Fist Fury v Gun Fury, and Poland?
Cheers RVA!
A mostly sunny day ahead, with a slim chance of a stray shower or storm, a high of 82.
the juice:
A 15-yr old boy and a 24 year-old man were killed in Mosby court Monday evening, from channel 6. Another man and a 14-yr old boy were injured in the shooting.
Police have not released information on any suspects.
A neighbor reportedly said the large Memorial Day gathering at the cul-de-sac on Raven Street sounded friendly, but an argument had broken out before the shooting.
I’d like to zoom out a bit to my experiences witnessing arguments that escalate, without knowing any details of this particular Richmond tragedy, and at the risk of triggering a gun control debacle, which is not my intention.
I used to live in Szczecin, Poland, in a 3rd story tenement apartment on a street that had been converted to pedestrian only. This urban infrastructure change allowed bars and cafes to thrive on the ground floor, and attracted a night scene as well.
Directly below my flat was a grocery store, a nightclub, and a watering hole that was literally open from 10 am - 8 am, closing for only two hours/day.
Every Friday and Saturday night, particularly in the warmer months, you would see a fight. Fights between 8 pm and midnight were typically broken up quickly by the somewhat orderly crowd.
As the evening went on the street got louder, the nightclub crowd moved on to the discos, and the artists, the punks, the lonely and the angry remained.
Nearly every fight I witnessed began with a shouting match, typically with an adjacent woman screaming to calm down, and progressed to fists thrown. Occasionally people got seriously injured, but often the immediacy of rage settled itself naturally after a few minutes of punching and wrestling. Author Stephen Pinker explores the concept of emotional release and rage deescalation during physical altercations in his book, The Better Angels of Our Demons.
When angry men, often intoxicated, get incensed, they are out of control. When a gun is more readily available, the violence and potential for danger increases exponentially.
Angry people all over the world become infuriated, enraged to a point of unreason. But not everywhere are firearms so prolific, so popular.
OK that’s my rant.
I understand the differences between Poland and the United States and there are a variety of factors that affect the homicide rate in Greater Richmond.
What occurred in the heart of our city on Monday is sad.
It will take a lot of time and energy to substantially reduce gun violence in all cities across America.
the pulp:
RPS school Binford Middle now officially Dogwood Middle from channel 6
The Louisa man who took ammunition to Turks and Caicos has been sentenced to time served and a $9k fine, from channel 8
the cycle:
Today’s cycle is not necessarily a ‘feel good bike story’. Jack Jacob’s from Bizsense reports on the Southside bike shop Coqui Cyclery rebranding as Cornerstone Cycle, with a shift from retailing bikes to bike servicing.
Diet Coke from reddit has the tea:
It's not that exciting, and the article pretty much has the whole story. TL;DR is Coqui got sued by their main supplier for $150k in unpaid invoices and at the same time, closed and went radio silent with people's bikes in the shop.
The owner Kronenberger noted the recent surge of used bikes on the market: the impulse pandemic purchases by many who were never really into biking prior to being stuck at home.
Hopefully it becomes a feel good story. The owner intends to offer bike repair classes, which sounds great, but the local reddit community (trustworthy?) leans buyer beware.
the dive:
Charlie Paullin from the Mercury dives into the expansion of Data Centers in Virginia.
I had no idea we had 70% of the World’s data centers here in Virginia, specifically in Nova.
the vibe:
The average home has 22 internet-connected devices. Have a data-driven day RVA?
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