I weep for the future
Their response was a Marge Simpson-like, "I just think it's neat."
I had not ranted as such length since... last week... when...
...when another acquaintance I thought would know better told me how they were now Ayn Rand-curious and that the books are not what I thought they were (spoiler: the books are exactly what I think they are.) "Why are you calling her a fascist?" they asked. "Explain to me how, in her financialized worldview, she would argue against putting cripples into ovens." "Well, but, but..."
"Also", I added, "This edgelord 'Just Asking Questions' posture you're adopting is Not a Good Look given that we're probably less than a year away from brownshirts executing immigrants in the street."
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
Little Bobby Scunthorpe');--
North Yorkshire Council to phase out apostrophe use on street signs to avoid "problems with computer systems".
"All punctuation will be considered but avoided where possible because street names and addresses, when stored in databases, must meet the standards set out in BS7666. This restricts the use of punctuation marks and special characters (e.g. apostrophes, hyphens and ampersands) to avoid potential problems when searching the databases as these characters have specific meanings in computer systems."
Merchants Are Getting People Killed
Streetsblog:
No American city has the guts to commit to what Paris did and I'm going to be frank as to why.
The number one obstacle to any safety improvements is local merchants. Business owners and the merchant class believe that any customers they get are drivers. They are unswayed by research consistently showing that increased foot traffic and alternative travel to commercial areas increase their profit. Part of this is because merchants are just as car-brained as the general population. But the other half is that merchants disproportionately listen to their patrons who drive and complain about parking. Transit riders, cyclists and pedestrians don't advertise to merchants that they didn't arrive by car.
Though small in number, the elected interests of most local cities give disproportionate attention to business interests and their pro-driving beliefs. Even in progressive Berkeley, home of many climate scientists from the university, transportation decisions are dictated by science illiterates and business interests, not the city's intellectuals. When Berkeley proposed building a bike lane in my neighborhood, which has no protected bike lanes near a prominent middle school, many locals went uncharacteristically nuts. Plastered on neighborhood businesses were conspiracy theories about a United Nations agenda to force people into plastic cities where they won't be allowed to own cars. Every other lawn has signs proclaiming economic ruin if drivers are forced to park a whopping 30 seconds away on side streets rather than directly in front of businesses. [...]
Sadly, history is repeating itself in San Francisco. Business interests in the West Portal neighborhood where the family was wiped out by a car are already organizing to stop any improvements to the street. This is a major transit hub in S.F., developed before cars were even in mass use, yet the jurisdiction of drivers knows no bounds. If there can't be a car-free commercial strip in West Portal, there can't be one anywhere in America. Some business groups see the death of that family as merely an unavoidable consequence, a price paid to ensure drivers don't have to walk an additional 30 seconds from parking on a side street to reach their shops.
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
