In practical terms though some a-hole begpackers got mildly questioned by Korean cops. If they were facing legitimate trouble from the cops I’d feel different.
Also in practical terms - I think this kind of irresponsible, exploitative, disrespectful, douchey travel does real damage. Maybe not in Korea but in a lot of places.
In the present that’s what vagrancy laws are for as well. Your thinking here has two problems. One is that it’s magical thinking. You imagine a world which doesn’t exist where vagrancy laws will not be primarily be used to just throw homeless people in jail or run them out of town. You support those laws because in your fantasy they could be used for good. The other is that it’s a dumb first solution. Just give the people housing and see what happens. No one is doing that. Offer them your home, build them a home, donate to a charity, let your church take them in, vote in a bond measure to build affordable or free housing…try that stuff before you use the police to round people up and throw them into housing.
In ‘OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!’ news…
Guy is nothing but a ‘smart’ religious lawyer grifter who grifts for everything he does. He appears to have no conscience whatsoever.
There’s a lot of bad behavior that shouldn’t be criminalized. I know you’re agreeing with that, but the author certainly wasn’t and an awful lot of people in the world agree with him.
I would argue that my proposal is less magical thinking than yours: Americans would be much more likely to embrace compassionate vagrancy laws than eliminate vagrancy laws altogether. Just like Americans would be more open to adopting Portugal’s drug policy rather than one where society just shrugs and says heroin and meth are totally legal, knock yourself out.
No no no no. My thinking is not that Americans will come up with a good solution here and just build housing for the homeless. I think, at least in the near term, communities with homeless people will pass vagrancy laws and use them to put homeless people in jail and run them out of town. Nothing magical. And “embrace compassionate vagrancy laws” means what? Pass laws that force people into housing that doesn’t exist? So bullshit laws passed and then use them to put people in jail or run them out of town? Yeah, that’s not the magical part. The magical part is your imagining that the “compassionate vagrancy laws” get homeless people into housing that’s not the city jail. Again, try building the housing and giving it to the homeless before you decide you need this law to solve the problem.
Also, you’re wrong about what Americans are likely to do. Where are there these “compassionate vagrancy laws” which have eliminated homelessness in the US? There are lots of places where vagrancy laws have been eliminated though. It’s legal to camp on sidewalks in Los Angeles and car camp in industrial commercial areas. Why? Because there was no compassionate alternative and the laws were just used to put homeless people into incredibly overcrowded jails or run them out of town. The latter was a real impetus as LA was literally dumping people out in the desert.
Oh fuck
https://twitter.com/alexpartridge87/status/1168897018409955331
I love British procedural drama where I have no idea what’s going on. OMG “literally crosses the floor”??? This is an unprecedented [something]!!!
Oh Shit… 
Full statement from Phillip Lee explaining his defection to Lib Dems
Here is the full statement from Phillip Lee explaining his defection to the Lib Dems.
After a great deal of thought, I have reached the conclusion that it is not possible to serve my constituents’ and country’s best interests as a Conservative member of parliament.
Over 27 years ago I joined the Conservative & Unionist party led by Sir John Major. Since 2010 I have had the privilege of representing the Bracknell constituency. The party I joined in 1992 is not the party I am leaving today.
This Conservative government is aggressively pursuing a damaging Brexit in unprincipled ways. It is putting lives and livelihoods at risk unnecessarily and it is wantonly endangering the integrity of the United Kingdom. More widely, it is undermining our country’s economy, democracy and role in the world. It is using political manipulation, bullying and lies. And it is doing these things in a deliberate and considered way. It has gone so far beyond reckless as to cease to be conservative.
I am dismayed at what the Conservative party has become, the role that it has played in feeding division and populism, in squandering a hard-won reputation for sound stewardship, and the blinkered direction in which it has set our country. Those are not my values. I will not implicitly condone these things by being party to them.
Make no mistake: this is a time of reckoning. The challenges that our world and country face are real – but not insurmountable. We need to root how we address them in evidence and reality. Critically, we need to recognise that we will not solve climate change, counter extremism, or address our housing, health and social care needs alone. We must work with others.
The opportunities to leave a better legacy are also significant. As a united country, we need to mobilise all our innovation, creativity, power and talent – not bury it under a Brexit that does not have the British people’s informed consent. As a society, we need to rediscover the liberal and democratic traditions that made our country great. We should be guided by the values of justice, liberty and community. We must recognise our responsibilities to our people and planet: we are stewards of our country’s and our world’s limited resources.
Each generation needs to define democracy for itself and so we each have a part in shaping what we want our politics and our country to stand for. Each of us must stand and be counted.
That is why today I am joining Jo Swinson and the Liberal Democrats. I believe the Liberal Democrats are best placed to build the unifying and inspiring political force needed to heal our divisions, unleash our talents, equip us to take the opportunities and overcome the challenges that we face as a society - and leave our country and our world in a better place for the next generations.
I don’t understand why there hasn’t been more panic or alarm over deepfake technology. There is immense downside and seemingly very little upside. Aside from crazy scary things like fucking with the operations of major companies or whatever, imagine how many more old people or regular folks will become vulnerable to scams when it becomes simple for someone to fake the voice/image of a loved one.
Yes… Those AI voice things are frightening.
The plot of First Blood depends entirely on vagrancy laws, so I support them.
TBH I have seen a decent amount of alarm, at least on the internet. Sites like Gizmodo post articles like these all the time.
What I haven’t seen much of–and maybe I’m missing it–is actual solutions. I know I certainly don’t have any.
this is some molten hot fire
Is liberal actually liberal in the UK?
And what do they mean by “liberal”? My impression is that in the UK “liberal” pretty strictly means like civil liberty, John Stuart Mill kind of liberal and not the increasing social services kind of liberal.
I’m arguing for a compassionate alternative? Letting folks be homeless is more compassionate than beating the shit out of them and making them leave town but it still isn’t good public policy. In order to help alleviate homelessness you need to have policies that alleviate homelessness.
Also a cookie is a biscuit. Madness.
This is basically the premise of a Black Mirror episode, but I don’t think they were going for the idea of deep fakes, the were going for deep reals.