#tree law

[charlesoberonn]

Art by u/reachling

[bakafox]

TREE! LAW! UPDATE!

[droewyn]

I love how we got the introduction to TREE LAW a few weeks ago, when that story went viral on Twitter about the person whose neighbor illegally had all of their trees chopped down because they wanted a city view, so that we would understand what was happening when Universal thought it would be funny to deprive strikers of shade by "trimming" city-owned trees to the point of destruction.

This is an excellent example of organically teaching concepts without relying on tedious tutorials or forced, immersion-breaking expository cutscenes.

A++++ game design. 10/10, no notes.

[amalgamasreal]

So Universal Pictures may have just intentionally over-pruned all of the city owned trees in front of their LA corporate office in an effort to fuck with the WGA/SAG-AFTRA picketers during what is predicted to be the hottest week of the year so far:

And the LA City Controller is looking into it:

Once again it looks like it's time for:

[jay-wasstuff]

LA's environmentalist lawyers pulling up to Universal:

Update:

Well then, I guess:

[desirableendings]

TREE LAW TREE LAW TREE LAW

[too-many-blorbos]

[skiplo-wave]

Imagine breaking tree law before paying your workers more :)

[gingerdusk]

TREE LAW TREE LAW TREE LAW

[the-emblematic]

One wild thing about Universal cutting up all those trees is I first heard about tree law like, maybe a month ago. One of my mutuals reblogged that one comic and my reaction was sort of mildly amused, but also a little confused as to why tree law seemed to be so popular of all things

It really feels like some great karmic entity leaned down and said hey here’s the set up to a joke that won’t get a punchline for a little while. But when it does you’re gonna love it

[cleolinda]

If you love Tree Law, the beloved subreddit is open again. I highly recommend sorting by top/all time.

[ellie-ramune]

I hope this hasn’t been done yet

[delicatefury]

Look. I have literally no horse in this race when it comes to the WGA/SAG Hollywood strike. I do not watch enough TV or movies to be affected and I’m not a part of the industry. I really haven’t cared.

As a lawyer and orchardist, however, I am now utterly entranced by the fact that some Universal Studios exec thought it was a good idea to cut down city-owned trees in the middle of summer.

There is no way to get around the absolute clusterfuck they have brought down upon themselves.

First, the ownership question. These trees are not owned by Universal. They’re the City of Los Angeles’ trees. That means the responsibility, and the right, to maintain them belongs to the city government. If you want to touch city property like that, you better have their permission. If not, you’re looking at anything from fines, to replacement/maintenance costs, to jail time.

Now, I don’t know LA, and I’m not licensed in California, but a lot of cities also require permits for any massive trimming like that that can affect public property (like the roads and sidewalks).

Second, they have zero excuses that can even remotely minimize the trouble they’re in. Anything that justifies that kind of pruning at this time of year would have likely required the full removal and destruction of the trees.

Because that level of pruning? You don’t do that in summer. You absolutely do not do that in summer unless the trees are dying or infested with something. Why? Because summer is healthy growth time. Summer is when your trees need all the energy they can get so they can grow and strengthen their branches and roots.

It’s also when they’re susceptible to diseases. Various bacteria, fungi, and insects strike during the summer and can cause severe damage. By trimming those trees so severely, not only are there a ton of gapping wounds for diseases to enter the tree, they’re now stressed by trying to replace that lost growth, which makes it even harder for them to survive any further damage.

Basically, Universal Studios might end up accidentally killing the trees. Which will make everything so much worse.

So, yeah. Now I’m invested.

[cryoverkiltmilk]

It's strange to see anyone surprised by Universal using a tactic as cruel as denying even shade to picket line members, in the heat-based hellscape that is Los Angeles. So let's try to condense the explanation.

By and large, executives are people who already come from wealth and privilege, and have that wealth and privilege protected throughout their life as they're escorted through whatever levels of education and then into employment.

Most of them have never received any kind of culture shock to make them aware of the struggles of 'lessers'. Their parents and peers had a vested interest in keeping the then-children from mixing with 'those people'.

They are insulated enough from daily life that they no longer see anyone outside their immediate wealth and influence bracket as human.

So a strike, to them, is not "people who want enough money to live and work in health", it's "The machine that makes us money is broken, get those workers back into their jobs so we can keep making money."

So the executives treat the strike like they would a broken machine or a disobedient pet. Hit it until it works, and replace it if it breaks.

And don't doubt for one minute that this wasn't at the advice of a Pinkerton or similar union-busting agency consultant. This is more than just petty; this is tactical cruely.

[flamingobasket]

[rabid-transcendentalist]

The picture in the last two panels is the statement from the Berueau of Street Services saying that Universal Pictures whoever pruned those trees most certainly did not have a permit to do so and might be totally fucked in accordance with the law.