Allen
@thisisallen.bsky.social
I’m the guy on the left. I taught English as a foreign language. I’m from Virginia.I lived in China. I lived in South Korea. YIMBY. Urbanist. Learning stuff is fun.
Reposted by Allen
Shame.
Next year, Americans will get free admission to national parks on President Trump's birthday but no longer on Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
December 7, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Shame.
Reposted by Allen
December 6, 2025 at 8:51 PM
who chose the brown jerseys Brentford is wearing? they look like UPS delivery drivers
December 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
who chose the brown jerseys Brentford is wearing? they look like UPS delivery drivers
Reposted by Allen
A thing I’ve been using more in conversations about transportation choices is that you don’t have to change your choice.
But providing desirable (reliable, convenient, timely, safe, enjoyable) choices beyond using a car means others in your community might. That benefits the mode you choose, too
But providing desirable (reliable, convenient, timely, safe, enjoyable) choices beyond using a car means others in your community might. That benefits the mode you choose, too
Do you find yourself in conversations with people who like to talk about how "they would never ride a bus" or who worry about "bus stigma"? I was just reminded of this 2017 article of mine, which tries to blow all that nonsense away. Hope you find it useful.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Why We Should Stop Talking About 'Bus Stigma'
Obsessing over trying to serve different economic classes on mass transit misses the point.
www.bloomberg.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:26 AM
A thing I’ve been using more in conversations about transportation choices is that you don’t have to change your choice.
But providing desirable (reliable, convenient, timely, safe, enjoyable) choices beyond using a car means others in your community might. That benefits the mode you choose, too
But providing desirable (reliable, convenient, timely, safe, enjoyable) choices beyond using a car means others in your community might. That benefits the mode you choose, too
Reposted by Allen
In 2026, we're gonna be talking about credit issues a lot. The seeds have already been sown.
November 30, 2025 at 1:45 PM
In 2026, we're gonna be talking about credit issues a lot. The seeds have already been sown.
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I always love me a good Columbo meme
“Ah, just one more thing, sir. You’re blowing up those boats, saying they’re filled with drugs headed for the US. But then you go and pardon the guy who brought in 400 tons of cocaine. That’s billions of doses. Help me understand that.”
November 30, 2025 at 3:56 AM
I always love me a good Columbo meme
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Huh this was quite the read, and also the profile pic is great
Also, I recently found out about Herman's much, much more fun and badass younger brother Albert.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_...
Albert Göring - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 30, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Huh this was quite the read, and also the profile pic is great
Reposted by Allen
Thread about an actual drug smuggler who’s about to be pardoned by Trump
Juan Orlando Hernandez was convicted by a jury of conspiring to traffic 400 tons of cocaine into the United States.
November 28, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Thread about an actual drug smuggler who’s about to be pardoned by Trump
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Afghans saved many American lives during the war. Way more troops are alive because of them than have been harmed by asylum-seekers. The potential reward of coming to the US was key to securing cooperation. Kicking everyone out will ensure no one helps again.
November 28, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Afghans saved many American lives during the war. Way more troops are alive because of them than have been harmed by asylum-seekers. The potential reward of coming to the US was key to securing cooperation. Kicking everyone out will ensure no one helps again.
Reposted by Allen
Pretty convincing evidence here that the Trump administration was planning to jailbreak and provide asylum for Bolsonaro -- and that Trump inadvertently revealed the plan.
And this, as the now-cliche goes, would have been a paralyzing scandal for any other administration.
And this, as the now-cliche goes, would have been a paralyzing scandal for any other administration.
Trump appears to blurt out secret plan, not knowing it's already a bust
YouTube video by MS NOW
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Pretty convincing evidence here that the Trump administration was planning to jailbreak and provide asylum for Bolsonaro -- and that Trump inadvertently revealed the plan.
And this, as the now-cliche goes, would have been a paralyzing scandal for any other administration.
And this, as the now-cliche goes, would have been a paralyzing scandal for any other administration.
Reposted by Allen
DOGE was created for data theft and infrastructure dismantling and it wildly succeeded on both counts within the first few weeks of its existence. It will take a generation to rebuild what it destroyed and the breach of data is unprecedented.
Bye bye, “DOGE”.
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
November 23, 2025 at 3:01 PM
DOGE was created for data theft and infrastructure dismantling and it wildly succeeded on both counts within the first few weeks of its existence. It will take a generation to rebuild what it destroyed and the breach of data is unprecedented.
Reposted by Allen
They’re doing to America what they did to Christianity | Bill McKibben
They’re doing to America what they did to Christianity | Bill McKibben
Trump’s wrecking-ball approach to America has a precedent: the evangelical perversion of Jesus’s message of radical love to one of hate and aggression
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:06 PM
They’re doing to America what they did to Christianity | Bill McKibben
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the takeaway from the Zohran Trump meeting is that Trump is a gullible fool who will temporarily bend to the last charismatic person he talked to.
Zohran played him perfectly but that doesn’t mean Trump is good now. He’ll go back to fascism tomorrow morning after he talks to Stephen Miller
Zohran played him perfectly but that doesn’t mean Trump is good now. He’ll go back to fascism tomorrow morning after he talks to Stephen Miller
November 21, 2025 at 11:22 PM
the takeaway from the Zohran Trump meeting is that Trump is a gullible fool who will temporarily bend to the last charismatic person he talked to.
Zohran played him perfectly but that doesn’t mean Trump is good now. He’ll go back to fascism tomorrow morning after he talks to Stephen Miller
Zohran played him perfectly but that doesn’t mean Trump is good now. He’ll go back to fascism tomorrow morning after he talks to Stephen Miller
Reposted by Allen
The thing that's always frustrated the right wing ideologues who've glommed onto Trump is that he doesn't have the attention span to actually be a committed ideological warrior. He can scream all the right culture war shit, but it's just WWE pugilistic showmanship. He basically has no belief system.
November 21, 2025 at 9:42 PM
The thing that's always frustrated the right wing ideologues who've glommed onto Trump is that he doesn't have the attention span to actually be a committed ideological warrior. He can scream all the right culture war shit, but it's just WWE pugilistic showmanship. He basically has no belief system.
Reposted by Allen
me, a cool gamer: Amazon bot what's a funny prank to do to my loser friends
Amazon bot: good question! you're so goated, no cap. here's the 411: you should buy them all 10 year subscriptions to Amazon Prime. wouldn't that be roflmao?
Amazon bot: good question! you're so goated, no cap. here's the 411: you should buy them all 10 year subscriptions to Amazon Prime. wouldn't that be roflmao?
November 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
me, a cool gamer: Amazon bot what's a funny prank to do to my loser friends
Amazon bot: good question! you're so goated, no cap. here's the 411: you should buy them all 10 year subscriptions to Amazon Prime. wouldn't that be roflmao?
Amazon bot: good question! you're so goated, no cap. here's the 411: you should buy them all 10 year subscriptions to Amazon Prime. wouldn't that be roflmao?
Reposted by Allen
This is actually a pretty perfect encapsulation of the abject media failure that got us here: a prolific sexual predator who had close connections to the country's most powerful people is "a guy" and a two-time president is just "somebody" so the things they said about each other aren't newsworthy.
The emails that you’re seeing now are news in themselves, but that’s because of how they’re coming out—a congressional committee released them—& the context in which they’re being viewed. A guy emailing a reporter talking about old girlfriends or saying someone is “dirty” is not a whole news story.
November 13, 2025 at 5:39 PM
This is actually a pretty perfect encapsulation of the abject media failure that got us here: a prolific sexual predator who had close connections to the country's most powerful people is "a guy" and a two-time president is just "somebody" so the things they said about each other aren't newsworthy.
Reposted by Allen
If the US system remains trapped in an endless knife fight between a party of good government and a party of nihilistic governance then Europeans need to accept that the US will no longer be a stable partner long after Trump is gone
I'd just like to point out that we spent an entire shipment of air defense interceptors' worth of money on new signs for a name change that isn't even legally the name of the DoD.
Ukraine is currently experiencing rolling blackouts from Russian strikes, btw.
Ukraine is currently experiencing rolling blackouts from Russian strikes, btw.
Letterheads and signage alone would quickly run the bill upward of $1 billion, with a full overhaul likely rising to double that amount.
November 12, 2025 at 9:49 PM
If the US system remains trapped in an endless knife fight between a party of good government and a party of nihilistic governance then Europeans need to accept that the US will no longer be a stable partner long after Trump is gone
Reposted by Allen
Wasn’t expecting the Epstein scandal to blow up the New York Times but sure, why not
To recap: Jeffrey Epstein offered a NY Times reporter photos taken in Epstein's kitchen of Donald Trump and girls in bikinis *and* implored the NYT reporter to put this information in the public discourse in 2015
What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?
What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?
“would you like photos of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen?” -Jeffrey Epstein
November 12, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Wasn’t expecting the Epstein scandal to blow up the New York Times but sure, why not
Reposted by Allen
Can we circle back to the part where the NY Times never disclosed that they have incriminating information on Donald Trump from sent by Epstein that's been sitting on their email servers for nearly a decade?
Stuff like this makes me wonder why there hasn't been any reporting about Trump having affairs during his presidencies
November 12, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Can we circle back to the part where the NY Times never disclosed that they have incriminating information on Donald Trump from sent by Epstein that's been sitting on their email servers for nearly a decade?
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(Rod Serling) Submitted for your ranked choice the case of one Andrew M. Cuomo, smarting scion of suburbia dethroned over workplace boundaries, unwilling to relax his wandering grip on power, and doomed to repeat humiliating attempts at return upon that most brittle boundary of all—the twilight zone
November 8, 2025 at 6:48 PM
(Rod Serling) Submitted for your ranked choice the case of one Andrew M. Cuomo, smarting scion of suburbia dethroned over workplace boundaries, unwilling to relax his wandering grip on power, and doomed to repeat humiliating attempts at return upon that most brittle boundary of all—the twilight zone
Reposted by Allen
Obsessed with her comms team
I saw the Washington Post editorial on redistricting today and this is my official response.
November 8, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Obsessed with her comms team
The country I'm from produces shitcoins, gambling apps, and software that creates fake videos and fake images. China produces the energy of the future, the cars of the future, and a majority of all goods consumed on the planet.
The US is the world's largest oil and gas producer. Yet, "China is now making more money from exporting green technology than America makes from exporting fossil fuels."
China’s clean-energy revolution will reshape markets and politics
The world’s biggest manufacturer now has an interest in the world decarbonising
www.economist.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
The country I'm from produces shitcoins, gambling apps, and software that creates fake videos and fake images. China produces the energy of the future, the cars of the future, and a majority of all goods consumed on the planet.
Reposted by Allen
state legislators should be paid more. otherwise the legislatures are full of dilettantes, cranks, and nepobabies. this is why you keep hearing about the craziest fucking state laws
people hate hearing this but it's 100% true, creating a huge pay gap between political leaders, their staffs, and other elites is a recipe for corruption. of course the flip side of that is taxes on the rich should be jacked way the hell up
The Mayor of New York only makes $260k. I bet there are police that make more than that in NY with overtime.
We need to pay elected leaders more money and stop pretending it's some sort of calling. They're managing hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and millions of people's lives.
We need to pay elected leaders more money and stop pretending it's some sort of calling. They're managing hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and millions of people's lives.
November 7, 2025 at 3:29 PM
state legislators should be paid more. otherwise the legislatures are full of dilettantes, cranks, and nepobabies. this is why you keep hearing about the craziest fucking state laws
It's deeply disappointing to see a charismatic Democrat using his talent to advocate for AVs and a DOGE-like department while ignoring real solutions. The only solution to congestion is fewer cars. Where are the high speed trains? Why does the bus take so long? Solve real problems!
Sorry, but a lack of support for autonomous vehicles is not among Sec Pete's biggest missed opportunities at USDOT.
For instance:
🔹 Failure to stop Tesla from lying about Autopilot, FSD, etc
🔹 Failure to curb car bloat
🔹 Continuing to spend fed $$ on highway expansions that won't fix congestion
For instance:
🔹 Failure to stop Tesla from lying about Autopilot, FSD, etc
🔹 Failure to curb car bloat
🔹 Continuing to spend fed $$ on highway expansions that won't fix congestion
Pete Buttigieg Admits Biden Administration Should've Done More To Grow Autonomous Vehicles — Says DOGE-Like Department 'Makes Tons Of Sense'
Biden-era Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says that the Biden administration could've done more to drive growth in the adoption of autonomous vehicles in the U.S. Autonomous Driving Tech Is Sa...
finance.yahoo.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:32 PM
It's deeply disappointing to see a charismatic Democrat using his talent to advocate for AVs and a DOGE-like department while ignoring real solutions. The only solution to congestion is fewer cars. Where are the high speed trains? Why does the bus take so long? Solve real problems!
Reposted by Allen
Does this look like a representative sample of the community, or a room full of older homeowners who are disproportionately likely to oppose new housing?
At a meeting about whether we're going to build housing for young families like us. An elderly NIMBY got mad at @alanakinrich.medsky.social for 'being distracting' by breastfeeding our baby in the reserved seats in the front. In case you're wondering who they think should be part of this process.
November 7, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Does this look like a representative sample of the community, or a room full of older homeowners who are disproportionately likely to oppose new housing?