Hag-afying as we speak

Minnesota pardons sexual abuser who was set to be deported

July 2, 2026 at 9:33AM

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Case in point, the US side of Niagara Falls lit up for the 4th of July:

Pennsylvania is currently working on its budget, and one of if not THE main sticking point is funding for public transit—all transit in the state, but mainly for SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which serves Philadelphia and its surrounding counties and is facing a $213 million budget deficit. The PRT, which serves Pittsburgh, is also in danger.

As of this morning, SEPTA has to start the process of cutting services by 45%—canceling some train and bus lines entirely, implementing a 9pm curfew on subway lines, reducing frequency, and canceling sporting event services (all of our professional league stadiums are accessible by one subway line and a significant number of fans take it)—all because politicians in rural counties have been demonizing SEPTA as a “chauffeur service for city residents” that doesn’t benefit the rest of the commonwealth. I am not joking. A state rep literally sent a letter to constituents describing buses that way.

But what is so fucking infuriating to me is that at one of the rallies, I learned ONE SIMPLE FACT that, in my mind, should have ended the entire debate: Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties are the only revenue-positive counties in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The money to fix roads and bridges in every other county comes from Philadelphia’s economy, which is supported by the fact that people take the train in from collar counties to work here, and people go to sporting events here and spend money, and residents who are paying significantly higher rents than anywhere else in the state but still living in poverty can get to their jobs without having a car. (Not to mention the fact that our cash-strapped education department saves money by having kids take SEPTA instead of school buses.)

If no agreement is reached and these cuts fully go into effect—some of them are starting by the end of the month and a second round in January—it very well may cost thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue, which will have reverberating effects on every county in the commonwealth, including the poorest who are most reliant on state funding.

This isn't unidirectional.

A lot of people need to face the truth that rural and suburban areas are legitimately privileged in American society, and the bigotry agaisnt cities is inherently tied to anti immigration sentiment, racism, queerphobia, and Christian supremacy.

How convenient that every opinion you dislike is held by people with every other opinion or trait you dislike, so you can just ignore everything they actually say.

Tell some poor rando living in a shack on a mountain and surviving on roadkill and food stamps that they're privileged, and they're going to laugh at you.

Even living in a suburb doesn't make you privileged. Take a gander at Detroit.

Sure there aren't many people in the countryside. But that's where ALL THE RESOURCES ARE. The cities are positive because resource extraction BARELY makes a profit and even then, unless you're a mom and pop shop the HQ is in the city and so guess where the profit is 'coming' from?

The cities are logistics hubs for the countryside. The countryside is not City that Just Hasn't Gotten It Yet.

I just don't like them.