SMART Train, stupid train.

I like the idea of a train in Sonoma County; I just don’t want the SMART train. Its planned route is from Cloverdale to Larkspur. That’s a pretty short, almost useless route. A train that doesn’t actually make it into the city, let alone travel beyond it, seems like a really expensive Disney-land monorail for whomever it is that goes from Cloverdale to Larkspur during commute hours. I’ve lived in Sonoma County for over 10 years and I know of nobody who would benefit from that kind of train.

I have sent two detailed emails asking the people behind this project how such a short train helps get me to San Francisco and beyond without my car, but they didn’t bother to respond to either them. I read on their site recently that they suggest people take the train to Larkspur, then the ferry from Larkspur, and then the bus from the SF ferry building to their final destination. Right. Getting out of the car to instead take a train, then a ferry, then a bus to get to SF and all at the mercy of the schedules for each of those modes of transport sounds dreadful, not to mention time consuming.

This project seems more like someone’s cute idea to play train on our dime. It’s like someone’s personal obsession rather than effective, visionary public transportation. It reminds me of the Napa Wine Train minus the scenery or the skunk train, not a real train for real commuters.

And then there’s the statewide bond act, prop 1A. That’s the one that asks all Californian’s to pay for a train that excludes the North Bay entirely. Of course the relative overall effect such a train could have on the environment is positive, but it won’t serve us directly. I wrote to ask if there were plans to extend this train in the future to serve the Northern Californians who are being asked to pay for it. No answer. Somehow we are being asked to pay for two trains this year, neither of which seem like they will serve the North Bay very well. And disappointingly, nobody pushing for these trains has had the time or inclination to respond to my concerns.

Perhaps if the people behind each of these train measures had collaborated to offer something comprehensive and useful to all of Californians, I’d feel better about voting for them. A train is a great idea. A really good plan for a train would be better. But these trains will serve only a limited sector of the population. I’m still deciding what to do, but I’m leaning toward voting only for the California-wide train, but not the puny train that doesn’t get me into San Francisco, because that is the opposite of SMART. Too bad we can’t just vote for the bike lane.

 

Corporate welfare, again.

I was just thinking about the latest big gubmint decision to fork over our hard earned tax dollars to bailout yet another mismanaged mega-corporation. Why the hell do we stand for this? I am reminded that in the dayas after 9-11, when Dubya or Congress or both decided to hand what was it, 5 billion of our bucks to United Airlines after business had fallen off. Andy Rooney on 60 minutes pondered why it was that we were expected to hand our money over for nothing in return. He had this idea that instead of simply giving the money to a failing corporation, that every American taxpayer should be given something like a 500 dollar voucher for use on a flight on United, that way United would survive its crisis, the business would continue, their employees could keep their jobs, and we the people would get something in return for bailing them out. I thought it sounded like a really good idea.

Now Fannie, Freddie, AIG and whatever fat company with lousy execs who took stupid risks is next to convince our leaders to cover their bad bets with our money is getting the same reward. For being enormous and making bad business decisions, your stupidity will go unpunished, at least the punishment will not be unleashed on you. Instead, it will be we the people punished yet again for that which is not our doing.

I am not homeowner. I am, however, am a small business owner and a taxpayer, and I hope one day to own a home. But I am perfectly well aware of what I can and cannot afford. I, like so many other working people who haven’t yet achieved the American dream of homeownership will now be just a bit further away from the dream because of sleazy corporations who took unethical risks. These scumbag banking institutions will not have to endure the consequences of these bad risks, but (in addition to those of us who had nothing to do with the problem) the people who overextended themselves financially will do a whole lot of suffering.

If our government is in the business of bailing out businesses when they screw up, then why not allocate housing vouchers directly to the American people and give them a little help directly? This way people could stay in their homes and those crummy banks could stay alive. And perhaps they could extend a similar unearned windfall to the rest of us as well, you know the ones who have yet to screw up a mortgage, get in over our heads and agree to interest rates that could go through the roof. I have a huge student loan I wouldn’t mind getting bailed out of, and a couple credit cards I’d prefer not to pay as well. Where’s my bailout? At some point shouldn’t we get something for not f%&cking up our lives too? Or should we go ahead and go all in like the rest of these folks since it seems to be rewarded.

I feel for the people who signed loan agreements they didn’t understand or who are suffering this scandalous oil based economic nosedive. If I’m gonna be made to bailout someone, I’d certainly rather it be those folks and not some big bloated corporation where the top level execs need never worry about losing a home or a yacht or even being held responsible for sucking at their jobs–or maybe they didn’t suck, but rather knew they would always be golden either by ridiculously huge bonuses, or golden parachutes. I mean, seriously, how does that even happen? If you suck hard enough at your job we’ll give you 27 million to leave? That good ol’ boys club boggles the mind. Your government IS corporate America people.

 

This is the best we can do?

After today, I think I’ll give it a rest, but it’s so hard to let the b.s. slide without challenging it somehow, somewhere. I have a few puzzling questions on my mind…

What gives with McCain? Without nepotism and war, John McCain would have no political career. So we’re continually reminded of his military lineage, his wartime service, and his desire to make sure we remain at war indefinitely. Can we afford a president who fears peace, doesn’t want it, and wouldn’t know what do be if he weren’t a warrior, a “maverick”? Did he really crash 4 or 5 government planes? What a shit pilot he must be.

And then there’s caribou Barbie:

People who take pleasure in senseless killing–who think peace, education, sound critical thinking, and dialogue are for elitist pussies…are these the kind of people we want leading a country? Who would Jesus shoot? Where are the intelligent republicans hiding? Are there any out there? Any actually conservative “conservatives”? Or have they all become Ron Paul Libertarians now? Why does the right seem more and more like the WWF?

And if abstinence-only “education” didn’t work in her own house, why would Palin think it will work for the country at large? Without education, how do teens know what they’re supposed to abstain from? Does Bristol even know she got pregnant from sex or does she think it was a miracle? Maybe it was a miracle. Perhaps a better political move would’ve been to claim Bristol was as virgin and that her spawn is the second coming.

Is it even possible to fight the barrage of stupid that has become the American political conversation?

Now that I think about it more, I’m sure I’ll have more burning questions to pose later, but for now, I’m off to work out some of the stress from these and other baffling issues.

Have a stellar day people.

 

Love this…

Right wing nuts think we’re really stupid. I hope the Daily Show keeps calling them out:

 

Hispanics ♥ McCain?

Really?  Do they? Do “Hispanics” really love a creepy, old war fanatic?  According to two strategically spaced, yet extremely similar signs I saw some people waving in in the convention hall, they do!  Somehow I’m not seeing any “Hispanics” I know sitting at home painting signs referring to themselves as “Hispanics,” let alone “Hispanics” who “heart” McCain.  I have a sneaking suspicion that those signs are not the work of inspired “Hispanics” on a grass roots crusade to elect McCain.  More than likely, some party lackey painted them then ran around the convention hall in search of a couple brown people willing to wave the things. From the all-white glow of the convention, it probably took a while. Not the scandal of the century, but so friggin’ slimy to watch. Kind of like what they’re pulling with that other fringe group, who was it?  Oh right, women. 

 

My kind of maverick.

 

I really need to stop watching this crud.  Getting out if the house now to see friends and not be tempted to watch the last bit of the, what do I call it?  An orgy of doom?  Armageddon party?  Must not think anymore. To Occidental for beer and real people who see through it as well. Peace out.

 

bunch of sheep…

…drill baby drill! Simultaneously lame, cheesy, tragic, and terrifying, the Republican National Convention.   Presented with the promise of nuclear power and offshore oil drilling, these retarded people spontaneously chant “drill baby drill! Drill baby drill!”  Apparently they didn’t read about that 19 square mile chunk  of Arctic ice that busted loose this week. Apparently they don’t read much at all. Some lily white old lady with a lily white hat on that said “clean coal,” wtf? Amazing that the same people who doubt the validity of global warming, evolution, and science, believe in a giant white guy in the sky with a plan that he’s only sharing with Rush Limbaugh.  Check this out: http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515035.html 

The creepiest person on Earth is Rudy Guliani (though that could change at any moment–by the way where is Dick?).  9-11, 9-11, 9-11, terrorist, terrorist, terrorist, scary, Islam, scary, scary, POW, POW, maverick, USA, USA! If you ever find yourself chanting and thrusting your fist into the air in unison with a bunch of people, in general, it should give you pause. That people vote for warmongering, earth-plundering, misogynistic, faith/fear-based, white, white corporate hucksters is mind blowing. –Cut to scary Cindy McCain holding baby/prop, no doubt to remind us that they are from the party of more babies, want one or not.– It’s too much. I’m gonna watch Venus and Serena now and get this festering convention out of my head.

 

This is what democracy looks like

I am sitting at my desk watching/listening to the coverage of the demonstration taking place on the Golden Gate Bridge today.  Protesters climbed up the cables of the bridge to unfurl a “Free Tibet” banner and a couple of other flags and such in protest of the human rights violations being committed by Chinese authorities in Tibet.  Predictably, the local news anchors focused on everything but the issues the protesters were trying to bring to light.

Instead of informing viewers of the details that likely motivated the protesters, local anchors, in not-whatsoever-veiled tones of indignation, the less than impartial reporting was evident as anchors remind me again and again that there is no divider between oncoming lanes on the bridge, that the winds are strong around the bridge, that safety issues trump the message, that frustrating commuters dilutes the message, that the penalty for such “stunts” has been increased, that the CHP will have lots to answer for regarding bridge security, that the protesters used a baby stroller to transport their equipment, the olympic torch being extinguished in Europe, but at no time during the broadcast did they discuss the crimes taking place in China.

Not that I think local news anchors do this on purpose (sadly, I don’t), but a couple of them really don’t seem to be actual journalists or even very bright.  Seriously, the woman on KGO sounded more like an ill-informed soccer mom than a professional reporter.  That maternal tone she took as she chided the protesters indifference to their personal safety was embarrassing and kind of infuriating. Some things in life are more important than the free flow of commuter traffic!

To their credit, the local stations have allowed the protesters to speak on their own behalf and draw attention to their cause.  I really admire the courage of these demonstrators–I feel empowered by every act of resistance to fascism and  the corporate machine.  

Oh, and one more thing.  This argument that Americans should clean up our own house before we start having opinions about other places is lame.   Can’t we do both?  Work on our own dirt and, since we remain a limping superpower, assist others? If we all had to wait until we were perfect to help anyone else… Besides, I’m pretty sure those people on that cable are not governmental leaders making decisions about the direction our country.  Just like the ordinary Chinese people probably didn’t decide to crush Tibet. The people on the cables are doing exactly what should be done when our governments fail to act on our behalf for the good. In fact, I think it’s mentioned in the Constitution:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Our government has failed to represent my ideals for a long time now.  And while Tibet is just one of many items on my list of locations where there are people suffering injustice and my government is indifferent (see: Hawaii, Iraq, Hunter’s Point, New Orleans, the list goes on), I am grateful whenever rabble rousing is instigated by the brave.  In solidarity with the bridge climbers and power to the people!   

 

And wtf is a super delegate?

I had no idea there was this super delegate system in place.  I don’t really understand it (I have an inquiry into Barack’s campaign to find out), but as far as I can see, in case of a close primary vote, a small group of democratic party entrenched people, journalists and others apparently more important than we average-janes,  trump the vote of the people and pick the democratic candidate despite the popular vote.   Can this be true?  In this party that is thus far is kind of appealing to my ideals of fair play and power to the people, a few in-crowd cronies can negate the votes of the rest of us peon citizens?  Gives me a good mind to vote for Ralph Nader. Say it isn’t so Barack.  (I will reserve my judgement until I hear back, perhaps will pose same question to Hillary, though I have a sneaking suspicion that this creepy-ass system works to her “more experienced” (see: more time to cultivate cronies) benefit.) I get that it’s rigged anyway, and I get that the bullshit two party “options” are all part of the great hideous machine that keeps us peasants in line, but I would appreciate it if they would at least pretend to give a crap what we have to say.  grrr…

 

What’s a delegate anyway?

It’s Tuesday, whether it’s super remains to be seen. One not so super item, the media coverage of elections.  Nobody with a little sense needs to be told that Fox news is a travesty.  It’s atrocious totally unfair, totally imbalanced, but Fox is truly a miracle of news manipulation–the miracle being that some people actually consider it news. I’m drawn to watch it though, to hear what kind of craziness they’re spouting in honor of the election. So far today, oh wait…Hillary speaks on Fox .  I might vote for Hillary just to punish those right wing nut bags who chose the tard-in-chief we’ve endured for the last 7 years.  They hate Hillary so virulently, though I’m not sure why.  It could be simply because she has the unnatural desire to be the first woman president, which I presume is not how the good lord intended. Thou shalt allow no ovaries in the oval office, right? Oy.  Now back to Fox news’s coverage of the elections where deep-thinker, republican, and veteran dispenser of cinematic whoop-ass Chuck Norris gets his long overdue opportunity to chime in on the presidential race. 

 

Then there’s Barack whose idealism and rock-star charisma really appeal to me. And if he keeps his promise to shake it up, represent the people instead of the corporations, it would be something to behold.   Enough already with the super Christian politicians. And enough of the white old man patriarchy. (Poor John Edwards, the first casualty in the backlash.  Never before has being a white dude worked against a presidential candidate.  Not that Edwards seemed like a bad choice, but still it’s about time.)

 

One good thing…the next president isn’t going to be from the south. (Though he may be a “foot soldier from the Reagan revolution”—wtf?) I’m way over the leader of the free world having that Britney accent y’all.