Partial Reduction of Intellectual Capital

"New Cancun"
Mexican politicians, it seems, are just as stupid and corrupt as their U.S. counterparts. Jalisco Governor Governor Emilio Gonzalez has labeled a massive new developmenet on the southern coast of Mexico a New Cancun, as if Mexico needed any more such playgrounds for American tourists. Jalisco's employee retirement fund, Pensiones del Estado (IPE), has provided more than $90 million to fund the $156 million purchase of 2965 acres in an area known as Estero de Chalacapetec, south of Tomatitlan, which is south of Puerto Vallarta. A private developer called Rasaland provided the remainder of the funds. Like other Mexican playgrounds for rich tourists, the New Cancun will certainly make a few rich Mexicans richer and will provide subsistence wages for Mexicans who will be courted to support the project through the use of lies and false promises of "middle class" incomes. The ecological damage done by such a large project are expected, by some Mexican ecologiests, to be significant.

Guess Who's Benefitting from Rick Perry's Enterprise Fund?
If you guess Rick Perry, you'd be right. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of reasons Rick Perry should not be reelected to another term as Governor of Texas. His Enterprise Fund is a pretty good one, though. A Texas Observer investigation revealed that "20 of the 55 Enterprise Fund companies have either given money directly to Perry’s campaign (through their political action committees or executives) or donated to the Republican Governors Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group that Perry presided over in 2008." Those 20 companies received more than $174 million from the Fund, $2.2 million of which was donated back to Perry and the Republican Governors Association. Tracking the money, which is no small feat, suggests that some of the grants from the Fund wound up in Perry's own pocket, or at least in his campaign fund. I'm voting for "the other guy."

Boston Blackie's Owners Charged with Felony Theft
One of my favorite burger joints while I lived in Chicago was Boston Blackie's. When I was there, the only one (as far as I knew) was on the corner of East Grand and St. Clair, but now they have several locations throughout the city and the suburbs. I read this morning that the owners (father and son) and an employee were charged with felony theft connected with a check kiting scheme. What a shame. I did love their olive burgers.

A $2 Million Demolition
Some people in Syracuse, New York are pissed. See, a crumbling building has forced the closure of some parts of I-81 in the northern part of the city. The building's owner has failed to repair the building. When parts of the building crumbled onto I-81, the city moved to have it demolished. It's still up, but it's days are numbered. I wonder if my Syracuse friend has anything to say about this?

Video Breath
Years ago, when Toys-R-Us was running a horrifically-annoying commercial with an equally-annoying commercial song, I rewrote parts of that song. And here it is, from memory:

I don't want to grow up to be a poisonous pig
'Cause they're ugly and they're hideous and they grow so fucking big
Instead I'll spend my time on hate and death and video breath
And play with my toys alone
I just don't wanna be a poisonous pig.

I was no more of a poet then than I am now.