kim_harding βœ…

Sentence for driving while banned after killing six people: 150 hours unpaid work, 12 months supervision and a restriction of liberty order for four months between the hours of 7pm – 7am. https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/glasgow-bin-lorry-crash-driver-12828178

Sentence for planning to stop traffic in a peaceful protest trying to save the world: four years in prison.
https://theconversation.com/why-courts-favour-cars-not-the-climate-234535

These sentences are the wrong way around, there is something very wrong with the UK.

#FuckCars #ClimateEmergency #NoJustice

Why Glasgow bin lorry crash driver Harry Clarke was not jailed over new charge

The 60-year-old was caught driving without a licence just nine months after the tragedy which claimed six lives. We explain why he was not jailed at Glasgow Sheriff Court today.

Glasgow Live
Jul 26, 2024 at 8:33amWeb
Show threadkim_harding βœ…Jul 26, 2024

There seem to be quite few comments on the sentencing of the driver in the above post, and yes, there is a problem with the Cult of the Sacred Driving Licence https://kimharding.net/blog/the-sacred-driving-licence/
As I pointed out in 2011...

#FuckCars

Show threadHistoPol (#HP) 🏴 πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ 🏴Jul 26, 2024

#UnjustUK #ClimateActivism

https://mastodon.scot/@kim_harding/112851867210395467

#Legal #Fedilaw #LawFedi #UK

@kim_harding

kim_harding βœ… (@[email protected])

Sentence for driving while banned after killing six people: 150 hours unpaid work, 12 months supervision and a restriction of liberty order for four months between the hours of 7pm – 7am. https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/glasgow-bin-lorry-crash-driver-12828178 Sentence for planning to stop traffic in a peaceful protest trying to save the world: four years in prison. https://theconversation.com/why-courts-favour-cars-not-the-climate-234535 These sentences are the wrong way around, there is something very wrong with the UK. #FuckCars #ClimateEmergency #NoJustice

mastodon.scot
Show threadTobias πŸŒ’πŸŒ•πŸŒ˜Jul 26, 2024
@kim_harding too many laws, not enough justice.
Show threadAlien AnomalyJul 26, 2024

@catdad @kim_harding

We wrote a song on a similar theme:-

Too many churches, not enough love.

Show threadZoidberg For PresidentJul 28, 2024
@catdad @kim_harding Too many kings, too few guillotines...
Show threadToni MassariJul 26, 2024
@kim_harding WELL SAID! Sentencing needs to be subject to review BEFORE finally being passed
Show threadRaptor's Nest (He/Him)Jul 26, 2024
@kim_harding It’s clearly a bigger crime to infringe on drivers’ rights to drive as they see fit, than the fatal consequences of such unrestricted driving. Apparently the average Brit hates cyclists…
Show threadDavid Cantrell 🏏Jul 26, 2024
@kim_harding I have no opinion about the lorry driver and I've not read the article, but the enviro-hippies all had previous convictions for related crimes, and clearly scoffed at suspended or short sentences and community service. Their sentences, at least, seem reasonable.
Show threadkim_harding βœ…Jul 26, 2024

@DrHyde Maybe you should try informing yourself before making ignorant comments. Otherwise, you just come across as a Troll.

Or perhaps you think that the deaths of indent people are excitable, whereas peaceful protest is not.

Either way, please stay way from my timeline.

Show threadAmikkeJul 26, 2024

@kim_harding @DrHyde informing oneself about what, dumbfuck protesters being repeat offenders? Story as old as time, they block a major street, piss off everyone, cause collateral damage by blocking emergency services, creating a stressful and polluting jam and making people late for work/train/date/plane/whatever, they get a slap on the wrist with a more serious suspended sentence and then proceed to ignore that, go back to do the exact same thing and rinse and repeat until they get actual jail time. At which point people like you show up to cry about "peaceful protesters" getting jail time.

Oh, and on the topic of "informing yourself", Just Stop Oil was confirmed to be partially funded by a family of an oil magnate. They're so stupid and harmful to their cause, the actual oil lobby helps fund them to ruin the public opinion of environmental activists, and you defend them for free.

Show threadZoidberg For PresidentJul 28, 2024
@Amikke @kim_harding @DrHyde Shut up you bourgeois defender drone! I don't care about your traffic, there should be way less car anyway. Stop destroying everyone's environment!
Show threadAral BalkanJul 26, 2024
@DrHyde @kim_harding Enviro-hippies? Dude, they’re trying to save your habitat. I mean talk about opening your mouth and removing all doubt…
Show threadJenniferJul 26, 2024
@aral @DrHyde @kim_harding I have not been following this story, but I've never understood why protestors use blocking traffic as a tactic. It just pisses off a lot of people potentially on your side.
Show threadarceuthobiumJul 26, 2024
@Jennifer @aral @DrHyde @kim_harding they are not, in fact, potentially on your side.
Show threadJenniferJul 26, 2024
@theothersimo @aral @DrHyde @kim_harding uh yeah they are. If protestors blocked the road and made me late for a doctor's appointment, or anything else I would be highly annoyed even though I'm definitely want our governments to get off their collective asses and really do something serious about the climate emergency. Ditto for the people vandalizing art and monuments. Not all publicly is good publicity.
Show threadZoidberg For PresidentJul 28, 2024
@Jennifer @theothersimo @aral @DrHyde @kim_harding If it makes people like you mad then mission accomplished!
Show threadL'Γ©grΓ©gore AndrΓ© ꕭꕬJul 29, 2024
@Jennifer A very late comment, but: I think it would be good to read up a bit more about how / why they protest (not opinion pieces condemning them), cause among other things the vandalization has afaik never caused permanent harm (Stonehenge was doused with coloring that washed right off, and paint attacks is done to paintings with protective glass).
Yes, it would suck being stuck in traffic due to a protest. It would suck even more to be stuck in traffic due to climate change induced flooding.
Show threadJenniferJul 29, 2024
@Mabande I already know all about those groups and their strategies. I'm involved in climate change orgs where I live and we try to work with and educate local governments and local people to sway them to our side, not piss them off. I knew the Stonehenge paint washed off but I can't tell you how many people I talked to who were infuriated by that and said climate change activists are all radical weirdos who nobody should support. Not very helpful.
Show threadL'Γ©grΓ©gore AndrΓ© ꕭꕬJul 29, 2024
@Jennifer The unfounded* anger at the radicals will as you noted spill over on the reformists, which makes your work more of a struggle.
So if you know the facts you can help yourself by explaining to the angry ones that they've been hoodwinked into believing that the actions destroyed things. Explain why they're doing it, and while you don't condone their actions, they at least try to cause no harm.
__
* Maybe "well funded by fossil fuel lobbyists" would be a more precise way of expressing it.
Show threadDavid S (inactive)Jul 30, 2024

@Mabande @Jennifer the point is there wouldn't be "angry ones" without these disruptive actions, thus making persuasion an much quicker/easier job.

That said, 4 years for thought crimes is just plain wrong

Show threadL'Γ©grΓ©gore AndrΓ© ꕭꕬJul 30, 2024
@Pionir @Jennifer The quote "A protest that doesn't disrupt anything is just a parade" comes to mind, cause just informing's done a bang up job, hasn't it? We're on track to halving emissions by 2030 and capping warming at 1.5Β°C just fine, right?
If you don't want to correct the misinformed you can play into their fears: what will the radicals do when they're met with draconian punishment and no policy change?
…
Show threadL'Γ©grΓ©gore AndrΓ© ꕭꕬJul 30, 2024

@Pionir @Jennifer … Simply put:
Let climate mitigations seem like the better option to the alternative "radicals turning away from saving the world to avenging it" (cause honestly, that's where some of them are headed, and I only hope they'll choose their targets well and not just lash out).

And by the way: the angry ones will always be angry at something, no matter how milquetoast or important it is. If it's a change they don't instantly like or understand, it just shouldn't exist.

Show threadJenniferJul 30, 2024
@Mabande @Pionir oh yeah I agree that any jail time for this is absolutely wrong. I have been working on issues like this for a very long time and am creeping into the pessimist camp. As long as fossil fuel companies, and big business generally (AI!), are allowed to do whatever they want there's no stopping basically destroying the earth. And voting has not helped. That's a major reason I don't have kids.
Show threadL'Γ©grΓ©gore AndrΓ© ꕭꕬAug 1, 2024
@Jennifer @Pionir I'm sorry for the long response time, but I've been trying to get some structure to what I want to convey (don't know how well I'll manage, though).
One reason for me to not fall into pessimism is the radicals: they represent hope against what seems like overwhelming odds and people who are out to completely destroy them, and they're putting their lives at risk while taking care to not hurt anyone (or even anything).
And they can move the needle.
…
Show threadL'Γ©grΓ©gore AndrΓ© ꕭꕬAug 1, 2024
@Jennifer @Pionir … There's a group here whose name translates to "Restore Wetlands" whose goal is in the name and method is just to poke at the public eye so hard that everyone will know the name, and through that they've made their core issue a part of the national discussion and seen political action taken.
They haven't destroyed anything, the police have falsely accused them of obstructing ambulances, they've been prosecuted for sabotage (another overreach), and angry people hate them, but …
Show threadL'Γ©grΓ©gore AndrΓ© ꕭꕬAug 1, 2024
@Jennifer @Pionir … they've caused no harm, got results, and while public opinion is that they're bonkers, public opinion's also in favor of restoring wetlands.
There is hope.
Maybe slim, and not one to gamble potential kids' futures on (so believe me: I'm not trying to change your mind on that, and you said there were other reasons too), but there's hope that things might be saved.
Show threadJenniferAug 2, 2024
@Mabande @Pionir I think that's great, I'm glad they're having some success! A Tyson chicken factory farm was built on my street last year, right on top of a wetland. I teamed up with some hard core Trump supporters in my community to try to stop it, but our state and federal agencies give priority to big business. It was kind of my last straw for hope for real change.
Show threadjan Anja();Jul 28, 2024
@Jennifer @aral @DrHyde @kim_harding what neoliberalism has done to you so you can't tolerate even a little of good ol' sabotage?
Show threadJenniferJul 28, 2024
@cybertailor @aral @DrHyde @kim_harding having friends and family who can't miss critical doctors appointments
Show threadjan Anja();Jul 28, 2024
@Jennifer @aral @DrHyde @kim_harding https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SadisticChoice
Sadistic Choice - TV Tropes

This is a situation in which a character is presented with a choice, any outcome of which causes something bad to happen. It could be a hostage situation wherein, if one victim is saved, the other(s) die; or it can be a choice to save one's loved …

TV Tropes
Show threadZoidberg For PresidentJul 28, 2024
@Jennifer @aral @DrHyde @kim_harding if you try to drive over such protestors you never were an ally to begin with but part of the issue.
Show threadJenniferJul 28, 2024
@ZoidbergForPresident @aral @DrHyde @kim_harding oh go away. I would never drive over someone.
Show threadGrumbleJul 26, 2024

@kim_harding The system is working the way it was intended to work.

The ruling class doesn't care if the working class die.
The ruling class cares when they are interfered with.

Show threadaphenglowJul 26, 2024

@kim_harding I have two words to describe that "White privilege".

A migrant, a black person would rot in jail.

Show threadkim_harding βœ…Jul 26, 2024
@aphenglow So how do you explain the sentencing of the protesters? They are all white...
Show threadPam CJul 26, 2024
@kim_harding Death by dangerous or careless driving should be treated the same as manslaughter. It's obscene that motorists who are unfit or not concentrating get a slap on the wrist. If I knocked somebody down due to careless driving, not only would I give up driving, I'd fully accept the consequences. As it is I often look 100 yards down the road to see hazards on pavements because you never know when there are careless pedestrians or cyclists too.
Show threadTag Your ToeJul 26, 2024

@kim_harding JSO is an op funded by oil profiteers to make climate activism look absurd and hearing about their chaos agents being jailed hits like a ray of sunshine on a rainy day.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/10/21/getty-oil-heiress-funds-climate-crisis-activism-just-stop-oil

Getty oil fortune heiress helped fund climate activists who have targeted artworks and museums

The granddaughter of the oil tycoon J. Paul Getty has donated millions to support activist groups like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil

The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
Show threadLazarou Monkey Terror πŸš€πŸ’™πŸŒˆJul 26, 2024
@kim_harding The Government's reaction to COVID proved to me they don't give a single fuck if us citizens live or die, human life is not valued in our society, Money is.
Show threadMike KnellJul 28, 2024

@kim_harding This story is seven years old. And the guy was not actually on trial for the six people - he had already been found not culpable for that as medical evidence had agreed with his assertion that he'd blacked out.This trial was about the driving while banned part alone -- the justice system isn't actually supposed to be the vengeance system, and while what he did was pretty damn reckless it didn't lead to any accidents. You're being a little dishonest in conflating the two.

What public purpose would have been served in imprisoning this guy, bearing in mind that in the past "lack of intelligence" had been one reason he didn't get prosecuted over the bin crash?

It's possible to think four years for the other stuff is ridiculous, which it is, while also thinking that pulling up a seven year old story to make... what sort of point, exactly? is also dishonest.

Show threadMike KnellJul 28, 2024
@kim_harding PS yes I also know he’d failed to disclose a previous blackout to the DVLA, and that was presumably an aggravating factor when sentencing.
Show threadKChernecky For DemocracyJul 28, 2024
@kim_harding πŸ’”πŸ’”πŸ’”
Show threadZoidberg For PresidentJul 28, 2024
@kim_harding Political solutions NEVER come from states, EVER !
Show threadPavel MachekJul 28, 2024
@kim_harding Yep. States does not like people conspiring to commit crime. They like people regretting the crimes. Plus, the causing traffic jams will kill someone, sooner or later, as it blocks ambulances, too. Just.. don't do that.
Show threadkim_harding βœ…Jul 28, 2024

@pavel In a democracy, peaceful protest should not be a crime.

But you are just another Troll, so you don't actually care about democracy, or ambulances stuck in traffic jams...

Show threadPavel MachekJul 29, 2024
@kim_harding You are free to start "anything should be legal as long as they say they are saving the world" campaign....