LA Times: U.S. Love Affair With The Car Ending

Doug McDonald spake thus:

SMS wrote:

There is no 55 MPH speed limit anymore in the U.S..

You are utterly wrong. It's still 55 mph in Illinois on non
freeways.

He/she meant there's no *overall* 55 limit as there used to be, and I
think you knew that.


--
Don't talk to me, those of you who must need to be slammed in the
forehead with a maul before you'll GET IT that Wikipedia is a
time-wasting, totality of CRAP...don't talk to me, don't keep bleating
like naifs, that we should somehow waste MORE of our lives writing a
variorum text that would be put up on that site.

It is a WASTE OF TIME.

- Harlan Ellison, writing on the "talk page" of his Wikipedia article
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Harlan_Ellison)

Doug McDonald spake thus:

Scott en Aztlán wrote:

And who put a gun to their heads and forced them to buy a house that's
so far away from school, activities, and everything else that the kids
need to be driven EVERYWHERE?

The left-wingers who invented FORCED SCHOOL BUSING, that's who.

People had to move farther than bus range away from people they
didn't want their kids going to school with.

Ah, so the latent segregationist in you is poking its ugly head out for
everyone to see. Good going.

That's the bottom line.

Yes, it is a pretty bottom line at that.


--
Don't talk to me, those of you who must need to be slammed in the
forehead with a maul before you'll GET IT that Wikipedia is a
time-wasting, totality of CRAP...don't talk to me, don't keep bleating
like naifs, that we should somehow waste MORE of our lives writing a
variorum text that would be put up on that site.

It is a WASTE OF TIME.

- Harlan Ellison, writing on the "talk page" of his Wikipedia article
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Harlan_Ellison)

On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 15:12:31 -0600, in misc.transport.urban-transit
Doug McDonald wrote in
:
Scott en Aztlán wrote:

And who put a gun to their heads and forced them to buy a house that's
so far away from school, activities, and everything else that the kids
need to be driven EVERYWHERE?


The left-wingers who invented FORCED SCHOOL BUSING, that's who.

People had to move farther than bus range away from people they
didn't want their kids going to school with.


That's the bottom line.

Yes, bigots think they should be able to use the government to
discriminate against everyone they dislike.

On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 09:14:25 -0600, Doug McDonald
wrote:

Bolwerk wrote:
Doug McDonald wrote:
Many young people in the US do not understand
how much better things could be if we had continued on as we were
in the 50 and 60s.

McCarthyism, segregation, back alley abortions, and mutually assured
destruction? Par-tay, man!

No, I am referring to freedom. Something people in Europe
don't even have the concept of.

I'm not so sure the black people would agree about that freedom.

The 1950s were repressive times in America for anyone who was
even slightly non-comformist.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 12:17:49 -0600, Doug McDonald
wrote:

Frank F. Matthews wrote:


As was pointed out the 50s in particular had significant problems.
Particularly with the idea of freedom in the US.

Consider again the concepts of McCarthyism & segregation for starters.


The 50s were FAR freer in the US than now. Really. I was living then.

For example, political correctness had not been invented, so we
still had true freedom of speech.

As long as the speech wasn't about anything that didn't conform
to the political norms. In fact, the 1950s were pretty
censorious. You could be arrest ed for selling certain books, for
instance.

But that was not what I was talking about ... I was talking about,
for example, that intentionally making traffic more congested
had not been thought of. No "diamond lanes" for example. No
"traffic calming" to make drivers furious. No 55 mph speed limit.
No seat belt or child seat laws. That is, we were freer.

There weren't any diamond lanes because there weren't any
Interstate highways until the latter 1950s. Once built the
turnpikes and interstates and freeways had quite adequate speed
limits. The 55mph speed limit was the 1970s, not the 50s and 60s.


--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 11:51:37 -0800, Scott en Aztlán
wrote:

"sharx35" said in misc.transport.urban-transit:

Or, better still, use public transit for commuting, and *rent* the SUV
when you actually need one.

That doesn't really work. Families often need the larger vehicle every
weekend, and several times during the week. Where they don't need it, is
in everyday commuting. The SUV or minivan has become the defacto
replacement for the large station wagons of the past. At least they get
better mileage.

So, who put a gun to their heads and forced them to have that many children
that they NEED a SUV? 2 or 3 children can EASILY be transported in the back
seat of even a medium-sized car.

And who put a gun to their heads and forced them to buy a house that's
so far away from school, activities, and everything else that the kids
need to be driven EVERYWHERE?

The wolf at the door.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 15:16:02 -0700, in misc.transport.urban-transit
Hatunen wrote in
:
On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 11:51:37 -0800, Scott en Aztlán
wrote:

"sharx35" said in misc.transport.urban-transit:

Or, better still, use public transit for commuting, and *rent* the SUV
when you actually need one.

That doesn't really work. Families often need the larger vehicle every
weekend, and several times during the week. Where they don't need it, is
in everyday commuting. The SUV or minivan has become the defacto
replacement for the large station wagons of the past. At least they get
better mileage.

So, who put a gun to their heads and forced them to have that many children
that they NEED a SUV? 2 or 3 children can EASILY be transported in the back
seat of even a medium-sized car.

And who put a gun to their heads and forced them to buy a house that's
so far away from school, activities, and everything else that the kids
need to be driven EVERYWHERE?

The wolf at the door.

Of course the wolf only comes to the doors of villages and farms.

Hello, kkt!
You wrote on 03 Feb 2007 11:19:19 -0800:

?? No seat belt or child seat laws. That is, we were freer.

k If you want to endanger yourself, be my guest as far as I'm
k concerned. But don't endanger your child.

I fully agree with regard to kids but I think drivers who don't
want to use seatbelts or motor-cyclists helmets should be
allowed to do so if they execute a signed document binding
themselves not to sue for consequent injuries.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

Doug McDonald wrote:
Bolwerk wrote:
Doug McDonald wrote:
Many young people in the US do not understand
how much better things could be if we had continued on as we were
in the 50 and 60s.

McCarthyism, segregation, back alley abortions, and mutually assured
destruction? Par-tay, man!

No, I am referring to freedom. Something people in Europe
don't even have the concept of.

That hardly seems fair. Europe is a huge geographic and cultural area,
and much of it is far less authoritarian than the U.S.

Note, of course, the cross post list for context.

Doug McDonald

On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 17:58:33 -0500, in misc.transport.urban-transit
Bolwerk wrote in
:
Doug McDonald wrote:
Bolwerk wrote:
Doug McDonald wrote:
Many young people in the US do not understand
how much better things could be if we had continued on as we were
in the 50 and 60s.

McCarthyism, segregation, back alley abortions, and mutually assured
destruction? Par-tay, man!

No, I am referring to freedom. Something people in Europe
don't even have the concept of.

That hardly seems fair. Europe is a huge geographic and cultural area,
and much of it is far less authoritarian than the U.S.

Will they take me back? It was only my great-grandparents who left.