Weekend Diversion: Night Of The Ponies
Pedway, First Store Open At Block 37
Around Town
Around Town
Red-Light Cameras Not So Special?
Free rides for seniors starts today. You remember free rides for seniors, right? That was the the program that Blagojevich added to the CTA bail out. (Said Blagojevich, "it's like the little boy with a pile of horse manure, I kept digging cheerfully in that and found a pony in there -- the pony is free public transportation for all seniors in the state of Illinois.")
But hey, grandma, you can't ride free if you're not registered. Seniors that already have senior citizen fare cards, which until now have have provided discounted fares to riders 65 or older, can, as of today, be used for free rides on the CTA, Metra and Pace. Senior citizens that don't currently use the discounted fare card can apply for one, and it should start working in about three weeks. Those that have already paid for their 30-day Reduced Fare Transit Card, the mechanism that the transit authority is using to grant the free rides, are eligible for a refund. The CTA will be visiting regional senior centers this week to distribute the paperwork necessary to claim a refund.
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Why can't it be based on INCOME?! My grandparents are hella-rich, they don't need this.
I guess because while poverty lasts a lifetime, you are only 65 or older for like approximately 15 years.
holy horse-shit, how did i miss those potent quotables. these people should seriously invest in writers or just shut up.
forget the previous fears, today begins Doomsday for me. i wonder what it'll be like with all those seniors armed with free passes and a sense of entitlement, clogging up the CTA
It can't be based on income, Spav, because we have a useless asshole for a governor who will do anything to make some political PR for himself even if that throws a last-minute wrench into approved but hardly popular legislation, all the while offering few positive ideas. This has nothing to with sound policy, but is 100% politics. I am sure you know this, as you seem mostly well informed.
FYI, there was a secondary bill that was to address that, and have it potentially be structured like the Circuit Breaker program.
However, AFAIK, Senate President Emil Jones has thus far refused to call a vote on it.
Matilda:
When I referenced "End of History" last week, I was referring to Fukuyama's hypothesis. Although influenced by Hegel and Marx, it is his theory with which I am the most familiar. Just to clarify. Thanks.
Spav: Uh, OK.
Some major parts of that theory, it seems, didn't work out too well for Fukuyama, did it? Nor did his devotion to neoconservative philosophy, I guess, given his recent work and comments. The guy seems more like a hack with his every passing thought.
Anyway, glad you got that off your chest. Carry on.
So if it comes from Hegel: A-OK?
Fukuyama: NO NO NO?
Apparently? Anyway, I don't think it matters if someone is a neocon or whatever as long as they make some sense. Which that theory absolutely does.
Spav: Uh, no, that's is not what I am saying. Don't know where you got that. I just pointed out the general similarity.
At the least, Fukuyama, in some of his broader points, has shown himself to be far too optimistic about current events and their relation to historical trends. I am sure you know far more about this so-called observer than I do, but I find it harder and harder to trust him, given all his obvious mistakes.
And, in his broader points, he seems to be riffing off Hegel too much, if not (in an ironic way) Marx. I have problems with both Hegel and Marx for trying to package the currents and swirls of history into overly simplistic trends (Marx is a sloppy observer of history and human nature, I think, though I admit I have not read everything from him). Fukuyama seems to love the misleading simplicity, too, and has this habit of favoring ideology over fair-minded observation and thought.
Matilda:
There is a place for your "insight" and it is called "disputed articles on Wikipedia". Thanks.
Spav: Uh, you started this line of "conversation," so don't blame me.
Again, I ask: Do you have any actual ideas, any at all, or just lame heckling that's not even witty?
I would love for you to actually counter someone's ideas with your own instead of sarcastic comments that any smart 8th-grader would find boring. Or, maybe you don't think blogs are the place for real ideas, in which I would suspect you are too easily entertained.
Either way, you are pretty worthless.
Anyway, I referenced the whole "End of History" business that started this AND talked about coalition building using the Supreme Court as an example.
So go fuck yourself. I am better than you.
What the hell are you two babbling about?
Oh, please sweet zombie jesus, please let Spav and Matilda meet on some dark street somewhere and let me be the one to hold witness to the awesomeness that would follow.
Fight fight fight!
My Money is on A Tilda the Hun!
I can see the two facing off! Tilda would simply pull Spav’s pink Polo sweater draped around her shoulders, over her head and pummel her to the ground. Then as too the victor go the spoils, I’m sure Tilda would remove Spav1’s Coach wallet, disdainfully toss away the Banana Republic, Victoria's Secrete, Gap credit cards, etc, and keep the cash!
Spook, making the same comment on different threads won't help you win commenter of the month.
;)