The thing is, you can look at this headline and know immediately that it's hiding information. You can read the opening paragraph and tell that it isn't an article that's actually seeking to inform anyone about anything. It's not news. It's not really hard to figure out why public discourse is so broken when this sort of shit-shovelling churnalism is treated seriously.
I can see why you were downvoted. You are correct about the submitted article, and these types of posts attract a different audience - newer, lower karma accounts that tend to focus on non-technical subjects.
Yahoo doesn't produce much content, they distribute it. This is from the National Review, which is a partisan editorial magazine. It is not bias or incorrect to say it is not journalism. It is a subsidiary of the NRI, which is a dedicated to advancing conservative ideas and politicians (that is in their words - https://www.flipsnack.com/nrinst/2022-my-newsletter.html)
This type of content is fairly well crafted to appeal to certain worst impulses, and manipulate people. There is a US political movement based on creating a long standing state of aggrievement and thrive on this sort of cortisol raising material. It's is a shame to see it getting a foothold here.
What's the "truth" behind the headline then? Genuine question, I totally agree that it sounds a bit "too bad to be true" especially without more context. But what's the other side of this story?
I sorry, I didn't make my point very clearly: I think this article is raises non-issue, intended to create conflict and bad feelings. They say that the opposite of love is not hate, it's apathy; I am ambivalent about this article and am not invested enough to knowledgeably discuss it. I'm not an SF resident, and I don't know how much it would reasonably cost to put up a durable and safe public toilet in a high cost, seismically active urban area. I don't have time to figure that out, so I'll assume the people involved are doing their best and I will go on with my life. There are a lot of people here focused on unproductive negativity, and that is not good for them or Hacker News as a community.
The truth is there is always something to get outraged about somewhere, and rather than focusing on them everyone should do their best to live with dignity, integrity, and empathy.
