https://fortune.com/2024/08/11/california-los-angeles-ultra-rich-digging-deep-iceberg-homes-mansions/

New and wired: Using "dutch courage" to being overly optimistic about what you can carry on a bicycle and then just doing it

Hi, I thought'd i'd make a separate post on hexbear for HSR/CRT. The main china summary post is on lemmygrad if yall wanna check it out.

I rode the HSR 3 times total, and I've said this a couple times, but the biggest compliment I can give is my lack of complaints.

The experience was super smooth, very quick security check and quick ticket check into a very smooth train ride. I will say I really do not like how loudly people speak on calls but that is more of an old person thing and noise canceling headphones do the trick.

As for the Chongqing Rail Transit, the CRT was probably the cleanest metro i've ridden on before(I've only been on the NY subway and the Toronto TTC before).

Pricing was from 1-7 yuan(0.15-0.95 dollar)

There was communist imagery(only on line 5 though)

images aren't uploading so i'll try and edit with them or add them to the comments

There were different AC settings on different cars(a lot of older chinese don't like too much AC), and overall very good experience. Not too notable either except cleanliness which I think is a plus.

I visited Valencia a couple months ago and this park is so beautiful. The entire thing is built into a dried-out riverbed, so the trees have the space to grow up to and above street level.

Valencia is a beautiful city in general, so much greenery, but this park in particular stood out to me as a great integration of urbanism and nature.

Five tenants unions from around the country convened Tuesday to announce the launch of a new national organization to take on the power of multistate real-estate capital. The Tenant Union Federation marks the first major national effort at tenant organizing in 40 years.

. . .

Billing itself as a ​“union of unions,” the federation is seeding a movement that hopes to turn tenants into a political force that can’t be ignored.

At the local level, the group’s five founding unions have already racked up an impressive streak of wins spanning a wide range of organizing tactics.

In the last year, the Louisville Tenants Union passed far-reaching restrictions on public funding contributing to gentrification in Louisville; KC Tenants defeated a billionaire-backed stadium tax in Kansas City; Bozeman Tenants United banned new short-term rentals and elected one of their own as mayor in the Montana tourism hotspot; the Connecticut Tenants Union negotiated a collective bargaining agreement with one of New Haven’s largest landlords and Chicago’s Not Me We won ballot referenda backing a landmark anti-displacement ordinance covering the area surrounding the new Obama Presidential Center.

Note the nice cushioned seats

It's AI apparently

Made the same choice as this woman many, many times. All you can do is hope the drivers of whatever vehicles are behind you decide not to murder someone that day.

Meanwhile in the USSR

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/22/california-forever-silicon-valley-city-ballot-withdrawn

The move to withdraw the measure comes a week after a report by Solano county stated that the proposed city would likely cost the county billions of dollars, create substantial financial deficits, reduce agricultural production, harm climate resilience and potentially threaten local water supplies.

The proponents of a ballot initiative that would allow a new city of 400,000 residents to be built in east Solano County have decided to withdraw the measure and instead prepare a full environmental report on the impact the project would have on everything from the traffic to water to the county’s budget.

In a statement, Solano County Supervisor Mitch Mashburn said the decision came after conversations with California Forever CEO Jan Sramek.

“We have agreed that they will withdraw their measure and not proceed with the election in November,” Mashburn said in a statement. “I think it signals Jan Sramek’s understanding that while the need for more affordable housing and good paying jobs has merit, the timing has been unrealistic.”

. . .

The decision comes two days after a consultant for the county released a scathing assessment of the ballot measure, saying that the plan for the new city was so vague and had so few concrete details that voters lacked the information needed to make an informed decision.