I used to live in Laguna Beach. Then the absurdly priced mansions went for...$2 million? $3 million maybe.
I lived in a cheap-for-Laguna-Beach 2 bdr at..I dunno... $1400/ month or so.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Goodbye Blue Monday
Throughout my life I've known a lot of people like Vonnegut's Dwayne Hoover, susceptible to the notion that they are the only free willed individuals in existence, that all others are simply programmed robots. Interestingly, some of these people are actually quite nice. Some are assholes. They're just... a bit unable to accept the idea that other people are just like them, except a bit different.
No real point here.
No real point here.
Bloodbath
I can imagine there's something to the fantasy of the single well-trained marksman performing a heroic act, but in the conservative fantasy several people would pull out their guns in a dark, noisy, smoky room and instantly no one would have any idea who the "bad guy" actually was. One significant identifier of "the bad guy" is that he's the one with the fucking gun. They'd all just shoot each other. And everyone in the way.
Life's not a movie.
Life's not a movie.
What About Mothers Who Can't Afford Night Nurses
I was complaining on the twitter about all the ZOMG HOW WILL PREGGO MARISSA MAYER HANDLE THINGS chatter, a sharp contrast to the general lack of coverage of the difficulties that non-superrich working mothers face all the time. Then I saw this column so I should link to it.
Money doesn't solve all problems, but it certainly solves most of them. Mayer will never ever have to worry about whether or not she can afford care for her child when she's busy with other things.
Money doesn't solve all problems, but it certainly solves most of them. Mayer will never ever have to worry about whether or not she can afford care for her child when she's busy with other things.
Maybe He Isn't Really A "Deficit Hawk"?
Because none of them actually are no matter what they say?
The "grand bargain" will be cut social security, which has nothing to do with the deficit, in exchange for closing loopholes which will reappear in the next budget.
No deal.
But the back-room actions on black liquor point to just how difficult it will be to lower the budget deficit through painless changes in the tax code. Even for a self-proclaimed deficit hawk like Mr. Crapo, one man’s loophole can be another’s vital constituent interest.
The "grand bargain" will be cut social security, which has nothing to do with the deficit, in exchange for closing loopholes which will reappear in the next budget.
No deal.
Friday, July 20, 2012
If I Were Your Benevolent Dictator
I would take away all of your guns. But I'm not. Given our current legal realities (Supremo version of the constitution) I'm honestly not sure if tiny legally possible nibble around the edges "gun control" really matters.
Friday Movie Recs
Long thought The Fisher King was one that slipped through the cracks somehow. Really just a nice movie.
Evil Geniuses
Back in the early days of the Obama administration, when they needed to get congressional approval for the other half of the TARP money, a few Dems said we really need to do something for screwed homeowners. The administration said fine, how about FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS for screwed homeowners. Great!
So what does Timmeh think to do with it? Not help screwed homeowners, of course, but instead to use it as a way of conning them into giving more of their money to the banks before their homes are stolen.
Genius.
So what does Timmeh think to do with it? Not help screwed homeowners, of course, but instead to use it as a way of conning them into giving more of their money to the banks before their homes are stolen.
Genius.
Logic
It is unassailable.
And hopefully all that Atlantic City prosperity will spread everywhere.
The revenue travails of Atlantic City, particularly this summer's disappointing early returns at the new Revel casino on the Boardwalk, are proof that New Jersey needs to expand gambling beyond the Shore resort, proponents of a Meadowlands casino say.
And hopefully all that Atlantic City prosperity will spread everywhere.
Narrative Progression After Mass Killings
1) Is killer a Muslim?
If yes, terrorism! Stop.
If no, NOT TERRORISM. Go to 2)
2) Is killer a left wing nut or a right wing nut?
If yes, terrorism! Stop.
If no, NOT TERRORISM. Go to 2)
2) Is killer a left wing nut or a right wing nut?
Unacceptable
As I always say, a big problem is that people who make policy - and the people who write about it - mostly don't use public transit.
Cabinet ministers are up in arms after being ordered to use public transport rather than official Government cars to get to events at the London Games, The Independent has learnt.
Downing Street has banned ministers from taking cars altogether, fearing bad publicity if ministers are caught using special Olympic "ZiL" lanes (named after the limousine lanes used by Soviet leaders) while everyone else crams on to the Tube.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Weird
If I fished every day I think I'd want to eat the suckers.
"I see some gross things in the water. You see condoms floating on top of the water. It just turns me off," says Vera Adams, who fishes in the Schuylkill almost every day, weather permitting. And she has a second reason for not eating her catches: She says she would be too squeamish to cut a fish's head off.
What If We Were Right
For years liberals and some "scientists" have been pushing this global warming bullshit in order to achieve our goals of... actually, shit, I've never been quite sure why we've been doing it, but we have. But what if Al Gore really is fat?
Joking aside, to me the time frame is important. Something "bad" over the next 100 years is something that can be adjusted to, some sudden radical change, like the Gulf Stream switching directions overnight, could be be absolutely catastrophic... and everything in between... the cost will be inbetween.
Not a lot of smarts in this post. I guess the point I'm making is that I've never quite had a good sense of the probability distribution of likely outcomes, from bad to totally fucking bad, even if the basic "world's getting hotter" story is true.
Joking aside, to me the time frame is important. Something "bad" over the next 100 years is something that can be adjusted to, some sudden radical change, like the Gulf Stream switching directions overnight, could be be absolutely catastrophic... and everything in between... the cost will be inbetween.
Not a lot of smarts in this post. I guess the point I'm making is that I've never quite had a good sense of the probability distribution of likely outcomes, from bad to totally fucking bad, even if the basic "world's getting hotter" story is true.
Pity The Poor Starving Defense Contractors
And their miraculous ability, over the next few months, to get a sympathetic hearing in our elite media about their massive needs for ever increasing amounts of your tax money.
Sports
I like this aside in Pareene's Sorkin piece.
I've come to like sports quite a bit more than I did when I was younger, but I am always struck by the number of sports fans (and, frankly, this could be generalized to lots of activities) who think that their incredibly time-consuming passion is not basically frivolous, and that their many many hours per week spent following sports is a Very Important Activity which should be distinguished from other frivolous things which aren't, such as sports involving ladies.
It's fun. You enjoy it. Great.
That’s what Sorkin thinks of basically every woman and every person under 50. He hates everything frivolous — “frivolous” is womanly things like gossip and fashion and television not created by Aaron Sorkin but explicitly not, say, sports — and McAvoy’s war on frivolity extends to what Jane Fonda’s network owner refers to as “human interest” material on, say, obesity. (Which is obviously, in our reality, a very real and complex problem, but whatever.)
I've come to like sports quite a bit more than I did when I was younger, but I am always struck by the number of sports fans (and, frankly, this could be generalized to lots of activities) who think that their incredibly time-consuming passion is not basically frivolous, and that their many many hours per week spent following sports is a Very Important Activity which should be distinguished from other frivolous things which aren't, such as sports involving ladies.
It's fun. You enjoy it. Great.
When Socialist Hellholes Become Libertarian Paradises
We've seen a string of this kind of thing lately, with right wingers pointing to countries which they'd normally think of as socialist hellholes as somehow proving conservatism fucking right, maybe because they adopt a single conservative-sounding policy against a backdrop of all that socialism. I think they adopted Sweden as their own at one point.
Screwing Each Other
The magnitude of the consequences LIBOR rigging scandal will depend on how badly the big guys were screwed.
The little guys they screwed in turn, not so much.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Morgan Stanley are among financial firms that may bring lawsuits against their biggest rivals as regulators on three continents examine whether other banks manipulated the London interbank offered rate, known as Libor, said Bradley Hintz, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Even if Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley forgo claims on their own behalf, they oversee money-market funds that may be required to pursue restitution for injured clients, he said.
The little guys they screwed in turn, not so much.
Not Just The Phones
So awesome.
One could imagine how reporters saw the phone "hacking" as somehow just an innocent game, as they were hacking phones using default passwords because no one ever bothers to set their voicemail passwords, but this would certainly be a whole new level.
A journalist at the Sun has been arrested in north London by police from Scotland Yard's Operation Tuleta investigation into computer hacking.
...
Operation Tuleta is investigating the use of so-called "trojan" emails which allow a hacker to take over a target's computer.
One could imagine how reporters saw the phone "hacking" as somehow just an innocent game, as they were hacking phones using default passwords because no one ever bothers to set their voicemail passwords, but this would certainly be a whole new level.
Thursday is New Jobless Day
386K new lucky duckies, suggesting last week's pretty good number was indeed impacted by the holiday.
What's It All For
Not that we didn't know this.
The banks are more important than the sovereign or the people.
The up to €100bn, which the euro zone has undertaken to provide to Spanish banks is to do just that, it is only for that purpose and not for any other.
There is no link between assistance for bank recapitalisation in Spain and any other type of financial assistance, which might be requested at some further juncture by Spain or anybody else
The banks are more important than the sovereign or the people.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Good
We really don't need to reduce the number of hospitals that provide comprehensive necessary health care for women.
Abington Health and Holy Redeemer Health System have called off the plans for a merger, after controversy over the decision to end abortions at Abington Memorial Hospital.
Teh Vetting
This is the kind of thing I mean when I talk about how it seems like the conservative blogger brain trust is running the Romney campaign.
VETTING!!!!!
VETTING!!!!!
Ok By Me
I'd be fine with with a genuinely urban casino plunked somewhere appropriately, but anything that gets built will be inevitably surrounded by too much parking and, casino-style, with its back turned towards the city as much as possible, so you might as well just put it where there is already plenty of parking.
Or
They think they're doing their job? Or they're not afraid of looking like they're helping Obama, they're unwilling to do something that might help Obama.
Tribal loyalty is strong, even for highly educated technocrats.
Tribal loyalty is strong, even for highly educated technocrats.
No Reason, Really
Funny.
Despite my personal preferences, I'm not one who thinks this is actually all that wrong, except maybe the why would you ever want to leave your four wheeled smart phone (!) bit, but when you're living not all that far from New York City where people are paying extreme prices for an entirely different living situation you should have some idea that there is actually a market for something else.
Still I suppose it's true that some version of the suburbs is what plenty of people want, though I expect some of those people would like a slightly less car-dependent version of the burbs which isn't available at affordable prices in many places.
The reality is that the patterns of most Americans reveals in consumer survey after survey that the overwhelming majority of people prefer to live in a house with a yard, drive a car to work and for shopping.
As such, it’s probably unrealistic to expect a mass migration to mass transit. The latest auto show in Detroit unveiled vehicles that have morphed into smartphones with four wheels and an ever-increasing fuel efficient engine. Even the least expensive cars today are smart, fun and sexy; why would anyone ever want to leave them?
Despite my personal preferences, I'm not one who thinks this is actually all that wrong, except maybe the why would you ever want to leave your four wheeled smart phone (!) bit, but when you're living not all that far from New York City where people are paying extreme prices for an entirely different living situation you should have some idea that there is actually a market for something else.
Still I suppose it's true that some version of the suburbs is what plenty of people want, though I expect some of those people would like a slightly less car-dependent version of the burbs which isn't available at affordable prices in many places.
So Where Are They?
Not seeing any.
The latest example came Tuesday when U.S. lawmakers detailed a pattern of deceit and illicit activity at HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank. For years, the bank looked the other way as terrorists, drug cartels and other criminals used its far-flung operations as a conduit into the U.S. financial system, according to a Senate report. As Leopoldo Barroso, a top HSBC anti-money-laundering official told the bank upon his departure in 2008, the institution’s standard practice was to pursue “profit and targets at all costs” and it was “only a matter of time” before it faced criminal charges.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
The Stupid Is Strong With This One
Jeebus just raise the goddamn gas tax. You have a collection and enforcement mechanism already in place and a tax which is mostly invisible to taxpayers. The gas tax is superior to a VMT tax in a variety of ways. One day electric vehicles might be a problem, but right now the problem is that gas taxes aren't indexed to inflation.
But, yes, smart politician, increasing the gas tax is political poison but adding an exciting new tax which would require people to regularly write yet another check to the government will be extremely popular.
But, yes, smart politician, increasing the gas tax is political poison but adding an exciting new tax which would require people to regularly write yet another check to the government will be extremely popular.
The Reality
The only thing that will spur additional Fed action is a stock market crash, because it would mean their strategy of boosting stock prices wasn't boosting stock prices enough.
Fail
I imagine I'll write a version of this post a million times, but the people in charge are failures. If, in January 2009, I given a rough outline of what would happen in policy, the economy, and the financial system over the next 3.5 years, people would have thought I was crazy. No one would have believed that the people in charge would tolerate such sustained high unemployment. And yet they have. It is indeed a choice. They can make things better but they have chosen not to.
It's Ben's World
Fed chief testimony says the jobs situation sucks and that the Fed is prepared to act.
Well as long as they're prepared.
Well as long as they're prepared.
Blame
One mystery to me in our current "blame the teachers" culture is why no one points fingers at the administrators. They're, you know, in charge. I don't claim my anecdata proves anything, but in my schoolgoing life the principals and vice-principals were for the most part (there were exceptions) the worst people in the world.
Lightner, a student advocate, reported it to her supervisor at the Arc of Chester County, which provides services to disabled people. They then requested all records about the student under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and uncovered other derogatory messages from Madden about the teen specifically and special needs students in general.
He called the teen a "psychopath" and worried that he could be another "Hinckley, Booth and Oswald." He also complained that special-needs students, "the guilty people," have more rights than "the innocent."
Madden, who did not respond to a call to his office for this article, was suspended in March. Although superintendent Raymond A. Fischer recommended that he be terminated, the school board voted, 6-3, to reinstate him July 1 with one big condition. He will no longer work with special-education students, according to Fischer.
Everybody's Fault But Mine
The people in charge refuse to take responsibility for anything.
The accountability-free era.
Why did the New York Fed take such an active interest in the potential rigging of Libor, but the Bank of England did not, asks Pat McFaddon
King explains that the two central banks are different: "They're a regulator, we're not ...", adding that the Bank had to pass the concerns on to the BBA.
So you're just a postbox, asks McFaddon?
Certainly not, replies an irked governor. The Bank played an important role in the BBA's inquiry, he adds.
The accountability-free era.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Priorities
On one hand shifting priorities towards dealing with the consequences of prescription drug abuse is appropriate, on the other hand this generally shouldn't be a criminal issue...
BWAHAHAHAHA
I haven't paid any attention to who actually works for Romney, but anyone else get the sense that he's hired the brain trust that was The Conservative Blog Revolution?
Afternoon Thread
Light blogging today. Bit of a mental health break. Go read one of the many fine blogs on that list towards the bottom left of the screen.
Privatize Everything
The olympics are going to be hilarious.
I'm sure most of this "security" isn't and isn't necessary, but everyone pretends it is.
And the company will get paid in full.
In Manchester police were forced to step in after only 17 of an expected 56 G4S staff turned up at an Olympic team hotel in Salford at the weekend.
A similar picture was emerging in the West Midlands, where the regional chair of the police federation, Ian Edwards, said the force had had to provide 150 officers a day to cover a hotel in Warwickshire where Olympic footballers were staying.
I'm sure most of this "security" isn't and isn't necessary, but everyone pretends it is.
And the company will get paid in full.
Criminal Enterprises
I do not know how a massively fraudulent banking system is supposed to save the economy.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
The Golden Age Of Televison
I've only ever seen the first episode of Breaking Bad. It was good. People on the internets are excited about the 5th season premier. I failed to watch the series after the first episode not because it was bad, or because I don't watch a lot of TV, but because there's just a hell of a lot of good TV around these days. If not stuff that's currently airing, the stuff like Breaking Bad that you missed from a couple of years ago.
Spreading Santorum
I thought this ad was interesting not because it was mean or brutal or "going for the jugular" as other people have portrayed it. I thought it was interesting because it suggested that the Obama campaign, unlike Democrats of yore, might get that the most underused weapon in Dem politics is ridicule.
Bob Casey didn't beat Santorum by over 17 points because of fond memories of his pop or the general fact that everyone named Bob Casey wins election in Pennsylvania, he beat him by 17 points because people turned Santorum into a joke.
And it isn't even all that hard.
Bob Casey didn't beat Santorum by over 17 points because of fond memories of his pop or the general fact that everyone named Bob Casey wins election in Pennsylvania, he beat him by 17 points because people turned Santorum into a joke.
And it isn't even all that hard.
Breath, Not Holding
Nobody's going to jail.
As regulators ramp up their global investigation into the manipulation of interest rates, the Justice Department has identified potential criminal wrongdoing by big banks and individuals at the center of the scandal.
Sunday Bobbleheads
This Week has Rahmbo and Ayotte.
Meet the Press has Gillespie, Durbin, and Kyl.
Face the Nation has Paul Ryan and the big meanie Stephanie Cutter.
Document the atrocities!
Meet the Press has Gillespie, Durbin, and Kyl.
Face the Nation has Paul Ryan and the big meanie Stephanie Cutter.
Document the atrocities!
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