A few weeks back folks were sending me emails with subjects like "Obama wants to bulldoze entire neighborhoods."

The email forwards I got linked to this article from the UK telegraph ""US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive"

I thought, "Gee...I don't like that"

Then...

Last week Pittsburgh's City Paper ran an article by Adam Fleming that describes some neglected properties in the area and who was buying and selling them. "Shaky Ground". I picked up the city paper last week because I thought the front cover graphic was really cool.

Some more interesting analysis of Fleming's article has been posted to the Tube City Almanac.

Journalism Worth Reading

Tear 'Em All Down and Let God Sort 'Em Out

This caused me to think about it some more.

I now see why it may be important to tear down or bulldoze large sections of neighborhoods that are blighted this way. Who is going to put money into properties that are right next to horrible messes that are not only eyesores but may even be dangerous? Tearing down the abandoned/neglected properties would help to shore up property values in neighborhoods where prices are unstable. This could help to bring development... etc.

Oh gee, why can't anything just be "black or white" or "right or wrong" anymore?

Tags: local news, politics

Dozens of Call Center Workers Walk Off Job in Protest Rather Than Read McCain Script Attacking Obama (From Talking Points Memo).

I haven't managed to confirm this yet, but that's not what's actually important.

WHY IS EVERYONE TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY WITH DIRTY POLITICS???

No matter who wins this election, we're all going to have to look each other in the eye on November 5. No matter who wins this election, we're all still going to be sailing or sinking in this ship together on January 21, 2009.

STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT!!!

McCain supporters: Please just try to make your point with ideas and policy. McCain has had plenty of good policy ideas in his time. I'm sure he'll have more before his time is done (even given a 72 year old heartbeat). The people living in Obama's neighborhood and who he was assigned to work alongside with are not important. Some thing Obama's preacher said on a Sunday morning are not all that important either. How many of you pay any attention to what your preacher says or what the Bible actually says? PLEASE!

Obama supporters: John McCain has made a lot of mistakes in his career and has a lot of great achievements. He's one of the few politicians in Washington that has admitted to being wrong and learning from mistakes. That says something right there. I don't recall Obama ever admitting he was wrong. McCain is not evil incarnate. He is not "just like Bush." I really liked the way John McCain stood up to others in his party and Bush on issues such as torture. John McCain is not a man that is likely to send our country into a tailspin just to please his fat-cat buddies. He honestly believes that the free-market system works.

Yes, I'm sure my ramblings are very Obama supportive here, but I'm not making any bones about who I'm supporting. I'm just trying to say that we need to stop the stupid partisan bickering so that we can get some work done here. Our economy is falling apart, we're at war and we're destroying our planet. So, yeah. Let's get to work already.

Tags: mccain, obama, politics, ramblings
Current Location: home
Current Mood: annoyed

For those of you who know more about these things than I do...

Didn't a bunch of politicians want to put our Social Security money in the hands of those people? I don't mean specifically those people, but the people who were trading these bogus securities that have hurt the entire economy.

Just how frightened should I be?

Can we have a Greater Depression?

Tags: economy, politics
Current Location: home
Current Music: Real Time with Bill Maher (podcast)

Voted for Obama!

It's not that I think Hillary is a bad choice. I just don't like the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton idea. Mostly because of what comes next in the pattern.

Tags: mobile, politics
Current Location: 68F
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: America-Man's Road