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[Bauglir]

That is why I am particularly annoyed when Democrats, or anyone really, engage in race baiting by insisting, somehow, Republicans were historically responsible for the current state of racial affairs.

Nobody suggested that. You were just looking for something to bitch about.

Uh, no, actually I can understand his response to Nadaka, even if Nadaka's post was a response to an even more ridiculous post. If absolutely nothing else, "All racists left the Democrats and became Republicans" has very misleading implications.

[Nikov]

That is why I am particularly annoyed when Democrats, or anyone really, engage in race baiting by insisting, somehow, Republicans were historically responsible for the current state of racial affairs.

Nobody suggested that. You were just looking for something to bitch about.

Uh, no, actually I can understand his response to Nadaka, even if Nadaka's post was a response to an even more ridiculous post. If absolutely nothing else, "All racists left the Democrats and became Republicans" has very misleading implications.

Danke schön.

[Africa]

Hang on, I mixed Nikov up with Gorjo MacGrymm. I need to get some more sleep. My bad.

[GlyphGryph]

On Trains:

I hate trains. Not just in the US, either. I've just had bad experiences with them, and they are amazingly inconvenient.

The exception here is subways. Subways are amazing. Except here's the funniest thing - I always end up driving to the subway instead of taking the train!

Both of these come from one simple fact - when I need to get somewhere, will the train get me there faster than the car?

In the US (and frankly, most other countries I've been too, including in Europe) the answer is a very clear "no it will not". Couple this with the fact that trains are also more expensive than driving, AND take away your mobility and options once you arrive at your destination, AND most trips need to be planned in rather excruciating detail, AND using train websites and figuring out scheduling is not an intuitive skill, especially since you'll often have to combine separate train, bus, and subway sites to actually figure out how to get where you want to go... well, I don't understand why anyone EVER rides the train anywhere. They are everything that is bad about buses with none of the things that are good about them.

Frankly, I don't see the appeal.

[Nadaka]

Uh, no, actually I can understand his response to Nadaka, even if Nadaka's post was a response to an even more ridiculous post. If absolutely nothing else, "All racists left the Democrats and became Republicans" has very misleading implications.

Again, I never said all. I said most, twice.

[Leafsnail]

In the US (and frankly, most other countries I've been too, including in Europe) the answer is a very clear "no it will not". Couple this with the fact that trains are also more expensive than driving, AND take away your mobility and options once you arrive at your destination, AND most trips need to be planned in rather excruciating detail, AND using train websites and figuring out scheduling is not an intuitive skill, especially since you'll often have to combine separate train, bus, and subway sites to actually figure out how to get where you want to go... well, I don't understand why anyone EVER rides the train anywhere. They are everything that is bad about buses with none of the things that are good about them.

Where in Europe?  The rail system was pretty damn great in Germany when I went (fast, relatively cheap, there were computer terminals at the stations to quickly plan a route from there to almost anywhere else in Europe), and it was fine in France and Europe.  If you're talking about Britain... yeah, it sucks.  The rail system here is pretty much the best argument against careless privatisation.

[LoSboccacc]

and if you're in italy, you can actually die.

well, actual death is improbable, but a possibility. getting ill is quite a possibility instead.

[RedKing]

Yeah, rail and subway both in the Czech Republic and in China were great.

Took daytrips from Prague to Plzen and Brno for a pittance. Took a high-speed express rail back and forth between Shanghai and Hangzhou for like $10 each way and made it there in half the time it would have taken to drive. Took an overnight from Beijing to Shanghai (about 1200 km/930 mi) for less than the cost of an airline ticket (although the domestic airfare can be pretty cheap, and the inflight service is fantastic--got fed three times in a 4hr flight!).

Absolutely lived and died by the subway in Prague and Beijing. Both cities have effective "triangle" layouts, they were clean, safe, timely, cheap and simple enough that they could be navigated without any real comprehension of the local language. Only times I used a taxi in Beijing was when I was too drunk to navigate the subway properly and/or walk the mile or so between where I was staying and the nearest Metro stop.


EDIT: Oh and I rode a maglev in Shanghai. Which while not terribly practical is AWESOME. 431 km/h top speed, rides smooth as a baby's bottom. I should post my videos of that some time.

[ILikePie]

Yeah, rail and subway both in the Czech Republic and in China were great.

The subway in Prague was amazing, you could be anywhere in that city in just a few minutes.

Trains here in Israel ain't that bad either. They take you from one major city to the next (eg. Haifa to Tel Aviv) in an hour or so. Tickets don't cost much (₪15, around $4), and trains are almost never late.

[PTTG??]

Hey, I can talk about mass transit in my country too:

Lesse here... I got on the bus... which was tiny and cramped... and rode it for an hour and a half to get to the nearest working train station. Then I got on the train and rode it back northeast, passing my starting point an hour or two later and stopping at least once a day for several hours at a time to let freight trains pass.

Yay America!

[scriver]

Sweden'e pretty well too, except for some areas which has been unfortunately left behind. To travel from my town to Stockholm, for example, you must first travel to a connection spot that actually leaves you further away from Stockholm than you were to begin with. Nothing you would notice if you're just travelling from city to city, however. Above example don't happen when going to any of the other two big names either, which perhaps should be mentioned.

Oh, and of course, all shut breaks down at least once almost every winter. Used to be better in the good old days, though. Partly because stately sell-outs has splintered the whole business, and there's not enough organisation. And the insisting on using trains not built for the climate. This winter they had to pull out old locomotives from museums because too many new ones stopped working.

[Africa]

Trains here in Israel ain't that bad either. They take you from one major city to the next (eg. Haifa to Tel Aviv) in an hour or so. Tickets don't cost much (₪15, around $4), and trains are almost never late.

Except when the (@&##$&% train workers decide to go on a "surprise strike" starting at midnight the night before I need to get to the airport. Yeah, I'm bitter.

[Virex]

Oh, and of course, all shut breaks down at least once almost every winter. Used to be better in the good old days, though. Partly because stately sell-outs has splintered the whole business, and there's not enough organisation. And the insisting on using trains not built for the climate. This winter they had to pull out old locomotives from museums because too many new ones stopped working.

Yeah we seem to have the same problem here in Holland, which is weird because you'd expect a private company to provide better quality then a public one.

[RedKing]

Oh, and of course, all shut breaks down at least once almost every winter. Used to be better in the good old days, though. Partly because stately sell-outs has splintered the whole business, and there's not enough organisation. And the insisting on using trains not built for the climate. This winter they had to pull out old locomotives from museums because too many new ones stopped working.

Yeah we seem to have the same problem here in Holland, which is weird because you'd expect a private company to provide better quality then a public one.

You haven't worked for many corporations, obviously.

[PTTG??]

Transit companies are by definition monopolies.