I haven’t been following the Occupy Wall Street movement too thoroughly, and the Minneapolis version seems small, but spirited for its size. No doubt the snow we’ll inevitably see will send many back home.
I do appreciate their argument to an extent. It frustrates to see that one per cent of our population has control of 40 per cent of our wealth, while services and transport are cut; the blue collar jobs that once supported our middle classes disappear—and many of the big corporations walk away paying very little taxes to support the roads their products travel on each day.
I’m not a communist. But it is a bit rich to listen to Mayor Bloomberg in New York fret over how to pay for an extension from the Seven Line to New Jersey, which will provide a link for commuters that was lost last year when New Jersey’s governor canceled the ARC project.
A recent blog on Forbes.com called out Mayor Bloomberg to foot the bill, or part of it, himself. Having announced his intentions to give away all his money (Forbes cites a profile of USD 19.5bn), the Bloomberg tunnel could be a wonderful opportunity for one of the one per cent to help some of the 99 per cent get to work.
It’s a humorous idea, but Bloomberg isn’t the only person who could fund some much need infrastructure. Going through givingpledge.org, a list of billionaire individuals and families who have committed to giving the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (worth USD 17.5bn according to Forbes) could help fund high-speed rail in California where the Facebook offices are located. George Lucas has said he’ll dedicate the majority of his wealth to education—imagine engineering students studying the power of hyperdrive with a TBM.
Coming back to reality, 2011 has been a strong year for tunneling—check out the map of milestones on page six and an analysis of the industry on page eight to see all there is to be thankful for in the past 12 months.
Once again, the deadline for this December issue has collided with Thanksgiving and every hour closer to finishing it, is an hour closer to my aunt’s amazing stuffing and pumpkin pie.
Wrapping up TTNA’s first year of standalone, bi-monthly issues there are many things for which I am thankful. To all the projects we’ve covered this year, and everyone’s help arranging site visits, photos, interviews and for answering the more difficult interview questions. To all of our authors who have submitted articles and shared their perspective. To all of our advertisers and our readers; your support is greatly appreciated.
Of course everyone is thankful for their health, family and friends alike. All that aside, personally, I’m thankful for my Apple TV. It allows me to cherry pick the few television shows I watch, and guarantees 2012 will be political ad-free for me. I wish the same to you. Have a happy and safe holiday season!
Nicole Robinson
