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Josh Barro Profile picture
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14 Mar, 6 tweets, 2 min read
Oh Jesus, not this stupid map
People who love this map are completely incurious about why US HSR projects have such a poor record, including that very bad Vox piece, which mentions CAHSR troubles only to complain about Republicans complaining about it. (Also incorrectly says LA-SF is expected in 2029, LOL)
What you might get in 2029 is a segment from Merced to Bakersfield, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Anyway if you really care about HSR I suggest you look into why a wealthy blue state can’t build it! The answer is not “mean Republicans and the Koch brothers.”
The coverage on this at the LA Times has been very good. As usual, the problem is a mountain of errors, not one big error. Issues with land acquisition, route planning, environmental review, litigation... also US has outlandish capital costs. latimes.com/local/californ…
All the replies about how the map represents hope and optimism: Hope never built a railroad. The last thing the US infrastructure conversation needs is more happy talk. If you want infrastructure, fight overruns and delays and don’t let everyone stick their nose in every project.

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More from @jbarro

Josh Barro Profile picture
12 Mar
This Rubio op-ed on the Amazon organizing drive is clear that he views the union as deserved punishment for management he dislikes. Doesn't address the workers' interests at all. usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
He does suggest the union could serve as a bulwark against future "woke" HR initiatives from management which, in addition to being beside the point, strikes me as very unlikely to be true.
I think this is right. I don't think this is going to impress anyone except MAYBE Amazon workers directly impacted by the union drive, and executives at non-Amazon companies might be wary of a GOP candidate who threatens to put them on a Naughty List.
Read 5 tweets
Josh Barro Profile picture
10 Mar
There is no requirement that the. NYT share a story about an adult’s teenage tweets from the main social account. What is the news value here?
This is office politics, framed in such a way as to induce news coverage.
All this hall monitor nonsense is quite damaging to the image of the press, I think. We tell people what we do is highlight important information and people see us causing trouble for random people over their old statements. (Remember this?) washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/09…
Read 5 tweets
Josh Barro Profile picture
9 Mar
I was annoyed that the CDC wasn't giving useful guidance about what to do if you're vaccinated, and then they gave guidance on Monday. It's pretty good! But it's going to need to be loosened again very soon. businessinsider.com/cdc-new-post-v…
The most important thing about this guidance is it makes clear vaccinated people can drop the masks and distancing in gatherings with unvaccinated people under certain circumstances. This gives vaccinated elderly people permission to hug their grandkids. businessinsider.com/cdc-new-post-v…
The new guidance tells you very little about how vaccines change what you can do in public places, and they'll need to say more on that soon, especially since the CDC already acknowledges the need for risk-mitigation (rather than just abstinence) guidance about restaurants.
Read 5 tweets
Josh Barro Profile picture
4 Mar
Why is Scott Gottlieb the only person who seems to be any good at talking about our imminent (but not yet here) ability to go back to normal because of vaccines? businessinsider.com/texas-covid-re…
In particular, this 90-day nonsense is driving me crazy and it’s now feeding into policies Andrew Cuomo is setting in New York. businessinsider.com/texas-covid-re…
Texas and Mississippi are lifting restrictions irresponsibly early. But if you want to convince people (officials or members of the public) not to normalize now, you need a story about when they can, and it can't be "maybe by Christmas, mope mope mope" businessinsider.com/texas-covid-re…
Read 4 tweets
Josh Barro Profile picture
4 Mar
eBay has a pre-existing policy against "Items with racist, anti-Semitic, or otherwise demeaning portrayals, for example through caricatures or other exaggerated features, including figurines, cartoons, housewares, historical advertisements, and golliwogs"...
there is an exception for "Media such as historical photos, magazines, books and art, provided that such material doesn't perpetuate or glorify violence, intolerance or racial stereotyping," which I'm not entirely sure how you apply.
For example, you can sell a copy of Mein Kampf on eBay. Does the question of whether a book "perpetuate[s]... intolerance" depend on the buyer's likely use for the book rather than the author's intent?
Read 6 tweets
Josh Barro Profile picture
4 Mar
This doesn't seem like a way to sell business attire. So this image suggests to me that Suitsupply thinks the initial surge in sales of dressy attire will be for the return of social functions, not business meetings.
"time to put on a suit and look sexy again." I could imagine worse pitches.
I am an outsider to straight culture but my understanding is that one thing single straight people like about weddings is they are a good opportunity to have casual sex, yes?
Read 4 tweets

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