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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • Eh, I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Parking is a huge thorn in the side of transportation reform, and ensuring parking turnover is actually pretty crucial to a functional transportation system. On-street parking is public right-of-way that could be a bike lane, enhanced bus stop, street seating for restaurants/cafes, parklets, drainage swales, large medians for trees, wider sidewalks, the list goes on. However we don’t get these nice things because “wE NeEd ThE pArKiNg SuPpLy.” Except often you’ll find that there would be sufficient supply to remove the parking on even just one side of the street if turnover were higher, and turnover is not higher because people are abusing the parking. Things like store employees parking all day in spots meant for customers, people using on-street parking to avoid more expensive lots at the destinations they’re actually visiting (like entertainment venues), etc. Have you ever encountered a parking meter that would only let you put in 2 hours of money even though you need the spot for much longer, and you had to run out mid-way through whatever you were doing to feed the meter? That means you were probably not the intended user for that space and you should have found longer-term parking elsewhere. Maybe that store manager that runs outside every other hour to feed the meter rather than use an all-day parking lot (but that’s a three-block walk away and this parking is right here!!1) or taking public transportation (because that’s beneath them) would rethink this behavior after an expensive ticket. Point is, I’m not sure helping people skirt parking regulations is fighting the system or standing up for the little guy.



  • fireweed@lemmy.worldtoMemes@lemmy.ml***
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    1 year ago

    For some inexplicable reason, Japan produces a lot of anti-war art. It seems the trend started sometime around the mid-20th century. Even one of Japan’s biggest war franchises, Gundam, features a surprising number of anti-war themes. No explanation has been provided to date to explain why.

    • Philomena Cunk, probably

  • fireweed@lemmy.worldtoMemes@lemmy.mlBeauty is on the inside
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    1 year ago

    For real though, aggressive wasp species give the chill species a bad name. It’s like being mad at bumblebees because Asian giant hornets exist.

    Yellow jackets for example are definitely unpleasant: they buzz you when you try to eat outdoors, don’t get the message to move on when swatted at, and constantly carry an attitude of “come at me bro.” However my local species of paper wasp (I live in the Pacific Northwest of the US) is crazy chill and very conflict avoidant: they don’t buzz or chase humans, don’t show interest in human food or garbage, and will get out of your way if disturbed (assuming you’re not attacking their home)

    In fact, we actively attract paper wasps to our garden by planting western yarrow, and even have plans to erect a wasp box for them to safely make a home in (no I’m not joking). Why? Because in addition to being peaceful members of our garden ecosystem–alongside butterflies, ladybugs, frogs, salamanders, birds, and other critters–they are dedicated hunters of garden pests such as cabbage white caterpillars. As someone who grows a lot of kale for its year-round hardiness, I cannot express how much I appreciate wasps’ dutiful patrol of our brassicas and other crops. And if you can get a population to establish themselves near your garden they will indeed be dutiful in scouting out pests.

    It took me a while to shake off my all-wasps-are-bastards attitude toward them, but I really cannot express how much paper wasps have become garden bros, and it makes me sad to see my bros vilified.