
Scabby the giant inflatable protest rat may be banned from picket lines - wallflower
https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-scabby-giant-rat-balloon-union-protest-ban-20190807-fbqnn7rorne75oc2w72wel3ise-story.html
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rolal
For us europeans: [https://outline.com/L97Nu4](https://outline.com/L97Nu4)

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qtplatypus
The claim that it is menacing or intimidating and so isn’t covered by the
first amendment seems nonsensical to me. No rational person expects that the
ballon to attack them.

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dymk
The claim is that the people holding the rat will attack them, and having the
rat is to advertise a threat.

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qtplatypus
By that logic then any picket line could be banned.

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dymk
Ones that threaten violence against scabs should be.

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jmpman
Do we then get into a constitutional battle over what feature of a inflatable
rat makes it unacceptably menacing? You can’t have three of the following
items, sharp claws, red eyes, bleeding cuts, ulcers.

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nkkollaw
"Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European
countries.".

Really!?

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inflatableDodo
I like that they immediately follow that statement with something that is
(especially given the time involved since they first started saying it) an
obvious lie.

 _" We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that
support our full range of digital offerings to the EU market. We continue to
identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our
award-winning journalism."_

Oh, are you now? Got a bridge to sell me next?

Really makes me feel a sense of trust in a publication's journalistic
integrity when they censor themselves abroad and lie about their intentions.

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BuckRogers
Banning this is extremism and proves the balloons work. I live in Chicago and
see the rats. They get important conversations started for everyone about
what's going on, wage suppression and class consciousness. If you're not
fighting in class warfare, you're losing it, because as we see here the
investment class doesn't stop. The labor movement made life better for all of
us, so I always support these working class heroes. You know we're losing when
we can't even have a balloon because business doesn't like it.

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SamReidHughes
That seems... like first amendment protected activity to me. Let’s suppose
scabby is outlawed by the NLRB. What’s to stop me, a third party libertarian
whackadoodle, from bringing my own rat to other peoples’ strike?

Speaking of which, is this how Scabbers, in _Harry Potter_ , got its name?

