Some More News: Do Cities Really Need All These Cars?

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Hi. On today’s episode, we look at how the U.S. became so car-centric, why more walkable cities are probably the way to go, and what we can do to loosen the car industry’s mechanical grip on our urban planning. Plus, the cars in Pixar’s “Cars” have to eat and go to the bathroom. How does that work?

Executive Producer - Katy Stoll
Directed by Will Gordh
Written by Katie Goldin
Edited by Gregg Meller
Produced by Jonathan Harris
Associate Producer - Quincy Tucker
Post-Production Supervisor - John Conway
Researcher - Marco Siler-Gonzales
Graphics by Clint DeNisco
Head Writer - David Christopher Bell

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
04:25 - Why Are Walkable Cities Better?
16:03 - How Our Society Became So Car-Centric
31:31 - The Car Industry Won’t Let Us Give Up Cars
39:35 - How To Lessen Our Dependence On Cars

Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cmOrze75T5B0cuGzXnweZYF9wbv9RFGr9MRza21PZpw/edit

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207 comments
1
No Malarkey!  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:28:25am

I read once about an actual conspiracy (which I first heard about, weirdly enough, in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit) to buy up and shut down much of America’s public transportation in order to make us car dependent.

2
Belafon  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:29:56am

re: #1 No Malarkey!

I read once about an actual conspiracy (which I first heard about, weirdly enough, in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit) to buy up and shut down much of America’s public transportation in order to make us car dependent.

Tied very much to why we don’t have a lot of electric cars when they existed back in the early days.

3
The Pie Overlord!  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:30:34am

re: #1 No Malarkey!

I read once about an actual conspiracy (which I first heard about, weirdly enough, in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit) to buy up and shut down much of America’s public transportation in order to make us car dependent.

General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy

4
darthstar  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:31:53am

I’ve got a good home-office situation today - not a ton of meetings. What’s a good flick to put on for background noise while I work from the couch with the cat on my legs?

5
Eclectic Cyborg  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:32:26am

Picking up from downstairs, here’s a photo of a bottle of Jack Daniels and the dog toy the company is suing to get off the market.

6
Crush White Nationalism  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:33:14am

re: #5 Eclectic Cyborg

Picking up from downstairs, here’s a photo of a bottle of Jack Daniels and the dog toy the company is suing to get off the market.

[Embedded content]

Now I see why they said they don’t want the brand associated with dog poop.

7
No Malarkey!  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:34:56am

re: #3 The Pie Overlord!

General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy

Here is an interesting article I just found debunking the conspiracy. It argues the streetcar companies went bankrupt because of gridlock and not being allowed to increase their fares to cover their costs.

8
retired cynic  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:36:23am

re: #5 Eclectic Cyborg

Picking up from downstairs, here’s a photo of a bottle of Jack Daniels and the dog toy the company is suing to get off the market.

[Embedded content]

My tipple!

Just found this on the bird box:

9
piratedan  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:36:50am

re: #5 Eclectic Cyborg

you would think that Jack Daniel’s would feel a tad happy that their brand is so iconic that it inspired a dog toy, but alas, it’s not as if it was a competing product in their marketplace…. sheesh

10
Belafon  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:37:57am

re: #9 piratedan

you would think that Jack Daniel’s would feel a tad happy that their brand is so iconic that it inspired a dog toy, but alas, it’s not as if it was a competing product in their marketplace…. sheesh

Except when JD gets into the chew toy market after this,

11
Romantic Heretic  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:38:18am

A YouTube channel that often deals with this phenomenon. It’s where I learned the words ‘Stroad’ from.

And I’m so jealous of the Netherlands public transportation system.

12
Captain Ron  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:41:47am

From yesterday.

13
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:42:28am

re: #7 No Malarkey!

Here is an interesting article I just found debunking the conspiracy. It argues the streetcar companies went bankrupt because of gridlock and not being allowed to increase their fares to cover their costs.

When it comes to Los Angeles Pacific Electric didn’t keep up with maintaining the Red and Yellow Cars. They often fell into disrepair and lost in competition with busses.

Several times there were proposals to modify and upgrade. Walt Disney supported a referendum to upgrade the system to a monorail but it failed at the ballot box.

14
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:43:38am

re: #415 Dopamine Fish

It’s Jack Daniel’s, their customers are probably drunk.

Nailed it

15
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:45:38am

re: #5 Eclectic Cyborg

Picking up from downstairs, here’s a photo of a bottle of Jack Daniels and the dog toy the company is suing to get off the market.

[Embedded content]

Anyone going into petco and buying n that hoping to get drunk will be disappointed

16
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:45:55am

rawstory.com

QAnon follower charged in bizarre booby trap incident that injured salesman

A QAnon adherent was arrested on felony charges for allegedly setting up booby traps at her home that wound up injuring a door-to-door salesman.

The salesman for a house painting company didn’t notice a “no trespassing” sign posted near the front porch of a house occupied by Tracy Jo Remington and Bryan Hill and unwittingly walked into a tripwire the pair had set up, setting off an explosive device that caused hearing damage, reported Vice News.

“[Salesman Dylan Martin heard] a loud bang [and] saw a bright white flash of light,” read an affidavit in the case. “[He] immediately felt disoriented with his vision being blurred and [causing] his ears to ring.”

The salesman’s colleague heard the bang from a few houses away and rushed to check on Martin, and a garage door opened as he approached and Hill shouted, “No trespassing.”

The two salesmen fled the neighborhood, but Martin called police a few days later because his ears were still ringing and he was experiencing constant headaches, and officers went to the property and found the tripwire and a shotgun-type device connected to it that used blanks in a nearby bush.

Neighbors said Remington and Hill had warned them not to allow children to play near their home, and a SWAT team executed a search warrant March 15 and found a second tripwire device near the back entrance that contained pepper spray.

17
Thanos  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:46:35am

Bad news for DPR fans:

Mastodon

18
GlutenFreeJesus  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:49:39am

re: #4 darthstar

Try Spirited Away or anything Studio Ghibli. :)

19
Thanos  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:49:40am

re: #4 darthstar

I’ve got a good home-office situation today - not a ton of meetings. What’s a good flick to put on for background noise while I work from the couch with the cat on my legs?

Try Luther: The Fallen Sun

netflix.com

20
Colère Tueur de Lapin  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:52:05am

re: #16 Joe Bacon

What kind of country do we live in if we can’t make our own property deadly to interlopers?

21
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 10:53:10am
22
Colère Tueur de Lapin  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:00:02am

re: #20 Colère Tueur de Lapin

There is a smooth brain in the comment thread saying it was the salesman’s fault — no trespassing, property rights, I’m an idiot.

23
Unabogie  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:00:58am

re: #11 Romantic Heretic

A YouTube channel that often deals with this phenomenon. It’s where I learned the words ‘Stroad’ from.

And I’m so jealous of the Netherlands public transportation system.

Big fan of this channel and not a fan of stroads. In the Before Times I rode my bike to work and I really wish that was a safe alternative to more people.

24
jeffreyw  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:01:05am

YouTube

I was about to jump up to make this but I don’t have any sweetened condensed milk.

25
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:02:36am

re: #20 Colère Tueur de Lapin

What kind of country do we live in if we can’t make our own property deadly to interlopers?

That’s some kind of paranoia

26
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:05:55am

re: #22 Colère Tueur de Lapin

There is a smooth brain in the comment thread saying it was the salesman’s fault — no trespassing, property rights, I’m an idiot.

Link

Landowners are not obligated to protect trespassers who enter their property without permission, but they cannot willfully injure them

I’m sure its a lot more complicated

27
Colère Tueur de Lapin  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:05:57am

re: #25 Dangerman

That’s some kind of paranoia

Well, Bill and Hillary are very concerned with those people lives and you know how people die when the Clinton’s are involved.

The pair were each charged with six counts, including assault and conspiracy, and Vice found that Remington believed the “warning devices” were necessary to protect her from Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as other enemies of the QAnon movement.

Remington, who gained nearly 14,000 followers on Twitter, accused the Clinton Foundation Network of being the “largest child sex trafficking network” and claimed McDonalds, through some affiliation with the former president and first lady, of grinding up human remains to serve in food, and she also claimed that children’s body parts were used to make Jolly Rancher and Sour Patch candies.

28
Colère Tueur de Lapin  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:07:34am

re: #26 Dangerman

My understanding is that booby-tapping your land is de facto illegal, but IANAL.

29
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:08:41am

re: #27 Colère Tueur de Lapin

Well, Bill and Hillary are very concerned with those people lives and you know how people die when the Clinton’s are involved.

Withdraw paranoia
Insert loon

30
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:10:33am

re: #5 Eclectic Cyborg

If they don’t protect their bottle shape and label look from a dog toy marketer, they won’t be able to protect it from other liquor sellers.

31
lawhawk  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:11:34am

Cities do not need the number of cars they have, except for the one I drive.

How dare cities charge for using the street to park my vehicle. I pay enough in taxes. How dare cities charge me more to go into a congested central business district, when my car isn’t the problem - it’s all the other cars.

The reality is that it’s complicated and that there’s decades of institutionalized policies that pushed to get cars into cities, and prioritize cars over all other modes of transit, including pedestrians walking or cyclists or mass transit.

You see it everywhere - pedestrians are only given the right of way at declared intersections, and construction of new buildings has parking allowances to require minimum numbers of spots for vehicles, etc., along with building density and zoning, or street architecture that favors vehicles over all other modes of transit.

I highly recommend going to citylab.com or streetsblog.org for more on both policies and outcomes of all of this.

32
Colère Tueur de Lapin  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:12:31am

re: #30 jaunte

If they don’t protect their bottle shape and label look from a dog toy marketer, they won’t be able to protect it from other liquor sellers.

Just like The Mouse going after schools when they use Mickey’s likeness.

33
darthstar  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:15:48am

re: #12 Captain Ron

From yesterday.

The winds were howling here on the coast. Freaked the dogs out a bit.

34
darthstar  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:18:02am

re: #19 Thanos

Try Luther: The Fallen Sun

netflix.com

Watched that already - apparently there are a few more Luther episodes. Reminded me a bit of the Lupin series - which was a lot of fun.

35
Unabogie  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:18:20am

re: #31 lawhawk

Cities do not need the number of cars they have, except for the one I drive.

How dare cities charge for using the street to park my vehicle. I pay enough in taxes. How dare cities charge me more to go into a congested central business district, when my car isn’t the problem - it’s all the other cars.

The reality is that it’s complicated and that there’s decades of institutionalized policies that pushed to get cars into cities, and prioritize cars over all other modes of transit, including pedestrians walking or cyclists or mass transit.

You see it everywhere - pedestrians are only given the right of way at declared intersections, and construction of new buildings has parking allowances to require minimum numbers of spots for vehicles, etc., along with building density and zoning, or street architecture that favors vehicles over all other modes of transit.

I highly recommend going to citylab.com or streetsblog.org for more on both policies and outcomes of all of this.

I’m always blown away by the sheer acreage of land set aside in cities to facilitate car storage, all while housing is astronomically expensive because land is so scarce so it’s “impossible” to build cheaper places to live in the city.

36
calochortus  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:18:57am

re: #33 darthstar

Yeah, our winds weren’t quite as bad, but we got over 4” of rain and the wind was bad enough to bring some trees down-including one about a mile from us that killed someone driving by. A rather high percentage of the trees-hitting-things on the news were eucalyptus. They are bad news for so many reasons. A pity they were so popular.

37
Captain Ron  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:21:04am
38
darthstar  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:23:47am

Going to try a Chilean production - Sayen - woman getting vengeance against bad guys in a tropical jungle. See how my Duolingo studies pay off…

39
lawhawk  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:24:51am

re: #35 Unabogie

By design. It’s by design.

Midtown Manhattan has street level parking garages that take up valuable land space that could be built upon. Then there’s all the street-side “spots” that could be provided to pedestrians, which provide more density and use than a place to store a vehicle for a period of time.

Drivers hated that a few spots in various locations around NYC were given over to bike share programs. They absolutely hated that even more spots were taken to provide outdoor dining. Thing is, people who lived and work in those areas like the alternatives to parking on the street. Businesses love the outdoor dining areas and even when Broadway was redesigned through Times Square, pedestrian flow not only improved, but traffic improved.

40
retired cynic  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:28:07am

“woke” goes way back.

41
Unabogie  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:28:54am

re: #39 lawhawk

By design. It’s by design.

Midtown Manhattan has street level parking garages that take up valuable land space that could be built upon. Then there’s all the street-side “spots” that could be provided to pedestrians, which provide more density and use than a place to store a vehicle for a period of time.

Drivers hated that a few spots in various locations around NYC were given over to bike share programs. They absolutely hated that even more spots were taken to provide outdoor dining. Thing is, people who lived and work in those areas like the alternatives to parking on the street. Businesses love the outdoor dining areas and even when Broadway was redesigned through Times Square, pedestrian flow not only improved, but traffic improved.

This is exactly so.

42
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:31:20am

re: #35 Unabogie

I’m always blown away by the sheer acreage of land set aside in cities to facilitate car storage, all while housing is astronomically expensive because land is so scarce so it’s “impossible” to build cheaper places to live in the city.

And a lot of cities have requirements that new construction also includes construction of an appropriate number of additional car parking spaces.

Construction in the Center City area before I moved out included watching three buildings go up within a few blocks of me. One (Comcast 2) dug down quite a bit to put deep foundations and also interface with their other tower and the nearby large SEPTA station. The second built their apartment building, and then built an adjacent multi-story parking garage with space for most of their residents. The third had a ground floor of commercial space, 5-6 floors of parking garage, and then apartments above that on their footprint.

The apartment building I lived in had their own 3-floor parking garage adjacent to the building (which dated to the 1920s). When I moved in they were in the midst of a crackdown on controlling the access passes since they had found a number of them being used by commuters who did not live in the building.

43
Shiplord Kirel: Fan of Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:31:35am

Michigan man draws gun on state workers testing water for toxic chemicals

A Michigan man threatened state employees with a handgun as they tested drinking water near his home.

Workers from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy called police Thursday after the Kalamazoo County man came outside his house with a firearm drawn and confronted the state employees even though they weren’t on his property, reported MLive.

The workers had purposefully avoided the man’s Richland home, but witnesses say he “held a gun in both hands” until recognizing one of the employees and going back inside the house.

No one was injured, and potential charges will be referred to prosecutors.

44
lawhawk  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:32:13am

re: #37 Captain Ron

Know who’s going to be hurt hardest by this?

Biden. (this punchline never gets old for the Times and pundits).

And the undercapitalized midsize banks that are similar to SVB and Sovereign and had oversight/regulations eliminated that required them to stress test for this very scenario.

45
calochortus  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:32:26am

re: #39 lawhawk

By design. It’s by design.

Midtown Manhattan has street level parking garages that take up valuable land space that could be built upon. Then there’s all the street-side “spots” that could be provided to pedestrians, which provide more density and use than a place to store a vehicle for a period of time.

Drivers hated that a few spots in various locations around NYC were given over to bike share programs. They absolutely hated that even more spots were taken to provide outdoor dining. Thing is, people who lived and work in those areas like the alternatives to parking on the street. Businesses love the outdoor dining areas and even when Broadway was redesigned through Times Square, pedestrian flow not only improved, but traffic improved.

Speaking as a suburbanite, I don’t understand why there isn’t dense public transit in cities linked to adequate parking facilities on the periphery. I would like nothing better than to drive from my totally-unserved-by-public-transportation home (and to be fair, it will never be possible to do transit to a reasonable distance from my home) to a parking structure that will have enough space to leave my car and just ride transit from there. But that’s not how things are set up for most of us.

46
The Pie Overlord!  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:35:16am

100 years ago they had cars you could fold up and carry inside.

Folding Electric (3 wheeled) Car from 1920s

47
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:36:02am

re: #45 calochortus

That might require some kind of commie planning commission that wasn’t focused partially on destroying urban black neighborhoods.

48
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:37:40am

Sorry, I mean ‘woke’ planning commission. Got to update the slangbot.

49
Unabogie  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:38:23am

I’m kind of old but I started commuting to work by bike at 50. And after I did that, I realized how miserable it is to drive every day and how fun it is to commute by bike. I was biking 22 miles a day and feeling great. Now that I am WFH I just try to run errands by bike, but it’s still better than any other mode of transportation if you’re within 5 miles.

And I grant that not everyone has the strength and mobility to do this but I think most people can.

What’s lacking is just safe infrastructure. If you visit a city with protected bike lanes you see a tipping point where so many people are out riding that it becomes the safer and faster way to get around. It literally seems crazy to drag a car with you to get somewhere.

I wish more Americans were open to such obvious truths. Cars suck.

50
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:39:03am

I say arrest Bimborella for Obstruction of Justice!

51
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:40:09am

52
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:41:51am

Bicycle Dutch:

The three main reasons the research mentions for the fact that cycling remained at higher levels than in other countries are:
1. Home zones (the famous “Woonerf”, in combination with traffic calming measures such as speed bumps, which made residential areas safer to live and cycle in).
2. Car restricted city centres, (the historic city centres were traditionally the location of most shops and making these shopping streets car free proved very profitable for the shop keepers)
3. Social movements (giving the car more space in society led to demolition of buildings, taking away space from cycling and a decrease in road safety, all these things provoked protest by different groups in society).

The combination of these three things made cycling from the safer residential zones to the car free city centres a good option even for people who owned a car.bicycledutch.wordpress.com

53
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:42:56am

“I would like to add that in my opinion this was only possible because the main roads connecting the two did also get safe separated cycling infrastructure.”

54
lawhawk  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:43:18am

re: #45 calochortus

Speaking as a suburbanite, I don’t understand why there isn’t dense public transit in cities linked to adequate parking facilities on the periphery. I would like nothing better than to drive from my totally-unserved-by-public-transportation home (and to be fair, it will never be possible to do transit to a reasonable distance from my home) to a parking structure that will have enough space to leave my car and just ride transit from there. But that’s not how things are set up for most of us.

Because institutionalized racism.

Why would you want to have those people who were resigned to use mass transit because they couldn’t afford cars to be able to go out to the suburbs?

Also, regional planning isn’t a really viable thing here in the States. While there are orgs like the Regional Planning Association, they have no power and make recommendations regularly ignored by those in power.

Some places do better at urban/suburban transit hubs, and density has a lot to do with it. If you have sufficient density, you can do park/ride to buses. Higher density gets you to light rail. Still higher and you’d get heavy rail/subway.

Even with density, you don’t always get what is needed, because rights of way are not available, have to be shared with freight (which takes precedent), or are cost prohibitive.

Even if you manage to get the park/ride, you have to adequately fund schedules for when people want to and from the place - and that’s a problem too.

55
wrenchwench  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:44:31am

re: #49 Unabogie

[…]

If you visit a city with protected bike lanes you see a tipping point where so many people are out riding that it becomes the safer and faster way to get around.

[…]

I think the tipping point depends more on enforcement of traffic regulations (which need to be reasonable) and infrastructure serves as a reminder of the regulations.

56
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:45:11am

re: #45 calochortus

A lot of cities like Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., etc. have “Park and Ride” facilities that essentially do this. Some lying fairly far out since I recall that there was one in West Virginia for accessing D.C. via train. Pittsburgh has some lots like this as well intended for people using buses to get into the city.

Where it seems to completely fall down from what I’ve seen is for the people working outside the city center itself or in any sort of satellite location or industrial park. There might be a bus route that stops at or near the workplace, but often I’d guess that the complications of using that for commuting would quickly pale as compared to driving and parking. (For example: If you lived north of Pittsburgh and wanted to work just east of downtown and south of the universities. You’d have to catch a bus from north of the city to downtown, and then catch a second bus that went out the road past the work location. And then do that in reverse to get home after work.)

Especially since the latter simply grants you a lot more flexibility in terms of working hours, dealing with weather, and simply not being a slave to a bus schedule - which might include having to make multiple bus schedules work together.

57
lawhawk  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:45:30am

I’d like to report a murder:

58
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:45:35am
59
gocart mozart  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:48:09am
60
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:48:41am

re: #49 Unabogie

I’m kind of old but I started commuting to work by bike at 50. And after I did that, I realized how miserable it is to drive every day and how fun it is to commute by bike. I was biking 22 miles a day and feeling great. Now that I am WFH I just try to run errands by bike, but it’s still better than any other mode of transportation if you’re within 5 miles.

And I grant that not everyone has the strength and mobility to do this but I think most people can.

What’s lacking is just safe infrastructure. If you visit a city with protected bike lanes you see a tipping point where so many people are out riding that it becomes the safer and faster way to get around. It literally seems crazy to drag a car with you to get somewhere.

I wish more Americans were open to such obvious truths. Cars suck.

I considered bike commuting a few times pre-retirement. Main shortcoming* back then was simply a lack of secure places to put the bicycle during working hours. What few bike racks there were had issues with low security, and generally being full all the time. (Often with 1/3 to 1/2 the slots being wrecked bicycles missing pieces. One place where I bicycled at lunch or before work let me store my bike indoors since their one rack was packed full.)

* - Philadelphia has gotten a lot better in recent years in providing bike lanes and racks to lock them in.

61
calochortus  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:50:30am

re: #54 lawhawk

Because institutionalized racism.

Why would you want to have those people who were resigned to use mass transit because they couldn’t afford cars to be able to go out to the suburbs?

Also, regional planning isn’t a really viable thing here in the States. While there are orgs like the Regional Planning Association, they have no power and make recommendations regularly ignored by those in power.

Some places do better at urban/suburban transit hubs, and density has a lot to do with it. If you have sufficient density, you can do park/ride to buses. Higher density gets you to light rail. Still higher and you’d get heavy rail/subway.

Even with density, you don’t always get what is needed, because rights of way are not available, have to be shared with freight (which takes precedent), or are cost prohibitive.

Even if you manage to get the park/ride, you have to adequately fund schedules for when people want to and from the place - and that’s a problem too.

We have light rail, heavy rail, some busses, etc. but they are a minimum of 5 miles away from us, and once you get there, parking isn’t guaranteed, nor is the connectivity with other transit.
The SF Bay Area has something like 23 different transit agencies and connectivity is an issue. Decades ago when my daughter was in college in Davis (a 2 hour drive away) getting her to that 5 or 10 mile away from us point was a logistical nightmare. We would drive across the Bay to pick her up from the train occasionally (an hour round trip,) but if she couldn’t get a ride with someone, we would usually go pick her up in Davis.

62
wrenchwench  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:53:12am

re: #54 lawhawk

My little town has free buses. The people who don’t ride them complain about the people who do. Except employers.

63
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:57:35am

Smoky Eyes Strikes Again

thedailybeast.com

Arkansas Bans Trans People Using School Bathrooms of Their Choice

Arkansas has banned transgender people using the school bathroom of their choice after Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill approving the move on Tuesday. The new law, which comes into effect in summer, was given final approval by the state’s legislature last week. It will apply to multi-person restrooms and locker rooms in public schools—but even more hardline bills making it illegal for trans adults to use public bathrooms in line with their gender identity could be on the way. “The Governor has said she will sign laws that focus on protecting and educating our kids, not indoctrinating them and believes our schools are no place for the radical left’s woke agenda,” Sanders’ spokesperson Alexa Henning said in a statement. “Arkansas isn’t going to rewrite the rules of biology just to please a handful of far-left advocates.”

64
Crush White Nationalism  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:59:02am

re: #63 Joe Bacon

Republicans are incapable of leadership. They pander to the willfully ignorant, instead of leading them out of their ignorance.

65
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 11:59:52am

No We Are NOT doing this you liar!

66
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:02:49pm

Charlie Jerk premieres the latest lie emerging from Frank Luntz’s Focus Groups.

67
Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:04:46pm
68
Charles Johnson  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:05:32pm

re: #65 Joe Bacon

No We Are NOT doing this you liar!

WTF? Is this based an actual distorted fact of some kind or is it entirely imaginary?

69
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:06:50pm

re: #68 Charles Johnson

WTF? Is this based an actual distorted fact of some kind or is it entirely imaginary?

Charles, I just throw my hands up when it comes to what these nuts are saying.

70
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:07:25pm

An ex-CIA engineer convicted of leaking the agency’s secret spying tools to WikiLeaks has been found with 2,400 “likely” child sexual abuse images on a laptop inside his federal lockup, federal prosecutors allege in a letter unsealed on Wednesday.

The allegations compound the legal woes of Joshua Adam Schulte since a federal jury found him guilty of Espionage Act violations and other charges related to the theft and transmission of the information.

WikiLeaks ultimately published the trove under the banner “Vault 7,” showcasing the CIA’s abilities to conduct surveillance and cyber warfare.

The files reportedly showed the agency’s ability to hack into browsers, Apple and Android smartphones, and turn internet-connected TVs into listening devices.

lawandcrime.com

71
TarHellion  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:08:13pm

re: #69 Joe Bacon

10news.com

72
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:10:34pm

re: #71 TarHellion

10news.com

Just one incident but Blackburn shoots her mouth off to allege that it’s happening everywhere in California

73
Rightwingconspirator  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:15:02pm

re: #17 Thanos

Damn shame really.

74
Belafon  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:15:12pm

re: #57 lawhawk

I’d like to report a murder:

[Embedded content]

Looks like you have to report six.

75
Nerdy Fish  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:15:24pm

re: #72 Joe Bacon

Just one incident but Blackburn shoots her mouth off to allege that it’s happening everywhere in California

Also, the way she phrases it implies that the taxpayers are knowingly paying for sex offenders to have hotel rooms to engage in their debauchery. It’s pretty hard to make that argument when the people involved were not sex offenders prior to the incident, and were arrested and charged for the incident (thus having their “taxpayer-funded hotel room” taken away) as soon as it was reported.

76
Nerdy Fish  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:17:47pm

I mean, shit, if we’re going to complain every time someone receiving benefits from the government commits a crime, we’re going to have to take away Congressional salaries.

77
Belafon  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:20:34pm

re: #57 lawhawk

I’d like to report a murder:

[Embedded content]

78
lawhawk  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:22:23pm
79
aatharuv  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:22:32pm

re: #77 Belafon

Regardless, I’d rather not be killed than not be mugged.

80
Shiplord Kirel: Fan of Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:24:07pm

re: #77 Belafon

[Embedded content]

There’s a lot more to steal in New York.

81
Eclectic Cyborg  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:28:58pm

re: #65 Joe Bacon

No We Are NOT doing this you liar!

[Embedded content]

Where in the fucking hell did that talking point come from?

82
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:29:17pm

Well we had a tornado touch down in Montebello?!

‘Reported tornado’ damages buildings in Montebello

ktla.com

83
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:30:30pm

re: #81 Eclectic Cyborg

Where in the fucking hell did that talking point come from?

TarHellion found it. See Comment #71

84
Eclectic Cyborg  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:32:14pm

re: #83 Joe Bacon

TarHellion found it. See Comment #71

Thanks. Of course the reality is NOTHING like what Blackburn said.

85
Shiplord Kirel: Fan of Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:33:10pm
86
Crush White Nationalism  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:33:18pm
87
William Lewis  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:33:55pm

88
William Lewis  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:34:14pm

89
William Lewis  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:34:28pm

90
Grunthos the Flatulent  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:34:44pm

Tomorrow’s Wordle has the sun in its eyes.

Click to Reveal

This is the shortest hole the gang has ever played.

Wordle 642 2/6

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Much trepidation from the last to play, but she nailed the birbie.

SibData: 2,2,2,3,3

91
William Lewis  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:39:07pm
92
Crush White Nationalism  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:42:03pm
93
A hollow voice says: Abort SCOTUS  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:46:55pm

re: #36 calochortus

Yeah, our winds weren’t quite as bad, but we got over 4” of rain and the wind was bad enough to bring some trees down-including one about a mile from us that killed someone driving by. A rather high percentage of the trees-hitting-things on the news were eucalyptus. They are bad news for so many reasons. A pity they were so popular.

I was outside this morning, and I saw lots of downed branches, but nothing really large. After the force of last night’s windstorm, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see fallen trees.

94
Nerdy Fish  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:48:28pm

Mastodon

95
darthstar  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:49:49pm

re: #38 darthstar

Going to try a Chilean production - Sayen - woman getting vengeance against bad guys in a tropical jungle. See how my Duolingo studies pay off…

Not a bad way to spend 90 minutes. Also some great landscape shots.

96
retired cynic  Mar 22, 2023 • 12:57:52pm

Beethoven’s DNA decoded from locks of hair saved by his fans

wapo.st (gift link)

97
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:03:59pm

re: #96 retired cynic

AI BTHVN now ready to begin composing.

98
darthstar  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:07:49pm

Everybody wants to see their weapons used to beat the snot out of Putin.

Mastodon

99
TarHellion  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:08:44pm

re: #96 retired cynic

Boys From Brazil II: Screw it, We’ll Clone Beethoven Instead

100
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:09:54pm

re: #5 Eclectic Cyborg

Picking up from downstairs, here’s a photo of a bottle of Jack Daniels and the dog toy the company is suing to get off the market.

[Embedded content]

It would be different if Jack Daniels said they want to make their own branded chew toys. They didn’t. They intimated they might maybe someday in the future, but that’s not the gist of their argument. They *might* win on that argument.

101
Charles Johnson  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:10:08pm

I know not everybody wants to watch an hour-long video, but I just want to say that I’m super-impressed with the research that goes into SMN videos; I always learn things from them I didn’t know, and I frequently laugh while doing so. This one especially!

102
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:11:14pm

re: #99 TarHellion

Boys From Brazil II: Screw it, We’ll Clone Beethoven Instead

Clone all of Beethoven
Clone all of Beethoven
Tell Tchaikovsky the news

103
wrenchwench  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:12:19pm

re: #101 Charles Johnson

I know not everybody wants to watch an hour-long video, but I just want to say that I’m super-impressed with the research that goes into SMN videos; I always learn things from them I didn’t know, and I frequently laugh while doing so. This one especially!

I watched half, so far. I gotta go walk around in traffic [/], I’ll watch the rest when I get back.

104
danarchy  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:13:10pm

re: #100 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

It would be different if Jack Daniels said they want to make their own branded chew toys. They didn’t. They intimated they might maybe someday in the future, but that’s not the gist of their argument. They *might* win on that argument.

Isn’t this one of those things where if they don’t defend their trademarks every time then it becomes a lot harder to defend them when it matters.

105
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:13:35pm
106
EstebanTornado1963  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:19:21pm

re: #105 jaunte

Holy Shit! That’s about a mile from where I grew up.

107
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:20:59pm

re: #106 EstebanTornado1963

“Tornado Returns Home”

108
Mattand  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:22:41pm

re: #35 Unabogie

I’m always blown away by the sheer acreage of land set aside in cities to facilitate car storage, all while housing is astronomically expensive because land is so scarce so it’s “impossible” to build cheaper places to live in the city.

Walking around Center City Philly, you realize how much denser the population was way back when you understand that every other parking lot you pass was either a business or a house/apartment building.

109
EstebanTornado1963  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:23:15pm

re: #107 jaunte

😂

110
TarHellion  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:23:23pm

re: #106 EstebanTornado1963

Just checked on a map. It’s very close to the headquarters of a company we have a grant with. Hope everyone is OK.

111
Grunthos the Flatulent  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:26:55pm

re: #97 jaunte

AI BTHVN now ready to begin composing.

BTHVN continues decomposing.

112
Mattand  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:31:32pm

re: #101 Charles Johnson

I know not everybody wants to watch an hour-long video, but I just want to say that I’m super-impressed with the research that goes into SMN videos; I always learn things from them I didn’t know, and I frequently laugh while doing so. This one especially!

When you get to it, SMN isn’t doing anything different than The Daily Show or Last Week Tonight, just longer.

I’m surprised that a network has offered them a series contract yet.

113
darthstar  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:32:19pm

What air defense doing? Russia says they shot down all the drones. I see two possible misses.

Mastodon

114
danarchy  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:37:24pm

re: #31 lawhawk

You see it everywhere - pedestrians are only given the right of way at declared intersections, and construction of new buildings has parking allowances to require minimum numbers of spots for vehicles, etc., along with building density and zoning, or street architecture that favors vehicles over all other modes of transit.

I can’t speak for any other city, but Boston already has a huge parking problem and the new regulations that reduced the number of parking spots required per new housing unit is only going to make things worse. Currently, people building new housing in Boston are only required to provide 1 parking spot for every 3 residences. The argument you hear is that Millenials and Gen Zers don’t actually want cars, which IMO is total BS.

115
Eclectic Cyborg  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:43:09pm

re: #114 danarchy

Boston are only required to provide 1 parking spot for every 3 residences. The argument you hear is that Millenials and Gen Zers don’t actually want cars, which IMO is total BS.

Let me guess: The people making this argument aren’t Millennials or Gen Zers.

116
Eventual Carrion  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:44:46pm

re: #114 danarchy

I can’t speak for any other city, but Boston already has a huge parking problem and the new regulations that reduced the number of parking spots required per new housing unit is only going to make things worse. Currently, people building new housing in Boston are only required to provide 1 parking spot for every 3 residences. The argument you hear is that Millenials and Gen Zers don’t actually want cars, which IMO is total BS.

My youngest is Gen Z and he doesn’t want a car. He didn’t even get his drivers license until he was 20. We gave him dads old car when dad couldn’t drive anymore and I paid it off for him. He had it long enough to make the move to his job in DC and then brought it back up during Christmas and left it with us again.

117
Barefoot Grin  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:49:04pm

re: #116 Eventual Carrion

My youngest is Gen Z and he doesn’t want a car. He didn’t even get his drivers license until he was 20. We gave him dads old car when dad couldn’t drive anymore and I paid it off for him. He had it long enough to make the move to his job in DC and then brought it back up during Christmas and left it with us again.

My kids both waited until they were 17, but realized that you can do virtually nothing in New Hampshire without wheels.

118
Crush White Nationalism  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:52:40pm

re: #117 Barefoot Grin

My kids both waited until they were 17, but realized that you can do virtually nothing in New Hampshire without wheels.

I was 19 when I got a license. If you don’t have one, other people have to do the driving, and you can relax.

119
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n 😷 Trips  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:54:43pm
120
Mattand  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:55:52pm

re: #117 Barefoot Grin

My kids both waited until they were 17, but realized that you can do virtually nothing in New Hampshire without wheels.

Same for South Jersey. NJ Transit does have a bus system down here, but it’s almost vestigal.

121
Florida Panhandler  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:56:58pm

re: #85 Shiplord Kirel: Fan of Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie

“Exculpatory…”

OOoOohhh… Look who learned a new word!

What a fucking idiot this dolt of a woman is. IQ of a sandwich. Just fucking go away already and slink back off to your fucking embarrassment of a voting district.

122
Crush White Nationalism  Mar 22, 2023 • 1:58:58pm

re: #119 FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt’n 😷 Trips

123
Teukka  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:06:27pm

re: #122 Crush White Nationalism

124
Crush White Nationalism  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:09:49pm

I now drive so little that I go through a tank of gas and two or three batteries a year.
I just got a solar panel for my car so the car can sit without draining and wrecking the battery.

125
Romantic Heretic  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:11:33pm

re: #35 Unabogie

I’m always blown away by the sheer acreage of land set aside in cities to facilitate car storage, all while housing is astronomically expensive because land is so scarce so it’s “impossible” to build cheaper places to live in the city.

In one of the NotJustBikes videos he mentions that there is more land used in the US to park vehicles as there is to house people. Almost twice as much I recall.

126
BeenHereAwhile  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:14:03pm

Mastodon

127
Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:14:17pm
128
Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:16:40pm
129
danarchy  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:23:16pm

re: #125 Romantic Heretic

In one of the NotJustBikes videos he mentions that there is more land used in the US to park vehicles as there is to house people. Almost twice as much I recall.

Yeah but most of that parking is outside of walmart out in the boonies where there is no premium on land, and paving a parking lot that holds 500 cars is a whole hell of a lot cheaper than building functional housing for 500 people.

130
Eclectic Cyborg  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:27:06pm

re: #125 Romantic Heretic

In one of the NotJustBikes videos he mentions that there is more land used in the US to park vehicles as there is to house people. Almost twice as much I recall.

“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot…”

131
A Cranky One  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:27:42pm

132
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:31:12pm

re: #45 calochortus

Speaking as a suburbanite, I don’t understand why there isn’t dense public transit in cities linked to adequate parking facilities on the periphery. I would like nothing better than to drive from my totally-unserved-by-public-transportation home (and to be fair, it will never be possible to do transit to a reasonable distance from my home) to a parking structure that will have enough space to leave my car and just ride transit from there. But that’s not how things are set up for most of us.

many established self interests at odds with each other

133
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:32:18pm
134
Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:34:34pm
135
sagehen  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:34:54pm

re: #116 Eventual Carrion

My youngest is Gen Z and he doesn’t want a car. He didn’t even get his drivers license until he was 20. We gave him dads old car when dad couldn’t drive anymore and I paid it off for him. He had it long enough to make the move to his job in DC and then brought it back up during Christmas and left it with us again.

I wanted a car when I lived in a place with plenty of parking, no taxis and not much public transit. I stopped wanting a car when I moved to a place with plenty of public transit, taxis everywhere, and expensive/complicated parking.

136
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:36:14pm

re: #64 Crush White Nationalism

Republicans are incapable of leadership. They pander to the willfully ignorant, instead of leading them out of their ignorance.

laser-like focus on the economy

137
Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:36:29pm
138
EPR-radar  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:38:13pm

re: #137 Backwoods_Sleuth

This business of a Trump attorney losing the attorney-client privilege because of the crime/fraud exception is the most tangible sign I’ve seen so far that Trump may actually be in deep shit.

140
TarHellion  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:41:39pm

re: #139 The Pie Overlord!

Utterly disgusting

142
Nerdy Fish  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:44:00pm

re: #138 EPR-radar

This business of a Trump attorney losing the attorney-client privilege because of the crime/fraud exception is the most tangible sign I’ve seen so far that Trump may actually be in deep shit.

Doubly so the whole “You, get your work in by midnight, and you, get your responses in by 6 AM.” Courts just don’t ask attorneys to work overnight. The appeals court is wasting literally zero time in getting this shit cleared and off their docket, and that tells me that shit is getting serious indeed.

143
Colère Tueur de Lapin  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:44:59pm

This has been a day. The younger son just bought an electric car (his first car; he still lives at home, so his expenses are mitigated and he can play it off quickly) and it turns out, that we needed to have the electrical system upgraded. Turns out, there is a limit to the amount of power that comes into your house. I had assumed you could suck as much power as needed, but. That is not how it works. I assume people with more 440V knowledge already knew this factoid. We were limited to 200 amps incoming.

So, the electrician is upgrading us to a 400 amp system so we can install the 60 amp charger for his car. We have had no power all day. As fortune had it, I had no meetings, so lack of WiFi didn’t hurt. The new circuit breaker boxes and wires are all much tidier and prettier, they’re new. In theory, they are also supposed to actually label the circuits, but I am not sure if that will happen.

144
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:45:08pm
145
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:49:05pm

re: #138 EPR-radar

This business of a Trump attorney losing the attorney-client privilege because of the crime/fraud exception is the most tangible sign I’ve seen so far that Trump may actually be in deep shit.

And it goes beyond that. It would appear that Trump lied to his lawyers, specifically to Evan Corcoran, about what documents he had kept. That effectively made Corcoran an unwitting accessory to a potential crime. So, when he talks to the grand jury, he will have extra motivation to be very forthright with them. At the same time, this effectively hands the prosecution the core elements of an obstruction of justice case.

Link

146
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:49:25pm

re: #139 The Pie Overlord!

[Embedded content]

whose guns?

147
Thanos  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:51:03pm

This video reminds me that the only times I’ve been whistled at on the street by women was when I was riding my bike.

148
Mattand  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:51:07pm

re: #143 Colère Tueur de Lapin

This has been a day. The younger son just bought an electric car (his first car; he still lives at home, so his expenses are mitigated and he can play it off quickly) and it turns out, that we needed to have the electrical system upgraded. Turns out, there is a limit to the amount of power that comes into your house. I had assumed you could suck as much power as needed,b but. That is not how it works. I assume people with more 440V works already knew this factoid. We were limited to 200 amps incoming.

So, the electrician is upgrading us to a 400 amp system so we can install the 60 amp charger for his car. We have had no power all day. As fortune had it, I had no meetings, so lack of WiFi didn’t hurt. The new circuit breaker boxes and wires are all much tidier and prettier, they’re new. In theory, they are also supposed to actually label the circuits, but I am not sure if that will happen.

It cost me about $500 to upgrade my box when I got the charger for the Bolt. The good news is that it was immediately paid for because NJ doesn’t charge sales tax on EVs.

Which car did he get? I’m driving a 2017 Bolt.

149
Belafon  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:51:22pm

re: #144 jaunte

150
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:51:23pm

re: #144 jaunte

not a drag queen

151
Barefoot Grin  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:51:24pm

re: #144 jaunte

It’s God’s fault—didn’t deliver him from temptation.

152
Mike Lamb  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:52:29pm

re: #65 Joe Bacon

No We Are NOT doing this you liar!

[Embedded content]

What kind of MAGA twitter madlib is this?

153
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:52:40pm

re: #151 Barefoot Grin

It’s God’s fault—didn’t deliver him from temptation.

is that even possible? //

154
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:53:10pm

5 years of supervision won’t fix it.

155
Jay C  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:55:06pm

re: #131 A Cranky One

[Embedded content]

OK, that is hellish frightening.

156
Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:55:24pm
157
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:55:58pm

re: #85 Shiplord Kirel: Fan of Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie

158
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:57:15pm

eta: i left out this first part

159
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:57:56pm
160
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 2:59:51pm

re: #145 Dangerman

looks like corcoran is supposed to testify on friday

161
Dangerman  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:02:27pm

162
Colère Tueur de Lapin  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:03:25pm

re: #148 Mattand

It cost me about $500 to upgrade my box when I got the charger for the Bolt. The good news is that it was immediately paid for because NJ doesn’t charge sales tax on EVs.

Which car did he get? I’m driving a 2017 Bolt.

Damn — this upgrade was ~$8000. 200 Amp -> 400 Amp incoming which also involved replacing the elective meter or at least moving it to a new larger box, replacing the two circuit breaker boxes, installing the high speed charger (which we should get some type of rebate in the Rabe on $2000, I hope) PEPCO (electric Co.) permit.

He bought the Nissan Ariya. Lots of nice features. So haven’t been invited to ride or drive it.

163
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:03:43pm
164
Colère Tueur de Lapin  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:04:35pm

re: #155 Jay C

OK, that is hellish frightening.

Therapy needing frightening. Clown level terror.

165
Teukka  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:28:38pm

re: #164 Colère Tueur de Lapin

Therapy needing frightening. Clown level terror.

“There is nothing funny about a clown by moonlight.”
— Lon Chaney Sr

Just sayin’…

166
BeachDem  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:30:57pm

...

167
KGxvi  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:31:15pm

re: #1 No Malarkey!

I read once about an actual conspiracy (which I first heard about, weirdly enough, in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit) to buy up and shut down much of America’s public transportation in order to make us car dependent.

With LA, it wasn’t much of a conspiracy - it was more market forces and a failure of local governments to think ahead. As cars became readily available and affordable, people opted for them over taking the trolleys. The trolleys became less efficient (slower) as they had to interact with more cars, so more people opted for cars. Initial freeway designs did include rail lines in the center medians, but they were never adopted. And eventually the trolleys weren’t making money (they were privately owned), and by the time the local governments thought about buying them, it was too late for them to remain viable.

168
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:32:27pm

re: #166 BeachDem

Could Maggie get her head any further up his ass?

nytlicensing.com

Yes.

169
Anymouse 🌹🏡😷  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:35:44pm

re: #168 Joe Bacon

Yes.

That link gives a 404 page.

170
Joe Bacon  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:35:46pm

re: #167 KGxvi

With LA, it wasn’t much of a conspiracy - it was more market forces and a failure of local governments to think ahead. As cars became readily available and affordable, people opted for them over taking the trolleys. The trolleys became less efficient (slower) as they had to interact with more cars, so more people opted for cars. Initial freeway designs did include rail lines in the center medians, but they were never adopted. And eventually the trolleys weren’t making money (they were privately owned), and by the time the local governments thought about buying them, it was too late for them to remain viable.

Walt Disney and Ray Bradbury proposed Monorail systems for Los Angeles in 1960 but the proposal failed. They tried to get it to the ballot box.

micechat.com

171
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:40:20pm
173
Crush White Nationalism  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:45:46pm

This eBay seller restores antique radios.

This is a radio from 1950, looking like it was just unboxed.

174
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:48:01pm

re: #173 Crush White Nationalism

Your chance to own a Raymond Loewy industrial design.

175
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:48:57pm
176
Teukka  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:49:44pm

JFC… Breast cancer can hit youth, it can affect both men and women, and some hormone blockers and mastectomies are the same in cases of breast cancer. Guess how I know?

dTNhNnNtcnJBUnVqTDNIV1dSamlJSk02dEF1MyszOFg3by9TUmZrQkRBbEFHaG5nYVROUkk4MkZtd0JxSXdESWM1TFdJdWdWWDRNWnU5emRCZmMra3c9PTo6MCrRalGAsIUXcFipMKaUYA==

What is it with rightoids and dictacting policy and law with no regard to scientific fact whatsoever!?

177
Captain Ron  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:52:40pm
178
jaunte  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:52:45pm

re: #176 Teukka

“Given this “pervasive problem” of youth breast cancer.”

It’s a virtual guarantee that these monsters will mock the dying.

179
Teukka  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:55:55pm

re: #176 Teukka

JFC… Breast cancer can hit youth, it can affect both men and women, and some hormone blockers and mastectomies are the same in cases of breast cancer. Guess how I know?

180
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n 😷 Trips  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:56:23pm
181
Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:56:23pm

O_o

182
Romantic Heretic  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:56:44pm

re: #136 Dangerman

laser-like focus on the economy rich.

FTFY.

183
Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 22, 2023 • 3:57:57pm

re: #173 Crush White Nationalism

This eBay seller restores antique radios.

This is a radio from 1950, looking like it was just unboxed.

[Embedded content]

Hallicrafters! I’ve got one of their boat anchor rigs out in the camper, where it’s been collecting dust for a couple of decades.

184
Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:02:25pm
185
(((Archangel1)))  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:05:38pm

Next NightCafe challenge is “Refreshing Drinks” and given my other less-than-stellar realistic attempts, think I’ll submit this one for fun.

Debating the submission title. What do you folks think is better, “Freshly-opened bottle of stardust” or “Cosmos Lite - the same galactic flavor you know and love, now calorie (and space invader) free”? :)

186
Captain Ron  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:17:46pm
187
mmmirele  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:17:49pm

re: #49 Unabogie

I’m kind of old but I started commuting to work by bike at 50. And after I did that, I realized how miserable it is to drive every day and how fun it is to commute by bike. I was biking 22 miles a day and feeling great. Now that I am WFH I just try to run errands by bike, but it’s still better than any other mode of transportation if you’re within 5 miles.

And I grant that not everyone has the strength and mobility to do this but I think most people can.

What’s lacking is just safe infrastructure. If you visit a city with protected bike lanes you see a tipping point where so many people are out riding that it becomes the safer and faster way to get around. It literally seems crazy to drag a car with you to get somewhere.

I wish more Americans were open to such obvious truths. Cars suck.

Phoenix is not a city set up for biking. At least four months out of the year it’s in the 90s at the end of the work day. And for a couple of those months, the temps do not drop below the low 90s.

188
KGxvi  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:20:13pm

I remember the freak out about gay people in the 80s and early 90s (they’re vague memories, because I was a kid for most of it). The anti-trans assholes hit a lot of the same note - predators, groomers, the sacredness of bathrooms and locker room - but I don’t remember any real attempts to pass “anti-gay” laws, at least nothing on the scale that’s happening now…

189
Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:22:24pm
190
Teukka  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:22:29pm

re: #188 KGxvi

I remember the freak out about gay people in the 80s and early 90s (they’re vague memories, because I was a kid for most of it). The anti-trans assholes hit a lot of the same note - predators, groomers, the sacredness of bathrooms and locker room - but I don’t remember any real attempts to pass “anti-gay” laws, at least nothing on the scale that’s happening now…

Late 70’s even. A lot of the narrative is the same as back then. And even back then, the narrative wasn’t new, it goes back to the 1933-1945 period in Germany…

191
Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:23:07pm

re: #185 (((Archangel1)))

“The sky jar is full of stars!”

192
KGxvi  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:24:16pm

re: #190 Teukka

Late 70’s even. A lot of the narrative is the same as back then. And even back then, the narrative wasn’t new, it goes back to the 1933-1945 period in Germany…

I was born in 78, so I have very vague memories of the 80s, and then some in the early 90s and then it felt like there was a watershed moment around 95…

193
Targetpractice  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:25:44pm

re: #188 KGxvi

I remember the freak out about gay people in the 80s and early 90s (they’re vague memories, because I was a kid for most of it). The anti-trans assholes hit a lot of the same note - predators, groomers, the sacredness of bathrooms and locker room - but I don’t remember any real attempts to pass “anti-gay” laws, at least nothing on the scale that’s happening now…

That’s because the political chess has changed. In the 80s and 90s, the voting population was still largely composed of the Greatest Generation and the Boomer offspring with a smattering of the Silent Generation and their eldest Gen X grandkids. Today, the Silents are gone, the Greatest are on their way out, and the Boomers are shrinking with each election. Replacing them are the younger Gen Xers, along with their Millenial kids and Gen Z grandkids, all of whom lean much more liberal on the subject of homosexuality because they all grew up around and thus are more accepting of people…well…being gay in public. Compared to generations where being “flamboyant” was acceptable but being gay could get you jailed or worse, it’s not surprising that overt anti-gay rhetoric is getting shelved in favor of “ZOMG, MY KID SAW A FAKE BOOB!!!!”

194
Dave In Austin  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:28:42pm

re: #172 Anymouse 🌹🏡😷

MRFF Demanded That Great Big Christian Cross Be Removed From Austin VA Clinic Lobby — In Under 90 Minutes It Was Gone!!! (Military Religious Freedom Foundation, March 20, 2023)

Isn’t this the stuff Brisco Cain’s bill is going after?

195
KGxvi  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:29:35pm

re: #187 mmmirele

Phoenix is not a city set up for biking. At least four months out of the year it’s in the 90s at the end of the work day. And for a couple of those months, the temps do not drop below the low 90s.

The LA metro area is pretty much impossible outside of a few enclaves - Long Beach, the South Bay (to an extent), and maybe parts of Santa Monica aren’t too bad. But most all of Orange County and the Inland Empire would be a nightmare between heat and sprawl. And we live in the land of 30-60 minute one way commutes

196
austin_blue  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:31:20pm

re: #187 mmmirele

Phoenix is not a city set up for biking. At least four months out of the year it’s in the 90s at the end of the work day. And for a couple of those months, the temps do not drop below the low 90s.

Let’s admit that we are in a similar boat in Austin, shall we? You went to UT and it’s a LOT hotter now than when I moved here in ‘89.

Now here’s the thing: there’s trad bike commuting and e-bike commuting. E-bikes absolutely change the game. Heat is no longer a problem because you can pedal like hell in the morning when it’s 70F and not at all when it’s 100F in June to September.

197
Egregious Philbin  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:32:25pm

re: #187 mmmirele

It is, and it isn’t. If you know the canal system, you can really get around easily. Phoenix and Scottsdale are doing a lot more to add bike lanes. Some E-W streets are perfect for biking and are designated as bike streets. Oak goes from 3rd street all the way to Pima in Scottsdale, and is very bike friendly, Osborn is the same way. 3rd street is the same way N-S. I’ve been having fun lately riding from Tempe along the lake and flowing Rio Salado to Central, and going north through the light rail construction. The people working on the construction always tell me they are sorry the road is ripped up, I thank them for their work and giving me a fun diversion to work around.

198
KGxvi  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:34:11pm

re: #193 Targetpractice

I guess what I mean is… the anti-trans minority is so much louder and active now than the anti-gay minority was then. And I say minority in both cases because my hunch is that there is/was a 40-45% plurality of “don’t know/don’t care”, 30-40% supporting gay/trans rights, and 20-25% that are/were anti. I suspect that most people don’t really think about these issues all that much, unless directly confronted with it. And, maybe I’m an optimist here, but I think when confronted they move towards the non-asshole side of the debate.

199
darthstar  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:41:40pm

New guitar pick arrived…now we can see the rug.

What a difference glass makes.

200
KGxvi  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:42:23pm

re: #198 KGxvi

huh, according to this Pew poll from June of last year, shockingly the anti-trans bandwagon probably isn’t the winner that Republicans think it is.

201
Nerdy Fish  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:43:27pm

re: #200 KGxvi

huh, according to this Pew poll from June of last year, shockingly the anti-trans bandwagon probably isn’t the winner that Republicans think it is.

They’re just doing what they can to destroy the country on the way out. They know that their time in power is limited, and they’re trying to do everything they can to pass every regressive policy to make our lives hell for as long as possible after they’re finally gone.

202
Barefoot Grin  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:43:57pm

re: #199 darthstar

New guitar pick arrived…now we can see the rug.

[Embedded content]

What a difference glass makes.

If you’re in a band, don’t let the other guitar player see it.

203
mmmirele  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:43:59pm

re: #118 Crush White Nationalism

I was 19 when I got a license. If you don’t have one, other people have to do the driving, and you can relax.

I was 29 before I learned how to drive. People tried to teach me on a stick and that was crazy. I finally learned on an automatic. Fast forward a few decades and I learned people on the autism spectrum can experience difficulties in learning to drive. I do know that when I’m driving, I really can’t multi-task. The best I can do is put on an audiobook. I’m never going to be a power driver and driving to work annoys me.

204
austin_blue  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:44:02pm

re: #199 darthstar

New guitar pick arrived…now we can see the rug.

[Embedded content]

What a difference glass makes.

Mid-century Modern?

Damn good looking in any case!

205
Targetpractice  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:45:39pm

re: #198 KGxvi

I guess what I mean is… the anti-trans minority is so much louder and active now than the anti-gay minority was then. And I say minority in both cases because my hunch is that there is/was a 40-45% plurality of “don’t know/don’t care”, 30-40% supporting gay/trans rights, and 20-25% that are/were anti. I suspect that most people don’t really think about these issues all that much, unless directly confronted with it. And, maybe I’m an optimist here, but I think when confronted they move towards the non-asshole side of the debate.

It’s the “What you are in the dark” bit that always makes such BS profitable, the whole thing aimed not at the frothing shit-spewers but the suburban mom who secretly does worry that her only begotten male offspring might come home one day and announce that after a long period of thought and counseling that he’s come to the conclusion that he would rather be she and throw mommy’s fantasies of a house full of grandkids into chaos. Or the uptight businessman who insists he has nothing against homosexuality but had a screaming fit when he found out that the macho guy Sam in the office football crew was born Samantha.

It’s that reality that we all sort of grew up with, that people around us who insisted in polite company that they were “accepting” and “progressive” turn out to be some of the most uptight prudes when actually presented with something they don’t view as “normal.”

206
sagehen  Mar 22, 2023 • 4:48:59pm

re: #175 jaunte

207
Anymouse 🌹🏡😷  Mar 22, 2023 • 6:11:28pm

[moved by me]


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