Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Failed Experiment
I do hope 2014 is the year when Dem candidates start running on increasing Social Security benefits. Maybe we could even raise some money for such people?
2014: The Year It All Goes Tits Up
Hopefully not, but we're definitely not starting it off right by cutting off unemployment benefits.
Boozing
I usually take one of the cheap inter-city buses when I go to New York. It's cheaper than Amtrak and the bus station is closer to my house than the train station. Absent traffic issues it's 2 hours versus 1:20, but the proximity of the bus station erases about 20 minutes of the time difference. Anyway, if I'm traveling on the bus at night, out past Cherry Hill somewhere I see this suburban bar which is surrounded by a giant parking lot full of cars.
Don't drink and drive.
Don't drink and drive.
Monday, December 30, 2013
What's That Mansion For
Was watching a bit of stupid late night teevee which was centered on celebrity-owned "mansions." People have money, they spend it, yada yada... if that's what they want to spend their money on, it's fine. But, really, the only reason to have anything resembling a "mansion" is to have guests and entertain. I'm just a bit confused by it. Do people throw that many large parties?
The Closet
The issue Josh skips in this piece is that the closet isn't just something that gay celebrities hide in, it's something that everybody in the news media actively barricades and camouflages for them.
Even celebrities are entitled to some privacy, especially the ones that don't milk the celebrity PR machine for the purposes of self-promotion, but if your gossip page is happy to report on all public heterosexual celebrity coupling activities, it should have a pretty good understanding why it doesn't do the same for gay coupling activities. The "open secret" - open among those in the know - perpetuates the notion that there's something more shameful and damaging about being gay than most of the other rather damaging tabloidy stuff that is published. That's increasingly an indefensible position.
Even celebrities are entitled to some privacy, especially the ones that don't milk the celebrity PR machine for the purposes of self-promotion, but if your gossip page is happy to report on all public heterosexual celebrity coupling activities, it should have a pretty good understanding why it doesn't do the same for gay coupling activities. The "open secret" - open among those in the know - perpetuates the notion that there's something more shameful and damaging about being gay than most of the other rather damaging tabloidy stuff that is published. That's increasingly an indefensible position.
Crazy Ideas
I suppose our Democrats are capable of learning after all.
WASHINGTON — Democratic Party leaders, bruised by months of attacks on the new health care program, have found an issue they believe can lift their fortunes both locally and nationally in 2014: an increase in the minimum wage.
The Kids Today
"Teens fleeing facebook because old people use it and it isn't cool" is dumb. Teens know their parents find ways to spy on them and they have no desire to make it easier for them to do so. Parents "know" about the facebook and such, so they "monitor" what their kids do there. So the kids find places that are harder to monitor. It isn't complicated.
Yes I know not all parents monitor their teens so closely, but some do.
Yes I know not all parents monitor their teens so closely, but some do.
Retrospective
Culture of Truth picks the Most Ridiculous Sunday Morning Personality of the Year.
Plus 2013's top ten issues.
Plus 2013's top ten issues.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
The Beatings Have Not Been Harsh Enough
I suppose if cutting off unemployment benefits doesn't "work" we can begin the public floggings.
One thing I've noticed with even good liberal economists is that there's a tendency to talk about policy merits based on whether the policies are "good" or "bad" for the "economy". That is, if we can prove that cutting benefits or inequality generally is "bad" for the "economy," meaning it harms GDP or GDP growth, then we have an argument against these things. But this is just the embrace of the implicit social welfare function of W=GDP. There's some abstract imperfectly measured size of the pie that we can all agree matters. We can all agree that making the pie higher is good! Making the pie lower is bad!
This abstract number matters. The suffering of millions...not so much.
One thing I've noticed with even good liberal economists is that there's a tendency to talk about policy merits based on whether the policies are "good" or "bad" for the "economy". That is, if we can prove that cutting benefits or inequality generally is "bad" for the "economy," meaning it harms GDP or GDP growth, then we have an argument against these things. But this is just the embrace of the implicit social welfare function of W=GDP. There's some abstract imperfectly measured size of the pie that we can all agree matters. We can all agree that making the pie higher is good! Making the pie lower is bad!
This abstract number matters. The suffering of millions...not so much.
The Next 16 Years Are Critical
I suppose the only option is to stay for another 32 Friedman Units or so and then check back?
Saturday, December 28, 2013
In My Day We Were Yelled At For Talking On The Phone Too Much
Because, yes, teens like to communicate with each other. The amnesia drug that is released at childbirth prevents (some) parents from remembering this.
Nothing We Can Do
This article has a bit of too credulous "nothing can be done" about breaking water pipes view. But, you know, fixing a giant sinkhole after they break is expensive.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Congratulations!
All the competitors tried really hard this year, as they always do, but there can be only one winner.
Welfare Queens
The true takers.
Just in time for Christmas, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett's administration has posted the names of 58 developers, industrial plants, corporate and nonprofit hospitals, museums, private colleges and other institutions that will share $133 million in state matching grants for favored projects across the Commonwealth. It's the latest installment of the Redevelopment Authority Capital Program grants, a program that's been popular with lawmakers and developers since the 1980s.
About Those Other Death Machines
I accept that a proliferation of cyclists will probably cause some added safety issues on the streets of New York, but the idea that a big concern of a bike sharing system would be that "clueless tourists would get run over and die" is pretty hilarious. I'm sure getting whacked by a cyclist could cause some nontrivial injuries, but death is pretty unlikely, unless perhaps the crash sends you in front of one of those genuine death machines that travel around the city and regularly kill people.
DIVIDED!!!
Kathleen Paker has a typically stupid column which I won't link to in which we learn that Duck Dynasty had caused "our nation [to be] consumed anew with impassioned debate about nearly every foundational principle." Ah, yes, there's usually no disagreement about any of this stuff.
I have never quite managed to understand this weird DC notion that the goal of politics is to settle all questions once and for all and create a country that's united on every issue. That we can somehow end debate once and for all, and exist in a tipnronnie world where it's always 5 o'clock.
People disagree about stuff. They always will. It doesn't bother me.
I have never quite managed to understand this weird DC notion that the goal of politics is to settle all questions once and for all and create a country that's united on every issue. That we can somehow end debate once and for all, and exist in a tipnronnie world where it's always 5 o'clock.
People disagree about stuff. They always will. It doesn't bother me.
Software Company Responsible for ACA Rollout In Deep DooDoo
States withholding payments and legal action being threatened.
Massachusetts officials are reviewing legal options against CGI Group, a Montreal-based information technology company, and will make recommendations on how to seek financial redress at a Jan. 9 meeting.
So far, the state has paid $11 million of its $69 million contract with CGI. It will not pay a penny more until a functioning website has been delivered, said Jason Lefferts, spokesman for the Commonwealth Health Connector, the state’s insurance marketplace.
“CGI has consistently underperformed, which is frustrating and a serious concern,” Lefferts said. “We are holding the vendor accountable for its underperformance and will continue to apply nonstop pressure to work to fix defects and improve performance.”
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Tiers
Justice. Nation of laws, not men.
If you've ever been arrested on a drug charge, if you've ever spent even a day in jail for having a stem of marijuana in your pocket or "drug paraphernalia" in your gym bag, Assistant Attorney General and longtime Bill Clinton pal Lanny Breuer has a message for you: Bite me.
Priorities
I knew about LA's ridiculous jaywalking enforcement, but didn't know it was so bad they'll even ding you $200 for starting to when the blinking don't walk countdown begins.
I'm critical of bad pedestrian behavior. Drivers shouldn't have to worry about having to swerve/slow to avoid pedestrians if they're driving lawfully. But 200 bucks is ridiculous. Fine some more drivers for blocking the damn crosswalks.
I'm critical of bad pedestrian behavior. Drivers shouldn't have to worry about having to swerve/slow to avoid pedestrians if they're driving lawfully. But 200 bucks is ridiculous. Fine some more drivers for blocking the damn crosswalks.
Happy Boxing Day
For some reason the people who are totally concerned that a minimum wage increase might increase unemployment have no concerns about austerity doing the same.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Afternoon Thread
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Rove is losing his grip over the conservative movement as evidenced by his super pac not bringing in the big dough. A nice gift indeed.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
End of Year Lists
The Top Ten Political Hacks
And for fun:
The Top Ten Things Fox Believes Will Lead to the Wussification Of Murka
And music to read them by:
Santa And Trees And Reindeer
I grew up in a secular home and we did Christmas. It's kind of hard to live in this country and not in some sense do Christmas. One doesn't have to go to church or have a tree or even buy presents, but it isn't exactly a holiday you can escape. Always get a bit puzzled by those religious people who don't understand that non-Christians participate too.
Even Utah
I remember when crazy Gavin Newsom committed a wee act of civil disobedience in CA and started issuing marriage licenses in San Francisco. Courts stopped it, but now that radical act hardly seems to be radical anymore. I sent flowers to random people in line to be married then, as did many others.
I don't know why the anti-gay crowd just doesn't fold. I don't agree with anti-choice people, but I get how some not entirely insane beliefs get them to that position. But anti-gay marriage... don't you have anything better to do?
I don't know why the anti-gay crowd just doesn't fold. I don't agree with anti-choice people, but I get how some not entirely insane beliefs get them to that position. But anti-gay marriage... don't you have anything better to do?
Happy Life Day Eve
Blogging will probably be extra sucky over the next few days. Holiday, a bit of travel, etc.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Holiday Schedule
The Italian Market is always a bit weird this time of year, filled with disoriented out of towners, many of whom are making the annual pilgrimage back to the "neighborhood" from New Jersey to where they fled long ago. Also, too, making me wait in line.
Unlikely Sequences Of Events
Pierce has fun with Little Tommy, but frankly I got stuck on the first paragraph.
Not sure which I find more hilarious, that Tommy was "researching" or that he "got a call" from DiNunzio.
I INTERVIEWED Brian Chesky, the co-founder of Airbnb, in July about the “sharing economy.” While I was researching Chesky’s company, I got a call from an entrepreneur, Tracy DiNunzio. She had heard that I was writing about Chesky and wanted to tell me about her start-up because it was related to Airbnb, the site on which anyone can rent a spare bedroom to anyone else around the world and pick up a little cash.
Not sure which I find more hilarious, that Tommy was "researching" or that he "got a call" from DiNunzio.
Give Cash To Your Food Bank
Sure, if you give food you can be pretty sure that your charitable contribution is going directly to people who need it, but food banks have overhead too. More than that, they know how to stretch your dollar a lot more than you do.
If Only There Were Shovel Ready Projects
I suppose some water main breaks are just random events, but pretty sure they're generally the result of "deferred maintenance."
CoT: Ducking Civics Class
Translation. And exegesis.
Also Dave Johnson and Cliff Schecter on the effect of the discovery of popular policy on Democratic politics and the Overton window.
Nothing says civics class like Bill Kristol on national security, Matthew Dowd on privacy, Tom Coburn on fictional fraud, David Gregory on economic animal spirits, Peter King on civil liberties, Edmund Burke on Obamacare, David Brooks on Christianity, Ted Cruz on political correctness, and Bobby Jindal on Duck Dynasty.
Also Dave Johnson and Cliff Schecter on the effect of the discovery of popular policy on Democratic politics and the Overton window.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Tribes
Reading through some silly "Duck Dynasty" fight threads around the internet, I'm reminded of how much "Christianity" is just a tribal marker for many people. It's about choosing teams and then cheering for your side. It's like being from Texas, or rooting for the University of Michigan. Of course there are serious believing Christians out there, but if people were that serious about their religion I'd expect that they'd know at least a bit more about it than many of them seem to. I don't mean "interpret the Bible the way I do," I just mean have some minor grasp of what's in it.
Also, too, "patriots" and US history.
Also, too, "patriots" and US history.
Testing
I'm sure "high stakes" (who the hell came up with that term) school testing will go on just long enough for it all to be transferred to the grifters, at which point we will declare education awesome and not need it again.
Think of the Children
As we always do.
Across the country, public schools employ about 250,000 fewer people than before the recession, according to figures from the Labor Department. Enrollment in public schools, meanwhile, has increased by more than 800,000 students. To maintain prerecession staffing ratios, public school employment should have actually grown by about 132,000 jobs in the past four years, in addition to replacing those that were lost, said Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.
Celebrity Hosts
The only way that Meet the Press isn't profitable is if they pay the host, Fluffy, a stupid amount of money. I'm sure they do pay him a stupid amount of money. The question is why? I don't just mean about him - though he is especially awful at his job - I mean why do all of these hosts get paid a stupid amount of money?
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Health Care Is Expensive In This Country
The NYT's perpetual pity party for its affluent readership is genuinely annoying.
And, yes, Obamacare isn't perfect and the subsidies aren't generous enough. But here are the options to make it better: 1) Nationalize the health care system (or much of it) as the NHS was, at least before the Tories started wrecking it. 2) Have a single payer insurance system in which the government doesn't run the medical system, but essentially sets the rates (and is empowered to do so). 3) Increase the subsidies in Obamacare, so that the not-quite-rich-enough also have taxpayers pay for at least part of their insurance bill, and the insurance companies can continue to take their pointless cut.
1) and 2) will help to control actual costs if done right, while 3) will just spread it around differently.
And, yes, Obamacare isn't perfect and the subsidies aren't generous enough. But here are the options to make it better: 1) Nationalize the health care system (or much of it) as the NHS was, at least before the Tories started wrecking it. 2) Have a single payer insurance system in which the government doesn't run the medical system, but essentially sets the rates (and is empowered to do so). 3) Increase the subsidies in Obamacare, so that the not-quite-rich-enough also have taxpayers pay for at least part of their insurance bill, and the insurance companies can continue to take their pointless cut.
1) and 2) will help to control actual costs if done right, while 3) will just spread it around differently.
Learn Damnit
If living on $140,000 per year is extremely difficult, what must it be like to live on $40,000? I'm not going to be quite as dismissive as Paul. I do think starting life with $200,000 in student debt is fucked up and bullshit. I just want more of these people to understand that if shit is even fucked up and bullshit (if ultimately not all that bad) for them, then shit is really fucked up and bullshit for everybody else.
He-Men
I will never understand the stock conservative take on masculinity and sexuality, and their apparent lack of mirrors.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Buses Are Good Things
I do think the "tech buses" in San Francisco should be paying an appropriate impact fee if they're going to be using public bus stops, but the alternative to the buses is, you know, many many more road clogging cars. Basically the Bay Area just needs more housing, especially where there are decent transportation options.
Aside from poorer people being priced out generally, the big issue is that they increasingly get priced out of the areas which have transit options. So rents go up and they need to have a car. Big tech companies moving their jobs to San Francisco would probably make this worse, not better.
This will be an issue in Philly at some point, if its slow but steady gentrification continues. I don't worry about poor people being driven out of the city anytime soon, but I do worry that the neighborhoods with better public transit (high frequency bus routes, trolleys, subway) might, eventually, become unaffordable.
Aside from poorer people being priced out generally, the big issue is that they increasingly get priced out of the areas which have transit options. So rents go up and they need to have a car. Big tech companies moving their jobs to San Francisco would probably make this worse, not better.
This will be an issue in Philly at some point, if its slow but steady gentrification continues. I don't worry about poor people being driven out of the city anytime soon, but I do worry that the neighborhoods with better public transit (high frequency bus routes, trolleys, subway) might, eventually, become unaffordable.
Fearing The Guillotines
It's hilarious that Noonan's billionaire concern for rising inequality is really just a concern for his own skin.
Parking Logic
As it always is.
The group of protestants [pretty sure he means protestor here] seemed to make competing complaints: there’s not enough parking in the project, they said, and there will be too much traffic congestion from cars coming and going from the development.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
That Is Good News!
Haven't actually seen it post-renovation, but nice to have a Center City theater back. The Roxy was a weird institution. Very small theaters and pretty run down. Used to do mostly independent films, but then the more mainstream theater nearby shutdown freeing it to show mainstream movies, but it really wasn't the kind of place where you wanted to go to see the latest action movie.
Theatre Roof Collapse
I've been to that theatre (Yes, Prime Minister), so that makes it a bit creepy for me.
Kinda Dumb
I admit that my sympathy for the party of voter suppression is limited, but I really don't think failing to fess up to registering to vote in multiple places is a big deal. Actually voting in multiple places is an issue, but I just can't get too upset about voter registration.
When I Couldn't Sleep
I think my insomnia-phobia comes from grad school when I did have sleep issues. Combination of stress and too much caffeine probably. Obviously not getting sleep when you need it sucks, but back then it *really* sucked. Sleepless at 3AM meant...boredom. Infomercials. Now you can play on the internets or watch whatever the hell you want on teevee.
Fortunately Mostly Not A Problem
Thanks to people who wrote in about dealing with insomnia. Melatonin was a popular suggestion. Anyway, to be clear I'm fortunate that I rarely have insomnia issues. I am a bit insomnia-phobic, however, so when I do have trouble sleeping it freaks me out a bit, but luckily it's rarely a problem! Just was wondering if the magic pill existed on those occasions when it happens.
How About All Of Them?
Yay baby steps, but if I ran the place I'd pardon every nonviolent drug offender with a stupidly long sentence.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Grifters Gonna Grift
With so many opportunities for clearly legal grifting, it's amazing that top pols still go with the not-so-clearly legal options.
Don't Make It A Superblock
For a variety of reasons Philly hasn't been the victim of too many "superblock" projects, in which the normal city street grid is disrupted in favor of megaprojects. This lot is currently empty, but is actually a superblock of empty. If the new owner gets serious about developing it, most of the locals will be concerned about density because parking. I'm one of those locals, though density and parking won't really be my concern. It's on a subway line. It should be a big project, and it shouldn't have too much parking. If you build the parking the cars will come. The more important thing from a NIMBY perspective should be that it isn't isolated from the neighborhood, that if it has retail it has some neighborhood serving retail. It should welcome pedestrians. And while it will of course have some parking (even I can't claim it shouldn't), if you can't put the parking underground it shouldn't have all that much parking. Also, too, residents should be charged market rate (reflecting implicit costs) for that parking.
Sucky Blogging
Gradually accepting that I'm just going to feel like crap all day due to lack of sleep. Are there any OTC sleep aids that actually work? Anything with Benadryl makes me sleepy but unable to sleep.
Think Of The Children
One goal of public policy should be to effectively help people - especially children who cannot be faulted in any way for their circumstances - who have been "dealt a bad hand."
Still Not So Human
That Mitt Romney has fee fees doesn't make him "human" in the way we normally think about such things. I'll wait until he demonstrates that he has some feelings for other people. That Mitt Romney has a sad about Mitt Romney's fortunes doesn't impress me much.
Like The Great Breakdance Challenges Of Yore
Brooks threw down the challenge, but Pareene bests him with some downrock.
CoT: The Big Hard Stuff
Translation. And exegesis.
Sorry for the delay. It's a good one. Apparently Fluffy didn't get Atrios' Social Security memo.
Sorry for the delay. It's a good one. Apparently Fluffy didn't get Atrios' Social Security memo.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Big Tower
If Philly's slow but steady population growth, and associated demand for real estate, continues, there will come a time when more of the city is going to need some upzoning. 2-3 stories is the max for residential structures in much of the city. I'm not saying that 45 floor skyscrapers are necessary everywhere, but there probably should be more areas where 6-8 story buildings are allowed.
Will Blog For Food
Digby is the best of us. Support her work.
I'm so old I can remember when everybody thought digby was a dude.
I'm so old I can remember when everybody thought digby was a dude.
I've Got Mine
I suppose Moral Hazard deserves a wee bit of credit for having some self-awareness, but he starts with what could be a bit of self-parody and ends with a "fuck you, I won this game, and you won't, losers" tone. Not everyone can be David Fucking Brooks!
Cutting Out The Middleman
The great thing about press release journalism is that it puts some PR people out of business.
I'm Dreaming Of A White Santa
The only thing we know for sure is that Christmas gets more stupid every year.
What's It All About Then
As basically everything the NSA does is completely useless for it's supposed purpose, what's it for? Just a full employment program for people who work for the NSA, or corporate and state espionage for other purposes?
Morning Thread
Echidne is having a fundraiser. A little kibble would help support her bravura work debunking all the deliberate misinterpretations of scientific data for which most of us don't have the training and/or ability.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Barro-Grossman
And, amusingly, some of us "grew up" learning graduate macro by learning the Barro-Grossman (the late Herschel Grossman was one of my PhD advisers) Disequilibrium Model Of Income and Unemployment.
Just Don't, Dudes
This is the type of post which usually gets me at least a couple "you're not a parent, you don't understand" comments. And, well, fine, I'm not a parent and I don't understand. But if you want your daughters to have healthy relationships, it's best to not get all weird at the idea that Daddy's Little Girl might have Teh Sexytime one day, especially if you're not quite having the same concerns about Daddy's Little Boy. Yes I know you might want them to delay that experience a bit for good reasons. Yes I know that the actual consequences of sex for girls/women can be a bit more of a big deal. Yes I know that boys/men can be rapey and you want to protect them from that.
But sex is something most of us stumble upon at some point in our lives, your daughters included. You aren't doing them any favors if you're telling them that they shouldn't.
But sex is something most of us stumble upon at some point in our lives, your daughters included. You aren't doing them any favors if you're telling them that they shouldn't.
Violence Is The Cause Of, And Solution To, All Of Our Problems
I wonder if Little Tommy Friedman is glad that Iraqis are still sucking on it. I wonder if he even thinks about Iraq much.
I still get enraged at all of the people who were on board for that lovely little war. It really was just sport. Nationalism, hippie punching, revenge against people who had done nothing other than be born brownish. Basically, insanity. But they're all still very serious people.
I still get enraged at all of the people who were on board for that lovely little war. It really was just sport. Nationalism, hippie punching, revenge against people who had done nothing other than be born brownish. Basically, insanity. But they're all still very serious people.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Owning It
Obviously Obamacare isn't responsible for all of the ills of our health insurance/health care system, but it didn't succeed in coming close to fixing them all either. The Dems generally will own the health care system for some time. They'd better get used to it.
Nightmare Fare Systems
Philly's is coming online soon, and while I haven't seen the full details I'm not very optimistic about it not following the Chicago model.
Fannish thread
Wholock - an amazing bit of fan work.
"Carol of the Brains" - for your Zombie Christmas.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Things That Shouldn't Have To Be Said
Poverty and associated income inequality can be thought of as big fucking deals even if they don't have any discernible impact on GDP or GDP growth. People may disagree about the appropriate social welfare function, but W=GDP is gibberish unless you truly believe that an economy with a GDP of one greater dollar is always preferable even if that "better" GDP involves Bill Gates earning all the monies and the rest of us earning none.
Defend It
It shouldn't be too hard to defend the programs you're associated with when those programs are incredibly popular, but for some reason it is. I just can't fathom how Dem House candidates don't run a billion ads talking about how their opponents want to cut SocialSecurityAndMedicare, but instead lost the last election because those Galtian Tea Partiers ran on how *their* opponents cut Medicare.
Yes the Medicare cuts weren't cuts to beneficiaries so they shouldn't be anything liberals get upset about, but that the Dems can't make the politics of this stuff win for them is infuriating.
Yes the Medicare cuts weren't cuts to beneficiaries so they shouldn't be anything liberals get upset about, but that the Dems can't make the politics of this stuff win for them is infuriating.
Driving While Old
I'm certainly on board with the idea that aging doesn't automatically reduce your ability to drive, but it does, eventually, impact the ability of some people. As the boomers age it's going to be a larger and larger issue.
Lunch Thread
Apparently, running a major retail chain on Randian principles isn't the best idea in the world. Unless, you're deliberately looking to bankrupt the company to get a tax write off. Naw, I think the guy is just in over his head.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Funemployment Getting Even More Fun
The moochers and takers are finally going to get what they deserve and get no more of the tax money that should be going to Galtian defense contractors.
Affordable Housing
Land use and building code regulations increase the cost of building housing. That's not to say all such regulations are bad, but it should be acknowledged more than it is. I think Philadelphia just passed a regulation requiring all new residential construction to have fire sprinklers. Is that a good regulation? I really don't know. But it does add quite a bit to the cost of construction, and therefore it adds quite a bit to the cost of housing.
The other thing that adds to the cost of building, especially in areas with high land prices, is, of course, minimum parking requirements.
The other thing that adds to the cost of building, especially in areas with high land prices, is, of course, minimum parking requirements.
Ends.
Or means. Or making the means the short term ends in order to justify having the means available in case you really need them.
Or something.
Or something.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Tommy
Reader g sends along this Studs Terkel quote from Working:
1974.
I forget what documentary it was, but I finally understood the Tom Friedman cab driver thing when he was filmed at a call center in India or similar (sorry, fuzzy memory) and he would say things in kind of a form of a question and then the people he was talking to would basically repeat it back to him.
Similarly, on our shores, the myth dies hard. The most perdurable and certainly the most dreary is that of the cabdriver-philosopher. Our columnists still insist upon citing him as the perceptive 'diamond in the rough' social observer. Lucky Miller, a young cabdriver, has his say in this matter. 'A lot of drivers, they'll agree to almost anything the passenger will say, no matter how absurd. They're angling for that tip.
1974.
I forget what documentary it was, but I finally understood the Tom Friedman cab driver thing when he was filmed at a call center in India or similar (sorry, fuzzy memory) and he would say things in kind of a form of a question and then the people he was talking to would basically repeat it back to him.
The Smoking Era
It's quite stunning to remember that smoking wasn't banned from domestic flights until 1998. Here in Philadelphia smoking was banned in almost all bars/restaurants (bars that sell almost no food can be exempt) in...2007. It took about 2 weeks for the new normal to feel like something that had been in place forever.
They're All So Wonderful
The loving profiles that are produced about every right wing media figure are proof of the liberal media. Or something.
The Rent Is Too Damn High
A developer began rehabbing an inhabited (until the rehab began) but pretty decrepit building around the corner from me awhile ago. It's a typical Philly rowhouse, probably about 16x60 with 3 floors+basement. I assumed it would be made into a single family home like basically every other similar rehab over the past 15 years or so, but walking by yesterday I noticed it was actually a multi-unit rehab (4 electricity meters). Apparently the rental market is getting pretty tight locally, as the rents on this new south Philly complex suggest.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
368K new lucky duckies. Big jump. Gotta be a problem with the adjustments.
That Could Have Been Me
I'm actually not one for locking people up forever for horrible things they do when they aren't adults. But I'm still stunned by the amount of empathy and sympathy, never before seen in the comments of a newspaper article about crime, expressed for the rich kid who got off literally because he's a rich kid.
We can have a debate about what the appropriate punishment should be for teens who get drunk and kill people with their cars, but whatever we decide those punishments should be they should apply if you're a rich kid, too.
We can have a debate about what the appropriate punishment should be for teens who get drunk and kill people with their cars, but whatever we decide those punishments should be they should apply if you're a rich kid, too.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Kids Don't Require A Car
One pushback I often get about cars is that one might get by without them if you don't have kids, but kids necessitate ownership. I really have no idea why that's true. Obviously in much of the country cars are pretty damn close to being necessary, but in places where they aren't for at least the people with the right commuting circumstances, I don't get why having kids makes it any more difficult.
Shopping seems to be the big issue people raise - that it's too difficult to carry sufficient groceries home. But we do have this magical thing called "delivery" which is free or cheap that one can use to buy bulk goods or whatever.
I get that the very specific details of people's lives are going impact whether being without a car is realistic and desirable. I'm just objecting to the blanket notion that having a child suddenly makes being carless unrealistic.
Also, too, don't care if you own a car.
Shopping seems to be the big issue people raise - that it's too difficult to carry sufficient groceries home. But we do have this magical thing called "delivery" which is free or cheap that one can use to buy bulk goods or whatever.
I get that the very specific details of people's lives are going impact whether being without a car is realistic and desirable. I'm just objecting to the blanket notion that having a child suddenly makes being carless unrealistic.
Also, too, don't care if you own a car.
Pick Something And Hammer It
Maybe it's unemployment extension. Maybe it's the minimum wage. Maybe it's a big infrastructure bill. Whatever. I don't believe this magically passes legislation, but it at least puts Team R on the record as opposing something that will help people and the economy.
Everybody Wins!
Once they knock down the city subsidized parking garages to build a city subsidized soccer stadium they can probably put up some new subsidized parking garages.
They're Getting Squeezed And Their Kids Don't Have Jobs
After many years of high unemployment it isn't surprising that the much-derided "populist agenda" has some support.
It's all falling apart. I wouldn't have said that 5 years ago.
It's all falling apart. I wouldn't have said that 5 years ago.
Stupid Hippies
Dave Weigel talks to Third Way about populism:
When I asked Bennett whether his think tank was opposed to “economic populism,” he wondered whether that term was de facto positive. “It depends on how you view economic populism,” he said. “We didn’t view the president’s speech last week as populist, for example. He was talking about poverty—and that’s a Democratic point of view, what he said. We view populism the way we view right-wing populism. It’s a way to avoid making choices. Right-wing populists say that if we cut government down, everything will be better. The idea on the left is that if we can just expand entitlements, everything will be better and we don’t have to make choices. And we just don’t agree.”
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Austerity Bites
I suppose it's true that the government can't create jobs if it decides to shed them.
The Failed de Blasio Mayorlty
I appreciate that the NYT seems to be having a bit more focus on poverty, but it's not like this happened overnight. A bit more discussion of it during the Bloomberg years would have been nice.
And suddenly there are immense budget challenges!
This is the world Mr. de Blasio inherits.
And suddenly there are immense budget challenges!
Best hour of public commentary all weekend
David Dayen (dday) and Gaius Publius were on Virtually Speaking Sundays talking about the Serious People's recent discovery of income inequality in America, the likely demise of public pensions, and the risk from Fukushima and the implications for Western neoliberalism.
Update: For a bit of background, here's dday on Robbing Illinois's Public Employees.
Monday, December 09, 2013
Hellish Snowscape
Obviously they're going to do what they can do make the Superbowl as miserable as possible, even aside from the fact that it's being played in an open stadium in northern New Jersey in February.
Good luck with that.
Good luck with that.
But They Wouldn't Even Notice
The thing about increasing the gas tax is that if it was enacted and everybody pretended not to notice nobody would actually care. My point is that gas prices fluctuate enough that if gas tax increases of the magnitude that are usually discussed - like 15 cents/gallon - were enacted then drivers wouldn't even really notice unless somebody told them. And, yes, I get that somebody would tell them and voters would probably get pissed off, though I think anti-tax politics isn't quite what it used to be.
Sure the gas tax is regressive. I'd probably prefer "soak the rich" generally as the plan to pay for everything. But contrary to popular belief, most of those roads are "subsidized" in the sense that they're mostly paid for with local property taxes, not "user fees" like gas taxes, tolls, and vehicle registration fees. Driving is cheaper than it should be, given the various negative externalities.
Sure the gas tax is regressive. I'd probably prefer "soak the rich" generally as the plan to pay for everything. But contrary to popular belief, most of those roads are "subsidized" in the sense that they're mostly paid for with local property taxes, not "user fees" like gas taxes, tolls, and vehicle registration fees. Driving is cheaper than it should be, given the various negative externalities.
MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
In all seriousness I never really know when to take credit for anything, and usually don't care to. Dday's article was kind and but of course I'm obviously not the first person to suggest that Social Security benefits should be expanded. At best I'm the butterfly that flapped its wings at the right moment, even though other butterflies had tried. But for whatever the reason, I think it's now just a bit harder to cut social security, and a bit more likely that candidates will come out in favor of boosting it, than it was a year ago. So, yay us. A win.
Free Lunch
Krgthulu's right on the economics, but the politics of Fed-financed spending versus Fed buying up Treasury bonds is that one adds to Teh Deficit and one does not. One adds to the scary big number which gives ammunition to the state destroying people who don't actually care about the deficit and one doesn't.
And, frankly, the shame of the last several years is that we've had an opportunity to have a free lunch and we turned it down. Telling the Fed to print some money and hand it over to the Treasury or drop it from helicopters makes this reality clear.
And, frankly, the shame of the last several years is that we've had an opportunity to have a free lunch and we turned it down. Telling the Fed to print some money and hand it over to the Treasury or drop it from helicopters makes this reality clear.
Area Old Man Discovers Music Made After 1978 Has Some Merits
For years I was mostly stuck with the music/bands I listened to as a teenager and in my early 20s. Eventually I discovered that there was new stuff I actually liked! Some of this was due to my tastes broadening a bit, and some due to the fact that the internet made it a bit more possible to find the things that your area FM radio station probably wasn't playing. I try to share stuff I like here, although often I *am* actually just trolling you (and I love that you usually can't tell). But it's good that krgthulu is sharing. The glorious new music industry business model isn't likely to make a lot of bands not loved by tweens rich, but hopefully we can help some deserving ones to make a living.
CoT: Whitewashing History
Translation. And exegesis.
So Nelson Mandela was violent, militant, and Marxist, so he had to stay in prison, and Zimbabwe and Mozambique might have gone communist, so we had to support a violent racist government, but it all worked out, because Mandela came out of prison mature and dignified and respectable, and the real credit for getting Mandela out of prison goes to a Republican President who left office after 8 years with Mandela still in prison, and who put Mandela on the terrorist watch list, where he would remain until 2008.
Sunday, December 08, 2013
Petty Little Vindictive People With Infinite Power
There's no chance at all that the surveillance state would be abused.
...that's actually a couple of years ago, proving my brain has atrophied completely.
...that's actually a couple of years ago, proving my brain has atrophied completely.
History
If you find the prospect of Dancin' Dave and his crew doing a special Mandela retrospective a little beyond the pale, you might instead read the speech from the dock.
Above all, we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy. But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division, based on colour, is entirely artificial and, when it disappears, so will the domination of one colour group by another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism. When it triumphs it will not change that policy.
This then is what the ANC is fighting. Their struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by their own suffering and their own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live. During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
Saturday, December 07, 2013
Mini Review
Saw the second Hunger Games movie. A bit confused by the several reviews I read saying it was superior to the first one. The first one, which I liked quite a bit, was better. Second one is fine if you like that sort of thing.
What is "progressive"?
I keep hearing people with some of the most right-wing economic policies call themselves "progressive" and now we're all wondering what that word means - so, we've been asking on Virtually Speaking.
Friday, December 06, 2013
And He Was Very Well Respected
The National Review was, for many years, a defender of white supremacy. And William F. Buckley was regularly on the teevee.
Violence Is Only A Legitimate Tool Of The Powerful Or Sometimes The Syrian Rebels
In glancing at various Mandela discussions, I'm fascinated by how un-selfaware the country is with respect to our relationship with political violence. Even leaving aside that fact that it's always awesome when we do it, it's "amusing" that Mandela must be either a Gandhi-like pacifist or be an evildoer terrorist. And in the next sentence we'll discuss just how many arms we'll send to various groups involved in various civil wars that we basically don't understand.
If My House Was A Parking Lot
I live in a pretty big house. 2100 sq. ft plus a finished basement and roof deck (and small back porch). If you turned it into a surface parking lot you could maybe fit 5 cars on the lot without an active attendant, although you'd lose the spot out front to a curb cut. I get that people who live in the suburbs don't understand the fundamentals of urban math - that there really isn't room for all the cars - but that people who live here don't either drives me nuts.
Green Shoots
For context, during the Clinton administration average monthly job growth was 237,000. Over the entire 8 years.
Growth
It's not just that unequal income distributions are just, well, you know, bad. And that it's worse that working hard and following the rules doesn't work so well anymore.
But what's getting lost in the ZOMG, inequality! discussion is that supply-side and austerity policy regimes have lowered growth rates--that the result has been idle capital and idle labor sacrificed to the confidence fairies. Every economist is supposed to agree that more growth is better than less. Policies that increase inequality AND lower growth rates should be uniformly rejected by Serious People and politicians alike.
The only thing worse than crappy wages is not being able to get a job at crappy wages, while factories degrade and earthmovers rust.
Thursday, December 05, 2013
Great Men
I'll leave the details to people who know better than I do, but quite obviously Mandela was one of the greatest.
The Inflation of The Grades
I've attended/taught at a variety of institutions, ranging from my state school undergrad to the Ivy League, and to me the problem with elite school grade inflation isn't that lots of students get As. The A students probably mostly deserve them. It's the lower end of the grade distribution that's more problematic. Bad students at my state school got Fs. Bad students at elite institutions just might be reprimanded with a C+. Might.
Defense
When I began my 'crazy' campaign to support an increase in Social Security benefits, one point was to put the "just do nothing" option on firmer ground. I support increasing Social Security benefits significantly on the merits as the 401K experiment has failed, but I also support shifting the discourse enough that the only options aren't "cuts or no cuts." The Social Security cutters are now playing defense, so I consider it to be a win.
Think Of The Young
Chuck Lane thinks increasing Social Security is bad because it's the young, not the old, who are suffering.
Number of proposals for helping the young he claims to be oh so concerned about? Yep. Zero.
Number of proposals for helping the young he claims to be oh so concerned about? Yep. Zero.
Unfettered Abortion
I'm not entirely sure just what it has to do with the War on Christmas (we're winning! keep fighting!) but I'll admit to being a fan.
Morning health care thread
RJ Eskow and Stuart Zechman discussed the question, "What needs to happen in order to make a working health care system - for 99% of us - out of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)?" on Virtually Speaking Sundays.
Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Spend Your Money
There are lots of places that are nice to visit, but which don't necessarily have long term appeal. I generally prefer traveling to places I could imagine spending a few months in, even if I only have a few days. One doesn't always know which is which beforehand, of course. I was in Lisbon a few years ago and would definitely put it high on the list of "great places to hang out in." Also, too, Portugal isn't doing so well economically at the moment so they could probably use your tourist dollars. It's pretty easy/cheap to travel around the country by train, too, so one doesn't have to limit oneself to Lisbon. I hate Frank Bruni, but this was pretty decent.
Punching The Innocent
One of my early pre-blogging but internet related bit of political activism was emailing a school principal and informing her just why her front office's phone was ringing off the hook with calls from deranged people. The Freepers had seized upon something that was happening in her school. I forget what it was exactly, though I remember it had some sort of racial component. It was one of those things which was harmless even if true but it wasn't really even true. It was my good deed of the day. She called and thanked me for letting her know, because she genuinely had no idea just where the 360 degree hate field had come from. I was reminded of that by this.
Misty Water Colored
Remembered this for some reason, which made me think back to the dark ages of blogging when the internet wasn't as nearly as smart as it is now. It's hard to remember the specifics as the internet gets a bit smarter every day, but it just wasn't the case back in 2003 that you could fire up the internet and basically get the answer to any question you had. Google maps and Google news search didn't even exist.
Though the flip side is once things are on the internet long enough the companies that run them become increasingly dedicated to making them shitty. I'm looking at you google.
Though the flip side is once things are on the internet long enough the companies that run them become increasingly dedicated to making them shitty. I'm looking at you google.
Just Don't Step In It
No one thinks Allyson Schwartz is some kind of major progressive champion, but if she wants to win the primary she'd better at least avoid things which make that crystal clear.
Keep The Government Out Of My Medicare
One way to battle this stuff is to, you know, announce your plan to increase Social Security benefits. That Democrats fail to set themselves up (even dishonestly) as the champions of the things they're supposed to be champions of is a mystery.
The Immortals
Some people have had lives of total privilege without worry or tragedy, but most haven't. I remain mystified by those people who are unable to understand that some people experience this thing we call "bad luck" on occasion even as they themselves have had a spell or two of it. Every victory my own triumph, every failure somebody else's fault I suppose.
Bravery
The problem with gun nuts with vigilante fantasies is that they think that shooting an unarmed man is the pinnacle of bravery, when in fact they're just extreme cowards.
Apostasy
Updated (Thanks to commenters M Krebs UVP estiv and JR)
Dissenting voices are no longer welcome at the Minnesota Fed:
It used to be that the first objective of any macro policy was increasing economic growth. Austerity was supposed to move the country onto a longer term growth path, at the expense, sadly, of the bottom two quintiles. Instead, contractionary policies have proven to be contractionary.
Time to shoot some messengers.
Dissenting voices are no longer welcome at the Minnesota Fed:
There are subtle policy differences between Kocherlakota and the economists who are leaving. Kocherlakota has been at the center of a debate over the effectiveness of the Fed’s low-interest-rate policy. He has pushed for nearly two years for the Fed to hold down rates until unemployment drops to 5.5 percent.
He argues, in general, that what are known as “New Keynesian” economic models are helpful. This school of thought has helped create an unprecedented intervention in the financial markets by the country’s central bank — the $85 billion a month bond-buying program known as quantitative easing.
But Kehoe and McGrattan published a paper in 2008 arguing that monetary policy can do little to affect the unemployment rate, and Fed policymakers should instead focus primarily on controlling inflation.
“New Keynesian models are not yet useful for policy analysis,” they wrote.
Tuesday, December 03, 2013
The Golden Age Of Television
Obviously most TV sucks, as do most movies, but for whatever reason movies have long been respected as art while TV has long been rejected a lesser medium.
I like TV more than movies, especially now that we have nice HD wide screen teevees, because I'm not a big fan of short stories. Movies are basically short stories. (Any novel has to be cut to shreds to be turned into a film). They have a beginning, a middle, and end, and it all has to play out over about 2 hoursish. TV has the capability of showing longer stories, of genuinely being long form literature. Not that it is usually great art, of course, but it actually has the greater promise of being so.
I like TV more than movies, especially now that we have nice HD wide screen teevees, because I'm not a big fan of short stories. Movies are basically short stories. (Any novel has to be cut to shreds to be turned into a film). They have a beginning, a middle, and end, and it all has to play out over about 2 hoursish. TV has the capability of showing longer stories, of genuinely being long form literature. Not that it is usually great art, of course, but it actually has the greater promise of being so.
Tuesday Crass Commercialism
Dyson vacuum cleaners are expensive, but they are good (cannot comment on any specific current model).
The Trouble With Means Testing
We don't talk enough about how the working poor can face incredibly high effective marginal tax rates due to the fact that various credits and benefits are taken away if you manage to earn more money. We know that raising the tax rate on million-earners by one percentage point will cause them to go Galt and never create another jaayyyyaab again, but it's the working poor who really face high marginal rates.
They Got Nothing
As Operation Steal The Pensions (and everything else) progresses, a reminder that a lot of these workers (saw one figure of 30% but I'm not sure exactly who that applies to) don't even have Social Security.
Impeach!
That there has not been a serious impeachment movement shows just how far the Right is off their game relative to the good old days. Mike Allen and Ron Fournier would be so on board with that shit.
So Silly
Not very serious at all.
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration was serious enough about manufacturing a high-value platinum coin to avert a congressional fight over the debt ceiling that it had its top lawyers draw up a memo laying out the legal case for such a move, The Huffington Post learned last week.
Silly Jay
Populist= things that are popular with voters.
Popular= things that are popular with billionaires and in DC.
Popular= things that are popular with billionaires and in DC.
Love And Heartbreak Throughout The Centuries
This is how it worked until those millenial losers started showing up on my lawn.
Slate. Find it yourselves.
Slate. Find it yourselves.
Monday, December 02, 2013
Reporters Drive, Too
Yes it is a huge problem that elites - including elected officials - don't take public transit. I understand it somewhat for people who have a town car and driver available 24/7, but quite often in NYC the subway is a superior way to get around relative even to taxis. And who the hell wants to drive themselves?
Not everywhere is going to be Manhattan specifically or NYC generally, but NYC can't be NYC without its transit system. Even Philadelphia couldn't be Philadelphia without its (much more meager, but relatively comprehensive) transit system. There's just no room for all of the parking unless you knock down everything.
It isn't just about providing transportation for non-rich people, it's about understanding that above a certain density of employment and population, you need good transit. Without it you can't have a "nice" urban neighborhood.
This is amplified because reporters don't use transit, either (understandable given their jobs). So many articles about mass transit are written as if it's some weird Yurpean invention that no American has ever previously come into contact with. Even New York's major dailies don't exactly privilege the views and needs of pedestrians and straphangers in their coverage of these issues.
Not everywhere is going to be Manhattan specifically or NYC generally, but NYC can't be NYC without its transit system. Even Philadelphia couldn't be Philadelphia without its (much more meager, but relatively comprehensive) transit system. There's just no room for all of the parking unless you knock down everything.
It isn't just about providing transportation for non-rich people, it's about understanding that above a certain density of employment and population, you need good transit. Without it you can't have a "nice" urban neighborhood.
This is amplified because reporters don't use transit, either (understandable given their jobs). So many articles about mass transit are written as if it's some weird Yurpean invention that no American has ever previously come into contact with. Even New York's major dailies don't exactly privilege the views and needs of pedestrians and straphangers in their coverage of these issues.
Evening Thread
Have a picture of a giant tortoise because there are too many damn cats on the internet.
What's The Point, Fred?
There's a bad situation in Syria. We could bomb the hell out of them for freedom, or we could spend that money taking in the refugees you're pretending to care about.
A Better Deal
It's possible that the full employment fairy might show up one day, unemployment will be down, wages will rise, and the promise of the past 35 years will finally materialize and that rising tide will lift all boats.
But those who have been holding their breaths for the past 35 years waiting for it to happen probably aren't still around because, you know, we gotta breathe. We've moved closer to the breaking point before, with the internet and housing bubbles temporarily granting reprieves. Not sure where the reprieve is going to come from now absent politicians actually starting to reverse the direction of government redistribution. Time for the rich to repay their loan.
But those who have been holding their breaths for the past 35 years waiting for it to happen probably aren't still around because, you know, we gotta breathe. We've moved closer to the breaking point before, with the internet and housing bubbles temporarily granting reprieves. Not sure where the reprieve is going to come from now absent politicians actually starting to reverse the direction of government redistribution. Time for the rich to repay their loan.
Better Cut The Pay Of Active Duty Military Personnel
So we can afford to make more millionaires.
They may see the nation’s capital as “the epicenter of everything,” as one of Dabbiere’s colleagues put it, but they’re not necessarily interested in politics. Rather, they’re creating and selling companies in fields such as biotech, cybersecurity, cloud computing and data mining. If they sell to the federal government, they’re more likely to see Uncle Sam as another client, rather than as a platform to change the world.
In recent years, the Washington area has seen a dramatic rise in “1-percenters,” households that make about $400,000 or more. Their ranks have jumped 65 percent in the past decade, from 32,000 people to 53,000. That growth has spawned a plethora of high-end retail establishments, restaurants that serve $22 cocktails and $110-a-night pet spas with doggie lap pools.
Soaking The Tourists
Car rental taxes are supposed to soak visitors (to the implicit benefit of locals), not soak locals. Car share (maybe under, say, 4 hours at time?) rentals shouldn't soak locals who are generally doing a wonderful thing by not taking up all the free parking that is at the center of most neighborhood politics.
So, yes, carve out some sort exception for car sharing. These kinds of taxes are put into place specifically to charge out of towners some extra money (for better or for worse).
So, yes, carve out some sort exception for car sharing. These kinds of taxes are put into place specifically to charge out of towners some extra money (for better or for worse).
Sunday, December 01, 2013
Droney
CBS's 60 minutes, the PR arm of right wing cranks and Amazon.com, has told us that Bezos claims that in 5 years they will be using aerial drones to delivery packages.
I'm always a bit of a technology skeptic, but here are a few reasons this won't happen:
1) the droney knockout game
2) whirling blades through residential neighborhoods
3) FedEx will have them beat with their 'hot dog cannon' system of package delivery.
4) the droney knockout game
5) the droney knockout game
I'm always a bit of a technology skeptic, but here are a few reasons this won't happen:
1) the droney knockout game
2) whirling blades through residential neighborhoods
3) FedEx will have them beat with their 'hot dog cannon' system of package delivery.
4) the droney knockout game
5) the droney knockout game
Sunday Crass Commercialism
Saw some requests for kitchen-related items. Here's a Le Creuset French Oven.
Thanks to all who click on the links before buying stuff from amazon. Anything you buy after clicking on a link gives a bit of a commission to me. You don't actually have to buy the specific item. And it just transfers from money from Bezos to me, so it costs you nothing.
Thanks to all who click on the links before buying stuff from amazon. Anything you buy after clicking on a link gives a bit of a commission to me. You don't actually have to buy the specific item. And it just transfers from money from Bezos to me, so it costs you nothing.
Where All The Waste Is
Sure defense contractors are robbing us all blind, but we really need to cut the salary of the grunts.
Yes they get food and housing benefits, but the salary of sergeant with 4 years expience is....$30,359. About equal to one of Tom Friedman's Asia trip expense reports I'd imagine.
The point of cutting the pay of military personnel is to ensure there's more money for the contractors, and more money for the post-military salaries of the generals.
Big-ticket weapons like aircraft carriers and the F-35 fighter jet have to be part of any conversation about cutting Pentagon spending to satisfy the mandatory budget reductions known as the sequester. But compensation for military personnel has to be on the table, too — even though no other defense issue is more politically volatile or emotionally fraught.
Yes they get food and housing benefits, but the salary of sergeant with 4 years expience is....$30,359. About equal to one of Tom Friedman's Asia trip expense reports I'd imagine.
The point of cutting the pay of military personnel is to ensure there's more money for the contractors, and more money for the post-military salaries of the generals.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Modest Proposal
Instead of paying to force everybody to do military service, how about we offer free tuition at public colleges. I suppose that would be coddling a bunch of takers.
Every Villager Pundit Upon Hitting A Certain Age
Decides that what the country really needs is mandatory military service for people younger than them.
Mandatory "service and sacrifice." In the military. For other people.
Mandatory "service and sacrifice." In the military. For other people.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Game Birds
They're expensive here because of restrictions on selling hunted birds, but in the UK game birds are actually quite cheap in season, and sold in major supermarkets complete with bird shot.
SUPERTRAIN
Paris to Barcelona in 6.5 hours. Not bad.
Spain's tracks were built with a different gauge, which they're slowly remedying.
Spain's tracks were built with a different gauge, which they're slowly remedying.
Black Friday Crass Commercialism
Who am I to stand in the way of America's proudest tradition?
Buy yourself a new teevee! 40 inch tv for $377. Not bad.
Buy yourself a new teevee! 40 inch tv for $377. Not bad.
Hacks
Krauthammer.
versus Krauthammer.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist seems intent on passing a procedural ruling to prevent judicial filibusters.
...
The Democrats have unilaterally shattered one of the longest-running traditions in parliamentary history worldwide. They are not to be rewarded with a deal. They must either stop or be stopped by a simple change of Senate procedure that would do nothing more than take a 200-year-old unwritten rule and make it written.
What the Democrats have done is radical. What Frist is proposing is a restoration.
versus Krauthammer.
The violence to political norms here consisted in how that change was executed. By brute force — a near party-line vote of 52 to 48 . This was a disgraceful violation of more than two centuries of precedent. If a bare majority can change the fundamental rules that govern an institution, then there are no rules. Senate rules today are whatever the majority decides they are that morning.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Inside Jokes From 10 Years Ago Can Be A Bit Too Inside
A reminder of the source of the traditional turkee day post.
Nothing to Do
For many, many years the Atrios household has been the Thanksgiving home for all of the area orphans with nowhere else to go, which usually meant about 16 people and multiple turkeys (one in the oven, one on the grill). I mentally associate the holiday with days of shopping, prep, and cooking. Other people are doing the work this year. Much more relaxing.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Progress
Hopefully more locations get on board with raising the minimum wage.
Federal action would be good, too, of course, but it obviously isn't too likely at the moment.
Federal action would be good, too, of course, but it obviously isn't too likely at the moment.
Holiday Schedule
Fortunately Eschaton World Industries has a fairly generous holiday vacation policy, so light blogging through the rest of the week, depending on my mood.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Pope On A Rope
I'm not catholic and the guy doesn't represent me, but christianity - including catholicism - seems to have been reduced "abortion, contraception, and gay people are evil" over the past several decades. If the dude manages to adjust the balance on those things - even if he thinks those things are still bad - I'll applaud. Supposedly we're all sinners, it just hasn't been clear why some sins have been more important than others lately.