POLITICS SCHMALITICS

[romad1]

The comedy of the brainwashed stewardesses (Catherine O'Hara totally underrated) being so diligent in their brainwashedness that they continuously delivered blankets and drinks to Bruno and Doctor Tongue.  

[oblong]

Is it just me or has Catherine O'Hara been elevated b/c of Schitt's Creek?  I think a lot of people considered her great but in terms of mainstream audiences was she considered Kevin's mom?  It's hard for me to judge because I've always been a fan.  

She was cast on SNL but bolted b/c the place terrified her.  It was the Ebersol years so it's hard to say if she'd have been a success.  Didn't do much for Julie Louis Dreyfuss at the time other than introduce her to her husband.

 

[romad1]

1 hour ago, oblong said:

Is it just me or has Catherine O'Hara been elevated b/c of Schitt's Creek?  I think a lot of people considered her great but in terms of mainstream audiences was she considered Kevin's mom?  It's hard for me to judge because I've always been a fan.  

She was cast on SNL but bolted b/c the place terrified her.  It was the Ebersol years so it's hard to say if she'd have been a success.  Didn't do much for Julie Louis Dreyfuss at the time other than introduce her to her husband.

 

She also got some bump because of the Christopher Guest movies.  

[chasfh]

It’s didn’t hurt either that Catherine O’Hara was a stone looker.

[Motown Bombers]

Thanks to Glen Youngkin, this plant and jobs are coming to Michigan instead of Virginia. 

 

[gehringer_2]

8 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Thanks to Glen Youngkin, this plant and jobs are coming to Michigan instead of Virginia. 

 

small detail and not about the politics, but the article appears to say Ford is planning to put Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries in vehicles as opposed to the more common "Lithium Ion" type. I've used LIP batteries - they are safer and probably will give longer lifecycles, but they are not as space/weight efficient as LI.

[romad1]

29 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Thanks to Glen Youngkin, this plant and jobs are coming to Michigan instead of Virginia. 

 

Unless she doesn’t want to go further as a politician she should reconsider 

[CMRivdogs]

The railroad should be forced to pay for every home affected, along with relocation fees. That would still be less than what they are paying for their corporate offices in Georgia. Not to mention their lobbying contributions the last 20 plus years.

I've hated them since they slinked out of Roanoke, Va 50 plus years ago.

 

[Screwball]

16 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

The railroad should be forced to pay for every home affected, along with relocation fees. That would still be less than what they are paying for their corporate offices in Georgia. Not to mention their lobbying contributions the last 20 plus years.

I've hated them since they slinked out of Roanoke, Va 50 plus years ago.

 

The population of East Palestine is around 5k. So that's 5 bucks a person.  How generous.

 

[Screwball]

This disaster in Ohio sure sounds like a mess, yet little to no coverage in the MSM. I don't get that. I'm glad I don't live anywhere near there.

[gehringer_2]

51 minutes ago, Screwball said:

This disaster in Ohio sure sounds like a mess, yet little to no coverage in the MSM. I don't get that. I'm glad I don't live anywhere near there.

The Guardian covered it, but mostly from the angle of Bakken crude moving through the same corridors. Also CBS.  Pittsburg Papers been working it.

Unfortunately, in given the way local news capability has collapsed in the US, we probably can't get much national attention to an event with no immediate casualties or obvious political fallout.

[Screwball]

 

[smr-nj]

45 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

The Guardian covered it, but mostly from the angle of Bakken crude moving through the same corridors. Also CBS.  Pittsburg Papers been working it.

Unfortunately, in given the way local news capability has collapsed in the US, we probably can't get much national attention to an event with no immediate casualties or obvious political fallout.

It was covered on local NYC stations (ABC, NBC, CBS) but I think I only saw it on the day it happened, and maybe.the day after.

 I’m guessing that also because there weren’t immediate casualties, it didn’t make mention on the 3rd day…. But, yeah, why wasn’t it more of a story on the National news coverage? Absolutely should have been.

[gehringer_2]

We can all breath a sigh of relief - the MSM has weighed in.....

https://www.nytimes.com/article/ohio-train-derailment.html

[Screwball]

Since I live about 3 hours away, and have family closer, I have paid close attention to this.

That town is uninhabitable at this point, IMO.

My family was evacuated back in the 90s due to a toluene spill due to a pipeline break that ended up in a creek. We could smell it for months. It was 10 miles away, and a gnat on an elephants ass compared to this one. We were out in the sticks too.

No doubt a once thriving support town during the industrial revolution - turned into blight thanks to globalization - and now they get this.

I feel so bad for them. I've never been there, but plenty of places like that on the east end of OH. I'll bet they would be a hoot to have a beer with.

I hope they sue the ever living snot out of them.

[gehringer_2]

23 minutes ago, Screwball said:

Since I live about 3 hours away, and have family closer, I have paid close attention to this.

That town is uninhabitable at this point, IMO.

My family was evacuated back in the 90s due to a toluene spill due to a pipeline break that ended up in a creek. We could smell it for months. It was 10 miles away, and a gnat on an elephants ass compared to this one. We were out in the sticks too.

No doubt a once thriving support town during the industrial revolution - turned into blight thanks to globalization - and now they get this.

I feel so bad for them. I've never been there, but plenty of places like that on the east end of OH. I'll bet they would be a hoot to have a beer with.

I hope they sue the ever living snot out of them.

There was a report that a random security camera caught the brakes and/or bearings on this train on fire 20 miles prior to the derailment. The condition of US rolling stock and rail tech is purely third world. But no, we don't need regulators, the invisible hand of market will cure all our ills.....

Edited February 14, 2023 by gehringer_2

[Tiger337]

SB, The Ohio fire is trending on Twitter.   Don't go there expecting to find anything useful though.  

It's a horrible situation.  It sounds like many lives are going to be destroyed.  I hope they sue for many millions and win.  

 

 

[Screwball]

19 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

There was a report that a random security camera caught the brakes and/or bearings on this train on fire 20 miles prior to the derailment. The condition of US rolling stock and rail tech is purely third world. But no, we don't need regulators, the invisible hand of market will cure all our ills.....

I disagree.

There are safety devices to scan for this kind of thing. In this case it looks pretty convincing it was a "hot box." There were pictures long before there was a catastrophic event. Call it a wheel bearing. They have sensors along the tracks to watch for this. As it should be given the technology we have today.

But it failed. Some way, some how. Why? Because somebody fucked up.

Penny smart, dollar stupid. Capital expenditures, research & development, and of course, safety - takes the back seat to stock prices, the next earnings report, and all the money the corporate big swinging dicks can profit on their contractual stock options.

People on the inside - the workers - and in this case the people who really do make the trains run on time - could easily make a open and shut case of neglect - total disregard of safety - all in the pursuit of profit. They have the technology to have prevented this right now.

But laws/rules don't matter anymore, depending on who you are. This will be another case. They will spend millions litigating this over the next X years, eventually pay a fine, not admit guilt, and all is good. Just like they do with the criminal banksters. So it's all good. Except for the people of EP.

Funny though, one would think their stock price would have got whacked. Not really. Maybe that tells us all we need to know.

 

[gehringer_2]

19 minutes ago, Screwball said:

They have sensors along the tracks to watch for this. As it should be given the technology we have today.

this is 1970's level tech. No reason for there not to be a wireless mesh system on the train that reports bad bearings/hot spots the to engineer in the train in real time. That would be modern tech. OK there is a reason - no-one has forced them to do better - for all the reasons you stated.

Heck, it's only been in the last few years they have finally implemented an occupied track non collision system that's been in the proposed stage for a generation. It's the F'ing 21st century and we have half a dozen *ungated* RR grade crossings around Ann Arbor because the RR won't pay for even that 100 yr old tech.

Edited February 14, 2023 by gehringer_2

[Screwball]

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

SB, The Ohio fire is trending on Twitter.   Don't go there expecting to find anything useful though.  

It's a horrible situation.  It sounds like many lives are going to be destroyed.  I hope they sue for many millions and win.  

 

 

I really hate the Twitters and Facebooks of the world, but I do find Twitter somewhat useful. Facebook, not so much.

I found more on Twitter than I did from any news outlet. I usually don't wade into Reddit but I checked there too. Thousands of pages. Can't wade though it all.

I went into Google Earth and zoomed into this town to check it out. It's hard to know the exact location of where the cars went up in flames, and where it relates to the town, but I think I'm pretty close. There is a town hall Wednesday at the school, so they say. Best I can tell that's only a few (at best) miles from where the chemical pit lives. Not a big town.

I talked to a guy tonight who worked for a cleanup company for this kind of shit. Known him forever. It was our Monday beer night - couldn't wait to talk to him. Of course he was all over it too.  He worked all over the country cleaning toxic messes - many of them train related. Neglect was the first thing out of his mouth. Imagine that.

I'll bet the ambulance chance lawyers are already on their way to fleece these people, and in the end, only them and the owners, as George Carlin would say, will come out ahead in this.

The rest can eat PVC

 

[Screwball]

20 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

this is 1970's level tech. No reason for there not to be a wireless mesh system on the train that reports bad bearings/hot spots the to engineer in the train in real time. That would be modern tech. OK there is a reason - no-one has forced them to do better - for all the reasons you stated.

Heck, it's only been in the last few years they have finally implemented an occupied track non collision system that's been in the proposed stage for a generation. It's the F'ing 21st century and we have half a dozen *ungated* RR grade crossings around Ann Arbor because the RR won't pay for even that 100 yr old tech.

To the bold. I couldn't agree more. Shit, they could rig up 4 cheap 50 dollar phones above each axle bearing and if it melts you don't get a signal and you know something was wrong. That might be cheaper than many more millions of dollars of other shit that don't work.

I'm kidding, but not by much.

This kind of shit drives me nuts. I spent 35 years in the hell hole best described as Office Space and Dilbert.

Early on, some guy who took me under his wings told me how it really works; the only way it can get anymore fucked up, is if it gets bigger

Fact check = true

[Tiger337]

24 minutes ago, Screwball said:

I really hate the Twitters and Facebooks of the world, but I do find Twitter somewhat useful. Facebook, not so much.

I found more on Twitter than I did from any news outlet. I usually don't wade into Reddit but I checked there too. Thousands of pages. Can't wade though it all.

I went into Google Earth and zoomed into this town to check it out. It's hard to know the exact location of where the cars went up in flames, and where it relates to the town, but I think I'm pretty close. There is a town hall Wednesday at the school, so they say. Best I can tell that's only a few (at best) miles from where the chemical pit lives. Not a big town.

I talked to a guy tonight who worked for a cleanup company for this kind of shit. Known him forever. It was our Monday beer night - couldn't wait to talk to him. Of course he was all over it too.  He worked all over the country cleaning toxic messes - many of them train related. Neglect was the first thing out of his mouth. Imagine that.

I'll bet the ambulance chance lawyers are already on their way to fleece these people, and in the end, only them and the owners, as George Carlin would say, will come out ahead in this.

The rest can eat PVC

 

You are probabably right that they won't win any big lawsuit.  More than likely, they'll just get screwed.

I agree that Twitter is useful.  It's the trending topics section of Twitter I don't like.   

[mtutiger]

57 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Heck, it's only been in the last few years they have finally implemented an occupied track non collision system that's been in the proposed stage for a generation. 

Positive train control, I assume you are referring to... it took five years beyond the initial mandate (2015) for all of the Class I's to come into compliance as well.

It was badly overdue technology and will save lives, but the time that it took to implement shows the flaws of a freight rail system made up of disperate private entities (with a couple of exceptions)... unless the government fully funds the changes, they will drag their heels in implementing...

57 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

It's the F'ing 21st century and we have half a dozen *ungated* RR grade crossings around Ann Arbor because the RR won't pay for even that 100 yr old tech.

In the policy space, FRA and State DOTs almost universally push railroads to signalize as much as possible. But there are over 200,000 grade crossings in the United States across all different classes of railroads, not all of whom operate at the same scale or profit as the Class I's like NS, CSX, BNSF or UP. And they can be really complicated and costly projects, both from a design perspective as well as ancillary needs, such as traffic control, materials, ability to supply electric to a given location (which is a particular issue in the part of the country I live in, particularly as you go west).

Another issue is that a lot of grade crossings are private (upwards of 90,000)... it's theoretically possible that a large industry using a private grade crossing could signalize, but how about private landowners/ranchers who's entrance/egress points require crossing a rail? And in those instances, it's hard to see the railroads paying on their own for those upgrades 

Not making excuses, but as someone who, professionally, has done some grade crossing design and has done some additional research on them within my state, just giving some perspectives. It’s a more complicated subject than it is given credit for.

Edited February 14, 2023 by mtutiger

[mtutiger]

As far as the actual derailment is concerned, the NTSB has a pretty good track record with investigations and will get it sorted out. Not too concerned with them.

If I was a resident, though, I'd be wary of taking any offers of assistance from NS. I doubt any of that comes without strings attached.

Edited February 14, 2023 by mtutiger

[gehringer_2]

27 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

complicated and costly projects,

In my book it's pretty simple, if you can't afford to operate without putting other people's lives at risk, maybe you shouldn't be operating.

This all comes down to maybe my biggest complaint about the way we do capitalism - externalized costs. I seems like no business in American can do business without the true liabilities for the real costs they incur being shuffied off to someone (everyone) else. It will be stupid Inability to do proper cost accounting that will be the downfall of the system when it collapses.

Edited February 14, 2023 by gehringer_2