You Can't Go To Europe Either? Damn.

(via) I can't afford to take a vacation any farther away from here than Salem. I'm certainly not going to Europe in the forseeable future.

So I'm totally feeling the Bush Admin Republicans who won't be going to Europe anytime soon. Seriously. Of course, I can't go because there's no money, honey. They can't go because it just wouldn't be a good idea, in the staying-out-of-international-jail way.

Just so you guise know, if you need ideas about how to take time off in America, I can help you there. Staycation? We just call that life around here.

And, no, it's not because I'm bitter that all the fomerly-prosperous people I see are breaking their arms patting themselves on the back in self-congratulation on discovering the joys of the "Staycation" when that's pretty much all the vacation I've ever known.

Okay, I lied just there. It is, in fact, because I am amazingly bitter about it. [Sam Kinison Primal Scream] Welcome to MY WORLD!!!! [/Sam Kinison Primal Scream]

Who says NOLA's dying?

Population back up over 300,000 in the city, 1.3 megapersons in the New Orleans metro area.

Mom Always Said you can't keep a good city down.

That sound you hear is Republicans softly crying because a Democratic stronghold is rebuilding itself. I don't imaging NOLA will forget how the Republicans let them down either.

They still got about 150,000 to get past us, though.

Hey, hometown pride, you guise. Deal with it.

Right Now, Mayor Sam's Strategy Seems To Be Working

And what is that strategy?

Play it cool. Wait it out.

Back on January 20th, which should have been the best G-d d-mned day this country ever had, Mayor Sam Adams blew a whole lot of good will when he revealed that he did, in fact court Beau Breedlove–in contrast to his protestations of earlier.

There's been a great deal of water under that bridge since. And, at first, it looked very much like Sam would conclude what a great many people had–it was a breach of trust that fundamentally changed the nature of the Sam Adams-Portland polity's relationship.

A lot of people sprang to Sam's defense when the meme was mooted that he was being smeared because he was gay. A lot of people felt used afterwards.

But there was an entrenching afterwards. After about a week's worth of seculsion, Sam came back to City Hall and just got back to work, L'Affaire Ruiz came (and went). Calls of "Recall!" were heard from the east side to the west side and it seemed like the perfect career-ending storm. Randy was no longer Sam's friend.

Come with us back up to the present. What do we have?

• Randy Leonard (still stylishly sans 'stache) heartily holding forth on the plans to condemn the Made In Oregon sign in the lobby of City Hall. Sam's on board but we don't see him.
• Amy Ruiz unironically holding forth on something or other that's sustainable on KATU News.
• Most of the Student Council celebrating the ascension of PDX to MLS. Sam's out front.
• Someone from the Recall Sam Adams campaign finally testifies in front of Student Council. Forgets to dress for success. Goes off like a wet fart; is savaged by the commenters as PMerc's Blogtown.
  
• That zombie of Portland politics–the Convention Center "Headquarters" Hotel–stalks the landscape again. They say it's a sure thing. Also, again. You can pop this tape in the Teddy Ruxpin of city gubmint and rerun it every so often. It's a golden oldie.

In short, City Hall's kind of back to normal, mostly.

Will there be a credible recall challenge to Mayor Sam? There could be, I suppose. The statutory 6-month waiting period for the recall is giving the whole thing a chance to cool off. Sam's doing what Sam does. Randy's making noises about–well, seems to be about wanting to be Mayor, but things are so odd around here lately, I could have misunderstood them.

Sadly to say, Jasun Wuerster pretty much shot himself and what recall movement there is left in the foot with his underwhelming City Hall testimony.

A long time ago, there were radio ads for a company's product called "Verbal Advantage". They make you talk pretty. You may remember they began It's alarming but true ... people do judge you by the words you use!"

Well, back on the 18th, Jasun learned to his dismay that it's alarming but true: in politics, people do judge you by the image you project. And Portland is a pretty laid back place, it's true. But when you get into the chambers of power you better look like you've suited up to play your "A" game. In the comments, Jasun himself averred that his financial situation (we can relate) and his health (we can also relate) dictated his choice of attire. But we've also latterly been to Value Village and Goodwill, and it's not that hard to find an acceptable looking jacket and tie for really fricken' cheap. And the way they take pictures, hey, he could have gone in in tattered jeans and still accorded himself.

There's not a dress code for democracy, no. There's not a dress code for life, either. But there is a dress code for important events. Ignore it and you lose face. By showing up by looking like he just rolled out of bed, he delivered what might be a shot below the bowline of the only recall campaign that seems to be out there. And it didn't have a great deal of credibility to begin with. You can be whatever you want, but when you show up to City Hall, you better look like you mean business. Perception is the reality.

And I can see I've gotten distracted by what the Blogtown commenters (who, I think–for the record–were really a bit too cruel on Jasun) got caught up in. Like I said, Perception is the reality.

Now, back to the nut of things: Sam's back at work; the Portland Student Council is back to its charming old dysfunctional self; the Sam Adams recall campaign is looking like a group of tyros; the scene has cooled off considerably.

Already I see the conventional wisdom swinging over in Sam's favor.

Sam getting recalled? He's stood pat and kept his head down.

Magic 8 Ball say outlook not so good.

Maybe Sam understands PDX better than we know.

The Republican Road To Recovery: Idaho, We're Looking At YOU!

(via a blog in the other state slated for elimination) The national GOP proves it's great at designing a slick pamphlet (and not much else) with the "Republican Road To Recovery", which has all sorts of nifty circles filled with handwavy promises you can't disagree with.

With all the good will the reputation the Republicans have buy them, I'm having trouble not believing that you could fill the pretty circles with things like "Kittens", "Puppies", "Apple-cheeked Kids", and "Corn Dogs" and really change the substance of the report much. I mean, am I for More Jobs and Sustainable Power? You bet! Do I think Republicans are sincer about ever delivering on it? How many ways I can hell no!

Anyhow, the incomparable Nate Silver has "leaked" the substance of the refined plan. Sorry to let you know, Idaho – even though you're redder than red, you're on the chopping block. Sucks to be you!

We'll have to get our potatoes from somewhere else.

Tap The Rockies. Or, Better Yet, Don't

Something that caught our eye in passing: In a story designed to make you feel fortunate you live in Oregon, where you don't (yet, anyway) have to worry about where your drinking water comes from (and where you can feel fortunate if you live in PDX) we find that there's enough hydrocarbons in the drinking water in an area northeast of Denver that you can have a little pyrotechnics show erupting from your water faucet, if you want.

Yay, resource extraction.

Also it provides another reason to shun bottled water: Nestle's water grab will apparently do no small amount of damage to Colorado's water table.

Ironic for a state who's signature consumer product is a beer touted as superior because of its legendary Rocky Mountain Water. I'm old enough to remember when the folks would sneak home Coors from a state where it was legal to sell it (Oregon had strict rules about beer purification which seem, in retrospect, quaint) and surruptitously quaff a few, only to have the joy of breakin' the law blunted by the fact that Coors sucks (well, some things don't change anyway).

A Short Tale About Arlen Specter, The Democrats, and The Employee Free Choice Act

Once upon a time, near the edge of the political wilderness, a Democratic Party with a 9-vote Senate Majority (but not quite enough to prevent a Republican filibuster) saw a poor, battered Arlenspecter just by the side of the road.

While still greatly sustained by his constituency, he was very mindful of the fate of another member of his local ecosystem, the Ricksantorum, who was foolish and took his niche for granted, so he was stepping carefully, lest he be consigned to the political wilderness forever with the rest of this species.

"Excuse me, Democratic Majority?" he asked plaintively. "I know I'm a Republican and all, but I'm a moderate Republican – heck, I'm almost one of you, and I sure would appreciate it if you could help me stay out of that there political wilderness."

"Well, I don't know," said the Majority. "I remember how you treated me when I was the Minority. You talk reasonably now but back then, others in your species all but tried to kill me. I know you're a reasonable member and all, but you can't help but deserting me when me and the American people need you to do the right thing. Because of your species, we have two pointless wars in which we're still losing blood and treasure and an economy that's hollower than a Republican promise (sorry, no offense). You'll tell me this but you actually have a poisonious bite thats fatal to working-class Americans and a toxin would stop at no lie to tell a posionous untruth about what my party's trying to to rebuild America."

"Look", said the Arlenspecter, "Though your words sting, I'm not going to insult your intelligence by saying you're wrong. I understand your reluctance. But if you pick me up and bear me away from the boundary of this wilderness, I'll be your friend. I'll treat you better. I'll help you by making sure that the Employee Free Choice Act doesn't get filibustered by others in my species."

"Well, I'm still not sure. Your colleagues have given insincere promises before"

"Okay, I'll tell you this one thing", the Arlenspecter said, almost desperately. "You've heard whisperings in the Beltway Press that I might join your side to stay in my seat? Whether there may or may not be a truth in that is yours to ascertain. But it certainly may happen if you help me. So what do you say?"

The Democratic Majority was still unsure. To say that the Republican Party has been dreadful to them over the last two administrations would be to severly gild the lily. But the Majority was made of compassionate stuff. Don't we all love America? Do we not have more in common than we have in difference? Doesn't even the most sincere Republican deserve a chance to make it back out of the wilderness if they do the right thing? were all thoughts that went through the Majority's mind in and out of committees and debates.

And he was a particularly snappy dresser–Republican or Democrat, he was clearly, by the couture of his kind, one of the tribe.

"All right, I will save you. All living things and decent Senators deserve kindness, a lift out of the wilderness, and a chance to remain relevant."

And the Democratic Majority picked up the Arlenspecter and, placing it under its cloak close to its EFCA, confident that it did a Good Thing, carried it right up to the boundary of the political wilderness.

All of a sudden, as they got to that amazing line, the Majority felt a sharp pain right in its EFCA, and felt the venom start to spread. It dropped the Arlenspecter in betrayed shock.

"Arlenspecter! You gave me your word of honor that you wouldn't do that!"

"People make a lot of promises in this town," the Arlenspecter said as it crawled off. "Next time, get it in writing. And don't wait up for me to join your side when I run for re-election either, ha!"

"But ..."

"Hey, hey, hey there. You said it yourself. You knew what I was when you picked me up."

Know Your RealAge™? So Does Big Pharma.

(Hat Tip) The New York Times:

But while RealAge promotes better living through nonmedical solutions, the site makes its money by selling better living through drugs.

Pharmaceutical companies pay RealAge to compile test results of RealAge members and send them marketing messages by e-mail. The drug companies can even use RealAge answers to find people who show symptoms of a disease — and begin sending them messages about it even before the people have received a diagnosis from their doctors.

While I generally resent the commoditization of our lives and the commercialization of the American experience the problem here isn't so much that here for me.

The problem I'm having is that Big Pharma didn't have the courage to say that they were doing it. They hid behind trusted people in the media and a happy shiny message.

I have a problem with the fact that every facet of my life is available for marketing by some company or another. I have a bigger problem with a lack of good faith and honesty. It bespeaks, in the end, a general contempt by manufacturers and business in general about the people it, on the face, strive to serve and provide for.

I think American culture, as it is, is going to hell in a handbasket. Some would say I'm an optimist, pointing out it's already there.

If we don't have basic honesty, which is supposed to be a core American value, then we've really got nothing but a sham.

The Reasons I'm Still Not 100% Thrilled About MLS In Portland

1. They're not all that honest about abosolutely, positively having to ZOMG remodel Piggy Park.
2. I know they're saying that this is all guaranteed 'n' stuff and that the taxpayer exposure on this is at a minimum, but people on that stratum of society have been lying to me for so long they've forgotten how to tell the truth. It's probably gone so far that when they lie to us that actually think they are telling the truth. So they say there's going to be a deal in place that'll prevent taxpayers from being harmed. Well, maybe. I'll believe it when it doesn't happen.
3. New sports stadia don't really help the local economy. It's always used as a reason and it's been debunked time and again (and it the situation I've linked it was disproved by actual smart people with actual degrees and stuff) but this zombie bullet point just Will. Not. Die.
   
4. One less just-affordable entertainment opportunity for me and mine. Major league sports = major league ticket prices, it doesn't matter what sport it is (fortunately, we've recently reconnected with the Winter Hawks, which is a hell of a team). We're poor. In 2011 we'll probably have no chance to see a Timbers game live, because we're no longer able to afford it
   
5. No more Beavers at the Piggy? I suppose I can accept this in concept but on a gut level, it just doesn't make sense.
6. The NASL Timbers drew 20,000 fans a game. The NASL folded anyway.
7. The whole quest for some sort of triumph on this issue distracted the mayors office and the Student Council from taking care of essential things. Now the city's going to be spending an extra megabuck a month while they work out some issue they should have already taken care of.

I'm sure Mom Always Said something about this, but I can't quite figure out what it might have been.

TriMet Adjusts Service Cuts; More Public Meetings On Tap

TriMet, after taking in a whole lot of public commentary (and maybe reading a blog or two, who knows?) has refined its service cutback initiative. Here's the executive skinny:

Routes Eliminated down from twelve to five. And here are the losers: 41-Tacoma, 74-Lloyd District/Southeast, 86-Alderwood, 153-South End Loop Road and 157-Happy Valley.

That 41 elimination is what caught my eye. It's just as well; with only morning and afternoon service and no weekend service at all, it was a pretty lame replacement for the old route which was discontinued when weight limits made using the Sellwood Bridge out of the question.

The rest of the lines proposed for elimination will run on reduced hours/days or will be combined into new routes. Notable here is the 33-Fremont, which will remain but in a foreshortened form: only running weekdays with no evening or weekend service, and only between Emanuel Hospital and the Gateway Transit Center.

Emanuel Hospital? If you're going to end the line at Emanuel, why not go for broke and go to the Rose Quarter TC? More connections available there, one fewer transfer for line 33 riders. And you want to go somewhere after hours or on weekends? C'est la guerre, mon cher; C'est la vie, mon ami.

Another interesting bit of bus route alchemy: the 18-Hillside and the 63-Washington Park will be combined, and 63-Washington Park will elminate weekend service.

Many lines will lose weekend service. Lines 1-Vermont, 10-Harold, 34-River Road and 51-Vista will lose Saturday service but retain weekday service. Lines 17-NW 21st Ave/St. Helens Rd, 48-Cornell, and 67-Jenkins/158th Ave.will lose Sunday service but still have weekday and Saturday service. A few other lines will see drastic changes in weekend coverage.

There will be three public meetings on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of April in SW and downtown Portland and the Clackamas Town Center area respectively. TriMet has a press release on their site which has more complete details on the proposed service reductions and times and locations of the meetings.

Feel your area's getting the short end of the transit stick? Show up and make yourself heard!

Malloy News: New Website/Podcast Subscriptions ETA, This Coming Monday

Just heard on the Malloy show; all new stuff coming on Monday next, including a less expensive (Mike really stressed that) podcast subscription, and apparently Ben Burch at White Rose Society is going to archive them for free access with a 7-day embargo (if you want it now, then pay Mike what is supposed to be a more reasonable subscription fee than NovaM asked, which if you can, you oughta).

White Rose is really hoppin ... they now have 7-day embargoed podcasts of Thom Hartmann and Stephanie Miller. You should also support Ben Burch if you have a few bucks.

Republicans On Pretty Much Everything: "We Must Have Tax Cuts"

It's been beat pretty much to death on The POJ, but it was said of the news today that State Senator Brian Boquist (R-Reading From A List Of Talking Points) of Polk County said Republicans had great ideas on how to get Oregon's economy turning over again.

So, I thought "hey! Any idea that The POJ has the guts to announce as being from teh Republicans has got to be a game-changer!"

Well, you can all go home again. Clear out the auditorium:

Tax cuts. Withholding tax cuts. Tax credits for remodeling your home (should go over like a shot with renters and people who have low incomes). Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.

Let's set the scene: let's say that, due to a revolution in science, it was found that, instead of four billion years in the future, the Sun was going to enter its red-giant phase, scouring all the Earth of live, in only four years. You can picture the headlines now:

REPUBLICANS ON SUN GOING NOVA; WE MUST HAVE MORE TAX CUTS

They're all like big, fleshy Teddy Ruxipins that only have one tape. It's the answer to everything.

To save everyone a step from here on out, please review the following comic I stumbled on today. It should explain everything about the Republican response to the economy, AIDS, poverty, scoliosis, tooth decay ...

(Image hotlinked from the Big Fat Whale site:
click here to embiggen)

Can Someone Again Explain To Me Why a 51-Year Old Woman Had To Go To Jail Over A Bike Light?

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm the one that just doesn't get it.

By now, we've all been 'round the roses in the bizarre case of Freedom Child, the 51-year-old woman who had to go to jail over not putting her bike-light on. I've read the news articles, I've read Steve Duin's column today, and I just don't get it.

It's particularly hard for people like me. You see, quite contrary to the straw-man pre-mis-conception of the lefty that the conservative witling lets themselves be convinced exists and cuddles so close to their breast to keep them enraged.

I like the cops! I adore law and order. My father was a prison guard and he was in the National Guard. In my family, until you knew what was going on, the only proper response to a man in blue was Yes, officer!.

When me and my wife watch COPS, we root for the uniform.

So, I'm looking over the facts as we've been allowed to see them ... the unmarked car coming up to a woman, hassling her, and then the physical confrontation. Even if you don't buy the fact that Freedom Child didn't understand the men were police before they physically restrained her, even though, as Duin reported in his column:

Child testified Dorn and Harris never identified
themselves as police on that dark and lonely night; the
officers insisted they did so fairly quickly. Yet if
we're weighing everyone's relationship with the
truth, the officers never mentioned the unmarked car in the
arrest report and each claimed he popped on the
"overhead" lights so Child could see they were in
uniform.

There were no overhead lights in the car.

Even if you don't think Freedom Child was being straight with us about not knowing they were the cops, you've got to wonder what's going on here. It's really starting to look like the two officers are being given a pass. The revelations that Duin shares with us in his column give the strong impression that the citizen was being treated as the enemy here in a system that is still unwilling to admit it went over the line and made a mistake.

But I'm willing to admit I'm wrong. I've always–seriously–always ready to give the man and woman in the uniform the benefit of the doubt (you'll have to give me the benefit of the doubt on this, people ... it's easy for someone writing an anonymous blog to say whatever sh*t they want and claim sincerity, and I realise that. I'm being straight-up with you here).

So why should I believe that what happened to Freedom Child should have happened to her? Is running a woman that you spooked the heck out of into jail really a justified use of my tax money?

Or, what am I getting wrong here?

And don't bore me with the well, you never know what a person's going to do argument. I know that one. If there were an epidemic of fifty-something female bike-riders luring police into situations where they look all harmless and busting a cap in the cop's ass, then you'd have a point. But there isn't. So you don't.

I hope our Portland Police officers strive to be above reproach. I doubt they're 100% successful–after all, they're human beings. But was this trip necessary?

The Ontario Argus-Observer Takes A Hit

Down from six days/week (Mon-Fri and Sun) to five days/week (dropping Monday)

Publisher Steve Krehl said dropping the Monday paper was an alternative to a price increase during a recession that has cut into advertising. He says the cost of single newspaper copies won't increase and home delivery rates won't go up in 2009.

So it's either give up a daily issue or take a bigger hit elsewhere.

Big town paper it isn't, it's a community thing. Paid circulation is about 5,000.

It's sad, though expected, that this spectre should be stalking the small-town papers too. Very sad.

Malloy Econ Contributor Prairie2 Now Has Own Blog

Regular listeners to and fans of the Mike Malloy program know to listen for economic insights from a regular email correspondent known only by the email moniker Prairie2.

The correspondent, dubbed by Mike the shows "Economics Bureau Chief" (regular callers to the Malloy program occaisionally get dubbed some Bureau Chief or another, it's a show custom and a sign you've arrived) is known by regular listeners as someone who obviously thinks long, deeply, and hard about the economy and the danger we're all in, and writes honestly and, moreover, simply enough the be read by anyone. He's kind of a Paul Krugman for the blog set. Most of us find his (hers?) thoughts and opinions challenging and thought-provoking, and one of the other reasons why the Malloy program is a regular listen.

If you don't hav the time or inclination to listen to the Malloy program to get your dose of Prairie2, P2 has finally set up their own blog where you can get the goods direct/subscribe via RSS/whatever.

Your points of contact are:

• Blog: http://prairie2.com
• RSS Feed (Atom): http://www.prairie2.com/feeds/posts/default
• RSS Feed (RSS): http://www.prairie2.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Worth your while, I say.

First, The Willy, Now, The O

I'm late to the party here, so just put this down to jotting this down in this, my public political self-education notebook, but I'm jolted to find out what's going down at The Oregonian: staff reductions, pay cuts, unpaid furlough days ... oh, boy.

I've had my seasons of unhappiness at the management of The Oregonian before, as I have with the WW, but I can't deny their putting skin in the game: they're taking 15% off their salaries, which is going to hurt a bit when you make as much money as they (I guess) do.

But if you think things are bad here, it's worse elsehwere in the Advance constellation: The Ann Arbor News is going down. Last issue–July.

At least we still have a daily. I'm still fond of The Oregonian, even with its (rather unignorable) flaws.

Mother Nature Hates Governor Teleprompter

March 22nd, 2009, 10:30 pm; Mount Redoubt in Alaska erupts.

(This was actually a photo of the 1990 eruption)

February 25th, 2009: Bobby "Teleprompter" Jindal, Governor of Louisana, criticizes necessary spending in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, saying:

It includes $300 million
to buy new cars for the government, $8 billion for high-speed rail
projects, such as a “magnetic levitation” line from Las Vegas to
Disneyland, and $140 million for something called “volcano monitoring.”

Wikipedia, on Mount Redoubt:

The 1989 eruption is also notable for being the first ever volcanic eruption to be successfully predicted by the method of long-period seismic events developed by Swiss/American volcanologist Bernard Chouet.

Ah ... so that is what it's good for, that rascally volcano monitoring.

Quod erat demonstrandum, baby.

Teh Lars's New Syndicator Not Quite Sure What Teh Lars Is

Well, to be honest, he's puzzled us for a long, long time:

Lars Larson announces the selection of Compass Media Networks as its exclusive representative for national radio syndication effective March 30, 2009.

(Italics, larger font size, bolding are ours, nest-say-paw. I mean, it was all I could to to not use the blink tag here)

Peter B Collins: Thanks For The Pledges, Moves To The Web

Peter B. Collins, one of the most underrated liberal talkers out there, as everyone by now knows, has ended his show.

However ...

After a brief appeal, some 200 people pledged an average of $10 by the each to support his program. Sadly, this was not enough, but was encouraging, and especially to the broadcaster.

Activist listeners rallied to try to save the PBC Show, and I’m
gratified by more than 200 people from all over the world (including
Japan, Costa Rica and Hawaii) who emailed to pledge an average of $10 a
month to support the program.

While this isn’t enough to reverse course, most of those who pledged
said they would subscribe to our podcast in the future.  At this
difficult time, it buoys me to see so many people who value what we do
and want to keep it going.

If you'll miss Peter B, though, you won't miss him for long. He's planning to create a regular podcast and its debut is apparently mooted for June sometime. He's planning a live stream of it and also perhaps a subscription which, if you have the money to do so, I think people should support.

Jane Lubchenco In As NOAA Administrator

NOAA has announced that OSU's Jane Lubchenco has jumped from academia completely to awesome:

Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., was confirmed by the U.S. Senate this evening as the under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. In this capacity, she will serve as the ninth administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the nation’s top science agency for climate, oceans, and the atmosphere. Dr. Lubchenco is the first woman and the first marine ecologist to lead NOAA.

"Dr. Lubchenco is an outstanding and accomplished environmental scientist with a proven ability to communicate, lead a dynamic team, and inspire action," White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley said. "Dr. Lubchenco joins a distinguished group of scientific leaders in the Obama administration that will ensure that science plays its proper role in shaping policy."

Call it home-state pride but it seems appropriate that a Pacific Northwesterner and a member of the faculty of a particularly prestigious Land and Sea Grant university be named Undersecretary for Commerce on Oceans and Atmosphere.

I suggest raising a glass of cool, clear Bull Run water to celebrate ...

Why Do I Still Take My Own Car With TriMet Close At Hand?

What Jenson Hagen said at BlueO raises a question worth discussing. The meat of his commentary goes:

The main point here.  I have watched TriMet fares jump quite considerably.  Was it not too long ago that a general adult all zone ticket cost $1.75?  It was something around there.  Then as gas prices were climbing, that ticket price began to edge up.  Now I'm looking at a $2.30 fare to travel in one direction as an adult.  The overall round trip for the day is $4.60, or $1.10 more than before.

I live in an area of inner-Outer East (yeah, that's kind of strange, yes?) in an area that's "convenientish" to two major east-west routes, a mere two blocks from a minor route that runs too infrequently and at awkward times, a seven-minute walk from a major crosstown route, and within shouting distance from the Gateway transit hub if I Go By Bike. When the Max Green Line finally comes on line, I'm going to be ever more fortunate, because the nearest station is a mere mile off.

I'm more fortunate than most as goes TriMet access, but still I take my car.

Why?

I work a third-shift job, which side of the clock TriMet has historically underserved even when the money was there, with awkwardly-timed and widely-time-spaced runs (by this I mean 30-min frequency minimum. Even going a short distance can take over an hour. And TriMet has the annoying concept of having the last run just as I usually get off work, which means I have to shave a few minutes off my time on-the-clock just to get my ride. This is one of TriMet's major flaws, and it makes me sore that they never really address the needs of the third shift. But I'm digressing).

But at least it's there. So why don't I try taking TriMet more often?

Because I live close enough to my work to make, typically, the cost of gassing up an 1972 automobile (a VW Beetle, if you must know) more or less equal to the cost of buying transit for the same time and frequency. It has actually always pencilled out a little more expensive to take transit than to take my 1972 automobile, and, following from above, a hell of a lot less convenient.

We're all watching our pennies very closely. We also all need something that works quickest and easiest–because the less time we have to take working out transit is just that much more time we have to address our other needs, and improve our own personal economies.

We who aren't making more than $32K/year see time as money. You might think that us poor folks don't see time as money. Anyone who things so is extremely wrong. We are always making these trade offs–more often than you'd think.

If you want more sanity in public spending, just put some of us poor folks, who always have to play the shell game with our money, in charge.

Anyway, I don't mean to say that TriMet shouldn't raise fares in tough times or adjust farebox to compensate for revenue. But TriMet should keep in mind that there are unfashionable reasons to use the bus (a lot of us poor folks need to get to work without the car) as well as green, fashionable reasons.

I don't mean to cast aspersions–I love TriMet, and I love TriMet drivers. But transit planners need to not just keep in mind, but take seriously the fact that a lot of people who would use transit aren't–because, even at todays gas prices, people will take the easiest way to make sure they get to work on time, and don't get in hot water for attendance, and for quite a few of us–ironically–keeping in a car by ourselves is the quickest, cheapest, and most convenient and dependable way to stay employed.

That's the way we roll, because that's the way we have to. You give us a sane, sensible reason to take the bus, and we will so be there.

I think I can speak for an awful lot of people here.