The Lance Haynie Blog

Denton Texas public transit system to cut routes

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:14:06 -0500

I normally do not pick up stories about local politics but this one kind of hit me for some odd reason. The DCTA, which is the city of Denton's public transit authority decided to cut routes this week. Here is the scoop as explained by a Denton resident:

Essentially, they're taking taxpayer money that's supposed to be used for public transportation for the city and cutting a bunch of city routes in order to expand the UNT bus system. The problem is, the UNT buses are paid through the student's fees. They should not be paid for taxpayer money and, due to these cuts, hundreds of people that rely on the city bus to get to work will now no longer have city bus stops in our area. And their justification is: Well, we expanded UNT's buses. That are, of course, meant for students only.

Of course one of the reasons I picked this up is I myself live in Denton. Now, I may not use the public transit system myself but I can foresee huge issues with the proposed cuts. I know that this system is used by a rather large group of people. Although a lot of the users are college students (we are a college city with two major universities and a community college. The University of North Texas, Texas Woman's University, and North Central Texas College) I often see a lot of older and even elderly riders. As another citizen puts it:

"Try to remember that 'just a couple of blocks' to a young, healthy person is not a big deal. It's a long way [for others] if its 100 degrees or if you are carrying bags of groceries."

We have a large number of apartment communities in Denton, if anything we should be expanding routes, not cutting back. The next public meeting will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at South Branch Library, 3228 Teasley Lane Denton, Texas.

Update from Dee Leggett, Vice President Communications and Planning:

Please allow me to clarify the misrepresentations in your blog. We (DCTA) are not reducing routes or increasing UNT routes. In fact, we are reducing redundancy of our routes so that we can increase our frequency. The UNT Shuttle is open to the public. I admit that DCTA has not done a great job communicating that. Those routes serve the major apartment complexes at a very high frequency. By eliminating Connect service that overlaps with UNT Shuttle Service, we are able to more Connect buses to run more frequently on other routes.
As a conservative, you can appreciate our efforts to increase efficiency and reduce redundancy while also improving the frequency of our services for all of our passengers and extending the hours of operation. I hope more people will attend our meetings so that we can better explain our position.

See this article on Fox News & USA Today

Jackson and Fawcett died today

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:00:29 -0500

So today apparently Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett have passed; may they rest in peace. However, am I evil for not really caring?

I mean I feel bad when people pass, don't get me wrong. However, people pass each and every day. It seems silly to me that we do not make a fuss when some innocent family dies in a car crash, but it is headline news when any remotely famous person passes.

San Francisco to fine you when you throw away food scraps!

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:11:21 -0500

Just when you think San Francisco could not get any worse:

SAN FRANCISCO - Trash collectors in San Francisco will soon be doing more than just gathering garbage: They'll be keeping an eye out for people who toss food scraps out with their rubbish.

San Francisco this week passed a mandatory composting law that is believed to be the strictest such ordinance in the nation. Residents will be required to have three color-coded trash bins, including one for recycling, one for trash and a new one for compost — everything from banana peels to coffee grounds.

Obama Admin: Rein in pay in US private sector

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:57:53 -0500

Excuse my language, but are you fucking kidding me?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration says executive compensation must be better managed to prevent the sort of risk-taking that jeopardizes the economy.
Gene Sperling, who advises Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, said Thursday the administration does not want to impose caps on executive pay. But he also laid out for the House Financial Services Committee a list of guidelines calling on publicly-held companies to link compensation to long-term performance, not short-term gains.
Sperling said in prepared testimony that the administration believes compensation practices "must be better aligned with long-term value and prudent risk management at all firms, and not just for the financial services industry.

Could this administration be anymore blatant with their motives? First we have the bailouts that should have never been -- yes I am aware that started with Bush, that does not make it right. Then the GM/Auto bit. We have a pay czar -- what is next?

I hope I am wrong, trust me I do. However, it looks to me like he is going to do anything he can to hold a tight grip on business. Either by way of taxes, or pay limitations. Yes, I know he said he does not want to put a direct cap but frankly I do not believe him. He said he was going to do a lot on his campaign trail that he is going against. We already have Microsoft, who is one of our largest employers, saying if they raise taxes they will ship jobs overseas. When all of those jobs are lost, you can blame this administration directly. Companies have warned us, they are just ignoring it. I guess we get to call their bluff.

Are Americans really turning their back on gas guzzlers?

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:41:45 -0500

They claim that we have turned our back on big cars. They claim that we now want more fuel efficient cars to drive. I say let the numbers do the talking:

Sales of the Prius in the US were down from 15,011 in May 2008 to just 10,091 for the same month this year. For the year to date, sales of the Prius in the US stand at 42,753 compared to 79,675 in 2008 – a drop of more than 45 per cent.

If you want my honest opinion, Americans do not want fuel efficient cars, or "cute" sub-compacts. We want our diesel trucks, our flashy sports cars, and our carry 8 kids from soccer, the groceries, and some lumber for a weekend project SUV's. We just do not want to pay the fuel cost for it. For the most part the surge in hybrid cars was due to just that. How else do you explain why when gas was cheap that is what we bought. Then when gas in 2008 rose to high levels, we bought hybrids. Then again once gas prices went down we went back to our ways.

This same logic is going to be the death of GM. The government is going to force them to make cars that we do not want. If you have not noticed yet Obama, we are very stubborn people. Yes, there are a few people that will buy GM just because its GM. However, as a whole if GM makes crap we just will not buy it. I seriously think our current politicians in Washington think we are ignorant.

FDIC pushing for shake-up at Citigroup

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:25:31 -0500

Once again the Fed want's to overstep their legal limits:

NEW YORK (AP) - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is pressing for a management shake-up at embattled bank Citigroup Inc., putting CEO Vikram Pandit in the hot seat, a report said Friday.

The report from The Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the matter.

"We are confident in our management and confident that we will continue to position Citi for a return to sustained profitability," said Chairman Richard Parsons in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.

Yes, because replacing the head of a company in trouble is the best solution, especially with no plan to move forward. Just look at what happened to GM once you did that. Now they are in bankruptcy court, the Union has really taken over, and they are going to make cars no one wants.

That is just with the auto industry though, you do that to the financial industry it can be disastrous. Citigroup is one of the healthiest banks right now. Vikram Pandit has done the best with the tools he was given and given the current situation. I say if you are going to blame anyone blame Charles Prince. Hey guess what, we did, he is no longer the head of Citigroup.

Microsoft: Tax would move jobs offshore

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:07:29 -0500

This should give you an idea of what is to come of Obama gets his way with taxes:

June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steven Ballmer said the world’s largest software company would move employees offshore if Congress enacts President Barack Obama’s plans to impose higher taxes on U.S. companies’ foreign profits.

“It makes U.S. jobs more expensive,” Ballmer said in an interview. “We’re better off taking lots of people and moving them out of the U.S. as opposed to keeping them inside the U.S.”

Microsoft is just the only one that happens to be coming out with this. If you do not think that other companies will follow suit you are foolish.

Though in a bit of good news, Walmart intends to create new jobs:

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – As Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opens about 150 new or expanded stores in the U.S. in 2009, the company expects to hire about 22,000 people for new positions.

Those positions include plenty of cashiers and stock clerks, but the world's largest retailer will also be adding store managers, pharmacists and personnel workers.

What do you want to bed that the left is not happy with this though? They have been waging war with Wal-Mart for years. They would view this as 22,000 more indentured servants all because Wal-Mart is anti-union. I would never join a union!

SHOCKER: Man Mows Down Traffic Cop to Avoid Parking Ticket

Sun, 24 May 2009 19:56:33 -0500

What is the world coming to? I will never understand someone who thinks that running over a cop is a better alternative to a ticket.

A man was so desperate to avoid a parking ticket that he ran over an NYPD traffic cop before she could write it, breaking her legs and causing a head injury.

The incident happened Friday afternoon on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. Cops tracked down the suspect, 26-year-old Anthony Grullon, and arrested him Saturday afternoon.
The 26-year-old agent was about to write a ticket for a double-parked car when Grullon allegedly ran to the vehicle, got in and tried to drive away, police said.
As he made his escape, the car knocked the agent to the ground and then drove over her, crushing her legs.
The traffic agent is in guarded condition at St. Barnabas Hospital, police said.
Surveillance video captures the man believed to be Grullon wearing a red shirt and dark pants running across the street to his 2002 black Ford Taurus. The Bronx man has been charged with felony assault and leaving the scene of an accident.

Biden on Gitmo: "It's Like Opening Pandora's Box"

Sat, 23 May 2009 09:06:38 -0500

I heard this on my way home today and all it makes me want to scream. Do you know what the normal connotation is with Pandora's box?

Speaking to reporters on the final day of his tour of the Balkans, Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged the administration still hasn’t figured out what to do with all the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay but predicted that it will still meet its deadline of closing the prison within a year. “I think so,” Biden said, when asked about the January 2010 deadline. “But, look, what the president said is that this is going to be hard. It’s like opening Pandora’s Box. We don’t know what’s inside the box.”

Though actually, if you are up to date on your Greek Mythology. Joe may not be so very far off -- this time. You see after Prometheus' theft of the secret box of fire Zeus then ordered Hephaestus to create Pandora as part of the punishment to mankind. Pandora was given many gifts from the gods. Prometheus warned his brother Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus when he married Pandora. Of course Epimetheus did not listen and Pandora was given a large jar with the instruction never to open it. Of course Zeus' gift was the gift of curiosity and ultimately opened it. Once opened it released all of the evils, ills, and diseases that mankind had not previously known.

Here is where the good part is... After all of these ills escaped at the bottom of the jar there lay hope. Was hope not Obama's campaign motto? I bet Joe knew that all along though, that is why he compared Gitmo to Pandora's box right?

Supermax: No, we’re not ready

Sat, 23 May 2009 09:02:38 -0500

Well for some reason President Obama seems to think that our one and only federal supermax prison is ready for terrorists. Officials in Denver think otherwise though:

Moving any large number of terror detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Colorado’s Supermax would require either shuffling current residents out of the Florence prison or expanding its capacity and resolving a long-running battle over adequate prison staffing.
As President Barack Obama and congressional leaders point toward the Colorado federal prison as a possible new home for some of the detainees, one big problem is the bed-space crunch.
Supermax’s approximately 480 concrete cells already are jammed with the likes of Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols, Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph and other notorious domestic criminals. There also are 33 international terrorists, including Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, 1993 World Trade Center bombing mastermind Ramzi Yousef and failed airline shoe bomber Richard Reid.
Only one bed was not filled Thursday at Supermax, U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Tracy Billingsley said.
So getting any more than a handful of detainees from Guantanamo to Florence would require considerable logistical maneuvers to clear room or an even longer-term solution through prison expansion.
The first step, according to the head of the union representing correctional officers, would be to increase staffing at Supermax.
“There’s a whole contingent of issues that have to be well thought out before we ever agreed to bring inmates of that caliber into our system,” said Bryan Lowry, president of the National Council of Prison Locals, which represents federal correctional officers.

Though on some of his other policy switches, I am very pleased. It is nice to see that Obama is possibly coming around.