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David Watkins

David Watkins

@djw172.bsky.social

1.1K followers 850 following 390 posts

Political Science at the University of Dayton, occasional blogging at @lawgunsmoney.bsky.social.

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David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 20m

The desperate shamelessness of the lies you'll tell to cling to the powers that make you petty tyrants of your little fiefdoms is something to behold.

Fortunately NYC voters can see what's going on here. They're going to legalize building affordable housing in NIMBY districts. That's a good thing.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 1h

Ventured out into the wilds of East Dayton this afternoon to try Taqueria La Cuchilla. Well worth it; cachete (torta) and al pastor (taco) both exceptional. The creamy/spicy avocado sauce they give you is something I had no idea how much I needed in my life.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 7h

I think the underrated mechanism is "slack." Where housing is plentiful and cheap, people have more of it--more space, spare bedrooms, etc. So people who might become homeless where housing is expensive and slack is rare are more likely to find a place to crash with friends/family

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 22h

No, different brand, don't recall which (saw at store earlier today; wanted some kiwi but not 3 lbs so I didn't buy)

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 22h

Dayton OH: $9.49 for 3 lbs

Reposted by David Watkins

Darrell Owens @idothethinking.bsky.social · 1d

Happy Middle Housing Day in Berkeley. As of today, multifamily housing up to 3 stories at 70 units per acre is byright and ministerial on all Berkeley lots in the flatlands and foothills for the first time in history, stretching from Kensington to Oakland.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 1d

It's so trivially easy to envision how FUBAR the car market would be if we tried to do this with new cars. (And new cars are a much larger fraction of the overall car market!)

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 2d

I don't have a lot of strong views on how PhD programs should be organized but "there should be some kind of general all-subfields 1st semester course that isn't methods" and "this article should be taught in it" are two things that seem clear enough to me.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 2d

Definitely one of the most important articles I read in grad school, it made my own thinking so much clearer and sharper. But I only encountered it because I did Comparative as a secondary exam field, it wouldn't have come up for theory.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 2d

Perhaps probabilistically it increases the odds, but I don't think it's necessary or sufficient to create a widespread specific of a crisis among the public.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 2d

Some people who say this are just lying hacks, but I think it also comes from people who exemplify being "too online," as in "these annoying YIMBYs are all over the internet and I keep losing arguments to them, therefore I conclude their power must be hegemonic"

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 2d

Apparently, it's national cat day. Here's Willow and Nova, stealing my chair just seconds after I made the mistake of getting up.

two adorable young cats in a chair, willow a tortoiseshell and nova a black kitty.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 5d

Pleased to see DSA's better angels prevail on a very important vote. If you're voting for Mamdani and want his mayoral term to be successful on his own terms, passing these propositions is not optional.

nicoleamurray @nicoleamurray.bsky.social · 6d

NYC: Vote YES on ballot props 2-4. We at DSA' Social Housing campaign @housethefuture.bsky.social support them to move affordable and social housing along at the city AND state levels.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 6d

This is revealing. Fryer is, for all intents and purposes, a Harrell campaign operative. He's given this prime real estate for an opinion piece a week before the election, and the number of specific, positive Harrell accomplishments he chooses to identify and promote in the piece is zero.

Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 7d

I don't know who Alex is talking to other than "Seattle cops," but what I have heard consistently is that the race for mayor is about affordability and quality of life in an increasingly unequal city—not "let's take our anger at Trump out on City Hall." www.seattletimes.com/opinion/race...

If the Seattle electorate is angry at Trump, does it make sense to take it out on City Hall?

At a national inflection point, voters face a choice between incumbents who have met the moment and challengers who want to tax, spend and take us backward.

www.seattletimes.com

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 7d

And it's "the big dogs" (large hotels) that are subject to many more of the cost-raising requirements of this bill, which is why small hotels are more likely to be viable going forward. If the bill were actually about safety, exempting small hotels would be outrageous. But it's not, so no one cares.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 7d

I'm quite confident you're intelligent enough to see why "requiring X provides more benefits than it costs, therefore requiring Y provides more benefits than costs as well."

Which provisions of the Safe Hotel Act rectify clear and evident dangers in NYC hotels prior to 5/3/25?

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 7d

A bunch of new costs, requirements, and potential veto points that make it too risky to bother trying to build them, except maybe for a few smaller hotels.

www.littler.com/news-analysi...

New York City’s Safe Hotels Act Creates New Obligations for Hotel Owners and Operators | Littler

On Monday, November 4, 2024, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed the Safe Hotels Act into law. The Act imposes several new requirements on owners and operators of New York City hotels, with addition...

www.littler.com

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 8d

I think it's fine if some apts are available for short-term tenants. But if you think short-term visitors should be segregated into hotels, rather than putting pressure on the apartment market, you should be upset about new the Safe Hotels Act, which all but ensures few new hotels will be built.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 8d

This is good news, clear evidence that supply and demand "works" in this context. What is needed is conditions that allow and incentivize building enough housing to meet demand for both long-term and short-term tenants.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 8d

An early memory of mine is asking my parents to explain the (utterly deranged) Bircher political messages on this sign as a kid. It gives me a small amount of pleasure to learn it is now owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis reservation.

Reposted by David Watkins

Emily Nussbaum @emilynussbaum.bsky.social · 9d

People kvetch about the chaos-inducing serial comma, but you can also do a lot with a colon! Beware, biographers!!

NYPost headline reading “Prince Andrew had a network of staff, pals to ‘arrange girls’ for sex – and he had a type: biographer”

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 9d

Yeah, I don't claim my instincts on the efficacy of political mailers/messaging are reliably correct, but I really, really think "sneering contemptuously at baristas and carpenters" has more downside risk than upside, especially given Harrell's very real perceived arrogance problem.

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 10d

Is there any remotely plausible path toward some sort of sanction or punishment for Adrienne Adams, or whoever whoever else is directly behind these obviously illegal mailers?

Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 10d

@council.nyc.gov is blatantly violating the City Charter's prohibition on using government resources for electioneering with their mailers and social media posts opposing pro-housing measures 2-4. Chapter 49, §1136.1: there is no ambiguity about how illegal this is. www.nyccfb.info/law/charter/...

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 10d

Which is more likely, that this "shelving" results in the same housing being built in a more suitable location, or this housing not being built?

David Watkins @djw172.bsky.social · 13d

Good. Pujols deserves better.

MLB Daily News ⚾️ @fantasymlbnews.bsky.social · 13d

Albert Pujols won't be the Angels' manager, per Mark Feinsand.

Orioles and Padres remain interested.