Special Projects

I dare you to go without your car for a whole month and only use public transit or a bicycle to run your errands.

You don't want to?

Okay, I'll do it for you. Let's call it "The Brainshrub Bus Project".

For the month of July I will not use my car unless public transit is not available, or, there is a dire emergency. (Editors note 08/07/2006 - This project has been so interesting, that I'm extending it indefinitely.) I will report my experiences here on Brainshrub.com and describe the benefits, or shortcomings, of the Asheville Public Transit system.

This project was inspired by the observation that Americans complain about higher gas prices, traffic jams, global warming, the war in Iraq and a host of other problems associated with an automobile-based culture. Yet, they shun public transit - the most obvious solution.

I'm hoping to prove that you are not as much of a slave to your car as you think you are.

Outside of major metropolitan areas such as New York or Chicago, most Americans consider public transit as too inconvenient for a busy professional to use regularly. It is thus relegated as a subsidy for the poor to get to work, rather than a way to make a city run more efficiently.

I don't know why this is so.

Perhaps Americans secretly dread being exposed to the poor on their way to work?

In any case, I'm done complaining about our collective dependency on petroleum for transportation. I'm going to do something about it by putting my money, and my feet, on the bus.

Asheville is a mountain town of about 60,000 people. It's fairly representative of most American cities: We have sprawl, highways and malls. Everything in the Brainshrub Bus Project should be repeatable in urban areas of the United States.

My home is about 5 miles from the center of town, so this project will require a bit of logistics. I can't just roll out of bed and go to work... in fact, I'll be looking for a new job this month. Therefore, if the transit system does not work efficiently I may find myself late for interviews.

Let's see what happens. I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous, I haven't been without a car since I was 16.

To see all posts for the Brainshrub Bus Project, click here.

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This post is to announce the opening of the Unofficial Shuler Forum. (SF) You can access the forum by following this link: www.brainshrub.com/shuler

Heath Shuler is the Democratic candidate running for congress in District 11 against Republican incumbent Charles Taylor.

The purpose for this forum is very simple:

Progressives in District 11 need to start talking about Heath Shuler. Let's face it: He's no Liberal.

Shuler is a pro-life, conservative Democrat who admits to voting for Republicans in the past.

On the other hand, there are lots of fine Democrats who do like him. For example, the North Carolina AFL-CIO and the Western North Carolina Central Labor Council have endorsed him.

Clearly, Shuler is a mixed bag. Should Progressives support him?

I don't know.

Rather than sit around and complain about Shuler's lack of Liberal credentials, myself and several other activists are opening the unofficial Shuler forum.

Let's talk about Shuler. What do we like about him? What do we not like? What does Shuler need to say or do to put us at ease?

More importantly: What does Shuler need to say or do so that Progressives will donate money, time, money, time and money to his campaign?

Here are the ground-rules for the forum:

1) This is a forum created by, and for, Democrats. People of all political persuasions are welcome to post their opinions, but understand that smearing Shuler will lead to your post getting deleted and your account banned.

2) Godwin's Law will be enforced. First person to compare a candidate to a Nazi loses, even when referring to Charles Taylor.

Other things you should keep in mind:

• The forum will be under almost constant construction. In fact, as I make this announcement, the forum is still getting built. Please be patient as the bugs get worked out of the system.
• This forum has no connection with the official Shuler campaign. None. Nil. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Once again, the link to the unofficual Shuler forum is:

http://www.brainshrub.com/shuler

Tags: Heath Shuler - NC - District 11 - Asheville - North Carolina - 2006 election - Congress - Taylor - Politics - Democrat

ON EDIT 07/04/2006 @ 10:15 EST: If you'd like to reply to this post, please do so in the Unofficial Shuler Forum.

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It's Friday!

Let's do another open thread.  Last time it was a lot of fun.

Talk about anything you'd like.

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6:45 am (EST)  The success of last weeks "Open Thread" experiment has inspired me to try something else new today:  A blog marathon.

That means that every hour, at the minimum, for the next 12 hours.  I'm going to update this post.

Here is your opportunity to see what an average day of a political blogger looks like.

Prepare to be amazed!

7:00AM (EST): I just woke up about 20 minutes ago. 

Since I'm going to the station now, I'm making 4 cups: One to wake up with, and three to be stored into a thermos and taken to "work."

8:15 AM: By "Work" I mean that I'm a volunteer for WPVM.  On Tuesday mornings I open the station and make sure that DemocracyNow! gets broadcast.

At 7:58 I have to interrupt the pre-recorded show that runs before Democracy Now! because they almost always overlap.  During that 2 minute window I usually introduce myself and read a poem.  This morning I read My Dog Chewed Up My Homework by Bruce Lansky.

I like Amy Goodman. (The anchor of DemocracyNow!)   She is the only television news anchor that doesn't look like she has raw fish surgically attached to her lips.

8:25 AM: I got a bagel from across the street.  They were out of plain, so I got an onion bagel.  Toasted with cream cheese.  The cashier commented on the dark rings around my eyes that I usually have in the mornings when I come in.

8:35 AM:  DemocracyNow! was covering the acquittal of the officers who allegedly beat the crap out of Frank Jude Jr. Amazing.  In America you can gang-beat a man, shove things into his ears and hold a knife to his penis - and as long as he's black it's okay.

9:05 AM: The show is over.  I have errands to run downtown.

10:00 AM: I paid my water bill, took care of some banking.  It's not even noon and I depended on "Big Government" three times this morning: 1) FCC regulates the airwaves so that the show can be broadcast. 2) The City of Asheville makes sure I can afford clean drinking water. 3) The FDIC insures my money and makes sure that the bank doesn't rip me off more than is absolutely necessary.

11:00 AM: Doing this marathon has made me realize that I spend 75% of my brain power on blogging, thinking about politics and food.  Is that normal?  Doug De Clue asked for some help on a local campaign.  I'm also thinking about the coming PDA training.  I'm wondering if I shouldn't give someone my notes from this speech I gave last year.  Or would that be presumptuous? (Let me see if I can find them in this mess first.)

11:25 AM: Working on emails.  Thinking about blogging.  Wondering why I'm not doing laundry or cleaning the house.  I just had a great idea for a blog series next week.  Thinking about Real Estate exams.

12:00 PM: My BlogTopSites ranking dipped to 19 just now.  I'm kinda irked.  I haven't been below 15 is six weeks.  I'm also wondering why the heck my pagerank is still at 5 when I get more traffic than 90% of the political blogs out there.  WTF?

12:30 PM: Finished reading about four blogs, three news sources, an an online magazine.  It occurs to me that I'm spending waaaaaay to much time doing things I don't get paid for.  I've got to figure out a way to monetize this blog.

12:45 PM: Finished first draft of the next article. 

1:30 PM: Read an interesting article about Dick Cheney's staff.  Here's the tag line:

Vice Squad
They terrorize other government officials, and they’re so secretive that their names aren’t even revealed to a harmless federal employee directory. And they’ve helped ruin the country. Meet Dick Cheney’s staff.

2:30 PM: I just got an email from a guest blogger about a story she wants to write for next week.  It's one of those stories that should create another boost in traffic. 

Or it could be totally ignored. You can't predict with 100% accuracy what is going to take off, but I've got a good feeling about this one. 
I like having a guest blogger once a week.  It allows me to play editor and adds variety to the site. 

This weeks guest blogger is a surprise.  I'll probably post his piece on Thursday.

3:45 PM: Blue Gal said she would link to me.  Very cool.  The only thing cooler than that is if she would link to me on the same page as a pair of glow-in-the-dark panties.

And she did!

*Tears of joy*  Dreams do come true.

I've added her blog to my links page.

4:45 PM: Massive guilt pangs for blogging.  (We Catholics feel guilt anytime we do something we enjoy.) 
Also, I just thought of an AWESOME photoshop for Katherine Harris's (R - Fla) senate race.  Bwhahahaha!

6:20 PM: I got wrapped into the Photoshop I was working on.  I blinked my eyes and and hour and a half passed.  This happens a lot when I'm working. 
I can't decide on a caption for the picture I'm editing, so perhaps I'll make it a contest for tomorrow?
More guilt pangs. 

7:15 PM: Whew!  Made it.  I'm going to call up Althea and see how's she's doing, then go knock a tennis ball around before it gets dark.

Cheers!

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