Quotes

"Fascism and communism both promise "social welfare," "social justice," and "fairness" to justify authoritarian means and extensive arbitrary and discretionary governmental powers." - F. A. Hayek"

"Life is a Bungling process and in no way educational." in James M. Cain

Jean Giraudoux who first said, “Only the mediocre are always at their best.”

If you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law. Sir Winston Churchill

"summum ius summa iniuria" ("More laws, more injustice.") Cicero

As Christopher Hitchens once put it, “The essence of tyranny is not iron law; it is capricious law.”

"Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Ronald Reagan

"Law is where you buy it." Raymond Chandler

"Why did God make so many damn fools and Democrats?" Clarence Day

"If I feel like feeding squirrels to the nuts, this is the place for it." - Cluny Brown

"Oh, pshaw! When yu' can't have what you choose, yu' just choose what you have." Owen Wister "The Virginian"

Oscar Wilde said about the death scene in Little Nell, you would have to have a heart of stone not to laugh.

Thomas More's definition of government as "a conspiracy of rich men procuring their own commodities under the name and title of a commonwealth.” ~ Winston S. Churchill, A History of the English Speaking Peoples

“Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.” ~ Jonathon Swift

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Unsafe at Any Speed » The Government Does Not Care If You Die

Unsafe at Any Speed » The Antiplanner
Mar 9, 2012
Three months ago, Washington MetroRail’s Blue and Orange lines shut down when parts fell off the braking gear of one of the railcars, damaging another car. Hundreds of riders had to evacuate and train service was delayed for hours.
Metro initially blamed the malfunction on “premature wear,” but another railcar’s brakes fell apart in a similar manner just a month later.
Now it turns out that Metro knew about the potential hazard with the brakes six years ago, but didn’t have the money to fix the 190 railcars that used that type of brake gear. So, it more-or-less just forgot about it. These sorts of problems start to crop up when rail lines are about 30 years old and transit agencies haven’t budgeted for periodic rehabilitation–which they never seem to do.
Where will the next serious rail accident take place? Chicago‘s CTA and all ofBoston‘s rail lines suffer from seriously deferred maintenance. The original San Diego Trolley turned 30 last year. Parts of Atlanta‘s rail system are nearly 33 years old, and Miami‘s is 28-years old. It’s only a matter of time–and probably not much time–before one of these has a major accident.

-more at link-

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