BART

If you are like me you love the thought of public transportation, but in practice, I am more of a "case-by-case" advocate. The reasons for my teppid support is by no means philisophical or astheticly founded - it purely economic.

Please, do not misquote me, I love BART (the same cannot be said about AC Transit). I refuse to drive a car into SF and as a North Oaklander the MacArthur BART station is my portal to downtown Oakland and the A's, Warriors and Raiders games. But regardless of my destination, riding BART is not a fun experience.

Now, now, I am not complaining about the loud music that my neighbor is blasting in our ears, or the ominous "HMMMMMMM" that accompanies the trans-bay tube, nor do I shun the bums that panhandle their way from car-to-car. There are a myriad of other less-than-ideal situations one runs into while utilizing public transit (whether it be AC Transit, MUNI, BART, AMRAK, etc.), but the one issue that really grinds my gears is seating.

Some seats are comfortable, some are too skinny, some are still warm, and in many cases there are no seats. But in the off chance you do get a well fitting seat, it is most likely filthy. I am not a germaphobe, but as a matter of public health, public saftey and basic economic principal, I can no longer idealy sit on these cloth seats!

1. Cloth is the more expensive option
2. Cloth attracts and retains filth, much like a sponge
3. Cloth requires extensive maintenance

So while I could continue my diatribe, for the sake of time, I will let the readers add to my list of the unpleasantries of cloth seats in the comment section below.

Over the next few months (or more realistically, decades) BART will begin to redesign their trains, and thus seating. The time to get involved is NOW.

If there were ever a public safety issue to rally behind - this is it! If there was ever a public health cause to fight for - this is it! (they can repeal Health Care legislation, but it is a helluva lot more difficult to repeal the upholstery of an un-upholstered seat)!

Join fellow East Bay residents as we fight for plastic seating - this is not about comfort, this is not about ergonomics - this is about simple dollars and cents.

LOL in OAK

Too often we find ourselves lamenting the current state of affairs. Our nation is divided, our state is fledgling, our community is decaying, yet in the midst of it all we forget to see the ironies and calamities that make these serious issues absolutley hilarious.

While there are plenty of bloggers actively following important matters around The Town, many of them overlook how fucking funny our City is being run.

Our mayor was elected by less than 50% of the voters.

Our police force is (soon to be ) leaderless and lacks support from the mayor..not to mention the overwhelming majority of our beloved officers are not from Oakland!

Our schools are impoverished, poorly run and disasterously staffed.

Our business community is fleeing at an alarming rate.

But have no fear, our Mayor has a plan to save us, the trees, the kids and the animals by taking Oakland back, block by block."Back from who," you might ask? We will find out soon enough.

As we enter one of the more daunting times in recent history we will make sure you do not go silently into the night - rather laughing at the current ridiculousness that surrounds us in this wonderful wasteland we call Oakland.