Category: Planes Trains and Automobiles
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The Tesla, my friend, is blowing in the wind…
Leftism is all about harnessing the power of pixie dust and expeller pressed unicorn horn oil. I wish the laws of economics and of nature to be different, therefore they are. One way magical thinking manifests itself is the sun-dappled dream that we can get rid of fossil fuels, switch to electric vehicles, the changeover…
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Don’t Grab The Handle
Notes from, arguably, the worst retirement party ever.
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Just Another Day On The Vomit Comet
Hand one to Fred Melo of the Pioneer Press – he’s done the unthnkable, for a Twin Cities mainstream media figure; actually reporting on the actual state of life on the “Vomit Comet” (AKA Green Line).. A friend of the blog emailed re this story: I’d rather double down on reminding people why the Green…
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Leave Bad Enough Alone
Our cities are a little like Charlie Brown. Every time Lucy puts the ball on the ground, Charlie remembers all the times she’s pulled the ball away. And yet, he has faith; maybe this will be the first time. Lucy’s back: Let’s make sure we’re clear on this – the only “fans” of this idea…
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Its An Idea
A friend and occasional commenter writes: To the tune of Johnny Cash ‘How Highs the Water Momma?’ Let’s blow some money papa 700 Mil and climbing It’s a billion here, a billion there who gives a damn if people care we’re not elected and that’s not fair 700 mil and climbing Let’s blow some money…
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The Money Pit
So the Southwest Light Rail – already estimated at an insane two billion dollars – is going to go 40% over budget, and 3-4 years late. Cost overruns and delays have pushed the most expensive public works project in state history well above its original $2 billion budget. Last year, Met Council tapped a $200…
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A Kind Of Hush
Haven’t heard much about the southwest light rail line, have we? There’s a reason for that. It’s hosed. Hosed perhaps beyond reasonable repair.And nobody in officialdom wants to talk about it – at least, not before the midterms: The $2 billion Southwest Light Rail Transit Line the most expensive public works project ever undertaken in…
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Adventures In Variantland
I haven’t written here recently (sorry, Mitch!), mostly because I did a fair amount of traveling in August. I attended my high school reunion in the wilds of Wisconsin, then a week later headed east to a family wedding in the Hocking Hills region of Ohio (highly recommended, by the way). In the course of…
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It Never Gets Old…
…being right all the time [1]. But someone’s got to do it. The Southwest light rail line is way way way over budget, and not getting finished anywhere near its 2023 deadline. #unexpectedly By the way, all of you DFLers that moved to the south west metro; hope you’re enjoying what we went through in…
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Looks Like We Got Us A Convoy
Let those truckers roll: President Joe Biden claimed on Wednesday that he once drove an 18-wheeler truck, but his remark—made during a visit to a Mack Truck factory in Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania—quickly garnered a skeptical reaction. In audio recorded by local news channel WFMZ-TV, Biden can be heard off camera telling workers at Mack…
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The Boon That Keeps On Doggling
The Southwest Light Rail Line appears likely to go years and “hundreds of millions of dollars” over schedule and budget. …what’s happening between Park Siding and Depot Street today is construction of a half-mile tunnel that will carry the Metropolitan Council’s Southwest LRT project through a pinch point in its 15-mile path from downtown to Eden…
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It’s Transit Memorial Day
Today is the 17th anniversary of the opening of the Metro Transit Blue Line – the beginning (or re-beginning) of light rail transit in the Twin Cities. So on this anniversary, let us remember the people who gave their lives – unwillingly and in many cases unwittingly – to further Big Minnesota obsession with feeling…
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The New, Blue Flavor
Mass transit. Old and busted: “it’s about moving people” New and Fresh: “It’s about smashing racism”. The Met Council released its new plans for yet another extension to the “Blue Line”, which would push the rail line – whose usage has plummeted since Covid – all the way up to Oak Grove. And it would…
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All Is Not As It Seems
A friend of the blog emails: https://www.startribune.com/biodiesel-not-electric-buses-may-join-metro-transit-fleet/600029359/ [The Strib notes that] “Biodiesel, not electric, buses may join Metro Transit fleet. “ Biodiesel? Made from animal fat? That means I’ll need to eat more meat! After almost three years of keto, it’s a tempting conclusion. But I’ll haste to add that a key source of biodiesel…
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Go To Any Part Of The Bus You Want
A friend of the blog emails: So, the St Paul City Council unanimously told MNDOT to take away lanes in areas where POC live because of racism. CM Mitra Jalali is really proud of the unanimous support. They’re really sticking it to those white supremacist racist highway planners by saying that these poor, mostly Black…
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Timing
A friend of the blog emails: Do I have this right? The pandemic has reduced commuter travel as employees and students work from home. The buses all say “essential travel only” and are not allowing the crowds they once had. Honestly, they probably don’t even have the crowds- fewer people are using the bus right now.…
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Transit Memorial Day
Today is the sixteenth anniversary of the opening of the Metro Transit Blue Line – the beginning (or re-beginning) of light rail transit in the Twin Cities. So on this anniversary, let us remember the people who gave their lives – unwillingly and probably unwittingliy – to further Big Minnesota Left’s obsession with feeling like…
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Mark Your Calendars
Remember – this coming Wednesday is Transit Memorial Day – the day we commemorate the people who’ve given their lives to facilitate the Met Council’s dream of having one of the world’s 200 biggest toy train sets. Stay tuned.
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The Good News: Americans Have Learned A Lot About Dealing With Crises
The bad news: they learned it by watching The Walking Dead. I’ve noticed a serious uptick in incredibly dangerous, reckless driving since the onset of the epidemic. Now, out on I94 between the Cities is one thing. But this includes a lot of episodes on Saint Paul’s narrow side streets. Worst example? I was driving…
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Spitting In Your Soup And Calling It A “Dumpling”
As the Southwest News reports, city governments in the southwest metro are getting ready to try to deal with the plague that no DFL-dominated city government dare name; crime descending upon them via the light rail. The article explains the basics. I thought this bit here was particularly interesting (and I’ve added all emphasis): Metro…
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Nothing Good Happens After
Midnight6PMOne man stabbed to death in an incident on the Ventura Trolley (Blue LIne) by the Mall of America Wednesday night: tro Transit police and Bloomington police were called to a Park & Ride just north of the Mall of America station shortly before 1 a.m. Metro Transit spokesperson Howie Padilla said video shows a fight…
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End Traffic Violence!
Nobody needs more than one car. Nobody needs to drive a car more than once a month. There should be psychological profiles and strict background checks for all vehicle transfers, including loans to friends and rent a cars. A 6 gallon gas tank limit is plenty. No wonder the Democrats and media are pushing the…
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When The NARN Talks, People Listen. Eventually. Maybe.
Back in 2007 or so, James Lileks stopped by the NARN broadcast at Back to the Fifties – the classic-car show at the State Fairgrounds that used to be such a vibrant focus of life in the Midway before the same people that brought us Tony Soprano-style trash collection badgered the cruising hot rods out of…
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Who Has Two Thumbs…
…and tried to warn you that this exact thing was inevitable? (Points thumbs at self). This guy. The Vomit Comet (aka Green Line) is a rolling assault and robbery laboratory. The FOX 9 Investigators revealed that aggravated assaults on the light rail system, those involving a weapon or causing serious injury, numbered 59 through July…