Even Slow Bullets Look Fast
What I love about bullet trains in Japan is that they look fast even when they just cruise into the station. This is a very tough train, no question about it. These bullets are pretty old now, but Japan will be upgrading to the jet fast maglev bullets in the future. And that is a fast train. But I still want a fast train from Tokyo to Narita, though. That has to come first before anything else. Anyway, I love when the bullet glides into Tokyo Station. It`s like a jet boat pulling into the harbor. Everyone knows it`s fast. It doesn`t have to say a damn thing.
Wouldn`t it be nice to lay bullet tracks all across the United States? The billionaire oil guys wouldn`t be happy at all but we`d surely be. And we should come before them for a change. It`s been them before us for far too long.
Wouldn`t it be nice to lay bullet tracks all across the United States? The billionaire oil guys wouldn`t be happy at all but we`d surely be. And we should come before them for a change. It`s been them before us for far too long.
Your comment about the 'billionaire oil men' is lame. It is the eco tree huggers that stop the building of fast trains not oilmen like you suggest.
Posted by Anantha on January 04, 2009 at 01:25 PM JST #
It`s not lame at all. The oil industry has a vested interest in keeping the American people hooked on gas to fuel individual vehicles. It`s an idiotic waste of resources. The "tree huggers" as you call them have relatively little power compared to the oil industry (and the related industries). That is quite obvious.
Posted by Jim Grisanzio on January 04, 2009 at 04:09 PM JST #
How many attempts to build a high speed train in CA have met immense environmental resistance? How many of them were fought by oil men? You're assuming that Oil industry is dumb and evil at the same time. They have a vested interested in their industry (we shouldn't expect any other behavior from a for profit entity) but your accusation is unfounded. I can't tell you all the dumb things every business entity does to protect their turf: BluRay and HDDVD is the latest episode, how about OpenLook vs. Motif, and ...
As bad as it sounds we need to do 'china' on these matters. Let me explain: they built a brand new airport in less time than it took to expand SFO runway. The environmental study for SFO runway would take longer and cost more than building a new airport. Who's behind it? Lawyers and eco freaks, not oilmen.
I watched a show about the electric car on HBO and the supposed tarpedoing of it by GM. I've never seen a more biased opinion in my life. The viewpoint is so naive that it is laughable, the pro-electric car mafia has no idea how to do business and forget that EVERY business will do whatever it takes to make money. If GM thinks they can make money selling a nuclear car then they'll be on to it like gravy over a biscuit.
Posted by Anantha on January 05, 2009 at 12:33 AM JST #
Every time I visit Japan I think - why can't the US link it's cities with bullet trains? They are fast and comfortable. Both China and Korea (both countries are spending greater than $17 billion on building a national bullet train network and) are linking their major cities with bullet trains.
Posted by Charles Ditzel on January 06, 2009 at 10:59 AM JST #
I agree with Jim regarding Big Oil and Big Auto - they care about todays profit, now. As an insider to both industries I can relate they do not really have a forward-looking plan, and would have NO pollution abatement (as little as it is) in place if it were not forced upon them by them Fed.
Mass Transit and fast trains work well in Japan and Europe, but do not scale well in North America where distance, and thus rail maintenance is larger by several orders of magnitude. This does not even begin to adress the cost keeping millions of miles of rail secure. Beyond the scale of distances are the socio/ economic issues that include trucking and auto unions; Big Oil; Big 3 Auto; outsourcing to achive "the cheapest possible labour"; the intricacies of distribution networks for goods; and a somewhat "free economy".
We have seen just this year how the price of diesel and gasoline skyrocketed out of all proportion to costs, based on "free-trade" speculation and profiteering. That in turn led to a shortage of and increase in price of goods and services; leading to consumer cut-backs on spending; leading to first a trickle then massive layoffs in retail, wholesale and manufacturing; all of which was exacerbated by the so-called "credit crunch".
Anantha decries the "tree-huggers" for slowing construction, and extolls the Chinese for their swift project completion - yet California is at the forefront of preserving the environment; while China is destroying the land, water, and air (and that air pollution is making it's way to California!) in the name of progress (profit) at any cost. It is also important to realize that "Big Money" has a long history of hiring third-parties to hide behind, using the masquerade of a different group to further their agendas. The historical documentation of examples is widely published and research will be left as an exercise for the student who cares.
Posted by oldguy on January 08, 2009 at 05:44 AM JST #