@alex-krits.bsky.social
Reposted
new GWU National Security Archive release
putin in his first meeting with bush, june 2001, already pining for the empire
putin in his first meeting with bush, june 2001, already pining for the empire
December 25, 2025 at 5:18 PM
new GWU National Security Archive release
putin in his first meeting with bush, june 2001, already pining for the empire
putin in his first meeting with bush, june 2001, already pining for the empire
Reposted
Sounds like it was totally about NATO, huh?
new GWU National Security Archive release
putin in his first meeting with bush, june 2001, already pining for the empire
putin in his first meeting with bush, june 2001, already pining for the empire
December 25, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Sounds like it was totally about NATO, huh?
Reposted
MNTO member Hana Suckstorff has penned a reflective piece over a small apartment proposal that lost at CoA and is now being appealed at TLAB.
On the nature of "neighbourhood character", and what is lost when we apply it only to built-form.
hsuckstorff.substack.com/p/saving-the...
On the nature of "neighbourhood character", and what is lost when we apply it only to built-form.
hsuckstorff.substack.com/p/saving-the...
December 24, 2025 at 3:46 AM
MNTO member Hana Suckstorff has penned a reflective piece over a small apartment proposal that lost at CoA and is now being appealed at TLAB.
On the nature of "neighbourhood character", and what is lost when we apply it only to built-form.
hsuckstorff.substack.com/p/saving-the...
On the nature of "neighbourhood character", and what is lost when we apply it only to built-form.
hsuckstorff.substack.com/p/saving-the...
Reposted
Official data is in today, and US solar continues to grow rapidly, with generation up 21% compared to last year!
December 23, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Official data is in today, and US solar continues to grow rapidly, with generation up 21% compared to last year!
Reposted
russia really brings out the worst people from all sides, the tankies and the maga chuds united in defending one of the worst regimes on earth. best example of horseshoe theory since molotov-ribbentrop
December 19, 2025 at 12:57 PM
russia really brings out the worst people from all sides, the tankies and the maga chuds united in defending one of the worst regimes on earth. best example of horseshoe theory since molotov-ribbentrop
Reposted
Allowing Small Single Stairs building in Toronto would unlock many more homes to be built
And now the State of Minnesota found that these buildings are also safer.
And now the State of Minnesota found that these buildings are also safer.
A new bombshell modeling report by the State of Minnesota has found that small single-stair buildings with smoke-separated stairwells are likely to be SIGNIFICANTLY SAFER than typical double-loaded apartment buildings
December 18, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Allowing Small Single Stairs building in Toronto would unlock many more homes to be built
And now the State of Minnesota found that these buildings are also safer.
And now the State of Minnesota found that these buildings are also safer.
Reposted
Stalin, a supremely paranoid man, was positive Hitler would not invade Russia in 1941 because a two front war would obviously be very dumb. But it turns out dictators do very dumb things.
December 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Stalin, a supremely paranoid man, was positive Hitler would not invade Russia in 1941 because a two front war would obviously be very dumb. But it turns out dictators do very dumb things.
Reposted
ok so maybe I was wrong when I said Putin would never invade. and maybe I was wrong when I said Putin will win in a week and we should not help. But now we’re here, and I'm going to tell you what putin is thinking, and I’m going to do it in the most patronizing way possible
December 18, 2025 at 12:34 PM
ok so maybe I was wrong when I said Putin would never invade. and maybe I was wrong when I said Putin will win in a week and we should not help. But now we’re here, and I'm going to tell you what putin is thinking, and I’m going to do it in the most patronizing way possible
Reposted
TIL that Toronto is so keen on setbacks it wants to impose them even underground
www.thestar.com/real-estate/...
www.thestar.com/real-estate/...
Toronto city staff want to put new limits on 'iceberg homes'
Since spring 2024, Toronto has received 12 proposals for the homes, which have larger, sometimes multi-storey basements.
www.thestar.com
December 15, 2025 at 7:20 PM
TIL that Toronto is so keen on setbacks it wants to impose them even underground
www.thestar.com/real-estate/...
www.thestar.com/real-estate/...
Reposted
I absolutely love the argument that this is somehow due to European warmongering. When the Cold War was over, Europeans couldn't wait to destroy their militaries and if it weren't for Russian aggression, the entire EU put together would probably make like 7 tanks a year
December 15, 2025 at 10:32 AM
I absolutely love the argument that this is somehow due to European warmongering. When the Cold War was over, Europeans couldn't wait to destroy their militaries and if it weren't for Russian aggression, the entire EU put together would probably make like 7 tanks a year
Reposted
Trying to do some synthesis on the perpetually ongoing EU-US growth discourse here:
1) Undeniable at this point that the US economy is growing faster than the EU— ~5% more on a per-capita basis since pre-COVID. But importantly, this is mostly a recent phenomenon; pre-COVID growth was basically even
1) Undeniable at this point that the US economy is growing faster than the EU— ~5% more on a per-capita basis since pre-COVID. But importantly, this is mostly a recent phenomenon; pre-COVID growth was basically even
December 14, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Trying to do some synthesis on the perpetually ongoing EU-US growth discourse here:
1) Undeniable at this point that the US economy is growing faster than the EU— ~5% more on a per-capita basis since pre-COVID. But importantly, this is mostly a recent phenomenon; pre-COVID growth was basically even
1) Undeniable at this point that the US economy is growing faster than the EU— ~5% more on a per-capita basis since pre-COVID. But importantly, this is mostly a recent phenomenon; pre-COVID growth was basically even
Reposted
Updated TTC Subway reduced speed zone map.
December 8, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Updated TTC Subway reduced speed zone map.
Reposted
Everyone is getting upset about the data centers. They pollute a lot and use a lot of energy and will eventually be very ugly/huge vacant buildings. And I understand being mad about that. Until you consider the state of the lazer tag industry at this moment, and how much help that sector needs.
December 1, 2025 at 4:07 AM
Everyone is getting upset about the data centers. They pollute a lot and use a lot of energy and will eventually be very ugly/huge vacant buildings. And I understand being mad about that. Until you consider the state of the lazer tag industry at this moment, and how much help that sector needs.
Reposted
The REM is great, but the tragedy might be that expertise fading away without another project
REM de l'Est was rejected because some people disliked the elevated portion above a 6-lane road
When projects get derailed so easily, each new project takes a long time and you always lose your experience
REM de l'Est was rejected because some people disliked the elevated portion above a 6-lane road
When projects get derailed so easily, each new project takes a long time and you always lose your experience
November 30, 2025 at 11:41 PM
The REM is great, but the tragedy might be that expertise fading away without another project
REM de l'Est was rejected because some people disliked the elevated portion above a 6-lane road
When projects get derailed so easily, each new project takes a long time and you always lose your experience
REM de l'Est was rejected because some people disliked the elevated portion above a 6-lane road
When projects get derailed so easily, each new project takes a long time and you always lose your experience
Reposted
I know I sound like a broken record on this and that’s OK.
Montreal gets a lot right. But one of my biggest disappointments of this city’s political establishment is saying “no” to an amazing automated train for the underserved east end of the city for largely aesthetic reasons.
Montreal gets a lot right. But one of my biggest disappointments of this city’s political establishment is saying “no” to an amazing automated train for the underserved east end of the city for largely aesthetic reasons.
The REM is great, but the tragedy might be that expertise fading away without another project
REM de l'Est was rejected because some people disliked the elevated portion above a 6-lane road
When projects get derailed so easily, each new project takes a long time and you always lose your experience
REM de l'Est was rejected because some people disliked the elevated portion above a 6-lane road
When projects get derailed so easily, each new project takes a long time and you always lose your experience
December 1, 2025 at 12:45 AM
I know I sound like a broken record on this and that’s OK.
Montreal gets a lot right. But one of my biggest disappointments of this city’s political establishment is saying “no” to an amazing automated train for the underserved east end of the city for largely aesthetic reasons.
Montreal gets a lot right. But one of my biggest disappointments of this city’s political establishment is saying “no” to an amazing automated train for the underserved east end of the city for largely aesthetic reasons.
Reposted
The thing about immigration is that xenophobia and racism are the elite centrist position. Here's a senior fellow at Brookings, spouse of CRFP head Maya MacGuineas, explaining the mere presence of foreigners in Germany is a "problem" that someone must solve with "speed and determination."
November 30, 2025 at 3:05 PM
The thing about immigration is that xenophobia and racism are the elite centrist position. Here's a senior fellow at Brookings, spouse of CRFP head Maya MacGuineas, explaining the mere presence of foreigners in Germany is a "problem" that someone must solve with "speed and determination."
Reposted
I’ve been saying it for years, years I tell you!
November 29, 2025 at 9:24 PM
I’ve been saying it for years, years I tell you!
Reposted
The estimated budget for the Waterfront East "LRT" (streetcar with tiny tunnelled section) is $2 billion?!?! Subway prices for 4km of streetcar. Glad we'll spend next year's municipal election talking about a made up crime surge.
www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...
www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...
November 25, 2025 at 2:45 PM
The estimated budget for the Waterfront East "LRT" (streetcar with tiny tunnelled section) is $2 billion?!?! Subway prices for 4km of streetcar. Glad we'll spend next year's municipal election talking about a made up crime surge.
www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...
www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...
Reposted
"russia is not possibly dumb enough to..." okay but are you sure. the people making decisions are insulated and face perverse incentives that have nothing to do with common sense or national security
⚡ German forces have run urban warfare drills in Berlin amid growing concerns that Russia could regain the capability to strike NATO territory by 2028.
Germany Drills for War in Berlin Subway as Russia Threat Looms Sooner Than Expected
The Bundeswehr's recent week-long exercises in Berlin focused on urban combat tactics amid warnings of Russia's military capabilities by 2028.
united24media.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:41 PM
"russia is not possibly dumb enough to..." okay but are you sure. the people making decisions are insulated and face perverse incentives that have nothing to do with common sense or national security
Reposted
Public policy has aggressively favoured suburbanization for 100 years. Still, today, central cities are expensive. What does that say?
Right, this is true, but the OVERWHELMING evidence of the past 100 years of American life is that vastly more people want space and a car than a smaller unit and a car-free lifestyle. This is mostly why the suburban share of US population has grown relentlessly for the entire 20th and 21st century
Some people put a premium on space in my experience, others put a premium on not having to have a car and not being isolated out in the suburbs
November 18, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Public policy has aggressively favoured suburbanization for 100 years. Still, today, central cities are expensive. What does that say?
Reposted
Almost everywhere in the City of Toronto has fewer people that it did 50 years ago
November 15, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Almost everywhere in the City of Toronto has fewer people that it did 50 years ago
Reposted
This is the crux. There is an entire cohort of municipal politician in Canada who actively don't like that they live in cities (reflective of a lot of voters).
Someone really needs to do a ranking of all of the anti-city city mayors in Canada
November 13, 2025 at 1:42 PM
This is the crux. There is an entire cohort of municipal politician in Canada who actively don't like that they live in cities (reflective of a lot of voters).
Reposted
we gave people a magic device in their pockets with access to all the knowledge in the world and they used it to cook their brains with racist memes.
It’s wild living in the Information Age and the Dark Age at the same time.
September 6, 2025 at 3:50 AM
we gave people a magic device in their pockets with access to all the knowledge in the world and they used it to cook their brains with racist memes.
Reposted
If prefab will solve Canada's housing problems, I'd add: Where *specifically* are the homes going to go? Where are the sites in Toronto and Vancouver regions to build 100,000s of homes?
www.thestar.com/business/opi...
www.thestar.com/business/opi...
David Olive: Carney’s $26B bet on prefab housing could be a gamechanger — but will everyone play along?
The challenge with Prime Minister Mark Carney's goal of building 2.5 million homes within a decade, writes David Olive, is that an enormous coalition of players will have to do
www.thestar.com
August 13, 2025 at 2:22 PM
If prefab will solve Canada's housing problems, I'd add: Where *specifically* are the homes going to go? Where are the sites in Toronto and Vancouver regions to build 100,000s of homes?
www.thestar.com/business/opi...
www.thestar.com/business/opi...
Reposted
This article on on NYC landlords unable to pay their expenses gives a foretaste of what I suspect the pushback to a rent freeze is going to look like. www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/07/b...
Rent Freeze Proposal Chills Cash-Starved Owners of Bronx Buildings
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s pledge is raising alarms as bankers refuse to finance regulated buildings where costs outstrip income.
www.thecity.nyc
August 7, 2025 at 11:48 AM
This article on on NYC landlords unable to pay their expenses gives a foretaste of what I suspect the pushback to a rent freeze is going to look like. www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/07/b...