Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo
I have no idea what justifies these rail prices in San Fernando Valley, CA when in order to get to Camarillo by car all I have to do is hop on the 118 freeway for 40 minutes. There is never any traffic, the scenery is very much enjoyable, the roads are in perfect condition and there are oodles of parking everywhere. I just dont understand it.

Bozo urban planners that think that the Los Angeles basin should emulate the Eastern US / Metro London / Paris in all ways? People that forget that that area was a cropland 50 years ago and won't ever be an urban hub justifying mass transit? People that vote for a 90 billion dollar high speed rail system with its first station in rural central California?

Well, I dont think that these efforts are entirely baseless. For example, there is a relatively new commuter express bus that runs from North Hollywood to Chatsworth and Woodland Hills that seems like an awesome idea. They took the old, disused land that used to belong to a local rail line which runs parallel to Oxnard Ave./Victory Blvd and built a dedicated bus lane, with synchronized lights. At rush hour these busses basically skip every stoplight. A buddy of mine who lives in Hollywood and works here in Chatsworth takes it to work every day. The ride takes about an hour and costs only a couple of bucks for a one-way trip. This in comparison to a similar or greater time spent in traffic on the 101/405/118 and probably double the cost in gas without even figuring in the wear and tear on the vehicle. That idea I can absolutely get behind.

They also put in parking lots at every station where people can park their cars before hopping on the mass transit and even a biking/jogging track that runs from almost North Hollywood to Woodland Hills. I dont know when you were here last, Andre, but from my recollection of 10 years ago when I moved to NY the traffic in the LA area has gotten much worse! It used to be that the only places you could really count on hitting traffic was the 405 around the Getty Museum/Mulholland Pass area and Downtown. Now pretty much any time I've gotten on the 101 its been a parking lot. These commuter buses and subways make perfect sense in the urban areas. But Chatsworth is pretty much the suburban boonies and the Metrolink line doesnt even go to the city.

My real complaint is the prices. If these trains cost $2-$5, you bet your chicken farm that people would be using them more often. Why would I drive 40 minutes and spend $10-12 bucks in gas if I could drive to the train station, park my car and enjoy the trip at my ease? Another complaint is that once you get there, there are virtually no other commuter services to get you around the place like there are in "real" metropolitan centers. For example, I could take this thing to Anaheim for $15 one way. But once I get there, I have no real way of getting to either Disneyland or the stadiums. So what's the actual point?

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Nicely said, Leo.

What's surprising to me is how *low* the rate of gun-related homicide is in the US. For a country awash in guns (almost one gun per capita here), we've a low-moderate *rate* associated with it. Access has never been equal to use here, something that is a confounder for many, but does trace itself back to our 'citizen militia' roots.

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ORIGINAL: Symon

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ORIGINAL: USS America
... and over 700 of those miles were on Interstate 95....

And some of them were maybe on I-85 down to Montgomery and then I-65 down to the fetid swamps of South Alabama.

Hi, ya Mikey. Been 5 months since I was banned for 3 and they still can't get their poop together. Don't care squat about the JWE account, since I have no intention of talking to the forum. So Symon seems good for here. Besides, SuluSea (Eddie) needs a righteous Caribbean buddy to hang with.

Had a ball with Torsten. I was being an honest host and taking him to where he could get some decent Bavarian beer (Alabama is one of the last little pissy Baptist States, where all booze comes from the annaly constricted wisdom of the Alcohol Beverage Commission, i.e., you can't get Jack that's any good). But luckily, I'm only a half hour from Florida so I can get whatever I want with a teensy bit of effort. Thank God for Interstate highways.

So Torsten starts pulling out these cigars, from the humidor. A lot of them I couldn't smoke, because he had a bunch that he had to try and make pronunciamento on. But he gave me some righteous mild ones (saved the wrappers for tomorrow) that were honest to gosh toothsome. Sweet and Slow and didn't bite and tasted like sweet earth with a hint of leather. Torsten was teaching me a lot about cigar 'tastes', Some of them I could get, but others are for cigars I don't smoke. I'm a light-it, chew-it, talk with my mouth full of it kinda guy. It was a real treat to smoke a cigar with an honest afficianado.

Alright, so I still owe you a dinner on last years Army/Navy game. I pay my debts, so don't be surprised if your half-Yankee ass gets a visit I-85 to Charlotte and then... Not far pal.

So I know NC ain't doing doo-doo in the SEC or BCS, so I won't go there. When I was in college, it was up North and the Bruins were kings. That ws back in the days of Sanderson, Esposito, Bucyk, Cashman, Cheevers, Orr, Doak and Hodge. Then my ex-wife of 22 years was from Detroit and if I wasn't a RedWings fan, I was seriously toast ( I mean, like don't touch me, and roll over), Woof.

So, sup bro? s'happin'in?

JWE

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ORIGINAL: Symon

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ORIGINAL: USS America
... and over 700 of those miles were on Interstate 95....

And some of them were maybe on I-85 down to Montgomery and then I-65 down to the fetid swamps of South Alabama.

Hi, ya Mikey. Been 5 months since I was banned for 3 and they still can't get their poop together. Don't care squat about the JWE account, since I have no intention of talking to the forum. So Symon seems good for here. Besides, SuluSea (Eddie) needs a righteous Caribbean buddy to hang with.

Had a ball with Torsten. I was being an honest host and taking him to where he could get some decent Bavarian beer (Alabama is one of the last little pissy Baptist States, where all booze comes from the annaly constricted wisdom of the Alcohol Beverage Commission, i.e., you can't get Jack that's any good). But luckily, I'm only a half hour from Florida so I can get whatever I want with a teensy bit of effort. Thank God for Interstate highways.

So Torsten starts pulling out these cigars, from the humidor. A lot of them I couldn't smoke, because he had a bunch that he had to try and make pronunciamento on. But he gave me some righteous mild ones (saved the wrappers for tomorrow) that were honest to gosh toothsome. Sweet and Slow and didn't bite and tasted like sweet earth with a hint of leather. Torsten was teaching me a lot about cigar 'tastes', Some of them I could get, but others are for cigars I don't smoke. I'm a light-it, chew-it, talk with my mouth full of it kinda guy. It was a real treat to smoke a cigar with an honest afficianado.

Alright, so I still owe you a dinner on last years Army/Navy game. I pay my debts, so don't be surprised if your half-Yankee ass gets a visit I-85 to Charlotte and then... Not far pal.

So I know NC ain't doing doo-doo in the SEC or BCS, so I won't go there. When I was in college, it was up North and the Bruins were kings. That ws back in the days of Sanderson, Esposito, Bucyk, Cashman, Cheevers, Orr, Doak and Hodge. Then my ex-wife of 22 years was from Detroit and if I wasn't a RedWings fan, I was seriously toast ( I mean, like don't touch me, and roll over), Woof.

So, sup bro? s'happin'in?

JWE

Mike

"Good times will set you free" - Jimmy Buffett

"They need more rum punch" - Me


Artwork by The Amazing Dixie

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ORIGINAL: Historiker

Look at those numbers:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/150353/Self-Reported-Gun-Ownership-Highest-1993.aspx

If I were to become a criminal in the US, I might become a pick-pocketer, start a pyramid sceme or betray people by collecting advance payment for something I'm never going to deliver.
But I defenitly wouldn't start breaking into houses, when in roughly 50% of all households is a gun...

Mike

"Good times will set you free" - Jimmy Buffett

"They need more rum punch" - Me


Artwork by The Amazing Dixie

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Nicely said, Leo.

What's surprising to me is how *low* the rate of gun-related homicide is in the US. For a country awash in guns (almost one gun per capita here), we've a low-moderate *rate* associated with it. Access has never been equal to use here, something that is a confounder for many, but does trace itself back to our 'citizen militia' roots.

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo
One thing that I dont think has been said yet is that I recall hearing somewhere that the overwhelming majority of gun-related incidents involved household members or friends/acquaintances.

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ORIGINAL: Historiker
It is easy to get the public transportation competitive by subsidizing it with the taxpayer's money. This way, all have to pay for the convinience of a few.

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ORIGINAL: Historiker

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Nicely said, Leo.

What's surprising to me is how *low* the rate of gun-related homicide is in the US. For a country awash in guns (almost one gun per capita here), we've a low-moderate *rate* associated with it. Access has never been equal to use here, something that is a confounder for many, but does trace itself back to our 'citizen militia' roots.

What I don't like about those statistics is, that they always ignore all those countless cases where guns protected someone. I think I've read about 5.000 or 6.000 cases of use of firearms for self-protection each day in the us.

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Historiker
It is easy to get the public transportation competitive by subsidizing it with the taxpayer's money. This way, all have to pay for the convinience of a few.

Well, duh! Its not very likely that the commuters themselves would be able to foot the entire bill. Besides that, the idea is to expand the commuter transport network to such levels that car commuters willingly switch to public transit, thus reducing both traffic levels and emissions. Unfortunately, I think the LA public transit system is still very, very far from that.

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo
One thing that I dont think has been said yet is that I recall hearing somewhere that the overwhelming majority of gun-related incidents involved household members or friends/acquaintances.

Well, that's kind of a no-brainer. The overwhelming majority of homicides of all ilk (not just guns), domestic violence of all sorts and other similar incidents involve family or 'friends / acquaintances'.

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo
One thing that I dont think has been said yet is that I recall hearing somewhere that the overwhelming majority of gun-related incidents involved household members or friends/acquaintances.

Well, that's kind of a no-brainer. The overwhelming majority of homicides of all ilk (not just guns), domestic violence of all sorts and other similar incidents involve family or 'friends / acquaintances'.

I'm just trying to get across to our European brothers that this isnt the wild west with showdowns at high noon every bloody day.

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Historiker
It is easy to get the public transportation competitive by subsidizing it with the taxpayer's money. This way, all have to pay for the convinience of a few.

Well, duh! Its not very likely that the commuters themselves would be able to foot the entire bill. Besides that, the idea is to expand the commuter transport network to such levels that car commuters willingly switch to public transit, thus reducing both traffic levels and emissions. Unfortunately, I think the LA public transit system is still very, very far from that.

Billing everyone for the benefit of a select few is a slippery slope, comrade. The balance is to make public the debt for which there is a significant uniform benefit to those charged with the debt.

So, making the state responsible for LA public transit is a gross injustice to those Californians living in Fresno. If there's an overwhelming reason that this *must* be done, then maybe you could sell it to the state's voters. Too often though-far, far too often, the taxpayer is given a bill for something for a benefit they will never receive.

If the Los Angeleans want to gild their highway with Los Angeles tax dollars, they can go to it. But drawing in / mandating the support of the state or Feds for a decidedly local project is a problem. The fact that SoCal cannot afford to develop most of the public works / public improvements projects without significant outside aid speaks to the profligate nature of the SoCal / California governance.

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo
One thing that I dont think has been said yet is that I recall hearing somewhere that the overwhelming majority of gun-related incidents involved household members or friends/acquaintances.

Well, that's kind of a no-brainer. The overwhelming majority of homicides of all ilk (not just guns), domestic violence of all sorts and other similar incidents involve family or 'friends / acquaintances'.

I'm just trying to get across to our European brothers that this isnt the wild west with showdowns at high noon every bloody day.

Of course not, dumbass. We do most of our shootin' at night, during our drug deals.

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

I'm having trouble rationalizing Federal assistance / subsidies for Los Angeles train systems. Then again, I'm a Federalist. I *might* agree to subsidize a rail spur for Los Angelinos if the terminus ends in a 30' drop into the Pacific though...

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

I'm having trouble rationalizing Federal assistance / subsidies for Los Angeles train systems. Then again, I'm a Federalist. I *might* agree to subsidize a rail spur for Los Angelinos if the terminus ends in a 30' drop into the Pacific though...

Simple, its in the federal government's direct interest to revitalize and expand the public transit network all over the US. Not only will this have a direct impact on our national fossil fuels dependency, but it will also reduce the strain on the national highway system which is the direct responsibility of the federal government.

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy


Billing everyone for the benefit of a select few is a slippery slope, comrade. The balance is to make public the debt for which there is a significant uniform benefit to those charged with the debt.

So, making the state responsible for LA public transit is a gross injustice to those Californians living in Fresno. If there's an overwhelming reason that this *must* be done, then maybe you could sell it to the state's voters. Too often though-far, far too often, the taxpayer is given a bill for something for a benefit they will never receive.

If the Los Angeleans want to gild their highway with Los Angeles tax dollars, they can go to it. But drawing in / mandating the support of the state or Feds for a decidedly local project is a problem. The fact that SoCal cannot afford to develop most of the public works / public improvements projects without significant outside aid speaks to the profligate nature of the SoCal / California governance.

Not going to able to argue that because I simply dont know enough about the funding process here, but I do agree that LA County commuter rail should be paid for by LA county taxes together with federal subsidies.

Mike

"Good times will set you free" - Jimmy Buffett

"They need more rum punch" - Me


Artwork by The Amazing Dixie

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

Definitely one of the reasons I'm glad to be back in CA. This is just 5 minutes away from my house. WU and I had a lovely walk today.

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Historiker
It is easy to get the public transportation competitive by subsidizing it with the taxpayer's money. This way, all have to pay for the convinience of a few.

Well, duh! Its not very likely that the commuters themselves would be able to foot the entire bill. Besides that, the idea is to expand the commuter transport network to such levels that car commuters willingly switch to public transit, thus reducing both traffic levels and emissions. Unfortunately, I think the LA public transit system is still very, very far from that.

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

I'm having trouble rationalizing Federal assistance / subsidies for Los Angeles train systems. Then again, I'm a Federalist. I *might* agree to subsidize a rail spur for Los Angelinos if the terminus ends in a 30' drop into the Pacific though...

Simple, its in the federal government's direct interest to revitalize and expand the public transit network all over the US. Not only will this have a direct impact on our national fossil fuels dependency, but it will also reduce the strain on the national highway system which is the direct responsibility of the federal government.

Yes-INTERstate transit and transportation is very important for the Federal government to subsidize. Local stuff like LA (only) subway and the aforementioned high speed rail system? I don't think that presents the critical case.

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ORIGINAL: USS America

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy


Billing everyone for the benefit of a select few is a slippery slope, comrade. The balance is to make public the debt for which there is a significant uniform benefit to those charged with the debt.

So, making the state responsible for LA public transit is a gross injustice to those Californians living in Fresno. If there's an overwhelming reason that this *must* be done, then maybe you could sell it to the state's voters. Too often though-far, far too often, the taxpayer is given a bill for something for a benefit they will never receive.

If the Los Angeleans want to gild their highway with Los Angeles tax dollars, they can go to it. But drawing in / mandating the support of the state or Feds for a decidedly local project is a problem. The fact that SoCal cannot afford to develop most of the public works / public improvements projects without significant outside aid speaks to the profligate nature of the SoCal / California governance.

Not going to able to argue that because I simply dont know enough about the funding process here, but I do agree that LA County commuter rail should be paid for by LA county taxes together with federal subsidies.

Wait a minute!!! Why do I have to help pay for the LA county commuter rail???

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

Definitely one of the reasons I'm glad to be back in CA. This is just 5 minutes away from my house. WU and I had a lovely walk today.

Something's wrong with those hillsides, chamo. I can't...quite...put...OH YEAH! I know now! They're not aflame!

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ORIGINAL: Historiker

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Historiker
It is easy to get the public transportation competitive by subsidizing it with the taxpayer's money. This way, all have to pay for the convinience of a few.

Well, duh! Its not very likely that the commuters themselves would be able to foot the entire bill. Besides that, the idea is to expand the commuter transport network to such levels that car commuters willingly switch to public transit, thus reducing both traffic levels and emissions. Unfortunately, I think the LA public transit system is still very, very far from that.

Well, you can take money and create a market that wasn't there. This way, you destroy other markets with the money of all. You know how I think about that...

I am thinking for quite a while to buy a free space in my home city and turn it into a parking lot. This is only worth considering, because people commute by car and need cars.

So wehn you take tax money to fund a public transportation, you'll hurt other parts of the economy quite a lot. Gas stations will have less revenue, car dealers will sell less cars, parking lot owners won't be able to sell the places to commuters, garages would have less to repair - and so on.
So by taking your and my money to artificially create the demand - that obviously doesn't exist right now - for a public transportation, you destroy businesses and jobs.

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Historiker
It is easy to get the public transportation competitive by subsidizing it with the taxpayer's money. This way, all have to pay for the convinience of a few.

Well, duh! Its not very likely that the commuters themselves would be able to foot the entire bill. Besides that, the idea is to expand the commuter transport network to such levels that car commuters willingly switch to public transit, thus reducing both traffic levels and emissions. Unfortunately, I think the LA public transit system is still very, very far from that.

Billing everyone for the benefit of a select few is a slippery slope, comrade. The balance is to make public the debt for which there is a significant uniform benefit to those charged with the debt.

So, making the state responsible for LA public transit is a gross injustice to those Californians living in Fresno. If there's an overwhelming reason that this *must* be done, then maybe you could sell it to the state's voters. Too often though-far, far too often, the taxpayer is given a bill for something for a benefit they will never receive.

If the Los Angeleans want to gild their highway with Los Angeles tax dollars, they can go to it. But drawing in / mandating the support of the state or Feds for a decidedly local project is a problem. The fact that SoCal cannot afford to develop most of the public works / public improvements projects without significant outside aid speaks to the profligate nature of the SoCal / California governance.