High Speed Rail Won't Fix The Infrastructure!

I love trains. Really. As a youngster I rode them with my family from Pittsburgh to Chicago and on to Fort Madison, Iowa to visit family. Often. My love for the rails has never waned. I've sat for hours on the back deck of the General Palmer in Durango watching the trains come and go to Silverton. On occasion I'd head for the tracks to get pictures, dodging fiery coals and belching steam. There is no better way to travel in Europe. At least there wasn't when we did so.

The fixation on high speed rail by this administration is a whole different scenario. The $53 billion they want to allocate sure could be spent better elsewhere. Like on our disintegrating highways and bridges. Infrastructure that is already in place and in sad need of attention.

As for the trains, look at the proposed routes. You'll note they are all in places of high congestion and short hops. The cross country routes, where one might like to speed up the process, are left untouched.

The process of condemning property, then clearing it for dedicated tracks will be time consuming and costly. There will be resistance.

Some of the routes make no sense either. Take the stretch between Orlando and Tampa. By road it is approximately 85 miles. A train that travels between 125 and 250 mph wouldn't get out of idle! Besides, by the time you got to the station, parked your car, checked your luggage if any and passed through security, you know they'll have it, you might as well have driven. Not unlike flying. You'd have your car at your destination and be there before the train even left the station!

The same goes for the Los Angeles/Las Vegas hook up. I notice it's not on this map. Hmmm.  Have they nixed the one that almost makes sense?  Anyway, depending on where you live in the greater LA area, it might take you longer to get to the station than Vegas itself. That one would no doubt have riders, but whether or not enough to make it pay is questionable.

All the talk about jobs and economic recovery makes no sense to me. The jobs are needed now. The economy needs to recover now. Not decades down the road.

One of the biggest problems I have with this administration is their grand pie in the sky notions that are questionable undertakings in the first place and not doable in this time of immediate needs.

The argument that it will be the best alternative to flying and driving because it won't be as costly doesn't mesh with the fact they're touting electric powered locomotives. Last I heard, electricity is power and unless we go nuclear, it isn't going to be cheap.

Look at your electric bill.  Does it give you a clue?

It's NOT About Us!

What the people of Egypt are demanding bears about as much resemblance to what we're being told as Elizabeth Taylor resembled the real Cleopatra. There is a lot to sift through.

I'm not even going to get into the Muslim Brotherhood again. Egypt is a secular country. It is likely they do not plan on taking a step backwards to a potentially violent theocracy. They have enough violence to contend with right now.

The above sentiment means I cannot consider anything coming from the FOX news channel. Every time I go there the first words I hear seem to be the Muslim Brotherhood. It's almost as if they want to see that scenario play out.

Our government, on any given day, seems to have mixed feelings as to whether or not Mubarak should actually go and when. The old school, Biden, Cheney, still consider Mubarak a good friend to the U.S. Therefore easing him out seems to be the humane thing to do. He doesn't deserve it. Nor do those who serve under him.

What the Egyptian people realize and we don't want to recognize, is the new Vice President, Omar Suleiman, is cut from the same cloth and as head of Intelligence is responsible for the brutality still being shown by the secret police.  They hold any compromise or placation offered nothing more than a ploy to buy time.  It isn't working.  They don't trust him any more than they trust Mubarak. And rightfully so.  Consider the mid eastern despots who are encouraging Mubarak to hang on! There but for the grace of Allah go they.

Anderson Cooper was correct in suspecting that when the coverage stops, Mubarak wins.  He's bargaining on time and fickle news cycles.  That's why the people are still there.  Because, too, if they leave Mubarak wins and they will be hunted down like animals to face fates we don't even want to think about.

What goes on behind the scenes is any one's guess.  I would guess that our government doesn't know everything themselves, having been caught flat footed.  Their path is a tightrope and they're not known for having good balance.  Perhaps it's best to just stay grounded and quiet.

Strength to the people and those who would lead them.  Not an El Baradei who is no more than a carpet bagger.  But men and women of the opposition who  are the true patriots.  I have to believe they are there and the people know who they are.

If we are to continue to insinuate ourselves and our interests into the drama, I hope for once we side with the people.  It may not be exactly as we would have it, but it is also not our decision to make.

Do YOU Hate The President?

It was a tough question to be asked of the President by Bill O'Reilly. "Does it disturb you that so many people hate you?"

The image we so often see of him, reading from his teleprompters, chin raised and seemingly looking down on us flashed through my mind. Arrogant? Maybe. Maybe not.

Having never used a teleprompter, I don't begin to understand the body language. That he does at times display a degree of arrogance, I agree. That he has a sizable ego, I agree. On both counts, what politician doesn't?

To suggest that people hate him may be a disservice. It is to me. I disagree with so many of his policies I can't begin to count them. But do I hate him? No. I don't even dislike him.

I see him with his kids and I can't. He flashes that grin and I can't. I get mad at him for being inflexible, for leaning too far left, for that arrogance but it's like getting mad at Hub.

Oh, I do. But we've this commitment you see, and we work things out. Obama is our President. We'll work things out. We always have and I suspect, on a scale far different than that of Hub and myself, we always will.

I should hope that no one in this country hates him. Like me, fiercely disagree, but hate is too strong an emotion. Too dangerous an emotion. Too exhausting an emotion. Better to be spent working toward what's right and agreeable.

Our enemies harbor enough hatred for lifetimes. Let us not be our own worst ones.

Big Sis Strikes Again!

Boy, how to take the "super" out of the Super Bowl! Yes, people attending the big game have had to endure screenings for years now, but pat downs? Is there even a hint of a threat to warrent  this?  Or is it paranoia run amok?

Consider it's going to be pushing 50 in Dallas. Having lived for a lot of years in Texas, 50 is freezing! People are going to be wearing coats over sweaters over shirts over undies. How the heck?? And how many security personnel will this exercise take? You'll have to arrive before dawn or you're likely to still be in line after the final whistle!

Also banned, among other things, are banners, noisemakers, horns...and...are you ready? Beach balls! Beach balls! Has anyone ever even thought about taking a beach ball to a football game? Not even one filled with contraband booze I would wager.

One of these days maybe we'll feel toward this insanity as the Egyptians have shown they feel toward the insanities of their government and have a protest that gets the point across. Just stop!

To make matters worse the TSA is going to be allowed to unionize. Maybe, as was suggested on one web site I was reading, we, the people should!

Enjoy the game.

The Catch All Called Foreign Aid

As events continue to unfold in Egypt and across the Middle East, I've been thinking about the return we've gotten for our billions in foreign aid and whether or not it has been worth it.

Consider Egypt, the people are fortunate for the fact they have had an opportunity for education. No jobs, but education. Our aid, however, had nothing to do with it. It went to strengthening their military. The same is true in Israel. And Iraq. It's going to bride tribal leaders in Afghanistan or into the out of country bank accounts of government officials. Pakistan? Who knows. So much is lost to pure corruption.

Then there are the poorest of the poor countries. Many in Africa. One at our own front door. Haiti. It suffered such a severe blow from the earthquake last year, I wonder if it will ever recover. People are still living in tent cities. The country is racked with an epidemic of cholera. Millions, if not billions of dollars in "aid" have flowed into the country. But where is it? There is nothing to be shown for it and their politics are in turmoil. They also have a largely undereducated population unable to mount a protest for change like the Iranians, who failed, or the Egyptians who at least have not given up.

Now Haiti is finally facing the finality of their botched election via a run off. In Egypt, if you can get past all Fox News fear mongering about the Muslim Brotherhood taking over to realize there are actually some credible potential leaders, there is hope. In Haiti I'm not so sure.

The run off has boiled down to two candidates, a 70 year old former first lady and a carnival singer. There is the problem of the current President's status and how he will handle it. An all too familiar theme. Then there is former dictator, Baby Doc Duvalier, already in the country and  Jean-Bertrand Aristide waiting in the wings for his credentials. Neither could possibly be up to anything good.

Aid to Egypt is likely to continue for a multitude of reasons regardless of the outcome short of a radical Muslim takeover. Aid to Haiti is threatened unless the current government toes the line the Organization of American States has set.

I have no answers. Everything is so complex. I look at the people and wonder who has the greatest need and who might be better able to fend for themselves. Forget the military and bribes.

What I see is a very uneven playing field.  For the people of those countries. And for the people of our country.  It's our money.