Interesting Links for 03-07-2025

[andrewducker]

1. Lemkin Institute Anti-genocide group issues 'red flag' to UK over transgender rights

(tags:lgbt transgender UK rights OhForFucksSake bigotry )

2. The UK has an extremely low rate of homes per person

(tags:UK housing doom )

3. Israel limits entry of baby formula in Gaza as infants die of hunger

(tags:Israel babies murder Hunger genocide gaza Palestine )

4. Poor internet and offices partly to blame for length of Edinburgh Tram Inquiry

(tags:edinburgh trams enquiry internet organisation )

5. TikTok is being flooded with racist AI videos generated by Google's Veo 3

(tags:ai racism videos socialmedia )

Comments

[bens_dad]

2. They say that the housing shortage is worst in London.
Is that where we should be building then ? But that is already where the population density is highest.
If I understand correctly, high rise blocks with decent amenities don't actually take up less space than lower rise dwellings. Is more housing in London *of a decent quality* actually possible ?

[andrewducker]

I don't see how you can't fit more people in a 30 story building than a two storey one. Do you have anything more on that?

[bens_dad]

Sorry, my sources are 1980s stories about the failure of the 1950s?1960s tower blocks.

The point is that you still need the same number of playgrounds, allotments, sports fields and parks per person. These don't really work if they are a bus ride away from home.

They did cram more people into a 30 storey building than a two storey ones they replaced, but unless they were spaced well apart the quality of life was no better than the slums they replaced.

[channelpenguin]

Tower block failure isnt't ineveitable - It seems to work here in Germany, at least in Berlin. They are nicely kept, balconies have flower baskets and sunshades not rotting furniture and dead pigeons... People look after them. Renter culture and better tenant rights helps, I guess. It isnt just a ghetto for the very poor. Normal workign people live there and it is utterly normal to have families grow up in apartments.

Also, people seem to still (at least more than in the UK) understand the concept of shared responsibiliy/ownership of shared spaces, that they belong to us all and we can all take care of them and enjoy them. As far as my impression of the UK attitue, it seems more like if you don't personally own a thing/space then it isnt yours and you just neglect or trash it.

German tower blocks tend to be painted jolly colours and have gardens with play areas at the base (which usually stay in good use and good repair and aren't vandalised anything like as much as in the UK, herdly ever, as far as I can tell). Stuff for older kids to do will still tend to be lacking and further away, but good public transport is normal (and well thought out for prams, buggies, bikes), and kids go about on their own (well in pairs or small groups, more usually from about the age of 10, sometimes younger if they have an older sibling with them).

Of course the premium high rise apartments seem to work in every city (where they arent more than half empty due to being "investment" or money-laundering vehicles!)

[andrewducker]

Oh yes. I visited a friend in Amsterdam and he lived in one of a series of blocks that were inside a public park. Who needs a garden when you live in a park?

[bens_dad]

The idea of kids paying for travel is alien to me. Who pays for it; pocket money, free bus-passes for kids (we have them for oldies, but children pay two-thirds of adult fare) ... ?

I struggle to imagine taking a bus to have a kick-about with my mates. Are there free spaces for that, or do I have to hire a hall or a pitch ?

[andrewducker]

Buses are free for under-22-year olds in Scotland.

As a kid my parents gave me bus fare.

[channelpenguin]

In Germany you can get all public transport everywhere for 47 per month for an adult.

I dunno if there's a kid version. I don't think so. But you can take another person free on your travel pass at weekends and after 8pm