Is it the case that the US fundamentally can’t do what, say, Spain and South Korea and Algeria have been able to, and that they have been able to do with, say, NASA, the military and numerous private corporate logistics systems, or just that they haven’t done it yet?
Once the US has one working world-class HSR line (probably Brightline West, or possibly CAHSR), the appetite for more lines will increase. HSR will have become something that is common for Americans to ride when not on holiday to Japan or Italian hilltop towns, and reflexively dismissing it as “it wouldn’t work here because we have too much (space/liberty/big cars)” won’t work anymore. New plans will be proposed (a midwest network connecting Chicago to Cleveland and St. Louis?) and old ones (such as the Texas one) dusted off. And the Canadians will notice and jump on the bandwagon (given that a big chunk of their population would be reached by a line from Detroit/Windsor to Quebec City makes it a no-brainer).
That and porcelain scottie dogs and such
This sort of thing is so common that it even has a name: gadgetbahn.
Whilst keeping male puberty legally mandatory for trans women, so the rest of the population can easily identify them.
Living by the old Australian credo, “she’ll be right, mate”
Former Ottoman Empire represent
The world’s most moral army does not conform to its values
As Jamie Zawinski put it, it’s like a non-profit animal shelter setting up a sideline selling kitten meat to satisfy demands for hockey-stick growth. If somebody castigates them for it, they can point out that the demand for kitten deli slices didn’t going to go away, and if they didn’t sell them, someone else would step in and do it less humanely.
I imagine street muggings are way down, though
The immovable object of Stolen Valor meets the irresistible force of It’s OK If You’re A Conservative
Either he is the great English Everyman and the UK’s population backs Russia, or he isn’t, and hard Brexit is not the Will Of The People. Though given both major parties ruling out any softening, and the BBC platforming him enthusiastically whilst having a ban on coverage of, say, the Green Party who actually have MPs, the powers that be are leaning hard on the former. Something will have to give.
The eagles of liberty fly together
They missed a trick by using paint, when a spray of salt water would have done the job at one more subtly and more permanently
Queensland cop wants to dox everyone. No great surprise there.
The Monster Raving Loony Party have been around for decades (they were started by 1960s garage-rock one-hit wonder Screaming Lord Sutch), though in past elections there were candidates running under their name on a right-wing populist agenda thinly veiled behind a veneer of silly names and jokes.
The Americans haven’t been alright since pirates captured the reference kilogram on its way to the newly independent USA from France, and they sour-grapesed themselves into making wilful archaisms part of their identity.
99 shit balloons
Maybe they should play in the Superbowl instead?
From what I understand, it’s slow because along much of the route it uses legacy rights of way with level crossings. Brightline West will have all new grade-separated right of way, which will allow higher speeds.