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Making Italy Work: Did Mussolini Really Get The Trains Running On Time? – The Independent.

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Rear Window: Making Italy Work: Did Mussolini Really Get The Trains Running On Time? – The Independent.

A review of the record shows that Mussolini, despite his media claims, did not make the trains run on time. The major lines might have run somewhat better, but the minor lines were as delayed as ever under Mussolini.

"Like almost all the supposed achievements of Fascism, the timely trains are a myth, nurtured and propagated by a leader with a journalist's flair for symbolism, verbal trickery and illusion."

KunstlerCast 274 — Chatting With Bill Kauffman Of The Front Porch Republic.

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KunstlerCast 274 — Chatting With Bill Kauffman Of The Front Porch Republic.

This podcast is utterly fascinating. Definitely worth a listen.

"Bill Kauffman is a founder and contributor to the Front Porch Republic website. He’s also the author of Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette; Ain’t My America; and the recent collection of essays, Poetry night at the Ballpark. He also wrote the screenplay for the 2013 motion picture Copperhead, about community strife on the home front during the Civil War. He’s a supporter and defender of the American small town and its economic interests. Just out of college, he joined the staff of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and he is deeply acquainted with Inside-the-Beltway culture. He abandoned Washington DC to return to his hometown of Batavia in far, far western New York (near Buffalo) where I chatted with him by phone."

More Driving Means More Dying.

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More Driving Means More Dying.

Cheaper gas prices have lead to increased driving which has lead to more gore on the roads. It turns out the relationship between miles driven and fatal crashes isn't just proportional, it's actually logarithmic.

In other words, 1 mile extra driven doesn't equal 1 more fatal accident or a ratio like that, it's more like 1 mile extra equals 1.4 extra deaths.

The reasons probably are complicated, but increased congestion and drivers spending more time on the road, leading to increased distracted and drowsy driving, at leading to increased fatalities. Congestion means your more likely to hit another car in your path then free-flowing, empty roads.

Long hours on the roads mean more drivers are distracted. 2/3rds of all distracted driver collisions (per NTSHA) are caused by day dreaming and paying attention to the scenery (or the guy in the clown suit at the big box retailer) rather then the road ahead.