David Welton
@davidwelton.bsky.social
Computers, startups, bikes, Italy (lived in Padova for about 15 years), Bend YIMBY
Reposted by David Welton
Day in the life of a YIMBY
In San Rafael tonight to support 200 new homes that are being appealed to the City Council. Follow along for some unhinged Marin County NIMBYism!
February 18, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Day in the life of a YIMBY
Reposted by David Welton
Who let the dog out? Husky gatecrashes cross-country team sprint race at Olympics reut.rs/4rqotiH
Who let the dog out? Husky gatecrashes cross-country team sprint race at Olympics
A husky with lots of enthusiasm but no credentials gatecrashed a women's team sprint cross-country race on Wednesday, giving an impromptu performance that had spectators howling with delight.
reut.rs
February 18, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Who let the dog out? Husky gatecrashes cross-country team sprint race at Olympics reut.rs/4rqotiH
Reposted by David Welton
I think it’s pretty clear this is all extremely intentional.
The media has refused to cover Trump as he actually is for 10 years: a corrupt, racist imbecile.
It’s intentional.
These way out of proportion attacks on AOC, smarter than Trump in every way, are intentional.
The media has refused to cover Trump as he actually is for 10 years: a corrupt, racist imbecile.
It’s intentional.
These way out of proportion attacks on AOC, smarter than Trump in every way, are intentional.
seeing this shit while donald trump is president is enough to melt my brain
I see they settled on a framing in the donor group chat
February 18, 2026 at 1:49 PM
I think it’s pretty clear this is all extremely intentional.
The media has refused to cover Trump as he actually is for 10 years: a corrupt, racist imbecile.
It’s intentional.
These way out of proportion attacks on AOC, smarter than Trump in every way, are intentional.
The media has refused to cover Trump as he actually is for 10 years: a corrupt, racist imbecile.
It’s intentional.
These way out of proportion attacks on AOC, smarter than Trump in every way, are intentional.
Reposted by David Welton
SCOTUS is dealing with problems that arise from justices’ ownership of individual stocks.
What did the court do to address this ethical question? Did the justices agree to divest from individual stock ownership? Of course not.
Parties are directed to include stock ticker symbols in their briefs.
What did the court do to address this ethical question? Did the justices agree to divest from individual stock ownership? Of course not.
Parties are directed to include stock ticker symbols in their briefs.
SCOTUS changed the rules for bringing cases to the court because John Roberts won't sell his stocks
Roberts and Alito are the only two justices who own individual stocks. Also: A new lawsuit challenges the Trump admin's removal of the Pride flag at the Stonewall Monument.
www.lawdork.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:13 PM
SCOTUS is dealing with problems that arise from justices’ ownership of individual stocks.
What did the court do to address this ethical question? Did the justices agree to divest from individual stock ownership? Of course not.
Parties are directed to include stock ticker symbols in their briefs.
What did the court do to address this ethical question? Did the justices agree to divest from individual stock ownership? Of course not.
Parties are directed to include stock ticker symbols in their briefs.
Reposted by David Welton
"Rich guy living in multimillion dollar single family home arguing that new apartments are the the 'real' luxury housing, and thus shouldn't be built" is easily one of the most rage-inducing genres of public comment
Second speaker is a local physician who was “cited in Forbes” and “grew up in poverty” and now lives in RB. Says this is a luxury project and won’t help housing crisis. Urges city to sue “like the current administration.” Repeats “Safety is a gray area.”
February 18, 2026 at 4:17 AM
"Rich guy living in multimillion dollar single family home arguing that new apartments are the the 'real' luxury housing, and thus shouldn't be built" is easily one of the most rage-inducing genres of public comment
Reposted by David Welton
"The more the regime cultivates a vibe of strength and inevitability, the more room it has to operate. The more people think the regime is weak and failing, the more likely they are to say no, drag their feet, refuse demands, and resist."
Trump can't steal the midterms.
I say that not as a call for complacency, but to right-size worries. Authoritarianism partially exists in our heads. Excessive fear plays into their hands.
Be vigilant but don't panic. Don't grant the regime more power than it actually has.
Me, in @thebulwark.com:
I say that not as a call for complacency, but to right-size worries. Authoritarianism partially exists in our heads. Excessive fear plays into their hands.
Be vigilant but don't panic. Don't grant the regime more power than it actually has.
Me, in @thebulwark.com:
Trump Can’t Steal the Midterms
The case for being vigilant without panicking.
www.thebulwark.com
February 17, 2026 at 10:19 PM
"The more the regime cultivates a vibe of strength and inevitability, the more room it has to operate. The more people think the regime is weak and failing, the more likely they are to say no, drag their feet, refuse demands, and resist."
Reposted by David Welton
"the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children"
“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
February 17, 2026 at 8:09 PM
"the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children"
Reposted by David Welton
We don't need to "promote" road safety, we need to *engineer* it! Our road should be designed and built to be safe, even if that means driving takes longer or parking is harder to find.
Wilson highlighted the recent death of a pedestrian in Capitol Hill. She said the City needs to get its Vision Zero campaign to end traffic deaths on course and do more to promote road safety.
February 18, 2026 at 3:05 AM
We don't need to "promote" road safety, we need to *engineer* it! Our road should be designed and built to be safe, even if that means driving takes longer or parking is harder to find.
Reposted by David Welton
Prosecute ICE is the moderate position
The horror stories rolling in from Minnesota are just the tip of the iceberg. This 20-year-old, who's lawfully present in the country, was arrested for being Latino, then jailed in a filthy cell where he couldn't even sit down. 18 days of illegal detention. democracyforward.org/wp-content/u...
February 18, 2026 at 2:24 AM
Prosecute ICE is the moderate position
Reposted by David Welton
If you are anywhere to the left of center, your best bet for achieving the political change you want is to elect more and better Democrats at every level of government and to publicly praise them when they do things that you like.
This the skeleton key that explains the entire left-of-center political and informational environment. There is no social reward for ever saying anything nice about a mainline Democrat, so no one does. As a result, baseless antipathy towards the party completely pervades the environment.
February 17, 2026 at 4:34 PM
If you are anywhere to the left of center, your best bet for achieving the political change you want is to elect more and better Democrats at every level of government and to publicly praise them when they do things that you like.
Reposted by David Welton
Another thing to add to the Dem platform: all of these contracts were plainly procured through fraud, not one of them will be honored, and all culpable parties will be prosecuted.
This isn't a "radical" demand, it's the bare minimum required to re-establish the rule of law.
This isn't a "radical" demand, it's the bare minimum required to re-establish the rule of law.
The current person in charge of ICE's procurement for detention is a GEO Group executive who ran the company's immigration detention portfolio. He was granted an "ethics waiver" from DHS allowing him to hand out contracts to GEO in his new role.
February 17, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Another thing to add to the Dem platform: all of these contracts were plainly procured through fraud, not one of them will be honored, and all culpable parties will be prosecuted.
This isn't a "radical" demand, it's the bare minimum required to re-establish the rule of law.
This isn't a "radical" demand, it's the bare minimum required to re-establish the rule of law.
Reposted by David Welton
RFK Jr.: ‘Time In Hot Cars Helps Babies To Sweat Out Toxins’ https://theonion.com/rfk-jr-time-in-hot-cars-helps-babies-to-sweat-out-toxins/
February 17, 2026 at 4:00 PM
RFK Jr.: ‘Time In Hot Cars Helps Babies To Sweat Out Toxins’ https://theonion.com/rfk-jr-time-in-hot-cars-helps-babies-to-sweat-out-toxins/
We need a name for the... "realistic about how spectacularly bad it is, but optimistic that we can win" crowd. @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social @golikehellmachine.com @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com come to mind. Who else? What's it called?
February 17, 2026 at 10:57 PM
We need a name for the... "realistic about how spectacularly bad it is, but optimistic that we can win" crowd. @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social @golikehellmachine.com @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com come to mind. Who else? What's it called?
Reposted by David Welton
super telling that Waymo is relatively honest about its (world class) capabilities and limitations, and as a result is like 1 percent as valuable as its boastful liar competitor
Waymo and Anthropic are two AI companies people here should reward, regardless of their feelings about AI as a whole or the respective companies. Waymo has, for years, incrementally plugged away at making a technology work. Out of the public eye, without any big flashy demos
whatever you think about Waymo they are light-years ahead of Tesla on this front and it is deeply infuriating that folks are still propping up the stock price based on Elon's lies about taking this stuff national
February 17, 2026 at 8:55 PM
super telling that Waymo is relatively honest about its (world class) capabilities and limitations, and as a result is like 1 percent as valuable as its boastful liar competitor
Reposted by David Welton
I admired the spirit of @ossoff.bsky.social's line of attack against Donald Trump—that his "is the most corrupt administration of all time, and everybody knows it." The problem is, it's not actually true. Everybody does not know it. We should examine why. www.offmessage.net/p/republican...
Republicans Are Much Much More Corrupt Than Democrats
But most people either do not know this, or refuse to admit it.
www.offmessage.net
February 17, 2026 at 5:39 PM
I admired the spirit of @ossoff.bsky.social's line of attack against Donald Trump—that his "is the most corrupt administration of all time, and everybody knows it." The problem is, it's not actually true. Everybody does not know it. We should examine why. www.offmessage.net/p/republican...
Reposted by David Welton
Yesterday the important bill defining ebikes & making micromobility options safer, HB 4007, was UNANIMOUSLY voted out of the transportation committee. The rare bipartisan vote means the legislation can proceed to the Ways & Means committee. We'll keep you updated on next steps to support the bill.
February 17, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Yesterday the important bill defining ebikes & making micromobility options safer, HB 4007, was UNANIMOUSLY voted out of the transportation committee. The rare bipartisan vote means the legislation can proceed to the Ways & Means committee. We'll keep you updated on next steps to support the bill.
We need to @reclaimourflag.bsky.social . Take one to the next protest. It's ours.
I grew up in SJ. He seems like 100 guys I knew who mind their business, do their job, and have had enough.
“As he dashed out, Zobel also grabbed one thing — the American flag he flies in front of his house most of the time (except during football season when an Eagles flag replaces it).”
#GoBirds
“As he dashed out, Zobel also grabbed one thing — the American flag he flies in front of his house most of the time (except during football season when an Eagles flag replaces it).”
#GoBirds
SCOOP: I have the first interview with the 36-year-old South Jersey man whose tearful protest against an ICE raid at a school bus stop has been watched more than 3 million times
How a non-political Eagles fan Everyman became the face of ICE resistance
My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
How a non-political Eagles fan Everyman became the face of ICE resistance
My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
February 17, 2026 at 9:22 PM
We need to @reclaimourflag.bsky.social . Take one to the next protest. It's ours.
Reposted by David Welton
"Public comment" was always hackable, first by NIMBYs, then by astroturf groups funded by big corporations, and now by AI. All along the way it has made our government less representative and more captured by special interests who favor the status quo. It causes more harm than good. Let's ditch it.
Southern California air board rejected pollution rules after AI-generated flood of comments
SoCal’s pollution authority scrapped a plan to phase out gas-powered appliances after receiving more than 20,000 emails sent by an AI-powered platform called CiviClick.
www.latimes.com
February 17, 2026 at 4:20 PM
"Public comment" was always hackable, first by NIMBYs, then by astroturf groups funded by big corporations, and now by AI. All along the way it has made our government less representative and more captured by special interests who favor the status quo. It causes more harm than good. Let's ditch it.
Reposted by David Welton
I think it's very depressing that there is simply no social stigma against distracted driving. When people join a Zoom meeting from their cars everyone should be deriding that sort of behavior, and yet it's just accepted.
Ride in a bike lane and glance into every car that you pass and you'll see an extremely high percentage of people staring at their phones. It's terrible and frightening
You would be freaked out if you saw 25% of drivers drinking a beer, right?
Using a phone is no different.
Using a phone is no different.
February 17, 2026 at 7:21 PM
I think it's very depressing that there is simply no social stigma against distracted driving. When people join a Zoom meeting from their cars everyone should be deriding that sort of behavior, and yet it's just accepted.
Reposted by David Welton
The map for No Kings Day just went live with nearly 600 peaceful protests planned across all 50 states (including our flagship event in the Twin Cities).
Find your local protest or start a new No Kings event if there’s currently nothing planned near you: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i...
Find your local protest or start a new No Kings event if there’s currently nothing planned near you: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i...
February 17, 2026 at 6:11 PM
The map for No Kings Day just went live with nearly 600 peaceful protests planned across all 50 states (including our flagship event in the Twin Cities).
Find your local protest or start a new No Kings event if there’s currently nothing planned near you: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i...
Find your local protest or start a new No Kings event if there’s currently nothing planned near you: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i...
Reposted by David Welton
Just a remarkable failure of governance: 18 meetings, two council votes, two commission hearings over the course of five years, with many millions in taxpayer dollars on the line, and not even a single shovel in the ground.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: In Venice Beach, it's taken nearly a decade to not build low-income housing
The Venice Dell project has been approved again and again, only to be stymied by local officials who oppose it.
www.latimes.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Just a remarkable failure of governance: 18 meetings, two council votes, two commission hearings over the course of five years, with many millions in taxpayer dollars on the line, and not even a single shovel in the ground.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
She was so talented on housing politics/economics. Sad to see. I wonder what the cause/effect is in terms of staying on Twitter? You stay because you are kind of convinced by this stuff, or steeping in it every day because you refuse to quit pushes you in that direction?
Yeah, so about your claim that The Argument wouldn't be running anti-trans pieces @jerusalem.bsky.social... I knew it.
February 17, 2026 at 7:00 PM
She was so talented on housing politics/economics. Sad to see. I wonder what the cause/effect is in terms of staying on Twitter? You stay because you are kind of convinced by this stuff, or steeping in it every day because you refuse to quit pushes you in that direction?
Reposted by David Welton
My full story today:
www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/17/w...
www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/17/w...
Washington’s Elevator Reform Bill Rises Again » The Urbanist
# The 41-7 vote in the Washington State Senate advances a proposal that would allow builders more flexibility to install smaller elevators in smaller apartment buildings, a small step toward bringing ...
www.theurbanist.org
February 17, 2026 at 6:41 PM
My full story today:
www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/17/w...
www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/17/w...
Reposted by David Welton
New from MAP: the research is clear — places that build more homes see the biggest rent relief for low-income tenants.
We break down 3 recent studies:
www.metroabundance.org/adding-more-...
We break down 3 recent studies:
www.metroabundance.org/adding-more-...
The Research All Points in the Same Direction: Adding More Homes Curbs Rents for Low-Income Tenants - Metropolitan Abundance Project
The Center on Poverty and Inequality at Georgetown Law made a surprising and contrarian argument in a new paper: adding more homes does not benefit low-income tenants. Three recent separate analyses o...
www.metroabundance.org
February 17, 2026 at 6:36 PM
New from MAP: the research is clear — places that build more homes see the biggest rent relief for low-income tenants.
We break down 3 recent studies:
www.metroabundance.org/adding-more-...
We break down 3 recent studies:
www.metroabundance.org/adding-more-...
Reposted by David Welton
A December media blitz over a police oversight board in Salem missed how the city’s police union leveraged political spending to control a controversial city decision.
The first investigation by The Western Edge is out now.
www.thewesternedge.media/p/is-redempt...
The first investigation by The Western Edge is out now.
www.thewesternedge.media/p/is-redempt...
Is Redemption Possible in Oregon's Capital City?
The Western Edge uncovered a manufactured crisis, backroom deals, political spending, AI slop and a city council bending to appease a police union.
www.thewesternedge.media
February 17, 2026 at 6:19 PM
A December media blitz over a police oversight board in Salem missed how the city’s police union leveraged political spending to control a controversial city decision.
The first investigation by The Western Edge is out now.
www.thewesternedge.media/p/is-redempt...
The first investigation by The Western Edge is out now.
www.thewesternedge.media/p/is-redempt...