PORTLANDIA

As you may or may not know there is a current TV series on the IFC Network called PORTLANDIA. What the series does, and does very well, is to satirize the city of Portland Oregon. The funniest thing is that the city does a much better job of unintentionally satirizing itself more than the TV show does. For example the city is currently holding honest-to-goodness real live hearings as to whether or not it should join a Federal Government sponsored ant-terrorist network. The city "leaders" and the population are seriously trying to decide whether it is better to not join and have as many terrorist acts in the city as possible, or join and have to deal with reality. That ladies and gentlemen is Portland's real dilemma should it grow-up and act like an adult or should it just live in the made-up world of fairy tales and hob-goblins?

You Have the Right to Be Stuck In Traffic

Some days ago I read a small newspaper article that was a reply to a question about how those Highway On Ramp meters and lights work. It seems that some very smart traffic engineers have spent, what is I assume, a vast amount of the public's money to develop a system that tells drivers already on the on-ramps all around America, that road ahead of them is congested. What the genius traffic engineers didn't do was to place a RED traffic light or a flashing sign that says "Do Not Enter Congested" at the ENTRANCE to the on ramp. That way us dumb drivers, could avoid the congested roadway instead of just getting on, and then finding out the road was blocked or delayed.
This leads me to confirm that the people who design traffic control systems and roadways don't have drivers licenses. Just like the people at GM and CHRYSLER who build cars never drive them.

Municipal Unions

Municipal unions serve no function other than to protect their members & union officials from economic reality. When municipal unions collectively bargain with our elected or appointed state county, or local officials they are bargaining with themselves. Municipal unions have fostered the idea that municipal workers (policeman, fireman, teachers, etc. ) work for the state, they don't, municipal workers work for the taxpayers, and the taxpayers have no-one to represent them in any collective bargaining between any current municipal unions. As some one once said " if you want to control someone first appear to serve them."