We all do better when we all do better.

The era of colonialism must come to an end.

This is just one of several bizarre edits to the up-to-now useless Corridor Transitions program that the city is proposing to make the program generate housing in SB 79 transit zones. The changes feel hastily written and kind of nonsensical. A quick 🧵:

More significantly, they lowered the allowed height for 7-10 unit projects from 3 stories to 2. They did this in a sneaky way, by changing a table without noting it changed, even though they track changes in the rest of the document. Look at the right column on the before (left) and after (right).

Saikat was asked what the three biggest threats to democracy are right now. His answer: the Israel, crypto, and AI lobbies.

I’d say corporate misinformation systems, the hollowing out of public education, and the affordability crisis.

@saikatforcongress.bsky.social @waltermasterson.bsky.social

This wasn’t in the video, but I remember how grotesque it felt in 2020 when athletes were sidelined by a global pandemic and the people paid to talk about them kept cashing checks and filling airtime. The games were paused, but the machine kept humming. @joon.bsky.social

Stephen A. Smith, whose salary dwarfs the earnings of most athletes, also has a record of inflammatory commentary—including remarks about Shohei Ohtani that reinforced anti-Asian and anti-immigrant tropes. Now, one of the chief architects of the culture has political ambitions. Disturbing arc.

Joon Lee: How Hot Takes Took Over Everything YouTube video by VICE Sports

Joon Lee's video gets at something bigger than sports: hot take debate culture became the model for modern civil discourse—loud, shallow, conflict-driven. It trained audiences to confuse volume with insight and outrage with substance. And Donald Trump and Fox News ran with it. @joon.bsky.social

Zohran Mamdani: ‘I believe in’ democratic socialism ‘even more than I did’ before election YouTube video by NBC News

Journalists interview progressives the same way NBA teams play against the Lakers.

Zohran Mamdani is the model—the kind of leader we need right now. Imagine if we demanded this level of care from all our elected officials. But no society should have to rely on rare politicians for common-sense policy. The real goal is a system that delivers it by design.

Democratic Senator Mark Kelly pops off at Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Marco Rubio and their war in Iran:

"The American people are poorer and less safe because of this president...We've spent billions of dollars and this president does not have a plan."

Go Mark!

LAX people mover to begin reliability testing as dispute between city and contractor heats up The goal of opening to the public in time for the World Cup likely won’t be reached.

An update on the long-delayed LAX People Mover:

Over 1,000 major names in Hollywood signed an open letter opposing the Warner Bros/Paramount merger.

This includes Denis Villeneuve, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Cranston, Mark Ruffalo, Joaquin Phoenix, Damon Lindelof, Noah Wyle, Glenn Close, Jane Fonda, David Fincher, Ted Danson & more

FIFA faces new crisis as SoFi Stadium workers in LA threaten strike action The union UNITE HERE Local 11 has made a series of demands to FIFA and voiced major concerns about ICE agents around World Cup venues

Thousands of workers are threatening to strike at the Los Angeles World Cup stadium.

The SoFi Stadium plans to host two of the three US Men's World Cup matches, but now 2,000 cooks, servers, bartenders and more may strike.

Their main issue? ICE being present at the World Cup.

¡Mexico! 🇲🇽⚕️

The Misinformation Age

The Democratic establishment needs a hard pivot, starting yesterday, on Israel.

Unfortunately, still not there yet.

Meanwhile, the worst people, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Megyn Kelly are expressing the majority's opinion.

Self-destructive political incompetence.

For what?

I'm starting to think this Trump fella is a real bad egg.

One State Found a Way to Make Billionaires Pay. Your State Could Be Next. YouTube video by More Perfect Union

Explaining the wealth tax: a reasonable, modern tool to close the gap. @moreperfectunion.bsky.social

Podcasting Through It with Heather Cox Richardson | The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart YouTube video by The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

Really appreciated this conversation between Jon Stewart and Heather Cox Richardson. @hcrichardson.bsky.social

The future isn’t written for us. Systems fail. People can rebuild them. History, art, and storytelling help people make sense of the moment, recover agency, and imagine what comes next.

Senators that voted for their confirmations need to be fired as well!!

Israel’s Palestinian-Only Death Penalty Law Draws on Britain’s Colonial Playbook The widened application of capital punishment in colonial courts gave license to more violence by British soldiers.

Israel’s new death penalty law was passed down from a scaffold the British had already built on the same land, testing it on the same people under the same sky. The military courts established by the British Mandate in November 1937 were built for speed above all else.

LA City Council approves plan for apartments near transit stops YouTube video by CBS LA

L.A. City Council approved a scaled-down local housing plan while delaying SB79’s broader buildout until 2030. @dwagner.bsky.social @laist.com

Our leaders are afraid and unwilling to confront the housing crisis with real urgency. We need leaders willing to rise to the severity of the moment.

Gotta remind em.

Identity crisis In LA28's quest to have so many logos, now LA's games have no logo

Both pieces by @awalkerinla.bsky.social go deeper than aesthetics: coherence, legibility, and whether these Olympic Games actually understands (or reflects) its host city.

The visuals are the narrative.

LA is not a bloomin' desert The official look and feel for the games shows, once again, that LA28 doesn't really understand our city

Been really enjoying these recent breakdowns of the LA28 visuals by @awalkerinla.bsky.social

As someone who’s geeked out on the design and cultural impact of Mexico 68 and Los Angeles 84, it’s refreshing to see this level of scrutiny on what these games look like and what that says about our city.

It's become painfully clear why we're in a housing crisis in the first place. Our so-called leaders are either ignorant, cowardly, or both. SB79 is a gift—and Los Angeles is squandering it.

Great work!

We are being reminded that a fundamental issue of our day isn’t the size of the government or how to make government more “efficient.”

It’s who our government actually works for.

Should it work mainly for big corporations and billionaires? Or should it work for the rest of us?

Watch this exchange between @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social and the top Trump official on global arms control.

Q: What is Israel's nuclear capability?

A: I'd have to refer you to Israel.

C: Does Israel have nukes?

A: I'm not prepared to comment on that.

C: I don't understand why this is so taboo.