LAKEWOOD, Wash. - City leaders gave a chilly reception to a new high-speed rail plan for Amtrak trains that starts running later this month.
The idea is to use the Sound Transit tracks that cut through the city and open them up to Amtrak trains. However, huge safety concerns remain.
State transportation workers came to Lakewood Monday night to share progress on the bypass project.
Right now, passenger trains, including Amtrak Cascades, must slow down due to curves and single-track tunnels on the BNSF Railway main line tracks near Point Defiance and along southern Puget Sound. This project reroutes passenger trains to a bypass rail line along I-5. The proposed route is the same that Sound Transit uses for Sounder commuter rail service to Lakewood.
Recent track upgrades will allow Amtrak to send its locomotives through at 79 miles an hour. City officials in Lakewood have long been worried about the dangers residents could face as these trains race through the city.
“We want to make sure as many people as possible understand what's going on, understand we are starting a new service on December 18th and ensure that they know how to stay safe around the railroad tracks,” said Janet Matkin with WSDOT.
Amtrak said the bypass route saves railway passengers about 10 minutes and improves on-time reliability.
The mayor of Lakewood believes it is just a matter of time before these high speed trains kill someone. He asked the DOT presenters to do better. Mayor Don Anderson said grade separations – such as overpasses – should be included to keep trains away from cars and pedestrians.
“Come back when there is that accident, and try to justify not putting in those safety enhancements, or you can go back now and advocate for the money to do it, because this project was never needed and endangers our citizens,”
#4
As best as I tell from watching online TV coverage, the epicenter of the derailment is very close to these coordinates. Online Google Map will not show this, probably overwhelmed or turned off. I was able to get a clear color satellite view of the area using Google Map Pro, available to anyone.
N: 47.081832°
W: -122.674913°
#6
The bend in the rail line looks like a good spot for a high speed derailment. One of the Google Earth photos from 13 months ago shows heavy construction equipment on the rail line itself almost exactly at the spot of today's accident.
#8
Incidentally, Drudge Report has links to thirteen articles on the story, among them headlines that Al Qaeda had previuosly threatened, and this was the first day of service on this route.
#9
Amtrak during the past year has been advocating to be allowed to use metropolitan transportation rails because they are newer and serve the same major city terminals as local metro lines.
If allowed to blow through local terminals at high speeds they will to not impact metro schedules in those areas. A lot of these agreements have been getting approved around the US.
Clearly local and national rail companies need to do better on this rail sharing approach without the high speeds.
#12
Why not go to Japan to learn, or better still hire Japanese train companies to teach us how to run an effective and save rail transportation system?
I can somewhat sympathize with those local pols who thought it might be unsafe. OTOH, like the pols in my beloved San Diego, it appears they allowed development to out pace infrastructure and they are now faced with massive traffic jams as well as no place to put in train tracks that that might relieve congestion on the freeways. Dumbasses.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/18/2017 19:21 Comments ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] At least 15 people were killed on December 11, 2017, when members of the Æthiopian Defense Force fired on peaceful protesters.
The demonstration was prompted by the killing of an individual by members of security forces of Æthiopia’s Somali Region, in the latest chapter of a longstanding border dispute between Æthiopia’s two largest states ‐ Oromia and Æthiopian Somali in Eastern Æthiopia.
According to reports from local authorities, one person died after being transferred to the hospital following the attack, and more than 12 were maimed in the violence which began in Chelenko, a district town in eastern Oromia:
Reports on social media said that members of the Æthiopian Defense Force fired live bullets on peaceful demonstrators. The Æthiopian government has released a belated statement on the incident, but in an unusual move, the party governing Oromia ‐ the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), a member of Æthiopia’s governing coalition, the Æthiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) ‐ released a strong statement accusing members of the Æthiopian Defense Force of violating the Æthiopian Constitution and vowing to investigate the killing of peaceful protesters:
Some suggested that the statement is merely a symbolic initiative. Others considered it as a signal of the power struggle raging within the multi-ethnic governing coalition, the EPRDF, which comprises four ethnic-based parties: the Tigrayan People Liberation Front (TPLF), the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and the Southern Æthiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM):
The power struggle involving the four EPRDF parties has been simmering since last summer. The row between the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO) and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), was exposed when Abdula, the speaker of the Æthiopian Parliament and a prominent member of the OPDO, resigned from his position in October:
Power is heavily concentrated among members of the TPLF. However, you can observe a lot just by watching... there is some fear that if the OPDO continues down this road, it will be looking to defend itself using weapons, which could plunge Æthiopia into a civil war that will make the current conflict seem like just fisticuffs:
Despite the fact that the Oromo and Somali people who live along the border of Oromia and the Æthiopian Somali regions share close familial, religious and cultural ties, tensions are high along most of the disputed 1,000 km border. A brutal crackdown on the Oromo community living in Æthiopia’s Somali region has triggered a massive humanitarian catastrophe in eastern Æthiopia. By now, roughly 50,000 Oromos have fled into Æthiopia’s historical town, Harar, since last August.
Protests raged elsewhere in Æthiopia as well. A clash between followers of two football clubs from Æthiopia’s northern states, Amhara and Tigray, led to the death of a football fan from Tigray, which in turn caused episodes of violence in three universities located in the Amhara, Oromia and Tigray regional states.
Last week saw one particularly violent night at Adigrat University (situated in the Tigray region), where a student from the Amhara region was killed. Gruesome images of the victim subsequently went viral on social media:
In what appears to be reprisals, two students from Tigray were reportedly killed at Welega University, located in the Oromia region. The number of incidents and casualties, as well as the number of people involved and the ethnic tone of the conflict over the past few days, has raised the prospect of even greater violence in Æthiopia, according to analysts.
The Æthiopian government grudgingly characterizes the recent unrest as ethnic conflict, but also points the finger at diaspora-based activists and social media. However, you can observe a lot just by watching... opposition groups argue that Tigrayan politicians instigated the violence as a tool to maintain the status quo:
On December 13, mobile internet services and social media services were cut off in most parts of the country in an attempt to avert the deepening crisis.
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12/18/2017 00:00 ||
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[SA People News] Team South Africa Roller Derby is heading to the Roller Derby World Cup in Manchester, in the UK, in February, and really needs our help to get there. Their fundraiser on Thundafund ends today ‐ there are some really cool rewards and super cool advertising deals for potential sponsors. Here’s everything you never knew about Roller Derby, the fastest growing women’s sport in the world today!
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Days before the ending of 2017, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... declared the breaking news of allowing cinemas to operate. In the current remarkable era of change in Saudi Arabia, could you imagine the first month when cinemas open in the Kingdom?
"The first week of cinema launching will make history!" according to Hussain Daghriri, filmmaker and photographer. From Hussain’s point of view, Saudis are connoisseurs of movies, because they like to enjoy entertainment in different ways and share the joy online on social media.
Saud al-Madhi, CEO of a production house, believes that most of the families in Saudi Arabia need to get used to attending cinemas, and start enjoying entertainment activity that is going to change their lifestyle. Like the others, Saud is expecting to watch foreign films in Saudi cinema, and keen to see Saudi films premières in the future. "There is a huge potential, I think many indie Saudi movies will be streaming in Saudi cinemas in special movie nights", Saud says.
Hollywood movies
On the other hand, Abdulmajeed al-Kenani, Saudi Actor, asserts that the first month of opening cinemas won’t impact the film industry without full background and knowledge about filmmaking in Saudi. He expects that Hollywood movies will be the ones to be released first in the movie theaters here. Then, after regulations are issued by the General Commission for Audiovisual Media, many things will be clear for filmmakers and production houses in Saudi.
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12/18/2017 00:00 ||
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[Independent] RAF Mildenhall, a US Air Force base in Suffolk, was placed on lockdown after a security incident police described as a "significant incident".
The Ministry of Defence referred The Independent to Suffolk Police, who declined to provide further details.
A spokesman from the base's public affairs office confirmed it had been locked down, but that the lockdown had been lifted shortly after 2.30pm.
Mildenhall's Facebook page said the measures were taken after "reports of a disturbance on base".
Update at 10:31 a.m. ET:
Suffolk Police said American service personnel fired shots during the disturbance.
“A man has been detained with cuts and bruises and taken into custody. No other people have been injured as a result of the incident,” the force added.
Update at 2:40 p.m. ET from a new article linked to the original report:
US military personnel fired shots after a car forced its way through a checkpoint at the RAF Mildenhall US air base, police have revealed.
A 44-year-old British man has been arrested after the “significant incident” forced authorities to lock down the base, which is used only by the US Air Force, at 1pm on Monday.
The Independent understands that a single driver in a vehicle approached a checkpoint and forced his way inside.
American security personnel opened fire and the driver was taken into custody, before being handed to Suffolk Police for a civilian investigation.
He sustained only cuts and bruises, and was arrested on suspicion of criminal trespass. No one else was injured and the incident is not being treated as terrorism, police said.
Suffolk Police said: “Police are not looking for anyone else on the site in relation to the incident.”
[WASHINGTONPOST] Billionaire and former President Sebastian Pinera appeared headed to a victory in Chile’s presidential runoff election, with more than 82 percent of the votes counted Sunday night.
Officials said Pinera had just over 54 percent of the votes to nearly 45 percent for center-left Sen. Alejandro Guillier.
Analysts had predicted a closer race, but there had not been any opinion polls on the election for several weeks.
The early results prompted Pinera supporters to celebrate at his campaign headquarters.
Pinera won last month’s first round, but his 36.6 percent vote share fell far short of what polls had projected. Guillier got 22.7 percent in the first round and had been counting on support from backers of other left-leaning candidates who were eliminated.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[The Hill] President Trump said Sunday he is not considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller, amid concerns that the administration was trying to halt the investigation into Russian election meddling.
"No, I'm not," Trump said after a reporter asked him if he was thinking about firing the special counsel.
His remark comes among mounting rumors that Trump was considering firing Mueller and attacks by Trump allies on the special counsel.
The president was also asked about a slew of Trump transition team emails obtained by Mueller as apart of the probe.
#3
If this thing looks like its going to explode on him? Maybe he will, maybe he will try to drag down Trump as he goes.
But if the blowback will also hit the 5th column partisans embedded in Justice/FBI, then you can bet those very same goons and their leash holders (Obama and Holder) are going to pressure Muller hard.
#7
He was on the short list of appointees for the FBI directorship as I remember. Cleverly Trump 'did not' select him for that role. Now Mueller is on the inside grubbing out the DS network. I won't be surprised when he replaces Wray.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] In a presser held at the Egyptian Supreme Council for Media Regulation, a list of the names of 50 scholars authorized by al-Azhar, Egypt’s top religious authority, to issue religious edicts fatwas in Egyptian media outlets was released.
In September, Dr. Sabri Abdel Raouf was prohibited from making TV appearances after he issued a fatwa (religious edict) granting husbands the right to have intercourse with their dead wives.
According to the council, this step aims at putting an end to a series of groundless fatwas issued by unqualified preachers who appear on TV shows until a legislation is issued to regulate religious discourse in the media.
The council, which in charge of monitoring the content of media outlets on both the professional and moral levels, threatened to penalize channels and anchors that do not abide by the list it provided. While this decision was met with relief by most Egyptians who have for a long time been complaining of fatwas they labelled "sick," many were taken by surprised since a number of prominent religious scholars who made frequent appearances on TV were not part of the list. This, consequently, raised questions about the criteria based on which the selection was made in the first place.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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For your daily dose of stupidity from the left Marxist wannabees...
[TheWrap] A science editor at BuzzFeed UK raised a few eyebrows last week after some curious remarks about Communism.
"All I want for Christmas is full Communism now," editor Kelly Oakes tweeted ‐ before locking down her account after it was picked by right-wing media and the always ferocious James Woods. No mention of the Holodomor, the Great Leap Forward, the killing fields or other inevitable by-products of communism; I'm sure it just slipped her mind.
#2
You first, asshole. We will give you a couple years to figure things out. Sell all your stuff and move to the worker's paradise in Cuba or Venezuela.
[ClarionProject] He would sneak up on me during times when no one was around and, depending on what floor I was on, you could hear me scream at the top of my lungs.
I would be thrown and pinned up against the wall by him.
He had a tendency of sneaking up behind me to touch me.
While this would go on, the acting director, Linda Sarsour, would tell me each time that I was over reacting, even threatened to fire me once when she heard me screaming from the second floor because this man came out of nowhere and touched me. According to Sarsour, something like that did not happen to someone that looked like "me" and no one would ever believe me if I ever told them what happened. How dare I interrupt her TV news interview in the other room with my lies
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
12/18/2017 08:47 ||
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#1
Dupe
Previously submitted under "Women's March organizer accused of covering up sex abuse"
[Air Force Magazine] Twenty lawmakers on Friday called for funds needed to re-wing the remaining A-10s in the Air Force’s fleet in order to avoid creating "a significant capability gap" in the close air support and combat search and rescue missions.
The service has already replaced the wings on 173 of its active A-10s, but 110 more will require new wings to extend their service life, the lawmakers wrote in a letter sent to congressional appropriators.
The A-10 funding request was included in the service’s Unfunded Priority List, as well as the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act and the House’s defense appropriations bill. Now 20 lawmakers, led by Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), are asking Senate appropriators to include the funding in their bill, as well. McSally is a former USAF A-10 instructor pilot. The letter is signed by Republicans and Democrats from both the House and Senate.
The Air Force has recently indicated its plan to keep the A-10 in service indefinitely, reversing a plan to decommission the aircraft.
#2
They don't want the A-10's Air-to-Mud close, we mean really close Mission and they don't want enlisted drone operators to pilot drones to take over that mission. Is the Air Force a Flying Club like the Fighter Wings in pre-WW2 England instead of a practical organization?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[RADIOSHABELLE] At least 15 people were killed on December 11, 2017, when members of the Æthiopian Defense Force fired on peaceful protesters.
[SA People News] Team South Africa Roller Derby is heading to the Roller Derby World Cup in Manchester, in the UK, in February, and really needs our help to get there. Their fundraiser on Thundafund ends today ‐ there are some really cool rewards and super cool advertising deals for potential sponsors. Here’s everything you never knew about Roller Derby, the fastest growing women’s sport in the world today!
[Independent] RAF Mildenhall, a US Air Force base in Suffolk, was placed on lockdown after a security incident police described as a "significant incident".
[The Hill] President Trump said Sunday he is not considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller, amid concerns that the administration was trying to halt the investigation into Russian election meddling. 
