We are a failed state.
The people in Puerto Rico really need to start kneeling for the National Anthem so they can get some help. https://t.co/AVmFH2gFrz
— Ben (@BenHowe) September 25, 2017
by John Cole| 94 Comments
This post is in: Dolt 45
We are a failed state.
The people in Puerto Rico really need to start kneeling for the National Anthem so they can get some help. https://t.co/AVmFH2gFrz
— Ben (@BenHowe) September 25, 2017
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 27 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture
Good Morning All,
This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.
So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.
You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.
For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Today, pictures from valued commenter ?BillinGlendaleCA.
Angels Flight
(The Shortest Railroad in the World)In the late 19th century and early 20th century Bunker Hill was the fashionable residential neighborhood towering to the west of the downtown Los Angeles as it grew south from the Spanish plaza. As with other neighborhoods of Los Angeles at the time there were steps to get people up to their mansions. In 1901 Colonel J.W. Eddy figured he could make some coin extracting some coin from these wealthy folk by building a narrow gauge funicular railway up Bunker Hill at the corner of 3rd and Hill streets It was next to the newly opened 3rd Street Tunnel(it runs under Bunker Hill from Hill Street to Figueroa Street), crossing over Clay Street before reaching Olive Street at the top of it’s run. It seems that short rail lines were all the rage at the time since 1905 saw the opening of the little remembered Court Flight between Broadway and Hill streets in the current Civic Center(across from the red brick courthouse). Angels Flight has two rail cars, Sinai and Olivet, that operate in opposing directions and originally moved on a single cable. Angels Flight operated at this location for 68 years seeing the decline of the neighborhood as the wealthy moved further west to neighborhood such as Angelino Heights and mid-Wilshire. The stately mansions turned into boarding houses and hotels. In the postwar era, the city decided that they needed to redevelop Bunker Hill and Angels Flight was closed in May of 1969. I was fortunate to ride Angels Flight in it’s original location on a Cub Scout trip to downtown in early 1969. The cars, the ticket plaza at the top and the entrance arch at the bottom were put into storage for the “brief period”(2 years they said at the time) while they relocated the tracks a half of a block to the south. This “brief period” turned out to be 27 years. Angels Flight re-opened in 1996 and instead of transporting the wealthy to their stately mansions it now transported office workers from their offices in the skyscrapers that replaced the stately mansions. In 2001 there was a serious accident on the railroad that killed an elderly German tourist and led to Angeles Flight being closed once again. It reopened in 2008 to only have another accident in 2013(this time without any deaths or major injuries) close it down again. It recently reopened on August 31, 2017 so I decided to take a spin on it.
Upper plaza and ticket window.
Taken on 2017-09-07
Los Angeles, CA
This is were you buy your ticket for the trip, if you riding up the hill you pay here after you ride up. It’s the same building that served this purpose from 1901 to 1969 though it did change a bit over the years. The cars and the stations received a fresh coat of paint as part of the latest renovation.
Inside one of the cars.
Taken on 2017-09-07
Los Angeles, CA
This is inside one of the cars(I’m not sure if it’s Sinai or Olivet) looking through the car and down the tracks from the top.
About half way down.
Taken on 2017-09-07
Los Angeles, CA
This is about half way down the hill and you can see that the tracks move out to the side to let the ascending car move past.
About 3/4er’s the way down.
Taken on 2017-09-07
Los Angeles, CA
Here, the other car has passed and both cars are making the transition from the duel track to the single track.
At the Hill street station.
Taken on 2017-09-07
Los Angeles, CA
This picture really gives a good idea how long the railroad is, with the car I’m in at the bottom and the other car at the top.
Station at Hill Street.
Taken on 2017-09-07
Los Angeles, CA
This is the Hill Street station and is right across from the Grand Central Market where you can get some nice eats.
Car waiting to go up.
Taken on 2017-09-07
Los Angeles, CA
Here is a car at the Hill Street Station waiting to go up. The concrete buildings in the background is where Angels Flight originally was.
Thank you so much ?BillinGlendaleCA, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email
This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Don't Agonize - Organize, Open Threads, Republican Venality, World's Best Healthcare (If You Can Afford It)
The Senate Finance Cmte hearing on Graham-Cassidy is still on for Monday, now starting at 2 p.m.
Here are the witnesses, per @OrrinHatch. pic.twitter.com/Yucj08KANT
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 23, 2017
Per the Washington Post:
The Republican senators at the forefront of the latest effort to undo the Affordable Care Act plan to release a revised version of their bill Monday sending more health-care dollars to the states of key holdouts, as hardening resistance from several GOP senators left their proposal on the verge of collapse.
According to a summary obtained by The Washington Post, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) will propose giving Alaska and Maine more funding than initially offered. Those states are represented by Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), who have expressed concerns about the bill but have yet to say how they would vote…
The plan was distributed among Republicans late Sunday, with party leaders just one “no” vote away from defeat and as Republican senators from across the political spectrum were distancing themselves from the prior draft…
Although the CBO plans to release a “preliminary assessment” early this week, officials there have said they will not be able to provide estimates of how Cassidy-Graham would affect insurance premiums or the number of people with coverage “for at least several weeks.” Trump and McConnell are trying to bring the bill to a vote by the end of this week to take advantage of a procedural rule allowing the plan to pass with just 51 votes.
It remained far from clear Sunday that they could get close to that number…
KEY: Grassidy 2.0 is health insurance for healthy ppl, boondoggle 4 red states, robs Medicaid, and won't be properly scored. A disgrace. 15/
— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) September 25, 2017
On the other hand, if we can prevent this latest attempt…
! @LindseyGrahamSC on him, RonJohn: "We're not going to vote for a budget resolution that doesn't allow the health care debate to continue."
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) September 24, 2017
hahahahaha Obamacare isn't just not going to be repealed, it's going to sink the GOP tax bill, too https://t.co/3urxjJcezB
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) September 24, 2017
***********
Apart from the Repubs’ never-ending efforts to make everybody elses’ lives worse, what’s on the agenda as we start a fresh week?
Monday Morning Open Thread: Once More Unto the BreechPost + Comments (100)
This post is in: Dolt 45, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality
Every single day, every single thing Trump does, remember, the blame goes to the Republicans. They can stop him, but they’re empowering him
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 26, 2017
.
What’s on the agenda, as we wrap up the weekend?
***********
Also, Larry Summers, still an arsehole:
President @realDonaldTrump resembles Pres. Nixon in many ways. But Nixon would never have been so thoughtless & blundering re North Korea
— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) September 23, 2017
Nixon wanted to make the impression of an unpredictable leader, Trump IS an unpredictable leader.
— Gerhard Mangott (@gerhard_mangott) September 23, 2017
I don't think Trump is unpredictable at all. He's just not credible. Which is way worse. https://t.co/mf0SfCEO6v
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) September 23, 2017
Sunday Night Open Thread: Words to Live ByPost + Comments (192)
by DougJ| 214 Comments
This post is in: Assholes, We Are All Mayans Now
Complain all you want about Hillary’s campaign but if not for the private email bullshit that the Times and others got a strange hard-on for she’d be president right now. Well…..
Presidential son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has corresponded with other administration officials about White House matters through a private email account set up during the transition last December, part of a larger pattern of Trump administration aides using personal email accounts for government business.
This post is in: Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Post-racial America, Republican Stupidity, Sports
"Sons of bitches" vs. "Fine people". pic.twitter.com/2wylpEoRvH
— Denizcan James (@MrFilmkritik) September 23, 2017
If Trump know so much about professional football, maybe he should buy a team & show us how it's done.
Oh, wait…
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 24, 2017
Granpa Smallgloves seems to be sundowning again — and he wants some company out in the mental twilight…
… Trump also discussed at Friday’s rally the league’s television ratings, saying they are down “massively,” and partially claiming credit for the drop.
“Now the No. 1 reason happens to be, they like watching what’s happening with yours truly,” he said. He also added that the amount of big hits called as penalties are a factor as well.
“Today, if you hit too hard, 15 yards, throw him out of the game,” he said while mimicking the act of an official throwing a penalty flag. “They’re ruining the game, right? They’re ruining the game. It’s hurting the game.”
Trump’s comments on how the game is being ruined by an attempt to cut down on big hits came a day after former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was diagnosed posthumously with the second-most-severe form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Hernandez committed suicide in April while serving a life sentence for murder…
(Which is not to excuse Hernandez’ behavior, but: Trump has a real gift for timing his statements, no?)
Robert E Lee killed 140,000 US soldiers to spread slavery.
Kaepernick took a knee to protest police violence.
Guess who Trump praised.
— Liked By ZedCruz (@ZeddRebel) September 23, 2017
Trump is only consistently loyal to white supremacists and Putin
— John Legend (@johnlegend) September 23, 2017
Don't miss the irony of Trump going to Alabama in 2017 & complaining bc white people expected a black person to stand up but he refused
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 23, 2017
The UAW offered her a job, and she worked there until John Conyers was elected, & then she went to work for him.
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 23, 2017
Sportsball Open Thread: Speaking of ‘Very Fine People’…Post + Comments (230)
by Betty Cracker| 130 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Post-racial America, Sports, Assholes, General Stupidity
Not gonna happen, but it would be beautiful if 100% of NFL players, coaches, assistants, trainers, water-boys, referees, line judges, beer vendors, hot dog sellers, announcers, ticket takers, security personnel, custodians and fans took a knee when the national anthem plays at today’s football games.
If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
…NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN. Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back U.S.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
Senator Ben Sasse, aspirant to McCain’s mavericky mantle, has it all wrong:
NFL players:
You have the right to protest Trump tmrw. But aren’t there better ways than kneeling before the flag soldiers died to defend?— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) September 23, 2017
btw, Trump wants you to kneel–because it divides the nation, with him and the flag on the same side. Don't give him the attention he wants. https://t.co/ic5Vc9oGyB
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) September 23, 2017
The rectangle of dyed cloth isn’t the issue; it’s the principles it symbolizes, among them free speech without interference from the government. The protests aren’t about disrespecting the flag or the troops; they’re about police killing black people, including children, with impunity.
Let the nation be divided among those who understand that, with Trump and white supremacy on the other side. Let’s finally see where everyone stands — or kneels.
The reaction won’t be what it should be, which is the overwhelming majority of Americans supporting American values like the right to peaceful dissent without censorship from a big-mouthed tyrant.
But as more players take a knee in more sports, as additional owners and fans support them, and, most importantly, discuss the issue that inspired the protests in the first place, the more Trump will be revealed as a weak, hateful anachronism.
That’s my hope, anyway. Open thread!