On Loan from Turtle native helps Circus Drive-In stay open
Posted on July 12 at 10:15 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I know drive-in restaurants and drive-in movies were big in the '60s, but doesn't it all seem a little bizarre now that we would want to eat or watch movies in our cars? As a kid I sometimes went to them too and the novelty was fun, but now as an adult I can't help but think the population was being bamboozled into thinking that large, roomy cars were necessary for a family's entertainment.
On GM stockholders 'wiped out'
Posted on June 13 at 4:09 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
truthteller, I think you hit the nail on the head. Sure, the high wages and lavish benefits were great for workers, but in the end the excessive labor costs forced GM into bankruptcy. As you wrote, assembly-line work is basically unskilled labor. I wouldn’t begrudge a McDonald’s burger flipper $35/hour if his union forced management to pay it to him, and if the high wages meant the worker was able to afford a big SUV, more power to him. But if McDonald’s ended up filing for bankruptcy because Burker King paid only $8/hour, used higher quality meat in its sandwiches, and sold the finished product for a lower price, I’d say the problem lay with the McDonald’s union.
On Displaced workers consider leaving Janesville
Posted on May 3 at 8:49 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I like the train idea that somebody mentioned. I could see commuting by train to and from a good-paying job in Chicago (and napping during the ride). Maybe Amtrak would start serving Janesville again if there was enough demand. http://www.trainweb.org/usarail/janesvil... Anyone know if the train tracks also go north toward Madison?
On Walking, bicycling could unclog school traffic jams
Posted on April 27 at 6:15 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Mickie – take chances on what? The lightning strikes? The kidnapping? The car accidents?
.
We often have competing risks. There is a slim chance that a child could swallow a toothbrush, choke, and die while brushing his teeth. If he doesn’t brush his teeth, his teeth will eventually rot. I’m guessing that most parents do a mental risk/benefit analysis and tell their children to brush their teeth. Only if parents were more afraid of the choking hazard than the rotting teeth would they tell their children not to brush.
.
In the present discussion, it’s approximately ten times more likely that your child will die in an auto accident than be kidnapped on the way to school. The first disaster is guaranteed to be fatal, the second disaster could be fatal too. If a parent chooses to subject the child to the danger that is ten times more likely to occur, it means the parent has decided that the less likely danger is more than ten times worse.
.
In this situation, is that a rational conclusion for parents to draw? It’s awful to have to assign a horrific factor to disasters, but is a kidnapping more than ten times worse than losing a child in a car accident? Stated another way, would it be worse for one child to be kidnapped than to lose ten children in car accidents? In my mind each disaster to a child would be equally terrible. Plus, a kidnapping would obviously be traumatic, but I might also get my child back again.
On Walking, bicycling could unclog school traffic jams
Posted on April 27 at 3:14 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Baybeegirl, are you trolling here? We’ve already discussed these issues – did you read the article and the previous posts? Sure, there are sickos in the world, but as the article states the chance of a child being kidnapped on the way to school is about the same as the child being hit by lightning.
.
Yes, a “creepy guy” could snatch up, molest, and murder your kid. A “bright, sizzling lightning bolt" could also hit your kid, fry all the neurons in his body, and blow his head into a million pieces. Neither disaster is pleasant to think about or discuss, but both are equally likely to happen.
On Walking, bicycling could unclog school traffic jams
Posted on April 27 at 2:40 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
jvldss, as has already been pointed out, the reason for the increased traffic at schools is because of the valet service kids today receive. If you drive your kids to school each day when they are perfectly capable of walking or biking by themselves, you are contributing to the problem. Not only are your kids not safer for getting their rides, but you jeopardize the safety of the other kids who do walk or bike.
On Walking, bicycling could unclog school traffic jams
Posted on April 27 at 12:33 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
jvldss, why would you try to stir up hysteria like that? Why not warn against the dangers of lightning strikes instead? According to the article, the likelihood of being kidnapped on the way to school and the likelihood of being struck by lightning are almost the same.
On Walking, bicycling could unclog school traffic jams
Posted on April 27 at 1:36 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I am appalled by the number of parents who choose to unnecessarily jeopardize the safety of their children; as has been posted, though, the parents have the right to make that choice.
.
The article says that the likelihood of a child being kidnapped on the way to school is about the same as the likelihood of being struck by lightning. According to the National Weather Service, in 2008 that likelihood would be 1 in 400,000. (http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/medi...)
.
On the other hand, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2007 there was a 1 in 34, 841 chance that any one person in the U.S. would die as a passenger in a traffic accident. (http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index...)
.
As I see it, the statistics show that during any given year there is more than 10 times the chance that a child will die as a passenger in a car accident than be kidnapped on the way to school. Thus, not only is walking to school safer for the child but walking also generates the benefits mentioned earlier (improving health, building confidence and independence, etc.).
On Walking, bicycling could unclog school traffic jams
Posted on April 26 at 10:17 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Thanks, SuperDave. I was going to respond to justsome1here’s comments about street crossing, but you beat me to it. I would only add that a student who dashes across one street under the watchful eye of an adult crossing guard does not learn the same skills as does a student who crosses multiple uncontrolled intersections blocks away from the school alone.
Page 1 of 7 | Next
On Loan from Turtle native helps Circus Drive-In stay open
Posted on July 12 at 2:49 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I didn't really mean that the car makers were in cahoots with the drive-ins, I just meant that the public was being encouraged to think that everyone needed a car, and a big one at that. I had just recently read the story of GM buying and immediately scrapping U.S. electric trolley and streetcar systems in the '30s and '40s in an attempt to sell more gasoline-powered cars and buses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ameri...