Comrade Elmer Fudd wrote:

.

It's okay. If you can't be first, then at least be M(r|s). Congeniality and have a witty response to Nemo.

There was never an economic recovery.

We are in bust mode and it's about to get very, very ugly in America.

" poic wrote:

a 8000 foot climb at the end of the day

I did a 19.5 mile ride at Pisgah National Park with a 3500 ft. climb at the end of the day.
I barely made it to the end. "

That's the amazing part. These riders are literally still going balls out 15++ mph up a 10% grade for 8000 feet AFTER 120 miles of biking.

poic wrote:

balls out

Hey, dude.
They need air after 120 miles.

OT, while spending a few hours communing with my Stihl weedeater it struck me that we need a new name to describe our society "Republic" is no longer valid. The first names I came up with had negative connotations (Kleptocracy is over used and undignified) ,and that simply won't fly with the MSM. I hereby propose that the new American system be called "Free Capital Marketism". Comments are invited. To my regret I won't read them,a busy day lies ahead of me.

somebody suggested the period gambit a while back, doesn't work with around

yagij wrote:

The bikes or their riders

The balls!

"The increases in the diffusion indices in 2009 and earlier this year, was a clear positives in the monthly employment reports. However the decrease in the diffusion indices over the last few months (falling below 50% for manufacturing in August), is disappointing." ~ CR

Disappointing is the wrong word. We follow these numbers, we don't hold out hope as to where they should be going. The August number portends, it does not disappoint.

HG if you're ever up around Sonoma look me up for a ride. If I'm ever down in your area I'd love to do a bit of kayaking

One example of about a million for the kind of stimulus I'd like to see here:

Stations Picked, Huge Automated Transit Project for Paris is Closer to Realization « The Transport Politic

Tom Stone wrote:

I hereby propose that the new American system be called "Free Capital Marketism".

Financiary. Like the captive nature of an aviary.

We are actually starting to hire a bit at our company. Mostly contractors but a few full-time here and there as well. I expect that there are other companies like mine out there. That have put of IT upgrades as long as possible.

28 votes on the BFF Poll.
Cast your vote now.
do it.
or else.

did a 19.5 mile ride at Pisgah National Park with a 3500 ft. climb at the end of the day.
I barely made it to the end.

Wife and I climbed like pack mules up a mountain in Pisgah, sweating like pigs. When we got to the top there was two guys up there on bikes!

CalculatedRisk wrote:

And I suspect this hurts the chances for much more fiscal stimulus - except dumb proposals (those always seem to garner support from both parties)

CR, you shouldn't read the comments so much. They're bringin' you down.

I'd like a high speed train to the Wynn buffet please.

Duke of Con Dao wrote:

if ever they pass him on the street.

I'm the bearded dude in the red hat and green shirt.

Still dark here in NZ. Sunrise is 10 minutes away...

PIC: This building used to be two story... on Twitpic - This building used to be two story...”

rest assured that none of you will ever meet me

...and I just bought my tickets for Dukeapalooza 2010

plus, I might take it upon myself to get one or more of you laid
I'm good, don't get my wrong - as evidenced last night - but I ain't that good!

"*I expect that there are other companies like mine out there. That have put of IT upgrades as long as possible. *"

The company I work for just upgraded all of our laptops. It came down to a choice between Dell and HP. They chose HP because they were 5 dollars cheaper per unit. All of the equipment I would use it to monitor have DB9 serial ports that require a null modem cable to connect to. Our new laptops only have USB ports. We tried adapter cables, no luck. We tried signal boosters, no luck. Thanks IM.

Any suggestions?

2:30 (ET) and no ECRI WLI update?

Last month's flavor dropped to -10.1 from -9.9.

US econ growth gauge fell to a 6-week low- ECRI
| Reuters

dryfly wrote:

For manufacturing, the diffusion index declined to 47.0 from 53.0 in July, and down sharply from 67.1 in April.

Think of this as a measure of how widespread job gains are across industries.

This doesn't surprise me one bit - the 'mfg recovery' is very narrow and by no means widespread. I know a few working 60 hrs a week and have been for months - many others at reduced hours or even unemployed.

dryfly,

Any comment on the PMI report on the employment situation. Doesn't seem to match your account or the diffusion index number.

ISM's Employment Index registered 60.4 percent in August, which is 1.8 percentage points higher than the 58.6 percent reported in July. This is the ninth consecutive month of growth in manufacturing employment. An Employment Index above 49.8 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data on manufacturing employment.

Ten of the 18 manufacturing industries reported growth in employment in August in the following order: Transportation Equipment; Paper Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Primary Metals; Computer & Electronic Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; and Chemical Products. Furniture & Related Products is the only industry reporting a decrease in employment during August.

ISM - ISM Report - May 2010 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® 

Rob Dawg wrote:

Why? Absolutely serious question. Why?

I'd take a high speed train connecting every major city along a major East-West route like I40.
.
As for why? Because I'd like to travel without dealing with the TSA or my own car.

picosec wrote:

That picture has already had over 8,000 views. Amazing!

Disaster porn.

Rob Dawg wrote:

Why? Absolutely serious question. Why?

Jobs
I hate to fly
Jobs
Less oil use.

CalculatedRisk wrote:

I think the ISM survey came in too high.

I didn't know it was possible to get too high... hoocoodanode.

CalculatedRisk wrote:

Goldman Sachs Said to Be Disbanding Principal Strategies Unit - Bloomberg

The magic beans aren't growing anything, and the are gathering! On to the next town, men!

Rob Dawg wrote:

Why? Absolutely serious question. Why?

Why does the Dawg always hate on rail?

yagij wrote:

Because I'd like to travel without dealing with the TSA

You can rest assured that TSA would be at the train station.
Going to have to come up with a fee name though.
"9/11 Security Fee" is getting old and the public has a short attention span anyway.
How about "Freedom Fee"?

Goldman Sachs Said to Be Disbanding Principal Strategies Unit - Bloomberg

"Disband of Brothers"

CalculatedRisk wrote:

I think this means QE2 is put off until October or November. And I suspect this hurts the chances for much more fiscal stimulus - except dumb proposals (those always seem to garner support from both parties)

CR,

It seems you are inferring that QE2 is pretty well a fait accompli. Is that your thought?

Thanks,

yagij wrote:

Rob Dawg wrote:

Why? Absolutely serious question. Why?

I'd take a high speed train connecting every major city along a major East-West route like I40.
.
As for why? Because I'd like to travel without dealing with the TSA or my own car.

Are you willing to pay for it? Are you sure TSA won't be involved? I'm not being contentious. There may be HSR in our future transportation infrastructure plans and we need to decide if cost and other things are justified.

some investor guy wrote:

Some of them aren't real happy about that.

It helps if you don't laugh at us as you run on by.

That just means the unit will morph into another unit and be renamed with younger and more aggressive players. Mostly what it means is they will expanding their commodities futures trading desk and HFT desk. Next, acquisitions, in energy sectors and commodities sector will also pick up.

Finally, as 'market-makers' arbitrage into the Chinese trading markets will be a major goal, specifically the new FX and commodities market that opened the 31st of August while unwinding of participation in Europe.

Am I thinking like yet?

Uncle Ar wrote:

ust a fact that most cyclists seem to not be in very good shape.

even with all that spandex?

josap wrote:

Rob Dawg wrote:
Why? Absolutely serious question. Why?
Jobs
I hate to fly
Jobs
Less oil use.

Add RR right of way make for the BEST 'public' rabbit & pheasant hunting EVAH! 'Specially when the trains never run.

I was doing a similar hill a few weeks ago and started passing cyclists while running.

It made my day (as a runner) when lance armstrong ran the NY marathon and said it
was "without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done."

"I've noticed that the greater the slope, the less of an advantage there is for cyclist vs runners. I was doing a similar hill a few weeks ago and started passing cyclists while running. Some of them aren't real happy about that. "

I used to do a mountain bike ride that was just a pure pain ride. 2000 feet of climbing off road in 2.75 miles. So roughly 12% grade on average.

I'd be huffing and puffing up a 20% grade section and some guy would go running by. Sigh... But!! on the way down NO contest who was winning.

There's really no way to keep your heart-rate down to a maneagable level on a high grade section with dropping to a lower gear.

Speaking of diffusion ( in this case corexit for oil in the Gulf ) let's see how many people trust a lame ass NOAA and FDA sampling size of a dozen shrimp cocktails spread out over an area the size of Connecticut to fire up some GOM shrimp on the barbie like for Labor Day weekend

The Government's Shrimpy Seafood Safety Test | Mother Jones

High speed rail LOL, Made in China. The cost would be unbearable plus the destruction of current jobs. Another green loser.

Rob Dawg wrote:

Are you sure TSA won't be involved? I'm not being contentious. There may be HSR in our future transportation infrastructure plans and we need to decide if cost and other things are justified.

Moderately relevant response...

Many years ago suburban transit systems were used to deliver packages as well as people. I considered suggesting that BART provide such a service. Imagine how many delivery trucks could be taken off the freeways if a company/individual could drop off a package at a BART station with pickup an hour later at another BART station.

But, I'm 10 years too late because after 9/11 everyone would be afraid of what could happen in the tube under the bay.

Rob Dawg wrote:

HSR is about Asian engineering firms and Indian manufacturers.

It doesn't have to be.

*Embrace the dysfunctional.
And don't let them take your stapler! *

I work here at YVR airport in Vancouver BC. Whenever anyone is going to use a stapler we always check around to see if there are any cops around.

Taser cops feared stapler-holding Robert Dziekanski | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com

dryfly wrote:

So we can ship around faster of course.

Government ponies to government cronies.

josap wrote:

I hate to fly

Given time, I'm sure we can make you hate rail travel.

HomeGnome wrote:

I've got a friend who I ride with occasionally and I swear he doesn't run on oxygen.
I'm pretty sure he's some sort of alien half breed.

I was camping near the end of a long psycho bike race. I wasn't one of the competitors, didn't even know it was scheduled.

I arrived about 9 pm and drove past a lone cyclist on my way up. Turns out, he was the winner, and was so far ahead of the expected finish time that he had gone past his support team. Race officials weren't even set up. His time crossing the finish line was certified by the closest thing to an official present: the Caterer had arrived the night before. The first finishers weren't expected until dawn. The guy won by almost 7 hours.

Pure fun bombing down an old logging road on your bike.
Until the wild turkeys get in your way.

josap wrote:

There is no TSA (or anything like that) on the EuroRail.

When was the last time you saw a sub-machine gun in public in the USA?

Rob Dawg wrote:

When was the last time you saw a sub-machine gun in public in the USA?

Do assault rifles at the airport count? (Now were they loaded or for show, I can't easily say)

SPOOL wrote:

Freedom isn't Free Fee.

I like it.

Jamie Dimon's real estate woes | Money & Company | Los Angeles Times

" As homeowners have struggled to modify their mortgages with JPMorgan Chase & Co., more than a few have probably felt flashes of anger toward the company's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, whose bank has bounced back while the housing market has continued to struggle.

It may be some comfort to these folks, then, to know that Dimon has not been immune from the problems of falling home prices. On Friday, the Chicago Tribune noted that Dimon has once again had to cut the asking price on his Chicago home after failing to find a buyer.

.....originally went on the market for $13.5 million in 2007. The bad real estate market has forced a series of reductions that have brought the listing price down by nearly half, to $6.95 million......Even after all the price cuts, if Dimon manages to sell at the current price, he'll still make a cool $2.3 million over his purchase price in 2000. "

Mr Dimon bought a home for $4.7 million in 2000, and now is offering it for $7 million. And everyone is calling this horrendous and deflationary.

We have a deficit of the right kind of govt fiscal stimulus. I am speaking of the kind that goes directly to employ currently underemployed people, and to jump-start a re-direction of our economy away from too much FIRE, outsourcing, imported oil, and so on.

On the other hand, we have a surplus of monetary stimulus directed at maintaining still-bloated asset prices. Too many people still dream of holding on to all the accumulated free lunches they picked up as asset prices soared above inflation for most of the last 3 decades.

yagij wrote:

Some of us hide the spandex/friction avoiders with additional layers of clothing, but we can't honestly exercise without that spandex. It would be day after day of baby rashes

A hemmmm... Body Glide.

HomeGnome wrote:

wild turkey

Is it time yet?

patientrenter wrote:

Jamie Dimon's real estate woes | Money & Company | Los Angeles Times

Did Timmy ever sell his house?

dryfly wrote:

Body Glide.

I could rub Crisco or Vaseline down there like a man oils his tractor before the day's work, but we don't really have anything that will last through 4-6 hr friction-inducing hikes and runs that can match spandex. I'm sorry. Don't even get me started about needing man-pons for the crack/moisture problem.
.
Besides, who wants to go running with a tube o' lube or tub o' petroleum jelly and explain why it is there?

Gary wrote:

The dishonesty of shill and cinco is starting to rub off more and more on you Rob. It's a shame.

Alright, there is a French and a Canadian firm both capable of delivering an HSR product suitable for the American market. The point is there isn't a domestic candidate. I am truly sorry if my not being assiduous caused you to think I was trending ideological.

on the way down NO contest who was winning

on the way down NO contest who was winning

POIC - you'll probably appreciate this video then.

Dailymotion - Mondial Du VTT Descente de Venosc caméra embarquée - une vidéo Actu et Politique

I put together a chart based on US DOT data that shows the US population, number of licensed drivers, and number of vehicles between 1960 and 2003: VehiclesvsPop.jpg - Google Docs

The number of vehicles passed the number of drivers back in the early 70's and the gap has consistently increased. I figure corporate fleets and people getting the SUV/four wheel drive for weekends.

yagij wrote:

I could rub Crisco or Vaseline down there like a man oils his tractor before the day's work, but we don't really have anything that will last through 4-6 hr friction-inducing hikes and runs that can match spandex. I'm sorry.

No I'm sorry - this stuff is magic. I've hiked all day and only had to apply once maybe twice. My kids are cross country runners & distance swimmers [open water five milers] - no chaffing nothing. My daughter wears it when she scubas - slips in and out of neoprene like it was cotton.

Don't knock it until you've tried it. Don't have a financial interest but wish I did.

Oh and if YOU have to wear spandex - this stuff under spandex actually allows for the spandex to work the way its intended to work.

When was the last time you saw a sub-machine gun in public in the USA?

Everyday. Come down to lower Manhattan.

Rob Dawg wrote:

The point is there isn't a domestic candidate. I am truly sorry if my not being assiduous caused you to think I was trending ideological.

Then why don't we (gov) start with an X Prize for design and engineering?

Rob Dawg wrote:

I am truly sorry if my not being assiduous caused you to think I was trending ideological.

I'll retract my comment. It wasn't really fair.

But yes, there's more than Asian options and of course there's opportunity to develop rail industry here - or demand factories from foreign suppliers here. And the track and station construction will of course all have to be done here. And the engineering and consulting work could be specified to be done here. And at the end of the day we'll be left with something we are sorely lacking.

*Alright, there is a French and a Canadian firm both capable of delivering an HSR product suitable for the American market. *

Yes, Bombardier could do it . We have an ALRT here in Vancouver made by Bombardier but when all things considered hideously overexpensive once the politicization and the cronyism of the decision making process interfered with the design.

HSR is the future but judging by the ever increasing number of vehicles on the road and the sheer amount of industry, hype, and propaganda surrounding them that car culture will be a hard beast to kill.

curious wrote:

I was inspired by you and mp to do some modeling of PMI and the average of the Fed surveys. I used a simple linear regression, done in R and the predict() function to make the graph below. As you and mp have said, this month's PMI seems strangely high.

So, three of the four outliers are over the last 8 months. Hmmm.

• 1 for you and +1 for Winston too.

Duke of Con Dao wrote:

rest assured that none of you will ever meet me. this is just game / role playing. think of William Holden in Stalag 17 and his line about how if ever they pass him on the street.

If you meet the Duke on the road, kill him?

(great movie ref.....)

By all, I'm going fishing. We have the biggest run of sockeye in the Fraser in the last 100 years and I'm gettin me some of that.

Mike thanks for that link! The closest I came to anything like that was a half-day downhill mountain bike jungle trip in Northern Thailand and that was extremely junior compared to what those guys were doing.

josap wrote:

want a high speed train connecting every major city in the US.

Total, absolute BFWOM (big fucking waste of money)

Being an Army brat, guys with guns on corners don't bother me.

Depends on where.

I've also seen guys who were so scary they didn't need guns.

Eric wrote:

Total, absolute BFWOM (big fucking waste of money)

Some malinvestments are better than others.

Harrisburg, Pa. Mulls Hiring Bankruptcy Lawyer As Tactic 09/03 07:36 AM
(This article was originally published Thursday.)
By Romy Varghese
OF DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
HARRISBURG (Dow Jones)--Elected officials here met Thursday evening to discuss hiring a bankruptcy advisor and handing over control of their troubled municipal authority to a receiver as fiscal problems in Pennsylvania's capital city mount.
The city administration earlier this week said it wouldn't be able to make a $ 3.29 million general obligation bond payment, marking the second-largest general obligation municipal default this year. Meanwhile, Harrisburg struggles with $ 288 million of debt related to a failed incinerator revamp.
Council vice president Patty Kim said she would create an ad-hoc committee to look into hiring a financial or legal adviser who could explore a municipal bankruptcy filing, which Mayor Linda Thompson opposes.
"Bankruptcy isn't the scariest of the options out there," said Councilman Brad Koplinski.
Elected controller Dan Miller urged the five council members at the committee meeting to consider hiring a bankruptcy advisor, if only as a bargaining tactic with bond insurer Assured Municipal Guaranty, a unit of Assured Guaranty, and Dauphin County, both of which have guaranteed a bulk of the incinerator debt after the city.
"Doesn't mean we have to go into it, but it makes the threat real," said Miller, who said that Assured officials unequivocally told him earlier Thursday that they refuse to consider principal or interest-rate concessions on the debt they insure.
Miller and Kim also told the audience of the plan Dauphin County Commissioner George P. Hartwick presented to them earlier Thursday, which calls for handing over control of the Harrisburg Authority, the municipal entity that owns the incinerator, to a receiver.
In addition, Hartwick's plan included the city leasing its parking garages; and only then would the county consider raising the tipping fees charged to county residents at the incinerator.
But Harrisburg Authority board member Marc Kurowski said the board had done a preliminary look into receivership. But the board found it "uncharted territory" and questioned how one could carve up the authority's functions.
Miller also laid out his plan for the incinerator debt, which calls for control of the city's debt-laden incinerator to be handed over to Dauphin County; bond holder concessions; diverting proceeds from the city's parking authority for the debt payments; and hiring a bankruptcy adviser.
-By Romy Varghese, Dow Jones Newswires; 215-656-8263; romy.varghese@ dowjones.com

At least they aren't Mississippians. Those are some wide loads.

Uncle Ar
duke, if you ever win an oscar or write a nyt best seller, you better let us know."
...
won't happen. there's enough geniuses on this board to do the sleuthing... same reason I never post nor blog anything that I consider serious writing for obvious reasons.
...

must go...

Mike thanks for that link! The closest I came to anything like that was a half-day downhill mountain bike jungle trip in Northern Thailand and that was extremely junior compared to what those guys were doing.

Seeing as how Long Island is fairly flat - I can't imagine going down a mountain like those guys!! I ride a hardtail but its almost virtually all on surface streets. I am longing for a cyclocross bike so I can continue to launch off curbs and blast thru potholes without worrying about tacoing a wheel.

Comrade Canadien avec popcorn wrote:

HSR is the future...

An old joke and not at your expense: "HSR is the future... and always will be."

Rail is lousy option for moving people. People go by road and air. Water and rail are at best poor cousins in special circumstances. Don't get me wrong. Rail moves bulk, pont to point, time insensitive cargo for less and better than almost anything. People are not bulk, not point to point and not time insensitive. That's all. We don't ship coal FedEx overnight and everyone can do the math in their head in a half second as to why. For some reason the exact same math is never performed for passenger rail.

Black Star Ranch wrote:

their "ride".

I love my ten year old, paid for truck.
I plan on having it for another 10 years.

Black Star Ranch wrote:

Most people are physically attached at the hip to their "ride".

They won't be at $7.00 gal gas.

Workers paying a greater share of health insurance coverage

poic,

Use this link and watch the video in the first post.

The latest - Mountain Bike Forums

josap wrote:

They won't be at $7.00 gal gas.

Is there anyplace in the world charging $7 for gas? And of course we need to account for taxes.

steinly wrote:

Reading CR over wifi on a train...

Did that in Italy. Just cause I could.

must. maintain. corporate. profits.

Rob Dawg wrote:

Passenger rail is like using FedEx overnight to deliver coal.

HSR makes sense where you have the population density to support it and an overloaded air transport system. The TSA just adds an additional incentive (BTW, trains through the Chunnel require the same level of security as planes.) So in the USA that means the eastern third of the country and especially the northeast. The western limit would probably be the Chicago-St.Louis-Twin Cities routes.

When I lived in Manhattan, I could take the subway to midtown, the train to DC and Metra to my parents' place much quicker than a cab to the airport, flying and cab on the other end. Whether it makes sense depends on your circumstances.

When I lived in your neck of the woods I commuted over the hill via the Highway 17 express bus. Awesome commute - wifi, large, reclining seats with private lights, frequent. Much better than driving, especially because I could sleep on the way to work and surf the web on the way home.

Rob Dawg wrote:

When was the last time you saw a sub-machine gun in public in the USA?

last night 5PM news, report of gun in high school in southeast Bay Area. Police lock down entire school, tube shows this cop in full battle gear pointing an automatic looking weapon at these little high schoolers as they are ordered to walk backwards out of their classrooms and pull shirt up to expose potential weapon, leading to a brave flatfoot patting them down. disgusting

Rob Dawg wrote:

Is there anyplace in the world charging $7 for gas?

About.com: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/prices.html#Motor

Eric wrote:

Total, absolute BFWOM (big fucking waste of money)

Are you talking about your SRS again?

Black Star Ranch wrote:

[HSR] right-of-ways

This has always seemed to me to be the fly in the ointment. In the US, NIMBY and respect for personal property rights make any project that covers a large area (thus many affected) extremely protracted, and thus, costly.

HomeGnome wrote:

What do you say?

I'd say let's go get a beer in the bar car Gnome, I'm buying.

curious wrote:

I was inspired by you and mp to do some modeling of PMI and the average of the Fed surveys. I used a simple linear regression, done in R and the predict() function to make the graph below. As you and mp have said, this month's PMI seems strangely high.

Very nice work! I wish more commenters here would take the time to do the kind of excellent work you've done.

Loved the Amtrack Club Car. Used to ride there rather than my seat.

picosec wrote:

respect for personal property rights make any project that covers a large area (thus many affected) extremely protracted, and thus, costly.

Yep - "Man in his Castle" sorta thing.......you used to just be able to just throw the bums off their land for any worthwhile (read: ANY) projects, like Chavez Ravine (Dodger Stadium).

Well, I made it to Antigua but the kite-surfing school was closed for the season. So plain vanilla waterskiing it is. As for lady-luck, storms (short of hurricanes) are magic...

As for poker, I'm in the black in the cash games, but no tournament results. Got a couple coming up- checking out Miami (FL just raised its limits) on the way back, then AC has one.

As for the big casino, I'm still fighting the Fed and the squid, and they're winning this year, but I ain't broke yet. I'm still betting they will discover a huge money hole (or a mole that can't be whacked, in honor of Fuld) at the worst moment and bailouts will be finally refused, even by Ben.

If I lose, then I may have to "contribute" to GDP growth by becoming a for-profit lawyer...

Hey, at least CA's HSR won't share tracks with freight. Actually, at least around here (northern, CA) , passenger rail has been pretty beneficial to freight in that the improvements demanded by the freight companies to allow passenger trains have more than compensated for the impact of passenger traffic.

tumbril driver wrote:

HSR makes sense where you have the population density to support it and an overloaded air transport system.

The answer to popular air travel is rail? What about better and more air travel?

The best option is to pay for a separate air network. $45.3 billion can pay
for lots of "pocket airports" for the exclusive use of the "California High
Speed Airtrain System." [CHASE] We start by funding research and
constructing of a fleet of STOL "whisperfans" with a low top speed (320-350
mph) and short range (<1800km) and then pay for their operations in a
fashion unique to public transit; full cost farebox recovery ticket pricing.
Surprisingly those prices would be less than the projected costs of the
CA-HSR fares despite the service being better.

• From 4 years ago.

Are FDIC employees UNION ?

If so, I will vote ZERO for shutdowns today. Union label doesn't work on Labor Day weekend.

picosec wrote:

MUNI will pay you for that testimonial.

I'll be glad to tell everybody what a great experience Muni was -- in 1988.

some investor guy wrote:

Whenever I see new train proposals, whether light rail or high speed, it baffles me why they always seem to want plenty of new rights of way.

HSR likes straight lines.

Tommy Vu wrote:

I'm amazed at others who actually believe this country in it's current state being politically, fiscally, broken and void of leadership can accomplish something on the scale of a national HSR system on budget, on time, functioning, etc.

You mean the gaping hole at ground zero being ten years old is indicative of a national malaise? HCN?

Tommy Vu wrote:

I'm amazed at others who actually believe this country in it's current state being politically, fiscally, broken and void of leadership can accomplish something on the scale of a national HSR system on budget, on time, functioning, etc.

Take a look at history. Some of the best construction projects were in terrible economic times: Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, Panama Canal (WW I).

I've seen constructions projects come in years ahead of schedule and way under budget during a construction downturn.

Rob Dawg wrote:

Rail moves bulk, pont to point,

Exactly...i.e. all those one occupant vehicles going from the exurbs to the center city...

picosec wrote:

HSR likes straight lines

Aside from amusement parks, I don't see a lot of really curved train tracks. I think there is entirely too much emphasis on having almost no lateral forces experienced by passengers on HSR.

If you want to build big infrastructure projects, this is the time to do it.

George R.R. Martin

Yep.

Rob Dawg wrote:

Dawgifornia will be replete with extensive rail.

Sure it will....after you decree UPS out of existence

"But the economy made its tiger's leap out of the stale factory and into the open air of finance for a reason; we can't just return to the fading industrial base with an oops shrug. We have no new line of widgets to labor over and sell. This is why ours is a real crisis, not just a panic. This is why we have seen exactly what the analysis grimly promised: shortages cheek by jowl with surpluses, unemployed workers stacked up next to unused factories. We deferred this reckoning once, twice, three times, depending on your measure. Certainly the most recent credit bubble was pure deferral, pure delusion: Wile E. Coyote out over the gap, legs spinning. He hovered there for a while, and lots of people pretended the laws of physics had been revised, even as he started to plummet. Boom. By boom I mean bust."

Busted: Stories of the Financial Crisis | The Nation

longtimelurker wrote:

you would have said the same thing in 1930, and yet . . .

This isn't 1930 but I agree with your premise. If trillions of taxpayer money would of went into HSR, infrastructure, jobs programs instead of saving the TBTF's, propping up asset prices, ramping up equity markets, chances for success would have been better. But they didn't

bearly wrote:

If so, I will vote ZERO for shutdowns today. Union label doesn't work on Labor Day weekend.

Da*n, guess the power will go out all over America then.

Just got off the phone with a dear friend who lives in Darfield, epicentre of 7.4 earthquake: everyone is OK - even the sheep.

edit: it's amazing there has been so little damage. The geology in the area is thick, thick gravels and sands. Energy wave propagation very interesting around the area. Reports are that damage is quite random - something I would expect from looking at the underlying geology.

justaskin wrote:

Rob Dawg wrote:

Rail moves bulk, pont to point,

Exactly...i.e. all those one occupant vehicles going from the exurbs to the center city...

We are "arguing" the same thing I think. Point to point is a good use of rail. With dispersed source and/or destination it starts to become less efficient. Pretty much every business activity is tending towards less concentrated. Connect the dots.

Rosenberg has more to say today on the ISM PMI print.

He's also talking about yesterday's productivity print.

Gary wrote:

WAY, WAY OT, but if there are any George R.R. Martin fans here, bearly gives me a mental image of Mord the Jailer.

I'm thinking the Vogon in HGTHG.....bearly does, on rare occasions, spout what, in comparison to his normal discourse, passes for poetry....

Winston wrote:

UPS is a big user of rail freight.

I was just poking at the technocratic dream-world the Dawg conjures up

Tommy Vu wrote:

This isn't 1930 but I agree with your premise. If trillions of taxpayer money would of went into HSR, infrastructure, jobs programs instead of saving the TBTF's, propping up asset prices, ramping up equity markets, chances for success would have been better. But they didn't

And I agree with your response. This should have been started in January 2009. But now we are where we are, and massive public works is still the right thing to do. Maybe even more so.

justaskin wrote:

Rob Dawg wrote:

Dawgifornia will be replete with extensive rail.

Sure it will....after you decree UPS out of existence

Au contraire mon amie. The DDDS (Dawgifornian Digital Document Service) is intended to replace any number of outmoded mechanisms from title service to registered mail.

Rob Dawg wrote:

Pretty much every business activity is tending towards less concentrated. Connect the dots.

I certainly know that farmers in Western Canada have been quite concerned about the mass closure of feeder lines to elevators in the prairies. I assume the same problem exists in the USA, and highlights the problem of freight collection for these point-to-point rail services.

nova wrote:

We don't build much but we sure can lock it down, blow it up, and process the survivors.

nova:
yagij:
Police/Prison Industrial Complex:

YouTube - garrett reynolds

This guy is apparently in his own class, but Andy Buckworth executed a double front-flip recently.

A double front flip.
A double front flip.
On a bicycle.

I agree with your response. This should have been started in January 2009. But now we are where we are, and massive public works is still the right thing to do. Maybe even more so.

New stuff too. Reach for the stars. Inspire people.

noob goldberg wrote:

I certainly know that farmers in Western Canada have been quite concerned about the mass closure of feeder lines

Lovely. We are cutting our own arteries.

picosec wrote:

Can anyone imagine this pace in 2011?

Amazing what you can do when you have no OSHA regs.

nova wrote:

New stuff too. Reach for the stars. Inspire people.

I love it. You complete me, nova. You had me at 'inspire'.

Turned a (small) profit: 1952 or so.

Many of the original investors got wiped out unless they found a sucker. The observatory saved it from BK.

Winston wrote:

Actually, in the US it's passenger comfort that limits lateral acceleration.

Not in a position to point to data, but I've ridden on European "Medium" Speed Rail (180km/hr) and it was a sweet ride. Darn site better than BART at 100km/hr.

The ChCh quake seems most similar to the 1933 Long Beach one, to me.

Lots of masonry bit the dust in that one...

noob goldberg wrote:

I certainly know that farmers in Western Canada have been quite concerned about the mass closure of feeder lines to elevators in the prairies. I assume the same problem exists in the USA, and highlights the problem of freight collection for these point-to-point rail services.

Central North American feeder line rail corridors are classic monopoly plays.

yagij wrote:

justaskin wrote:
We are cutting our own arteries.
We are hedging risk on one side to profit on the other side.

Overstrikes are us. "We are hedging risk on one side to profit on the other side" Hello, Alice.

justaskin wrote:

Overstrikes are us.

I can stand to lose 40-50 lbs. Fat 'mericans are going to be survivors! ^
.
^ - As long as they can find water and defend themselves from fitter 'mericans

Gary wrote:

Rob Dawg wrote:

Sheep lie.

Sheep talk too much! Sheep lie!

Lol!

justaskin wrote:

I wonder when the banks will start applying that charge?

I asked her if banks ever decline a mortgage renewal if payments were up to date, even if the house was underwater. She said that banks do not require an appraisal at renewal, so they don't have any way of knowing if a specific house was underwater. Therefore the bank would never ask for additional collateral on an underwater loan because they wouldn't be able to identify them.

I asked her what would happen if a region suddenly had a significant decline in housing prices--say 20% or more in a 300 square mile area, so all the loans would be at risk. She said that the banks would probably start requiring appraisals and demanding additional capital, as they're not particularly keen on lending out money not covered by either collateral or insurance.

I imagine, before they ever demanded additional capital, that CMHC would probably be kicked by the politicians into covering negative valuations on housing. Taxpayers will pay, it's inevitable.

yagij wrote:

Ewe knows what you did last night... Shock

Ewe'r the one for me...

not even one slumdog at market close. Rather sad after that massive beat on the unemployment numbers.

Rob Dawg wrote:

Is there anyplace in the world charging $7 for gas? And of course we need to account for taxes.

Well, yeah - as per : Comparison of Global Petrol Prices across the world with India

Turkey - 8.78, Denmark 7.00
I only bothered to check because it felt bloody expensive. Of course its most taxes I'd have thought - what with fungibility and all that - is that what you mean by account for taxes ?

Union label doesn't work on Labor Day weekend.

so that explains why college football starts this weekend, and the NFL a week later...

" poic wrote:

We are actually starting to hire a bit at our company

In the City or banished to PHX? "

No hiring in the City. All hiring is in other sites such as Phoenix. Mostly contract so far so they can be let go quickly if the economy turns down again.

noob goldberg wrote:

The rail companies were certainly taking a loss on these smaller lines

Well, as the Dawg says above. So, how does a monopoly loose money? We'd better hope the farmers are able to make a go of it.....

Eric wrote:

last night actually.

Same difference. The campus is mostly dead today anyway.

some investor guy wrote:

I've seen constructions projects come in years ahead of schedule and way under budget during a construction downturn.

The difference between the estimated costs of some highway projects and the actual bid cost was great enough in OR that the state has been able to purchase some passenger rail cars to replace the Talgo cars currently used on the EUG to PDX route (Amtrak Cascades) that are leased from Washington state. WA will want them back soon because the PDX to CN route's ridership has increased and WA plans to run additional trains. Communications ODOT purchases passenger trains

longtimelurker wrote:

From what I understand of the Canadian system, mortgages are for 25 years, 30 years, etc, but the rate and terms are set for no more than 5. So the mortgage itself is not being renewed, just the rate. That would make the mortgages much like US 5 year fixed mortgages, or 3 years or annual adjustables.

If Canadian banks did what your informant said - demanded new collateral or appraisals - the collapse would make the US subprime bust look like a pea-sized pothole in the road.

You're precisely right, and I doubt they would ever do that. I'm pretty sure that the government would step up and insure the banks against additional losses before they ever shot themselves in the foot like that.

But my wife is right, in the sense that banks are not particularly keen on renewing a loan they know has insufficient collateral behind it. Whether or not that translates into a particular action remains to be seen.

picosec wrote:

Sorry, I was quite flippant about the "nobody cares." But it's still the mechanical constraints that determine the speed that can be supported on a run.

If you want high speed rail on current rights of way, let loose the amusement park designers. They can keep people in their seats at well over 3Gs. What's with people wanting to invest hundreds of billions and take years longer just to be able to eat meals like they are at a restaurant, and wander down the aisles at any point in the trip?

justaskin wrote:

We'd better hope the farmers are able to make a go of it.....

One consequence of closure of feeder lines is much greater use of county roads by farmers (using trucks to transport instead) which leads to higher county road costs, i.e, higher taxes or roads in lousy condition.

It's not a matter of amusement park horizontal acceleration. If we would just accept the levels of lateral acceleration that they do just fine with in Europe, we could run much faster passenger trains on the same tracks.

noob goldberg wrote:

Yes, but they forget their heritage: the ones in Canada were given a monopoly (as well as land and significant subsidies) in exchange for providing adequate service at a reasonable cost...