Mostyn Gale
@mostyngale.bsky.social
Trade makes everybody better off.
Pinned
Mostyn Gale
@mostyngale.bsky.social
· Jul 6
Moderate amounts of density can house huge numbers of people.
For example, a 10 km × 10 km city at 40,000 people per km² would have a population of 4 million people.
40,000 ppl/km² is about 6-8 stories.
10×10 km is 100km², but most big cities are 1000+ km²
For example, a 10 km × 10 km city at 40,000 people per km² would have a population of 4 million people.
40,000 ppl/km² is about 6-8 stories.
10×10 km is 100km², but most big cities are 1000+ km²
"So you know nothing about there murders?"
"What murders? I know nothing! I didn't have anything to do with no murders."
"So you denounce them?"
"Oh I've go plans to murder many more people."
"What murders? I know nothing! I didn't have anything to do with no murders."
"So you denounce them?"
"Oh I've go plans to murder many more people."
Hegseth: "We've only just begun striking narco boats and putting narcoterrorists at the bottom of the ocean"
December 3, 2025 at 11:22 PM
"So you know nothing about there murders?"
"What murders? I know nothing! I didn't have anything to do with no murders."
"So you denounce them?"
"Oh I've go plans to murder many more people."
"What murders? I know nothing! I didn't have anything to do with no murders."
"So you denounce them?"
"Oh I've go plans to murder many more people."
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Department of Defense Law of War Manual, Sec. 18.3.2.1 states the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders.
What’s its key example? Wait for it . . . It’s "orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
What’s its key example? Wait for it . . . It’s "orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
December 1, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Department of Defense Law of War Manual, Sec. 18.3.2.1 states the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders.
What’s its key example? Wait for it . . . It’s "orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
What’s its key example? Wait for it . . . It’s "orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
Close your laptop.
December 1, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Close your laptop.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
High speed rail is a non-trivial effort with massive construction impacts and steep costs but it's never going to be cheaper, so governments should really start a semi-permanent program of building the most obvious corridors...or are we just going to keep flying from Seattle to Portland forever?
December 1, 2025 at 8:37 PM
High speed rail is a non-trivial effort with massive construction impacts and steep costs but it's never going to be cheaper, so governments should really start a semi-permanent program of building the most obvious corridors...or are we just going to keep flying from Seattle to Portland forever?
High floor no ceiling sounds a bit like lifting yourself up by your bootstraps.
November 30, 2025 at 6:35 PM
High floor no ceiling sounds a bit like lifting yourself up by your bootstraps.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Australia just recorded zero cervical cancer cases in women under 25 for the first time since records began in 1982. The amazing result of HPV vaccination.
November 28, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Australia just recorded zero cervical cancer cases in women under 25 for the first time since records began in 1982. The amazing result of HPV vaccination.
You'd think that Hegseth, as someone who spends more time than most in front of a mirror, would understand the concept of a mirror image.
November 26, 2025 at 1:15 AM
You'd think that Hegseth, as someone who spends more time than most in front of a mirror, would understand the concept of a mirror image.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
It is important to know that Taiwan is not, nor ever has been, a part of communist China.
Taiwan is all which remains of the previous version of China, before the communist revolution. Communist China has no claim on Taiwan, as it was never theirs. If anything, Taiwan has claim on mainland China.
Taiwan is all which remains of the previous version of China, before the communist revolution. Communist China has no claim on Taiwan, as it was never theirs. If anything, Taiwan has claim on mainland China.
November 24, 2025 at 7:03 PM
It is important to know that Taiwan is not, nor ever has been, a part of communist China.
Taiwan is all which remains of the previous version of China, before the communist revolution. Communist China has no claim on Taiwan, as it was never theirs. If anything, Taiwan has claim on mainland China.
Taiwan is all which remains of the previous version of China, before the communist revolution. Communist China has no claim on Taiwan, as it was never theirs. If anything, Taiwan has claim on mainland China.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
The entrance to the 3-storey bike parking garage at Utrecht Central holding 12,500 bicycles. It’s free for the first 24 hours, linked to the station, and used by tens of thousands every day. This is what happens when a country treats bikes as real transport infrastructure, not an afterthought.
November 22, 2025 at 7:08 PM
The entrance to the 3-storey bike parking garage at Utrecht Central holding 12,500 bicycles. It’s free for the first 24 hours, linked to the station, and used by tens of thousands every day. This is what happens when a country treats bikes as real transport infrastructure, not an afterthought.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
The moment when 30 million American's received healthcare (2010) The moment when insurance companies had to start covering preexisting conditions, young adults could stay on their family's policy and I could trust that the small print couldn't screw me if I needed serious medical assistance. 🇺🇸
November 18, 2025 at 3:19 PM
The moment when 30 million American's received healthcare (2010) The moment when insurance companies had to start covering preexisting conditions, young adults could stay on their family's policy and I could trust that the small print couldn't screw me if I needed serious medical assistance. 🇺🇸
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
If you want larger homes in urban areas to be available and affordable to young families then you need to build a LOT of studio and one-bedroom apartments. Otherwise, groups of adult roommates will outbid them for the 2- and 3-bedroom units in walkable neighborhoods.
November 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
If you want larger homes in urban areas to be available and affordable to young families then you need to build a LOT of studio and one-bedroom apartments. Otherwise, groups of adult roommates will outbid them for the 2- and 3-bedroom units in walkable neighborhoods.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Urbanism—the notion that cities are good, that we should build housing in the dense walkable neighborhoods where people want to live, and that urban governance should prioritize city residents’ quality of life over suburban drivers’ convenience—remains a radical political program in America.
One thing that’s so frustrating living in a city center is the pervasive belief among suburbanites that your neighborhood is nothing more than a consumer experience for them and that the city should bend over backwards to ensure they can speed as fast as possible on their way to buy treats in it.
November 17, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Urbanism—the notion that cities are good, that we should build housing in the dense walkable neighborhoods where people want to live, and that urban governance should prioritize city residents’ quality of life over suburban drivers’ convenience—remains a radical political program in America.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Amazing capture by Brad Dennis
November 18, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Amazing capture by Brad Dennis
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Streets of Kherson covered with anti-drone nets.
November 16, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Streets of Kherson covered with anti-drone nets.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Here’s something that’s really important for everyone to understand.
If we design our cities just for cars, they fail everyone, including drivers.
If we design our cities with many great CHOICES in how to get around, they work better for everyone, including drivers.
Spread the word.
If we design our cities just for cars, they fail everyone, including drivers.
If we design our cities with many great CHOICES in how to get around, they work better for everyone, including drivers.
Spread the word.
November 15, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Here’s something that’s really important for everyone to understand.
If we design our cities just for cars, they fail everyone, including drivers.
If we design our cities with many great CHOICES in how to get around, they work better for everyone, including drivers.
Spread the word.
If we design our cities just for cars, they fail everyone, including drivers.
If we design our cities with many great CHOICES in how to get around, they work better for everyone, including drivers.
Spread the word.
My most woke opinion is that all law abiding people who are respectful of the rights of others and act in a civil way should be able to live and work anywhere they want, anywhere around the world.
"my least woke opinion is---"
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
November 15, 2025 at 12:10 PM
My most woke opinion is that all law abiding people who are respectful of the rights of others and act in a civil way should be able to live and work anywhere they want, anywhere around the world.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
![4-panel vertical comic. (1) 100 Years Ago [two people standing next to bicycle with small car nearby] PERSON 1: It’s too dangerous riding a bike with these cars around. I should get a car, too. (2) 50 Years Ago [two people between smaller car and bigger car] PERSON 2 with short hair: Small cars are less safe in collisions with larger vehicles, so I should get a bigger one. (3) Today [two people between big car and even bigger car] PERSON 1: Everyone has huge SUVs now. If I don’t get the biggest one, I’m putting my family at risk. (4) Soon [two people next to large armored car with spiked clubs attached] PERSON 2: If I don’t install more whirling spike clubs, I’ll be destroyed by all the other drivers who...](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiby6can6k76yzfmv2czxs4pu2l7zie7bqbrpswi7h3ifmiadkuqvu@jpeg)
Insurance is one of around six financial inventions that make the modern world possible.
It is a solution to unlikely but catastrophic risks that cannot be self insured or mitigated.
It is a solution to unlikely but catastrophic risks that cannot be self insured or mitigated.
My wife and I pay for life insurance even though we have never died. I pay for fire insurance even though my house has never burned down. That's not because we want to throw money at insurance companies. It's because THAT'S HOW INSURANCE WORKS.
November 10, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Insurance is one of around six financial inventions that make the modern world possible.
It is a solution to unlikely but catastrophic risks that cannot be self insured or mitigated.
It is a solution to unlikely but catastrophic risks that cannot be self insured or mitigated.
I just learned that when you put a library book on the reshelving cart, the librarians record that the book has been read.
Putting a book on the reshelving cart is a vote for that book and a vote for your library.
Don't make my mistake. Don't diligently put them back on the shelf.
#booksky
Putting a book on the reshelving cart is a vote for that book and a vote for your library.
Don't make my mistake. Don't diligently put them back on the shelf.
#booksky
November 10, 2025 at 8:31 PM
I just learned that when you put a library book on the reshelving cart, the librarians record that the book has been read.
Putting a book on the reshelving cart is a vote for that book and a vote for your library.
Don't make my mistake. Don't diligently put them back on the shelf.
#booksky
Putting a book on the reshelving cart is a vote for that book and a vote for your library.
Don't make my mistake. Don't diligently put them back on the shelf.
#booksky
I always though the point was that you can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Casual reminder that the myth of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a cruel hoax designed to convince poor people from all walks of life that the injustices they face are a result of their own actions, rather than an oppressive system rigged against them.
November 10, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I always though the point was that you can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
This is especially true for medical care. Virtually any - any - type of cancer was a death sentence. The 5y survival rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 1960 was roughly 14%. Today it is roughly 95%.
It is genuinely hard for most people to grasp how poor the past was.
November 9, 2025 at 6:39 PM
This is especially true for medical care. Virtually any - any - type of cancer was a death sentence. The 5y survival rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 1960 was roughly 14%. Today it is roughly 95%.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
One thing to do, especially if you’re a science writer or editor, is when you have occasion to mention the names of the discoverers of the structure of DNA, just say “Watson, Crick, and Franklin.” No one can stop us, and it is correct.
November 7, 2025 at 9:52 PM
One thing to do, especially if you’re a science writer or editor, is when you have occasion to mention the names of the discoverers of the structure of DNA, just say “Watson, Crick, and Franklin.” No one can stop us, and it is correct.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
“Cities are good, people want to live in dense walkable neighborhoods, and urban governance should prioritize city residents’ quality of life over suburban drivers’ convenience” remains a genuinely radical political program in America.
It shouldn’t be forgotten that a big piece of Mamdani’s campaign was simply “cities are cool and lots of people enjoy living in them” which in and of itself dismantles alot of rightwing talking points
November 7, 2025 at 10:28 PM
“Cities are good, people want to live in dense walkable neighborhoods, and urban governance should prioritize city residents’ quality of life over suburban drivers’ convenience” remains a genuinely radical political program in America.