Driver2165

The good news

Maybe the best news from yesterday's elections is that the new senator from Montana, Jon Tester, is an organic farmer. If we can get him into some good committees, we may yet have a decent farm bill (Yes! Blogging about the farm bill!) or even some organic or sustainable standards worth a damn.

I think it's fabulous that my state elected the first Muslim congressman in the US. It makes me even happier that he's a Wellstone-style progressive.

Even better, we have the first socialist US Senator ever in Bernie Sanders. The small amount of interview with him that I've heard makes him sound like he's thinking about getting work done over ideology, which is exactly what I look for in my socialists.

Nancy Pelosi is awesome. That's all.

---

Not quite a victory.

Although I love that Mark Kennedy was shown the door so decisively, I can't help but be frustrated that our anti-family worm is still going to be Governor when my daughter is starting elementary school in four years. Wasn't Minnesota once the best state in the country in education? Still, you have to tip your hat; his negative personal attacks against Hatch worked, and Hatch never lowered himself to the GOP level, deciding instead to keep his negative ads issue-based. As annoyed as people are by what they mistakenly call negative ads by both parties, they seem to be swayed much more strongly by the name-calling and xenophobia of the GOP than complex issues like immigration, health care, and the economy. People can understand bumper stickers. And republicans think in terms of bumperstickers (Bush's cut-and-run from stay the course). But I'm going to have a hard time seeing the positives in raising a family in a state run by a guy who's agenda doesn't include decent education, adequate public health even by the low standards of the rest of the country, or even the keeping amount spent on taxes by the middle class manageable. I don't even want to think about what he did to the economy. I'm most frusterated by the outcome of this race because it's the one that most directly affects my livelihood and quality of life for my daughter.

---

Something to blog about

I wonder if Americans really are uninformed enough to follow the president and the conservative Media on their flogging of Kerry over his recent observation.

Here's who I like for the 06 Election season:

US Senate: Amy Klobuchar

Kennedy is laughable, and I don't really like the idea of Independents in the US Senate. The main reason being with all their campaigning about being a fresh take unencumbered by party demands, they're going to either caucus with one party or lack the ability to get anything done.

Governor: Peter Hutchinson

I wish he was less conservative, and Mike Hatch isn't bad, but this is where an Independent could really get something done. I watched a little bit of the Vikings game on monday, which was the only live TV that I'd watched in weeks. I was surprised to see so many attack ads by all three candidates. At least that's what the corporate (and public) media would have you think. I saw eight negative ads by Pawlenty and one each by Hutch and Hatch. The Hutchinson ad is just boring third-party "these guys suck" style. The difference between Pawlenty ads and Hatch ads is that Hatch is calling out Pawlenty on issues, and Pawlenty is attacking Hatch's character for questioning the Borrow-and-Spend-ican agenda. It doesn't even take a foreign education to be able to look through the smoke here.

US House, District 5: Keith Ellison

This guy is great. The power-struggle for the seat was annoying, but it worked out for the best with the best candidate winning the primary. I don't have anything to say about Alan Fine other than I feel sorry for him for having his closet aired out publicly for a seat he has no chance of winning.

And we've got Dibble and Hornstein, who are the best, Jerry, the best. And Luger and Lopez, Instant Runoff voting, a transportation amendment that is better by degrees, this all should be pretty obvious.

I have a feeling Rove and Diebold has this election under control, though and another crazy right-wing Congress seems almost inevitable. Prove me wrong.

[update 1] I just read/watched this (hilarious) on City Pages dot com, the first I've seen any media outlet share my perception that Hatch is talking about issues and Pawlenty is not. (Hutchinson barely is, but he's not a borrow-and-spend-ican so he gets a pass).

[update 2] Oh, baby, there's a fantasy election game. My team: Driver2165.

---

2006 Candidate Select-O-Matic

I tried out MPR's candidate selector thing. It tells me I should vote for Beckey Lourey over Mike Hatch for Governor. Peter Hutchinson wasn't too far behind, but honestly, what kind of campaign is he running, anyway? All boxing gloves and no views, it's like a campaign for Minnesota Nice. Turns out I only agree with Pawlenty on guaranteeing transportation funds. The Republican candidate for Senate didn't fare so well. Big surprise, I don't agree with Mark "George W. Bush" Kennedy on a single topic. Just as suprising, Ford "Paul Wellstone with awesomeness" Bell almost gets all the awesomeness.

---

There are so many things wrong with this headline

Recently I complained about the Media's eagerness to talk around soccer rather than about soccer. KCRW's Design and Architecture had a fascinating interview about this year's football design, and how it's affecting gameplay. That's exactly the sort of discussion that I had been craving. I was looking in all the wrong places for it (the Conservative News Network, for example) and just needed the southern California public radio take.

Today's Planetizen was hilariously pointed. Nothing very new, just jabbing at suburban planning in the face of peak oil, but there was some good pwnage to be had.

I had an otherwise quiet day. I guess it was Skateboard Day or something, and there were about 75 skaters that skated past me down Nicollet Mall today. Also, the transit cops are riding segways now. Why are the bicycle cops on heavy mountain bikes anyway? I'm still waiting for one of them to get smart and bring a fixie to work.

Is Kirby Pucket Overrated? I'm arguing yes. Nobody else is, apparantly.

One last note: I apologize if anybody's comments didn't go through. I turned off the comment moderating system, so it should go through now if you put the 'D' in there.

---

C'mon, three dollars!

We took the kid in for her four-month checkup. Her 10% head has grown in and now stands at 50%. The rest of her kept growing, though, so her weight and length are both 90%. She's enormous. 26 inches and 16.5 lbs. Last time, she didn't mind the shots so much. Yesterday, she hated them. Such is life. She's been so much more verbal lately, like the other day, she rolled over for the first time, and would not shut up about it. She was so stoked and proud of her self, she was almost hyperventilating. Adorable. Also big new, I'm headed to the Wedge to get her some baby cereal. That's right, solid food. Time passes quickly.

Last night a guy put a five dollar bill in to pay for his buck-fifty fare. I told him I could give him a few passes for the next few days, but he just rolled his eyes at me and asked for a transfer. I thought it was interesting that low-grade gas was listed at $2.95 at the beginning of my shift at all three Hennepin stations at the start of my work at about 3. At about 6:30, the price was $2.85, and on my way back at 7:30, it was back to $2.95. It pisses me off when talking heads start talking about how that's still cheap for Europeans, because they get taxes out of the deal instead fat old men lighting cigars with our commutes, and their goverments don't limit the number of small cars to the extent that ours does. It's no wonder Americans have so sense of geography or world context.

---

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day to everybody. Were there good showings by the immigrants today? The only grouping I passed on my 6 today was the rather light grouping at the Basilica.

Today I had a conversation with a guy who expressed his opposition to immigrants' rights. His views were typical of a liberal-voting union member that gets all of his news and information from conservative media like Fox News, CNN, and/or the Star Tribune [you'd think people would at least use sources that at least pretend to be vaguely populist like NPR and NYT, but I digress]. He went on to tell me about his plans to move to a Caribbean island when he retires, and made sure he told me all the loopholes on how to live there without having to actually apply for residency.

I ran empty just after rush hour between 54th and 29th Streets (Uptown Station). It felt like I was driving a 46.

---

Individuals rule

Yesterday I saw a rusted out F-150 from the early 80's plastered with bumper stickers. There were all of the expected stickers, the Git r Duns, the Calvin peeing on a Chevrolet logo, the gassy ass for grass thing, the slanty number 8, and campaign stickers for everybody's favorite neo-facist pres. Interestingly, however, mixed in were all those annoying pagan stickers (my other car is a broom, I'm an Ameriwiccan, etc.) that you normally see next to stickers advertising for the raise-taxes-for-public-welfare crowd (as opposed to the raise-taxes-for-corporate-welfare crowd).

---

Among things that have bothered me lately pt. 1

People that think the liberal media includes major newspapers, television stations, and radio stations in spite of the facts. Star Tribune has a major bias, sure, but nobody can seriously look at what they print, the wording they use in headlines and in stories, what stories they pass on, and say that it's not a conservative bias. I guess the problem is that the fascists in this country somehow view themselves as moderates.

---

Totally lame

It looks like we accepted the second contract offer with 67% in favor. I voted no. The only change I saw from the previous contract offer, which was terrible in my opinion [and was voted down] was that they added a $400 "signing bonus" [which will end up being about $250 after taxes, or did everybody forget the $1100 bribe to end the strike ended up being about $600?] and to make up for it turned the 30¢ raise into a 20¢ one. So what's different about it? We get $250 up front instead of slowly over the next 6 months. I don't know what we're so afraid of.

The bit I find personally insulting is that they could have given us a two-year offer instead of the three-year offer we got, which would have cost the state the massive sum of zero dollars. Instead, the next administration will be have an anti-transit policy towards the state's transit employees for the first half of the next term, whether they want it or not.

In better transit news, Peter McLaughlin's wife took the train downtown when she went into labor the other day. I like Rybak enough, but this is part of why I voted for McLaughlin. Sidenote: Whenever I hear Minneapolis heralded for electing a liberal mayor I always wonder if anybody remembers that he was the most conservative of the three main candidates.

---

Onward, Christian soldiers!

I saw this posted at the UnCapitalist Journal. I like old hymns, and I like Wobblies, and I know that Bush, Dobson, and just about everybody else running the American exploitation machine are acting like no kinds of Christian lately, so I thought I'd post it. If you grew up in a church, you know the melody.

Christians at War (John F. Kendrick - 1916)

Onward, Christian soldiers! Duty's way is plain;
Slay your [Christian] neighbors, or by them be slain,
Pulpiteers are spouting effervescent swill,
God above is calling you to rob and rape and kill,
All your acts are sanctified by the Lamb on high;
If you love the Holy Ghost, go murder, pray and die.

Onward, Christian soldiers! Rip and tear and smite!
Let the gentle Jesus bless your dynamite.
Splinter skulls with shrapnel, fertilize the sod;
Folks who do not speak your tongue deserve the curse of God.
Smash the doors of every home, pretty maidens seize;
Use your might and sacred right to treat them as you please.

Onward, Christian soldiers! Eat and drink your fill;
Rob with bloody fingers, Christ okays the bill,
Steal the farmers' savings, take their grain and meat;
Even though the children starve, the Savior's bums must eat,
Burn the peasants' cottages, orphans leave bereft;
In Jehovah's holy name, wreak ruin right and left.

Onward, Christian soldiers! Drench the land with gore;
Mercy is a weakness all the gods abhor.
Bayonet the babies, jab the mothers, too;
Hoist the cross of Calvary to hallow all you do.
File your bullets' noses flat, poison every well;
God decrees your enemies must all go plumb to hell.

Onward, Christian soldiers! Blight all that you meet;
Trample human freedom under pious feet.
Praise the Lord whose dollar sign dupes his favored race!
Make the foreign trash respect your bullion brand of grace.
Trust in mock salvation, serve as tyrant's tools;
History will say of you: 'That pack of Goddamn fools.'

(Via The UnCapitalist Journal.)

---

Cuba back in WBC Now!

I realize my last few posts have been downers, so here's a light-hearted downer post, however serious. George W. Bush, hated by all, has now decided to ban Cuba from the World Baseball Classic this spring at the expense of future US baseball in the Olympics! I didn't know the guy could get any dumber, but apparantly his baseball policy is just like his national policy. Screw everybody else while going after his own personal grudge, and let the rest of us figure out the fallout in five or more years when we've got a president named Dean, Warner, or, in a perfect world, Kucinich (but not Clinton please).

---

As a far-left progressive liberal, bite me, ACLU

ACLU: You're way off on your siding with people who operate motor vehicles recklessly. Sorry, but the right to walk across a street in a marked crosswalk with a green light more than trumps any supposed right people have to drive their automobiles through a crowd of people because they're running late for a soccer practice.

Way to kill civil liberties while siding with the upper class. Sounds awful right-wing to me.

---

What's good for GM is good for the country

No I'm not being sarcastic. Yesterday's announcement that GM will be cutting jobs and benefits just proves to me that the US needs a national health care system. Do any conservatives feel like explaining this one to me? Companies are paying an awful lot on health care for their employees, and are then forced to raise prices. $1,525 of every GM car sold in the United States goes to paying for that healthcare. How much of every GM car would go to healthcare if the care was taxed instead of sold at a profit? $0. They wouldn't have to pay for it! Their employees would pay for the whole thing! Am I saying that companies shouldn't be allowed to exercise their free-market whatevers to make a profit off of pain, suffering, illness, and death? Yes. Especially when the byproduct is more money for employers and more money for employees.

Allow me to preemptively bar talking points. No, Canada doesn't have long lines of people waiting for care. No, Canadians are not crossing the border for better coverage. Yes, statistics show that Canadians are on average healthier than Americans. No you may not dispute facts using some letter to some editor written by Ben Stein. No, Ben Stein is not an intelligent person (it has nothing to do with his politics. He would be a horrible liberal, also).

---

The song that almost made it

The song that just missed making the winter mix: I know this is old by now, but I can't stop laughing at this song, some new plan to turn kids into neo-cons (at least the ones that get Zell Miller references). The song is so pathetically hilarious that I'm guessing it will work about as well as Creed worked to get people to go to Solomon's Porch (haha anybody remember that?)

---

Ahahah

Ben Stein is an idiot.

Also, Pat Robertson tells Dover, PA "Don't turn to God."

---

Election Tuesday!

I have to say, it took me a while to figure out the difference between Rybak and McLaughlin, but in the end, McLaughlin is gonna get my vote. He's much better on worker's rights, knows a new baseball stadium will generate new revenue, and most importantly, thinks the city zoning code needs a major overhaul (as opposed to Rybak, who wants to keep all new buildings under 2 stories and focus on developing downtown).

---

Quotes from the last two days not on the bus

"...You can't play, you know, hide the salami, or whatever it's called." - Howard Dean

"The time has come to drop the fuck." - Tim Pawlenty

Also, the funniest Onion article I've read in a long time

---

Internet quiz!

According to the internet I'm a socialist. Thanks internet! (That's 63% social liberal and 90% economic liberal, for those keeping track of points.

UPDATE: You can pretty much safely ignore the flamewar going on the comments of this post. Unless you would like to read some hilarious insults by me. Oh and a hilariously reeling conservative named Apollo something-or-other. If you do decide to read it, keep in mind that hilariously insulting the poor fella is my not-so-subtle way of letting him know that until he comes up with a actual fact that he could back up (hell, man, even using the Onion as a reference is better than nothing) that he's not worth having an intelligent conversion with. Be forewarned - it gets naughty in there.

---

Score!

The Minneapolis Observer now has an RSS feed! Yes!

I also just noticed that City Pages has a whole bunch, but they're slightly hidden.

Now I just need the Pulse and Transit Librarian to join the 21st century and I'll be all set.

---

Come Again?

Think Progress mentions an article where Bill Clinton is blamed for teaching Rafael Palmeiro how to lie. Sure Bush is the one positive that Raffy hasn't, and he did donate money to the Bush campaign, but those seem to side-step the point. For such a liberally biased media, Clinton does seem to be a widely used example of lying to the American public and to the courts. Bush never gets any credit for his lies about the War On Terror Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism War On Terror. He doesn't get any credit for lying to us about CAFTA, or withholding records on John Roberts that the Senate requires. Or sneaking John Bolton into the UN. Hmm that was all during this last week.

---

Go Congress!

My favorite part of the transportation bill that just passed is the $231 million dollar bridge named for the chairman of the Transportation Committee that connects a town with a population with 5 digits to a town with a population with 3 digits.

---

And the Idiot Award goes too...

Melissa Bean, Illinois (8th District): 202-225-3711
Jim Cooper, Tennessee (5th District): 202-225-4311
Norm Dicks, Washington (6th District): 202-225-5916
Henry Cuellar, Texas (28th District): 202-225-1640
Ruben Hinojosa, Texas (15th District): (202) 225-2531
William Jefferson, Louisiana (2nd District): (202) 225-6636
Jim Matheson, Utah (2nd District): (202) 225-3011
Gregory Meeks, New York (6th District): 202-225-3461
Dennis Moore, Kansas (3rd District): (202) 225-2865
Jim Moran, Virginia (8th District): (202) 225-4376
Solomon Ortiz, Texas (27th District): 202-225-7742
Ike Skelton, Missouri (4th District): 202-225-2876
Vic Snyder, Arkansas (2nd District): 202-225-2506
John Tanner, Tennessee (8th District): (202) 225-4714
Edolphus Towns, New York (10th District: (202) 225-5936

15 Democrat Representatives that hate Americans, as proved by their vote FOR CAFTA!

---

Not again

Anybody else wanna trash the new Starbucks at Nicollet and Franklin? The smoking ban is awful. I was able to get a table at Spyhouse on sunday night, which has been impossible every week up to this point without a 30 minute wait. What the hell good does it do me if it smells like my grandma's house and i have to go outside? I'm sorry to say this, but is it really worth the effort to go to Spyhouse or Cafetto's when i can just go to Anodyne across the street and have to smoke outside.

---

I blame W

I got the flu this week. Today is Day 6, and I’m finally feeling well enough to move around the house. It’s already too late to go back to work tomorrow, but I’ll be in on Tuesday. No doubt something crazy will happened in my absence, as they tend to do over just a two day weekend.

Unfortunately, being sick today allowed me to watch the Vikings game. I don’t think either team played particularly well to tell you the truth, but the Eagles seemed to be a bit luckier, or at least, equally lucky, but their luck ended up in points (that fumble!!) and the Vikings’ luck just got them the ball and made them work for their points (that touchback). And other than that it was just a game of each team coming back and not following through. Ugh.

Anyway, I’m going to some sort of company party with Bethany (her company) at the Timber Lodge I think tonight. Or was it the Outback? Whatever it is, it means I’ll be in the suburbs tonight. Whoop di do. Maybe it’ll end with enough time to meet up with Luc & Michelle and whoever else is left over from the porch. (Congrats on your new house by the way).

Bethany made a cute bag with her new sewing machine. I like it.

---

Up up and away

Since when does this publication put out realistic stories? (read the top two under “Top Story”)

And, you gotta love the math Only with America’s education system could more votes be counted in a precinct than the amount of people that actually showed up.

---

Should have let those crackers go

Electoral votes in 2004

Civil War states in 1864 (note – white states denote states on the side of the north, but too far away to do much about it)

---

A very dark day

As I write this, the worst world leader since Hitler (possibly maybe even since before Hitler – sure he hasn’t killed 6 million Jews and who knows how many other people, but at least Hitler didn’t run his country into the ground economically.) is nearly a shoo-in to win. God damn this country. And that rat bastard Mark Kennedy appears to have won.

But even worse: this.

At least Krinkie and his own insane ramblings appear to be happening only in his own living room. Actually that makes me feel great. Until i think about everything else. Apparantly Krinkie won while i was sleeping. Ouch.

---

Stay the course

Interesting things I’ve learned from the book I’m reading:

• The University of Minnesota football team helped break the machinists strikes circa 1908
• Dunwoody Instutute was formed as a way to keep the working class in their place, and to brainwash them to the ideals that the Industrialist is better than the workingman in order than unions would be less likely to form
• Walker Art Center was
• Nearly everything in this damn city was named after somebody who screwed 99% of the population of Minneapolis
• The public park system was created by the Industrialists to keep the working class happy and less likely to unionize. That was interesting. At least that one worked out.
• Unionizing worked better than anybody noticed in the early 20th century. Nearly all the strikes were broken, and most of them were about getting an 8-hour workday and decent employer-sponsored healthcare. (Hmmm.. I wish i had those benefits wink wink) After the strikes were broken, union members blacklisted, unions dissolved, and the open-shop system set up, the Industrialists offered those very benefits to their workers so that their workers wouldn’t unionize. Now that’s something.

I’m anxious to get to the part about the Instutute of Arts…

---

Well, well

Some 12 year old spammed my comments on that last entry. Quite entertaining actually. But what he failed to realize is why health care is so important to us Transit Operators. I won't say it's a dangerous job, because some steel worker will probably whine (and there's many more jobs are are much more dangerous), but it's not a healthy job. And until we have more trains and electric buses, it's going to be bad for our health. Not to mention the horrible seats they've been buying since 2002. And how completely the opposite of ergonomic the gas pedal is placed (I don't think that was grammatically correct). Some short sighted people may see this as whining, and it is, but I didn't buy those seats, and I can't imagine that medium working conditions can be blamed on the employee. Almost everytime I have to use my health insurance, it's usually completely related to operating a bus. So why shouldn't my employer either pick up the tab or try to make things easier on our bodies? (They're doing neither. Horrible new seats are a product of the almighty bottom line, except they forgot to include worker's comp cases as a part of that) And no, no one's forcing me to work as a driver, but I might point out that after several years of W Bush getting rid of jobs and a whole bunch of Clinton not doing much, and shit there was the other Bush and Reagan before him (damn no wonder the American dollar is losing value) there's not much else out there.

He also believes everything Pawlenty said about transit not being needed. That was entertaining. Pawlenty is not only a bad politician and human being, but a bad Republican and a bad Christian. Just look at what he's doing! And why does he support pointless transit products like the Northstar Commuter Line? There may be a small need there, but there's much more pressing transit needs elsewhere in the state. Even for commuter rail.

Anyway I'm crabby because I've had to get up much too early this week. Have a good day.

Oh! And by the way, "Patrick". We will probably strike again. 15-20 months. Workers have rights too. I'm curious: Why do you hate America so much?

---

Contract

Sticky issue. I’m expecting a no vote, but it’ll be close. Basically they offered us a year contract. Well, there’s 15 months left on it if we approve it. A one-year contract with a small paycut doesn’t exactly inspire confidence for the bus system. If we approve this, we’ll likely be on strike again near the beginning of 2006. If it had lasted an extra year, until June 2006, we could have at least took 9 months again (this time we were without a contract for 9 months, from August 2003 to March 2004) until after the election and the new governor. By that i mean that I figure a 0% chance of Pawlenty being reelected and a 5% chance of him even running again.

The specific reason this is not a good contract is as follows (and yes, I am jealous): It’s a one year contract. That year will likely be spent negotiating a new contract for the next time. Basically we’d be going back to work while they negotiate the real contract. It’s the exact same thing that happened in Philladelphia two weeks after our strike started. Except they hadn’t been on strike for 45 days. And they got exactly what they had before – which is completely free health care, and on top of that, a 7% raise. For one year, while they negotiate the real contract.

In any case, Tim Pawlenty, Peter Bell, David Strom, and basically the Republican Party will never be forgiven. And I’m going to have a hard time thinking about Minnesota as a good place to live. Hopefully we can get someone to try and undo Pawlenty’s twof reign of terror, but I doubt that’s possible. After all he completely undid a hundred years of progress in Minnesota in only two years. I don’t even want to think about what he’ll be up to next.

---

What the what?

From the Star Tribune:

"Meanwhile at the Capitol, in debate about the omnibus transportation funding bill, House Republicans voted in favor of an amendment that would turn the transit system over to private business."

What an awful idea. This thing gets worse every day.

---

Dude!

From the Star Tribune on 28 Mar 04:

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura, who frequently and coyly talked of presidential aspirations for years when he was governor, is up to his old tricks. The Boston Herald, in a report about Ventura's appearance at the State Capitol in Boston to lobby against a ban on same-sex marriage, quoted Ventura as saying he is "setting up for 2008." Ventura said he would ask former NBA basketball star Charles Barkley to be his running mate and that the country needed a choice other than "Pepsi and Coke," according to the Herald. Ventura this spring has been teaching a class at Harvard's Institute of Politics.

JESSE VENTURA AND CHARLES BARKLEY!?!?!?

---

Comparison

Well then, since Mr. "Peter Bell Can Go To Hell" and Mr. "Tim Pawlenty's Wang is Benty" like to compare us to other agencies, I'll also compare a little bit here.

Keep in mind that today is Day 27 of this Minneapolis transit strike.

In 2003, Los Angeles's Mechanics went on strike. 35 days, and it was solved. And they got better than we even have a dream of getting. They got a 7% raise, and all the other issues would go to binding arbitration. We offered to stop the strike if we got exactly that, except instead of a 7% raise it would have been closer to the 0.5% percent the State wants.

"The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the 4,700 unionized transit workers will continue having healthcare paid for -- a key sticking point in the negotiations -- and would receive a one-time $1,000 bonus. However, the contract is only for one year" - Washington Times March 15 2004

This month in Philadelphia a strike was stopped. Of course they had to raise fares. Put this into perspective. Our fare is $1.25, $1.75 during rush hour. That's bloody cheap. Philadelphia's is $2, and they're considering raising it to $2.45. The current highest in the country is San Diego at $2.25. Yeah that sucks and all. But seriously, that's almost DOUBLE our fare. Chicago's is $1.75 AND you have to pay a quarter to transfer. It's no wonder they don't have enough money. (Well that, they blew all the cash on "high-tech" fare collection pieces of shit, and we're run by some cokehead) Why do people whine about how expensive it is here?

Probably for the same reason the Minnesota Taxpayers League likes getting free roads. Because we're all selfish bastards.

And that reminds me. What the hell kind of name is the Taxpayers League anyway? Aren't they opposed to taxes? That ugly ho won't email me back. That makes me sad.

---

Hahahaha

Check out how ugly this bastard is:

And, as hard as it may be to believe, he's as dumb as he is ugly.

---

Grr

Tim Pawlenty and Peter Bell are evil evil men.

---

Another update

Ahahahah! Bite me, Peter Bell and Tim Pawlenty.

---

Contract update

From the Star Tribune:

Lloyd [Union President] said earlier in the evening that the union had presented the Metropolitan Council with various contract ideas to avoid a strike and were waiting for the council to reply. Lloyd said that the union offered two additional options to avoid a strike: arbitration or continuing the existing contract. The Metropolitan Council rejected both, he said. “The decision on how to proceed is now left up to the Metropolitan Council and Gov. Pawlenty,” he said at that time. “We anxiously await their reply.”

My word those jerks are stubborn.

---

Been Awhile pt 182

Well the good guys (ATU 1005) and the bad guys (the Republican Mafia) met again today, the first day before we can strike. I’m told that each side had their own room and the state mediator physically went back and forth between them. Maybe tomorrow i should just make a sign that says at the top “We are not striking tonight” and at the bottom “I don’t know” and point to it when somebody asks me a question.

Today I picked up a guy who played blues harmonica and sang. He was actually pretty good. When he talked you couldn’t even hear what he was saying, he was so quiet. But he sang loud and clear. Last week I had a dude on the back of the bus who played his flute all the way from 8th St. to Lake St. I thought about stopping the bus, walking all the way back there, and asking him… if he knew Take The A-Train. But I didn’t.

Now Ben has got me wondering what the all time greatest Minnesota records would be. Number one is obvious. Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks. I imagine there’s going to be Low, probably Secret Name. Tomorrow the Green Grass by the Jayhawks is amazing. Happy Apple would probably go on there, but it’d be hard to pick from which one (The Bad Plus don’t count by the way seeing as they’re 2/3 from New York, hipster-cool but not otherwise, and musically suckier than Happy Apple). Mason Jennings may fit. I’m researching Husker Du and Prince right now.

Been listening to a lot of Paul Simon Recently. He’s Amazing. In my opinion, his 1972 Self-Titled album and 1973’s There Goes Rhymin’ Simon are his best albums, with his songbook and Still Crazy… close by. I also like Hearts and Bones, Rhythm of the Saints, and Capeman better than Graceland. I just think the melodies are vaguely sub-par on Graceland. Of course, sub-par for Paul Simon is below amazing and just better than “pretty damn good”.

Other notable records I’ve been enjoying recently, all 2004 Releases include Mason Jennings, The Robot Ate Me, Kaizers Orchestra, Jason Molina, Isan, The Walkmen, 90 Day Men, Starflyer 59 and Cathode. Some great music so far this year.

---