Monday, March 28, 2016

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Is On Its Last Leg


 

I remember when BART was open back in 1972, it was all the rage. It linked San Francisco, Oakland, Fremont and then Concord and Pittsburg. BART is coming to the San Jose in 2017. It’s about time.The only drawback is that BART is on its last leg in the North Bay. The system is 44 years old and the ridership has increased immensely. 100,000 more people ride BART than they did five years ago. This means BART carries about 440,000 passengers on an average weekday. People that ride BART daily are upset with BART because of the delays due to mechanical problems, over packed trains, price increases and run down stations. One line that is having major trouble is the Pittsburg-Bay Point and North Concord stations, it will be shut down intermittently  due to electrical surges on the tracks. It’s about time BART fixes the problem and stop putting a band aide on it. In November BART officials are planning to place a bond measure on the ballot for $3.5 billion to pay for fixing tracks, power systems, stations, other structures and the mechanical systems. Yes, people will be in an uproar because their taxes might get raised but they want it fixed.
I feel that all the people who ride BART should stop their whining and let Bart fix the whole system. I know it’s going to take some time but when it’s done think how smooth and easy your ride will be. One last thing, it’s better safe than sorry how about that!
LM


Monday, March 14, 2016

The Republican Presidential Candidates Are a Joke and Trump Is The Main Clown






I have never in my 37 years of voting witnessed a Presidential race as absurd as the one the Republicans are running. These grown men are acting like little junior high school boys especially Donald Trump and Marco Rubio. Their standing up during a presidential debate, in front of millions of viewers insulting each other’s manhood. Rubio made a statement talking about Trump’s “small hands” in other words his penis size. I expected this from Trump because he has insulted Democrats and Republicans since this presidential race began. Rubio let Trump take him out of his character and that is a shame. Trump has made a mockery out of the presidential race. There are people who actually support him and are just as looney tunes as he is.
Republican presidential nominees criticized Trump for not renouncing David Duke’s statement that Trump is, “by far the best candidate.” After the back lash from the other Republican nominees Trump lied and had the nerve to say, “Well, just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke” and he went on to say “I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists.” He said in an interview with CNN. Hey right! We all know that he has not been living under a rock all his life?



The Chicago Police held back protesters on Friday outside the University of Illinois where Donald J. Trump was scheduled to have a campaign rally. The event was canceled because of security concerns. Credit Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times
Trump is the main clown of the Republican candidates. Trump has preached division, keeping immigrants out and deporting all of them. It is no wonder at his rallies people are fighting each other because of their different views. When a white man sucker punches an African American man and the African American man gets arrested. This goes to show you what kind of people are feeding into the sewage he is spilling. Everyone has the right to protest that is what America was built on. Trump has alienated all the people of color. His own party doesn’t even want him. Wow! Trump is one disgusting man.
LM


Thursday, March 10, 2016

Train Derailment In Alameda County Due To El Niño Weather






Mother Nature is beautiful and she can also be very destructive. This year she is pissed off, so she brought us El Niño. El Niño has brought floods, strong winds, rain down pours and mudslides to California with a vengeance. Mother Nature is so unforgiving.
On Tuesday March 8, 2016 the last commuter ACE train No. 10 was headed from San Jose to Stockton, with stops in Fremont, Pleasanton, Livermore, Vasco, Tracy and Lathrop. The 214 passengers on board were traveling home after a long work day in the San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Mt. View areas. Probably thinking what they were going to have for dinner, how was the family and how they had to do this again tomorrow. Little did they know they would be in a train derailment? The train was traveling on the Altamont pass between Fremont and Pleasanton.Then all of a sudden the lead train car hits a mudslide derails and falls into the Alameda Creek 1 mile west of Sunol. The second train car is also derailed but not into the creek. Out of the 214 passengers on board, it’s a miracle no one was killed. Nine people were hurt. Four people suffered serious injuries and five people suffered minor injuries. The passengers on board who weren’t hurt showed compassion and courage. By helping their fellow passenger escape the derailed train. It was first thought that a down tree or human error caused the derailment. Upon further investigation the cause was a mudslide on the tracks.
El Niño Weather is truly here, some people are already complaining about it. California needs all the rain El Niño is bringing and then some. So all you who are complaining stop it, could get worse.
LM


Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Chris Rock Tackles Issues with 2016 Oscar’s With Humor


I’m not a person who gets all excited when the Oscar’s are getting ready to come on. I think it is the most boring thing to watch. As boring as watching paint dry. This year I taped it because of all the controversy, of how it was an all-White Oscar. How African Americans were not nominated in any category? I am glad I taped it because Chris Rock’s speech was great. I enjoyed how he handled the Oscar boycott topic in his monologue. He touched on some real issues. Black people getting shot, cops and racism. I was looking at the audience when they showed them and I saw a lot of uncomfortable looking faces. People contemplating on whether it was alright to laugh. One thing that really stuck out was the short film with Whoopie, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan and Leslie Jones. How African American’s can only play roles in film as janitors and animals. Yes, there needs to be more diversity in Hollywood, but it has been this way for almost a century. I don’t see it changing anytime soon and personally I don’t care. The Academy in my opinion doesn’t pick the best movies. There has been a number of times when I have rented movies just because it was nominated or won an Oscar and it sucked. What a joke!

LM