Russell Degnan
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knottedpaths.bsky.social
Russell Degnan
@knottedpaths.bsky.social
Non-sport tweets. Some planning, the rest random. For the sport follow @idlesummers
The great thing about the outrage machine is you can crank it up without any sort of adherence to facts.
Take the "outrage" over the Burke and WIlls statue.
thenightly.com.au/australia/vi...
November 29, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Reposted by Russell Degnan
Transit Signal Priority is an umbrella term for multiple strategies that reduce delays for transit vehicles at signalized intersections, potentially down to zero.

Here, I'm comparing the trade-offs between a "French-style" and an "in-phase" TSP strategy, more common in North America.
November 20, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Russell Degnan
Australia Brain would do this with vigorous household income means testing seamlessly merging into an income contingent loan, which would allow us all to wax lyrical about its efficiency, whilst reducing net-benefit to human welfare by about 90 cents in the dollar. Oi Oi Oi!
Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...
October 7, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Reposted by Russell Degnan
Interesting graph but the problem with having more politicians is that it also reduces their influence on the levers of power.
What we really need is more subsidiarity: devolving decisions to the lowest level. Which would mean having more talented politicians at lower levels and fewer federally.
Australia has a politician problem: not too many, but too few.

There are nine times the number of voters than in 1903, but the number of MPs has only doubled. Maybe it's time for our representative democracy to get a bit more representative?
@australiainstitute.org.au #auspol
July 31, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Even 20 years ago, and I can't imagine it has improved much, the government was spending a lot of money subsidising teaching to empty classes because the students were working.
Even when they could come they didn't have time to prepare.
Which leads to a workforce perception that degrees are useless.
I don’t think I could study undergrad these days. I could barely pay rent and education costs with Youth Allowance and working 3 days a week (and full time on holidays). I would almost certainly have to work full time all the time now.
July 14, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Minimum wage rises are a good time to remember that unless you are working more than 30 hours a week on that wage the majority of the increase goes back to the government (from reduced Centrelink payments and tax).
June 3, 2025 at 8:28 AM
This is a useful primer on why the Greens lost seats, even as their vote held up pretty well.
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
What went wrong for the Greens in the Australian election?
The Greens lost three seats and a leader at the 2025 federal election. Here’s how it happened
www.theguardian.com
June 2, 2025 at 9:44 AM
AI is great. Billions of dollars to recreate Serdar Argic but for South Africa and with even less relevance in the replies.
Oh my god
May 14, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Reposted by Russell Degnan
This advice is not entirely helpful...
March 7, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Reposted by Russell Degnan
We're free now. We can evaluate ideas and institutions from the U.S. with new clarity. Thrown out Euclidean zoning, get Japanese zoning. Get rid of American traffic engineering. It's all chaff.
February 2, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Must admit I wrongly thought Ukraine would be abandoned to Russia by the USA. Apparently it is more of a "carve up of Poland" type situation.
If only there were some hint from history that the Americans were rapacious and duplicitous imperialists like this.
February 18, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Reposted by Russell Degnan
I'm deeply saddened to share that Donald Shoup passed away last night. He was the ideal academic—curious, methodical, and concerned with turning ideas into real-world change. TAing his parking course these past few years has one of the greatest honors of my life. Rest in peace, Shoup Dogg.
February 8, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Rather than efficient, markets are self correcting, like a bicycle. They wobble but return to upright regardless of power exerted through the pedals, exogenous road and wind forces or shifting weight.
We have never really seen what happens to a market economy if you jam a stick in the spokes.
February 1, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Interesting side note to the Colombia tariff story is that coffee prices are already at an all time high because of Brazilian rainfall. Sticking a 50% tariff on top of a price that is twice the average is wild.
January 27, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Reposted by Russell Degnan
I love a good street tree. They mitigate against urban heat through evapotranspiration, they provide homes for birds, they look nice!

Why do we keep planting them such that they block already tiny footpaths?
January 26, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Reposted by Russell Degnan
A thread of mystifying and hilarious data visualisations from the "Australians" books, published in 1987 by the Australian Government. (originally brought to my attention by @mikejbeggs.bsky.social )
#ausecon #chartcrimes #dataviz
1. Spikes
December 4, 2024 at 11:59 PM
Huge swing coming against Labor from parents forced to drive their kids to government mandated outdoor activities because they can't walk nowadays.
November 26, 2024 at 5:00 AM
Congressional Democrats pine for a Westminster system.* Though they might benefit from seeing how voters reacted to toppling Prime Ministers in that system.
* As they should because it is a better system of appointing an executive but also not the one they have.
July 20, 2024 at 2:14 AM
Reposted by Russell Degnan
Don’t forget when picking out Valentine flowers: every part of the lily plant is DEADLY to cats. Even a few grains of pollen can be fatal. Do not mess around thinking you’ll put them in a “safe” spot - keep them out of your house. 🌸 www.fda.gov/animal-veter....
February 14, 2024 at 8:31 AM
Have put the kittens up for adoption up on the Sugar and Spice Cat Rescue twitch stream and they are not disappointing (if you like cute kittens playing).
www.twitch.tv/sugarandspic...
SugarandSpiceCR - Twitch
Sugar and Spice Cat Rescue Kitten Live Stream
www.twitch.tv
January 26, 2024 at 10:35 AM
Reading this article and being reminded of this now 20 year old joke that in our modern dystopia eventually becomes true to life
defector.com/youre-supposed-to-be-glad-your-tesla-is-a-brittle-heap-of-junk
December 27, 2023 at 10:13 PM