Post AxZ5Uxss9fXhH98mFk by burnitdown@beige.party
(DIR) More posts by burnitdown@beige.party
(DIR) Post #AxYntv8vgVuYq5OwIi by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T11:36:00Z
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When Trump sends the national guard to occupy NYC it will be about "subway crime." Wait... what's that? They have already been here??For a long time people hopping the turnstiles and subway crimes have been a political football. Our governor, a Democrat sent in the national guard to seem "tough on crime"This was pure theater. Worse, by sending in the guard she basically *agreed* that the problem was so serious that it needed such a response. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/us/politics/hochul-national-guard-nyc-subway.html
(DIR) Post #AxYoC1b4Qb5u4HCFw8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T11:39:16Z
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We see a similar thing with moderate Democrats and immigration. "Immigrant crime" is a lie. And Democrats often say this. But at the same time the have increased spending for ICE and border security. This makes is seem like they *do* think there is a wave is immigrant crime but they are to PC and dishonest to admit it. Taking actions to solve fake problems makes those problems seem real. Centrist compromises like this make it much easier for the repression we now face.
(DIR) Post #AxYoNmzkXkziFvLl7A by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T11:41:22Z
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Really all our governor can say is that it is wrong to send the national guard into the city because she doesn't agree that it is needed at the moment. She can't say "the army must not be used as police, the army must not treat the people as an enemy"Because she kind of already gave up on us on that one. And she thought it was some kind of smart political move. The guard were unobtrusive in the subway. I forgot they were even there. It won't be the same in future.
(DIR) Post #AxYoSRLKTLNeYFf3jc by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T11:42:13Z
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It's not that hitting you with a baton is wrong, it just the wrong people doing it. Don't put yourself in the corner where that is your mealy mouthed argument.
(DIR) Post #AxYpGzS5vgxaomviO8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T11:51:22Z
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Governor Hochul was alarmed by attacks from republicans about "subway crime" and there were a few alarming stories, including people being pushed in front of trains. But I cannot emphasize how totally manufactured this panic was on the ground. I have lived in this city for two decades and the only changes I've seen in the subway are a slow creep towards it feeling more safe, not less. Three decades ago it was less safe, but even then it was NOT "send the national guard" unsafe.
(DIR) Post #AxYpXzvHQsZfCWguDA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T11:54:27Z
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Both our Mayor and the Governor, ostensibly Democrats, went along with this stunt cheerfully since we've done it before. After 9/11 the guard was put all over the city, including the subway and THAT time people really freaked out about it. I remember the protests. I remember how the people who protested were call "pro-terrorist" even as they warned that this would erode our liberties in the future. That this wouldn't always be about terrorism. Those protestors were correct.
(DIR) Post #AxYpgpwdtrHArRXjPs by RogerBW@discordian.social
2025-08-26T11:56:00Z
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@futurebird ffs it wasn't about terrorism in the 1970s in England when bombs were going off in London. People just want to run for the shelter of the strongman rather than think.
(DIR) Post #AxYpl1dUNIRUHKa6eu by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T11:56:46Z
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When people, mostly transit advocates who want more funding to repair subway stations and signals and improve the system objected to the national guard last year they were written off as simple peace-nicks who protest *everything* and don't understand the political reality. "This will keep conservative NYers feeling safe, what's the big deal"But it isn't making them "feel safe" it's validating the republican idea that the city is in chaos when it's just NOT.
(DIR) Post #AxYq1swPxFVKEeTTkG by Apiary@mastodon.social
2025-08-26T11:59:43Z
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@futurebird the idea that you would send in the national guard for fare jumpers is ridiculous.
(DIR) Post #AxYqCRWAFqh4MuEGGG by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:01:45Z
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That eight million people live on top of each other as we do and there is so little crime is amazing. A period of historically low crime in the city. Nonetheless former Democrat, Cuomo, running as an independent for mayor said in a recent interview "I want to talk about, 'I'm afraid to have my daughter on the train, the subway."Notice he can't say that he is scared himself or that his 'daughter' says she's scared. Because it's not scary. It's just something to worry about.
(DIR) Post #AxYqQkVoQmS5Kft0MK by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:04:20Z
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There are many older New Yorker who worry about their kids riding the subway. After all they see all of the stories in the news. And the National Guard! they don't go on the trains themselves but they remember the 80s. In the 80s the subways were much more dilapidated and crime was higher, ridership was lower which made it less safe. But when these older people tell their kids to be safe we laugh at them and brag "I ride at 3 am CALM DOWN" that that's gotta be stressful.
(DIR) Post #AxYqaXGYXBuv98PtLs by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:06:07Z
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So the subway problem here is mostly one of scaring old people for no reason. And if we want to get mad about the subway I have one cry:PUBLIC TOILETS NOW!FIX THE SIGNALS!STOP LISTENING TO MUSIC WITHOUT HEADPHONES!THAT STROLLER IS TOO BIG COME ON!Real problems.
(DIR) Post #AxYqhlUC3z1HHAF6o4 by afeinman@wandering.shop
2025-08-26T12:07:22Z
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@futurebird Did you live in NYC during the "Guardian Angels" period? I would see them occasionally, back when, and that was before/around high profile events like Bernie Getz and the LIRR shooting.It was a fascinating social experiment, with (IMHO) no "right" side, and I'd love to hear your take.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_Angels
(DIR) Post #AxYqnS2PHfXUhCxP0K by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:08:26Z
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@afeinman I'm not that old. But, from what I have read, I don't think it was such a great idea.
(DIR) Post #AxYr8gwb3eQj0ZMrIG by eliterrell@mastodon.social
2025-08-26T12:12:14Z
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@futurebird Also ACCESSIBILITY. So many hundred year old stations that at dangerous or impossible for many people to use. NYC subways are great. They have some problems, but the people setting priorities seem unable to identify them.
(DIR) Post #AxYrViPJmeIqCsmRg8 by afeinman@wandering.shop
2025-08-26T12:16:25Z
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@futurebird As with the current situation, crime was overhyped in the name of policing. Very frustrating.To your main point: I do remember how jarring it was to have tac-garbed people with automatic rifles standing guard (over what?!) in, e.g. Penn Station after 9/11.At the time, my dad said, "They're trying to get us used to it." (The term "Overton Window" hadn't entered public discourse yet.)He was right, of course.
(DIR) Post #AxYsQFYNjZA9DyyfvE by gbargoud@masto.nyc
2025-08-26T12:26:37Z
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@futurebird Those last 2 lead to me holding my daughter on the train to and from daycare and about 20% of the time, no one gives me a seat even though I am holding a nearly 2 year old.I notice that people sitting don't even look my way (when I sit a bunch smile at the toddler but when I'm standing, we're invisible).Now that's a bigger concern on the subway to me than crime.
(DIR) Post #AxYsYaRrvm94LUuH32 by patsplat@open-ground.org
2025-08-26T12:28:08Z
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@futurebird the last time I felt actually fear on the subway was right before everything shutdown with COVID. We knew there was a pandemic, that it could kill lots of people, but we all had to get to work anyways. So people had masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and we packed in on the train.
(DIR) Post #AxYsfHJ1V8eh0ExZNQ by JamesWidman@mastodon.social
2025-08-26T12:29:19Z
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@futurebird also, if you want to prevent people falling on the tracks, that's such an easy fix, *and* it will save money!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLKN_Rmb39I&t=226s(just the 3-ish minutes starting from 3:46)
(DIR) Post #AxYstmNil7aDR94W0m by patsplat@open-ground.org
2025-08-26T12:31:58Z
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@futurebird for real. I live in a part of Crown Heights that’s nearly Brownsville. It’s not fancy. But when the right wing cycle is about how terrifying New York is, I go outside and people are enjoying the sun, walking to the park, sitting on benches, running errands, there is nothing alarming happening in the city at all.
(DIR) Post #AxYsuWsTt5WLdrojLM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:32:02Z
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Listen. I know this isn't something more center-leaning (or simply nervous) Democratic voters don't like to hear about the elected Democrats we hope will protect us from this ongoing and growing police state. I just wonder if Governor Kathy Hochul has reflected on how, in caving to imaginary Republican fear about crime and immigration, she helped keep the myths alive. Do more moderate Democrats learn? Experience regret?Or is she thinking ...I should have leaned right harder?
(DIR) Post #AxYt0ctcQN222rFyb2 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:33:12Z
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@JamesWidman That's so ... civilized. And in the biggest city in the US we huddle on the platform like mountain goats.
(DIR) Post #AxYt3lPvCS8tLDrVse by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:33:48Z
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@patsplat Yeah that's part of why I stopped riding the subway and took the bus mostly for those years.
(DIR) Post #AxYtCRFDZRFbNozYtE by JamesWidman@mastodon.social
2025-08-26T12:35:21Z
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@futurebird i mean, we also have them in the u.s. at airports, it's just... why haven't we also installed them at all train stops?
(DIR) Post #AxYte8T4yTY9G1gNNI by hal_pomeranz@infosec.exchange
2025-08-26T12:40:20Z
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@futurebird The democrats have been gleefully enabling the police and surveillance state along with the prison industry—at both the national and state level.
(DIR) Post #AxYtuzUdb0iWLTRsO0 by toni@zug.network
2025-08-26T12:43:21Z
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@futurebird It’s never about crime and safety. Here in Germany the current hype is knives. More and more cities start declaring "knife free zones".Some even admit that "of course we can’t stop someone from stabbing people with this, but we can give police a reason to do 'random' searches."
(DIR) Post #AxYu4JldaPkjpZqc88 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:45:06Z
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If a reporter asks you "What will you do about the ghosts haunting the city and turning our kids into toads?" You MUST say "Ghosts aren't real. No one can turn someone into a toad." Not "Many people are concerned about ghosts... we have a brought in the national guard to protect from ghost-related concerns. Nonetheless most scientists say ghosts aren't real. Blah blah blah..."The latter makes you sound like you are nervous and LYING about the ghost problem. It makes people scared of ghosts.
(DIR) Post #AxYuH0D7bolUwQkf5s by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:47:24Z
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You can't win over someone who thinks the city is being terrorized by ghosts by doing this, and you are making more people suspect that the ghosts might be real after all by not being firm and clear about the facts.
(DIR) Post #AxYuagt99rHeo3nRya by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:50:57Z
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"But then they will say I'm soft on ghosts!"They will say that even if you bring in the got damn ghostbusters themselves.
(DIR) Post #AxYuazb3bL6SpSTluy by magicalthinking@noauthority.social
2025-08-26T12:51:04Z
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@futurebird
(DIR) Post #AxYurzKrpEQAwT0j0y by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T12:54:05Z
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If Democrats want to talk about "crime problems" they could discuss the poor clearance rate for murders and invest in getting more crimes solved. While violent crime has dropped the clearance rate has stayed the same or gotten worse. And when crimes go unsolved it hurts people. This is a real problem worth attention and investment.
(DIR) Post #AxYv8MX1LoEpW5VGNM by dictatordave@poa.st
2025-08-26T12:57:07.287008Z
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@magicalthinking @futurebird they say shit like >you just feel bad for your decisions, its okwhen all people did was exercise their rights as a citizen
(DIR) Post #AxYvCSorulRAAzo6SW by seb321@toot.community
2025-08-26T12:57:41Z
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@futurebird I was thinking about the way news media reports “so-and-so says such-and-such” - in a time of readily available video and audio, not to mention written text, this has little value. News media should be appraising the reliability of sources and presenting that with a link to the original material. If the opinions on one side outweigh the other on these criteria, then simply tell us only discredited opinions differ - don’t give them airtime.
(DIR) Post #AxYvD7nBZvS7FeKq1o by andrew773@mastodon.online
2025-08-26T12:57:52Z
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@futurebird No offense but NY politicians are some of the most corrupt in the country. It is unbelievable that Jeffries and Schumer are the Democratic leadership. I was disgusted that Adams became mayor. Hochul cancelling congestion pricing was a gift to Rs. Don't even get me started on the orange felon. And everything you said. Wall Street and unlimited money in politics are a scourge on our country that resurrected fascism in the USA and NY pols are the ring leaders.
(DIR) Post #AxYvQ0dZUZVupCywTI by timo21@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-08-26T13:00:11Z
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@futurebird I think that's a good suggestion about clearance rates. That's the way to turn the the tables on the 'ghost crimes on the subway' attacks. Clearance rates are very low. Flip the script and do a 'well what about the Tulsa clearance rates'. For example here is group of former LE officers has this Murder Accountability Project (not an endorsement, I don't know anything about them) https://www.murderdata.org/p/who-we-are.html
(DIR) Post #AxYwNDbMvxzo7RBWCW by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T13:10:56Z
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The more I think about this the more obvious it is that what centrist, right leaning Democrats do on issues like crime is doomed to fail. On the issue of crime you have:1. What is the problem and how bad is it?2. What are effective ways to address the problem?3. What will we choose to do with current resources?What message is sent by saying "it's not such a big problem, hinting that the ways to address it aren't what we are doing... but then going all in for right wing solutions?
(DIR) Post #AxYwqd7J9FjreP9Ga0 by Alon@mastodon.social
2025-08-26T13:16:12Z
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@futurebird At @eta_ny we're working on a report on how to drop all these bullshit NYPD PSAs from the subway so that passengers aren't bombarded with noisy "be afraid" lines. Yeah, Adams thought it was very important that the trains play these "there are cops on the platform" messages. He's a lame duck and also the MTA is a state agency and doesn't actually need to do what an idiot mayor asks.
(DIR) Post #AxYxv5a9MCqF2wKTXE by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T13:28:12Z
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@futurebird an important left vs right asymmetry: on the right, principles exist only to be gamed, therefore comprising one's principles is easily portrayed as smart political strategy. This gives many the illusion the same trick can work everywhere. But everywhere else, principles are the foundation, and comprising the foundation often leads either to collapse, or to a slide to the right, or most commonly, both.
(DIR) Post #AxYxyQi7G5D3RaeGBs by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T13:28:51Z
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@Azuaron The trash on the tracks issue is one of the top causes of delays. This would make the trains more reliable and save some money that could help cover the cost of installing the gates and doors.
(DIR) Post #AxYy1aK7yQTs7wvs0m by jollyorc@social.5f9.de
2025-08-26T13:29:23Z
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@futurebird I agree, but I also wonder whether this actually worked?Sadly, I don't recally any time where someone said "here is the BIGNEWCRIMETHING and we need to do things about it", only to be laughed out of the election cycle because the BIGNEWCRIMETHING wasn't a thing after all.Is that because laughing them out doesn't work, or is it because laughing them out sadly simply doesn't happen enough?
(DIR) Post #AxYyzUFxezwSgXXz9M by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T13:40:16Z
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@jollyorc Politicians are terrified of taking this stance. I don't think I've ever seen anyone take it. But what I have seen is mealy mouthed Democrats who try to explain their policy ideas without ever pushing back on the fake-ness of the scare get twisted up and ruined.In the 80s there *was* a low-grade and ongoing problem with crime in US cities because their populations had dropped due to suburban exodus. So a politician who didn't recognize that would get destroyed in media.
(DIR) Post #AxYzEt8XRERsC4Q2fQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T13:43:03Z
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@jollyorc Crime in many big US cities that have experienced population growth is like it was in the 50s now. There are still crimes, but it's not something most people encounter.In cities where the population has not grown crime has also decreased, but not nearly as much as in cities that are growing. NYC continues to grow somehow. I used to see abandoned lots in my neighborhood. Now it's all built up. There are people everywhere and that's what makes me feel safe.
(DIR) Post #AxYzo7zCDkGSNpqvxY by jollyorc@social.5f9.de
2025-08-26T13:49:23Z
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@futurebird yeah, I'm seeing the same thing here in Germany: Someone playing up some crime thing or other crisis, and from there, it is only about the best way to deal with that, never any politician actually saying "but IS THERE a crisis? Really? Isn't crime actually... down?"hold on, there are actually some who say that, mostly from the (far) left side of the political spectrum, but they never get that message to stick. :(
(DIR) Post #AxZ01HEd91rwpiLGfQ by MCDuncanLab@mstdn.social
2025-08-26T13:47:20Z
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@Azuaron @futurebird It might also reduce in the station somewhat and improve odor. It's much hard to clean smelly stuff off of the tracks (whether tossed food, or bodily wastes) than it is to clean it off the tiled floors.
(DIR) Post #AxZ01IhjgIkFOGy1fk by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T13:51:44Z
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@MCDuncanLab @Azuaron Well this is also why we need more clean regularly serviced public toilets. It's a nightmare for my pregnant friends to go around the city. There is nowhere to go to the bathroom without paying. This is a very gross problem with an obvious solution. Are we really going to sit around saying "no NYC is too poor to have bathrooms, we can afford that kind of extravagance" ? Give me a break.
(DIR) Post #AxZ0Dtmhdzm5rqIWLQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-26T13:54:02Z
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@DavidM_yeg Not having a massive library open till midnight one block away makes ME feel unsafe. What if I finish my book and need a new one? What will I do. Suffer. That's what.
(DIR) Post #AxZ0MHEeL3VguoMfSa by MCDuncanLab@mstdn.social
2025-08-26T13:55:34Z
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@futurebird @Azuaron Yes, but accidents or vandalism happen. I projectile vomited in an airport once and managed to mostly hit a trash can. I imagine if I were in a train station in the heat of the moment, I might have thought the tracks are better than the floor, where someone could slip.If the track were not an option, hypothetical me would not leave a lasting stench on the tracks, which in the long term is probably better.
(DIR) Post #AxZ3iPuf3WRk3tGQT3 by johnefrancis@cosocial.ca
2025-08-26T14:33:05Z
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@futurebird @MCDuncanLab @Azuaron get those soldiers digging latrines!
(DIR) Post #AxZ50VybLmJC2BIh3w by burnitdown@beige.party
2025-08-26T14:47:35Z
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@futurebird these are people who watched The Warriors and rooted for the cops.
(DIR) Post #AxZ5Gj1Wbonh8HOieG by burnitdown@beige.party
2025-08-26T14:50:33Z
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@futurebird protestors will always be treated like barbarians at the gates by capitalist bastards.
(DIR) Post #AxZ5Uxss9fXhH98mFk by burnitdown@beige.party
2025-08-26T14:53:09Z
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@futurebird i think Muhammad Ali was right. don't wait to find out if some of the poisonous snakes coming at your door will protect you. close the door.
(DIR) Post #AxZ6PBF1gCzOv3JB7g by burnitdown@beige.party
2025-08-26T15:03:18Z
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@futurebird there are always people who do what think they're supposed to be doing by following orders. we know about this going back to King James VI of Scotland because he started one of the most brutal periods of witch hunting in history, and people would intentionally make up totally fantastical nonsense because that's what they believed they were being told to do.
(DIR) Post #AxZAzDU9DKdg7VouZc by fritzoids@mas.to
2025-08-26T15:54:38Z
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@futurebird I remember riding the NY subway in the 90s and when I returned in the 2010s and also in 2022 it felt like a huge change had happened. It felt so much more boring and safer.And in 1985 my parents would take the subway in NYC with me (4) and my sister (2). They said the only time they were ever attacked was by a bunch of teenagers throwing oranges at everybody.I think you're right: higher ridership makes it safer for everyone.
(DIR) Post #AxZFhgpjrJDlhUNhDc by cinebox@masto.hackers.town
2025-08-26T16:47:29Z
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@futurebird it does make an excellent story premise though
(DIR) Post #AxZVeLZW3Eqi9lDlaa by DrorBedrack@mastodon.social
2025-08-26T19:46:08Z
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@futurebird If the problem is people fear-mongering about ghosts and people afraid of ghosts, you can't just say "I'm not going to do anything about ghosts". You need to figure out how to convince people that there are no ghosts.
(DIR) Post #AxZZNC4YW3cNaXodyS by semitones@tiny.tilde.website
2025-08-26T20:27:52Z
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@futurebird One time I was on a subway (not NYC) pretty late at night, and tourists kept asking if they could buy drugs from me... it was weird the first time but stranger still that it happened more than once.
(DIR) Post #AxZapdEhDSJJtggPj6 by semitones@tiny.tilde.website
2025-08-26T20:25:05Z
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@afeinman @futurebird I remember seeing soldiers like that in Europe (France, I think?) and thinking it was weird but getting used to it super fast. (French people, do you have soldiers with big rifles in public places or am I misremembering?)
(DIR) Post #AxaK4qdm9lNJkf2lsm by theogrin@chaosfem.tw
2025-08-27T05:11:11Z
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@futurebird There are absolutely, completely, most assuredly not 2,300,009 invisible vampire ghosts out to assist the rebels, and I don't know where you got that idea, stop spreading despondency right this instant.(H/T: Discworld, Interesting Times)
(DIR) Post #AxeoSRjsAMyWjAu6JE by Thebratdragon@mastodon.scot
2025-08-29T09:10:28Z
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@futurebird they should talk about the clearance rate of sex trafficking and rape and indecent assault of minors and how few perpetrators are ever brought to court.....