Your Wal-Mart dollars at work?

[geo in mi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ks4T9ylxcwc

Hmmmmm.....

geo

[Fat Charlie]

Kind of makes you proud, doesn't it?

[Callieslamb]

I sat through 7 minutes thinking I was going to see them arrive at a WM at the end. I finally get it.

[edcopp]

They ($) are no longer "your" dollars once Walmart gets a grip on them>

[arabian knight]

Maglev trains are neat. Back in 1994 when I lived in Phoenix metro area, they wanted to do the Maglev trains. It would have been the first of its kind in this country.
But it was voted down~! Stupid stupid people.
I asked one person why she voted it down, and do you know what her answer was? "I don't like the color of the cars" Not kidding you one bit. But what she did not know was the cars that were on display were NOT the cars that were going to be used~!!!!
And a few years before the vote the airport built a 3rd terminal, and Purposely built it so the Maglev train could get to that terminal.~! But nope it was not too be.
And I did not watch the whole video, but is WM being slammed again for sending money over to China? Was that the gist of it?
Well today I help my friends do a vending installation and they bought 6 Commercial Microwaves. Commercial is the key word here. They had a Amanda name on them now these are priced way higher then any retail store outlet would have microwaves.
These Commercial Microwaves were MADE IN CHINA, even though the company that Boxed them up for shipment was in Iowa~! So even though you order from American suppliers (Companies) There product is still NOT Made in the USA. Even heavy duty Commercial products. So dissing WM if that is what that video is does. It is not the problem at all. There are WAY too many former American Companies that have offices and plants in China. Period.

[texican]

Synopsis, please, for ruralists on the board. Youtube is a cityfied luxury... most of us bumpkins can't access it. I 'can', but I have to stay up past 1AM, when there are no limits on my bandwidth usage.

Did I mention 'synopsis, please?'. Is this another typical anti-capitalist rant, or something more detailed?

s y n o p s i s

[Hilljack]

A video of a mag lev in china....

Whoop eeeeeee...


I get the point.

But until we stop buying crap from chin lee land....whats the point really?




We all complain and want our jobs back...yet we continue to feed the chin lee economy....


go figure


I am guilty as well, so I aint no saint, but ----it...



you get my point

[geo in mi]

Not a Wal Mart rant (just an eye-catcher)....... My gut reaction as I watched the first time was, "I've been asleep...."

The acceleration, of course, faster than NASCAR at about 265 mph.
No rickshaws, no strawcone hats, no pogodas
The girl in the window texting
Industrial buildings, industrial buildings, industrial buildings
Cars and busses and trucks, oh my....
An American looking old farmhouse midway....
Dual language, English

Maybe we've been asleep.....

geo

[ladycat]

Originally Posted by texican

Synopsis, please, for ruralists on the board. Youtube is a cityfied luxury... most of us bumpkins can't access it. I 'can', but I have to stay up past 1AM, when there are no limits on my bandwidth usage.

Did I mention 'synopsis, please?'. Is this another typical anti-capitalist rant, or something more detailed?

s y n o p s i s

It's just a trip in one of those high speed trains going through Shanghai. Someone is videotaping the view through the window.

It's interesting to see the view. If I hadn't known it was Shanghai, I would have thought it was in the US. Freeways, office buildings and all.

[MO_cows]

I think the U.S. kind of missed the boat on train travel. Very efficient means to move freight and could be to move people. The "glamour" of air travel went away a long time ago, a high speed train with nice amenities could become very popular here. But nobody wants to risk billions to build it and have it not catch on.

[tiogacounty]

I didn't take the time to watch it. I just read a few other pieces of this puzzle however. Obviously, China is in a much better financial position to engage in massive infrastructure investments. They do no need to ask the people if they want it, if they want to surrender their personal property to make way, or if they mind paying the taxes on it. They have about half of their population in extreme poverty and located in areas where there is no growth. The average "Joe" cannot afford tickets on high speed trains there. They are unrepentant thieves of intellectual property. A decade ago they invited suppliers like Bombardier and Kawasaki to collaborate on new high speed rail projects. They now compete with these companies in other markets, having gotten a giant head start by draining competitors of their knowledge. On another note, in the last five years they have become a dominate force in wind energy manufacturing. When you steal knowledge and have the backing of a government that wants to lead in a given sector, and have tons of cash to back it up, you can get pretty far, quickly.

[Old Vet]

There are several ways that a mag lift train will not work here. With our roads going everywhere you will have crossings and the train go too fast for those crossings. The rail is too bad to even think of having a fast train. The Airlines are against it. If you build a rail from one place to another but couldn't use slow trains at all on it it would cost more than you can pay for in 20 years. If you build a fast train from Washington to New York and to Boston you may have enough passengers to pay for it but not in one city It is easier to drive and we all know that driving is an American dream.

[texican]

Originally Posted by ladycat

It's just a trip in one of those high speed trains going through Shanghai. Someone is videotaping the view through the window.

It's interesting to see the view. If I hadn't known it was Shanghai, I would have thought it was in the US. Freeways, office buildings and all.

Thanks ladycat!
High speed mass transit will probably work in such a heavily populated and concentrated country like China.

Never work here... at least economically. Going from Shreveport, Louisiana to El Paso... over 700 miles. Would it stop at every little town along the way? It'd never get up to speed, till it got a hundred miles or so West of Austin.

I've read where these supertrains costs billions, for just a few miles. Imagine the cost of crossing Texas alone could kiss a trillion.

Mass transit is a metropolitan concept, that does nothing for 99% of the country. I think it's a waste. If private investors want to throw their money away, that's fine. Don't ask me as a taxpayer to subsidize it.
-----------------------
The day will come when China will price themselves out of the labor market... after they get another hundred million or so peasants into the modern workforce. When you're use to living on no cash, and on a subsistence basis, and suddenly exposed to non farm work, in a factory, with real wages... and the harder you work, the more money you make... it's a great feeling, I'm sure.

And in this country, we're paying millions to not work, some for over two years now. Tell this to a Chinaman and observe their reaction.

Do I smell a GC transference?

[Heritagefarm]

Maybe we should throw the problem of overpopulation in, too.

[jlrbhjmnc]

Originally Posted by Heritagefarm

Maybe we should throw the problem of overpopulation in, too.

China is actually suffering from a shortage of females because of the now 50,000,000 plus girls aborted under the "one child" policy that is still in effect (google "shortage of females in China"). Chinese parents will often kill a girl baby in hopes of later conceiving a boy for the one child they are allowed to have. There are way too many young men for the number of young women. I suppose that's one way to grow the number of men in the armed forces.

Japan is shrinking in population. The United Kingdom and the United States haven't enough workers to support their social security programs for the elderly. All of Europe is aging and suffering similar shortfalls in tax revenue to pay for the care of the elderly.

[mightybooboo]

Originally Posted by texican

Thanks ladycat!
High speed mass transit will probably work in such a heavily populated and concentrated country like China.

Never work here... at least economically.

Doesnt work there either.Its for propaganda and obviously THAT works,see this thread.

Its a big money loser.

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by Old Vet

There are several ways that a mag lift train will not work here. With our roads going everywhere you will have crossings and the train go too fast for those crossings. The rail is too bad to even think of having a fast train. The Airlines are against it. If you build a rail from one place to another but couldn't use slow trains at all on it it would cost more than you can pay for in 20 years. If you build a fast train from Washington to New York and to Boston you may have enough passengers to pay for it but not in one city It is easier to drive and we all know that driving is an American dream.

Well in AZ the Phoenix Metro area the "Tracks" would be Elevated and right down the center of the roads. For a lot of it. But this Maglev that was voted down in AZ. was a Elevated one~!
And as far as airlines, the International PHX. airport had already Built in the lower lever of their new 3rd terminal for the tracks to go with the new Maglev Train.

[HermitJohn]

Originally Posted by jlrbhjmnc

Japan is shrinking in population. The United Kingdom and the United States haven't enough workers to support their social security programs for the elderly. All of Europe is aging and suffering similar shortfalls in tax revenue to pay for the care of the elderly.

Frankly we dont need MORE people. It makes for more consumers and more warm bodies to keep wages down. So it maybe great for corporate america. But it also makes space other things a lot more expensive for those of us already here. Notice how BIG cities have much higher cost of living. How does that help the average person?

What we are really running into is the fact that we are on a FINITE planet with FINITE resources. You cant have INFINITE growth in a FINITE world. The system has to be redesigned so those now here have decent life and space to enjoy it. Greed doesnt accomplish that. Greed carried to its conclusion just makes life good for a small group at the top, the rest of us are so much cordwood to be used and tossed aside. You get a Mexico or Egypt type situation. The only time capitalism is really good is in early stages when there is a lot of competition on level playing field with a relatively smallish population, lots of space/resources, and NO monopolies/oligopolies. And as little corruption as possible. Its historically been rare enough and we arent going to see that again on this planet.

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by arabian knight

Well in AZ the Phoenix Metro area the "Tracks" would be Elevated and right down the center of the roads. For a lot of it. But this Maglev that was voted down in AZ. was a Elevated one~!
And as far as airlines, the International PHX. airport had already Built in the lower lever of their new 3rd terminal for the tracks to go with the new Maglev Train.

I guess that Phoenix would have enough money to build a train above grade but how much will one cost that will crossed Texas. And I guess that some of the planes would accommodate one across Phoenix but what about a train from Houston to Little Rock? It would take passengers out of the area and they would be competing with them. But you are comparing one in one town not one that runs from one city to another.

[arabian knight]

Yes the AZ deal was for Mass Transit in and around the Phoenix metro area.
Hi speed Rail on the other hand.
Will NOT work in this country.
The reason being we only have One Set of tracks. So the "high speed rail" would be sharing those tracks with freight trains.~! And in no way can this country afford to built a separate rail line. In other places High Speed Rail is on its OWN train track, it is not shared by other railway traffic.