Did you hear that? That long lonely lull across Jessica World? The sparkly purple dust devils as the bounce merrily along the desert landscape that is my blog? Life (aka Softball) has been our focus since March and frankly, I've done good to get my house clean on a regular basis with everything going on. But there is no more softball (at least until July 23rd) and as I sat reading the paper this evening two articles just...well to put it frankly...they pissed me off. Those of you under the age of 15 who may read my blog, I apologize. And I'll try to keep it to a minimum through out the rest of it. But there is no other word that can strongly evoke the feeling that these two articles gave me. I'm pretty sure the next few words are all I have to say to let you know that this blog will probably be a hotbed of feelings for others. But, you chose to come to Jessica World and the rainbows, they are more smelly than pretty today. Those words are: Toll Road and Abortion.
First...the dang Toll Road. The Dallas Morning News placed it on the front page but first tried to lull me into a haze of happiness and satisfaction by placing a big lovely picture of Dirk at his hometown being greeted by the throng of German fans. But....right below that...was THE article. NTTA tolls to rise 6 PERCENT Friday. Did anyone ask you? I know I wasn't asked. Nor did I get the chance to shrug off my civic duty and not vote. OH NO. They don't have to ask. Let me repeat that. THEY DON'T HAVE TO ASK. They can raise rates as they please. And in 2009 they elected to do it EVERY TWO YEARS. FOREVER. Or until they decide not to. Which why would they? They're reasoning is that they have to do this because they can't depend on traffic increasing to sustain their finances. Um...do you know why? Because it costs too damn much to drive on your stupid toll roads! I know I know. If I don't want to pay it, I don't have to ride on it. And I don't. But lets see how much business sense this makes: You have less and less customers, so raise the price so you still make the same amount. Which means you have less customers. So you raise it again. And you'll go on and on. Their reason behind is because it costs too much to keep building the roads. Um...so stop? Why not, when you're building the dang thing (see, I caught myself that time) build with the future in mind? You can't tell me that all of the brilliant mathematicians out there don't have some handy formula or algorithm that can project the population 50 years from now and what type of infrastructure would be needed to support that population. The 121 toll road is a key thing. You would have thought that COMMON FRIGGIN SENSE would have told the engineers "Hmm...maybe, just MAYBE, people might want to enter and exit from the Dallas North Tollway so we should add that to it while we're building". Nooooooo. Let's just make it more difficult, for even longer.
But, we should all take heart. Because the increase is only going to be 15.3 cents a mile and will only be $40 more a year for toll-paying commuters who drive 10 miles each day back and forth. Did you know that you were only charged by the mile? Because last I checked, I paid that damn $1.24 whether I drove all the way to I-35 or if I exited at 544 because I just wanted to skip the traffic at the lights at Josey in the morning. And I promise you, that is not an 8 mile drive. Maybe if they actually charged us by the mile, they'd have more people using it. Because I'd pay 15.3 cents per mile, that's not that bad.
Oh.. and did I mention that just below this article was the article stating the toll roads were rising was an article stating that they were cutting NINE BILLION dollars from our state education system? Has anyone heard if they are cutting funds from our prison system? Because that's who needs all the money, our felons.
Well...I think that's a great segway
So...here's some food for thought. I understand pro-life philosophy and thoughts. What I don't understand is why you would take funding away from women who need it! Not just women who are choosing abortion. But women who go out and bust their ass working a job that doesn't pay crap, much less offer any kind of health plan. Those women who serve you your food when you go out to eat. Or clean the toilet in the building where you work. Or even clean the toilet in the home where you live. How many of those women take advantage of free and reduced price health care at places like Parkland, Planned Parenthood and your local county medical offices? And we choose to take it away. Why not just make the way the money goes out more clear so that we can see where the tax payer money goes and that its not going to abortions? Because abortions aren't going to stop. Its not just some new thing that happened because of Roe Vs Wade. That bit of law just helped the back alley clinics and women shoving a hanger into their cervix or pumping themselves full of lye in the hopes of terminating their pregnancy. If, as a society, we were truly pro-life, there would be no children outside of a loving home. No children that have to float through the system just praying that someone will take the chance to love them. No children with medical issues that are just out there. These are the children who are left behind.
First...the dang Toll Road. The Dallas Morning News placed it on the front page but first tried to lull me into a haze of happiness and satisfaction by placing a big lovely picture of Dirk at his hometown being greeted by the throng of German fans. But....right below that...was THE article. NTTA tolls to rise 6 PERCENT Friday. Did anyone ask you? I know I wasn't asked. Nor did I get the chance to shrug off my civic duty and not vote. OH NO. They don't have to ask. Let me repeat that. THEY DON'T HAVE TO ASK. They can raise rates as they please. And in 2009 they elected to do it EVERY TWO YEARS. FOREVER. Or until they decide not to. Which why would they? They're reasoning is that they have to do this because they can't depend on traffic increasing to sustain their finances. Um...do you know why? Because it costs too damn much to drive on your stupid toll roads! I know I know. If I don't want to pay it, I don't have to ride on it. And I don't. But lets see how much business sense this makes: You have less and less customers, so raise the price so you still make the same amount. Which means you have less customers. So you raise it again. And you'll go on and on. Their reason behind is because it costs too much to keep building the roads. Um...so stop? Why not, when you're building the dang thing (see, I caught myself that time) build with the future in mind? You can't tell me that all of the brilliant mathematicians out there don't have some handy formula or algorithm that can project the population 50 years from now and what type of infrastructure would be needed to support that population. The 121 toll road is a key thing. You would have thought that COMMON FRIGGIN SENSE would have told the engineers "Hmm...maybe, just MAYBE, people might want to enter and exit from the Dallas North Tollway so we should add that to it while we're building". Nooooooo. Let's just make it more difficult, for even longer.
But, we should all take heart. Because the increase is only going to be 15.3 cents a mile and will only be $40 more a year for toll-paying commuters who drive 10 miles each day back and forth. Did you know that you were only charged by the mile? Because last I checked, I paid that damn $1.24 whether I drove all the way to I-35 or if I exited at 544 because I just wanted to skip the traffic at the lights at Josey in the morning. And I promise you, that is not an 8 mile drive. Maybe if they actually charged us by the mile, they'd have more people using it. Because I'd pay 15.3 cents per mile, that's not that bad.
Oh.. and did I mention that just below this article was the article stating the toll roads were rising was an article stating that they were cutting NINE BILLION dollars from our state education system? Has anyone heard if they are cutting funds from our prison system? Because that's who needs all the money, our felons.
Well...I think that's a great segway
So...here's some food for thought. I understand pro-life philosophy and thoughts. What I don't understand is why you would take funding away from women who need it! Not just women who are choosing abortion. But women who go out and bust their ass working a job that doesn't pay crap, much less offer any kind of health plan. Those women who serve you your food when you go out to eat. Or clean the toilet in the building where you work. Or even clean the toilet in the home where you live. How many of those women take advantage of free and reduced price health care at places like Parkland, Planned Parenthood and your local county medical offices? And we choose to take it away. Why not just make the way the money goes out more clear so that we can see where the tax payer money goes and that its not going to abortions? Because abortions aren't going to stop. Its not just some new thing that happened because of Roe Vs Wade. That bit of law just helped the back alley clinics and women shoving a hanger into their cervix or pumping themselves full of lye in the hopes of terminating their pregnancy. If, as a society, we were truly pro-life, there would be no children outside of a loving home. No children that have to float through the system just praying that someone will take the chance to love them. No children with medical issues that are just out there. These are the children who are left behind.
All Well Said! And loved the felons comment .. really .. good one! I have enough healthcare gripes that i could go on for days so I wont start on that subject but agree with ya on this one for sure. As for toll roads .. never have understood any of the justifications they give for how things are determined and it usually doesn't matter much because strangely it always changes when it comes time for us to get our end of "the deal".
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