Not quite the working-class revolution that some would suggest, but make no mistake there is trouble in Britain based upon the disproportionate wealth distribution and impending government "austerity" measures that will target the middle and lower classes. (Sound at all familiar?) And, of course, it leads to those same folk cannibalizing each other with destruction, death, and looting, while the people responsible chuckle from afar.
So in prep for any possible mass revolt in the US, let P+J point out that taking down your neighbor's business might not be the best solution. However, a few rented buses taken to visit the homes of the rich and famous in the Hamptons and Fairfield County, or down to their places of work in the financial district in lower Manhattan, where the real damage to society is done (and need we even mention Georgetown and K Street in DC?), might get the message across more clearly. With a baseball bat.
MUST READING
Unless you are a Christian fundamentalist of the theocratic persuasion (American Taliban) or a student of such, you probably don't know the names Francis Schaeffer, John Eidsmoe, J. Steven Wilkins, or David A. Noebel. However, it would be worth your while as an American citizen to familiarize yourself with these men, their work, and their profound influence on Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann.
Check out Ryan Lizza's profile of Bachmann in the current New Yorker and be afraid, be very afraid, that any US citizen could actually buy into her prescriptions for America. Lizza's reporting will undoubtedly become the linchpin for her GOP opponents' campaigns to stop her forward progress after her victory in last week's phony baloney, bought-and-paid for, media dog-and-pony show, Iowa straw poll. The question for her Tea Party supporters would be, "Is what you are fighting for a smaller, more fiscally responsible government or a Christian theocracy?"
CARS VS. MASS TRANSIT
An article last week in the Huffington Post noted that in June, Vo Dilun applied "to enter a little-known federal pilot program that would allow it to convert its primary artery into a toll road. As motorists on I-95 cross into the state from Connecticut, they could be asked to pony up about $3. Such tolls could raise around $50 million a year for the ailing system."
And, for those who think such tolls might be helpful in addressing the $4.6 million shortfall at RIPTA, the article goes on to point out that "the federal government's pilot program won't allow states to spend toll money on mass transit."
What are the chances that something as stupid as this might occur? Not bloody likely, P+J say, but the fact that the Chafee Administration would even bother to apply for the program is a more than a little troubling.
This item was written entirely by Jorge (Rudy Cheeks) as Phillipe (Chip Young) has a conflict of interest in that he is a member of the Coalition for Transportation Choices' working group. Jorge, on the other hand, has no such conflict, unless regularly riding RIPTA buses is considered a conflict.
KUDOS AND CONGRATS . . .
. . . to our buddy KEVIN GAUDREAU, Pier restaurant's chef extraordinaire and all-around great guy, for recently triumphing to the tune of $20,000 on Bravo's Rocco's Dinner Party cook-off. Gaudreau's televised final performance was a work of dining genius, and the dough should definitely help pay for more than a few rounds of golf.
