WTF: TN House and Senate Both Vote to Outlaw Flash Mobs

Does "flash mob" have another definition than "a bunch of singers/performers surprising everyone in a public place with an uplifting experience of music and dance"?

I'm no expert, but that's the only flash mob I've ever heard of.

I guess there is the whole "permit for a public event" thing and safety concerns, but really as I perceive them, I don't understand the reason for the ban.
 
jaxn slim said:
We learned about that in school. Very sad. And somewhat enraging.
There are old photos I see around town of the Nashville trolleys. Long gone now. It's a shame.
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No kidding.

Sorry, but I get worked up over civil rights issues. It's kind of a thing with me.
 
dodgechargerfan said:
Does "flash mob" have another definition than "a bunch of singers/performers surprising everyone in a public place with an uplifting experience of music and dance"?

I'm no expert, but that's the only flash mob I've ever heard of.

I guess there is the whole "permit for a public event" thing and safety concerns, but really as I perceive them, I don't understand the reason for the ban.
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Control
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
IMO any effort to quash public transportation is lunacy.
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Well, to be fair, my experience with public transportation initiatives in Texas is that they usually result in a tax hike with very little to show for it. Taxpayers aren't willing to pay what it really costs to fund large-scale public transportation, and the bureaucracies that manage these things are ineffiecient.

Personally, I'd love to see public transportation become more commonplace across the country. In the cities where it actually works, it's incredibly useful.
 
Tralfaz said:
Well, to be fair, my experience with public transportation initiatives in Texas is that they usually result in a tax hike with very little to show for it. Taxpayers aren't willing to pay what it really costs to fund large-scale public transportation, and the bureaucracies that manage these things are ineffiecient.

Personally, I'd love to see public transportation become more commonplace across the country. In the cities where it actually works, it's incredibly useful.
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It's a good thing television is so prevalent in our society. Or the poor who work the minimum wage jobs might actually riot if they realized just how bad they're being screwed. $4 a gallon to drive to a minimum wage job? The gods must be crazy.
 
Tralfaz said:
Well, to be fair, my experience with public transportation initiatives in Texas is that they usually result in a tax hike with very little to show for it. Taxpayers aren't willing to pay what it really costs to fund large-scale public transportation, and the bureaucracies that manage these things are ineffiecient.

Personally, I'd love to see public transportation become more commonplace across the country. In the cities where it actually works, it's incredibly useful.
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Yeah, a lot of places do it half-heartedly, and it sucks. The cities that really go for it, though, are glorious.
 
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jaxn slim said:
Yeah, a lot of places to it half-heartedly, and it sucks. The cities that really go for it, though, are glorious.
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OTOH, how can any city really go for it when you have lobbying efforts like this one to destroy it? Politicians are dishonest enough. The money only makes it worse.
 
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Help!I'maRock! said:
It's a good thing television is so prevalent in our society. Or the poor who work the minimum wage jobs might actually riot if they realized just how bad they're being screwed. $4 a gallon to drive to a minimum wage job? The gods must be crazy.
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I ride the bus to and from work every day 25 miles away but my company pays for it. I see a few riders who likely don't make much more than minimum wage and wonder how they afford it at $4.50 each way.
 
Tig said:
I ride the bus to and from work every day 25 miles away but my company pays for it. I see a few riders who likely don't make much more than minimum wage and wonder how they afford it at $4.50 each way.
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They probably don't have a choice, but it's much, much cheaper than owning a car. I have a choice, could afford a car if I wanted, and take public transit because it's faster and cheaper.
 
That's pretty messed up. Sounds like it's time for the citizens of Tennesee to go all Kevin Bacon on your state congress.

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In rural Idaho, it is pretty hard to pull off. Nonetheless, in the Wood River Valley, which amounts to about 15 miles of highway that is populated including 3 little towns, there is public transportation (bus) at low cost between towns, and at no cost in town. It is a good thing. Boise could stand to expand theirs, and design town to be benefitted by public transportation rather than as much commercial and residential sprawl peppered with large parking lots designed for car travel rather than for public transportation.

Really, Boise is a pretty new city, and metro area, and they have a chance to do it better from the get go. Whether they will is another question, as Idahoans love their trucks and cars.
 
I'm relatively certain that the flashmob law will be invalidated at the first legal challenge through the supremacy clause of the constitution: "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding."

I think that the fuckwits in the TN state legislature must have all flunked out of law school...
 
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