The Back to the Future Curse

An Obscenely Premature Prediction for 2012

Okay, so here's how I figure. Barring unforseen circumstances, voters are likely going to give the President a wide berth, so that'll carry over well. And since he's more popular now than he was during the election, states that almost paid off for him in '08 will come through, like Montana and Georgia, especially considering the weak field of challengers.
The real wild card is Kentucky. Though the more mountainous counties were part of the racist belt last time around, populated areas like Louisville and Lexington skewed more liberal than in the past.
~MP~

Update to the Update

~MP~

I'm confused

Is Texas not a state anymore? Is Wes Anderson not a citizen!?
~MP~

Update: almost.

The More I Hear About the Central Subway, The More I Like It

For those of you not familiar with the Central Subway, it's San Francisco's ultimate transit improvement. Any San Franciscan will tell you that the hardest thing about using mass transit in the City is getting between Downtown and North Beach. At this point, there are three ways of doing this:

(a) you take a cable car on Powell Street, which cost $5 and have unbearable 20-minute lines made up mostly of irksome tourists.
(b) you take the F Line around the hills, though it's currently being used more as a tourist operation, and bypasses a lot of important places like Chinatown.
or (c) you take the Dirty 30, which has none of those problems, but is unimaginably slow.

The Central subway would essentially eliminate the 30, instead opting for a subway line from 4th and King to Washington Square, a distance of two miles with intermediate stations at the Moscone Center, Union Square, and Chinatown. The project will cost a mindblowing billion dollars, which is one of the first reasons why I was originally turned off by it. And it would have to be very deep underground to avoid other subway lines, but the cost would be made up fairly quickly based on the usership for the modes of transportation currently supplanting it.

Equally mindblowing, the initial stimulus bill back in Washington has come out ahead of schedule and under budget, with bids low and contractors eager to make work. Perhaps the left over money should be parlayed into a further stimulus, such as the construction of said subway.
Think about it.

~MP~

Everybody Loves San Francisco

Despite some weird posturing by right-wing politicians and frothing YouTube commenters, Research2000 shows that a majority of Americans have a positive view of San Francisco. What's more, the dynamic cuts more or less across party lines, gender, race, and geographical regions (except for the South, but even there the Iron City gets more love than hate. Same goes for New York and France, though I could never personally live in either. If I had to live somewhere else, it'd have to be the Boston Area or the DC Area.
~MP~

...And Spaceships are buried in your beautiful mountains!

I just couldn't help myself:

"[Glen Beck] is basically like [Howard Beale], only crazier and played by Paul Giamatti in a blond wig."
~MP~

After Culture Shock

1. Realizing that having my own kitchen is within reach.
2. Remembering how I used to live before San Francisco, and wanting to take a ride on the freeway through rolling hills in Ferg's Beemer, under the hot sun.
3. Remembering what TV shows I liked before, and missing Rose all over again.
4. Understanding that the Pasadena I knew and loved is gone, and regretting that all the people that made it special are still there...for now.
5. Having to find a suitable barber and pizza place.
6. Realizing that I talk differently from people here. Some would say more correctly.
10. Wanting to finish this top 10 list early.
~MP~

Are You On The List?

Representative Spencer Bachus (R-Alabama) claims to have compiled a list of 17 Socialists in the House of Representatives. While I find the idea that so many actual socialists would be in that august chamber to be laughable, I am a betting man, and 17 is my lucky number.

Barring that there's nothing in Al Capone's vault, here are my picks (all Democrats):

Steve Cohen (TN)
John Conyers (MI)
Peter DeFazio (OR)
Keith Ellison (MN)
Chaka Fattah (PA)
Barney Frank (MA)
Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX)
Mary Jo Kilroy (OH)
Dennis Kucinich (OH)
Barbara Lee (CA)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (WA)
David Obey (WI)
Charlie Rangel (NY)
Bobby Rush (IL)
Chris Van Hollen (MD)
Henry Waxman (CA)
Robert Wexler (FL)

So, mostly folks from the Midwest and Northeast. I'll bet that at least eight of these people are on the list. If I'm wrong, I'll do my next video either underwater or in a dress (or both, which would be both humiliating and difficult, but hi-larious). HOWEVER, if it turns out there is no list, or 17 is not the actual number; no deal.
~MP~

Backwards and Bitchy

Once you live outside of Southern California, you start to realize that you're homeland is part of the South. I don't mean that in a bad way, but there's been a lot of anti-Southern and anti-Californian sentiment lately, and these people need to understand that this place is my home, and even though there might be better places to be, I can't abandon it anymore than I can America.

But it gets worse. Growing up, I was often chided for my liberal leanings, even though I've never been much of a leftist. If I were a congressman, the NRA would give me an A and NARAL would flunk me. But I'm not a demagogue and I believe that there are far bigger issues at hand.
Under these criteria, Michael Moore has classified me a "southern progressive."

By northern California standards, I'm a conservative. It's not a label that bothers me; the Republicans of today aren't conservatives, they're borderline anarchists. But I see a lot of conspiracy theorists and communists getting free range in my school, and it pisses me off. I understand where they're coming from; that was the culture they grew up in and they're not bad people, but it still makes me feel uncomfortable. I feel like Taylor Nichols in Barcelona--- alone in my sanity.

I need to get my spirits back up.
~MP~

Super Strikeback!

I can glean several things from this:
1. Rush has no politics. He aligns himself with a group of people who accept him regardless of their own principles or lack thereof. He pretty much explains his belief that he knows everything and anyone who doesn't agree with him is not a Republican, resulting in a "Sharks vs. Jets" scenario.

2. True conservatives still exist in this country; people who stand for ideas and discourse rather than blind allegiance to a party (I'm looking at you, Stremel). Unfortunately, they are breathtakingly unorganized and any leadership they had would probably marginalize themselves.

3. STRIKEBACK!
~MP~

The Age of the Curmudgeons

Why America has more violence than Europe

I just figured it all out.

I was watching Bowling for Columbine, and I had before, but this time I came to a realization. A lot of people are under that the impression that the film's argument is for gun control. But as Michael Moore himself demonstrates, Canada allows everybody to have guns, and there's much less crime. In addition, other countries have a much larger welfare state that keeps people pacified (I don't mean that in a bad way, there's just no other way to say it). But the difference is historical.

Both Europe and the U.S. have had their share of violent times, but the American media has a tendency (intentional among some, but not all) to perpetuate a paranoid and distrustful environment in public discourse. Every night we hear, "What's in your (accessible, necessary household utility) may kill you!" Bowling for Columbine makes this painfully clear, especially with the rash of assorted scares that came after Columbine. These types of scares range from the reasonably worrisome (nuclear war) to the stupid (D&D suicides).

Europeans keep being told that there's a lot of crime in America, that it's very dangerous and that people are not to be trusted. That's ridiculous. But Americans hear this more than anyone, and a select few take it as a sign that their sociopathic behavior is acceptible.

Opinion media is often worse. The conservative media of the 20th century, personified by the calm, calculating Bill Buckley, is long gone, replaced by a veritable cadre of Howard Beale-wannabes who continually make shit up and shout down anyone who challenges them. Increasingly, these people are credited with inciting violence against our government and citizens alike.

Everybody knows this, and that's not the problem. This group is a tiny minority of the population, but they are justified by our media as being just another part of the world we live in. It's time to stand up for sitting down.
~MP~

Colbert gets it perfectly again.

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