What are the odds that they already have someone all picked out to hand this job to?

Jeez - He's already got 2 arts people. How many people does he need to man the printing presses and keep the flac coming?

City government is bloated? Naaaaaah.

I would say there is no unemployment in McCreepies harem of young men that these bogus positions are created for.

I think the position they need to create is "Bagel Toaster to the Mayor". Might keep Mayor McCreepy from burning down City Hall.http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/01/city_hall_evacuated_bagel_to_b.html

I can't wait until we vote to raise local taxes just to "maintain the current level of service".

"Think of children! And the arts and culture!"

How about food tasters for the city council members...to prevent poison attacks.

Of course, once he hires this twerp, then it'll be time to hire a "green arts and culture policy director". You sure that this is a real city government, and not just some outtake from the film Brazil?

Mayor Creepy must be trying to keep up with "Queen Michele" at the White House - who has 21 staff members to cater to her every whim.

And you guys complain about a bunch of bus drivers getting adequate health insurance!

And you guys complain about a bunch of bus drivers getting adequate health insurance!

Careful, Al. You could still get taxed under the president's proposal for "Cadillac" insurance plans.

Careful, Al. You could still get taxed under the president's proposal for "Cadillac" insurance plans.

Yea I saw that!

I'd be more than happy to take single payer over our "cadillac" benefits.

The whole stinking government needs to be dismantled, from the top down!

Could this happen here ya think?

Political and Social Inequalities

France in the 18th century:

The nobles and clergy enjoyed special privileges. The common people did not have power and freedom in politics.

They worked hard and had to pay heavy taxes. The common people became discontented with the privileged classes.

Bankruptcy of the Government

Louis XIV had spent too much. His successors did not cut down expenses. Louis XVI also failed to improve the financial situation. He dismissed ministers who tried to introduce financial reforms. By 1789, the government was bankrupt.

Influence of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution

The ideas and writings of Enlightenment thinkers like Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau became widespread.(JACK BOGDANSKI) The French people were inspired.

When Louis XVI finally called the Estates General to solve financial difficulties, the Third Estate did not agree with the unfair system of the Estates General. They formed the National Assembly to make a constitution. People were afraid that the king would suppress the National Assembly. The hungry Parisians, who suffered from bad harvest, burst out their anger by attacking the Bastille prison (for political prisoners). The Fall of Bastille started the French Revolution. It spread out to other parts of France.

Could a real revolution happen here in America? I BET IT COULD!

I'm sure Matt Davis from Portland Mercury will be applying. He's been kissing ass in the Mayor's office for quite a while now...

"Could a real revolution happen here in America?"

Only if they go by streetcare or TriMet!

So are we going to have to wait out McCreepies term or is the second recall going to work?

I read a great book yesterday that really made me think about all this anew -- it's called "Shop Class as Soulcraft" by Matthew Crawford, a guy with a motorcycle repair shop in Richmond VA (and a Ph.D).

He demolishes Florida's "Creative Class" nonsense and does a great job of contrasting the enforced reality orientation that comes from having to do deal with things with the need to learn to talk (and thus think) in circles that prevails in situations where there are no objective standards for performance (cubeworld, CoP. . . ). Having started as a printer's devil and laborer in a concrete yard, I really resonated with Crawford's ideas.

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-9781410419743-2

A philosopher / mechanic destroys the pretensions of the high- prestige workplace and makes an irresistible case for working with oneas hands

Shop Class as Soulcraft brings alive an experience that was once quite common, but now seems to be receding from societyathe experience of making and fixing things with our hands. Those of us who sit in an office often feel a lack of connection to the material world, a sense of loss, and find it difficult to say exactly what we do all day. For anyone who felt hustled off to college, then to the cubicle, against their own inclinations and natural bents, Shop Class as Soulcraft seeks to restore the honor of the manual trades as a life worth choosing.

On both economic and psychological grounds, Crawford questions the educational imperative of turning everyone into a knowledge worker, based on a misguided separation of thinking from doing, the work of the hand from that of the mind. Crawford shows us how such a partition, which began a century ago with the assembly line, degrades work for those on both sides of the divide.

But Crawford offers good news as well: the manual trades are very different from the assembly line, and from dumbed-down white collar work as well. They require careful thinking and are punctuated by moments of genuine pleasure. Based on his own experience as an electrician and mechanic, Crawford makes a case for the intrinsic satisfactions and cognitive challenges of manual work. The work of builders and mechanics is secure; it cannot be outsourced, and it cannot be made obsolete. Such work ties us to the local communities in which we live, and instills the pride that comes from doing work that is genuinely useful. A wholly original debut, Shop Class as Soulcraft offers a passionate call for self-reliance and a moving reflection on how we can live concretely in an ever more abstract world.

"Could a real revolution happen here in America?"

Nope, without a doubt, no. Should have happened years ago. All talk no bite.