Uber Mobility

Prompted by a posting about Uber on Facebook’s Amador Political Discussion Group a dialogue ensued about the mobility situation of the elderly, disabled and drunk and our local options. We have a few expensive taxis, an excellent, but skeletal bus service, a limited Dial-A-Ride (DAR) service and a new and well functioning, but small, Volunteer Driver Program.

Among those transported by the Volunteer Driver Program are people going to dialysis in nearby cities. While this is vital, its contribution to county wide mobility and building a transit system is relatively small. However, they are acquiring a van and grouping individual trips together can add efficiency. Other social service agencies own vans, but often their use is limited by grant restrictions or other rules. So we do have some underutilized vehicles available.

The only for the ADA certified Dial-A-Ride, although recently vastly expanded, is still very limited in scope and the most expensive use of our transit money. The ADA certified can also request route deviations on the fixed route buses. Obviously, this slows the other passengers down and can inhibit developing a more thriving transit system.  Minimizing route deviations and DAR use through system design is the best alternative. The funds saved are better used for service that attracts more riders (and revenue).

Recent developments in our system are illustrative.  The service to River Pines was stopped due to negligible ridership, but some in River Pines and also Fiddletown would still benefit from a transit connection. The additional upcountry run has been successful because one can now run errands or make appointments in the Jackson/Sutter Creek county core without having to wait half a day for a return trip. Another situation, although seemingly unrelated, is the fact that the Ledger Dispatch finds it much cheaper to home deliver rather than mail. This supports the obvious that we have a surplus, certainly in terms of time, of transportation vehicles in the county along with unmet transit needs.  The success of the volunteer drivers program clearly points to this.

I am suggesting that we continue to build the trunk/backbone system. It is the best investment with the best return. Improvements in one area feed the entire system. No matter now many volunteer drivers or Dial-A-Rides we have, we still have a rural county with dispersed homes and the General Plan aside, most of us want it to remain this way. I can envision the Uber type technologies, the volunteer driver program and the bygone jitneys (peso cabs in some places) coming together into a workable bus stop to home system. After all, taxis at the railheads are as old as the railheads.

At each bus stop, or callable to your home, would be private individuals in their own vehicles. Over a short period of time it would become routine with the same passengers having the same drivers.  If a shuttle trip costs an affordable $2 someone working an hour a day could easily make about $2500 per year. This could be someone on their way to or from work or a retired person wanting added income. An enhanced system with this sort of passenger collection and distribution would make the proposed Grapevine route for those who shouldn’t drive as well as other services possible. While I don’t have the technology or the details, I can’t imagine that it can’t be figured out. If we did it here we would not only benefit, but be able to sell it to the world.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Unmet or Unseen?

At the Amador County Transportation Commission’s annual Unmet Transit Needs hearing on 12/17/15, I said the following: “I would like to tie some elements of the Unmet Transit Needs document together and make a modest proposal. Under 'Long Term' is increased service to Sacramento. This key link has good daily commute ridership and is partly subsidized by SacDot. They appear very pleased with the service, and I understand that they are buying us a new bus.

Increased service to Sacramento can benefit the overall system in several ways. People transferring to and from this service could lead to incremental system wide ridership growth. It provides a needed service to Calaveras County residents and should serve as an impetus for Calaveras Transit to extend its current route to our transit center. This interchange not only provides greater travel opportunities, but also and again, should lead to incremental system wide ridership growth.

The short term need of greater service to Ione could be met by routing an additional and non commute hour trip through Ione. Seat turnover, like table turnover in a restaurant, is one of the few ways to increase revenue without increasing cost. The question is not always providing for the need of going from A to B, but how many times can you sell that seat between A and B.

Added Sacramento service will also provide an incentive for the Casino bus and the suggested “Grapevine” service, both other recommendations, to operate from the transit center. Once again, this should lead to incremental ridership growth.

I have decided to speak on this particular need and the benefits of doing it because, and unlike other parts of the system, there is a significant and untapped ridership market for the Sacramento service. Senior citizens from Sacramento would enjoy a day in county for an affordable price. They would also fill the empty return trip seats.

Publicizing this travel potential could be done by the Amador Council of Tourism and other organizations within their existing funding. For that reason and all those that I have stated, I ask this body to support this idea and to inform the existing tourist and related organizations of that decision by whatever means seems appropriate.  Thank you.”

My suggestion was well received and discussed afterward. While I have no idea if this created enough forward momentum to bring this into reality, it seemed like a good start.  Also a plus for this proposal is the recent addition of full time staff at the transit center to assist tourists, and, of course, the money they would spend here. As noted above, SacDot (Sacramento County Department of Transportation) has purchased us a new bus because they are pleased with the service and the local service between Rancho Murrieta and Sacramento it provides. They subsidize part of this service, another plus for Amador County.

My statement was an expansion of the ideas I expressed in “Grant Dependent, or Under Our Control: Amador’s Transit Future” (8/11/14). If transit is seen as a business (public sector yes, but still a business) and less as a social service, it would require less subsidy. I also witnessed an irony at the ACTC meeting. Prior to the Unmet Transit Needs hearing, the board discussed raising the sales tax for road maintenance. If this meeting was a 100 years ago, they were probably discussing new taxes on the streetcar companies for road maintenance. Those programs of taxation were one of many factors in their demise.

Good Samaritans, Indeed

We all know the expression Good Samaritan, and many of us know the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritans emerged as a distinct group of people following the exchange of populations caused by the Assyrian invasion of Israel in about 722 BC. They adopted their own form of Judaism and were later negatively portrayed by the Temple priesthood. Jesus objected, and said that the Samaritans are good people. Many believed that they were demon-possessed (John 8:28) and rejected Jesus because they thought that he was Samaritan. All this hostility led to their alliance with the Romans against Judea.

Following Judea’s final defeat by the Romans in about 135 AD, the Samaritans began their golden age.  They rebuilt their temple on Mount Gerizim, gathered over a million adherents. and established communities in Damascus, Gaza, Cairo and elsewhere. But their nation became ruled by the Byzantine Christians and, in a series of persecutions which culminated in the destruction of their temple in 529, decimated them. Their territory had consisted of what is now about two thirds of the area referred to as the West Bank, the other third being Judea.

Despite some cultural revivals over the centuries, the Muslim rule that followed the Byzantines proved even more brutal. The 800 or so now remaining Samaritans have been courted by the Palestinian Authority and persecuted by them at the same time. Most have fled to Israel where they now live in peace.

Because they observe only the first five books of the Bible, they are neither Christians nor Jews. But they are people of the biblical faith, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, like Christians and Jews. The word “Samaritan” means “keepers of the law” in ancient Hebrew. Many Bible scholars believe that their scriptures are the closest to the originals. Assuming that this is so, they are truly Good Samaritans, indeed.

End Note: John the Baptist is buried in Samaria. Saint Jerome (c.347-420) saw miracles there. Today the grave lies beneath the Nabi Yahya Mosque.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Breaking News! Stay Tuned!

How many times have we heard that or a similar refrain? Was it alarming news when Greece defaulted on its bonds? Actually it’s rather habitual; the Government of Greece defaulted in 1932, 1894, 1860, 1843 and 1826.

People were shocked by the Jihad attacks in San Bernardino last week, and Paris shortly before that.  But Islam has changed little over the centuries. Most notable were the conquest of Spain in 711 (does that rhyme with 911?), the Battle of Poitiers (or Tours) in 732 when Charles Martel defeated the Muslims, 759 when Pippin the Short, Charlemagne’s father, drove the Muslims from southern France and in 1683 when the Muslims reached Vienna. Beyond those few highlights I tried to summarize the history, but found it impossible. Anyone curious can internet search, however I found this site useful for the years 355 to 1291: http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/notes/islamchron.html

This constant conquest, or attempted conquest, has made enduring contributions. Count Dracula is based upon Vlad the Impaler, a 1400’s Romanian prince who defended his homeland against the Muslim Turks in a bloodbath unusual even for its time. He borrowed techniques from them, some of which he probably learned as their prisoner when a younger man. The Muslims conquered Sicily several times and each time the Sicilians liberated themselves. Usually they fled to the hills and fought a guerilla war. Because of that experience, they developed a warlord-style of organization that became the genesis of the Sicilian Mafia.

Many historians contend that the European Dark Ages began when the Muslims controlled the Mediterranean Sea and trade was cut off. Ironically, other historians of this period credit the Muslims with preserving the classical thought the ignorant Europeans had suddenly forgotten. This twist of history certainly reminds me of the usual role reversal of modern Muslim apologists and their cries of victimhood.

About 3,200 years ago, Arabians invaded Egypt, Canaan and Syria. They burned cities, destroyed artworks, razed the temples and mutilated their victims including cutting off limbs. These were the forerunners of the Muslims. Scholars such as Robert Spencer believe that the pagan Arabian tribes in later years felt inadequate to the surrounding Christians and Jews and therefore concocted a third “Abahamic” faith. But it’s rather apparent that their symbol is still the moon goddess.

Will Attorney General Loretta Lynch have me arrested for Islamphobia for retelling this history? Apologists for Muslim violence always note how history is full of religious violence. The Spanish Inquisition tortured people to death.  During Cromwell’s English dictatorship celebrating mass was punishable by death. But I have read and repeated numerous times the obvious. Christianity could heal itself by returning to its roots of a loving, forgiving Jesus. Mohammad, however, was a child rapist, misogynist and war monger.  The Holy Koran is full of hate and violence.

I have nothing against individual Muslims. I once hired one, and felt badly when he asked for time off for a religious holiday because he did not feel free to say "Ramadan". We all know that moderate Muslims are afraid to speak up within their own communities. The well financed and equipped fanatics are a huge percent of the world’s 1.2 billion or so Muslims. Do we face a 100 years’ war, or can Islam reform itself? I have no answer.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Residential Waste Burning

“The word on the street” is that Supervisor Lynn Morgan wants to regulate yard waste burning.  Any additional costs and prohibitions would unfairly fall on lower income people. Many feel that this represents the importation of city style into rural Amador County, and also assaults the reality and tradition of self reliance.

Lynn seems honestly concerned about the negative health effects for a limited number of people. And while undoubtedly some others will complaint about additional trash trucks rumbling down their quiet rural roads, there is nothing inherently wrong with a system of trash bins. She has the Air District Director involved. Certainly there are incremental costs already, plus the opportunity cost of not devoting time to something that helps more people. What percent of Upcountry residents really want to inhibit residential burn piles?

Even if the consumer doesn’t pay directly for the bins, someone has to. If the need or demand is sufficient, then the private sector would provide this service. Yard waste and slash can become salable compost, mulch, wood pellets and biomass electricity. A facility such as this has the perfect site, as many have suggested, at the former Pioneer cedar mill. The investment in high tension lines is lost, given its intended and prior use. The prior use as an organic tomato greenhouse came about not because there was a critical shortage of organic tomatoes, but because the grower got three government guaranteed loans each patching up the failure of the previous loan. They could not borrow themselves out of debt any more than we can directly or indirectly not pay a price for abandoning the high tension line investment. Wasted investment, however small, accumulates over time and contributes to economic decline and increased debt.

I see the broader picture here, and laugh to myself thinking that, undoubtedly, some progressives see the lack of a yard waste/slash facility as a “market failure”. But the opposite is true. Government involvement sealed the destiny of the cedar mill site. Are we creating or solving problems here? Will the approach of more government that probably hindered solving the problem once before solve it now?  Is there now no other way to look at a problem, real or imagined, than government involvement? I would bet that a businessperson risking their own money and doing a market study for unmet demand could tell rather quickly if this is an economic or subsidy endeavor.

And if nothing changes what is the cost? None of us are perfect, and we all define our activities thus. If a few people have to stay indoors a few days of the year, how horrendous is that? How important is efficient, low cost yard waste/slash destruction for fire safety? How important is local tradition that’s the smell of fall to many? What was once an individual response and perhaps adaption is now a public demand. What does this change in attitude signify for today and for tomorrow?

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

Free Puerto Rico!

Puerto Rico is bankrupt. The machinations currently underway in Washington and on Wall Street will be the subject of many books over the next few decades. Because Puerto Rican bonds are the best deal, both tax and income wise, large numbers of middle and upper middle class Americans, especially retirees, depend on them for income. But that income is in for severe reductions given the likely outcome of a Chapter 9/Detroit style bankruptcy. This all conveniently fits into the globalist elite/George Soros plan to destroy the American middle class. Not surprisingly, Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama support this alternative. Given the uncertainty on the island, many Puerto Ricans have fled to Florida with the assistance of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration. This may tip Florida’s electoral votes to the Democrat party.

Since the late 1960’s, when a friend of a friend of mine was injured by a terrorist bomb while shopping in a “bourgeois” department store, I have followed events in Puerto Rico. These terrorists, the FALN (Armed Forces for National Liberation), killed five people in well over a 100 bombings including the historic Fraunces Tavern where George Washington delivered his Farewell Address. They were eventually caught and given long prison sentences. But the Clinton crime family came to power and Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder granted clemency to what he called Puerto Rican Nationalists. They overruled everyone else in the Justice Department, all other concerned Federal agencies and Congress. The vote was 95 to 2 against in the Senate and 311 to 41 against in the House. The entire process was irregular, but President Bill Clinton claimed executive privilege when questioned. This travesty was intended to gain the Puerto Rican vote for Hillary’s Senate campaign.

Puerto Rico was acquired from Spain in 1898 and in 1917 Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship. They could have easily become the Hong Kong or Singapore of the Caribbean, but Roosevelt’s Washington had a different idea. Following a junket at Joseph Stalin’s invitation and extolling the new soviet economy, and after running several failed early New Deal experiments Rexford Tugwell became governor of Puerto Rico. The welfare state he helped created is so “benign” that today a Puerto Rican can collect disability for the disability of not knowing English as a US citizen in a Spanish speaking semi autonomous Commonwealth.

Partly financed by the Government Development Bank, entities such as the Electric Power Authority, the Highway and Transportation Authority and the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority underpin the Puerto Rican economy. When these authorities borrowed money from the development bank they recorded the loan proceeds as revenue. Their books look good and they then borrowed more money usually by issuing bonds. Losses and inefficiencies were covered by more borrowing. The inevitable collapse finally came.  But Obama sees the solution by issuing a new “super bond”.

One has to admire the fulfillment of Tugwell’s utopian vision. Today in Puerto Rico the poverty rate is 45%, unemployment is over 12%, Medicaid is available to 46% of the population, 27% of the population is on welfare and just 60% of Puerto Ricans over age 25 have graduated high school. Only 32% of Puerto Ricans are employed with about 25% of those working for the government.  Despite all of this, a tax incentive package from Washington helped to hold things together before its termination. This attracted mostly pharmaceutical companies and helped lay the basis for the new growth industry of medical tourism.  The supply of organs for transplant is plentiful given the island’s murder rate 400% higher than the United States.

Free Puerto Rico! and an end to US colonial rule declares the Party for Socialism & Liberation in Puerto Rico. I agree, and know they are right about some existing and historic colonial trade regulations. In the world of real politics, some bailout/subsidy deal would probably be passed by Congress. But if it’s a once-only deal I would support it and find it far better than the Democrat movement of make Puerto Rico the 51st state. How many welfare monsters do we hard working taxpayers need support? I hope this experiment in dependency doomed to fail doesn’t foreshadow possible outcomes on the Mainland.

Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett

The Loyal Opposition Is Degenerating

She is a liberal feminist suing for “…assault, battery, false imprisonment…"because she"…went through channels…to block a hate speaker. Most of the involved faculty agreed with her. But two, perhaps only three faculty members who wanted Peled to speak bypassed all appropriate channels, and used their own faculty ‘turf’ to pay him $2,500. Now that the left has control of our universities, they have suspended democratic process and substituted physical violence. Violence only begets violence. Part one:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260607/jewish-professor-hounded-california-riverside-phyllis-chesler

Here is part two: “I… found myself in the middle of my four opponents in a yelling match, and one of the men grabbed my arm. I tried to yank my arm free, could not, screamed 'TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF ME!!!' I tried to yank my arm free, could not, and screamed 'LET GO OF MY ARM!!!' I finally yanked free, though he never loosened his grip. At least 100 people were in the room… … but no one came forward… (the) assault left a very large and ugly bruise.” The professor who yanked her arm was also noted for treating his female students “… in misogynistic ways and … was scornful of feminist ideas.” 

So we have a left-wing professor who won awards for her diversity training and who is pro Israel subject to mob violence on a “free inquiry” college campus. The Muslims have moved in and trained the left to their techniques. So-called liberal professors now cover up for misogyny. To paraphrase our national anthem: We must be brave today if we want to remain free.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260648/installing-jew-hatred-americas-campuses-phyllis-chesler