Flotsam and rage
Jul. 25th, 2011 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyA few things that didn't go in the last post but I wanted to mention before packing it in for the night:
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upstart_crow: The criminalization of walking.
Some of you may have heard of the story from Atlanta about a mother with three kids who, after getting off at a bus stop, attempted to cross a street when one of the kids broke away. He was hit and killed by a drunk driver on painkillers with a history of hit and runs. The bastard who killed a 4-year-old child was allowed to plead out, whereas the mom who lost her son was convicted of vehicular homicide and faces three years in jail. She was judged, not by a jury of her peers, but by a jury of middle-class white people who'd never even had to ride a bus.
I post this in part because it's a horrific story that needs to be told, in part because the article is a well-written analysis of city planning flaws, and mostly because this the logical conclusion of the Ford Nation worldview, wherein drivers are citizens—sorry, taxpayers—and those who rely on transit, bikes, or their own feet to get around are criminalized by virtue of not being able to afford a car.
The next thing is sillier but I thought you folks might appreciate it: Molson Coors is making a beer for the ladies! It has all kinds of weird crap in it besides the usual watery swill, and—get this—it is pink. Because ladies like pink things.
If you live in Canada, you already know that Jack Layton has temporarily stepped down as leader of the NDP, having been diagnosed with cancer. It's a pretty awful situation and I sincerely hope that he'll be able to fight it and win. Should you want to send a get-well message, you can do so here.
Via
upstart_crow: The criminalization of walking.Some of you may have heard of the story from Atlanta about a mother with three kids who, after getting off at a bus stop, attempted to cross a street when one of the kids broke away. He was hit and killed by a drunk driver on painkillers with a history of hit and runs. The bastard who killed a 4-year-old child was allowed to plead out, whereas the mom who lost her son was convicted of vehicular homicide and faces three years in jail. She was judged, not by a jury of her peers, but by a jury of middle-class white people who'd never even had to ride a bus.
I post this in part because it's a horrific story that needs to be told, in part because the article is a well-written analysis of city planning flaws, and mostly because this the logical conclusion of the Ford Nation worldview, wherein drivers are citizens—sorry, taxpayers—and those who rely on transit, bikes, or their own feet to get around are criminalized by virtue of not being able to afford a car.
The next thing is sillier but I thought you folks might appreciate it: Molson Coors is making a beer for the ladies! It has all kinds of weird crap in it besides the usual watery swill, and—get this—it is pink. Because ladies like pink things.
If you live in Canada, you already know that Jack Layton has temporarily stepped down as leader of the NDP, having been diagnosed with cancer. It's a pretty awful situation and I sincerely hope that he'll be able to fight it and win. Should you want to send a get-well message, you can do so here.
