National, Regional and Local News

[ti-amie]

To show how conspiracy theories start among a certain segment of the population:

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

I blocked the New Sons whatever person. Meanwhile...



I wonder who they voted for?

[ti-amie]

Just a reminder about the horror of East Palestine, Ohio

Laffy
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social
Via Ron Filipkowski:

While Rs try to blame Buttigieg we learn:
1. #Trump removed safety standards
2. #DeWine ordered the chem cars be burned
3. DeWine declined Fed assistance
4. DeWine said Norfolk Southern CEO “gave him his word” all would be well
5. CEO no-shows at town hall
6. CEO is a DeWine donor.

#Ohio #EastPalestine

[ti-amie]

1 dead, 3 injured in shooting at El Paso shopping mall
By Andy Rose, Elizabeth Wolfe and Amanda Jackson, CNN
Updated 1:34 AM EST, Thu February 16, 2023

CNN
—
Two people, both male, were taken into custody after the gunfire inside the Cielo Vista Mall, interim El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas said Wednesday night. Police have not commented on possible motives.

A suspect is in custody and police believe there may be another suspect still uncaught, said Sgt. Robert Gomez of the El Paso Police Department. He did not comment on a possible motive.

“It was chaotic. People did flee. They were scared,” said Gomez.

Two injured males were brought to the University Medical Center of El Paso in critical condition, the hospital told CNN. The condition of the third injured person, a male who Gomez said was also hospitalized, is unclear.

The mall sits next to a Walmart where a shooting in 2019 killed 23 and left nearly two dozen more injured. Last week, the 24-year-old gunman pleaded guilty to 90 federal charges as part of a plea deal.

So far this year, there have been more than 70 mass shootings across the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Both CNN and the archive define a “mass shooting” as a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter.

After Wednesday’s shooting happened around 5 p.m. local time, an off-duty officer who was working security in one of the mall’s stores arrived at the scene within minutes and took a person into custody, Pacillas said. He did not say when, where or how the second person was apprehended.

Multiple law enforcement agencies, including El Paso police, the Texas Department of Public Safety and US Border Patrol, responded to the scene after several people called 911 to report an active shooter, police said.

The scene was later secured and authorities worked into the night to clear the building and begin a preliminary investigation, police said.

Investigators preliminarily believe the shooting took place around the mall’s food court, Gomez said. To assist with the investigation, the FBI has created a website for people to submit photos and video of the incident.

Brandon Chavez, 29, said he was working in the Buckle clothing store across from the food court when Wednesday’s shooting happened. He helped customers and other employees barricade inside the store and took people into the stock room as they waited to be able to come out, he told CNN.

Chavez also was working at the mall when the 2019 shooting happened in the neighboring Walmart, he said, adding he sheltered there with others at that time, as well.

Robert Gonzalez was also at the mall on Wednesday and during the 2019 shooting. He “saw people running to the exit” Wednesday, he said, and videos he took show several mall storefronts closed with their security gates down and several law enforcement vehicles outside.

“I was working (at the mall) the last time this happened with the Walmart shooting so it just brought back bad memories,” he said.

Gonzalez said he was able to make it safely to his car, where he was waiting to leave as he spoke with CNN.

A reunification center has been set up at nearby Burges High School, where people who are unable to contact their loved ones may go for information, Gomez said.

CNN’s Nicole Chavez and Sharif Paget contributed to this report.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/us/el-pa ... index.html

[ti-amie]

It's Louisiana.

[Deuce]

You'd figure that it's pretty much impossible to regularly verify every inch of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of miles of railroad tracks in the U.S.

Think of roads - there are cracks and potholes all over the place - it's impossible to have smooth roads everywhere, simply due to the sheer volume of roads. I would think that it's similar with railroad tracks.
The difference, of course, is that trains are more fragile than cars in that cars can still drive on roads with cracks and potholes without crashing.

[ponchi101]

Compare to the Japanese Shinkansen system

Excerpts:
Over the Shinkansen's 50-plus year history, carrying over 10 billion passengers, there have been no passenger fatalities due to train accidents such as derailments or collisions, despite frequent earthquakes and typhoons.

---
There have been two derailments of Shinkansen trains in passenger service. The first one occurred during the Chūetsu earthquake on 23 October 2004. Eight of ten cars of the Toki No. 325 train on the Jōetsu Shinkansen derailed near Nagaoka Station in Nagaoka, Niigata. There were no casualties among the 154 passengers.

---
Several months after the exposure of the Kobe Steel falsification scandal, which is among the suppliers of high-strength steel for Shinkansen trainsets, cracks were found upon inspection of a single bogie, and removed from service on 11 December 2017.

---

I know, the Japanese are not really humans. They are an advanced extraterrestrial civilization that has a posting out here, to keep an eye on us.
But when these people have 50 years of such an impressive record of safety, with trains cruising at 400 KPH, the USA has no excuses.

[Suliso]

Compare to the Japanese Shinkansen system

Excerpts:
Over the Shinkansen's 50-plus year history, carrying over 10 billion passengers, there have been no passenger fatalities due to train accidents such as derailments or collisions, despite frequent earthquakes and typhoons.

---
There have been two derailments of Shinkansen trains in passenger service. The first one occurred during the Chūetsu earthquake on 23 October 2004. Eight of ten cars of the Toki No. 325 train on the Jōetsu Shinkansen derailed near Nagaoka Station in Nagaoka, Niigata. There were no casualties among the 154 passengers.

---
Several months after the exposure of the Kobe Steel falsification scandal, which is among the suppliers of high-strength steel for Shinkansen trainsets, cracks were found upon inspection of a single bogie, and removed from service on 11 December 2017.

---

I know, the Japanese are not really humans. They are an advanced extraterrestrial civilization that has a posting out here, to keep an eye on us.
But when these people have 50 years of such an impressive record of safety, with trains cruising at 400 KPH, the USA has no excuses.

It all sounds nice except it's not true. There have indeed been no deadly accidents of Shinkansen trains, but remember those trains are a tiny percentage of all Japanese trains. Shinkansen trains run on dedicated, fenced off tracks where nothing else is allowed. Also trains are upgraded very often. It's very much a premium service.

There has been a deadly accident on metro as recently as 2000: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Naka ... derailment

[ponchi101]

So, what part is not true? Their safety record, for trains traveling at high speed, is sterling. Are they a premium service? Sure, that is the reason they are so good.
Also, look at the french and their TGV. From WIKI (again):
Accidents
Main article: TGV accidents
In almost three decades of high-speed operation, the TGV has not recorded a single passenger fatality due to accidents while running at high speed on normal passenger service. There have been several accidents, including four derailments at or above 270 km/h (168 mph), but in only one of these—a test run on a new line—did carriages overturn.
END QUOTE.

The point being that reliable, high speed service with proper safety can be achieved. So, when people post photos of tracks in such conditions (in the USA) it shows a difference in approach. And, if owners claim that it is impossible to attain proper safety in their system, the examples I am mentioning prove them wrong.

[Suliso]

Yes, but are these high speed rails tracks they are showing? I don't think so. Thus my point that we're comparing apples with oranges.

[ponchi101]

I am saying; if you can have safety at HIGH SPEED tracks, you can certainly have safety at low speed.
And no, we are not comparing apples and oranges. We are comparing (or I am) the Japanese train system with the American train system. At worst, I am comparing Fuji's to Red Delicious

[Deuce]

How many miles (or kilometres) do the Japanese Shinkansen and the French TGV run respectively in those countries?
If it's just a tiny fraction of the thousands and thousands of miles of railroad track in the U.S., then it would seem that it's like comparing how many accidents there are on all of the roads in, say, Nebraska with how many accidents there are on one road in, say, Wyoming.

To truly compare, one would need to even the parameters and do a per capita comparison - by track distance, frequency of trains on the tracks, etc.

Also - what are the frequencies of freight train derailments in Japan and France - because that's the subject here, not passenger train derailments.
Freight trains derail far more frequently than passenger trains derail per capita. A train employee once told me that this is because of the radical differences in individual cars within a freight train - an empty car with a bunch of heavy cars can cause a derailment, for example.

[Suliso]

It's also because regulations for passenger cars are far more stringent. In all countries I presume.

[Deuce]

Beyond being obviously tragic, this is absolutely maddening...
This is an absolutely regular part of American life - it's insane. It's like every day, no matter where you go or what you do, there is a risk of being murdered in the USA. Because of the 'gun culture', which far too many people equate with 'freedom'.
Because so many people have guns, all it takes is for one of these many, many gun carrying people to blow a gasket - it only needs to be a split second thing. And that's it - because you've got a gun... and because American culture teaches you that using that gun against someone is a viable way to deal with conflict, it takes only one instant decision - which the person may instantly regret - and someone's life is ended.
Incredible.

It is absolutely insane.
This type of thing - a regular occurrence in the U.S. - is unthinkable here in Canada. Because here, in a civilized country, we don't need to carry guns to feel 'macho', or to feel 'important', or to fell... 'free'.
The only people who carry guns on their person here in Canada are criminals, police, and, sadly, hunters. Mr. or Mrs. or Miss average person does not carry a gun here. But in the U.S., average people - MANY average people - feel the need to carry a gun. And it's cyclical, of course - people carry guns to protect themselves because everyone else is carrying a gun. And around and around it goes...
It's sick.

And when someone carrying a gun gets into a conflict with another person, the wires can touch and cause a spark, and that's all it takes - just an instant ignition which is regretted seconds later.
And just like that, a person is dead. Forever.
What kind of society is this???

Mother Shot Dead in Front of Her Children After Parking Lot Conflict

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