Comments

1

As long as Alec and Kate are on SNL, I can survive this Fall.

2

@1 -- yes. Kate and the Update Team and Judge Purino (special guest star)

"Funds moved from FEMA to ICE: Even though Puerto Rico is still recovering from Maria, the Trump administration is planning on shifting at least $155 million from the FEMA disaster relief fund to ICE. Related: Tropical Storm Dorian is nearing Puerto Rico."

Hope all the Puerto Rican trumfpy supporters
Love their tax cuts, state-forced births and hard-right 'judges.'
Mind the Wind!

Great vid of fake prez spewing out rolls of
paper towels like venomous lies, btw.
By golly, for a fake prez, he's a Natural!

Do they use paper towels in prison?

3

@2
Persons in U S territories can't vote for Pres, so it's just another reason to screw them over!
Remember when the GOP was actually courting minority voters, because they were family-oriented (and not pro-gay)? HAH! What a quaint thought!

4

Puerto Rico was already a corrupt infrastructure shithole before the last storm; due to decades of malfeasance and thievery and shortsighted policy and refusal to pay for what they wanted; it is not FEMA's job to rebuild the place, especially since the place was never built to begin with.

FEMA is not Puerto Rico's daddy.

PR should be an independent country, they deserve much better than us.

Go little birdie!
Fly Fly Away!!
Be Free!!!

5

While I agree that just about any country is better than the dirtiest-toilet-at-the-bus-station country that the USA has become, it would be hard for Puerto Rico to form its own country. We put PR in the position it's in (and have gladly taken their tax dollars for a century or so). We need to take responsibility for it (which, admittedly, is a hard concept for conservatives to grasp).

6

I appreciate Seattle Subway's speculation about ST4, but for the foreseeable future my concern is with the ST3 projects and making sure they're sufficiently funded WITHOUT having to resort to an ST4. In particular, I'm thinking about the additional cost of doing something better than a goddam drawbridge over the Ship Canal to Ballard, whether that be a tunnel or a higher elevated bridge. Oh, and making sure Sound Transit doesn't waste taxpayer money by putting the line down 14th Ave., which is not so much Ballard as Frelard.

7

Puerto Rico has its own elected government, and the US government just stomping in to take over would be an insult and a direct threat to the people of Puerto Rico and democracy in general.

Thei current status is a mix of the failing of both of our governments, generally the people vote for statehood but the US government has let these requests die in committee, and the government of Puerto Rico has generally been lax in pushing for statehood, to the chagrin of their people. Lots of non-binding resolutions, very little actual progress. The people of Puerto Rico do not want their own country, the majority want statehood, based on voting trends.

Puerto Rico generates about $3.5 billion in taxes annually which goes to the US treasury, but it also receives about $21 billion annually from the US government in aid (at a population of 3.1 million), on top of the $41 billion that was allocated for disaster relief from FEMA. The median amount of federal aid that goes to each state every year is about $55 billion (the population in these states average about 4.5 million).

8

@5: The USA is the still the best nation on the planet. Sorry you're not a patriot.

9

Protip, dipshit: even a Patriot can critique.

10

@9: It wasn't a critique, it was an insult.

11

@6 -- Your other points on spot on, but there is nothing wrong with a draw bridge for a train. It would be very high. It would rarely open (and of course, never open during rush hour). It would never cause congestion (obviously). The bridge operator would time such an unusual opening for the widest gap in service (after the trains have crossed). It would be rare for it to actually cause a delay. Maybe when the tall ships in are town for Seafair you would see a small delay -- that doesn't exactly sound like a miserable experience.

It wouldn't be like the drawbridge trains in Chicago, or New York. It would be like the commuter rail drawbridge used in Boston, which is still going to be a drawbridge, despite the MBTA rebuilding the entire thing.

12

@6 -- Oh, worth mentioning is that if they do tunnel, they could actually go closer to Ballard (say, 20th). That is a different story. A tunnel to 15th is no better than a drawbridge to 15th -- I would argue it is worse. The user experience is worse. Yes, on rare occasions a rider gets delayed by a minute or two (if that). But the rest of the time they have a faster connection to the train. Instead of going down, down, down into the deep tunnel, they go up a little ways, and get on the train. While on the train they would enjoy the view. While I guess that may not be important to some, it certainly isn't worth the money to put it into a hole if you serve the exact same stop.

On the other hand, if they move it to the heart of Ballard, that could be worth it. The only reason to dig a tunnel is if you can move the station(s) to a much better location. You can't do that in West Seattle, but you can do that in Ballard.

13

@6:

I don't know what you've been smoking, but us Ballardians recognize 14th Avenue NW - literally one block east of 15th NW - as part of our neighborhood. Even the so-called "Frellard" area around Fred Meyer is technically within the Ballard neighborhood boundaries. And running a surface line up 14th would be far less disruptive to both traffic and businesses along the 15th Ave corridor.

14

COMTE @13, if the primary goal of bringing light rail to Ballard is to minimize the disruption to traffic and businesses, then by all means, let's run a surface line up 14th Ave. Heck, if we really want to minimize disruption to traffic uber alles, there's still time to scrap the whole thing.

15

"Imagine light rail up and down Aurora Avenue: Having a hard time picturing it?"

Then go to Vancouver where it has been operating for 34 years already and is about to expand which would be the equivalent of Seattle connecting to Tacoma and then to Olympia.

16

Oh Raindrop, do dry up. I pay my taxes and I obey the law. That's enough "patriot" for me.

And the isn't the "best nation on the planet". The sooner we get rid of that self-congratularory mythology, the closer we will be to actually aspiring to greatness.

17

@16: So why is the negative (dirtiest-toilet-at-the-bus-station country that the USA) any more intellectual valid than the positive (best nation on the planet)?

18

14th was where the original bridge was located.

Duh.

That said, a switch bridge for transit with a suspended bike lane next to it would be cool.

Deprioritize cars by reducing them to one lane each way.

19

@18: Right, also clog emergency vehicles from putting out fires or saving live - I bet you didn't think of that.

20

Because, Raindrop dear, "best nation" is a lie that we tell ourselves so we don't feel bad about our attrocities. We rest on our grandparents laurels while we ourselves do not hold up that standard. See our current president: "Best Nations" do not elect donald trumps. Dirtiest-Toilets-At-The-Bus-Station nations elect donald trumps.

And Will dear, how about we make the cyclists use the University Bridge? They like exercise, that will give them plenty. We mustn't sacrifice commerce and movement to indulge some hobbyists.

21

Light rail on North Aurora? Makes perfect sense. Therefore, it will never come to fruition.


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