The Media's double standard

It's not a tragedy that Biden told an old guy's story about Amtrak. The tragedy is that if Trump had said anything even remotely as false and fabricated, the media would have run with it for weeks. Now they just shrug and say. "Oh well, it's just the charm of good old Joe. No big deal." Joe's story is as believable and as easily checked as the Democrats' Russia, Russia, Russia lie which they used in an attempted coup against a duly elected president.

The Amtrak business model is off the rails, too

Two areas of concern where I support Obama

Better rail service between cities and reducing the prison sentences for possession of crack. Those are totally unrelated issues, but both needed some high profile attention. We love to travel by train, but unfortunately AMTRAK is exhibit one of the way our the government runs a business. In 2003 we took the train to California and back to my father-in-law's 90th birthday. We stopped to visit the Grand Canyon on the way, and Glacier National Park on the way back. It's a relaxing, friendly way to travel. Another time we parked the car in Toledo and rode the train to downtown Chicago for about $6.00 (it was a special)--cheaper than we could pay to park.


Prisons are schools for crime, and they are universities for young black men sentenced for crack possession when young white men would get much less time for powdered, if they got time at all. It's probably one of the most racist laws still on the books, and if it takes a black president to get it removed (black legislators pushed for it, as I recall, because of related crime in black neighborhoods, not realizing the unintended consequences), so be it.

So you think you want government health care?

The United States used to have a rail transportation system the rest of the world envied. What happened?

Amtrak was created by Congress in 1970 to take over the money-losing passenger rail service previously operated by private freight railroad companies in the United States. More than half of all rail passenger routes were eliminated when Amtrak began service on May 1, 1971. Although Amtrak’s route system has remained essentially the same size, it represents a mere skeleton of what was once the United States’ passenger rail network. During Amtrak’s 32-year existence, the federal government has spent $1.89 trillion on air and highway modes. In the same time frame, Amtrak has received just over $30 billion in federal subsidies. While the United States once had a passenger rail system that was the envy of the world, a lack of capital investment has stalled the advancement of corridor development throughout the country. Dependent upon an annual federal appropriation, Amtrak’s national network is constantly threatened by under-investment, lack of a clearly articulated federal rail policy and an uncertain future.

Amtrak: Background & Facts

Thursday Thirteen and Friday Family Photo

Yes, I know it's Sunday, but it is also the 5th anniversary this week of our Amtrak trip to California in 2003, 16 days and 16 states. We parked our car in Toledo and traveled to Chicago with a special $6.50 ticket, cheaper than lunch. From there, it was on to Flagstaff, visiting the Grand Canyon, on to California for 5 days with the Bruce family to celebrate my father-in-law's 90th birthday, on up the coast, for a stay over Labor Day at Glacier Lodge (fires prevented us from seeing much), then back to Toledo and Lakeside. The only one of the 16 states I didn't "see" was Idaho because I was asleep.
At the Fullerton, CA train stationWith our fabulous hostess, sister Kate, in reflection, here we are ready to head for Glacier National Park. Yes, we did go 16 days with only this luggage, 2 carry-ons each. I'm wearing the 21 year old khakis I wrote about in the broken zipper entry here. I started this blog about a month after we returned, so I don't think I've talked much about that trip, but here are Thirteen Things worth remembering.

1. Best overall event: Visiting with the Bruce family for 5 days in California 2. Most emotional: Seeing the four Bruce siblings together with their Dad 3. Best views: Riding through Glen Canyon on a pontoon boat 4. Best restaurant meal: Khoury's in Long Beach with Aunt Dorothy, my dad's sister 5. Best train ride: Pacific Starlight, through California, Oregon, Washington 6. Best tour guide: Billy with "Over the Road" tours in Flagstaff 7. Most disappointing: Fires and smoke at Glacier National Park; we experienced but didn't see McDonald Lake, Going to the Sun Road, the Continental Divide, and Two Medicine Lakes 8. Biggest surprise: Meeting former members of our church, UALC, on the Glacier Lodge porch 9. Best value: Upgrade to sleeper on Empire Builder 10. Biggest blessing I missed: I thought he was a drunk cowboy on the train and ignored him, but later learned otherwise 11. Most never-before-eaten fruit: Huckleberries are ubiquitous around Glacier 12. Biggest scenery change: Western Montana and Eastern Montana, like a plumb line 13. Most destructive government program observed: cradle to the grave government care and disincentives for Native Americans; environmental regs for not removing dead trees and brush were a close second (fires)