LIARS! MENTIROSOS!!!! Pick your language and go with it

This particular public work has officially driven me over the edge! Ok, so roughly 2 years ago, our "benevolent" Regional Government decided to repair and "requalify"(whatever the hell that means) our only highway, all 22Km of it, they also included in the project 3 new rotaries, 7 new offramps and onramps, a number of overpasses(2 made EXCLUSIVELY for cows...no comment needed), a protective barrier in the middle, radars, repavement, the whole 9 yards.

Well, for 2 years, we've been "treated" to a bevy of nice surprises such as chicanes switching sides, single-lane traffic, STOPLIGHTS!, and just about anything else capable of irritating even the most sane of individuals. FINALLY, the regional government announces that, on Friday, July 31, 2009, the highway would be "innaugurated". One of the more popular island papers, Diário Insular, made a point of making a full-page front page article announcing it. And so, after 2 years of arduous sacrifice, we Terceirans would be able to enjoy regular traffic on that particular road once again.

.....Well, not quite.....

You see, the 31st came and passed, and yet, even with EVERYTHING set up, traffic remains single-lane with half of the highway completely empty of traffic because they have it barricaded off. No reason given by the government, no justification as to why it wasn't re-opened, and to top it off, not even a peep from ANY newspaper regarding this particular Snafu.

So let me get this straight. Our government, paid for with our taxes, has been essentially insulting us and lying to us about this? Do these buffoons have a clue as to how essential it is to have that road re-opened IMMEDIATELY? Why haven't they said a single solitary word regarding the reasons of said delay? And why aren't the people irate at the politicians because of this?

EDIT: Here's a few news articled mentioning said "innauguration" on July 31st. Note that there is NOTHING mentioning the lack of said ceremony OR the fact that the highway is STILL restricted to 2 lanes.

Links are in Portuguese. You'll need to translate them to English if you can't understand them.

•RTP: Via Rápida Angra do Heroísmo/Praia da Vitória inaugurada em Julho
•Jornal Diário: Via rápida entre Angra e Praia concluída em Julho
•Diário Insular: Inauguração em Julho

Alinsky's Louçã's Rules for Radicals

I gotta admit. This nutjob must be loving the current economic situation going on in the world, but here in Portugal more importantly. Banks losing money and being nationalized, workers striking, general sense of insecurity. All the things that make any communist smile from ear to ear because it generates an atmosphere that welcomes radicals who promise the world and deliver nothing but worse results(Lenin, Hitler and Moussolini are 3 examples).

Having said that, I thought it would be a great time to bring up a Jewish-American author named Saul Alinsky, who published his "Rules for Radicals" in quite accurate fashion. And I thought, after some of you read it, that you'd find very similar traits between these rules and our resident Trotskyist:

RULE 1: "Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have." Power is derived from 2 main sources - money and people. "Have-Nots" must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)

RULE 2: "Never go outside the expertise of your people." It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don't address the "real" issues. This is why. They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)

RULE 3: "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy." Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)

RULE 4: "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules." If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity's very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

RULE 5: "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon." There is no defense. It's irrational. It's infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

RULE 6: "A good tactic is one your people enjoy." They'll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They're doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones. (Radical activists, in this sense, are no different that any other human being. We all avoid "un-fun" activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work and bring results.)

RULE 7: "A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag." Don't become old news. (Even radical activists get bored. So to keep them excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new tactics.)

RULE 8: "Keep the pressure on. Never let up." Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)

RULE 9: "The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself." Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario, something that may be furthest from the activists' minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend enormous time and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind and result in demoralization.)

RULE 10: "If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive." Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog. (Unions used this tactic. Peaceful [albeit loud] demonstrations during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred management's wrath, often in the form of violence that eventually brought public sympathy to their side.)

RULE 11: "The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative." Never let the enemy score points because you're caught without a solution to the problem. (Old saw: If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Activist organizations have an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table, to be given a forum to wield their power. So, they have to have a compromise solution.)

RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)