particularly people who, say, live in Indiana but root for Florida State

Sure, 'cause it couldn't possibly be that they went to Florida State or have a nephew that goes there or was a fan of a QB that went to Florida State and got into college football because of them.

People who ONLY root for their home teams have no imagination and are depressingly provincial.

Or so the argument could be made. Personally, You like who you like. As long as you don't ditch a team once it is no longer winning, you're fine in my book.

He's too dumb to realize it was for the baseball Giants. He was wearing the cap 'cause he was promised last fall that he'd end up wearing the cap of a winner. He managed to get it wrong again.

I'd like to point out that I'm referring to the reasons China closed its doors, not to the idea that China reached America First or circumnavigated the globe.

Are you stating that nothing in his book is accurate or that the earlier parts are tainted by his later claims?

If it is so thoroughly discredited, perhaps you can provide some references to works that discredit it?

Without this your claims of discrediting also rely on the ignorance of the reader.

There's been a decline in teenage pregnancies at that school. In addition, the ones that don't get knocked up are jealous of the ones that do. The principal has decided to ensure it is an equal opportunity dance. They will be handing out mesh condoms at the door.

I thought the consensus argument for why China's technological progress stopped was put forth in the book 1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies.

Essentially, the argument goes, China's leadership had faced several disasters and turned inward in response. Some technological advances could have threatened central rule and this also lent to the cessation of scientific progress. Exploration was curtailed for similar reasons. In addition, as China was large and more advanced they saw little reason to remain in contact with the outside world and instead turned to perfecting their society.

Or maybe the William F. Buckley of the Ming Dynasty succeeded in "Standing Athwart History, Yelling Stop".

A cautionary tale for America's Conservatives.

That's the bad precedent: breaking the terms of service -- whatever the terms say -- makes you a criminal.

So what should the consequences of breaking the terms of service be? Is there a lesser punishment here she should be subject to for this specific aspect of the crime?

So are you saying the proper charge is more akin to manslaughter or fraud? Or are you saying she shouldn't be prosecuted at all?

I find it hard to believe prosecutors cannot find anything else to charge her with. It is likely local prosecutors screwed up or were pressured to let it drop and the Feds stepped in because of other pressures. It is entirely possible the Feds have nothing else to charge her with, but the local laws should cover this.

It'd be nice if you could post links to some blogs, if you can find any, that suggest there are indeed things she can be prosecuted for.

I'm not telling you your own experience. You said "as scheduled". As scheduled it is 3 to 3.5 hours depending on which line you take.

There are delays which you alluded to and stated that they took 30+ minutes. If you meant they took as long as 90 minutes, you should state that.

As far as the delays "usually" taking 90 minutes? I'd be surprised by that. Other than your anecdotal evidence, have you anything to back that statement up? I'm just looking for some evidence, especially as I'd be curious how close to posted times trains usually make it in the USA. I use commuter rail in Boston and it is rarely more than 5 minutes off and that's usually in bad weather in winter.

The scheduled time between Raleigh NC and Charlotte NC, 170 miles give or take, is almost 4 hrs on a good day

I went and looked for regional rail times, depending on the time you leave, the scheduled time between Raleigh, NC and Charlotte, NC is either 3 hours or 3 and a half. And that's with 7 stops in-between.

If you're saying there's an average +30 minute delay, that's still 3 and a half to 4 hours with 7 stops in-between. Those 7 stops do make a difference.

If you were to drive this route and stop 7 times, you'd probably end up taking as long as or longer than the train. Since you're only 15 minutes faster than the scheduled time, you'd certainly take longer than the scheduled time. And, 170 miles in 2.5 hours assumes no traffic and doesn't include city driving and parking.

I recently booked a flight on Jet Blue and they offered certain seats in coach with more leg room (6", I think) for an extra $10 or $20, I don't remember which.

Passenger trains would run no faster than rail freight.

Not true, just a few shunts would take care of that problem.

The scheduled time between Raleigh NC and Charlotte NC, 170 miles give or take, is almost 4 hrs on a good day

And yet the Boston to NYC run takes 3.5 hours, a little less than by car and there are stops in-between. BWT, what line does Amtrack run the Raleigh to Charlotte train on? I looked at the Amtrack schedule, but didn't see it immediately.

The reason that the Long Island rail road is so large and effective is because it dates back to the Civil War as a rail road used by local farmers to get their product to market in NYC

Well, and its heavy use as passenger trains ever since...