Occupy Philly: From the Frontlines - Part 3: The Move

Yesterday, November 18th, a vote was held at the General Assembly about a possible preemptive move from Dilworth Plaza to Thomas Paine Plaza at the Municipal Services Building. The vote to move was in response to the eviction notice that was sent from the City of Philadelphia. After hours and hours of debate, a vote was held at around 10PM.

Here are the raw details of that vote:

Proposal: To move across the street to Thomas Paine Plaza in response to the eviction notice immediately after General Assembly (GA).

Amendments:

1. To move to Rittenhouse Square instead
2. To postpone the move until noon the next day
3. To block traffic while doing the move.

In the end, no amendments passed and the vote to move that night was around 65 to 74. On a whole, a vast majority of people were OK with moving over there in general, but the main reason for the split in the vote was because of the time of the move; that night.

Why else did we want to move?

1. The City of Philadelphia, along with the mayor's office and various other offices, indicated that they would like to see us move and actually proposed Thomas Paine Plaza multiple times.

2. The Unions has said they supported us, but the longer we waited to move, the less likely they were to support us. During the General Assembly, it was stressed that the unions would help us in the move as well.



So what happened once we had the vote to move that night? No one helped us.

Immediately after GA, people began packing up their materials to move across the street. At the same time, there was no visual support from any of the Unions, at least none that I could see. Within minutes of people beginning to set up at Thomas Paine Plaza, reports came in to the rest of the camp that the police weren't allowing anyone to setup. Soon, there was an official order to disperse. In return, everyone at Occupy Philly, after some discussion, returned and picked up their things and moved them back across the street.



In the end, the entire affair was hectic but civil. Again, there were no arrests and save the confusion, everyone was OK. The Philadelphia Police are currently blocking anyone from moving over. All the while, Occupy Philly is trying to reach a solution on being able to move.

Occupy Philly: Eviction - Facts and Fiction

1. Occupy Philly was told to leave immediately.

MIXED: The official notice from the City of Philadelphia states the following:

"Be advised that the Permit for Demonstration on City Property issued by the City of Philadelphia effective 10/6/11 expires at the start of the Dilworth Plaza construction project. This project’s commencement is imminent. Accordingly, you should take this opportunity to vacate Dilworth Plaza and remove all of your personal belongings immediately."

At the same time, this was NOT a formal notice of eviction. The city claims its just a friendly statement.


2. Occupy Philly is getting raided tonight or tomorrow!

FALSE: The City of Philadelphia, willing to speak on the record, maDE the statement that was repeated to the General Assembly (GA) tonight that there are no plans to evict Occupy Philly within the next 48 hours. That 48 hours lasts until Friday Night around 7PM.


3. This eviction is part of a coordinated effort between mayors and the FBI.

PLAUSIBLE: Mayor Nutter, who has changed his tone since getting re-elected, stated that while he is the Vice President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said he did not work with the Mayor of Oakland and 17 other mayors to crackdown and evict the occupations across the country. At the same time, a news article stating that the FBI and Homeland Security worked with local law officials in various cities to evict them.


4. Occupy Philly will not move!

MIXED: Occupy Philly has stated time and time again that they ARE willing to move, but only once basic questions are answered, such as if they're allowed to have tents at the new spot (Thomas Paine Plaza is most likely it) and what resources will be available. Some people have said they want to stay, and the Occupation is fine with that. At the same time, that's a very small minority and does not speak for the vast majority who are OK with moving. It isn't about the location; its about the message.


5. Occupy Philly has not been working with the City of Philadelphia!

FALSE: I can't stress this one enough! The legal team has been working with the city, and a working group known as Reasonable Solutions has been talking to the city as well and trying to help fix the situation. At the same time, because there is no one person in charge, it is confusing for the City of Philadelphia to talk to the Occupation. Despite that, its safe to say that Mayor Nutter or Deputy Mayor Nagin saying no one is willing to talk to them is just a flat our LIE.


6. Occupy Philly's permit expires when construction begins!

TRUE: Despite the fact the people in Occupy Philly's General Assembly voted on the permit only if there was no end date, NO ONE who voted on it was told we would have to leave once construction began. In fact, it wasn't even brought up.


7. You guys are just looking for a confrontation!

FALSE: The vast majority of people at Occupy Philly are not looking for any sort of confrontation outside of civil debate. The idea of a "show-down" is not something the vast majority wants, and instead we would rather handle this as civilly as possible. The City of Philadelphia and the media are lying to you when they say that's Occupy Philly wants anything else.


So, lets just state what we know:

There is NO EVICTION scheduled! At best, we know nothing will happen until Friday Evening. The City of Philadelphia stated it would not try to evict or forcibly remove anyone within 48 hours of the notice.

Occupy Philly: From the Frontlines - Part 2: Why We Occupy

I've decided to start a series of short posts concerning not only my involvement in the Occupy Philadelphia movement, but also the movement itself in my opinion. This is the second in a series.

It is now 22 days into the Occupation, and everything seems different. Over the past week I barely went back to the Basecamp at Dilworth Plaza, really returning more to my own personal life than to helping out the occupation itself. The attacks in Oakland... they're just horrifying. To me, its just a harbinger of what's to come in Philly once the cops kick out the Occupation for the construction to begin on Dilworth Plaza.

On Thursday, the General Assembly in Oakland voted for a General Strike. The strike was later adopted by the entire movement. Today, Friday, I talked to a few co-workers I knew who were either following or semi-involved in the movement if they were going to participate. The reaction was split.

The general reaction from my friends is just one question: Why? Why are you doing this?

With everything I do, with all the running around and working I've done lately, its nearly impossible for me to actually explain myself to them without going into a diatribe. So I decided to take their most interesting and common questions and explain what I've seen:

1. Why are you even out there?! You guys have no message!

We're all out here for different reasons, but the general sentiment is the same; We're mad as hell that the banks got bailed out for doing a poor job while we were all left to fend for ourselves. We're mad that the income of the Top 1% rose over 270% over the last 30 years while that of the 99% percent only rose 18%. We're mad that over 50% of the people in this country only make less than $27,000 a year. We're mad that jobs are being sent overseas, that the job market stinks, that education in this country is so poor, that we can somehow pay for another war but we can't seem to get enough cash together to let everyone in this country to at least have guaranteed health care.

At this point, there is no one single message. Instead, it's a jumble of hundreds of thousands of messages, but everything I said are, in essence, the underlying points.

If you had to put it on a bumper sticker, it would simply say, "It's the Economy, Stupid."


2. It's nothing but spoiled rich kids!

If I'm a spoiled rich kid, then you're the Queen of England. At one point, I was actually on food stamps. At another I almost lost everything. Right now I work full-time. It was with hard work and persistence that I got my current job, and it wasn't because my parents put in a good word for me.

A lot of the people down there are anything but spoiled or rich. In fact, virtually everyone on the tech team I know works a full-time job and are just trying to pay their bills. Based on who I met, that's the vast majority of people. The people down there protesting aren't looking for a handout; they're looking to help the world.


3. You guys aren't getting anything done!

Actually, we are.

I was thinking about this today while reading Consumerist.com. Over the past month, there have been some MASSIVE reforms! I can't say for a fact there's an immediate cause-and-effect, but I think its safe to say that some of these could be connected:

People were protesting at Bank of America's around the country, writing them letters and closing their accounts because of their new $5 fees for using debit cards. The company refused to eliminate the fee. Chase Bank, which had considered a similar plan for $3, got rid of theirs October 28th.

One common things protestors have said they wanted was a forgiveness of Student Debt. Student debt is currently at $1 Trillion (Trillion with a T) Dollars, and for countless people its a source of pain and problems. Even with a job, most people can't make payments. The White House came up with a plan to cut some payments on October 26th.

We're marching on the streets demanding that the people who got us in this mess face justice! Criminal charges were brought up to an ex-Goldman Sachs Director for insider trading and he turned himself in on October 26th to the FBI.

We want Corporations to treat people better and be punished for their crimes! A federal ruling will make it easier to be sued for human rights violations in foreign countries on October 26th.

Want more?

They're making it easier to refinance your house.
People are closing their accounts at big banks and going to credit unions.

So, no, we may not know exactly what we want, but we are making a difference.


4. Why aren't you protesting the government?! They started this whole mess!

The problem with the economy today boils down, in my opinion, to unrestrained capitalism. Ronald Regan, during his Presidency, did everything he possibly could to being the re-regulation of not only the U.S. Stock Market, but also industry as a whole. During his term, we saw more and more businesses begin to ship jobs to Mexico. Over the last 10 years, we've seen more and more deregulation and more volatility in the market resulting in market and eventually destroying the country.

Is this partly the governments fault? Yes. Could you also make the argument that the government has been corrupted by the same companies that are hurting us and that they are, to a degree, nothing more than a middle man between us and them? Yes. So why not just go after the source?

We've tried voting out the bums, and we've tried writing and calling our politicians to actually effect change.


5. You're all a bunch of Communists and anti-Capitalists!

Not even close. I actually like Capitalism myself. Although I have some Libertarian leanings, the truth is I do believe in government regulations of business to a degree. Because of the mess this country is in now, I now believe more than ever that there is a need for them. At the same time, I don't want to see a system in place that says that my money and gain is not my own. A lot of people do believe in Capitalism, but they want restraints. Meanwhile other people would rather see Communism. That's just how it goes.

6. What, you guys just want a handout?! I WORK!

We don't want a handout, we want what's fair and what's right. We want to go back to the days of the New Deal and FDR, a return to the America we were promised at one point. Instead we were given a nation in over $14 Trillion dollars in debt and growing thanks to wars we shouldn't be fighting in the first place. We're not looking for people to give us stuff (outside of donations for the occupation), we're looking for a chance to get things better.

Occupy Philly: From the Frontlines - Part 1

I've decided to start a series of short posts concerning not only my involvement in the Occupy Philadelphia movement, but also the movement itself in my opinion. This is the first in a hopeful series.

Ever since the Occupation started, I wanted to write about my personal experience, thoughts, and feelings about the movement. I've seen this movement go from the highlight of the entire occupation and devolve into something I'm not even sure of anymore. The same spirit that was there the first two weeks seems to have given way to something that I don't know how I feel about anymore, yet I still feel hopeful.

But lets go back to the beginning.

I was at a planning meeting for the new Art Committee and having a background in both graphic design and marketing, I felt particularly apt to tell them what the feeling was from the other 99% who did not want to join us. "I told my co-workers I was going to this, and they said the same thing; 'I support their message, but they all seem like hippies who don't know what they want.' I say we start working on an image for our part of the occupation and prove them wrong!" The reaction was less than pleased, with the general feeling being that everyone should be able to express themselves as they see fit and we go from there. I was skeptical, but at the same time I wanted to see where this would go. I spent the night making designs for protest posters to print and distribute at the protest.

The day of the start of the occupation was amazing! I had met with the rest of the art committee and had signs paid for and printed and ready to go for the first of our marches! I wore a suit and tie and had plenty of people take my photo. Only one reporter asked why I was out there, and my answer essentially came down to, "I don't think the current system of capitalism without restraint works, and it needs to be fixed!" The fact that there was no unified look, no logo for the movement yet, or even a unified message actually started to make sense. The reality was that everyone working together, that we were all the 99% fighting against the Top 1% of American's who controlled everything.

...

It has now been over 2 weeks into the movement. Friday I ran over to Basecamp (The new name for the Occupation at Dilworth Plaza) and was alerted soon after that there was a meeting in City Hall about Dilworth Plaza being held by Design Philadelphia. More than anything, I wanted to know when the start of construction was planned. I want to note that on the first day of the occupation the General Assembly voted to have a permit on the condition there was not end date. The fact that the city is now LYING about this is not something I'm happy about! Myself and a lot of other protestors went into the room the meeting was being held, and one of the people heavily involved with the occupation handed out sheets with questions to ask.

The Q&A was part of Design Philadelphia and no politicians were present. The only person there with any real power to control the project was the head of the Center City District himself, and even he didn't control the purse strings. He knew there were a lot of protestors from downstairs and, in my opinion, he did his best to understand their concerns before giving the presentation. The new Dilworth Plaza will cost $50 Million and $30 Million will come from the Federal Government and was slated for Transpiration. $5 Million will be spent by the city on the project. The project would also include creating a park and a water fountain/ice rink.

The occupations main grievances were that that the money should be used to help the homeless, education, and other system-wide improvements. Despite being told repeatedly where the money was coming from and why it couldn't be used on other projects, my fellow occupiers didn't seem happy. Here was a project that was going to create 500 - 600 union jobs for 2 years, and then 20 new jobs for Philly Residents, a new park, free movies, a fountain, and improved transit. In essence, a lot of what we were fighting for. Yet they weren't happy.

...

Earlier on Friday, that same day, we had scared the crap out of GOP House Minority Leader Eric Cantor who was supposed to speak at the University of Penn but wound up getting freaked out when he found out we were going to be there! It was a massive victory for the movement! For 2 weeks we had stayed outside of City Hall protesting, and it had begun to pay off! First the city tabled the idea of making the new curfew for teens permanent, and now this! I was proud of what they had done, although pushing for the end of DROP and demanding paid sick time be applied to ALL businesses in Philly and not just ones with government contracts would be great, but that's me.

...

Last night, Saturday, the word came out that a group of protestors from Occupy Philly marched to 8th and Race to Police Headquarters to protest police brutality in solidarity with those who suffered in New York and Boston. At first I was happy to hear it... and then I heard where they were; the middle of 8th Street. They sat in a circle, arms inter-locked, in the middle of 8th Street. The police came out and simply blocked off part of the street to traffic so that they could protest.

To me, the action made no sense.

First, its an awesome reason to protest. The actions in New York and Boston are sickening, and showing solidarity with them makes sense. At the same time, why would you sit in the middle of the street? Not only that, but on the side with less traffic and on the side of the building? Why not on the sidewalk of the police station itself? Why not on the steps of the Roundhouse itself and around the statue of the officer?

The entire thing reeked of the protestors simply trying to get arrested for their cause, and not in a smart way. The group also was not truly part of Occupy Philly. Their demands came down mostly to asking them to do things that were outside their control, and renouncing them as puppets of the 1%, despite the fact we consider them part of us, the 99%. Occupy Philly works on consensus, and something like this would need to be approved by the General Assembly (GA). During the first week someone tried to get people to occupy a Bank of America branch and no one joined him largely because it wasn't agreed and discussed with the GA. Nevertheless, Occupy Philly still gave them support during the night, most likely in solidarity. The Occupation itself is distancing itself from them.

After over 12 hours of sitting in the street, the police put a stop to it. Fifteen people were arrested and charged with the minor crime of obstructing a highway. It is being dubbed the first arrests of the occupation.

....

On a whole, the occupation is GREAT! I know I'm not painting it in the best light right now. Sadly, that's where it is right now. Tomorrow is a new day and I'll be back on the front lines when possible to witness what's going on and try to help. There is still a lot of hope and optimism in the people not only at Basecamp but also with everyone volunteering when they can.

Please know that what I write, I write out of love for this movement! I write because I see hope and promise in this, and know it can and will be great!

A week ago we were the model for the nation, now we're no longer talking about jobs, the economy, the lack of accountability on Wall Street, the bank bailout, or anything related to the rest of the Occupy movement. We once again need to go back to our core messages! We need to not think of the police as our enemy but as a group that does want to work with us! We need to realize that this is about jobs! This is about making things better! 

From the Past Comes the Storm

"I need a wet/dry vac. Now."

The only thing I could think of when I woke up Friday was that. Hurricane Irene was coming, and the predictions in terms of rain was astounding; Between 5 and 10 inches of rain, resulting in the worst hurricane since Hurricane Floyd in 1999. I still remember that one and how badly my basement flooded. Despite repairs and the fact that after some repairs and not getting a drain or sump-pump put in (I still don't remember why), I was assured flooding wouldn't happen again. I knew better. There were issues outside that I needed to take care of, and even still there was a strong chance things would get bad.

The news didn't help. CNN, MSNBC, Fox29, NBC10... everyone was saying this was going to be bad. Toss in mandatory evacuations in New York City and a State of Emergency being declared in Philly, I knew this was serious.

Sadly, not everyone I knew felt the same. A lot of them laughed it off, saying it was being blown out of proportion. Most of these people were transplants, people who weren't here in '99, some of them moving here from the South. A lot of them also rented. When you own your own home you priorities change and the idea of having a hurricane party becomes a luxury you only wish you could have. Instead, I had to stay home.

I needed a wet/dry vac to help with everything, so I ran out to Home Depot around 10AM and luckily picked up a small one. I also got some plastic sheeting, really just in case. The hope was that I wouldn't need either.

Lets just go straight to Saturday night. Around 10PM was when the heavy rains came, and within minutes a giant puddle in my basement started to get larger, and fast! I ran upstairs and got my wet/dry vac and started my work. After a while, I couldn't take it anymore. The water just kept coming in and it didn't seem like there was any way to stop it. I started moving things upstairs.

There was as worst-case scenario: The water pouring in and the power going out. No way to get rid of the water, and no way to save everything. I had essentially prayed that didn't happen.

Around 11PM, I ran outside and unclogged a drain by hand as fast as possible. Around midnight the rain came to enough of a lull where I could try and tackle another flood-prone spot outside. I opened up the plastic sheeting and covered the spot I thought the rain was coming in outside. Around 1AM the rains began again, after finally taking a break and talking to people on Facebook. During the next 5 hours, I spoke to people on Facebook on and off, helping to keep me sane while working to save my place.

I found out a friend of mine in the Northeast was stuck with a flooding basement. Writing back to each other helped us both, and we decided that we were "Riders of the Storm!

Around 5AM, I needed to get out out of the house. I put on my red poncho one more time, threw on some Slayer, and went for a short walk around the block.

By 6AM, things were fine. There didn't seem to be any new, or at least much, flooding thanks to the tarp outside. After being up for 24 hours and working for 8 hours straight, I was exhausted and finally got some sleep.

For some people waking up Sunday morning, they feel Hurricane Irene was nothing more than hype. For others in this area, it was a nightmare. For others still, the real horror was waking up and finding their basements flooded, or that their power was out, or countless other horror stories.

Was this storm over-hyped? I don't think so. Considering how bad it almost was, I think it was a fair reaction on behalf of all involved. I'd rather be over-prepared for something than under-prepared.

NO SUGARY DRINK TAX!!!!

As opposed to last year, I've been fairly silent about my opposition to the Sugary Drink Tax or "Soda Tax" proposed my Nutter. Among friends and various online conversations, I've been the complete obvious, with my tirades going on for no less than 5 minutes at any given time going through the laundry list of reasons of just why this tax proposal is, in a word, stupid.

Once again, various writers are praising the proposal, especially since the idea is to fund schools with the revenue.

At the same time, these people don't seem to understand just why this tax isn't going to help squat.

This Tax ISN'T About Your Health!

I pointed this out more times than I can remember last year, but lets get this taken care of: The City of Philadelphia doesn't care about your health in relation to soda. None. Nada. Zip. Soda, in and of itself, isn't that bad for you. The reason it can cause problems is if you drink too much of it. In fact, even if you take that out of the equation, the main problem with soda today compared to 20 years ago is high-fructose corn syrup. That stuff? No, it isn't that good for you. If the soda companies went back to sugar (and with some sodas, that is the case), it wouldn't be that much of an issue.

The said, this still isn't about your health! Why? Because this tax would affect EVERYTHING with sugar in it. That means Vitamin Water, Gatorade... even Apple and Orange Juice would be taxed! APPLE JUICE! You're saying that Apple Juice is just as bad for you as soda? Really? Did I miss a memo or something?

This Tax isn't on You, the Consumer!

Another thing is, while I may hate this tax with a passion, it isn't on me. No, not at all. Instead, it taxes the STORE that sells it! I talked to a few people about that fact, and the general reaction was, "Wouldn't the stores just pass that onto the consumers?" No, I doubt they would. Soda for a lot of stores is one of their main sellers, and the cost of everything else in the store itself could go up! Certain items could get marked-up to help off-set the cost because no one wants to raise the cost of it on the consumer and lose more money.

Where does it End?!

You currently have places banning Chocolate Milk in schools, banning Happy Meal toys, and  essentially denying you personal responsibility! I'm sick of it! I'm sick of all these idiots thinking they know what's best for me! In school, the best way for me to drink milk was chocolate milk, and dang it, I was one of the fastest kids in my school! I went to McDonald's once a week for a Kids Meal, and you know what? I was one of the healthiest kids in my class!

With the sugary drink tax, shouldn't we just be more responsible? Shouldn't parents be able to say "NO!" Shouldn't ADULTS be treated like ADULTS?

The reason al lthe Nanny State crap bothers me is that it isn't really doing much to help ANYONE! It comes off as "feel-good politics" that don't solve anything at all! "I'm glad that little Johnny can't get his Happy Meal toys, now he doesn't want to go anymore! But he still sits on the couch all day just watching TV and playing video games."

To some degree, its sickening that I'm so upset over this! Someone once said people should be this mad about our property taxes going up, and I told them, "YES! We should! Our roads and bridges are great and the tax increase will keep them that way!" With this, its just the start. It's 2cents an ounce now (which is insanely high to begin with!), and then its just going to go up!

What happens when the city needs more cash? It can't raise the sales tax, it can't keep raising property taxes. Heaven forbid they raise the City Wage Tax 1% next year, raising it to $1 per $20k! No! Instead, they'll raise the soda tax another penny! "Crap, we need more money! We miss-managed funds and over-paid people on our pension program, and damn it, we still want DROP so we can retire for a day! RAISE THE SODA TAX!"

Soon they'll go for someone else in the name of "health"! Soon we'll have a cheese stake tax, a Tastykake tax, a fast food tax!

Meanwhile, they don't tax bottled water which hurts the environment, it's BAD FOR YOU, and it means less water fountains! They don't stop the cyclist rampaging through traffic who runs red lights or on the sidewalk (which is a $10 Ticket-able offense!) They don't propose ways of making the city feasibly BETTER with a tax!

Wait, no, they did. Someone said bars should be open later (until 3AM) and use the extra hour to fund schools. That could work. I'm still in favor of raising the fine for riding on the sidewalk!

This Tax Doesn't Solve ANYTHING!

Here's something I didn't consider last time, but I think it needs to be realized: The soda tax isn't entirely bad. Its not. I may hate it, I may despise it, and really, I think its just trying to get another buck out of the poor. Then again, there's a reason for that last part.

Most people who support this don't drink soda, juice, or anything like that. Instead, they drink water. Mostly bottled water. Why? Because they live in places where there's a lot more choices on a whole. They cook well-balanced meals and drink water. They have easy access to good food and are surrounded by people who are eating healthy as well. The idea of having a soda is rare, and really counts as an occasional treat for them.

On the other side are the people who oppose the tax and don't have access to healthy foods.

Go ahead. Ask around your office. Ask people on the street. You'll see what I mean. People with access to healthy food choices drink water, while people who live in poor sections have no real alternative but soda and juice and aren't being told anything else.

As much as this is an issue about choice, about personal responsibility... its also about culture and education.

In a large majority of our public schools, there is no real food education. There is no concept that what you put into your body really impacts you. At the same time, even if you do crave decent fruits and vegetables, where will you go? For me, it isn't easy. There are some supermarkets around me (3 really good ones, thankfully!), but they require a lot of planning to go and take about 30 minutes to get to by foot, bus, or even the train. There are a lot of people in the same situation. The corner store? The healthiest thing there are week-old vegetables.

A lot of people live in these "food deserts", and more needs to be done about it. Not only that, but we need to do more to educate children and teenagers in school about healthy eating and providing better and healthier school lunches that they'll eat! It can be done cheaply, and it'll start teaching kids to eat better so that soda doesn't look as good.

If you support the tax, that's fine. I hate the fact that people who oppose it, much like myself, are constantly lumped into the same pile of people who work for the soda industry and we seemingly have no mind of our own. I've drunk soda for years, and right now I'm trying to go more towards juice and water. The main issue? Price.

If you support the tax, realize that if you do support it for the health of the city that it isn't that simple. You need to start writing people in City Council to start looking for a way to fund more supermarkets and healthy eating courses. You know what? If Nutter used the tax money for that... I wouldn't mind. Much. I'd still complain, but hey, at least its going to something decent.

Bomb Scare at Market East Station

This is the bag that caused a bomb scare at Market East Station.

Around 6:45PM, someone alerted SEPTA and police of a suspicious package on the platform of Market East Station. The station was soon evacuated, the police and fire department arriving on the scene to make sure everything was ok. I arrive around 7:40PM to see all the cars and fire trucks, but didn't know what was going on. I went through the entrance  on 11th Street to catch my train that was going to leave in about 5 minutes, and was a little shocked the door was open.

I went down the stairs and was greeted by a completely empty train station. For being nearly 8 at night, it was incredibly eerie to witness. I saw an officer coming my way and asked him if everything was ok. "You just get down here?" "Yeah." "Yeah, its ok. You're fine."

Down on the platform were 2 trains that were simply sitting there, as well as a conductor and two random SEPTA workers. I asked what happened, and they had as little idea as me. Behind me were a few people who arrived on the platform as well. I heard the story second-hand; there was a bomb scare at the station, and the bag that caused it... was right behind me!

Obviously, there was no bomb, just luggage.

In the end, it really is amazing that this was called in, but I'm both thankful and annoyed. Annoyed, obviously, because just like every single time SEPTA and the police are called about a suspicious package is nothing more than... well, luggage. At the same time, considering that there was a call for attacks on trains, not to mention this is a major city during a major holiday weekend, its good to know that people are still being diligent.

POST-APOCALYPTIC WATER GUN FIGHT!

Tomorrow we all meet in Washington Square Park at 3:30PM and have a giant "End-of-the-world" Water Gun and Nerf Gun fight!

WHO'S IN?

Journey in Philadelphia on a Saturday Night

Photo Courtesy of Camarilla

It was late.

Me and my girlfriend left the club around 1:15 AM. Any chance of her coming back with me was gone, and since we both rely on public transit, the night was going to be a long one for both of us. My phone was as good as dead, so the warm embrace of Megadeth and Overkill weren't going to get me through the long and lonely ride home. My girlfriend was dressed to the nigh of goth club fashion, calling out for discrete attention from a mad gone world, as was I. After spending a ton of time getting dressed and ready, it was all destroyed within 4 hours at a club in Spring Garden while enjoying live music from techno bands on a warm and humid spring night. My 6-inch mohawk was down to nubs, while she looked as good as ever.

The show was great. She got to hear the lamination's of  a band from Australia gone insane on stage, while the guitarist attempted to undress me with both her hands and a come-hither look that said, "Are you ready for this?" We both wound up having a great time. The night was filled with kisses and loud music, a club filled with people wanting to both be seen and unseen, and the air was filled with light smoke and loud music.

After we left, we were stranded on Market Street waiting for a bus. I didn't want to leave her alone on a bench at a bus stop, especially since all the street lights were out around City Hall. It was weird seeing 13th Street in near total darkness, while the only thing illuminating the massive monolith of power is a lone spotlight on the highest archway with stone figures peering over a weary city. A shuttle bus passed our stop with fever as it was filled to the brim with lost souls trying to get home themselves. We were left to wait on a bench with a few random strangers while we stewed in our strangeness.

Wearing mid-calf black leather boots with red stitching and leggings, my girlfriend sat next to a man dressed in a pseudo-military outfit that looked like a cross between 1941 and 2012, and a hair style that looked like it went through the ringer. Together we were quite the odd couple to see at what was now 2 in the morning. After waiting a bit more, her bus finally arrived. We gave each other a loving embrace and a kiss, and she soon boarded the bus without me to head home for the night and sleep.

There's something that's always pissed me off; old guys who leer at young women. You know what I mean; The old guy, who most likely hasn't seen action since when Regan was in office, thinking in vain that he has a chance with any woman who walks the street, as if time had no effect on their otherwise repulsiveness. Trust me, I'm not one to dismiss fantasy or ideals. These guys... they leer like crazy, and in the most obvious way possible. Like staring at the back end of a Ferrari means' you have any chance of getting it.

As she and another woman boarded the bus, one of those old guys was standing at the front of the bus. The usual reaction happened, but this time... this time it went on more than usual. So I made the guy aware I was looking at him. He had the driver stop the bus. As he walked towards the door, I followed suit and awaited the doors to open. "What'd you say?", the old fart asked in a shocked tone. "I was saying keep your eyes up here and stop leering at women, especially my girlfriend." The guy walked away, so did I, and the bus pulled off. For me, it was the start of a long journey back to my house in Mt. Airy as I walked around City Hall to catch the Broad Street Night Owl.

Meanwhile, on the bus, the old man started mumbling about his now hurt pride. As my girl tells it, he was muttering around saying, "Girlfriend... man... I'd take his girlfriend. Over-protecting asshole! Need to show him.... " My girl is tough at nails, and has a sense of humor that sometimes puzzles me and also fills me with delight. Her reaction to all of this? "HA! Right! Like that was going to happen!" As she chuckled to herself, the entire bus looked at her, and back to the old man who was now silent.

The bus ride was otherwise uneventful for myself. I got to Broad and Olney around 3AM. It was vacant, damp from the rain that fell 3 hours earlier, with a few people shouting for a chance for a ride home in exchange for cash or drugs. I spotted someone who I thought was giving me an eyeballing, and I decided to confront him. "Hey, do you know what time the next bus is?" He did a big dramatic gesture and looked at his watch. "Should be here in 15 - 20 minutes." "Cool, thanks."

I walked into a 24 hour Dunkin' Donuts and grabbed a double-chocolate donut. The place was filled with both the vermin of the area and good folks just trying to get home. I put some newspaper on a bench to keep it dry and I took a seat. I was soon joined by a few others, and we made small talk to kill the time. An old white homeless man on crutches came by asking for cigarettes or change, and I politely told him I had neither.

Soon, more people came to sit on the bench. The conversation was light, the folks seemed good, and while it was obvious one was drunk, another had a good heart. The homeless man returned, asking again for cigarettes and change. "You're a white man in America, and you have more chances to make it than I will as a black man!", yelled a man who took off his headphones. The other people on the bench agreed with him, much to my disgust and even personal disgrace. Its amazing to have come so far in existence to reach that sort of point where that sort of parallel is used. In a country that has proven anything is possible and the limits of your success are only up to use, that lazy and terrible excuse to not give a man on the edge nothing... I was disgusted at myself for not speaking out louder at this.

"Man, he could be anything he wants! He's too lazy to do anything else!", remarked the woman next to me. As he walked sadly away, she continued, "He could run for president and they'd STILL vote for him!" "Well, " I interrupted, "So could any of us. Anyone can run for president and win. Didn't we learn anything from Obama? Isn't that the best thing about this country?" There was a brief silence, and then another comment on the guy being lazy.

"Today's Easter, isn't it?", I asked her. "Why yes, it is. I can't wait to get home and see my kids!" "Well, it's good to know that Jesus died for our sins, isn't it?" She agreed, and I walked away from my disgust of it all.

A few minutes later, I walked to the guy from earlier who gave me the weird stare and we talked for a bit. Turns out he worked security at University of Penn and was doing a double-shift which mean double-overtime. I applauded him and went back to Dunkin' Donuts for some orange juice. That's when I saw the homeless man again, sipping on a coffee. "I'm sorry about what happened out there. In fact, I'm embarrassed." With a weariness that only comes from years of hard work and grief, he said, "I was only asking them for a cigarette, I wasn't expecting that." I noticed he had a recent tag from a hospital, and it turned out he went in for a check-up. I offered to get him a donut, and he politely declined.

I hopped on the bus and went home. It was a long and interesting night by the time I got home around 4AM. I got in, plugged in my phone, and got a text from my girl saying she was already home. I was soon in dreamland with her.

The 2011 Mayors Race: More At Stake then you Think!

John Street: Not MY Mayor!

The 2011 election season in Philadelphia is a hot one, and it promises to do something we haven't seen in Philadelphia since the Renell Administration: A Chance at some real change and good times. Now, keep in mind, I'm not saying Ed Rendell's administration was without problem, but his leadership did a lot of good for Philadelphia. This time around, we can see something even more: Real and Dynamic Change!

For starters, a bunch of establishment City Council members are no longer running for re-election. Frank Dicicco (1st District), and Anna Verna (2nd), Donna Reed Miller (8th District), Jack Kelly (At-Large), and Frank Rizzo (City Council-at-large) are out, each of which have served no lest than 14 years on City Council. With them go a lot of the establishment politicians and politics of the past, and the chance for change on the 17-member City Council.

Not only that, but the level of discontent with Mayor Nutter has been growing steadily over the past 3 years, and with nearly 20 years in Philadelphia Politics, he seems to have become subject to the same culture and establishment he fought against on City Council. His only opponet in the Democratic primary is Milton Street, who has racked up endorsements with the Firefighters Union and Local 33 (the sanitation workers union), both of whom are disgruntled at Nutter.

So when we see a Nutter Primary win, what do we have to look forward to?

Tom Knox, who came in a close second in the 2007 Democratic Primary, has stated he wanted to run against Nutter as an Independent in the fall. To me, this is the best thing possible to happen to Philadelphia. We've been under one-party rule in Philadelphia for the last 30 years, and no non-Democrat has won the office of Mayor in over 50 years. Something like this would shake up the political landscape and, along with a lot of new blood and faces in City Council (hopefully progressive!), a lot of good can be done NOW to start shaping Philadelphia in the years to come!

Then there's THIS asshole: John Street has changed his voter registration to "Independent". All arrows point to him wanting to run for a 3rd term as mayor.

Here's the bare-bones problem: Right now, there's a large portion of the city who is against Nutter and, if given a clear alternative to him, will gladly vote against party lines for them. In this case, that's Tom Knox. John Street running would do nothing more than split the anti-Nutter block and cause Nutter to win!

For starters, NO ONE thinks Philadelphia was better off under the reign of the idiotic, corrupt, and immoral Street Brothers. NO ONE. Well, except everyone they wound up helping when they were in office. It took 4 years to clean up their mess, and neither one of them think they can win. Milton ran in the hopes of getting the Street's their power back, and John is positioning himself to run as a back-up. In the end, their only goal is to try to get back into office and start up the old Democratic Machine.

Here's what I think is going to happen: If John Street runs, he's going to assure a Nutter victory. That is, unless Tom Knox can do a LOT to kick up the dirt and fight back!

As for the Republican nominees... well, I wish them well. I sincerely do. I'll have more on them in the upcoming days.

Philly Polticis: The Good, The Bad, and the STUPID!

The Good:

1. Ballot Battles! 

Milton Street, despite most likely forging his petitions as well as not even living in Philly, was somehow approved to be on the ballot. The upside? The Nutter Campaign is battling his petition and residency! I was recently harassed by one of his petitioners before the deadline (I'll leave it there, maybe tell the story one day soon), and on top of the fact that I don't think he should be elgible to run at all... Well, it's a red-letter day for me!


Czar, pardon me, City Councilman Darrell Clake has just had his petition challenged as well! You may know Darrell Clarke as the City Councilperson from the 5th District who's chief accomplishment's are trying to track when you buy cigarettes, alcohol, and Sharpie Markers, wanted to ban Satellite Dishes, passed a hate crime bill that was simply redundant and pointless, as well tried to pass a promoters bill that would have harmed Philly only because he didn't like the fact he couldn't park closer to his house. 


His petition is being challenged by his only challenger, Suzanne Carn, who's husband is former state Rep. Andrew Carn. I hope it works and we see Clarke have to pack his bags and go!


2. The Corrupt Establishment Is LEAVING!


Councilpersons Joan L. Krajewski , Donna Reed Miller, Frank DiCicco, and Anna Verna are GONE! Their done! Retired! Adios! For the record, I met Anna once when I was running, and she was very nice, same with Frank DiCicco who tried to help me lower the age requirement. That aside, politically, I am glad to see all four of these people go. We need some fresh blood in City Council, and a more progressive governing body to challenge Nutter!

The Bad: 

1. The Philadelphia Republican's can't seem to get their stuff together!


WHAT THE HELL?! Come on, it's wide open! You're up against someone who promised hope and change, and instead all we got were new tax ideas that were terrible and stupid and treated us like kids! He lied to the city about stopping casinos! The guy is as popular as a wet sock, but no one is really challenging him because, frankly, who wants this mess?! The Democrats in Philly are about as progressive as a donkey stuck in mud, and the best the Republican's can do is somebody no one's heard of?!
 
 Plus, they never even bothered to give me a call or send me an e-mail! I'm on Facebook! Call me!


2. Charles Ramsey might be leaving. 

Even though I was tough as hell on the guy before he got here, I have to admit, he's done a good job, and he's tried his damnedest to try and clean up the local police department. If he goes, hopefully we'll get someone who's just as good, if not better.


The STUPID: 

Simply put: The fact that Milton Street was allowed to get on the ballot without the Election Office VERIFYING everything first! WHAT THE HELL!

Oh: And ANYONE who thinks Milton running is "entertaining"! What the hell is wrong with the people in media thinking it's a GOOD thing? The guy's a criminal, a jerk, and an incompetent politician!

Patrick of Digital Ferret Fights Back for all Home Owners!!!

Patrick has let me show my work at Digital Ferret a few times, and I consider the man a pal and a great guy to do business with. So when I heard about this, I couldn't be happier:

"It's not clear how this story will turn out, but right now Patrick Rodgers is living a pay-back fantasy probably shared by millions of struggling U.S. homeowners.

Frustrated by a dispute with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and by his inability to get answers to questions, the West Philadelphia homeowner took the mortgage company to court last fall.

When Wells Fargo still didn't respond, Rodgers got a $1,000 default judgment against it for failing to answer his formal questions, as required by a federal law called the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

And when the mortgage company didn't pay - does something sound familiar? - Rodgers turned to Philadelphia's sheriff."

Read the full story on Philly.com!

Also, I want to note that the one thing that is getting lost in all of this is that Patrick owns and tuns Digital Ferret. The place is AWESOME! Spread the word!

Milton Street is Running For Mayor. Again.

All I have to say is this: No.

Why? WHY IS HE RUNNING AGAIN? 

Didn't he learn anything?

At any rate, I'm not planning anything. I plan on staying home and voting against him. He doesn't have a chance. At all.

The Curious Case of Lewis Harris, Jr.

In 2007 while I was trying to run for Mayor of Philadelphia, I took a chance of trying to become the nominee for the Green Party of Philadelphia. I had run into someone during my petition drive who turned me onto the group, and asked if I would speak to the group at the next meeting, which I gladly agreed to do. I went to the meeting, gave a speech, and it was pretty well received.

My speech, in general, was about how people who have been in politics for forever and a day tend to forget why they became public servants int he first place, and how over time they've been corrupted by the power and the need to secure their spot every chance they get. How, in the end, they care less about helping people and more about everything else.

After the speech, I met the two people the Green Party was already running, one of whom was City-Commissioner candidate Lewis Harris, Jr.

Lewis reminded me of someone I already knew; the type of person who had lived through more things than I could ever know, growing up in a time when segregation was legal and when being tough meant more than anything. He also reminded me of the type of person who was in politics for forever and a day. He put his arm around me, much like Milton Street did when I went to protest him, and said, "Here's my card, man. Give me a call. We'll talk, get you started, and one day we'll get you into office, get you started on the path."

I could tell immediately what he meant; Do what I want, or you won't go anywhere. I declined.

Months passed. The other person they had considered to be their nominee started to fade away, and I came to monthly meetings from March until August. By the last one I went to, the kind and welcoming nature that Lewis and the other person had shown was gone. They didn't see me as one of "them." Not just a non-Green Party member, but not a "team player". I didn't want to play the game of cow-towing to people I didn't feel I could trust. In turn, they used their influence in the party as board members to vote against naming me the nominee.

The Green Party lost all elections that year.

Fast-forward to 2011. A special election was held in the 185th District for a vacant seat. Up for election was the widow Maria Donatucci and... Lewis Harris, Jr for the Republican Party?

Yes, Lewis had popped-out again and was now a Republican. Not only that, but he wanted to be a State Representative! During the election, his website offered little if anything on a platform, and simply highlighted his accomplishments and accolades. The election fell during the massive snow storm, and in the end saw very, very low turn-out.


Maria Donatucci won with 94% of the vote!

Lewis Harris, Jr,  to me, doesn't seem to be focused on people. Based on the few times I've met him, talked and dealt with him, and the fact that he has gone from Republican Coordinator for Sam Katz in North Philly, to Vice Chair of the Green Party, to running as a Republican State Rep to now running for Traffic Court, can you blame me?

Egypt Protest Today!

THE STORY EVERYONE ELSE IS TOO SCARED TO POST!

Are you mad about what you're seeing on the news about Egypt? Do you want to show your support for the people on that country as they yearn for freedom, TRUE freedom, and Democracy?

Today there will be a protest to show solidarity with the people of Egypt!

Monday, January 31st
The Federal Building, 6th and Market, Philadelphia
4:30 p.m.-6p.m.

Photo courtesy of Global Political Awakening

MONSTERS (In My Head): The Disturbing Illustrations of Larry West

The Monsters are no longer confined to under your bed!

Philadelphia Artist/Native Larry West returns to the Philadelphia Art Scene with his next art show, "Monsters (In My Head)". After 6 years of toil, agony, and fear, Philadelphia Artist Larry West unveils the monsters that reside in his head! An exhibit in the macabre and disturbed pieces of art that he constantly refers to as "The art of a madman", the show will show 10 of the most raw, imaginative, and heartfelt pieces of the illustrators life.

The artwork deals with a lot of lost that the artist has gone through. "I call them the monsters in my head because, well, that's what they are. But in a lot of ways, they're the ones we all see. Pain, misery, loss, anger, anxiety... they all take different forms. Some are scarier than others, but all of them are always clawing away at us at one time or another."

This marks Larry West's second art show, as well as his second at Digital Ferret. Larry's art will be shown in conjunction with live performances by Worms of the Earth, Vicious Alliance, and DJ Stalagmike.

The opening reception will be held September 24th at 7PM - 10pm, and the show will run until October 20th. Prints of all the pieces will be available for purchase.

Larry West's artwork can be viewed at his website:
http://www.larrywestproductions.com

About Larry West: Larry West is best known for his 2007 run for Mayor of Philadelphia. He has since then taken a larger turn towards his artwork, and still comments constantly about politics in Philadelphia, and the world.

The City of Philadelphia Wants $300 For ME To Express Myself

Philadelphia City Council sure tends to get creative and innovative sometimes, right? Especially when it comes to raising money AND suppressing rights!

Today's latest example? Forcing bloggers to pay the $300 Business Privilege License (BPL).

The idea is actually simple; some bloggers are making cash, and the city sees it as a way to make some quick cash! Originally, I blamed two City Council Members, Bill Green and Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, for this idea. I was wrong, and I do apologize.

No, the fault lies in the fact that the city Department of Revenue decided to make this move, which really doesn't make a lot of sense.

Case in point? In one case, the city demanded a fee from someone for making... $11 from his blog. $11?!

Let me get something straight: The city, despite the fact that they KNOW for a fact that they are owed downright millions from a few people in the city allow them amnesty to pay, knowing they've done it for years. Meanwhile, a few bloggers who make a few dollars off their blogs are forced to pay what can amount to 300 times more than they make, plus penalties and fees... ON $11?!

But, wait, no, here comes out heroes with a plan!!!

In June, City Council members Bill Green and Maria Quiñones-Sánchez unveiled a proposal to reform the city's business privilege tax in an effort to make Philly a more attractive place for small businesses. If their bill passes, bloggers will still have to get a privilege license if their sites are designed to make money, but they would no longer have to pay taxes on their first $100,000 in profit. (If bloggers don't want to fork over $300 for a lifetime license, Green suggests they take the city's $50-a-year plan.)

Yeah.... no.

Here's the thing: Yes, without a doubt, there are blogs out there made SPECIFICALLY to make money. In my case, this is not one of those blogs. Not even close. Never made a damn cent off this thing! Ever! In fact, that's the case of 99% of the blogs out there.

So the bill doesn't make any real sense.

OK, let's go on that law, shall we? If you make ANY money, you MUST file for a Business Privilege Tax for $300, pay the City Wage Tax, a business Privilege Tax, AND a Net Profits Tax. Damn. Well, tell that to any kid that opens a lemonade stand. Looks like they need to pay $300 for making $15 off selling lemonade! Oh, what's this! Yes, its a homeless guy on the street and it looks like he just made $10 today to eat! Well, he better have his business license! Can't let the homeless guys get off, can we?

The heart of the bill says that if you make any cash off your blog, you're now stuck paying the BPL. The problem comes in where do you draw the line? What about people who use eBay? Or Etsy? Or Craigslist? It is, really, a slippery-slope because there is no end in sight for where this bullshit can go!

So the other part of this argument is that it limits free speech. Does it?

Let's get this part straight: IT DOES LIMIT FREE EXPRESSION.

What person would want to start a blog who lives in Philly knowing they are now stuck paying a tax if they ever try to make a cent off of it, even if its nothing more than a donate button so they can get food from time to time? You already have outcry from countless bloggers decrying this act!

So you know? To the people who decided it would be a good idea to charge me $300 to EXPRESS MYSELF?

GO FUCK YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!

Photo courtesy of The Penn Group

Is Fox 29 Getting Dumber, and Us With It?

Is Fox 29 Getting Dumber, and Us With It?

I'm posing this question based on... well, some really stupid things they've decided to opine on:

1. Do we really need libraries? Don't people use their computers for everything?
2. Is SEPTA wasting money by spending $1000 on parties and awards every year?
3. Isn't SEPTA allowing AT&T to buy naming rights better than raising fares?
4. 99% of their morning show. Need I say more?


Out of everything on that list, I think maybe one of them you slightly agreed with, and I can't blame you. If you don't

Thomas Drayton is actually the target of this, since he seems to be the single biggest idiot on the entire network. I won't say he's spouting his own opinion at times, because it's not incredibly likely. It may be coming from the people behind the scenes, the producers and writers of the news. But considering he's the source of most of the points I raised (well, save their morning show), he will have to play scapegoat.

For the sake of disclosure, I want to point out that, yeah, this is a little personal. In 2007 I got to be on Good Day Philadelphia during my run for mayor. I give them credit now for trying to be a little lighthearted in this, but it's annoying when you're trying to be serious. In the end, well, I wound up making a decent point.

On a whole, I've actually liked Fox 29 news reporting. It's been more liberal than you would imagine at times, and they've been fair and allowed both sides to sound off. They took on the Street Administration and investigated a lot of the corruption in City Hall, most recently, and most famously, Councilman Wilson Goode's staffer who was not showing up for work and was not only getting paid, but a massive raise.

Over the last 6 months, there's been a turn towards... well, not the right, just dumber.

For starters, they argued that libraries aren't needed anymore.

The argument was that since most people do their research on computers, should the local and state government pay to keep the libraries open? You would think they would have a community organizer, a librarian, someone at all who's involved in the library system. No. Instead they bring in resident psychologist Dr. Chuck Williams and a lawyer. Dr. Chuck Williams I'll go into detail about later on, but during tonight's appearance he did defend the library system, citing at-risk kids and the fact that, yes, they are helping. The lawyer argued otherwise.

The problem with the argument against keeping the library free is obvious: First, with rising unemployment, and people who just don't have money, the need for free resources is constant. Using a computer to get a job is essential these days, and some people don't have access to one without a library. As another bonus, they also have music and videos for free. On a whole, the entire thing works as being an archive of knowledge and an invaluable resource. Plus, Wikipedia will only get you so far.

Then there was this video about SEPTA spending $25,000 on awards and parties for employees over 3 years:

This was part 1, and I wound up tuning out after that. Jeff Cole is a valuable resource to Philadelphia news, and he is, without a doubt, the last great Philadelphia Television Reporter. The "It's Your Dime" series has, by-and-large, come off as splitting hairs. Seriously, why would anyone be outraged over the State of Pennsylvania spending about $1000 on folders over the course of a year for whenever they do a dedication for someone? $15k for parties for SEPTA is virtually nothing considering it's less than 1% of their entire budget. In fact, it's less than a quarter of a percent. SEPTA's operating budget for 2010 is $1.132 BILLION DOLLARS.

So, yeah, $15k for parties and food is nothing.

Jeff Cole spent the rest of the week pointing out other flaws with SEPTA, and these got better as the week went on. He pointed out what the salaries are for some employees, in it is a little shocking... until you realize what they do. Train Engineers are incredibly highly skilled, and they do fully deserve their salaries. Bus Drivers? Out of 2500, only about 19 of them make more than $100k, but 527 made over $70k. Despite all my bellyaching, even I agree that isn't that bad. Again, a lot of these guys work their asses off.

Thomas Drayton himself argued on the air that SEPTA selling the naming rights to Pattison Station to AT&T was smart, saying "Would you rather they raise fares?" As I've already point out, NO IT DOESN'T.

IS Fox 29 getting worse, and us with it? I think only half of that sentence is true myself.

SEPTA to Get Rid of Bus Numbers to Eliminate Confusion

SEPTA, in yet another effort to eliminate rider confusion, has decided to eliminate the number system for buses. The move follows eliminating the “R” system from their Regional Rail service, as some customers would accidentally get on the wrong train and go in another direction entirely.

“We've listened to our customers complain for years about the trains, but we've gotten a lot of the same complaints about our buses, if not more," remarked SEPTA's General Manager. “So in order to eliminate the confusion of going the wrong way, we've renamed each bus route after the final destination. This means you will now know which bus is going where as the final destination instead of having to rely on a number-based system.”

One example of this new and improved system is the Route 18 Bus that runs from Cedarbrook Mall to Fox Chase. Instead of having the bus route called the “18”, as is the shorthand, it will now be called the “Cedarbrook Mall” route and the “Fox Chase” route, respectively.

“I'm glad to finally see this! I can't tell you how many times I go to Center City and get on the wrong bus!”, Samantha Max of the Fishtown section remarked. “I've taken the 33 Penn's Landing bus more than one time thinking it was going the other way! I don't read the entire name of the route on the front of the bus, just the number.” When asked why he did this, he replied, “Isn't that all I need to know?”

The move has been met with some criticism as well from a small, but vocal, number of commuters. “How the hell does someone get confused about which way the bus is going? The route is in the name, for crying out loud!”, replied Mark Harvey of Chestnut Hill. When asked how often he took the bus, he said, “About once a week. It can be a little confusing, but a lot of the bus signs tell you what the final destination is, so it's easy for me to figure out which side of the street to get on.”

“Part of the reason for this move is because we've found that some of our riders do have a problem with 'reading comprehension',” SEPTA's General Manager admitted. “Some of our riders are from out of town, may ride our transit system intoxicated, or in some cases are simply illiterate. In order to make the system better and more efficient for everyone, we feel that making these changes for less than 1% of our riders is a step in the right direction.”

The cost of the project has not been determined, although it is worth noting that twice as many schedules than before will need to be printed. Not only that, but so will any and all maps with references to the bus route numbers, and the nearly countless signs around Philadelphia and the Suburbs with route numbers on them.

When asked if the possibility of selling more naming rights to more stations could possibly effect this even more in the future, SEPTA responded in a positive way. “The hope is that it will. We're currently working on a deal to sell the naming rights to Frankford Terminal to Sprint, thus renaming it Sprint Terminal. The deal would be worth $20 Million.” When pressed further, SEPTA would receive only $3 Million of that money, which comes out to 0.03% of SEPTA's $1.3 Billion a year budget(PDF), as the money would be spread over 5 years.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-

DISCLAIMER: The following article was a joke. If you did take this seriously, that proves just how fucked-up the new Regional Rail system idea is! Contact SEPTA directly to tell them so!

Flash Mobs, Violence, and The Media: So Really, Who's to Blame?

Flash Mob.

The terms has been thrown around Philadelphia periodically over the past year, starting back last summer when a large group of teenagers converged on South Street on what was one of the first nice Saturdays in a while. Back in March, they came back on, once again, the first nice Saturday in a long time. Both times they were called "Flash Mobs", a term used in this context to describe a large presence of people descending upon an area at once. This should not be confused with actual flash mobs that do fairly creative and fun things after organizing online.

Criticism has been leveled against the media for hyping the story, and fairly so. In bringing so much attention to this, it actually seems to be increasing the number of them and the number of people coming out to them.

The problem now, though, is that the criticism is getting worse and the real problem is being ignored.

Enter Philebrity, the biggest gossip and news blog in Philadelphia. While I can honestly say I respect them some of the time, I'm frustrated with it the rest of the time. Case in point: Their Racism-bating stories criticizing 6ABC . So what do I mean by the term "Racism-baiting"? They're saying 6ABC uses underlying racism to make the Flash Mobs look worse than it really is. The problem, though, is that they aren't.

Case in point?

Here’s what doesn’t: As Friday night’s lead story illustrated, “FLASH MOB FEAR BLACK TEENS VIOLENCE” has now entered the Action News (and all who sail in them) pantheon of non-stories they can sensationalize the fuck out of, spreading fear and dread to those who desire it most — the ignorant schlubs who actually think that what WPVI is “news.”

The actual video doesn't try to tell that story at all.

All the while, Philebrity ignores the actual issue: WHY kids are gathering like this, and why it is an actual issue.

On July 10th , an estimated 20,000 people descended on South Street around 1AM. The police, in response to these action, shut down 11 blocks. Again, this is 20,000 people in a 11-block area. That's a LOT of people, especially for 1AM on a Sunday Morning. No events, no concerts at that time... nothing. There was a concert earlier at The TLA, but that ended around 11PM. The cops had tried to subdue the crowd for the better part of the night since many kids were coming down because they mistakenly thought that the Greek Picnic Crowd would be there. The truth of the matter is that the picnic has not taken place in Philadelphia since 2007.

Philebrity's response? The cops are afraid of black people, thus the reaction was bad.

SEPTA buses were actually brought in to take the kids home that night, and considering the fact that since anyone under 18 who is out on the street past 12AM on a Saturday Night is breaking curfew, and thus the law... it actually does make sense to call in buses to take everyone home.

The problem with these gatherings isn't that black teenagers are there, or that it's a large group of black kids. No. The problem is that it's a large group of teenagers in general, and that can lead to problems. It's true that only a small number of kids are actually causing problems, but they can, and are, easily magnified when the numbers of actual kids increase and peer-pressure starts to give way to a mob mentality, no pun intended.

Philebrity seems to be ignoring the facts that, yes, violence is happening as part of these large groups of teenagers, the fact that these are mostly black kids does not mean its racist to point that out, and the fact that something needs to be done.

The problem doesn't lie in laying blame on someone, but in the attitude we give to the situation.

So, really, who's to blame? Blaming the media alone is pointless. So is simply blaming parents or even the kids. We really are all to blame in some way for this. The parents are to blame for not being there for their kids, for not being more proactive in some of these kids lives. Yes, parent's can't be there 24/7, and teenagers are still growing up and need things to do and will do things like this. Is the new hive-mind mentality part of the new world we live in?

In recent weeks, the Philadelphia Police have cracked down on large groups of teenagers because of the violence we've seen, and they have been getting better about preventing these gatherings before they get too big... well, sometimes.

The solution isn't simple, it's complicated. Parents getting involved is a start, so is the media not reporting about this is a fairly-glamorous fashion. I can actually say I agree that the biggest problem with 6ABC's coverage is that it puts it as a front-page story when, really, its more page 7, but then again, this was a case where the police dispersed the crowd before it was massive problem. If more stores and restaurants were open late across Center City in general, who knows, maybe that would help. Since South Street is basically the only area open later than 7PM on a Saturday Night, or the only one with a lot of attention.

The quasi-ironic thing, though, is that over the last 5 years South Street started to go downhill in terms of, well, being interesting and fun. Suddenly we're seeing it become at least one, if not the other, and there seems to be no one or any way to make this into a positive thing, or make it fun.