Brickbats
Brickbat: Walk This Way, Don’t Drive
In England, the council for the London borough of Hackney has announced plans to ban through traffic from from motorized vehicles from 75 percent of city streets. Electric vehicles and bicycles would still be allowed to travel through, as will emergency vehicles and trash collection trucks. The plan will be rolled out over three years. […]
Brickbat: The Roads Are Dangerous Here After Dark
Michigan State Police troopers Ryan Fitzko, Cody Lukas, and Justin Simpson have been charged with misdemeanor assault and battery for their actions during the arrest of a man for riding a bicycle after dark without lights. Lukas has also been charged with felony misconduct in office. The man was taken to the ground and kicked […]
Brickbat: Overhang Oversight
Dozens of businesses in San Francisco’s Chinatown have been threatened with fines for gates and awnings that have been in place for decades. Why, after all these years, have city building inspectors taken notice of these alleged code violations? They say they have received a rash of anonymous reports about them. City awning permits can […]
Brickbat: This Will Keep the Riffraff Out
San Diego officials have cut hundreds of parking places at Balboa Park, one of the city’s most popular destinations. As part of an effort to force people out of cars, city leaders cut the number of parking places on Park Boulevard to 67 from 300. The road cuts through Balboa Park and runs alongside tourist […]
Brickbats: April 2023
Quebec business leaders say a new law that requires many companies to use the French language will increase costs and could make it harder to serve clients. Bill 96 requires firms with more than 25 employees to conduct business primarily in French and to make sure other languages are spoken in the workplace as little […]
Brickbat: Mandatory Manners
The Scottish government has proposed five bills it claims would fight “misogynistic behavior.” The bills would bar men from watching porn where others might see it or shouting sexually abusive language towards women on the street. They would also ban men from making inflammatory remarks about women online or having “loud, graphic sexual conversations about […]
Brickbat: What Did They Ever Do for Us?
Statues of “powerful, older, able-bodied white men” such as the Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson may be “offensive” to Wales’ more diverse modern population, according a government report. That report, which is expected to be approved later this month, recommends that statues, plaques and paintings honoring such historical figures be moved or covered or […]
Brickbat: You’re So Vain
Parents of students at Christopher Whitehead Language College, a secondary school in England, are upset that the school replaced the mirrors in the girls’ restrooms with posters with messages such as “beauty is nothing without brains” and “make-up is a harmful drug.” School officials insist the move is temporary and was done only because some […]
Brickbat: Close Enough
A New York judge has vacated the conviction of Sheldon Thomas, who spent 18 years in prison for murder. Thomas was arrested after New York City police officers showed a witness a photo of another man with the same name and she identified him. They then arrested Thomas. An investigation found that the detectives knew […]