I Loathe Flying As A Means Of Getting Somewhere

T. A. Gardner said:
The gate Nazis are the worst (TSA). Total overkill.
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TSA is itself unconstitutional. It also has not prevented any hijacking or hazardous passenger. It is unconstitutional to conduct searches without warrants or arrest. It is also quite pointless and wastes a lot of time and money.

It is extremely easy to construct a bomb or weapon on the sanctified side of any major airport from materials found in various stores there, or to construct a distraction that can easily shut down whole sections of the nation's airline service using simple materials. Many of these methods are known to terror groups as well.

The biggest reason that terrorists aren't hijacking US airlines anymore is that they know the attempt will only result in their own deaths. People know it's a life and death situation now, and not just a trip to Cuba. They will respond accordingly. Any hijacker stupid enough to try to take over a plane today will not last 5 seconds against the passengers.

It's not the TSA.


T. A. Gardner said:
Long-distance passenger rail is insanely stupid for the US.
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Currently due to overregulation of railways at the moment. Long distance rail does exist, such as the Empire Builder run between Chicago and Seattle, and the Coast Starlight run between Los Angeles, SDTC and Seattle. Both pass by some great scenery, but you can only see that during the daylight portions of the trip.

They are both Amtrak and depend on government subsidy to operate. Neither owns the tracks they run on. They have to share those tracks with freight rail, which has higher priority because they own the tracks.

T. A. Gardner said:
Not only would installing it cost a fortune, but running such a system would too and it would be worse than flying.
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It is already installed. It does cost a fortune and must be subsidized by the government to even operate. Yes, it's worse than flying, since it takes longer than driving the distance, is more expensive, tends to lock you into their schedule, and at the end you still have to rent a car to get around.

At least flying also offers some scenery, but takes mere hours to accomplish the same trip, and is generally much cheaper. TSA makes it misery though.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
We have different values and thus different ideas.
I share none of yours and you share none of mine.
Both of us, further, are representative of very large factions.

Right now, we're witnessing this serious incompatibility rapidly bringing down the republic.
In the end, it will probably be for the best,
but in the interim, until the new world manifests itself,
we're in for some brutal times.

Part of it is a result of World War II.
Europe got pummeled, but then got to rebuild itself as a modern continent.

America didn't, but lives a century behind the times as a result.
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What is modern about tyranny?
 
Althea said:
LOL. Once again citing false equivalents. High speed rail would not necessarily be used to travel 2500 miles. Shorter trips would be much more desirable via train than plane.
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As I've pointed out, that really depends too. If I have to drive say 15 miles to the station, then need to go 10 miles at the destination end, and the time and cost it takes to use high speed rail is equal or higher to simply driving, I'll drive instead. This is the problem in the US. Even if you have high speed rail, without some means to go to and from stations to local destinations, often miles away and not easily served by something like a bus system, high speed rail fails because it doesn't save most people any time or money over driving.

I used the example of Phoenix to Tucson--something the leftist lovers of high speed rail pine for. In that example, it is simply better to drive the 150 miles than use high speed rail because the later is totally inconvenient while saving you no time or money over driving.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
We're heading to Vermont from MI tomorrow. We chose to drive the 15 hours because flights suck so bad. Because our airport is very tiny, and so is theirs, a 4.5-hour direct flight becomes 12-19 hours. Why not drive and have peace and quiet and no cooties from other passengers, no long layovers, and plenty of leg room?
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Plus the convenience of a car at your destination...
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
We're heading to Vermont from MI tomorrow. We chose to drive the 15 hours because flights suck so bad. Because our airport is very tiny, and so is theirs, a 4.5-hour direct flight becomes 12-19 hours. Why not drive and have peace and quiet and no cooties from other passengers, no long layovers, and plenty of leg room?
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I know I asked already. What part of Vt?
 
T. A. Gardner said:
As I've pointed out, that really depends too. If I have to drive say 15 miles to the station, then need to go 10 miles at the destination end, and the time and cost it takes to use high speed rail is equal or higher to simply driving, I'll drive instead. This is the problem in the US. Even if you have high speed rail, without some means to go to and from stations to local destinations, often miles away and not easily served by something like a bus system, high speed rail fails because it doesn't save most people any time or money over driving.

I used the example of Phoenix to Tucson--something the leftist lovers of high speed rail pine for. In that example, it is simply better to drive the 150 miles than use high speed rail because the later is totally inconvenient while saving you no time or money over driving.
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Because that works for you. For many, it doesn't. Especially for business. You can conduct business the entire time you are on a train.
 
leaningright said:
No control…over anything.
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Just not on whether you fly into a rock. If you want to get off at the next stop, just smack the Flight Attendant and they'll make that happen. :thup:

Part of it is the illusion of control. Bus passengers have the illusion that, if the driver made a mistake or died of a heart attack, they could rush forward and save a 70MPH bus from veering into the opposite lane or leap out before it crashed in a ball of fire.

The good news is that 1) you're more likely to get killed driving to or from the airport than in a US airliner, and 2) the crews and maintenance are extremely well screened and monitored compared to buses or other car drivers. Results count!
 
Hawkeye10 said:
It was way better back before deregulation....I now avoid if at all possible...in fact I do my best to avoid leaving my oasis at all.

But I am currently waiting for my daughter in a restaurant in Tacoma, our favorite restaurant in Tacoma in fact.
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Prices were much higher too which is why so many people took the bus or spent a few days of their vacation driving along with the cost of hotel rooms because it was cheaper.
 
Commander Dutch said:
Prices were much higher too which is why so many people took the bus or spent a few days of their vacation driving along with the cost of hotel rooms because it was cheaper.
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It was more expensive, but not really....business class....which is going away BTW....is what economy used to be in quality.
 
Considering that the government has long lied about inflation I suspect that in constant dollars current business class is actually more expensive than the old standard class was in say the 60's and early 70's.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
The gate Nazis are the worst (TSA). Total overkill.

Long-distance passenger rail is insanely stupid for the US. Not only would installing it cost a fortune, but running such a system would too and it would be worse than flying.
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Seriously, Terry? Just how far off the right edge have you fallen? Did they take your fake grenades or ammo?

So are passenger ships...unless you're in it for the experience. My wife and I took an Amtrak trip once. It was great. Completely different experience than air travel, which is how we usually go. There are certain routes which are definitely worth the trip such as the California coast from LA to SeaTac, LA to Den (or even Salt Lake to Den for a short trip). Across the northern tier in Fall.
 
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