Infrastructure: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

[@JootjeJ]

As a Dutch civil engineer I can't believe that this message is still necessary in a developed country. Over here every infrastructure authority is required by law to have a long-term maintenance plan (including financing) which has to be updated on a yearly basis. Our biggest worry is climate change and even those effects are now being incorporated into our maintenance plans.

[@PaulZink]

Whatever made you think the USA is a "developed" country-at least, compared to yours? As for incorporating Climate Change into our maintenance plans (such as they are), try getting the Republicans in our House and Senate to even acknowledge that it's a "problem".

[@heidihogshire]

Ahhh. To be Dutch...for my dollar, the most practical citizenry anywhere!

[@veskokanchev2285]

Well, Ned is a good country.

[@wonderlustking1306]

America being a developed country is a myth believed only by children and orange faced buffoons

[@CynicalWilson]

@JotjeJ Welcome to the wild-fucking-west buddy. If this surprises you, check out our schools, gun laws, segregation, tax nightmares, healthcare system.. or politics in general. Hell, we here don't even believe that climate change is real, and you think anybody worries about some shit bridges and roads? You must be smoking something odd...

[@onlydavidwould4356]

If a bridge is repaired, we should have a ribbon cutting ceremony using the ribbon from the original opening of the bridge, but just sewn back together.

[@ShovelChef]

💔💝

[@BelleFlower15]

I was thinking the same thing. Get people excited. 😂 Just like how kids will do anything for a plastic trophy.

[@loganiushere]

Or cut ribbons for the Grand Re-Opening of the bridge, celebrating the improved safety.

[@arigadatred5395]

Instead of scissors, they'd use a seam ripper. A giant seam ripper.

[@Saviliana]

You could always make cutting ceremony after you reopening closed parts.

[@YandereDay]

As a college intern who did all the bridge inspections for my county last summer, I can confirm that bridge inspections consist of "yup, the bridge is not sinking"... My favorite was during a flood, a wooden bridge in the country was fully submerged under its river, no one had noticed until I went out for its biannual inspection. That was an interesting call to the highway dept.

[@WalterTheWalrus]

So you know that bridge? Yeah It’s gone What do you mean it’s gone? It was swallowed by the river it crossed … Are you there? … Sir? Crap

[@YandereDay]

@@WalterTheWalrus we live in an area that floods badly each spring, so they just told me to go back in a month when the water went down. They were surprisingly calm lol. Bridge was fine. The inspection photos from the first try were hilarious

[@francescafrancesca3554]

That sounds just amazing. Just, amaizing 🤣. Thank you for sharing that anecdote with us!

[@uniraffesaur]

@@YandereDay makes me think of a flood plane near my house that we nicknamed Lake (Small Town Name) because it floods every few years when we get a TON of rain and the creek that runs through it jumps it’s banks. (This is likely a problem that arose or was worsened by the dam further down the creek, but it’s been around far longer than I have so I’m just theorizing) There’s a “sub-main” road that runs through it; it connects the few towns that it runs through to a main roadway through the city they’re all satellites to. I also recently noticed that there’s plenty built AROUND the flood plane, but the plane itself is just wilderness and a road. There’s almost a clear line on either side where buildings begin again, and it took me a long time to realize “oh, duh, that’s where the flood plane ends, and nothing is built down here except a road because it floods often enough that it’s not worth it.” When the flood waters recede and the road is accessible again, you can see just how high the water got by the mud left on the trees. It’s probably anywhere from 10-20 feet deep. Last time it flooded in 2018, someone caught a video of some guy down there kayaking on the temporary lake 😂😂

[@musicauthority674]

I really don't want to hear about how bad the infastructure is from a college intern. so you can go back to college and add to the student loan debt you idiot.

[@graysongdl]

"The bridge would've collapsed if the right people didn't just happen to want a sandwich" is the exact opposite story to "Franz Ferdinand wouldn't have been assassinated if it weren't for his assassin wanting a sandwich." Sandwiches are important in history.

[@WalterTheWalrus]

Sandvich

[@jacobwansleeben3364]

@@WalterTheWalrus Make me strong!

[@paradise8061]

RIP Coffee cup 2015-2015 Never forget.

[@Yakita60]

Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when the bridge fell...

[@Aliens2Exist]

rip u dip

[@777GuitarShred]

Where were you when they built the Bridge to Heaven?

[@Yakita60]

***** Coffee cup's last phone call with his family: "Making my way downtown..."

[@alexsanderrain2980]

I cri evritime

[@chayblay]

Is anyone else binge watching Last Week Tonight? His stuff is so informative

[@desertdaisymarie6951]

Chase Blakeley it is.. Some of his topics are quite sad (abortion, death penalty, sex education, refugees, translators.... I cried) but informative..

[@that_guy2331]

Absolutely

[@UnYin99]

for about a week straight

[@abimanyuputra5185]

Of course some of his topic are depressing. His full name is John "buzzkill" oliver.

[@JaneGreason]

For sure: His satire just slays me.

[@Elk0990]

Maybe if you cut your military funding by 2%, you'll be able to fix all the dams and bridges in America.

[@kendrasandman]

***** except when the funding goes to actual soldiers or veterans. then they have no problem cutting spending.

[@heatwave]

Great idea. As long as it doesn't result in having to pay even higher taxes.

[@SV67943]

***** Little handy tip for life: If you can replace one noun in your sentence and it becomes shockingly offensive while still making complete grammatical sense, the odds are what you're saying is really fucking stupid and shockingly offensive. For example: "Chinese people are so obsessed with military control that there would be no way to cut any spending in that sector."

[@aserta]

It's actually because most roads (or there about, in the aged ones) are military expenditures. Those were sold (at their creation) with the sense that "hey, we could land planes here, there, transport troops here, there". Sigh.

[@EvieAnne1812]

aserta that is actually a misconception. They were sold as a way to get people out of cities in mass relatively quickly. You are right that it was a military expenditure, just not quite for the right reason. Common misconception

[@josephbrown5230]

I’m a Civil Engineering student - and they teach us that us performing our jobs correctly is even more essential than a doctor performing their job correctly - cause all it takes is one mistake and hundreds can die

[@yuriGreen94]

I'm glad that you and your collegues are aware of your importance to society :)

[@alderdavidrendonfuentes9005]

Yeah, same here

[@saranghae2808]

🙌🙌🙌 true!

[@AaronAlthaus]

No pressure

[@properuser]

Dude that's great point but as a person who is doing his bachelor's in medicine and surgery I would like to say doctors are epidemiologists too it takes one or two mistake to cause a pandemic.

[@elcamel1216]

As a Civil Engineer, I approve of this mesage

[@andyvelwestenergy1477]

Would love to hear your thoughts on Solar Roadways, from an engineer's perspective. Roads that generate revenue make a lot of sense to me. The heating aspect sounds very neat, too, no need to salt or plow the roads.

[@j.moonstorm3158]

Andy VelwestEnergy Solar Roadways would be a good idea if they are made from the right materials and if they required less maintenance than asphalt but as it sits now that's not the case. With Solar Roadways the question is how do we maintain all those wires under the streets, and who gets the electricity/ where does it go? Probably the best idea is to have the electricity charge large stationary batteries across town that are connected to charging parking spaces for electric cars that have a meter on them, so only electric cars may park there, if an electric car is parked there it must pay the meter like other similar parking spaces and that car gets to charge while it is parked there.

[@expendablegerbil]

I'm ME, and I approve also. I've actually seen people trying to put PVC instead of CPVC on more than one occasion.

[@andyvelwestenergy1477]

J. Moonstorm Mariano This is just like any other distributed generation. How to integrate distributed electric generation into the grid is a hard problem that is being figured out as we speak (the harder part is how to get Utilities to change their business model). We're not going to figure it all out on this forum, but this approach has promise. Of course it depends on the financials, but costs will be driven down as it scales up, and PV tech will continue to improve. This is a huge undertaking that will happen over generations. And we may find better solutions along the way. But we have to try new things, when the old things have so many problems (primarily environmental damage that drives up the cost of food, water and medical care).

[@blakeleclair3031]

As a civil engineer I would expect more form you.

[@vaevictus4637]

"A few brave souls are willing to risk EVERYTHING to make NOTHING happen!" Well said.

[@elovejapan7818]

Also known as Mitch McConnell & Co.

[@Khorothis]

There's Kitchen Nightmares, which is about fixing horrifying restaurants, so I can imagine a series where they look for horribly damaged bridges and highways film the repair progress, while letting proffessionals educate the viewers on the topic. I know I'd watch that, especially if they found the engineering version of Gordon Ramsay for the show. Man, just saying that is awesome.

[@TheRoyalSpoon]

YOUR TRANSVERSE GIRDER MEMBERS NO LONGER HAVE THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY TO SUPPORT THIS LOAD! YOU DONKEY!!!

[@ABJWiseAndStrong]

Whoa......That's an Aha moment!

[@Khorothis]

The Royal Spoon NOW YOU BETTER SHOW SOME PASSION FOR BEING AN ENGINEER, OR I'LL PAY YOUR FUCKING TRIP BACK TO AUSTRALIA

[@reezyfaustin]

they had a show similar to that a few years ago on discovery or similar that i was really excited about, however it turned out to just be a guy going around hitting old bridges and tunnels with a hammer saying "look at that concrete chipping away!" ... I'm not sure how many episodes that lasted, i cant even find it via google, but I dont think it had nearly the success of kitchen nightmares

[@Khorothis]

Austin Reese Calling something bad doesn't deserve praise. Fixing it, now that's the stuff that's interesting.

[@PsychShrew]

Important people: "Infrastructue isn't sexy" Cities Skylines players: "Oh I don't think so"

[@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human]

I'm playing right now while watching this on my phone. Just choosing names for my buildings. Like my hospital "Dr James' Horrortorium" and the crematorium "Jim's Bar and Grill" If citizens say my infrastructure isn't sexy or complain about sewage in their bathroom, then their house is getting bulldozed.

[@slightlyOnion]

This. So much this

[@andrewtran9714]

And transport fever as well^^

[@donkey7921]

No cities skylines sucks, full of bugs, with updates breaking saves, mods that keep breaking, tiny building area, natural disasters are a joke, and very few options for anything (bridge types, traffic controls, building textures).

[@bigemugamer]

@@donkey7921 what similar game in the genera do you consider BETTER than cities skylines? Most online reviews praise this game even stating it's the best sim city game... that's not even a sim city game! If your games crashing and corrupting maybe choose your mods better, or don't update, updating fixes issues that may affect the way you've built (not meant for you but for other readers, I'm guessing YOU already know that about updates) cities skylines has never posed a problem for me other than traffic jams after my cities get to a certain size. If you're experiencing this many issues over a highly praised game you must have played this game continually since it was released playing everyday for 8 hours at least, doing EVERYTHING you could possibly do to experience EVERYTHING about this game.

[@DengMam]

Why is the giant scissors industry not lobbying for building more bridges?

[@6666Imperator]

good question but you do know that more bridges means more structures that no one looks at and will eventually crumble down throwing cups of coffee into the water right? :P

[@yago7p10]

Then why isn't the cups of coffe industry not lobbying for more bridges?

[@6666Imperator]

Yago Siebenmorgen Portomeñe okay guess you got me there!

[@brandedelemental]

Its because their relationship with the Department of Transportation is a bit rocky.

[@6666Imperator]

as rocky as the roads? ;)

[@marcp.6625]

Why would a thousand people dislike this? Are they offended about Oliver pointing out the infrastructure in disrepair?

[@Blondesax]

It's probably the 100 people who called in to say no to the gas tax, their 895 collective family and friends... and 5 douchebags.

[@alexoelkers2723]

Probably teens who want to watch fake prank videos and internet drama they call "news".

[@Zguy09]

Maybe they don't like sausage sandwiches?

[@LucidOne8]

Probably because he dissed Trump

[@Onus6688]

Because we have these creatures called Libertarians, who don't care about infrastructure/government/taxes etc. and want the private sector to run rampant and people to walk the streets with guns and "Oppression and discrimination is your problem not mine why should I care get over it" Pretty much they just want to white men to do whatever they want and if you have a problem then too bad.

[@grantkostos8084]

“That’s not what a real road looks like! Real roads have curves!”

[@wearethemags6613]

I was waiting for him to say "hashtag feminism, hashtag ass-phalt" after that line!

[@Sunprism]

"I'm the best dam inspector there is, And I'm here to inspect that dam" Gladly sat through infrastructure for that pun

[@lorilee1929]

As a boots on the the ground infrastructure professional, this is the best message I've heard so far. Good luck. You are already so far behind the eight ball you will be lucky to catch up in a hundred years if you started now.

[@NyanSten]

48.8 cents per gallon? In Europe, this is the amount of tax per _liter_. In 1993.

[@theashennamedjerry3203]

In canada right now the gas is 97 cents per liter.

[@mrcsanton]

+Jan Sten Adámek I am not sure what is he talking about? He complains about inflation affecting the highway trust fund, but hasn't the inflation also affected the fuel prices, hence increasing total amount of $$$ collected from gas tax? The base sum is rising hence the %%% from it rises by the same proportion. And we are also forgetting the rise in consumption. I believe the issue is burried elsewhere...

[@NyanSten]

mrcsanton Gas tax has fixed amount per liter, not percentage so it does not change with fuel prices

[@mrcsanton]

+Jan Sten Adámek yes, with VAT over it. This is EU after all. YOu also pay VAT everywhere and that is calculated as % from base fuel price AND gas tax together.

[@NyanSten]

mrcsanton VAT is not gas tax, it's a general tax that is not limited for (and most of it is not used for) infrastructure funds.

[@mbalatincz7053]

I'm from Pittsburgh and would like to let everyone know that the bridge spoken about in this video, the tragic one with a bridge under it to catch debris, is now demolished.

[@JokesInBase13]

+matt kokowski It was even done intentionally! It didn't just all fall onto the second bridge.

[@notdaveschannel9843]

+matt kokowski Yinz redded up your bridge.

[@GalinDray]

Here after the Baltimore bridge collapse. Tragedies are bound to happen when the public safety isn't prioritized

[@davidfuentes9957]

I watched the news this morning and I thought: “Infrastructure - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”!!! “I choose you!” (Poke ball pops open on the ground).

[@Schmidthorst69]

@@davidfuentes9957 I immediately thought exactly the same thing.

[@awibs57]

@@davidfuentes9957 ME TOO

[@ethanklahn9799]

"I'm the best damn inspector in the business, and I'm here to inspect this dam

[@suneenough]

God dam*it!

[@jameschurch2441]

Koan Sound Album cover ey? good Artist choice, you have good taste.

[@gregGould]

You should make it ryme more, "here I am to inspect this dam".

[@jordansullivan5764]

Underrated line XD

[@Funkopedia]

genius

[@renardleblanc5556]

This was... a riveting episode. Had me cemented to my seat.

[@dr.lyleevans6915]

I know. He nailed it! Oliver said screw that! Nerves on steel!

[@youisstupid2586]

Renard Leblanc take my like and leave.

[@bigemugamer]

@V B lol don't worry about enjoying this years later, you and I will still be watching these 20 years from now... prolly. =P

[@JustMe-ef9ke]

Dam - that joke doesn't hold water

[@s.v.berezin1562]

As a civil engineering student, this line of comments strains me to the point of yield.

[@topilinkala1594]

In Finland a head engineer of transport ministry said once: "Yes, we could put all the roads in top condition, but that would cause the next maintenance budged to be zero cause everything is tip top." Politiciancs (and most of people) don't understand what maintenance costs. If there's no problems then why spend money? I was in the Y2K team of a major finnish company and about half of my time during mid 98 to november 99 was for the Y2K. Come 2.1.2000 and the CEO said: "Why did we spend all that money on Y2K? Nothing happened." I wanted to strangle that guy.

[@pouncepounce7417]

The problem, the idits fixed his computer too!

[@Waitwhat469]

If your maintenance people are good, they look lazy. I knew an IT guy that would put off critical stuff, so they could swoop in and save the day. Justified the team more for it too... Politics are dumb.

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

Strangle WHICH guy?

[@MaidMirawyn]

“Nothing happened.” That’s how you know everyone did their job correctly.

[@prabuddhaghosh7022]

In software we have the problem of firefighters. These are people who have got promoted due to putting out fires. When things are going smoothly they will make stupid changes to schedule or scope so as to create a fire. Then they can come in and pull off a heroic save and get their next promotion. The guy who plans properly, keeps to schedule and delivers on time doesnt get promotions. Maybe civil engineers need to learn from Software project managers.

[@7thquark309]

12.5M views for a video called "Infrastructure" Dam, that's impressive!

[@mammabrunobucciarati5779]

you dont understand just how much I appreciate this dad joke

[@FloridaManGraySTOP]

13.1M now!

[@333sh55]

13 millions now

[@mammabrunobucciarati5779]

@@d-rock8372 are you ok?

[@LostOneOmega]

*Dam* 😂

[@Monody512]

Honestly, a movie about a fictional mega-structure like an enclosed city being discovered to be in horrible disrepair could have legit interesting narrative. I think that could be a good movie.

[@ShadowKueken]

what about the idea of a movie just watching and showing off the country as it rolls now; following a family very loose (no direct story or stuff) and you watch the falling apart of the infrastructure and the chaos caused. Could be really interesting , no that it would be fun seeing america trip about their own dumb mistakes :)

[@DoubleBob]

Brazil - A science fiction dystopia comedy/drama in which the main enemy is incompetence, idiocy, bureaucracy and break down of infrastructure.

[@LarsWillighagen]

City of Ember (or something like that) starts with that more or less, but it's a kids movie

[@Monody512]

Lars Willighagen True. I did read the book, and I thought of it when writing my comment.

[@YourRulerSkeletos]

There is something like that, it's called "Life After People",

[@bonniegrrl]

Dammit! I want that Infrastructure movie to BE REAL!!

[@OlEgSaS32]

A shit ton of legitimate engineers would probably agree with that

[@stuartphilkill416]

It had a great cast! Netflix should pick it up.

[@McAslanXX]

You know it! ;) #mcaslan

[@DendriticTrees]

I would legitimately watch a movie about civil infrastructure. I'm not even joking.

[@hendrong]

I was just gonna post a comment about whether I was the only one who actually thinks that movie could work. It'd be a fresh breeze, if nothing else.

[@VivaToddVegas]

So why don't politicians just have Reopening ceremonies once they fix the bridges? They can cut a new ribbon.

[@OkiePackerFan10]

Right!

[@hensegundo]

Here in Brazil they give a new paint to a public school and call it "reinauguration".

[@homeofthemad3044]

VivaToddVegas Or they can fix the old ribbon and cut it again.

[@SmartStr33t]

@@homeofthemad3044 lol

[@wiretamer5710]

They do sometimes... but there is always a backlash.

[@cherenkov_blue]

"At this point, we aren't just flirting with disaster, we're rounding third base and asking if disaster has any condoms." Still one of my favorite phrases of all time 8 years later.

[@Pile_of_carbon]

I _hate_ potholes! If you're in a car and hit one, it can damage the tires/suspension. If you're on a bike, it feels like being kicked in the nuts.

[@BOSHx2]

Eh kind of but not really, There's a special sort of sausage that people generally use to make a hot dog.

[@skeletonz7924]

+Crocea Mors wtf

[@BOSHx2]

+Happy Little Punk what?

[@skeletonz7924]

Crocea Mors what are you talking about, is there some kind of joke I don't get.

[@BOSHx2]

+Happy Little Punk nope.

[@BFFsEngineer]

If Infrastructure ever releases, I bet it'll be box office hit

[@SudiptaKarmakar87]

Home Box Office hit!

[@desertdaisymarie6951]

I’d watch it 😊

[@rexex345]

Yeah... actually probably a fun show

[@Jemppu]

always impressed by the casts Oliver is able to gather 👍

[@PureVikingPowers]

I would actually watch that movie

[@sidonia1409]

This episode was the first thing I thought of when I heard there was a bridge that just collapsed in Pittsburgh. I wish someone would have paid attention and prevented it. Keep doing what you’re doing and bring these issues to light. Can’t wait to for the new season to start 2/20/22!

[@collinkeyser6827]

Was It The Bridge They Featured That Had The Bridge Under It?

[@jaimeely2518]

I was covering the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse (the one you referenced) for a college news show when they lifted the bus off of the bridge. While it was breathtaking to watch a large bus dangling in the air, the condition of the bridge post-collapse was even more shocking. Bits of debris were strewn about and the bridge itself looked like a rock formation with a stiff peak and deep valley. I'll never forget all of the cars collected in the "valley" of the collapse, looking like a haphazardly-strewn collection of Hot Wheels a child was done playing with. The horrible thing about the entire situation was that city officials knew about the deteriorating condition of the bridge, but decided to do nothing with it. Luckily no one was injured, especially considering there was a walking trail and dog park underneath the bridge. Truly a scary situation.

[@spinergirlkristie]

Yeah the bridges are pretty delicate. First that Pittsburgh bridge collapse and now that Baltimore bridge. The Florida condo collapse. Cities don't want to repair lifted sidewalks from tree roots. A lady died riding one of those rental scooters over the lifted sidewalk at night. She didn't see the bump and crashed and had severe head trauma. I'm glad the infrastructure bill passed but it takes years to reinforce/fix/replace bridges and freeways.

[@DaveJoneslivesrighthere]

"We were fine, we were always going to be fine." This is an accurate portrayal of the love of a good sausage sandwich in Philly

[@Astraeus..]

Your name is Dave Jones and you appear to be a turtle-man wearing a suit.....I guess Davey Jones had to evolve at some point yea? :D

[@sigh824]

"No one has made a blockbuster movie about the importance of routine maintenance and repair" You mean Final Destination 1-7?

[@mateusvin]

"If anything exciting happens, we've done it wrong." This quote might be not that on-spot, but you got what I mean.

[@benshaul6976]

No item Fox only

[@sigh824]

***** Oh, damn you're right. I can't believe it took three months for anyone to point that out.

[@A-small-amount-of-peas]

sigh824 it's a movie about death coming for you. Not sure what what you watched

[@harpicpc]

Anyway, Oliver was talking about blockbusters, so he was right on that. The fact that 3 months past till someone who actually knows Final Destination came accross should be explanation enough ^^

[@Schmidthorst69]

I'm from Germany and my girlfriend is a very big John Oliver fan. I only knew him through hearsay. This video was the first one she showed me a few weeks ago. I had to smile a lot. How tragic that this video contained so much bitter truth about what has now been shown in Baltimore. However, we have similar problems with the infrastructure here in Germany. Whether bridges, roads or rails. A lot of things are hopelessly out of date.

[@IndogaKirai]

Good your train unions first.

[@Schmidthorst69]

@@IndogaKirai Claus Weselsky is the Boss! :))

[@superpotterfan7435]

Back here watching this one after the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh this morning. So horrible, but amazing no one was seriously injured.

[@bitbeak]

As a civil engineer, that end trailer is about the most glamorous our profession can look.

[@pao_lumu]

"Upside-down piece of candy corn in a wig made of used medical gauze" Best quote 2K15

[@myinxx]

+Evan Johnston (Jaeth The Furfag) What does it mean?

[@pao_lumu]

Because it's funny. There's... not much to it...

[@myinxx]

Evan Johnston I have difficulty in understanding English slang...That is a kind of mocking at Trump is that right? Thanks all the way

[@TsurugiMatsuda]

Oh my, the best way to #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain I see...

[@pao_lumu]

Sund Mand with how the primaries are going, you're likely correct.

[@pixpusha]

Live in a developing country for a few months and you will gladly run back home to pay your extra 0.30 cents a month to repair ailing infrastructure. And you will also hug your waste disposal team also. Trust me when I say you don't know what you've got till its gone.

[@angelchronicles9848]

I agree

[@kindlin]

100% agree. All those people saing, "no, no new gas tax" would be shitting themselves if their local bridge failed and their friends died in the morning commute. You might rethink your fear of paying a couple bucks a week extra to get to work.

[@williamnjagi2388]

YUP! TELL'EM 👏👏

[@MistaSmilesz]

Sometimes when Im driving under a freeway overpass, I think about how Im not the slightest bit worried that it'll fall on my head. Thats what a well functioning society looks like to me.

[@potatoeskimos]

I live in Malaysia, our infrastructure is better than USA. Wait... Our healthcare system too are better.

[@ericreingardt2504]

I like how they argue over raising taxes or not instead of considering taking a tiny fraction out of the military budget which would certainly pay for infastructure reform

[@curranfrank2854]

Define tiny fraction. We currently spend $900 billion annually on defense spending, around $750 billion on military spending. The current infrastructure investment gap is $2 trillion. If you wanted to close that over 10 years, you'd need over $200 billion each year (over since there'd be more infrastructure expenses during that decade). That's over a fifth of defense sending and over a fourth of military spending. Now, don't get me wrong, that can be done, and our military could stand to lose $200 billion (or $300 . . . or $400), but 1/4 isn't a tiny fraction. Taking $200 billion out of the military every year would require careful consideration, and isn't the easy solution that most of my fellow progressives portray it to be. And remember, $2 trillion is just the infrastructure gap. Closing that would improve our infrastructure a lot, but other progressive projects like a green infrastructure program or a mass transit system would require trillions more.

[@lordoftheducks332]

@@curranfrank2854 I mean, if we took that much out of the military, we would still probably have the most expensive military in the world

[@curranfrank2854]

@@lordoftheducks332 We would, the second largest is China and their military budget is only $266.4 billion, according to the ChinaPower Project: chinapower.csis.org/military-spending/ I'm not against military cuts, I do support us having the largest military but we could accomplish that with less than $300 billion annually. My point was that many progressives act like any plan could be paid for by just cutting the military, and that's not really true. Eric Reingardt's claim was that a tiny fraction of the military budget would pay for infrastructure reform, but it would take over 1/4 of the budget to just fix the infrastructure investment gap, and we'd probably need at least $1-2 trillion more for green infrastructure spending, resulting in over half of the budget being cut. Neither 1/4 nor 1/2 is a tiny fraction and it's not helpful to claim that it is.

[@klas666]

@@curranfrank2854, you make a good point but would you agree that "tiny fraction" would have paid for ongoing maintenance if US hadn't been cutting infrastructure spendings? =) Also, why do you need the largest military in the world? You don't even do military parades, which are stupid but very fun in an innocently militaristic way

[@curranfrank2854]

@@klas666 Yeah, I'd agree. But it's not accurate to claim a "tiny fraction" of the military budget could solve our current infrastructure deficit, or pay for infrastructure reform. As for having the largest military in the world, I feel that it's necessary because the next one up would be China, and they have enough influence as is. Our military's expensive because of our global reach, and that's necessary to restrain authoritarian countries like China or Russia. If our European allies increased their military budgets, I'd think it'd be less necessary for the US to have the largest, since the overall NATO budget would still be larger

[@CoachCalledRizz]

Where does american tax money go then? If they have shitty healthcare, make you pay for education and dont have good infrastructure...

[@yondaime500]

Predator drones.

[@jeremyteng6013]

Military spending.

[@Strikerage]

Golf

[@whogivesadamnforuser]

War

[@Etherlad]

More than half is consumed for the military. i.imgur.com/lWQ0DkE.png

[@MrMassivemeatlog]

Why not instead of bailing out banks, the US could have done what just about every other country and invest in infrastructure. would have made jobs and helped economic recovery..

[@elovejapan7818]

Good idea. Tweet that to the government.

[@MrMassivemeatlog]

elove japan I don't care, I'm not american, I'm canadian, and thats what our govt did, I'm enjoying our healthy economy and good infrastructure

[@FashionandPhilosophy]

MrMassivemeatlog That's a great idea mr massive meat log

[@FashionandPhilosophy]

thx

[@Valentine350z]

"invest in infrastructure" is a bit of an incorrect statement. The word "Invest" means that they will get something in return later on, but since most of the government is interested in money, rather than keeping the infrastructure in good condition, it is clear that it won't happen for a monetary revenue.

[@4philipp]

Update 4 years later (5/2019): the Tappan Zee bridge has been replaced not with one but two brand spanking new bridges.

[@jazzmazz9214]

Got to cut those ribbons.

[@throwawayaccount2103]

I guess that's a solution.

[@resileaf9501]

@@throwawayaccount2103 To be fair, builing a new bridge is probably cheaper in the long run, especially if the structure had flaws from the beginning.

[@Astraeus..]

@@resileaf9501 True story for basically everything. It's probably a touch easier to repair bridges with open metal framework, but still depending on just how damaged it is at some point it's not worth whatever little it might save, it would just shift the stress points and the problem would crop back up in a few years anyway.

[@pouncepounce7417]

@dogboy1953 THAT!

[@NightridewithNikki]

“We need to find money for infrastructure, but amazingly we have found a bunch of money to bailout Wall Street and blow up the military budget, amazing isn’t it?”

[@ChicanoOne760]

blame the baby boomers. the generation of "im dying soon so i dont care."

[@noelstar1456]

And continue a war for no reason

[@dimasakbar7668]

And when there's money for infrastructure, its used for the Trumps border wall 😝

[@darkmyro]

@@dimasakbar7668 that's crumbling too, it can pretty easily be taken out by the wind

[@dimasakbar7668]

@@darkmyro great, another new addition to crumbling infrastructure list 😂 At least when that one finally topple down, it wont endanger anyone, unlike those very important bridges and dams.

[@katemarsh6955]

Love this guy. His jokes sometimes feel forced, but he's opinions are always on par with my own.

[@Oblithian]

Or are yours just on par with his? #MindControl #Conspiracies

[@mico5376]

I do have to agree, but they do bring me to a chuckle.

[@annapejskova9290]

"He's opinions"? Is it similar to "He's nuts"? Sorry, I'm new to the English language...

[@katemarsh6955]

Lol, sorry for typo. His*

[@demonqueen26]

He makes great points on a lot of important matters that others overlook or just plain out ignore until it is too late to do anything. People should watch this, research what he talks about and make educated opinions. If they don't morons like Trump will become president....oh, wait.....that did happen.

[@legendblader01]

That cspan guy is now officially my favorite person

[@nedimgery-buyukyuksel513]

..............okay.

[@DengMam]

.................okay

[@ariovistus1491]

...............................................okay

[@ladhkay]

......ok

[@JasonRichardTesch]

.............................ok

[@RainaThrownAway]

All jokes aside, a network TV show about infrastructure inspectors could be interesting, with the right cast and the right set-up. Including plotlines about corrupt local governments diverting funds from the inspectors in order to keep the corporate owners of the dam or bridge from getting in trouble, dealing with construction moguls who cut as many corners as they can just to make a buck.... Hell, I think we have worse shows on TV.

[@piehamcake1]

when trump is president we will get a good show

[@svampebob007]

+piehamcake1 Tonight on Political Nightmare: Watch Trump ignite the tentison between China and the USA, watch him try and do a religious crusade against all muslims in the country. And a speciall visit from the clearly failed border walls. watch him tank the econommy and blame the muslims, mexicans and liberals. Watch the latest uncencored but totally scripted episode from outisde of corupt America, or watch the free and great version in all 50 states... Unless your local infrastructure already went up in flames and you couldn't aford your medical bills.

[@piehamcake1]

svampebob007 sounds great, TRUMP 4 Infrastucture 2016!!

[@Saviliana]

+svampebob007 Actaully he won't, we outsider had already prepared for his crazyness, and we can predicted what he would be using for his abusing words dictionarey. And what he can do is talking and do business with the others, so he won't even be hardly any worries then the other less famous polition figures.

[@rowlandlarkham3206]

The reason that the infrastructure bill is so expensive is that the infrastructure has been ignored for decades while other concerns, (fighting several wars), have been at the forefront of discussions - No one wants to focus on what is needed while the lights are on and the water still comes from the tap - until it doesn't -

[@brandonfesser1893]

Conspicuously lacking is a mention of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse which killed 13 and injured 145 people in 2007. It was listed as "structurally deficient" since 1990! Those 13 deaths were entirely preventable!

[@tharock220]

Brandon Fesser It kind of begs the question, "Why didn't the Minnesota Department of Transportation replace it sooner?".

[@brandonfesser1893]

tharock220 For the reasons explained in the video...

[@darwincity]

+tharock220 "Kicking the Can down the Road".

[@AlphaWolf096]

We’ve known about climate change since at least 1896, and has hurt and/or killed more than 13 people, so why haven’t we addressed that yet?

[@DogofLilith]

Anybody hear what happened here in Atlanta? A freaking major highway overpass caught fire and fell And nobody thinks this stuff is important

[@hailalmightypower]

I seen it happen damn crack head caught a bunch of plastic conduit on fire

[@lynxminx4]

@DynaMike Yes and no. The city was improperly storing fiberglass conduit under the overpass. Two crackheads couldn't have done it with just trash- it was a chemical fire hot enough to melt rebar. The decision to store combustible material insecurely, out in the open where it was approximate to critical infrastructure, was an infrastructural oversight.

[@andrewk6717]

@DynaMike ok. Cool. So nothing to worry about. Debt, war, drugs, guns, amazon & the poors of the great usa. Winning!!!!

[@andrewk6717]

@DynaMike recession proof Australia 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺 and since u want to get into it. Nuclear waste, pollution, pet plastics, Flynt Michigan, prescription drugs, opioids, #1 murder country of the world, avarice, injustice, racism, birthplace of kkk. Lots to Love. I could keep going on & on but that might opem ur mind after u c with both eyes. 💋💋

[@andrewk6717]

@DynaMike poors is a John Stewart word. U should take in some of his observations. B4 the USA is 95% "POORS"

[@CorgiSamurai]

12:36 "If gas prices go back up, we'll be stuck with super high prices" LMAO thanks for sharing bruh

[@peanutgallery7753]

+Moon Light He's right though. A gas tax is something that affects the lower middle class and poor more than anyone else, and gas prices are already pretty steep. They could get the money from a fairer source

[@ShadowFalcon]

+Buck Shot The thing I take issue with in that statement are the words "super high prices". Here in Denmark we pay $8 US per US gallon. I've heard US Americans get depressive over a price of $3.50. I mean when US Americans complain over "high" gas prices, my sides go into orbit.

[@peanutgallery7753]

MrFalconfly 8 US$ a gallon? Hamlet was right, there is something rotten in the state of Denmark. It's too bad that gas is so expensive in your country, but things may not be as bad as you think. You need to remember driving in North America is a necessity. The cities are set up for cars, and transit systems are woefully less sophisticated than those in western Europe. Where nearly every day to day necessity can be found within each community in Europe, in N. America most people have to leave their neighbourhoods to go shopping. Not to mention that your country is very small compared to N America, where everything is so spread out that driving is important. Also, your average citizen is provided with lots of social services, services which Americans have to pay for out of their pockets. So, for poor Americans rising gas prices really do hurt. You could probably get away without driving in Denmark, or at least driving far less.

[@ShadowFalcon]

Buck Shot You may have a point there. Cars definitely aren't a life or death necessity here, and if you have to commute out of town there are usually reasonable bus and train coverage to get you to most places.

[@NyanSten]

+Buck Shot Well, the much more sophisticated transit system is paid from that as well. You also need to consider that cars in Denmark (and Europe in general) are much more fuel efficient than in the US. So 8 US$ per gallon in Denmark will take about the same amount from your pocket as if it was 4 or 4.50 US$ and you drove an American car.

[@utah133]

They're all for a source of infrastructure funding. As long as it's pulling back benefits for mothers and babies. Or Social Security/Medicare. But don't dare touch tax breaks for the top 1%.

[@acadoe]

Without knowing the truth, this seems like a legitimate reason funding would stall, because they can't agree on where to cut.

[@fahmidarose5389]

“Stop for a sausage sandwich” sounds like a euphemism.

[@jeliarra]

Oh SNAP! Steve Buscemi is in it! I implore HBO to make "Infrastructure" a series!

[@Foskitty]

Sadly, it is going to take a major tragedy where lots of people die to actually get routine inspection and maintenance funded. My own country, Canada, which usually does things a lot more sanely than the USA, well, we had the same issue with aging infrastructure, but it only got fixed when a bridge collapsed on a busy highway and the entire country watched as rescue workers tried to save people who'd been trapped in their cars that had been crushed underneath enormous slabs of concrete for a couple of days. After that, we were all wondering how we could let the situation get that bad. When that situation happens in the USA, you can give people the answer, "Those people died because we weren't willing to pay taxes."

[@JoeMama-kc9lv]

welcome to flint michigan. guess what, still no funding for infrastructure. maybe in flint where the tragedy happened. everyone blames it on fracking and not putting any of the blame on the lack of infrastructure of old pipes/poor govt regulators/etc. but there is not enough going on to prevent it happening again somewhere else...

[@notdaveschannel9843]

@@JoeMama-kc9lv Sadly, the disaster in Flint wasn't visually dramatic enough to move the needle. Kids with lead poisoning don't dominate the news the way millions of gallons of water hurtling down a valley or cars plummeting into a river would. If someone had suggested ramping up airline security on September 10th 2001, they would have been called alarmist.

[@Ennead13x]

Not Dave's Channel unfortunately, there's been several high-profile bridge collapses already, even one almost as severe as the one our Canadian friend has described. The one on the 1-35 in Minnesota some ten years ago springs immediately to mind, and yet...here we are, still no further along than when this video was posted.

[@notdaveschannel9843]

@@Ennead13x I've no idea what sort of state the infrastructure here in the UK is, but given the general state of this country it probably isn't great. I'm sceptical about "league tables" for these things because you have to question the methodology and how valid a comparison you can really make based on data from multiple countries but we haven't had a major road bridge collapse or people drinking unsafe water that I'm aware of. Hammersmith Bridge in London is currently closed to vehicles until further notice while they figure out who pays for fixing it and how much it'll cost but at least they found the problem. We had a fire in public housing that killed a lot of people but that was down to cladding it in unsafe tiles. I'm not sure if public housing is included in infrastructure rankings. I think (hope) that maybe we're more positive towards taxpayer-funded solutions than the US is, but we still haven't recovered from the crash and Brexit isn't going to help. At least we don't have many dams. ETA Looks like I was wrong about 'not having many dams'. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-49196766

[@anovosedlik]

Pouncey sadly, two years later, that major tragedy happened. The bridge collapse in Milan killed 40+ last year.

[@ablongshape]

As a registered professional engineer this is both hilarious and a good way to present the issue to the public. Civil & structural engineering are hilariously unglamorous fields which are quite important. And yep, I totally agree that the ASCE's infrastructure report card is something of a conflict of interest (we make our living on this stuff, please fund more of it!) but also agree that it will take a lot of public education to make this idea more politically amenable.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

The ASCE's other priorities conflict with its supposed interest in having infrastructure competently maintained. Their rhetoric is a little too in to having everything centrally planned. It also seems like their setup is more academian biased than other organizations that are more discipline focused.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

ablongshape That's like saying a doctor has a conflict of interest by letting you know you have a treatable disease after a blood test.

[@ablongshape]

mdiem Nah. We're talking about infrastructure projects that make or break the profit margins of major consulting engineering organizations and construction contractors, generally not minor maintenance projects. Any time an engineer lobbies the government for more money for their field they are walking a fine line between representing the public interest and the interest of their own accounts. The infrastructure report card is not entirely a conflict of interest, but it is being used to argue for hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure spending which is more of a "throw money at the problem" solution than a viable way to fix our infrastructure. I would look at this less like a doctor performing a blood test and saying you have a treatable disease and more like calling a roofing contractor over to your house for a leak in the ceiling and having him tell you to replace your entire roof when repair of the flashing will do. The ASCE is correct that the infrastructure in this country is deteriorating and in need of continued investment, however the execution of a temporary increase in infrastructure funding will lead primarily to the funding of high speed rail, interstate, and other high-visibility projects that are "shovel ready" to the exclusion of the infrastructure maintenance projects that are typically funded at the state or local level (and these major projects are sometimes a boondoggle with limited returns due to poor planning). Making real impacts on the infrastructure issues that concern your average citizen will require a permanent, gradual increase in funding, a major increase in participation and management of infrastructure assets by state and local governments (with access to federal funding, especially in poor or rural districts), and solid auditing & oversight efforts by the organizations directly responsible for their assets to make sure they aren't being hoodwinked by unscrupulous contractors. The ASCE does act in the public interest, but I would stop well short of saying they are altruistic. I don't mean to insult them with this (I'm a member of the organization myself), but our responsibility as engineers should be focused at calling attention to the scale and scope of these infrastructure issues and educating governments and the general public about our options and less focused at lobbying for massive increases in infrastructure funding.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

ablongshape The disappointing thing about the "ASCE Report Card" is that it is such a narrow view. In real, ethical engineering, alternative solutions are always discussed including "no build". The popularity of the ASCE style view fits right in with an overall political attitude that considers rational economics too little. People don't even know that questioning whether all of this "crumbling infrastructure" should have existed in the first place is even an option. That combined with building more all the time means that it will just get harder and harder to keep paying for.

[@andyvelwestenergy1477]

Really appreciate this lucid, informed discussion. Kind of rare on youtube. I had another thread going about Solar Roadways. While this is fledgling technology that may or may not be viable in the near future, I think the concept of energy production on the road system is a compelling one. It's a lot of public real estate that needs a reliable funding source. I've also seen work on solar thermal (fluid piped under asphalt road beds) being stored underground in summer and used to heat buildings in winter. Any thoughts on revenue production on roads?

[@pledgeallegiance58]

A bridge collapsed in Baltimore had to watch this again

[@madisonamorim6458]

He looked so happy when he got to press the red button at 14:21 :)

[@B20C0]

Why not just cut back on military expenses? But I get the idea, spending money to fix your own infrastructure is not as fun as bombing other infrastructures to shit so your own looks better.

[@injektileur]

you aren't American, are you ? (^^") that would make perfect sense. Not mentioning (for instance) billions spent for uneffective airport security

[@B20C0]

injektileur Of course I'm not. It always takes Europeans to remind Americans of logical thinking. We pay way higher amounts of taxes here and still don't complain as long as they are used efficiently mostly. You would never see a dangerous bridge in Germany without some heads rolling afterwards.

[@atlasflame5815]

Because Americans have a creepy obsession with guns and other forms of weaponry, so sadly that's not gonna happen.

[@FXGHJT]

Because Germans are always obsessed with quality and perfection. You heared that in Alabama they have 0 inspectors which means that they dont care about infrastructure till anything serious happens. It is like playing with an open fire, could work for 1000 times but once... In the end I would like to say that it is a good thing that nations pay attention to different details because it makes world perfect place to live in.

[@MisSpooks1]

The thing is, every time we actually do cut back on military funds, it only effects the families so that whatever they're spending on weapons never changes. For example, children of veterans used to get aid for college, but not anymore. My friend, who lives on an army base in the south in the family housing, tells me about whenever it rains heavily they will have officers knocking on every door warning people to not drink the water because it's contaminated with human fecal matter.

[@BKF666]

Is it sad that I would actually watch that infrastructure show?

[@Gepstra]

Well no, considering the best dam inspector of the fucking industry is in it.

[@connorskudlarek3119]

LOL, I was gonna say the same. It got me all hyped up.

[@saggyrudra]

Not sad at all. I'd watch it too.

[@16m49x3]

I wanna see it too!

[@grenadinemixer]

Absolutely nothing wrong with that

[@RR42636]

5 years ago, still scarily relevant today. Just look at Michigan

[@mgroh5564]

It seems we did nothing since this episode...

[@MrFirextinguisher]

M Groh oh absolutely nothing, in Florida we’ve been working on i95 since I was a kid 14 years ago

[@nickmarcello7125]

Literally have done nothing at all, well we have actually watched a few bridges collapse, catalogued a few hundred dire/severe structural issues, and a couple of dam bursts, so I guess we did something

[@emilyb3176]

Every time "chiiieeeeennah" Gets me every damn time, does he not know how to say 'china'?

[@sagesheahan6732]

Exactly. Thank you. 😂😂👍

[@FilipFifth]

Two days ago I played GeoGuessr with friends when a picture of a road across praerie came up. "Looks like states". "No, check out the electrified railroad on the side, that is too high tech for US, it would be rather Turkey, Iran or China." We clicked Turkey. It was South Africa.

[@DefsNotAsa]

Wow, holy shit really, South Africa, Not Iran, Turkey or China...My mind can not take in this!!!

[@FilipFifth]

The point is: a picture of a decent railroad infrastructure is now more likely to be from a 2nd world country labeled as developing than 1st world USA labeled as developed. It was a surprise to me (European). Just to make sure :-)

[@DefsNotAsa]

FilipFifth yes, okay

[@JayZee1]

Piriathy Wow, someone really uses Bing here

[@FilipFifth]

***** You are right. Thanks. I take 'electrified' railroads as advanced. More than planes. Planes are neat but transport on fossil fuels is... fossil :-)

[@Huyvovo903]

People don't give a shit unless it happens to them.

[@1stn103]

Ain't that the fucking truth.... it's so sad but very real.

[@ExgaGaming]

Reminds me of a quote from Naruto: "If you don't share someone's pain. You can never understand them." - Nagato.

[@krim7]

That is the one downside to the rugged individualism of the American mythos...

[@ConRayArt]

Like Ebola

[@KennyakaTI]

This is so true and even for the people that do care they don't care enough to actually do something about it.

[@BeautflDisaster4]

I always say “righty tighty, lefty loosey” and I’m 31 years old.

[@adamFromDurban]

Lol he turned it left in the movie

[@immortalsun]

No shame in that.

[@ranjanbiswas3233]

Uhm.......okay?

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

It doesn't even always work that way

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

@no juice i experience in the netherlands it is often the other way

[@RichardCheshire]

The UK is just as bad. I am permanently paralyzed from an accident caused by a pothole. I got no compensation and road magically got redone the following week.

[@flowersintheKitchen]

I'm very sorry to hear that.

[@StardustLegend]

I'm so sorry for you... are you entirely paralyzed from neck down or just parts of your body?

[@donnavorce8856]

Richard - that is beyond horrible. I hope you're doing ok these days - as well as you can.

[@tempura8345]

"I'm driving here I sit, cursing my government, for not using my taxes to fill holes with more cement"

[@NoviceindisguiseOfficial]

+Osayma Saad If the gas tax only went to what it was intended . . .

[@musically_insane]

+Osayma Saad lol love that song.

[@clairekim2525]

|-/

[@webcypher6829]

Great song, Twenty One Pilots is the shit!

[@cupoftaewithsomesugaphan1541]

+Person Human PHANDOM!

[@chrisd6736]

“It looked INSAAAANE, like, there was SOOOO much water.” 💦

[@BiffChunksteak]

she didnt deserve that imo, Oliver just wanted to do his Lumpy Space Princess impersonation

[@julianna3200]

I am going to say it ....... Ok boomer

[@MAC_HAMMER]

Boomers don't know LSP or Adventure Time

[@age_of_reason]

It's the reason I've been single in this country all my life.

[@jeremykingsley6669]

he doesn't know SoCal locals. That much water at once, anywhere but the ocean, is an incredible sight. We tell legends of such things to our children, like the myth of Sky Water

[@Robert_McGarry_Poems]

_Dam_ it, I never _saw_ that coming. It completely _washed_ me away; totally _riveting_ stuff, he really _nailed_ it. The _framing_ of his argument _supported_ the episode superbly. I was _cemented_ to my seat the _hole_ time, _hard_ _pressed_ to move. Only slightly _cracking_ in my resolve. His slow _trickle_ really _seeped_ out with this one. What a massive _flood_ of viewers that must have caused. They must have been _floored_ to see it. For such _corrosive_ content, he finds a way to _beam_ with pride about it. The _arches_ in his smile could _suspend_ anyone's heartstrings. His _measured_ demeanor _fits_ perfectly. The infrastructure of his show is well maintained.

[@ManaanS17]

Infrastructure is not boring. Its pretty cool. Just look at countries on Google Maps. I find it really interesting how most of european countries are centred around their capitol. Just look at the highways in Italy France or Spain (Germany is a exception with a really great infrastructure) And look at China how the complete west has just one highway

[@TheHomeless080]

Germany has a bad infrastucture cdn1.spiegel.de/images/image-964760-galleryV9-czkk-964760.jpg this is a graphic showing what percentage of the bridges in germany have been rated E or worse

[@whowantsabighug]

They didn't say it was good, they said it was interesting.

[@ManaanS17]

Sure the maintenance of our infrastructure is bad (especially of our bridges) but that we have those bridges and so many Autobahnen is a very good thing

[@augustkravtsov]

Our infrastructure is decaying especially the ones that got privatized. Those companies don't give a frack about maintaining or even developing it further, it's just about money.

[@jaroslavhorak341]

There is actually a reason why Berlin has such a good infrastructure....they kind of had to rebuild a lot in the last century.

[@Ethan-yk3hi]

“Stop for a sausage sandwich” sounds like a euphemism.

[@BISMARCK-ks5it]

Omg that's so true thought the same thing like why would you stop under a bridge lol 😂🤣

[@chibi013]

That upside-down piece of candy corn in a wig made of used medical gauze is right!

[@phresh242]

Are you circumcised?

[@chibi013]

phresh242 Are you high?

[@phresh242]

Not yet. Are you circumcised?

[@chibi013]

phresh242 Are you?

[@phresh242]

I'm uncircumcised. How about you?

[@laurenzabelsky1385]

Here after the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh this morning to report that things have only gotten worse in the 6 years since this was aired.

[@obi1fan212]

"That upside-down piece of candy corn with a wig" is the best description of Trump I've yet heard

[@gigabic7487]

Then you clearly haven't watched the Colbert Report

[@elephantmarch]

+Lorena Infante I still find "Abusive Cheeto dust-faced elephant in the room" one of my favorites.

[@obi1fan212]

William Bradford haha, who said that one? I missed it if it was John Oliver

[@elephantmarch]

+Lorena Infante John Stewart :). Talking about how in '12, the GOP confirmed they would never win again unless they broke free from the image of beng "rich out of touch white people alienating women and Hispanic voters"..... "I THINK you know where this going" And revels in the fact the the GOP is stuck between the fact that their registered voters are adoring everything about Trump, despite the fact it's clearly going to narrow their voting outreach MORE, not expand it.

[@obi1fan212]

Ha! I'll have to go back and watch that. I usually catch John Stewart when my roommates watch it, but I don't always have the chance to go back to each episode. But seriously, talk about a candidate being out of touch yet having the most fervid responses... Thanks, William Bradford!

[@mariashutter4587]

I died laughing about the bridge under the bridge = truly college student style.

[@donnavorce8856]

I always chuckle when I see a sign erected to warn me about a rough road. Why not just fix the damned road rather than put up a sign? Our tax dollars at work . . .

[@trebacca9]

Can we, I dunno, move some money from the outrageous military spending to, say, FIXING OUR DAMN COUNTRY?!

[@Wilkuris]

nah, need more bombs and planes to blow up hospitals in the middle east.

[@Awesometurtle98]

+trebacca9 but than how are we going to fight 13 year long wars based on lies and oil that no longer exist ?

[@diecar128]

guess what most of that money is for maintaining the military

[@genericbearsounds5899]

+trebacca9 *dam

[@robbieclark7828]

People see explosions in foreign countries and they think "results". People see construction getting done in their neighborhood and think "ugh, I have to drive through this?"

[@josephfoxton5257]

Time to show this to everyone and remind them that this should have been done years ago

[@IndogaKirai]

If you are a republican. Stuff it. Republicans are the ones who voted against it .

[@Borderose]

I'd watch the hell out of Infrastructure.

[@EllaAngeli]

No you wouldn't

[@zzzxxc1]

No one gives a dam about your opinions

[@Oblithian]

your support is crumbling

[@adh0c468]

Nah, too many plotholes. It could damage your suspension of disbelief.

[@deathpyre42]

That movie would have a lot of integrity.

[@mattschumacher4581]

“If you do it right, nothing happens and you die.” That’s a perfect description of life.

[@FGuilt]

I don't understand why churches can't be taxes when the pastors of super churches are living the high life. They are obviously profiting. how can you call that "non profit" ?

[@nessesaryschoolthing]

Atopical... but true.

[@FGuilt]

Just think of how many birds we could kill with THAT stone. :)

[@peeshka5576]

Maybe a few have been corrupt but not all are living the high life. Also, then I'm guessing you would want to tax only mega churches? I don't think things like that, whether mosque church Buddhist temple etc should be taxed

[@TheTardisDreamer]

A lot of churches aren't like that though. It would end up damaging charities and non-profit organisations more than anything and would make practically nothing for the government that wouldn't have to be given back essentially. Even if they limited to these corrupt cases, there would hardly anything in it compared to corrupt businesses and the mightily rich.

[@TheTardisDreamer]

F!@#Guilt That's what most churches DO though. Even the most business like churches I know put a lot of money into facilities that are then used for charity work. It would be a nightmare to try and control and there would no doubt be a means by which the most corrupt would still manage not to be taxed. It would be a lot of effort with a lot of backlash for hardly any money. Anti-corruption laws or inquiries would be more effective probably. Hence why it would be a stupid idea to try and fix a problem as huge a problem as failing infrastructure with a tax like that.

[@stephanietheslayer8441]

A highway bridge by my house actually has a warning sign that flashes “Cross at your own risk.” Edit-It got a seriously low safety rating and the state hasn’t fixed it.

[@andreasferenczi7613]

Seriously, things like that exist in the USA? I'm pretty sure you wouldn't find any such sign anywhere in Europe (not even outside the EU, like Russia, Belorusia or Moldavia). But maybe I'm wrong.

[@pouncepounce7417]

@@andreasferenczi7613 I think russia has laws against people telling you a bridge is not safe....

[@grmpEqweer]

Gawd !😬

[@Vednier]

Hey, sounds like great idea! Just put signs like "its your fault if anything happens" everywhere and you no longer need to make any maintenance - even if someone hurt you can say "i warned ya"

[@coldfusionstormgaming1808]

@@andreasferenczi7613 Yeah. USA might pretend other countries are shitholes but USA IS a shithole,

[@that_pac123]

"Upside-down piece of candy corn in a wig." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I'M DYING! XD

[@theashennamedjerry3203]

Made of use medical gaus

[@janedoe7187]

As a civil engineer, this was great

[@gingerkitty1425]

I agree. Infrastructure maintenance is sexy.

[@ernststavroblofeld1961]

I would go and watch "Infrastructure".

[@steeltimberwolf]

+Ernst Stavro Blofeld Hell yes so would I.

[@FaeQueenCory]

6 years later and I just want to "thank" Joe Manchin for singularly blocking a rare chance of actually accomplishing.... Anything really.

[@ahadumer418]

The 1 trillion and the 3.5 trillion bills passed the senate

[@daviddunn3894]

@@ahadumer418 no, they passed a resolution, very different

[@phyllisneal8687]

@@daviddunn3894 and, Terrorist Manchin remains at large & trying to have citizens of West Virginia go into the water on vastly DANGEROUS bridges, of which he could cast his vote TO F Fix!🤮🤬‼️

[@ahadumer418]

@@daviddunn3894 I don’t get it what is a resolution

[@lonniei1606]

@@phyllisneal8687 he will pay no attention even when the bodies are floating down the river

[@carlosoehler]

I just love how John uses his show and itspopurality to put important things on the spot. Its such an amazing way to make people who otherwise wouldnt be interested in these subjects to be aware of them.

[@ceka50]

Omg, that video at the end is the best they've ever made

[@wilhelmscream6919]

Every tried playing a city simulator with no funding to maintenance ? It's pain!

[@ashik.lal.krishna]

Europe: "We have bad infrastructure" America: "No we have bad infrastructure" India: "amateurs"

[@katyungodly]

scary accurate xD

[@bringsik100]

yeah. let's forget bangladesh

[@dagobertduck4557]

The netherlands has the best infrastructure lmao

[@dimasakbar7668]

But of course the highest priority of the nation is to smack those dalits who dare to look at cows in a slightly weird way.

[@4philipp]

Dimas Akbar don’t be like that, if you had a goat you’d be pissed too if a high performance cow wants to steal your bread and ghee

[@RailwayScholar]

*I AM THE BEST DAM INSPECTOR IN THE BUSINESS AND I'M HERE TO INSPECT THIS DAM!!!!*

[@theoneandonlyfeesh]

February 3, 2016: still no Infrastructure movie. I fear I cannot wait much longer...

[@lindsayallen1744]

I know I'm dying with impatience. Uggghh just take my money!!!!!

[@madix23490]

I know right! I've been looking forward to this movie for like a year.

[@theoneandonlyfeesh]

+Morgan Hunt I wonder when HBO will start working on it...

[@Molb0rg]

+Ian McKnight Take look at Megastructures movie series. It's not quite so exciting as as Infrastructure shold be, but also not bad not bad. And seriously, if someone know something I demand - say laud and clear

[@cindyansah3413]

Here after the baltimore bridge

[@space__junk]

Coming back to watch after the Baltimore bridge collapse. He tried to tell us

[@CraftyVegan]

I could have sworn that the movie "The Mothman Prophecies" was centrally themed around what happens when infrastructure maintenance is ignored: RIchard Gere, Debra Messing, Will Patton, and other assorted citizens of Point Pleasant, West Virginia are harassed by a "Mothman" (who I can only assume is some kindhearted public worker attempting to raise awareness of the failing infrastructure of the town). This crisis finally culminates in the collapse of the Silver Bridge. This movie seems like a fairly cut and dry example of infrastructure maintenance being ignored until a serious crisis is at hand. IMHO

[@step30dub]

i have never seen this moive but i will now thank you

[@ianbaker672]

I want infrastructure to be a tv show where all profits go to helping upkeep infrastructure

[@ramilregensanchez]

"To be fair", I'm pretty sure that's a trademark statement of his by now

[@christiawi9]

To be fair, it's a really useful line to use so I can see why he uses it so often.

[@jeremyteng6013]

I'm sure it is his go to phrase. He's been using it for years on the Bugle podcast.

[@lane6866]

Listen for "I promise you this is true" as well. Many comedians have go to phrases that they use to great effect. ie Seinfeld "Didja ever notice...?"

[@sophiaangelini4368]

Oliver makes everything fascinating and fun.

[@Rodrigo-ei4ht]

I think infrastructure is sexy. Have you seen a newly paved road all new and perfect? Raaawr what a beauty. And driving down it is even better. You just glide down like you're smoothly sailing in your car. I was reminded of the song Tear in My Heart by Twenty One Pilots. Cursing my government for not using my taxes to fill holes with more cement. You can google song lyrics about taxes not paving roads and it pops up xD

[@nicoleeddings1728]

And... Youre my new best friend!!! I love that song. Its so true though...

[@danielstewart7163]

It's best when you're sitting on a Harley Davidson Super Glide. The ride is smooth and you just stick to the road.

[@DepressinglyOptimistic]

This was so funny😂. My state loves using that stupid tar patch on cracks that just gets torn up with the first run of plows. At this point, we drive on more patch than road. We even have communities ripping paved roads up because dirt is easier to maintain when republicans repeatedly vote down repair bills.

[@bigemugamer]

I totally get it! As a cyclist here in Winnipeg I was tickled pink (among other colors) when the repaved Pembina Ave, all of a sudden the bike route was smooooth, smooth like, like... like rich creamery butter P= not to mention when on busses now you arn't battered with the racket of the glass panes violently rocking back and forth. bus drivers are pretty dam happy with that route now.

[@4philipp]

Don’t look for that road in nyc. The surface is smooth but the manholes and drain covers will blow your tires off, To top it off, they just resurfaced a highway bridge section that used to have a huge puddle near an exit. All new, and that puddle is still there. These people are to dumb to drain a bridge.

[@likenem]

Legalize pot and tax the shit out it.

[@GLL98]

There is too much controversy. A lot of money would come out of it, but many people are afraid of this change...

[@sandflapjack]

likenem it wouldnt be enough money coming in unless you charged 1,000 dollars a hit

[@likenem]

sandflapjack Colorado got 52 million revenue. Its something better then nothing.

[@sandflapjack]

likenem think higher. think billions.

[@likenem]

sandflapjack I wouldn't be surprised if it trillion to fix our infrastructure but how much do you think we spent because of the weed drug trade over the last couple of decades.

[@anthonyvelasquez4184]

As a structural engineer who works on bridges, I really enjoyed the Infrastructure commercial. This show is awesome!!!

[@SkylarsTerribleMemes]

I haven't been to a movie theater in almost a decade, but I would see Infrastructure on opening day.