Is Newsom going to break into his podcasting schedule long enough to do something real about High-Speed Rail?

NEW: California’s High-Speed Rail project needs $7 Billion by next summer, lawmakers learned today.
“We have no plan, we have a good likelihood it's going to get worse, and we have a short time to solve the problem,” said Democratic Asm. Steven Bennett.

From the accompanying news article: "That's not a good place for government to put itself into".

Who is this "Government", Asm. Bennett?

Back to the thread on X:

Lawmakers on the Assembly’s budget subcommittee focusing on transportation learned about the budget gap in a hearing this morning.
That hearing happened hours after Gov. Newsom released his latest podcast episode, in which he spends a chunk of time defending the project.

Newsom had, as I recall, held a ceremony involving "ceremonial" tracks (not real tracks) in Bakersfield not long ago, so he seems committed to some part of the project.

There are some good points made by commenters in the thread on X linked above, plus a call for fact-checking on the podcast with Ezra Klein.

And then there is some real snark, not to be shared with California legislators. These innocents in the State Assembly likely have only the best of intentions. They won't understand. Starting with comparisons like this:

Food $200
Data $150
Rent $800
Monorail payment $7,000,000,000
Zombie hobo arsonists $10,000,000
Utility $100
Please help my family is dying

Also from the accompanying news article. We've seen most of these points before. But as reminders:

The project was originally pitched to voters in 2008 as a $40 billion bullet train that could take riders from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Since then, the price tag for the original vision has swelled to at least $100 billion, and most of the money has yet to materialize.

I imagine that the reason the project suddenly needs 7 billion dollars by June for the Bakersfield to Merced run is that work has actually sort of started. When the project began, land was condemned and torn up here and there mostly along an even shorter route - Shafter on the south to somewhere a little north of Fresno. In other words, they started with what they thought would be the easy parts of the project so there would be no turning back. It caused a lot of problems for locals, but this is not a highly populated area, and the farmers whose land was affected don't have a lot of political power.

Now there are detours and impressive mounds of dirt and holes in the ground everywhere. There is work on vehicle overpasses and such. Less of the giant diesel equipment and support vehicles which have long been featured in the landscape seems permanently fixed in place. Those giant machines move!

Let's recall February of 2019, when Newsom broke the news to Jerry Brown that he was putting Brown's dream of the Los Angeles to San Francisco high-speed rail on the back burner. And he also defied AOC's hysteria over an all-electric train system for the country:

Gavin Newsom decides to destroy the planet, maybe go to Washington someday

Dan Walters is a long-time critic of the California HSR project, and he remains a critic of Newsom's new plan:

Casting aside Brown's obvious love for a statewide system linking Sacramento and San Francisco in the north to Los Angeles and San Diego in the south, Newsom called for completing just the roughly 100-mile-long initial San Joaquin Valley segment, from Merced to near Bakersfield, and making it a high-speed system.
However, electrifying the track now under construction and buying high-speed trains to run on it would be an enormously expensive gesture for such short service. More likely, the stretch of track, when completed, will be folded into the region's existing Amtrak service.
But about the rest of the State of the State address, Walters wrote:

All in all, Newsom set an ambitious agenda for his governorship, the sort of multi-point plan that Brown had often denigrated. And in doing so, the new governor set a high mark for his political future.
Achieving all he seeks would propel him into White House contention sometime after 2020. Failing, for whatever reason, would make him a footnote in California's political history.

How is that working out for Newsom?

What about the Transbay Transit Center?

Newsom's home turf. From 2019 again:

When we last reported on the extraordinarily expensive (but dreamy) Transbay Transit Center, it was due to open in 2017. It apparently opened for bus service in August of 2018 and closed for repairs in September of 2018, It remains closed. Cracked girders were found. After Newsom's recent announcement, backers are wondering how to pay for rail lines into the center:

Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who chairs the county Transportation Authority board, was unfazed. At this point, he said, San Francisco and the South Bay should go it alone.
"Our responsibility has always been connecting Santa Clara County to downtown San Francisco by bringing Caltrain to the Transbay Terminal, and we will continue to do that with zeal," he said. "Otherwise, we will have built the most expensive bus terminal in the history of humankind."

The shorter but more realistic link from Bakersfield to Merced would be a mere shadow of what Newsom described at the 2010 groundbreaking ceremony for the transit center, when he was mayor of San Francisco.

You can count on Newsom not to be consistent.

Transbay Terminal, 5/22/2024

S.F.’s massive plan to create a ‘Grand Central Station of the West’ wins major funding grant

Ricardo Cano:

San Francisco’s vision to make the desolate Transbay transit center the “Grand Central Station of the West” has received support from the federal government, which has pledged $3.4 billion toward the city’s downtown rail extension project.
The massive, four-block transit hub in SoMa opened in 2018 equipped with a dormant train platform in its basement and has, so far, lived a muted existence. That could change with the completion of a 2.4-mile rail extension that would connect California’s High Speed Rail and the Peninsula’s Caltrain commuter rail to the heart of downtown.

The dreams keep getting bigger. Demands for money keep getting bigger, too. Wonder why the realities keep falling short of the dreams?

* * * * *

WEEKEND

Music

Maybe people can ride horses from Bakersfield to Merced.

Quote

MagicMuffinman

BREAKING:
GERMANY WILL TAKE DECISIVE ACTION TO BECOME THE WORLDS LEADING EXPORTER OF TAXPAYERS.

Do you think this assessment is accurate?

What about states in the USA?

* * * * *

Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.

This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

Serving your mid-day open thread needs

Last week's thread, March 22, I Found Out Something That I Am Very Good At! (Misanthropic Humanitarian is good at something that many of us are also good at.)

Two weeks ago:

Why don't they change? You know, in a more positive direction?

Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on old threads. But don't try it anyway.

Posted by: K.T. at 11:01 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Gray

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at March 29, 2025 11:03 AM (Eg9it)

2 >>>Is Newsom going to break into his podcasting schedule long enough to do something real about High-Speed Rail?

LOL

Posted by: m at March 29, 2025 11:04 AM (CQE5S)

3 All the leaves are brown

Posted by: m at March 29, 2025 11:04 AM (CQE5S)

4 CA should have entered into a contract with Musk and his Boring company. They would have been further along in a high speed underground transit system than they are with the high speed rail system.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:08 AM (VofaG)

5 The boxes are all grey.

Posted by: DoublySymmetric at March 29, 2025 11:12 AM (CbWZm)

6 I'd be curious to know what the (negative) rate of return is on BART

Posted by: mKy at March 29, 2025 11:13 AM (cPGH3)

7 Kevin Dalton@TheKevi
The only thing more embarrassing than Bill Maher begging Gavin Newsom to run for President is Gavin Newsom pretending he’s not running for President

https://shorturl.at/cNyAs

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 29, 2025 11:15 AM (L/fGl)

8 Good morning KT
Yeah, get more handouts for his projects

Posted by: Skip at March 29, 2025 11:15 AM (2ovuE)

9 Someone needs to tell Newsome that "Genesis II" was a made for TV movie, not an instruction video.

Posted by: Tyranians at March 29, 2025 11:16 AM (R/m4+)

10 Kansas City has been bragging about their "ridership" numbers on the light rail boondoggle. They don't charge anything.
It is a tax on the entire City, yet benefits the landowners from 19th to 46th St.s, and about 1/4 mile wide.

Posted by: MkY at March 29, 2025 11:16 AM (cPGH3)

11 Houston's rail system was another multi billion dollar grift project.

They built a ground level system in an area that has seen multiple flooding. Also one of the most heavily car traffic areas in Houston ( medical center).

In multiple locations you have to stop on the tracks to make a left turn . You can see the train coming at you in the distance. I never waited at the red light and always turned when it was clear. Not as many now but there were a lot of train / car collisions.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:17 AM (VofaG)

12 Kier Stalin and Emmanuel Macron had joined forces to host a conference to plan a "coalition of the willing" of European military forces to defend Ukraine.
Once the conference began, all the other nations basically looked at their shoes and said they were actually willing but they had plans to do other things that were going to create some scheduling conflicts. At last report I heard the conference decided to focus on other things.

Posted by: Kindltot at March 29, 2025 11:18 AM (D7oie)

13 A trip to Mars will probably happen before that multi billion train gets to even built

Posted by: Skip at March 29, 2025 11:19 AM (bo/vr)

14 At last report I heard the conference decided to focus on other things.
Posted by: Kindltot at March 29, 2025 11:18 AM (D7oie)

Champagne and rape gangs for everyone!

Posted by: Keir Starmer, closeted homosexual at March 29, 2025 11:21 AM (R/m4+)

15
The state of CA is broke. The train will never be built, The rail project is just a way to transfer government money to contractors and consultants. As far as I can see it never had any other purpose.

The only responsible thing is to halt the project permanently. That won't happen unless the state goes into federal receivership.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at March 29, 2025 11:22 AM (d4X7t)

16 CA has become one of the biggest money laundering locations on earth. (It's all this HSR/mass transit is.). Second only to the Potemkin cities in China.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at March 29, 2025 11:22 AM (g8Ew8)

17 CA is becoming more like India everyday.

Pretty soon most of the help desk call centers will be in CA.

Hello, my name is Buffy how can I help you today?

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:24 AM (VofaG)

18 4: A contract with the Boring Company sounds like a great idea for part of what is described under the new plans for the Bay Area transit, actually.

Read Transbay Terminal, 5/22/2024

Posted by: KT at March 29, 2025 11:25 AM (xekrU)

19 Boondoggle. Wasteful government spending. Yet someone is pocketing the money. I'm sure it's all perfectly legal. California is in a mess. Nothing will change until the people do something about it. I don't guess they care.

Posted by: Case at March 29, 2025 11:25 AM (OrSPY)

20 ****Is Newsom going to break into his podcasting schedule long enough to do something real about High-Speed Rail?****
---

Silly girl, it's the Potemkin train.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 11:27 AM (1K7Zj)

21 Per ZeroHedge, the EU is pushing a 72-hour bugout bag that its citizens should have in case of war

https://tinyurl.com/yjsmr2k9

Posted by: Kindltot at March 29, 2025 11:28 AM (D7oie)

22 The hilarious part about California HSR is that instead of terminating the line in Oakland, like the transcontinental railroad, they decided to terminate the line in San Francisco.

The slight problem with this is that means that the HSR line would have to travel through two of the wealthiest suburbs in the United States, Atherton and Hillsborough (billionaire JB Pritzker grew up in Atherton).

They really didn't have a solution for how they were going to deal with the many local billionaires spending hundreds of millions of dollars in environmental and legal challenges to block the line, other than figuring that if all the rest of the line was built, they would somehow force the local residents to drop their legal challenges.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:28 AM (xTIDn)

23 Now I made myself picture a bunch of Californians riding on top of and hanging on the sides of a regular train traveling between LA and San Fran.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:28 AM (VofaG)

24 They built a ground level system in an area that has seen multiple flooding. Also one of the most heavily car traffic areas in Houston ( medical center).
----
It is a real POS.
The one right down the middle of Main Street? Holy shit, what a retarded mess.
Peak times sees 20-40 at most in the 4-5 cars.
No city-owned mass transit is profitable.

I think the honest studies, the ones that include delays to others traffic, all show that mass transit increases the amount of carbon emissions.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at March 29, 2025 11:29 AM (NwfFc)

25 Will Smith's new rap.

“I heard he down bad / I heard he won the Oscar but had to give it back / And you know they only made him do that s*** because he’s Black.”

-
Even Will Smith can't escape racism!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 29, 2025 11:30 AM (L/fGl)

26 osted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:28 AM (xTIDn)

But they can't end it in Oakland either unless they declare martial law.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:32 AM (VofaG)

27 CA has become one of the biggest money laundering locations on earth. (It's all this HSR/mass transit is.). Second only to the Potemkin cities in China.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at March 29, 2025 11:22 AM (g8Ew

I start with the basic here: Money isn't real. It's all just a game, a con, where people act like they're using these number to represent something of value, and it's all just made up.

So if you live in a world where it's all make believe, then you can do literally anything. You can build houses out of lollypops, or you can fart around for decades pretending to build a choo choo that goes fast.

Or you can send bazillions of dollars around the globe, to everyone and anyone, while bombing huts and wedding parties.

Then you can pretend to keep track of the money your great great great great great great great great great grandchildren will have to pay for it all.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 11:32 AM (lH8E4)

28 >>>Local leaders must find matching funds to receive the $3.4 billion federal grant.
---

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUvcWXTIjcU

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 11:34 AM (1K7Zj)

29 Will Smith's new rap.

“I heard he down bad / I heard he won the Oscar but had to give it back / And you know they only made him do that s*** because he’s Black.”

-
Even Will Smith can't escape racism!
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 29, 2025 11:30 AM (L/fGl)

not as surreal as the Obama's complaining about
racism and using the victim race card.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:34 AM (VofaG)

30 Per ZeroHedge, the EU is pushing a 72-hour bugout bag that its citizens should have in case of war

It's time to go to war, Europeans!

The European Union bureaucratic dictatorship commands it!

Don't worry, your wives and girlfriends will be taken care of by the "new Europeans" while you are serving on the Ukraine front!

Posted by: Macron, Servant Of Death! at March 29, 2025 11:35 AM (xTIDn)

31 Now I made myself picture a bunch of Californians riding on top of and hanging on the sides of a regular train traveling between LA and San Fran.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth

They get arrested on Vandenberg sfb trespassing on fed property

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at March 29, 2025 11:37 AM (hsnER)

32 Folks were talking baseball below.

If you have a passing interest in baseball, Trevor Baurer's YouTube is awesome.

You'll learn so much more about the pitching than decades of watching broadcast.
He discusses why he throws a pitch, where/why he tries to place it, his whole mindset and thinking.

He spent last season in Mexico and is back in Japan this year.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at March 29, 2025 11:37 AM (NwfFc)

33 But they can't end it in Oakland either unless they declare martial law.

Joke's on them - the transcontinental line no longer terminates in Oakland, but in the suburb of Emeryville, just north of Oakland, which is a much safer place.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:38 AM (xTIDn)

34 One question about HSR that I've never seen asked is - where is the demand for ridership from LA to San Fran? Who are all these people that suddenly will want to go from LA to Frisco in a couple of hours? Are peopl in LA going to get jobs in San Fran, and vice versa? Of course the fuck not.

It would make more sense for this train to run between LA and Vegas. I could see the need for that. A lot more than what these con men are doing on this criminal boondoggle.

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 11:38 AM (iKI3U)

35
And yet, when California was run by Republicans, a train got built.

Pete Wilson was mayor of San Diego and he wanted a trolley from Tijuana to downtown. He built it without ANY federal funds, for less than $5 million a mile -- it was $35 million a mile for BART up in San Fran nine years earlier. Got built faster, too. San Diego also operated its trolley more cheaply thanks to its independence from federal funds.

What the Republican built, Democrats have added to. That trolley extends north of the city now.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 11:39 AM (LV4Hs)

36 It's time to go to war, Europeans!

The European Union bureaucratic dictatorship commands it!

Don't worry, your wives and girlfriends will be taken care of by the "new Europeans" while you are serving on the Ukraine front!
Posted by: Macron, Servant Of Death! at March 29, 2025 11:35 AM (xTIDn)

The EU discussing their war plans:

https://tinyurl.com/2s34yzrz

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 11:40 AM (lH8E4)

37 The only way the CA HS rail works now is with huge gobs of Federal money. That won't be happening.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 11:40 AM (xCA6C)

38 One question about HSR that I've never seen asked is - where is the demand for ridership from LA to San Fran? Who are all these people that suddenly will want to go from LA to Frisco in a couple of hours? Are peopl in LA going to get jobs in San Fran, and vice versa? Of course the fuck not.

They literally claim that new commuter cities will appear in the Central Valley, with cheap housing (by California standards), and that people will live there and commute into the Bay Area and LA via HSR.

Of course, if the train is going to be stopping at all these commuter cities, it will no longer be quite so high-speed.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:41 AM (xTIDn)

39 > Per ZeroHedge, the EU is pushing a 72-hour bugout bag that its citizens should have in case of war
---------
Wonder how many troops the EU has obligated to go fight Russia in Ukraine? Seeing as how the two belligerents are supposed to quit their shit sometime soon. Or maybe not.

I think the EU will 'say' they're obligating X number of troops and Y number of weapons in the hope that Russia and Ukraine will cool their jets. So they don't have to demonstrate how impotent they really are.

Because the EU doesn't have enough troops to 'fight Russia.' In Ukraine or anywhere else for that matter.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 29, 2025 11:41 AM (Q4IgG)

40 But they can't end it in Oakland either unless they declare martial law.

Joke's on them - the transcontinental line no longer terminates in Oakland, but in the suburb of Emeryville, just north of Oakland, which is a much safer place.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:38 AM (xTIDn)

Ironic that the Transcontinental RR was one of the biggest government grift operations in US history.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:42 AM (VofaG)

41 A good, useful purpose for this rail would be to use it to run the politicians out of town on.

That would be worth every cent they spent on it.

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 11:42 AM (iKI3U)

42 California Clusterfuck Bugaloo

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 29, 2025 11:43 AM (hY4dx)

43 They literally claim that new commuter cities will appear in the Central Valley, with cheap housing (by California standards), and that people will live there and commute into the Bay Area and LA via HSR.

Of course, if the train is going to be stopping at all these commuter cities, it will no longer be quite so high-speed.

Clearly what is required are large numbers of parallel tracks, with each set of tracks terminating in a different city. Do I have to do all the thinking around here?

Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 11:43 AM (xCA6C)

44 He spent last season in Mexico and is back in Japan this year.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at March 29, 2025 11:37 AM (NwfFc)

I'm not going to spend another minute (or dollar) paying attention to MLB until Trevor Bauer is back in the league.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 11:43 AM (r8F6l)

45 WA state Dems are going all in during this legislative session to make our state #1 in the export of productive human enterprises.

Posted by: TarzanTurk at March 29, 2025 11:43 AM (/c9Dk)

46 The project was originally pitched to voters in 2008 as a $40 billion bullet train that could take riders from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Since then, the price tag for the original vision has swelled to at least $100 billion, and most of the money has yet to materialize.

Looking up decades-long in operation Japanese bullet train system, they had government approval for the project in 1958 and had it operational by 1964. So with the California train proposal in 2008, with same efficiency as Japan, it should have been operational by 2014.

Government approval came in December 1958, and construction of the first segment of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka started in April 1959. The cost of constructing the Shinkansen was at first estimated at nearly 200 billion yen, which was raised in the form of a government loan, railway bonds and a low-interest loan of US$80 million from the World Bank. Initial estimates, however, were understated and the actual cost was about 380 billion yen. [ ... ]

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen began service on 1 October 1964, in time for the first Tokyo Olympics.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 11:44 AM (P5BPp)

47 Looking up decades-long in operation Japanese bullet train system, they had government approval for the project in 1958 and had it operational by 1964. So with the California train proposal in 2008, with same efficiency as Japan, it should have been operational by 2014.

It's a little known fact that the bullet train is, and always has been, a big money loser.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 11:45 AM (xCA6C)

48 21 Per ZeroHedge, the EU is pushing a 72-hour bugout bag that its citizens should have in case of war

---------

Thank the EU for something. Buyout bags were rare indeed in the lead up to the Thirty Years War.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 29, 2025 11:46 AM (hY4dx)

49
By the way, Trump's funding cuts to these infrastructure projects is real.

A civil engineer acquaintance of mine is mad as hell that Seattle now has to scrounge up funds to build some tunnel that's been under construction since the Obama admin because Trump won't cover it. Waaaahhhh!

I wonder if Nurse Ratched or any other Pacific Northwesterners know about SR 99?

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 11:46 AM (LV4Hs)

50 They literally claim that new commuter cities will appear in the Central Valley, with cheap housing (by California standards), and that people will live there and commute into the Bay Area and LA via HSR.

Of course, if the train is going to be stopping at all these commuter cities, it will no longer be quite so high-speed.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:41 AM (xTIDn)

This actually happened in New York state in the 1870-1910 period, prior to automobiles. It was the combination of the financial and shipping centers in NYC, and the fact that NYC was a terrible place to live. Cars ended that era.
It wasn't high speed, but it was faster than walking

Posted by: Kindltot at March 29, 2025 11:46 AM (D7oie)

51 Because the EU doesn't have enough troops to 'fight Russia.' In Ukraine or anywhere else for that matter.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 29, 2025 11:41 AM (Q4IgG)

Just once I'd like someone to come up with an answer to the question of whether we are still supplying the Ukes with arms and money.

Is anything still going over there? If so, why have we not stopped?

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 11:46 AM (r8F6l)

52
It's a little known fact that the bullet train is, and always has been, a big money loser.
Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 11:45 AM (xCA6C)

--------

Our Maserati leases say otherwise.

Posted by: Politically-Connected NGOs at March 29, 2025 11:47 AM (hY4dx)

53 One of my favorite parts about the CA HSR is that is really isn't high speed anymore. They lowered the speed for safety.

Posted by: KT at March 29, 2025 11:47 AM (xekrU)

54 Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 11:39 AM (LV4Hs)

That a mini version comparison of the Transcontinental RR with The Great Northern RR built by James J Hill.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:48 AM (VofaG)

55 I also like that the French contractors they first hired quit and built a system in Morocco.

Posted by: KT at March 29, 2025 11:48 AM (xekrU)

56
Of course, if the train is going to be stopping at all these commuter cities, it will no longer be quite so high-speed.
Posted by: The ARC of History!

=============

Nor will it be a "bullet" train. I believe that term is used for one-stop runs.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 11:49 AM (LV4Hs)

57 osted by: Kindltot at March 29, 2025 11:46 AM (D7oie)

I took the Hudson Valley rail many times out of Grand Central.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:50 AM (VofaG)

58 One of my favorite parts about the CA HSR is that is really isn't high speed anymore. They lowered the speed for safety.
Posted by: KT at March 29, 2025 11:47 AM (xekrU)

I'm surprised that it isn't electric, powered by pantograph and overhead wires. It is California, after all, with its governmental fear of combustion.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at March 29, 2025 11:50 AM (VNX3d)

59 Wouldn't a bullet train be like...against the law in California?

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 11:50 AM (iKI3U)

60
Of course, if the train is going to be stopping at all these commuter cities, it will no longer be quite so high-speed.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:41 AM (xTIDn)

This actually happened in New York state in the 1870-1910 period, prior to automobiles. It was the combination of the financial and shipping centers in NYC, and the fact that NYC was a terrible place to live. Cars ended that era.
It wasn't high speed, but it was faster than walking

Sounds a lot like what happened to the Fairfax Co. Parkway here in NoVa.

The Fairfax County Parkway, numbered State Route 286 (SR 286, formerly SR 7100[2]), is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia, acting as an expressway in Fairfax County with a mix of interchanges and signalized and unsignalized intersections. Its alignment runs from southeast to northwest and roughly corresponds to part of the once-proposed Outer Beltway around Washington, D.C.

It was supposed to be a fast way to move through the burbs, but instead has turned into a stoplight-ridden newer version of Rt. 1.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 11:50 AM (xCA6C)

61 As soon as someone invents magnetic trains that don't even need rails, but can fly through the air with the greatest of ease, they won't need this whole project anymore.

Think of it, won't it be wonderful?

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 11:51 AM (r8F6l)

62 The EU discussing their war plans:

https://tinyurl.com/2s34yzrz

Yeah, the unelected leadership of the EU sees this as a wonderful opportunity to finally establish the European super-state.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:51 AM (xTIDn)

63 Folks were talking baseball below.

-
Not baseball but . . .

464-Pound Desmond Watson Could Be Largest Draft Pick in NFL History

https://shorturl.at/7ktF3

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 29, 2025 11:52 AM (L/fGl)

64
I also like that the French contractors they first hired quit and built a system in Morocco.
Posted by: KT

==============

Even more fun: The French left California for Morocco in 2011, and Morocco’s bullet train started service in 2018.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 11:52 AM (LV4Hs)

65 For a period of time while I lived in CA I had to commute from the Monterey area to Menlo Park in Silicon Valley. It's about 100 miles, one way. I'd periodically drive up to Gilroy, the southern terminus of "CalTrain," a commuter train that ran up to San Francisco with multiple stops along the way. One was close enough to work that I would walk the mile or so to the office. Or if I was feeling sporty, take a bike and ride... the passenger cars had racks for bikes.

It was probably a good example of this sort of thing. Ran on time. I never experienced weirdos or had the train have mechanical issues. And it wasn't terribly expensive at the time either.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 29, 2025 11:52 AM (Q4IgG)

66 59 Wouldn't a bullet train be like...against the law in California?
Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 11:50 AM (iKI3U)

----------

The law prohibits having more than five in any train station at the same time.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 29, 2025 11:52 AM (hY4dx)

67 Even if they get HSR built, it'll never be usable with the abundant, well-nurtured homeless camping on it, using it as a toilet. Between them and urban youth, it would take something approaching martial law to make it rideable.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at March 29, 2025 11:52 AM (1M0ma)

68 Muslims would like nothing more than white European men killing each other.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:53 AM (VofaG)

69 It's a write off, Jerry.
They just write it off.

Posted by: Kramer at March 29, 2025 11:53 AM (dg+HA)

70 Muslims would like nothing more than white European men killing each other.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:53 AM (VofaG)

It seems odd to say this, but Russia, Poland, Hungary, and a few other countries might be the only hope for Western Europe to escape the impending Caliphate.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at March 29, 2025 11:54 AM (VNX3d)

71 Our Maserati leases say otherwise.
Posted by: Politically-Connected NGOs at March 29, 2025 11:47 AM (hY4dx)

My Maserati does 185; I lost my license now I dont drive

Posted by: Joe Walsh at March 29, 2025 11:54 AM (WnEm5)

72 I also like that the French contractors they first hired quit and built a system in Morocco.

You have to pay fewer bribes in Morocco.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:55 AM (xTIDn)

73 Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 29, 2025 11:52 AM (Q4IgG)

I would say almost the exact thing about the Hudson Valley rail.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 11:55 AM (VofaG)

74 “Statewide system linking Sacramento and San Francisco in the north to Los Angeles and San Diego in the south”

Uh, there’s a place called Northern California which resides north of an imaginary line running from just north of San Francisco through Sacramento to Lake Tahoe.

It’s kinda like the Mason-Dixon Line.

Posted by: 13times at March 29, 2025 11:56 AM (QLCum)

75 Would make more sense to pit the money towards the water projects they need. How much of the state do they need to burn, before water is a priority?

Posted by: Notsothoreau at March 29, 2025 11:57 AM (cvWHI)

76 464-Pound Desmond Watson Could Be Largest Draft Pick in NFL History

https://shorturl.at/7ktF3
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 29, 2025 11:52 AM (L/fGl)

Is he gay? Get back to me if he's gay, then he would be the largest gay draft pick in NFL history, and then you'd really have something.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 11:57 AM (r8F6l)

77 78 degrees hete

Posted by: Skip at March 29, 2025 11:57 AM (2ovuE)

78 It seems odd to say this, but Russia, Poland, Hungary, and a few other countries might be the only hope for Western Europe to escape the impending Caliphate.

By the end of the century, the countries of Western Europe will no longer be recognizably European in any sense.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:58 AM (xTIDn)

79
One question about HSR that I've never seen asked is - where is the demand for ridership from LA to San Fran? Who are all these people that suddenly will want to go from LA to Frisco in a couple of hours? Are peopl in LA going to get jobs in San Fran, and vice versa? Of course the fuck not.

==============

Not to mention that air travel between those two cities is cheaper and faster, with no chance that it will ever be otherwise.

I *think* this was brought up by opponents at the time the train idea was conceived, but I could be confusing it with the current state of things.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 11:59 AM (LV4Hs)

80 Is it legal to have a magazine on a bullet train?

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 11:59 AM (iKI3U)

81 What decisive action is Germany about to take?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 29, 2025 12:00 PM (63Dwl)

82 Wouldn't a bullet train be like...against the law in California?
Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 11:50 AM (iKI3U)

----------

The law prohibits having more than five in any train station at the same time.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 29, 2025 11:52 AM (hY4dx)

None of them are allowed to have a thing that goes up.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:00 PM (r8F6l)

83 High Speed Rail.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Oh stop it! You're killing me here.

Posted by: Diogenes at March 29, 2025 12:00 PM (W/lyH)

84 Not to mention that air travel between those two cities is cheaper and faster, with no chance that it will ever be otherwise.

But planes are icky and polluting, and HSR will run on unicorn farts and fairy dust!

Besides, I had a great time riding trains in Europe one summer when I was in college, so we need to replicate that here!

Posted by: California HSR Supporter! at March 29, 2025 12:01 PM (xTIDn)

85 A trip to Mars will probably happen before that multi billion train gets to even built
Posted by: Skip at March 29, 2025 11:19 AM (bo/vr)

Regularly schedule space flights to Mars will happen before that train gets built.

Posted by: Diogenes at March 29, 2025 12:02 PM (W/lyH)

86 High Speed Rail.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Oh stop it! You're killing me here.
Posted by: Diogenes

Now, high speed bail, they've got that.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 29, 2025 12:02 PM (L/fGl)

87 Can a bullet train move at a fast clip? Or would that be illegal too?

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:02 PM (iKI3U)

88 In the words of economist Herb Stein, "If something cannot go on forever, it will stop."

Before auditing the Pentagon, maybe get warmed up by trackinng $11.2 billion spent as of December 2023

Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 29, 2025 12:02 PM (mYu4O)

89 Of course, if the train is going to be stopping at all these commuter cities, it will no longer be quite so high-speed.

**********

Look out here she comes she's coming
Look out there she goes, she's gone

Texas 1947 Guy Clark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an-3RsZxJaE

Posted by: muldoon at March 29, 2025 12:02 PM (/iMjX)

90 By the end of the century, the countries of Western Europe will no longer be recognizably European in any sense.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:58 AM (xTIDn)

The family seem like good and productive citizens but the top two tennis players in Sweden are anything but blonde hair vikings. Their father and mother immigrated from Ethiopia.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 12:03 PM (VofaG)

91 What decisive action is Germany about to take?

Kursk is within our grasp!

Posted by: Zombie Operation Citadel! at March 29, 2025 12:03 PM (xTIDn)

92 Californians are still in shock that they no longer set the trends.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 12:04 PM (1K7Zj)

93 A contract with the Boring Company sounds like a great idea for part of what is described under the new plans for the Bay Area transit, actually.

Read Transbay Terminal, 5/22/2024
Posted by: KT at March 29, 2025 11:25 AM (xekrU)

An underground rail line makes no sense in an area that has major earthquake faults that reach surface and have major movement on them when a quake happens.

Passenger rail is simply not needed anywhere in North America, and loses money on every line.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:04 PM (8zz6B)

94 Can a bullet train move at a fast clip? Or would that be illegal too?
Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:02 PM (iKI3U)

They were going to try to get the trains from Point A to B in a flash, but decided to suppress that too.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:04 PM (r8F6l)

95
Even if they get HSR built, it'll never be usable with the abundant, well-nurtured homeless camping on it, using it as a toilet. Between them and urban youth, it would take something approaching martial law to make it rideable.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls

===============

That's the wonder of the train. There won't be any urban youth because it's not stopping in any cities -- just towns that are no more than truck stops in the vast, empty farmlands that the I-5 cuts through.

I'm sure illegal aliens will ride free, though.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:04 PM (LV4Hs)

96 And they say California is losing population.
I wonder why?

Posted by: Case at March 29, 2025 12:05 PM (OrSPY)

97 What decisive action is Germany about to take?

Kursk is within our grasp!
Posted by: Zombie Operation Citadel! at March 29, 2025 12:03 PM (xTIDn)

Steiner will come!

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at March 29, 2025 12:05 PM (VNX3d)

98 Can a bullet train move at a fast clip?
Posted by: Chairborne!

*********

Well, the stock answer is that it can barrel right along...

Posted by: muldoon at March 29, 2025 12:05 PM (/iMjX)

99 I *think* this was brought up by opponents at the time the train idea was conceived, but I could be confusing it with the current state of things.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 11:59 AM (LV4Hs)

It was. And requiring state official to use HSR instead of jetting between Sacto and LA was also mentioned.

Posted by: 13times at March 29, 2025 12:06 PM (QLCum)

100 What decisive action is Germany about to take?

I hope they're smart enough not to name the plan Barbarossa.

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:06 PM (iKI3U)

101 Look out here she comes she's coming
Look out there she goes, she's gone

Texas 1947 Guy Clark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an-3RsZxJaE
Posted by: muldoon at March 29, 2025 12:02 PM (/iMjX)

This is a family blog, you should not post such pornographic smut like that here.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:06 PM (r8F6l)

102 Can a bullet train move at a fast clip?
Posted by: Chairborne!

*********

Well, the stock answer is that it can barrel right along...
Posted by: muldoon at March 29, 2025 12:05 PM (/iMjX)

CA will name their bullet train Squib.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 12:06 PM (VofaG)

103 Newsome has given the HSR bullet train contractor a blank check.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 12:07 PM (VofaG)

104 The crisis in Europe is so serious that European countries are thinking of having male Defense Ministers again!

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:09 PM (xTIDn)

105 Whoever came up with the name bullet train was a dum-dum.

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:09 PM (iKI3U)

106
By the end of the century, the countries of Western Europe will no longer be recognizably European in any sense.
Posted by: The ARC of History!

==============

It's funny because they're so tribalistic at each other within Europe's borders. And yet they're giving up their identities like they were expired AAA cards.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:10 PM (LV4Hs)

107 Wouldn't a bullet train be like...against the law in California?
Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 11:50 AM (iKI3U)

Only if there is a high-capacity roundhouse.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:10 PM (8zz6B)

108 Passenger rail is simply not needed anywhere in North America, and loses money on every line.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:04 PM (8zz6B)

I would love to have a train option, so I don't have to fly, or drive the highways with all the godforsaken trucks going east.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:11 PM (QEJzX)

109 Passenger rail is simply not needed anywhere in North America, and loses money on every line.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:04 PM

There is one passenger line that actually makes money, the amtrak "aecela" corridor in the North East. But that is only because of specific conditions that exist there.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at March 29, 2025 12:11 PM (e5NfL)

110 The metal scrapping thieves will be tearing apart any laid track and wire before laid track makes it to its first destination. Guarantee that.

Posted by: Jukin the Deplorable a Clear and Present Danger at March 29, 2025 12:11 PM (17s+e)

111 It's funny because they're so tribalistic at each other within Europe's borders. And yet they're giving up their identities like they were expired AAA cards.

Mark Steyn was warning of this in 2000.

Now, a quarter of the way into the new century, he has endless material by simply writing "I told you so.".

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:12 PM (xTIDn)

112
requiring state official to use HSR instead of jetting between Sacto and LA was also mentioned.
Posted by: 13times

=============

lol as if. They probably would have written a regulation to permit "proxy riders" to take the trip for them while they got on the plane (first class) and double-charged taxpayers for that, too.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:12 PM (LV4Hs)

113 Erie PA had or has a downtown free trolley (actually a bus disguised as a trolley car) that make the rounds through the downtown area. Very popular when the guys staying at the city mission get kicked out for the day for whatever reasons. Warm in the winter, cool in the summer and it will drop you off at the downtown library.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at March 29, 2025 12:12 PM (gm9Sb)

114 Mass transit works when people are shoved into tenement hives and then only allowed to travel to other tenement hives - like Europe.

CA is way too spread out, as it true for most of the US.

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:12 PM (t0Rmr)

115 What decisive action is Germany about to take?

------
I hope they're smart enough not to name the plan Barbarossa.
Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:06 PM (iKI3U)

I've got some thoughts on that.

Posted by: Von Schlieffen at March 29, 2025 12:13 PM (ASK6O)

116 What decisive action is Germany about to take?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 29, 2025 12:00 PM (63Dwl)

Remember all those bad economic and green policies, and the unlimited immigration and speech controls that the Bundestag implemented with their coalition between the left, the greens and the conservative parties, the ones the conservatives said they were forced into for the sake of the coalition they built?

Well the Conservatives eked out a larger percentage than the other parties on the promise to resolve the those bad economic and green policies, and the unlimited immigration and speech controls, and now that the conservatives are the largest party and still have to form a coalition party, they decided to align with the left, and the greens again, and turn all those bad economic and green policies, and the unlimited immigration and speech controls up to ELEVEN

Oh, and to reinstate the draft, defense manufacturing and start a war with Russia over the Ukraine because to do anything else would be [whisper it only] fascist

Posted by: Kindltot at March 29, 2025 12:13 PM (D7oie)

117 Very popular when the guys staying at the city mission get kicked out for the day for whatever reasons.

The mission near us requires the residents to spend their day somewhere other than indoors.

Posted by: kallisto at March 29, 2025 12:14 PM (dCxaZ)

118
The metal scrapping thieves will be tearing apart any laid track and wire before laid track makes it to its first destination. Guarantee that.
Posted by: Jukin the Deplorable a Clear and Present Danger

==============

And they'll be the only ones on the whole project to function efficiently.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:14 PM (LV4Hs)

119 HSR started construction on sections near I-5 so people (reporters and advocates) driving past it would think there was a serious and on-going effort to build the rail line.

Everything else was fallow and inert.

Posted by: 13times at March 29, 2025 12:15 PM (RUvHY)

120 102 Can a bullet train move at a fast clip?
Posted by: Chairborne!

*********

Something will have to trigger it.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at March 29, 2025 12:15 PM (dg+HA)

121 Mark Steyn was warning of this in 2000.

The origin of all his demographic writing was that he was sitting in a cafe in central Vienna chatting with a friend around 2000, and noted that absolutely every customer of the maternity clinic across the street was Muslim.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:15 PM (xTIDn)

122 Germany has traditionally been a western country with a strong love of authoritarianism.

Honestly they should have broken it apart after WWII - Bavaria, Hannover, etc.

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:15 PM (t0Rmr)

123 Can America build anything big anymore? Graft and regulations.

Hoover Dam, five years. 1931-1936. About $900 million in today's dollars.

Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 29, 2025 12:15 PM (wIuOs)

124 Our Maserati leases say otherwise.
Posted by: Politically-Connected NGOs at March 29, 2025 11:47 AM (hY4dx)

Maseratis are way too down-class for those types. It's Mercedes AMG G-Wagons all the way down.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:15 PM (QZThv)

125 Mark Steyn was warning of this in 2000.

Now, a quarter of the way into the new century, he has endless material by simply writing "I told you so.".
Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:12 PM (xTIDn)

Yup. I hope he lives long enough for Michael Mann to be exposed for the complete fraud he is too.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:15 PM (ASK6O)

126 The origin of all his demographic writing was that he was sitting in a cafe in central Vienna chatting with a friend around 2000, and noted that absolutely every customer of the maternity clinic across the street was Muslim.

And all the infants at the maternity clinic are 25 now.

Time flies.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:16 PM (xTIDn)

127 I think it's just lovely that eminent domain was used to take farmer's land so that a high speed rail virtue signal project could flounder in the un-planning stage.

Posted by: Orson at March 29, 2025 12:16 PM (dIske)

128 Muslims would like nothing more than white European men killing each other.

The WEF also would like nothing more than that. Go figure.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:18 PM (QZThv)

129 The origin of all his demographic writing was that he was sitting in a cafe in central Vienna chatting with a friend around 2000, and noted that absolutely every customer of the maternity clinic across the street was Muslim./i]

On a related note I was in a thread discussing how most divorces in the west are initiated by women. And the most common response to this by women on the thread was "yes because now we don't have to stay with losers"

Feminism is going to usher in Islamism in all the western countries it currently holds sway until traditionalism defeats it first...

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:19 PM (t0Rmr)

130 As a little kid, Mom and I would take the train from Warren OH to Cleveland when Mom wanted to do a little shopping. It was only a couple bucks each way, dropped you off at the Terminal Tower downtown. Really enjoyable and actually practical. Then the Feds stepped in and for some reason stuff like that wasn't available in mid America.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at March 29, 2025 12:19 PM (gm9Sb)

131 My guess on the high speed rail system - no one will do anything, no money will be found, and the project will simply collapse because there is no other choice possible now.

This will happen not because anyone wants it to happen, but simply because there's no other options left at this point.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 29, 2025 12:20 PM (uWKK8)

132 The WEF also would like nothing more than that. Go figure.

The European elites sense that they are on the verge of losing control, and see a war as a way of whipping the peasantry back into line.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:20 PM (xTIDn)

133 Mark Steyn is a brilliant thinker. What the courts did to Steyn is a criminal outrage. Although I understand that some of it is being reversed now, wrt the financial penalties. What can't be reversed is the strain done to the man by the so-called process.

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:20 PM (iKI3U)

134
Uh, there’s a place called Northern California which resides north of an imaginary line running from just north of San Francisco through Sacramento to Lake Tahoe.

It’s kinda like the Mason-Dixon Line.

Posted by: 13times

=============

Two Californias. Please, God.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:20 PM (LV4Hs)

135 Mark Steyn was warning of this in 2000.

saw a clip from Rush Hour 2.

The premise is Chris Tucker has seduced a woman but not had sex with her - just making out, and when he wakes up he sees her removing a wig and assumes she is a man, but she's just a woman with a shaved head.

He is upset and threatens to punch her if she is actually a guy. And...this was a big budget hollywood movie in 2001. You'd get cancelled for that now.

Of course Tucker, aka Ruby Rod, seducing a *woman* seems somewhat doubtful...

But either way 2000 was a whole different America from the one we live in now.

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:21 PM (t0Rmr)

136 The European elites sense that they are on the verge of losing control, and see a war as a way of whipping the peasantry back into line.

Also they don't want the peasantry to be too populous when they declare neo-feudalism.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:21 PM (QZThv)

137 And all the infants at the maternity clinic are 25 now.

Time flies.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:16 PM (xTIDn)

Many are gone now, their mothers lamenting how fast they blow up.

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:22 PM (iKI3U)

138 But either way 2000 was a whole different America from the one we live in now.

That was back when, according to Disney, there were no black heroes. Also everyone was rushing to theaters to see the Blade movies.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:22 PM (QZThv)

139 127 I think it's just lovely that eminent domain was used to take farmer's land so that a high speed rail virtue signal project could flounder in the un-planning stage.
Posted by: Orson at March 29, 2025 12:16 PM (dIske)

I remember back when GWB was pushing the Supercollider in Texas a whole bunch of farmland and houses held by people for many years were seized through eminent domain and razed. And then the entire project collapsed, it was all for nothing, and all the land they had seized was sold off cheap to various corporate interests. The people whose families had owned that land for 100 years or more were just shit out of luck.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 29, 2025 12:22 PM (uWKK8)

140 My guess on the high speed rail system - no one will do anything, no money will be found, and the project will simply collapse because there is no other choice possible now.

In some ways this is a microcosm of how everything the left works.

No one actually cared about the nominal goal - building a high speed rail line. For some is was graft, for others buying votes, and for most virtue signaling.

So in the end they all got what they really wanted even if after spending billions there is no rail line.

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:22 PM (t0Rmr)

141 "Pardon me, boy, is this the Transylvania Station?" "Ja, Ja. Can I give you a shine?".

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at March 29, 2025 12:22 PM (gm9Sb)

142 Yup. I hope he lives long enough for Michael Mann to be exposed for the complete fraud he is too.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:15 PM (ASK6O)

---

He's 65 but seems to have aged ten years in the last two. He sees America "sliding off a cliff", but hopes Trump can change the course

Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 29, 2025 12:23 PM (QWosr)

143 I think it's just lovely that eminent domain was used to take farmer's land so that a high speed rail virtue signal project could flounder in the un-planning stage.

The real question is what will happen to that land when the whole project inevitably goes TU? Will it revert to the original owners?

Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 12:24 PM (xCA6C)

144 It will never run!

Posted by: rhennigantx at March 29, 2025 12:24 PM (gbOdA)

145 Somebody also noted that having Muslims block roads for prayers in Western Europe and Canada is new.

It's a way of asserting control.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:24 PM (xTIDn)

146 Uh, there’s a place called Northern California which resides north of an imaginary line running from just north of San Francisco through Sacramento to Lake Tahoe.

Real long-time Internet users remember when the Arcata Eye police blotter was a must-read.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:24 PM (QZThv)

147 That was back when, according to Disney, there were no black heroes. Also everyone was rushing to theaters to see the Blade movies.

They weren't the greatest movies but Snipes came across as cool. Amusingly Ryan Reynolds was in one of them and came across as a dork...

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:24 PM (t0Rmr)

148 I think it's just lovely that eminent domain was used to take farmer's land so that a high speed rail virtue signal project could flounder in the un-planning stage.

Fly over people don't count

Posted by: The FNM, FEMA, and our compassionate betters at March 29, 2025 12:25 PM (t0Rmr)

149 He's 65 but seems to have aged ten years in the last two.

Two heart attacks will do that to you.

Steyn is not in good shape.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:25 PM (xTIDn)

150 Somebody also noted that having Muslims block roads for prayers in Western Europe and Canada is new.

The elites have a hard-on for blocking roads and they're just rotating their cast of victims. People were too willing to run over Just Stop Oil so now it's the Muslims. If they fail it'll be Palestinians, then trannies.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:25 PM (QZThv)

151
Wouldn't a bullet train be like...against the law in California?
Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above!

Rename it the wizard train.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 29, 2025 12:26 PM (63Dwl)

152 So I love the new thing where Wired or some other Tech mag explains:
COBOL is great. The system works. If you fix the system with new code someone may not get a check.

They completely buy the the Government Is Great Government is Good, let us thank Government for our food.

Posted by: rhennigantx at March 29, 2025 12:26 PM (gbOdA)

153 It's a way of asserting control.

As is asserting that non-Muslims can't eat in public during Ramadan, which is increasingly happening.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:26 PM (xTIDn)

154 Thx K.T. , good to see you back.
I'm sure someone has mentioned it but BART is also going broke, because of decreased riders caused by COVID stay at home workers and because of drug addicts and homeless.
No further funding for anything in Cali by the Feds even if they get their house in irder

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 29, 2025 12:27 PM (2ZThz)

155 The elites have a hard-on for blocking roads and they're just rotating their cast of victims. People were too willing to run over Just Stop Oil so now it's the Muslims. If they fail it'll be Palestinians, then trannies.
Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:25 PM (QZThv)

If you have to run over muzzies, be sure to grease the tires with lard.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:27 PM (8zz6B)

156 It never was going to ɓe built with payments to grifters, unions, environmental wack jobs and lawyers.

Posted by: Skip at March 29, 2025 12:27 PM (2ovuE)

157 90 By the end of the century, the countries of Western Europe will no longer be recognizably European in any sense.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:58 AM (xTIDn)

The funny part is that all of those countries, most especially Germany and England, will have gone into complete economic collapse long before that because of their de-industrialization and energy policies. Even now they're little more than badly run theme parks. They have no future, no future whatsoever.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 29, 2025 12:27 PM (uWKK8)

158 So I love the new thing where Wired or some other Tech mag explains:
COBOL is great. The system works. If you fix the system with new code someone may not get a check.

I suspect that if this was a private company running on 40 year old code that they'd be in violation of 10-20 different federal reporting and data laws and would have long been put out of business.

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:28 PM (t0Rmr)

159
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 29, 2025 12:20 PM (uWKK

==============

100%, Tom.

The only question now is what will become of the incomplete yet permanent structures that have already been built. There are overpasses to nowhere and God-knows how much iron lying around waiting to be placed. Some of it will be openly looted, but Victor Davis Hansen has speculated that it will persist for decades, a century perhaps, while our descendants stare at it in puzzlement.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:28 PM (LV4Hs)

160 I don't really care if California builds their super train.
But they need to do it on their own dime.
The whole freaking country doesn't need to be dragged into it

Posted by: Case at March 29, 2025 12:28 PM (OrSPY)

161 BTW, Happy Vietnam Veterans Day to my fellow aging compatriots.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at March 29, 2025 12:28 PM (gm9Sb)

162 Uh, there’s a place called Northern California which resides north of an imaginary line running from just north of San Francisco through Sacramento to Lake Tahoe.

It’s kinda like the Mason-Dixon Line.

Posted by: 13times

=============

Two Californias. Please, God.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:20 PM (LV4Hs)
***

Not that many roads going north/south. If the muzzies can block roads, why not the NorCals?

Posted by: Diogenes at March 29, 2025 12:29 PM (W/lyH)

163 The elites have a hard-on for blocking roads

Roads are how normal people get too and fro their jobs and all the other things they need to do. Way too much freedom for people that don't matter.

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:29 PM (t0Rmr)

164 Can America build anything big anymore? Graft and regulations.

Hoover Dam, five years. 1931-1936. About $900 million in today's dollars.
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 29, 2025 12:15 PM (wIuOs)

To be fair, the builders were promised a huge payout for finishing per a schedule and progressively more if finished earlier. Also no consequences of having almost 100 workers get killed.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 12:31 PM (VofaG)

165 So I love the new thing where Wired or some other Tech mag explains:
COBOL is great. The system works. If you fix the system with new code someone may not get a check.

Making a system worse by rewriting it is absolutely a thing that happens. But Social Security isn't a high-complexity system. With enough RAM you could probably run it entirely in Excel with some custom macros, including mailing the checks.

More realistically, probably a MySQL back end and whatever front end you want, the options are limitless.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:32 PM (QZThv)

166 Any reports on how the day of Tesla/Elon rage is going, or is it too early for those committed protestors to be out?

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at March 29, 2025 12:33 PM (uF/EA)

167 The European elites sense that they are on the verge of losing control, and see a war as a way of whipping the peasantry back into line.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 12:20 PM (xTIDn)

The EU is broke, it has no manufacturing in scale, it is losing its access to raw materials and energy, the ECB only has so many more things to support the Euro, the Pound is in the same position, and its last best chance was to get the US to fight and defeat Russia for it.
Trump is saying no, they are losing some member states at least in willingness to commit to the whole program, so they are in the position of having to take everyone's savings, start a war, set up a new fiat currency to wash out the defaults that are facing them and win or lose they can claim to have had no responsibility for the last 70 years of failure.

Posted by: Kindltot at March 29, 2025 12:33 PM (D7oie)

168 The only question now is what will become of the incomplete yet permanent structures that have already been built. There are overpasses to nowhere and God-knows how much iron lying around waiting to be placed. Some of it will be openly looted, but Victor Davis Hansen has speculated that it will persist for decades, a century perhaps, while our descendants stare at it in puzzlement.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:28 PM (LV4Hs)

I believe VDH is correct. They'll be elaborate tombstones to the idea of what California once dreamed it could be.

The entire concept ignores the fact that there is no existing base of potential travelers who could possible ride such a train enough to financially justify it's existence, especially not in the age of zoom and virtual board meetings. It's a 19th century answer that is grossly out of sync with a 21st century world.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 29, 2025 12:33 PM (uWKK8)

169 As soon as someone invents magnetic trains that don't even need rails but can fly through the air with the greatest of ease, they won't need this whole project anymore.

Think of it, won't it be wonderful?

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 11:51 AM

Japan has the MagLev rail system. Saw the documentary on it on "Impossible Engineering" a while back. The train levitates over the "tracks". To move the train along, each portion of the rail system activates as the train is moving across it and then deactivates once the train has moved past that portion of the system.

Maglev (derived from magnetic levitation) is a system of rail transport whose rolling stock is levitated by electromagnets rather than rolled on wheels, eliminating rolling resistance.

https://bit.ly/3QWzveO

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 12:34 PM (P5BPp)

170
The real question is what will happen to that land when the whole project inevitably goes TU? Will it revert to the original owners?
Posted by: Archimedes

===============

And what will it be usable for at that point, and who would be on the hook for dismantling the permanent structures that are already built?

One guess: the state auctions off the land or sells it for pennies as-is, original owners get first dibs?

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:34 PM (LV4Hs)

171 It's kinda sweet how people genuinely believe Newsom's railroad will get built. Hope is eternal.

Posted by: Don Black at March 29, 2025 12:34 PM (AOsQT)

172 Mark Steyn is a brilliant thinker. What the courts did to Steyn is a criminal outrage. Although I understand that some of it is being reversed now, wrt the financial penalties. What can't be reversed is the strain done to the man by the so-called process.
Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:20 PM (iKI3U)

Now do Alex Jones.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:34 PM (n65KU)

173 So. Earlier this year my wife and I went to LA on hwy 5. When I was a kid I could do that route in 5 hours. Nor Cal to UCLA. Were there some speed laws broken? Perhaps.

But that trip took 8 hours this time and I have been as close to wanting to “end” someone as I have ever been. Mostly the California Transportation Comission members. Made up of corrupt self dealers running NGOs (does that sound familiar?) they have all sorts of excuses why another lane can’t be added. These include talking about bicycling, high speed rail, environmental justice (to who?) and how we can’t take land from the farmers (HWY 5 has a median that would easily fit 2 or more lanes and no eminent domain is needed).

We need a California DOGE.

Posted by: The MewTwix at March 29, 2025 12:35 PM (l5yVc)

174 Can America build anything big anymore? Graft and regulations.

Near where I live they built a major three lane highway in the 60s. Took 10 years.

They spent 30 years trying to add one more lane and it is maybe 25% done.

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:35 PM (t0Rmr)

175 I can't comment again until 6pm MT

Posted by: Don Black at March 29, 2025 12:36 PM (AOsQT)

176 ...The entire concept ignores the fact that there is no existing base of potential travelers who could possible ride such a train enough to financially justify it's existence, especially not in the age of zoom and virtual board meetings. It's a 19th century answer that is grossly out of sync with a 21st century world.

Maybe they could put the homeless on it and shuttle them back and forth. At least it would get them off the streets.

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:37 PM (iKI3U)

177 The EU is broke, it has no manufacturing in scale, it is losing its access to raw materials and energy, the ECB only has so many more things to support the Euro, the Pound is in the same position, and its last best chance was to get the US to fight and defeat Russia for it.

More specifically, they willingly gave up their access to energy. Germany shutting down their entire nuclear grid might be the biggest own goal ever scored by a government.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:37 PM (QZThv)

178 Trump is saying no, they are losing some member states at least in willingness to commit to the whole program, so they are in the position of having to take everyone's savings, start a war, set up a new fiat currency to wash out the defaults that are facing them and win or lose they can claim to have had no responsibility for the last 70 years of failure.
Posted by: Kindltot at March 29, 2025 12:33 PM (D7oie)

The situation reminds me of when France stupidly rushed into a war with Prussia in 1870, mainly for reasons of pride and internal politics. They weren't ready for it and were humiliatingly crushed.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 29, 2025 12:37 PM (uWKK8)

179 Now do Alex Jones.

The claim they bankrupted him with was that in entertaining the notion a particular mass shooting a hoax he was defaming the victims' families and that was grounds to sue

On those ground almost every leftwing news outlet/blog/etc could also be sued into oblivion and yet...nothing happens.

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:38 PM (t0Rmr)

180 Yup. I hope he lives long enough for Michael Mann to be exposed for the complete fraud he is too.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:15 PM (ASK6O)

---

He's 65 but seems to have aged ten years in the last two. He sees America "sliding off a cliff", but hopes Trump can change the course
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 29, 2025 12:23 PM (QWosr)

It's really only a matter of time before Musk and his DOGGIES go after Big University. I think it's going to reveal a level of scummery and vile piggishness that will make things like USAID look like bullies taking milk money.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:38 PM (n65KU)

181 It's a 19th century answer that is grossly out of sync with a 21st century world.

But for the elites, it solves the car problem, also known as "rando peasants can just up and decide to go 400 miles without leaving a trace if they turn off their phones and pay cash".

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:38 PM (QZThv)

182
there is no existing base of potential travelers who could possible ride such a train enough to financially justify it's existence

Posted by: Tom Servo

==============

That was also known at the moment it, so to speak, went off the rails and became a normal old train stopping at a bunch of farm towns -- a good 20 years ago. At full ridership, it would not break even -- and ridership was projected to be something like 15%. Maybe 5%.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:38 PM (LV4Hs)

183 By the end of the century, the countries of Western Europe will no longer be recognizably European in any sense.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at March 29, 2025 11:58 AM (xTIDn)

The funny part is that all of those countries, most especially Germany and England, will have gone into complete economic collapse long before that because of their de-industrialization and energy policies. Even now they're little more than badly run theme parks. They have no future, no future whatsoever.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 29, 2025 12:27 PM (uWKK

***

Europe is setting itself up for a cascading series of civil strife/wars. If immigration is allowed to continue, the real Europeans will not win. They will turn to the US for help yet again. Only this time the Barbary Pirates are in Berlin.

Posted by: Diogenes at March 29, 2025 12:38 PM (W/lyH)

184 I know we have at least ten big bridge projects on the table in the next couple of years. Will be interesting how they will progress.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 12:40 PM (VofaG)

185 Europe is setting itself up for a cascading series of civil strife/wars.

Well, it's what they're good at.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 12:40 PM (xCA6C)

186 More specifically, they willingly gave up their access to energy. Germany shutting down their entire nuclear grid might be the biggest own goal ever scored by a government.
Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:37 PM (QZThv)

Well, Spain did expel all the Jews, which where the principal bankers and money-men.

Posted by: Kindltot at March 29, 2025 12:40 PM (D7oie)

187 Japan has the MagLev rail system. Saw the documentary on it on "Impossible Engineering" a while back. The train levitates over the "tracks". To move the train along, each portion of the rail system activates as the train is moving across it and then deactivates once the train has moved past that portion of the system.

Maglev (derived from magnetic levitation) is a system of rail transport whose rolling stock is levitated by electromagnets rather than rolled on wheels, eliminating rolling resistance.

https://bit.ly/3QWzveO
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 12:34 PM (P5BPp)

They had a demonstrator maglev "train" running at Expo 86 in Vancouver, B.C. I rode on it. Eerily smooth and quiet. I believe the limiting factors are power consumption, and limited top speed.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:42 PM (8zz6B)

188 The claim they bankrupted him with was that in entertaining the notion a particular mass shooting a hoax he was defaming the victims' families and that was grounds to sue

On those ground almost every leftwing news outlet/blog/etc could also be sued into oblivion and yet...nothing happens.
Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:38 PM (t0Rmr)

South Park did an episode where all the kids sued the school system for sexual harassment. The schools got to the point where the kids were sitting on the floor, and teachers were using nails to scratch words on the chalkboard.

Meanwhile, the lawyer's house got bigger and bigger and bigger.

I think we need to see that happen. With the schools, the media, Hollywood. Sue sue sue! Let the lawyers get fat!

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:42 PM (n65KU)

189 Several times I've taken a train from the Poughkeepsie station to the new Yankee Stadium. The old stadium was right next door to the tracks but the fools never put a station there. The new station is a moneymaker because upstate fans take the train a lot to games

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 29, 2025 12:42 PM (2ZThz)

190 Miss us yet?

Posted by: Fifty year old white guys at March 29, 2025 12:42 PM (dg+HA)

191 At full ridership, it would not break even -- and ridership was projected to be something like 15%. Maybe 5%.

We've seen this script before. The trains will fill up with Jaquavious and Shaniequa and they'll jump the turnstiles to get in so there will be no revenue. Any non-diverse individuals that get on will have a sideways Glock pointed at them and be mugged and raped. That's how light rail works in Minneapolis and Baltimore.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:42 PM (QZThv)

192 The situation reminds me of when France stupidly rushed into a war with Prussia in 1870, mainly for reasons of pride and internal politics. They weren't ready for it and were humiliatingly crushed. /i]

In fairness to Nappy III, the French army was about the same size as the Prussian one and it is harder to identify that your army isn't using modern doctrine.

As of right now Germany's military has under 200K troops versus Russia's 1.5M. A German invasion of Russia would look less like 1941 and a lot more like the Russo-Turkish War

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:42 PM (t0Rmr)

193
Earlier this year my wife and I went to LA on hwy 5. When I was a kid I could do that route in 5 hours. Nor Cal to UCLA. Were there some speed laws broken? Perhaps.

But that trip took 8 hours this time and I have been as close to wanting to “end” someone as I have ever been.

We need a California DOGE.
Posted by: The MewTwix

===============

We need a California DOGE all right, but what happened to add time to your drive? Lotsa trucks? I take that drive quite frequently and it's usually a breeze.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:42 PM (LV4Hs)

194 Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 12:34 PM (P5BPp)

They had a demonstrator maglev "train" running at Expo 86 in Vancouver, B.C. I rode on it. Eerily smooth and quiet. I believe the limiting factors are power consumption, and limited top speed.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:42 PM (8zz6B)

I suspect the limiting factors are big oil and related industries.

We're not going to get real alternatives until all the oil is used up.

In about 500 years.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:43 PM (n65KU)

195 Dis be 'bout us, doan it?

Posted by: Jaquavious and Shaniequa at March 29, 2025 12:44 PM (dg+HA)

196 Passenger rail is simply not needed anywhere in North America, and loses money on every line.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon
---

They want to lose money. They don't want passengers.
They don't publish a schedule.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 12:45 PM (1K7Zj)

197 Miss us yet?
Posted by: Fifty year old white guys at March 29, 2025 12:42 PM (dg+HA)

Bangkok hookers called and said yes.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:45 PM (n65KU)

198 Is he gay? Get back to me if he's gay, then he would be the largest gay draft pick in NFL history, and then you'd really have something.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 11:57 AM

NFL already had their token gay player a few years ago. Some LB from Missouri, Michael Sam, came out as gay right before the NFL draft. Everyone of course made a HUGE deal out of it, and he went from an unknown possible late draft pick to all the usual suspects claiming he was some sure-fire Rd1 pick.

Early projections had Sam as a third- or fourth-round pick in the 2014 NFL draft. His performance in the NFL Scouting Combine in February 2014 was seen as disappointing, which lowered expectations about whether he would be taken in the draft. He was considered to be too small to play defensive end and too slow to play outside linebacker. He showed improvement at a public workout a month later, but his pre-draft rankings ranged from 12th to 25th among defensive ends.

The St. Louis Rams drafted Sam in the seventh round, the 249th of 256 players selected in the 2014 draft. He became the first publicly gay player to be drafted into the NFL.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 12:45 PM (P5BPp)

199 Passenger rail is simply not needed anywhere in North America, and loses money on every line.

Brightline in Florida by all accounts is actually nice and is making money, but it's also 100% private. No government tentacles anywhere. They're building an LA to Vegas line now, which will be the real test.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:47 PM (QZThv)

200 As long as they get Federal DOT dollars the monorail project will never end.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at March 29, 2025 12:49 PM (/lPRQ)

201 I suspect the limiting factors are big oil and related industries.

We're not going to get real alternatives until all the oil is used up.

In about 500 years.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:43 PM (n65KU)

Naw, Burt. Big Oil is also Big Energy. The energy needed to drive the electromagnets has to come from somewhere. Big OIl will get a piece of that business.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:50 PM (8zz6B)

202 Brightline in Florida by all accounts is actually nice and is making money, but it's also 100% private. No government tentacles anywhere. They're building an LA to Vegas line now, which will be the real test.
Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 12:47 PM (QZThv)

Imagine that. Actual capitalism, using those old concepts like private enterprise, seeking to make money, filling a need that consumers want, dictating what does and does not get done.

What a world....

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:50 PM (n65KU)

203 The funny part is that all of those countries, most especially Germany and England, will have gone into complete economic collapse long before that because of their de-industrialization and energy policies. Even now they're little more than badly run theme parks. They have no future, no future whatsoever.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 29, 2025 12:27 PM (uWKK

________________________

I have a feeling they are going to try and prolong the inevitable by re-negotiating CETA (Canadian/ European Trade Agreement). Just last week Canada matched up their Carbon requirements with the EU. One of the reasons CETA took a decade to pass the first time was because they didn't have "mirrored" regulations. I think Canada is going to be the EU's new resource provider, and they think this will hurt the US in the process. I'd bet they will turn to China for Oil refining over the US.

Posted by: Orson at March 29, 2025 12:51 PM (dIske)

204 They're building an LA to Vegas line now, which will be the real test.

That could work as long as you buy the return ticket BEFORE you go to Vegas. Otherwise, you might not have the money.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 12:52 PM (xCA6C)

205 Whoever came up with the name bullet train was a dum-dum.

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:09 PM

Shinkansen (新幹線

in Japanese means 'new trunk line' or 'new main line', but this word is used to describe both the railway lines the trains run on and the trains themselves. In English, the trains are also known as the bullet train. The term bullet train (弾丸列車, dangan ressha) originates from 1939, and was the initial name given to the Shinkansen project in its earliest planning stages. Furthermore, the name super express (超特急, chō-tokkyū

, used exclusively until 1972 for Hikari trains on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, is used today in English-language announcements and signage.

https://bit.ly/4j349PI

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 12:52 PM (P5BPp)

206 The St. Louis Rams drafted Sam in the seventh round, the 249th of 256 players selected in the 2014 draft. He became the first publicly gay player to be drafted into the NFL.
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 12:45 PM (P5BPp)

it was really disgusting to see him holding hands with his little Twink white boyfriend. Sorry but that's just an innate biological reaction and not homophobic.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 12:52 PM (VofaG)

207 As long as they get Federal DOT dollars the monorail project will never end.

That's the point. They won't.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 12:52 PM (xCA6C)

208 Naw, Burt. Big Oil is also Big Energy. The energy needed to drive the electromagnets has to come from somewhere. Big OIl will get a piece of that business.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:50 PM (8zz6B)

Of course they will. The only technology that will be allowed is that which serves the interests of the people who buy your politicians.

As long as Big Oil has money to do that, we'll continue to see these silly nonsense projects, including "electric" cars and bird killing windmills.

Nobody will get serious about REAL alternatives until oil runs out.

In about 500 years.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:53 PM (n65KU)

209 That could work as long as you buy the return ticket BEFORE you go to Vegas. Otherwise, you might not have the money.
Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 12:52 PM (xCA6C)

Vegas: Arrive in a fifty-thousand dollar Cadillac; go home in a quarter million-dollar bus.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:53 PM (8zz6B)

210 >>>NFL already had their token gay player a few years ago.
---

Lance Rentzle and his hot beard Joey.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 12:53 PM (1K7Zj)

211 Except for some fallacious safety reasons they could hook some passenger coaches on freight trains. You would get there sooner.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 12:55 PM (1K7Zj)

212 No, I don't know where.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 12:55 PM (1K7Zj)

213 Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 12:45 PM (P5BPp)

it was really disgusting to see him holding hands with his little Twink white boyfriend. Sorry but that's just an innate biological reaction and not homophobic.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 12:52 PM (VofaG)

Sure, but it was wonderful to see the barrier being broken... by a guy who never played a single down in a regular season game.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:56 PM (n65KU)

214 I think the creator of the high five, MLB player Glenn Burke was the first to come out in the MLB.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 12:56 PM (VofaG)

215 it was really disgusting to see him holding hands with his little Twink white boyfriend. Sorry but that's just an innate biological reaction and not homophobic.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 12:52 PM (VofaG)

Agreed. It's a natural revulsion on my part, nothing more. I'm pretty much a live and let live type. Unless it's in my face.

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at March 29, 2025 12:56 PM (iKI3U)

216 > Can America build anything big anymore? Graft and regulations.
----------
Add to that; the number, and quality of people who can do real civil engineering, who can build and maintain machinery needed to support a technical civilization is quickly dwindling to zero.

Building high speed rail is one thing. Maintaining it is quite something different.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 29, 2025 12:58 PM (Q4IgG)

217 Nobody will get serious about REAL alternatives until oil runs out.

In about 500 years.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:53 PM (n65KU)

Maglev is not a "real alternative". It's just a different way of putting energy to work to move people. Same as a hovercraft. Neither has wheels, but both consume a lot of energy to haul people around, same as trains and cars do.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:59 PM (8zz6B)

218 NFL already had their token gay player a few years ago.
---

Lance Rentzle and his hot beard Joey.
Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 12:53 PM (1K7Zj)

I never heard he was gay. According the internet, he was charged with indecent exposure, to a 10 year old girl. Joey divorced him then. Doesn't say whether he was convicted or not.

Doesn't sound like he was gay.

Now do Jerry Smith.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:59 PM (EF7Aq)

219 Maglev is not a "real alternative". It's just a different way of putting energy to work to move people. Same as a hovercraft. Neither has wheels, but both consume a lot of energy to haul people around, same as trains and cars do.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 12:59 PM (8zz6B)

Right, we're going to fool around with this nonsense, because no one is serious about an actual alternative to fossil fuels.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 01:01 PM (EF7Aq)

220
They're building an LA to Vegas line now, which will be the real test.
Posted by: Ian S.

==============

I always marveled that California didn't do that before they did LA to SF -- well, marveled only insofar as I thought business people in Cali had a chance of buying enough politicians to make it happen.

LA to Vegas should be a massive boom. I'm thinking of old people who don't like to fly. Also anyone who doesn't want to hassle with LAX.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 01:01 PM (LV4Hs)

221 I think the creator of the high five, MLB player Glenn Burke was the first to come out in the MLB.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 12:56 PM (VofaG)

Died of AIDS.

Check your hands, boys.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 01:02 PM (EF7Aq)

222 Story on Lantz and Joey; They would hit the gay bars in Dallas, she would go one way and he would go the other.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 01:02 PM (1K7Zj)

223 I have a feeling they are going to try and prolong the inevitable by re-negotiating CETA (Canadian/ European Trade Agreement). Just last week Canada matched up their Carbon requirements with the EU. One of the reasons CETA took a decade to pass the first time was because they didn't have "mirrored" regulations. I think Canada is going to be the EU's new resource provider, and they think this will hurt the US in the process. I'd bet they will turn to China for Oil refining over the US.
Posted by: Orson at March 29, 2025 12:51 PM (dIske)

Canada just isn't big enough to play that role. Remember that Canada's total population is just slightly bigger than Texas, and smaller than California. And using China to refine product - oh yeah a 25,000 mile round trip for your needed fuel, that makes sense.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 29, 2025 01:02 PM (uWKK8)

224 saw a clip from Rush Hour 2.

The premise is Chris Tucker has seduced a woman but not had sex with her - just making out, and when he wakes up he sees her removing a wig and assumes she is a man, but she's just a woman with a shaved head.

He is upset and threatens to punch her if she is actually a guy. And...this was a big budget hollywood movie in 2001. You'd get cancelled for that now.

Of course Tucker, aka Ruby Rod, seducing a *woman* seems somewhat doubtful...

But either way 2000 was a whole different America from the one we live in now.

Posted by: 18-1 at March 29, 2025 12:21 PM

The 2003 movie "My Boss's Daughter" was on the other day. With Ashton Kutcher, Tara Reid (boss's daughter) and Terrance Stamp as Kutcher's boss. Caught a few scenes before turning it off. But I actually got a laugh out of one scene.

Stamp is giving Kutcher a quick tour of his mansion he will be watching while boss is out of town. He introduces Kutcher to his owl, which he has named OJ. Kutcher, perplexed, goes "OJ? Like... the murderer?" Stamp replies, completely unfazed, "What? No, OJ Simpson, the football player."

I miss the non-PC culture that seemed to be killed in late '00s.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 01:04 PM (P5BPp)

225 Right, we're going to fool around with this nonsense, because no one is serious about an actual alternative to fossil fuels.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 01:01 PM (EF7Aq)

as the large corps building dedicated power plants to their server farms, etc, have figured out, Nuclear is the only realistic alternative to fossil fuels.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 29, 2025 01:04 PM (uWKK8)

226 Per Bing L.A. to Las Vegas is 3hr 45min drive.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 01:05 PM (1K7Zj)

227 How many cops are out on that desert hwy?
Peddle to metal.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 01:06 PM (1K7Zj)

228 Michael Sam was good in college, but not big enough to be a DE, not fast enough to be a LB. He was also a nut who also washed out in the CFL. And he hasn't been heard from since

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 29, 2025 01:07 PM (2ZThz)

229 I'm not homophobic. More like homodisgustic.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at March 29, 2025 01:07 PM (dg+HA)

230 But either way 2000 was a whole different America from the one we live in now.

Posted by: 18-1
---

How quickly things can change.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 01:08 PM (1K7Zj)

231 Except for some fallacious safety reasons they could hook some passenger coaches on freight trains. You would get there sooner.
Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 12:55 PM (1K7Zj)

Heh. Just make "passenger-rated" containers. Sea cans with seating for 20 people. Chemical toilet in one end. Wifi, air conditioning, and windows that can be opened a little for fresh air. Soft drink machine, and a communal fridge that pax can use for their own lunches, beverages. Side entry doors, and a roof escape hatch, all normally locked from outside, for safety, but can be opened in an emergency with a "break glass, pull handle" device.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 01:08 PM (8zz6B)

232 230 But either way 2000 was a whole different America from the one we live in now.

Posted by: 18-1
---

How quickly things can change.
Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 01:08 PM (1K7Zj
Unrecognizeable.

Posted by: Eromero at March 29, 2025 01:10 PM (p4vtc)

233 Right, we're going to fool around with this nonsense, because no one is serious about an actual alternative to fossil fuels.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 01:01 PM (EF7Aq)

We don't need an alternative to fossil fuels. They work, and they get the job done as cheap as it can be done.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 01:11 PM (8zz6B)

234 Saw something on X that says English moslems are demanding that no one eat outdoors during ramadan, as it interferes with their "temptation."

I'm sure England will pass a law demanding exactly that. They should change the name to Englistan.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at March 29, 2025 01:11 PM (CHHv1)

235 We left for Frisco in your Rambler
The radiator running dry
I've never been much of a gambler
And had a preference to fly
You said, "Forget about the airline
Let's take the car and save the fare"
We blew a gasket on the Grapevine
And eighty dollars on repair
All aboard
(Sausalito summer night)
All aboard

Posted by: Madame Mayhem (uppity wench) at March 29, 2025 01:11 PM (4XwPj)

236 But either way 2000 was a whole different America from the one we live in now.

Obama's fundamental transformation was real. We didn't take it seriously enough at the time, and the GOPe didn't care.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 01:12 PM (QZThv)

237 The Tōkaidō Shinkansen began service on 1 October 1964, in time for the first Tokyo Olympics.
Posted by: Clyde Shelton

The thing is it was built by the Japanese government, and then a consortium of construction companies bought it off the government for a fraction of the cost to build. Yep, grift and graft, but it actually worked and still works today. We can't even do corruption correctly.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at March 29, 2025 01:12 PM (mlg/3)

238 Monorail!

Posted by: davidt at March 29, 2025 01:12 PM (i0F8b)

239 Saw something on X that says English moslems are demanding that no one eat outdoors during ramadan, as it interferes with their "temptation."

A girl in Italy was beaten by Muslims for eating outside during Ramadan. Since Meloni is not Keir Stalin, the Muslims were arrested instead of the girl.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 29, 2025 01:13 PM (QZThv)

240 I knew we changed when just a little more than seven years after 9/11 we elected a guy President named Hussein whose father and step father were muslim, attended a muslim secondary school and traveled to Pakistan with his muslim friends .

Even if he wasn't the commie retard that he was , that should have been disqualifying to anyone with half a brain.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 01:13 PM (VofaG)

241
Saw something on X that says English moslems are demanding that no one eat outdoors during ramadan, as it interferes with their "temptation."

Posted by: BeckoningChasm

=================

Isn't the whole point of fasting to resist temptation?

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 01:15 PM (LV4Hs)

242 Saw something on X that says English moslems are demanding that no one eat outdoors during ramadan, as it interferes with their "temptation."

I'm sure England will pass a law demanding exactly that. They should change the name to Englistan.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at March 29, 2025 01:11 PM (CHHv1)

If their religion were not a total crock of shit, resisting such "temptation" would be regarded as a virtue.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 01:16 PM (8zz6B)

243 Gay footballers and pulling trains. I'm seeing connections in the threads

Posted by: Field Marshal Pepe Silva at March 29, 2025 01:16 PM (wBaIH)

244 Deep thought

I wonder if anyone ever gave up Lentils for Lent?

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 01:16 PM (VofaG)

245 BIG OIL IS SUPPRESSING THE SECRET 8K MILE/GALLON CARBURETOR TECHNOLOGY!!!

Posted by: Prolific Airhead Commenter at March 29, 2025 01:17 PM (1m82a)

246 234 Saw something on X that says English moslems are demanding that no one eat outdoors during ramadan, as it interferes with their "temptation."

I'm sure England will pass a law demanding exactly that. They should change the name to Englistan.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at March 29, 2025 01:11 PM (CHHv1
The they should they the heck home is Goatistan.

Posted by: Eromero at March 29, 2025 01:17 PM (p4vtc)

247 aw something on X that says English moslems are demanding that no one eat outdoors during ramadan, as it interferes with their "temptation."

I'm sure England will pass a law demanding exactly that. They should change the name to Englistan.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at March 29, 2025 01:11 PM (CHHv1
The they should they the heck home is Goatistan.
Posted by: Eromero at March 29, 2025 01:17 PM (p4vtc)

I think they made banks stop giving away piggy banks as a promotion.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 01:19 PM (VofaG)

248 Saddest song on the muslim Hit Parade? There Will Never Be Another Ewe.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 01:21 PM (8zz6B)

249 4 Harris county Deputies, current and former, committed suicide within a week of each other.

What are the odds?

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 01:22 PM (VofaG)

250 Sure, but it was wonderful to see the barrier being broken... by a guy who never played a single down in a regular season game.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 12:56 PM

Of course then-President Obama had to chime in with how wonderful and "important" it was:

In a statement, President Barack Obama said that he "congratulates Michael Sam, the Rams and the NFL for taking an important step forward today in our Nation's journey" and that "[f]rom the playing field to the corporate boardroom, LGBT Americans prove every day that you should be judged by what you do and not who you are."

What LGBT Americans do, activist ones anyway, is remind people every second of every day about who they are and how they should be given special treatment not because of what they do/contribute, but because of who they are.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 01:23 PM (P5BPp)

251 We don't need an alternative to fossil fuels. They work, and they get the job done as cheap as it can be done.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 29, 2025 01:11 PM (8zz6B)

Need is a funny word.

People often don't know what they "need" until they see what they can have.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 01:23 PM (IeDI0)

252 “We have no plan, we have a good likelihood it's going to get worse, and we have a short time to solve the problem,” said Democratic Asm. Steven Bennett.

---

We have no plan but give us more money for this project.

The underpants gnomes would be impressed

1. Give us $7,000,000,000
2. ?????
3. Profit

Posted by: Lemmiwinks at March 29, 2025 01:26 PM (UJYAs)

253 What LGBT Americans do, activist ones anyway, is remind people every second of every day about who they are and how they should be given special treatment not because of what they do/contribute, but because of who they are.
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 01:23 PM (P5BPp)

I forget which one it was, but there was a San Francissy QB some years ago, I'd have sworn he was gay, but as far as I know his sexuality was never discussed. Not by him or anyone else.

He played his career until he was done. Imagine that. Just being known and recognized for what you do on your job, and not who or what you bang during your off hours.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 01:26 PM (IeDI0)

254 240 I knew we changed when just a little more than seven years after 9/11 we elected a guy President named Hussein whose father and step father were muslim, attended a muslim secondary school and traveled to Pakistan with his muslim friends .

Even if he wasn't the commie retard that he was , that should have been disqualifying to anyone with half a brain.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 29, 2025 01:13 PM (VofaG)
Remember the bumper sticker B.A.M.A. (Big Ass Mistake, America.
A country who would elect that guy is a dying country. But GOD………in His infinite wisdom and mercy, gave us not one, but two opportunities confess our sin and turn again to Him.

Posted by: Eromero at March 29, 2025 01:27 PM (zskQO)

255 Naming idea along the lines of the Bay area rapid transit (BART) how about naming the bullet train the Fresno Area Rapid Transit? Seems perfect.

Posted by: Gary R at March 29, 2025 01:29 PM (AN+ve)

256 In a statement, President Barack Obama ...

Baloney. LGBT want to be know first and foremost by who they screw, not what they do.

Posted by: old chick at March 29, 2025 01:30 PM (F3Dlr)

257 Naming idea along the lines of the Bay area rapid transit (BART) how about naming the bullet train the Fresno Area Rapid Transit? Seems perfect.
Posted by: Gary R at March 29, 2025 01:29 PM (AN+ve)

That would make Mary Cloggenstein happy - especially if there are tunnels on the route.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at March 29, 2025 01:30 PM (VNX3d)

258 For $40 billion, CA could have built at least 4 new commuter airports which would have 'solved' the problem. Trains aren't the answer to anything other than cargo. We need a better, faster air system.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at March 29, 2025 01:31 PM (mlg/3)

259 After B.O. was "reelected" in 2012 I began divorcing myself from all media. No more TV news of any flavor, no more radio news and limited to just a select few websites.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at March 29, 2025 01:31 PM (dg+HA)

260 Just being known and recognized for what you do on your job, and not who or what you bang during your off hours.
Posted by: BurtTC

Kind of like Lindsey Graham. Except some people keep trying to drag him out of the closet, even though he's happy to stay there.

Posted by: old chick at March 29, 2025 01:33 PM (F3Dlr)

261 Gardening thread up for you dirty people.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at March 29, 2025 01:34 PM (mlg/3)

262 BIG OIL IS SUPPRESSING THE SECRET 8K MILE/GALLON CARBURETOR TECHNOLOGY!!!
Posted by: Prolific Airhead Commenter
-------

And it runs on WATER!!!!!!

Posted by: Also the 1970s at March 29, 2025 01:34 PM (rdVOm)

263 A girl in Italy was beaten by Muslims for eating outside during Ramadan. Since Meloni is not Keir Stalin, the Muslims were arrested instead of the girl.
Posted by: Ian S.
---

Italy has already surpassed *France and if Meloni has her way it will become preeminent in western Europe.

*she h8s Macron

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 01:35 PM (1K7Zj)

264 261 Gardening thread up for you dirty people.
Posted by: weft cut-loop
---

Dirty Garden !!!

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 01:35 PM (1K7Zj)

265 Just being known and recognized for what you do on your job, and not who or what you bang during your off hours.
Posted by: BurtTC

Kind of like Lindsey Graham. Except some people keep trying to drag him out of the closet, even though he's happy to stay there.
Posted by: old chick at March 29, 2025 01:33 PM (F3Dlr)

You're right. He's a fascist piece of shit warmonger who has done massive amounts of damage to this country, and the rest of the world.

Who he bangs isn't all that relevant.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 01:36 PM (IeDI0)

266 BIG OIL IS SUPPRESSING THE SECRET 8K MILE/GALLON CARBURETOR TECHNOLOGY!!!
Posted by: Prolific Airhead Commenter
-------

And it runs on WATER!!!!!!
Posted by: Also the 1970s at March 29, 2025 01:34 PM (rdVOm)

If you're really worried about the end of oil, you should be looking at the internal combustion engine developed by schoolgirls in Africa that runs on urine. BIG OIL would be replaced by BIG URINE!

(Sorry, I forgot which nation.)

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at March 29, 2025 01:36 PM (VNX3d)

267 I think the Garden thread has been up awhile
NOOD

Posted by: Skip at March 29, 2025 01:36 PM (1m+BG)

268 Remember the bumper sticker B.A.M.A. (Big Ass Mistake, America.

A country who would elect that guy is a dying country.

Posted by: Eromero at March 29, 2025 01:27 PM

I remember it as OBAMA (One Big Ass Mistake, America).

In my opinion, we are a dying country. Probably dead already. JJ Sefton even wrote a book about it, "The End of America". From 2008 election to 2024 election, the country was murdered. The 2024 election, in my opinion, was the rebirth of a new nation rising from the ashes of the old one destroyed by the Marxist's Long March Through the Institutions.

A republic, if [we] can keep it...

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 01:36 PM (P5BPp)

269 Speaking of gheys. Not watching Season 3 of ReacherAround

Posted by: Field Marshal Pepe Silva at March 29, 2025 01:37 PM (wBaIH)

270 Speaking of gheys. Not watching Season 3 of ReacherAround
Posted by: Field Marshal Pepe Silva at March 29, 2025 01:37 PM (wBaIH)

Reacher's gay?

Then why didn't they just stick with Tom Cruiser for the part?

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 01:39 PM (IeDI0)

271 After B.O. was "reelected" in 2012 I began divorcing myself from all media. No more TV news of any flavor, no more radio news and limited to just a select few websites.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at March 29, 2025 01:31 PM

I gave up on TV news long before that... in summer of 2004, during the re-election campaign of George W. Bush. I only started paying attention to politics on 09/12/2001. I was 25 at the time. Watched the Towers fall live on CNN on 09/11/2001. That spurred me to start watching CNN and then Fox News Channel. Then started listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio every day at work.

By 2004, I was so sick of the media's BS and lies, that I gave up on them and just listened to Rush. Then that same year there was the rise of the political and military blogosphere and I've gotten my news from solely that (and then eventually Twitter/X) for the past 21 years.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 01:43 PM (P5BPp)

272 He's a fascist piece of shit warmonger who has done massive amounts of damage to this country, and the rest of the world.
Posted by: BurtTC

If it was as cut and dry as "I don't care what he does in his own house/behind closed doors", then that would be what he's judged on.
Instead when people keep who they prefer to screw to themselves it is of little benefit. Few people congratulate them on just doing their job well as you did with the SF QB.

Posted by: old chick at March 29, 2025 01:44 PM (F3Dlr)

273 What are the odds?
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth
---

Odds they were Democrats?
Odds they were connected to felonies pursued and felonies prosecuted relating to the 2020 election? Or some other Democrat corruption? Ex mayor and then rep in Sheila Jackson's seat died this month. Right after the presidents address. Never said exactly the cause. That's 5.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 01:46 PM (1K7Zj)

274 Dirty Garden !!!

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 01:35 PM

I wanna run through your ~~wicked~~ dirty garden
Heard that's the place to find you
'Cause I'm alive, so alive now
I know the darkness blinds you

YouTube: https://bit.ly/4ja5bth

Posted by: Stone Temple Pilots at March 29, 2025 01:47 PM (P5BPp)

275 If it was as cut and dry as "I don't care what he does in his own house/behind closed doors", then that would be what he's judged on.
Instead when people keep who they prefer to screw to themselves it is of little benefit. Few people congratulate them on just doing their job well as you did with the SF QB.
Posted by: old chick at March 29, 2025 01:44 PM (F3Dlr)

The problem for Graham, fair or not, is he comes with all the baggage ALL Republicans come with, which is the burden to prove they are not homophobic. Most people believe Republicans would prefer gays to be banned from all sorts of things, including the military.

So... fair or not, Graham comes off like a hypocrite. Because he surely IS gay, and it's damned obvious that he is, but is seen as a coward for not coming out, while espousing all the shitty horrible warmonger bullshit he espouses.

No one's going to give him a break for it, except his neocon pals.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 01:48 PM (lH8E4)

276 Maserati GT with snake skin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-xOrZcS8KU

Posted by: DaveA at March 29, 2025 01:57 PM (FhXTo)

277 Graham comes off like a hypocrite. Because he surely IS gay, and it's damned obvious that he is, but is seen as a coward for not coming out ...

That's my point, not just Lindsey Graham, but quiet (closeted) LGB in general, they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Posted by: old chick at March 29, 2025 01:59 PM (F3Dlr)

278 Graham comes off like a hypocrite. Because he surely IS gay, and it's damned obvious that he is, but is seen as a coward for not coming out ...
-------
That's my point, not just Lindsey Graham, but quiet (closeted) LGB in general, they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.
Posted by: old chick at March 29, 2025 01:59 PM (F3Dlr)

The difference is, Graham is a piece of shit human being. Nobody's going to give him a break, other than his warmonger pals.

Most other gay people, if they just go about their lives without causing great damage to the human race, people let them live their lives, without hassle.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 02:06 PM (lH8E4)

279 BurtTC, I think we have to agree to disagree.

I think gay people that want to quietly go about their lives are expected by others to come out of the closet just to prove there are "good" gays.

Posted by: old chick at March 29, 2025 02:17 PM (F3Dlr)

280 I meant to add, thank you for the discussion, I enjoyed it.

Posted by: old chick at March 29, 2025 02:19 PM (F3Dlr)

281 4 Harris county Deputies, current and former, committed suicide within a week of each other.

What are the odds?

I am totally ready to believe that HCSO is corrupt as sh*t but what specifically is this connected to?

Posted by: Oddbob at March 29, 2025 02:23 PM (yIuIk)

282 I meant to add, thank you for the discussion, I enjoyed it.
Posted by: old chick at March 29, 2025 02:19 PM (F3Dlr)

Yes, thank you. I always appreciate honest discussions, even if we disagree on aspects that can add to our own understanding.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 29, 2025 02:28 PM (lH8E4)

283 So while I gave up on legacy media 20+ years ago and have only relied on blogs and X since then, while I no longer get angry with legacy media lies, the reality shared by blogs and X is just depressing. Case in point:

Cuomo Dominates Again in New NYC Poll — but Jihadi Socialist Zohran Mamdani Surges to Second Place

If Zohran Mamdani actually wins the NYC Mayoral race, it will be the final victory of the 9/11 attacks.

Mamdani, a puppet of Linda Sarsour, has raised nearly a million dollars to run for NYC mayor.

Let’s take a look at his resume:
- vowed to arrest Netanyahu if he came to NYC.
- established a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter to promote the antisemitic BDS movement
- echoes antisemitic tropes, claiming Israel “buys” U.S. politicians
- opposes the Iron Dome, a defense system that protects both Jewish and Arab civilians
- sought to co-opt the Black Lives Matter movement to advance anti-Israel propaganda
- introduced pro-BDS (“Not on Our Dime” legislation targeting charities that support Israeli communities

X: https://bit.ly/4jfcu2V

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 02:48 PM (P5BPp)

284 And more. The fact that everything currently going on to save America and restore it to sanity can be undone by one state's election for state Supreme Court is depressing.

This Wisconsin election has national implications. If the Republican doesn’t win it will change the national House of Representatives through redistricting and the current majority will shift in 2026.

X: https://bit.ly/4laz8Lp

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 02:51 PM (P5BPp)

285 Four Marxist billionaires spending $31.5+ million to affect one election in one state to affect the entire country's future. Insane.

https://bit.ly/4hS91pG

Donors to liberal Susan Crawford's campaign:

George Soros (NY): $4.4mil
Reid Hoffman (CA): $14.4mil
JB Pritzker (IL): $6.5mil
Karla Jurvetson (CA): $7.3mil

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 02:56 PM (P5BPp)

286 Clyde Shelton, is Hochul running again in '26?

Posted by: Ben Had at March 29, 2025 02:58 PM (keLsF)

287 X: https://bit.ly/4jfcu2V
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 02:48 PM (P5BPp)

Since he was not born here, perhaps he and his shit family can lose their citizenship and be "removed" back to Uganda.

Posted by: Night lifted.... at March 29, 2025 02:59 PM (2NXcZ)

288 Clyde Shelton, is Hochul running again in '26?

Posted by: Ben Had at March 29, 2025 02:58 PM

This article is from last month, but it seems like she intends to run for re-election as NY Governor. Although apparently her Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado intends to run against her in 2026.

https://bit.ly/3XEPfXH

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 03:04 PM (P5BPp)

289 The interim President of Columbia has resigned. The new President says she will carry on with the changes that PDT put forth.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 29, 2025 03:15 PM (keLsF)

290 Not sure what possible "regulatory issues" they are talking about here. Regulating the sale of EVs? They would have to revoke permits for all auto companies' dealerships if that is the case.

NY Bill Aims to Ban Tesla Dealerships: Regulatory Reform or Political Retaliation?

Democratic New York State Senator Patricia Fahy has introduced a bill that would impact Tesla's operations in the state by potentially revoking the permits for Tesla’s existing dealerships. This legislative move has sparked significant debate, highlighting concerns over government intervention in business, particularly regarding direct sales models. Critics argue it targets Elon Musk personally, while others see it as addressing regulatory issues.

X: https://bit.ly/4jdkfGA

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 03:16 PM (P5BPp)

291 >>>>to prove there are "good" gays.
---

agenda gays

Most gays are in the closet and keep the door shut tight.
Most of the gays we see demonstrating are more fabulist than gay.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 03:17 PM (1K7Zj)

292 Wonderful.

Well, hopefully this means that the US taxpayer has nothing more to do with anything regarding Ukraine and the burden is now completely on Europe.

@amuse @amuse

UKRAINE: Zelensky has rejected Trump’s proposal outright. He refuses the minerals deal, does not consider U.S. military aid a debt, and will not enter into direct negotiations with Putin.

X: https://bit.ly/4l8Pmov

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 03:23 PM (P5BPp)

293 I have done some surveying on the Caltrain. 70 MPH in reverse is scary quiet untill the locomotive gets close. You are not prepared for how quiet trains are in reverse at speed.

Posted by: Francis at March 29, 2025 03:24 PM (bbuBP)

294 Clyde Shelton, sounds like the brits/ french and germans have a battle plan for Zelensky.

Savage amusement to follow.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 29, 2025 03:27 PM (keLsF)

295 Possible assassination attempt on Putin?

A luxury limousine from Vladimir Putin’s official motorcade EXPLODED in the streets of Moscow, just blocks from FSB HQ.

The Aurus Senat — a £275,000 armoured beast — was engulfed in flames, fuelled by a violent engine blast.

Who was inside?
Was it sabotage?
Was this a targeted hit on Russia’s most protected man?

This comes amid reports of intensified security around Putin: Ceremonial guards searched head to toe

Sewers inspected for bombs

A real threat emerging?
The Kremlin is silent.
Speculation is NOT.

If this was an assassination attempt, the global consequences will be seismic.

X: https://bit.ly/3DMMsFd

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 03:35 PM (P5BPp)

296 This comes two days after Zelensky apparently stated that Putin "will die soon".

X: https://bit.ly/4j7BxVp

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at March 29, 2025 03:37 PM (P5BPp)

297 Testing

Posted by: Skip at March 29, 2025 03:43 PM (75TZW)

298 Test

Posted by: Skip at March 29, 2025 03:47 PM (2ovuE)

299 Assassination attempt may be the straw that breaks Putin's patience.
He's been restraining his military hoping for negotiations.
He's got a lot bombs.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at March 29, 2025 04:01 PM (1K7Zj)

300 Some kind of Sky Buses seem like a better idea than trains. People could go to a local depot, or port, as it were, get on the bus and fly to another depot in another city.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at March 29, 2025 04:59 PM (jc0TO)

301 Lotsa trucks? I take that drive quite frequently and it's usually a breeze.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 29, 2025 12:42 PM (LV4Hs)

Tremendous number of trucks. But I haven’t considered it a breeze in decades.

In the 90s it was basically open.

Posted by: The MewTwix at March 29, 2025 06:37 PM (l5yVc)

302 Phillips is shutting down the Carson refinery by the end of the year. Gas prices will spike by Sept/Oct as result.

Newsom: "I did that!"

Posted by: jk at March 30, 2025 06:10 PM (cpVs2)

303 A forecast for the full buildout by 2050 is $350B.

The most realistic number I've seen.

Posted by: jk at March 30, 2025 06:12 PM (cpVs2)

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