Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

blog.sfgate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 188 posts

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#141

Post by Zhenya »

ebiester wrote: post #51
xanderstrike wrote: post #38

I don't get it. The buses are cutting down on personal driving (a universally acknowledged evil), and paying for permits to use the stops (generating revenue for the city). Would these people rather the Google employees all drive personal vehicles, increasing wear and tear on the roads, congestion, pollution, etc., costing the city money? Also, is it really the companies fault that the value of housing in the area is…

No. At least the ones I've heard from, they want employees of companies in the South Bay and Peninsula to live outside of San Francisco. They believe that the mass influx of money is driving long time residents out, and that building more housing is the wrong solution. I remember reading one article that suggested there should be a wait list to get to live in the city.

That sounds painfully familiar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propiska_in_the_Soviet_Union

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#142

Post by [deleted] »

baddox wrote: post #39
mhurron wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think it's legal to block a vehicle Civil Disobedience is pretty much by definition illegal.

Civil disobedience just means deliberately breaking laws. For your argument to make any sense, you still have to demonstrate that blocking a vehicle is breaking the law.

[deleted]

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#144

Post by walshemj »

ma2xd wrote: post #8

It's a fake. The guy is an activist and is named Max Bell Alper. http://www.makingchangemedia.org/about-the-team/ http://www.gettyimages.no/detail/news-photo/occupy-wall-stre...

And unfortunately is an example of the "hobby" activists that bedevil the (for want of a better word) the progressive movement in the USA.

Instead of dealing with the hard issues they love to play act.

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#145

Post by mwfunk »

cpucycling wrote: post #123
ChuckMcM wrote: post #48

It is entirely unclear what they are protesting, other than 'not working at Google.' The alleged trespass of using 'public infrastructure for private profit' is unsupported. People pick up and drop off people at the sidewalk (required, no stopping in the middle of the street). The staged appearance of a guy who is a union organizer (reported elsewhere) added a bit of melodrama. Looking at the action critically, what…

The problem is not that Google, Facebook, and others are "solving a problem" by providing these bus fleets. They are offering jobs on the peninsula paying more than jobs tend to pay in SF [because SF companies have to pay more for rent and ACTUALLY PAY THEIR FUCKING PAYROLL TAXES TO PAY TO MAINTAIN THE BUS STOPS], with a greater likelihood of becoming filthy rich, to people largely moving from other parts of the coun…

I thoroughly enjoy living in Mountain View, which is preposterously diverse compared to 99.9% of the country. Anyway, like many other things in life, it's all about what you do with it. Someone living in Antarctica might have some cause to blame their boredom on their surroundings, but generally if someone claims their life is boring because the city they live in is boring, the problem is with them and not the city.

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#146

Post by cpucycling »

colechristensen wrote: post #140
cpucycling wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not that Google, Facebook, and others are "solving a problem" by providing these bus fleets. They are offering jobs on the peninsula paying more than jobs tend to pay in SF [because SF companies have to pay more for rent and ACTUALLY PAY THEIR FUCKING PAYROLL TAXES TO PAY TO MAINTAIN THE BUS STOPS], with a greater likelihood of becoming filthy rich, to people largely moving from other parts of the coun…

The tone of this comment should be unacceptable in this community.

The content of most of these comments should be unacceptable in any community.

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#147

Post by [deleted] »

thetrb wrote: post #86
HelloMcFly wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But even protests over ridiculous things tend to have at least some understandable, and sometimes reasonable, argument. Sticking to this scenario, can you not think of a single one for the protesting residents?

There are already several reasons mentioned in the comments here: - AFAIK currently the companies don't pay to stop at the MUNI stops. - A working public transportation system for everyone would be greatly preferred to a system that's only working for employees of certain companies. - By offering these shuttles companies contribute to more people living in SF, driving up rents (I'm not saying that they shouldn't be a…

[deleted]

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#148

Post by xster »

jpwright wrote: post #130
xster wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a pretty generic 'taking the law in your own hand' argument though. If you illegally double park and as consequence, I illegally shoot you and your whole family, debating what I did is besides the point since the real debate should be about why you double parked.

That analogy is just a tiny bit more extreme then what actually happened.

Ya, it's a ridiculous example but I'm just pointing out the difficulty of codifying vigilantism into law. If illegally killing people who double park is not appropriate, is stealing their TV appropriate? Is hacking their email account appropriate? Who can appropriately be a vigilante? Is it appropriate for a victim who suffered physical injuries? Is it appropriate for a victim who felt offended? Is it appropriate for an eye witness? Is it appropriate for someone who saw it online?

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#149

Post by yapcguy »

Cookingboy wrote: post #118
mellis wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who's tried to get from San Francisco to Silicon Valley without a car, I'd love to see companies like Google advocating and supporting better public transportation as well as just providing a private solution.

Public sector unions and corrupt/incompetent government workers in SF Bay Area is the root cause of the atrocious public transportation in this area, money is not. There are plenty of cities around the world that spends less per capita on infrastructure but still has a way more effective system.

Yes, the muni is not as good as in Tokyo, Hong Kong or London, but so what?

Here's the problem in a nutshell.

Google & co. did not ask anybody before they started using the public Muni stops. I repeat, they did not ask anybody, they just did it.

The problem has become so big that the city is now forced to consider a pilot program where Google & co. pay for use of some of the muni stops.

If you or I started running a private shuttle service which made use of public Muni stops we would have been not only ticketed but prosecuted.

Basically, Google and other large corporations are bullying the city. This is the real issue.

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#150

Post by rsync »

colechristensen wrote: post #140
cpucycling wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not that Google, Facebook, and others are "solving a problem" by providing these bus fleets. They are offering jobs on the peninsula paying more than jobs tend to pay in SF [because SF companies have to pay more for rent and ACTUALLY PAY THEIR FUCKING PAYROLL TAXES TO PAY TO MAINTAIN THE BUS STOPS], with a greater likelihood of becoming filthy rich, to people largely moving from other parts of the coun…

The tone of this comment should be unacceptable in this community.

Relax. You're going to have much bigger problems if you're that fragile.

I disagree with the content and the tone of the parent comment, but I like to see the debate and it's an interesting perspective.

Post reply on HN