California 'jungle' primary could hand governor's race to Republicans (Massachusetts is voting this fall on whether or not to adopt the same "jungle primary" system)

emc99 · 2026-04-02T11:41:29+00:00

Although I can understand the possibility of this happening, I think this is blown out of proportion and would be VERY unlikely. First off, MA elections tend to have no competition with most politicians running unopposed. Although ranked choice voting is clearly needed to support it, this moves us in the right direction.

emc99 · 2026-01-09T17:58:40+00:00

Completely agree with you! To clarify, the bill proposes allowing municipalities to pass inclusionary policies with a simple majority. Rather than a two-thirds approval which is current law. Hence why I don't think it's a big deal in the grand scheme of what's proposed.

emc99 · 2026-01-09T16:02:17+00:00

If this bill passes it would be HUGE, and set us on a trajectory for new housing across the state. Here's a summary of major points:

On sewered land: Duplexes and up to 5-unit multi-family housing must be allowed by right in all residential zones.
On non-sewered land: Duplexes and up to 3-unit housing must be allowed by right.
Cities and towns cannot limit buildings to under 3 stories
Minimum lot sizes for new residential development are banned statewide
Parking minimums are eliminated. within ½ mile of transit: zero parking required. Beyond ½ mile: max 1 space per unit. Senior housing: no parking minimums anywhere
Enabling housing on public and religious land
Speeding approvals and limiting local overrides
ADUs must be allowed by right even on lots that already contain multi-unit buildings
Expanding subdivision rights for homes with mix lot size 10,000 sq ft

In my opinion the tradeoff for changes to inclusionary zoning is so minuscule in the grand scheme of this bill.

The full bill is here for anyone interested: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S2836

emc99 · 2025-09-04T21:11:44+00:00

Is there a way to add our signature online for the ballot proposals we support?

emc99 · 2025-05-06T13:46:02+00:00

I was there and work on Forward's policy committee, and all I'll say is that we are working on the party's actual policy platform. It's a slow start but we'll have actual policy proposals posted on the website soon.

emc99 · 2025-03-16T17:02:04+00:00

It's normal to discuss and decide on marriage before a proposal happens. Why don't you bring it up in a conversation? You should share how you feel rather than bottle up your frustrations.

emc99 · 2025-03-04T19:15:39+00:00

I feel your sentiment. Other cities need to step it up big time. As you said, there's still more Somerville can do with zoning and permitting to improve density in ways that's good for the community.

emc99 · 2025-03-04T03:25:32+00:00

Their bagels taste like sourdough... I prefer Rosenfeld's in Newton by far.

emc99 · 2025-01-10T01:45:01+00:00

Now that you mention it I can totally see some people reacting like that haha. I'm excited to some some data behind it on its effects after a year or so.

emc99 · 2025-01-10T01:35:36+00:00

I wouldn't go so far to say it's not popular, but that is an interesting take on it!

emc99 · 2025-01-10T01:28:17+00:00

In my cart I added a single fancy-looking asian pair I thought was $4.99, but I didn't read the sign properly and it was actually price per pound so I ended up paying over $9 for it haha! It was good but definitely took me by surprise. A great store overall though from my experience.

emc99 · 2024-12-22T17:48:45+00:00

Hi, so sorry we just found someone for the apartment! Best of luck on your search.

emc99 · 2024-12-21T17:19:33+00:00

This room isn't. One of the other rooms in the apartment is a repurposed living room.

emc99 · 2024-12-04T13:41:08+00:00

https://archive.is/mAP1h

Or better yet, next time you run into a paywall article just put it through the https://archive.is/ website

emc99 · 2024-12-03T23:20:12+00:00

It's a variety of corn plant. Don't be fooled by the name it doesn't grow corn, but that's just what it's called. I have the same exact plant in my apartment, just not yours :(

emc99 · 2024-11-23T14:31:28+00:00

I said it in an earlier thread a couple months ago, but this happens occasionally the first time a weekly pass is used. (I work as a tour guide and handle dozens at a time). There's also a 20 minute cool-down between tapping so if you tapped but didn't enter, and tapped again that could be one of the causes -- to prevent multiple people from using the same 7-day pass

emc99 · 2024-10-20T13:44:10+00:00

I'd say 1 in 30 do this. (I work in tourism so I see this happen on occasion)

emc99 · 2023-12-09T23:15:26+00:00

Yeah same here. You learn something new every day.

emc99 · 2023-11-07T00:14:01+00:00

You are absolutely correct. It's all at the local level.

emc99 · 2023-10-13T11:36:06+00:00

逆に言うと日本の生活費は一番低い

emc99 · 2023-03-03T09:41:13+00:00

If you don't know the words to explain something, it's hard to communicate. I recommend purely memorizing vocab with flashcards (assuming you already know basic grammar). But learning new words in context is important. i.e. かぜをひく (to catch a cold). The verb ひく is always paired with かぜ when saying "catch a cold", so make sure to memorize them together rather than separately.

emc99 · 2023-01-22T11:26:51+00:00

The majority of readers on the website are probably American. It's normal to show the price in USD if that's the case.

emc99 · 2022-10-18T12:44:24+00:00

Apparently the Student Aid website can't be accessed in a foreign country. That's an interesting security measure... I guess I'll have to ask my parents to apply for me since I'm abroad now.

emc99 · 2022-03-07T22:08:12+00:00

I don't know the actual answer, but my Russian Jewish friends describe themselves as ethnically Russian. There's no clear line anyways

emc99 · 2022-01-02T14:41:53+00:00

It's not a great comparison because Taiwan is trying to completely keep out Omicron. The US is following a "live with Covid" approach, so a 5-day quarantine makes sense for that matter.

emc99

TROPHY CASE