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By Robert Farley on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 6:06 p.m.
In a hokey Web ad from House Republican leader John Boehner last week, the GOP "releases the dogs on the money trail" to find jobs created by the Obama-backed economic stimulus package.
The stimulus was supposed to be all about jobs, according to the folksy narration by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., "but after five months and billions in debt on our kids and grandkids, where are the jobs?"
"In Wisconsin, the stimulus paid for a bridge to a bar called Rusty's Backwater Saloon," Westmoreland says. "They've got great burgers, but no new jobs."
The 85-foot bridge in question spans Rocky Run, a creek off the Wisconsin River in Stevens Point, Wis. The project to replace the bridge got $840,000 in stimulus money.
State bridge inspection reports show the bridge carries an average of 260 vehicles a day. According to Dale Peterson, Portage County assistant highway commissioner, most of the traffic using the bridge is people going to and from the Wisconsin River Golf Course (a public course). It's also used by crews for Consolidate...
So what about Rusty's Backwater Saloon?
A few of its customers may use the bridge. But not many, according to Peterson and someone we spoke with at the saloon. The main route to Rusty's is via a more direct highway access nearby.
Peterson suspects the Republicans used Rusty's as the example because "I imagine it made good print."
The ad makes it seem like this is a bridge only to Rusty's. It's not. In fact, Rusty's business would do just fine without it because there are other routes to get to the bar.
But we don't want to ignore the ad's bigger point, which is that stimulus money is being spent on a little-used bridge.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did an investigative report of stimulus-funded bridge projects in Wisconsin and found that the vast majority of the bridges awarded money in the first wave of stimulus funding are small, rural bridges that carry less than 1,000 vehicles a day. The Stevens Point bridge is one of 37 little-...
That's because so-called "shovel-ready" projects moved to the front of the line for the first round of stimulus money, state highway officials said. The idea of the stimulus was to get people working on projects that could be started fairly quickly. What does shovel-ready mean? It means the projects have environmental ...
In the case of our little Stevens Point bridge, it has been in the works since 2006. It was designed and ready to go when the stimulus passed in February. In fact, it was originally slated to be replaced in 2009 but got pushed back to 2010 due to lack of available federal funding.
"This wasn't some project we cooked up when the stimulus was passed," Peterson said. "All it needed was funding."
Construction is set to begin in August and is expected to take about three months. Peterson estimates a crew of about a dozen will be used to build the bridge. And the concrete and steel will be purchased locally. So presumably that will create some economic ripple as well.
Built in 1937, the bridge is in need of replacement, Peterson said. If it isn't, he said, ultimately they'd have to shut the bridge down, and "that would affect quite a few people. And more people would be out of work."
"It does serve a purpose," Peterson said. "I'm happy this is being replaced."
The GOP ad ends with Boehner kneeling behind a hound dog on a manicured lawn.
"I'm John Boehner," he says. "This is Ellie Mae. She hasn't found any stimulus jobs yet. And neither have the American people. It's time to stop runaway spending in Washington and help small businesses get the economy running once again."
Boehner didn't just pluck the Rusty's crack from thin air. On his Web site, he cites a June 16, 2009, story from the Wall Street Journal that mentions the bridge. It comes in a story about a report from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., called "100 Stimulus Projects: A Second Opinion."
Coburn's report says, "One small bridge is receiving $840,000, though it only carries 260 vehicles a day on average. It primarily provides access to a golf course and Rusty’s Backwater Saloon, which boasts pontoon rentals and a Steak-A-Rooni for just $5.25."
We realize this Web ad from Boehner was a tongue-in-cheek attack. And let's face it, "Rusty's Backwater Saloon" creates a nice visual. But when you single out a project — as Boehner did with the "Bridge to Rusty's" — we think he ought to have his facts straight. And the fact is, this Wisconsin bridge is not a bridge so...
And as for the project not creating jobs, we think Ellie Mae's sniffer is a bit off there too. The main point of the stimulus wasn't so much to create burger-flipping jobs on the other end of bridge construction projects, but to to create jobs for people doing the bridge work itself, thereby creating an economic ripple...
Published: Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 6:06 p.m.
White House Web site, "Recovert Report: 100 Days 100 Projects"
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration Web site, "Deficient Bridges by State and Highway System"
Can Belgium's new prime minister keep living the dream?
So, 541 days later, there it was for the whole world to see: a new Belgian government. Under almost any circumstances, nobody beyond the Belgians themselves would really care, and news reports would be limited to a few paragraphs . Do many people in democracies really care about domestic politics before they get their ...
Oh sure, it took the Belgian politicians time, time enough to break the world record in government negotiations. No one has ever been so slow. Belgium even beat Iraq on the way, a milestone that was celebrated with relish. Little wonder it caught the attention of the world's media. That small window on our quaint world...
The noble art of compromise is sacred in this country, because we know it is a necessity to keep it from falling apart. In Flanders though, the electorate increasingly questions this. Just last week, polls suggested that up to 40% of Flemish voters back Bart De Wever, who heads the openly separatist N-VA (New Flemish A...
This bolt from the blue was the work of Elio Di Rupo. The son of Italian immigrants lost his father when he was one and grew up in poverty. It took a smart school teacher to recognise his intellectual capacities, and push his life in a different direction. He went to university and became a chemist. Later, he entered p...
That Di Rupo is the son of immigrants is not the main difference between him and his predecessors. Nor is it the fact that he is openly gay. What stands out is that he is the first French-speaking prime minister in Belgium since 1974, when Edmond Leburton was the last head of government who could not speak Dutch, the l...
Now, all of a sudden, the unthinkable has happened: Elio Di Rupo, a Walloon, becomes prime minister. He tries hard to speak Dutch, but it is awkward and halting, apparently due to a hearing problem. When it comes to his passive knowledge of the language, everybody agrees that during the 18 months of negotiations he mad...
It is fair to say that it will not be the quality of Di Rupo's Dutch that will matter. Instead the success of his economic policies will decide whether his American dream has come true. If it fails, it could turn into a nightmare.
A few days after arriving in Toronto, Elizabeth Simcoe went for a ride. The wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, was an avid artist and diarist. Eager to explore her new surroundings, she rode her horse eastward over the sandy peninsula that is now Toronto Island then along the sho...
"From there, despite the restrictions of a proper 18th-century lady's dress, [she] climbed into a small boat and had herself rowed farther still, until she saw a line of immense and imposing cliffs stretching far into the distance," records M. Jane Fairburn in her 2013 book Along the Shore, a history of Toronto's water...
"The shore is extremely bold, and has the appearance of chalk cliffs," Mrs. Simcoe wrote in her diary, "but I believe they are only white sand. They appeared so well that we talked of building a summer residence there and calling it Scarborough."
The Scarborough Bluffs, now as then, are Toronto's most striking physical feature, dramatic in a way no other part of our understated landscape can match.
As high as 90 metres, they rise from the water like cliffs in some places; in others they show deep ridges like the folds in a blanket; in others they soar to spires and pinnacles; in still others they are broken by wooded ravines and gullies.
Yet, most Torontonians never see them. It is hard to get a full view of the bluffs unless, as with Mrs. Simcoe, you go out into the lake by boat. The shore beneath them can be tricky to reach and the lands at the top hard to navigate.
They can be dangerous, too. Emergency services come out many times every year to rescue people who have been trapped on the slopes or at the base.
Conservation officials hope to change all that, making the Bluffs safer and easier to visit. They want to shore up dangerous bits, put in more trails and create habitat for wild animals and fish. A study is already under way, with a first set of options to be presented to the public next month.
It is an exciting project, a once-in-a-century chance to open up the whole of the Scarborough shore to a broader public. It is also a delicate one. Officials face the challenge of giving safe access to the Bluffs without destroying the wild quality that lend them their magic. Some people want them left alone altogether...
"We keep hearing: 'Where is the Ferris wheel going to go?'" says Nancy Gaffney, who is helping guide the project for the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. "It's not that way at all." The objective, she insists, is to keep the shore as close to its natural state as possible.
Restoring the Bluffs to what Mrs. Simcoe saw in 1793 is not an option. Generations of human settlement have changed them. First farmers moved into the lands above the Bluffs. Then came cottages and resorts. Then, after the Second World War, suburban housing.
For thousands of years, wave action at the foot of the Bluffs had steadily eroded them, pushing them gradually inland. The sand from the erosion was swept along to the mouth of the Don River, where it helped form the peninsula that became Toronto Island and give Toronto its protected harbour.
Human activity accelerated the erosion at first. Farmers cleared the woods at the top of the Bluffs. The bottom was left exposed by decades of stonehooking – pulling countless tons of gravel and stone from the waters along the shore for use in construction.
Conservation authorities moved in to slow the erosion, which was sending some houses toppling over the edge and threatening many more. They put in breakwaters and built small rock headlands, called groynes, to create beaches that would absorb the energy of the waves.
Erosion has slowed, but the Bluffs are changing as a result. As Ms. Fairburn observes in her book, most of the narrow, natural beaches have disappeared while the slopes above have become more gradual and more treed. The Bluffs are less bluff-like.
"The irony is that bringing people down to the water also brings destruction," she writes. "In conservation there is loss, and in development there is always change."
The Bluffs are still a wonder, for all that. Just gaze on the sheer white wall called the Cathedral Bluffs. Or wander through one of the lovely parks on the bluff edge. Or swim at Bluffer's Park. Or hike one of the shoreline trails that the conservation authority wants to improve. Look up and marvel, as Elizabeth Simco...
If the conservation authority's plan can bring more people down to see the Bluffs, Toronto should seize the chance.
“High School Musical” meets British horror-comedy “Shaun of the Dead” in “Anna and the Apocalypse,” a frequently hilarious and often-touching musical set in the zombie apocalypse.
You would be forgiven for dismissing “Anna” right off the bat, as the premise is innately ridiculous and gives the impression that it would quickly devolve into pure farce. From the opening number, director John McPhail makes it clear this is not the case by wholeheartedly embracing teen musical tropes rather than maki...
The first half-hour or so is rather refreshing, as it’s simply a well-executed musical comedy about the struggles of high school — something that rarely exists outside of the Disney Channel. A large ensemble cast of virtually unknown, brilliant singers and actors shine in this opening act. Led by Ella Hunt as stubborn,...
When the world begins falling to pieces, it matters — McPhail takes the time to flesh out the film’s characters in the opening act, which imbues “Anna” with an urgency that rarely exists even in the best “serious” zombie films. It does not shy away from the fact that it is a zombie film, however, and provides gore-pack...
Writers Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry celebrate the movie’s Christmastime setting through zombie snowmen, blood-soaked candy canes and a laugh-out-loud double-entendre song about Santa’s “presents.” Confidently written from beginning to end, McDonald and McHenry mix humor with surprisingly competent drama, jumping qui...
Every aspect of teen musical-zombie film “Anna and the Apocalypse” is an absolute home run. It effortlessly combines seemingly incompatible genres, while never becoming a parody of either; it takes everything great about the two and fits them into one bizarre, wonderful film.
TOKYO: Uber may be shredding business models for taxi firms the world over but it is struggling to make inroads in Japan, where risk-averse passengers prefer to stick to their high-quality traditional taxi service.
Japan, with its wealthy customer base and megacities like Tokyo, should represent rich pickings for Uber.
In 2015, the national market for taxis had a turnover of 1.73 trillion yen ($15.2 billion), according to transport ministry data.
There are 50,000 taxis in Tokyo alone — instantly recognizable with their impeccable polished exteriors and doors that open automatically to let valued customers board effortlessly.
And with hailing a taxi rarely taking more than a few seconds in the major cities, there has been sluggish take-up of Uber, where consumers order an unlicensed car via smartphone.
“Japanese people don’t like taking risks, they are risk averse. They are quite strict when it comes to the quality of service,” said Ichiro Kawanabe, CEO of Nihon Kotsu, the main Tokyo taxi firm founded by his grandfather in 1928.
Given this, “when Uber tried to messily enter the market, no one wanted them,” Kawanabe, who is also chairman of the Japanese taxi federation, told AFP.
Uber also ran up against local legislation — it is strictly forbidden to operate a taxi without a license.
So it tried to enter the Japanese market via another route, setting up a pilot carsharing service in 2015 in the western city of Fukuoka.
Uber said it was a study into the needs of the local community but authorities quickly slammed on the brakes, saying it could be considered an unlicensed taxi service and raising questions of safety.
Kawanabe also pointed to safety issues as being among the reasons Uber had not enjoyed the same success in Japan as it has elsewhere.
The firm has started another pilot system in two rural towns connecting senior citizens with people willing to drive them around and this time the authorities have not clamped down, as it compensates for a lack of public transport and taxis in the areas.
Japan is also a “very important” market for UberEATS, its take-away food delivery service, the spokesman said.
And Kawanabe, a suave and charismatic 47-year-old known as the “prince of taxis,” admitted that Uber had been useful in foisting change on the conservative Japanese taxi industry.
Around nine out of every 10 cab rides in Tokyo is hailed or taken from a rank, with only 10 percent ordered via smartphone, said Kawanabe.
The main reason for this is that fewer than half of the taxis in Tokyo are connected to a smartphone, he said.
“They still use old feature phones instead of smartphones. It’s very difficult for us and app operators to convince them to use apps,” he complained.
In addition, around 80 percent of taxi fares are paid in cash.
This conservatism — combined with excellent public transport systems — led to a decline of one third in taxi passengers between 2005 and 2015, according to the transport ministry.
The industry is just starting to fight back — dropping fares for short rides around Tokyo, for example.
“It took me two years to convince them (to reduce fares) ... and there is still so much that needs to be done,” said Kawanabe.
He has set up a start-up subsidiary, JapanTaxi, to develop apps to connect drivers with passengers and aims to launch a carsharing app next year to push down costs.
But the competition is ferocious.
On the app front, Chinese app developer Didi Chuxing is expecting to launch in Tokyo next year, in partnership with a rival taxi firm.
And Uber is hoping for a large investment from Japanese communications behemoth Softbank.
Between Kawanabe and Uber, there is no love lost.
“They are just so rude, in every way. They think they are like gods and that we are so obsolete,” he said.
“From the point of view of the Japanese taxi companies, you can only call them ‘devils’.
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine's highest court has overturned a lower court decision, opening the door for a lesbian couple to adopt two siblings who were their foster children.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled Thursday that state law does not preclude Ann Courtney and Marilyn Kirby of Portland from adopting the children, a 10-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother.
Courtney and Kirby became the children's foster parents in 2001; last year they filed petitions with the Cumberland County Probate Court to adopt.
Their petition was rejected, but the Maine Supreme Judicial Court concluded state law does not prohibit two unmarried people from together adopting a child and that probate court has jurisdiction over the matter.
First, most of the commissioned officers serving with Kerry on the swift boats have stated in writing that his service during and after active duty was less than honorable.
Commissioned officers are generally well-educated, well-trained and unfailingly loyal to America. It is inconceivable to me that the commissioned officers serving with Kerry are lying.
This is not a case of one officer's word against another's. Rather, it is a case of 60 or so officers' word against that of Senator Kerry.
Second, the commander in chief's primary responsibility is to defend the American people against our enemies. He does this by ensuring that our armed forces are always at maximum strength.
Unfortunately, Senator Kerry has a 20-year history in the U.S. Senate of voting against virtually every proposed strengthening of our armed forces. Just recently, he voted to send our troops into combat in Iraq and then turned around and voted against equipping them properly.
Finally, Senator Kerry has demonstrated an alarming propensity for changing his mind on major issues. He has been for and against the war in Iraq on several occasions and for and against the Patriot Act and so on.
I believe that there are times when our leaders should admit error and get back on track, but Senator Kerry appears to blow in the political winds like a weather vane.
For these three reasons, Senator Kerry is not fit to be commander in chief.
The purpose of iOS 8's third-party keyboard capabilities have now been realized now that PopKey, the GIF keyboard is finally available. You can get it here.

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