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I was booking tickets today for a flight in March, and was once again reminded how difficult it is to use public transit to get to the airport. A few questions come to mind:
Why does the "airport shuttle" not run when the airport is operating? I assume the first flights leave at 6 a.m., and the last appear to arrive at 11 p.m. And yet, the first TTA bus arrives to the airport at 6:39 a.m. (missing all the early departures out of RDU) and the last bus leaves at 10:09 p.m. (missing several of the late arrivals). And, of course, there's no Sunday service, adding to the difficulty of using the airport shuttle for any practical purposes. Who is the shuttle supposed to serve? Airport employees who work mid-day shifts? Airport tourists?
As a result of poor transit service, the real cost of flying jumps considerably, as one either pays $6/day (or more) to park, takes an expensive taxi in one or both directions, or opts for some even more expensive/difficult option. I know that the transit tax is supposed to improve bus service to the airport, but in the meantime I'm surprised that such poor service has been tolerated for so many years.
Just received this email:
James,
Because your support has been so important to me, I wanted you to hear from me that I will not seek another term in Congress.
Serving in Congress has been a remarkable opportunity. Thank you.
I knew Republicans in the legislature would
dismantle the district that I have represented for the last decade, and
they did. The thirteenth district was split six ways. I also knew that
they would create one packed Democratic district in the Triangle, so
that all the surrounding districts would be Republican, and they did. I
knew that both David Price and I would both reside in that district, and
we do. And I knew that the district would include the neighborhoods
that we have each looked to for our support, and it does.
Last night marked the first meeting of the Orange County Board of Commissioners this year and hopefully the first post in a push by OrangePolitics to take a deeper look at the board and its biweekly meetings. Since the board had not met in over a month, the agenda was quite crowded, but a few items are worth delving into.
The leadership team of Chapel Hill 2020 discussed the timeline issue yesterday afternoon. Apparently the conversation was quite passionate and the group is divided with strong opposition to extending from co-chairs George and Rosemary. I'm a bit surprised since they have always said they had an open mind and were committed to getting it done right. I have yet to hear a clear articulation of why this comprehensive plan should be created in less than a year.
I have heard some people raise valid concerns about sustaining people interest for a multi-year process, but I think that points to changes that may be needed in the process. For example, what if the stakeholders only met monthly rather than every 2-3 weeks? What if we let the community lead the process more and didn't lean so heavily on the staff to run things? If you would like to explore these questions rather than rushing to complete, please sign on to our letter asking for more time.
No, no, really (he says, doing his very best, over-the-top, under-the-weather Ricky Gervais). Bear with me for a sec. If those who advocate for corporations to be persons (*cough* *hack* -- the 1%) follow through consistently with their political beliefs (granted, with Gingrich and Romney as standard-bearers, not very likely – but this is my satirical piece, so let me finish) …
Anyways, if corporations are persons (especially those megadeath Wall Street banks), then it follows (a la Tea Party Republicans in Mississippi) that they are persons from the point of their conception.
Now, bearing in mind that it can take years, if not decades, for corporations to be incorporated (and, therefore, start to pay taxes), long after they have been conceived, I would say that most of America’s corporations (keep thinking, megadeath Wall Street banks) owe gazillions in back taxes. Cha ching!
Back to Tea Party Republican principles, if corporations are persons, then you can’t abort them. So, all those insolvencies are now redundant. And a whole slew of ‘former’ corporations owe another huge chunk of back taxes. Double cha ching!!
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