Washington’s city government has long been a symbol of poor management, wasteful programs, and gross inefficiencies. That image was reaffirmed this month after the city turned a program to replace trash bins into an utter disaster. Shortly before the primary election, Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) rushed the new cans out to every citizen. The program was so rushed that there appeared to be no system in place to collect the old cans. Now, it appears that the city has not only been chucking new cans but it has not been recycling the plastic cans — simply pumping them in Virginia for incineration. However, the city charged two people who tried to reuse the discarded bins.
The city delivered more than 200,000 new cans but left old cans on the streets. The result was alleys full of new an old cans. Then the rain washed off the stickers to identify the new cans so that crews began to collect new and old bins for disposal. In the meantime, the city arrested a District artist who decided to take some of the old discarded cans and repurpose them as flowerpots. So, while she was being prosecuted, the city was collecting old and new cans to throw them away. At least 132 truckloads of plastic bins — a third of the 16,000 cans that were to be collected and recycled — were simply dumped in Virginia to be burned.
The city has a curious defense. Since it failed to properly rollout the program, the mix of old and new cans now were clogging streets and presenting safety issues. Thus, the city decided to dump rather than recycle the cans in its rush to deal with its gross negligence. While the new cans came with stickers to put on old cans reading “Take Me” to allow them to be collected, the stickers fell off and left crews uncertain as to which cans were to be collected. Public Works Director William Howland (right) ordered dump trucks to “blitz” the city and treat the cans as garbage to be dumped.
In the meantime, outgoing Mayor Grey was not available — he is traveling to Las Vegas for a taxpayer supported conference. He is also unreachable to deal with another year of appalling school scores for the District and a new investigation showing police officers running red lights with impunity.
The city however charged Mina Karini and a friend with theft after they took the “Take Me” signs literally and repurposed some of the cans as planters. The District argued that by taking the cans, the two acted to “deprive” the city of “property of value” and potential profits from recycling the cans – which of course they did not do.
Source: Washington Post
Most folks don’t realize that a huge amount of what they painstakingly separate out and believe is being recycled is not. Even in areas that require such separation by law. I have frequently seen the collection employees dump both containers into the same truck and haul them off to the land fill. I used to be fascinated ever trash day while visiting family in California. They had special divided bins and were required, and threatened with fines for noncompliance, to separate, wash, and delabel all metal cans, aluminum products, glass, and paper products and put them in one side of the bin. Trash went into the other side. On Wednesday morning the bin was take to the curb. A truck came by with a mechanical arm, which reached out picked up the bin, raised it over the top of the truck, and inverted the bin. The result was the contents of both sides falling out and becoming mixed together as they fell down towards and then into the opening in the top of the truck.
SierraRose – we have different trash days for regular and recyclable trash. Although I know in some areas of the country, you are dead right, some place, like where I live, actually do recycle.
Paul Schulte
Dredd – you did not refute the message, you went after the messenger. That is a fallacy and shows that you cannot refute the message.
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I can not tell which message WordMess ate and/or which Jonathan deleted, so please inform me of which message you need to be refuted and I shall do so with the utmost love, affection, civility and adulthood.
Turning my cheeks an stuff too.
Especially turning my cheeks.
You shall not be deprived of your refutations as long as I am educating you!!
BTW, isn’t it grand that we have another pure scientist on board (Kimberly) to go along with the other pure scientist (Chuck) so we can talk about brain stuff?
BTW, what do you think artists and garbage cans are metaphors for?
Paul Schulte
Dredd – I have been to conferences before …
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Have you been to any conferences after?
Mr Keebler
Hey dude, there’s something going on, not sure what it is. I just can’t wait for the ones that provoke start attacking the new guest blogger. I don’t think it will go over as well, if they do the same antics as have been pulled on Elaine and others. Ya know!
Like I’ve been saying. If you think for yourself you tend to vote democratic. If you can’t think for yourself you tend to vote republican. And if you’ve given up thinking all together, maybe the TeaParty is for you.
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Well said.
You know how NFL umps are … they never get the provocateur they always get the one administering justice to the provocateur.
Just remember that in the Super Bowl we kick they butt.
It is just that it is unfair to the ump because they look very umpy.
Whatever, I gotta go do some artwork on these two garbage cans so I can get arrested.
LOL!
Hey dude, there’s something going on, not sure what it is. I just can’t wait for the ones that provoke start attacking the new guest blogger. I don’t think it will go over as well, if they do the same antics as have been pulled on Elaine and others. Ya know!
Like I’ve been saying. If you think for yourself you tend to vote democratic. If you can’t think for yourself you tend to vote republican. And if you’ve given up thinking all together, maybe the TeaParty is for you.
keebler – if you have been following Dredd it is important for Democrats NOT to think for themselves. Laskoff says they must ‘frame’ the message, but not think. So, according to Laskoff, if you are thinking for yourself, you are either a very poor Democrat, or you must be Libertarian or Republican.
Mr Keebler
Dredd,
Slow down a bit if ya will. Got you message.
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You spoil all my fun.
Jonathan,
… if you believe that someone has violated the rule, email me …
I do not want to bother you with that kind of pettiness.
So, henceforth, I will turn the other cheek or ignore the ignorati.
Which means “enforcement of civility” will fall to those who want to bother you with complaints.
“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” 😉
I don’t notice any deleted messages of mine … some caught in the WordMess if deleted I would not notice those.
Jonathan do you really think you are fooling anyone with you bias?
I can’t tell what in the world you think civility is.
If it was a criminal law it would be void for vagueness.
When I am called a hypocrite what should I do?
If you want me to leave this blog I will gladly do so without regret or animosity toward you or anyone else.
But you are most certainly being unfair to not allow a defense.
Otherwise, please free up my comments in WordMess.
Dredd, your comments will remain deleted. The rule is simple. This comment section is not for posting insulting and personal attacks. Ninety-nine percent of posters on this blog have no problem or uncertainty as to what civility means. I have deleted comments by all of the people commonly involved in these disputes on both sides. I do not delete comments that criticize the substance of arguments or point out contradictions in those arguments or sources. I could care less about the merits of the underlying dispute. My only request is that you do not use this blog to post nasty attacks or name calling rather than addressing the substance of the disagreement. We are enforcing that rule more in the last few weeks after the section was taken over by such comments as well as a series of false aliases. As always, if you believe that someone has violated the rule, email me. Otherwise, this rule tracks what most of us already consider to be a basic requirement of adult conversation.
Dredd,
Slow down a bit if ya will. Got you message.
Paul Shulte,
WordMess is eating messages so you will have to wait for the refutation.
Paul Schulte
Dredd – Lakoff wrote his own bio …
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Yep.
He was the one who decided to take some of the old discarded cans JT blogged about and repurpose them as bio holders so they would know he was a recycler.
They had never heard of Lakoff before, so that bio in the flowerpot quality recycle cans swept them off their feet, even though:
“The Association for Psychological Science (previously the American Psychological Society) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of scientific psychology and its representation at the national and international level.
…
The Association’s mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in research, application, teaching, and the improvement of human welfare.
…
APS has approximately 26,000 members and includes the leading psychological scientists and academics, clinicians, researchers, teachers, and administrators.”
Yes we can write our own bios!
I commented: “The city delivered more than 200,000 new cans but left old cans on the streets. The result was alleys full of new an old cans. Then the rain washed off the stickers to identify the new cans so that crews began to collect new and old bins for disposal. In the meantime, the city arrested a District artist who decided to take some of the old discarded cans and repurpose them as flowerpots. So, while she was being prosecuted, the city was collecting old and new cans to throw them away. At least 132 truckloads of plastic bins — a third of the 16,000 cans that were to be collected and recycled — were simply dumped in Virginia to be burned.” – JT
Good message.
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Paul Schulte commented:
Dredd – you did not refute the message, you went after the messenger. That is a fallacy and shows that you cannot refute the message.
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The message was on point for this thread.
Doncha know?
Paul Schulte
Dredd – Lakoff wrote his own bio …
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I take it that you are in reference to the 2015 Keynote Speakers at the International Convention of Psychological Science I linked to in my comment above.
How do you know he wrote his bio … did Stanislas Dehaene and Terrie E. Moffitt, the other two keynote speakers also write their own bios?
I think you wrote your own bias.
Dredd – I have been to conferences before. They ask the speakers to provide their own bio. It is pretty standard.
“Frame” your message!
Lakoff is a linguist at UC-Berkeley, and his theories (which are not shared by most linguists; see Matt Bai, “Framing Wars,” New York Times Magazine, 17 July 2005) have convinced him that we all have “frames” that shape the way we see the world. And the frames are shaped by language.
Change the language and you change the frame through which we see. So if your conservative opponent speaks of “tax relief,” don’t come up with a better version of tax relief — you’ll just be reinforcing their conservative frame. Instead, argue that taxes are the price we pay for living in a decent society. If your opponent speaks of an elephant, don’t think of an elephant when you answer him or her!
Lakoff says there are only two frames. One derives from what he calls the “strict father” family, the other from what he calls the “nurturant parent” family. The first is Republican / conservative (surprise!), the second is Democrat / progressive, and about 35-40% of us are currently hooked to each frame.
A minority of Americans — 20-30% — is in between, confused, torn, and up for grabs.
According to Lakoff, for progressives to start winning national elections again, they need to cement their base and win over that 20-30%. And the way for them to do that is to sharpen their language so it has little or nothing to do with conservatives’ language.
Feynman, lol, I think you may be right. Hey! If it gets ugly they can build a nice brick shell around it! 😀
Dredd – you did not refute the message, you went after the messenger. That is a fallacy and shows that you cannot refute the message.
“The city delivered more than 200,000 new cans but left old cans on the streets. The result was alleys full of new an old cans. Then the rain washed off the stickers to identify the new cans so that crews began to collect new and old bins for disposal. In the meantime, the city arrested a District artist who decided to take some of the old discarded cans and repurpose them as flowerpots. So, while she was being prosecuted, the city was collecting old and new cans to throw them away. At least 132 truckloads of plastic bins — a third of the 16,000 cans that were to be collected and recycled — were simply dumped in Virginia to be burned.” – JT
Good message.
Paul Schulte
Trying to kill the messenger is a logical fallacy.
Dr. Lakoff recycles old discarded trash bins without getting arrested:
(2015 Keynote Speakers, International Convention of Psychological Science). Be there, he will be killing you softly with his words.
Dredd – Lakoff wrote his own bio. They do not leave those things to chance. And he is not universally accepted. However, you seem to enjoy his work since he confirms your thinking. Please go and enjoy. Would not want you to think outside your ‘frame.’
Annie
Sorry to disagree about the planters. You are going to wind up with a 600 lbs. monster, that cannot be moved, with peeling paint (or needing constant maintenance) with about 4 square feet of planting area. You will have to have found, dug and carried 300 lbs of rock for this 4 square feet of planter. You will have to have purchased 15 or 20 bags of potting soil. I know that seems like an awful lot, but those rocks have a lot of gaps between them and potting soil compacts A LOT. I did this once on a small scale and learned a hard lesson. I’d never try to recycle anything into a planter that is bigger than a small wastepaper basket. Those garbage bins are 50 gallons!
And then along comes winter and you’ve got one ugly, peeling paint, unmovable monster garbage bin sitting on your front stoop which, if you decide isn’t nearly as attractive as you had hoped, now has to have 20 bags of potting soil removed along with 300 pounds of rock.
Please call me for the pizza party – afterwards.