Favorites October 17th 2023
This is from the Washington DC case, it's much broader than the earlier gag order. Ken White thinks that it's so broad in part because Trump seems to have 'dared' the judge to do it with some particularly deranged posts the day before. It's not actually clear how Constitutional gag orders are, so this is probably going to get reviewed. No defendant has ever decided to antagonize a judge this much while simultaneously having enough money to spend on lawyers to appeal.
She goes on to discuss how homeowners think that home prices go up because of what they've done to improve the community, ignoring that empty lots with absentee owners go up in value as well. I'm constantly on the lookout for Georgist angles on policy that aren't just "tax land value". I'm not sure how capping the resale value of a home would work, but it's great as a contrast to the concept of rent control.
It's amazing how a street crowded with three lanes of cars moves a similar number of people to the tiny bike lane beside it. I suppose prioritizing street usage that's more efficient falls under Georgism.
Longer Reads
• Yesterday I mentioned the arguments over the effectiveness of Inclusive Zoning. Here's a thread about another urban policy that has failed much harder: trying to use low density zoning to prevent displacement. TL;DR: it in fact causes displacement.
Flotsam and Jetsam
– Another article, this time from Wired, about how Chinese EV companies are absolutely demolishing US and especially European automakers. Classic Innovator's Dilema situation. (src)
– "You do not get to target civilians because somebody else targeted civilians. It's nonreciprocal because your obligations are to the civilians. It's not a deal between fighters, it's a deal with humanity" (src)
– US lowering sanctions on Venezuela in return for them holding free elections next year. Seems like a good deal, it will help lower oil prices. (src)
– Chinese diplomats have said some very threatening things about Korea during the Xi administration. (src)
– Berkeley building a space center at NASA Ames (src)
– In New York is trying to build offshore wind, and literally three NIMBYs were able to increase the cost by hundreds of millions of dollars. That's bad folks. (src)
– The US doesn't have a monopoly on NIMBYs, some in Taiwan have blocked a new TSMC plant. (src)
– Discussion of the last minute inclusion of a special segment of SB 432 that will remove SF's discretionary permitting system. (src)
– Childhood lead exposure in poor countries is super common (src)
– Egypt still doesn't want anyone to leave Gaza, which is not how countries normally treat civilians fleeing a war zone (src)
– Ukraine just inflicted the most significant single-day loss ever on the Russian Air Force. (9 helicopters, using 3 ATACMS) (src)
– Jordan failed in his speaker bid, losing 20 votes, mostly from Republicans on appropriations, probably angry over the previous government shutdown. (src)