natininja

I was just trying to be funny, sheesh. The Dem part doesn't matter, either, in terms of better or worse speaker of the house. Liberal is the operative property. (Actually, a non-Dem would have a leg up.) A black tranny Senator would be quite interesting, though. She'd have my vote, so long as the politics lined up.

Will that put it over the top of QCT?

Have they ever raised such concerns for road project studies? What about rural and exurban roads? How do we know they will be used by over 9000 people?

These two things combined present what I believe to be the biggest conundrum for the West for this century. I wonder how China is positioned for this. They are forcing population decline, with their one-child policy, but they are starting with a huge population. I don't know what kind of welfare state they might have. Being "communist," you'd think they have a big one. But they don't seem to actually be very communist.

I wish there were some Midwest regional body that states could sign onto to manage rail issues. Since the feds are leaving this all up to the states, and state rail networks are nothing without other states connecting, this seems necessary. But very unlikely.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100323/NEWS0107/303230029/13-year-old+suspect+in+homicide

I hope Boehner changes his sex, turns black from all his tanning, decides he's gay, and becomes a liberal Dem. Then he can be Speaker.

327, today is the first day I'm really agreeing with you, for a long time (re:3C). We need to focus not primarily on arguments we deem sufficient, we need to focus on ones that appeal to other people. I know you've been saying that, more or less, for a long time. But you have had a bad way of expressing it, and nothing really to add to the table. Today, you've had a breakthrough where you're identifying specific ways to sell the idea and specific places where you think we need either a different or more streamlined angle of attack. If the biggest question is speed, then we need to present a convincing reason why people will use it, regardless of the slower speed. It's not like this hasn't been done before: food/alcohol, wi-fi, relaxation, and productivity have all been discussed, ad infinitum. Some people are probably convinced by the idea, based on what has been said. Johio mentioned some other things today: construction, speeding tickets, traffic jams, finding parking, other stupid drivers/road rage, the ability to work/play without worry, weather. You focused on the restrooms for seniors, as part of your plan to focus on these questions: I think another appropriate question to ask is: What sort of people will not have much reason to ride 3C? Should we write off the idea of heavy travel among businessmen, and just hope to add them on in the future with higher speeds? Or is wi-fi, coffee, a table, and an electric outlet enough to make up for the inconvenience? I think we should wear on our sleeve the fact that we know not everyone is going to use the train. But we should convince them that their (grand)parents, children, friends -- some critical mass of people they know -- are likely to use it. We should also think about what types of trips will be made. A business trip to Columbus will be more feasible than one across the state. Could Cinci/Dayton people use the train to commute? I think the most obvious riders are college students. We should figure out a way to convince the general public that there are a huge number of students at Ohio State (and elsewhere) that would use this train all the time. Are there any numbers on this in the ridership studies? We should also target Ohio's college students in the same way you want to target seniors. I don't think it's hard: food/alcohol and wi-fi are easy sellers. No DUI is another possible seller for this demographic. That could also work for sports fans. To summarize: Targets: Commuters?, Seniors, college students, sports fans -- who else? Write-offs: Business people?, suburbanites?, who???

It's illegal under state law. They could petition for a statewide referendum on the issue. California is doing just that. They don't seem to be interested in the issue, though, as is evident by their mum acceptance of Cecil Thomas's push a few years ago to stiffen the penalties in the city. Instead of just issuing $100 citations for simple possession (which reliably makes money), minor possession is now a criminal offense in city limits, so enforcement now involves all the costs entailed by arrest, booking, holding, trials, etc. This just isn't the kind of "additional spending" which 'COAST' refers to, I guess.

COAST wants a new prison, they just don't want it paid for. No amount of prisons will be enough until the country reexamines the drug war. We need to be smarter about how we punish crimes, not just create more space. We have way too high a percentage of our population in prisons. More prisons aren't an answer.

This is what a gang war looks like. The tectonic plates of the criminal underground are colliding.

The even better question is if the anti-rail rags we call local papers will bother to cover the event. I would like to see or hear the debate, however.

^ Maybe you should direct that comment at Scrabble, who was the one that started waving such numbers around. Hts121 was just continuing this practice, since it became relevant to the conversation.

We should all care about violence in our community. Not necessarily to fear it, but to act in a way that might reduce or prevent it. It's also disrespectful to the victims and their families to go on the way you do. No one deserves this.

327, I'm glad you have identified some specific approaches which you think are effective. I was hoping we could all try to do this, toward the end of framing a best-line-of-attack. It seems you're discontent with the way things were going so far boiled over into some creativity. Very good ideas! If we can put it on a human level, where people envision (if not themselves) someone in their family, or friends, using the line, then it should help to reach those who are receptive to the idea. I wonder if some sort of viral campaign would be effective. The Dayton Google Wi-Fi video really strikes me as effective. Someone could make a Youtube video (and perhaps a website displaying it) which shows residents talking about how theline would be useful in their life, and what is especially appealing about it for them. I know the Dayton one is very high in production value, but something simple would also be effective. Perhaps All Aboard Ohio has the resources for this? After a quick search, I see there is a 3C Facebook group. I didn't know it was there until now. I think perhaps I'm unaware of what people are doing since I've never been able to access the 3CisMe site.

No, I am still pissed about some things. The (Iraq, Afghani, Drug) wars, the Patriot Act, and hate crime legislation, for example. I'm not ruling out supporting a third party. Don't mistake not being libertarian for not being awake. I also have gripes with the healthcare bill, but not ones you would agree with.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Ask the local media where the boundaries of Clifton are. At least Linn is just a couple blocks from OTR.

Has anyone actually watched the link? He said "Can you say it was written openly, without backroom deals? Hell no, you can't. Have you read the amendments, etc. Hell no, you haven't." This is a despicable act against the Constitution and the will of the people. Today the media and liberals are claiming victory. Victory over what? The majority of the people? Victory over the idea that the country is essentially ungovernable, for one, i.e. that no significant legislation can be passed on its merits, without a "super-minority" obstructing it.

:lol: I was waiting for something like that.

LOL, the CityKin blogger took my chart. :) If you want a better citation, I got it here: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/03/chart-of-the-day-8.html CBC (below) Good job :-P v

Yes, it turned out to be a pact with the devil. I don't know how much business sense it made, either. They were a major player in the music scene in Cinci. They moved somewhere where they would start out as nothing, a "small fish" per se, where they would sink or swim in the "big pond". Big risk, to be sure. And apparently not a wise one.

I'm still bummed, but not as much as I would be.

^ I was just being snarky for the sake of it. No need to read too much in there.

Hell no, you can't! Yes, we can! I'm seeing a great reelection commercial. Hope, change, and obstruction have been salient themes of this administration. What a great way to drive it home.