Replay: Why train service needs to be to Chicago, not Normal

Speaking of bad ideas, a recent Word on the Street article says that local officials are still pursuing the foolhardy idea of getting a commuter train to Bloomington instead of a direct Amtrak route to Chicago. Rather than re-explain in different words why this is such a bad idea, I’m just going to reprint an earlier article I wrote on the subject (original post here):

The old Peoria-to-Bloomington commuter train idea is apparently still on the table over at the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. Let’s go over this again:

Nobody wants to take a train to Bloomington. The only reason anyone would ever take a train to Bloomington is to continue on to Chicago or St. Louis. And if their ultimate destination is elsewhere, they’ll just drive to Bloomington to catch the train. Bloomington has free parking and virtually no traffic congestion. So a Peoria-Bloomington route is doomed to fail.

Peoria to Chicago, on the other hand, would be a heavily-traveled route. Since Chicago would be the ultimate destination for most train trips anyway (they’re a major Amtrak hub, unlike St. Louis), it makes sense to have a direct route from Peoria. Those in the tri-county area could avoid the commute to Bloomington to catch the train, as well as avoiding the traffic congestion and high cost of parking in Chicago.

Look at it this way: imagine we’re talking about air service instead of train service. Can you imagine anyone seriously suggesting that the best we could do is to offer commuter flights to Bloomington for those who wanted to continue on to Chicago (or any other destination)? With a layover? Where you have to switch planes and transfer your own bags? Would anyone buy a ticket on that flight? No. And they won’t take a commuter train to Bloomington, either.

We need our legislators to start fighting for Peoria transportation options instead of fighting against them. You would think we’d be in a great position having a home-town boy as Secretary of Transportation, and yet LaHood is the biggest obstacle. He’s never supported train service for Peoria. In fact, he’s been downright ornery opposing it. Why? Does Caterpillar not want train service to Peoria or something? And what about Durbin? He supported the Quad Cities in their effort to get passenger rail service–why isn’t he doing more to push Peoria’s effort? Where are our advocates?

The Greater Peoria Area is the third-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the state. There’s demand for passenger rail service here. Instead of the Illinois Department of Transportation giving away millions of dollars to build new and unsustainable roads through cornfields (Orange Prairie Road extension, Pioneer Parkway extension), why don’t they put that money toward a responsible and sustainable mode of transportation that would help the whole region: direct passenger rail service from Peoria to Chicago?

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Worst weight-loss idea ever conceived by the mind of humans

If I told you about a weight-loss program that involves emptying your stomach contents into the toilet before the food can be digested, what would you think I was describing? Bulimia, right?

Wrong. I would be describing the AspireAssist™ Aspiration Therapy System:

With Aspiration Therapy, patients “aspirate” (drain) a portion of their stomach contents into the toilet after each meal through an endoscopically-implanted tube, reducing the number of calories absorbed by the body. The tube is implanted in the stomach, and leads to a small, low-profile port at the surface of the skin. Aspiration performed about twenty minutes after a meal will remove about a third of the calories consumed.

Aspiration Therapy System
Aspiration Therapy System

They call this “minimally invasive,” which is funny in and of itself. But the best line in their promotional material is this: “The AspireAssist is used in conjunction with a lifestyle modification program, and requires careful and comprehensive medical monitoring.” This is equivalent to those 1970s commercials for Sugar Smacks cereal that included the obligatory tagline, “Part of this nutritious breakfast!” Yeah, right. Another of the worst ideas that people have come up with when it comes to losing weight is not to use the best thermogenic fat burner on the internet, all because of fake news and misleading publications.

A “lifestyle modification program” is what used to be called, simply, a “diet.” It’s hard to see how these two things go together: aspirating your stomach (removing food after you’ve eaten it) and dieting (not eating the food in the first place). It seems to me that only one is really necessary for effective weight loss, and it ain’t aspiration.

This “therapy” is nothing more than an enabling device for overeating. It’s high-tech bulimia masquerading as medical science. They address this objection in their material. Here’s one of their rebuttal statements: “One of the primary dangers of bulimia is the damage to the teeth and esophagus due to stomach acid; Aspiration Therapy poses no such risk.” Wait, damage to the teeth is one of the primary dangers of bulimia?