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Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

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Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#581
post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A little extra reason to refuel your car sooner rather than later is that the fuel pump will be stressed more as the tank approaches empty.

Where is the additional stress from? Lack of weight from fuel above to push it through the fuel lines?

If a tank is relatively empty, it's possible for air to be sucked into the fuel pump, at which point it could air lock or cause cavitation damage. This is in addition to there being less fuel in the lines which require it to run at a higher rpm to feed the engine. The higher speeds and uneven flow will lead to higher bearing loads on the pump shaft.

Another commenter already pointed out the heat issue since the fluid acts as coolant.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#582
post #495
post #484

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better option would be to cede most of the residential and commercial areas of DC to surrounding states. Just keep a few blocks containing the key federal government buildings, parks, monuments, and museums.

That's not a better option. VA and MD don't want that. The people in DC don't want that. The people in DC want to be a state. That's what matters. We're far removed from it historically, but this country was created by groups of people coming together to decide they want to form a state and then joining up with other states. It's literally right there in the name: United States. It's kind of, like, our whole deal as…

An odd precedent. So if any undesirable area wants to be a State (imagine the additional Fed-related gov’t jobs!) and if the surrounding/bordering State(s) don’t want the undesirable area’s continuing burden, then the undesirable area should be able to establish a new State, getting another two Senators in the process? Like setting up a second firm, dumping all your bad loans/assets onto the New State/Feds, and voilà, all the remaining desirable area’s/original firm’s stat look great.

Sounds like a non-starter for the rest of the States who implicitly take on the burden of the undesirable area through direct support via the Federal, rather than the original State(s) system.

In the case of DC, also sounds like a blatant political ploy by the Democratic Party. We also remember Marion Berry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry

Now, if DC wants to become a US Territory, that might get more traction. Also a chance to prove it is worthy of Statehood, like most of the other Western States had to.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#583
post #536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

It would be the only state with no agricultural interests, the only state with no ports, the only state where the majority of the residents work for the federal government... The last one alone is pretty scary and a bit of a conflict of interest.

North Dakota? Montana? Arizona? Lots of landlocked states.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#584
post #560

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MD doesn't want that and neither does DC. DC is not Maryland. It's its own place with its own identity.

I hear this all the time from clueless rich DC residents who get wrapped up in all sorts of granfalloons. You don't think "Arlington" is its own place with its own identity separate from the rest of Virgina? Moreover, anacostia residents probably have more in common with residents of pg county than residents of palisades, who have more in common with bethesda residents than anacostia residents.

Maybe you want to ask the Anacostia residents how they feel about that. It's not like their ancestors all moved there of their own volition.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#585
post #574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the residents of Arlington want to form their own state and secede from Virginia, I'll support them. As it stands, they already have representation in Congress. > Moreover, anacostia residents probably have more in common with residents of pg county than residents of palisades, who have more in common with bethesda residents than anacostia residents. Sure, and residents of Manhattan probably have more in common wi…

My point is: There's no shared identity among DC residents, the most of whom don't even really live there all that long, due to political cycles/fluid flight to the suburbs of MD and VA. Your statement is pure nonsense. The most sensible solution is to give DC back to Maryland (which is where it came from) and thereby give the residents representation, which is your end goal. If you want some other end goal, it has t…

The ghost of Petey Greene begs to differ.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#586
post #569

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everything is racially motivated. Eventually speculation like yours crosses a boundary from legitimate social concern to conspiracy and seeing racist boogeymen in every shadow.

I generally agree that not everything is racially motivated, but it's pretty well documented that this is, or at least was, historically. Dream City [1] is a good book about the history of DC. Part of the reason there is such a large Black population is that a lot of freed slaves moved there after the Civil War. In later years, Congress, which is effectively charged with governing the District, and of course included…

Wow thanks! I did some quick googling and it seems there is something to it historically. Though how much of a role (if any) racial division currently plays as opposed to economic and other political motivation is unclear. I'm not inclined to read heavily politicized novels by a single author, typically they're too partisan and don't present things without bias, but I am open to learning more from less bias sources and it does seem that at least in DC's earlier years it as a factor.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#587

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear this all the time from clueless rich DC residents who get wrapped up in all sorts of granfalloons. You don't think "Arlington" is its own place with its own identity separate from the rest of Virgina? Moreover, anacostia residents probably have more in common with residents of pg county than residents of palisades, who have more in common with bethesda residents than anacostia residents.

Maybe you want to ask the Anacostia residents how they feel about that. It's not like their ancestors all moved there of their own volition.

Well considering I volunteered on the border of anacostia and pg county, I think most of them don't really give a shit, eastern ave is just another street in the neighborhood.

And yeah, is bet they would bear more resentment towards someone who lives in the Palisades than someone on the other side of eastern avenue.

Moreover, last I checked 10 years ago a good chunk of anacostia is transitioning into middle-income/federal employee Hispanic neighborhood and that process is bleeding over into pg county, because the boundaries don't really matter all that much.

Edit: southern Ave, not eastern ave; it's been a long time.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#588
post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everything is racially motivated. Eventually speculation like yours crosses a boundary from legitimate social concern to conspiracy and seeing racist boogeymen in every shadow.

It's funny how the two major regions of the US that clearly deserve statehood (DC and Puerto Rico) but have been denied that right for decades, seem to be areas with lots of poor non-whites. Racism is not the only factor in play here (political balance of power is a huge factor), but to deny that racism has played a significant role in creating this situation is ridiculous. I place that racism squarely in the laps of…

NM statehood was held up a long time for...well you figure it out, you seem like a bright spark.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#589

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes the US should connect its big cities with high speed rail but that would still not do anything for small intercity transit for everyone else Have you ever tried taking these lines before? They have high speed rail between big cities, and tons and tons of small branch/feeder routes out to small towns with the most frequent stops ever imaginable. Getting from huge Tokyo to small Gifu actually works. It did take s…

>The USA's model of just "build that office complex wherever you want!" wouldn't work. Which is exactly my point! That's already the current situation on the ground in the USA. So yes, it wouldn't work there. Unless you'd literally move around millions of jobs, offices etc which is absolutely not feasible. Trying to build public transit around that structure just to fit an idealized vision of somewhere else is weird.…

My first comment mentioned urban planning. I that involves more than just planning the transit, you have to plan the work places and residential places as well. The USA is too enamored with personal and corporate liberty to let the government plan anything that would actually be effective beyond “let’s just build freeways everywhere and expect everyone to drive.”

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#590
post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not a better option. VA and MD don't want that. The people in DC don't want that. The people in DC want to be a state. That's what matters. We're far removed from it historically, but this country was created by groups of people coming together to decide they want to form a state and then joining up with other states. It's literally right there in the name: United States. It's kind of, like, our whole deal as…

An odd precedent. So if any undesirable area wants to be a State (imagine the additional Fed-related gov’t jobs!) and if the surrounding/bordering State(s) don’t want the undesirable area’s continuing burden, then the undesirable area should be able to establish a new State, getting another two Senators in the process? Like setting up a second firm, dumping all your bad loans/assets onto the New State/Feds, and voilà…

Ah Marion Berry. The only corrupt politician in the history of America. No state politician ever did anything wrong. Yes, of course. If "never had a corrupt public official" is your bar for statehood, we'll have to dissolve the union.

Yeah, it does benefit the Democrats. I'm not particularly happy about that. But maybe the Republican party could try supporting policies that appeal to people who live in DC? When you have prominent Republicans declare that they want to cause a recession in DC it's not hard to figure out why people there don't support them.

The rest is, I guess a slippery slope argument? There's no other "undesirable" areas in the country that aren't already a part of a state. Some hypothetical state shell-game that you imagined is not a valid reason to continue depriving hundreds of thousands of US citizens of their rights.

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