Great ... another thread gone to waste , yet another waste of time about forum members and personalitys, not much useful info here for sure .
FM blathered:
" Working for a railroad does not make one an expert on transportation economics, on the contrary it probably makes one less adept at economic postulation than one who has the chance to step back and observe via contrast and comparison independent of work day influences. And usually, to be considered an "expert" in an economic field, you first have to have the economics degree."
So, FM, since you are such an expert in rail transportation, where is your degree in railroading?? Where is your pertinent experience?? OOPS, I almost forgot, you don't have any...
And neither does your buddy Mike, who "knows" all sorts of people in the railroad business...(that's a great qualification too...)
Guess we can't rely upon anything you say. Not that we did anyway...
LC
Limitedclear wrote: And neither does your buddy Mike, who "knows" all sorts of people in the railroad business...(that's a great qualification too...)
As a matter of fact, just got back from having a nice picnic lunch today with Bill Brodsky (MRL), Marty Garelick (VPO MILW, COO Amtrak) and (MILW Pres.) Curtis Crippen's daughter, Mary Crippen Marshall. And arbfe as well. One thing that has always impressed me is that real railroaders are usually first class people.
Not at all like the two or three "characters" who keep claiming that they are real railroaders with their "look at me, look at me" antics, and their two or three ralphies that routinely troll Trains forums that are, frankly, an insult and an embarrassment to the industry by their constant repetitions of who they think they are and how much they think they know, as this thread, once again, conclusively shows.
I agree Randy, these guys have wasted more threads and more time on their personal vendettas than any other 500 people here put together. These guys are the kiss of death to any reasonable discussion. The LC post above -- that's all I've ever seen that clown write -- just catty insult streams over and over, thread after thread.
That's railroading?
futuremodal wrote: As much as I hate to admit it, but I owe 18% of my train knowledge to futuremodal. Not that he personally educates me, but some of the stuff he says prompts others to give very learned responses back. In many ways, I think futuremodal is the most valuable contributor. And, I think his missives should be encouraged. Gee, thanks for the compliment........I.....guess...... Of course, you do get it apparently. There is a method to my madness, in that such can elicit responses that otherwise would go unposted. But yes, the forum has lost it's edge in terms of liveliness. I blame it on the transition from the old red-orange background to this new calming earth tone background. As for the "thread for everyone" outbreak, I pin the source blame squarely on Murphy, who started a "everyone" Milwaukee thread in response to the rancor on the usual Milwaukee threads, and pretty soon every third topic was an "everyone" thread. But I'm sure he did not envision it getting so out of hand. BTW - It's never too early to start the young 'uns on cultivation of railroad minutia. Surely you can type and babysit at the same time?
As much as I hate to admit it, but I owe 18% of my train knowledge to futuremodal. Not that he personally educates me, but some of the stuff he says prompts others to give very learned responses back. In many ways, I think futuremodal is the most valuable contributor. And, I think his missives should be encouraged.
Gee, thanks for the compliment........I.....guess......
Of course, you do get it apparently. There is a method to my madness, in that such can elicit responses that otherwise would go unposted. But yes, the forum has lost it's edge in terms of liveliness. I blame it on the transition from the old red-orange background to this new calming earth tone background.
As for the "thread for everyone" outbreak, I pin the source blame squarely on Murphy, who started a "everyone" Milwaukee thread in response to the rancor on the usual Milwaukee threads, and pretty soon every third topic was an "everyone" thread. But I'm sure he did not envision it getting so out of hand.
BTW - It's never too early to start the young 'uns on cultivation of railroad minutia. Surely you can type and babysit at the same time?
FM,
It was intended as a compliment. Just because I disagree with 84.7% of your ideas--I am 100% in agreeming with your no more major mergers in the near future ideology--doesn't mean I do not enjoy reading your posts, etc. etc.
Gabe
MichaelSol wrote: Limitedclear wrote: And neither does your buddy Mike, who "knows" all sorts of people in the railroad business...(that's a great qualification too...) As a matter of fact, just got back from having a nice picnic lunch today with Bill Brodsky (MRL), Marty Garelick (VPO MILW, COO Amtrak) and (MILW Pres.) Curtis Crippen's daughter, Mary Crippen Marshall. And arbfe as well. One thing that has always impressed me is that real railroaders are usually first class people. Not at all like the two or three "characters" who keep claiming that they are real railroaders with their "look at me, look at me" antics, and their two or three ralphies that routinely troll Trains forums that are, frankly, an insult and an embarrassment to the industry by their constant repetitions of who they think they are and how much they think they know, as this thread, once again, conclusively shows. I agree Randy, these guys have wasted more threads and more time on their personal vendettas than any other 500 people here put together. These guys are like the kiss of death to any reasonable discussion. The LC post above -- that's all I've ever seen that clown write -- just catty insult streams over and over, thread after thread. That's railroading?
I agree Randy, these guys have wasted more threads and more time on their personal vendettas than any other 500 people here put together. These guys are like the kiss of death to any reasonable discussion. The LC post above -- that's all I've ever seen that clown write -- just catty insult streams over and over, thread after thread.
Well, I'm sure impressed....NOT...
I doubt you carry on with those folks the way you do here, assuming what you said isn't a pure fabrication...I guess we'll just never know...
As I said before, anything you and FM have to say here gets the full discount. Good thing I'm used to moving trains of rock salt, now I'll have plenty of grains (even solid chunks) to take your words with...
Even if true, your association with railroaders doesn't change your situation one bit...
Even if true, your association with railroaders doesn't change your situation one bit... LC
You've got a problem. Grown up people don't have to go from thread to thread obsessively proclaiming to the world that they work for a railroad. It surely shows that the condition doesn't improve either IQ or manners one bit. And insulting everyone they can get their jollies from as some bizarre form of "proof."
It wastes the time of the rest of us.
My "association" with railroading comes from a total of 24 years of either living on the property or working for the company, not counting the seven years of working for a railroad consulting group. I just don't need to proclaim it on every thread, nor, oddly enough does it stand in place of articulating cogent arguments based on researched facts.
You feel the opposite -- that your doubtful credentials supplied under fake names should substitute for any argument at all -- and that it somehow grants you the blank check to just go from thread to thread barging in with your juvenile name calling. If you have an argument, present it --- it does neither the thread nor your dubious reputation any good to act like a troll, which is just in fact precisely the role that you play, thread after thread.
Get a hint from this thread, people are just tired of these threads where you and your ralphies barge in just to call someone a bunch of names. Get the hint -- nobody cares who you think you are despite your constant reminders that you think you are really somebody.
The proof is in the quality of the debate and the quality of the discussion.
You fail.
Randy Stahl wrote:Great ... another thread gone to waste , yet another waste of time about forum members and personalitys, not much useful info here for sure .
corn maze wrote:I am going to agree with Mr. Sol.I am tired of the obsessions with peoples' backgrounds, professions, educations, etc, on these boards. Good ideas stand on their own merit and it really doesn't matter what the person expressing the idea does, or did, for a living. It is also no one's business.I also think it is unfair for someone anonymous to demand from a person using their real name to divulge all their personal and employment history.It's easy to become a bottom feeder on these boards, and I confess I have found myself down that path lately -- which I regret. I hope people will strive for something better for themselves than to try to bring down other people here.
CM -
You are forgetting how all of this began with Mr Sol and "Dave" (FM) demanding to know my qualifications and identity and those of others. I gave my general qualifications, but not my identity and they refused to respond truthfully in kind when asked and they still haven't. While I'm on the subject, I don't see you revealing your identity either. I have no issue with that as I understand well the reasons not to do so. I also know that they have nothing whatever to do with having some sort of evil or misleading purpose. Unfortunately, Sol and FM like to portray the use of a handle as dishonest to discredit anyone who has the audacity to disagree with their pompous and ridiculous positions. They can take whatever positions they wish, but they don't have the right to insult me and the other fine people of this forum, some of whom I've had the pleasure to meet in person. I don't consider standing up for myself to be "bottom feeding" and I will continue to take that position when challenged.
Corn Maze…
It is not an obsession…just simple debate protocol.
If someone is going to come on board and debate operations, then wouldn’t it make sense to know their qualifications?
After all, if you were going in for open heart surgery, wouldn’t you want to know if your surgeon attended medical school and had done one of these before?
Both Mike and Dave have presented themselves as experts in the fields of economics, railroad finance, and railroad operations.
They have repeatedly told those currently in the business how to go about their jobs, and thoroughly insulted anyone who fails to agree with them.
The list of insulted is broad and covers everyone from a shortline owner operator to the former editor of Trains magazine, currently working for the DOD and the Deputy Director of Iraqi Railroad Reconstruction.
If fact, with the exception of arfbe, who is also nameless, I can’t think of a single railroader on the forum they haven’t insulted.
If I kept a file, as Mike and Dave seem to do, I could cut and paste Mike’s rant from a previous thread on what he thought of T&E employees…I didn’t keep it, but to paraphrase, we are all cannon fodder, useless, uneducated mindless morons worth only minimum wage, who have to be kept in line by management like himself.
It went on for almost an entire paragraph, a perfect example of class hatred.
After a statement like that, don’t you think he should offer his bona fides as to what management position he held at the Milwaukee Road?
So ask him, and all you will receive is an “it’s none of you business” response.
Now, if I were to go to the Model Railroaders forum, and begin to tell the folks there that all they are doing is wrong, that they don’t have any idea how to build a model, construct a layout, or install a decoder…and one of them ask for my Master Modelers Certificate, don’t you think that I, by my comments there, obligated myself to provide the proof that I knew what I was talking about?
Both Mike and Dave make detailed, emphatic and insistent statements in the field of economics, railroad operations, railroad finance, and railroad management,
Yet when asked to provide their bona fides, specifically when Mike was asked the afore mentioned question, and Dave was asked what school he received his degree in economics from, the resulting barrage of insults from the two made just about any forum flame war you ever read seem tame.
Mike claims to be an attorney, and a former judge, so he know a simple technique that every law student learns…if your expert witness cant produce their qualifications, or if their “qualifications” are not up to snuff, then they are no expert.
Both Mike and Dave, from their own statements, claim to be experts in the fields mentioned, yet both refuse to offer any qualifications beyond “because I said so”.
Dave states he has several advanced degrees in economics, yet refuses to produce a single one…
Now, if you were going to tell the Deputy Director of Iraqi Railroad Reconstruction how to do his job, tell a switchman with 10 years experience how to do his job, tell a shortline owner how to run his railroad, tell the Chief Surveyor of the ATSF how to design and build a railroad, tell an attorney, who has argued cases in front of the US Supreme court how to be an attorney, and informed a practicing CPA how to manage finances, don’t you think you should provide proof that you know what your talking about, beyond “because I said so”?
Not an obsessions at all, but attempts to find the qualifications of the person telling us we are incorrect in the things we do everyday.
I may be wrong, but having a picnic lunch with someone daughter doesn’t qualify me to comment on open heart surgery, any more than it qualifies Mike to comment on railroad operations.
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edblysard wrote: If fact, with the exception of arfbe, who is also nameless, I can’t think of a single railroader on the forum they haven’t insulted.
I feel so neglected.....I haven't been insulted......yet.
Maybe I'm not controversial enough.
zardoz wrote:I feel so neglected.....I haven't been insulted......yet. Maybe I'm not controversial enough.
What aspect of your job would you like to be insulted on Zardoz? I'd hate for you to feel left out!
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
zardoz wrote: edblysard wrote: If fact, with the exception of arfbe, who is also nameless, I can’t think of a single railroader on the forum they haven’t insulted. I feel so neglected.....I haven't been insulted......yet. Maybe I'm not controversial enough.
We are cheeseheads , perhaps the group views us with pity ?
edblysard wrote: If I kept a file, as Mike and Dave seem to do, I could cut and paste Mike’s rant from a previous thread on what he thought of T&E employees…I didn’t keep it, but to paraphrase, we are all cannon fodder, useless, uneducated mindless morons worth only minimum wage, who have to be kept in line by management like himself.
Actually, it was only directed to you, after your rant that "unless you worked in T&E, you didn't know anything about railroading". Just the beginning of a long line of arrogant remarks ...
You don't give a rats about people's backgrounds, what you're looking for is insult fodder ... what state they live in, what they do for a living, and the insult barrage commences because you never, never, address a discussion on its merits, only by caustic references to someone's state being on welfare or some other ridiculous such slander.
If you can't argue civilly, don't play. But there are four or five of you playing the same game. Thread to thread, over and over. Most people want to read to see a discussion, or get some information, or maybe even contribute what they know.
You wreck the system with your single-minded mendaciousness.
Suppose I critiqued your lack of education on every thread you post to?
That's your mode. Attack the person, never enlighten the discussion.
See your first post about me on this thread. And many other threads I have never even posted to.
You are obsessed.
edblysard wrote: Mike claims to be an attorney, and a former judge, so he know a simple technique that every law student learns…if your expert witness cant produce their qualifications, or if their “qualifications” are not up to snuff, then they are no expert.
False. Never "claimed" it. It was "announced" along with the suspicion I did FELA cases, for some odd reason. "Every law student learns ..." And you learned this where ... TV? I think you're the one claiming to be the expert on all things ...
edblysard wrote: The list of insulted is broad and covers everyone from a shortline owner operator to the former editor of Trains magazine, currently working for the DOD and the Deputy Director of Iraqi Railroad Reconstruction. If fact, with the exception of arfbe, who is also nameless, I can’t think of a single railroader on the forum they haven’t insulted. .... Now, if you were going to tell the Deputy Director of Iraqi Railroad Reconstruction how to do his job, tell a switchman with 10 years experience how to do his job, tell a shortline owner how to run his railroad, tell the Chief Surveyor of the ATSF how to design and build a railroad, tell an attorney, who has argued cases in front of the US Supreme court how to be an attorney, and informed a practicing CPA how to manage finances, don’t you think you should provide proof that you know what your talking about, beyond “because I said so”? ... I may be wrong, but having a picnic lunch with someone daughter doesn’t qualify me to comment on open heart surgery, any more than it qualifies Mike to comment on railroad operations.
....
...
One thing I don't comment on is railroad operations. Other than being around it 24/7 for 18 years, I have not, in fact told anyone in Iraq how to do anything, a switchman for 10 years a single thing about his job other than to point out that real wages for T&E have declined between 1975 and the present, never told a shortline owner how to run his railroad since I don't know anything about shortlines except the one I see every day, nor the Chief Surveyor of anything how to build a railroad.
Simply false.
Don't see any attorneys who have alleged to have argued to the Supreme Court here, he won't provide his resume or name, and doesn't pass the smell test. Odd you don't demand public disclosure of that? Told him "how to be an attorney?" Hmm. Is this the same guy that claimed here that he is now running trains?
The CPA? The one who changes his stories every time he is confronted with some actual facts? The one who argued that gateway conditions were useless? And didn't understand word one about them? Who had not a shred of proof that shareholder value had increased, whereas the "accounting" measures showed a deep decline? Then he changed his tune to some other odd explanation.
Why can't he ever seem to justify his wild statements with a cogent argument? Why the distinct lack of numbers in his presentations? Don't you think that's odd for a CPA? I'd sure enjoy seeing some from him instead of the usual fare.
Your post is standard fare for you. Distortion and misrepresentation. You started the name-calling out of the gate on this thread, and apparently intend to continue it for all time unless something intervenes.
bobwilcox wrote:Mike and Dave are free to not back up their opinions with a history of their education and work experience. In turn people reading their posts are free to form an opinion of the validity of their posts. It sounds even to me.
Bob is absolutely correct. I have asked him on several occassions for his background, including education, as the basis for various opinions he has offered, and other than his years in sales, he has never honored the request once.
His opinions, and anyone else's, rises or falls on their intrinsic merit.
That avoids the prevailing double standard of anonomous claims of authenticity under fake names.
It also avoids the "I've switched for ten years and so I know all about monopoly pricing," which is the expert opinion we always get from that expert.
MichaelSol wrote: I have asked him on several occassions for his background, including education, as the basis for various opinions he has offered, and other than his years in sales, he has never honored the request once.
I have asked him on several occassions for his background, including education, as the basis for various opinions he has offered, and other than his years in sales, he has never honored the request once.
I do not recall you ever asking. If you did prove it!
You could have seen my background in my old profile. I earned a BS in Transportation at the University of Tennessee. While at UT I spent one summer as a sale intern in the Southern Railway at Hattiesburg, MS. On graduation in 1966 I took a job as a management trainee at the Rock Island and was assigned to their new marketing department. In 1969 I left the Rock Island to take a job in market research at the Northwestern and after several promotions became Market Manager-Chemicals. I left the the the Northwestern in 1982 to become Manager Product Development-Chemicals at the Espee. I did product management for plastics and petroleum in the marketing department untill the merger with the UP. At the UP I was on the sales team for ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and Cheveron in addition to being the Product Manager for petroleum. I retired in 2003.
During that time I made my employer and customers a lot of money.
Michael, I you are not too shy I look forward to hearing the details of your work and education.
Going back to the original subject of this thread. IMHO opinion this forum is dead. Who would want to hear anymore from Michael or Dave? However, its a free country so people can spend their time as they see fit.
bobwilcox wrote: IMHO opinion this forum is dead.
IMHO opinion this forum is dead.
Have fun with your trains
bobwilcox wrote: MichaelSol wrote: I have asked him on several occassions for his background, including education, as the basis for various opinions he has offered, and other than his years in sales, he has never honored the request once. I do not recall you ever asking. If you did prove it! You can see my background in my profile. I earned a BS in Transportation at the University of Tennessee. IMHO opinion this forum is dead.
I do not recall you ever asking. If you did prove it! You can see my background in my profile. I earned a BS in Transportation at the University of Tennessee.
On the most recent occassion, you and Greyhounds were pontificating on wheat farming -- and you have many times -- and you asked my number of years involved in that industry. I specifically told you, and then specifically asked how many years you had.
No answer.
That was your right and privilege, and I did not pursue it further.
Your comments speak for themselves. The problem with LC's is, he never adds anything to any discussion anymore. He just shows up as the anonymous head of a self-appointed insult posse. Thread after thread. And this thread is no different than any other recently in that regard. Indeed, each post he makes further proves the point.
And as this thread points out, people are simply sick of it. It's killing the forum.
If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise, go out and live a real life and enjoy the day.
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
edblysard wrote: Corn Maze… . If someone is going to come on board and debate operations, then wouldn’t it make sense to know their qualifications?....
.
If someone is going to come on board and debate operations, then wouldn’t it make sense to know their qualifications?....
No. A priest could state that the Sun is a gravitationally balanced sphere of primarily atomic hydrogen which converts billions of tons of hydrogen to helium every second using that same force of gravity. The astrophysicist who challenges his assertion on the basis of credentials is guilty of a classic ad-hominem argument.
The priest's assertion is either right or wrong. His priestliness is neither. Insisting that a person reveal his/her formal training in the field does little to settle one's differences over their assertions. What counts is the veracity and the verifiabilility of them.
vsmith wrote:
I notice that the smiley on the left gets in the last blow.
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
jeaton wrote: vsmith wrote: I notice that the smiley on the left gets in the last blow.
selector wrote: edblysard wrote: Corn Maze… . If someone is going to come on board and debate operations, then wouldn’t it make sense to know their qualifications?.... The priest's assertion is either right or wrong. His priestliness is neither. Insisting that a person reveal his/her formal training in the field does little to settle one's differences over their assertions. What counts is the veracity and the verifiabilility of them.
Nicely put.
Many years ago, one of life's lessons that I learned was that people often try and substitute credentials for the hard work of analysis. Indeed, they usually do that when they haven't done the hard work of analysis.
The interesting thing here is the emotional intensity of the insult posse; trying to convince forum readers that they hold the exclusive key to all things railroading, as though forum readers are too d*** dumb to figure out what is authentic and what isn't.
Futuremodal posts interesting things and they are usually thought provoking. The emotional reaction from the insult posse and it's intensity is the remarkable phenomenon.
The idea that "even if I'm not smart enough, my friends sure are ..." is laughable if it weren't for the frequency of the assertion, thread after thread, without even a passing effort to address the thread topic, which is what that group has finally descended to in recent weeks.
Unprofessional? You bet. That's why I doubt the authenticity of some of the claims by fake name holders. Their behavior lacks the "ring of authenticity." Real people with those claimed credentials and experience don't run around cyberstalking on internet forums all day long trying to head butt people they disagree with, just to post an insult.
But the real point is exactly as you state it: an argument succeeds on its intrinsic merits, and alleged credentials can neither add nor detract from the intrinsic merits of the argument.
How many threads now have been diverted from the original discussion, abandoned or shut down by the inevitable insult barrage from this bunch?
And how often were they actually even remotely interested in discussing the thread topic?
To the extent that Futurmodal posts, it is at least usually in the context of the thread, and contains content, as opposed to mere vitriol.
These jokers are just a bit too obsessive for my tastes anyway, particularly on a mere discussion forum.
You are still a god of railroading and a shining example to us all...
Besides, anyone who wants to insult you has to come through me first...lol...
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