politicians are idiots. we have a bunch of those career politician types over here in western new york, looking to keep the status quo (ie. their paychecks coming... along with any campaign contributions directly into their accounts). case in point, the 190 tolls which have been subsidizing downstate, specifically transportation for nyc for decades have been repeatedly lobbied to end by citizens. for decades politicians here have said it was impossible. i like this article poking fun of dale volker & co. for never even trying to take the tolls down (we are the only "upstate" city with tolls within the city). the toll collection recently ended... yay! here's a blurb.
You cannot embarrass people who have no shame.The truth of the saying was obvious on a sunny Monday morning. A pack of state lawmakers showed up at the Breckenridge tollbooths to announce the end of the odious Breckenridge and Ogden tolls. For years, these collection booths on Buffalo's perimeter pickpocketed commuters of tens of millions of dollars.
By rights, the lot of them should have been hiding under their desks. But shame has no toehold in the political world. TV news cameras draw politicians like a cake draws flies. Instead of making themselves invisible, they fell over each other claiming credit for something they had precious little to do with.
Dale Volker, our state senator, nearly damaged himself climbing aboard a ceremonial "No Toll" truck as TV cameras rolled. This is the same Volker who argued months ago that the tolls could not come down because of "bonding obligations."
"I thought he was going to break his neck, he was so desperate to get in the truck," said businessman Carl Paladino.
We still would be plunking 75 cents a pop into the hands of tollkeepers had not Paladino - disgusted by last year's hike from 50 cents - sued the Thruway Authority last February. Attorney Mike Powers of Phillips Lytle argued that by previous agreement, the tolls - basically, an $11 million annual commuter tax - should have ended a decade ago.
there's an odd todd halloween thingermajig. there are actually 2, but i like this one better... because it mentions necco wafers. remember those? why do people buy that stuff? i always hated when i was going over my candy take on halloween. i mean seriously... i think the only thing keeping the necco company alive are those stupid necco wafer sales from halloween. i wonder what happens to the extra necco wafers that people don't get rid of? do they eat it themselves? perhaps... the necco company is actually dead... and the necco wafers people give out each year are ones they got when they were kids... so it's just candy recycling from 1950 or whenever necco was still making the wafers. i once had an in depth conversation about necco wafers with my friend aaron... i don't remember exactly what was said... but i know it was funny and we both hated necco wafers a lot. hmmm... i also don't like mounds and almond joy, and anything licorice flavored. did you ever get pennies? that was stupid too. gee... thanks for the penny... you cheap bastard. it'd be better if you just didn't give out anything. i guess the penny has been replaced by the nickel nowadays. however... this isn't keeping up with inflation! when i was really young, i remember being able to get gumballs from gumball machines for a penny. gumballs now are at minimum $0.25 i think... a nickel isn't gonna do squat for me. stupid frickin nickels.
stupid frickin necco wafers.
ew.