On the Roads

Not long ago, the world reached a demographic milestone: more people now live in cities than not. This trend is expected to continue. Nevertheless, when it comes to government largesse, cities continue to get short shrift. Consider, "Cities Lose Out on Road Funds from Federal Stimulus." According to this article, the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country, combined, will receive less than half the transportation-related stimulus money. North Carolina, for example, has approved $423 million dollars in projects, but only $7.8 million dollars--less than 2%--is going to Mecklenburg County (home of the teeny tiny little hamlet of Charlotte).

We probably shouldn't complain. With a focus on out-of-the-way places, maybe some stimulus money will be employed to pave the wetlands around Solipsist HQ. Still, as a former New Yorker, the Solipsist is sensitive about these kinds of disparities. New Yorkers constantly hear complaints from the "heartland" that too much taxpayer money goes to the city's welfare queens and freaky conceptual artists; in fact, any basic examination of the federal budget shows that big cities provide far more in federal revenue than they receive in federal services. It's your red-meat, salt-of-the-earth, rugged-individualist-types in Wyoming and the like who are freeloading.

It reminds us of something. Sometime during "the darkness" (i.e., the Bush administration) a Republican operative (maybe Karl Rove, but it hardly matters) pointed to the electoral map as an illustration of GOP dominance:

Indeed, looking at this map, one could reasonably conclude that blue-state liberals are a hopelessly overmatched minority. No wonder George Bush won! But, wait, take a look at the Obama-triumphant map:

Doesn't really look that much bluer. The Rovian (oh let's blame him!) fallacy is to conflate the size of a state--actual square mileage--with political relevance. Vast empty swaths of switchgrass and cattle cannot confer executive authority. Sadly, it seems that a more-enlightened Obama administration is making a similar miscalculation in the way it is allowing state's to distribute stimulus money.

Call us crazy, but we think money meant to stimulate productivity should be spent in the most productive places. Build highways in Seattle, not bridges to nowhere. Sheep and coyotes don't need well-paved roads, but New York City commuters could use an upgraded subway system. A little common sense, people!

Solipsist Central: Slated for an upgrade?

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Cultural Illiteracy Check

As of this moment, here are the "Top Ten" Yahoo! searches:

10. Big Green Egg: Uh. . .?

9. Lorenzo Lamas: One of the finest actors of his generation! Although his generation was only about 10 minutes in the 1980s. No idea why he's being searched.

8. Demi Lovato: See "Big Green Egg."

7. Bottled Water: Well, we know that there's been talk that bottled water is bad for people (as well as the environment). We'll assume that's why it's being searched.

6. Climate Change: Big topic at the G8 summit is environmental concerns/global warming.

5. Big Brother 11: Dear God! How many seasons of this show have there been?!? Well, OK, probably 11, but YEESH!

4. GM Bankruptcy: We heard that GM will be emerging from bankruptcy fairly soon.

3. Eve Plumb: Janet Brady? No idea why she's "hot."

2. Lisa Ling: Reporter being held by Iran--or maybe North Korea. Still, it's familiar to us.

1. Project Runway: New season starting soon.

So, today, we'll give ourselves a Cult-Lit score of 60%--we could identify and surmise the relevance of 6 of the 10 items. If you're keeping score, our 3-day average is 46.7%. We're creeping up!