Sunday, January 28, 2007

More on the Port Authority cuts

In this week's "Getting Around" column, Joe Grata points out:

In 1975, John T. Mauro, the executive director of the Port Authority wrote:

"By this stage of the 20th century, with a lengthy history of transit failures to look back on, it would seem that our community and political leaders would have come to understand this one universal fact: The long-term answer to financial problems of public transportation cannot and will not be found in cutbacks in service and in the work force, nor in fare increases.

"These stopgap measures have been tried repeatedly in the past, and they have proved to be regressive and self-defeating. Such steps, if tried again, will certainly lead to the complete downfall of this and other public transport systems."

So why is the Port Authority working to eliminate 124 of 213 routes in the system? Make the routes smarter, yes. But don't eliminate them altogether!


Thursday, January 25, 2007

Next for Pennsylvania: Putting Its Cards on the Table

Stupid slippery slope... They said that it would only be slot machines. Then why is everyone calling them "casinos" instead of "slots parlors"?

Read the article.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Unfortunately, I know people like this...

You Look Like You Could Use Someone To Talk To On This 5-Hour Bus Ride

The Onion

You Look Like You Could Use Someone To Talk To On This 5-Hour Bus Ride

Do you mind if I move your coat? This happens to be my third-favorite seat on the bus. Numbers one and two are already taken. Those are...


Unfortunately, I know people like this...

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

What I'm reading

I received a bunch of books for Christmas and I'm looking forward to reading them this year. Here are the books that I'm planning on reading:
  1. Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks
    • A fiction book from one of my favorite authors
  2. Big Dead Place by Nicholas Johnson
    • A book about Antarctica
  3. 1776 by David McCullough
    • History of the Declaration of Independence
  4. John Adams by David McCullough
    • The well-known biography of John Adams
  5. The Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol-Hwan
    • This odd book is written by a man who survived the North Korean gulags and escaped to South Korea.
  6. The Day the Universe Changed by James Burke
    • James Burke was the host of several PBS documentaries, including "Connections". This book explores the way inventions influence history.
Does anyone have any books that they would suggest? Please post your suggestions in the comments!