I won't be surprised if IDOT gets a few new roadworks jobs to do
A guitarist/dad in Rogers Park, Chicago, interested in most things. History, panamericanism, freak folklorica, Anti-AI, White Sox, Penn State. neildixonsmith.com
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I won't be surprised if IDOT gets a few new roadworks jobs to do
Street Hassle by Lou Reed, a clean 11:01
COOL! Please fund our transit system
If only he showed this courage on Chicago Transit funding, he's about to become very unpopular around here when services start getting cut
YES, thank you, I am so tired of dystopia.
Before 10am
New— Nazis with giant swastika flags marched in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday with two police escorts. They shouted “white power” and said to the woman who took this video (reshared here with her permission) “fuck you, n***** bitch.” Police did not intervene. I cannot find local news coverage.
For Every Red 🩸 Blooded American 🇺🇸…. This Is A Abomination of The American 🇺🇸 Flag. and All It Stands For. It’s in Several Russian Papers as well as News Broadcasts. This is Treasonous on the part of a President! Period.
An original writician
I thought there was one where he said “the gutters are filled with the talented” but this was nicer!
Joe S. Pt 2: “Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world if full of educated derelicts. Persistence and Determination alone are Omnipotent.”
Joe Strummer pt 1: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. There is nothing more common than unsuccessful men with talent…
Maybe the Louie, Louie
Arguably a top 5 track of the 20th Century
Fundamental reading
And that bill did not include transit funding
I’m talking about the transit bill, take it easy
It was a spending bill, not a funding bill - mandating a name change, a police force, regional councils and other boondoggles, all unfunded, they’ve known about the financial cliff for 3 years, no leadership
RTA manages a balance of interests between Metra (suburbs) and the city (CTA), the initial reform bill that failed tried to break that up so the city could control CTA, it failed because the suburban reps wouldn't go for that (and never would), they changed it just a name change and it failed too
Right, they distribute money, each agency wants all of it and they mediate who gets what
RTA exists to mediate between the city and suburbs
the reform bill included stuff like mandating a name change for the RTA ($5mil at least), plus a transit police force, regional councils (ie patronage jobs), and more, all unfounded, the crux was more city control so the suburbs killed it
“Reform” is not funding - the reform bill is what failed, there has been no funding bill
It’s too late by statute, when money runs out they have to cut services and that doesn’t just reverse itself, it’s happened before, wheels are already in motion
Republicans want to kill all transit, so we can buy more cars or have driverless taxis, suburban/downstate reps won’t approve $ to the city for anything, and there are plenty of Dem nincompoops and misguided transit activists, I’m not optimistic, and it’s already kinda too late
We can’t report good news!
It’s already too late, they hit the financial wall in a couple weeks and service cuts will start, it takes years to reverse that even if funding comes this year which is very unlikely
This is 100% about COVID, 2 years of no riders and the operations bill is due, ridership has largely returned and crime is down, blaming the services is cheap
“They are ‘out’ until September
The state legislature has known about the transit financial cliff for three years, they introduced a 900 page spending bill with 12 hours before session ended for summer and it failed, service cuts are being planned and they are fine until September and the governor did nothing
Hilarious
Correct, and we had a complete failure of the IL legislature to pass a bill and the governor’s team sat it out - if he’s such a strong governor he could have helped make something happen, all he’s done is blame transit workers
Cool, FUND CHICAGO TRANSIT
Hey, I’m on this podcast: youtu.be/1gso8dYVrgk?...
FUND TRANSIT, this isn’t going to be cool when lines are cut and rates hike and JB just lets it happen
@tomtomorrow.bsky.social
The RTA is advocating for additional funding and reform to ensure our transit system can not only survive, but thrive. Our legislative proposal outlines a plan to deliver an efficient, accountable, affordable, and integrated transit network. www.rtachicago.org/blog/2025/05...
CANNOT WAIT
You’re from Chicago if you have a Ventra card and use it. Send tweet.
They are literally the last band to tell the "oh yeah, we used to do 5 sets a night 7 nights a week" story, weeks later sound systems were put in every bar and no band ever got to do this again
Cassocks are red Conclaves are dope Wake up babe we got a
new pope! *crowd goes wild* American pope! *crowd boos* woke for an American! *crowd goes wild* bad on protecting abusive priests! *crowd boos* hates JD Vance! *crowd goes wild*
Popeslayer
Like many other large transit systems across the nation, Chicagoland is facing a fiscal cliff as we draw down on remaining COVID relief funds. Now is the time to protect and improve the future of our transit system. Urge your legislators to take action by signing a letter at SaveTransitNow.org 📲🚌
No schedule conflicts tonight
I'm a guitarist in Chicago, this week playing at my favorite bar
Got my copy of Grandin this weekend, can’t wait to tear in. It is time for Panamericanism.
Oh come now: youtu.be/51B55OQysj8?...
I would just mail cash to Matador
POPESLAYER
BREAKING: #Chicago finished this past month with the fewest #murders of any April since 1962, a @WBEZ analysis has found. The month’s 19 murders make 115 so far this year, the lowest January-through-April tally since 2014. www.wbez.org/cpd/2025/05/...
A lot of maneuvering to see who squeezes out the last made buck
And no video captures early 80s decadence quite like this: youtu.be/Cn8APTMyKsg?...
This is a huge issue in Chicago right now, post-COVID ridership is back but the operations bill on two years with no riders is due, they want to kill transit for driverless ubers
They’re making the White Sox look respectable
if there’s one thing a bunch of people I recently talked to about the U.S. in Asia agreed on, it’s “the average American has had so little to fear from their own government, compared to people from many other nations, that they’ve convinced themselves they don’t need to pay attention to politics.”
Reverend William Barber was just arrested for praying in front of the Capitol. Reverend Barber is the co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, which was founded by MLK Jr. Reverend Barber is the closest living person we have to Dr King. We MUST protect him. religionnews.com/2025/04/28/w...
This whole clip is truly unbelievably great. I am genuinely astounded by how good this is.
This is why the RTA @rtachicago.bsky.social has launched a campaign to engage riders. The system is far from perfect. Our proposal nor our campaign are perfect. But with this much at stake, we are determined to do all we can to prevent service cuts.
Me! Been here 26 years, last 8 up in Rogers Park, northernest neighborhood on the lake
He narrates all the books I read now
The biggest brewing issue in Illinois is state funding for Chicagoland mass transit, he's been trying to punt but the bill is up in June. Shapiro failed in PA and now Philly transit is fucked...will he let Chicago down on the way to a prez run?
His essay on his Bezos space trip was pretty great
This remarkable woman has brought the frame wars right to Chuck's face. Rhetorical criticism IRL!
Groove is in the Heart...Black Boys on Mopeds
POPESLAYER
Peak Humanity
My grandfather has a line, in his book on judicial review, about how, when agreement on substance is impossible, it is sometimes possible to get everyone to agree on procedure, and that if this were not true no baseball game could be played to completion
Awesome! Please fully fund mass transit in Chicago!
2% of transportation emissions in the Chicago area come from transit vehicles while 59% come from passenger cars and trucks. Ride transit to save the planet! And build community, support local economies, improve public health, advance racial and social equity…DO I NEED TO GO ON?! 🚍🚊🌎❤️
Thank you! And please fight for full transit funding!
People in Chicago need to be talking about this more
SORRY. Sorry. Have we seen this *incredible* news video coming out of Queensland? Wait for the witness/witnesses statement
Popeslayer
Rest in peace
Trump's 145% tariff on China sparked a surge in imports. But exports didn't follow. Now, West Coast ports are sending ships back empty. This isn't economic revival. It's a retreat. This week's Data and Politics long form newsletter post. www.dataandpolitics.net/empty-ships-...
It is time for Trump to put up or shut up in Court. A FEDERAL JUDGE said “no evidence before the court connects Abrego Garcia to MS-13 or any criminal organization.” No one is vouching for one man. We are standing up for EVERYONE’s right to due process under the Constitution.
After federal troops forced a fugitive slave named Anthony Burns back into slavery in the 1850s, one Bostonian wrote, “we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.” The abuse of power radicalizes people. We are seeing that now.
I heard about it getting on the bus to head home
Been buying extra paper towels, toilet paper and bottles of mezcal
made-in-China MAGA merch getting hit by Trump’s tariffs (H/T @saadia---m.bsky.social )
Abrego Garcia's wife: "I will not stop fighting until I see my husband alive. Kilmar, if you can hear me, stay strong. God hasn't forgotten about you. Our children are asking when you will come home ... they miss their dad so much."
I will say this - EVERYONE with power seems to be desperately hoping that unpopularity does the work that consequences need to do
This is the tweet of all tweets. America and every European country goes back to the dark ages without slave/cheap labor. They exist purely off stealing from the global south.
The Feelies
I did it and got very lucky (and now I'm a delightfully old dad), there was a bunch of awkward dating but the best advice I ever got was "get back up on that horse!"
Thank you for posting on these topics, it may be only through sports journalists that Trump supporters see these stories
the american government, 2025 president: i'm a dictator legislature: sure, cool lower judiciary: no you fucking aren't higher judiciary: the procedure that allows you to challenge the president on the fourth monday of every month at one dairy queen in waco, texas is enough
Good morning. Today is the 80th day that the U.S. President is running a backdoor bribery scheme in which any CEO or foreign oligarch can send him money secretly through his crypto coin scam in exchange for favors. It's the biggest scandal in the history of the Presidency.
every day I wake up and check the news and am madder about the Trump administration than I have ever been and then I have to meet the obligations of my daily life and them the next morning I wake up and check the news and am madder about the Trump administration than I have ever been and then I have
It’s in Tidal
Quiet Fire by Roberta Flack is a salve
Fresh kill mouth feel
Maybe the best sign.
This is Utah in case anyone’s wondering how pissed off people are. I have never seen anything like this.
I greatly enjoy following you, found you via Penn State, tipping my Friday 5pm Cuba Libre to you