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- The Senate overwhelming passed a vote requiring Amtrak to allow passengers to travel with locked, stowed firearms. “Americans should not have their 2nd Amendment rights restricted for any reason, particularly if they choose to travel on America’s federally subsidized rail line,” said Sen. Wicker (R, MS) the bill’s sponsor. (The Caucus)
- Next week, California will finalize its request for some portion of the $8 billion in high speed rail funds provided by the stimulus. That portion, it turns out, is going to be $4-5 billion. (Reuters via Yonah’s Twitter)
- Some very smart and creative people have teamed up on a project to tag thousands of pieces of trash and track their trajectories, looking to map the complexities of our waste disposal network. They’ve charted, for instance, the 8-day journey a paper coffee cup that was pitched in Seattle. (NYT)[SButtonZ button="digg"]
- Everyone in blogland is oohing and aahing over this interactive chart of US jobs from 1850 – 2000. And now we are too. In 1850, 2% of the population were blacksmiths. By 1980 it was zero. And the percentage of locomotive engineers is the same today as it was in 1860–about one tenth the 1910 peak levels. (Prefuse)
- In Portland, naked bicycling is only a shade less popular as a local passtime than hanging out at the farmers market. We don’t really see the appeal, but rock n’ roll band Flaming Lips does — they’re shooting a video in PDX and are looking for lots of “freaked out naked people” on bikes. (Bike Portland)
- Another rocker, David Byrne, wants you to know that his ideal city would be big (ensuring anonymity), dense (ensuring interesting social opportunity), have a strong social compact (e.g. people return items if you misplace them), not much parking (“dead real estate”), and a culture of making flirty eye contact on the streets. (WSJ)
- The Tea Party protesters seem to dislike pretty much everything in America except Ron Paul, guns and Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate. Accordingly, it might be expected that they hate transit spending. And they do! Except when they’re in DC and need transit service. In those cases, they hate substandard transit service. (WSJ)
That incredibly amateurish photo illo? We made it on MS Paint!
Tags: HEADLINES
Nobody will be ‘packing heat’ on trains. The change allows passengers to have secured firearms in their checked baggage, just like every major air carrier. I like your coverage, but please leave the hyperbolic fear-mongering to the mainstream media.
Chuck,
Was being jocular with the phrase “packing heat,” but a tad misleading, I suppose. Updated item.
JR
“The Tea Party protesters seem to dislike pretty much everything in America . .. .”
Actually that describes Obama voters until after the 2008 election results came in.
So you weren’t previously allowed to put a gun in your checked luggage, and now you are. Yet nobody checks if you have one on your person or in your carry on? I feel safer.
“Another rocker, David Byrne, wants you to know that his ideal city would be big (ensuring anonymity), dense (ensuring interesting social opportunity), a strong social compact (e.g. people return items if you misplace them), not much parking (”dead real estate”), and a culture of making flirty eye contact on the streets”
Sounds pretty damn good to me.
I’d say the tea party folks love America but dislike runaway gov’t spending and intrusion, no matter which party does it. It’s not unlike the movie ‘Meet John Doe’ where politicians from either side aren’t welcome at the meetings, see only vote potential and are relentless in trying to co-opt the movement. If it was just the Paulians and fringe right-wingers, opposition to health reform wouldn’t be at 55% or so.
I seem to recall that up until about November 4 of last year, dissent was the highest form of patriotism. I wonder what happened? Now according to Jimmy Carter and the media, opposing government policy is just racism.
Am reluctant to get into this one, but quikcly on the Tea Partiers:
I wouldn’t doubt their patriotism. But it does seem to be unfocused political exercise. And, to some extent anyway, a synthetic and partisan one. That said, I have a great deal of respect for–and probably a few opinions in common with–the folks who stood strongly on the same principles prior to Obama’s election (i.e. opposed big government exercises like the Iraq war, security state expansion, etc., as Ron Paul did). But I’d venture that’s not a majority.
I dont see a problem with locked firearms on Amtrak (other than the cost to modify trains) but what about also allowing bikes and (a href=’http://groups.yahoo.com/group/prorailtravel/message/869?l=1′>pets on Amtrak trains?
It would have been nice if Congress had included some money to make the required modifications but that would be too difficult.
No wonder we have a dysfunctional government, it always has to deal with new costly imposing rules and requirements dictated by higher ups for political reasons while getting no increase in money, so everything in the program/agency suffers. You can say this for Amtrak, National Parks, schools, police, just about any government program or agency. And its not like these are even money making agencies to begin with. Then critics say “see, blah blah blah agency doesnt work, lets cut their funding or impose more rules on how its run.”
I hate over spending and the ever-increasing debt as well, but if these protesters (I won’t call them Tea Partiers, because they have representation in Congress) were really concerned about the national debt and overspending, they would have been out in force during the latter half of Bush’s time in office as well.
Sounds like David Byrne just described Stockholm, or perhaps Copenhagen.
I find it quite ironic that while in DC the protesters are having to rely on mass transit…the very thing that so many oppose spending money on.
Really, do we need to keep this insanity up? There is a man 30 minutes down the road from me with a Nazi flag flying above an upside down American flag in protest of “our government’s move towards Communism”!?!?
Filtering out the crazies at either end, most people support mass transit where it’s efficient, convenient and affordable. People don’t support boondoggles, bridges to nowhere etc. I don’t think there’s any anti-mass transit aspect to the protests.
When the SEIU shows up with thousands of pre-printed signs, banners and matching shirts and jackets, that’s synthetic. The protests are unfocused because there’s no leader, just a shared sentiment that spending and government interference that was growing out of control under Bush has gone over the cliff this year with spending, bailouts and unfunded mandates forced on the states. Too much, too soon. Remember the ‘shovel-ready’ projects that were supposed to be the heart of the stimulus? Me neither. Stimulus spending never works; at best it replaces private sector jobs with public sector jobs.
Another to way to look at it is, if you were upset about Bush’s $400B budget deficit in ’08, how do you feel about $1.8 trillion in ’09? This chart shows one of the main reasons the tea party protests took off: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/03/21/GR2009032100104.html
America needs a viable third or even fourth party, too many people are being crammed into affiliations they’re not happy about.
I don’t find the argument “you weren’t sufficiently vocal about Bush’s $400 billion dollar deficit, so you can’t protest $1.5 trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see” to be persuasive. Not a big Bush fan, but the budget was moving towrads balance when the financial crisis hit. Not a big fan of wars or war spending, but such spending is by its nature temporary, whereas domestic programs are permanent and ever-enlarging. I do note Obama’s permanent war footing in Afghanistan, and that the anti-war movement mysteriously petered out early last November. Endless wars are now in vogue, I guess.
To go from a $ 5 Trillion surplus when G-W-Bush became prez in 2000 to a then $ 9 Trillion Deficit when he retired to his farm in 2008 speaks volumes.
2 words – Shit Storm – One of epic proportions which Obama walks into without blinking. Shouting yes we can and lets fix this mess.
Now since then I’ve heard he’s the big bad socialist-communist-nazi-fascist-narcissist-union/mafia assisted-foreign born-muslim-celebrity (then there are also a slue of unspeakable ones floating about) President of these United States of America. Really is he all that?
I must have missed where the government took over all 1.8 million businesses in the US,violated all our human rights and civil liberties and started regulating the piss out of every aspect of our lives turning us into China. When did that happen? Can I google it, I want to see some pictures? Did Obama get his Military Uniform yet?
Did they forget the previous 8 years of just horrendous presidency?
A quote from British politician Tony Benn: Keeping people hopeless and pessimistic – see I think there are two ways in which people are controlled – first of all frighten people and secondly demoralize them sounds like the GOP way of governance.
Another quote from Tony Benn: An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern. everything the GOP seems to oppose.
Obama has been dodging all sorts of shit since he stepped up to the plate and he gets put down on a daily basis. Its been 7 months people.
Wow, just wow, in 7 months he is expected to end 2 wars, fix the economy, make universal healthcare happen, make gay rights happen, build a HSR network to rival France. Create a 1 000 000 jobs, Holy shit! All of this without spending anymore tax payer money…Right ok lets do that.
Correct me if I’m wrong here but doesn’t he also have Senate that has to come up with solutions to the problems the people face and he highlights? Oh yea thats it they don’t want to tackle any problems because its either a “NO WE CAN’T” or a “WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO…” leaving the 2 parties fighting over nothing, in turn leaving us with the “SAME SHIT DIFFERENT DAY” sour taste of sheer incompetence in our mouths.
Give the guy a break for f**k sake, get on your congressman’s ass and tell them to do their f***king job and find a solution. His vision is a good one.
He’s achieved more in the last 7 months than W did in 8 years, merely not being W is worth a re-election in 2012.
The Teabaggers (I guess they don’t understand the sexual double entendre) are not average Joe’s upset with the government- they are ignorant vile racists- look at the disgusting and vile signs they held at their overblown protest.
No one on the left has ever said that these idiots can’t have their KKK rallies and stupid gatherings- but they have pointed out how ironic it is that now all of a sudden it is OK to advocate for armed rebellion and succession whereas if any leftists had done this under Bush, they would have been branded unpatriotic traitors by conservatives.
The deficit is only so large because of the gross mismanagement of the economy by the Bush administration- the federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2009 is $1.3 trillion- this was the deficit that Obama faced the day he took office. He had nothing to do with its creation.
TARP and the auto bailouts happened or started under Bush- yet these stupid teabaggers blame Obama for all of them, even though TARP funds have been paid back with interest to the federal government.
As for the stimulus, it seems to be doing the job- the economy either is now or will shortly be out of a recession thanks in part due to its passage. I can think of three infrastructure projects just in my own town funded in part by the stimulus so the poster claiming that they can’t think of any stimulus funded infrastructure projects is completely ignorant- sucks to be them.
Stimulus spending is a proven way to grow the economy. The New Deal shrank unemployment 40% in four years and built many of the roads, parks, bridges, and tunnels that we take for granted now. World War II was the New Deal on steroids and it pulled the U.S. completely out of recession.
Opposition to health care reform is not at 55%. A LARGE majority of Americans support a PUBLIC OPTION as part of health care reform- the big boogeyman to these knucklehead teabaggers.
Nice tries Eric F. and Joe Melnick but you FAIL.
The military budget stands at over $600 billion PER YEAR- and there are no signs of it ever decreasing. Defense contractors are powerful lobbyists and government keeps the money flowing to build weapons of death instead of hospitals, schools, and infrastructure.
Conservatives hate any government spending that is used to help the nation or its people, they call it “SOCIALISM.” But, the Iraq War, a one TRILLION dollar, unfunded government program, is a conservative wet dream. Billions to private contractors who perform substandard work at ridiculous prices- no problem for the GOP lunatics. But comparable amounts for America in the stimulus and suddenly the AntiChrist has arrived.
The fact that Obama has promised to remove all combat troops from Iraq by 2010 has quieted the anti-war movement, for now.
I stand corrected on the 55% opposition to the health care plan. Rasmussen reports today that opposition is at 56%
Please look at the chart, prepared without bias by the White House’s own Congressional Budget Office. Bush came in with a 236B surplus in 2000, and left with a 450B or so deficit. Obama’s bailouts, stimulus and spending bumped that to 1.85 trillion, which will lead to 9 trillion in debt over the next decade.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/03/21/GR2009032100104.html
Everyone gets the ‘teabag’ reference, which was used exclusively by smug, smirking ‘journalists’ on the left. Very clever indeed, in keeping with the new post-racial, post-partisan era you ushered in. Thanks again.
I won’t bother responding the racist/republicans hate everybody comments, they’re just stupid. Pretty much all of Deacon’s comment is made up of similar liberal fantasy and all-caps anger. You were angry for 8 years under Bush and you’re still angry under Obama-Pelosi-Reid? What more does it take?
Obama said that as a christian he is opposed to gay marriage. He supports don’t ask don’t tell too, so don’t wait up for Prop 8.
Regarding the ‘fierce moral urgency’ above, where’s the fuss over the extension of the Patriot Act sections everyone was so exercised about? Library records and all that. It’s all fine now, as are rendition, indefinite detention, roving wiretaps, etc etc. It was all just phony moral preening to bash the government. Now that their guy is in, who cares? Ask Cindy Sheehan or Michael Moore how it feels when a useful idiot is no longer useful.
Freaked-out naked people on bikes? Hell, they shoulda gone to Burning Man.
(Not that the Burning Man organization probably would have let them have a film permit.)
Several Democratic senators have already introduced legislation to reverse the liberty threatening parts of the PATRIOT ACT.
The conservative nutjobs called themselves teabaggers- your lying will not work on me Joe Melnick.
Try actually reading some liberal blogs and you will find great angst about Obama’s continuation of many of Bush’s BAD policies- but most people are focused on health care at the moment.
Obama in the campaign advocated the repeal of DOMA and DADT- and Speaker Pelosi said today that she favors the repeal of DOMA as well.
Obama ran on the post-partisan kumbaya platform, and the lunatic GOP made sure that his dream would never come to fruition. The Democratic base understands the other side has no interest in working constructively to solve the nation’s problems regardless of what the President says.
As for public polling of health care reform, I guess I can thank conservative liars like you for spreading so many falsehoods and outrageous myths about what is being discussed for public concern.
As for the deficit- again bailouts started under Bush and ballooned the federal deficit to over one trillion dollars for FY 09, sharply reduced income taxes also played a large part. Spending money to grow the economy, create jobs is a WISE policy that is already working. Once employment rebounds the deficit will shrink, and it will shrink even further if real health care reform is passed and military spending is slashed.
I don’t see the need for the aggression, Sean. This isn’t the Daily Kos or HuffPo.
It’s pretty clear that it was on CNN that the ‘teabagger’ reference was first used, as a perjorative, by Anderson Cooper and David Gergen, way back in April. Much later some people in the movement started using it to show they weren’t intimidated by their critics.
The White House has explicitly extended pretty much all of the Patriot Act stuff that was so vilified under Bush. Once they got in power and saw what was really happening out there, they weren’t able to shoot spitballs from the sidelines any more. There is no media hue and cry, and no groundswell of opinion from the liberal blogs.
Obama did not advocate the repeal of DOMA and DADT, he only gave voters the impression that he did. He does that a lot. He said, and it’s a quote:
“I’m a Christian, and so although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman”. Given the White House inaction on gay rights, I’d say a lot of his supporters have the right to feel used.
I won’t bother posting the link again, the CBO shows that spending truly ballooned under Obama, and unemployment data shows that gov’t stimulus spending has not and will not help grow the economy or provide jobs. At best it will replace private sector jobs with gov’t jobs. Obama’s team released a chart showing what would happen with and without the stimulus, and the results are much worse with the spending than they projected without.
You don’t like a one trillion dollar deficit under Bush, but you’re ok with almost two trillion this year, and almost ten trillion over the next decade? Trillions are the new billions, it just can’t go on like this.
I’ll let you in on something related to health care. I live in Canada and everybody who can goes to the US for faster, better care. Single-payer is a terrible, inefficient, heavily-rationed and poor-quality system. The US system is not perfect but is much, much better. We also pay a fortune in taxes for our ‘free’ care, more than people in the US pay for similar coverage, and every year more procedures are de-listed and removed from our ‘free’ coverage. Why? When the gov’t runs health care, cutting costs and limiting access are the cornerstones of ‘sustainability’. The UK is even further decayed but shows the logical end result of socialized medicine.