Sunday, March 31, 2013
Immoral Exploitive Monsters
The NCAA is basically the worst organization on the planet. Please stop watching college sports. Take away their power.
End Of Life
Going to cost a lot to redo the beltway. Same thing is happening here with Philly's I-95 segment. That should just be torn down.
Democracy vs. the leaderships
Dean Baker: "Senate Unanimously Votes Against Cuts to Social Security: Media Don’t Notice."
It's not just a fight for the survival of the rest of us, it's also a fight for democracy. When no one in the Senate - Democrats or Republicans - is willing to stand up for Chained CPI, it's because they know we won't forgive them on voting day.
And yet, Obama continues to signal that he wants the cuts, and the establishment media continues to speak as if this is the only sensible thing to do.
80% of the public is, of course, against benefit cuts, because they know it will kill more Americans than Osama bin Laden ever dreamed of.
Funny, that. They thought it was really, really important to give up our Constitutional protections because 3,000 people were killed in September of 2001, but now they think it's cool to do things that will ultimately kill millions of Americans. Yes, millions.
Chained CPI is nothing but an act of theft and murder. Oh, and, by the way, it will hurt the economy as a whole.
You already know this. Better make sure they know that we know.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Peak Commute
I'm skeptical that driverless cars will ever (in my lifetime) work as proponents imagine, but I also don't see how they help the peak commute problem. You still need a lot of vehicles.
Cheating
Seems like pretty harsh involvement of law enforcement.
Those test scores brought her fame — in 2009, the American Association of School Administrators named her superintendent of the year and Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, hosted her at the White House.
And fortune — she earned more than $500,000 in performance bonuses while superintendent.
On Friday, prosecutors essentially said it really was too good to be true. Dr. Hall and the 34 teachers, principals and administrators “conspired to either cheat, conceal cheating or retaliate against whistle-blowers in an effort to bolster C.R.C.T. scores for the benefit of financial rewards associated with high test scores,” the indictment said, referring to the state’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Hard To Believe Now, But What About Then?
Obviously the "shocker" of this graph is that there wasn't a majority of people willing to tell pollsters that they approved of interracial marriages until the mid-90s. This is surprising now. It was surprising to me in the early aughts when I first became aware of this. What I'm not sure of is whether I would've been surprised by this in the early 90s. I don't remember.
Roads Are Free
This might be a perfectly good project for all I know (or not), but the important point is that road construction projects never get the kind of public scrutiny that mass transit projects do.
Being A Rich Heir Is Stressful
And the NYT is ONIT!!!
It was not until Mr. Lucas was 24 — long after he knew the trust could finance his Ivy League education — that he understood its full monetary value; that was when the Carnation shares were converted into cash after Nestlé bought the company in 1985. It was a shock, suddenly “having a pile of cash that you have no experience in investing,” he said. “That’s a very scary and risk-fraught transition.”
For many American families with wealth, the moment when their children learn how much money they have at their disposal causes profound anxiety. They fear that their children will not know what to do with the money and either squander it or not work as hard as they might otherwise.
The Bees Come Down
I have no deep thoughts on this, but we should probably figure out what's killing the bees.
Choices
I think it was actually the Fonzie of Freedom who wrote an article several years ago admitting that he liked New York City more than North Dakota.
The point isn't that everyone should or does prefer New York City, the point is that if you're a self-described libertarian who does, you need to think hard about exactly what kind of world you prefer and why. Dense highly populated cities are, by necessity, going to have all kinds of regulations. Also, too, massive public transit system.
The point isn't that everyone should or does prefer New York City, the point is that if you're a self-described libertarian who does, you need to think hard about exactly what kind of world you prefer and why. Dense highly populated cities are, by necessity, going to have all kinds of regulations. Also, too, massive public transit system.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
So Far, So Fast
It's useful to occasionally re-run historical Gallup polling on opinions about interracial marriage.
The speed of changing opinion on gay marriage seems miraculous compared to that.
The speed of changing opinion on gay marriage seems miraculous compared to that.
Churches Won't Have To Gay Marry Anybody
I haven't figured out if conservatives actually believe in this "threat to religious freedom" nonsense with respect to gay marriage. Churches won't be obligated to perform marriage rites for anybody if they don't want to, and frankly I'm fine with that. It's just a ritual. While pastors have this weird state blessing for the performing of this ritual, it's still just a ritual. It isn't needed for anybody to get married.
Quotas
They may not be appropriate or practical everywhere, but for things like "people talking about stuff on the teevee" or "people writing op-eds in the newspaper" there's really no reason that setting goals for diversity and meeting them is inappropriate.
Turnover
One thing I've always wondered is whether the corporate bean counters at places like Wal-Mart factor in costs of labor turnover when calculating labor costs. If store managers are encouraged to minimize labor costs, does that formula include all of the implicit and explicit costs of turnover and recruitment?
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Indeed
Onion:
Somewhat related, I'm always highly amused (read: fucking annoyed) at increased security proposals for rail mass transit systems. At the two Dem conventions I attended, they shut down the subway and light rail systems for security reasons. One can blow up a train and inflict reasonable amount of damage, but that's pretty hard to do. Anyone can weaponize a bus. Just, you know, start driving it into people and things.
WASHINGTON—Citing that a majority of Americans are irresponsible, easily distracted people who have little regard for other human beings, a new Department of Transportation report revealed Wednesday that it’s “actually kind of crazy” that U.S. citizens are allowed to drive automobiles. “Americans make millions of mind-boggling, idiotic mistakes every day, and when taking into consideration the sheer amount of lives that could be lost due to just the slightest human error while driving, it’s actually pretty goddamn shocking that we let citizens operate 4,000-pound machines capable of going 200 mph,” the report read in part, later adding that if one truly thinks about who their neighbors, friends, and children are as people, the absolute last thing one would be comfortable with would be them merging onto a busy highway with cars traveling 85 mph.
Somewhat related, I'm always highly amused (read: fucking annoyed) at increased security proposals for rail mass transit systems. At the two Dem conventions I attended, they shut down the subway and light rail systems for security reasons. One can blow up a train and inflict reasonable amount of damage, but that's pretty hard to do. Anyone can weaponize a bus. Just, you know, start driving it into people and things.
Good Luck With That
Though, seriously, good luck.
Amtrak, the U.S. intercity passenger railroad supported by taxpayers, asked Congress to more than double its capital budget so it can buy more trains and improve infrastructure.
Amtrak, in a letter today to Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner, asked for $2.1 billion in U.S. funds for its capital budget and $212 million for debt service for the 2014 fiscal year. In the 2013 fiscal year, Amtrak is receiving $905 million for those expenses.
Oldsters Is Old
Carl Newman, who fronts the New Pornographers, tweeted this:
I replied.
Obviously the big takeaway is holy crap I'm old (I was born 9 years after Please Please Me, but still), but I think there's a broader point about us olds not getting just how distant stuff is for The Kids Today. More than that, I also think there was a kind of continuity between people born, roughly, from the beginning of WWII until about 1993. The discontinuity here is the internet, a society transforming technology change.
I probably started listening to The Beatles (aside from randomly hearing them on the radio) in 1986 or so, when I was 14. Some 14 year old kid today listening to The Beatles would be equivalent to my 1986 self getting into music from 1939 or so. Those "old movies" weren't actually all that old, some of them anyway, when I was a teenager, but I sure did think they were old, even movies from the 70s! Imagine what they look like to The Kids Today. Probably every action/horror/mystery/thriller movie fails the "cell phone plausibility test," in that if characters had cell phones the entire plot would be ludicrous.
Anyway, point is the kids don't live in the world of oldsters. Oldsters is old.
Still rockin'.
The distance in time between '77 punk and right now is the same as the distance between '77 Punk and the attack on Pearl Harbor.
I replied.
@ACNewman distance between now and Please Please Me is same as distance between 1963 and Archduke Ferdinand being alive
Obviously the big takeaway is holy crap I'm old (I was born 9 years after Please Please Me, but still), but I think there's a broader point about us olds not getting just how distant stuff is for The Kids Today. More than that, I also think there was a kind of continuity between people born, roughly, from the beginning of WWII until about 1993. The discontinuity here is the internet, a society transforming technology change.
I probably started listening to The Beatles (aside from randomly hearing them on the radio) in 1986 or so, when I was 14. Some 14 year old kid today listening to The Beatles would be equivalent to my 1986 self getting into music from 1939 or so. Those "old movies" weren't actually all that old, some of them anyway, when I was a teenager, but I sure did think they were old, even movies from the 70s! Imagine what they look like to The Kids Today. Probably every action/horror/mystery/thriller movie fails the "cell phone plausibility test," in that if characters had cell phones the entire plot would be ludicrous.
Anyway, point is the kids don't live in the world of oldsters. Oldsters is old.
Still rockin'.
White House Tours And Private Planes
I'm obviously a bit pessimistic about the economy, but aside from the macro impact it's important to remember that people on the margins are going to be destroyed.
And the only (if unlikely) way out of the sequester is the "Grand Bargain."
If only politicians were concerned with actual problems.
And the only (if unlikely) way out of the sequester is the "Grand Bargain."
If only politicians were concerned with actual problems.
Rewarding Good Behavior
Good for Sherrod Brown.
Something that Dems have too often failed to understand is that most persuadable voters don't actually care that much about most policy issues, except for some single issue voters. More than that, everybody "knows" Dems are pro-mandatory gay abortions, so running from those issues doesn't actually help you. Persuadable voters like politicians they perceive as standing up for what they believe, politicians with "principles," etc. Better to vote for the mandatory gay abortions than to be perceived as being a coward.
Something that Dems have too often failed to understand is that most persuadable voters don't actually care that much about most policy issues, except for some single issue voters. More than that, everybody "knows" Dems are pro-mandatory gay abortions, so running from those issues doesn't actually help you. Persuadable voters like politicians they perceive as standing up for what they believe, politicians with "principles," etc. Better to vote for the mandatory gay abortions than to be perceived as being a coward.
DOMA
According to Scotus-watchers, odds are that it will be killed. Hopefully they are correct!
The 90s really sucked, politically.
The 90s really sucked, politically.
Twins, Drinking
Today, I would also pretty much ignore the Bush twins drinking at 19 story. Way back then we were still in the Monica Madness era, when family values trumped everything, and everything personal was both fair game and completely told us everything we need to know about politicians. Democratic ones, anyway. Focusing on a story like that was just playing that game.
Leadership
Progress is good, but it is a bit gross watching the falling dominoes of Dem senators suddenly discovering that God or Jesus or whoever is actually ok with marriage equality after all now that it's cool.
A few months ago they could have done so and been heroes, now they just look silly.
A few months ago they could have done so and been heroes, now they just look silly.
Earmarks
Sequestration panic is a reminder that one possible route to getting more stimulus would have been earmarks. Promise people nice things for their districts.
Instead it's all about Teh Deficit.
Instead it's all about Teh Deficit.
Awkward Position
Those poor regulators, maybe finding some reasons to do their jobs. So awkward.
The mortgage errors, while by themselves relatively minor, have heightened concerns within JPMorgan because they come on top of the other investigations. The increased scrutiny presents a challenge for the bank and its influential chief executive, Jamie Dimon, who was widely praised for steering JPMorgan through the 2008 financial crisis, leaving it in far better shape than its rivals. Among some executives at the bank, the worry is that the unwanted attention will undercut Mr. Dimon’s authority in Washington.
“Jamie and other executives feel terrible that the bank’s self-inflicted mistakes have put regulators in an awkward position,” Mr. Evangelisti said. He added, “We are wholly to blame for our errors and are fully cooperating with all authorities to make things right.”
Mr. Dimon has already testified before Congress and apologized for the trading losses. In response to last year’s trading blowup, the bank has also worked to root out the problems, shuffled its top executives, bolstered its risk controls and brought in a new head of compliance.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Fabulous
One's experience with this stuff is highly dependent on precisely when (and to a lesser extent, where) one grew up, but when I grew up gay people didn't exist, God had delivered a plague to kill them all, and being gay was the worst possible thing ever. No those things don't make any consistent sense, I'm just trying to deliver up the messages the culture had delivered to my 13-year-old brain. There was a plague. Gay people were almost entirely nonexistent in mainstream popular culture. And being gay was the worst possible thing you could be.
I'm not even sure where I heard that last message. It was certainly true, and everyone knew it. But I actually have no clue where it came from. The nonexistence of gay people to young teenage me is hard to square with the being gay is the worst thing ever message I received. Still I received it.
Things change.
I'm not even sure where I heard that last message. It was certainly true, and everyone knew it. But I actually have no clue where it came from. The nonexistence of gay people to young teenage me is hard to square with the being gay is the worst thing ever message I received. Still I received it.
Things change.
Out
I hope this NFL player does come out, and hope he has a sense that, in 2013, the support will probably overwhelm the backlash. I can't know that for sure, and certainly can't know how it will impact his career overall, but for enough of us it would make him a hero. I imagine he'll find a way to make a living.
Diapers
Many years after Monica Madness, I'm back in the "don't give a shit about the personal lives of politicians" camp.* After they opened that door, for awhile I thought everything was fair game for Republicans. But that era is, for a moment, over, and I'm happy to not care except in cases of gross hypocrisy. If you're anti-gay, your gay sex is relevant, for example.
But there's one thing that's been bugging me for years. We all sort of accept that David Vitter's prostitution issue involved diapers. And, frankly, so what. But the only source for this I've ever seen was James Carville. Did the diaper thing get sourced anywhere else?
I honestly don't care about the diapers. I'm just curious about the sourcing.
*Yes the illegality of prostitution makes it a legitimate issue over and above simply being a personal life issue.
But there's one thing that's been bugging me for years. We all sort of accept that David Vitter's prostitution issue involved diapers. And, frankly, so what. But the only source for this I've ever seen was James Carville. Did the diaper thing get sourced anywhere else?
I honestly don't care about the diapers. I'm just curious about the sourcing.
*Yes the illegality of prostitution makes it a legitimate issue over and above simply being a personal life issue.
One Step Away
Most of the country is one spell of unemployment or bad health event away from worrying about being homeless. Absent unions, a culture of long term employment, or a stronger safety net, the only thing which can really save us is consistent full employment. But we have a Federal Reserve that's less than thrilled about achieving that, concerned more with absurdly low inflation.
Why Would He Care
I mean, who knows what Rusty really thinks about anything, but - and this applies to most people - why would he care if gay people can marry each other? I get why abortion opponents care about abortion. If you think something is murder, it makes sense to oppose it. But why do marriage equality opponents care about it? I mean, as with most subjects, you can have an opinion on something without caring much about it. Whatever you might think about it, however you might vote on it, how can so many people be involved in an anti-same sex marriage movement? It's so weird.
Supremo Week
Prop H8 today, DOMA tomorrow. DOMA's the more important one, but I imagine they'll be decided similarly.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Monday Evening
Cats extra annoying lately. One managed to trap himself in the shower in the middle of the night. The other has decided that poking me with his claw is a perfectly acceptable way for him to wake me up in the morning.
Mattress
I do not think the people who run the world have any idea what they're doing.
Basically just encouraging bank runs, if not now then at the first hint of trouble.
Heckuva job.
Basically just encouraging bank runs, if not now then at the first hint of trouble.
Heckuva job.
Depression
One might not necessarily weep for all big businesses, but if operating accounts are raided then bills don't get paid, including payroll.
Suddenly nobody has any money.
Suddenly nobody has any money.
Not Sure How They Recover
It's important to remember that "rich depositors" aren't just Russian billionaires or similar, they're the operating accounts of businesses.
Gonna hurt.
Gonna hurt.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Long Hard Slog
The Dark Knight Rises was pretty crappy, (though The Dark Knight Returns was really good). Still they set up a Nightwing movie, and they should make it. Just better.
What's The Solution
Al Neuharth isn't wrong, but he's a rich guy who doesn't really ever have to drive if he doesn't want to. With an aging population, the elderly driver issue will increasingly be an issue, but what's the solution? So many people live in places where there just aren't other options, aside from paratransit services. And those are expensive to provide.
I really don't know what the solution is. As the suburban population ages this is increasingly going to become an issue. Mobility issues aren't the same for all elderly people. Some can walk, but shouldn't drive. Some can happily ride the bus, some have mobility issues that might prevent even that. But lots of people live in areas where driving is the only option, and taxis aren't part of the driving options.
I really don't know what the solution is. As the suburban population ages this is increasingly going to become an issue. Mobility issues aren't the same for all elderly people. Some can walk, but shouldn't drive. Some can happily ride the bus, some have mobility issues that might prevent even that. But lots of people live in areas where driving is the only option, and taxis aren't part of the driving options.
Good For Him
I don't think all jocks are meatheads, but the public personas of most NFL players usually don't suggest "enlightened smart person." So good for Scott Fujita.
(via)
(via)
Priorities
Of all of the horrible indignities air travelers face, having to turn your ipad off for 15 minutes really doesn't top the list.
Feelings
First the White House Tours, then the decorative plane flying stuff. Oh the humanity!!!!!!!!
But this is likely to be the last appearance by the Thunderbirds until the end of the federal government’s fiscal year on Sept. 30, if not longer. A performance this weekend by the Navy and Marine Corps’ Blue Angels near Key West, Fla., will also be their last for some time. The Army’s parachute demonstration team, the Golden Knights, is also suspending performances.
TPP
I realized that I wasn't clear yesterday about the enormity of the TPP (AFAWCT). It's not like the WTO enforcing " "anti-dumping" rules, or setting limits on tariffs.
Angry Bear via Yves Smith
This isn't a deregulatory, or, FTM, a free trade regime. The most favorable regulatory environment for "non-Party" and "Party" investors applies. That is, a loose regulatory regime for fracking, but a strong regulatory regime for copyright or patents. Mickey is protected from infringement everywhere, because the US protects him, and drug manufacturers in India are forbidden to produce compounds that cure the sick without a patent license.
It's worth noting that "intellectual property" was a key reason for the failure of the Doha round....
Article 12.4: National Treatment1. Each Party shall accord to investors of another Party treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to its own investors with respect to the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, and sale or other disposition of investments in its territory.
2. Each Party shall accord to covered investments treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to investments in its territory of its own investors with respect to the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, and sale or other disposition of investments.
The treatment to be accorded by a Party under paragraphs 1 and 2 means, with respect to a regional level of government, treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment accorded, in like circumstances, by that regional level of government to investors, and to investments of investors, of the Party of which it forms a part.]Article 12.5: Most-Favoured Nation Treatment
1. Each Party shall accord to investors of another Party treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to investors of any other Party or of any non-Party with respect to the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, and sale or other disposition of investments in its territory.
2. Each Party shall accord to covered investments treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to investments in its territory of investors of any other Party or of any non-Party with respect to the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, and sale or other disposition of investments.
Angry Bear via Yves Smith
This isn't a deregulatory, or, FTM, a free trade regime. The most favorable regulatory environment for "non-Party" and "Party" investors applies. That is, a loose regulatory regime for fracking, but a strong regulatory regime for copyright or patents. Mickey is protected from infringement everywhere, because the US protects him, and drug manufacturers in India are forbidden to produce compounds that cure the sick without a patent license.
It's worth noting that "intellectual property" was a key reason for the failure of the Doha round....
Saturday, March 23, 2013
"Decent Left"
I'd forgotten about that bit of self-labeling. Was a UK thing, not really an American thing, but was in line with similar branding here. The decent left, you may remember, were the people who supported an invasion which has resulted in the deaths of, at minimum, 100,000 Iraqis and ruined countless lives.
And I was the indecent one.
And I was the indecent one.
I Moved Your Cheese
Was playing around with new Disqus. Last time I did they let me revert back to old Disqus. This time, apparently not. So will work on making it better... give it time.
The Right People
Not that this is shocking.
This week, the court heard a troubling recording secretly made last month by Officer Pedro Serrano, of the 40th Precinct, in the South Bronx. Mr. Serrano is one of a handful of officers who began tape-recording conversations with their colleagues or superiors to document what they saw as wrongdoing.
In the recording, Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack is heard urging Mr. Serrano to stop, question and, if necessary, frisk “the right people at the right time, the right location.” When Mr. Serrano asked for clarification about who the “right people” were, the inspector replied: “The problem was, what, male blacks.” He continued, “And I told you at roll call, and I have no problem telling you this, male blacks 14 to 20, 21.”
Sovereignty
The Trans-Pacific Partnership isn't getting enough attention (by design, it seems.) The idea is that a supranational body would be empowered to override national regulations if a country had a regulatory regime in, say environmental policy or copyright policy, that was more restrictive than other countries, it would be forced to bring its regime in line with the others.
The EFF thinks this is a really bad idea.
All signatory countries will be required to conform their domestic laws and policies to the provisions of the Agreement. In the US, this is likely to further entrench controversial aspects of US copyright law (such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act [DMCA]) and restrict the ability of Congress to engage in domestic law reform to meet the evolving IP needs of American citizens and the innovative technology sector. The recently leaked US-proposed IP chapter also includes provisions that appear to go beyond current US law.The leaked US IP chapter includes many detailed requirements that are more restrictive than current international standards, and would require significant changes to other countries’ copyright laws.
So does the Sierra Club (pdf).
Unfortunately, the DOE loses its authority to regulate exports of natural gas to countries with which the United States has a free trade agreement that includes so-called “national treatment for trade in gas.”
The TPP, therefore, could mean automatic approval of liquid natural gas (LNG) export permits—without any review or consideration—to TPP countries.The broader idea is the elimination of national regulatory authority over production and distribution of manufactured goods, natural resources and "intellectual property." To be clear, this is not an instance of "free trade." The elimination of the public domain under copyright law is a restriction on trade. A bad one. (For more on this and similar topics, see Dean Baker's The End of Loser Liberalism.)
Friday, March 22, 2013
Friday Crass Commercialism
Veronica Mars was the best TV show you probably never saw. The 1st season is as good as anything on teevee, 2nd good, and 3rd a bit of hit and miss (be warned), but certainly the 1st season in isolation is worth watching. The third season/complete 3 seasons sets are oddly expensive so I only linked the first two.
They did the kickstarter thing for a movie for reasons I don't quite understand, but hopefully it will be a good movie!
They did the kickstarter thing for a movie for reasons I don't quite understand, but hopefully it will be a good movie!
Because Freedom
I've somehow managed to remain blissfully unaware of conservative Ben Carson mania and therefore have no knowledge or opinion of the guy, but I'm reasonably certain that Limbaugh is a bit off here.
Supply
This is humor, but demand side "help" for the housing market just increases prices more. In high demand areas like London, it's land prices and implicit rents, not construction costs, that drive high home/rental prices. Those prices are high because they don't build enough housing. There are various reasons for that, one of which is the misguided idea that every piece of greenery is sacred. Except for the bit that was taken to build my house, of course.
Open And Rational Debate
I know all the 'liberal hawks' perceive themselves as having engaged in some sort of high minded intellectual exercise back in the day, but what they were really doing most of the time was punching hippies.
Every year people pay them to write their mea culpas, and still nobody listens to the hippies.
Every year people pay them to write their mea culpas, and still nobody listens to the hippies.
The World, It Changes
I have no idea what's considered to be age-appropriate for kids anymore. I'm scared to buy books for my young relatives for fear of getting them something they "shouldn't" be reading. When I was a kid, reading anything at all was thought to be good. I brought all kinds of adult books into school. Nobody blinked. I suppose if I had something which was quite obviously erotica someone might have noticed, but otherwise I don't remember there ever being any issues.
Somewhat related is that yesterday I randomly noticed that Star Trek: The Motion Picture was rated G. Almost nothing not involving singing cartoon characters is rated G today.
Somewhat related is that yesterday I randomly noticed that Star Trek: The Motion Picture was rated G. Almost nothing not involving singing cartoon characters is rated G today.
Not So Supertrain
Maintaining such train service in the "nice things" category. Sure it's a waste of money, but we waste money on all kinds of stupid things, so why don't we waste money on things I like. Still, 5.5 hours from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh with once per day service is somewhat less than awesome.
Well That Makes It All Worth It Then
So absurd.
I think I'm the only one in this country who remembers the anthrax attacks. They tried to pin that on Iraq, too.
I think I'm the only one in this country who remembers the anthrax attacks. They tried to pin that on Iraq, too.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
The Bond Vigilantes Are Here!!!
Actually people are paying the US for the privilege of it holding onto their money.
At this moment in time, borrowing money at negative interest rates and just dropping it out of helicopters most likely has a greater than -.602% return.
The Treasury auctioned 10-year inflation-indexed notes at a negative yield for an eighth consecutive time as investors remain skeptical that Federal Reserve measures won’t lead to a resurgence in consumer prices.
At this moment in time, borrowing money at negative interest rates and just dropping it out of helicopters most likely has a greater than -.602% return.
Epi-Pen
Glad Ta-Nehisi is still with us, and hope he enjoys Europe. Getting the important stuff out of the way, I do have one question - why aren't epi-pens everywhere, or are they and I'm just not aware? Seems like every restaurant should have a supply.
Thursday Crass Commercialism
I actually quite enjoyed The Dark Knight Returns part 1 and part 2 animated features. I don't remember the original book well enough to know precisely how much it follows the original, but it seemed to mostly, if perhaps with a bit more a straightforward cleaner narrative. Doesn't aim it at the kiddies, either. It's pretty adult cartoon.
Mint The Damn Coin
Huzzah! Another round of Very Serious People thinking defaulting is more serious than legally minting a high denomination coin.
That's Kinda The Point Of Juvenile Court?
Lawyer's gonna try anything, I guess, but his client already got the "brain not fully developed" legal system treatment.
The Liberation Narrative Didn't Come Until Right Before The War Started
Sure it quickly turned into freeance and peeance and liberation and helping poor oppressed Iraqis and painting schools and blah blah blah, but for a year before that it had nothing to do with that. It was that we needed to invade Iraq. Saddam Hussein is a bad guy. Many Iraqis are bad guys - hey a deck of cards of Iraqi bad guys! - and we need to get rid of them. The Iraq military were bad guys for defending their country. The Iraqi people themselves were at best complicit in all of this badness because they let him stay in power.
There were the Kurds. The glorious sweet and nice pets of Christopher Hitchens, who for some were the purpose of the war (so many purposes). We were going to liberate the Kurds. But the Iraqis, they were basically the enemy. Of course Iraqi-Americans should be looked at suspiciously. They were quite likely the enemy.
There were the Kurds. The glorious sweet and nice pets of Christopher Hitchens, who for some were the purpose of the war (so many purposes). We were going to liberate the Kurds. But the Iraqis, they were basically the enemy. Of course Iraqi-Americans should be looked at suspiciously. They were quite likely the enemy.
Bank Runs
Banks are still closed, but oddly they're still stocking the cash machines.
Nobody could have predicted...
Nobody could have predicted...
The Free Money Solution
As with so many things these days, all the ECB has to do (conceptually - if they don't have legal authority they could be given it) is push a button and transfer a bunch of money to banks in Cyprus. Crisis solved! Nobody gets hurt!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Late Night
Such a stupid decade. Nobody noticed what this song was about.
Also, too, songs about banging underage chicks were understood and totally cool. Weird times.
Also, too, songs about banging underage chicks were understood and totally cool. Weird times.
Wars Are Bad
And if for some reason the people who run the United States feel the need to start one, it means they've failed. It means they should all resign in shame and let someone else clean up their mess. This country has immense power - military, economic, political - and if you can't use the latter two, along with the implicit threat of the first one, to make war unnecessary then you've fucked up and it's time to go home.
One Thing
Our great Iraqi misadventure did inspire some fun writing.
Probably not enough to justify the body count, but still.
Probably not enough to justify the body count, but still.
At The Risk Of Negotiating With Myself
If I were your benevolent dictator, I'd just hand out passports to anyone currently here who wanted one. But I'm not. I imagine what immigrants need most is not the right to vote, but the right to never ever be deported for any reason ever. It's stupid, but maybe that's the kind of out Republicans need. (Almost) Citizens except in name. Sort of the civil unions of immigration reform.
Perhaps a dumb idea for reasons I haven't thought through.
Perhaps a dumb idea for reasons I haven't thought through.
Heckuva Job
Miserable failure.
Can't aspire to work when there are no damn jobs.
The economy will grow half as fast this year as forecast only three months ago, the chancellor admitted in a budget speech which he said was a plan for Britons who "aspire to work and get on".
Can't aspire to work when there are no damn jobs.
Errr. There's another budget
Y compares the CPC budget to Ryan's ponies and unicorns.
You know, if Ezra were really running a WonkBook, driven by policy issues rather than the Village's concerns, we'd have had a "everything you need to know about the progressive caucus budget proposal" post by now.
UPDATE: Ezra has indeed made such a post. I missed it.
You know, if Ezra were really running a WonkBook, driven by policy issues rather than the Village's concerns, we'd have had a "everything you need to know about the progressive caucus budget proposal" post by now.
UPDATE: Ezra has indeed made such a post. I missed it.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Maybe The Most Amazing Thing
Was that they couldn't point to *anything* and pretend to call it WMD. I always thought they'd find a bottle of bleach next to a bottle of ammonia and declare the SMOKING MUSHROOM CLOUD FOUND.
The Real Reason For The Iraq War
Just in case you can't quite remember.
Obviously this is mostly about Tommy, but on May 29, 2003, the war was over according to Chuckie Rose.
Obviously this is mostly about Tommy, but on May 29, 2003, the war was over according to Chuckie Rose.
Fools and Frenchmen
Whatever his flaws (and he's almost all flaw), Richard Cohen always managed to write some good prose. And his "only A Fool-Or, Possibly, A Frenchman-Could Conclude Otherwise," line did perfectly capture a moment. It was a moment of horror and stupidity, a moment when a nation gone mad was determined to rain death and chaos upon the population of another country because Benghazi (makes as much sense as any reason then), but he expressed it perfectly. So that's something.
Must See Teevee
Michael Moore will be on with Piers Morgan (CNN) tonight at 9 for some Iraq war pundit greatest hits.
Anonymous Blogging Was All About The Chicks
I'm not perfect, but I think yr Atrios has been reasonably good on the feminism front over the years. Hopefully in my personal life too. One hilarious thing that has always stuck with me was when some commenter or blogger (forget, was years ago) accused me of expressing pro-women thoughts in order to get chicks. This was back when I was anonymous. In 2003, being an anonymous blogger was surely the best way to get laid.
Contemporary Politics
The current Republican party will never let a dem president get a "win" if they can stop it, especially if that democratic president is a Kenyan Muslim Socialist. Our great pundits generally conclude from this that a) we should not have Dem presidents or b) Dem presidents should just implement Republican agenda, and take responsibility for it.
There is a bright side. The Republicans might just save Social Security. Good for them.
There is a bright side. The Republicans might just save Social Security. Good for them.
Appalled
I was wondering what my former boss, Chris Piss, thought about the latest shenanigans in Cyprus. He recently became the head of a presidential economic advisory panel there. Correctly, he's appalled.
Protect the Pageant
The DC press's obsession with keeping the White House Show going, as opposed to being concerned with the the plight of the real lives of people, is, as always, revealing.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Tweet. On. This.
I doubt anything could have stopped the war machine, but twitter has made things a bit different. It isn't just twitter that has changed things, but twitter is a big part of it. Back in the dark ages of blogging, we were like people screaming through mostly soundproof windows, rarely heard. The media largely bowed to the administration, and conservative messaging could be reinforced through partisan outlets. Conservative bloggers mostly weren't important, but if they found a nut it would find its way through the puke funnel. Journalists hated those pesky liberal bloggers and felt free to ignore them.
But they like twitter. And it is hard to ignore. It's apparently taken Bill Keller this long to realize that sometimes people on the internet are mean (though he deserves it. I was a bit mean to him myself). In other words, he hasn't heard a damn thing we've been saying. If twitter was around 10 years ago he just might have.
But they like twitter. And it is hard to ignore. It's apparently taken Bill Keller this long to realize that sometimes people on the internet are mean (though he deserves it. I was a bit mean to him myself). In other words, he hasn't heard a damn thing we've been saying. If twitter was around 10 years ago he just might have.
What's Social Security, anyway?
Jay Ackroyd did an instructive interview recently with LAT Business columnist Michael Hitzik about the difference between the way people talk about Social Security ("safety net" for "those most in need") and the way it was intended - for everyone to be protected against having their money just disappeared from the banks, among other things. Really worth a listen and a pass-along.
Killadelphia
Likely just random fluctuation, but hopefully not.
The City's homicide rate is down 43 percent from last year.
In human terms, that means only 41 people have been killed this year, compared to the 72 homicides at this same time last year.
Progress
Something to cheer.
CHANGE – Results of this survey extend evidence of a remarkable transformation in public attitudes. Views on basic social issues often move slowly, if at all. Support for gay marriage, though, has gone from 47 percent to today’s 58 percent in just the last three years – culminating a period of change first endorsed by some state courts, then by some political figures, notably with Hillary Clinton expressing support for same-sex marriage today, and Barack Obama doing the same last May, a position he went on to underscore in his second inaugural address in January.
Lack of Progress
Being drunk (and possibly drugged by others) does not give other people license to do what they want with your body. I thought we all understood that now.
Having said that, I'm glad the perpetrators were tried of juveniles. Of course lots of other juveniles who should be tried as juveniles are tried as adults. I don't think - and Teh Science seems to support this - that teenage brains are anything near wired up correctly yet. That doesn't mean there should be no punishments for egregious crimes, just that it is best that we have this thing called the Juvenile Justice System that is separate from the adult system.
My brain wasn't wired up right when I was a teenager. I'd certainly like to think I wouldn't have done what these kids did. I'm pretty sure that's true. Sadly, if I had been there and been 15, I'm not sure I would have seen it as being as bad an act as it was, and I certainly can't claim to know that I would have done anything to intervene. Maybe I'm selling my teenage self short. But I don't know.
Having said that, I'm glad the perpetrators were tried of juveniles. Of course lots of other juveniles who should be tried as juveniles are tried as adults. I don't think - and Teh Science seems to support this - that teenage brains are anything near wired up correctly yet. That doesn't mean there should be no punishments for egregious crimes, just that it is best that we have this thing called the Juvenile Justice System that is separate from the adult system.
My brain wasn't wired up right when I was a teenager. I'd certainly like to think I wouldn't have done what these kids did. I'm pretty sure that's true. Sadly, if I had been there and been 15, I'm not sure I would have seen it as being as bad an act as it was, and I certainly can't claim to know that I would have done anything to intervene. Maybe I'm selling my teenage self short. But I don't know.
There's Oil There?
It is funny to remember how suggesting the Iraq war had anything to do with oil was, at the time, the equivalent of comparing Bush to Hitler. It was something which Was Not Done, and it was a very easy way to make the person making the claim the most unserious horrible evil person ever.
Frum's most interesting revelation comes from his discussion of Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi exile whom many neocons intended to install as leader of that country after the US took over. Frum says that "the first time [he] met Ahmed Chalabi was a year or two before the war, in Christopher Hitchens's apartment". He then details the specific goals Chalabi and Dick Cheney discussed when planning the war:
"I was less impressed by Chalabi than were some others in the Bush administration. However, since one of those 'others' was Vice President Cheney, it didn't matter what I thought. In 2002, Chalabi joined the annual summer retreat of the American Enterprise Institute near Vail, Colorado. He and Cheney spent long hours together, contemplating the possibilities of a Western-oriented Iraq: an additional source of oil, an alternative to US dependency on an unstable-looking Saudi Arabia."Wars rarely have one clear and singular purpose, and the Iraq War in particular was driven by different agendas prioritized by different factions. To say it was fought exclusively due to oil is a clear oversimplification. But the fact that oil is a major factor in every Western military action in the Middle East is so self-evident and obvious that it's astonishing that it's even considered debatable, let alone some fringe and edgy idea.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
From the left
Imagine international reaction if Hugo Chavez had taken 10% of bank deposits to bail out the state owned oil company. That's basically what's happening in Cyprus, except in EU bank own state.
Radical Protest
Always dangerous to wish for revolutions, but people in Spain and Italy and Greece really should consider pulling all of their money out of the banks, both as a precaution and as protest. If a bank run happens, the banks will just be bailed out again, as magically more free money will appear. For the banks.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
It Must Be Deliberate
They're actually sending the message that people need to pull money out of banks because otherwise they might steal the money to give it to the banks... in order to save the banks.
We are ruled by the stupidest fucking people on the planet.
Hint: here's what you should be doing.
The move — a first in the three-year-old European financial crisis — raised questions about whether bank runs could be set off elsewhere in the euro zone. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the president of the group of euro area ministers, declined early Saturday to rule out taxes on depositors in countries beyond Cyprus, although he said such a measure was not currently being considered.
We are ruled by the stupidest fucking people on the planet.
Hint: here's what you should be doing.
Here There Be Dead People
Consider the population of the last several hundred years, particularly in urban areas, the number of existing cemeteries/gravestones, and the prevalence (or lack of) of cremation. Where the heck do you think all the bodies are? Under your feet, of course.
When my house was being redone by the developer, they sunk the existing basement and found 16 little (baby and toddler sized) coffins. 18th century. My neighbors think of my house as the dead baby house. Joke's on them. My dead babies are gone, they all still have theirs.
When my house was being redone by the developer, they sunk the existing basement and found 16 little (baby and toddler sized) coffins. 18th century. My neighbors think of my house as the dead baby house. Joke's on them. My dead babies are gone, they all still have theirs.
I Suppose This Is At Least More Transparent
But hard to see how it won't completely collapse the banking system in Cyprus. Mattress time.
Small lenders, otherwise known as bank depositors, are having their wealth taken in order to bail out big lenders, otherwise known as banks. But it's really stupid. I have a hard time seeing how bank runs won't completely destroy the system. Who wouldn't take their money out, even if it's too late?
European finance ministers have agreed an £8.7bn bailout for Cyprus which includes all Cypriot bank customers handing over up to 10% of their savings.
Small lenders, otherwise known as bank depositors, are having their wealth taken in order to bail out big lenders, otherwise known as banks. But it's really stupid. I have a hard time seeing how bank runs won't completely destroy the system. Who wouldn't take their money out, even if it's too late?
Friday, March 15, 2013
Afternoon Thread
I'm watching hearing into the JP Morgan scandal on CSPAN3. Carl Levin seems to be the only Senator in attendance. He seems to know what he's doing, but he really should have some help from other members of the Senate Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. John McCain was there earlier and asked one or two questions. That's it.
As It Always Is
I can empathize with my family members, but no one else. I guess it's progress.
I first noticed this with Mona Charen. Who? I don't even know if she's still around. But, anyway, once upon a time ADHD was one of those things conservatives thought was some sort of liberal plot diagnosis. I have no opinion on the diagnosis of or treatment of ADHD, but for some reason there was a period when it pissed conservatives off because oh who the fuck knows Benghazi. Conservative media personality Mona Charen would regularly write these "ADHD IS REAL!!!" columns because, you know, she had an ADHD kid.
I first noticed this with Mona Charen. Who? I don't even know if she's still around. But, anyway, once upon a time ADHD was one of those things conservatives thought was some sort of liberal plot diagnosis. I have no opinion on the diagnosis of or treatment of ADHD, but for some reason there was a period when it pissed conservatives off because oh who the fuck knows Benghazi. Conservative media personality Mona Charen would regularly write these "ADHD IS REAL!!!" columns because, you know, she had an ADHD kid.
No Bargain
Greg's right that it's gonna be really hard for Obama to bring around the Democrat rank and file to make SS cuts, especially, as with chained CPI, to current recipients. And Atrios is right that it's gonna be even harder to bring around Republican rank and file in support of either end of the "bargain." Neither their old people base nor Norquist is God base support this "bargain."
Has Peterson put something in the water?
I guess the simpler explanation is the Dem leadership really does want to cut "entitlements" because.... well, really I don't know. Bad policy, bad politics that inflict real pain. I know Dancin' Dave and his friends think pain is good for its own sake, but the Dem leadership?
Has Peterson put something in the water?
I guess the simpler explanation is the Dem leadership really does want to cut "entitlements" because.... well, really I don't know. Bad policy, bad politics that inflict real pain. I know Dancin' Dave and his friends think pain is good for its own sake, but the Dem leadership?
Thursday, March 14, 2013
It's Easy To Live "Poor" When You're Rich
I don't think there's any moral or ethical component to living a supposed (but probably not really) minimalist life, and if, in New York style, the city is your kitchen and living room, you probably aren't.
MOOCed
Just to add to this, I don't think courses with significant online components are necessarily bad or evil or wrong. I just don't think that they're either going to be significant cost savers or significant revenue raisers. That's what I meant by saying the business model isn't there. Grifters and administrators fantasize about a course in a box, where you just plug it in and let it run forever while students continue to fork over 50 grand per year. It will never work that way. Such courses will still be labor intensive, and free self-directed learning options do and will continue to exist. If elite institutions open online enrollment to a wider variety of students, and include the credentialing aspect, they will degrade their brand.
What's lost in this discussion is that the cost per student per course for most professors, even relatively senior ones at relatively prestigious institutions, is relatively low. The large introductory courses MOOCs are imagined to replace really don't cost anything, even with a (relatively) highly paid full professor doing the teaching. When I taught at UC Irvine I earned a decent pay and had a decent course load. Over the course of the year I probably taught 500 students. Throw in a couple of TAs for the big auditorium courses and total instructional labor cost was probably $140 per student. Yes, plus benefits and other overhead. But the point is the cost of paying me was tiny relative to the tutition they were paying for those courses. There aren't cost savings here, because the costs are already really low (per student) for these kinds of courses. And the only way to have them be revenue raisers is to sell out the brand, which won't work either.
What's lost in this discussion is that the cost per student per course for most professors, even relatively senior ones at relatively prestigious institutions, is relatively low. The large introductory courses MOOCs are imagined to replace really don't cost anything, even with a (relatively) highly paid full professor doing the teaching. When I taught at UC Irvine I earned a decent pay and had a decent course load. Over the course of the year I probably taught 500 students. Throw in a couple of TAs for the big auditorium courses and total instructional labor cost was probably $140 per student. Yes, plus benefits and other overhead. But the point is the cost of paying me was tiny relative to the tutition they were paying for those courses. There aren't cost savings here, because the costs are already really low (per student) for these kinds of courses. And the only way to have them be revenue raisers is to sell out the brand, which won't work either.
Others
There's a scifi story that pops up a few places. I remember it in Babylon 5, and it sort of figures into basic Dalek mythology. But, anyway, there's a species or creature or robot or whatever that's designed kill everything that isn't genetically pure enough, anything that isn't part of the correct race. Inevitably it goes wrong, and decides nothing or no one is pure enough and starts slaughtering everybody. I kind of see conservative bloodlust this way. They really do want the deaths of "the other," the only question is precisely how they define that, how large their recognized tribe is.
Dead of Night
It would be shameful, if, as a nation, we ever collectively forget that Randy "Macho Man" Savage once recorded a rap album.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Deep Thoughts On Pope Bus Rider I
Just kidding. No deep thoughts whatsoever. I'm always slightly entertained by people who grew up in Catholic countries (Spain, Italy) where church/catholicism/christianity/religion are all basically the same thing. I mean, intellectually they know that there are other religions and other flavors of Christianity, but they've had little practical exposure to other religions and people practicing other religions in their lives.
Mysteries
What I find rather fascinating is that there's quite clearly no business model for MOOCs. Sure, there's a model in which a bunch of grifters get paid, but there's no model such that prestigious state and private universities actually make money off of them. Institutions are selling a pedigree, credentialing, networking, social experience, education, and a brand. MOOCs pretty much nullify all of those things.
But grifters gonna grift, and administrators gotta justify their existence.
But grifters gonna grift, and administrators gotta justify their existence.
Shiny Republican Objects
I was just amused yesterday that the Ryan budget release was An Event so profound that Luke Russert was live tweeting it as he read it. Who knew he could read?
The media just luvs them some Republicans, and everything they do is fascinating.
The media just luvs them some Republicans, and everything they do is fascinating.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
I Wonder Why
Not that I'm a fan of our Gov, but I haven't really had any sense of anything which would push his approval ratings that low.
Your Liberal Media
For how many years was Bill Hemmer a CNN fixture?
What I actually find a bit weird is that the "LIBERAL MEDIA" charges have actually died down a bit even though we probably have a bit more of liberal media than we ever did. No, MSNBC isn't all liberal all the time, but the primetime block+chris hayes is more liberal than anything that was ever on the teevee. Bill Hemmer included.
What I actually find a bit weird is that the "LIBERAL MEDIA" charges have actually died down a bit even though we probably have a bit more of liberal media than we ever did. No, MSNBC isn't all liberal all the time, but the primetime block+chris hayes is more liberal than anything that was ever on the teevee. Bill Hemmer included.
Over And Over And Over And Over
I've joked in the past that this blog was mostly about finding new and creative ways to say "Iraq war is bad idea" and then subsequently "George Bush sucks" a dozen times per day. At least my quixotic mission to increase Social Security benefits is a positive one. But, yes, repetition is actually hard to pull off. It gets tiring, especially when you're fucking right and the world is mad.
Synergy
The grift goes on.
All the technology one could possibly need for election organizing exists and is relatively inexpensive. You just need to figure out how to, you know, organize.
All the technology one could possibly need for election organizing exists and is relatively inexpensive. You just need to figure out how to, you know, organize.
Danger
Since National Gun Appreciation Day, David Waldman has been compiling news reports for people killed the previous week by "accidental" gunfire or suicide via firearm. He reports them as he Google finds them for him and he puts them into his twitter stream, @KagroX. One routine weekly outcome is that two children get shot. Last week:
Wichita KS, child in critical condition http://bit.ly/ZtFJQ2
Manchester, TN http://on.wbir.com/ZtGecN Toddler shot self in head
Wichita KS, child in critical condition http://bit.ly/ZtFJQ2
Manchester, TN http://on.wbir.com/ZtGecN Toddler shot self in head
Monday, March 11, 2013
Repetition
As Krgthulu says, there's great value in repetition. But it's also hard to maintain it. It's not that hard on this humble blog, where I can be a bit meta and jokey about it, but it is a bit difficult to write the same column over and over again, and I only write one every two weeks.
Aggressive Is Fine, Just Not Aggressively Stupid
Most liberals I know are fine with an aggressive White House press, just not one which is aggressive about whatever bullshit Michelle Malkin or Breitbart's kids or Rush Limbaugh is babbling about that day. In practice, that means coming at Obama occasionally from The Left, which our press knows they must not do. Because freedom.
Stop The Madness
If the grand bargain arrives, we're all going to have to get our dialing fingers ready. Our great and glorious representatives need to be reminded that "cutting Social Security" will come with a 360 degree whirlwind of shit.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Hopefully He's Wrong
But I share Dean Baker's modest pessimism about the economy. Doom might not be inevitable, but neither is boom.
Applebees America
The post-2004 election thumbsuckers about how Rovian Republicans were going to rule America forever were part of a truly weird genre. Everybody - including most liberals - really failed to notice that, whatever you though of him or his campaign, Big John came really close to winning that election. Bush was still fairly popular, the Iraq war hadn't totally gone to shit in popular perception, the economy was ok, and still John Kerry almost unseated an incumbent. Yes, he lost, but it wasn't like Mondale or Dukakis. There really wasn't any reason to think that election told us anything about the future of either party in terms of popularity.
Sunday Crass Commercialism
Thanks to the reader who sent me Ready Player One, which I'm almost finished with. It's a fun book, a bit Willy Wonka, a bit Ender's Game, a bit Little Brother, a bit Matrix, but mostly it's just a love letter to a particular strain of 80s nerd/geek culture, including the video games, the music, the roleplaying games, the tv, the movies. Unlike now, a time when geeks and geekdom basically rule the earth, geekdom then really was mostly just for nerds.
Sunday Afternoon
I gather that it's fashionable to hate on daylight savings time, but I like it. Hate early sunset.
Teevee advisory
Watched the first episodes of two new Brit dramas last night and thought they both looked promising, not hurt by casts full of familiar faces.
Auntie Beeb has Dancing on the Edge (trailer) with a surprise singing debut from a well-known actor whose own agent didn't know she could sing, as well as some great music and acting all around. Lovely sets.
ITV has Broadchurch with David Tennant (and Rory!), among others.
In other news, London had a warm, spring-like day, followed by the traditional rain, and now it's cold; the European Parliament wants to ban all porn in 'media', and George Osborn and David Cameron know exactly what they're doing, because Tories always want to put the working classes back in their place.
Meanwhile, if you really want a chiling insight into just how deeply and horribly neoliberal "pragmatism" has permeated our political culture, you should listen to Sam Seder's interview with Jonathan Alter on The Majority Report. Alter can't distinguish between taking an unpopular pledge that will hurt and kill millions of Americans and taking a pledge not to harm the country. This is an ideology that says defending good programs is wrong because, well, because.
Sunday Morning
It's an hour later than I think it should be. Going to take a couple of days to get used to this.
Saturday, March 09, 2013
The Social Security Privatization Plan That Didn't Happen
Something I've been wondering about lately is why the Bushies didn't offer up a privatization plan that liberals might actually be able to live with. That is, instead of carving out some sort of private account from the existing Social Security revenue stream, they could have just added a point to the tax rate on both sides (employer and employee) and created the accounts that way. It would've had weaker opposition if the current benefit system was, for the moment, left intact, and of course once the system was in place it would have been easier to muck with it later in a way liberals wouldn't like.
Friday, March 08, 2013
Finding It Difficult To Make The Point
A big point I'm trying to make on Social Security is that the 401K experiment has been a failure. We have a set of policies - including big tax expenditures for tax deductible employer/employee retirement benefit contributions - which are supposed to lead to the majority of seniors being able to retire in relative comfort and security. And what we're seeing now, decades later, is that experiment is a failure.
All this gets beaten back by the glibertarian crowd as "people should just save and invest, blah blah blah." Well, fine, but they aren't. Not enough. For whatever reason. So we're going to have a bunch of seniors in poverty and near poverty. What are we going to do about it, now and for the future?
All this gets beaten back by the glibertarian crowd as "people should just save and invest, blah blah blah." Well, fine, but they aren't. Not enough. For whatever reason. So we're going to have a bunch of seniors in poverty and near poverty. What are we going to do about it, now and for the future?
Asshole
Shorter Juan Williams: I didn't try to pass off CAP's writing as my own, I tried to pass off my intern's writing as my own, which is totally not plagiarism because shutupShutupShutUpSHUTUPSHUTUP.
Boom
Wonder what this is about.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed today that a large "cache" of explosives were found Thursday in a Public Storage Facility in Malvern, Chester County.
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Victories
I think Greg's missing something important here. Republicans don't really care about entitlement cuts, relative to other things, and don't want to own "entitlement cuts."
Pissed off olds are their voters. That's one small thing we can be thankful for.
Pissed off olds are their voters. That's one small thing we can be thankful for.
Trump Card
If not for all the death, it'd be quite hilarious thinking back about those days when all the Very Serious People believed, or pretended to believe, that Iraq posed some kind of existential threat to the United States.
They all went nuts, and gaslighted the rest of us.
They all went nuts, and gaslighted the rest of us.
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Bastards And Our Bastards
I'll spare you most of my deep thoughts on the passing of Hugo Chavez, but it's a useful moment to notice how that while there are bad rulers all across the globe, there's always almost universal agreement in our media - left right and center - that the real bad rulers are the ones our government declares to be bad rulers.
I love the House of Saud, and will be happy to take significant amounts of money to continue to say so.
I love the House of Saud, and will be happy to take significant amounts of money to continue to say so.
Smells Like Freedom
Benevolent liberators.
They got Manning, so justice.
"They worked hand in hand," said General Muntadher al-Samari, who worked with Steele and Coffman for a year while the commandos were being set up. "I never saw them apart in the 40 or 50 times I saw them inside the detention centres. They knew everything that was going on there ... the torture, the most horrible kinds of torture."
Additional reporting by the Guardian confirmed further details of how the interrogation system worked. "Every single detention centre would have its own interrogation committee," claimed the former general, who has for the first time talked in detail about the US role in the brutal interrogation units. "Each one was made up of an intelligence officer and eight interrogators. This committee will use all means of torture to make the detainee confess like using electricity or hanging him upside down, pulling out their nails, and beating them on sensitive parts." There is no evidence that Steele or Coffman tortured prisoners themselves, only that they were sometimes present in the detention centres where torture took place, and were involved in the processing of thousands of detainees.
The Guardian/BBC Arabic investigation was sparked by the release of classified US military logs on WikiLeaks that detailed hundreds of incidents where US soldiers came across tortured detainees in a network of detention centres run by the police commandos across Iraq. Private Bradley Manning, 25, is facing a prison sentence of up to 20 years after he pleaded guilty to leaking the documents.
They got Manning, so justice.
Really Can't Fit All Those Cars
I'm not sure how to solve parking politics. The free unlimited god given right to parking wherever I need it attitude is pervasive. Here in the urban hellhole you have a generation+ of people who lived with the decline of the city, and its neighborhood commercial corridors, who are car dependent. As neighborhood walkability returns, they sometimes fight new retail locations or even housing development (on vacant lots) due to parking concerns.
Perhaps the best way is to assign, for a modest fee, a tradeable parking permit to all existing property owners and tell new residents they're out of luck (though they could purchase one of those permits). There is no perfect solution.
Perhaps the best way is to assign, for a modest fee, a tradeable parking permit to all existing property owners and tell new residents they're out of luck (though they could purchase one of those permits). There is no perfect solution.
But We Painted All Those Schools
It's difficult to describe the madness of that era, when invading a country in order, it seemed, to provide fresh coats of paint for their schools made sense.
Ten years and $60 billion in American taxpayer funds later, Iraq is still so unstable and broken that even its leaders question whether U.S. efforts to rebuild the war-torn nation were worth the cost.
In his final report to Congress, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen's conclusion was all too clear: Since the invasion a decade ago this month, the U.S. has spent too much money in Iraq for too few results.
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
White People Don't Talk About Anything But Race In This City
Obviously that's not quite true, but the central premise of that horrible Philly Mag piece, that whitey is askeered to talk about black people, is ridiculous.
Minitru
I suppose it's possible that the Great And Glorious Emperor B. Barry Bamz would order his minions to fake the economic numbers, but I tend to think people judge the health of the economy by examining the experiences of themselves and of those around them. Some of us make sure to wake up at 8:30 once a month to glance at the unemployment numbers, but most people don't.
The Conservative Soap Opera Is Their Favorite Show
I remain puzzled by the complete obsession by our media, including much of the genuinely liberal media, about the minute-to-minute dynamics of Republicans and conservatives. Karl Rove said what about who? Snap! What's Grover have to say? Does John McCain agree with the honorable Mr. Sessions? Jeb vs. Newt!!!
The only time I remember this kind of coverage of Dems was maybe during the Obamacare fight. But with Republicans it's a constant thing.
The only time I remember this kind of coverage of Dems was maybe during the Obamacare fight. But with Republicans it's a constant thing.
Free Money
Just your occasional reminder that fixing the economy is a trivial task, involving giving free money to people. The free money solution might even be popular. Vote for me, I'll give you free money!
I get the Bernanke probably doesn't really have legal authority to do this, but Congress could give him legal authority to do so.
I get the Bernanke probably doesn't really have legal authority to do this, but Congress could give him legal authority to do so.
Contractionary Policy Is Contractionary
Yes from a macro perspective there are somewhat worse cuts, and replacing cuts to programs benefiting poor people with tax increases on rich people would be better, but can we all just agree that all contractionary policy is contractionary.
The cuts will hurt the economy. Replacement cuts will hurt the economy. Contractionary policy is contractionary.
Does no one read my sucky blog?
Barack Obama warned at the first meeting of his second-term cabinet on Monday that the $85bn in forced spending cuts will mean difficult budget decisions in the weeks ahead and that unemployment will end up being higher than it needs to be.
The cuts will hurt the economy. Replacement cuts will hurt the economy. Contractionary policy is contractionary.
Does no one read my sucky blog?
Monday, March 04, 2013
They're Much Cheaper In Europe
Prices fluctuate there, too, due to sales and promotions and things, but generally TV show DVD collections are a lot cheaper there in my experience. UK Amazon will give me the full ST: TNG for about $160, DS9 and Voyager for about $140, and Enterprise for about $75.
Just need a region free code.
Just need a region free code.
Poor Paul
It's part of the media game that they'll put up somebody who knows nothing about anything relevant against someone who does as if they're all the same.
Missing Empathy Gene
We see this again and again with conservatives. They or their children have some sort of problem, and suddenly they have great concern with that problem, but fail to consider the impact of a million other problems people might face.
Weep for the rich adulterous politicians. They, more than anyone, deserve our concern.
Weep for the rich adulterous politicians. They, more than anyone, deserve our concern.
Kicking The Poors
I'm sure everything will work out well.
Because America.
Unless a deal is reached to change the course of the cuts, housing programs would be hit particularly hard, with about 125,000 individuals and families put at risk of becoming homeless, the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated. An additional 100,000 formerly homeless people might be removed from emergency shelters or other housing arrangements because of the cuts, the agency said.
Because America.
The Insanity Of Our Times
Interest rates and the confidence fairy are barely invoked anymore. Once upon a time there was at least a stated rationale, however stupid, for austerity. But now we just must cut because cut we must. Freedom.
Dictator
The "funny" thing is that there are of course plenty of things that reasonable people see as executive branch abuses of power, but the Right isn't actually interested in any of them.
Oversight
Bill Keller's final sentence must have been carelessly dropped by a copy editor, so I'll add it back in for you.
The Aristocrats!
Sunday, March 03, 2013
Here There Be
What's fascinated me over the years is the fact that so few "serious" people ever notice that Tom Friedman is basically a sociopathic monster.
The Neighborhood
I get that not everyone in northern Virginia is rich. That isn't the issue. The issue is that the people who rule us live around there, and things there look pretty good. If the problems that other parts of the country were experiencing were more acute there, a few more of our great leaders might actually notice.
It certainly isn't all of the problem, but it's a small bit of it.
It certainly isn't all of the problem, but it's a small bit of it.
The People Who Run The Country
Where everything is good.
While the rest of the country experienced a corrosive recession, unemployment in Arlington County, home of the Pentagon, never rose above 5 percent. Nearby Fairfax County, with a cyberintelligence industry that took off after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, gorged on government contracts to private companies.
Saturday, March 02, 2013
Austerity For Some...
The reason for all those austerity policies in Europe, here in the US and now in Egypt is usually given as the fervently hoped-for return of the confidence fairy. But as Paul Krugman has stated:
Consider how things were supposed to be working at this point. When Europe began its infatuation with austerity, top officials dismissed concerns that slashing spending and raising taxes in depressed economies might deepen their depressions. On the contrary, they insisted, such policies would actually boost economies by inspiring confidence.
But the confidence fairy was a no-show. Nations imposing harsh austerity suffered deep economic downturns; the harsher the austerity, the deeper the downturn. Indeed, this relationship has been so strong that the International Monetary Fund, in a striking mea culpa, admitted that it had underestimated the damage austerity would inflict.
Never mind about that. Something so painful must be good for us! I think that belief, especially when only applied to the masses, is what is so very appealing about the era of austerity.
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For some links to the underlying theories about the confidence fairy who likes austerity policies, see my post here.
What Will Fix This
I think even among anti-austerity folks there's a general belief that, well, austerity sucks in the short run but over the longer run things will eventually just fix themselves because capitalism. With Europe actively trying to destroy several economies I don't know how that's possible.
And Italy isn't nearly the worst case in Europe.
Italy's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped to 11.7 percent in January from 11.3 percent the month before to hit its highest level for at least 21 years, data showed on Friday.
And Italy isn't nearly the worst case in Europe.
Friday, March 01, 2013
WDS: ICYMI
Digby
There's no support in the Village for sane public policy. But it's the new Global Village now. Just a piece in the NYTimes that the new luxury co-op apartments, like the converted Plaza Hotel are largely vacant. Not unowned. But only about twenty percent of the owners happen to be in town at any given time.
There's no support in the Village for sane public policy. But it's the new Global Village now. Just a piece in the NYTimes that the new luxury co-op apartments, like the converted Plaza Hotel are largely vacant. Not unowned. But only about twenty percent of the owners happen to be in town at any given time.
Going Forward
One depressing thing is that if unemployment starts going up again, it'll take many months for people to acknowledge it. If it shoots up drastically suddenly they might, but if it slowly marches upwards there will be a lot of failing to notice.
And nobody will do anything.
And nobody will do anything.