[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by bbronston

First of all, I recently saw a PSA about speaking up when people use the word "retarded" and pointing out that it is an unacceptably offensive use of the word. So, please be kind enough not to use it.

It's a perfectly acceptable word to use when not using it in a derogatory fashion rather in it's original form, and I find banning use of the word to be a somewhat knee-jerk extreme form of what's referred to commonly as "politically correct". Rather exhausting...

retard/retarded (verb)- to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.

[bbronston]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

It's a perfectly acceptable word to use when not using it in a derogatory fashion rather in it's original form, and I find banning use of the word to be a somewhat knee-jerk extreme form of what's referred to commonly as "politically correct". Rather exhausting...

retard/retarded (verb)- to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.

If that's the way you meant it then I apologize for bringing it up but, frankly, that's not the way I read and interpreted your use of the word. While I share your view that political correctness can be ridiculous at times, I make every effort to avoid hurtful speech (or prose) and, as one who has a Down Syndrome family member, there's really no use of the word in your context that I personally find "perfectly acceptable". To each his own, I guess.

[Reptoid Humidian]

Originally Posted by bbronston

If that's the way you meant it then I apologize for bringing it up but, frankly, that's not the way I read and interpreted your use of the word. While I share your view that political correctness can be ridiculous at times, I make every effort to avoid hurtful speech (or prose) and, as one who has a Down Syndrome family member, there's really no use of the word in your context that I personally find "perfectly acceptable". To each his own, I guess.

I believe in free speech. Case closed. I'm not going to have my free speech neutered because of some damn public service announcement!

Take this sentence for example.

"Farmville is the gayest thing I've ever seen".

It's an absolutely true statement. The Farmville games on Facebook have this ridiculous art that looks like it's designed to appeal to an 11 year old girl. And yet full grown adults who should know better spam me with invites to this insipid game. So try substituting a "non offensive" term for the word gay in that sentence. There are no words that apply or convey the same meaning. Not to mention that using these words conveys emotional impact. Try to find a substitute for the expletive in the sentence

"F*** this fascist regime!"

There is nothing and I mean NOTHING that expresses and conveys the anger and emotional content of that one forbidden word. As long as people can say these forbidden words we can keep our freedoms. When we allow authorities and namby pamby PC activists to neuter our free speech and limit our vocabulary to only "safe" words, we loose the ability to shout out our grievences and mobilize the people against those who would oppress us!

[bbronston]

Reptoid, largely, I agree with you. I'm not suggesting that any speech should be forbidden or banned. I'm only saying that we all know that there are some words that one might not find offensive but others do and, being gentlemen and having some measure of social grace, most of us exercise a measure of discretion and refrain from using the word in circumstances where offense might occur. If someone is unaware that a particular word could be regarded as offensive they can't be expected to use that discretion until someone (or a PSA) makes them aware. At that point, I suppose it's up to that individual to decide whether or not they want to be an obnoxious cretin.

[Kevin from Tampa]

This whole digression is gay and retarded.

And without local mass transit systems that work, a maglev train or any other HSR is stupid. That's partially why the Tampa-Orlando line would have been a boondoggle (among several other reasons).

[Reptoid Humidian]

Originally Posted by Kevin from Tampa

This whole digression is gay and retarded.

And without local mass transit systems that work, a maglev train or any other HSR is stupid. That's partially why the Tampa-Orlando line would have been a boondoggle (among several other reasons).

Good point!

[cw30000]

Originally Posted by fathamburger

look at how fast a Maglev train pwns a high speed rail train (at about 3:02). Meanwhile Americans still think paying high prices for gas and driving on crumbling roads is fine.
YouTube - ‪High Speed MAGLEV train shock wave 430 KPH‬‏

If government allow private sector to do it and it make sense, we would have it already.

HOWEVER, this is not the case, when government direct where the capital goes, it always goes to their friends and it then go wasted. Their friends usually mega corporation and unions.

[Hialeah_Rules]

our very own alien don't like high speeds.

End of story.


YouTube - ‪Bye-Bye Elliott‬‏

[gator.the.dog]

Super fast train. Nice idea, but it requires a significant phase shift in the way we do everything from build communities to select places to live and the kind of jobs we have.

If all of our jobs were in a centralized location then it might make great sense to do something like this. I just came from Houston a town of ~4-6 million and it's spread all over creation. No need for high density housing for any income level, everybody is willing to spread out and drive wherever they want to go.

The way to make this work is to build / refurb / re-build a metro area to optimize all aspects of our lives from transit to access to goods services and entertainment. Given a blank slate I think the outcome could be quite interesting.

Think New Orleans post Katrina. Bring 150,000 new jobs into the CBD (Central Business District) i.e. a dense area downtown, offer affordable new, flood proof housing 60-80-100 miles away and bam, the high speed train makes sense.