Ryan Avent says we can't go back in time "and redo the last ten years" of transporation policy. But wouldn't it be nice if we could? And not just on transportation, either. There are tons and tons of policy areas in which a time machine would be an enormous help. Of course kill a butterfly in the past and the next thing you know fascists take over in the present so maybe it's a bad idea.
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Time Machine
05 May 2008 02:44 pm
Comments (19)
"Stupid bug. You go squish now!"
Matt is correct. If we invent time travel, the robots will merely use our time machines to hunt down and kill the leaders of the human resistance before they're even born. It's best to stick with boring liberal policy prescriptions like cap-and-trade programs, which do not have dual-use capabilities as weapons for homicidal robots with global-domination schemes.
Butterflies will go extinct in 10 years...what's the diff.
Nice Simpson's reference, one of the best episodes.
In a vain attempt to mock MY's typo I learned that 'transporation' is a very common error, found on transportation websites nationwide.
Still disappointing that I couldn't come up with a better trnasporation policy.
we can't go back in time "and redo the last ten years" of transporation policy. But wouldn't it be nice if we could?
Only if we could do it in a phone booth.
I'd go back and beg Al Gore to cajole (and if necessary bribe) Bill Clinton into letting Elian Gonzales stay. In fact, the boy had every right to stay. As a Cuban national, by stepping foot on US soil, he had automatic asylum, so there was no immigration issue. Once a Florida family court ruled that the uncle had custody, there was no legitimate grounds for the federal government to intervene, since custody issues (like "right to die" cases) are decided at the state level.
Had Elian stayed in Florida, you would not have had this picture inflaming Cuban-Americans into voting Republican in 2000. http://www.athousandandone.com/photos/0/448a07d7cb24f_s.jpg
Gore would have won Florida handily and thus the presidency. He'd be finishing his second term and we'd be lamenting $2.000 a gallon gas, the growing cold war with China and the inevitability of McCain winning this November.
heads up matt, robots are taking over for surgeons.
the new york times explains: "Many urologists performing prostate surgery view the precise, tremor-free movements of a robot as the best way to spare nerves crucial to bladder control and sexual potency. A robot’s ability to deftly handle small tools may lead to a less invasive procedure and faster recovery for a patient. Robots also can protect surgeons from physical stress and exposure to X-rays that may force them into premature retirement."
I have the feeling that should one go back ten years in transportation policy one would end up pretty much right where we are. Has anything changed? Time stands still.
If we were going to really change transportation policy, we'd ought to go back a lot further than ten years.
George: I said, 'Automobiles are a useless nuisance.' Never amount to anything but a nuisance. They had no business to be invented.
Uncle Jack: Of course you forget Mr. Morgan makes them. Also did his share in inventing them. If you weren't so thoughtless, he might think you're rather offensive.
Eugene: I'm not sure George is wrong about automobiles. With all their speed forward, they may be a step backward in civilization. It may be that they won't add to the beauty of the world or the life of men's souls. I'm not sure. But automobiles have come. And almost all outward things are going to be different because of what they bring. They're going to alter war and they're going to alter peace. And I think men's minds are going to be changed in subtle ways because of automobiles. And it may be that George is right. It may be that in ten or twenty years from now, if we can see the inward change in men by that time, I shouldn't be able to defend the gasoline engine but would have to agree with George: that automobiles had no business to be invented.
The unspoken implication is that we are currently living in a world where someone stepped on that damn butterfly!
>we can't go back in time "and redo the last ten years" of transporation policy. But wouldn't it be nice if we could? And not just on transportation, either.
This is my response, from the preface to Blood:
An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce by Douglas Starr, published in 1998:
If one considers blood a natural resource, then it must certainly rank among the world's most precious liquids. A barrel of crude oil, for example, sells for about $13 at this writing.
Once a Florida family court ruled that the uncle had custody, there was no legitimate grounds for the federal government to intervene ...
Paging "Dred Scott".
Dude, you really shouldn't post when you're high.
Time travel! Terminator references! Matt throws me a bone!
I'm so stuffed!
Cameron highjack's van, fights T-888 & removes his CPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ogvxXKRp8Y&feature=related
FBI SWAT team tries to take down Chromartie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVrVMzNdpXM
Best parts of the final season episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ3QkGaQDsE
As a Cuban national, by stepping foot on US soil, he had automatic asylum, so there was no immigration issue.
That's not how it works. Rather, as a Cuban national, by stepping foot on US soil, he had the right to apply for asylum through his legal guardian. The asylum process is not automatic-- any Cuban arriving in the US has the right to go back to Cuba if he or she (or his or her legal guardians) want to.
Elian's legal guardian, of course, was his father (and the Florida courts had no ground to strip Juan Gonzalez of his guardianship without a showing he was an unfit parent). Thus, the decision to apply for asylum vel non rested with Elian's father, and Elian's father declined to file such an application. That made Elian an excludable alien, and he was delivered into the custody of his guardian (by force, because his caretakers refused to release him) and deported to his homeland.
I had an argument in about 1993 with a perfectly progressive and very intelligent fellow, in which I contended that we should enact a $1 per gallon gas tax immediately - perhaps phase it in by 25 cents a year - in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil, rejuvenate the cities, and protect the environment. He responded that raising the price of gasoline would hurt working class people.
This wasn't rocket science. It was clear what we needed to do. There just wasn't the will to do it. Clinton couldn't even get a 5 cent a gallon tax through Congress.
I think human societies are simply incapable of processing and acting on information about the future. Certain very able individuals, perhaps. But societies, no.
What would we have to go back and kill to keep the current . . . warmongering rightwing nationalists . . . from coming to power?
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Heads in the Sand
%?$&*!@ chaos butterfly!!
Posted by moron | May 5, 2008 3:06 PM