Nathan Lauster
@lausterna.bsky.social
UBC sociologist, demographer, housing & urban regulation scholar, author, immigrant, blogs at https://homefreesociology.com/
From Dreary to Dreamy
February 14, 2026 at 1:27 AM
From Dreary to Dreamy
Reposted by Nathan Lauster
I regret to inform you that I have gone further down the terrible rabbit hole that is Elsie the Cow.
If you squint at enough eBay listings trying to read the words, you find a saga of a marriage gone mad.
If you squint at enough eBay listings trying to read the words, you find a saga of a marriage gone mad.
This morning, I got distracted while eating cheese because I remembered that the laughing cow is named Elsie and is married to Elmer the cow on the glue labels. To doublecheck that I hadn’t hallucinated that, I looked it up and fell down a dark internet rabbit hole.
February 14, 2026 at 12:38 AM
I regret to inform you that I have gone further down the terrible rabbit hole that is Elsie the Cow.
If you squint at enough eBay listings trying to read the words, you find a saga of a marriage gone mad.
If you squint at enough eBay listings trying to read the words, you find a saga of a marriage gone mad.
New version of the ONE PERCENT just dropped.
And I admit I'm kinda envious.
And I admit I'm kinda envious.
Americans view Donald Trump and some members of his administration, including J.D. Vance and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., more negatively than positively. www.pewresearch.org/...
February 13, 2026 at 7:37 PM
New version of the ONE PERCENT just dropped.
And I admit I'm kinda envious.
And I admit I'm kinda envious.
Usually I think of Friday drivers as the worst, but wow. This has already been a terribly deadly week for those of us just trying to get around by sidewalk. #visionzero www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
4 pedestrians hit in separate crashes across southwest B.C., 2 killed | CBC News
Police in three B.C. communities are investigating four vehicle crashes involving pedestrians in the last week. Two were killed in separate crashes in Surrey, B.C., over the span of 13 hours.
www.cbc.ca
February 13, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Usually I think of Friday drivers as the worst, but wow. This has already been a terribly deadly week for those of us just trying to get around by sidewalk. #visionzero www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
I've got a kid this age and this hits hard.
But I'm also so here for the "teachers were heroes" story.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
But I'm also so here for the "teachers were heroes" story.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
All 8 victims killed in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., shooting now identified | CBC
www.cbc.ca
February 13, 2026 at 12:34 AM
I've got a kid this age and this hits hard.
But I'm also so here for the "teachers were heroes" story.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
But I'm also so here for the "teachers were heroes" story.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Nathan Lauster
“A free society respects exercises of freedom without suspicion or hostility. Freedom of movement is a freedom as basic as other core human freedoms like freedom of speech, freedom of faith, or freedom to choose one's occupation.” www.liberalcurrents.com/abolition-am...
Abolition, Amnesty, Decriminalization, Open Borders
You may not believe immigration restrictions are racist, but racists believe immigration restrictions are racist.
www.liberalcurrents.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:03 PM
“A free society respects exercises of freedom without suspicion or hostility. Freedom of movement is a freedom as basic as other core human freedoms like freedom of speech, freedom of faith, or freedom to choose one's occupation.” www.liberalcurrents.com/abolition-am...
Wow! Left my door to pick up the kid & took my camera just in case I saw the hawk again.
And there it was at the top of the street!
Still singing as per below, but pretty sure it's a Cooper's now (red on the chest). Brazenly hanging round the 'hood, thumbing its beak at the crow mafia. #birds
And there it was at the top of the street!
Still singing as per below, but pretty sure it's a Cooper's now (red on the chest). Brazenly hanging round the 'hood, thumbing its beak at the crow mafia. #birds
February 12, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Wow! Left my door to pick up the kid & took my camera just in case I saw the hawk again.
And there it was at the top of the street!
Still singing as per below, but pretty sure it's a Cooper's now (red on the chest). Brazenly hanging round the 'hood, thumbing its beak at the crow mafia. #birds
And there it was at the top of the street!
Still singing as per below, but pretty sure it's a Cooper's now (red on the chest). Brazenly hanging round the 'hood, thumbing its beak at the crow mafia. #birds
Decent sized white-bellied hawk in Vancouver near Lord Byng this morning with a really distinctive call. Figured maybe it was a Coopers, which I've seen hunting in the area before, but when I compared songs, sounded a lot more like a Goshawk? (sadly no good pic!) www.bird-sounds.net/northern-gos...
♫ Northern goshawk - song / call / voice / sound.
Listen to Northern goshawk on a high quality audio recording. At our website you will find recordings of all north american bird species - completely free of cost.
www.bird-sounds.net
February 12, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Decent sized white-bellied hawk in Vancouver near Lord Byng this morning with a really distinctive call. Figured maybe it was a Coopers, which I've seen hunting in the area before, but when I compared songs, sounded a lot more like a Goshawk? (sadly no good pic!) www.bird-sounds.net/northern-gos...
Public policy debate: dedicated housing vs. rental assistance!
NYTimes helpfully stacks the problems facing each (& new mayor!) in NYC coverage.
Both housing shortage & the trickiness of sustaining support through shifting politics & budgets make things worse. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/n...
NYTimes helpfully stacks the problems facing each (& new mayor!) in NYC coverage.
Both housing shortage & the trickiness of sustaining support through shifting politics & budgets make things worse. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/n...
February 12, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Public policy debate: dedicated housing vs. rental assistance!
NYTimes helpfully stacks the problems facing each (& new mayor!) in NYC coverage.
Both housing shortage & the trickiness of sustaining support through shifting politics & budgets make things worse. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/n...
NYTimes helpfully stacks the problems facing each (& new mayor!) in NYC coverage.
Both housing shortage & the trickiness of sustaining support through shifting politics & budgets make things worse. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/n...
Congrats to @wazaroff.bsky.social as Vancouver's mayoral candidate from @onecityvan.bsky.social!
This thread is worth a read summing up where he's coming from and where he's taking a "Pro-Growth, Pro-Housing, Pro-Worker, Progressive Majority on City Council!"
This thread is worth a read summing up where he's coming from and where he's taking a "Pro-Growth, Pro-Housing, Pro-Worker, Progressive Majority on City Council!"
Thank you to the members of @onecityvan.bsky.social for your trust & for your votes. 🙏
(Live skeets by WA for Mayor Campaign Team of the Nomination Speech) Thread 🧵
#VanPoli
1 / XX
(Live skeets by WA for Mayor Campaign Team of the Nomination Speech) Thread 🧵
#VanPoli
1 / XX
February 12, 2026 at 6:34 AM
Congrats to @wazaroff.bsky.social as Vancouver's mayoral candidate from @onecityvan.bsky.social!
This thread is worth a read summing up where he's coming from and where he's taking a "Pro-Growth, Pro-Housing, Pro-Worker, Progressive Majority on City Council!"
This thread is worth a read summing up where he's coming from and where he's taking a "Pro-Growth, Pro-Housing, Pro-Worker, Progressive Majority on City Council!"
Just putting in a plug for Taylor's "The Environment and the People in American Cities, 1600–1900s."
Great read & really helped me figure out how to draw history through my own work in urban sociology & built environments.
www.dukeupress.edu/the-environm...
Great read & really helped me figure out how to draw history through my own work in urban sociology & built environments.
www.dukeupress.edu/the-environm...
February 11, 2026 at 11:26 PM
Just putting in a plug for Taylor's "The Environment and the People in American Cities, 1600–1900s."
Great read & really helped me figure out how to draw history through my own work in urban sociology & built environments.
www.dukeupress.edu/the-environm...
Great read & really helped me figure out how to draw history through my own work in urban sociology & built environments.
www.dukeupress.edu/the-environm...
Reposted by Nathan Lauster
Wealth inequality is a growing issue in Canada and our tax system must be overhauled to tax high-end wealth and capital income more effectively in order to benefit the public good, shows a new report by Silas Xuereb & Alex Hemingway
The new robber barons: a quarter century of wealth concentration in Canada
Wealth and political influence tend to reinforce each other. Tracking who owns wealth and how that distribution is changing is more important than ever for the health of our democracy and the future of Canada.
bcpolicy.ca
February 11, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Wealth inequality is a growing issue in Canada and our tax system must be overhauled to tax high-end wealth and capital income more effectively in order to benefit the public good, shows a new report by Silas Xuereb & Alex Hemingway
Reposted by Nathan Lauster
NEW from me today:
Tumbler Ridge is mourning a horrific loss. But how the shooter's identity is being talked about online, and the dangerous links being made to trans people at large, will have resounding and dangerous impacts in the months and weeks to come.
xtramagazine.com/power/tumble...
Tumbler Ridge is mourning a horrific loss. But how the shooter's identity is being talked about online, and the dangerous links being made to trans people at large, will have resounding and dangerous impacts in the months and weeks to come.
xtramagazine.com/power/tumble...
The Tumbler Ridge shooting is already fuelling anti-trans hate in Canada | Xtra Magazine
Bad actors on the right are leaping to connect the shooter’s trans identity to the violence
xtramagazine.com
February 11, 2026 at 8:16 PM
NEW from me today:
Tumbler Ridge is mourning a horrific loss. But how the shooter's identity is being talked about online, and the dangerous links being made to trans people at large, will have resounding and dangerous impacts in the months and weeks to come.
xtramagazine.com/power/tumble...
Tumbler Ridge is mourning a horrific loss. But how the shooter's identity is being talked about online, and the dangerous links being made to trans people at large, will have resounding and dangerous impacts in the months and weeks to come.
xtramagazine.com/power/tumble...
Reposted by Nathan Lauster
I have a new paper. We look at ~all stats articles in political science post-2010 & show that 94% have abstracts that claim to reject a null. Only 2% present only null results. This is hard to explain unless the research process has a filter that only lets rejections through.
February 11, 2026 at 5:00 PM
I have a new paper. We look at ~all stats articles in political science post-2010 & show that 94% have abstracts that claim to reject a null. Only 2% present only null results. This is hard to explain unless the research process has a filter that only lets rejections through.
"Alberta separatism, a resurgence of Quebec separatism and extreme right-wing populism have made a lot of people worried about our future."
Hmm... Floor-crossing might not be quite done yet...
Hmm... Floor-crossing might not be quite done yet...
February 9, 2026 at 9:31 PM
"Alberta separatism, a resurgence of Quebec separatism and extreme right-wing populism have made a lot of people worried about our future."
Hmm... Floor-crossing might not be quite done yet...
Hmm... Floor-crossing might not be quite done yet...
Reposted by Nathan Lauster
This kind of smart, walkable, mixed-use urbanism is illegal to build in most American cities.
February 9, 2026 at 3:50 AM
This kind of smart, walkable, mixed-use urbanism is illegal to build in most American cities.
The big game is on at the Plaza of Nations
February 9, 2026 at 12:36 AM
The big game is on at the Plaza of Nations
Some stunning blues up there right now
February 7, 2026 at 1:09 AM
Some stunning blues up there right now
This was always the best case for Western Alienation
It’s not left vs right or English vs French.
It’s people who have bagged milk vs the godless heathens who don’t!
It’s people who have bagged milk vs the godless heathens who don’t!
February 6, 2026 at 11:58 PM
This was always the best case for Western Alienation
Reposted by Nathan Lauster
I have been writing letters of recommendation for just shy of thirty years— 17 students this year alone— in ratios that more or less track the majority-women population of liberal arts students.
Obviously I have never commented on a student's looks... and no recipient has ever called me to ask.
Obviously I have never commented on a student's looks... and no recipient has ever called me to ask.
February 5, 2026 at 7:16 PM
I have been writing letters of recommendation for just shy of thirty years— 17 students this year alone— in ratios that more or less track the majority-women population of liberal arts students.
Obviously I have never commented on a student's looks... and no recipient has ever called me to ask.
Obviously I have never commented on a student's looks... and no recipient has ever called me to ask.
February vibes in Vancouver
(from yesterday down at Kits Beach)
(from yesterday down at Kits Beach)
February 5, 2026 at 8:00 PM
February vibes in Vancouver
(from yesterday down at Kits Beach)
(from yesterday down at Kits Beach)
Sen̓áḵw on the water.
Past the marina from the bridge to Granville Island.
Such a pretty thing, now registering its first renters!
Still not sure this little bit of Squamish Reserve land (Kits 6) will have its first residents by the 2026 Census, but here's hoping.
senakw.com
Past the marina from the bridge to Granville Island.
Such a pretty thing, now registering its first renters!
Still not sure this little bit of Squamish Reserve land (Kits 6) will have its first residents by the 2026 Census, but here's hoping.
senakw.com
February 5, 2026 at 12:08 AM
Sen̓áḵw on the water.
Past the marina from the bridge to Granville Island.
Such a pretty thing, now registering its first renters!
Still not sure this little bit of Squamish Reserve land (Kits 6) will have its first residents by the 2026 Census, but here's hoping.
senakw.com
Past the marina from the bridge to Granville Island.
Such a pretty thing, now registering its first renters!
Still not sure this little bit of Squamish Reserve land (Kits 6) will have its first residents by the 2026 Census, but here's hoping.
senakw.com
So it really was like the Aurora, CO case.
Sure looks like neglectful race-baiting landlords are being well supported by the administration of President Neglectful Race-baiting Landlord.
Sure looks like neglectful race-baiting landlords are being well supported by the administration of President Neglectful Race-baiting Landlord.
BREAKING: The Trump administration repeatedly said the aggressive apartment raid in Chicago last fall was prompted by intel on a gang takeover.
New docs show the real motivation was to get alleged squatters. And the landlord and manager helped them.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
New docs show the real motivation was to get alleged squatters. And the landlord and manager helped them.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
The Real Story Behind the Midnight Immigration Raid on a Chicago Apartment Building
The Trump administration has claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But new documents make no mention of the gang and reveal federal agents had information about “ille...
www.propublica.org
February 4, 2026 at 7:28 PM
So it really was like the Aurora, CO case.
Sure looks like neglectful race-baiting landlords are being well supported by the administration of President Neglectful Race-baiting Landlord.
Sure looks like neglectful race-baiting landlords are being well supported by the administration of President Neglectful Race-baiting Landlord.
Reposted by Nathan Lauster
So it’s broadly recognized that Vancouver needs more hotel rooms, that high room rates driven by high occupancy are a drag on the local economy, that the city needs to facilitate the construction of more hotels. All of this is true
I want speak to the human importance of hotels
I want speak to the human importance of hotels
February 4, 2026 at 1:36 AM
So it’s broadly recognized that Vancouver needs more hotel rooms, that high room rates driven by high occupancy are a drag on the local economy, that the city needs to facilitate the construction of more hotels. All of this is true
I want speak to the human importance of hotels
I want speak to the human importance of hotels