Too many of the potential jurors said that even if the defendant, Elisa Meadows, was guilty, they were unwilling to issue the $500 fine a city attorney was seeking, said Ren Rideauxx, Meadows' attorney.
Although that process can also be heavily abused, such as when all white juries would routinely find white defendants not guilty when they very obviously lynched black people.
And which laws should be subject to jury nullification? Just the ones you think are bad? Who should it be used for or against? Yes, in this case it makes sense if you have any level empathy because the law is needlessly cruel. But what if I fervently believe that laws punishing white collar crime in any way are always cruel so any jury deciding a white collar case should always nullify? Should I go ahead and educate the world that if you’re on a jury in a fraud case that bankrupted retirees and school teachers, you should always vote not guilty because the crime of fraud is absurd so punishing it is cruel?
If a law is stupid, you need to fix the legislature or legislative process, not the enforcement. Selective enforcement of the law tends to consistently lead to very bad outcomes.
A New York-bound Virgin Atlantic flight was canceled just moments before takeoff last week when an alarmed passenger said he spotted several screws missing from the plane’s wing.
Vaping is not intended as a smoking cessation product, it is a cigarette alternative. It happens to help people quit cigarettes, but the tobacco industry does not give two shits whether it does or doesn’t. Vaping is addictive and still pretty bad for you.
I’m glad they’re helping you kick cigarettes. Vapes are an addictive nicotine product, they weren’t created to do anything but get nicotine into people of all ages.
Actually the biggest difference I’ve seen isn’t in effort but ability. I work with everyone from Boomers to Gen Z and by far my Gen Z coworkers have the hardest time with being given a general task and completing it without detailed instructions. Even with detailed instructions, I often have to repeat the instructions due to mistakes and check my younger colleagues’ work more closely.
I think this is, in part, because Gen Z grew up with things that just worked or that they needed to go to a third party to fix if there were issues. Boomers fixed their own cars and did a lot of DIY home repair, Gen X and Millenials both learned to navigate computers and the internet before there were any real instructional guides or helpful UIs. Shit, we used to program games on our calculators for fun. I think many in Gen Z just never had that because many of those DIY elements require proprietary tools now. A smartphone just works and is designed to be so intuitive a baby can figure it out. It’s not their fault, but it does mean that some critical thinking skills are absent because they’re used to outsourcing the solutions to those problems.
But, again, I have never perceived that they’re not hard workers. On the contrary, I’d argue my Gen Z coworkers, when they’re on their game, are way more efficient than everyone else and definitely work smarter, not harder, which I try to learn from them.
That’s pretty true of every generation. If you give anyone a seemingly boring task with no explanation why it matters, they’re going to suck at it. What I’m saying is I can’t give my Gen Z coworkers an open ended task without detailed instructions, even when I explain why it’s important.
The other half that a lot of kids (me included when I was younger) miss is the stuff that seems useless is still building a base of knowledge and shaping how you think critically. Just knowing more stuff allows you to connect more things in your head, enabling you to problem solve in completely unrelated areas better. It’s not obvious how helpful that knowledge foundation is until you have more life experience.
The DC mess is entirely on the mayor and city council allowing developers to run rampant and price the average homebuyer (who have fucking high five to mid six figure salaries) out of the market. It’s unreal and while people try to claim the recent crime wave is bad parenting, the fact that no one can afford a house is a major part of it. Doesn’t help that property taxes can jump by 17-40% per year whenever some developer sells a house in your neighborhood for 2.5x what they bought it.
Okay but the developers exclusively flip affordable properties into luxury properties. Middle income housing is rapidly disappearing, the average 3 br costs like $800k to $1MM. The big new thing is buying a single family rowhome that would fit a family of 4-6 (or more) and turning it into a 2-unit condo with an HOA where each unit is only a 2 br and charging double or more what they bought the house for (buy the house for $850k, now trying to sell each unit at $890k). It’s absurd, unsustainable, displaces the local population, and ironically decreases the number of people that could have lived on the property.
DC is rapidly converting affordable homes into multifamily luxury units. Developers running rampant jacked up costs citywide.
Also, the city is less than 10 square miles and built on a swamp. Just based on infrastructure it can only handle so many people before it runs into serious issues.
How? Most individuals wouldn’t sell their house for double unless the demand is there because they can’t really afford to let the property sit while they’re trying to buy a new place. The developers buy the properties before they hit the market for more than asking, split the property, make minor improvements, sometimes make things worse, then crank up the price. Meanwhile, there was definitely someone who was willing to buy at the seller’s original price, they just never got the chance.
Maybe elsewhere but not in DC, the city government has courted developers hard since before the pandemic. There are legal building restrictions because of the large number of historic properties but that doesn’t explain why costs are skyrocketing as supply increases. The answer is the supply that’s increasing is not the 3-5 br that people need when they hit their 30s and 40s. You can have a ton of studios but that doesn’t really help a 3 person family. Likewise you can have 3 br condos for $1.2MM and still not help the average buyer.
Yeah we’re likely talking past each other a bit. Also, unlike most cities where multiunit buildings will include 3 br or more units, DC just doesn’t. It’s entirely possible to have kids and live in a condo or commie block style housing, a lot of the world does it. But all those places also account for the fact that needs change and sometimes people need more space. Removing 3 br units from the market decreases housing supply and increases the rental supply. Basically the city is turning into a renter’s market because, unsurprisingly, no one wants to buy half a house for double the price. So rental companies will come in and buy those two unit buildings to convert into rental properties and in the process remove supply. It’s a very fucked up system.
You and your fellow citizens are. That’s why it’s called public transit. There should be a light rail for you that’s accessible. Obviously there’ll still be some commuting you have to figure out yourself but most of the world has figured out getting a train from suburbs to city.
NASA and Lockheed Martin formally debuted the agency’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft Friday. Using this one-of-a-kind experimental airplane, NASA aims to
Police were dispatched toward Smith’s residence but were called off when they learned it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe....
None of those are traditional phone services, they’re all internet based so regulated differently. I agree they should be regulated as telephone utilities but right now they’re not.
writing our reps is basically a waste of time and paper unless you like collecting robosigned form letter replies from political offices.
It’s actually not, they track it. It’s important to know voter sentiment so the competent members of Congress actually keep track of the issues people write about and their positions on them. In terns of response, I’m not sure if you know how many people an average Congressmember has and how much mail they get, but if everyone including the Congressmember spent all day individually responding to every letter they got (most of which are form complaints), they would get even less done. The form response is (again, if the member is at all competent) usually slightly modified from a form response because, frankly, why would you have a different response to the same question every time? The response reads all political because it has to, they’re writing for a broad audience and they don’t know you.
They probably are listening to the people who write them, who tend to skew older and have more time on their hands to do so, so are likely more conservative or status quo. There are issues the Dems will shift on if they see that’s where the wind is blowing. Also, if you have a specific local issue, don’t write to DC, write to the local office. They actually have people dedicated to helping with state and local concerns.
I often don’t want to hang out with coworkers. I just politely decline if asked affirmatively. There’s no reason to decline and say, “I don’t want your pity” since I assume they’re just to be inclusive and friendly. I know a lot of people on here have a hard work/life separation, but you do have to exist with your coworkers for some portion of your life. Might as well make interactions with them pleasant.
Food Not Bombs trial rescheduled after too many jurors objected to $500 fine for feeding homeless (www.houstonchronicle.com)
Too many of the potential jurors said that even if the defendant, Elisa Meadows, was guilty, they were unwilling to issue the $500 fine a city attorney was seeking, said Ren Rideauxx, Meadows' attorney.
NYC-bound flight canceled when passenger notices missing bolts on plane wing (nypost.com)
A New York-bound Virgin Atlantic flight was canceled just moments before takeoff last week when an alarmed passenger said he spotted several screws missing from the plane’s wing.
Tobacco use declining despite industry interference: WHO (news.un.org)
‘America Is Under Attack’: Inside the Anti-D.E.I. Crusade (www.nytimes.com)
Gen Z is prioritizing living over working because they've seen 'the legacy of broken promises' in corporate America, a future-of-work expert says (www.businessinsider.com)
A future-of-work expert said Gen Zers didn't have the "promise of stability" at work, so they're putting their personal lives and well-being first.
Greenland losing 30m tonnes of ice an hour, study reveals (www.theguardian.com)
‘Control the narrative’: how an Alabama utility wields influence by financing news (www.theguardian.com)
The 'old American Dream died,' Realtor details salary needed to buy a home, afford a middle class life in 2024 (finance.yahoo.com)
TL;DR: Americans now need to make $120K a year to afford a typical middle-class life and qualify to purchase a home. Minimum.
Buying Home and Auto Insurance Is Becoming Impossible (www.wsj.com)
Huge losses from national disasters prompt industry to jack up prices and pull back from some markets; ‘worst possible scenario’ for consumers...
NASA, Lockheed Martin Reveal X-59 Quiet Supersonic Aircraft (www.nasa.gov)
NASA and Lockheed Martin formally debuted the agency’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft Friday. Using this one-of-a-kind experimental airplane, NASA aims to
Wage Theft Is A Much Bigger Problem Than Retail Theft - SOME MORE NEWS (www.youtube.com)
Florida school district removes dictionaries from libraries, citing law championed by DeSantis (popular.info)
Gunmen storm Ecuador television studio live on air (www.bbc.co.uk)
A group of armed men have broken into a live television studio in Ecuador and threatened staff, footage shows....
Special counsel Jack Smith was targeted by attempted swatting on Christmas Day (www.nbcnews.com)
Police were dispatched toward Smith’s residence but were called off when they learned it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe....
There is no “both sides” to Donald Trump’s threat to democracy (www.vanityfair.com)
Just because Republicans choose unreality doesn’t mean the media should ignore the facts of January 6....
Elon Musk's drug use causing turmoil for Tesla, SpaceX execs: WSJ (finance.yahoo.com)