Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Use It Before You Lose It
Hey, somebody with power actually using it for good.
The state shouldn't be empowered to kill its own citizens, except maybe people who stop at the ends of escalators.
The state shouldn't be empowered to kill its own citizens, except maybe people who stop at the ends of escalators.
Ride Through The Sky
I still haven't figured out why cable car systems aren't more commonly used for mass transit systems. They have a small footprint, mostly don't have rights-of-way problems, have low operating costs, and are pretty cheap to build. Some people have suggested high maintenance costs to me, but I don't know if that's true.
I haven't been to La Paz, but I have been to Puno. Get your doctor to prescribe Diamox if you go, that altitude is a killer.
I haven't been to La Paz, but I have been to Puno. Get your doctor to prescribe Diamox if you go, that altitude is a killer.
Does Anybody Remember MOOCs?
They were all anybody who wrote about education would talk about for awhile. Where did that all go?
Apparently administrators finally figured out that a "course in a box" actually costs a lot of money, that it doesn't scale nearly as well as they hoped, that they are a substitute for "learning from a book" not "learning from a person," and you can't charge $50,000 per year tuition simply because your prestigious name will be on the online course degree.
I knew all of this because I saw people experimenting with online courses...15 years ago. The technology, except maybe easy use of video (you could use video, it was just a bit more of a pain), was all there then...
Apparently administrators finally figured out that a "course in a box" actually costs a lot of money, that it doesn't scale nearly as well as they hoped, that they are a substitute for "learning from a book" not "learning from a person," and you can't charge $50,000 per year tuition simply because your prestigious name will be on the online course degree.
I knew all of this because I saw people experimenting with online courses...15 years ago. The technology, except maybe easy use of video (you could use video, it was just a bit more of a pain), was all there then...
Gun Nuttery
I really don't understand why people think carrying guns around with them makes them safe. Maybe I'll make an exception for people who are taking the day's receipts to the bank, or similar, but most people don't live in high crime areas, and even in high crime areas "stranger danger" is actually pretty rare. People mostly hurt people they know, not people they don't know, and having guns around the house is just asking for trouble.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Overnight Crass Commercialism
No kickback for me, but Greg Pak seems like a good guy who writes good stuff so if you like the comics buy some! Discount code 2015 for 15% off!
Dear Penthouse Forum
I see no reason to be skeptical at all.
In a brochure handed out to retail executives it's courting, developer Triple Five claims toy giant FAO Schwarz will be moving from its famous Manhattan headquarters to the Meadowlands. Other retail stores that plan to open shop in the American Dream include anchor stores for Victoria's Secret, The Gap, Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, according to the brochure.
A number of European stores, concept shops and the usual retail suspects at American malls are close to signing lease deals with Triple Five, The Record reported.
Just A Good Old Boy
I really can't believe there's some debate about whether a prominent Lousiana politician really knew just what that nice Mr. David Duke thought about things.
Um Because Even Proponents Never Had Any Explanation For How It Would Work?
1) Destroy demand in the middle of a depression
2) ??
3) Cure depression!!!
At least US "trickle down" isn't completely implausible. Give money to rich people and maybe they'll buy some stuff from the rest of us! I'm not sure how belt tightening is supposed to trickle down. Perhaps we should ask the Wookies on Endor.
2) ??
3) Cure depression!!!
Nowhere have austerity policies been more aggressively tried — and generally failed to live up to results promised by advocates — than in Greece. After more than four years of belt tightening, patience is wearing thin, and tentative signs of improvement have not yet trickled down into the lives of average Greeks.
At least US "trickle down" isn't completely implausible. Give money to rich people and maybe they'll buy some stuff from the rest of us! I'm not sure how belt tightening is supposed to trickle down. Perhaps we should ask the Wookies on Endor.
Probably Should Bring Out The Wrecking Ball
Shut off the utilities, and...
ACR Energy Partners L.L.C., which owns and operates the central utility plant attached to the bankrupt Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, did not have enough money to make a $6.9 million interest payment to bondholders due Dec. 1, according to a regulatory filing.
Because of its money squeeze, ACR now wants to shut off service to the Revel boardwalk complex.
Monday, December 29, 2014
On My Teevee
I am not making this ad up:
Horse: Where's Jill?
Dog: She's really lonely and out walking the cornfield again.
Cow: Do you think they will ever find true love?
Dog: Not hanging out with us all day.
Man in cartoon representation of American Gothic (actually the father): We used to be lonely.
Woman in cartoon representation of American Gothic (actually the daughter): Until we met on farmers only.
Man: Farmers only dot com is the new online dating site for farmers, ranchers, and good old country folks.
Jingle singer: You don't have to be lonely, at farmers only dot com.
Man: City folk just don't get it!
What To Do About Midtown
Even though it's pretty close (2:10 hour cheap bus, 1:20 expensive amtrak, 2:30 decently priced commuter rail connection), I don't actually go to NYC all that much, and when I do I'm usually doing at least one touristy thing which requires me to go to Midtown in the general vicinity of Times Square (theatre, for example). I know all good New Yorkers stay away from such places, though I assume some of them also occasionally visit those theatres, but over the past few years it's become increasingly impossible to walk through that area. I don't mean in a "wah I'm old I don't like crowds" sense, I mean that on a typical weekend day/evening without any real special event going on, the sidewalks are so packed that it's incredibly difficult to just walk a block.
I'm no expert on the area, but the obvious solution is to take a car lane on some of the avenues and expand the sidewalk. This will likely never happen, even though it's clear that the number of pedestrians traversing these blocks over any period of time is far greater than the number of people being transported by cars over the same period, because cars, but it's quite amazing that the powers that be don't look at the situation and think, "yeah, we gotta do something about this..."
I'm no expert on the area, but the obvious solution is to take a car lane on some of the avenues and expand the sidewalk. This will likely never happen, even though it's clear that the number of pedestrians traversing these blocks over any period of time is far greater than the number of people being transported by cars over the same period, because cars, but it's quite amazing that the powers that be don't look at the situation and think, "yeah, we gotta do something about this..."
America's Worst Humans
Richard Como edition.
Coatesville is a small city about 40 miles west of Philly. It's poor, and close to half of the population is African-American.
Coatesville is a small city about 40 miles west of Philly. It's poor, and close to half of the population is African-American.
Pretty Sure That Isn't It
And just in case you were inclined to blame the headline writer, I got through the first paragraph, just for you dear readers.
What is curious about the present understandable preoccupation with the middle class is the assumption — both explicit and implicit — that the system is “rigged” (to use Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s favorite term) against this vast constituency of Americans. In reality, just the opposite is true. The system is rigged in favor of the middle class. That’s a natural result for a democracy in which politicians compete more for votes than for dollars.
It actually gets worse. Not gonna link, you can find it...
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Happy Hour
As Cole says, these guys are all class. Kind of glad I don't live in NYC these days.
Now with working link.
Now with working link.
The War Is Over
Completely, of course. We mean it.
Oh...
KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States and NATO formally ended their war in Afghanistan on Sunday with a ceremony at their military headquarters in Kabul as the insurgency they fought for 13 years remains as ferocious and deadly as at any time since the 2001 invasion that unseated the Taliban regime following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Oh...
The symbolic ceremony marked the end of the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force, which will transition to a supporting role with 13,500 soldiers, most of them American, starting Jan. 1.
Gen. John Campbell, commander of ISAF, rolled up and sheathed the green and white ISAF flag and unfurled the flag of the new international mission, called Resolute Support.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Saturday Night
There are too many pedestrians in Midtown. How are the cars supposed to get around them?
We Will Bring America To Its Knees By Releasing Amy Pascal's Emails
Has seemed to me that a sophisticated understanding of what hollywood gossip would interest people by hackers didn't suggest North Korean involvement...
Morning Thread
Digby has a few words to say about presidents on vacation. They aint pretty. Damn, that woman can write a smack down, that leaves one bloodied, without using a single naughty word. Brava.
Friday, December 26, 2014
What If The Kids On My Lawn Are Having More Fun Than Me
I really don't get this media obsession with the idea that The Kids Today aren't living their lives precisely as the olds imagine the lived their lives back in the day. Except for trust fund kids, who the hell can avoid "adult responsibilities" as an adult unless we narrowly define such things as promised lifelong monogamy and home ownership.
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Enough Star Wars For You
Looks like the remaining parts were never posted. I'm sure it's somewhere on the internet.
I think 3 years ago I made an earnest effort to watch the whole thing and only managed about 16 minutes.
I think 3 years ago I made an earnest effort to watch the whole thing and only managed about 16 minutes.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Feast of the 7 Fishies
I think we've made it to 7:
Smoked trout spread.
Taramasalata
Lightly broiled oysters with adobo sauce.
Some sort of shrimp dish.
Cod croquettes
Lobster/lobster risotto.
Salmon jerky salad.
Smoked trout spread.
Taramasalata
Lightly broiled oysters with adobo sauce.
Some sort of shrimp dish.
Cod croquettes
Lobster/lobster risotto.
Salmon jerky salad.
Afternoon Thread
Went to the supermarket to get some fixings for a Christmas feast and there wasn't even line to check out. I guess everyone was more organized and didn't wait until the last minute.
Airing Of Grievances
I guess I missed this by a day, but:
a) blogs which don't have comments
b) bloggers who arbitrarily shut down commenting because people are being mean to them
There are exceptions. I do get why certain people (women, minorities) who write about certain topics really have no choice, that there's no way to host anything resembling a healthy commenting community. But too often it's just "don't criticize me bro!!!"
a) blogs which don't have comments
b) bloggers who arbitrarily shut down commenting because people are being mean to them
There are exceptions. I do get why certain people (women, minorities) who write about certain topics really have no choice, that there's no way to host anything resembling a healthy commenting community. But too often it's just "don't criticize me bro!!!"
Morning Thread
The Halifax Examiner, Tim Bousquet's news site, had an interesting story up about reporting and bylines the other day. If you're not in the news biz it's not something you ordinarily think about. As I said, interesting.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Innumeracy
Silly Sully is back on his Bell Curve kick because Coates wrote some hurtful things which failed to realize the overall importance of being incredibly civil in the high minded intellectual debate about whether black people are, in fact, stupid, and whether the innumerate editor of a prominent magazine might have some responsibility for catapulting racist pseudoscience he's incapable of understanding into the discourse.
Back in the dark ages when I taught, I'd often try to find an excuse to sneak a Bell Curve lecture into my courses. By the end of my teaching career none of my students had actually heard of it, which was good, but it still provided a way of teaching various lessons, depending on which course I shoehorned it into.
And I knew it was a zombie superhero, destined to return again and again no matter how many bullets we put into its brain.
Back in the dark ages when I taught, I'd often try to find an excuse to sneak a Bell Curve lecture into my courses. By the end of my teaching career none of my students had actually heard of it, which was good, but it still provided a way of teaching various lessons, depending on which course I shoehorned it into.
And I knew it was a zombie superhero, destined to return again and again no matter how many bullets we put into its brain.
They're Open All Year
The holiday season is when Italian-Americans make their pilgrimage back to the homeland, Philly's Italian Market (or 9th St. Market, depending on who you ask). The place is mobbed, with lines out the door for many shops. Yes people are shopping for their holiday meals, but the trip to the market is also just part of the holiday tradition. One bakery must do 25% of its annual take over the few days before Christmas, just in cannoli sales.
Except for the fact that I can't buy stuff because the lines are too long, it's great! But I just want to tell them... those cannolis are there all year.
Except for the fact that I can't buy stuff because the lines are too long, it's great! But I just want to tell them... those cannolis are there all year.
Convicted Felons Are Always Given Prominent Platforms In Our Media
Actually, that's not true. Why is Bernie Kerik on my teevee? Especially when his crimes were, you know, related to his job from which he supposedly can bring his expertise.
I know the answer is "he's Rudy's buddy and the media loves Rudy." But, um, why is Rudy on my teevee? He's a horrible person.
I know the answer is "he's Rudy's buddy and the media loves Rudy." But, um, why is Rudy on my teevee? He's a horrible person.
I'm Sorry I Was Such A Racist Asshole
Earlier, on the internet, someone wrote something to the effect that more white dudes with prominent platforms in our glorious discourse should consider owning up to their past idiocies. Probably it was a person of color making this point, so it makes me extra horrible for not remembering where I read it and giving credit, but I read a lot of the internet every day and sometimes things, but not the source of those things, stick in my brain.
I think that by the time I actually had any kind of public platform - this sucky blog - I was relatively enlightened about such things. Of course I wasn't perfectly enlightened (and I'm not perfectly enlightened now). But when I was younger I was less enlightened. If I'd had a sucky blog then I probably would have written some stupid things. At the very least there probably would have been a bit too much of White Guy telling Black People how they're supposed to react to things.
Anyway, this isn't actually meant to be about me, it's about the fact that even just 15 years ago (and, really, even now), the "liberal" discourse on race was actually pretty stupid and horrible, at best. A lot of very serious liberals agreed that the most serious racial problem in this country was the tiny bit of affirmative action in some university admissions processes. This was at a time when the mass incarceration program for African-Americans for non-violent offenses was in full swing.
We can be better and less horrible.
I think that by the time I actually had any kind of public platform - this sucky blog - I was relatively enlightened about such things. Of course I wasn't perfectly enlightened (and I'm not perfectly enlightened now). But when I was younger I was less enlightened. If I'd had a sucky blog then I probably would have written some stupid things. At the very least there probably would have been a bit too much of White Guy telling Black People how they're supposed to react to things.
Anyway, this isn't actually meant to be about me, it's about the fact that even just 15 years ago (and, really, even now), the "liberal" discourse on race was actually pretty stupid and horrible, at best. A lot of very serious liberals agreed that the most serious racial problem in this country was the tiny bit of affirmative action in some university admissions processes. This was at a time when the mass incarceration program for African-Americans for non-violent offenses was in full swing.
We can be better and less horrible.
Monday, December 22, 2014
Great Moments In "Liberal" Punditry
Not new, but a reminder of how we are where we are.
I sometimes think I have spent years unlearning what I learned earlier in my life. For instance, it was not George A. Custer who was attacked at the Little Bighorn. It was Custer — in a bad career move — who attacked the Indians. Much more important, slavery was not a benign institution in which mostly benevolent whites owned innocent and grateful blacks.
That Sinking Feeling
Will downtown Seattle sink into destruction? Will the heroes manage to get to Bertha in time to save her? Will they really complete the tunnel before August 2017? Will the viaduct collapse before then? If so, what will we do? If not, why are we doing this?
Stay tuned next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel..
Stay tuned next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel..
Wrong Way Of Thinking
Rising gas prices never had much to do with people increasing their use of public transit. Some of it is simply that there are more options in more places now. Some of it is a change in preferences for where people want to live.
And, yes, there is an economic component. No damn jobs and no damn money encourage people to live where they don't need a car, and to live in places with more rental housing availability. Those generally match up fairly well.
While gas at $4-4.50 might nudge a few people to the park-n-ride, it'd take a much higher price than that for people, given their existing locations which mostly lack decent public transit, to switch modes in any significant number.
At $2.50, people will probably drive a bit more, but the difference between $2.50 and $4 isn't enough to make large numbers of people make significant lifestyle and location changes.
And, yes, there is an economic component. No damn jobs and no damn money encourage people to live where they don't need a car, and to live in places with more rental housing availability. Those generally match up fairly well.
While gas at $4-4.50 might nudge a few people to the park-n-ride, it'd take a much higher price than that for people, given their existing locations which mostly lack decent public transit, to switch modes in any significant number.
At $2.50, people will probably drive a bit more, but the difference between $2.50 and $4 isn't enough to make large numbers of people make significant lifestyle and location changes.
Nice Civilization You Have There
If somebody, somewhere, hurts a cop's feelings, he might just not be up to doing the job that day.
...adding, #notallcops, of course, just those who think that people protesting police abuses somehow justify them taking their ball and going home.
...adding, #notallcops, of course, just those who think that people protesting police abuses somehow justify them taking their ball and going home.
Crazy Ideas
Bet some people are assigned to NYT editorial board communications monitoring duty now.
Bet they were before.
Bet they were before.
Open Carry But Don't Be Scary
I just keep coming back to the fact that gun nuts who support open carry laws are fine with certain kinds of people being gunned down by cops for carrying guns or even toy guns.
That they're quite sure that they'd avoid summary execution for toting their external death penises, while simultaneously being fine with some other people receiving that treatment, demonstrates how deeply confident they are in how things are, and we also know it's how they think things should be.
That they're quite sure that they'd avoid summary execution for toting their external death penises, while simultaneously being fine with some other people receiving that treatment, demonstrates how deeply confident they are in how things are, and we also know it's how they think things should be.
Morning Thread
We've heard nothing but bad, non-traditional Christmas music. Who knew we'd be pining for Bing Crosby this year?
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Holly Jolly Whatever
Holiday schedule kicking in soon, including tiny bit of travel, so this blog will be extra sucky some days over the coming week. Don't worry, I'm sure there will be plenty of horrible things happening to keep you entertained even if I don't have any time to say anything about them.
Big Eyes
10+ years ago I saw a quite a good exhibit at a contemporary art museum called "Trash Culture." I suppose roughly speaking it was about stuff that's so bad it's good, probably lots of things that John Waters would like. The exhibit included things from people like Ed Wood, The Shaggs, Florence Foster Jenkins, probably CDs by William Shatner AND Leonard Nimoy, etc. It also included Margaret Keane, who I don't think I'd heard of before. Anyway, no idea if the movie is any good, but it's an interesting subject.
Garbage People*
I don't know why I keep being surprised that there are so many horrible people. Against better judgment I followed a facebook argument between a friend and a notfriend, which at some point involved the notfriend daring my friend, who had lived in Philly for 20 years, to "stand on a corner in Philly," the implication being that roving bands of young black men would instantly tear him to shreds like movie piranhas if he did so.
*not to be confused with people tasked with taking away my garbage, who generally do a pretty good job.
*not to be confused with people tasked with taking away my garbage, who generally do a pretty good job.
Pretty Sure Obama Didn't Say That
But America's Worst Human, Rudy 911, can make incendiary things up and still be treated like royalty by his media sycophants.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Who's The Boss
If the CIA will do this, they'll do anything.
WASHINGTON — A panel investigating the Central Intelligence Agency’s search of a computer network used by staff members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who were looking into the C.I.A.’s use of torture will recommend against punishing anyone involved in the episode, according to current and former government officials.
The panel will make that recommendation after the five C.I.A. officials who were singled out by the agency’s inspector general this year for improperly ordering and carrying out the computer searches staunchly defended their actions, saying that they were lawful and in some cases done at the behest of John O. Brennan, the C.I.A. director.
Why Is Cuba So Special
I get that there are still a few exiles dreaming of getting their riches back. But just why is that so many elite Villagers accepted that we made nice with China, Vietnam, and Russia (though obviously there are some cracks in that relationship now), not to mention plenty of truly awful regimes, but doing so with Cuba is just unpossible?
Are they just mad that Fidel won a 50 year pissing match they somehow imagine they were involved in?
Are they just mad that Fidel won a 50 year pissing match they somehow imagine they were involved in?
Morning Thread
Our friend, Digby is holding her annual fundraiser. If anyone has been good and should get a Christmas present, it is she.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Happy Hour
I'm glad Obama had some fun at his presser today, calling on only women to ask questions. The past six years would have been infinitely more enjoyable if he had been doing these kinds of things all along.
Our BFFs, Saudi Arabia
I don't want to litigate just how evil the Castro governments have been in Cuba. But it would be nice if every now and then a journalist would ask people who think it's unpossible to normalize our relationship with Cuba because they are "human rights violators" just why we're so nice to Saudi Arabia.
I don't expect real answers, but even asking the question can have some value.
I don't expect real answers, but even asking the question can have some value.
BREAKING POLITICO MUST CREDIT POLITICO
Apparently Obama's Cuban moves have caused a bunch of conservative Republican fundraisers to continue fundraising for conservative Republican candidates.
You can find the link yourself..
You can find the link yourself..
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Grimmy
I haven't watched Colbert all that much recently. Not because I'm not a fan, just because after a day of paying attention to the bullshit I'm not always that interested in a recap - even a funny one! - of the bullshit.
Still one minor observation I'll make as the show ends is that while people are marveling that he managed to stay in character, I think he stopped trying all that hard over the last couple of years. I mean, he stayed in character in the sense of acting like "Stephen Colbert" instead of being himself, but in the early days of the show I think they worked much harder to make a liberal point through the mouth of a conservative blowhard. More recently I think they tended to just say, ah, screw it, we'll just let this conservative blowhard of a guy make a liberal point even if we throw in a screaming eagle and some flags.
That's not a criticism. I didn't mind.
Still one minor observation I'll make as the show ends is that while people are marveling that he managed to stay in character, I think he stopped trying all that hard over the last couple of years. I mean, he stayed in character in the sense of acting like "Stephen Colbert" instead of being himself, but in the early days of the show I think they worked much harder to make a liberal point through the mouth of a conservative blowhard. More recently I think they tended to just say, ah, screw it, we'll just let this conservative blowhard of a guy make a liberal point even if we throw in a screaming eagle and some flags.
That's not a criticism. I didn't mind.
Thursday Crass Commercialism
Running out of time to buy all of those holiday gifts!
Amazon commissions are actually my favorite way to earn money on this site. It takes money from Jeff Bezos and gives it to me. Their commissions are actually pretty generous (vary, but roughly 7%), and all you have to do is occasionally remember to click on one of the amazon links on the site before you buy something. I've never figured out exactly how they do things, but pretty sure if you click on a link from this site and then purchase something within some time frame they credit me.
Don't like Amazon, don't use it! But for those who do, it's a costless way to make Jeff Bezos give me my Christmas bonus.
Amazon commissions are actually my favorite way to earn money on this site. It takes money from Jeff Bezos and gives it to me. Their commissions are actually pretty generous (vary, but roughly 7%), and all you have to do is occasionally remember to click on one of the amazon links on the site before you buy something. I've never figured out exactly how they do things, but pretty sure if you click on a link from this site and then purchase something within some time frame they credit me.
Don't like Amazon, don't use it! But for those who do, it's a costless way to make Jeff Bezos give me my Christmas bonus.
Friends Don't Let Friends Go To Law School
Or at least don't let them borrow obscene amounts of money to pay for it.
The whole student loan debt crisis wasn't "real" for me until I met a woman who was a couple of years out of law school, 200 grand in debt, and unable to get a job which could come close to servicing that debt and providing her with anything better than just above poverty lifestyle. Yes we all read the stats, but it's easier to comprehend when it's actually personal.
The whole student loan debt crisis wasn't "real" for me until I met a woman who was a couple of years out of law school, 200 grand in debt, and unable to get a job which could come close to servicing that debt and providing her with anything better than just above poverty lifestyle. Yes we all read the stats, but it's easier to comprehend when it's actually personal.
Mercury Fur
Jeebus
Police said today they are investigating whether members of a VIP Westminster paedophile ring murdered three young boys at 'abuse parties'.
Scotland Yard detectives are calling on witnesses to come forward if they know anything about boys being killed at Dolphin Square, a block of flats in Pimlico, London.
It is believed that every weekend in the late seventies and early eighties groups of vulnerable boys were smuggled to an address in the exclusive development by the Thames close to Parliament.
There, after being plied with alcohol, they suffered sickening sexual assaults, and one victim says some were killed during or afterwards.
Nice Work
Hopefully Larry Summers uses all of his money to continue his lifelong quest to improve the lives of middle class people.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
An Idea For A Movie
A couple of guys make a movie mocking North Korea and its dictator and end up starting WWIII.
Frack Off
Hey, Cuomo does the right thing, though presumably plummeting oil prices made that decision a bit easier to make...
It's Stupid And Pointless, So Let's Keep Doing It
Fantasies of Cuban exiles getting their property back should have ended decades ago, so our stupid treatment of Cuba was basically "we'll be mean...just because." We didn't bring down Castro and we contributed to the economic woes of the population, certainly after the fall of the Soviet Union. Still we'll get politicians bleating about our arbitrary human rights concerns because really we just cared deeply about the poor people of Cuba and their treatment by the government because that's always what motivates our policies.
Progress
We've made nice with China, Vietnam, and a bunch of horrible regimes around the world. I think we can make nice(r) with Cuba.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
All Charges
While basically a local story, my beloved readers might remember Philly's recent gaybashing case, in which a bunch of (presumably) drunk suburban yahoos out for the night in the urban theme park decided that their night wouldn't be complete without (allegedly) beating the crap out of someone.
Going to trial.
Going to trial.
Afternoon Thread
Yr Wonkette has given me all her money, and perhaps her soon to be born child, to put up the RSS feed on the right, so click all the links that make you tingly inside. Also, too, the amazon links, which actually might make more money for me if you click them.
Seattle Fustercluck
Dave Roberts explains it well.
In short: There is no plan to resolve the dispute over cost overruns, which are ubiquitous on projects like this; at $4.2 billion, it’s the most expensive transportation project in state history. The tunnel will have no exits — no ingress or egress — throughout the entire downtown core (which makes the support of downtown businesses all the more mystifying). It won’t allow transit, only cars. It will be tolled, highly enough, by the state’s own estimates, to drive nearly half its traffic onto the aforementioned side streets. It will be a precarious engineering feat, the widest deep-bore tunnel in history, digging right between a) Puget Sound and b) the oldest part of Seattle, with vulnerable buildings and God-knows-what buried infrastructure. Also: Pollution. Climate change. It’s the 21st f’ing century. On and on. People said all this and more, in real time, to no avail.
Grifters Gonna Grift
The charter system (#notallcharters) is a license to steal.
The district is concerned that ASPIRA is improperly shuffling money around those various subsidiaries and the parent organization. Thum said the district has many questions about the "management agreements" that guide the way money flows among these subsidiaries.
ASPIRA of Pennsylvania "can dictate the content of those agreements, and the amount of money that flows to ASPIRA, and then what they do with that money," Thum said. "And we have concerns about how much money is being sent up to ASPIRA, and then our ability to effectively know what they do with those dollars."
In a letter sent to ASPIRA officials last July, the charter office's Peng Chao spelled out some of the district's concerns in detail. The five charters "cannot be operated as if they are subsidiaries," he wrote. The "intercompany" payments between schools are "not a permissible use of charter school funds," and the practice of using one school to guarantee a bank loan for another school is likewise "not permissible," he wrote.
That Sinking Feeling
Replacing a water main isn't that big of a deal, but what's causing it is...
In another snafu for the Highway 99 tunnel project, Seattle utility managers said Monday that soil settlement near the job site may force them to dig up First Avenue South and replace a water main at state expense.
The 16-inch-diameter line moves water through downtown along First Avenue South, where survey readings by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) showed the soil settled as much as 1.4 inches in November.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Assholes
I don't think most of us are torturers, but the great number of people who delight in simply being assholes is still disturbing.
Try being excellent to each other. Takes a bit of work, I know, but it isn't that hard.
Try being excellent to each other. Takes a bit of work, I know, but it isn't that hard.
Wow
I'm not exactly against the notion that the spook-industrial-complex uses its leverage in ways we wouldn't exactly be happy about, but I'm also pretty sure that if I'd made such accusations in the Bush era then the House would've voted to revoke my government funding about 76 times.*
*No I don't receive government funding. This is an ACORN joke.
*No I don't receive government funding. This is an ACORN joke.
President Admits To Liking Sports
I'd get it, if Obama said, "I watch ice dancing every morning." Not that there's anything wrong with watching ice dancing, just that it would legitimately clash with the right wing macho real man narrative which includes liking manly sports. They would freak out more if he said "I never watch ESPN" than they do when says he does watch it, but either way they freak out. It's a nice trick.
Internal Affairs
One trope from 80s-90s cop shows and movies was the all powerful Internal Affairs department. Sometimes they were the good guys, trying to take down bad cops. Sometimes they were the bad guys, meddling in the activities of good - or at least bad for the right reasons - cops.
But, in any case, there was this notion that if you crossed too many lines, Internal Affairs would get you.
quaint
But, in any case, there was this notion that if you crossed too many lines, Internal Affairs would get you.
quaint
Supply Side Jesus Is Coming
Tax cuts can only be failed.
Good luck, Kansas!
His response came this past week, as he offered his first proposal to steady the budget, at least in the short term. He suggested cutting more than $70 million in agency spending and transferring more than $200 million into the state general fund from various reserves to plug the gap through the fiscal year ending in June.
But the plan has only stoked more unease, even among Mr. Brownback’s Republican allies.
The state’s nonpartisan legislative research office released new data Thursday suggesting that the governor’s proposal, by relying more on balance transfers than spending cuts, was essentially kicking the can down the road, inflating the deficit to nearly $650 million for the next fiscal year beginning in July.
Good luck, Kansas!
Sunday, December 14, 2014
People Talking Through Your Speakers
I've enjoyed the Serial podcast so far. It has some flaws, but it's been compelling. I rarely listen to people talking on the radio as there aren't many activities that I can do simultaneously and still have enough concentration for both. Driving's the main one, but I don't do much of that.
Easy Steps
I really don't understand why the NFL players' union doesn't negotiate for a requirement that, say, that 25% of player salaries get invested into an annuity fund, which they manage, which starts paying out on retirement. Wouldn't solve all the problems, but would at least prevent players from being broke 3 days after they're done.
America's Worst Humans
Couldn't bring myself to watch, but I gather Dick Cheney's still down with the anal raping of innocent prisoners because freedom.
Just remembering the reverence with which our great 4th estate treated that man for so long.
Just remembering the reverence with which our great 4th estate treated that man for so long.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Bipartisanship
One trick elite editorial boards regularly play is offering narratives of "bipartisanship" and "compromise" that don't really conform to their readers' understanding of those words. I mean, compromise is a good thing, right? Who doesn't love compromise!
But true bipartisanship, where lots of members of both parties actually agree on something (even if they pretend not to), is the way that Congress passes things that voters actually hate. Actual compromise would involve Dems giving up something in exchange for something Republicans want, and vice versa, not "let's pass this piece of shit that everybody but Fred Hiatt and our donors hate."
But true bipartisanship, where lots of members of both parties actually agree on something (even if they pretend not to), is the way that Congress passes things that voters actually hate. Actual compromise would involve Dems giving up something in exchange for something Republicans want, and vice versa, not "let's pass this piece of shit that everybody but Fred Hiatt and our donors hate."
Friday, December 12, 2014
Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V
I think plagiarism accusations are frequently a bit of a stretch. 700 word columns can't have the citation standards of an academic paper, and while people deserve criticism for being a bit sloppy it doesn't mean they have committed the high crime of plagiarism (and part of the problem is that there seems to be this Plagiarist/Not A Plagiarist duality, when of course there are grey areas).
But this is basically a C&P job.
But this is basically a C&P job.
That's a Problem
Woops
Passengers faced chaos today after London's air space shut down due to an air traffic control power outage.
The outage left flights grounded on runways at major London airports - including Heathrow - leaving thousands of passengers facing travel misery ahead of the weekend.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Cromnishambles
Never can quite tell what's just theater, but it seems Pelosi is battling against Reid and the White House on the cromnibus bill.
Might fail! Government might shut down!
again.
Might fail! Government might shut down!
again.
They Enjoyed It
As with just about everything else that happens in the name of our security state, things aren't usually done for the stated reasons. Money is often the reason, but it isn't the only one. Why torture a bunch of innocent people who you know have no information? For kicks and giggles, of course.
How About Getting It Just Right
From drought to deluge in Northern California.
Hopefully it at least improves the drought situation a little bit.
Hopefully it at least improves the drought situation a little bit.
Duckies
In the week ending December 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 294,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 297,000. The 4-week moving average was 299,250, an increase of 250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 299,000.
http://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf
http://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf
Quandary
We'd be in a difficult moral quandary if torture worked, if there actually were ticking time bomb situations where Dirty Harry's heroic rejection of the wussy Rules were admirable, necessary and effective.
But those situations don't actually exist. So we're not in a difficult moral quandary.
And yet.....
But those situations don't actually exist. So we're not in a difficult moral quandary.
And yet.....
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
If Only There Were Some Shovel Ready Projects
I know this is a boring tic of mine at this point, but even a modest amount budgeted for fixing water systems in much of the country would both create some jobs and save some money in the long run. Water damage isn't cheap.
Cromnibus
I'm so out of the loop that I don't even know why they're calling it that, but apparently the budget bill might go down in flames because some Dems don't want rich people to be able to give even more money to political parties and because conservatives have decided it's insufficiently mean to undocumented workers.
Deep Thought
The torture program we did not have was extremely important.
..adding, if I were one of these guys I'd just be hiding under the couch. Of course, I wouldn't have been one of these guys. Guess it takes a certain kind of person to establish a torture program.
..adding, if I were one of these guys I'd just be hiding under the couch. Of course, I wouldn't have been one of these guys. Guess it takes a certain kind of person to establish a torture program.
The Architects have been all over TV defending the torture program. pic.twitter.com/ECfdz7E69x
— Faiz (@fshakir) December 10, 2014
Tuesday, December 09, 2014
Unpossible
Must be a dispatch from Earth-2.
The former president of the company that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 West Virginians this past January has been arrested on criminal fraud charges, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation complaint unsealed Monday.
Former Freedom Industries president Gary Southern was charged with bankruptcy fraud, wire fraud, and lying under oath during the company’s bankruptcy proceedings following the massive spill — a 10,000 gallon dump of a coal-cleaning chemical called crude MCHM into the Elk River. FBI Special Agent James F. Lafferty said in a sworn affidavit that Southern, in an attempt to protect his personal fortune of nearly $8 million and shield himself from lawsuits, developed a scheme to distance himself from the company and “deflect blame” to other parties.
True Genius
With thinkers like this, how can we lose?
Two. Months. Before. The Election. He. Found. The Mega-trend.
“Two months before the election I picked up on a mega-trend—a historic, acute and powerful anxiety among middle -class voters,” Israel told the crowd, according to a person in the room.
Israel, who represents a suburban district on Long Island and chaired the DCCC for two tough cycles, said nearly two-thirds of registered voters said they felt neither party could solve their problems and decided not to bother showing up to the polls.
“Whatever party taps into this middle class anxiety will be in the majority for a long time,” he told the group of donors.
Two. Months. Before. The Election. He. Found. The Mega-trend.
Torture
The Editors.
...i'll post the whole thing under the jump so I don't have to go to the damn wayback machine every time I'm looking for it. The Editors can sue me.
...i'll post the whole thing under the jump so I don't have to go to the damn wayback machine every time I'm looking for it. The Editors can sue me.
Core
I actually think that if we're going to increase transit service, it's best to commit to strengthening its core than adding a bit more on the periphery. We aren't going to run everything everywhere, so provide better service in some areas so that the people who think the service is important will, over time, choose to live along those corridors.
Monday, December 08, 2014
Ruh-Roh
Happy to be wrong, but I bet there are some who have, internally, called for the viaduct to be closed. I recommend they cc: many people on this recommendation.
Not Your Playground
I should probably work on my grand essay about the attitude of suburbanites about Philly. I spent many of my formative years in the burbs here so I know a bit about the subject. But, basically, it amounts to "the right of the Philly suburbanite to head home from an Eagles game shall not be infringed."
The urban hellhole is a place they visit, and the red carpet must be rolled out for them. That the city as an entity has spent 30+ years or so catering to this general view - that visitors matter more than residents - has reinforced this.
The urban hellhole is a place they visit, and the red carpet must be rolled out for them. That the city as an entity has spent 30+ years or so catering to this general view - that visitors matter more than residents - has reinforced this.
The Money
Zandar:
I find myself wanting to restate a certain point these days. Yes, Dean's strategy was about empowering state and local parties to bring the fight everywhere, but it was less about fighting everywhere and more about empowering locals to fight everywhere.
The party organizations (without Dean) basically do fight everywhere! Not necessarily in every single congressional district, but they dump lots of money into red state senate races and reddish districts.
The 50 state strategy was more about taking control away from the DC party organizations, to take the money out of Washington, taking the power (and filthy lucre) away from the corrupt and stupid DC consultant class.
It wasn't about fighting everywhere, it was about not running all of those fights from DC.
I’ve long been a proponent of more Democrats (Howard Dean’s 50 state strategy)
I find myself wanting to restate a certain point these days. Yes, Dean's strategy was about empowering state and local parties to bring the fight everywhere, but it was less about fighting everywhere and more about empowering locals to fight everywhere.
The party organizations (without Dean) basically do fight everywhere! Not necessarily in every single congressional district, but they dump lots of money into red state senate races and reddish districts.
The 50 state strategy was more about taking control away from the DC party organizations, to take the money out of Washington, taking the power (and filthy lucre) away from the corrupt and stupid DC consultant class.
It wasn't about fighting everywhere, it was about not running all of those fights from DC.
Details
My local transit authority will finally unveil its new fare system. Presumably it'll be better than the current token system and paper transfer system, if it works, but there are details I haven't heard that worry me. It appears transfers still won't be free. A system like this should allow a fare to cover a boarding on any bus/subway/trolley within some time frame (an hour, probably). In London, a lot of convenience is added by the fact that instead of requiring people to buy daily or weekly passes (at least for some travel zones), the card just maxes out at the daily fare and stops charging you.
Build All The Trains Everywhere
But ultimately it's a big problem that San Jose is 51 miles from San Francisco and that SF is increasingly a bedroom community for it.
51 miles is a long commute, no matter how you do it.
The plan calls for erecting poles and wires above 51 miles of track from San Francisco to San Jose, installing power supplies along the rail corridor and purchasing a new fleet of trains. Caltrain anticipates construction beginning in 2016 and finishing by 2021.
51 miles is a long commute, no matter how you do it.
Sunday, December 07, 2014
Bertha'd
I've watched this project out of the corner of my eye. It certainly seems like a completely idiotic project, though I don't know Seattle well enough to be able to really have any opinion. I guess the real questions are what it would take for the powers that be to pull the plug, and ultimately who is going to pay for the (possible) debacle...
All That Space
Until the Great Redistribution, rich people are going to spend their money on stuff rich people want to spend it on, but I just can't fathom why anyone would want 30,000 square feet or more. I also don't understand how these places really fit the single family residential zoning model I assume they're under, though presumably the answer is "rich people get what they want."
Anti-ALEC
It's really distressing that so much obviously good, popular public policy is off the table.
As distressing is bad, unpopular public policy coordinated across state legislatures.
A dirty hippie reply to ALEC launches this week.
As distressing is bad, unpopular public policy coordinated across state legislatures.
A dirty hippie reply to ALEC launches this week.
Saturday, December 06, 2014
This Venerable Institution
Like BooMan says...exactly when was The New Republic some sort of venerable institution? Not in my lifetime.
To the extent that good people are losing their jobs (though everyone seems to ignore the fact that other than Foer and Wieseltier, they quit) well, I'm sorry about that, and if they fail to find new career possibilities then bummer for them. Though, again, they did quit. Maybe with good reason, but still!
But otherwise we're just left with this idea that we must lament the fact that TNR went from having one truly odious boss that everyone pretended wasn't odious to having a new boss that for whatever reasons (maybe good ones!) many of the current staff don't want to work for. Life sucks sometimes. But, venerable institution? I guess if you just ignore all the bad stuff over the last 40 years.
To the extent that good people are losing their jobs (though everyone seems to ignore the fact that other than Foer and Wieseltier, they quit) well, I'm sorry about that, and if they fail to find new career possibilities then bummer for them. Though, again, they did quit. Maybe with good reason, but still!
But otherwise we're just left with this idea that we must lament the fact that TNR went from having one truly odious boss that everyone pretended wasn't odious to having a new boss that for whatever reasons (maybe good ones!) many of the current staff don't want to work for. Life sucks sometimes. But, venerable institution? I guess if you just ignore all the bad stuff over the last 40 years.
Friday, December 05, 2014
LEAAAVE THE NEW REPUBLIC ALOOOOONE
Yes people are telling me that it's wrong to be mean to a magazine when a bunch of journalists (some of whom are good!) are resigning due to a management change.
When they didn't resign.
When they didn't resign.
First Assume Standards
I watched with "amusement" the evolving new "journalistic standards" for covering sexual assault accusations. Quite often there are pieces that inspire a bunch of people working in media to pretend that there are some standards which must be applied that have never actually been applied before, at least not in any consistent form.
It isn't the same, obviously, but back in the good old days journalists would try to impose random "standards" (or "ethics") on bloggers that didn't apply anywhere else in the journalist universe. Also, too, not really a journalist. One reporter insisted that bloggers must fully disclose all of their financial information, just in case there was some conflict of interest. I was like, do you read your own opinion pages? Do you get all of the tax returns of your contributors?
It isn't the same, obviously, but back in the good old days journalists would try to impose random "standards" (or "ethics") on bloggers that didn't apply anywhere else in the journalist universe. Also, too, not really a journalist. One reporter insisted that bloggers must fully disclose all of their financial information, just in case there was some conflict of interest. I was like, do you read your own opinion pages? Do you get all of the tax returns of your contributors?
A Wank of Writers
A bunch of TNR writers and editors (I think everyone has the title of 'editor' these days) who happily worked under the ownership of Marty Peretz for years are all resigning in a huff - good for them if that's what they want! - and the collective journalist community (not all journalists) is talking about this in apocalyptic terms. There has been a death in the family.
TNR was a force for bad for as long as I was aware of it. Peretz, a horrible person, owned it since 1974, before finally selling it to the rich facebook guy.. How far back does one have to go for the supposed good old days when it was some sort of wonderful thing?
TNR was a force for bad for as long as I was aware of it. Peretz, a horrible person, owned it since 1974, before finally selling it to the rich facebook guy.. How far back does one have to go for the supposed good old days when it was some sort of wonderful thing?
Grifters Gonna Grift
Especially when the laws empower them to do so.
EMPLOYEES AT Olney Charter School are questioning the payment of thousands of dollars to a contractor hired to paint the school because they say they do not recollect that a contractor ever did work at Olney.
According to invoices from the school, ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania, the North Philadelphia charter-school operator that manages Olney, paid $163,365 to Lyon Contracting Inc. to paint the school in 2011. But employees who recently learned of the payments say school janitors and building maintenance workers performed the work.
Thursday, December 04, 2014
So Long, And Thanks For All The Shit
Apparently TNR is getting rid of its current editor, Foer, and moving the operation to New York. This has caused various journalist twitterati to huff and puff their outrage, because nobody is supposed to ever lose their job in that world. Or Something.
Anyway, I've never understood the lingering affection that people who should know better have for TNR. Yes it does publish people I like these days, but there is this weird worship of it as An Institution, as An Important Part Of The Discourse. Yah, thanks for Marty Peretz, Andrew Sullivan, The Bell Curve, Betsy McCaughey, Mickey Kaus, the Iraq War, etc...etc...
It isn't going out of business, but people are acting like it is because the newish owner is daring to make changes (no idea if they'll be good or bad).
...oh God, I forgot Chuck Lane, who often manages to make Richard Cohen look good...
Anyway, I've never understood the lingering affection that people who should know better have for TNR. Yes it does publish people I like these days, but there is this weird worship of it as An Institution, as An Important Part Of The Discourse. Yah, thanks for Marty Peretz, Andrew Sullivan, The Bell Curve, Betsy McCaughey, Mickey Kaus, the Iraq War, etc...etc...
It isn't going out of business, but people are acting like it is because the newish owner is daring to make changes (no idea if they'll be good or bad).
...oh God, I forgot Chuck Lane, who often manages to make Richard Cohen look good...
Give People The Tools
I admit I get a bit confused when people call for more net-nannying from sites like Twitter and Facebook. I get it more with Facebook, as they've long been making sure that what you post fits whatever "standards" they think it should be applying. Once they go down that road, it's reasonable to ask why if X violates their TOS, that Y doesn't.
But twitter is more a pure communications system. I get that people (cough women cough) face genuine harassment and threats there and I am not discounting the problem. Still it just seems like with a bit of intelligence you can give users control over what they see and don't see. Muting and blocking are good features (I do so miss when I could hellban people on the blog). Adding the ability to block all "new" accounts would probably solve a lot of problems. I'm sure there are other good ideas floating around.
But twitter is more a pure communications system. I get that people (cough women cough) face genuine harassment and threats there and I am not discounting the problem. Still it just seems like with a bit of intelligence you can give users control over what they see and don't see. Muting and blocking are good features (I do so miss when I could hellban people on the blog). Adding the ability to block all "new" accounts would probably solve a lot of problems. I'm sure there are other good ideas floating around.
Decline
The suburbs aren't one thing, and this type of pattern is going to vary quite a bit from place to place, depending in part on when the inner ring suburbs were built. Still there is the basic issue that older suburbs are having to deal with legacy maintenance costs, changing demographics, and local resistance to land use/zoning changes that are potentially self-defeating.
I see a lot of boarded up strip malls and houses in places where that would have seemed very unlikely a couple of decades ago.
I see a lot of boarded up strip malls and houses in places where that would have seemed very unlikely a couple of decades ago.
Butterfly Wings
This kind of thing is long how I've seen blogging/internet potential. Anyone without a normal massive platform can, occasionally, set something in motion.
Wednesday, December 03, 2014
Evening Thread
One thing I increasingly don't understand is the cliche that people get more conservative as they age. I don't even know if it's true, but it's the kind of thing people say. The longer I live the more aware I am of how fucked up and bullshit things are, especially for the poor and members of minority communities.
Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit
So it's effectively legal for cops to kill black men in this country.
I'm not going to pretend police abuses are a new thing, but I honestly seem to remember a time when it was an issue when a cop killed someone. That is, it was thought to be a situation in which something went wrong. That didn't mean the cop was prosecuted, or even lost their job, but that if a civilian was killed by a cop it meant that we all agreed that it shouldn't have happened that way. Not really anymore.
I'm not going to pretend police abuses are a new thing, but I honestly seem to remember a time when it was an issue when a cop killed someone. That is, it was thought to be a situation in which something went wrong. That didn't mean the cop was prosecuted, or even lost their job, but that if a civilian was killed by a cop it meant that we all agreed that it shouldn't have happened that way. Not really anymore.
Wednesday Crass Commercialism
I'm sure someone you know would love all the Harry Potter films on Blue Ray for just 55 bucks.
Holiday purchases from amazon provide me with my Xmas bonus from Jeff Bezos. Best way to support this site, as it costs you nothing. Just click one of the links...
Holiday purchases from amazon provide me with my Xmas bonus from Jeff Bezos. Best way to support this site, as it costs you nothing. Just click one of the links...
Knowns and Unknowns
As an addition to the post below, we can endlessly debate what the administration could have pushed Congress to pass, whether we're talking about the stimulus bill or a better ACA or mortgage cramdown in bankruptcy etc... etc... I'm not really hostile to the notion that they mostly got what they wanted on all of these things, so the "but Congress" defense is weak (pre-2011, anyway). Still there were things they did have direct control over and funding to deal with that they didn't, and that isn't debatable.
Message: I Care
I certainly don't think the Obama team did everything right on the economy, and I also don't think they did everything they could. Discussion of the size of the stimulus is always central, but they had a lot of power to deal with the foreclosure crisis properly (even a giant fund they didn't use) and they just let the banksters get away with stealing homes. I'd guess fixing that would have improved the recovery a bit.
But Krugman's correct that people playing the "should have focused on the economy not health care" game never say what exactly that means.
But Krugman's correct that people playing the "should have focused on the economy not health care" game never say what exactly that means.
Frisky
The only things stop-n-frisk is ever going to "uncover" are drugs or illegal guns. Arresting people for drug possession is stupid, and in much of the country there's essentially no such thing as an illegal gun. So...what's the point again?
Ammosexuality
A good friend and roommate in college became a gun nut. He was a VW van driving pot smoking hippie at some point, became a bit of a Limbaugh listener, and then (I think) he was mugged once and has carried a gun ever since (from what I can tell).
He lives in a place not exactly known for its high violent crime rates. The urban hellhole, it ain't. I really never worry about crime. At all.
He lives in a place not exactly known for its high violent crime rates. The urban hellhole, it ain't. I really never worry about crime. At all.
Tuesday, December 02, 2014
Sins of the Father
I don't have kids. Plenty of other people do. And this is America, where the children are the future, so we love them so very much. I just don't understand how when a kid gets gunned down by police, a newspaper staff thinks "let's dumpster dive into the lives of the parents!!!"
assholes
assholes
Sunk
Starting to think that our neighbors who reside below the Earth's crust are beginning to get a bit adventurous.
Monday, December 01, 2014
If Only There Was Something We Could Do To Help The Syrian People
I guess we could bomb them?
SIXTY-FOUR MILLION DOLLAR SHORTFALL. We could've built 10 Steve Austins for that. In 1973.
BEIRUT — A funding crisis has forced the World Food Program to suspend assistance to 1.7 million Syrian refugees, the U.N. agency announced Monday, warning that “many families will go hungry” without the aid.
The program, which provides electronic vouchers for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt to buy food at local stores, faces a $64 million shortfall, the agency said, attributing the problem to “unfulfilled” donor commitments.
SIXTY-FOUR MILLION DOLLAR SHORTFALL. We could've built 10 Steve Austins for that. In 1973.
Read Any Newspaper Comments Section
One doesn't have to go home again to realize just how pervasive racism is in this country. And, yes, I think it has gotten worse in the past few years or so. Why is a total mystery.
I don't mean that racism has gotten worse, just that people feel more free to express it. Thug's a good word, after all. MSNBC hosts like it.
I don't mean that racism has gotten worse, just that people feel more free to express it. Thug's a good word, after all. MSNBC hosts like it.
Bold
The truly awesome thing is that Joe Scarborough thinks he's being a brave truthteller and standing up to the PC masses by calling an unarmed black teen who has been riddled with bullets by a cop a "thug" because we haven't heard that before.
I'm sure Joe's the kind of guy who hires 7 lawyers every time he gets a parking ticket, because tyranny, but summary execution of an unarmed black teen is awesome because "thug."
Maybe I can get paid obscene amounts of money by MSNBC to host a show if I decide to be that brave.
I'm sure Joe's the kind of guy who hires 7 lawyers every time he gets a parking ticket, because tyranny, but summary execution of an unarmed black teen is awesome because "thug."
Maybe I can get paid obscene amounts of money by MSNBC to host a show if I decide to be that brave.
I Guess We All Have Our Causes
Don't shoot unarmed people. Really not a complicated concept.
Go ahead and boycott.
A Missouri police union has condemned players from the St Louis Rams football team for making “hands-up” gestures on the field in solidarity with Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old shot dead in Ferguson, and has threatened to boycott NFL advertisers in response.
Go ahead and boycott.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Balls
I wonder if Labour will ever figure out that running to the right of the Tories might not be the cunning plan they think it is...
And Then What
I just can't picture what happens when a major metro area loses its water supply.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - São Paulo, Brazil’s drought-hit megacity of 20 million, has about two months of guaranteed water supply remaining as it taps into the second of three emergency reserves, officials say.
Atlantic City Tried The Communism And That Didn't Work
I guess "private sector" just means whatever we want it to mean these days.
As Atlantic City continues to suffer an economic free fall, state officials are contemplating turning to the private sector to jump-start development there.
One proposal being reviewed by Gov. Christie and legislative leaders is the creation of a nonprofit development corporation that would help decide what projects to build. That could involve demolishing the shuttered Trump Plaza to create walkable retail and restaurant space and open sight lines, officials said.
...
In some cases, Atlantic City's group would work with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), a state entity that uses casino gaming revenue for development.
In such cases, the public authority could use eminent-domain power to acquire property and then hand it over to the private development group.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Confess Your Unpopular Opinion
Standing up for a domestic violence perpetrator is not the hill I am going to die on, and standing up for rich NFL players is not the most important labor rights cause you can devote yourself to. Still, NFL players are labor, and policies about dealing with labor should be clear, contractual, honest, and not arbitrary. I'm uncomfortable generally with punishing employees for things they do off the clock. I get that major league sports players are part celebrity - and that for better or for worse 'image' is at least a minor consideration when they're being hired - but hiring decisions of individual teams are different than random sanctions imposed by the league.
The NFL does punish players for things they do off the clock, and to the extent that they do, a domestic violence perpetrator is certainly high on the list of people who should be punished. But any employee deserves some sort of due process, not a make it up as we go along in order to cover our asses process.
The NFL does punish players for things they do off the clock, and to the extent that they do, a domestic violence perpetrator is certainly high on the list of people who should be punished. But any employee deserves some sort of due process, not a make it up as we go along in order to cover our asses process.
That Confounded Bridge
Pricey
Anyway, no deep thoughts on the merits of a replacement bridge. It's going to be very expensive, and tolls likely won't pay for it.
The price gap between the bridges has existed for decades. Indeed, New York State — during Gov. Thomas E. Dewey’s tenure more than 60 years ago — decided to site the three-mile-long Tappan Zee illogically at the river’s second-widest spot partly because doing so would place the bridge just beyond the jurisdiction of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which, in addition to the George Washington Bridge, operates the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels. New York could set the toll, draw all the revenue and not share it with its neighboring state.
The Tappan Zee, the longest bridge in New York, opened in 1955 and was designed to last 50 years. Now work has begun on a bridge to replace it, one that will also be the widest in the world by some measures. Articles in this series are chronicling the construction of the new double-spanned bridge and the people building it.
But chances are that the gap between the tolls collected at the two bridges will narrow in the next few years because the construction of a $3.9 billion replacement for the Tappan Zee will force the state to raise the price to cross the river. The tantalizing, politically freighted question that no one has yet answered is how high the toll will rise. Logic and fairness will not necessarily be the main factors in that decision.
Anyway, no deep thoughts on the merits of a replacement bridge. It's going to be very expensive, and tolls likely won't pay for it.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Friday Evening
I hope you all bought things like good little citizen-consumers.
Travel over. While in theory one can blog from a moving car these days, it doesn't work well in practice.
Nothing like discovering you have 10 minutes to get home, unload the car, and return it to the rental company after realizing it isn't actually due back tomorrow.
Travel over. While in theory one can blog from a moving car these days, it doesn't work well in practice.
Nothing like discovering you have 10 minutes to get home, unload the car, and return it to the rental company after realizing it isn't actually due back tomorrow.
And speaking of drug pushers...
I guess you aren't paying enough for drugs, yet.
Honestly, I'm not sure if anything can influence them, but maybe if enough people scream at the Congresscritters there can be some push-back against this. (If the right-wing was for real, they'd run like crazy with this one - but no, God forbid they should complain about anything real.)
We'll Serve Them Lean Cuisine To Make Them Lean And Mean
Well this will work for sure.
As the Obama administration scrambles to counter the Islamic State, commanders have decided against trying to rebuild entire vanished divisions or introduce new personnel in underperforming, undermanned units across the country, according to U.S. officials. Rather, the officials said, the hope is to build nine new Iraqi army brigades — up to 45,000 light-infantry soldiers — into a vanguard force that, together with Kurdish and Shiite fighters, can shatter the Islamic State’s grip on a third of the country.
“The idea is, at least in the first instance, to try and build a kind of leaner, meaner Iraqi army,” said a senior U.S. official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Officer Friendly
I'm still trying to figure out if people whose experiences with the police have always been pleasant (or at least appropriate) don't believe that isn't the case for all people or just don't care.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Blowback
This covert ops thing never seems to work out well. Certainly not in the long run.
Marcy on Bhengazzzzz.
Marcy on Bhengazzzzz.
But the key questions all come down to what degree the attack on Chris Stevens and two former SEALs who might have been training the Special Forces that didn’t come through when it mattered was blowback, a horrible but perhaps unsurprising outcome when you arm a range of militias to overthrow someone you want gone.
Justice In America
Only looked at snippets of the grand jury stuff, but it's quite obvious that it wasn't a grand jury proceeding, it was a trial without a prosecutor.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Just For One Day
I've been reading these "area man actually does something around the house" stories for decades.
I won't claim to live up to the 'equality in housework' standard, especially when adjusted for certain time availability factors, and ultimately that's what matters, but I don't think I deserve a medal every time I cook a meal, either.
I won't claim to live up to the 'equality in housework' standard, especially when adjusted for certain time availability factors, and ultimately that's what matters, but I don't think I deserve a medal every time I cook a meal, either.
Ferguson
Grand jury decision announcement today.
No deep thoughts other than it's time for heavily armed law enforcement to stop assuming that unarmed black people are a danger to them.
No deep thoughts other than it's time for heavily armed law enforcement to stop assuming that unarmed black people are a danger to them.
Why All The Parking
I often wonder why businesses in places where land is relatively plentiful but still not cheap don't fight back against parking minimums more than they do. They do cost a lot of money. A tool for excluding smaller competitors might be a reason.
GOP Daddies
Silly Booman, it's in the constitution that all super macho security jobs must go to Republican dudes, all Very Serious People who know how to Keep Us Safe.
Maybe Rudy Giuliani?
Maybe Rudy Giuliani?
Benghazighazi
Benghazi was a lot like Whitewater, in that it never even made any sense. The Clintons are being accused of corruption so nefarious that they lost money on a land deal? What?
Of course Whitewater led to son of Whitewater, and third cousin 7 times removed from Whitewater, etc. Maybe that ultimately was the goal of the Benghazi Show.
Of course Whitewater led to son of Whitewater, and third cousin 7 times removed from Whitewater, etc. Maybe that ultimately was the goal of the Benghazi Show.
Hagel's Out
And it seems like the administration is really pissing on him as he goes out the door. Weird.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
And The Spoils Go To
A reminder that local politics is almost always corrupt, but that corruption is tolerated depending on who is doing it and who benefits.
Morning Thread
Just finished the Rolling Stone article A Rape On Campus. After reading that, I'm glad I'm not sending my daughters off to college.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
What's It All About Then
If powerful men can't rape and kill children with impunity then the empire might fall.
Two newspaper executives have told the Observer that their publications were issued with D-notices – warnings not to publish intelligence that might damage national security – when they sought to report on allegations of a powerful group of men engaging in child sex abuse in 1984. One executive said he had been accosted in his office by 15 uniformed and two non-uniformed police over a dossier on Westminster paedophiles passed to him by the former Labour cabinet minister Barbara Castle.
We'll Win It This Year
And on and on...
WASHINGTON — President Obama decided in recent weeks to authorize a more expansive mission for the military in Afghanistan in 2015 than originally planned, a move that ensures American troops will have a direct role in fighting in the war-ravaged country for at least another year.
Friday, November 21, 2014
Major League
Obviously a guy who is capable of drugging and raping multiple women is a complete asshole, but I get that absent criminal proceedings, members of the press aren't going to be comfortable adjudicating such matters in public. But what has struck me in the wake of the Cosby rape allegations it that it's increasingly being revealed that the guy is a total asshole generally in ways which there aren't really any excuses for not reporting about.
Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that the fact the he's an asshole is more important than the fact that he's probably a serial rapist, I'm just saying that general asshole behavior is easier to cover than allegations of serious crimes that aren't in the legal system. Dr. Huxtable - what an asshole!
Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that the fact the he's an asshole is more important than the fact that he's probably a serial rapist, I'm just saying that general asshole behavior is easier to cover than allegations of serious crimes that aren't in the legal system. Dr. Huxtable - what an asshole!
Rigged Market
I actually think lots of people do want to live in some version of the post-war American suburb, have a detached single family home, etc. But it's wrong to think that landscape emerged purely due to consumer preferences. Policy has been rigged against the alternatives for a long time and in many ways.
To Protect And Serve
Inspiring.
IN A DECISION that Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey called "disappointing," an arbitrator on Wednesday moved to reinstate fired Philadelphia narcotics cop Jeffrey Cujdik.
Ramsey booted Cujdik from the force in May, following a long-running Internal Affairs investigation into allegations that the veteran cop lied on search warrants and had an inappropriate relationship with an informant - and then lied about both to investigators. The allegations were first unearthed in the 2009 Daily News series "Tainted Justice."
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Thursday Night
Admit I didn't expect that the executive order would compel all homeowners to house an undocumented immigrant.
The Moneys
Lemieux:
This is probably what he meant, but the key point is that we spend more per capita in total than everyone else, and we also spend more per capita in public money than many without the associated universal access that sane countries have. Even before Obamacare, we had a lot of government expenditures on health care, just very expensive government expenditures on health care.
In fact, every other liberal democracy has addressed them in ways that provide universal coverage for less and often much less money per capita than the American system.
This is probably what he meant, but the key point is that we spend more per capita in total than everyone else, and we also spend more per capita in public money than many without the associated universal access that sane countries have. Even before Obamacare, we had a lot of government expenditures on health care, just very expensive government expenditures on health care.
Monarchy In The UK
I remember reading a piece years ago on some random anonymous blog about how hardcore British monarchists were really worried about the future King Charles era because he wouldn't rule quietly, but instead throw his weight around as much possible. Monarchists were concerned because they were worried it would ultimately doom the monarchy.
This isn't a random anonymous blog...
This isn't a random anonymous blog...
Let's Not Think About What We've Wrought
And on and on...
Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, warned the American public against a kind of intervention fatigue, emphasizing that U.S. leadership is needed now more than ever amid global threats from Ebola to the Islamic State.
“I think there is too much of, ‘Oh, look, this is what intervention has wrought’ … one has to be careful about overdrawing lessons,” Power said Wednesday during the Defense One Summit. At the same time, she said, “we are asking an awful lot right now of our forces.”
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Dumb Ideas Never Die
I'm fine with people objecting to gas taxes because they're regressive, but a VMT tax is also regressive. And suddenly instead of having to have enforcement/collection on a few hundred or thousand gas stations, you have to have an enforcement/collection bureaucracy on every single licensed vehicle.
The gas tax is a nice simple tax, easy to enforce, which has all the incentives going the right way. A VMT tax is a needlessly complex way of trying to get the same money. Just make it stop.
The gas tax is a nice simple tax, easy to enforce, which has all the incentives going the right way. A VMT tax is a needlessly complex way of trying to get the same money. Just make it stop.
Good Luck With That
I'm all for publications making money any way they can. Some manage (it seems) to make the paywall model work. Good for them! But all the geniuses running newspapers these days don't seem to understand that customers always just essentially paid for distribution, that reader eyeballs were always the real product they sold to advertisers to pay the bills.
Good luck with that paywall, but it won't work. Happy to be wrong.
Good luck with that paywall, but it won't work. Happy to be wrong.
Need The Post Office
I can envision something replacing the need for it, but we need the post office for more than just sending clothing catalogs and Christmas cards. There needs to be a uniform accepted way of sending bills and notices. I get a bit puzzled by the people who don't get this.
What About The Affordable Housing
A slightly maddening thing here in the urban hellhole is that any time there's a development proposal people start asking about affordable housing. Philadelphia doesn't have an affordable housing problem. It does have a no damn jobs and no damn money problem, which can lead to people not being able to afford housing, but that's not the same thing. Lack of "affordable housing" happens when land prices get absurdly high, and when only high end units are built. Philly still has plenty of places where land prices are negligible and, for better or for worse, a lot of the housing stock is substandard. Yes gentrification is driving up prices in some places, but it's still really a block by block thing.
I'm all for helping poor people, and in my socialist utopia everyone has a stable living situation, but it doesn't help to incorrectly diagnose the problem. There isn't an affordable housing problem, there are just too many people who have an affordable everything problem. Building a couple of hundred below market rate units isn't going to do much to help people, and it's generally a very expensive way to try.
And don't get me started on how the affordable housing crowd often overlaps with the 'every unit must have 2 parking spaces at $20,000 each' crowd...
I'm all for helping poor people, and in my socialist utopia everyone has a stable living situation, but it doesn't help to incorrectly diagnose the problem. There isn't an affordable housing problem, there are just too many people who have an affordable everything problem. Building a couple of hundred below market rate units isn't going to do much to help people, and it's generally a very expensive way to try.
And don't get me started on how the affordable housing crowd often overlaps with the 'every unit must have 2 parking spaces at $20,000 each' crowd...