“But they also knew that if they raised taxes to fix any of the crumbling infrastructure, they’d all lose their jobs and be raked over the coals for being freedom hating tax and spend politicians.”

Hey David Tracy, you see all that rust?  I have a bridge to sell you.

I should have known where this was headed the second time she used the word “unhomed”. It’s one thing to give people - even criminals - the benefit of the doubt, but she’s projecting the assumption that any or all of these thieves are in fact homeless. It was worth mentioning income inequality and correlated…

jesus i’m sick and tired of people justifying theft. argue all you want about mOdeRn AmEricA bEing uNfAIr!!!! and BiLliOnaIres gEttInG RicHeR!!!! but there’s a 99% chance this is done by professional, organized theft rings as opposed to some desperate unemployed person breaking into a goddam train car to feed his…

This is what a society lacking concrete values looks and sounds like, so don’t be too surprised when people willfully discuss their situational morality ideology like a badge of honor. You can’t have situational morality law enforcement, it doesn’t work that way. 

I think it’s fair to say that overboard takes are ruining both sides right now.

There is a HUGE disconnect in this article. Its not ok to steal things. I used to work in retail and on occasion we would catch people stealing. Whenever something gets stolen SOMEONE has to pay for it and in the end that price is paid by the rest of us. I say this as someone who used to be poor. Like REALLY really…

You see, Erin, the sort of anger you’ve sparked in your readership is exactly what the Times was trying to avoid when they let you go. This article could’ve had 2 sentences removed or reworded, it would’ve conveyed the same story, and no one would’ve been upset. You need to consider how much you’re writing your own…

I think I’ve figured out one reason why no one wants these jobs. See, most benefits - food stamps, SSI, Medicaid, HUD, HEAP, etc. - have income limits. Back when most places were still only paying $8-$10 an hour, you could still get your healthcare, child care, home utilities, food, etc. free or heavily subsidized.…

More than 20 percent of Angelenos live below the poverty line in one of the most expensive cities in the world. [...] The growing poverty rate and the quickly skyrocketing costs of well, everything, housing in particular, are immediately evident by the exploding unhomed population in LA.

Wow. I remember hearing about that but didn’t connect the name.

Thanks. The messages that she left, and was subsequently fired over, read like a teenager who can’t control their emotions.  

Can we stop with this “people have it hard because Covid and rich people” BS? Have you not seen the massive labor shortage going on? The huge increases in base pay to try to get anyone to show up? Stores and restaurants having to shut down or limit hours because they literally can’t get people to work?

“But this strikes me more as desperate, wholesale looting than property crime”

Your excusing criminal behavior so casually identifies you as a seriously dysfunctional person. As you mentioned in passing, some of those packages contained life-critical medication.

https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/29408/detroit_journalist_erin_marquis_fired_by_ny_times_for_calls_to_gun_rights_group

Holy shit that is an awful take. Like absolute trash-tier.

Article written by the same woman who got fired from the NYT (after 5 months of employment) for going on a profanity-laced tirade against gun owners last month. Not surprising she has deep sympathy for criminals.

Sources told CBSLA that the locks Union Pacific uses are easy to cut,