The Breakup of Amtrak Gets Closer

I’ve written before that one of the things that Pam and I value highly is good mass transit. We’ve ridden trains in France (and I’ve ridden them in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the UK in the past) and it has always struck me that well-run, modern, clean and efficient train travel is an indicator of how civilized your country is, if not the overall quality of life for that country’s citizenry. The ‘common good’, a concept that has all but vanished in the States, is embodied in a very visible way in trains on a daily basis to millions of people. With the end of the era of cheap oil rapidly approaching, we should be getting trains ready to handle more commuters and long distance travelers. There is no passenger airplane that operates on anything but petroleum-based fuel. High-speed trains can run on electricity, without fuel cells, newly designed engines or anything else that requires massive retooling or technological leaps. Other countries learned decades ago that a good network of trains can reap benefits far outweighing the costs of running them; only the US has this strange notion that its passenger trains are not a public service, but instead have to be profitable ventures. They also keep promoting the use of fossil fuels, global warming and congested highways. You know, The American Way of Life.

So, it was with a great deal of distress that I read this headline in the New York Times this morning: Amtrak Breakup Advances. In an unannounced vote that was “reported on Wednesday in the newsletter of the United Rail Passenger Alliance of Jacksonville, Fla., an organization that has been highly critical of Amtrak management”, Amtrak’s 4-person Board approved the carving off the Northeast corridor of Amtrak, the routes between Boston and Washington (the ones I used to ride on), as a ’separate division’. This is one of the biggest changes to the organization, and would on the one hand “relieve Amtrak from spending billions of dollars to build and rebuild bridges, rails and electrical systems, but still let the company run its trains.” Most importantly, and the one that makes me the saddest:

The plan would also remove Amtrak from control of that sector, a condition that the railroad’s senior executives say would doom high-speed long-distance service. Managers say they have to be able to give their trains priority over local traffic if they have any hope of keeping their schedules.

Further down in the article, it’s clear what’s really going on:

Amtrak supporters saw darker motives in the board’s vote. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, one of four main sponsors of a bipartisan bill to shore up the railroad, said separating the corridor was intended to package it for a change in ownership.
“The Bush administration wants to hold a fire sale on Amtrak and dump its best asset, the Northeast Corridor,” Mr. Lautenberg said in a statement. “Selling the Northeast corridor is the first step in President Bush’s plan to destroy Amtrak and intercity rail service in America.”

I loved the Acela train for all of its flaws. I took it from Boston to New York a few times over the brief time it was running while I lived there, and always found the trip far more enjoyable than the Delta shuttle or driving our car. Flying was and is a huge hassle, now made even more expensive on the one hand by the price of fuel, and uncomfortable and stressful due to the security measures guarding against terrorism. On the Acela, I got on board in downtown Boston, at the comfortable and familiar South Station (right from the local subway from my house in Cambridge). I didn’t have to check my bags or resort to the long lines by radar detectors. I arrived at Penn Station in New York City, and although that’s not the gorgeous Grand Central Station (one of my favorite places in the US), I didn’t have to take a cab to or from an airport at either end of the journey. While the train wasn’t the cheapest game in town (the Fung Wah bus from Chinatown had everybody beat by a mile in that department), there was nothing nicer than having breakfast as we pulled out of Boston, watching a DVD on my laptop (and plugging it in to the wall outlets), watching the scenes of Connecticut seashore, viewing the approach of the big city in the windows and arriving in Manhattan by early afternoon, relaxed and ready for business, visiting with friends or sightseeing.
Here in Vancouver, they are not tearing apart mass transit. In fact, over some opposition over exactly where and how it was being built, Vancouver is building a new mass transit line called the RAV (Richmond-Airport-Vancouver), which is a rail-based system linking Vancouver with the airport to the west and Richmond to the south. It’s part of the project to get the city able to accommodate the Winter Olympics in 2010.

A final bit of irony on that web page for the New York Times article: One of the most prominent ads in the right sidebar area was a set for the Hummer H3.

A Few Choice Quotes from a Pundit and an Investment Expert

From the Pundit

I got one of those mailings from Randi Rhodes, one of the Air America pundits for the Left. Sometimes I find her a bit shrill, but then again, she’s shrill for my side, so I give her a lot of latitude.
She knows as well as anyone else when she makes a particularly choice ‘zinger’, and she included a few of them on the email. Wish I had been listening (via the Internet) when she delivered these in particular:

On FEMA (the US’s Federal Emergency Management Agency) “They shut the morgue down at 11 AM in spite of a 300-body backlog. I guess they’re just afraid that the morticians will put ‘Cause of Death: FEMA’ on the death certificates.”

On Harriet Miers, Bush’s Nominee to the US Supreme Court: “It’s worse than cronyism, he nominated a groupie!”

On the Polls: “64% of Americans believe aliens have contacted humans; 39% believe in George Bush.”

It’s fascinating to me to watch the US continue to circle the drain. It’s true that the dollar has momentarily stopped it’s precipitous decent. On the other hand, the US Stock market has decided to do a big ol’ Swan Dive these past weeks, taking what I had left there down with it.
From the Investment Expert

I was fascinated to see an article in New York Magazine by an investment advisor and cofounder of theStreet.com James Cramer, who calmly suggests what stocks and other investments to use as a hedge toward the economic melt-down that Bush’s spending (and lack of the taxes to pay for that spending) policies will have caused. His article starts out with almost cheery, clear-eyed pessimism:

The Gold Parachute
Or, how to stop worrying and save yourself from the president’s profligate spending and stubborn insistence on no new taxes.
It’s dawning on Wall Street that George W. Bush may be the first president since Lyndon B. Johnson who believes that we can have a guns-and-butter federal spending policy without creating a serious inflation spiral, if not outright government bankruptcy. At least LBJ, to his credit, believed that there were limits to profligacy and that taxes had to be raised. Not President Bush. He’s making Johnson look like a fiscal conservative, what with his insistence on waging a war in Iraq that’s costing $177 million a day and rebuilding New Orleans by taking on a monstrous load of federal debt.

For the longest time, because Bush is a Republican, we on Wall Street simply didn’t believe that he could be a reckless spender. We knew only two paradigms: You either spent less and cut taxes or you spent more and raised taxes. Both courses at least presumed some sacrifice at some time. Not Bush’s plan. He’s gone on both the biggest spending binge and the lowest taxation course in U.S. history, which, alas, will produce gigantic liabilities down the road. Of course, he’ll be back on the ranch by the time his successor will have to deal with his inflation and currency debasement. Our only hope that financial disaster won’t strike sooner lies with the Chinese, who actually fund our deficit by buying our Treasuries’ $242 billion worth, or 12 percent of all foreign holdings. If the Chinese decide to be good communists and stop buying our bonds, the Feds will have to raise rates to attract new investors and the reaper will be at our doorstep with interest rates more akin to those of South than North America. Right now, it’s not a problem. But in a year or two or maybe less, I perceive that the government will throw a bond auction and nobody will show, including the Chinese, until rates shoot up dramatically.

What if that happens? What if our fiscally clueless president really does keep spending at a rate that far exceeds what our government can take in at these low tax rates? What happens if the president’s acolytes and the Pollyannas in Treasury keep believing that we can grow our way, fairy-tale-like, out of this jam? You can bet that when you cash out your nest egg of nice U.S.-based mutual funds and solid common stocks, your dollars will fit nicely into a wheelbarrow designed specifically to cart worthless currency to the bank.

Or you can take matters into your own hands and build a portfolio around these five imminent-Bush-disaster stocks. Be the first on your block to immunize yourself against what may turn out to be the most financially reckless president in history with these anti-inflation equities designed to profit from our president’s unbelievably foolish Panglossian profligacy.

He then goes on to provide those five stocks that make up parts of the Bush-disaster-proof portfolio. At the time I write this, you can read the article in it’s entirety at New York Magazine’s Web Site. As you might guess, it includes stocks in minerals, oil, and yup, the Fording Canadian Coal Trust. It’s almost as if someone could use that old beer ad: “With Bush (beer), Head for the Mountains!”

Funny, but I seem to remember describing the Bush Administration as a catastrophe somewhere…Oh right. The description of this very blog, at the right. Fancy that.

Clubbing with/for Family

Last night we went to our first club in Vancouver. This town has a ton of them, but we were out at the Lamplighter because my cousin B.J. has a band, Parts and Labor that was on tour throughout the US and Canada, and last night was his stop in Vancouver.

We got there right at 8PM, which was when the evening’s bands (there were to have been 3 of them — we found out that ‘The Fatal Flying Guilloteens’ had to cancel) were to have started. Not even close. After a little while, B.J. walked in from the rear entrance. His band had just gotten over the border an hour or so earlier. While the three of us attempted to do the nearly impossible in Gastown, which is find a restaurant open after 9:30 PM, we got caught up.

By the way, it’s a funny thing, but restaurants do close pretty early here, leading many residents to say that this town should be nicknamed ‘No Fun Vancouver’. I have to admit that we’ve been caught out too late without having gotten dinner on a couple of occasions, and have had to settle on Denny’s or Subway, two chains that tend to be open late. Fortunately, the Denny’s near us is actually not bad at all, unlike the ones I’d been to in the States.
B.J. filled us in on the tour. It had gone well, despite the fact that this morning they’d had their first or second flat tire of the trip, which is always a hassle. It’s a grueling life, being in an indie band on tour, and it’s not at all glamorous, despite what anyone may think. It consists of driving for hours (sometimes ten to twelve at a stretch), arriving at the gig, eating, unpacking the gear and instruments, performing, sleeping (usually at friend’s houses), and then doing the whole thing all over again, day in and day out for a month or so. I imagine that it is a real challenge to fight back the boredom. B.J. was very impressed with the support network around indie bands. Band members from different groups frequently know each other and help each other get bookings. They see one other and socialize on tour stops as part of the circuit and some close friendships get formed. Like anything, a community has emerged.

It’s been a while since we’ve been in the States, and Pam and I rarely ventured into Red State land, so we asked B.J. what he’s been seeing, since he’s been driving through the country for several weeks. “Three things, mainly.” he reported. “Billboards for Jesus, billboards against Abortion, and billboards for strip clubs. Everywhere we went on the road, we’d see signs for those three.” A curious combination, we agreed. Thinking back to that, it strikes me now that all of them happen to be anti-woman (if one assumes that the Jesus ones involved the Baptists’ directive that women be submissive to the man of the household, anti-abortion in our opinion is highly anti-woman, and as for strip clubs, well that’s self explanatory).

After B. J. found a falafel stand that was open, we returned to the dim interior of the Lamplighter. The Lamplighter is in the Dominion Hotel “Vancouver’s Only Budget Art Hotel”, as their web site puts it. They also quote the Toronto Globe and Mail: ‘This probably isn’t a hotel you’d recommend to your mom, but if you’re on a tight budget…a night at the Dominion is quite the experience.” Hmm.

The hotel (and club) is on the corner of Water and Abbott Streets in Gastown. Very funky, it’s one of the oldest buildings I’ve seen in Vancouver (built in 1889). the bar/club has a high tin ceiling that’s been painted dark brown. The stage was at the back, and the bar was toward the front and to the left. Actually, it was pretty cozy and not at all dirty or dangerous looking. There were candles at the booths and tables. A very friendly girl at the front took the cover charges. The bartender and bouncer were also quite personable.

As for Parts and Labor (or as we were amused to see the local paper list it: Parts and Labour), the best description I can provide is the one given by Narnack Records, their current label:

Parts & Labor combines primitive, minimal electronics with an anthemic, rhythmic barrage. The Brooklyn trio formed in early 2002 with BJ Warshaw and Jim Sykes adding bass and drums to Dan Friel’s solo keyboard/electronics experiments (described by Time Out New York as “Strange and wonderful, and best of all, unlike anything we can think of.”

We wore earplugs because the band is very loud, even by indie band standards. (The drummer confided in us that at one venue, he had been doing some preliminary sound checks when the venue’s sound engineer said that his drums alone were louder than any of the other bands). I have to say that the protection of the earplugs kept me from making out any real details to the songs, but their raw energy was engaging, I was not bored, and the crowd (who kept far closer to the band) clearly enjoyed them.

At the end of the evening, we headed out quickly, keeping to the well-lit parts of the streets. At that end of Gastown, you probably wouldn’t want to walk around alone too much at night. We had no trouble getting a bus home, so now I know that a late night out does not mean that there’s no bus, even at near (or even past) midnight.

A Nice Place to Live, but You Wouldn’t Want to Buy Wine There

We are number one. After a couple of years of coming in third and fourth behind Geneva and Zurich, it looks like Vancouver has risen to the number one spot of 126-odd cities in terms of the best place to live, according to the Economist Magazine. While I’m thrilled at having picked the best place in the world to put down roots, I’m also mindful of the fact that the top US cities were Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Not that there’s anything wrong with those cities, but I’d hardly mention in the same breath as San Francisco, Chicago, or even my old stomping ground, Boston. Still, when I think of the things that matter to me: culture, public infrastructure (libraries, parks, mass transit), good food, etc. Vancouver definitely comes out on top. Where it tends to do not so well may not figure into the Economist’s calculations: cost of housing and cost of living. Oh, and cost of wine and difficulty in getting mail order anything. Huh? Read on:

Pam and I took another short walk at sunset by the False Creek South seawall. When we returned home, I made the Pasta al’ Amatriciano I wrote about last night. We had some trouble with our wine bottle opener (it broke), so we had to have the wine that Pam had gotten after dinner when our neighbor returned home. Tomorrow we’ll try and get a new bottle opener. Wine here is a bit of a problem. Many shops sell only British Columbia wine, which so far has not been very good at all. It’s expensive, too. A bottle of ‘cheap’ BC Cabernet Sauvignon is about $20, and it’s nowhere as good as anything I’ve had from California, Chile or Spain, much less France. Beer here is fine (in fact, I’d say exceptional), but wine is overpriced and not very good. At least until we can find a place that sells good stuff. As for the price, I fear the taxes on alcohol will keep that high, so I think the number one request we will make of visitors from the US will be ‘Bring Wine!’ (There’s a limit as to how much you can take over the border, too).
The only other unpleasant surprise about living here is ordering anything via mail. UPS shipments from the US to Canada are a customer service disaster (like our move was). Information about shipments seems to evaporate once it crosses the border. Every shipment I’ve ever ordered that came via UPS had problems, like the chair I won on an eBay auction, which is going on 2 weeks late for arrival due to UPS foul-ups.
The number one carrier here is Purolator. which is not well known in the US. Add to this the import duty that you have to pay on everything that comes. Sometimes there’s no alternative; you can only get some items via the US. The Canadian version of Amazon.com doesn’t sell anything but books and videos up here, so forget about ordering electronics or toys or anything else, for that matter. There’s no Netflix or J&B Soundworks, in Canada and most of the food companies like Pinsky’s spices, Harrington’s Smokehouse in Vermont, or even Omaha Steaks can’t ship up here, period (that’s understandable). I’ll have to find Canadian replacements for those. Thankfully, none of these are anything but minor headaches. Especially since I heard that Tivo is now going to be supported for Canadian users (Whoopie!).

Update: Thanks to my friend Cameron, I have some recommendations regarding where to get wine in Vancouver: For a better selection of BC Wines, the BC Liquor on Alberni and Thurlow, which is also known as the only liquor store downtown open late on Sundays is a good bet. The Marquis on Davie, close to Burrard (http://www.marquis-wines.com) has good staff, and it’s one of the few places in downtown you can get Beaujolais Nouveau. At the Park Royal Mall (the first shopping mall in Canada!) in North Vancouver, there is a wine store called “Liberty Wine Merchants” near the entrance by Super Valu, the big green supermarket in the South Mall. This store has a lot of higher end European wine, and judging what I know about the neighbourhood, it’s unlikely this will solve the pricing issue, but at least it’s a place to get those special occasion bottles. Since we are currently without a car, our visits to that one will probably be a little rare, for the time being, so we aren’t going to the break the bank on high-end wine any time soon.

Cameron also gave me a recommendation on a BC red, the Nk’Mip Merlot (that is the correct spelling, check out their web site: http://www.nkmipcellars.com).

Another good food night…

It was a dreary, rainy day today (I better get used to those!). We did get over to Granville Island today because Thursday is the best day to see the farmers and get the freshest produce of the week. We got a couple of special things that made all the difference:

1. Fresh Hazelnuts. We roasted them and added them to a Celery Root Remoulade along with some grated pear. Even though it was some work shelling and roasting the nuts, it was well worth it. We still have about half a bag left, for a treat later in the week.
2. Kalamata Olives and Grape Tomatoes. Added those to the green beans. One of my 2 or 3 favorite ways of making green beans, the other 2 being with lemon peel and chopped parsley or with sautéed shallots and Madeira.
3. Ground Turkey meat from the Turkey Farm vendor. I’ve gotten this before. It is without a doubt the best ground turkey I’ve ever tasted. No bland pink stand-in for ground beef. This stuff is one of the best bargains on Granville Island! I made the Turkey Meatloaf from Joy of Cooking, which is actually fine recipe, with grated parmesan, chopped basil and parsley and tomato paste. Who knew that turkey meat-loaf is something to look forward to?

Also got for tomorrow some excellent pancetta (Italian cured bacon) and some fresh linguine. I’m going to make Pasta all’ Amatriciana, one of my old favorites. It’s bold, brash food from the town of Amatrice, a town just outside Rome, but it’s become somewhat of a classic (like Carbonara or Alfredo). In fact, here’s the recipe from the Italian Classics cookbook (from America’s Test Kitchens):
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 1/2 cups of canned diced tomatoes, with juice and salt (Muir Glen Organic are very good if you can get them).
6 ounces of pancetta, chopped into bite-sized morsels (about 1/4 inch wide, 1 inch long)
dried hot pepper flakes (they call for 1/2 teaspoon, I use closer to 1/8 - don’t need that much heat).
1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese
The traditional version of this dish is to have the sauce on some bucatini (drinking straw-shaped macaroni) but I find it works fine on any simple pasta like spaghetti, linguine or fettucine. Fresh stuff is fantastic with it; the texture is sublime.

1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a large pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet until shimmering but not smoking. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally , until lightly browned and crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer the pancetta with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside. Drain all by 2 tablespoons fat from the skillet. Add the onion to the skillet; sauté over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the hot red pepper flakes and cook to release their flavor, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes and salt to taste; simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
3. While the sauce is simmering, add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta to the water and cook until al dente; Drain and return the pasta to the empty pot.
4. Add the pancetta to the tomato sauce and adjust the seasonings, if necessary. Add the sauce to the pot and toss over low heat to combine (we often just spoon it over the pasta on the plate). Top with the pecorino cheese (toss if you prefer). Serve immediately.

I love the combination of the saltiness of the pork, the tang of the tomatoes, and the bit of heat from the pepper flakes. It goes extremely well with red wine and crusty bread. Mangia!