6:33 PM yesterday
robotslave commented on There's No Workable Solution for Seattle's Homeless Camps.
5:54 PM yesterday
robotslave commented on Did You Steal Our Unpaid Intern's Camera?.
@13
You're right, Goldy, the lack of empathy in the comments is absolutely shocking.
Not one commenter yet has shown the slightest interest in understanding the poor, desperate person who took that camera.
There's a widespread, pernicious assumption that consumer-electronics thieves are all privileged, opportunistic hipsters out for a cheap thrill, but the reality is that they're far more likely to be homeless or social outcasts, often with fragile mental health. They're usually desperately poor, they're often young; sometimes they're queer and have experienced little in life but bullying and exclusion.
They don't play by the rules, but the rules were written to benefit the privileged property-owning class, and those rules have left these desperate people behind.
Fuck those rules.
You're right, Goldy, the lack of empathy in the comments is absolutely shocking.
Not one commenter yet has shown the slightest interest in understanding the poor, desperate person who took that camera.
There's a widespread, pernicious assumption that consumer-electronics thieves are all privileged, opportunistic hipsters out for a cheap thrill, but the reality is that they're far more likely to be homeless or social outcasts, often with fragile mental health. They're usually desperately poor, they're often young; sometimes they're queer and have experienced little in life but bullying and exclusion.
They don't play by the rules, but the rules were written to benefit the privileged property-owning class, and those rules have left these desperate people behind.
Fuck those rules.
5:29 PM yesterday
robotslave commented on Knife Threat Leads to Anal Cocaine Surprise.
McNulty is still modern-day, by any sane determination.
A nice write-up, but police reporting without any references to fictional policemen is always better police reporting.
A nice write-up, but police reporting without any references to fictional policemen is always better police reporting.
5:00 PM yesterday
robotslave commented on New California Law Could Prohibit Protesters From Riding Public Transit.
@16
And of course our Stay Out of Prostitution Area, Stay Out of Drug Area, and Park Exclusion orders are all issued (or not) by judges, not by policemen, and only after arrests for specific violations. It's true that just like the more familiar Restraining Order, SOPAs, SODAs, and PEOs do not require a trial and conviction. It would not be accurate, however, to claim they are issued "without any due process."
The bad old Trespass Admonishment program actually did give the SPD the power to unilaterally bar people from collections of properties for up to a year, but as you no doubt know, that policy was widely recognized as unfair, and thus was scrapped in favor of the single-property Trespass Warning similar to trespass enforcement policy in most of the US.
And of course our Stay Out of Prostitution Area, Stay Out of Drug Area, and Park Exclusion orders are all issued (or not) by judges, not by policemen, and only after arrests for specific violations. It's true that just like the more familiar Restraining Order, SOPAs, SODAs, and PEOs do not require a trial and conviction. It would not be accurate, however, to claim they are issued "without any due process."
The bad old Trespass Admonishment program actually did give the SPD the power to unilaterally bar people from collections of properties for up to a year, but as you no doubt know, that policy was widely recognized as unfair, and thus was scrapped in favor of the single-property Trespass Warning similar to trespass enforcement policy in most of the US.
3:17 PM yesterday
robotslave commented on New California Law Could Prohibit Protesters From Riding Public Transit.
This is absolutely true, provided you simply ignore the part where people have to be tried and convicted of violating the law in question before the punishment can be imposed.
@14 - There's not a shred of due process.
This is absolutely true, provided you simply ignore the part where people have to be tried and convicted of violating the law in question before the punishment can be imposed.
2:57 PM yesterday
robotslave commented on Don't Be Such a Mermaid!.
Gosh, if only there were some sort of readily available reference of contemporary slang used in high-density regions!
It means pretty much exactly what you'd expect it to mean, if you were to think about it all by yourself for 15 seconds instead of immediately asking Google.
It means pretty much exactly what you'd expect it to mean, if you were to think about it all by yourself for 15 seconds instead of immediately asking Google.
2:14 PM yesterday
robotslave commented on New California Law Could Prohibit Protesters From Riding Public Transit.
@10
Yes, if you've selected a route to your protest that goes through private property, you might run afoul of private property owners who object to the picture on your T-shirt or the words on your sign. That is indeed a potential problem, but it's not the problem under discussion.
Yes, if you've selected a route to your protest that goes through private property, you might run afoul of private property owners who object to the picture on your T-shirt or the words on your sign. That is indeed a potential problem, but it's not the problem under discussion.
2:07 PM yesterday
robotslave commented on China Approves 220-Story, 4,450-Apartment Pinnacle of Density.
A useful way to think about density (and one that density's proponents rarely mention) is to consider the necessary food production.
It should be immediately obvious that the higher you drive your urban (and/or suburban) density, the more you need to do at least one of the following: convert wild lands to farmland; decrease rural human density through mechanization and scaling up farms; increase per-acre production (most effectively via synthetic fertilizers); divert fresh water sources or reserves to irrigation; or increase transportation distance/energy use.
In other words, increasing residential density must eventually result in increasing agricultural industrialization and environmental impact.
Density is good, but it is not a simple matter of "more is better"; there is going to be an "optimum density maximum" of sorts, and that figure is going to vary enormously from one city to the next based on local geography and resource availability.
It should be immediately obvious that the higher you drive your urban (and/or suburban) density, the more you need to do at least one of the following: convert wild lands to farmland; decrease rural human density through mechanization and scaling up farms; increase per-acre production (most effectively via synthetic fertilizers); divert fresh water sources or reserves to irrigation; or increase transportation distance/energy use.
In other words, increasing residential density must eventually result in increasing agricultural industrialization and environmental impact.
Density is good, but it is not a simple matter of "more is better"; there is going to be an "optimum density maximum" of sorts, and that figure is going to vary enormously from one city to the next based on local geography and resource availability.
1:25 PM yesterday
robotslave commented on New California Law Could Prohibit Protesters From Riding Public Transit.
Good lord, Brendan, do you really think your readers are so stupid that they won't notice a mischaracterization of this as a law that could be used to prevent people from reaching a protest site?
The law addresses behavior on public transportation. No, it can not in any way be used to prevent a citizen from commuting to the site of a protest.
It does introduce new penalties for protests that disrupt public transportation, and one can of course object to such penalties for any number of reasons. But damn, man, don't you think it might be a bad idea to insult your audience by leading with the total bullshit propaganda, instead of the substance?
The law addresses behavior on public transportation. No, it can not in any way be used to prevent a citizen from commuting to the site of a protest.
It does introduce new penalties for protests that disrupt public transportation, and one can of course object to such penalties for any number of reasons. But damn, man, don't you think it might be a bad idea to insult your audience by leading with the total bullshit propaganda, instead of the substance?
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From the reporting here, it sounds as though there are people both inside and outside the camp who would like to move the settlement, not "solve" it.