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TALK ABOUT YOUR POST HOC, ERGO PROPTER HOC IN ACTION, AND THEN SOME: ConWebBlog has this following exugenesis of a favourite specimen of conservative illogic in the face of common sense itself in the wake of misplaced policies of His Fraudulency's Great Within:
Terry Jeffrey really, really hates public transportation.
in his June 12 column, the CNSNews.com editor claims that "Recent evidence that automobile use is declining in America and that some Americans are making significant--and in some cases not readily reversible--changes in their lives because of escalating gas prices should be worrisome signs for those who love liberty." One of those changes is a move to "socialized transportation"--better known to the rest of us as public transportation.
Jeffrey does grudgingly admit that "roads generally are constructed by government, albeit with funds extracted from the earnings and gasoline purchases of drivers"--though he doesn't admit that such a scheme is arguably socialist too--then goes on to complain that "In a socialist transportation system, the government takes the taxpayers' money and purchases vehicles--often buses or trains--for itself or a government-funded agency. Where and when these vehicles go is determined by the government."
Jeffrey went on to express shock that one change people have made in reaction to record-high gas prices is that "8 percent have taken public transportation"; he responds that "Hopefully, the 8 percent who have taken to socialized transportation represents a trend that can be reversed."
The hilarious thing about Jeffrey's column is that his place of employement, aka the Media Research Center headquarters, is located within walking distance of a stop on one of the better public transportation systems in the world (the Washington Metro), as well as a stop for Amtrak and a regional passenger railroad. Further, several bus lines run within a few blocks of MRC HQ.
Somehow, we suspect that Jeffrey doesn't take the Metro to work (and we're almost certain he doesn't take the bus). But we also suspect that a number of MRC employees do. Does the MRC provide free parking? And are there enough parking spaces at MRC world headquarters for all of them?
Seems like Jeffrey and the MRC should be putting their money where his mouth is.
Which is enough to ask just how much of the Greater Conservative Agenda is rooted in, or otherwise replete with, euphemisms as ought more correctly be considered dysphemisms and code words concealing true intent--which, in the aforementioned example, would be "wise use."
Not to mention showing a reckless and utter disregard for the likely consequences of "wise use" policies which, in Reality, encourage waste and inefficency--in the aforementioned instance, the consequences of increased and increasing motor traffic translating into longer traffic tailbacks, longer commute times and, in the end, general deferred maintenance.
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IT WAS ABOUT TIME THAT MNDOT "FLIPPED THE BIRD" @ GOVERNOR PAWENTY AND HIS DROOGS WITH THE CLUB FOR GROWTH AND LIKE-MINDED SPECIMENS OF FALSE OR FLAWED SOCIOECONOMIC POLICY: MnDOT (as in the Minnesota Department of Transportation) has announced that it will "fast-track" no less than 11 bridge construction projects over the next 10 years in the wake of an ongoing scandal over flawed structural integrity aggravated by years of deferred maintenance in the (presumed) name of "protecting the good taxpayers" and "keeping taxes down" just to create jobs--supposedly unskilled, labour-intensive, low-paying such in the Luddite vein, the theory being one of reducing unemployment to a theoretical nil rate within free-market capitalist models and paradigms.
Said "middle-finger salute," so to speak, being made possible by the Legislative veto override of gas tax increases to finance the whole effort back in the spring--a necessary evil which the Club For Growth's best droog among the 50 state governors fails to recognise as such, let alone offer viable alternatives as avoid recourse to taxes (as if suggesting that the Lower Classes should just needlessly waste their new-found wealth from tax cuts on shopping expeditions @ Wally World bordering on the wasteful and frivolous, and with reckless disregard for utility and practicality combined with value for money).
Anyway, back to the topic @ hand:
Of the 11 bridges due for accelerated replacement thusly, six alone span the Mississippi River (notably such in St. Cloud, St. Paul, Hastings, Red Wing, Winona and Dresbach); two span the Red River of the North; and one is the International Bridge connecting Baudette with Rainy River, Ontario (CDN).
(Interesting historical sidelight: The Hastings bridge to be thus replaced, vintage 1951, was constructed to replace the legendary Spiral Bridge, vintage 1894, to wit:
(As for the "why and wherefore" of the spiral ramp design, Hastings civic leaders wanted to keep the country trade in Beautiful Downtown Hastings, but @ the same time didn't want to see a major stampede caused by runaway horses arriving on a more conventional ramp.
(Its own fate was sealed after World War II, following a reduction in the weight limit to five tons which led to a rather notorious incident as had a school bus, passengers and all, ticketed for being overweight ... to be followed for a time by students having to leave the bus before it crossed the span, and walk across same, reboarding @ the opposite end.)
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AS IRAQ DETERIORATES ALL THE FURTHER INTO CHAOS AND DISORDER AGGRAVATED BY THE AMERICAN COLONIAL PRESENCE THEREIN, Iraq's President will be flying over to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for a medical checkup.
No wonder The Terrible-Tempered Mr. Bang is still as hard-wired as he is about maintaining an American Colonial Presence in Iraq for @ least 100 years (cf. the 48 years' American colonial presence in the Philippines until their being granted independence in 1946 ... let alone Hitler's Grand Delusion of a Thousand-Year Reich for Nazi Germany as fell 988 years short).
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A NEW PILL FOR THE HOMOPHOBIC COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY SO THAT INVOKING HIS NAME: Swedish researchers have come out with a new study which found, based on brain scans, that the brains of gay men and straight women were, all things considered, practically identical in terms of general dimensions.
In contrast, the brains of straight men and lesbians had a larger right pole.
You can read the details in the current number of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences--until the "family values" crowd manages to censor the article by claiming "pseudoscience" or some such patsy as makes no logical sense in the face of facts.
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FURTHER COMMITTED TO THE SERVICE OF THE PUBLIC, ESPECIALLY SO HEADING INTO SUMMER HIATUS, Your Correspondent calls your attention to a new and informative widget on the side of the page as should be of benefit heading into Indecision 2008.
PolitiFact.com, a service of the St. Petersburg Times and CQ Politics, has introduced what may be the most effective way to gauge the veracity or insincerity of various claims made throughout the campaign: None other than The Truth-O-Meter, which analyses claims made by the candidates themselves ... the political parties ... outside political movements and campaigns ... even bloggers and chain e-mails, and renders a verdict based on careful and impartial research in one of six categories: True, Mostly True, Half True, Barely True, False and (for the most incredibly bizarre specimens) Pants On Fire.
Which you'll no doubt want to consult from time to time, especially when you come across some class of scuttlebutt online and you need to judge its authenticity and credibility.
And in case any of you bloggers out there are wondering if you can add this widget to your own weblog, just click here and follow the simple directions. It automatically updates as new claims are analysed and published.
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AND BEFORE I FORGET, THE WEATHER DETAILS AS I WRITE: Rather pleasant and sunny, come to think of it, here in the Minnwissippi region with a touch of cooling breeze.
TT4N....
Go shopping @ Exaggermall!--online shop of this blog!
