"This is a planning issue, not a population issue. There are better models - even in America - than where ever the hell it is that you live."
Well, the planning argument will ONLY hold up if you were somehow able to go back in time and convince them back then to plan the cities better.
It isn't possible to completely tear up the current infrastructure and redo it for mass transit that is actually practical and convenient for the masses.
Two other big arguments against it ever happening, the economy, we'll not be able to afford that change. And also..the car culture that is ingrained into the US mindset will not be easily erased.
"That's great, for people who live in those states. Until we have a national system though, we will continue to need toll booths and continue to have drivers using them."
Don't even joke about that my friend. At the rate we're currently socializing and nationalizing everything, I'm sure they will soon require everyone have an electronic identifying type device, possibly embedded in the new nationally standardized license plate that is linked to your new RealID drivers license.
That way, the new national toll road system can track you movements and speed to automatically fine you along your trip route.
"Yes, and the license-plate reading system couldn't possibly be used for that purpose."
Actually....I've never hardly lived where they have toll roads. From what I can tell they're pretty much mostly in the NE of the US?
When I had to live on the north shore area post Katrina for awhile...I had to travel daily across the causeway bridge, and it had a toll on it.
I refused to do the EZ pass thing, and would pay the extra $1/day in cash.
I guess with this new tech....maybe someone will get even more serious about some kind of tech that will block these automated systems from reading the plates that really works. Maybe the high intensity infrared LED's surrounding the plates?
I think the sad thing of having more of these automated systems will actually promote the building of more toll roads, which I can't stand.
Obama a Muslim? - Debateable, he was raised in that environment and went to muslim schools early in life
Obama a Socialist? - Well, so far his track record is definitely pointing in that direction.
George W. Bush Great President or Greatest President? - Aside from handling post 9/11 fairly well, no...not a good president at all. He gave conservatism, TRUE conservatism a bad name. I'm glad he's gone, but, I wasn't happy with either choice presented to us to succeed him.
"One could argue that by buying gasoline, you are tacitly accepting and encouraging the business practices of the oil industry and the war for oil."
Hey, whatever it takes so that we don't run out of oil.
However, I hesitate to really believe that the Iraq war was for oil....if it were, we'd be seeing MUCH more of it flowing to us over here from there. We've gotten no oil benefits from this war.
But, that being said, in light of what would happen to us if the oil spigot were suddenly turned off....I"m for anything that keeps it flowing in my lifetime.
"You are arguing that states rights should trump the beliefs of many, many millions of Americans because of an ideology that has been in place for almost one and a half centuries. After all, what gives a few smaller states the right to completely ignore the will of the majority?"
Because you are a citizen of your STATE before you are a citizen of the United States. It makes it possible in this great country to move to a state that rules and feels more like you do than the one you are in currently if you so decide. It is a broad and large country, with different sections having different wants and needs. Your local and state govt. are (should be) more responsive to your needs than a large central govt. So, this is basically why it is this way and should be this way. Currently, I'm a Lousiniania first, and then I'm an American. I have very different views, concerns and general needs than someone in Nebraska. Environment alone is a large one...we don't generally get ice and snow here...etc. We have oil offshore, they have corn up there...etc. Our states each are equal in importance and should be represented equally.
I think the system basically needs only a 'tweak', in that each of the states' electoral votes are split up based on the percentage of popular votes in the state. So, if a state had 4 votes, and the populace of said state voted 50/50...the 2 electoral votes for that state go to each candidate. That way, we still have the states votes equalized....and the people IN each state feel more like they have their vote counted.
Of course it would be up to the states themselves to change ther EC vote distribution...nothing the feds can do about that...
"Both mythtv and boxee work great (well, boxee is still alpha). Note, with cable, you can't record (i.e. mythtv PVR) hardly any HD since it's encrypted, although the new hauppauge HDPVR "tuner" is making strides (and you have to jump through some hoops). I suppose you can use the cable-supplied PVR but I heard they aren't that great and of course you are limited with what you can do with it."
Get yourself a HDHomerun unit. It works GREAT with mythtv. It has dual tuners, either are capable of ATSC and QAM tuning. I hook one to my cable (Cox) and it successfully finds all the unencrypted HD and SD channels...and often some pay ones they forget to encrypt, in addition to the On Demand channels people watch.
And heck...this is all off an internet only connection...HD and analog are on the internet line, and they can't put traps on the line or they'll degrade the high speed internet signal.
But, I digress...get yourself on of these units..works great.
"What about channel guides? All of the MythTV users I've talked too complain about them being unreliable, or having to pay a subscription fee for them. It totally defeats the purpose!"
RE: I've not found a single problem with the MythTV guide. And hell, it is only like $15-$25 a year...chick feed.
And man..if you have to sweat $300-$500 for a home made settop media box, sounds like you might wanna watch a bit less tv, and work to get a better job. $500 for a toy like this shouldn't break the bank, unless you are a college student, you know?
I'm at work and a bit lazy..just went for the first hits I could get when googling the topics, which I heard on various tv news stations last night and this morning.
But indeed....a mandated electronic medical record system, that is accessible and controlled by the feds? Well, I think anyone can see the possibilities for abuse. Heck, I'm not thrilled with their other databases they have on people, like the no fly lists, and the soon to come RealID databases. Add that all in with total medical history, and govt. healthcare and voila....
Look into the writings of the guy they wanted to BE in charge of health care, Tom Daschle. He's made statements "In my book, Critical: What We Can Do About the American Health-Care Crisis, I have proposed a Federal Health Board that would be a foundation from which we could address all three problems. In many ways, the Federal Health Board would resemble our current Federal Reserve Board for the banking industry."
Yeah, I think we've ALL see the great work the Fed has done with banking and all today, eh?
I"m also not thrilled with a committee deciding if I'm too old to get a particular treatment.
Sure, the medical record and collections thing looks pretty innocent as is stated in the bill, but, if you look at him wanting Tom in there to reform medical care, his beliefs, and all...no, I don't think it is much of a stretch to see what this might be laying the groundwork for...
"At what point does it go from simply fear mongering to legitimate fear? How bad must it get for something like "catastrophe" or "crisis" to become a fair description of the problem?"
When it collapses, no one has any money, the banks shut their doors, and there is rioting in the streets.
Then you can call it a catastrophe. Till then, it is a recession...a bad one so far, but, still just a recession. Most every person's life in the country is going on pretty normally. A little more stress for some, but overall, has your life changed that much recently?
Why not just throw more cruft into this 'steal-from-us'...er....'stimulus' bill?
Hell, they already are sneaking things in like invading your medical privacy, and laying the foundation for rationed health care and was championed by writings by Tom Daschle and others.
Sure, why not go ahead and take net neutrality...and sneak a ton of other crap under the radar, and we need it FAST.
Sounds kinda like how we got stuck with a lot of crap from the old PATRIOT act, eh? I'm surprised they haven't come up with a nifty acronym for this POS.
"But how does "liking" something compare to killing tens of thousands of people each year [dot.gov], causing massive destruction of ecosystems, causing other vast climactic changes, draining natural resources, and destroying watersheds (with pavement)?
"Main problem with rolling it out is that people love to have costs of things hidden from them. It may be difficult to convince people to agree to a 5-10 dollar delivery fee, even though they are saving 100s or 1000s of dollars in maintenance, fuel, and amortization costs of a car."
Well, back again to my example of grocery shopping.
The delivery thing wouldn't work for me....as that "I" like to be able to physically look over the quality of produce, get the best I can get, and also with things like meat, etc...I look for the best cuts with good marbling, etc.
I wouldn't trust some store worker to take the time and consideration picking my stuff out, at least the fresh stuff, and that's what I buy mostly. I cook from scratch, none of thie pre-made stuff for me...
"The beauty of these "pods" is that one is at the station waiting for you whenever you show up. You don't have to match your schedule to the train/bus schedule.
The issue is integrating the tracks into current urban settings so that you only have to walk a couple blocks between the station and your destination. Elevated or submerged tracks and stations seem like the only feasible solution but both have enormous investment costs.
These pods will never work over longer distances which might be what you are referring to with door-to-door travel. But people would be far more likely to take a train from LA to SF or NY to DC if they could count on a pod being ready at the station to take them to within a couple blocks of there destination within the city."
Well, when I say door-to-door, I'm literally talking about this for any destination in my city, for example, New Orleans. Not a huge town by any stretch, but, with the suburbs of Metairie and Kenner...it is spread out a decent bit. (Nothing like this nightmare would be in say, Houston).
But I don't see walking a few blocks from my house, to a station, and from station to final destination would work for me at least. The winters are fairly mild, so not that big a deal in winter, BUT, come spring and summer...we get LOTS of rain. And as low as the city is, a good hard rain for an hour or so, well some streets flood..so, you'd have to be wading through water...or when the humidity starts in earnest (my airconditioner comes on in late April and stays on 99.99% of the time through end of Nov.)...well, you walk a block and your are sweat soaked. Neither of these are really great for a business environment.
My thoughts also...with regard to pods or other public transportation that people keep advocating here is...how the hell do you shop?
Me? I like to cook...weekly I scan through the sale ads of the various grocery stores in the area. I find what's on sale at each store, and plan my meals around that. To get the best deal on things, most of the time I hit 2 maybe 3 stores. When things are on sale, I like to buy in bulk, such as last weekend when bone-in rib roasts (choice grade) was only $3.99/lb. I bought a $70 roast, cooked half, froze half.). Now, how am I to do all my shopping and carry that stuff around between stations even on the nice days? On any given weekend when I buy food...I'm easily spending $120-$200 avg (it is a bit higher when I buy booze/beer/wine too) and it takes me 3-5 trips to the car to unload it. No way can I cart all that around on public transportation, and I'm only a single guy, I can't imagine how families would do it?
I've heard it put forth...to shop a little all week, well, that isn't really working. I usually spend my Sundays cooking...3-5 main dishes and sides. That way I can take my lunches all week to work...I can leave work and hit the gym straight off...and when I get home about 7pm...I can warm up food for dinner and actually have a couple hours to do stuff at home before bedtime. I can't do all that and be shopping and cooking every night.
Those are just two big time impediments in my life which make me wonder how people that don't live in a hugely densely packed urban city (like NYC) can live on a public transpart scheme. It is a completely different lifestyle outside that type of environment. I'll not even get into people needing to haul things (wood, boats, a friend of mine runs pinball machines all over)....how are you going to do that without door-to-door transportation 99% of the time?
"Macs are like Harley Davidson, only a fool buys them new. Get them used and save yourself the expense."
Well, you're a fool ONLY if you are limited in your financial resources.
There are a lot of people out there with lots of disposable cash, even in these economic times. A few thousand dollars to drop is pocket change to them. So, it really is as easy for them to buy a new Harley or loaded Mac as it is for you to buy a slurpee at the local quickie mart.
That's largely the segment that these companies are marketing too....those and those just below them that 'wanna' be that wealthy.
"I spent 10 min comparing apples store on the website using 20 and 24 in imacs and 20 and 24 inch dell xps all in ones. Obviously you cant get them identical but similar machines had the XPS dell's (which are already overpriced) coming in at a few hundred dollars cheaper."
Well, a couple hundred dollars isn't much of a difference....
I guess at that point, you can look at the asthetics of the iMac vs a Dell...and for that extra bit of change, you get an all-in-one stylish bit of machinery (no clunky box with wires running to/from screen), and a bit more software included (iLife with photo, movie, garageband..etc for example). I'd guess if you threw that into consideration, they would be pretty much the same.
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Well, the planning argument will ONLY hold up if you were somehow able to go back in time and convince them back then to plan the cities better.
It isn't possible to completely tear up the current infrastructure and redo it for mass transit that is actually practical and convenient for the masses.
Two other big arguments against it ever happening, the economy, we'll not be able to afford that change. And also..the car culture that is ingrained into the US mindset will not be easily erased.
Any chance someone up there could post some info on these devices that actually work?
Don't even joke about that my friend. At the rate we're currently socializing and nationalizing everything, I'm sure they will soon require everyone have an electronic identifying type device, possibly embedded in the new nationally standardized license plate that is linked to your new RealID drivers license.
That way, the new national toll road system can track you movements and speed to automatically fine you along your trip route.
Actually....I've never hardly lived where they have toll roads. From what I can tell they're pretty much mostly in the NE of the US?
When I had to live on the north shore area post Katrina for awhile...I had to travel daily across the causeway bridge, and it had a toll on it.
I refused to do the EZ pass thing, and would pay the extra $1/day in cash.
I guess with this new tech....maybe someone will get even more serious about some kind of tech that will block these automated systems from reading the plates that really works. Maybe the high intensity infrared LED's surrounding the plates?
I think the sad thing of having more of these automated systems will actually promote the building of more toll roads, which I can't stand.
Obama a Socialist? - Well, so far his track record is definitely pointing in that direction.
George W. Bush Great President or Greatest President? - Aside from handling post 9/11 fairly well, no...not a good president at all. He gave conservatism, TRUE conservatism a bad name. I'm glad he's gone, but, I wasn't happy with either choice presented to us to succeed him.
Hey, whatever it takes so that we don't run out of oil.
However, I hesitate to really believe that the Iraq war was for oil....if it were, we'd be seeing MUCH more of it flowing to us over here from there. We've gotten no oil benefits from this war.
But, that being said, in light of what would happen to us if the oil spigot were suddenly turned off....I"m for anything that keeps it flowing in my lifetime.
Because you are a citizen of your STATE before you are a citizen of the United States. It makes it possible in this great country to move to a state that rules and feels more like you do than the one you are in currently if you so decide. It is a broad and large country, with different sections having different wants and needs. Your local and state govt. are (should be) more responsive to your needs than a large central govt. So, this is basically why it is this way and should be this way. Currently, I'm a Lousiniania first, and then I'm an American. I have very different views, concerns and general needs than someone in Nebraska. Environment alone is a large one...we don't generally get ice and snow here...etc. We have oil offshore, they have corn up there...etc. Our states each are equal in importance and should be represented equally.
Of course it would be up to the states themselves to change ther EC vote distribution...nothing the feds can do about that...
So, are they trying to recreate MAME?
I pay for a computer connection, and that's what I have hooked to the cable...computers.
Get yourself a HDHomerun unit. It works GREAT with mythtv. It has dual tuners, either are capable of ATSC and QAM tuning. I hook one to my cable (Cox) and it successfully finds all the unencrypted HD and SD channels...and often some pay ones they forget to encrypt, in addition to the On Demand channels people watch.
And heck...this is all off an internet only connection...HD and analog are on the internet line, and they can't put traps on the line or they'll degrade the high speed internet signal.
But, I digress...get yourself on of these units..works great.
RE: I've not found a single problem with the MythTV guide. And hell, it is only like $15-$25 a year...chick feed.
And man..if you have to sweat $300-$500 for a home made settop media box, sounds like you might wanna watch a bit less tv, and work to get a better job. $500 for a toy like this shouldn't break the bank, unless you are a college student, you know?
Keep an eye on sale ads, I'm seeing 1 TB drives for $100 and less all the time. I think CompUsa online had them for about $90 the other day....
I'm at work and a bit lazy..just went for the first hits I could get when googling the topics, which I heard on various tv news stations last night and this morning.
But indeed....a mandated electronic medical record system, that is accessible and controlled by the feds? Well, I think anyone can see the possibilities for abuse. Heck, I'm not thrilled with their other databases they have on people, like the no fly lists, and the soon to come RealID databases. Add that all in with total medical history, and govt. healthcare and voila....
Look into the writings of the guy they wanted to BE in charge of health care, Tom Daschle. He's made statements "In my book, Critical: What We Can Do About the American Health-Care Crisis, I have proposed a Federal Health Board that would be a foundation from which we could address all three problems. In many ways, the Federal Health Board would resemble our current Federal Reserve Board for the banking industry."
Yeah, I think we've ALL see the great work the Fed has done with banking and all today, eh?
Again, from the guy that was to design the new healthcare system said "The decisions made by the Federal Health Board would be tough." but would be better than what we have. What are these TOUGH decisions they're gonna have to make? Rationing? Well according to this blurb "Perhaps most importantly, the Board would assess the effectiveness and costs of various treatments. He stops short of saying the U.S. should have a U.K.-style, hard-and-fast rule on cost-effectiveness. But he does say the U.S. "won't be able to make a significant dent in health-care spending without getting into the nitty-gritty of which treatments are the most clinically valuable and cost effective." his plan certainly sounds like the decisions of this board can overrule a local Dr's treatment decisions. We humans,despite looking a great deal alike, are VERY different, and a one size fits all tx regiment kinda scares me.
I"m also not thrilled with a committee deciding if I'm too old to get a particular treatment.
Sure, the medical record and collections thing looks pretty innocent as is stated in the bill, but, if you look at him wanting Tom in there to reform medical care, his beliefs, and all...no, I don't think it is much of a stretch to see what this might be laying the groundwork for...
When it collapses, no one has any money, the banks shut their doors, and there is rioting in the streets.
Then you can call it a catastrophe. Till then, it is a recession...a bad one so far, but, still just a recession. Most every person's life in the country is going on pretty normally. A little more stress for some, but overall, has your life changed that much recently?
Hell, they already are sneaking things in like invading your medical privacy , and laying the foundation for rationed health care and was championed by writings by Tom Daschle and others.
Sure, why not go ahead and take net neutrality...and sneak a ton of other crap under the radar, and we need it FAST.
Sounds kinda like how we got stuck with a lot of crap from the old PATRIOT act, eh? I'm surprised they haven't come up with a nifty acronym for this POS.
Not sure why it won't work.
Is a little enjoyment really worth all that? "
In one word, yes.
Well, back again to my example of grocery shopping.
The delivery thing wouldn't work for me....as that "I" like to be able to physically look over the quality of produce, get the best I can get, and also with things like meat, etc...I look for the best cuts with good marbling, etc.
I wouldn't trust some store worker to take the time and consideration picking my stuff out, at least the fresh stuff, and that's what I buy mostly. I cook from scratch, none of thie pre-made stuff for me...
The issue is integrating the tracks into current urban settings so that you only have to walk a couple blocks between the station and your destination. Elevated or submerged tracks and stations seem like the only feasible solution but both have enormous investment costs.
These pods will never work over longer distances which might be what you are referring to with door-to-door travel. But people would be far more likely to take a train from LA to SF or NY to DC if they could count on a pod being ready at the station to take them to within a couple blocks of there destination within the city."
Well, when I say door-to-door, I'm literally talking about this for any destination in my city, for example, New Orleans. Not a huge town by any stretch, but, with the suburbs of Metairie and Kenner...it is spread out a decent bit. (Nothing like this nightmare would be in say, Houston).
But I don't see walking a few blocks from my house, to a station, and from station to final destination would work for me at least. The winters are fairly mild, so not that big a deal in winter, BUT, come spring and summer...we get LOTS of rain. And as low as the city is, a good hard rain for an hour or so, well some streets flood..so, you'd have to be wading through water...or when the humidity starts in earnest (my airconditioner comes on in late April and stays on 99.99% of the time through end of Nov.)...well, you walk a block and your are sweat soaked. Neither of these are really great for a business environment.
My thoughts also...with regard to pods or other public transportation that people keep advocating here is...how the hell do you shop?
Me? I like to cook...weekly I scan through the sale ads of the various grocery stores in the area. I find what's on sale at each store, and plan my meals around that. To get the best deal on things, most of the time I hit 2 maybe 3 stores. When things are on sale, I like to buy in bulk, such as last weekend when bone-in rib roasts (choice grade) was only $3.99/lb. I bought a $70 roast, cooked half, froze half.). Now, how am I to do all my shopping and carry that stuff around between stations even on the nice days? On any given weekend when I buy food...I'm easily spending $120-$200 avg (it is a bit higher when I buy booze/beer/wine too) and it takes me 3-5 trips to the car to unload it. No way can I cart all that around on public transportation, and I'm only a single guy, I can't imagine how families would do it?
I've heard it put forth...to shop a little all week, well, that isn't really working. I usually spend my Sundays cooking...3-5 main dishes and sides. That way I can take my lunches all week to work...I can leave work and hit the gym straight off...and when I get home about 7pm...I can warm up food for dinner and actually have a couple hours to do stuff at home before bedtime. I can't do all that and be shopping and cooking every night.
Those are just two big time impediments in my life which make me wonder how people that don't live in a hugely densely packed urban city (like NYC) can live on a public transpart scheme. It is a completely different lifestyle outside that type of environment. I'll not even get into people needing to haul things (wood, boats, a friend of mine runs pinball machines all over)....how are you going to do that without door-to-door transportation 99% of the time?
Well, you're a fool ONLY if you are limited in your financial resources.
There are a lot of people out there with lots of disposable cash, even in these economic times. A few thousand dollars to drop is pocket change to them. So, it really is as easy for them to buy a new Harley or loaded Mac as it is for you to buy a slurpee at the local quickie mart.
That's largely the segment that these companies are marketing too....those and those just below them that 'wanna' be that wealthy.
Well, a couple hundred dollars isn't much of a difference....
I guess at that point, you can look at the asthetics of the iMac vs a Dell...and for that extra bit of change, you get an all-in-one stylish bit of machinery (no clunky box with wires running to/from screen), and a bit more software included (iLife with photo, movie, garageband..etc for example). I'd guess if you threw that into consideration, they would be pretty much the same.
Hell, the number of people speaking English in the US is decreasing too these days.
Never been on or seen one (especially a subway)....please elaborate, what do people do on them?