Goddammit, I thought this was going to be an Onion type article. It wasn’t.
We already live in clown world. We are beyond parody.
I didn’t like Florida that much when I lived there in the 80s and 90s. It sounds like it’s gotten worse.
Id ask what’s stopping people from standing in the vicinity with a big box of chalk but thats probably a great way to get chalk made illegal.
Bully the policists and paint other crosswalks.
Quick! Paint somewhere else.
Paint everywhere else. Turn everything that’s not guarded in to rainbows of defiance.
Russia: Rainbow Flag Illegal
USA: Rainbow Flag Illegal
So what’s the difference anymore.
Russia has a capable (if thoroughly evil) leader?
It’s the same leader
Mmm, I’d say Ukraine makes that not the case. The capable part, not the evil part.
Maybe. I think Putin’s main concern with Ukraine was preventing them from selling natural gas from the Donbas region to Western Europe and undercutting his main source of revenue, and he’s achieved that even if he didn’t successfully overrun the whole country.
That’s almost certainly part of why, but he most definitely wasn’t expecting to sink this much money, time, and personnel into the conquest. Continuing to do so is definitely not something a capable leader would do.
The US also has a very capable leader. As you can see with President Putin’s implementation of his controversial policies in the US.
Oh you mentioned some orange old man hanging out in DC? Oh that’s just the court jester.
Hold the cops down and paint them then
What an incredibly efficient use of taxpayer-funded police forces! Should report it to DOGE, they definitely need to cut funding for that
Florida has it own DOGE…
Yep.
We cant give medicine/healthcare that those that need it, cause its to expensive.
We cant give food to those that need it, cause its too expensive.
We can’t provide shelter to those that need it, cause its too expensive.
but somehow, magically, when it comes to the police state and fascism… Theres always an endless waterfall of money.
There’s no IRS, just stop paying taxes…
I guess when one is in a gold-plated conference room with oligarch friends and you collectively have a couple trillion dollars in assets to “protect,” peeling away a few billion to pay some of the poors to shoot the other poors before they take your shit (or your head) seems like a pretty reasonable business expense.
When you look at them as the protectors of capital rather than the protectors of the people, it makes a lot more sense.
i mean, you dont even have to look at it that way.
cause it literally is that.
Police, since the begining, have existed to protect the property of the rich. Not the rights of the poor.
They’ve literally gone to the supreme court to fight against being held accountable to their own “protect and serve” bullshit.
The very first police officers were primarily slave catchers
Yep, the property of the rich.
Cause you know, that will stop all the horrible crime the GOP is talking about… You know how dangerous crosswalks are!
Just wait em out? You’re in a seige now, and hopefully the seiging army goes home. Then, you out and make it a rainbow again.
Go and stand there with buckets of paint and a roller and wait them out. Even better if it’s one can labeled “rainbow” paint.
Instead of defund the police, it’s now “run out the police budget”
Is it a crime to buy a vinyl decal for a car that says “rainbow painting” and drive around a city, occasionally stopping near crosswalks to check your phone? I don’t think so.
The decal should say “Gay Agenda Traffic Services.”
you’ll never run out the police budget.
If you managed to even get close to it, government would step in and take more money from starving children and the ill, to keep their fascist oppressors on the streets.
We all literally just saw this happen.
ICE budget is multiplied by 10 because they “ran out of budget”
These comments are wild smh
While I’m 110% supportive of LGBT+, I don’t think people painting crosswalks anyway they like is OK. They are safety features, recognizable from a distance, and it’s not far fetched to think that casualties may occur. Painting official building’s walls could be an alternative, for example. Both are technically vandalism, but these walls would not be a hazard.
Vertical faces of entrance steps? that’d be cool!
You do actually know why they’re doing this, right? Because there was already a rainbow crosswalk to commemorate the Pulse Nightclub victims. It’s so weird that there were no casualties in that one! The fascists painted it over because they’re homophobic knuckleheads, and so now protesters are painting it and others back. You know, it takes zero effort not to be a pedantic but also ignorant ass just for the sake of it.
I could go on a flame war over “it takes zero effort not to be a pedantic but also ignorant ass just for the sake of it.” as an answer to a civilized, reasoned comment, but I don’t want this place to be Reddit. Insults really detract from your argument.
Please do tell us how rainbow is less visible than white lines that blend into all the other white lines.
Please do cite any stats you have that show increased accident rates during pride month or in cities with rainbow cross walks.
Have you never actually seen a crosswalk before? Because I’m having trouble figuring out which part of these rainbow flag colored crosswalks makes them look any less like a crosswalk or makes them less visible or recognizable in any way. Literally the only other pavement marking that comes anywhere near looking like or being placed in the same way on a road is a stop bar. And guess what, car drivers routinely mistake the plain crosswalks for stop bars, thereby blocking the crosswalk. Making the claim that painting a pedestrian crosswalk in bright colors somehow makes them less visible or recognizable has got to be the dumbest argument I’ve heard this week.
I dont understand why you all are getting on this persons case. They brought up a pretty reasonable point, traffic markings are better when they are standardized. There are avenues where having a memorial doesnt detract from that standardization. They gave reasonable alternatives in addition. They arent sitting here praising the motivations behind the enforcement yet you all are acting like thats the commenters motivation.
Literally the only other pavement marking that comes anywhere near looking like or being placed in the same way on a road is a stop bar. And guess what, car drivers routinely mistake the plain crosswalks for stop bars, thereby blocking the crosswalk
So because people already have issues with standardization we should allow less of it? This doesnt improve the argument you are trying to make. Stop being reactionary because of the subject matter here and take a step back first.
Making the claim that painting a pedestrian crosswalk in bright colors somehow makes them less visible or recognizable has got to be the dumbest argument I’ve heard this week.
Its honestly pretty sane in this context when you step back instead of getting reactionary. Is the paint being used reflective? Is it causing the crosswalks to be less reflective in low light conditions? Its not like all the painting being done is standardized. Not all places in the world have cross walks painted out and in night conditions where we constantly have headlights blinding people and some that arent bright enough to compensate for those differences those painted crosswalks could have an impact on safety if the decrease visibility of them in low light conditions.
In the case of the original crosswalk memorial that got defaced by the fascists I am assuming there was reflective paint used, so if people are using something with the same reflective properties as regular road paint I dont see an issue at all with a colorful crosswalk. But when you have people without that style of paint covering up crosswalks it can become a safety issue in night conditions and you arent going to see stats/studies for this as there is not enough sample data to even make that case. Not every rule or standard needs to be written in blood sometimes we can use common sense before allowing people to get injured enough to make a study and dataset to back a point.
Having a memorial that is off the road one would be more visible and also take away the hiding of motivation when the fascists try to deface it by acting like its just a safety thing. Which they recommended, paint walls, the faces of steps etc.
Like I get this is a sore topic due to the state of shit right now but we need to stop fighting with those who are trying to be helpful or offer other valid viewpoints. If we want to fight back against the rising fascism around the world we need more unity which comes from being open to dialog not just being reactionary. All being reactionary is going to do is push people away and make us more fractured and disorganized.
Don’t bother, this place is becoming Reddit 2.0
You could have stopped at dumbest. I believe I’m making a civil and reasonable comment.
Also, a black and white contrast is objectively more un-equivocal than a flurry of colors. For example, my mother, in her 80’s is a surprisingly safe driver for her age, but her visual acuity is just not the same as before, and at night she may have trouble with a rainbow.
Also, a black and white contrast is objectively more un-equivocal than a flurry of colors.
Objectively?
Based on what?
Based on you thinking that a specific series of white lines on a black background amongst a large series of white lines on a blackground is more distinct than a completely different rainbow pattern?
You spend much time working in UX, psychology, or vision analysis?
The crosswalk being painted to commemorate the Pulse tragedy is common knowledge and is described in the article body.
A rainbow is nonstandard but so was the murder that occurred in this community, which is why it’s remembered this way. Anyone driving past this building, including your aged mother, should know about it for the reasons described above. And if she regularly struggles to see anything other than black and white, it may be time for her to retake her drivers’ test.
Thanks for being civil.
What is non-standard here? Homophobia has been a constant through much of history. It’s beyond disgusting and horrifying, but it’s been there for ages.
If you read my post you may notice that I’m not against memorializing, or pro-police or town hall, and that I favor these actions, but where they are not a safety concern. Oh, and this isn’t about my mother, but about the millions of drivers who may not have 100% vision, which is most of us.
Have you ever asked yourself why the vast majority of road markings worldwide are white on black, or yellow on black? Fancy? Fashion? whim?
Also, I 'd like to invite you to google “high contrast safety”
You come across as a “well ackchyually” dipshit. You might think you are making a point, but think this one through, is it a good one in this context? Is it even a good one at all?
I think you may have anger issues. If that is the case (I’m not trained to diagnose) you may want to explore professional attention.
I rest my case.
Why is your mom, at 80, driving around the part of town where there are nightclubs, alone, at night…?
I dunno? Freedom?
around the part of town where there are nightclubs, alone, at night
Aren’t we a wee opinionated and with fascist tendencies? Surprising how you defend some groups freedom but deny others.
If you bothered to look at the way these are painted you would know this isn’t a problem.
As someone who deals with ergonomics as part of his job I KNOW there is a problem.
As someone who deals with UX and the psychology of recognizing and distinguishing things, I can tell you that you know jack shit about the situation here, and working in a field close to ergonomics is evidently not the expertise you think it is.
I did not say I work in a field close to ergonomics, I said that my work INVOLVES ergonomics. Also, pretending that someone who “deals with UX” has any serious knowledge of ergonomics, is like a chiropractic saying they are an actual medical doctor, or that a software “engineer” is anything near a real engineer.
The problem we’re talking about is a UX one. The ability to quickly distinguish a visual sign / interface.
And I’m both an actual electrical engineer and a software engineer, I understand the distinctions between the two very well.
But do please cite your ergonomic data showing that rainbow crosswalks are hard to see, or you can admit that you’re just baselessly pearl clutching.
I’m sure they are very concerned about savety and that’s why they need to repaint them
Safety
Have I said that? I do despise the the motivation, but that does not detract from the cold facts.
Seems like a good use of their time. Police jobs are basically welfare for the mediocre low iq dipshits from high school.
Police jobs are basically welfare for the mediocre low iq dipshits from high school.
Soon to be replaced with lower-paying ICE jobs for the schmos who don’t even qualify to be cops. I personally wouldn’t even be surprised if it turns out ICE is hiring undocumented immigrants, for the same reason everybody else does.
I’ve just been to eat Germany and saw in a museum the Incredible pettiness of the surveillance state.
They collected smell samples of supposed activists, and you could be labeled an activist for writing something sarcastic on a poster or newspaper. Also if you were labeled as such they could 'unofficially ’ ruin your life (as in thwart your ambitions and goals.
So much money and effort was spent on policing the hearts and minds of the populace. And the frail religious conservatives who run America would probably love the idea.
I’ve just been to eat Germany
I recommend chewable Tums for that.
Hah!
I recently went to Germany too and there’s such an uncomfortably large number of cops everywhere. Do you happen to have more info on what you talked about? Id love to read up on it and potentially want friends who live there.
I was in Leipzig, the museum I was mainly taking about was museum der runde ecke but this museum Was also very informative
Thank you!
Has anyone heard of Toynbee Tiles? These are interesting by themselves but the relevant point is how they are made.
You make a mosaic out of vinyl flooring chunks on a backing of paper and roofing tar as mastic.
You place them paper side up on asphalt pavement in hot weather. As cars drive over them, the paper and tar wear off revealing the vinyl mosaic.
Just a thought that a group of people could quickly make a rainbow crosswalk that can’t be painted over.
I’ve never seen one, but have read about them.
Really interesting from a guerilla art perspective. Also, the durability is innovative.
Yeah, it’s intriguing.
I have given it some thought and they could be made even more durable by using vinyl flooring adhesive to adhere the mosaic pieces to a backing of wire mesh.
The usual method uses only asphalt crack filler, which is still necessary, but it also requires one to assemble the design backwards. Adhering to metal mesh first would allow one to assemble it front the viewer’s perspective and reduce shifting of the pieces over time for more durability.
Not to mention that a basic CNC machine could cut the vinyl very precisely and in elaborate shapes. One could really take the quality and durability of the designs up a notch or two using the old noggin and modern Maker tools.
So now I am going to have to think of a place locally to do this….
Small squares as pixels would be time consuming, but would allow high detail even without a CNC.
Drag knife on a cricut wouldn’t be strong enough for thick tile.Mill with a O-flute single flute plastic routing bit would be the way to go. 1/8" diameter, carbide, as fast the spindle will turn. Flute length as short as the tile thickness will allow. You’d want a few spares, you’ll probably break a couple getting it tweaked. Start at .030 chip load, full width and depth, probably don’t need a finish pass as the edge roughness will increase adhesion and won’t be visible. Don’t use coolant, don’t breathe the dust, wear a P99 or P100 respirator, shop vac with HEPA for cleanup. Some tile may have abrasive fiber in it and will shorten tool life.
For fixturing, I think I’d use strap clamps and bars around edges. Use tabs between pieces almost like a stencil, lot of CAM software has a setting for auto tabs on profile cuts, cut from center to edges. Vacuum tables can be real temperamental, slow way down and still tab if trying to hold with vacuum. Double sided carpet tape can do it but has to be removed with acetone and IDK if that would effect the tile.
Just spitballing, I’d be afraid metal mesh might cause de-adherence over time, especially if it corordes. I really like the mesh idea. Loose cotton fabric like cheese cloth or maybe a little tougher would absorb the tar and might make it even stronger, just have to pour at a high enough temp. Fiberglass sheet might also work.
Yes, regarding the mesh. I was wondering if a flexible mesh might be better. Toynbee tiles seem to become illegible mostly because individual pieces shift over time and make them look more of a jumble, this becomes more pronounced as the individual pieces become smaller. I was thinking more fiberglass, too, but even burlap would be fine probably.
A good flexible adhesive on the back of the pieces then pressed firmly into the fiberglass/cloth and weighted until set up.
One thing to consider is that the asphalt crack filler needs to be pressed into and around the pieces, serving a role similar to grout in tile. So the order of operations would be important. That’s more of an assembly issue, I guess.
There are numerous open source tile mosaic softwares out there that will generate the tiling, including the needed gaps for ‘grout’.
And Armstrong Flooring makes VCT in a huge array of colors. A source for vinyl tile of specific colors
Super fun, I am going to talk with my local folks and find a good location for a small test of these ideas. Such fun, thanks for engaging
Let us know how it goes!
