DamonM

I am well versed in the rationale of why the United Nations first set up shop in the United States -- it being one of the few places that was not in ruins after World War II; still, it has been many years since World War II was brought to a close and the United Nations has had a tough time successfully mediating international disputes even with the hefty assistance that it gets from the United States. There are some that argue the United Nations is a liability that should be de-funded and disbanded; while I reserve personal judgment of the United Nations, I am not going to ignore that the United States is in some very choppy fiscal water and needs to make some drastic changes.

After reading up on how the Washington Columbia District was founded and that Vatican City is behaved toward as a separate country even though it is inside Italy, I got to wondering why we cannot utilize that very incorporation process with Jerusalem and have the United Nations set up shop there while the United States focuses upon recouping its groove. The data of how the Washington Columbia District was founded along with that of Vatican City is easily at hand for anyone to find ... the question now becomes a matter of defining what the process is for incorporating Jerusalem as its own district/country and getting it to happen along with relocating the United Nations there so it can clean up the mess it made of the Middle East. Israel has not done anything constructive for the United States within the almost seven decades since its founding; donating Jerusalem as the headquarters for the United Nations so that the United States can recoup its groove is the least it can do.

Now I understand that there are lots of articles on the Internet about how to interpret a flashing left turn yellow arrow; still, what has me scratching my head is why a flashing red arrow is not instead used and why a perfectly good five-light permissive left turn signal has to be replaced. Could someone please explain why a flashing red left turn arrow is not used and what determines whether a left turn signal is used -- along with whether a restrictive three-light left-turn signal is used versus a five-light permissive signal or the four-light permissive signal with the flashing arrow.

One day when I was watching a freight train go by, I noticed that all the diesel-electric locomotives had the wheel assemblies with six wheels and three axles at both ends. I have seen diesel-electric locomotives that have wheel assemblies with four wheels and two axles at both ends . . . what is the utility between those two kinds of locomotives? What is a four-axle diesel locomotive good for versus its six-axle cousin? Why can we not have a five axle diesel-electric locomotive (a three-axle truck in the front and a two-axle truck in the rear)?

I just finished reading [http://www.sphere.com/health/article/solution-to-k... today about how Norway has found a simple but effective solution to these antibiotic-defiant bacteria and I got to thinking: surely we can engineer bacteriophages to combat pathogenic bacteria instead of relying on antibiotics or synthesize probiotics that encourage the body's domestic bacteria to fight the invaders. So why are we not doing it!?!

Whenever a freight train crosses my travel path, I am enthralled at the experience of such a behemoth appearing in my midst. Unfortunately, this reverence quickly degenerates into annoyance when some trains decelerate as they roll through the grade crossing and even occlude the crossing. Over time, I have identified several of what I believe are useful parameters to discern which freight trains are likely to be really inhibiting (decelerating as they roll past and even occluding the crossing for several minutes) which are listed as follows:

1. The number of locomotives pulling the train

2. The type of locomotives used in pulling the train

3. The general direction and location of the railway in question

Parameters 1 and 3 are somewhat self-explanatory, but parameter #2 has to do with the fact that I have read that six-axle diesel locomotives are often used for certain payloads of great mass or for difficult terrain such as mountain passes while four-axle diesel locomotives are called upon when top-end speed is desired. I have also done some research and learned that Union Pacific by itself has 37 different kinds of diesel-electric locomotives in its active fleet!

What pattern should I be watching for in order to make an educated guess as to which freight trains are likely to occlude my travel path by decelerating to a stop for an inordinate length of time? Where can I learn more about the computations railroad companies such as Union Pacific utilize to discern what kind of locomotives to assign to a train and how many of them to use?

Since fiat currency is so vulnerable to being manipulated for political purposes and relies heavily upon the goodwill and priorities of its holder, why exactly are we not reviving the gold standard? Or even better, why are we not adopting a monetary policy of having the dollar circulation quantity based upon this ratio: 25% the market value of platinum, 25% the market value of gold, 25% the market value of silver, and 25% of the international currency market value? What are the pluses and minuses of that? More importantly, how can I get the Washington Columbia District to see the light and give this some serious thought?