jjd

"Dutch artist Bart Jansen first stuffed Orville before teaming up with radio control helicopter flyer Arjen Beltman to build a specially-designed flying mechanism to attach to the cat." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2154283/Cats-away-Artist-turns-dead-pet-flying-helicopter-killed-car.html?ITO=1490 [img:left]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/04/article-2154283-136ED7F3000005DC-412_634x412.jpg[/img]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091817/ "God what I wouldn't do to go ass-sliding with you right now"

That movie was so awesome when I was a kid.

http://reason.org/news/show/californians-being-taken-for-a-ride

"Therefore, if the CHSRA operating costs do approach international rates of 40 to 50 cents per passenger mile, as opposed to the Authority’s “projected” rate of 10 cents, future Legislatures and future Administrations will have to provide annual subsidies in the range of billions of dollars." http://www.cc-hsr.org/assets/pdf/NFOS.pdf "The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s forecasts of demand and ridership for a new San Francisco-to-Los Angeles high-speed train are not reliable because they are based on an inconsistent model, according to a new study by researchers at the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley (ITS Berkeley)." http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2010/07/01/high_speed_rail/

A revenue problem!

I'm not a fan of the so-called "public-private" toll roads, I was simply pointing out that there's plenty of economic incentive and capital to build them. I didn't think it was fair to say we would have no highway system without subsidies. The numbers simply don't support this statement. How many times has Southwest been bailed out? Virgin? Jet Blue?

It sounds like a great idea, but it's expensive as hell. Depending on what other places you have in mind, they subsidize the sh1t out of it and we can't afford that in California. Also, they have much higher population density (i.e. Japan). There's a reason why private capital doesn't want to get involved in this without major guarantees. It's not a "no-brainer" in a state with serious budget deficits as it is. We are out of money.

I'm not sure I agree that we would have no public mass transit, actually. I think it depends on the location. I definitely disagree that we wouldn't have a highway system - there are too many examples of private toll roads for that argument to stick. But whether the highway system was a good idea or not really isn't relevant to whether a high speed train is going to be a good idea. The rail project doesn't even come close to providing a net economic benefit. Airlines should not be bailed out.

I agree. Maybe we should all move to Washington.

It needs to make money (or at least break even) because: a) the law that the people of California voted on to approve the project stipulated that it WOULD NOT REQUIRE A SUBSIDY and b) California is BROKE. Police and fire services do not (outside of a hypothetical anarcho-libertarian society) generate revenues directly, trains do. And I don't think trains and emergency services belong in the same category of government services anyway. The military is funded by the federal government, we are talking about high speed rail that will be subsidized by CALIFORNIA TAXPAYERS ONLY. And I'm quite certain that the cost of this thing is way higher than asthma treatments and all the other shit you listed. Not to mention the fact that only some of those things you listed are paid for by tax dollars. And again, the rail project is to link parts of the state a few hundred miles apart. It has nothing to do with local commutes where the vast majority of accidents take place. I think you should work on some basic critical thinking and reading comprehension skills before calling someone a dipstick.

There's a big difference between light rail and the high speed rail project in California. The high speed rail is supposed to link northern and southern California. That travel is not the source of traffic congestion, it's commuter traffic in the metro areas. The projections from the California High Speed Rail Authority are a joke - the system will end up losing a helluva lot of money, not make it.

And here I thought this post was about this: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=flagging

Because what we need down here is to spend EVEN MORE MONEY, this time on a neat little train that few people will ride and will do nothing to alleviate the traffic problems we have. This state is FUCKING BROKE. Yeah, that's a great idea, build a train.