Update: Don Phillips is doing the "Capitol Lines" column for "Railfan and Railroad" magazine.
Sounds like a pretty good fit to me.
Well somethings gotta take you out. I'm sure not one wanting to be 90 sitting in a diaper, wondering who I am, all sense of judgement gone, and bouncing a beach ball. If I bump off before any of that happens that would be ideally the best.
Of course there's always the .01% who stay healthy and active at a very old age ( great grandpas a 100 and put on a new roof all by himself, ... ya sure he did!) Then of course there is always the 104 year old when asked what's the secret he says smoking and having a nip every day.
Chain smoking, COPD and heavy drinking both have similar end results on the body. Death. My father was a hard drinker and a heavy smoker; his drinking never approached the AA level, but it was constant. Last time I checked him out of the hospital where he had respriatory issues he forced me to stop at a supermarket, ostensibly to get grocerys but in reality to get cigarettes. His next trip to the hospital was his last - he died there.
It took me 6 years after his death for me to work up my internal strength to quit - that was 33 years ago.
Both are diseases. While one disease has had a social stigma for centuries, the other is starting to develop a corresponding level of social stigma.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
As I noted, I think Morgan was a wonderful writer. However, I have the same opinion of Phillips. I will be happily subscribing to any magazine that he writes for in the future.
Swiss Ry Fan Is it possible that Phillips got fired, not for his political comments, but for his noting some months ago that the former TRAINS editor and icon, David Morgan, died by drinking himself to death? I believe Phillips mentioned in a subsequent column that his comment ruffled some feathers (or words to that effect) at Kalmbach. I think Morgan was an absolutely wonderful writer but I always got the impression that he was a god at Kalmbach and woe to anyone who makes any kind of negative comment about him. i never subscribed to Passenger Train Journal but I will now if Phillips will be writing for them. Very ignorant move by TRAINS.
Is it possible that Phillips got fired, not for his political comments, but for his noting some months ago that the former TRAINS editor and icon, David Morgan, died by drinking himself to death? I believe Phillips mentioned in a subsequent column that his comment ruffled some feathers (or words to that effect) at Kalmbach. I think Morgan was an absolutely wonderful writer but I always got the impression that he was a god at Kalmbach and woe to anyone who makes any kind of negative comment about him.
i never subscribed to Passenger Train Journal but I will now if Phillips will be writing for them. Very ignorant move by TRAINS.
My impression was that David P. Morgan died from complications related to COPD. He was a chain smoker. If Phillips noted that "Morgan died by drinking himself to death" his comment was not only inaccurate, but tasteless. Phillips wasn't even 1/10th the writer Morgan was. Good riddance.
And is Fred Frailey gone, too? It has been almost a month since his last column.
PaulWWoodring Don asked me to post this: From Don Phillips: I am totally mystified by what happened. It took place over a few hours, and Jim Wrinn refused to be honest with me. I am now doing columns for several other rail publications including Passenger Train Journal, and I will never write for Trains again. If you want to be on my list to get all my columns, just send your email address to phillips605@gmail.com. Don
Wow.
I second that!
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
PTJ's gain is Kalmbach's loss. Thanks for posting the link.
John
Saw that Don Phillips now appears to have a column in 'Passenger Train Journal'.
http://passengertrainjournal.com/state-complaints-amtrak/
'Dandy' Don Merideth?
Don Juan?
Johnny
Don Giovanni?
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
CandOforprogress2 Can we get back to Don here?
Can we get back to Don here?
Don Kirschner, Don Cornelius or Don Corleone??
zugmann SD70Dude From Andy Hardy all the way to Night at the Museum, quite the career! And died in debt.
SD70Dude From Andy Hardy all the way to Night at the Museum, quite the career!
And died in debt.
He's beyond caring about it now.
RIP PFC Mickey Rooney, USA. World War Two, European Theater. Bronze Star recipient.
SD70DudeFrom Andy Hardy all the way to Night at the Museum, quite the career!
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
charlie hebdo Murphy Siding charlie hebdo Murphy Siding oltmannd Savage Tunnel I don't need to give you or anyone else "ideas" about passenger service; I haven't been on Amtrak since 1982, and could give a fig whether they run or not. So, you're basically just a crumudgeon. Not that there's anything wrong with that... I think Andy Rooney was the only person that could do that well. Mickey was even better! Mouse? No. The guy who started as a child/teen actor and kept going into his 90s.
Murphy Siding charlie hebdo Murphy Siding oltmannd Savage Tunnel I don't need to give you or anyone else "ideas" about passenger service; I haven't been on Amtrak since 1982, and could give a fig whether they run or not. So, you're basically just a crumudgeon. Not that there's anything wrong with that... I think Andy Rooney was the only person that could do that well. Mickey was even better! Mouse?
charlie hebdo Murphy Siding oltmannd Savage Tunnel I don't need to give you or anyone else "ideas" about passenger service; I haven't been on Amtrak since 1982, and could give a fig whether they run or not. So, you're basically just a crumudgeon. Not that there's anything wrong with that... I think Andy Rooney was the only person that could do that well. Mickey was even better!
Murphy Siding oltmannd Savage Tunnel I don't need to give you or anyone else "ideas" about passenger service; I haven't been on Amtrak since 1982, and could give a fig whether they run or not. So, you're basically just a crumudgeon. Not that there's anything wrong with that... I think Andy Rooney was the only person that could do that well.
oltmannd Savage Tunnel I don't need to give you or anyone else "ideas" about passenger service; I haven't been on Amtrak since 1982, and could give a fig whether they run or not. So, you're basically just a crumudgeon. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
Savage Tunnel I don't need to give you or anyone else "ideas" about passenger service; I haven't been on Amtrak since 1982, and could give a fig whether they run or not.
So, you're basically just a crumudgeon. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
I think Andy Rooney was the only person that could do that well.
Mickey was even better!
Mouse?
No. The guy who started as a child/teen actor and kept going into his 90s.
From Andy Hardy all the way to Night at the Museum, quite the career!
His off-screen life was quite tumultuous, and at times controversial.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Thanks Johnny!
Firelock76 Well here's the thing as I see it. In todays environment it's hard NOT to keep politics out of railroad discussions. PTC, Amtrak, transit, NIMBYism, BANANAism, "rails-to-trails," all have the taint of politics in them. It's unavoidable. What ARE avoidable are the dog fights that political discussions can lead to. My rules? Pure common sense. You can question another posters opinions, but never question their intelligence, motives or sincerity. Keep the political discussions as they pertain to railroading, leave everything else out. Be respectful. Remember "The Golden Rule." It's a pretty good rule to live by, it must be, there hasn't been a change published in 2000 years. If everyone does that then the moderators won't have to step in with a firehose to cool everything down. By the way, I HATE politics. I hate the way politics turns friends into enemys and perfectly rational human beings into werewolves. And most of it's wasted energy. "Sound and fury signifying nothing." I pay attention to the political scene because it's my duty as a citizen to do so, but I take no pleasure in it.
Well here's the thing as I see it.
In todays environment it's hard NOT to keep politics out of railroad discussions. PTC, Amtrak, transit, NIMBYism, BANANAism, "rails-to-trails," all have the taint of politics in them. It's unavoidable.
What ARE avoidable are the dog fights that political discussions can lead to.
My rules? Pure common sense. You can question another posters opinions, but never question their intelligence, motives or sincerity. Keep the political discussions as they pertain to railroading, leave everything else out. Be respectful. Remember "The Golden Rule." It's a pretty good rule to live by, it must be, there hasn't been a change published in 2000 years.
If everyone does that then the moderators won't have to step in with a firehose to cool everything down.
By the way, I HATE politics. I hate the way politics turns friends into enemys and perfectly rational human beings into werewolves. And most of it's wasted energy. "Sound and fury signifying nothing." I pay attention to the political scene because it's my duty as a citizen to do so, but I take no pleasure in it.
Euclid I don’t read all of Malcolm’s columns, but I have read enough to conclude that his content is quite political in nature. He seems to take the side that favors more regulation to get railroads to provide the services he prefers. Of course, this requires a lot of other people to help pay the bill even if they don’t prefer the service. So, yes that makes his content political in nature. However, I know of nothing that prohibits that subject matter for Malcolm’s blogs. I assume that Kalmbach does not impose rules that prevent Malcolm from including politics. However, we on the forum are forbidden by the rules to discuss politics. I am not sure if our forum rules apply to us when we post comments on the blogs. Has that ever been made clear? In any case, we are free to discuss Malcolm’s blog content here on the forum. So if Malcolm says something in a blog that is political, and someone posts here that they disagree with it, is that a political comment? If it is, then it means that disagreeing with Malcolm is political.
I don’t read all of Malcolm’s columns, but I have read enough to conclude that his content is quite political in nature. He seems to take the side that favors more regulation to get railroads to provide the services he prefers. Of course, this requires a lot of other people to help pay the bill even if they don’t prefer the service. So, yes that makes his content political in nature.
However, I know of nothing that prohibits that subject matter for Malcolm’s blogs. I assume that Kalmbach does not impose rules that prevent Malcolm from including politics. However, we on the forum are forbidden by the rules to discuss politics.
I am not sure if our forum rules apply to us when we post comments on the blogs. Has that ever been made clear?
In any case, we are free to discuss Malcolm’s blog content here on the forum. So if Malcolm says something in a blog that is political, and someone posts here that they disagree with it, is that a political comment? If it is, then it means that disagreeing with Malcolm is political.
Fred Frailey wields the power to delete comments on his blog, not the moderators. And his columns & discussions are frequently political.
I suspect Kenton's blog posts are governed by the same rules.
Here in the forums of course political discussions are officially forbidden, but they seem to only get moderated if someone complains.
oltmanndSo noted. Certainly not my worst misspelling... Stay tuned for more!
We still like you, anyhow!
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