I admit I want to watch the videos but haven't; too lazy to fiddle with youtube. I would say that problems in prototyping are probably to be expected, but other than that I don't have any valid counterarguments to offer other than it sounds like it could be useful in the future. From what I read on the internet years ago, our battery tech was way behind a decade or two ago because the US (and the world) had underfunded battery technology research and application with all the NASA cuts over the decades, since that was the primary source of better battery technology. I probably misremembered and oversimplified it greatly, but space and aquatic construction would be my argument for why it may have value someday if that is viable and doesn't sound crazy.
Here is an semi-interesting question:
Is Amtrak a government agency?
https://www.quora.com/Is-Amtrak-a-U-S-government-agency?share=1I don't know anything about the legitimacy of that link, the contents of which are spoilered below, it just seemed a decent search result and it seems to coincide with what I already read in caselaw.
Some years ago I was reading contract caselaw and I learned that Amtrak was at the time of my reading a few years ago considered a federal agency in at least one of the federal circuit courts while remaining ambiguous in others. I think Gorsuch wrote the opinion while a circuit judge IRC; I think IIRC he found it was an agency under that definition due to the amount of financial support the government provided to it; but that was only applicable in that Circuit if I understand it correctly. I don't know if statutes were re-written since then or if other precedents were set since.
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Michael Kilcullen
, worked at Amtrak
Answered 2 years ago · Author has 53 answers and 24.4K answer views
Amtrak is a “quasi-public corporation”. It is neither a private corporation, nor a government agency.
Amtrak is set up exactly the same way as the Postal Service or the PBS tv/radio broadcasting, or Fannie Mae….
and the misguided Sallie Mae that is trying to ruthlessly profit off of student loans nowadays when they used to be a benign safe place for students to get aid.
These “companies” have their own boards of directors…but the directors are nominated by the President, and subject to Senate review to approve or deny.
They are in the business of trying to make a profit….most of the times, they don’t, but the goal is to seek profit — and hence, they are not called non-profits, nor are they supportable charities.
The employees are directly hired by and as each company’s own employees…they are not legally considered “government employees” in the way that agency or department employees are. That being said, some, such as the Postal Service, might require a civil servant exam….but Amtrak has no such requirement, so they can interview and hire candidates from anywhere.
Congress chooses whether to fund these quasi-public corporations to cover their losses, and to what level they will be funded. That is why, sometimes, we hear of “budget cuts” to PBS or Amtrak…and if Congress reduces funding, then these companies have to make adjustments.
but they are able to change services such as stations, routes, charges, based on the management team, and board of directors, without going to the Congress nor the President for every decision. #delegatedpowers
Now that is not to say that various politicians stay out of these various businesses — au contraire !!!
Many a senator or a representative will pass amendments or laws to require that a post office be kept open in a small town or neighbourhood, or that Amtrak continue to serve a route (ie such as through Kansas). Politicians can also create fundings and grants (such as TIGER) that were used for all modes of transport, of which Amtrak was able to compete for some of the money.
Obstensibly, Amtrak even has stocks, but they are not publicly traded….the government, and each of the freight railroads that turned over their passenger services to Amtrak in 1971, owns the various shares of stock, and in different proportions. Since it is not publicly traded, they do not have to make SEC public filings, so some of this information is not available.
I don't know anything about Amtrak other than that, so I don't know if it's working well or not, or how the bill changes things so I don't offer an opinion on that.
To reply to the previous post, it wouldn't make sense to replace slow freight with these even if they worked unless they were more cost efficient at some point in the future. I think they are more intended for fast passenger transport or for high price express freight or such. Also anyone who says humans can't fly cars in 3d hasn't seen me pilot a Reaver in Planetside 2... and to be fair I'd probably be a lot more careful if it was a real flying car.
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