Fuck, man. Those comments do fucking suck.

WHY DIDN’T I LISTEN TO YOU?

Let ‘em know!!

Quick fact check: Prince didn’t write “I Feel for You for Chaka Khan; her version was a cover of an album track from Prince’s self-titled album, the one where he’s straddling Pegasus naked on the back cover.

Great write-up: but Chaka Khan’s first hit without Rufus was “I’m Every Woman” - written by the legendary Ashford & Simpson.

His bands always remind me of Sly and the Family Stone: Your race or gender don’t matter. Can you play? Can you get asses out of seats and feet on the dance floor? Those are the only things that matter.

Did you first think Prince was gay?

If people are breaking the rules, or the laws, you call them out on it, Khazak style. Every one of the offenses means something, it's worth the price. And how often are day laborers stiffed on labor?

I know it’s been said, but thank you for sharing this story. We don’t get important, thoughtful messages like this everyday here, you know. :]

Melissa, I’m normally very critical of Gawker, for too many reasons to go into. Writers like you, and articles like this, are the reason I still come by. Thank you.

The breaking of unions is one of the saddest and most reprehensible things to happen in this country. Decades of propaganda have left unions with a bad reputation, and yet they are frequently the first line of defense against abuse. The dirtier and less respected the job, the more desperately the workers need…

This is a great article, and also the illustration at the top is really spectacular. Great job all around

I still benefit from this kind of permissiveness as a poor white person. In the UK where I live you can get government assistance with housing costs - but many landlords will not accept this arrangement. They put “no DSS” on their adverts - “no department of social services funding allowed”, they mean.

Thank you both!!!

I live next to 2 houses that are left to rot, lived in by raccoons. There must be tax benefits to landlords/banks that make it more profitable to let a building become a blight. These were rental houses. The landlord could have had $1750 a month from the 2 of them without doing much work, but he let them fall into…

I agree that this was a great story. I was spellbound. And I want to thank the author for doing the work she does. Most of us look away. We either didn’t know (or care) in the first place or we found it too hard to look. Hope hurts and sometimes it’s easier to despair. The NYT has an article about the rise in…

YES. As far as living in a little bubble, I really admire a lot of my fellow millenial’s passion about income inequality, but it frequently feels like the income inequality they’re talking about is the erasure of the middle class... which is important! Student loans do matter! But this is also a country where a…

Thanks, now I know more about the specifics of the wage theft problem in LA - the “wage theft capital” of the U.S.

I do like the way you think.

Did you get squatters? There is a property a block or so over from my apartment building that is semi long term unoccupied (no idea if forclosure, or needs more work to sell or what) I noticed in the fall some of the neighbors started collecting the pennysavers and fliers and mowing the grass. I thought that was a…