  We take a fresh look at the determination of distances and velocities of
neutron stars. The conversion of a parallax measurement into a distance, or
distance probability distribution, has led to a debate quite similar to the one
involving Cepheids, centering on the question whether priors can be used when
discussing a single system. With the example of PSRJ0218+4232 we show that a
prior is necessary to determine the probability distribution for the distance.
The distance of this pulsar implies a gamma-ray luminosity larger than 10% of
its spindown luminosity. For velocities the debate is whether a single
Maxwellian describes the distribution for young pulsars. By limiting our
discussion to accurate (VLBI) measurements we argue that a description with two
Maxwellians, with distribution parameters sigma1=77 and sigma2=320 km/s, is
significantly better. Corrections for galactic rotation, to derive velocities
with respect to the local standards of rest, are insignificant.
