Notices by Major Denis Bloodnok (denisbloodnok@mendeddrum.org)

@JeroenBaten @janneke That seems an extraordinary claim given the world is full of vegans whose brains seem to be operating perfectly well. Indeed, you're replying to one. Are we to believe they all have a jar of pate in the fridge they take a sneaky spoonful of every Sunday?

(FTAOD I am neither vegan nor vegetarian.)

@selzero I guess now drugs have to fight terror for the overall winner.

@julian @aral @sarajw That seems optimistic. To me they look like making soothing noises without any intention of changing anything.

@goatsarah @grayface_ghost 160kph would be vastly cheaper, so that would be a very good reason why it made sense, assuming nobody cares about journey times.

(Bit of a false dichotomy here, too, between 160kph and faster than Chinese HSR in a country that China could lose down the back of the sofa.)

@grayface_ghost If nobody really cares about cutting journey times, why build it for a 360 kph maximum? Minimum curve radius varies with the square of maximum speed; the very high speeds chosen (faster than China, a considerably larger country) contribute directly to the huge cost. Yes, doubling the existing line isn't feasible; yes, spending the cash on HS2 is better than motorways - but if it's not about journey times, the price could be much lower.