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Against Little Free Libraries

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This sucks.  Jim Mone/AP Against Little Free Libraries KRISTON CAPPS   MAY 3, 2017 Does that birdhouse filled with paperbacks on your block represent an adorable neighborhood amenity or the “corporatization of literary philanthropy”? SHARE TWEET The take-a-book, leave-a-book movement has gone global. As of last year, Little Free Libraries—those birdhouse-looking book-stops that pop up in people’s front yards—were represented in every U.S. state. Little Free Library has now touched down in more than 70 other countries. These book exchanges are now 50,000 strong and growing. And at least one person wants to put a stop to them. “There was something that kind of irked me about the title,” says Jane Schmidt, librarian at Ryerson University in Toronto. “As a librarian, my gut reaction to that was, ‘You know what else is a free library? A regular library.’” Where many people see a charming yard decoration or a heart-warming civic-minded gesture, Schmidt finds...
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The Case Against Giant Traffic Robots

People gather on March 3, 2015, at the official presentation ceremony of three new robots recently installed in Kinshasa to help tackle the hectic traffic of the capital.   (FEDERICO SCOPPA/AFP/Getty Images) The Case Against Giant Traffic Robots SAM STURGIS   MAR 11, 2015 The towering figures are an eye-catching  distraction from a lack of infrastructure planning in the  Democratic Republic of Congo's  ever-growing capital. SHARE TWEET Kinshasa, the sprawling capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is trying an unusual approach to the city's notoriously frenetic traffic situation. As first reported by AFP , Kinshasa installed three new robots last week to help direct traffic (two others were unveiled in 2013). The giant, Transformer-esque figures (which sport tinted sunglasses) tower over busy intersections, equipped with traffic lights and cameras that are meant to assist human police officers with issuing tickets for traffic violation...
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In Search of Visibility, Protesters Take to the Highways

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California Highway Patrol officers clear protesters from the 101 freeway in Los Angeles.   Mario Anzuoni/Reuters In Search of Visibility, Protesters Take to the Highways KRISTON CAPPS   NOV 26, 2014 A second night of demonstrations following the Ferguson grand jury decision looks a bit like a nationwide effort to stall traffic.   SHARE TWEET Demonstrations over the grand jury decision to not indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown continue to rock America. There were  more protesters arrested last night in Los Angeles , the second night of major protests, than there were  Monday night in Ferguson , Missouri. In L.A., some of those demonstrators were arrested after shutting down traffic in both directions on the 101 Freeway. Another group of protesters  flummoxed traffic downtown  by laying down in the intersection of Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Grand Avenue. They were not alone. Protesters took to  I-95 in...
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Never (Baby) Trump

Protesters (maybe?) take a snap during President Donald Trump's visit to London.   Matt Dunham/AP Never (Baby) Trump KRISTON CAPPS   JUL 20, 2018 How do you make light of something that isn’t funny anymore? SHARE TWEET Baby Trump may be coming home, and Americans—well, some of them, at least—couldn’t be more delighted about it. Baby Trump, of course, is the affectionate nickname given to the blimp launched by protesters during President Donald Trump’s visit to London last week. As the adult Trump met with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, Londoners mugged with a 20-foot inflatable balloon caricature floating around Parliament Square. A good time was had by all ( except May ). Now activists in New Jersey hope to  launch a flotilla of four Baby Trump blimps , so that the president they abhor can be annoyed by them in his homeland.   In no time flat, the group known as the  People’s Motorcade  crowdsourced  $24,000  toward a pla...
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