Archive for the ‘politicish’ Category
some dude’s transit plan »
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
I should have no influence in whom you vote for. In fact, most of you aren’t even in Chicago, so it won’t matter, right? Anyway, Rahm Emanuel recently released his transportation plans and it’s notable for a couple reasons.
First, because it’s amazing that anyone is putting any attention toward alternative forms of transportation. The Republicans are complete idiots on this. With the recent bailouts, cars are now patriotic—trains (or, shudder, bikes) are not.
It’s a bold move but the second reason is even broader. The parts specific to biking are sort of awesome. (more…)
what will it be worth? »
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
My father’s habit of listening to Clark Howard convinced me to snag a few podcasts. The man isn’t so much a financial guru as a commonsense voice. (Things like avoiding pyramid schemes or not using a computer if you’re old.)
He does tend to be thorough, though. Unfortunately, one he breezed over was the oft-repeated tale of how only a few hundred dollars invested early will make you a millionaire.
It goes like this: investing $2k every year from 16 years old to 21, you’ll have a million when you retire even if you don’t invest more. After so much depth in other areas, why is this never expanded to what that million will buy you? (more…)
complete bedlam »
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
Minneapolis: are you kidding?
It’s the best recreational bicycle city but it’s mediocre for commuters. The mass transit needs vast improvement and outside of the dense center (downtown, uptown), biking with drivers is dangerous.
The light rail should be an icon of a shift to shared transit and green commutes. It’s a symbol of shared mobility and clean travel. (more…)
chicago’s finest, critically »
Saturday, June 26th, 2010
Note: There’s inappropriate language within. I’m sort of annoyed. This never happens.
The fuck? (A video of Chicago police holding down [assaulting?] a man after he photographed another incident of excessive force.)
Dear cops: We’ve had encounters in varying forms and I know most of you are just “doing your jobs” but this sort of thing is abhorrent (sorry… it means, basically, “shitty”). (more…)
looking forward to November »
Friday, May 7th, 2010
George W. Bush has a book coming out. I’ll let that sink in.
Now, with his decision-making and demeanor, I bet you’re surprised he could legibly write his name. I am too. But computers are glorious machines and maybe he learned how to pay someone to type.
I suggest you read the excerpt highlighted by The Awl. (I’ve been working through my noted items in my reader and finally got to it.)
First, I have to make note of his being baldist. I get that he should fear or loathe Dick Cheney (everyone should) but even for him this sounds hurtful to the hairless:
But he and the bald man had kept in touch. I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being bald bothered me. My idea of baldness came from the movies. In the movies, the bald were always trying too hard, like they wanted to make up for their lack of hair. My friend Karl was that way. At any rate, a bald man in my house was not something I looked forward to.
That’s cold, Georgie. Cold. (Granted, I have friends who probably meet my presence with trepidation.)
Second, you’ll note from that little bit and the passage (if you read it), he writes like a prepubescent. Cool narrative style, right?
Unfortunately, (if you read the passage; seriously, did you read it?) this story can’t take place more than seventeen years ago, so he’d be forty-six, at the youngest. That cool narrative turns into a depressing look at his capacities.
(Sigh.)
Generally, it’s a poorly written, glossy portrayal you’d hear in an octogenarian blogger’s memoir about his first Christmas memory. If that story included homoerotic architectural sketching with a weak-hearted, grunting uncle full of booze. (Which, I think you’ll agree, would be awesome.)
This is how he decided to run for the Presidency? Is it that easy? Along those lines, this is a story about his decisions and there aren’t any. What’s the point? (That’s rhetorical.)
If this is any indication of the rest of the book (I can’t imagine it wouldn’t be), it saddens me it was even put to print. That Palin, Beck and Bush can sell so many versions of their ignorance is telling of where our nation is heading.
I’m looking forward to November.
Photo courtesy New York Times