsidy

cars owners in America are the biggest, most spoiled babies on the planet

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Apr 29

Duffy: "She wants to take people off the road and she's taxing people to do it, raising money for the subway system in New York. But then, to put people in the subway -- the subway is dirty! There's violence. There's criminals. It's not safe ... By the way, I like freedom. Let me drive my car."

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Peter @peterwj.bsky.social · Apr 29

not entirely apples-to-apples though

US murder rate is 5x (yes, quintuple!) UK’s murder rate. all else being equal, US police have MUCH larger caseloads, which probably reduces clearance rate

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