dagblog - Comments for "Neoliberalism's human toll"

Giving an idea of the problem

artappraiser — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 05:05:38 +0000

In reply to My answer: Corruption, the

Giving an idea of the problem of where did the money go they were supposed to be using to fix the problems and where's new money going to come from .

Congestion Pricing Train Already Running Late in Albany

February 09, 2018 | by Jim Brennan @ GothamGazette.com

[....] The next cycle will have the same problem: where to find money to pay for it. In fact, the problem of paying to keep the subway, bus, and commuter rail system in a state of good repair and pay for expansion projects will continue for decades [....]

Specifics as to the subway

artappraiser — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 04:58:02 +0000

In reply to My answer: Corruption, the

Specifics as to the subway system:

The Most Expensive Mile of Subway Track on Earth

How excessive staffing, little competition, generous contracts and archaic rules dramatically inflate capital costs for transit in New York.

By Brian M. Rosenthal @ NYTimes.com, Dec. 28, 2017

Which was blogged on further @ Jalopnik.com:

Here's The Most Damning Report Yet On Why The New York City Subway Is Terrible

by Raphael Orlove, Dec. 29, 2017

“I don’t think it’s corrupt.” MTA board member Charles G. Moerdler told the New York Times for its most recent subway exposé, “But I think people like doing business with people they know, and so a few companies get all the work, and they can charge whatever they want.” Oh yeah. That’s definitely not corruption [....]

NYTimes Editorial, Feb. 4:

artappraiser — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 04:51:21 +0000

In reply to I'll let the NYT counter your

NYTimes Editorial, Feb. 4:

Cuomo and de Blasio: Subway Chaos Is Your Shared Foe

[...] is it too much to ask the mayor of New York City and the governor of New York State to work together in the face of a crisis bordering on the existential for their citizens?

This is about fixing the doddering subways. Should they collapse, which on any given day does not seem a preposterous thought, the city would come treacherously close to having to put up a “going out of business” sign. The state might as well then summon the clergy to perform last rites on its own economy. But instead of desperately needed unity, we have two leaders and their surrogates engaged in a fruitless back and forth over who is historically responsible, who owes how much money, and who got us into this mess [....]

Got to admit that jihad is

artappraiser — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 04:15:01 +0000

In reply to Hal alone determines the

Got to admit that jihad is often a description that comes to mind....

Hal alone determines the

NCD — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 03:32:13 +0000

In reply to Deregulation = "neoliberalism

Hal alone determines the truth.

Could the chicken farmers be close behind..?

The main Islamist group in Algeria, the GIA, ended up being led by a Mr. Zouabri, a chicken farmer, who killed everyone who disagreed with him. He issued a final communiqué, declaring that the whole of Algerian society should be killed, with the exception of his tiny remaining band of Islamists. They were the only ones who understood the truth.

I am realizing why Hal's way

artappraiser — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:38:50 +0000

In reply to Deregulation = "neoliberalism

I am realizing why Hal's way of writing strikes me as so retro to the point of almost like parody sometimes: he not only tries to fit every news item into a single ideological box. He doesn't see the trend is ground up. We are in a place where everything is moving towards seeking to find a niche where the government isn't doing it's traditional job. Wherever there's a opening where government isn't doing it's job, that's seen as opportunity, including to innovate. What he calls "neo-liberalism" just happens, no pols are pushing it. It's the internet, where people even feel empowered to change other people's minds with fake news. What they won't buy if they've had a decent high school education: agitprop rhetoric they recognize from science fiction as totalitarian.

But should the "people" pay

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:09:00 +0000

In reply to Sometimes, doncha just wish

But should the "people" pay for your lenses when you're not fighting their battles and priorities? off to Place de la Concorde with you...

Deregulation = "neoliberalism

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:07:27 +0000

In reply to The rise and success of Uber

Deregulation = "neoliberalism"??? Surely there's more to it than that.

I'll let the NYT counter your

artappraiser — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 23:43:14 +0000

In reply to NYC's mass transit system is

I'll let the NYT counter your opinion, summing up recent history

How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways

Disruptions and delays have roiled the system this year. But the crisis was
long in the making, fueled by a litany of errors, a Times investigation shows.

By BRIAN M. ROSENTHAL, EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS and MICHAEL LaFORGIA NOV. 18, 2017

And throw in my own short opinion: there's been a massive human toll in the lives of the working class with the dysfunction of the subway system over the last year. It's falling apart and the problem is massive. Massive. When you go to an appointment anywhere for anything, it's already factored in that it's highly likely you'll be late.

Sometimes, doncha just wish

artappraiser — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 23:24:49 +0000

In reply to Hal, you have written you are

Sometimes, doncha just wish we could have George Orwell commenting on rhetoric on Dagblog for a day or two? I'd settle for a lowly survivor of The Peoples' Cultural Revolution, as I do need corrective lenses from my elitist habit of reading too much.