Sunday, June 30, 2013
Sunday Night
I suppose the problem is that not enough of us have thrown ourselves into volcanoes we haven't given enough money to rich people.
Looking Like A Trend
When I was a teen (given where I lived), the only way to go on dates or have any kind of social life whatsoever was to get your driver's license. Not only that, but the car was for people that age - or any, really - the ultimate consumer item. Having a Nice Expensive Car was a status symbol. Driving, and what you drove, mattered.
The car isn't going away any time soon, and there are other factors here - crappy economy, ratcheting up of age requirements for licenses - but at the very least I think it's fair to say that cars and driving aren't quite as important as they were.
The car isn't going away any time soon, and there are other factors here - crappy economy, ratcheting up of age requirements for licenses - but at the very least I think it's fair to say that cars and driving aren't quite as important as they were.
Afternoon Thread
Been listening to You Tube videos on this rainy Sunday. Here's Chuck Berry, Johnny B Goode. An oldie, but exceptional goodie.
XXIV
This week's edition of /David Waldman's (@KagroX) #gunFAIL project
Also, tonight at 9 Eastern atriots Culture of Truth and Avedon Carol join digby to discuss the SCOTUS rulings.
Also, tonight at 9 Eastern atriots Culture of Truth and Avedon Carol join digby to discuss the SCOTUS rulings.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Our Wives, Sisters, and Daughters
I always hate that formulation in political speeches as it inevitably comes across condescending, whatever the intention of the speaker. And the number of people dedicated to ensuring that their wives, sisters, and daughters won't have proper medical care is quite astounding.
Yes I know that restrictions on reproductive health care will always fall disproportionately on poorer people, but it isn't that simple. Not all that many people actually have fuck you money, and that's the kind of money you have to have to make sure things work as they should. Things like proper medical care for women in states that want to outlaw it.
Yes I know that restrictions on reproductive health care will always fall disproportionately on poorer people, but it isn't that simple. Not all that many people actually have fuck you money, and that's the kind of money you have to have to make sure things work as they should. Things like proper medical care for women in states that want to outlaw it.
Saturday Morning
The grift comes to a temporary halt, for at least one person. Paul Vallas, who never took graduate courses in education was hired to run school districts in Chicago, Philly and New Orleans. Finally, Connecticut said, enough! He's out of a job. About f'ing time.
h/t Portia
h/t Portia
Friday, June 28, 2013
Application
The problem with literacy tests for voting, or any other barrier, isn't that they're hard or weird, it's that poll workers have the obvious ability to apply them inconsistently.
Friday Crass Commercialism
Not that much of a superhero comic book reader, and really haven't read much Hulk, but did quite like Planet Hulk. And the author and I had an exchanges on the twitters last night so that's worth a plug.
Petition Time
Full understanding of the legal mess is above my pay grade, but this explains it a bit. In practice I doubt that these things commonly actually bite for cousin marriage issues (also, too, because such marriages aren't that common), but we do need uniformity for federal recognition of same sex marriages.
Reality Is An Illusion, Man
The weird thing is that it isn't exactly difficult to make the case that the economy sucks. I've been puzzled about the fact that conservatives haven't been trying to make the case. But you can make the case without, you know, just making things up and then defending the practice of just making things up.
Wussification
You know, it's still ok to compliment a woman's looks, just not in a creepy obsessive stalker way, not in a "that's all that matters" way, and maybe best to not focus so much on such things with work colleagues.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Some Bright-Eyed And Crazy
Immigration bill passes. On to the House. Not optimistic, though people I respect think otherwise.
Whatever one thinks about the immigration issue in its totality, I think my Asshole Test is pretty good. If you think people who were brought here by their parents as kids should be deported to a country they've never really experienced and where they don't even speak the language, you pass!
Whatever one thinks about the immigration issue in its totality, I think my Asshole Test is pretty good. If you think people who were brought here by their parents as kids should be deported to a country they've never really experienced and where they don't even speak the language, you pass!
Anthropology And Sociology
I forget who came up with this framework - and it's one that I imagine both anthropologists and sociologists would rightfully object to as mischaracterizing their fields - but I find it to be a useful one for reading the journalism. Basically, anthropology is when journalists write about them, and sociology is when journalists write about us. It's a largely unconscious perspective bias that is often amazingly pronounced in pieces. Not claiming I'm immune from this, but I also don't claim to have a view from nowhere perspective.
It's certainly not the most important example of this, but it screams out in most pieces written about transportation issues, though I think that might be changing a bit. Reporters drive, so mass transit users are "them."
It's certainly not the most important example of this, but it screams out in most pieces written about transportation issues, though I think that might be changing a bit. Reporters drive, so mass transit users are "them."
MONORAIL
The technology isn't necessarily completely impractical, but it's always been promoted by people who don't actually seem to understand what mass transit is for. Hint: read the words "mass" and "transit."
He Doesn't Floss Often Enough
Not going to give it the hits, but the "open season on Glenn Greenwald's personal life" piece is a pretty weird development in American journalism. I can't think of similar examples. Their tribe tends to like to see themselves as off limits for such things, and that journalists are participating in such an exercise is pretty bizarre.
Now that he's writing with Spencer Ackerman will Spencer be next?
Strange days.
Now that he's writing with Spencer Ackerman will Spencer be next?
Strange days.
Radar
Dahlia Lithwick once explained to Culture of Truth and me that you need to watch the apparently obscure decisions made by the Roberts court.
There were some headline grabbers this term. But this one matters too.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Wednesday Crass Commercialism
My most prized possession.
Well, the most prized possession obtained at a white elephant party anyway.
Well, the most prized possession obtained at a white elephant party anyway.
Man on Dog
When will conservatarians or glibertarians or whatever Paul is understand that hot human on animal marriages are unlikely to happen because, you know, animals can't consent to such things. Well, at least unless there comes a time when our dolphin overlords decide they're sick of this shit and reveal they do understand all the stupid stuff that comes out of our mouths.
Lamar!
Always been surprised that Lamar Alexander wasn't more of a Senate peacock. Figured he'd be the d'Artagnan to Liebos, Lindsos, and McCainis.
A Success
Changing attitudes about same sex marriage admittedly, to some degree, required changing attitudes among some self-described liberals. Whether due to concerns about the politics of it or actual personal opposition for whatever reason, there was a time when not all politically engaged liberals were on board with it.
I've always thought one success of the liberal blogosphere, especially back in the day, was to knit together a more coherent liberal coalition on a broad range of issues. Don't always love what unions do? Fine, but labor rights are still necessary. Your religion opposes gay marriage? Fine, but equality in the eyes of the state is important. That kind of thing.
It's clear in this glorious age of Obama that liberals don't exactly agree on everything, but I do think liberal blogs did, for awhile at least, help get people on board with a broader agenda of social and economic justice.
I've always thought one success of the liberal blogosphere, especially back in the day, was to knit together a more coherent liberal coalition on a broad range of issues. Don't always love what unions do? Fine, but labor rights are still necessary. Your religion opposes gay marriage? Fine, but equality in the eyes of the state is important. That kind of thing.
It's clear in this glorious age of Obama that liberals don't exactly agree on everything, but I do think liberal blogs did, for awhile at least, help get people on board with a broader agenda of social and economic justice.
BFD
Obviously the Supremo decision is a big fucking deal, and not just in the symbolic yay equality sense. It will have some immediate obvious impacts - immigration, taxation and benefits - but very deep practical benefits for current and future married gay couples.
One can wish to minimize the degree to which The State is in the marriage business, but I've never understood how it can get out of it completely. For the most part the state's interest in marriage is about what happens when marriages end, either due to divorce or death, recognizing that (generally) cohabitating couples eventually form a single financial entity and it has to be up to someone to figure out how to divide up the property at that point. I think people overstate the degree to which such things can be solved through private contracting, and underestimate the practical difficulties of doing so. It's a shame common law marriage recognition has declined, as I think it was a concept which made this idea more clear.
One can wish to minimize the degree to which The State is in the marriage business, but I've never understood how it can get out of it completely. For the most part the state's interest in marriage is about what happens when marriages end, either due to divorce or death, recognizing that (generally) cohabitating couples eventually form a single financial entity and it has to be up to someone to figure out how to divide up the property at that point. I think people overstate the degree to which such things can be solved through private contracting, and underestimate the practical difficulties of doing so. It's a shame common law marriage recognition has declined, as I think it was a concept which made this idea more clear.
And Prop. 8 Is Dead
Court says plaintiffs don't have standing, same sex marriage returns to California.
DOMA
Bumper sticker is good news: unconstitutional. Waiting for more info...
...equal protection argument. Feds must recognize marriages granted by the states.
...equal protection argument. Feds must recognize marriages granted by the states.
Surprised
Thought they were just going to cheat.
AUSTIN, Tex. — Hours after claiming that they successfully passed some of the toughest abortion restrictions in the country, Republican lawmakers reversed course on Wednesday and said a disputed late-night vote on the bill did not follow legislative procedures, rendering the vote moot and giving Democrats a bitterly fought if short-lived victory.
TPP
Via Avedon, why are the TransPacific Partnership terms classifed?
President Obama in his last State of the Union address said that he hopes to see the United States ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, an proposed treaty among at least 12 nations on both sides of the Pacific that would set rules of what members governments could and couldn’t do in regard to financial regulation, intellectual property rights and much else.
But the Obama administration refuses to disclose precisely what is in the draft treaty or what the United States is asking for. That’s classified information.
That is to say, the classification system, whose original stated purpose was to make it a crime to disclose military secrets to foreign enemies, is being used to make it a crime to reveal the government’s proposed trade treaty to the American public.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Better Convene A Blogger Ethics Panel
As oldtimers will remember, way back in the early days of political blogging, there were tremendous worries that bloggers might have economic conflicts of interest of some sort or another and we needed BLOGGER ETHICS and CONGRESSIONAL LEGISLATION to make sure that at the very least our entire lives were fully disclosed to make sure this wasn't the case. I wasn't quite as wise to corruption in Washington as I am now, but even then I knew that people on the teevee and in op-eds were often talking their (usually undisclosed) book. No one seemed to care about that.
Tuesday Crass Commercialism
Sugar is a movie more people should see. It's about the pipeline from Dominican Republic training camps to minor league baseball in the US. Just very well done, good for both baseball fans and non-fans.
I linked to the blu-ray because the internet tells me that the DVD release (Some? all?) was PG-13ized from the original R. Not that I remember it being some sort of extreme-R movie or anything.
I linked to the blu-ray because the internet tells me that the DVD release (Some? all?) was PG-13ized from the original R. Not that I remember it being some sort of extreme-R movie or anything.
Baseline
Yes I'm cynical, but it's pretty easy to meet the "no emissions increase" marker laid down by Obama on Keystone if you use the State Department estimate that it wouldn't really increase emissions.
Seeing The Future
We can now look forward to another couple of years of the media pretending that clear efforts to disenfranchise minorities and the poors are just about trying to prevent non-existent voter fraud.
Because both sides and stuff.
Because both sides and stuff.
No Big Surprise
SCOTUS says places with histories of violating the voting rights of minorities are now free to continue doing so.
More specifically, they chucked out section 4 which determined which areas needed pre-clearance for changes to voting laws under section 5 of the Voter Rights Act. Congress could fix it (well, probably they couldn't even if they wanted to), and monkeys could fly out of my butt, so section 5 is essentially dead.
More specifically, they chucked out section 4 which determined which areas needed pre-clearance for changes to voting laws under section 5 of the Voter Rights Act. Congress could fix it (well, probably they couldn't even if they wanted to), and monkeys could fly out of my butt, so section 5 is essentially dead.
Time To Put On A Flight Suit
The WaPo never fails to advocate the "big swinging dick" theory of presidential foreign policy and action.
What Time Zone Is This?
Sleep patterns disturbed due to travel.
Don't worry, White House. What happened in the Ramada stays in the Ramada.
Don't worry, White House. What happened in the Ramada stays in the Ramada.
Justice
Corzine's:
Glennzilla wrote a book about this kind of thing:
After nearly two years of stitching together evidence, criminal investigators have concluded that porous risk controls at the firm, rather than fraud, allowed the customer money to disappear, according to the law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case.Yours:
Sentencing for a Grand Larceny, as with most theft-related crimes, depends largely on the amount of money alleged to have been stolen by a defendant. New York Grand Larceny Charges are brought as felony criminal charges and are used to prosecute any theft over $1,000.... Grand Larceny in the First Degree [is a] class B felony in New York punishable by up to 25 years in prison
Glennzilla wrote a book about this kind of thing:
Monday, June 24, 2013
Bad Management
The basic point is that the management class is filled with incompetent people. Sure not all jobs are intrinsically awesome and plenty of people are unpaid, but it shouldn't be all that hard to cultivate a decent workplace environment. Pat people on the head every now and then, tolerate a bit of social slacking as long as the work gets done, don't demand facetime for its own sake and give people a bit of formal or informal flex time, etc. Also, too, loyalty is a two way street. That's the bit that bad managers don't get.
Village Life
If nothing else, the Snowden situation has demonstrated how some top DC journalists see "journalism" as "important people telling you things that you then type up." One can have other issues with these leaks (that I'm personally unlikely to share), but ultimately the press objections don't seem to be any more coherent than that the wrong guy told another wrong guy stuff.
All Knowing, Wrong, And Useless
I'm enjoying the admittedly somewhat jokey arguments that if the tentacles of the NSA octopus can't locate and grab Snowden then it can't be that much of a big deal. I do suspect that our surveillance state is mostly useless for its supposed purpose. But, hey, we spend gobs of money on it and general spy v. spy stuff because freedom.
It's an argument for smashing the surveillance state, not keeping it.
It's an argument for smashing the surveillance state, not keeping it.
Spring Cleaning
We are ruled by really stupid horrible people.
When Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, called for an exemption for women who were victims of rape and incest, Rep. Jody Laubenberg, R-Parker, explained why she felt it was unnecessary.
“In the emergency room they have what’s called rape kits where a woman can get cleaned out,” she said, comparing the procedure to an abortion. “The woman had five months to make that decision, at this point we are looking at a baby that is very far along in its development.”
CRASH, BABY, CRASH
A mini-wheeeeee.
I don't really want it to crash, but a crash is about the only thing which might cause Our Galtian Overlords to notice that maybe, just maybe, the economy isn't perfect.
I don't really want it to crash, but a crash is about the only thing which might cause Our Galtian Overlords to notice that maybe, just maybe, the economy isn't perfect.
SCOTUS
My expert reading of the legal commentary on the twitters is that there were some crappy decisions but at least they mostly punted on the affirmative action case.
Airport bound.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
While I Was Sleeping
Apparently we are at war with Russia, China, Venezuela, and Ecuador and not a single journalist David Gregory knows in Washington has ever published classified information.
Monday, Monday
I really don't believe all the top diplomats at the State Department made an error in the wording of their request to have Snowden extradited. They offered the Hong Kong government a way out of a sticky situation, which Hong Kong gratefully accepted. These guys know diplomatic speak, they wouldn't make such a rookie mistake.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Afternoon Thread
Greetings from NYC.
It hasn't gotten any quieter. There is construction on every single street. Or, at least it seems that way.
It hasn't gotten any quieter. There is construction on every single street. Or, at least it seems that way.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Happy Hour
Sometimes it's interesting to see how a newspaper front page looks in another country. Here's the UK Independent tomorrow. Or read Matt Taibbi's piece on the rating agencies.
Afternoon Thread
With all the hoopla, I missed this story. . Did you know there's a war on men and James Taranto of the WSJ blames women's new found sexual freedom. My only response is "suck on it." Or not, as the case may be.
Afternoon Thread
Apologies for the suckiest blog week ever, but finding it harder than usual to multitask conferencing and blogging.
Talk amongst yourselves. You all hate me anyway. [/pout]
Talk amongst yourselves. You all hate me anyway. [/pout]
A Sober God-Fearing Man
Haven't had time to follow anything over the last few days, but is there any reason the defeat of the farm bill is bad news?
Threats
Threat that requires surveillance of everybody in the world who uses the internet:
Mr. Mueller referred — but in greater detail than had been provided at Tuesday’s hearing — to newly declassified information linking the program to a case in which several men in San Diego were discovered to have sent about $8,500 to Al Shabab, a terrorist group in Somalia.Threat that, sadly, can't be addressed, beyond additional service charges:
State and federal authorities decided against indicting HSBC in a money-laundering case over concerns that criminal charges could jeopardize one of the world’s largest banks and ultimately destabilize the global financial system.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Paneling, Paneling
Fun fun fun fun.
We've saved Social Security, now on to ending sexism and misogyny.
We've saved Social Security, now on to ending sexism and misogyny.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Greg Mankiw Defends the One Percent
Should you suddenly feel compelled to study the economic arguments that might justify why the very rich are so very rich and why the rest of us are not, you can read Mankiw's paper (pdf).
My impression, after reading it, is that Mankiw tries to explain increasing income inequality in a world where tax policies have never changed in the direction of benefiting the wealthier, where outsourcing and globalization are not fairly recent phenomena, and where all markets are not only very competitive but where we all can immediately spot the true marginal productivity of all financial firm managers!
For more erudite criticisms, go here, here, and here. More on the topic here and here.
"Progressive" language lessons
I felt like having a ramble recently about the way our "centrist" leaders in the Democratic Party explain their policy agenda, so I wrote this.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Skills Gap
We've been getting regular reports of employers who are deeply concerned that they don't have a vast pool of highly skilled workers with specialty training willing to work in undesirable locations for 12 bucks an hour. That isn't actually a skills gap.
Afternoon Thread
This has to be the most absolute stupidest thing I've ever heard:
Notice, he doesn't think female babies do the same. Asshat.
There is no question in my mind that a baby at 20-weeks after conception can feel pain. The fact of the matter is, I argue with the chairman because I thought the date was far too late. We should be setting this at 15-weeks, 16-weeks,” said the former OB/GYN during the House Rules Committee debate on the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.
Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” he continued. “They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to believe that they could feel pain?
Notice, he doesn't think female babies do the same. Asshat.
HAMP'd
The key point here is that these are ongoing practices (one ex-employee confirms BofA was deliberately pushing their customers into foreclosure as late as last August) and that there's documentary evidence in addition to sworn statements (the plaintiffs already submitted emails under seal).
Somehow every state and federal law enforcement official in the country skipped over talking to bank employees who got Target gift cards as bonuses for putting homeowners in foreclosure, and this had to come out in a class-action lawsuit. Funny how that goes.
Oh, and also, mortgage servicers try to rip off natural disaster victims.
Your bowl of sadness for the day.
The Grift Goes On
Everything Is Illumilooted.
Its most interesting feature, however, is not architectural, but financial. The house, which is owned by John Sexton, the president of New York University, was bought with a $600,000 loan from an N.Y.U. foundation that eventually grew to be $1 million, according to Suffolk County land records. It is one of a number of loans that N.Y.U. has made to executives and star professors for expensive vacation homes in areas like East Hampton, Fire Island and Litchfield County, Conn., in what educational experts call a bold new frontier for lavish university compensation.
N.Y.U. has already attracted attention for the multimillion-dollar loans it extends to some top executives and professors buying homes in New York City, a practice it has defended as necessary to attract talent to one of the most expensive cities on earth. Mortgage loans to Jacob Lew, a former N.Y.U. executive vice president, part of which was eventually forgiven, became an issue during Mr. Lew’s confirmation hearings as treasury secretary this year.
I Hate Waking Up To An Alarm Clock
Yes, yes, that's a problem most of you face regularly but since I rarely need to, whenever I do, I spend the night being paranoid that I set it incorrectly, it won't go off, and I'll miss my flight or whatever. So crappy sleep.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Spooky Action At A Distance
No I didn't have wireless broadband for my Commodore 64, but as a fairly early adopter I do remember people being relatively freaked out by Wifi when they first saw it. Some of you oldsters might remember that having a wired home broadband connection was pretty miraculous not all that long ago. I remember when a friend was visiting and we needed to check something online and he kept telling me that I needed to plug in my internet. That wifi worked at all and was actually pretty fast (even then - newer protocols are faster) freaked people out at first.
Culture
One never quite knows the truth of stories like this, because SECRET, but if true this hardly portrays an institutional culture which respects privacy and has meaningful safeguards (from 2008).
This isn't just individual abuse of power, it's an environment where people thought it was cool to share.
US Soldier's 'Phone Sex' Intercepted, Shared
Faulk says he and others in his section of the NSA facility at Fort Gordon routinely shared salacious or tantalizing phone calls that had been intercepted, alerting office mates to certain time codes of "cuts" that were available on each operator's computer.
"Hey, check this out," Faulk says he would be told, "there's good phone sex or there's some pillow talk, pull up this call, it's really funny, go check it out. It would be some colonel making pillow talk and we would say, 'Wow, this was crazy'," Faulk told ABC News.
This isn't just individual abuse of power, it's an environment where people thought it was cool to share.
Barack Obama Doesn't Run Booz Allen
Even if one thinks that the policies of the Obama administration are basically correct and that Barack Obama is, unlike [insert name of likely future Republican president here], basically a good guy, he doesn't actually control the day to day operations of a sprawling surveillance state which includes tens of thousands of people and many private contractors. Even if abuse of power isn't state policy, it's almost unfathomable that controls exist to prevent abuse by individuals within the system. Also, too, unfathomable that we'll ever hear about such abuses if they happen. Because secret.
I get that people want to trust Obama, but he's really not in control.
I get that people want to trust Obama, but he's really not in control.
Tiny Bit Of Eschaton History
Don't think I ever actually ate a waffle, but Bonte offered free wifi back before most people had even heard of wifi, so I used to go there to have coffee and write sucky blog posts.
Program Notes
Travel/nerd convention this week so blogging will probably be a bit random. More generally, I've been trying to detach from the blog a bit more than I have in the past (on weekends, at least). It isn't the hardest job in the world, but I do get in the habit of hitting publish and then thinking 'ok, 90 mins. to come up with another post...' and doing that 7 days a week for 11 years isn't entirely healthy. I need to be out and about sometimes without my little netbook. Thanks to all the people with keys who help keep this blog mighty and strong when I disappear for a bit.
Savvy
I'm seeing responses along the lines of "How dare Snowden reveal that we spy on other countries and of course we spy on other countries everybody knows that."
It can't really be both, you know.
It can't really be both, you know.
A truly fine reporter on stuff that matters
Everybody knows by now (because it's true) that Marcy Wheeler is one of the very best reporters anywhere, in any medium, on important national issues, and we were very lucky recently that she was able to appear twice on Virtually Speaking shows on timely subjects. Jay Ackroyd interviewed her on the heels of Obama's drone speech, and listeners had a lucky break a few days later when she was on the Sunday show and her co-panelist's internet connection went down long enough to give Marcy time to say a lot more than she might otherwise, about the way the administration managed to paper over its egregious violations of press freedom in the
so-called "war on media" with a brilliant piece of co-optation - just as the Bradley Manning trial was about to start. There's a real cornucopia of information in these two shows and I heartily recommend them to anyone who really wants to know what's actually going on.
A point to remember about all this when we're talking about keeping information from "the enemy": This is all information that "the enemy" already knows because, you know, when you've run drone strikes on people, it's not a secret to them. The "enemy" who is being kept in the dark by any administration that practices this kind of secrecy, war on whistle-blowers, and treating a nominally free press as traitors, is the American people.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Is there finally a stake in its heart?
Sam Seder was saying the other day that he thinks the Grand Bargain is dead. I sure hope he's right.
(I always want to use that Blood From the Crypt font when I write "Grand Bargain", but I'm too lazy.)
Some thread
And if you're bored you could read "How The American University was Killed, in Five Easy Steps".
The Big Money
I don't mean to minimize the civil liberties issues - I think they're very real - but my opinion (perhaps wrong!) is that ultimately all of this stuff is about the grift.
But the grift and the civil liberties issues are one and the same. We might be able to trust civil servants toiling away at decent if not huge salaries for the greater good. There's no reason we can even imagine trusting a giant network of for profit companies bilking taxpayers for everything they can.
I've told this story a million times, but it was the most instructive overheard conversation I ever had the privilege to overhear. At a resort in Palm Springs: "Katrina happened, and then everyone got rich."
Obviously everybody didn't get rich. The victims didn't get rich. But this guy and his friends did.
But the grift and the civil liberties issues are one and the same. We might be able to trust civil servants toiling away at decent if not huge salaries for the greater good. There's no reason we can even imagine trusting a giant network of for profit companies bilking taxpayers for everything they can.
I've told this story a million times, but it was the most instructive overheard conversation I ever had the privilege to overhear. At a resort in Palm Springs: "Katrina happened, and then everyone got rich."
Obviously everybody didn't get rich. The victims didn't get rich. But this guy and his friends did.
What's It All About Then
Just a big $$$ scam.
WASHINGTON — When the United Arab Emirates wanted to create its own version of the National Security Agency, it turned to Booz Allen Hamilton to replicate the world’s largest and most powerful spy agency in the sands of Abu Dhabi.
Multimedia
It was a natural choice: The chief architect of Booz Allen’s cyberstrategy is Mike McConnell, who once led the N.S.A. and pushed the United States into a new era of big data espionage. It was Mr. McConnell who won the blessing of the American intelligence agencies to bolster the Persian Gulf sheikdom, which helps track the Iranians.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Deep Thought
There's no reason to be concerned about an agency with a director who feels free to lie under oath.
Nerd Week
Heading to San Jose this week to meet with all of the other basement dwelling* pajama wearers at Netroots Nation. Missed the last couple due to various reasons. I'm sure we'll figure out our plan to usher in the Marxist Paradise this time.
*To be fair, lately I have been working in the basement. But it's a nice basement.
*To be fair, lately I have been working in the basement. But it's a nice basement.
Morning Thread
5:00 a.m. and it's already getting light outside. Only a few more days before they start getting shorter again, so enjoy!
Friday, June 14, 2013
Safety Net First
A minor plea to those stylizing themselves as neoliberal+redistribution types. We're a rich country, and the rich are getting richer all the time. Spend a bit more time advocating for the redistribution, then we can discuss the supposed efficiencies.
Supporting cuts to Social Security isn't a way to burnish your redistribution/safety net cred.
Supporting cuts to Social Security isn't a way to burnish your redistribution/safety net cred.
Nice Things
As I've said before, if I had a hundred billion bucks to spend on my dream transit projects, I wouldn't build a California SUPERTRAIN. I'd spend it on intra-city transit systems. But as I have yet to be appointed to be your benevolent dictator, I don't get to make that choice. To the extent that there is a choice, it's more between flying death robots and a CA SUPERTRAIN. I'll take the train.
Priorities
My local radio is airing a big state-sponsored ad campaign for the Jersey Shore. I suppose some businesses might be better off for it. But, you know, that tunnel would probably have made more business more better off. Not to mention, you know, people.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Looters
When the insurance industry destroys itself what are the odds we'll bail them out? I don't just mean the customers, I mean the firms themselves.
Free Labor
I think unpaid internships are always going to be a problem in that the affluent are more able to have them than the less affluent, but it's also the case that just about any situation I can imagine such that an unpaid internship would comply with federal law would be a pretty short term affair. Weeks, not months.
But it's also the case that firms offering genuinely valuable internships can probably manage to fork over the $7.25/hr. Problem solved.
But it's also the case that firms offering genuinely valuable internships can probably manage to fork over the $7.25/hr. Problem solved.
Dumb
I don't doubt that the economics of the movie industry will continue to change, but, no, people aren't going to pay a hundred bucks to see a movie that's been out for 8 months or more. The "blockbuster" model is more about everybody seeing it as soon as it comes out. And Lincoln didn't have any trouble getting into theaters. It was on almost 1800 screens on its first wide release weekend,
Dumbass
One problem with the whole media criticism genre of blogging is that you end up shining a light on things that you don't think deserve any attention, because of the desire to criticize the fact that they received attention. Never figured out a way around that.
But, no, I don't care about the dumbassery of the kids of members of Congress unless there's some very solid and clear way that it somehow refutes the wisdom of their policy agenda, or, with a somewhat higher bar, their general rhetoric.
But, no, I don't care about the dumbassery of the kids of members of Congress unless there's some very solid and clear way that it somehow refutes the wisdom of their policy agenda, or, with a somewhat higher bar, their general rhetoric.
Those Kids Today
Sir Paul of Beatles was on Colbert last night. An occasion to do the math and think about how the kids today might relate to the Beatles. I didn't really know anything about them until I was 15 or so, 1987. I'm not saying I'd never heard of them or never heard their music - of course I had - I mean... I knew there was this band that sang Twist and Shout and Yesterday and Love Me Do, but I didn't have any sense of their place in musical or cultural history until I was well into high school. And that was a time when there was a 60s revival thing going on (MTV, etc., promoting) so I went from knowing not much to knowing a reasonable amount.
Doing the math, the Beatles ended 1970 or so. 17 years before I was 15. Going 17 years back from today brings us to... 1996.
No deep point. Just perspective from an old guy. Get the fuck off my lawn.
Doing the math, the Beatles ended 1970 or so. 17 years before I was 15. Going 17 years back from today brings us to... 1996.
No deep point. Just perspective from an old guy. Get the fuck off my lawn.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Did You Try Turning It Off And Then On Again?
If they don't understand the technology, they can't possibly understand how to have proper oversight. And I just don't mean over privacy issues, I mean the billion dollar contracts they're handing out to the people who know how to turn it off and then on again.
It's Unconstitutional If The Supreme Court Says It's Unconstitutional
This is one of my wee pet peeves. Yes we can all have opinions about and debate what should or shouldn't pass constitutional muster, but if a ruling is a specific enough about something then there isn't any debate about what currently IS constitutional. I can think that a ruling was wrongly decided for various reasons, but once it's decided the law is the law.
If there is no clearly applicable ruling, I get to express opinions such as "this is clearly unconstitutional." But once they've ruled, it is what it is. I don't have to agree with the ruling, but the ruling then becomes current law.
If there is no clearly applicable ruling, I get to express opinions such as "this is clearly unconstitutional." But once they've ruled, it is what it is. I don't have to agree with the ruling, but the ruling then becomes current law.
Wednesday Crass Commercialism
As my brain is mush after reading the computer all day, reading anything other than graphic novels for fun is sometimes a chore. Not putting down graphic novels, it's just that they do have fewer words. Haven't read anything new in awhile (brain mush has moved me from graphic novels to netflixing old tv series), but I quite enjoyed Ex Machina when I read it.
Most Unpaid Internships Are Clearly Illegal
And it's time to start enforcing the law.
Aside from the "fetch my coffee for free" aspect, unpaid internships shut out people from less wealthy backgrounds from important, desirable, lucrative, and influential career paths.
Aside from the "fetch my coffee for free" aspect, unpaid internships shut out people from less wealthy backgrounds from important, desirable, lucrative, and influential career paths.
There's No Money There
This is from a few days go, a lifetime in blog years, but I neglected to link to it. I think even relatively sensible liberals get stuck in the "means testing" trap occasionally. But the thing about Social Security is that there isn't any money in means testing unless you take it away from people who aren't making much money at all.
Think rich people have too good a deal? Just increase their damn tax rates.
Think rich people have too good a deal? Just increase their damn tax rates.
Who Leaked To Tom Friedman?
Probably no one, of course, except the voices in his head. But if does actually know enough to assert something like that then maybe he did ring up some important person. "Hey, Paul, is that super-classified program being abused?" "No Tom, don't think so." "Ah, ok, thanks, column written."
Blabbermouth
We should be worried about Glennzilla and Snowden. It's good they're doing this very publicly, and that they have allies who are speaking out very publicly in support. They're exposing corruption of the very worst sort--as Atrios has pointed out--and that is a very dangerous thing to do.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
So Why Did He Have The Keys To The Castle?
Jay's post earlier made this point, but more generally as the Snowden demonization process goes on, the rather obvious question is... why did he have such access if he's so horrible? How about the people and process who vetted him? Snowden, at least, isn't using his access for direct personal gain. What about the rest of them? And there are a lot of them.
The Big Grift
The smartest line of work these days is looting non-profit institutions before they go under. Obviously the former hastens the latter, but you just gotta pull out the money before somebody else does.
Tell Us Sweet Little Lies
Forget the lying, the incompetent appearance with Andrea Mitchell should be reason enough to get rid of Clapper.
Who Runs The Government
Whatever one thinks of what they imagine they know about the specifics of our surveillance state, one would hope that a few more people would get upset about who our security agencies think is really in charge. Spoiler: them.
Sen. Ron Wyden says Director of National Intelligence James Clapper had a day to prepare his answer to Congress that there was no widespread collection of Americans' phone records.
Clapper, in answer to Wyden's questions in March testimony, denied that any intentional and massive sweep of Americans phone records as part of counterterror surveillance was occurring. It was revealed in the last week that two such programs do exist and were recently renewed.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Wyden said when NSA Director Keith Alexander didn't provide a full answer to questions about the programs, Wyden gave Clapper a day's notice that he would be asked the question at the hearing. Afterwards, he said, he gave Clapper's office another chance to amend his answer, but Clapper declined.
Hey DiFI!
Julian Sanchez
Though, if you DO think Snowden is a traitorous criminal, shouldn't you be concerned about a system that gave him keys to the spy machine?
Monday, June 10, 2013
Monday Night
I suppose an interesting story which could be fleshed out is just how do 29-year old GED having/bounced out of the military/basically no college dudes get high security clearances?
I don't have a problem with any of those things, but they've all been used to "poke holes" in his story. How does one become a watcher, and who is watching that process?
I don't have a problem with any of those things, but they've all been used to "poke holes" in his story. How does one become a watcher, and who is watching that process?
Monday Crass Commercialism
X-Box One pre-order!!!!
Or just click the link and buy something else so I get all of amazon's moneys.
Or just click the link and buy something else so I get all of amazon's moneys.
Gatekeepers
I find the degree of hostility from our journalistic class (largely but not just cable news) to Edward Snowden to be fascinating. As much as I think the whole surveillance state/secret security state stuff is bullshit, even I get that some information shouldn't actually be published, such as leaks that really don't serve to inform the public of something they should know and are simply there to injure individuals or parties. If Glennzilla publishes some stuff like that it would be appropriate to direct the ire at him. But the hostility to a leaker from people who supposedly (if not really) spend their time attempting to get unknown and relevant information to the public is fascinating.
I guess my point is that I understood (whether or not I agreed) the hostility to wikileaks when they did a big data dump, but when they did the "responsible" thing and ran the info through "respectable" news outlets, there were objections to that, even from the recipients of the information who used it.
It seems that only the made men and women of Washington can be sources or the recipients of the information, no matter how relevant or responsible.
I guess my point is that I understood (whether or not I agreed) the hostility to wikileaks when they did a big data dump, but when they did the "responsible" thing and ran the info through "respectable" news outlets, there were objections to that, even from the recipients of the information who used it.
It seems that only the made men and women of Washington can be sources or the recipients of the information, no matter how relevant or responsible.
Administration
The problem with colleges and universities today.
All they need to do is get rid of a few more tenure lines and they can demonstrate their commitment to student education by hiring some more chauffeurs.
City College President Lisa Coico’s Upper West Side home is just four subway stops from the Manhattanville campus, but Coico is chauffeured the two miles to work and back every day in a state-issued Buick.
Coico, whose salary is $300,000, is among nearly 70 SUNY and CUNY officials who enjoy the use of taxpayer-funded wheels and sometimes a driver. In Coico’s case the driver is a college public-safety officer.
All they need to do is get rid of a few more tenure lines and they can demonstrate their commitment to student education by hiring some more chauffeurs.
The Expectations Fairy
Ultimately the point is that the Fed can, in theory, just do stuff, while Obama can't. For reasons too boring for the margin of this blog post, I don't have much confidence in the expectations fairy. But I have less confidence in massive fiscal expansion being passed by Congress, even if I have great confidence that, if passed, it would work pretty well. So we cheer on the arrival of the expectations fairy even if we don't have too much confidence in it. It might work, and it doesn't cost anything to try.
CoT
Translation. And exegesis.
NBC again preempted Meet The Press for a sporting event. If the network preempts the show much more, they may win a Peabody Award for contributing to the national discourse. Since even I don't watch Face the Nation with Grandpa Schieffer, it was left to George Stephanopoulos to carry the burden for the shows.
Sunday, June 09, 2013
Apparently Some Stuff Happened This Weekend
Haven't had a chance to dive into it fully, but my basic belief is that aside from civil liberties issues, the security/surveillance state industry is just a giant grift, a big scam there to enrich certain communities in Northern Virginia. That it is a net good is bullshit, that it makes us "safe" is bullshit, and that "making us safe," as opposed to perpetuating its own existence and fattening the wallets of its members and those that play along, has much to with anything that goes on is bullshit.
I'm sure the Men in Black could pay me a visit and convince me otherwise. What do I know? There are known unknowns and unknown unknowns, and I can't claim knowledge of any of them. Much of what is "intelligence work" is boring, and stuff produced from that work is probably useful and the people who do it are probably doing good work for good reasons. But the unholy alliances with big businesses and third party contractors and the empire of well-paid informants and agents is just bullshit in which everyone takes their cut of your money.
...from someone I'm not exactly a fan of.
You do the hokey pokey
and you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about.
I'm sure the Men in Black could pay me a visit and convince me otherwise. What do I know? There are known unknowns and unknown unknowns, and I can't claim knowledge of any of them. Much of what is "intelligence work" is boring, and stuff produced from that work is probably useful and the people who do it are probably doing good work for good reasons. But the unholy alliances with big businesses and third party contractors and the empire of well-paid informants and agents is just bullshit in which everyone takes their cut of your money.
...from someone I'm not exactly a fan of.
I love DC; at Little League game, dads are talking about catastrophic consequences of Snowden on contractors they work for.
You do the hokey pokey
and you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about.
Stuff To Do
I don't think Pennsylvania is exactly known for its natural beauty. Like just about anywhere it has some, of course, but it's certainly not what it's known for. A bit surprised Ricketts Glen State Park doesn't get a bit more wider notice. Been a few times in my life, and the Falls Trail is one of the nicer hikes I've been on.
Surveillance States
Ian Welsh provides some context, and a little dispassionate analysis. (That's not to say he's not pissed off.)
XXI
KagroX compiles his #gunFAIL news feed for the twenty-first week.
14 kids accidentally shot this week. Don't know of any suffocated in discarded refrigerators.
14 kids accidentally shot this week. Don't know of any suffocated in discarded refrigerators.
Saturday, June 08, 2013
Great Moments In Freedom
Joke or not, we all know who the enemy is.
In Dulles UAL lounge listening to 4 US intel officials saying loudly leaker & reporter on #NSA stuff should be disappeared recorded a bit
Afternoon Thread
Here are some pictures of the flooding in Central Europe, but that's okay, Al Gore is fat.
The pics are wonderful.
h/tBB
The pics are wonderful.
h/tBB
Culture of what?
I was watching Amy Goodman talking to Glenn Greenwald on Democracy NOW! and I noticed Dianne Feinstein complaining that we've become "a culture of leaks".
Of course, the United States is supposed to be a culture in which the whistle is blown on corruption and law-breaking by public officials and large institutions. It's an interesting sleight-of-hand to make it sound like "leaking" is some unsavory bacterium that has infected this, uh, culture, rather than a necessary ingredient in a democracy. I think it's called "transparency", isn't it?
Whenever I hear a politician ask me to trust him, I remember the devil saying, "Trust me, Winslow."
Friday, June 07, 2013
Internet Justice
I suppose the best thing we can achieve now is having the internet know forever that Ezekiel Gilbert or perhaps Zeke Gilbert was the guy who shot and killed an escort over $150 because she didn't have sex with him. Because he was acquitted.
Journamalism
Imagine the story and get the supporting quotes for what you imagined.
Glenn must be a weirdo because something something derp.
Glenn must be a weirdo because something something derp.
What's It All About Then
Any time there are surveillance stories, a bunch of people rush to the internet to inform us what The Program Is Really All About, even though they have no idea.
Annoying.
Annoying.
Thursday, June 06, 2013
What Do They Do
I raised this on the twitter yesterday, but conceptually just what do we imagine 20,000 NSA employees do all day?
In Tex We Trust
I do love the view that because the secret surveillance state is just standard operating procedure we shouldn't get upset about it. Also, too, IT MUST BE SECRET ARREST THE LEAKER.
But, yes, few in Congress actually care so the posturing is silly.
But, yes, few in Congress actually care so the posturing is silly.
The Parking Problem
In Philly I think parking-based opposition to new development is more focused on commercial rather than residential development, but it's still an issue. I go back and forth on whether the problem should be solved by simply allocating a set number of residential parking permits to existing residents and telling new residents that they're on their own. Then the issue becomes whether the permits are tradeable in some fashion or if there's just a waiting list.
I'm mildly sympathetic to the view that existing residents are stakeholders and that they've been implicitly granted some right to parking availability, a right which is diminished if the local permitted population increases. But only mildly. There isn't really a right to free parking in front of your house, no matter what some of my neighbors seem to think.
I'm mildly sympathetic to the view that existing residents are stakeholders and that they've been implicitly granted some right to parking availability, a right which is diminished if the local permitted population increases. But only mildly. There isn't really a right to free parking in front of your house, no matter what some of my neighbors seem to think.
It's Totally Not A Big Deal And That's Why It Needs To Be Completely Secret And Free From Meaningful Oversight
Regarding the latest dispatch from the most free country in the world.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
346K new lucky duckies.
Not too bad. Monthly jobs report comes out tomorrow.
Not too bad. Monthly jobs report comes out tomorrow.
REITs
Had a Twitter discussion yesterday with a housing reporter about how rising interest rates are causing the Wall Street investors scooping up foreclosed housing for rental, which makes up a lot of purchasing demand in some markets, to pull back. He said that as long as these investors are generating capital through real estate investment trusts, that's the opposite of flight from the space.
Well...
Colony American Homes has postponed a US float as the sudden jump in market interest rates has damped investor appetite for newly issued shares in real estate investment trusts… Bankers have said the recent downturn in shares of publicly traded Reits would hurt valuations for companies in the sector preparing for initial public offerings and secondary share placements…. That pressure has been acutely felt by newly issued shares in Reits with similar business strategies to Colony. Silver Bay Realty Trust has fallen 6 per cent since raising $281m in December, while American Residential Properties has dropped 11.7 per cent since it raised $287.7m from a May float.We're going to see if this housing recovery is sustainable very quickly... Yves Smith has more.
Morning Thread
Thers, over at Whiskey Fire is having a fundraiser. I can't think of a better place to donate. He's been at it pretty much from the beginning and doing yeoman's work in trying to get important stories, largely ignored by the MSM, out there. If you can comfortably chip in a few shekels, please do!
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Expediter
Only two people known to be dead so far. No biggy.
Marinakos had signed off on demoltion permits to take down the Market Street structure which directly abutted a Salvation Army Thrift store. The building collapsed mid-demolition, trapping people in the adjacent store under debris. A spokesmen for Marinakos said the architect had served as only as an expediter for the city permitting process and had apparently never actually seen any blueprints for the demolition plan he endorsed.
Mr. Marinakos, reached at his office in the Spring Garden neighborhood, said he "couldn't talk right now".
The Party's Over
One trick the Republicans managed to pull off, from Reagan on through Bush, was to maintain the weird image that they were actually the fun party. Sure, it was a kind of a frat boy fun, but even with the Christian Right hanging around, team GOP was who you joined if you wanted to get your Democracy! Whisky! Sexy! on. I think losing young people is in part due to losing the ability to project that image.
Bad Demolition
Buildings have collapsed in the urban hellhole. Other reports suggest that a neighboring building (or one of the ones that collapsed) was in the process of being demolished.
Hi Lucy
Well I hope to be wrong, of course, but I never thought the Republicans would give Obama a "win" on anything, especially not on an issue that enrages the teabaggers.
Priorities
People's homes are being stolen and this is what matters.
It's not fair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, too, Teh Market.
More than 100 members of Congress are upset that nonstop flights out of a Washington, D.C., airport to their hometowns could be a thing of the past, which they say isn’t fair to smaller communities.
It's not fair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, too, Teh Market.
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
Tuesday Crass Commercialism
I've done the math, and it seems that not nearly enough of you have bought my friend's novel. Naughty naughty.
55 out of 59 reviews are 4 or 5 stars. The internet can't be wrong!
55 out of 59 reviews are 4 or 5 stars. The internet can't be wrong!
Let's Take Nice Things When They're Offered
On the twitterz earlier Josh Barro wrote:
And, yes, for whatever reasons, infrastructure projects, especially anything involving a tunnel or a bridge, are absurdly expensive compared to most countries. Other people can figure out just why that is and try to do something about it. But the choice is between increasing rail capacity into New York with an imperfect too expensive plan, or doing nothing at all anytime soon. We spend all kinds of money to do stupid destructive things that at best do nothing useful for us, so we should be willing to support spending all kinds of money on nice things when the opportunities present themselves.
I'd rather have a $10 billion pair of tunnels than spend $10 billion on equipment the military doesn't even want. That probably isn't a choice, either, but we do the latter all of the time. We shouldn't get "sensible" when the former is an option.
Liberals love the ARC tunnel that Chris Christie killed bc they love anything with rails, but it was a dumb, overly expensive project.
And, yes, for whatever reasons, infrastructure projects, especially anything involving a tunnel or a bridge, are absurdly expensive compared to most countries. Other people can figure out just why that is and try to do something about it. But the choice is between increasing rail capacity into New York with an imperfect too expensive plan, or doing nothing at all anytime soon. We spend all kinds of money to do stupid destructive things that at best do nothing useful for us, so we should be willing to support spending all kinds of money on nice things when the opportunities present themselves.
I'd rather have a $10 billion pair of tunnels than spend $10 billion on equipment the military doesn't even want. That probably isn't a choice, either, but we do the latter all of the time. We shouldn't get "sensible" when the former is an option.
Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Because our rulers just like to spend money on horrible pointless things.
At a time when the United States government is under pressure to cut spending, and every dollar counts, some members of Congress are pushing for a new missile defense site, possibly on the East Coast, that could eventually cost at least $3.6 billion. The proposal is premature at best and could actually harm America’s national security by denying resources to other more urgently needed and more effective defense programs.
Post-Racial America
Whatever one thinks of drug use and what drug laws should be, a large number of people in this country are at least occasional marijuana users. Getting arrested on a drug charge, even a minor one, can be a pretty life altering event. It isn't a bit of minor systemic racism, it's quite major. The system is rigged against African-Americans in a major way.
Shocking News
If we redefine "shocking" as "completely expected."
WASHINGTON — Black Americans were nearly four times as likely than whites to be arrested on charges of marijuana possession in 2010, even though the two groups used the drug at similar rates, according to new federal data.
Repetition
What Daniel Hallin (via Jay Rosen) called the Sphere of Legitimate Controversy seems to be changing. Since Serious People don't acknowledge dirty hippies, it's hard to know whether we've had anything to do with that.
Perhaps the R-squared embarrassment was a tipping point, giving cover for people to change positions without admitting having been idiots.
Still--encouraging!
Perhaps the R-squared embarrassment was a tipping point, giving cover for people to change positions without admitting having been idiots.
Still--encouraging!
Monday, June 03, 2013
Driven
I get that the car service class - of which Dorothy Rabinowitz is likely a member - is distinct from the personal car class, which is why I specified "personal car." Though I do have a hard time seeing the benefits of relying on a car service unless it's of snap-your-fingers always available quality. As in, walk downstairs and your driver is waiting. Otherwise it's one extra step, one additional person/service to have to rely on.
It's important to emphasize "relying on" as opposed to just using, as I get that such things (and taxis) are quite useful at times. Still I generally just don't get wanting to live in Manhattan and wanting to live there from the perspective of the passenger seats, to be a Manhattanite and to not be a pedestrian and subway rider. Just feel like there are probably other places you'd enjoy more if that's the case.
...and, yes, as someone who has probably driven on average once per month for the past 10 years or so my driving skills have definitely declined. I'm a cautious and careful driver by nature, so I don't think I'm a road menace, but those driving instincts do fade.
It's important to emphasize "relying on" as opposed to just using, as I get that such things (and taxis) are quite useful at times. Still I generally just don't get wanting to live in Manhattan and wanting to live there from the perspective of the passenger seats, to be a Manhattanite and to not be a pedestrian and subway rider. Just feel like there are probably other places you'd enjoy more if that's the case.
...and, yes, as someone who has probably driven on average once per month for the past 10 years or so my driving skills have definitely declined. I'm a cautious and careful driver by nature, so I don't think I'm a road menace, but those driving instincts do fade.
The End Of Room Service
I think there's a wee issue with breakfast room service, but otherwise, at least in a city like New York where food delivery is omnipresent, it really isn't a necessary service. Having some sort of 24 hour counter in big hotels where people can grab drinks and snacks really would be a perfectly fine substitute. Room service food mostly sucks as for some reason they focus on just serving up "normal" food rather than food that can handle a lag team time between preparation and consumption. Food meant to be served hot generally sucks when it arrives cold.
Just partner with local delivery businesses.
Just partner with local delivery businesses.
The One Thing That Mattered In The Sequestration
Was the ability of rich people to continue flying normally.
And, yes, I know that it isn't just rich people that fly, but it is a rich people problem nonetheless. So they fixed it!
And, yes, I know that it isn't just rich people that fly, but it is a rich people problem nonetheless. So they fixed it!
A Man Who Moves Across a Space and Disappears.
A very weird thing for me for a long time has been urban dwellers who fundamentally reject the actual virtues of urban life. I get that not everybody wants to live in Manhattan, but I have no idea why anyone would want to live in Manhattan and get around primarily by personal car. I get that cyclists can be a pain in the ass - especially for drivers - but it's rather obvious that the biggest pain in the ass for drivers are, you know, other drivers. Reducing car use and car trips in a dense urban hellhole should be seen as win-win for everybody.
I guess I ultimately interpret this as a "kids get off my lawn" kind of thing. Lifestyles are changing, slightly, and the (some) oldsters are angry.
I guess I ultimately interpret this as a "kids get off my lawn" kind of thing. Lifestyles are changing, slightly, and the (some) oldsters are angry.
Bailing Out Rich People
I welcome more serious research into this question, but it's impossible to conclude that the Fed's boosting of financial asset prices didn't help people who, you know, own financial assets. Poor people don't own any of those, and middle class people don't own much.
No Money
I think Digby's take on ACA is good. Yes it will likely be, in the net, an improvement over the current system. And, yes, people who were unable to get insurance now will be able to and people buying insurance on the individual market will have better plans. But it's still the case that some people who really don't make all that much money are going to be paying more than they can really afford for a health care system which is still far from perfect.
The younger, healthier, more well-off aren't that well-off.
The younger, healthier, more well-off aren't that well-off.
Torture
Solitary confinement is torture which drives people insane. Torturing the already mentally ill is even more barbaric.
Merit
Ezra picks some highlights of a speech by Helicopter Ben to Princeton graduates.
The concept of success leads me to consider so-called meritocracies and their implications. We have been taught that meritocratic institutions and societies are fair. Putting aside the reality that no system, including our own, is really entirely meritocratic, meritocracies may be fairer and more efficient than some alternatives. But fair in an absolute sense? Think about it. A meritocracy is a system in which the people who are the luckiest in their health and genetic endowment; luckiest in terms of family support, encouragement, and, probably, income; luckiest in their educational and career opportunities; and luckiest in so many other ways difficult to enumerate–these are the folks who reap the largest rewards.
Sunday, June 02, 2013
Tatiania Maslany
I like Orphan Black, though it hasn't yet proved itself to be the Best Show Ever, but Ms. Maslany really has been that good in it.
Public Spaces, Public Fun
Annual (though org+sponsors changed this year) urban hellhole bike race was today. It's a fun time in large part because the powers that be don't enforce the 'no drinking in the parks' rule and pretend not to notice. I don't have a problem with the rules, though I do think they should be enforced irregularly, and the punishment should be to kick your ass out of the park and not any criminal offense. Alcohol and crowds can be a problem, so shutting it all down should be an option, but often it's all quite harmless and people should be allowed to enjoy a nice Spring day.
Taxes
A common refrain from anti-cyclists is that cyclists pay no taxes. It's true they pay no gas taxes when riding, and are therefore not paying to support a portion of federal and state highways that they are mostly forbidden from riding on, but contrary to popular belief local roads are mostly paid for out of local (property, most places) taxes and are not in any way a user fee imposed on drivers.
The Bikes Make Them Crazy
The culture clash in NYC over bikes is pretty amusing, though I really don't get why they drive some people so insane. More than that, I really don't understand longtime New Yorkers (and I mean people in the dense transit and taxi rich bits, mostly Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn), choose to have personal car-centric lives.
Saturday, June 01, 2013
Afternoon Thread
Here's Thers at Whiskey Fire on the Magdalene Laundries. And surprise, surprise, William Donohue of the Catholic League, will sell you a booklet for $5 that explains the laundries weren't really that bad. No, really!
No Opposition
Labour is unwilling to really make the case for what has to happen. Borrow, spend, improve economy.
Spent years watching Dems here play the "not quite as evil as the other guys" electoral strategy. It didn't work.
Spent years watching Dems here play the "not quite as evil as the other guys" electoral strategy. It didn't work.
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