Politicians in general are idiots. The whole stadium deal in general is stupid (the return, if there is one is minimal - and the jobs which is the primary reason are low skill/low wage) and common sense should suggest (but then politicians lack such sense, which is why they are idiots), that if you have multiple players (firms) should you offer an incentive to one, the others will find out about it and demand the same thing. Phone companies are managed by immoral idiots (they could less about their ever declining customer base). So I am not surprised by their actions (nor am I NOT surprised that they didn't think of the maneuver first). Next, Cincy will try to levy a commuter tax (if they haven't already), so the firms get the break and the workers get the shaft. - DB
Not at all VW related, but irritating, and not trying to start any kind of flame thread, but the city where I live just gave a deal worth $52.2 million because the Convergys company demanded it, or else they were threatening to move their corporate HQ out of Downtown.
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Since Convergys was getting a deal, Cincinnati Bell also now says that want a deal to stay downtown according to an article in yesterdays paper in an article entitles Cinti Bell Wants Handout too. Well the phone company does generate its revenue from the City of Cincinnati, so you would think that they would want to have their offices in that city, but it seems like it is only if they are given a financial incentive to stay there.
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While all of this is going on, they are kicking people out of their homeless camps saying that they are an eysore.
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This is the city in the same county that raised the sales tax by 1/2 percent to finance and new Baseball & Football stadium.
So giving huge amounts of money is what it now takes to keep the big corporation with the money happy, while the homeless with no money have been told to stay out of sight. Could it be that we have our prioritie$ in the wrong place. Bill Berckman
That's not a "sentence" ,........that's a damn gift! I don't like it.
They should not be allowed to have arms and legs for a few years each though.....................I say they should all have their extremities taped together in one big bundle......................That's what they are trying to do to the rest of us. Tie our hands....................( And legs from what I am hearing lately)
The original post was "do we have our priorities wrong?".........................Yeah,.......................But I don't know that I want the homeless folks being the first representative that visitors from other prospective companies see when they are searching for a place to light,...............and I don't think that most people that are "homeless" HAVE to be homeless either.
Someone in a recent letter to the editor wrote about setting up a homeless camp in the mayors front yard or affluent section of town. I remember in my Economics professer in the fall of 79 saying that the reason that we don't have more civil disobediance and protest like the 60's was that now (in 79) college students don't have time protest because most of them have part time jobs. Today (2003) with all of the companies doing background checks, an arrest record for civil disobediance might disqualify someone for a job. Bill Berckman
It depends on what you mean by "don't have to be homeless". Cuts in aid to health & other realted facilities have forced many to be in the street that would otherwise be in some sort of assisted living situation or a program to foster independent living. Then there is the situation of "affordable housing" in which people may work, but are either living in their car, living in a shelter, living in some overpriced rental unit rather than being able to afford a home. Here is DC it is absolutely unreal. Friends in Baltimore and Philadelphia tell me it is exactly the same situation there - you pay as much per month for a decent apartment as you do on a mortgage. So to answer the question that others in this little OT thread have answered - do we have our priorities in wrong. Again it depends on what you mean by "we & our". We as a society may have no priorities (at least that is the way I see it), I as an individual believe my priorities are in order, but I certainly believe as indicated my by initial response that "our" elected officials in general do NOT as I would say askthe average person what is important and it will most likely be at odds of what their representatives at the local, state and federal level are thinking. - DB
On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 16:22:59 -0100, "DB" scribbled this interesting note:
Don't get me started. "Homeless" people panhandling on the street corners, yet driving nearly new cars. Perfectly able individuals faking injuries and disabilities in order to garner a few more dollars from trusting people who really ought to know better.
Yes, there are hard luck cases out there. Yes there are truly deserving individuals who have had difficulties in their lives. Yes there are instances where the homeless individual has done everything right, yet still has no home. But more often than not it is a drug or alcohol problem that someone refuses to acknowledge, the unwillingness to take control of a life, the inability to take responsibility.....etc., etc., etc.
As to folks who are "forced" to rent instead of own their housing, well, do without a few things. Do without a new car. Do without cable. Do without air conditioning. Do without a television. Do without eating take out four or more nights a week. Do without alcohol. Do without cigarettes. You oftentimes have to sacrifice in order to get ahead. How do I know? I have a father who has sacrificed more than you would ever believe to raise five children (and send four out of the five to college) and more grand children and has still been able to "get ahead." Was his sacrifice worth it? He seems to think it was. And he did it as an underpaid, under appreciated police officer. For 23 years.
As to the priorities of "society", yes they are misdirected. Instant gratification. Bigger and better. Now, now, now. These are the ways American society seems to identify itself, and it is a recipe for self destruction...eventually. The hidden strength in this society seems to be the ability to identify real problems within itself just before they boil over, and not only to identify problems, but to come to solutions that work...just in time.
On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 13:57:41 -0500, John Willis , who was sitting in a corner eating his Xmas pie stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum and began to run off at the mouth like so:
Ah, I see you live in the real world. Good to hear the voice of reason from someone who doesn't live in a plastic bubble. I only have one thing to add. Colt 45 isn't as bad as you might think. ;-)
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