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The Northerner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 07:47 PM
Original message
China to bid on US high-speed rail projects
Source: Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) -- China plans to bid for contracts to build U.S. high-speed train lines and is stepping up exports of rail technology to Europe and Latin America, a government official said on Saturday.

China has built 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) of high-speed rail for its own train system and President Barack Obama issued a pledge in November with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, to cooperate in developing the technology.

"We are organizing relevant companies to participate in bidding for U.S. high-speed railways," Wang Zhiguo, a deputy railways minister, told a news conference.

Wang gave no details of where China's railway builders might seek contracts, but systems are planned in California, Florida and Illinois. He said state-owned Chinese companies already are building high-speed lines in Turkey and Venezuela.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/China-to-bid-on-US-highspeed-apf-4135137999.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=
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theoldman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 07:55 PM
Response to Original message
1. We need to export a few more jobs.
Most of our manufacturing jobs are gone, why not export our technology. We can still work at fast food restaurants.
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karynnj Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 07:59 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. Sorry - but it is not OUR technology
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 08:00 PM by karynnj
We are far behind both China, which has 200 mpg and 300 mpg trains, we have precisely 18 miles of the DC to Boston track capable of doing the high speed (in the 100s) rail - because though the trains are capable the train bed isn't.

But, this doesn't say they will get the job, it says they might bid on it. I hope there are good American companies that bid as well.
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theoldman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:04 PM
Response to Reply #3
5. If you mean that they are ahead of us in rail technology, I agree.
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karynnj Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:15 PM
Response to Reply #5
8. That was what I was saying
We really need to increase our funding of all types of technology.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:46 PM
Response to Reply #5
21. They are not ahead of any body
Their home grown high speed train tech are at least one to two generations behind Japanese and European systems. Their fastest rail is in Shanghai and it is a German MagLev.

Why would anyone keep on giving contracts to Chinese companies is beyond me. China has an abysmal track record of respecting other people's intellectual property in technology. Even considering Chinese submissions to the proposal is counter productive, since it sends the signal that the Chinese can steal other nation's designs and not have to suffer in the international market. If china wants to copy other people's design and tech, so be it. But they should not be rewarded with contracts in the USA after the damage their actions does to our own technology (and those from allies who have our back, something the Chinese are sure not to provide).
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:49 PM
Response to Reply #21
23. Actually they are.
They use Japanese, Canadian and German tech.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:53 PM
Response to Reply #23
29. Hum, no offense but can you re-read and comprehend what *you* just wrote there?
LOL
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:55 PM
Response to Reply #29
30. Yes, I just get tired explaining this all the time.
See, this is the thing in the knowledge economy...tech knowledge is passed around all the time, and gets better each step of the way.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:59 PM
Response to Reply #30
32. And yet that has nothing to do with what I just asked you to do...
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 09:09 PM by liberation
the Chinese are using other people's tech, yet they are ahead of the same people whose tech they are using and depend on. I am sorry, but I just can't follow your train of thought (pun intended).

BTW, the Chinese just opened their first long distance high speed link. Whereas the Japanese, French and Germans have been operating faster and larger high speed networks for decades. If we are going to subsidize the Chinese to gain more experience than the little they have in comparison to other countries, might as well skip the middle man and do it ourselves...
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:12 PM
Response to Reply #32
37. Done this a dozen times at least.
The Chinese invented the basis of much of what we have today...paper, printing press, oil wells, cannon, rudders, compass....and everybody built on the knowledge. That's the neat thing about knowledge...it grows.

Amazingly enough, the 'west' is a beneficiary of this...not the inventor of it. But they are always trying to claim credit for everything.

China has built trains for a very long time, and they pay others to add to it

The Chinese built the highest train in the world to Llasa Tibet...American engine, Canadian PBS cars, Chinese passenger cars...it's economics, plain and simple.

They have built a huge rail system in China...they use their own tech, and also buy from Japan and Germany and other countries when it's more economical to do so.

Instead of trying a pissing contest, you could just learn from others. It's what everyone else does.

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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:41 PM
Response to Reply #37
47. No need to fish for more red herring
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 09:42 PM by liberation
Every nation and culture has invented stuff which has contributed to the rest of the world. That is not the point, and that is not definitively something exclusive to the Chinese.

So again what is your point? The Germans have the fastest train technology, the French have the fastest regular lines, and the Indians have the largest railroad network. What is your point?

The chinese are relatively new comers to the high speed train game. Thus it makes no sense for us to subsidice those with just slightly more experience in the matter than us. We might as well skip the middle man and do it ourselves.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:48 PM
Response to Reply #47
49. Stop trying to pretend you invented the world.
You did not.

And history is clear on that point.

You have no knowledge or experience whatever on high-speed trains.

Learn from those who do, grasshopper.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:00 PM
Response to Reply #49
56. Not that it matters. but I do research at a national lab on high temperature superconduting
you know.... for stuff like mag lev trains.

LOL, you are funny. Where did I claim I invented the world. Red herrings and strawmen are no way of carrying a proper debate, me thinks. But if that is your thing, by all means...
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:01 PM
Response to Reply #56
58. No, it doesn't matter. Thank you.
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smiley_glad_hands Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:41 PM
Response to Reply #37
74. They didn't invent the internet.
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 10:42 PM by smiley_glad_hands
Now get off of it.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:47 PM
Response to Reply #74
75. LOL but the Brits invented the web.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:42 PM
Response to Reply #3
16. The MagLev trains are not Chinese technology, they are German.
I am sure there are no trains out there which get 200 miles per gallon. BTW
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karynnj Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 12:55 PM
Response to Reply #16
106. Should have been MPH - careless typing
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sendero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:46 PM
Response to Reply #3
20. China..
...stole 95% of the computer technology the manufacture, excuse me if I can't get too worked up over us "using" some of theirs.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:48 PM
Response to Reply #20
22. Actually, the Chinese invented the abacus
while Europeans lived in caves.

And a computer is a glorified abacus.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:58 PM
Response to Reply #22
31. The Abacus is of Sumerian or Babylonian origin.
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 08:58 PM by liberation
The term Abacus is Latin, BTW. In case you were wondering what those Europeans living in caves were counting with...

I still don't know what your point is. Algebra is mostly an Arab development, yet I would still think twice before boarding a high speed train made in Tunisia.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:02 PM
Response to Reply #31
33. LOL doesn't matter what the Latin name is.
What matters is the original Chinese name.

Arabs invented a great deal, but what that has to do with fantasy high speed trains in Tunisia is unknown.

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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:05 PM
Response to Reply #33
35. Last I checked Sumeria and Babylon where in the Middle East
Unless they got moved from China due to some tectonic plate activity the rest of us mere mortals have been unaware of for the better part of 5 millenia.

The latin name is important, because you missed the point. Those "Europeans living in caves" were actually doing their own math calculations with the Abacus, just as well as the Chinese were. Since neither invented the apparatus....
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:13 PM
Response to Reply #35
38. Gosh, China is right off the map for you eh?
Sorry...they developed a civilization before the 'west' was out of bearskins.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:46 PM
Response to Reply #38
48. Gosh, that has nothing to do with the fact that you were wrong regarding the origin of the Abacus
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 09:49 PM by liberation
And it is not an either or proposition. The Old Chinese Dynasties and Classic Europeans were fairly advanced cultures. I have no clue why you have to deride Europeans. Do you think that somehow making crap up about Europeans make Chinese look better. That sounds a tad insecure.

There were tons of fantastic discoveries and contributions from China. But trying to equate the Classic Greeks, the Romans, etc. with "living in caves" it is somehow delightfully ignorant.

Or is it just so damned hard for you to recognize you were wrong, learn something new, and just leave it at that. If you are not even willing to bulge or learn on basic facts that you may have gotten wrong. Doesn't it strike you as a possibility that some of your opinions based on far more complex issues may be compromised if you are unwilling to take a step back, and accept facts and reconsider your narrative if those facts affect your preconceived notions?
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:50 PM
Response to Reply #48
50. Gosh, that's because I wasn't.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus

China was giving civil service exams while Europeans huddled in caves.

Now stop playing at arrogance...you have none to stand on.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:58 PM
Response to Reply #50
55. LOL. Dude, did you actually read the article in wikipedia about the Abacus you just linked?
Seriously.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:00 PM
Response to Reply #55
57. Yes, dude, I did. Srsly. You should too.
'During the Achaemenid Persian Empire, around 600 BC, Iranians first began to use the abacus.<10> Under Parthian and Sassanian Iranian empires, scholars concentrated on exchanging knowledge and inventions by the countries around them – India, China, and the Roman Empire, when it is thought to be expanded over the other countries.'

You should too.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:05 PM
Response to Reply #57
62. LOL.
You do realize, this is a public thread and people can simply read a few posts up where you wrote "The Chinese invented the Abacus"

Just checking.

ROFL
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:09 PM
Response to Reply #62
64. The Chinese invented the abacus.
It travelled elsewhere, and was a major improvement on stones in sand.

People were more open-minded in those days than you appear to be.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:28 PM
Response to Reply #64
70. LOL. You seem to have trouble distinguishing between your personal opinion and facts
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 10:36 PM by liberation
For crying out loud, even the wikipedia article you linked stated, and I quote:


"The period 2700–2300 BC saw the first appearance of the Sumerian abacus, a table of successive columns which delimited the successive orders of magnitude of their sexagesimal number system.<6>"

"The earliest known written documentation of the Chinese abacus dates to the 2nd century BC.<14>"

Furthermore:

"Both the Roman abacus and the Chinese suanpan have been used since ancient times. With one bead above and four below the bar, the systematic configuration of the Roman abacus is coincident to the modern Japanese Soroban, although the soroban is historically derived from the suanpan."

Since you have trouble with both reality and basic reading and comprehension. Let me clarify: 2700 BC is OLDER than 200 BC. Both the Romans and the Chinese started using the abacus almost concurrently. In case you don't know "concurrently" means "at the same time."

Why you are being so obtuse is beyond me... I personally can't think of anything more close minded, than anyone who is unwilling to recognize they could have been mistaken regardless of the evidence and facts they are presented with to the contrary. You have a specific narrative, and are willing to ignore and twist facts in order to preserve it, even if it's wrong. That is indeed the very definition of close-mindedness. Which makes the projection of your accusations that much funnier.

Anyhow, I have no idea where you are going with this... so enjoy.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:49 PM
Response to Reply #70
76. No, but then I'm not waving a flag
Sumerians had a table of successive columns...much like the British exchequer centuries later

That is not an abacus.

The Chinese invented that

But then..until recently, westerners thot they'd invented the printing press.

The fact westerners know little about China and India is not my problem
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420inTN Donating Member (803 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 01:57 PM
Response to Reply #50
109. self delete
Edited on Sun Mar-14-10 01:59 PM by 420inTN
nevermind.
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sendero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:33 PM
Response to Reply #22
42. And you...
........ are an ameoba.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:34 PM
Response to Reply #42
43. Gosh that's intelligent.
Go to college for that didja?
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proteus_lives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 03:30 AM
Response to Reply #22
97. We can always count on you to lick Mainland boot.
It's not even amusing anymore.
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DRoseDARs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:50 PM
Response to Reply #3
24. Sorry - but it is not THEIR technology, either. It's German.
German company Transrapid worked with the Chinese government to build the short maglev line from Shanghai to the Shanghai Pudong International Airport. China got busted trying to steal the technology to tweak it and claim it as their own development.

Anyway, Transrapid is working right here in the US trying to get projects going in Southern California as well as all along the Eastern Seaboard and extending as far as Texas. US company General Atomics is co-working with Transrapid on the Cal-Nev project.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:52 PM
Response to Reply #24
27. China used Canadian, Japanese and German tech.
And learned how to do it themselves.
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DRoseDARs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:32 PM
Response to Reply #27
71. "And learned how to do it themselves." after getting caught red-handed trying to steal from Transrap
China didn't learn to do any of this themselves. They'd been tinkering with their own tech since 1986, but it wasn't until after the Germans came in that, as if by magic, the Chinese had leapfrogged the Germans with a more advanced maglev technology and as such will cut costs and Transrapid's role in future projects. If Microsoft (the Chinese state-owned train/maglev company) did a joint project with Apple (Transrapid) on bringing the iPad to market (the Shanghai maglev), then tried to renege on future iPad projects deal only to turn around and produce the same product with minor tweaks and a Microsoft logo slapped on it, that's industrial espionage/theft of technology. I've heard about Canadian or Japanese participation or dealing with the Chinese in developing maglevs, but you can be damn sure the Chinese tried it with them too.

"China used Canadian, Japanese and German tech" and then "And learned how to do it themselves." is a contradiction. The second is a bit like saying the United States learned to get into space by itself. No, we used Nazi scientists with rocketry knowledge developed out of building Hitler's V2 rockets to help US scientists further their knowledge after WW2, which may be a fair comparison of Chinese maglev technology development. But they are being dishonest about that part.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:51 PM
Response to Reply #71
77. LOL that's outright nonsense.
It's amazing to me that the west thinks they invented everything.

Gosh the US learned rocketry from the Germans...who learned it from the Chines
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DRoseDARs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 11:37 PM
Response to Reply #77
84. I didn't say the West invented rocketry. I said the US developed its space program with German help.
You and the Chinese are trying to lie about how China is developing its maglev technology.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 11:43 PM
Response to Reply #84
86. The Germans invented the space program.
Americans helped

The Chinese and I have nothing to do with your hubris.
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DRoseDARs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 12:37 AM
Response to Reply #86
89. Your talk of hubris is amusing. Fortunately, no one's falling for it.
I didn't say the West invented rocketry. I said the US got into space with the help of German know-how in rocketry. We didn't go to the Chinese, who had done very little with their own knowledge of rocketry outside of limited weaponry, but to a people who had had success in developing the concept further to launch payloads long-range. Yes, the Chinese were first to make rockets but they hadn't developed it sufficiently to be useful for getting into space. A space program is not something you "invent" it's something into which you apply relevant knowledge.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 12:47 AM
Response to Reply #89
90. If you put even half the effort into building America
as you do into trying to tear everyone and everything else down, you'd get somewhere.

The Germans invented the space program...you just snatched a few for your own purposes. So did the Soviets.

The Chinese are in space btw.
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DRoseDARs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 01:08 AM
Response to Reply #90
91. Again, you don't "invent" a space program; the Chinese being in space now is irrelevent to WW2.
"If you put even half the effort into building America as you do into trying to tear everyone and everything else down, you'd get somewhere."

^^^And how is any of this horseshit relevant to the discussion?
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 01:10 AM
Response to Reply #91
92. Hey, you brought it up, I didn't.
The Chinese invented rockets. The Germans invented the V2

You grabbed Werner Von Braun and made a hero out of a Nazi for your own purposes.
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DRoseDARs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 01:39 AM
Response to Reply #92
93. And you keep shifting and dodging, of course people are going to correct you.
Maybe if you stopped twisting and lying...

No one is buying your non-sense. Give it a rest.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 01:43 AM
Response to Reply #93
94. I'm being very straight-forward and factual.
Perhaps that's what you're having trouble with.
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proteus_lives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 03:52 AM
Response to Reply #92
98. "You grabbed Werner Von Braun and made a hero out of a Nazi for your own purposes."
How many posters of Mao decorate Chinese buildings?

He responsible for the deaths of millions. (99% Chinese)
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DeSwiss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 11:37 PM
Response to Reply #3
85. As long as we don't let them build any bridges.....


Shanghai Wonder: Bridge Made of Trash Collapses

WeirdAsiaNews
By MDeeDubroff
February 5, 2010


In an absurd twist of fate and a rather distinct and unusual statement on the need to recycle, residents of Shanghai got the surprise of their life when earlier this month a major new bridge collapsed, revealing its components to be mostly rubbish and not concrete!



Spanning the Wusong River in central Shanghai, the river has represented an important shipping route since the 1930s, facilitating the transport of goods to the interior of China. The Suzhou River Road where the bridge is located has been designated as a protected heritage zone and has become the setting for Shanghai’s flourishing art scene.



Completed in 2009, the bridge replaced a much older one with a more modern design. It began to collapse after being in operation only a short period; just after Christmas, when cracks appeared in the structure. Some thought the ground might have become unstable or that it might have been the result of the inefficiency of the original construction company.

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/02/05/shanghai-wonderbridge-trash-collapses/">LINK
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 11:44 PM
Response to Reply #85
87. China has millions of bridges.
Meanwhile, nothing in the US has ever collapsed...right?
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DeSwiss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 02:24 AM
Response to Reply #87
95. Absolutely no bridges in the US.....
...have fallen due to stuffing garbage into place where concrete was meant to go as far as I know.

- And this crappy bridge was built in 2009.

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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 02:29 AM
Response to Reply #95
96. Things have collapsed in both countries. Buildings, bridges.
Edited on Sun Mar-14-10 02:30 AM by HeresyLives
:boring:
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420inTN Donating Member (803 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 01:26 PM
Response to Reply #3
108. I believe you mean 200MPH, not MPG
I wish there was a 200MPG train.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 07:02 PM
Response to Reply #3
110. There aren't any established American companies presently in the high-speed rail business.
There's Alstom (of the French TGV), there's Siemens (of the German ICE
trains), there's the company that builds the Shinkansen, German Trans-
rapid and their mag-lev, the Chinese company that has built their
mag-lev, and some mag-lev activity on Korea.

You might argue that Bombardier (of Canada) might be capable, at
least in concert with Alstom again (they made the Acella Express),
but as far as I know, there's no American company that can even
come close right now, either independently or in consortium with
anyone else.

Tesha
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HillbillyBob Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 07:55 PM
Response to Original message
2. wtf?!
Where are the American Companies who can build these things or are we going to Stimulate Chinas f ing economy with our tax $?

Or have we slide so far down the fucking idiot hole that we cannot do this kind of thing anymore?
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 07:59 PM
Response to Original message
4. The Chinese have experience in building high-speed rail.
Do you?
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pscot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:14 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. No. And we certainly wouldn't want to get any
would we. That might put Americans back to work, and they would just start to get uppity again.
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SkyDaddy7 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:40 PM
Response to Reply #6
14. You did not get the memo?
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 08:40 PM by SkyDaddy7
Spending any money on our infrastructure is pure SOCIALISM!!


:sarcasm:
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seabeckind Donating Member (406 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:17 PM
Response to Reply #4
9. What's so hard?
We got some pretty smart fellas in this country. Hel, the chinese guy who'll come here to do it probably went to caltech.

Afterall, it's not like we're inventing a wheel or something.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:20 PM
Response to Reply #9
12. Gosh no, it's all just so goll-derned simple
that you've never done it, and have no idea what it involves.

Instead you want to learn on the job.
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marketcrazy1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:24 PM
Response to Reply #4
13. we can learn
lets build this ourselves, keep the money and the jobs ( and profit ) HERE! in America! china has enough of our jobs.......... this is part of the stimulus plan. lets stimulate America`s economy NOT China`s.. foreign bidders should be banned from these projects. enough already!!!...
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Owl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:43 PM
Response to Reply #13
17. I totally agree!
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:42 PM
Response to Reply #4
15.  it`s not that difficult to actually build high speed rail.
the difficulty is the purchasing of the land that the rail will be built on.

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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:44 PM
Response to Reply #15
18. So...how many have you built?
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pipoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:04 PM
Response to Reply #18
61. This is the 3rd time you've made this completely
juvenile comment. Only a child would think that US engineers would need anything from the Chinese to design this system. Have you ever been to China? There is no infrastructure in vast, vast areas.

This OP BTW is only about bidding on contracts. US engineers will be designing the system, you do realize this, no?
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:11 PM
Response to Reply #61
65. So how many have you built?
Um...the system is already invented and developed.

Any reason you want to reinvent the wheel here, other than some bizarre flag-waving?

No, you've never been to China, and have no idea what you're on about.
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pipoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:39 PM
Response to Reply #65
73. There is no reinventing anything going to happen beyond fixing
problems found in other countries. US engineers will travel the world learning, then come back and design the system. Once designed and appropriated, the project will be divided into many pieces and put up for bids. This is where the Chinese will be bidding, they may win some bids, they will complete the bid to the specs they are provided. I am sure US engineers will be quite appreciative of the input of engineers in other countries.

Now the adolescence of the argument would be that the US couldn't have any bridges or airplanes since I've never built either of those things either. And my MIL, an engineer btw, just returned from 7 weeks in China. I've seen the pics and heard the stories of a very smart person who I know personally.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:53 PM
Response to Reply #73
79. System is already up and running.
That's just another excuse to waste time.

Your MIL is irrelevant.
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pipoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 11:20 PM
Response to Reply #79
81. And I say China is no more relevant
than Europe. This is not China here, you realize this, no? Therefore, this not being China, the Chinese engineering of their system is irrelevant. We are not building a building. We are building national infrastructure, this will be a custom fit and will require ground up engineering.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 11:26 PM
Response to Reply #81
82. Oh give it up
Buy it off the shelf and be done with it.

Only way you'll ever get it done. It'll be just a pissing contest otherwise.

:rofl:
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pipoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 11:35 PM
Response to Reply #82
83. The only buying off the shelf may be the components
you realize this right?
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 11:45 PM
Response to Reply #83
88. If you want to waste time, it's your problem
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pipoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 07:05 AM
Response to Reply #88
100. I have no say in it, nor do you
it ain't gonna happen fast, and if you think they will just start throwing down track..wait a minute, you do know that every road, bridge, and railroad track starts out with engineers right? That engineers assure safety, usability and ergonomics? Or is this just your Saturday entertainment, being a contrarian?
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 11:24 AM
Response to Reply #18
103. actually several....
one in ho and another in n gauge. my biggest problem was getting my wife`s permission for the space in our home. after tense negotiations we compromised. as usual i got half of what i was asking for.


see..other people are better at being smart asses...of course you won`t read this
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:51 PM
Response to Reply #4
26. Some of our actual allies have far better experience...
... the Chinese high speed network is fairly unproven. Unlike the Japanese/French/German/Spanish networks.

I for one won't be willing to risk a ride in a Chinese train, if they have enough hard time making plastic toys as it is.


Why on earth would we subsidize our biggest international competitor which is positioning itself to challenge our international influence and position?
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:53 PM
Response to Reply #26
28. China isn't an enemy. Keep up
And they have the best high-speed trains in the world
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:02 PM
Response to Reply #28
34. I don't think "best" means what you think it means..
Let me guess, you are Chinese.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:29 PM
Response to Reply #34
40. Oh I think 'best' is understood very well by everybody.
And no, I'm a Celtic-Canadian.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:53 PM
Response to Reply #40
52. Yeah, but I was referring to you... not everybody.
If you are saying with a straight face that the Chinese have the "best" train technology in the world. That is a rather false estimation.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:55 PM
Response to Reply #52
54. You were trying to insult me, which is against the rules.
And yes, China has the best train tech in the world...they have the newest.

The newest is always the best...because it's cumulative.

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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:04 PM
Response to Reply #54
60. I am not insulting you, I was just providing facts to correct your false claim
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 10:07 PM by liberation
That is all. In case it is not clear -> correction is not the same as insulting.

You could simply have recognized the error, I could have given you the benefit of the doubt. And no big deal. Yet you keep digging a hole, for whatever reason.

And btw, technically the bestest train tech should be Korea, since they just released a new high speed train tech, a few months after the Chinese did theirs.

I am not going to go into detail as to why equating "newest" and "best" is a fallacy, lord knows you will go in another tangential red herring fishing excursion to who knows where.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:08 PM
Original message
Well since you have no facts.
and are merely trying to be patronizing, that is an attempt at an insult.

The Chinese are continuing to build high-speed trains thruout China...and in fact they're now invited to build one to India and Europe to connect it all.

Oh...did you think it was all done?

You 'aren't going into detail' because you're scraping the bottom of the barrel, and we both know it
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:17 PM
Response to Original message
68. Honestly... you are making less and less sense.
The only "facts" you have brought to this thread is a single reference to a wikipedia article which actually proved my claim.


Anyhow, as much as I find your projection and narrative truly entertaining. It is supper time, and it is hard to follow your tangential arguments with a low blood sugar level.


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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:19 PM
Response to Reply #68
69. People on the losing end of an argument always say that.
The fact that you can't follow any of this proves the point that you should be hiring expertise, not trying to reinvent it yourself.
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liberation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:34 PM
Response to Reply #69
72. Uh? What?
LOL. Sorry, my GPS broke trying to follow all the twists and turns your "logic" was taking.

I'll pretend you are being *this* dense and obtuse in order to pull my leg, or that you smoked some really good stuff.

Anyhow, have a nice day.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:54 PM
Response to Reply #72
80. Supper over so soon?
Oh but I see you're off to hide again. Well...ta ra
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AsahinaKimi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:37 PM
Response to Reply #34
44. I think the Japanse and German technology is best...
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 09:46 PM by AsahinaKimi


And don't the French have high speed trains as well? God forbid Americans want anything from the FRENCH!! :sarcasm:

But really...

many westerners seem to forget who helped built the Railroads in this country in the first place.. Americans who brought Chinese over from China to do the very hard "grunt work" and then left them to fend for themselves, forming their own little Chinatowns in various cities, many of whom, were forced out~like they were in Santa Barbara. I am sure many of the long term residents of San Francisco Chinatown did have relatives who helped build our American railroads.


But in any case, I agree with who ever said we should have Americans build the high speed railroads, but with the help of the Chinese, Germans, Japanese and even the French. We need and require their technical advice, and use much of our own ingenuity as well.

I always made myself a promise if I ever went back to Japan, to visit, I would ride the Shinkansen but it would be even cooler to be able to ride here in America first. San Francisco to Los Angeles and be there in about an hour.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:51 PM
Response to Reply #44
51. Many countries have the technical know-how.
It's not a new frontier after all, but pretty standard stuff.
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WriteDown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 08:49 PM
Response to Reply #4
112. How did the Chinese get experience? Were they born with it? nt
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Chemisse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:15 PM
Response to Original message
7. Ummm - I thought the whole point was to stimulate OUR economy nt
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seabeckind Donating Member (406 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:18 PM
Response to Original message
10. Stuff like this REALLY pizzes me off.
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 08:20 PM by seabeckind
Added in edit: Don't we own some factories? All we gotta do is scrape off the GM or Chrysler logo.
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iamtechus Donating Member (868 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:18 PM
Response to Original message
11. Then things will have come full circle
Chinese engineers and technicians will do all the brainwork while american coolies do all the grunt work.
:shrug:
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JerseygirlCT Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:45 PM
Response to Original message
19. Considering the quality of most of their stuff here
that would make me pretty nervous.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 08:51 PM
Response to Reply #19
25. China's 4th space center will be completed in 2015
Perhaps its what you're buying?
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WriteDown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 08:50 PM
Response to Reply #25
113. They have 4 space stations? Wow. Oh you said space centers.
What exactly is a space center?
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izquierdista Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:12 PM
Response to Original message
36. Memo to self
Take Turkey and Venezuela off list of places to visit by rail.

After poisoned dog food, toys, drywall, and who knows what else, "Made in China" = "Your life isn't worth a plugged nickel"
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FarCenter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:29 PM
Response to Original message
39. What companies in which countries control the patents needed for high-speed rail?
If you answer that question, you know who you can buy from.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:31 PM
Response to Reply #39
41. Canada, Japan, Germany and China.
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FarCenter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:40 PM
Response to Reply #41
46. About right - and to protect our movie industry, we've gotten everyone to agree on iron clad IP laws
Edited on Sat Mar-13-10 09:41 PM by FarCenter
So on topics like high-speed rail patents, where we don't have much intellectual property, we're probably pretty much screwed.
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Triana Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:38 PM
Response to Original message
45. NO reason the US should not be building this themselves
We certainly need the jobs. This is bullshit. Why are we behind in this technology. Why are we behind in every technology? Even internet speeds? :wtf:

CATCH UP! You know: JOBS? Research? Infrastructure? Duh.

Soon, CHINA will own the US. Guess O'Bomber doesn't mind. Pfft.

This is just stupid.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 09:53 PM
Response to Reply #45
53. Well, except you don't know how
Learn from those who do. What's wrong with that?

That's how knowledge works. It grows, as everybody adds a piece.
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Triana Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 12:05 PM
Response to Reply #53
105. learning from them is one thing. letting them take our jobs and take over our
infrastructure is quite something else.
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WriteDown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 08:51 PM
Response to Reply #53
114. Can't they just send us the instructions? nt
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salguine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:02 PM
Response to Original message
59. I hope they don't build railroads the way they make toys and toothpaste.
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pipoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:08 PM
Response to Reply #59
63. and don't forget dog food.
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HeresyLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:12 PM
Response to Reply #63
66. And space centers.
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unkachuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:13 PM
Response to Original message
67. we've come full circle....
....in the 1800s the Chinese were instrumental in building our railroads....this time, they might actually make money at it....
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-13-10 10:51 PM
Response to Original message
78. Deleted message
Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
upi402 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 04:11 AM
Response to Original message
99. American workers; Meat or Pet
When will we give China a bail out too? I mean, they're corrupt and brutal enough to deserve a place at the trough.
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 09:46 AM
Response to Original message
101. the irony is too much
if you know anything about how the rails were built in the U.S. the first time.

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Desertrose Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 11:43 AM
Response to Reply #101
104. OMG. You took the words right out of my mouth!
That was my first thought too.....

Sort of the same feeling as watching the Native Americans build their casinos....


What goes around comes around......
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lonestarnot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 11:05 AM
Response to Original message
102. What was the number of dead in the largest derailment in history?
Edited on Sun Mar-14-10 11:07 AM by lonestarnot
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Owl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 01:19 PM
Response to Original message
107. No way should stimulus funds/taxes be doled out to Chinese companies for US infrastructure projects.
That's ridiculous, and horrifying if it's even being considered.
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Odin2005 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-14-10 07:36 PM
Response to Original message
111. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT!?!
:grr:
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