It’s pretty weak. It could do quite a bit, in theory, but I’m skeptical that the very regions that would most benefit from the new opportunities and funding, would bend over backwards to find ways to refuse the money and loosened zoning laws etc that this bill provides a “framework” for. It’s all pretty weak and feels like a messaging bill to me. I really hope I’m wrong, I’m trying to buy/build a house myself so I’d love it if these things end up working in parts of the country where it’s almost impossible to get a house without being a millionaire.

Here’s the part of the article that talks about exactly what the bill would do:

To increase the supply of housing, the bill would streamline environmental reviews and speed up the construction process. 

It would offer funding to local governments that build more housing, including Community Development Block Grant money to places exceeding the median rate of homebuilding. It would also provide money for communities to turn abandoned infrastructure into housing, and offers a framework for communities that want to reform outdated zoning regulations, which often limit larger housing developments.

The legislation would allow banks to invest more in affordable housing and raise limits on the number of public housing units that can receive private financing through Section 8 funding to rehabilitate properties. And it would remove outdated requirements and expand federal financing to make manufactured homes more affordable.

This does wonders, my cat loves it on a hot day. I usually hold it in my hand, otherwise it’s just a wet toy for him to bat at.

In grad school I remember being encouraged to submit a paper to a journal that would have charged me a few hundred dollars to put it in for peer review, and I told my advisor no, I needed to buy groceries, I would not throw my money away for an extra line on my CV. He got all flustered and it was a great example of why higher education is so fucked. My advisor, who ostensibly understood my background and means, could not understand how such a relatively small fee would be so prohibitive. He was incapable of understanding that I was essentially unemployed while enrolled as his grad student, and every dollar of funding went to bare essentials so I could continue breathing. He had access to discretionary funds for this exact kind of issue (I found out later), and didn’t think to offer.

Without independent wealth and deep personal connections it’s incredibly difficult to succeed in academia, regardless of the quality of your research.

Just a reminder that JD has three kids (actual kids, not 35 year olds) with his wife, who is a woman of color. If he won’t defend them against blatant racism, do his supporters actually think he gives a fuck about them?

Also, a good parent would take the opportunity to teach their children why what they said is wrong, not just tell them how to avoid responsibility:

Vance said he would tell his three kids—“especially my boys”—“don’t put things on the internet. Be careful with what you post. If you put something in a group chat, assume that some scumbag is going to leak it in an effort to try to cause you harm or cause your family harm.”

Our Vice President is a huge piece of shit.

Notably, there is no guarantee that the Obamacare subsidies will be extended — and no commitment from Republican House leaders to even hold a vote at all on the subsidies.

Then what the fuck was the point? That was Democrats one demand. Either finish what you start or don’t start at all, you cowards.

Ironic, since the writ of Habeas corpus predates even the Magna Carta.

Habeas corpus goes back to around 1166, which for those keeping track, is only around 600 years before the founding of the USA…

FYI the author, Samantha Cole, left Vice years ago and is one of the co-founders of 404 Media. She does solid journalism over there now.

Much of the camp was built in a high risk flood zone, a zone where building is strictly illegal in many states with responsible safety measures. Since Texas doesn’t give a shit about human life, they not only allow building in dangerous flood zones, but they clearly don’t have the infrastructure to make it even remotely safe.

The camp never should have been built there. This tragedy is exactly why planning for future risk when building something (especially something for kids, but that’s pretty much irrelevant) is not optional.

It’s unethical for companies to force you to buy overpriced essential parts. If you find a compatible battery for cheaper, there’s no reason not to buy it. Unless the company prevents third-party batteries from working in their products...

Nothing unethical about finding a better price.

That’s straight up child exploitation, by the government. Blackmailing a parent with the safety of their child is one of the most villainously evil tropes around. This shit happens in movies all the time, and it’s almost always used as a big flashing “this person is bad and evil, and the villain of the movie” trope.

There has been some incredibly fucked up and immoral treatment of human beings in this country, but this is next level evil.

Problem is, it’s so evil that the brainwashed 40% of the population won’t believe it, so they’ll just go on about their business.

The democratic establishment has labeled him a communist one day, a Nazi the next day and an antifascist another day. You can’t be an antifascist and a Nazi at the same time.

I listened to the entire Pod Save interview with him, and I’m convinced he’s a solid dude who made some bad decisions when he was younger. He owns up to absolutely everything, and says he has learned from it. He sounded completely genuine to me.

His background is really important and honestly explains all of this controversy away. He was in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan for multiple tours, and he talks an about how much that fucked him up. He struggled for a long time and shitposting was one of his outlets. Who among us hasn’t regretted something we’ve posted? Owning up to and learning from it is the key.

If we want to stop electing vanilla spineless establishment candidates, the alternative is electing normal people who haven’t spent their lives hiding themselves from public view to maintain a “clean” persona. Nobody is perfect, everybody has made mistakes, and to me the strength of a candidate comes through most clearly when they take responsibility and demonstrate how their current self has evolved from their younger selves.

He seems like an awesome candidate to me.

It’s very weird to me that some states let spouses sue a third party for their partner’s infidelity. Sinema is clearly a morally bankrupt asshole, but this guy cheated on his wife.

Everything? Really? That’s bold. I’ve been around for a while, and I personally can’t remember a time when 3000 armed, masked, untrained and unaccountable thugs were let loose by the federal government on individual cities to openly terrorize, incite, and murder the general population.

You’ve just unlocked the Empathy skill tree, congrats!

I wish my neighbors acted like they knew other people lived here…

Composers write the music, musicians play the music, and conductors wave around a stick to keep the musicians playing the composition at the right volume and tempo, and to make sure the different sections of the orchestra (the different groups of instruments) come in and out at the right times.

Try coordinating all that without a conductor and it’d be a crazy cacophonous mess…

Fun fact, if you’ve ever watched a string quartet performance, the first violinist basically conducts the other three with their body and bow while playing. Most people have some natural tempo, but keeping multiple people on track usually requires visual queues and well-timed breathing.

Or, and hear me out: just install a browser plugin and forget ads exist.

I hesitate to name extensions names, but I’ve literally never seen an ad on YouTube.

These companies don’t respect us, so I don’t feel the need to respect them by allowing them to force their meaningless bullshit down my throat.

I don’t use it that much, but you better believe if I go to YouTube to watch a video, that video is the only thing I’m watching.

The USA was founded to avoid tariffs on imported goods imposed by a monarch. Trump just took a gross big mac dump on your desire for historical consistency, and then gold-plated it.

DNC chair Ken Martin said that the controversy surrounding Hogg “destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to.”

Uhh then I think he needs to look up the word “leadership” in a dictionary. Good leaders don’t usually blame their subordinates for their own deficiencies. Hogg isn’t doing anything that would prevent Martin from growing a backbone and actually leading the party.

Blaming Hogg for Martin’s shitty instincts is childish and transparently ineffective. I was always against Martin as chair, and he continues to make all the mistake we knew he would make.

Primary him. It’s the only way to scare these power-hungry assholes into listening to their constituents. Imagine if Jeffries becomes speaker, he’d be even more beholden to the neoliberals and billionaires.

Fuck with the base (the base voted for Mamdani), and lose your seat. Actual real consequences are the only thing that matter these clowns.

Why not? Science and medicine have always been biased in favor of men. Why should women not benefit from them too?