Author: Fuzzy Curmudgeon

Sell Amtrak to the highest bidder and let it go private. This has gone on far too long and it’s holding up the prospect of both regional and high-speed national rail.
Maybe one of the airlines would consider buying Amtrak? It’s not the most ridiculous notion. They’ve got flight attendants and all kinds of support personnel who are looking layoffs in the face who could probably switch over to rail service with a minimum of retraining (no pun intended). Airlines already have computerized ticketing, mileage awards, etc, etc…the only difference is that trains run on tracks instead of flying through the air.
And then CUT OUT all the God-damn milk-run stops and use terminals in major cities ONLY. I’m sorry if you live in Podunk, Ohio, halfway between Indianapolis and Columbus; you’re probably better off driving (or taking regional rail instead, which should run on separate, light rail tracks, and can afford to make milk run stops). A train that goes from, say, Chicago to Miami, probably should stop ONLY in Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Atlanta, then maybe Savannah, Jacksonville, Orlando (gotta make Mickey happy) and then arrive in Miami. Or whatever. I’m looking at a map and that looks reasonable for that route. It’s a crow-flight trip of about 1400 miles and that a stop, on average, about every 200 miles. If the train is able to average 60MPH, that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of every 3-1/2 hours, and the entire trip (and I know my mileage numbers are off because it won’t be a straight line trip) would take around 20-24 hours, not including stops. But since I’m not stopping at every podunk wide spot on the railroad, stop time will be limited.
And the beauty is that you don’t even have to involve TSA. At least if someone blows up a train, it’s already on the ground.
Maybe I’m just a dreamer.

My God. Some sanity breaks through in this crazy mixed up world of ours:
Judge Dismisses Obesity Suit Against McDonald’s

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet said the plaintiffs, including a 14-year-old girl who is 4-foot-10 and 170 pounds, failed to show McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) products presented a danger unknown to consumers. He also cited concerns the case could “spawn thousands of similar ‘McLawsuits”‘ against all types of restaurants.

Unfortunately he didn’t dismiss it with predjudice. But hooray for our side. My doctor told me to get in shape…well, round is a shape. And it’s not fast food’s fault that I’m round. It’s MY fault.
Kind of like it wasn’t Big Tobacco’s fault that my dad had emphysema. Dad chose to continue smoking long after the cigarette companies admitted that cigarette smoking was dangerous to your health. In fact, he was smoking the day he died, and we put his last pack and his Zippo in his pocket when we buried him.
Hand me that humidor…I need a puff.

I see where Garry Trudeau (great Canadian name…maybe he should relocate his sorry ass), the King of Recycled Comic Strips, is rerunning some of his 2001 Enron strips. That dog don’t hunt no more, comrade.
Unfortunately I’m talking about the dead strips on tree — er, sorry, Freudian slip, the “strips on dead tree”, not the ones online, so I don’t have a link for you.
But talk about a guy who should have given up years ago. He’s not even funny when he tries to be, anymore.

but man, that’s got the potential to be cool.
(Via the Corner.)

We need to be doing the same damn thing here in the States. In particular I love this bit:

[Abu Hamza] said: “They should have brought somebody independent while they are searching because how do we know they haven’t put it there themselves?”

You guys just think you’re smart. You won’t think so when you’re swinging by the neck or lying strapped to a gurney with two needles in your arm and a finger poised over a button. Lucky for you Britain doesn’t have the death penalty.
(Via LGF.)

Jim Geraghty at NRO with the scoop on how the Dumbs are trying to hose the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Sen. Roberts sounds like he would have made a great Majority Leader.

…would be doing the people in these places a favor.
(But Iraq needs to go first.)
Link via the Professor.

Collegiate themed caskets.
Make mine pine, thanks.

Doctor says I’m a fine specimen of over-40 humanity. Blood pressure acceptable, back getting better, need to lose weight. No damn sense of humor about weight in the medical profession.
Anyway, between that and installing the new laser printer, I’ve not had time to do much else today.
Oh, and in the process of installing the LJ, I knocked the power cord loose from the Linux box, which is why the blog has been down for a few hours — I just noticed it when I sat down and tried to log in. Oh well.

…too busy today. Go take a look at this blog while you’re waiting for more from my keyboard.
I might post later but I might not.