Jump to content

POLITICS SCHMALITICS


romad1

Recommended Posts

20 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

A wreck with a semi contains one 53' container of toxic something. You might have 40 of those on one single derailment. I would think the that single would be much easier to contain.

CMR's later post provides the numbers, but while individual derailments can involve more individual cars, rail as the mode of transport overall is safer than trucking.

Fatalities is a big difference as well... generally derailments don't result in big numbers of fatalities in general unless it involves interaction with roadways (ie. grade crossings). Incidences of trucks accidents involving interaction with other vehicles, OTOH, is quite high.... I don't have the numbers, but I assume most accidents involving trucks involve other vehicles, and that fatality rates are relatively high when you get a smaller vehicle and larger truck together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

I think I found what I was looking for

https://www.longmontleader.com/beyond-local/beyond-local-hazardous-chemical-crashes-too-frequent-in-the-us-6589801

Once again this doesn't absolve the railroads. Just satisfies my curiosity as a former traffic reporter.

you start getting into the accident scale effect. At one end you have car accidents that kill thousands but don't much scare anyone (their their small scale gives us a false sense of control?), at the other end you have nuclear power accidents, that have killed very few people but people tend to be scared shitless about because the potential worst case is so huge. Trains are really big - big train accidents  have terrible scale (Lac Megantic) so they are pretty far up the fear scale.

Edited by gehringer_2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

you start getting into the accident scale effect. At one end you have car accidents that kill thousands but much don't scare anyone because their small scale gives us a sense of control, at the other end you have nuclear power accidents, that have killed very few people but people tend to be scared shitless about becuase the potential worst case is so huge. Trains are really big - big train accidents are have terrible scale (Lac Megantic) so they are pretty far up the fear scale.

What happened in East Palestine, with the big towering fireball that resulted, was also bound to draw headlines.... train derailments generally get little to no publicity, with the exception of accidents at grade crossings or those involving passenger lines.

Like CMR, not trying to downplay what happened at East Palestine, it's terrible for everyone involved.... but the fact that people are paying attention to this one is the result of a unique set of circumstances that ended up causing it to break through to the American consciousness; unfortunately, this stuff happens more than gets noticed in realty tho.

One hopes that some good can come of this from the policy end, but I fear that this is being turned into the usual cudgel that one side uses against Politician X and the other against Politician Y... like frankly most things turn into these days.

Edited by mtutiger
Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://apple.news/AkF9v_uX_RaWdX7iEVVjb0A
 

Matt Gaetz Shut Down By Pentagon Official For Pushing Chinese Propaganda At Hearing

The Florida Republican introduced the ultranationalist Global Times tabloid during a House hearing where he argued for the U.S. to stop aiding Ukraine.

(you have to see the video of this. 😂)

Gaetz, who appeared unaware of the tabloid’s propaganda links, cited the report in claiming that the U.S. had supplied weapons to the Azov Battalion as early as 2018. Asked if he disagreed with the report, Kahl calmly responded: “I’m sorry, is this the Global Times from China?”

“No, this is ...” Gaetz said before looking at the report in front of him and conceding. “Yeah, it might be. Yeah.”

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Crazy Cat Gentleman said:

a little something for @pfife

 

Is it weird that I’m a little surprised that Boebert or someone else on that side didn’t start shouting down Raskin as he was mid-sentence during his smackdown? Allowing the other guy to say his entire piece seems to be an increasingly uncommon act of civility, so at some point soon the interrupting and shouting down is gonna start happening, isn’t it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

I prefer to call them the Banana Republic Party

Exactly what I was thinking as well. Although I gotta believe Raskin and his staff spent some amount of time gaming out the impact of “Banana Republican Party” versus “Banana Republic Party” before he delivered this choice slap on the floor. But yeah, I agree, “Banana Republic Party” works on more levels.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Is it weird that I’m a little surprised that Boebert or someone else on that side didn’t start shouting down Raskin as he was mid-sentence during his smackdown? Allowing the other guy to say his entire piece seems to be an increasingly uncommon act of civility, so at some point soon the interrupting and shouting down is gonna start happening, isn’t it?

Boebert is weak. She got smacked down in the debate against Adam Frisch and later just attacked the moderator. She always backs down to people who stand up to her. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting piece in Axios regarding East Palestine. It seems the hamlet is a magnet for train derailments

https://www.axios.com/2023/03/01/east-palestine-derailment-history-norfolksouthern?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_detroit&stream=top

Quote

By the numbers: An Axios review of hundreds of old newspaper clippings across the state and into Pennsylvania identified at least nine freight derailments in East Palestine between 1946 and 1976.

  • Three occurred in a span of just two weeks in 1961, the final of these causing extensive damage to a nearby pottery factory.
  • Several derailments were caused by poor track condition, which railroads are responsible for maintaining.

The intrigue: All nine happened on the same line now owned by Norfolk Southern.

Quote

Why it matters: Earlier generations urged stricter railroad oversight to prevent a major disaster like the one with which their community now reckons.

  • Their pleas, which went largely ignored at the time, are followed a half-century later by nearly identical calls for better safety regulations.

What they're saying: No single regulation enacted back then could have prevented the 2023 crash with 100% certainty, says Anne Junod, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute who studied train derailments as a Ph.D. student at Ohio State University.

  • But the longstanding inaction helps showcase railroads' record of valuing profit over proactive safety measures, she tells Axios  a cost-benefit analysis that continues putting rural communities like East Palestine in harm's way.
  • "There's a constellation of problems that have deep historical roots."

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Motown Bombers said:

Boebert is weak. She got smacked down in the debate against Adam Frisch and later just attacked the moderator. She always backs down to people who stand up to her. 

Someone weak and powerless like Boebert is exactly the perfect candidate to act out like that and try to make any impact they can. Powerful people don’t need to do that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

55 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

Bottom line: maintaining complex infrastructure for safety is expensive and cuts into profits, thus reducing the number and size of yachts the executives can own. It’s the #1 reason they want to prevent government regulation.

Edited by chasfh
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, CMRivdogs said:

I prefer to call them the Banana Republic Party

That allows them to avoid responsibility since they are Republicans, not a Republic.

I understand what you are saying/ getting at... they do seem to want to live in a banana republic instead of a democracy...

But for full culpability... it has to be:

Banana Republican Party

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lightfoot, unsurprisingly, goes down in defeat in the First Round in the Chicago Mayoral Election.

Really interesting race.... I have a feeling it's another one where social media may end up surprised after the next round.

Edited by mtutiger
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...