by George H. Russell
Texas Governor Rick Perry is so blindly and stupidly obsessed with his Trans-Texas Corridor boondoggle that he apparently doesn't realize that he is playing into the hands of America's enemies by creating a target for terrorists so large that it would be visible from the moon.
Just think how strategically dimwitted it is to place all of our eggs in one big oversized basket. A single strike against this "Highway to Hell" could knock out our electrical power grid, as well as our natural gas, oil, and water supply systems, and all forms of ground transportation.
It is sheer insanity to build 4,000 miles of highways at a time when the planet is running out of fossil fuels, and burning what is left at an even faster pace. This detrimental situation contributes to global warming and ecological disaster, which boggles the minds of intelligent people.
Only one part of Perry's feebleminded plan makes any sense at all and that is the high-speed rail aspect. At 200 miles per hour, people and goods can be moved between major urban areas in less time and at much less expense than traveling by automobile or even by air. The pollution level would be only a fraction of that caused by millions of cars and overloaded diesel trucks.
An elevated high-speed rail network with dual tracks could easily be built on a hundred foot wide right-of-way, rather than Perry's 1,200 foot wide gashes across Texas. Perry's plan would sever hundreds of rural county roads, divide farms and ranches, fragment forests, destroy wetlands, and cause widespread environmental damage so severe that the quality of life of all Texans would be negatively impacted.
Half a million acres of Texas would be permanently destroyed so that Perry's overblown ego can be stroked to his satisfaction. Billions of dollars would migrate out of Texas to bank vaults in Spain. The Spanish would then have our own dollars with which to purchase and take control of our factories, farms, and industries. Perry would trade the basic wealth of Texas in order to satisfy his obvious megalomania.
Hundreds of rural families whose lives would be disrupted, and in many cases destroyed, would resort to alcohol and drugs in an attempt to cope with the inevitable depression that could lead to suicide. In my opinion, their blood would be on Perry's hands, and all of the scrubbing in the world could never wash it off.
Much more innocent blood would also be spilled if Perry's dream, which is our nightmare, comes to pass. No terrapin, deer, rabbit, armadillo, fox, beaver, river otter, frog, toad, or any other member of Texas' wildlife population could ever successfully cross a 1,200 foot wide series of highways and ground level train tracks. The road kill slaughter would be horrendous. Eventually, it would virtually depopulate millions of acres of rural Texas of its wildlife.
An elevated high-speed rail system would impact only around 45,000 acres rather than twelve times that amount. In addition, the environmental degradation would be only a tiny fraction of what Perry's scheme would cause. Animals, farmer, ranchers, hikers, hunters and vehicles could all pass safely beneath the elevated railways at almost any point along the course of the lines.
Farms and ranches would not be fragmented, rural county roads would not be cut and blocked, and life for the residents of Texas could go on relatively undisturbed as multitudes of passengers and tons of freight stream past at 200 miles per hour. In addition to the millions of animals that would not become road kill, the lives of hundreds of Texans who are killed each year by inefficient, and dangerous fuel-guzzling 18-wheelers would be saved.
If I were Osama Bin Laden or another terrorist leader, I would hang portraits of Rick Perry on the walls of my cave and thank Allah five times a day at prayer that Texas is being led down the primrose path by a dupe of the enemies of America.
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it were discovered that some of the money being poured into Perry's campaign coffers by promoters of the "Highway to Hell" originated in Iraq, Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan.
George H. Russell, an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, is a resident of Hunstville, Texas, which is known worldwide as "The City of Death." His work can be found at http://www.patriotnetwork.org/ and http://www.salvationnetwork.org/ George is a columnist at www.populistamerica.com.
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
I wonder what an RPG could do to "multitudes of passengers and tons of freight stream past at 200 miles per hour" on an elevated track.
They should be thinking about how to build in a lot of redundancy instead of one single huge corridor. Just think of what that money could do spread across a lot of different routes.
They should think about the lessons that we've learned from the Internet -- one of the reasons it's successful is that it routes around damage automatically and can't be easily (physically) attacked by an enemy.
It has to be visible from the moon so that moonbats like the author of this rant can see it.
Just think how strategically dimwitted it is to place all of our eggs in one big oversized basket. A single strike against this "Highway to Hell" could knock out our electrical power grid, as well as our natural gas, oil, and water supply systems, and all forms of ground transportation.
Water supply? I thought water comes from lakes, rivers and wells. The major Natural Gas pipelines don't run through that part of Texas.
It is sheer insanity to build 4,000 miles of highways at a time when the planet is running out of fossil fuels, and burning what is left at an even faster pace. This detrimental situation contributes to global warming and ecological disaster, which boggles the minds of intelligent people.
Not even Al Gore is stupid enough to complain that one lousy highway will make any difference in global warming. Nor are we running out of fossil fuels.
Only one part of Perry's feebleminded plan makes any sense at all and that is the high-speed rail aspect. At 200 miles per hour, people and goods can be moved between major urban areas in less time and at much less expense than traveling by automobile or even by air. The pollution level would be only a fraction of that caused by millions of cars and overloaded diesel trucks.
Rail freight would not generally travel at 200 mph -- it is not cost effective. The idea that rail freight is faster than air freight is idiotic also.
An elevated high-speed rail network with dual tracks could easily be built on a hundred foot wide right-of-way, rather than Perry's 1,200 foot wide gashes across Texas. Perry's plan would sever hundreds of rural county roads, divide farms and ranches, fragment forests, destroy wetlands, and cause widespread environmental damage so severe that the quality of life of all Texans would be negatively impacted.
Widespread environmental damage? That's pretty blatant fearmongering. I doubt a road that's less than 1/4 mile wide will do that.
Half a million acres of Texas would be permanently destroyed so that Perry's overblown ego can be stroked to his satisfaction. Billions of dollars would migrate out of Texas to bank vaults in Spain. The Spanish would then have our own dollars with which to purchase and take control of our factories, farms, and industries. Perry would trade the basic wealth of Texas in order to satisfy his obvious megalomania.
The tolls on this road will be so high that it will deplete the entire wealth of the state? Spain will get so rich from tolls that they can buy Texas in a flea market?
Hundreds of rural families whose lives would be disrupted, and in many cases destroyed, would resort to alcohol and drugs in an attempt to cope with the inevitable depression that could lead to suicide. In my opinion, their blood would be on Perry's hands, and all of the scrubbing in the world could never wash it off.
Who can forget all of the mass suicides when the Interstate Highway System was built and all those people had to move? Ike's legacy was forever tainted when mothers jumped off overpasses with babies in their arms and died under the tires of an 18-wheeler. Uh - NOT!!!
Much more innocent blood would also be spilled if Perry's dream, which is our nightmare, comes to pass. No terrapin, deer, rabbit, armadillo, fox, beaver, river otter, frog, toad, or any other member of Texas' wildlife population could ever successfully cross a 1,200 foot wide series of highways and ground level train tracks. The road kill slaughter would be horrendous. Eventually, it would virtually depopulate millions of acres of rural Texas of its wildlife.
River otter?? Does he mean that this highway will divide rivers? Can't beavers travel along rivers and streams as well? Or will the Governor divert all waterways away from the highway?? Has the author never heard of culverts??
An elevated high-speed rail system would impact only around 45,000 acres rather than twelve times that amount. In addition, the environmental degradation would be only a tiny fraction of what Perry's scheme would cause. Animals, farmer, ranchers, hikers, hunters and vehicles could all pass safely beneath the elevated railways at almost any point along the course of the lines.
Using an elevated high-speed rail system for freight is completely unrealistic. Economics are beyond prohibitive.
Farms and ranches would not be fragmented, rural county roads would not be cut and blocked, and life for the residents of Texas could go on relatively undisturbed as multitudes of passengers and tons of freight stream past at 200 miles per hour. In addition to the millions of animals that would not become road kill, the lives of hundreds of Texans who are killed each year by inefficient, and dangerous fuel-guzzling 18-wheelers would be saved.
There is a reason elevated high-speed trains are not used to ship tons of freight. It's a STUPID IDEA!!! Freight trains often travel slowly on purpose to save energy costs on engines. If this ranter had any knowledge of the economic realities of freight he wouldn't make such foolish statements.
If I were Osama Bin Laden or another terrorist leader, I would hang portraits of Rick Perry on the walls of my cave and thank Allah five times a day at prayer that Texas is being led down the primrose path by a dupe of the enemies of America.
So the highway is really the plan of the enemies of America and Perry has been duped by them. Did Osama visit Perry in his office and sell this idea? If not the weirdbeard, then who? The Spanish? The Spanish who fought the Muslims for 700 years and were attacked by al-Qaida are not serving the cavemeister by duping Perry?
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it were discovered that some of the money being poured into Perry's campaign coffers by promoters of the "Highway to Hell" originated in Iraq, Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan.
Afghanistan? Is Osama sending money by PayPal? Has he nothing else to spend money on but this highway?
This article has more sheer stupidity in it than any article I have ever seen. The author is a complete moonbat. I sincerely hope he gets help.
Ping to the NAU Foreman -- this is the all-time article in the stupid category. Read and enjoy.
High-speed trains, economic insantity, sheer paranoia, xenophobia and a great distance from reality -- this reads like a very long Willie Green post.
Or tiny-minded people like you.
DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS! We really appreciate suggestions on how our state should be run but, I suggest people in other states clean up their own messes before worrying about Texas.