OT - Moving to Japan

Per Edward Dolan:
Assuming it was congress and not the president, why was Bush not
similarly constrained?

Has it ever occurred to you that only divided government works in this
country?

Many would agree.

But that does not address the question: If the Clinton surplus
were due to a Republican congress' sense of fiscal responsibility
and resulting pressures on The President, why did the same party
let Bush and company run amuck? Or, perhaps, might they have been
key players?
--
PeteCresswell

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message
...
Per Edward Dolan:
Assuming it was congress and not the president, why was Bush not
similarly constrained?

Has it ever occurred to you that only divided government works in this
country?

Many would agree.

But that does not address the question: If the Clinton surplus
were due to a Republican congress' sense of fiscal responsibility
and resulting pressures on The President, why did the same party
let Bush and company run amuck? Or, perhaps, might they have been
key players?

Did not the same scenario play out with respect to the Obama health care
plan? Clinton also did not want welfare reform, but was forced into it by
Repubs. Clinton was essentially as liberal as Obama, but he was saddled with
a Repub Congress. Obama also needs a Repub Congress in order to achieve
anything. Unfortunately, he still has a Dem Senate.

--
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

On 3/17/2011 8:22 PM, Edward Dolan wrote:
wrote in message
...
Per Edward Dolan:
Defense is one area of spending we never want to cut back on. That is what
defeated the Soviet Union under Reagan.

There are those who would say the plunge in global oil prices,
the rise of the internet, and loss of control over the media
under glasnost had something to do with it too.

Nope, it was only how the US under Reagan was able to out spend them on
defense that ultimately defeated them. The Soviets, like all totalitarian
regimes, never had any regard for what anyone ever thought of them. Without
Reagan, there would still be a Soviet Union today.

Hey Ed,

Just want you to know I get the joke.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

We have discussed so many issues here, but I remember that we
discussed stupid design in the engineering of bike lanes and city
planning...

Well, a smart listener called in NPR and reminded the experts that
"Tsunami" is a Japanese word and they could have placed easily the
reactors on higher ground expecting such events. That would have been
INTELLIGENT DESIGN.

Wherever we turn though we see stupid design, particularly when it
comes to bike facilities, a very low priority in safety since we are
the only casualties. We have mixed paths that mix people, dogs and
bikes and we have bike lanes that disappear. The issue is --more than
an oversight-- that we live in a hierarchical system --forget
democracy-- where decisions are taken without the feedback of the
people, who must shut up and accept what they get.

That's a recipe for disaster for the whole species as we sit back and
watch the catastrophic blunders such as the nuclear plants in Japan,
or the less dramatic, but much more catastrophic events associated
with Climate Change unfold.

The other day a kid got loose from his mom and darted across this
mixed path where cyclists can go very fast and I went, "Oh my God!"...
Nothing happened though. The Wise TibetanMonkey was going nice and
slow on his beach cruiser --Revolutions for the Planet, by Sun--
predicting events.

Per Edward Dolan:
But that does not address the question: If the Clinton surplus
were due to a Republican congress' sense of fiscal responsibility
and resulting pressures on The President, why did the same party
let Bush and company run amuck? Or, perhaps, might they have been
key players?

Did not the same scenario play out with respect to the Obama health care
plan? Clinton also did not want welfare reform, but was forced into it by
Repubs. Clinton was essentially as liberal as Obama, but he was saddled with
a Repub Congress. Obama also needs a Repub Congress in order to achieve
anything. Unfortunately, he still has a Dem Senate.

But the question remains unanswered.
--
PeteCresswell

On 3/18/2011 10:03 AM, His Highness the TibetanMonkey, originator of the
Stop the Bull**** Campaign wrote:

We have discussed so many issues here, but I remember that we
discussed stupid design in the engineering of bike lanes and city
planning...

Well, a smart listener called in NPR and reminded the experts that
"Tsunami" is a Japanese word and they could have placed easily the
reactors on higher ground expecting such events. That would have been
INTELLIGENT DESIGN.

Some would say that intelligent design would be to perfect fusion.

But I wouldn't pick on the Japanese. US has plants on fault lines.

For example check the safety section in this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant

or
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42103936...-asia-pacific/

We hear that the technology is in place to protect us and that the risk
is acceptable. WRT the potential danger here I doubt both of those claims.

Wherever we turn though we see stupid design, particularly when it
comes to bike facilities, a very low priority in safety since we are
the only casualties. We have mixed paths that mix people, dogs and
bikes and we have bike lanes that disappear. The issue is --more than
an oversight-- that we live in a hierarchical system --forget
democracy-- where decisions are taken without the feedback of the
people, who must shut up and accept what they get.

I think that the majority of decisions are taken based on profit
projections.

while listening to BBC and considering dikes as a manadatory Japanese
Nuke structure, I learned used rods were place in the attic.
How effective.

On Mar 18, 10:36*am, Duane Hebert wrote:
On 3/18/2011 10:03 AM, His Highness the TibetanMonkey, originator of the
Stop the Bull**** Campaign wrote:



We have discussed so many issues here, but I remember that we
discussed stupid design in the engineering of bike lanes and city
planning...

Well, a smart listener called in NPR and reminded the experts that
"Tsunami" is a Japanese word and they could have placed easily the
reactors on higher ground expecting such events. That would have been
INTELLIGENT DESIGN.

Some would say that intelligent design would be to perfect fusion.

But I wouldn't pick on the Japanese. US has plants on fault lines.

For example check the safety section in this link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant

orhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42103936/ns/world_news-asia-pacific/

We hear that the technology is in place to protect us and that the risk
is acceptable. *WRT the potential danger here I doubt both of those claims.

I see, but notice the Japanese plants survived the earthquake but not
the Tsunami.


Wherever we turn though we see stupid design, particularly when it
comes to bike facilities, a very low priority in safety since we are
the only casualties. We have mixed paths that mix people, dogs and
bikes and we have bike lanes that disappear. The issue is --more than
an oversight-- that we live in a hierarchical system --forget
democracy-- where decisions are taken without the feedback of the
people, who must shut up and accept what they get.

I think that the majority of decisions are taken based on profit
projections.

Got it. Perhaps decisions are solely based on profit, and then ****
happens.

What worries me that every project seem to be closed to feedback from
the bottom, whether that's cyclists testing a facility or a
catastrophic event. For example, everybody knew a major hurricane
would overwhelm the dams in New Orleans and nobody took action.

On 3/18/2011 2:47 PM, His Highness the TibetanMonkey, originator of the
Stop the Bull**** Campaign wrote:

Wherever we turn though we see stupid design, particularly when it
comes to bike facilities, a very low priority in safety since we are
the only casualties. We have mixed paths that mix people, dogs and
bikes and we have bike lanes that disappear. The issue is --more than
an oversight-- that we live in a hierarchical system --forget
democracy-- where decisions are taken without the feedback of the
people, who must shut up and accept what they get.

I think that the majority of decisions are taken based on profit
projections.

Got it. Perhaps decisions are solely based on profit, and then ****
happens.

What worries me that every project seem to be closed to feedback from
the bottom, whether that's cyclists testing a facility or a
catastrophic event. For example, everybody knew a major hurricane
would overwhelm the dams in New Orleans and nobody took action.

In the case of New Orleans, it's worse than that.
Money was allocated to take action but then funding was cut by George Jr.

http://www.historycommons.org/timeli...katrina_t mln

Good job Brownie. It's not always an engineering problem.

On Mar 18, 3:02*pm, Duane Hebert wrote:
On 3/18/2011 2:47 PM, His Highness the TibetanMonkey, originator of the
Stop the Bull**** Campaign wrote:



Wherever we turn though we see stupid design, particularly when it
comes to bike facilities, a very low priority in safety since we are
the only casualties. We have mixed paths that mix people, dogs and
bikes and we have bike lanes that disappear. The issue is --more than
an oversight-- that we live in a hierarchical system --forget
democracy-- where decisions are taken without the feedback of the
people, who must shut up and accept what they get.

I think that the majority of decisions are taken based on profit
projections.

Got it. Perhaps decisions are solely based on profit, and then ****
happens.

What worries me that every project seem to be closed to feedback from
the bottom, whether that's cyclists testing a facility or a
catastrophic event. For example, everybody knew a major hurricane
would overwhelm the dams in New Orleans and nobody took action.

In the case of New Orleans, it's worse than that.
Money was allocated to take action but then funding was cut by George Jr.

http://www.historycommons.org/timeli...dly=true&katri....

Good job Brownie. *It's not always an engineering problem.

Well, it's always a political issue somehow intertwined with the
engineering.

Now all the streets are being rebuilt with the largess of the Obama's
funds while other projects go hungry. Public transportation is one of
those. And so is bicycling as the ultimate simple solution to our
local transportation woes.