peter kobs's definitions
1. A derisive term for older suburbs that are declining into poverty. The word is a combination of "Slum" and "Suburbia."
2. The bleak future for many aging American suburbs.
3. What happens when people refuse to take urban planning seriously.
Slumburbia is almost always found in large metro areas. As middle-class residents move farther and farther away from the urban core, the closer-in suburbs start to deteriorate. Property values fall leading to reduced local tax revenue, decreased public services, declining schools and increasing crime, especially gang activity. This vicious circle continues for years until the suburb itself is no longer distinguishable from the large city it borders.
Examples of Slumburbia: Hamtramck, Michigan; Somerville, Massachusetts; Camden, New Jersey; and Compton, California.
2. The bleak future for many aging American suburbs.
3. What happens when people refuse to take urban planning seriously.
Slumburbia is almost always found in large metro areas. As middle-class residents move farther and farther away from the urban core, the closer-in suburbs start to deteriorate. Property values fall leading to reduced local tax revenue, decreased public services, declining schools and increasing crime, especially gang activity. This vicious circle continues for years until the suburb itself is no longer distinguishable from the large city it borders.
Examples of Slumburbia: Hamtramck, Michigan; Somerville, Massachusetts; Camden, New Jersey; and Compton, California.
by Peter Kobs March 9, 2010
Get the Slumburbia mug.1. A person whose entire worldview is shaped by current events, stumbling along from one crisis to another.
2. Someone without a historical perspective or hope for the future.
3. The mindset that causes "knee-jerk" reactions to almost any kind of social or economic change.
4. A state of perpetual panic about "the world today."
2. Someone without a historical perspective or hope for the future.
3. The mindset that causes "knee-jerk" reactions to almost any kind of social or economic change.
4. A state of perpetual panic about "the world today."
Larry says the U.S. economy will never recover no matter what happens in Washington -- he's a typical Prisoner of the Present.
by Peter Kobs June 4, 2009
Get the Prisoner of the Present mug.1. An e-mail chain containing defammatory or false information that is spread far and wide by partisan believers in an attempt to paint a negative image of the opposition.
2. The act of forwarding sensationalistic, untrue reports without checking their veracity.
3. How lies go viral on the Internet.
4. A modern-day illustration of Mark Twain's adage: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."
2. The act of forwarding sensationalistic, untrue reports without checking their veracity.
3. How lies go viral on the Internet.
4. A modern-day illustration of Mark Twain's adage: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."
You know that story about supposed "FEMA concentration camps" in the desert? It's just part of that Chain of Lies started by that militia group in Texas.
by Peter Kobs August 21, 2009
Get the Chain of Lies mug.1. The banning of all Blackberry smart phones by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic starting in late July 2010.
Because Blackberries use data encryption for transmitting text over the airways, the security forces of those two countries can't "monitor" e-mail traffic from them. Afraid that anti-government forces will use Blackberries for nefarious purposes, they simply banned the devices entirely. Other authoritarian countries are expected to follow suit. Welcome to the 21st century!
Because Blackberries use data encryption for transmitting text over the airways, the security forces of those two countries can't "monitor" e-mail traffic from them. Afraid that anti-government forces will use Blackberries for nefarious purposes, they simply banned the devices entirely. Other authoritarian countries are expected to follow suit. Welcome to the 21st century!
Don't bring your new phone to Dubai, man. They just announced a complete Blackberry Ban. You could end up jail -- or worse.
by Peter Kobs August 1, 2010
Get the Blackberry Ban mug.1. The downward transformation of one economic class into another.
2. The gradual descent from relative prosperity to grinding poverty, usually among formerly middle-class families.
2. The gradual descent from relative prosperity to grinding poverty, usually among formerly middle-class families.
by Peter Kobs February 6, 2009
Get the Class Morphing mug.This acronym stands for "Great Depression #2." It's shorthand for the seemingly imminent collapse of the global economic system starting in late 2008 and continuing into 2009. Some professional economists, as well as ordinary working people, are fearful that the spiralling financial meltdown will lead to a decade-long repeat of the 1930s, complete with bread lines, soup kitchens, radical uprisings and the possibility of global violence. "Happy times are here again!"
by Peter Kobs December 22, 2008
Get the GD2 mug.1. A major news event that reveals someone's true values and personality.
2. How people react to a massive disaster, such as the Haiti earthquake of January 2010 -- with compassion and care, or sarcasm and selfishness.
Following the Jan. 12 earthquake, most people expressed sorrow and an urge to help those in distress. However, some people resorted to "blaming the victim" or condemning "taxpayer-funded" relief efforts. Hidden hatred of minorities, poor people and "foreigners" is often at the root of such heartless statements following a major catastrophe.
2. How people react to a massive disaster, such as the Haiti earthquake of January 2010 -- with compassion and care, or sarcasm and selfishness.
Following the Jan. 12 earthquake, most people expressed sorrow and an urge to help those in distress. However, some people resorted to "blaming the victim" or condemning "taxpayer-funded" relief efforts. Hidden hatred of minorities, poor people and "foreigners" is often at the root of such heartless statements following a major catastrophe.
Two famous men failed the Haiti Test this month: Pat Robertson said Haiti was being punished by God for "making a pact with the devil" in the late 1700s. Rush Limbaugh called Haiti relief efforts a political ploy by the Obama administration to "burnish his reputation" with the light-skinned and dark-skinned black community" in the U.S.
by Peter Kobs January 18, 2010
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