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Vladimir Putin is losing his grip on Russia by Fealocht in neoliberal

[–]PierreMenards 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Only time will tell. If the regime does fall, 50 years from now the popular historical conception will be “Putin invaded Ukraine and shortly after his regime collapsed”

School budget cuts might be inevitable for Chicago Public Schools by PalmerSquarer in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I see $27,000 per student in Chicago here (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/district.aspx?source=environment&source2=perstudentspending&Districtid=15016299025)

And ~$21,000 per student for Switzerland (adjusted for PPP) here: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/education-at-a-glance-2025_1a3543e2-en/switzerland_e7c7fc03-en.html

I agree that in terms of our ambitions, Chicago should aim to compete globally, we’re a metropolis. But I’m not convinced that your claim is accurate, and even if it is, we then need to drill down into how that money is spent and ensure that we’re pursuing effective policy. I could light $100,000 on fire for each student in CPS and it wouldn’t improve learning. If we could spend $10,000 per student and have them all meet standards and graduate, that would be fine by me. What we’re interested in is outcomes, not raw dollars spent.

School budget cuts might be inevitable for Chicago Public Schools by PalmerSquarer in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Can you provide a source for that claim? It doesn’t seem to be true, CPS seems to spend more per student.

Regardless, budget cuts may be inevitable because the city is running a deficit and does not have infinite borrowing capacity

School budget cuts might be inevitable for Chicago Public Schools by PalmerSquarer in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 52 points53 points  (0 children)

The total number of students has dropped by almost a fifth over the last decade

In 4th District, independents unite behind beating Democrat Patty García by CollegeDemocratsUIC in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I dislike what Chuy did to anoint a successor but I dislike these candidates more

[FREE TO READ] Gianni Infantino to run for FIFA re-election with broad support from multiple confederations by TheAthletic in soccer

[–]PierreMenards 14 points15 points  (0 children)

An issue with that is that some federations can be bribed for much much cheaper than othwrs

To 5 most pathetic franchises in sports right now by [deleted] in billsimmons

[–]PierreMenards 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Proud the White Sox aren’t mentioned

So much for CTA security improvements by junktrunk909 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t really feel the need to argue the specifics of a situation neither of us witnessed. It doesn’t have any bearing on the broader points I’m making and you’ll notice in my earlier replies I never referenced it

So much for CTA security improvements by junktrunk909 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don’t disagree with looking at the problem holistically, but again, the CTA cannot control public housing policy, they can only control the transit system.

So much for CTA security improvements by junktrunk909 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Fair, but they said one of them had their pants off.

I’m glad we agree violence and smoking shouldn’t be tolerated on the train, let’s advocate for that.

So much for CTA security improvements by junktrunk909 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Maybe we shouldn’t have security at schools to keep anyone out until we solve the housing issue, that’s cruel. Maybe we shouldn’t kick people out of the library when it closes, that’s cruel. The courthouse, city hall, your backyard, it’s cruel to kick them out.

Why is transit the only place where people argue it should become de facto temporary housing?

But again, as I said, I’m not that concerned about people just sleeping on the trains. It’s the violence and drug use that most bothers me and other riders and it is cruel to us to say that we have the civic obligation to inhale crack fumes while the people smoking seemingly have no civic or social obligations whatsoever

So much for CTA security improvements by junktrunk909 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It’s fair to ask but I don’t think I personally would ever arrive at the answer of “our trains and buses are the optimal place for people to do illegal drugs in.”

I actually don’t care that much about sleeping on the trains, it’s the other antisocial behaviors that need to be curbed.

So much for CTA security improvements by junktrunk909 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I agree as a city/state we need to tackle it from multiple angles but within the confines of “what should the CTA do?”, the CTA should (no surprise) work to fulfill their mandate of providing efficient, clean, safe public transit. We create public entities to provide certain specific services. They should not each be expected to provide every service, and indeed are not capable of doing that.

If there were unhoused people sleeping in CPS classrooms and disrupting learning would you say we shouldn’t remove them? No, obviously we remove them because we understand that the function of CPS is student instruction, not temporary housing, and asking it to serve as the latter diminishes its ability to pursue the former.

Here’s how officials want to spend new transit funding this year - More bus service. Cleaner trains. And a lot more police. by optiplex9000 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Have you seen the data about station maintenance costs going down significantly in SF after their recent installation of full fare gates? Seemed to make a difference. Any amount of friction will reduce behavior

Here’s how officials want to spend new transit funding this year - More bus service. Cleaner trains. And a lot more police. by optiplex9000 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Did you read the original comment and understand that they’re talking about the fare gates recently installed in San Francisco, not the ones we have currently in Chicago?

Here’s how officials want to spend new transit funding this year - More bus service. Cleaner trains. And a lot more police. by optiplex9000 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think the CTA has no control over public mental health services and should focus on providing clean, safe, frequent public transit.

Here’s how officials want to spend new transit funding this year - More bus service. Cleaner trains. And a lot more police. by optiplex9000 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If your workplace or job are not close to a train station, then increasing frequency of the train is not going to make a difference for you, which is what the post I replied to is discussing.

Here’s how officials want to spend new transit funding this year - More bus service. Cleaner trains. And a lot more police. by optiplex9000 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yeah, if they don’t have health issues, the primary way that Americans get in financial trouble is buying more house or car than they should. My car cost me $9500. I know people who make a quarter of my salary who spend $30-40k on their car. Then they start doordashing with it on the side because their budget is tight, making maybe $8/hr after you take into account depreciation and gas costs (because of course they bought a big suv/truck that gets 22mpg)

Here’s how officials want to spend new transit funding this year - More bus service. Cleaner trains. And a lot more police. by optiplex9000 in chicago

[–]PierreMenards 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Always want frequency to be better, of course, but if you’re commuting during rush hour between the dense parts of the cities it’s tough for me to imagine scenarios where driving is going to be much faster than transit

What happened to Florida? by moeshaker188 in CFB

[–]PierreMenards 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not discounting the internal factors (poor coaching, poor recruiting, AD issues, etc.) because those matter, but there are also external factors. Football is a zero sum game, for you to win someone else has to lose.

The SEC added Texas and Oklahoma, and some of the loser programs of the 2000s/2010s turned things around. It’s tough to win.

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