Pork Spending - A European Artform

It sure has been a VERY long while since I've updated this blog. I guess there was nothing worthwhile to talk about. Well, that changed as of yesterday.

You know, with the US presidential elections about a month and a half away, there's a word that gets tossed around a bit more around this time. It's a derogatory word called "Pork". No, this has nothing to do with the bacon you eat each morning. This is a term used by politicians to describe excess expenditures by the government.

Now, in the US, pork spending isn't uncommon. Many people crack jokes about the "$10,000 toilet seats" when referring to how government appropriation bills tend to give a little too much cash for certain items. However, here in Europe, pork spending has been perfected to an art form of comedic proportions. Which leads me to what happened yesterday evening.

I get home and check my mailbox, and in it, I discover this nice glossy box with "Government of the Azores" written on it:

Right off the bat, my Libertarian mind starts having very nauseating thoughts. Thoughts of "This is where my hard-earned tax dollars went?!?". Those nauseating thoughts would soon become worse as I proceeded to open the box and see it's content:

Yup, all of THAT came out of that nice, shiny cardboard box. And that consists of:

1 Azorean Flag made in a very nice fabric, might I add. I mean, if you're going to waste my tax money, hey, do it in style.
2 Azorean flag window stickers. This way, you can tell everyone else that you were taken for a sucker by your own government.
A CD containing, not one, but TWO versions of the Azorean anthem(yes, this region actually has an anthem that is played PRIOR to the Portuguese National Anthem on the TV station here) and played by a military band(which I'm sure did this out of charity...)
A pamphlet detailing all the medals the Azorean Government gives out. Now we're bordering on absurd. I wonder if there's one for the Order of Idiocy, because the one who came up with this idea is certainly deserving of it.
And last and most certainly least, a form letter from the Azorean Regional President, Carlos Cesar. Even says so on the bottom, though, it doesn't even contain a computerized signature or anything...

The letter itself. Well, translating it into English, here's what it said:

Our Autonomy, founded in secular aspirations of self-governing and largely supported by the Azorean People, include a group of representative elements that accentuate our cultural identification and our institutional individuality.

Therefor, we have the duty to promote and respect our symbols.

The distribution we are doing right now - of our Flag and our Anthem - is to specifically give a better understanding of these elements that mark our collective lives as a Region.

These are the objectives of this Autonomy Kit, which will arrive in every single Azorean home.

CARLOS CÉSAR

President of the Azorean Government

Gee Carlos, thanks for being so thoughtful. I mean, not only are we to be more aware of these symbols, but these items will be sent to EVERYONE IN THE REGION. How nice of you. By the way, here's another Euro, take it and a BUY A CLUE!

I mean, rather than taking the tax money used in this absurd venture and, say, investing it into the school system as to teach our youth more about the region, this government thought it would be better to simply give each family a flag and a CD. How lovely.

This really shouldn't surprise me. After all this is a government that is ruled by the Socialist Party, so spending tax money on stupid initiatives is already a fairly common trait for them. However, this is even more insulting then when they give free houses to deadbeats who don't work because it's so blatant. They are literally saying "Yup, we're wasting your tax money. And we're going to keep doing it because you never complain.".

And the people here really don't complain, they accept this as normal. They literally look at this and don't care. Seems that all these years of handouts and welfare has subdued the locals into complacency. And, because the people don't question or demand transparency when it comes to their tax money, the government KEEPS DOING IT. How unbelievably infuriating!

And, for those of you living in the US. Should Obama get elected and, sometime down the road, you get a "Freedom Kit" containing an American flag, stickers and a CD of the Star Spangled Banner, let me be the first one in advance to say "I feel your pain".

No smoking....................but............

As of this past January 1st, it is now forbidden to smoke in most establishments here in Portugal. From restaurants, to bars, to supermarkets, to malls. You name it. The anti-smoking law is in full effect...

...of course, there are exceptions...

Well, where to begin. This law which, like I said, went into effect on January 1st of this year, should've actually gone into effect January 1st of LAST YEAR. The law was passed in Parliament in 2006 and was expected to go into effect on 01/01/2007. However, seeing that this country makes a point of keeping itself behind for inexplicable reasons, they decided to put it off for a year. Since that year, they made a couple of alterations:

1) Rather than put an outright ban effective for all establishments, they allowed that establishments can be considered smoking establishments, provided they have an exhaust system. What kind of exhaust system? Good question, because there's no provision in place as to the standards needed in an exhaust system. In fact, as I myself have seen already, an establishment can be deemed a smoking establishment if the kitchen exhaust is "strong enough". This stuff just doesn't write itself folks.

2) Any place deemed a "recreational area" are exempt of this law. What does this mean? Well, if you were to put a pool table, fusball table, slot machine, video game machine or any other type of game into your bar or restaurant, you are covered under this law. Way to go Lisbon. Way to go.

You know, it never ceases to amaze me. This country, which it's people are not exactly too dumb, and where the will to advance and develop is strong, has an uncanny penchant for WANTING to be behind the pack. It gives them something to talk about at their local bar or at work. I mean, what would they do if this country was better off? Work?