You can control for that by calculating gallons per comparable trip or any number of other things.

I’m sorry that you think my argument that we should build HSR (but shouldn’t get too excited trying to measure ridership versus Europe) is bullshit.

The average population density of Texas is about 110 people per square mile. The average population density of Germany is 620 people per square mile. (Yes, there are better ways of counting this, but I didn’t want to load QGIS.)

Fair enough. Especially if you have one of those fancy sail-barges.

I’m totally with you within certain corridors, but that’s my point: it only works within a specific set of corridors of medium distance (250-600 miles, if we’re being generous).

But also the opposite effect in terms of the albedo of the atmosphere. Vapor trails actually reflect light, which unbelievably has a measurable effect on the Earth’s temperature!

The world would be such a more dangerous and unpleasant place if we still had to travel by ship. We need to see each other to affirm each others’ humanity.

We also screwed the pooch on aviation and space. We tend to do cool stuff only if we’re pressured into it.

Exactly. Long-haul flying is actually the most fuel efficient mode of transportation, but short-haul RJ flying is one of the least.

Indeed. The world would be a terrible, and much more dangerous place, if we didn’t have airplanes to show us each other.

Yep. And for the next few weeks, almost every airline is tankering fuel into the southeast so that they don’t have to draw so much on the limited supply thanks to the Colonial hack.

Long-haul flying on a full commercial airplane is by far the safest and most fuel-efficient mode of transportation. It’s actually even more fuel-efficient than bicycling, if you add in the carbon cost of eating food.

That is what makes the Olympics so thrilling, I think. Sure, it’s fun when the Americans win (suck it, rest of world!), but who doesn’t watch the Russian figure skaters, or the Austrian skiers, and just go “Wow, that’s amazing?”

Yeah, the era of free agency has benefitted players a lot, and I wouldn’t want to lose that, but we lost a big part of the “local” factor in sports when players started changing teams all the time.

Yep. I can’t tell you how many indelible memories have been formed over watching games with friends and family. Some of my fondest memories of deceased loved ones, even.

It’s funny that we have such a ridiculously brittle economic system, with just-in-time delivery and other “efficient” supply chains that can’t take much disruption before they devolve into all-out chaos.

“I’ve got so much money, I can self-insure.”

DON’T FEED THE TROLLS!

Eh, until we decide to build more transportation infrastructure, location is always going to command a significant premium in the Bay Area.

Fine, let’s go with a 1/8th inch nipple, an 1/8th to 1/4th adapter and a 1/4th inch cap.