The US has 2 million km more roads than the next 2 countries with the most roads. India then China.
The US roads carry more freight tons/passengers per mile-per-capita than any other place on Earth.
By a large margin. The US road system is an engineering marvel that is in good shape.
There are are always professional repair crews(largely Union) fixing, improving, expanding this road system 24/7/365.
By what standard does one compare our road system with any other system on the planet?
There isn’t any. Nothing even comes close. Not even a little bit.
What is everybody whining about now? The roads are bad? :lol:
Even Chatty Cathy dolls can repeat the same thing over and over again....it's really not a skill.Do you even live in America? I thought you said you were Canadian? What do you know about roads in the US? What you've seen on the internet? Like German tanks rolling out of Ford Factories....? Is that your main sense of reality too? The internet?
Even Chatty Cathy dolls can repeat the same thing over and over again....it's really not a skill.Do you even live in America? I thought you said you were Canadian? What do you know about roads in the US? What you've seen on the internet? Like German tanks rolling out of Ford Factories....? Is that your main sense of reality too? The internet? Welcome to the 21 century, it's called news from multiple sources and it's extensive and the best indications are that the US is way behind in maintaining it's infrastructure leading to bridge failures, crumbling highways and deteriorating ports and more. This idea that some keep propounding that we actually need to go and see everything for ourselves to have any information is idiotic. Especially when you look at how information deprived the political ideology they seem to be fully committed to is. As a Trump enthusiast that strongly includes you....
Thevillageatheist - So you live in Oz right? No potholes in the yellow brick road! I hit potholes daily, How far back up in the hills of Kentucky do you live? Wait, you have Rand Paul as a senator…he’s a small government libertarian kind of Republican, right? Well, get off your backside and go out there and fix those potholes yourself!!! Don’t be waiting around for some government handout!!! Show us your individual American spirit that made this country great. Next time you hit one a dem dang potholes juss git out an fill it up yerself!!! Just across the river the State of West Virginia’s DOT continuously works on their ever crumbling roads What, did you think they would last forever without being worked on? You think I live in OZ? It seems you live in a dream world where roads don’t wear out out the fact the DOT continuously works on them is somehow a bad thing. In fact one was found unsafe and has been closed. OMG the sky is indeed falling! Inspectors monitoring the situation observed that the inevitable deterioration of a man made construction exposed to years of weathering had reached a point that it was no longer serviceable and it had to be taken out of service to avoid any harm to human beings. How utterly unacceptable!!! Of course it doesn’t stack up to the number of fatal accidents caused by texting Ok, giving credit where it is due, you got at least this much correct. but it is an ongoing problem, Yeah, so? My body is also an ongoing problem. One day it is going to fail so miserably that I will die. Reality. Deal with it and stop whining about it. not to mention giant boulders crashing down from unstable Cliff faces. Do you lay awake until 3 every night just making up shit to worry about?I take it back; you don't live in Oz you reside in crumudgeonville! Hey, ya damned kids get offen my lawn; Wal back in my day we just hitched up ole Dobbin, threw a bunch a shovels and a bag of asphalt in th' wagon and went out an fixed them potholes! WTF? That's what we pay taxes for fella. Although the money seems to have been diverted to ... ? BTW, I live in Southern Ohio, home of the Kasich fracker and I campaigned against him. I only wish I had lived in my home State when Rand was running but now they have even worse problems with their new Teabagger Governor. Now as to WVa's crumbling roads, they crumble annually. Orange cones appear on State and Interstate roads as soon as the snow melts. It's an ongoing problem but hey, it's a job creator until they run out of money, which might not be very far away when the mines shut down. Then what? Well, I'll just tell ya, those slackers gotta git off their buts and find another job, uh where? By your twisted line of thinking it's the miner's fault, too lazy ya know. And those bridges? Let em fall and the cars that are on it! Oh yeah, that actually happened and thirty three people were killed at Point Pleasent just up the river. chalk it up to those people who believed that the bridge was sound. Maybe they should have gotten off their butts and inspected it themselves. Oh, and I'm not whining about my body falling apart; I'm dealing with it via daily cardiac rehab. You're the one whining about it! Cap't Jack
Welcome to the 21 century, it's called news from multiple sources and it's extensive and the best indications are that the US is way behind in maintaining it's infrastructure leading to bridge failures, crumbling highways and deteriorating ports and more.So you're not an American then? I can't understand how you think you'd be qualified to comment on American affairs.. Unless you've lived here for a long time. Other than what you get from the internet you don't seem very informed by using your own reasoning skills. And you apparently figured with the internet that tanks rolled off of a Ford plant in Germany...so your sources are not too good. Yes, welcome to the 21st Century indeed. The US is way behind what in maintaining it's infrastructure? When it is said that something is "way behind" that implies a schedule or a standard. So what are we way behind in? Like I said our road system is incomparable to any other nation's system. We dominate in miles, tonnage and amount of passengers. And what are you doing? Internet fluff pieces?
Thevillageatheist - That’s what we pay taxes for fella.(siigh) I thought breaking into countrified spelling would indicate my sarcasm. No, I do not seriously think you should carry around a bucket of patching material, stop in the middle of traffic, and fill up the hole yourself. We have work crews that do that all the time, which is why nobody in the USA "hits potholes daily" unless they live way up in the backcountry. Seriously, you hit a pothole every day on ordinary streets, highways, and interstate, all year long?
Now as to WVa’s crumbling roads, they crumble annually. Orange cones appear on State and Interstate roads as soon as the snow melts. It’s an ongoing problem but hey, it’s a job creatorWinter breaks up the roads. That is normal. Water seeps into small cracks, expands when it freezes, and makes the crack bigger. Every thaw/freeze cycle creates more breakage. In spring there are no more freezes, so the crews can repair the damage done by winter weather. So? How is that a "job creator"? What, did some crooked politician intentionally cause weather to break up the roads? If you have some new material that can be used that is impervious to the process please do share it with us because the whole world uses concrete or asphalt and both are susceptible to weather and traffic damage.
And those bridges? Let em fall and the cars that are on it! Oh yeah, that actually happened and thirty three people were killed at Point Pleasent just up the river. chalk it up to those people who believed that the bridge was sound. Maybe they should have gotten off their butts and inspected it themselves.If a bridge falls down that is a failure of inspection and repair. That does happen from time to time. Bridge failure is a tiny risk when driving which is why almost nobody ever worries about it. What does not make the news is the ceaseless efforts of all the inspectors and maintenance crews who keep 99.99... % working just fine.
Welcome to the 21 century, it's called news from multiple sources and it's extensive and the best indications are that the US is way behind in maintaining it's infrastructure leading to bridge failures, crumbling highways and deteriorating ports and more.So you're not an American then? I can't understand how you think you'd be qualified to comment on American affairs.. Unless you've lived here for a long time. Other than what you get from the internet you don't seem very informed by using your own reasoning skills. And you apparently figured with the internet that tanks rolled off of a Ford plant in Germany...so your sources are not too good. Yes, welcome to the 21st Century indeed. The US is way behind what in maintaining it's infrastructure? When it is said that something is "way behind" that implies a schedule or a standard. So what are we way behind in? Like I said our road system is incomparable to any other nation's system. We dominate in miles, tonnage and amount of passengers. And what are you doing? Internet fluff pieces? I have dual citizenship, not that it's any of your business. And I certainly don't need your approval or permission to care about the US.
Thevillageatheist - That’s what we pay taxes for fella. (siigh) I thought breaking into countrified spelling would indicate my sarcasm. No, I do not seriously think you should carry around a bucket of patching material, stop in the middle of traffic, and fill up the hole yourself. We have work crews that do that all the time, which is why nobody in the USA “hits potholes daily" unless they live way up in the backcountry. Seriously, you hit a pothole every day on ordinary streets, highways, and interstate, all year long? Now as to WVa’s crumbling roads, they crumble annually. Orange cones appear on State and Interstate roads as soon as the snow melts. It’s an ongoing problem but hey, it’s a job creator Winter breaks up the roads. That is normal. Water seeps into small cracks, expands when it freezes, and makes the crack bigger. Every thaw/freeze cycle creates more breakage. In spring there are no more freezes, so the crews can repair the damage done by winter weather. So? How is that a “job creator"? What, did some crooked politician intentionally cause weather to break up the roads? If you have some new material that can be used that is impervious to the process please do share it with us because the whole world uses concrete or asphalt and both are susceptible to weather and traffic damage. And those bridges? Let em fall and the cars that are on it! Oh yeah, that actually happened and thirty three people were killed at Point Pleasent just up the river. chalk it up to those people who believed that the bridge was sound. Maybe they should have gotten off their butts and inspected it themselves. If a bridge falls down that is a failure of inspection and repair. That does happen from time to time. Bridge failure is a tiny risk when driving which is why almost nobody ever worries about it. What does not make the news is the ceaseless efforts of all the inspectors and maintenance crews who keep 99.99… % working just fine.(Counter sigh) I was being sarcastic as well with my "countrified" dialect, besides the fact that I'm fluent in Appalachian Mountain speech. And no, I don't live "way up in the backcountry; the roads I mentioned are State and Interstate highways (I 64 to be exact), and I hit potholes daily. And in WVa this is an ongoing annual problem. My mention of work crews is an offhand way of alluding to job security for those crewmen who repair the roads. In some areas working for the State in any capacity is the only job in town. As to those supposedly safe bridges to which you refer, you might want to read here:http://t4america.org/maps-tools/bridges/overview/. These statistics show that 11% of our over 600,000 bridges are structurally deficient and many more have exceeded the life of a sound bridge. One of our local bridges spanning the Ohio River were built in he 1932 and is still being used daily. Let me emphasize that this structure was built when the Ford model A was driving on it so no, your figure of 99.9% is inaccurate. And this will be an ongoing problem as fewer funds are allocated by the Federal Government. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/01/61000-bridges-structurally-deficient/70730956/ threw this one in for good measure. Cap't Jack
villageAwhatever - your figure of 99.9% is inaccurateOk, so more than 1 out of 1000 bridges fall down? Tell me, how many bridges did you drive over in say, the last year? I you had a .1% chance of having a bridge collapse when you drive over it you would stop driving altogether. Lightning kills people too. Once and again an airplane will land on the freeway and kill somebody. Scare mongering sells advertising space. I am not so gullible as to sit around wringing my hands over it. As for you hitting potholes every day on the interstate, that is just plain bullshit, peddle it someplace where you can make some money off it cause it is a nonstarter for anybody who has actually driven hundreds of thousands of miles on the USA interstate highway system. Potholes on your interstate drive every day, what a load of garbage. If you say you hit a pothole every day on I64 I say you are a liar.
Other than what you get from the internet you don't seem very informed by using your own reasoning skills. And you apparently figured with the internet that tanks rolled off of a Ford plant in Germany...so your sources are not too good. Yes, welcome to the 21st Century indeed.You mean like the Washington Post? You go ahead and sit in a cave contemplating your belly button and getting the kind of answers that have led you to think Donald Trump as president would be positive in the slightest. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/nazicars30.htm
Three years after Swiss banks became the target of a worldwide furor over their business dealings with Nazi Germany, major American car companies find themselves embroiled in a similar debate. Like the Swiss banks, the American car companies have vigorously denied that they assisted the Nazi war machine or that they significantly profited from the use of forced labor at their German subsidiaries during World War II. But historians and lawyers researching class-action suits on behalf of former prisoners of war are busy amassing evidence of collaboration by the automakers with the Nazi regime.
"General Motors was far more important to the Nazi war machine than Switzerland," said Bradford Snell, who has spent two decades researching a history of the world's largest automaker. "Switzerland was just a repository of looted funds. GM was an integral part of the German war effort. The Nazis could have invaded Poland and Russia without Switzerland. They could not have done so without GM." Both General Motors and Ford insist that they bear little or no responsibility for the operations of their German subsidiaries, which controlled 70 percent of the German car market at the outbreak of war in 1939 and rapidly retooled themselves to become suppliers of war materiel to the German army.Do I really need to point out that taking a consistent anti-information position is ridiculous on a forum dedicated to inquiry. Opinions are meaningless without data to inform them, you just have to look at the Republican Party and its front runners to understand that.
Do I really need to point out that taking a consistent anti-information position is ridiculous on a forum dedicated to inquiry. Opinions are meaningless without data to inform them, you just have to look at the Republican Party and its front runners to understand that.No, you need to show me the history of Tanks rolling out of Ford Plants in Germany like you claimed.
DougC-....with information systems that made the Holocaust possible and German tanks rolled out of factories built by Ford.Did you get this from the internet too? What we're you saying about anti-information?
I have dual citizenship, not that it's any of your business. And I certainly don't need your approval or permission to care about the US.Yes but where do you live? How often have you seen American roads? Or is this just stuff you've "experienced" on the internet? You also haven't addressed any of the pertinent questions and points I've asked. John Oliver isn't going to provide you with help. You have to actually use critical thinking skills here.
Do I really need to point out that taking a consistent anti-information position is ridiculous on a forum dedicated to inquiry. Opinions are meaningless without data to inform them, you just have to look at the Republican Party and its front runners to understand that.No, you need to show me the history of Tanks rolling out of Ford Plants in Germany like you claimed.
DougC-....with information systems that made the Holocaust possible and German tanks rolled out of factories built by Ford.Did you get this from the internet too? What we're you saying about anti-information? See above, what exactly do you think it means...hint it's in the red text. I see no reason to play any more of your head games, if you disagree with someone or something they're automatically wrong no matter the amount of evidence supplied. That's not rational debate.
See above, what exactly do you think it means...hint it's in the red text.That doesn't mention anything about German Tanks rolling off of Ford Plants in Germany. If I choose to further disintegrate your "position", you first have to show evidence that German Tanks rolled off of Ford Assembly lines. Otherwise what have we got here? Just you throwing stuff out there to see what sticks. And yeah, I don't have the patience to disassemble all of your hyperbole and fact-bending. It's always tedious with folks like you. I don't need to. This Ford/German Tank bit is sufficient. I already know the few paths your argument can go from here as well....
I see no reason to play any more of your head games, if you disagree with someone or something they're automatically wrong no matter the amount of evidence supplied. That's not rational debate.I always love this part of the debate...it's such a shielded, obstinate anti-concession.
Other than what you get from the internet you don't seem very informed by using your own reasoning skills. And you apparently figured with the internet that tanks rolled off of a Ford plant in Germany...so your sources are not too good. Yes, welcome to the 21st Century indeed.You mean like the Washington Post? You go ahead and sit in a cave contemplating your belly button and getting the kind of answers that have led you to think Donald Trump as president would be positive in the slightest. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/nazicars30.htm
Three years after Swiss banks became the target of a worldwide furor over their business dealings with Nazi Germany, major American car companies find themselves embroiled in a similar debate. Like the Swiss banks, the American car companies have vigorously denied that they assisted the Nazi war machine or that they significantly profited from the use of forced labor at their German subsidiaries during World War II. But historians and lawyers researching class-action suits on behalf of former prisoners of war are busy amassing evidence of collaboration by the automakers with the Nazi regime.
"General Motors was far more important to the Nazi war machine than Switzerland," said Bradford Snell, who has spent two decades researching a history of the world's largest automaker. "Switzerland was just a repository of looted funds. GM was an integral part of the German war effort. The Nazis could have invaded Poland and Russia without Switzerland. They could not have done so without GM." Both General Motors and Ford insist that they bear little or no responsibility for the operations of their German subsidiaries, which controlled 70 percent of the German car market at the outbreak of war in 1939 and rapidly retooled themselves to become suppliers of war materiel to the German army.Do I really need to point out that taking a consistent anti-information position is ridiculous on a forum dedicated to inquiry. Opinions are meaningless without data to inform them, you just have to look at the Republican Party and its front runners to understand that. Yes. i knew they had to be good for SOMETHING. I'm glad you came up with the only rational answer. It's a very ill wind that blows no good at all.
German tanks rolled out of factories built by Ford.I have not been able to find any info on line to confirm that specific assertion about tanks. It is fair to say Ford produced and profited from production of German military vehicles during WWII, but that is not the monstrous item it may appear to be at first reading. We (the USA) were latecomers to WWII, at least in terms of formal declarations of war. In 1939, 1940, and most of 1941 the USA was not at war with Germany and it was legal to operate manufacturing facilities in Germany. I don't think it is a scandal when a business does legal business. For example, I actively worked behind the Iron curtain doing business with communist dictatorship run operations. That sounds pretty bad. But the fact is that we operated under State Department license and we scrupulously adhered to restrictions clearly set out for us. That was government policy at that time so if somebody doesn't like it too bad, it was legal and above board. After 1941 Ford plants continued to be used for war vehicle production. That sounds bad, until you realize Ford executives in the USA were cut off from those plants. Not surprisingly the Nazis confiscated plants in Germany and occupied countries and turned them over to war production. That is not some kind of scandal against Ford. I just don't see what the controversy here is. A careful examination of the dates and laws and time sequence of events seems to me to show much ado about nothing.
I just don't see what the controversy here is. A careful examination of the dates and laws and time sequence of events seems to me to show much ado about nothing.Exactly. But when a player like DougC adds flourishes like "Tanks" it just furthers his revisionist narrative. That's all that needed to be pointed out. Anyone with any actual critical thinking skills and basic historical resources can find out what actually happened. But when people begin to twist the truth, and add little lies here and there(tanks), it all adds up to some false narrative the conspiracy theorist is trying to propagate. "Ford Made Tanks for the Nazis!" Oh my!!
“Ford Made Tanks for the Nazis!" Oh my!!I can see that alarmism sells advertising space, I mean obviously. So, there is a clear profit motive for media outlets to whip up hysteria at every turn. Politicians have their motives for manufacturing crisis after crisis as well. Fear mongering is also useful to sell products which claim to mitigate the manufactured crisis. But I don't quite see the motivation for the individual alarmist. Maybe it is not so much a motivation as just a mindset of some kind, dunno, I am not a psychologist.
I just don't see what the controversy here is. A careful examination of the dates and laws and time sequence of events seems to me to show much ado about nothing.Exactly. But when a player like DougC adds flourishes like "Tanks" it just furthers his revisionist narrative. That's all that needed to be pointed out. Anyone with any actual critical thinking skills and basic historical resources can find out what actually happened. But when people begin to twist the truth, and add little lies here and there(tanks), it all adds up to some false narrative the conspiracy theorist is trying to propagate. "Ford Made Tanks for the Nazis!" Oh my!! Entirely missing the point I was making which is the amount of hypocrisy that goes into blaming one political movement in one country for the massive destruction that was caused in Europe and around the world in the 1930s and 40s. Hitler and the Nazi party would have never come to power without the backing of very wealthy people in Germany and across the west including America where the father and grandfather of two Presidents worked as the US banker for Hitler's banker. He only stopped a year after war started when the US government seized his assets. Focusing on the minutiae of exactly what rolled out of what plant is a great way to avoid looking at very unpleasant truths that affect all our lives. It wasn't just Ford that helped the Nazis rebuild their military and carry out the Holocaust, it was GM, IBM and many other industrial and financial concerns controlled by people who had virtually no concern for the impacts of their actions, in the same way we're seeing that segment of society acting now. Which was my point, despite what silly little mind games you're playing.
Yeah, it's interesting. I personally think that the information age is helping it along on all the levels you mention, including the individual. That's seems obvious at a glance. One of my first litmus tests on "information" sources is to try and figure out if it is the propagator or the audience(the believer or the target). I think folks get information that they find very interesting and they want to share it with others. Sometimes people think they have information that is "secret" or damaging; by spreading this they feel empowered. That's a simplification. Like you said perhaps psychology could delve deeper. But I don't really think there is any impetus for this area of research. It's always been this way, even before the internet. Like the highways argument from above. Obviously it's a known fact that it is a political football. Full stop. It is. And it's even one I could get behind on an economic sense. I'm all for putting more people to work. But there is no standard or measure to make the calculation that roads are in dire disrepair in the US. What we do know is that the road system is currently operating efficiently at 110% capacity. That every single second of every day, hundreds of thousands if not millions of people are repairing, replacing, improving, and constructing new roads. That like you said, the amount of accidents or disasters caused by road disrepair is very, very small. We also know that at any given time, roads, bridges, ports etc are reaching the end of their service life. And that there will always be a need for people to replace and repair roads.“Ford Made Tanks for the Nazis!" Oh my!!I can see that alarmism sells advertising space, I mean obviously. So, there is a clear profit motive for media outlets to whip up hysteria at every turn. Politicians have their motives for manufacturing crisis after crisis as well. Fear mongering is also useful to sell products which claim to mitigate the manufactured crisis. But I don't quite see the motivation for the individual alarmist. Maybe it is not so much a motivation as just a mindset of some kind, dunno, I am not a psychologist.