MaxRedline

Mediasaurus extinctus

In 1993, novelist Michael Crichton wrote an article that really ticked off the media types.  He predicted their impending demise.  Of course, the downward spiral doesn't follow the timeframe he set forth, but it's rather typical of visionaries.  George Orwell wrote a book titled "1984", but his prophetic perspectives didn't really start to gain much traction in the USA until the late 1990's.  The strictures that he warned of arrived; it just took a bit longer than he had anticipated.  The important thing, in both cases, is that they came to pass.

Orwell defined a world in which history was constantly revised, and in which "newspeak" was the norm.  Video surveillance was inescapable.  And we have it today, although "newspeak" isn't referred to by that name.  We call it "political correctness".

Similarly, Crichton's article was ahead of its time, but nonetheless correctly predicted the fall of lamestream media.  "[T]he American media produce a product of very poor quality," he lectured. "Its information is not reliable, it has too much chrome and glitz, its doors rattle, it breaks down almost immediately, and it's sold without warranty. It's flashy but it's basically junk."

Today, The Oregonian sheds subscriptions at roughly the rate of one percent per month: death by a thousand cuts.  The New York Times, former monarch of American media, is cutting jobs as circulation drops - and ad revenue along with it.  Dominated by strident Leftists, substituting opinion for actual reporting, the media giants in America are suddenly finding that people are increasingly ignoring them.

Given the incredible (editor-supported) ploys that have occurred at The New York Times and the "big three" broadcast television networks, consumers recognize that these sources cannot be trusted to do responsible journalism; most people recognize that the dominant figures in lamestream American media have no clue as to what actual journalism is supposed to be about.  Crichton had it right in 1993.

At this point, there is nothing that these companies can do to repair the damage.  They've worked so long to "position" their institutions that they have managed to effectively eliminate any ability to respond to changing conditions.  They're so indoctrinated that they can't even recognize that conditions have changed.

Their answer to the rise of talk radio (and the abject failure of Leftist talk radio): "let's pass a law; we'll call it the 'fairness doctrine'.  Because those conservatives have no business on our airwaves."

They just don't get it.  Their failure is always the fault of somebody else.  They're completely unable to grasp the fact that their failures are their own.  Opinion and guesses presented as "news" just doesn't sell today.  Reporting from reality, I'm Tim Day, for Channel X news.  Back to you, Laura.

Round, Round, Round, Round, I Get Around

For Beaverton, however, it's a different story.  They get sort of a Round.  Well, depending on how you look at it.  Back in 1998, westside light rail officially started up, but plans were afoot for a couple of years previous to the opening.  A former sewage treatment facility, situated on the light rail line, was to become a veritable gold mine because light rail would "spur" Transit-Oriented Development (TOD).

A funny thing happened on the way to the mine.  It went bust.  Even after several millions of tax dollars and other subsidies were provided by Beaverton and the brain trust at Metro, it went bust again.  Today, part of it is built, but there are three other buildings and a parking structure scheduled to be up and running by 2009.  It's not going to happen, as the owner of the land's facing foreclosure.  This is surely an appropriately-named development, the Beaverton Round: it just goes round, and round, and round.  Purchase/foreclosure/taxpayer bailouts and subsidies/ purchase/foreclosure/taxpayer bailouts and subsidies/ purchase/foreclosure....

photo: Portland Tribune

Even with bailouts, light rail can't be said to be "spurring" TOD in Beaverton.

It's kind of like the great Cascades Parkway TOD in northeast Portland.  That sat vacant for a decade until the City of Portland decided to permit big-box stores (with ample parking) to locate there.  It was supposed to look just like Beaverton Round.  Does it?  Well, not  exactly.  Play around with the map; you'll notice a difference between the two TODs.

The northeast TOD now houses a Best Buy and an Ikea megastore, and there's nothing "transit-oriented" about this development.  The little mix of ground-floor boutiques and upper-story apartments just isn't happening.  Golly, this is nothing like what the brain-trust at Metro had envisioned.

Now, of course, Metro's "planning" for the next fifty years - when they couldn't get even a five to ten-year "plan" to work out.  This is but one of many examples underscoring the fact that for the last three decades, Metro remains the only "regional government" in the USA.  They view themselves as leaders, when what's really happened is that everybody else in the country has looked at them and decided "no way".

You may be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but when bureaucrats are convinced that they know all there is to know, they won't trouble themselves to learn a thing.

Yesterday...It Was Such An Easy Game To Play

Portland Public Schools (PPS) began contract talks yesterday with the union representing its 3,150 teachers, counselors and school psychologists.  Likely issues on the front burner are escalating health care premiums and (just so you know it's all about the children) increasing instruction time for students.

Translation:  hold onto your wallet.  And be careful!

PPS receives approximately $12,000 per student, even as they've axed librarian positions and "deferred maintenance" to the point that many of the buildings are essentially irreparable and will need to be replaced in the near future.  That annoying, high-pitched whining sound you hear is PPS bemoaning their lack of funds.

So, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's telling folks that the Democrat primary will be over in a matter of days, because she's not going to let it go into the convention.  Rest assured, she'll drag The Little Missus kicking, screaming, biting, stabbing right on out of there so that Broc gets a free run.  Okay, then, now that that's cleared up...   In the Left Corner, ladies and gentlemen: Broc Obama.  Expect a brutal battle as his wife (who actually runs the show) comes further unglued and forces Broc to rush to her defense; claiming that folks who actually notice her rantings are in some way or another disrespecting him, and calling for unity even as he and his wife sow dissention and racial hatred.  Expect calls for "Change in America!" without any actual description regarding what sort of "change" he and his co-president have in mind.  Judging from the history of this man and his associations - and of course his wife - we can look forward to hard-fought battles over ideology, the course of "change" in America, Bush-bashing, accusations of old-style politics, and more.  And that's before Ms. Hell and her hubby ever get around to taking on McCain.  That's when things should get really interesting.

From a conservative perspective, he's not really what you want to see.  He's way too squishy on a lot of issues that are near and dear to our hearts.  He's soft on illegal aliens, which seems really at odds with his history of defending our country.  He's soft on freedom of speech (McCain-Feingold).

About the only two things he has going for him, in fact, involve his stances on the conflict in Iraq and on terrorism.

But those are two things that Ms. Hell and her hubby will have to deal with, and their approach seems to boil down to one word: appeasement.  That won't work, and many folks are smart enough to understand that.

Another critcism often leveled at McCain is his admitted lack of understanding of economics.  However, the fact of the matter is that markets - not Presidents - control money matters.  They may or may not take a hand at attempting to steer things, but no President has ever had the power to impose a boom or a bust.  Such criticisms, then, are purely political; lacking any grounding in reality.

The main job we're hiring for is that of Commander-In-Chief.  Broc and Ms. Hell have never served our country.  So who's more qualified for the job? 

Money For Nothin'

When next the City of Portland (CoPo) pleads poverty, remember that they've got money to burn!  Not only did they spend a lot of highly-paid staff time on the design of a spiffy new brochure, they paid to have it printed and mailed.  Not only that, they've assembled a veritable treasure-trove of goodies to "give away" (all paid for out of your tax dollars, of course):   they've got CoPo and TriMet information, biking and walking maps in case you can't find your way around, event calendars, flyers, faucet aerators, hose nozzles, rain gauges, and Oh!  If you act now, they're gonna throw in tickets to a hot show, right on the Strip!  No, wait...that's the Tahiti Village ad, so nevermind that last part.  But they do have other "free" stuff, just for ordering:  you can get a "nifty" bumbershoot emblazoned with "Portland Smart Trips" or a bandana with a bike map printed on it, or a "Transportation Options" T-shirt.  Maybe even a pedometer, as they show one but don't mention it.

Plus, within two weeks of receiving your order, they'll hand-deliver it to you by bicycle!  How cool is that?  Yes, you actually pay folks to come up with hairball ideas like this.  They get paid well, too - likely more than you get paid, when all the hidden benefits are considered.  You pay them to waste time and resources on silly little schemes (which they think are "edgy") intended to guilt-trip you into getting out of your car.  After all, if you aren't driving, then you won't have any reason to complain about their ongoing failure to maintain existing infrastructure.  So then they can spend your money on other great, "green" and "sustainable" hairball ideas.

We got our spiffy brochure the other day, but oddly, it doesn't look as though they had them printed up by members of their core constituency: unions.  We looked high and low and never did spot a union print-shop logo.  Maybe they were trying to save some of your money.

If I Wanted To Live In Portland, I'd Move There

That seems to be a prevalent attitude in Vancouver, WA. - at least when it came to discussing the cutely-named "Columbia River Crossing".  In real terms, the discussion last night was supposed to be about replacing the I-5 bridges.  A few years ago, it might have been called just that.  But today, bureaucrats have to have cute names for everything, so it wasn't a discussion about replacing the bridges - no, it was a discussion about the "Columbia River Crossing".  And what transpired during this event was completely unexpected:  folks who've lived in the area for many years don't want choo-choos and ancillary items from Portland invading their space.

They were supposed to do a happy dance and embrace the preferred concept of bridge-with-choo-choo.  And some Vancouver residents do.  One happy guy spoke of living in Washington D.C. without a car, and how wonderful rail is.  The prevailing attitude seemed to be that he should move right on back to the east coast.

Many expressed outrage at a political process that they said seems to have favored light rail from the start.

"A lot of our people are getting the feeling that this is being shoved down our throat," said Stephanie Turlay of Vancouver. "We have been told by our mayor, 'no light rail, no bridge,' and that's a threat."

Others were concerned about increased taxation and other crime:

"The line ought to be drawn at the river because I do fear the crime that Portland is experiencing with the system, as well as increased taxes," said Robert Ross, who moved to Vancouver from Portland five years ago. "This will give Portland and TriMet government a toehold. I fear it will just expand from that beginning."

They have a great point; if they wanted to live in Portland, they'd move to Portland.  The fact that people are increasingly choosing to move to Clark County from Portland is indicative of serious dissatisfaction with Portland and what it fails to offer.

Vancouver residents are completely justified in their belief that they're being taken for a really expensive ride, because the bridge replacement has always been about rail and bicycle and pedestrian paths, rather than about increasing vehicular capacity and freight transport.

Begging For Votes

Watching the Clintons' campaign requires freshly-popped corn and a Big Slurp of Kool-Aide.  Settle in for a viewing of "Night Of The Living Dead".  The Little Missus has gone from a coronation to abject begging for votes from the so-called "superdelegates".  How can anyone choose to be a member of a party that has "superdelegates"?  That's just silly.

If all votes should be counted equally, as The Little Missus and her supporters maintain, then why would there be such a thing as "superdelegates"?

Many years ago, a prescient story was written. For today's college graduates, let's put it this way: Somebody Wrote A Story Before I Was Born, So It's Dumb.  That seems to be the way today's young "educated" folks "think", these days.

In Animal Farm, all animals are equal - but some are more equal than others. Orwell clearly defined present-day Democrats. 

More Powerful Than TNT - And Environmentally-Friendly!

Meet the new generation of bombs.  They'll kill you - and a whole bunch of others, but in a much more "environmentally-friendly" way.  It's nice to know that folks who think up new ways to kill lots of people are concerned about the environment, isn't it?

Interesting Look Back: Portland Light Rail

It's been mentioned before, but worth yet another look:  The last time we were permitted to vote on light rail, in 1996, a lot of big money lined up in favor.  Jim Karlock  put it into perspective:

All pro-rail contributions totaled over $1,156,340. The light rail opponents spent about $110,000 and won. That is why we no longer vote on toy trains.

Must Be An Oregon Thing

Media's been all breathless over an "attack" at the zoo - heck, that was KGW's "top story" a couple of nights ago.  Now, did this involve a tiger leaping out of an exhibit and killing visitors?  Nope.  It was a freaking free-roaming peacock, which allegedly jumped onto the head of somebody's precious little snowflake.  Said snowflake was allegedly just minding his own business when he was wantonly attacked by a bird, and suffered a couple of scratches.  That's their story, anyway.

The Big Zero"reported" the story late yesterday; noting that "the zoo's deputy director" (actually, there are two deputy directors) says that the offending bird has been caged until the zoo can figure out what to do.  Describing the birds as generally harmless, "People love the birds," she said, "but guest safety is No. 1 to us."

Truer words were never spoken.  Animal welfare  certainly doesn't seem  to be a priority .  If it were, would a conservation and education - oriented facility subject the animals in its care to such "events"?

Obviously not.  Clearly, it's all about getting people through the gate and stripping them of as much money as possible - as safely as possible, of course.

Many folks are doubtless awaiting the addition of a Ferris Wheel.