This is a required read for anyone interested in Transportation issues in the US.

Keep in mind that this was issued in 1993, now 15 years ago... had the conclusions of the report been heeded, I might have been able to travel to Dallas, DC, even NY, by rail, instead of spending dozens of hours uncomfortably waiting in various airports.

The most crucial quotes come early, of course :

The purpose of this report is to recommend future Government action regarding maglev.

The NMI has concluded that the potential benefits from a U.S. maglev system are sufficient to justify initiation of a development program. During such a program, the remaining technological, economic, and environmental questions must be fully addressed so that maglev's full potential in an integrated transportation system can be understood. Thus, it is recommended that the Federal Government initiate the first phase of a competitive-based USML development program to develop an advanced maglev system. To benefit fully from recent maglev development abroad, joint ventures between U.S. companies and foreign companies should be permitted to the extent that development activities take place substantially in the United States.

There's tons of interesting stuff here, particularly viewed through the lens of history :

On the highways, development trends and travel patterns in metropolitan areas are causing congestion on intercity routes. Intercity highway travelers are now subject to delays that are local in origin, especially during peak travel hours. A 1989 General Accounting Office report on highway congestion estimated that by the year 2000, 70 percent of peak-hour travelers will experience highway congestion delays with costs to the Nation exceeding $100 billion annually. Approximately 91 percent of all urban freeway delay occurs in 37 metropolitan areas with populations greater than 1 million people. Many of these are the same urban areas suffering from air pollution. A 1991 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) report, "The Status of the Nation's Highways and Bridges," stated:

By all performance measures of highway congestion and delay, performance is declining Congestion now affects more areas, more often, for longer periods and with more impacts on highway users and the economy than any time in the nation's history.

And, one of my favorites :

To meet travel demand, airlines have used regional hubs to achieve more efficient use of aircraft and to offer more varied and frequent service. This practice has accentuated traffic peaking as flights from several origins are brought together within a short period of time at a single airport. If peaking and adverse weather conditions converge, delays at one airport can cause backups to ripple throughout the air travel system.

Indeed.

By the end of this cent... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

Final Report on the National Maglev Initiative

Uhhh, what? Holy crap.

YouTube - Moo & Oink Dance - Classic Commercial

Fucking awesome!

I want one!!!

Rubens Tube Video

“To get back to a reliable system, it’s going to cost more money — meaning higher ticket prices,” Mr. Atkinson said.

Or, we could build some fucking trains.

http://www.issues.org/19.4/rote.html

Even a Pilot Thinks It’s Time to Crack Down on Airlines - New York Times

Two people are sitting in a room together: an experimenter and a subject. The experimenter gets up and closes the door, and the room becomes quieter. The subject is likely to believe that the experimenter's purpose in closing the door was to make the room quieter.

This is kind of interesting, if only because despite what it's telling me, I *still* have trouble swallowing it.

In part, my assumption that the motives of terrorists are maximal (e.g. "the deaths of innocent civilians, mass fear, loss of confidence in the government to offer protection, economic contraction, and the inevitable erosion of civil liberties") is specifically derived from the logical knowledge that terrorism is bad at at achieving more detailed policy goals. I figure if *I* know that, of course the terrorist leaders do too. So then if follows that whatever their stated goals are, they're an act, a cover.

The article assumes that, for example, bin Laden's *stated* goals are in fact his real goals, namely

1. End U.S. support of Israel
2. Force American troops out of the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia
3. End the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and (subsequently) Iraq
4. End U.S. support of other countries' anti-Muslim policies
5. End U.S. pressure on Arab oil companies to keep prices low
6. End U.S. support for "illegitimate" (i.e. moderate) Arab governments, like Pakistan

I just have trouble agreeing. I'm only now, having read this psychology theory, concerned about whether my disagreement is genuinely founded on logic or if it's a correspondent inference interfering with my reason.

For one thing, a number of those policies are unrealistic on their face. End pressure on oil prices? Sure. Stop supporting moderate governments? Definitely. I just don't see how an intelligent person, even one who's a psychotic mass murderer, could assume otherwise. In which case, it's got to be just words, right, masking the true intent.

Beyond which, the maximal objective of crippling or destroying the US state simultaneously achieves all 6 of those stated ones. So is it wrong to assume the maximal objective isn't the theoretical "ideal" goal for these people? Why wouldn't it be? And if it's not, are we really to assume that they're too stupid to see that the reality of the situation isn't having the intended result, and will not?

I remain unconvinced. I think the goals are the destabilization or destruction of the American state, and more broadly, "Western" ideology, no matter what act bin Laden or any other terrorist is putting on. For all their insanity, I don't think they're dumb, and I think they know exactly what they want, and how to go about trying to get it. Just because it hasn't worked before doesn't mean it won't... they've never had this particular president, or this particular blend of Americans. I'm not about to assume for one second that they don't intend to do massive structural damage to the U.S.; it's too dangerous. For one, they already have, through the predictable efforts of authoritarian minded neoconservatives and a public that is either authoritarian minded themselves, or too sheepish to concern themselves about it. How can one not take that seriously and chalk it up to some psychological wiring we all have?

The Evolutionary Brain Glitch That Makes Terrorism Fail

I seem to recall, back when the Republicans were in control of the Senate, that whenever Senate Democrats would threaten to filibuster any legislation, pundits all over Washington DC would suddenly look very grave and warn that Democrats were going to pay a fearsome political price. "Oh, horrors!", they wailed. "Democrats will be called obstructionists! They will become the Party of No! And since that's a charge that has "resonance", Democrats will undoubtedly pay a price for their obstructionist ways!"

Yet oddly enough, now that Republicans are in office, and using the filibuster with wild abandon, there don't seem to be the same cries of alarm. Instead, the voters wonder what exactly has happened to all those things the Democrats said they would do.

...

The Republicans also blocked the card check bill, money for renewable energy, reform of the Medicare drug bill, a no-confidence vote on Alberto Gonzales, etc., etc., etc. All of these measures got a majority in the Senate; none of them have become law, thanks to Republican filibusters.

And now, for their latest trick, they have decided to filibuster all legislation on Iraq

Obsidian Wings: Obstruction

And yes, sure — we have expressed our distaste for torture porn on several occasions on these pages. But Captivity is a new low for what’s already the lowest form of cinematic entertainment. It is the nadir of the subgenre’s short existence. It is everything (everything) that is despicable and vile and offensive about torture porn distilled into 90 minutes of loathsome opprobrium. It’s repellent. Horrid. And thoroughly unpleasant. And I wouldn’t wish the experience of watching it upon anybody. Captivity is a cinematic cesspool where only sick fucking degenerates can get their rocks off, and it’s about as useful as second-hand toilet paper — only, it stinks a whole helluva lot more.

...

At a bar, Jennifer’s drink is spiked. A few minutes later, she wakes up in the torturer’s dungeon, which the captor has decorated with things from her apartment. Immediately, the cruel fucking bullshit begins. Jennifer is given the Clockwork Orange treatment — she’s strapped into a chair and made to watch the torture of a previous victim, a woman showered with acid. Acid, people. Acid. Fucking sick deplorable shit. The whole movie makes Saw look like motherfucking My Fair Lady with an industrial metal soundtrack.

Even for Pajiba, this review tops the fury charts. Dustin is really, extremely displeased.

Captivity - Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People

The Baconator can sense fear? WTF?

Even stranger is that it's still listed as an "old fashioned hamburger" on their website.

Ah yes, remember when Grandma use to make you a Baconator before caving your skull in with a rolling pin? Oh the good ole' days!

YesButNoButYes: Wendy's New Hamburger Wants To Kill You

Addressing National Guard members with the 167th Airlift Wing who were gathered in a cavernous airplane hangar here, he said, “Like those early patriots, you’re fighting a new and unprecedented war — pledging your lives and honor to defend our freedom and way of life.”

Cognitive dissonance... argh!

Bush Evokes Revolutionary War to Bolster the U.S. Cause in Iraq - New York Times

My old phone, one based on Windows Mobile 5.0, had almost every feature the iPhone has - point by point. The differences between the products (like the differences between their desktop cousins) have to do with how functionality is exposed to the user. In this matter, you'll find that Apple's product is almost infuriatingly superior.

...

If you were driven back from the phone by its lack of 3G, this is something I can understand - since I've never had it, it's not something I miss. When a 3G version of the phone hits, you will know immediately, because you will look around and it will be the future.

I sure want one. I sure want one bad.

But what i want more is a tablet, a device like the iPhone, but without the phone, and 2 times as big in both horizontal directions.

GIVE ME MY MULTITOUCH APPLE TABLET!

Penny Arcade! - The Line Experience