If that is true al that they think the public sphere doesn't seem worth investing in and they are willing to let the streets rot, we are in worse trouble than even I thought.

Like I have said we need a figure head, someone need to take charge of the streets and come forward. This in my opinion need to be one of the city leaders.

When there is no one that is viewed as the Top dog so to speak then all hell breaks lose there needs to be someone at the top that people fear and respect. 

I am more than Happy to take on this role. But as I mentioned I think it should be a City Leader

i would like to reach out to the remaining Crew leaders to see if one would fancy that or at least give me some confidence that moving forward it will get better 

I think it would be pretty naive to believe that the majority of decisions people make are for anything but selfish reasons. Incentive to become a public figure flew out the window when the benefits of it became negligible. Does being a public presence make you any likelier an auth candidate than the person who has been promised it based on shared history? Is it rewarding to take part in discussions no one listens to? How many real 'politics of the business' discussions are there going to be in an environment where leaders don't even announce a takedown?

This can change but you can't expect large scale shifts in the mentality of the community when we aren't in a place to assure them there is some benefit to it beyond what they already expect to receive doing what they do now. The streets were doing great under the Soviet regime because in places like Mastrosimone's NY it was a central value in the culture they were building and those in LV, like Kuku, were a solid enough part of the furniture there to involve themselves in things other than survival politics. There has bee no foundation for the same since then.

I think a crew leader who comes to the street and explains decisions etc. it makes them seem more approachable to us common folk it garners more communication, how many crew leaders can we look at and not want to communicate because they seem closed off or even standoffish.

Leaders who operate more openly are leaders who in my opinion are better received and just overall better leaders.

Well said,

There is plenty of opportunities for the new regime to take control of the streets and keep everyone well informed.

So far it is looking very promising 

I noticed the explanation for the LA takedown is out this is something I have not seen with my own eyes in a long time, progress perhaps?

It's certainly a step in the right direction desmond_

I would love to have a talk with some of the other crew leaders and veg Thier views on a few things and I would also hope that this continues going forward

Actually scrap that I would prefer there to be some peace for a while first

Peace is always handy i suppose but in all honesty the new set of leaders seem more approachable and i lot more reasonable so i think we might be in for both here, i would certainly hope so.

The Kuku Clock was born of war. Marty 'The Bodfather' Muscles had hauled the gigantic piece of furniture into the middle of The Streets atop his mighty shoulder, "looking jacked as a fucking minotaur", resolved to keep the community alert as to the status of the man known as CommissarZverev, aka Kuku. The once infallible overseer of the Competitive Writing Community had been sentenced to 364 days in maximum security prison for his role in the casino embezzlement scandal that prompted the War of the Weaklings, and so the clock had read 364 days when it started and ticked steadily ever since, day by day, waiting to ring. 

In that time, The Streets themselves seemed to wonder: where are our 100-million dollar writing contests? Where are our impassioned, generously-tipped discussions? Where is our Systematic Immolation of Thought? 

In the wake of yet another scorched earth massacre just like the one that spawned the antique, Zapata, Watcher of The Clock - a sacred title passed down brother to brother - stood hidden in darkness beneath an enormous sombrero. Something strange was happening. The clock had fallen out of rhythm. The hands spun wildly, clockwise, counter-clockwise, senselessly. An ominous, primeval chill passed through him, as mist took the streets in a shroud. Suddenly, as if beckoning its master, it began to ring: DING DING DING.

It continued, getting louder and louder, a cacophony. Zapata was brought to his knees, the dissonance crippling his senses, his hands over his ears. The face opened, and out shot a tiny figurine of a Soviet comrade, popping in and out of what looked like a small bank vault with each cuckoo. It could only mean one thing, the clock designed to a singular purpose. It could only mean...

Few knew that the Clowns ancestors had also developed, bred and groomed a silent cabal of deaf and dumb midget buskers to loiter in the area of the clock.  Word had come down from them that Zapata the sombrero wearing watcher of the clock had also noted the unusual anti rhythmic rumblings.

Word was passed to EvilClown- the younger, under guise of visiting his fathers resting place an expedition was afforded to the mass grave of degenerates...

The sacred shrubbery collecting God denouncers, guardians of the degenerates pit were no where to be seen... this was unheard of.  The pit broiled and seethed with malice something was a miss, the ghosts of the past sinners seemed agitated the place was thick with a tepid thick atmosphere.

Listening closely a sound could be heard, felt even... the rhythm of the clock was strong here, seemingly growing louder by the ticking second.  The atmosphere was becoming thickeningly oppressive. Clown the younger scratched into the ground the sacred runic symbol ƘƘ and backed away carefully, the portents and prophesy seemed true. The King of the degenerates was winning the battle, this final country wide war and latest dammned additions to the pit had catalysed a change.  A change the streets as we know them would soon begin to understand, fear, awe, wonder and downright idiocy was about to fall upon the world.

Plans had to be made, curtains drawn and the shithouses emptied for the clowns good book decrees they will soon be filling to the brim.

This was a beautiful thing to see.  Many thanks.