Airport Secutiry? BULLSHIT!

Let's make this simple: TSA, listen to this.



Now stop looking at me naked and groping me.

SEPTA to Eliminate The "R" From Regional Rail; Drunks Remained Confused and Dumb

SEPTA's General Manager has decided enough with the "R" system, and in with... nothing.

Introduced in the 1980's, the "R" system was designed to help different lines apart and was based on a German system to tell different steam engines apart. In an effort to help end customer confusion, they have decided to end the "R" system from "Regional Rail". They cite people getting confused about what train and platform to get on when they're told to take a train.

Sadly, they're trying to accommodate about 1% of their riders by spending a ton of cash and making life harder for the other 99% of us who take train.

For starters, the only people who get confused by the "R" system are tourists and people who don't pay attention to simple directions. Say you're going to Highland Ave. That would require taking that R2 to Marcus Hook. If someone say's "Take the R2 to Marcus Hook", well, you look at the signs, see the one that says R2 MARCUS HOOK and get on said train.

Unlike the Bus and Subway systems, EVERY station is CLEARLY marked with the final destination of the train. Unless you run down a flight of stairs to catch a train, unless you don't pay attention to where you're going, unless you make an actual effort to get on the wrong train, you won't. You need to use common sense more than anything.

SEPTA's new system involves simply having the name of the end-station be the name of route to try and end confusion. This is not going to solve the problem.

Remember how I pointed out the R2 Marcus Hook? Let's take another line, the R7. There are two end stops: The R7 Chestnut Hill East and the R7 Trenton. There is one single train that goes the entire length of the route. You're at Market East Station, the main train hub, and you need to get to Croydon Station, but not sure what train to get on. "Excuse me, " you ask the someone at the information desk, "but what train do I catch to get to Croydon Station?" "Easy, take the R7 to Trenton." You look around and see something that says "R7 TRENTON." You get on the train.

Why? Because you know you're going on the train that goes to TRENTON, they guy just fucking SAID SO!

The END of the line is in the NAME OF THE TRAIN LINE!!!! It's isn't "R7" with no semblance of where you're going! IT'S R7 TRENTON!!!!!

Eliminating the "R" literally makes no sense unless, like I said, you're a tourist, a drunk, or have no common sense. People will still get on the wrong train.

In fact, this could make matters worse. Remember when I said you could take the R7 straight through from Chestnut Hill East to Trenton? There are plenty of people who don't get off at the main terminals from Market East Station through 30th Street Station. Imagine how many people will now be confused and freaked out that the train that they only needed to get on one train for now appears to be two, or the throngs of people in the future who will think the same thing.

You want to see people confused and waiting on platforms for their train they missed? Folks, you go it!

Also, this is not going to be cheap for SEPTA! We're talking about having to reprint a LOT of things! Not only the train schedules (which are done regularly), but also the large maps at all the train stations to remove the "R" designation. We're looking at replacing all the signs on the trains! That color-coded systems so you knew which train you were getting on since each rail system made sense, like Red for R7, Brown for R8, Yellow for R1, etc? Gone!

It will now take TWO schedules to replicate the old R7 line:

Here is the new Chestnut Hill East line PDF
Here is the new Trenton line PDF

We're talking about TWICE as many schedules in order to reproduce ONE line. Not only that, but they all are the same color, and ugly as hell! Feel free to look at them yourself:

New SEPTA Regional Rail system's maps are at tt the bottom of the page.

We're looking at MORE confusing here, and when it blows up in SEPTA's face in the next few weeks, I shall be laughing.

Photo courtesy of AllAirports.com

When SEPTA Bashing Gets Desperate

OK, let's face it: You know and I know that SEPTA has a ton of problems. It's a running joke in the city.

For all its flaws, we can agree that the service isn't the worst in the world, but it is far from perfect. The fact that you can take public transit to just about ANY point in the city is amazing, and we really are lucky to have it. Imagine all the poor folks stuck in the suburbs who have to drive everywhere.

SEPTA is going to raise it's fairs AGAIN for the first time in 3 years, and it isn't going to be pretty. New rules on passes, not to mention an increase averaging about 5% on all fairs (save the based Bus and Subway fare). You've heard that SEPTA is going to go ahead with the name change of Pattison Station to AT&T Station, and I argued that the name change isn't going to mean anything in the whole of the budget.

Why? Because the budget hole is $100 Million, and SEPTA is only getting $3 Million. In other words, not much.

So when I saw that Fox News was reporting on SEPTA tonight and them WASTING money, I could, you guessed it, only sit in anticipation to find out what they were doing now. My fairs are going up thanks to these assholes, and they're WASTING MONEY?! Fuck 'em!

The report... was sad at best.

Jeff Cole, who I greatly admire, has a series that takes on government waste. The problem? 99% of the time, it's basically nothing. For example, he was outraged that the PA Government spent money on those little book-things you get when the government gives out an award.

Tonight's complaint? SEPTA is spending money on making their employees happy! The bastards!

No, it's not making health care better or giving more vacation time! No! That cost's MONEY! Instead, they spent about $10k on... parties and awards. No, you didn't misread that: Ten Thousand bucks to throw a Christmas Party and give some awards to the upper-management. About half of that money was for the part alone.



"OH NOES!", you may be screaming, "SEPTA is wasting a TON of money on this stuff! No wonder my fare is going up!! THOSE ASSHOLES!" Then again, if you think that, you're either an idiot or just simply ignorant, and I can forgive the second one. SEPTA's annual budget? $1.132 BILLION.

I will repeat this: SEPTA's operating budget for 2010 is $1.132 BILLION DOLLARS.

So SEPTA spending $10k on a party and some awards? Not really all that bad for once. SEPTA selling the naming rights to a station for $3 Millions, and people defending it so we don't see a fair hike? Pretty stupid since that's less than 1 percent of the budget, and only 3% of what the budget shortfall is.

Feel free to read their actual operating budget for yourself. (PDF FILE!!!!!!)

Photos from KYW1060

The "Soda Tax" Myth Part 3: It's a Slippery-Slope

When people say something is a "slippery-slope", it's considered a informal fallacy because it says there can be no middle ground when people argue a point. I've used the term a lot, and I want to acknowledge that I do see a middle ground in this, but to get there, I have to start with the simple fact that this is the start of something bigger here.

We began with taxing alcohol in 1862 at 20 cents a gallon under Lincoln to help pay for the civil war. Later on, we began taxing cigarettes, largely in part to help generate revenue, but with then a side-effect of helping health. From there, we began smoking bans, and then banning trans-fat foods.

In the end, we accepted all of these ideas and regulations. We realized that alcohol and tobacco was bad for us and we allowed the government to take more and more steps to stop us from, in a sense, killing ourselves. From simple taxation we went to bans. Its gotten to the point where smoking is banned anywhere but your own house, and to be honest, even as a non-smoker, I felt bad for the people who did smoke. In terms of drinking beer, we've agreed that alcohol should be consumed in reasonable quantities and by adults only.

So how does this relate to soda and sugary-drinks?

Sugary-drinks aren't that good for you. Period. Over the past few days, I've defended soda with as much fever and pride as possible. For me, a soda drinker, it effects me a lot. For some people I know, they don't think it will effect them at all, although I am quick to point out that in Philadelphia's case it most likely will.

But they aren't the problem. The problem is with over-consumption, abuse, and not taking personal responsibility for your actions.

That's IT. It's not hard, it isn't difficult, and it isn't much. If you consume too much of anything you run into problems. We seem so quick to run to the government to govern how we live. Why? Why are we so willing to give up our own personal freedoms for the sake of a little ill-conceived safety? We all know and realize that the biggest problem with this tax is that it isn't going to make people healthy in and of itself. We all know that over-consumption is the problem, be it fast food, junk food, or... well, anything.

So, where is this all going?

You may scoff at me getting so mad about this, but consider this: New York State is considering banning additional salt in restaurants. I am not kidding. SALT. Oh, come on, you know why; it's bad for you. Too much salt can give you a heart attack. Salt can kill you. We all know it, we all know its a fact... so why NOT ban it, right? I mean, if the government knows that TransFats will kill you, that soda isn't good for you, they MUST know better than us that salt must be banned as well, right?

Now we're looking at Pizza Tax. Why? Because it's BAD for 'ya! Come on, we all know it! Hell, it's WORSE than salt, let alone soda, right? The government is here to help! They want to make sure you eat right! An extra 10% per pizza isn't too bad, right?

Right?

I think you see my point.

So the soda tax was only the beginning. You, the people, have already shown your OK with the government regulating your day-to-day life and that they should be allowed to tax and/or ban anything THEY deem unhealthy for you. You? You have no say in this. These aren't put up to public vote, only to legislators.

Whatever happened to PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY?! When did we all decide that giving up our personal rights? When did we decide that we are no longer a nation of grown adults who should be able to make decisions based on what we know an instead nothing more than children? I was never informed! Never got a memo, never got a IM, never got an e-mail, let alone a phone call.

Is this a "slippery-slope" No. The middle ground is there, and it can be reasonable if we actually start to look for it. If we're too quick to jump to a conclusion and don't look for alternatives, we're going to miss it and wonder why things got so bad. But I have argued that, yes, this is the start of the lost of some of out personal rights.

In the end, that is why I oppose this tax more than anything else. Yes, I may be mad about the fact that I'm finally getting taxed for what I enjoy as opposed to the smokers and drinkers. Yes, I may complain about why I think it doesn't make any fiscal sense. And, yes, I may have spent a ton of time and energy just to get to this point. The bottom line is that this tax is, literally, just the beginning of them taxing away your rights and, even more importantly, your responsibility to keep yourself healthy and alive.

Why do I oppose this tax? Because I want to be treated like an adult!

The "Soda Tax" Myth 2: It Will Help Raise Money

Or, in another way, "Why the Soda Tax doesn't make fiscal sense."

This is going to be a long post, folks, so I'm diving it up into a few sections:

1. The Fiscal Argument for the Tax
2. The Key Problem with the Tax
3. Who's Hurt By the Tax Economically
4. The Social Cost of the Tax
5. What About Jobs?
   
6. How To Raise the Funds Without a New Tax

So, point one:

1. The Fiscal Argument for the Tax

When you look at the economic outlook for the City of Philadelphia... it's pretty grim. Millions of dollars are needed to keep the city afloat another year, and the deficit just seems to keep getting bigger. To make up the money, the city has floated around some really unpopular ideas: Taxing trash bags, taxing plastic bags, closing down libraries and pools... even threatening to shut down the court system in order to get more money from Harrisburg. Yet it never happened. With unions working without a contract and the problem only getting bigger, these new harsh economic times called for new thinking.

Sadly, it wasn't for the better.
The argument for the Sugary Drink Tax is not based on health. Let me be clear; this argument isn't about your health. While other states may have thought about doing this in order to help keep health care costs down and, in turn, add more money to health care, this has NOTHING to do wit that.

Instead, the tax would be seen as a way to make more money for the city.


2. The Key Problem with the Tax

The problem, though, is multi-pronged.

For starters, revenue from soda will go DOWN after the first year alone.

Let me explain: The reasoning behind a "Sin tax", which is a tax that is imposed on certain items because we've deemed them harmful, is to REDUCE consumption of an item. Let me repeat that: The idea of taxing soda in the first place is to reduce the actual consumption of the product. In turn, you guessed it, revenue goes down.

While some analysis think it could bring in $18 Million or so the first year, keep in mind its based on the idea that people would continue to consume soda at their present rate. Adding an extra 40 cents to a 20oz bottle really isn't going to help.

So, we've covered that the tax isn't to make you healthy, and that the tax revenue from taxing it don't make any economic sense. But who else is hurt?



3. Who's Hurt By the Tax Economically

Retailers, namely the small ones, will be hurt most by this tax. But also you.

Without going into the much detail, in a capitalistic society, the idea is that the market itself determines what people want. In essence, supply and demand. Over the past few years in terms of health, we've seen more demand for healthy food and healthy food alternatives, and the market has responded by creating more healthy choices. But we also understand that the government needs to help from time to time to make sure that businesses look out for us.
The Sugary Beverage Tax would be leveled against retailers first.

Here's how it works:

Retailers would have to pay an annual tax of $.02 per ounce based on what they sell during the year. In turn, this will do three things; either force retailers to cut back on the drinks, force them to raise prices on their soda, or force them to levy the fee to their customers by raising prices across the board on certain items. To be honest, I couldn't even guess which route would be taken by most.

But, lets assume that retailers put it across the board to lessen the blow across the board. In the end, nothing is being done to stop you from buying soda because, well, you're only seeing a minor price increase in soda itself.

It also means that if you don't drink any sugary drinks yourself, you are now a victim of this tax. If you are in favor of this tax, you may be taxing yourself in a new way without even realizing it.

Grocery bill will go up if this law is passed. If the tax is spread across the board, and it could, it means that food prices will go up for everyone. The casual soda drinker is still hurt as much as the habitual one.

Wouldn't it make more sense to offer an incentive to both retailers and citizens to cut back on soda instead of taxing them? Allowing retailers who either cut back on selling soda a tax incentive or even if they stopped entirely would be more effective than a tax!



4. The Social Cost of the Tax

Now we get the the toll this can, and most likely will, have on society in this city. IF this tax is levied, do not expect people to simply stop buying soda. As I mentioned yesterday, diet soda wouldn't be effected and thus presents a new set of problems. Businesses will lose money and many corner stores keeping neighborhoods alive may disappear since they would not be able to compete against the larger stores offering lower prices on basically one item that everyone wants that the smaller places couldn't.

On top of that, people will start to simply cross the county or state line in order to get a cheap soda instead, or maybe stock up.



5. What About Jobs?

We're also talking about jobs.

Some people scoff at the idea that Coke and Pepsi, who both have factories in Philadelphia employing hundreds, if not thousands, are in danger of losing their jobs. To a degree, they may be right. But, please, tell me this; If the city where you had a major plant started to pass laws exclusive to you and their area, wouldn't you think twice about having a factory there?

Is job lost feasible under this tax? Yes it is. Demand would be down in the city, but its likely that outside the city demand would grow thanks to people simply going across either the county or state line to grab as much cheap soda as possible. So while it is possible we could see job lost at these plants, I doubt we'll see them shut down.

But the local stores and operators will be hurt and we will see job loss there.



6. How To Raise the Funds Without a New Tax

So, we've seen that the tax isn't about your health but about making money. I've shown that the reasoning for the tax itself doesn't make economic sense and that the impact on your wallet is effected even if you don't drink soda since the tax could be applied to everything thanks to retailers. I've stated that I think we won't see Pepsi or Coke leave town, but jobs were still in trouble at small retailers thanks to the tax.

How do we make the money back?

It's insanely simple: First, we don't need new taxes. The idea of a tax is to raise revenue, and as I've pointed out, there is no reason this one would work.

Instead, we need to start enforcing laws. We can start with tax evaders.
The City of Philadelphia is projecting a $150 Million Dollar Deficit. The City of Philadelphia IS OWED $300 MILLION DOLLARS. So let me make this so easy, even Mayor Nutter can understand:
-$150 Million + $300 Million = $150 MILLION SURPLUS

Easy enough?

So, that solves our short-term problem... what about long terms problems? How do we keep crime down while making money? Again, another easy one based on simply enforcing the law.

Currently in Philadelphia, minor crimes, a.k.a. Nuisance Laws, are not enforced. These laws include jaywalking, spitting, and littering among other things. All of these offenses can also be ticketed, thus revenue thanks to fines. The idea of enforcing these "minor crimes" is that it reminds you that the police are there for a reason; to enforce the law. How many times have you seen someone break the law in front of a cop and the officer did nothing?

If people start to respect the people who are supposed to protect them, crime goes down. If crime goes down, you don't need to much police presence. The revenue from ticketing may go down, but you've also reduced costs as well.

To be honest, I could go on and on about this. I've written twice with ideas on solving this mess, and the ideas always seem to get ignored. With City Council and Mayor Nutter trying to get more funds, I hope they look toward this and start using these ideas.

Tomorrow, I'm going to explore the issue even more and discuss your health, personal responsibility, and what it all means to soda.

Philadelphia New Sugary Drink Tax Would Add 2 CENTS AN OUNCE!

2 CENTS AN OUNCE?!

Those greedy bastards are at it again! The details of this stupid, unhealthy, non-beneficial, and ultimately harmful plan have come out.

They want to tax you 2 cents AN OUNCE to drink ANY sugary drink bought in Philadelphia.

The sound of 2 Cents an ounce may not seem like much at first, until you realize what it adds up to. A 12-0unce drink gets an added quarter, 1 20-ounce goes up an added 40 cents, a 2-liter bottle get's an added $1.36, and a 12-pack goes up $2.88! Throw in an added cost of basic sales tax, and things get worse!

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, if you don't drink soda, "Ha ha! Those losers who drink soda are going to have to pay through the nose!" Well, your wrong. This tax effects ALL SUGARY DRINKS.

So say "Hello" to a tax on Apple Juice, Orange Juice, Prune Juice, and ALL Fruit Juices! Oh, and sports drinks are also subject to this tax.

Let me see if I get this straight: The City of Philadelphia, trying to make people "healthy", has decided to impose a tax that would raise the cost of even healthy fruit alternatives so that the low income citizens of Philadelphia will be outraged and unable to afford them, thus meaning that if you want to drink ANYTHING in Philadelphia, your best bet is tap or bottled water. The odd thing being that bottled water IS harming not only Philadelphia's bottom line, but also the environment.

Soda has become a scapegoat in a war to TAX YOU as much as possible.

Folks, welcome to the modern day stamp tax!

Photo courtesy of NorCalLabs

City of Philadelphia Propsing Taxes on Trash and Soda

In yet another desperate grab for cash, the City of Philadelphia is reportedly floating around 2 ideas: Taxing you to have your trash collected and taxing sugary drinks. Both are stupid, idiotic, horrible ideas. Lets find out why:

1. The Trash Tax Will Fail

It's actually pretty simple: Philadelphia has been, over the years, become a city of haves and have-nots. The haves are able to get by day-to-day and not worry about losing everything without missing a paycheck. The have-nots are barely getting by, and one missed paycheck means the end of their world.

Now throw in a fee for a basic city service.

The idea of a fee for garbage collection city-wide has been tossed around before and shot down for the same reason, especially since it was based on the idea of paying BY THE BAG. The idea never made it pass the drawing board.

2. The Soda Tax = Tax on Fun

As you may now, over the past few months, there's been a massive movement towards comparing soda to cigarettes and tobacco products. Now, other than the fact that its a bad argument, the reasoning tends to be that people drink too much of it and that its bad for you. Here's the problem with that argument: It basically states that people don't have any common sense, thus the government needs to swoop in and stop you.

Lets get something straight: The idea of taxing soda is not to help with you health, its to raise cash, and nothing more.

Not only that, but when it has been discussed in the past, it was always agreed a portion of the money would go towards health care costs. In this case, the only public health talk has been towards using propaganda to make it seem like the tax is for the public health when, in reality, its just to raise more money for the city.

Also, this is yet another tax on the poor.

Many argue that those in poor areas need to stop drinking soda the most and, in turn, need to drink more water. These people are basically saying there needs to be a tax on soda because they don't really deserve soda.

In my case, I don't have any real vices. I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, and save caffeine, I'm almost "straight edge". My vice, my lone pleasure in life? Soda.

More than anything, this tax says that adults shouldn't be treated like adults. We have a perfectly legal thing, something we all enjoy, but because a few of us have taken it and gone too far, it must be taxed?! It starts with soda, but what next? Candy? Snacks?

Does the fact that fast food is already taxed stop people from eating it so much?

These ideas and taxes must, and hopefully will, fail. Instead of fixing the way real estate taxes are done in the city, going after the biggest tax cheats in the city, or cracking down on people who owe the city thousands, if not MILLIONS, of dollars, we instead get stupid ideas for taxing people down to the bone!

If this is given serious motives, I wouldn't doubt seeing a few Soda Parties in this city.

This Snow Mess is Somebody's Fault!

Get it? This "snow" Mess? This "whole" mess? ...yeah, I know, too early for bad puns.

We basically went all of Monday without much notice or warning about a potential storm on Thursday, and that all changed starting Tuesday, as the threat of the storm started to get more and more real. By Wednesday, the word was that the storm would be crippling. Schools were shut down preemptively, despite the fact we were due to only get, at most, a foot of snow and the real snowfall wouldn't arrive until Thursday night.

Then came Thursday.

No snow stuck to the ground in the city, and people stayed home, most likely in fear, that it would get worse. Myself? I went out, anyway, and went to work. I didn't get home until 7PM and by then, it finally began to stick to the ground. During the entire day, the major networks publicly argued about just how much snow we were to get, from some stations still sticking with a foot to others arguing nothing more than 6 inches.

Its now 8AM as I write this and I'm getting ready to head to work.

FOX 29, and indeed everyone else, is saying stay home. There's a problem or two with their logic. For starters, they have to cover EVERYONE from Philly to fucking Delaware! Is anyone else slightly annoyed by that? That the fact that our local news station seems unable to tell people in their MAIN MARKET that what applies to certain places doesn't apply there? The snow is sticking here, it's about 6 inches at (in some rare spots), but it really isn't that bad unless you drive.

So, here's the real message:

If you have to DRIVE today, wait until noon when the snow stops. IF you're walking or taking the regional rail or subway, you'll be fine. IF you're waiting for a bus, you're going to have to wait a while.

Sound good? Great. It's simple crap, folks!

Schools are closed again (although this time I actually can't blame them), but the local government is still running. It isn't a "snowmaggedon" or anything like that. Honestly, I thought this area had more fucking balls than to act like a bunch of 2-year-olds when we see a snow storm. We've just dealt with the worst blizzard in Philadelphia's entire history! 6 inches of snow shouldn't cause this many problems!

Last Bow: Conan's Last Show is Friday

Sadly, this is the end of the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.

I’s official: Conan O’Brien is leaving NBC. The network has confirmed that the host signed his exit papers and will end his seven-month run on The Tonight Show Friday with guests Tom Hanks and Will Ferrell. “In the end, Conan was appreciative of the steps NBC made to take care of his staff and crew, and decided to supplement the severance they were getting out of his own pocket,” Gavin Polone, O’Brien’s manager told TheWrap. “Now he just wants to get back on the air as quickly as possible.” A formal announcement is expected later today.

The news comes from Entertainment Weekly.

It is a sad day for Late Night television, as well as comedy in general. Despite the best efforts of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people supporting Conan, his ratings going through the roof thanks to the drama, as well as the fact that he's gotten even funnier with the axe over his head... he is now out of a job.

Best of luck to him and here's hoping he goes to Fox. Until then, we get great bits like this:

Stuff that I Find Offensive: From Harry Reid to Wall Street

I wanted to provide some commentary, albeit short, about the current state of affairs. So, let me begin:

Harry Reid's remarks, and Obama accepting his apology? Not Offensive.
Former Governor Blagojevich saying he's "Blacker than Obama"? Not Offensive
The same banks we bailed out giving out bonuses? OFFENSIVE AS FUCK!!!!!

America, get your priorities straight. Thank you.

"Little" Willie Brown Explains Why He Rejected the Deal, Discusses Strike

At 11:30AM today, "Little" Willie Brown had his first press conference since calling a strike at 12:01AM on Tuesday morning. Here is the un-edited video:



Here are the headlines:

1. He walked out of the deal because of the pension. He complained that while employees only get 50% put into their pension while SEPTA management get's 90% put in.

2. He thinks Mayor Nutter, or he calls him "Little Ceaser", shouldn't be involved in talks since he's trying to keep the compromise low, and refuses to talk with him at the table.


The deal they were given was reviewed and commented on by labor experts and the verdict was unanimous: It was a pretty decent deal.

The compromise was, in the end, a good one: The workers still received a raise over 5 years of 11.5%, they did get more put into their pension (although they would have to put more into it themselves as well), and their health care contribution would remain at only 1%. Considering SEPTA wanted to raise their health care costs to 4% alone... it was a major victory in the end with all things considered.

To Willie's credit, I get the part about the pensions.... somewhat.

There's a few problems. For starters, the fact that there is a pension is amazing. How many places actually still have one, save the government? Its safe to say that paying into your own retirement makes sense and is fair, and paying 50%, to me, is a little tough but fair. The fact that SEPTA management get's 90% is crazy, and the smartest thing to do would be to accept the contract on the condition that management decreased what they got put into their own accounts. Maybe that was the case. If it was, he would have been idiotic to not mention it.

Word is that SEPTA and the unions and Ed Rendel could meet Thursday to discuss the contract. Rendell had stated Monday that if they didn't meet by Thursday he would not give SEPTA an extra $6 Million to help pay for the deal the union was given.

There is something important to consider: the funding for SEPTA is NOT set in stone.

The budget for SEPTA over the next few years depends on state funding, which in and of itself has always been iffy, but also on putting tolls on I-80. If the federal government doesn't allow us to put tolls on I-80, SEPTA will be further in the hole than before, and any and all raises and benefits won will fall on you and me, the average SEPTA rider.

As I've stated before, I do believe SEPTA management is partly to blame for what we're seeing happen with this agency. The company is horribly mismanaged and has never in its history turned a profit. Improvements to the system have been slow, with everything from basic station improvements to a updated fare system being held back.

At the same time, its hard to say that long term improvements are the fault of management. Its the same story as always: If you're spending a ton on your employees and day-to-day operating costs, how can you afford to do things to improve you company?

SEPTA spokesperson Jerri Williams spoke to NBC10 about the strike as well:



SEPTA is willing to talk and get this taken care of. Will "Little" Willie Brown be willing to do the same?

Eagles Sign Micahel Vick, and I Die A Little Inside

The Philadelphia Eagles are dead to me.

Never, not in a million years, did I ever think I would say those words, type them, or arrange them in any sort of a sentence. Never, ever, ever, EVER. But as of today, they are.

They signed Michael Vick.

From the very moment I was born, there was an Eagles hat on my head. No, I'm not the most vocal fan. No, I don't own a ton of Eagles merch nor have I've ever been to one of their games. No, I don't own a Jersey, and no, I don't know the name and stats of everyone on the team. Am I still a fan? Hell yeah! Even during the 90's, when the average season resulted in only a lousy 3 wins, and I was with them during the highlights, when they went to the Super Bowl and when they almost made it back this year.

Michael Vick. Damn it! Why?!

I believe that once you serve your time, you should be allowed to re-enter society and get a job. I believe that once you apologize for your crime, and you make sincere effort to rehabilitate, you should have every single right to get a new job and make a living. This case isn't that different except for the fact that you also lose some privileges. One of them is to be a hero to kids by playing football in the NFL. Another is making millions by playing a sport.

On top of that, with all the problems in pro-sports today regarding the behavior of those who play sports professionally, having a federal criminal who engaged in a violent activity that harmed dogs doesn't help the image of the NFL.



Image thanks to Daryl Crages awesome blog!

I will not, in any way, shape, or form, be supporting the Eagles this season unless they agree to drop Michael Vick! I won't watch the games, I won't watch the news segments, I'll even turn off the TV if there's a news story about them!

Hey Andy Reid, can I ask you something: HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID?!

You know what, I'm going to turn off my filter. Look out for foul language:




WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE MOTHER-FUCKING-HELL?!?!?!?

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT! MICHAEL VICK?! THAT ASSHOLE!??!?!?!?!

FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU BASTARDS!!! WHY?! Why the FUCK would you sign this asshole?! No, seriously! WHY. THE. FUCK would you sign him?! Yeah, he has good states, yeah he's a good player... but as a human being, he's fucking scum! Hell, he's LOWER than scum! He's shittier than shit!

COME ON! TELL ME with a straight face you didn't know this was going to happen! The outrage! The anger! The backlash! Could you even fucking imagine the fact that even people who don't like dogs (like me) think what Vick did was so fucked-up that WE don't even want to associate with the fucker?!

FUCK YOU!









OK, I'm done. No more cursing.

I might even go further in this. I wouldn't mind picketing or protesting Eagles games over this. No kidding. I wouldn't mind.

So, there you have it. The angriest man in Philadelphia spreads his hate about his used-to-be favorite football team. I'm now stuck finding a new football team to root for. Maybe the Arizona Cardinals? Cleveland Browns? Or maybe the Oakland Raiders. Hell, look at their fans!

But, give me this: I still fucking hate the Dallas Cowboys.

Why The Philadelphia Art Scene Sucks: A Short Essay

I've been saying it for years, and frankly, I never really had an answer to why. "The Philadelphia Art Scene Sucks!" I've said it to friends, co-workers, class mates, teachers... frankly, anyone who had 5 minutes to kill heard this from me. But I never had a reason.

Until now.

Why does the Philadelphia Art Scene suck? Easy: Because we celebrate mediocrity.

For years, I've harped on style and subject matter. Yes, these are subjective things, and modern art is subjective in and of itself. When Duchamp came to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and brought in a urinal and called it "art", art became nothing more than a subjective term, a seemingly meaningless phrase used not to describe what you saw but, rather, describe what you couldn't explain.

In contemporary art, namely in Philadelphia, you see a trend where only mediocrity reigns supreme while actual talent and vision is crushed. Yet, oddly enough, talent and vision actually sells while mediocrity does not.

In a world of supply and demand, especially in such an economic climate, one would wonder why gallery owners in Philadelphia, as well as certain blogs catering to a "young and hip" audience would, in tern, steer their crowds and patrons away from what they actually do want and, instead, simply spoon feed them contrived works of art that is, in essence, pseudo-intellectual.

There we go. The art scene in Philadelphia is, in essence, nothing more than pseudo-intellectual.

What do I mean? The caliber for "Fine art" is this: If you paint something on canvas, it's "Fine art". If it makes sense and looks like it was done by something who knows what they're doing, it's not.

I am an illustrator, both by nature and by training. I am not a realist by any means, nor do I mean to push my perception of the 120+ year old question of "What is art?" onto anyone else. But, at the very least, I would wish the decorum of those in Philadelphia would at least hail the work of contemporary art to higher degrees than the same form of modern-abstraction it seems has dominated the world of art for the last 100 years and more towards different style and takes, even from more "urban artists" or "Stuckists" or those in the Pop-Art movement!

To an even further extent, in terms of graphic design we celebrate it to extremes! Local designers who are celebrated and given work tend to work in a style more reminiscent of what you may see in a high school art class than on a professional level! I've seen t-shirt designers praised who make little, if any sense while talented people are forced to toil in obscurity. I've seen designers work for companies using no design skill at all work for companies while those with degrees who know what they're doing are forced to fend for food, rejected by those same companies.

To a larger extent, I've seen blogs praise designers who did nothing more than steal an image by somebody else, not even modify it more than a hair, and praise it for being great by virtual of being "a clever take"!

Philadelphia celebrates mediocrity. It hails it on high as being "Brilliant" while the concept is weak! That is why this art scene is failing, why so many talented people here either leave or give up, and why Philadelphia is scene as a cultural wasteland.

100% Harmless Senior Prank Results in Criminal Charges: School Officials Declared OLD!

So let me get this straight: 17 High School seniors snuck into their school's courtyard camping out. No one was hurt, injured, nothing stolen, no criminal or malicious intent at all... and they're getting charged for it?

FREE THE SOUTHERN LEHIGH SEVENTEEN!

The Youth Are Revolting: Teenage Riots

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - May 31, 2009 (WPVI) -- A series of violent attacks and vandalism broke out in South Philadelphia overnight... and police say the culprits are juveniles and young adults.

The rampage started around midnight. Several dozen juveniles pulled a cab driver out of his taxi at 12th and South Street, then took off in the vehicle. They hit a car a few blocks away, injuring two people inside.

Other young people conducted similar attacks near Broad Street. Police say a woman who works in the Philadelphia District Attorney's office and her passenger were pulled from a Jeep and assaulted.

Another person was assaulted in a nearby McDonald's parking lot.

A mini market located at Broad and Catherine Street was also ransacked. Action News was there as store employees assessed the damage.

At least one person was hospitalized after being hit in the face and head.

Now, Philadelphia Police are asking for your help tracking down the suspects. Anyone with any information about these attacks is asked to call Philadelphia police.

SOURCE: 6ABC

----------------------------------

Youths rampage in South Phila.
By DAFNEY TALES
Philadelphia Daily News

Authorities are searching for a tech-savvy mob of teens who used online social networking sites to terrorize a South Philadelphia neighborhood Saturday night, police said.

More than 100 youths arranged via unspecified Internet-based means to meet on South Street near Broad about midnight, swarming the area and leading to a melee that ended only after the mob had hijacked a taxi, pulled a woman from her car and assaulted her, and ransacked a convenience store, police said.

Several people received minor injuries, including the taxi driver and the woman, a paralegal with the District Attorney's Office, police said.

A Daily News editor who was riding in a nearby taxi watched as the tide of youths swayed in different directions along South Street near 12th, as members of the group held cell phones to their ears or sent text messages.

It's annoying and frustrating that there doesn't seem to be any logic or reason to these events. No cause, no reason... just random occurrences where large groups of teenagers causing trouble.

For more information, please read my old post. Thanks!

Child Leashes: Really, WHY?!

I. Hate. Child Leashes.

To me, there is no symbol, no outright disregard for all that is intelligent and a sure sign that the person shouldn't be a parent than having this kid on a LEASH!

Today, I went to a corner store in Center City to get something real quick. While on my way, I saw a kid. I thought he was adorable, and I then noticed something else while on my way into the store: A leash. A. LEASH. Attached to the other end of this leash was a father. The man had to be about 300lbs, 5' 6", and looked like some cross between a gansta and a punk, emphasis on the former rather than the later. While I've gone on and on about how I hate it when people stare at me, people judge me, etc... well, there are exceptions to the rule. Like doing something that doesn't just harm yourself, but an innocent child.

To quote the Simpsons, "This leash demeans us both."

To me, the leash shows you don't care about the kid and their emotional well-being. It means you're treating them as nothing more than a status symbol, an accessory... that you can not, and will not, be bothered with doing what you need in order to keep them in line, to help them grow up into responsible members of society. It means that, instead, you treat them as a pet; to be trained, to be obeyed by you.

You SUCK! You sicken me!

To me, the ONLY time, THE ONLY TIME, you put a kid on a leash is if you don't have a choice. If the child has some sort of emotional problem, A REAL ONE, where they could otherwise really, really, REALLY do something harmful to themselves without knowing it... yes, I can understand it. If your child is a god-damn hellspawn, by all means, do it. This kid wasn't. He was a sweet, little, adorible thing. Not misbehaving, not suffering from anything... just standing there.

Do me a favor: The next time you want to put your kid in one of these "harneshes", think for a moment that your not doing it keep your child in line. Instead, you're humiliating both yourself AND your child.

Photo thanks to Mick Laders.

Swine Flu: Facts, Figures, and Complaints

First thing first: STOP BLAMING EVERYONE ELSE FOR THIS!!!!

Period! Stop! Shut up! CNN has the balls, I repeat, THE BALLS to say, "Twitter is promoting fear and terror over Swine Flu." Wish I was kidding. It's insane because you can't blame Twitter for promoting this: CNN has basically devoted 80% of their coverage to this! I've been watching CNN for a while, and all-day yesterday was just... insane.

Then you have Keith Olbermann and The Huffington Post saying that the GOP is to blame because they took anti-pandemic funding out of the Stimulus Bill. At the same time, that funding was put back into another bill.

So, that said, can we please, please, PLEASE stop blaming other people for this? Or, at least, the wrong people.

That said, the media has blown this entire story into proportions I can't believe! At this rate, you would think your watching clips from 28 Days Later, and how we must beware the "infected".

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Snoutbreak '09 - The Last 100 Days
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

And GAWKER has done something great and compiled this video!

In the end, we need to realize something:

This isn't worthy of this much attention, at least not yet.

The only people who have died have been people without decent health care. The chances of you or your family dying from this are incredibly low. At the same time, this entire thing has been blown incredibly out of proportion. Just wash your hands, be smart, and you'll be fine.

Anti-Stimulus Cartoon "Offends" People

When Obama was running I told all my friends the same thing; "I'm afraid of him winning if for nothing else than we may not get to make fun of him. Too many people will be afraid that they'll be labeled racists or offensive or whatever!" My friends... well, they tended to look at me with glazed eyes because they didn't care.

So when the Obama Sock-Puppet Monkey came out and I laughed because I thought it was cute, you can imagine why I wasn't shocked that a lot of people found it offensive. "Your comparing him to a monkey! RACIST!" Well... yes and no. In the past, yeah, comparing black people to monkeys was racist. At the same time, we have a tradition of comparing politicans to chimps, orangutans... simians of all shapes and sizes. We've never cared about the race of poltiican, just the fact that they were an inept chimp.

And then this.

Seriously, outrage over this? “OH MY GOD! It’s two WHITE cops shooting a CHIMP! RACISM!” What are you, 5? If it was two black cops, would it be racist, or just a really interesting political statement no one would care about it? What if it wasn't a chimp at all, but a snake. "Oh no, they killed a snake!" No one cares about snakes! Everyone fucking HATES snakes! Chimps? We like them!

The only people offended by this are people who want to see some sort of racism in and of itself. How many cartoons have there been over the last 8 years comparing Bush to a chimp? Seriously, how many? I lost count after the first 1,000,000.

Apes, monkeys, chimps… people compare politicians to primates all the time! I didn’t see it as a racist; I saw it as them saying only a idiotic chimp would write a stimulus bill like that, that the bill was stupid and seemed to be written by a chimp.

I'm 99% sure that the guy who drew this said, "You know, some people might get offended by this, but I'm sure that it's just going to be a few people and that'll be it. No one is going to care about what a few idiots think. I'm certain that the audience of The New Post have enough of a brain to realize it's not racist but basic social commentary using ideology and imagery we've used for years." He vastly underestimated the basic level of intelligence the average New York Post reader has.

How many people “outraged” laughed at the Bush-Monkey comparison? How many people “outraged” love Obama and voted for him and would shout outrage at any bad press about it, screaming “conservative bias”? How many of these “offended” people think black people have had it so hard they need to be protected? How many people “offended” realize that Al Sharpton is a idiotic douche bag who has said and done horribly racist things himself?

At the same time, how many people laughed at this:

You remember this, right? Mohammed with a bomb on his head. People laughed and chuckled at it but we all said, "you know, that might be offensive to some people, but at the same time, the guy is basically saying that religion can be used as a weapon. He isn't saying 'All Muslims are crazy, just some of them.'" We all used our brains and made a rational decision and moved on. We laughed at the crazy bastards over the ocean who protested and thought it was so horribly bad.

Well... your turn. It's your turn to realize that your an adult and you need to be treated as such, to be challenged, to be offended! You don't have a right to not be offended, you have a right and a privileged TO be offended! To question! To be treated as thinking, rational, mature human beings!

This cartoon isn’t racist unless you want to be. If you think it is, please cancel your subscription to the New York Post, boycott it, whatever... meanwhile, I'll be over hear laughing at how silly you look.

Why Are Retailers So Fucking Stupid?

Back in 2008, Dr. Pepper made a deal with America: If Guns 'N' Roses finally released "Chinese Democracy" before the year was over, they would give everyone in America a FREE DR. PEPPER. Sounds sweet, huh? I don't normally drink Dr. Pepper, but hey, free soda, right? I don't remember the details of how they did it at all, but I do know that they way they did it was bad: You had to apply for it within a small window of time. I never found out when and when I saw people on a message board I go to complain they didn't get it, I didn't really care.

The fallout was Guns 'N' Roses management was angry with how Dr. Pepper did the offer and created some sort of lawsuit to make them to do it again. Let me state, this is all from memory because I don't feel like wasting time finding it. Apparently, Dr. Pepper decided to give it another go because they offered a Free Diet Dr. Pepper if you applied for a coupon on their site. It was incredibly easy to do and I was done in 2 minutes. Last time, people spent nearly an hour waiting to get through!

Well, I got my coupon Monday after only 2 weeks of waiting (again, as opposed to the 2 months some people went through waiting). I decided to use it today and was pleasantly surprised I could also get a regular Dr. Pepper as well. Cool, huh?

There's a 7-Eleven near where I work and it's run by this god-awful Russian woman. I love Russia, I love Russian women, but her? HORRIBLE! She treats her employees badly, has no respect for customers, and just doesn't know how to do her job. In turn, handing her a coupon from a major manufacture, a fairly simple thing at a retail chain, she said, "We don't take coupon." I took it and left. That place sucks ass. 8th and Chestnut, in case your wondering, next to Quiznos and across the street from Starbucks.

The 3rd place I went to was Rite-Aid. I went to another place in between, a really sweet small shop (Old Nelsons, 7th and Chestnut. Great folks!) who couldn't take it, either. "Rite-Aid! I can't go wrong there!" I was greeted with this: "We don't take Internet coupons." "This isn't from the internet, it was mailed to me by Dr. Pepper themselves." "How did you get it?" "....OK, I had to order it online, but it was MAILED to me." She mumbled that "it didn't matter" and went to check with her manager in the back. If he was like me, he was pissed that a rather simple thing like taking a manufactures coupon was turned into a 5-minute ordeal. They took it, I got a free soda, and went back to work.

All and all... decent. I may have to drink more Dr. Pepper now, it's pretty good.

The Reaction and Outcry to "Why Philly Blogs Tend to Suck"

I couldn't resist.

In response to what I wrote yesterday, I saw this:

JOE: I’ve been saying for years that the media really needs to stop living in the past. Shit, anyone can report on things that have already happened. I want my news filled withall the possibilities of the future and wild speculation!

Because, as we all know, asking someone to report on a planned event is "wild speculation!"

But, thankfully, someone saw the point:

RYAN: Actually, I agree with him in spite tarnished reputation due to his mayoral race hijinks. Most Philly news/infotainment blogs are pretty bad at pumping up cool events in the city, a lot of newcomers I talk to are at a loss for what to do. It isn’t that there aren’t cool events, or that the blogs just don’t outright list them, but there isn’t as much of effort to sift through the dozens of weekly event listings and sift out the pieces of corn amidst the pile of shit.

Ryan, thanks! That's a pretty good way of putting it. I've lived here my entire life, but I won't lie... I'm a reclusive guy who spends all his time watching TV and wasting his life posting on a blog. I go to The Troc's website as much as possible since I go to shows there, and whenever I can or remember, I either pick up one of the local alt-weekly papers to check out shows or The Electric Factory's and TLA's website.

But there's always more. Take the Punk Rock Flea Market, for example. I didn't find out about it until Wednesday, and that was after all the tables were gone. It would have been nice, VERY NICE, to go and sell some of my art there. Who couldn't use a few extra bucks right now? Or how about not finding out a band you like came to town or did a show the day of or after its happened? These things are planned well in advance, at least a month or so.

It seems local blogs are to content with trying to seem "hip" that they forgot about being "Cool", "Fun", "Informative", and above all, "RELATIVE".

Eh... then again, I'm willing to admit I write all of this stuff for myself. I try to stay humble about it because, frankly, I'm just some dude who posts on a blog. If I build a following, I'll start writing for them. Soon, people will complain I became the same thing I hate... and they might be right.

For now? Courage.