>I wish you remained hesitant.

Wait why? Am I not supposed to try to learn new things here?

I checked a couple of the shelters/rescues I know of, and they both cross-post their animals to PetFinder, so that might be a good resource...find a cat on there, then check out where it's coming from and whether it's a place you want to support.

I am hesitant to join in this loaded thread, but isn't the menorah a religious Jewish symbol, not an ethnic Jewish symbol?

> You voted for this!

Well no, not really, which is part of the problem.

https://upriseri.com/providence-police-to-install-license-plate-readers-without-public-or-legislative-input/

That actually seems to be a thing: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/12/new-open-source-license-plate-reader-software-lets-you-make-your-own-hot-list/

You might not need to even roll your own rasp pi with camera module; you can use an off-the-shelf outdoor camera streaming to a network location and do the processing inside.

It would be much more local network traffic, but only local where it doesn't cost anything. There are cameras with local (I think) AI for vehicle detection, which might be a good-enough improvement...transmit only frames containing vehicles which would be a broader set but still smaller than streaming everything.

Either way, what you're describing sounds like a fun project.

> And the most important “fact” about a huge increase in public surveillance in Providence is exactly how closely it replicates the system in the UK …?

Idk, is it? That seemed to be your main point, which is what I was calling out.

>Here’s a fact for you: When people describe you as being “on the spectrum,” they’re not talking about wavelengths of light …

Yep, there's your trademark move...resorting to name-calling instead of simply explaining your opinions.

Those are compatible statements.

I didn't give an opinion, but want you to give your opinion based on facts.

Where do you see me defending anything? Or are you saying that you're not criticizing, you're just defending the status quo?

All I did was call out your nonsense comparison, and question your logic with the timing comment.

I didn't present an opinion on the matter at all here, unless you count my allusion to it deserving criticism for what it actually is.

> I think there's plenty of concerns about abuse, will they actually stick to the limits on use/retention that are supposed to be in place, how this relatively new company will safeguard the data, whether any long term pattern tracking is included (i.e. they could easily be deleting every photo after 30 days like they claim, but the information from the photo is retained elsewhere)

Oh for sure, absolutely...that's my point. Handwaving "it's like the UK so it's bad" is inaccurate and pointless. Let's talk specifics about how the system in our state works, how it should work, and what risks there are.

> Plenty of people have plenty of reason to neither trust the police, nor the private company being given a tremendous amount of information.

100%

Why would the outgoing mayor be urging you to criticize their program?

> UK-style public surveillance

These cameras are pointed at the road to capture still images of cars, while CCTV in the UK is largely video footage focused on people (though they do have license plate recognition as well).

Providence has 85 cameras; 1 for every 2,200 people. London has half a million government-operated cameras; one for every 18 people. In the UK as a whole, it's 1 camera for every 32 people.

In the UK, the average person on a typical day will be captured on camera 70 times. In Providence you would be captured 0 times (unless you're sticking your head out the back of the car by the plate as you pass a camera, I guess).

These cameras delete their images after 30 days. There is no time limit in the UK.

I don't think it's helpful to use misrepresentation as a tool for criticism...how about we criticize them for what they actually are?

source

> in the final two weeks of eight years in office

Are you wishing he did it sooner? I'm not sure I follow your intention.

Flock Safety didn't even exist as a corporation when Elorza was originally elected, so I'm not sure what you would have wanted him to do...create his own tech startup to get cameras on streets earlier?

Besides, this all started with a pilot program turned on in September and kicked off six months earlier, so it's not like he just up and decided to install these yesterday.

Oh whew so the point is only mass surveillance by a private corporation. Glad we have nothing to worry about then.

Here is the info on each of the county superior courts: https://www.courts.ri.gov/Courts/SuperiorCourt/Pages/Contact%20Information.aspx

It's not much effort at all, and your next bill will be lower.

(TL;DR: sign up for a community solar project to save 5-10%)

Yes and no...RIE does pass the wholesale cost of the electric supply, but it's at the "default blend" (my term, not a technical one) of power generation, which is roughly 50% natural gas, 25% nuclear, 15% renewables, and 10% hydroelectric for us (more detail here). So the wholesale cost for that energy is a weighted average of those sources...gas for $$$, nuclear for $$, solar for $, hydro for $$.

But you can pay less than that wholesale cost by changing the blend of power generation you get...if you can change your blend to 50% renewable, 25% nuclear, and 25% gas, that total weighted average cost will be lower.

Enter deregulated supply and Community Solar projects that allow you to do just that. Join a community solar project, and a larger portion of the generation^1 for your power will come from solar, which will lower your total blended cost, while supporting/stimulating the market for renewable energy.

Official link for more info, or keep reading for my mostly-accurate summary of how it works: https://energy.ri.gov/renewable-energy/solar/community-solar

^1 my summary: it's wonky because it's all the same electrons in the same wires, so we/they use Renewable Energy Credits that are basically an accounting tool to track an imaginary unit of power from a generator and to a user. Kind of like donating to an anti-hunger charity, where your $10 feeds 100 kids. It's not like they take your exact $10 to the store then buy 100 meals for specific children that are fed by you...they just know that with their operating budget of $100,000 per month, they are able to supply the equivalent of 1 million meals.

Anyway, to manage all that, there are four parties involved:

1. You

2. RIE

3. An energy management company, which will be Arcadia or Common Energy for us

4. The actual solar farm

You will pay the management company, who then pays RIE and the generator. You save money, RIE gets their generation needs fulfilled, the solar farm gets a return on their investment, and the management company gets a cut too...all hinging on the fact that it's cheaper to generate solar power than gas power.

To illustrate, here are some made up numbers that ignore the REC accounting for simplicity (at the expense of accuracy):

Current state: 75% gas, 25% solar

• Gas generation cost: $0.20/kWh

• Solar generation cost: $0.10/kWh

• Weighted average generation cost, you pay RIE: $0.175/kWh

Community Solar: 50% solar, 50% gas

• Weighted average generation cost: $0.15/kWh

• RIE pays the solar farm: $0.10/kWh

• The management company pays the solar farm: $0.05/kWh

• You pay the management company: $0.165/kWh

• The management company keeps the remaining $0.015/kWh

and don't forget the other alt account Orangefan71, who has the same schedule and same laser-focus on pvd crime as previous floor.

I did a sfogliatelle taste test of a handful of the top recommended bakeries around. I'm sure the results don't directly transfer to cookies, but to us DeLouise in Cranston was the clear #1 and has been our go-to for everything now and it's always good.

Then in descending order from there:

• Solitro's

• Scialo Brothers

• LaSalle

• D. Palmieri's

• (clear loser) The Original Italian Bakery

I don't know why, but my brain is trying to shoehorn your comment to the tune of Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast..."Try the gray stuff, it's delicious!"

>Let me guess

...

>voters in Providence are Ignorant and uninformed.

Are you including yourself in that description? You could have researched and found the actual answer, but instead you just made a guess that suits what you want to believe. It seems awfully incongruent to both perpetuate and excoriate ignorance.

Oh gotcha, it was a joke. I thought you might have had an actual recommendation.

Where in MA do you recommend dirt biking?

It's more of a coded message to the influx of liberal Californians moving to Idaho..."we want to stay conservative^1 and surprisingly racist^2, so we don't want people like you moving in".

^1 https://www.270towin.com/states/Idaho

^2 https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/show/idaho-matters/2020-12-28/best-of-idaho-matters-in-2020-why-idahos-racist-history-matters

Except the ballot measure to revamp the school board passed in a landslide.

It's so huge that no one who lives there can leave

>WPRI reported that his defense was that he "couldn't recall" being there.

He then proceeded to put his hands over his eyes so the judge wouldn't be able to see him.