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Kitchen Table Kibitzing: In Just Spring Miscellany [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-20
We have made it through the winter of our discontent! Now some news about next month’s Hands Off rallies, 15-minute cities, congestion pricing in NYC, a post on Tesla recall, and on the Tesla Takedown March 29 events.
On Saturday, April 5th, we rise up with one demand: Hands Off!
This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history. Trump, Musk, and their billionaire cronies are orchestrating an all-out assault on our government, our economy, and our basic rights—enabled by Congress every step of the way. They want to strip America for parts—shuttering Social Security offices, firing essential workers, eliminating consumer protections, and gutting Medicaid—all to bankroll their billionaire tax scam. They’re handing over our tax dollars, our public services, and our democracy to the ultra-rich. If we don’t fight now, there won’t be anything left to save.
See Hands Off for information on events or on hosting your own event. One exciting note about the social media toolkit. Bluesky is the default!
x April 5th, we're coming together across the country to demand:
HANDS OFF OUR COMMUNITIES!
HANDS OFF OUR FREEDOMS!
HANDS OFF OUR DEMOCRACY!
HANDS OFF OUR SOCIAL SECURITY & MEDICARE!
HANDS OFF OUR ACA & MEDICAID!
HANDS OFF OUR SCHOOLS! Don’t be silent! Find a rally: handsoff2025.com?SQF_SOURCE=d...
[image or embed] — JoeinNJfightsfordemocracy (@progavalanche.bsky.social) March 20, 2025 at 8:04 AM
My daughter was telling me about an unhinged rant her dad’s girlfriend launched into the other day when my daughter mentioned how convenient it was going to be to have a bikepath right near the home they are moving into up in Petaluma the end of this month. In essence, the girlfriend said that the government is trying to limit the freedom of people who drive. Another example of the government curtailing personal freedoms.
We were both incredulous about this, wondering what right wing nut job she’s been listening to now so I decided to do a little research and came up with information regarding the “15 minute city.”
Seems several on the right believe that making life’s conveniences a mere walk or bike ride away “sounds like the first step to draconian government lockdowns that will confine people in their homes.” I guess the health benefits are also suspect.
History of the Concept
According to the 2023 NYT article, Carlos Moreno, a French academic, popularized the model of the 15-minute city (or “la ville du quart d’heure”) and outlined three characteristics:
“First, the rhythm of the city should follow humans, not cars,” he said. “Second, each square meter should serve many different purposes. Finally, neighborhoods should be designed so that we can live, work and thrive in them without having to constantly commute elsewhere.”
The Conspiracy Theories
So what’s the downside? Also from across the pond:
Officials in Oxford approved a plan last year to install “traffic filters,” which would limit access on six roads in the city during certain times of day. The filters are cameras, not physical barriers, that take photos of vehicles’ license plates. Fines are then issued to those without a permit. Officials said the system was intended to reduce traffic and move it out to the “ring road” that encircles the city. But it led to widespread confusion about where drivers could go and when, fed by disinformation online that claimed people would be confined to their neighborhoods, which they would need government permission to leave.
From Australia’s ABC News site details about how the 15 minute city conspiracy theories developed.
Limiting cars and promoting pedestrian or bike access is framed as a slippery slope to government-run, open-air prisons. One British TikToker says authorities are planning to "divide up towns, cities etc … and you're going to have to apply for a f**king permit to leave your zone". -snip- The 15-minute city concept has also been promoted by the World Economic Forum, leading to claims that it's part of a global scheme around centralisation and control. "The lies range from small lies — like 'they're going to not want you to drive [at all]' — to big lies — literally using terms like 'they want to turn your neighbourhood into a concentration camp' that 'your life is going to be like the Hunger Games, where there's different sectors that you'll be representing'," Toderian says.
The AP reported (also in 2023):
Some conservative commentators and conspiracy theorists are increasingly convinced the concept of a “15-minute city” — an urban design principle recently embraced by cities ranging from Paris, France to Cleveland, Ohio — is the latest nefarious plot to curtail individual freedoms. “You won’t be able to use your own car on certain roads and highways without the government’s permission and consent,” claimed one Instagram user in a recent video that’s been liked more than 5,400 times. “You will be constantly monitored by surveillance cameras to ensure that you don’t leave your designated residential zone without first being authorized to do so.”
Status of NYCs Congestion Pricing
There’s a subtle link between this urban planning position and congestion pricing in New York City, something that Trump has ordered to end tomorrow. Among the benefits of congestion pricing are increased funds for infrastructure and public transit, as well as improvements in health and the environment. Naturally, limiting the number of cars in an area results in improved air quality and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Of course, Trump would be opposed to that! While Trump has met with NY Governor Kathy Hochul twice on the issue, the city does not plan to stop the policy.
"The good news is that the program that had such amazing benefits for New Yorkers -- faster travel, cleaner air, fewer crashes -- all of that is going to continue. The program is underway now for 10 weeks and it has been successful by every standard," MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said Tuesday. "We're just proceeding with the dispute as we would normally in any litigation setting. This is not a test of wills. It's just the reality when you have a dispute. Things don't change until a court orders it and that hasn't taken place. We don't expect it will because we are on pretty strong legal footing." CBS
From the NYT: (discussing reaction to Trump’s order to New York to cease congestion pricing)
In the first week of February, weekday traffic inside the toll zone dropped 9 percent compared with the same time last year, with an average of 561,678 vehicles entering the area, down from 617,000, according to the M.T.A. And foot traffic, a measure of business activity, has improved since the tolls took effect, according to city data. Through Jan. 31, 35.8 million pedestrians entered major business districts in the tolling zone, nearly 5 percent more than in the same period last year. Advocates for public transit expressed outrage at the decision. “Demolishing congestion relief is one of the stupidest policy proposals we’ve seen,” said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group. Will Sheperd, a high school social studies teacher from Hamilton Heights in Manhattan and an avid cyclist, said that congestion pricing was necessary to alleviate pollution and make the streets safer for pedestrians.
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.
In closing: in case this flew under the radar today at DK:
x Elon Musk’s defective product is a danger to other products that are operating properly.
Am I talking about DOGE wrecking federal agencies that help people, or am I referring to Cybertruck panels that may fly off and hit other cars?
Answer: Yes.
[image or embed] — Mark Jacob (@markjacob.bsky.social) March 20, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Organizers are calling for 500 demonstrations at all 277 Tesla showrooms, as well as Supercharger stations, on March 29th. Find an event near you! Or here.
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