A word from Raymond C. Ventrone, business manager of Boilermakers Local 154, in Banksville, Pennsylvania

Full text of his letter to the editor here.

And this was interesting, too--it's behind a paywall, but one can get the idea:

The U.S government’s Office of Surface Mining has announced that it lost 18,000 documents sought by coal miners as part of a suit to block new federal restrictions on mining. Environment and Energy has the story (subscription only).

Is the US ready for the next generation of supertankers? Short answer: No. And where does that leave us in international competition? Behind.

World's largest ship--cool.   It can carry 36,000 automobiles, 182 million iPads, etc.

But look closer at the graphic above"

So the Maersk Triple E is too big for either the Panama Canal or any US port.  In other words, it can serve five ports in Europe, four in China (including Hong Kong), and two in South Korea.  But not the US.  This is how you lose the battle of international economic--and perhaps strategic--competition.  

If there was ever an issue that leaders of both parties ought to be able to agree upon, it's rebuilding American infrastructure so that we can enjoy continued prosperity all through the 21st century.   

Better Infrastructure Means Saving Lives

A British tourist lost a leg in New York City today when she was hit by a cab that was apparently trying to avoid--or maybe not avoid--a bicyclist on Sixth Avenue.  The New York Daily News has the details, which, of course, will now be sorted out in court.

In the meantime, it's clear that as bicycles play a larger role in America's transportation system, something will have to be done to make the motor vehicle/bicycle/pedestrian ecosystem safer for all concerned--that is, travelers and bystanders.  Perhaps that means designated bike lanes, with curbs.  And who knows what else.

But in any case, a reminder that the right infrastructure can shape life for the better.  And lack of the right infrastructure can leave things getting worse and worse. 

Singapore takes the lead--and keeps working to add to its lead. 

An Infrastructure Bank? Someday?

National Journal's Jill Lawrence writes of the challenges that business is facing developing a pro-business agenda:

If there's an issue that symbolizes those complications, it's infrastructure. Roads, rail, ports, bridges, airports, broadband—who doesn't love infrastructure? Especially in a time of high unemployment, low interest rates, and regular reports about how our infrastructure is "crumbling." Yet, despite supporters ranging from Obama and the AFL-CIO to the Chamber of Commerce, there has been no infrastructure infusion in the past few years. Miller was partial to an infrastructure bank proposed by then-Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., that would have leveraged private funds, but it languished with only Democratic backing. Did Miller try to get some Republican cosponsors? "Yes. And we were never able to."

Since then, Republicans have reacted negatively to a new Obama proposal to cut corporate taxes and use a onetime "transition fee" on repatriated corporate earnings for infrastructure projects. Miller, meanwhile, is now interested in a House infrastructure bill introduced with bipartisan support. But business groups did not mount a full-court press on earlier measures—far from it—and there is no concerted campaign for this one as yet.

More on Elon Musk's "Hyperloop"

On August 13, an unknown (at least to me) blogger posted a fierce critique of Elon Musk's "Hyperloop" idea.

The piece has generated a lively debate--some 321 comments, and counting.  

Bodys Isek Kingelez--Urban Visionary

National Geographic's Robert Draper provides us with a fascinating peek into Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of Congo.   Kinshasha, a city of some 10 million, is the capital of the DRC.

Of particular note is the work of one Bodys Isek Kingelez, pictured above, with some of his work. Kingelez has made a good career for himself imagining fantastic cities.

Cool cities would be a good thing for Congo, for Africa--and for America.  And the world.

As Draper writes:

Behold the city reimagined. Its gateway is a multicolored wheel. Beyond the wheel stretches a ribbonlike boulevard that crosses a Garden of Eden and concludes at a metropolis jutting out of a large body of water. The skyscrapers are bright and fantastically proportioned, a cross between Dubai and Legoland. Some of the buildings bear the emblem of a commercial product like toothpaste or beer; others, a place: Libya, U.S.A., Himalaya. The city is spotless, fiercely original. Also completely uninhabited.

The creator of the intricate cardboard-and-Plexiglas model city is Bodys Isek Kingelez. He looms over it, a bantamlike, middle-aged Kinois dressed entirely in red, from his sunglasses to his leather shoes. “Why don’t we build on water? There’s lots of space! It’s because we are afraid,” the artist declares. “Architects and builders worldwide can try to learn from my perception so as to help the forthcoming generations. I’m dreaming cities of peace. As a self-made intellectual, I haven’t yet reached the point I wish to reach. I’d like to help the Earth above all. Voilà.”

To be in the presence of the reclusive artist and his carnival-like models is to understand that he is not really compelled by altruism. Instead, he embodies the human audacity to reorder and wholly reinvent. To be God, as Kingelez himself observes: “When God created the world, it was Solomon who created the first great buildings. Today I’m just following God’s creation. I never sketch first. Academicians draw. I’m a creator. I rely on my vision.”

The vision came to him, the artist says, in 1979, while he was teaching economics in Kinshasa. “I had a revelation—it was like I was ill,” he recalls. “The voice said, ‘You have much to do. Find scissors, glue, and paper.’ I asked, ‘What can I do with these?’ The spirit told me, ‘Simply begin. You will see.’ I stayed at home with nothing to eat. The small model was finished in two weeks. Someone from my family came to visit and saw it. He said, ‘You must sell it!’”

He has been exhibiting and selling his models across Europe and the U.S. ever since. 

This is the sort of vision we need here in the US, too--it will help restore the romance of construction and infrastructure-building.