School’s Out Forever

Is there *any* collection of photos of Detroit that won’t make you weep when you realize that the same idiotarianism that did that damage is now in charge of the entire US federal government?

http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n2/htdocs/schools-out-forever.php

This is both truly awesome and truly sad. It looks like something out of some abandoned former Soviet industrial town.

But without a doubt, my favorite bit has to be this:

The report in the student’s own handwriting says: “This is what I was at my locker and the 8th Grade Hall and so she came up to me and said you said you ain’t like me I said if I did what you gonna do about it then she hit me…” 

Awesome. 

There comes a time when the decision has to be made: “Do we try to fix this building… or do we burn it to the ground and start fresh?” That decision came to New Orleans (and was decided incorrectly, IMO), and it looks about time to do so in Detroit. Detroit, and much of Michigan, is based on the auto industry. Well, that train has sailed. The Big Three automakers are going to have to either completely rebuild their own businesses, or fold up. Neither of these options bodes well for Detroit; for these companies to re-organize successfully, they’d be well advised to pull up stakes and move somewhere  safer and with less corruption (ahemUAWahem).