The Bus Bench

Big Brother is watching me and little brother MTA is helping.

As I was getting very angry about the whole gates at the subway entrance thing and I started doing some research and you know what I think.

I think TAP cards are a waste of money. I’m pretty sure that TAP cards have nothing to do with my convenience or your convenience. I’m pretty sure it has to do with some old men backdoor, defense contract dealing.

I think that a Metrocard like they have in New York would be a completely an efficient way to figure out which lines get traveled the most and who is getting off where. I don’t think we need a card where we have to fill out all of our personal information.

I don’t want people who kill people for stupid reasons to have my information.

And yes I said stupid reasons, become there are perfectly good reasons to kill someone. The reasons behind the killings going on in the  Middle East currently, are not good reasons.

I mean really, who thought that was a good idea?

Where there 5000 meetings about the TAP card?

Let’s look in the window of time and see when TAP cards idea came into fruition.

Oh look kids, 2002 right after the 9/11 thing and look kids who built it Cubic Inc (that’s the same company that’s building our gates, the company owned by Walter J Zable) a defense company.

So was the "hearing" the other day complete utter bullshit, since Cubic already had the contract to build the TAPS, so of course they are going to just grant them the gates contract since that's the only way to truly track people. That was MTA and Cubic's plan all along.

Lets make a note to ourselves when METRO actually plans on doing something it gives no notice and holds as few meetings as possible. It them buries a press release at the bottom of it's webpage and hopes no one disccues it. When METRO has no intentioning of doing anything it has lots of meetings in order to stall and "look" busy. They are stalling with the rails. The gold line and the artifact they found it's no way the MTA cares about that, they don't care about the Boyle Hotel and there are alive people in there. So no way...not buying that, they simply don't care about the rails anymore. There is more money to be played with in security.

So Zable’s company Cubic which has made lots of money on the "War on Terror" gets an 84 million dollar contract back in 2002 to track public transit riders and we all just kind of let that happen.

“Cubic Corporation of San Diego… has numerous multimillion dollar contracts with the Pentagon to supply "realistic combat training systems" and surveillance and reconnaissance avionics.” Tom Dispatch The Military-Industrial Man How Local Politics Works in America -- or a "Duke" in Every District by Chalmers Johnson

To be exact they’ve made over $1,101,568,281 and that’s just the figures I have up until 2004, I’m sure they’ve made much more.  Fact gotten from Larry Makinson The Center for Public Integrity 9/29/04

In the UK they have terrorist attacks all of the time, but no one gets shell shocked and lets the gov’t fuck them without even a bouquet of flowers. What the hell is wrong with people here?!!!

After they force us all to get TAP Cards and give all of our information in order to get on the Red Line that goes to NoWHERE aka North Nollywood are we also going to be forced to take off our shoes to get on the subway at Pershing Square?

I mean seriously, the writing is on the wall.

Do you know Roger T Howard formerly of Cubic Inc is currently the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, nominated by George W in 2006.

How the heck does anyone think that TAP cards are a good option for anything more than a government agency snooping on you and entrapping you if you don’t play some stupid bullshit game?

Will the day come where you will have to show your driver’s license in order to get on the subway to go to the Staples Center to see a shitty concert?

Will you have to prove your citizenship to get on the Green Line?

Will the subway and light rail in Los Angeles only be for the people who can pass stringent background checks?

Is 1984 actually 2008?

Browne

46 Million dollars rubber stamped through the MTA, with only one meeting…to fight the war on terror

The MTA has been having lots of hearings on lots of things, but not on 46 million dollars just approved to have gates installed.

This is why I don’t go to meetings. Public hearings are to make people think they are doing something, sort of like voting for a president. These are all things that make the average person feel useful. I don’t like feeling useful, I like being useful, because feelings just let the wheels of bullshit continue to turn unchallenged.

I like to say, “The shit you splashed on me stinks; you stupid fucker.”

Will it do any good? Who the fuck knows, but at least I said something. At least I can say, “I told you this was all complete bullshit.” Sort of like I predicted the crime wave that is occurring right now.

Karen you owe me twenty bucks.

46 million dollars for a ten year contract (and you know that’s a low ball estimate that number is going to grow) to catch 5 million dollars annually, even though 27 million dollars is spent on towing cars off the freeway annually.

The contract was gotten by Cubic Inc, instead of Tutor Saliba which if you look into it Roger Tutor (the President) builds lots of things in LA from rails to schools. If you see construction going on in LA’s public entities I’ll bet you a dollar the trucks say Tutor Saliba, 

I guess Roger Tutor pissed someone off.

Some info: Cubic Transportation is a transportation and defense firm founded in 1951 it’s owned by Walter J Zable. I’m letting you know all of this so you can worry about something relevant, because a rail that’s not going to get built, which I’m sure the expo line is not going to get built is a waste of your time, but this, this is a big fucking deal.

One of Zable’s recent contracts:

"The defense segment of Cubic Corporation (Amex: CUB) has received a $18.7 million order for Engagement Skills Trainer 2000 (EST 2000) small arms training systems and simulated weapons for the U.S. Army and the Army National Guard. "From Cubic Inc, PR page.

53% of the veteran suicides after coming home from Iraq were members of the National Guard.

It’s headquartered in San Diego. Didn’t Blackwater want to move to San Diego?

One of the forces that drives the Cubic Inc is the “War on Terror.”

Oh that’s fucking fabulous, so we’re going to have gates put in by a guy that invents and implements war games and the public transit riders get to be used as guinea pigs in some kind odd chess match, like Trading Places but much more scary..

I’m thinking there should probably be a freakin meeting about that? But maybe I’m just crazy and negative.

Now keep in mind this has already happened. There will be no hearing, there will be no meeting. It’s done. This "war game, fighting terrorism" freak has a huge contract to operate gates in LA that we don’t need because of what exactly?

The MTA doesn’t care about hemorrhaging money. It doesn’t get it’s money by profit it gets it’s money by hemorrhaging money aka gov’t welfare, so what are the gates really for?

Why does someone who builds smart weapons have to implement our gates?

Hey don’t know about you, but I for one would be pretty interested in the answer to those questions.

So Roger Snoble feel free to email me at browne@shametrainla.com.

Also I sort of think those meetings that they had were what they call in the military diversions and I'd also think twice about accepting and using tap cards.

Browne

This Week's Triptych

I frequently come across odd things that do not so much deserve much more than a smart-arsed comment in passing, and so I tend to pass on recording them.

Earlier this week, while walking along Wilshire from LaBrea to Western, I conceived the idea to do something with these otherwise unremarkable moments: "This Week's Triptych." I do not know if I will always have one each week—I promise not to do it just to do it, but to offer something worth at least a second glance.

Here is the first one. Enjoy!

 

-BusTard

Who the Hell is Roger Snoble?

And why should you get to know him NOW?

Here is what is due to happen later this morning at Metro, One Gateway Plaza:

"C. authorizing the Chief Executive Officer to increase the life of project
budget of CP# 210094, Metro Rail Gating, from $999,663 to $21 million for
Metro Rail station modifications; and..." (Page 9; click here for the full agenda.)

Roger Snoble is the CEO wishing to authorise the exponential leap forward in what will surely be a great waste of resources required to install gates in the subways. While bus service is being cut drastically, the Gold Line is facing obstacles and all the other proposed subways are sure to have immense price tags, our dear Roger is fulfilling his name sake when it comes to the dwindling monies meant to make the backbone of Los Angeles not stronger, but merely strong.

Would you trust this man?
It doesn't matter; he's already out the back door!

-BusTard

Boyle Hotel Goes to The Birds. . .

...for the present. The Fat Cats that are already buying up the area are sure to be swooping in as the Gold Line's Soto Street station nears completion.

The Boyle Hotel, situated between two Gold Line construction sites at teh corner of E. First and Boyle Ave., was in 2007 purchased by the nonprofit organisation East L.A. Community Corp., which claims that high costs have prevented refurbishing the building even as the group alleges to be saving the tenants from slumlords. The residents have complained about the deteriorating conditions and are in fear of being removed; the Gold Line, they maintain, is sure to gentrify the area. They feel they will be the first to go.

Across the street, encroached upon by one of the MTA sites, Mariachi Square is populated by what appears to be an equal volume of musicians and pigeons. No one is in the pagoda, and the thick carpet of bird-shit is the reason.

Nevertheless, there is a beauty in the dilapidated Boyle. It is sad that the 119-year-olde building's brilliance may not be brought out until the present tenants are expelled and the rents have been raised exponentially.

The nabe has more than a few great places, too. The laundromat offers free coffee and fortune cookies in the morning; there are several great places to eat, and there are a few other things that I refuse to disclose because I feel one should either visit or miss out. I am afraid the time is short for everyone there.

The unflattering photos in today's L.A. Times (in print and on line) are artless, so I decided to show some photos I took some time ago. (One will note that the street is not only NOT closed off but that the sun is just coming up.)

   

-BusTard

Tony Takes The Subway: 27 Feb 2008

I had important things to do, but I managed to pop in and capture Tony V telling the rest of you to do what I already do. (I had to be brief as I had a 720 to catch and was already a bit late as it were, thanks to the MTA. . .)

In any case, we will see if the plan to synchronise traffic and signals and the collective speed along Wilshire Blvd. will do better than the dim-witted decision to take away the Rapid's bus lanes.

-BusTard

 

L.A. Straphangers forced to miss "Live Chat" bus once again

Although the date on the MTA press release states "February 21, 2008," the press release has been modified—but with no small change. The sentence promising a posting of what was supposed to have been February's "live chat" has been erased—an omission which in a professional sphere of PR would have prompted a new date even back when paper was the medium used to convey news.

More mystifying is why Pam O'Connor—who had been away in Australia over the last month, according to Kim Upton of Metro Media Relations, and only returned last night—could not be reached during her month-long absence and why such a promise to post the "live chat" answers was made when it apparently could not be obliged. No answer was forthcoming from Ms. Upton about why the PR statement was changed to not reflect any comment about the February chat and yet the date was not.

Ms. Upton further stated that the questions and answers "might be posted tomorrow." We would prefer to waste our time waiting for the inevitably late bus to work.

-BusTard

Bobby Matos Afro Latin Jazz Workshop Orchestra at Braille School

Having done considerable volunteer work for the blind—I have a soft spot in my otherwise blackened cinder of a heart for those bereft of sight—it were no surprise to find me at the Braille Institute on Tuesday for the lunchtime concert. (Oddly enough, I find sight the least appreciable of the five recognised senses, whereas hearing I deem the most important.)

This time round featured the 20-piece Afro Latin Jazz Workshop Orchestra directed by Bobby Matos. A wide variety of music by composers such as Tito Puente, A.K. Salim, Rene Hernandez and several others is what the group plays. Below is a brief video (just under one-and-a-half minutes) from Tuesday's performance. The ensemble will again assemble on Sunday, 02 March at 5 p.m. for a show at The Echo on 1822 W. Sunset Blvd in Echo Park.

 

-BusTard

Tree People in Hollywood

Well, OK, a tree PERSON. I saw no others, but imagine they were out there. . . 

 

-BusTard

Collision Course for Transit Coalition and Metro Public Meeting?

I have plans to do the best to be in two places on Tuesday night, 26 February 2008, owing to there being two public transit conventions. Unfortunately, both parties are interested in what the other has to offer. (Well, the TC is interested in what Metro will say, but I have my doubts that metro cares about what anyone else opines.)

I am curious, however, if the TC will head over to the Japanese American National Museum in time for the Metro's do.

In the NW corner:
The Transit Coalition Dinner Meeting - Learn the Latest!
              Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
              Philippe The               Original, 1001 N. Alameda St. Los Angeles CA. 90012

In the SE corner:
Metro to Hold February Public  Meetings for Regional Connector Transit Corridor Study

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will be conducting two public meetings for the agency’s Regional Connector Transit Corridor Project February 26 and 28, 2008.

• Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008: 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., Japanese American National   Museum, 369 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles