- Some Thoughts on Executive Privilege from Obsidian Wings
“Executive Privilege” is yet another tool in the Bush Administration’s toolkit to justify not tellin’ nobody nuthin’. But while there is a place … and even value … in a degree of such privilege, when it comes to congressionally-mandated agencies, it’s more than a stretch to claim it. Though that doesn’t keep the White House from doing so … at least for another seven months. - Is Torture Godly? from Father Jake Stops the World
“Simply put, if we believe that God will ultimately enforce his will by forceful domination, and will eternally torture all who resist that domination, then torture and domination become not only permissible but in some way godly. The implication for, say, military policy (not to mention church politics) are not hard to imagine…” - US Religion Landscape Survey from Father Jake Stops the World
U.S. Religious Landscape Survey from Friendly Atheist
Two different sources with interesting perspectives on the current Pew research. I seriously need to do some studying of the underlying material. - Nation’s Gays Demand Right To Library Cards | The… from www.theonion.com
‘”No one’s preventing gays from using libraries—they’re fully welcome to walk into them, browse all they want, and sit down and flip through any book they choose, even in the reference section,” said Sen. Jim Bunning (R–KY), one of several conservative legislators who has vowed to draft a constitutional amendment that would define library book-lending as a contract between a library and a heterosexual reader. “But to issue them the same library cards as a regular American citizen would demean what our nation’s library cards stand for.”‘ - Switching To Trains? from The J-Walk Blog
Amtrak’s rolling stock is extremely limited — and as some research shows, it’s not a huge savings to take the train (vs flying or driving) … but it takes a lot longer.
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Some very sad (for those of us having to put up with the idiocy) headlines in here, but I had to comment on the train article.
I think it’s farsical that people are looking to trains to solve their commuting cost issues. With a very few exceptions America’s rail system is not set up for moving people. Even Amtrack was originally set in place to use the rails while they weren’t otherwise engaged in their true purpose: moving mass cargo.
In the days of the 18-wheeled long haul truck we’ve lost sight on how our infrastructure was set up. It was intended that good be manufactured and delivered to a hub (seaport for imported goods) and from that hub be placed on trains and taken to other hubs. The goods would then be dispersed from the hub via short haul trucks.
This is an incredibly efficient business model, and was only disrupted due to cheap fuel costs (buh-bye!) and the American imperitive of I WANT IT NOW!!! (Will have to go buh-bye soon!)
While returning to this system won’t be good for Long Haul truckers, they simply use too much fuel compared to the economic boon. We’re going to have to start making good economic and environmental choices as a nation rather than a collective of self absorbed me firsters! /rant off
Passenger travel by train over long hauls only made sense when there were no other real alternatives.
For short hauls / commuter rail, it’s a viable alternative if the city layout and surrounding transit infrastructure support it. That’s where I think we’ll see the most growth in the coming years.
Arty is right, it’s not like this is Europe where they have highspeed trains AND a better motor vehicle infrastructure. The US model is based on cheap oil and with that going away it will slowly begin to revert to a pre-WWII system.