Christian Roselund

ecori.org'We Will Not Have Climate Progress Without a Functional Democracy' - ecoRI NewsWhat is "true" in the America that Trump is trying to build is not what is backed by fact and evidence.

6 Jan

Today @ecorinews.bsky.social published my op-ed drawing the connection between our struggle against #Trump 's war on #offshorewind and the fight against his authoritarian takeover in America. #NoKings ecori.org/we-will-not-...

cayimby.orgCalifornia Cities Wanted Free Affordable Housing. Turns Out There’s a Huge Cost. - California YIMBYMore than a third of California cities and counties, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and fast-growing suburbs like Dublin and Irvine, require private home builders to set aside a porti...

13h

Wondering why inclusionary zoning is a bad idea? Read this whole thread. #housingcrisis

Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈@maxdubler.com

While this system does pretty effectively maximize the percentage of new apartments that are set aside as below market housing for low income people in new buildings, it does so at TREMENDOUS cost to broad housing affordability. cayimby.org/blog/califor...

I'm on an @amtrak.com train that is *6 hours and 48 minutes* late; I was scheduled to arrive in DC at 6:34 PM and I maybe will get there by 1 AM. This unfortunately is one of many bad Amtrak experiences I've had of late. This company is deeply failing its customers and needs serious reform.

trains.comWill restructuring solve Amtrak challenges? Analysis - TrainsWASHINGTON — A still-gestating plan to create an Amtrak “parent company” overseeing three separate operating units is generating a mix of skepticism and hope among industry observers. The proposal to create Passenger Rail Service, Infrastructure, and Fleet units was formally revealed in a Friday press conference [see “Amtrak unveils restructuring plan …,” Trains.com, July 31, [...]Read More...

Amtrak's response to its obvious failures is to break the company up into parts. This strikes me as a little more than a distraction from the need for a real organizational and culture overhaul including replacing top management. www.trains.com/pro/passenge...

13h

Given that we are under a regime that wants to break everything in this country and sell off the parts, we can all guess where this idea comes from. The USA - arguably the most technologically advanced society in world history, is failing to implement 19th century tech. We need a complete reboot.

There's also "areas where Amtrak has greater control to reduce impacts, such as maintaining its aging fleet, providing consistent communications during delays," Amtrak did not appear to improve at these things since that report. In general, Amtrak customer service is frequently hot garbage.

Unlike, say, airline staff, staff on Amtrak are frequently hostile and unhelpful. After contemplating this for a few months, it's become clear that Amtrak hires people who should be nowhere near customer service and are not adequately supervised. This is a management failure.

To get past the part where the power failed they needed to move to a diesel engine. Now they're making us wait 25 minutes? or more to put an electric engine back on instead of just getting us to our fucking destinations. At @amtrak.com, the customer is last. Always.

amtrakoig.govOIG identifies Amtrak’s top management and performance challenges for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 | AMTRAK Office Of Inspector GeneralJuly 22, 2026 WASHINGTON – Amtrak faces a number of management and performance challenges as it balances the demands of running a safe, efficient passenger railroad with historic capital investment, g...

For the reply guys/gals who want to talk underinvestment (which is a problem), here's an Inspector General report that goes into exactly the problems we are experiencing on this train, including an "increasingly unreliable legacy fleet" which they are slow to replace. amtrakoig.gov/news/audits-...

But the more fundamental problem is that the train left Boston 2 hours 20 minutes late and by the time it got to New London it was 2 hours 52 minutes late. Instead of making up lost time, they got *further* behind. Why? No explanation given. In fact, RN we're sitting at a station with lights off.

The communication by @amtrak.com is, as is often the case, extremely poor. This car has a speaker system that is never louder than a whisper; even when we do get updates we can't clearly hear them and need to find a conductor, of which there are few and their priorities are not talking with us.

Let's talk about today's train. The primary cause of delay is a power line that was down across the track near New Haven; this caused a delay of >4 hours. Apparently no one was available to move the line so we had to wait for a diesel locomotive to take our train. Not sure who fucked up there.

prismreports.orgJournalists say U.S. newsrooms treat Palestine with fear and contemptA Prism investigation reveals pro-Israel bias at the leadership levels of mainstream U.S. newsrooms, which intensified after Oct. 7, 2023

19h

This is so good. For years we've been gaslit on the war crimes #Israel commits in #Gaza by US media, and this explains much of the how and why.

Prism@prismreports.org

“They gave me this whole spiel about how ‘there’s before Oct. 7 & there’s after Oct. 7.’ That was my breaking point.” @laubast.bsky.social's award-winning investigation exposed pro-Israel bias at U.S. newsrooms & their incapacitation of Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim journalists reporting the truth.

@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social

23h

Thank you @kateschapira.bsky.social for your service!

Kate Schapira: "Well Put & Generalizable"@kateschapira.bsky.social

Just signed up to be a poll worker woooooooooo

Christian Roselund reposted

Nicholas Grossman

23h

The US is not about to have a free and fair election. The state has put its thumb on the scale to favor the ruling party in multiple ways. It's a mostly free, somewhat unfair election. But still one where the ruling party can be overwhelmed by numbers. Hence the term "competitive authoritarianism."

Asawin Suebsaeng@swin24.bsky.social

It is atrocious we have to operate under this constant credible and explicit threat from one political party, the fact we keep calling it a “free and fair election” needs some light revising

As part of my job, I regularly have to go to WhiteHouse.gov. Today is has a tracker that shows the "cost of Socialism" attributed to DSA policies. DSA holds municipal power in New York City, and soon in Los Angeles and Providence (among other cities). It controls no states, nor the federal gov't.

As I wrote about in the @ecorinews.bsky.social op-ed pinned to my profile, the Trump Regime is fundamentally waging a war on truth and objective reality. Because this is how authoritarian regimes function. They attempt to control what you see and what you think.

It's easy to grow numb to this given the infinitely greater crimes of this administration than its defacing of the White House website. But every instance of this should be noted and called out. This is not normal.

Nor is DSA even close to winning majorities in state houses or governorships, in even the bluest states. The degree to which the Trump Administration has used the White House website to put forward baseless, misleading and/or inaccurate propaganda is only one of many crimes. But it's telling.

data4democracy.substack.comHook and SqueezeHow Democratic consultants, committees, and party leaders built a fundraising spam pipeline that funnels money from a captive pool of elderly donors into their own operations.

The smear tactics that Vivek Ramaswamy has used against @amyactonoh.bsky.social are unforgiveable. But the Acton campaign won't get a dime from me as long as they keep spamming my phone w/ texts designed to exploit cognitively vulnerable seniors. Shame. data4democracy.substack.com/p/hook-and-s...

Thank you again @adambonica.bsky.social for explaining the malignant logic behind these obnoxious, endless texts.

theguardian.com‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for datacentreCompany ordered to stop work at two sites in country, which has found itself at forefront of tech firms’ latest push

No longer using Google for personal email (now using @proton.me). No longer using Chrome as a web browser (using @duckduckgo.com). And replacing all other Google services as fast as I can. Join me. Quit the monster.

Scott Horton@robertscotthorton.bsky.social

Finland ordered the suspension of Google's data center plans after discovering a series of fraudulent representations in its permit submissions. Now Finns are fuming over Google's illegal felling of 250,000 trees to clear land for the project. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I am no fan of Hillary Clinton. But I appreciate this and I think she has good insights here as to Trump's behavior. My bigger question is this: why is Clinton one of the few voices among leading US political figures actively calling out Trump's selling out of Ukraine? Why are we not hearing more?

Hillary Rodham Clinton@hillaryclinton.bsky.social

Why is Trump making so many concessions to Russia now? I think it's three things. #HighStakes

It's good to see Senator Blumenthal raise this issue. But why is it that so many senators ask simply for "answers" from a rouge administration and a company run by an oligarch with unchecked power? Is "answers" the most that you can ask for in this situation?

Richard Blumenthal@blumenthal.senate.gov

Ukraine losing access to Starshield raises serious concerns for our national security—like who controls critical capabilities the U.S. government has spent billions to procure & how decisions to restrict them are made. I'm demanding answers from the Department of Defense & SpaceX

vanityfair.comThe Art of the Deal: Jared Kushner’s Hacked Phone Revealed More Than $700 Million in TransfersAn exclusive excerpt from ‘Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East’ examines how bank accounts linked the president’s son-in-law—and former sen...

Thank you @seancasten.bsky.social. More Democrats should follow his lead and talk more about the naked corruption and wholesale sell-out of our gov't to private interests that is central to the Trump Admin. The affordability crisis is real. But it just isn't the only threat that this regime poses.

Sean Casten@seancasten.bsky.social

This is UNBELIEVABLY damning on Jared Kushner but don't lose sight about what this says about Rubio, Ratcliffe and the rest of Trump's senior diplomatic and intel team. www.vanityfair.com/story/jared-...

Also thank you @seancasten.bsky.social for calling out #MarcoRubio directly. Too many in government are silent on Rubio's complete dereliction of duty and blind obedience to Trump's criminal behavior and selling out of US interests. When this is over, Rubio needs his Nuremberg.

reuters.comA Ukrainian soldier severed his own foot to survive. Then came a dramatic rescue.Kostiantyn Vlasenko was huddled in a hole hollowed under the boiler of a bombed-out school when he came to a terrifying conclusion: To survive, he must amputate his own limb.

While Trump employs Musk to sell out Ukraine on behalf of his patron (Putin), this is the brutal reality that Ukrainian soldiers are living on the front lines. www.reuters.com/graphics/UKR...

Christian Roselund reposted

Lora Kolodny

@lorak.bsky.social

"As of this morning, instances of connectivity loss at speeds of 161 km/h are still being observed. There is currently no confirmation that these restrictions have been lifted," a source in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 23." kyivindependent.com/analysis-ukr...

kyivindependent.comAnalysis: Ukraine’s Starshield access is still crippled, and no one is taking the blameEleven days after Ukraine's Starshield terminals started mysteriously malfunctioning, there is still nobody in Washington who wants to take responsibility, while Trump administration officials continu...

kyivindependent.comAngry at Trump's Russian diesel deal? Here's how you can help Ukraine bomb RussiaU.S. President Donald Trump had a busy weekend, undermining sanctions on Russia, blaming Ukraine for the war Russia started — again — and insisting that Russian refineries become drone-free zones. "We said you could do whatever you want to Russia, don't hit the refineries, because that's a world problem that's caused," Trump said on Oct. 10. "And (President Volodymyr Zelensky) wants to make problems for the world, he wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel. ... W

Time to make another donation to Come Back Alive, or another one of these notable charities. Also: Please EU officials: don't be fools. If you pander to Trump and Musk, they will screw you over twice as hard.

BenB 🇺🇦@benborges.xyz

Angry at Trump's Russian diesel deal? Here's how you can help Ukraine bomb Russia U.S. President Donald Trump had a busy weekend, undermining sanctions on Russia, blaming Ukraine for the war Russia started — again — and insisting that Russian refineries become drone-free zones...

reuters.comEXCLUSIVE: Rhode Island sues Meta over alleged tolerance for scam advertisingRhode Island sued Meta Platforms in state court on Thursday over the company's alleged tolerance for widespread scam advertising on its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms.

Oh Hell Yes. Thank you @peterneronha.bsky.social for taking on the criminal enterprise that is Meta. #RhodeIsland www.reuters.com/world/rhode-...

He's only got a few months left in office, and Peter Neronha is still delivering for the people of this state. Impressive.

bostonglobe.com‘Help’: ICE agents attempt to arrest father in Providence as his children cling to him - The Boston GlobeA video shows the man holding onto his two toddlers, one who is crying, as ICE agents grab his arms.

#ICE is still harassing and detaining parents with no criminal record and breaking up families in #RhodeIsland. #abolishICE www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/21/m...

thehill.comFlanagan leads Tafoya by 4 points in new Minnesota Senate pollMinnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) leads her GOP opponent, former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, in a new poll on the state’s U.S. Senate race. The Minnesota Star Tribune/KARE 11 Mi…

I've been donating to @abdulelsayed.bsky.social @troyjackson207.bsky.social and @joshturek4iowa.bsky.social because these are close races and we need to take the senate back from Fascists. Made my first donation to @peggyflanagan.bsky.social, also in a close race. thehill.com/homenews/cam...

If you can knock doors, knock doors. Or make phone calls. If you can give money, give money. All are important, and I've done all of these things. And if you can give money to a candidate, do so now so that it can have an effect before election day.

Stakes are high. If Democrats don't take back power, I fear that we will not have another federal election. Frankly, we might not anyway. But having a US Senate majority is a better position than not having one to fight this.

The above article says 4 points, but the polls I've been seeing are consistently closer to a 3 point lead. That's margin of error territory and we can't afford to lose a single seat. Also: I feel like I can donate to these candidates w/o sacrificing other principles/policy priorities.

Namely, unlike other Democratic US Senate candidates, none of the four listed above have a track record of enabling Israel's genocide in Gaza. I'm convinced that we can have nice things and still win.

reuters.comGiant ‘heat storms’ are scorching Earth. The story of the biggest one.Supersized heat waves used to be rare. No longer. Reuters reveals the rise of ‘heat storms.’ They now swarm the globe, upending life and the climate everywhere.

Simply incredible coverage of the increasing frequency and intensity of the #heatstorm effect by @reuters.com. This is the kind of coverage of the #climatecrisis that we need for people to really understand what is going on. www.reuters.com/investigates...

We should do this at the US state level. But given a shortage of state capacity (in both senses of the word state), we in the USA hopefully look to healthier nations like Canada or EU nations to lead, if they will. The future of democracy may depend upon this.

Anonymous@youranoncentral.bsky.social

Canadian philosopher Heather Marsh warns about the potential exploitation of separatist movements by foreign actors and argues that Canada needs preventative measures against foreign interference, not just reactive legislation. #cdnpoli georgiebc.wordpress.com/2017/08/01/t...

My #RhodeIsland politics musing for the day: #Politics are personal everywhere, but here (especially in #Providence), this is dialed up to 11. It's nearly impossible to have public conversations on the merits of policies & policy positions without it devolving into personal alliances & animosities.

At its worst, it ends with "I like/trust W political figure, therefore we will get Y outcome!" or the alternate: "W political figure is an SOB, therefore X policy did not lead to Y outcome." Needless to say, it's a lot harder to address our collective challenges (like the #housingcrisis) like this.

And I get it: this is just humans being band-level primates first and rational beings maybe third. But as noted, I've found it a lot easier to have these sorts of policy conversations in other places. My message to my fellow #RhodeIsland people: get less petty and personal. Think more, react less.

There is little to no conversation of "X policy is likely end in Y outcome," but rather "I like/trust W political figure therefore X policy is good!" or the alternative of "W political figure is an SOB therefore X1, X2, and X3 policies/policy approaches are inherently bad!" Makes for dumb convos.

hardwareretailing.comU.S. Lowers Canadian Softwood Lumber Duties - Hardware RetailingFollowing its annual review, the U.S. Department of Commerce lowered antidumping and countervailing

It looks like our dysfunctional system of US trade barriers is affecting another industry: homebuilding. What is not said in this article: AD/CVD duties are unknowable in advance and change every year. You get the full bill 2-3 years later. /1 hardwareretailing.com/u-s-lowers-c...

The only winners here are US timber barons and some US loggers & mill workers, who by the way are vastly outnumbered in rural areas by people who work in nature tourism, an industry threatened by Trump's policies. So not even good for rural communities. /5

This is Trump policy in a nutshell, and people fighting against bad domestic policies need to understand that our dysfunctional trade policies are part of the economic, social and environmental carnage that is Trumpism. /6/end

hardwareretailing.comU.S. Lowers Canadian Softwood Lumber Duties - Hardware RetailingFollowing its annual review, the U.S. Department of Commerce lowered antidumping and countervailing

fs.usda.govUSDA acts to remove roadless rule restrictions that exacerbate rising wildfire risk | US Forest ServiceToday, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the U.S. Forest Service has filed a proposed rule to rescind in its entirety the national 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a one-size-f...

It makes a lot more sense for us to use lumber from Canadian boreal forests for homes than our own limited, overtaxed forests. But that's what the Trump Administration wants to do & they are particularly trying to go after the old growth forests. This is looting. /3 www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency...

Trade policy & domestic policy intersect here, and the result is bad for nearly everyone: The higher cost & unpredictable tariffs on Canadian lumber raise costs & make the #housingcrisis worse. The plan to rescind the US roadless rule threatens our last few old-growth forests. /4

hardwareretailing.comU.S. Lowers Canadian Softwood Lumber Duties - Hardware RetailingFollowing its annual review, the U.S. Department of Commerce lowered antidumping and countervailing