Rock on.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Trump Voters
Assholes.
I'm sure lucrative careers await them elsewhere.
Three months ago, Mr. Price, 31, announced he was setting a new minimum salary of $70,000 at his Seattle credit card processing firm, Gravity Payments, and slashing his own million-dollar pay package to do it.
...
Two of Mr. Price’s most valued employees quit, spurred in part by their view it was unfair to double the pay of some new hires while the longest-serving staff members got small or no raises.
I'm sure lucrative careers await them elsewhere.
Crazy Policies
There are "left wing" policies that probably aren't popular. There are left wing policies that perhaps could be popular if there were enough people championing them and making the case for them, but that's trickier. And then there are left wing policies that are genuinely popular, which the media treats as totally craaaaaaazyy commie socialism despite that fact.
Everyone sensible agrees it would be madness to make Corbyn leader, because no one could ever win an election with his policies. For example, he argues the railways should be renationalised, and you’ll never win votes with ideas like that. The last Labour leader to fight an election promising to renationalise the railways was Blair in 1997, promising “there will be a publicly owned and publicly accountable railway system under a Labour government”.
The British Press Will Monster Anyone
But only when it's a useless benefit scrounging member of the House of Lords is there anguished soul-searching about the inhumanity of it all.
Yes. And your column also missed this bit:
Am I alone in having some sympathy for Lord Sewel (aka Lord Coke, Lord Sewer, The Cocaine Peer, Baron Sewel of Orange Bra and, doubtless, plenty of nastier nicknames in pubs across the land)?
Yes. And your column also missed this bit:
Equally damaging, he is alleged to have made a sweeping racial slur suggesting Asian women “look sort of innocent but you know they’re whores”.
It's The Other Person's Fault
Every agency is starting to blame every other agency for the Pope visit clusterfuck.
It might not be a clusterfuck! But the PR has been, and not because of meddling "little people" bloggers or similar. Want to clear the air, then clear it.
People live here. People work here. People work here who probably need to get to work to handle the Pope visit, directly or indirectly. Fix the reality, and fix the communications. All of the communicated plans have been nuts.
It might not be a clusterfuck! But the PR has been, and not because of meddling "little people" bloggers or similar. Want to clear the air, then clear it.
People live here. People work here. People work here who probably need to get to work to handle the Pope visit, directly or indirectly. Fix the reality, and fix the communications. All of the communicated plans have been nuts.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Unpossible
This never occurred to anyone before?
It is such a puzzle. I am puzzled. Are you puzzled? I do not like green eggs and ham.
The cash exodus is a small piece of a bigger puzzle over why — despite two major international bailouts — the Greek economy is in worse shape and more deeply in debt. It is a politically charged issue that will color the negotiations on a new financial assistance package worth €86 billion.
Much of the previous bailout funds have gone to pay off Greek bonds held by private investors and other eurozone governments, rather than stoke growth. Within Greece, the money was supposed to help replenish banks’ capital, to get them lending to revive the moribund economy. Instead, it sat in banks’ coffers as bad debts piled up, and it bought time for Greeks and foreign investors to get their money out.
It is such a puzzle. I am puzzled. Are you puzzled? I do not like green eggs and ham.
Happy Hour Thread
easy steak recipe: cover in harissa, let it marinate for a couple of hours, cook.
works for lamb too.
works for lamb too.
Yah Not Actually How It Works
You aren't forced to pay your staff the minimum you need to in order to hire them/keep them around.
If "bosses" really "cheer the idea of talented employees earning more money" they could just, you know, pay them more money.
Jeebus.
Though nobody’s keeping a formal tally of unfilled positions, chefs at restaurants from casual to ambitious say Seattle’s growth—and related circumstances like high rents and insufficient transit—leaves their kitchens seriously short staffed. Our breakneck civic expansion has produced a multitude of new restaurants, but no corresponding influx of cooks—the men and women who endure hours of physical work for modest pay, who actually dice the onions and fire that cod entree.
...
The scarcity means those cooks, especially the quality ones, command a few bucks more per hour than they used to. Meanwhile bosses simultaneously cheer the idea of talented employees earning more money and ponder how to absorb those costs well ahead of Seattle’s graduated $15 minimum wage schedule.
If "bosses" really "cheer the idea of talented employees earning more money" they could just, you know, pay them more money.
Jeebus.
He Could Win, Or He Could Lose, Based On Whichever Calvinball Rules We Put In Place
I hope reporters know this kind of coverage is just stupid.
Or maybe if he bites the head off a bat he'll poll at 158%? If he shows up in a bathrobe and slippers it'll be over? Probably his best bet is to summarize Ulysses in a sonnet written by him and performed in a Geordie accent?
All this stuff is just made up.
Mr. Trump could come away a winner if he makes cogent points without sounding too hostile, presenting himself as more of a serious-minded, anti-establishment voice in a primary crowded with career Republican politicians. But there are risks for him if he turns the debate stage in Cleveland into another episode of the reality show his campaign has sometimes resembled.
Or maybe if he bites the head off a bat he'll poll at 158%? If he shows up in a bathrobe and slippers it'll be over? Probably his best bet is to summarize Ulysses in a sonnet written by him and performed in a Geordie accent?
All this stuff is just made up.
Trump'd
It is a bit scary, if not surprising, that so many people think The Donald is awesome because he's an asshole and yells at people, that he's ahead in the polls because he's a better asshole than Chris Christie.
Too many people want to put assholes in charge. They think they'll deliver a righteous asskicking to those who deserve a righteous asskicking (not them of course). It doesn't usually work out that way.
Too many people want to put assholes in charge. They think they'll deliver a righteous asskicking to those who deserve a righteous asskicking (not them of course). It doesn't usually work out that way.
"Moderate Insurgents"
You don't have to take sides in any particular cause/conflict to see that the concept is fucking idiotic.
The good news is that you can probably give them weapons, so, baba booey.
Mr. Hassan’s trainees were mainly from villages within the 68-mile strip along the Turkish border that the moderate insurgents are supposed to seize, and had long been slated for deployment there. But, Mr. Hassan said, they are so few “they can barely cover 200 meters.”
Better-financed groups are luring recruits awaiting the next course; they make $225 a month, and with no budget, Mr. Hassan said, “I can’t buy them lunch.”
The good news is that you can probably give them weapons, so, baba booey.
Supreme Leader Trump
This both fun and frightening.
Trump's 20 percent is the largest tally for a Republican contender in any national poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Behind Trump are Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker with 13 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 10 percent. No other Republican tops 6 percent and 12 percent are undecided.
That's A Problem
Though perhaps I'm just extra sensitive as I'm a bit sick at the moment.
An AP analysis of water quality revealed dangerously high levels of viruses and bacteria from human sewage in Olympic and Paralympic venues — results that alarmed international experts and dismayed competitors training in Rio, some of whom have already fallen ill with fevers, vomiting and diarrhea.
Suborning
Cole is right, of course. Cops lie. More insidiously, prosecutors encourage them to lie, actually suborn perjury, essentially immunizing cops from prosecution. The "teamwork" that gets convictions impedes holding cops accountable.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Consensus
Shit is fucked up and bullshit. Congress polls in the single digits. So does the media.
That should be something to run on.
And In More Local News
oy.
U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah and four associates were indicted Wednesday on racketeering conspiracy charges stemming from several alleged schemes to misuse campaign funds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grant money to further their political and financial interests.
The five schemes include accepting a $1 million illegal loan for Fattah's failed 2007 mayoral campaign from a "wealthy supporter" and then repaying some of it using "charitable and federal grant funds" that passed through a nonprofit founded and controlled by Fattah, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger said at a news conference.
Scott Walker Was In My 'Hood
No I'm not one of the guys with signs.
Don't cut in line, asshole, but otherwise order your cheesesteak any way you want. Nobody cares.
Don't cut in line, asshole, but otherwise order your cheesesteak any way you want. Nobody cares.
"Concerns"
He just made them up and cancelled it to stick it to Obummer for the Tea Party crowd, but that's too complicated for journalism.
Christie canceled a tunnel project in 2010 over concerns that New Jersey would be responsible for cost overruns.
Parking Problems
To make housing more affordable in expensive areas, there are a few choices. You allow more development and hope supply increases lower prices. You can subsidize it. You can require that developers include some below market rate units. Or you can allow or require that the units built are "worse" and therefore cheaper. Worse doesn't have to mean it's going to fall apart, but it does mean fewer attached amenities. In fairly dense urban areas, parking is a costly feature that new residents are required to pay for so that older residents can maintain their free or cheap on street parking spots. Mandating that parking spots are attached to a unit increases the cost of construction, in the same way that mandating granite countertops and expensive European kitchen appliances would increase the cost of construction.
More generally, all kinds of housing codes increase the costs of construction. I think (too lazy to verify right now) that new units in Philly have to have sprinkler systems. This might or might not be good policy. Above my pay grade. But it does increase the cost of building, as do setback requirements, minimum lot sizes, height restrictions, and, yes, parking.
More generally, all kinds of housing codes increase the costs of construction. I think (too lazy to verify right now) that new units in Philly have to have sprinkler systems. This might or might not be good policy. Above my pay grade. But it does increase the cost of building, as do setback requirements, minimum lot sizes, height restrictions, and, yes, parking.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
All The Foods
Philly is good for food, both cheap and not so cheap. It's rare to get a relatively condescension free piece about it from food writers from other places.
Don't Think There's Actually Any Thunder?
Stop pretending, local news outlets.
The attention paid to Christie's presidential run is second only to the 2 years that Politico obsessively covered Palin's every utterance as The Most Important Thing In Politics Ever as evidence that the people paid to cover politics have no fucking idea what they are doing.
At least David Broder did actually talk to voters sometimes.
Trump stealing some of Christie's thunder in NH, poll finds
The attention paid to Christie's presidential run is second only to the 2 years that Politico obsessively covered Palin's every utterance as The Most Important Thing In Politics Ever as evidence that the people paid to cover politics have no fucking idea what they are doing.
At least David Broder did actually talk to voters sometimes.
Blink
This is from memory, not RESEARCH, but that memory tells me that when North Korea and Pakistan got nukes, and Pakistan handed out nuke tech like candy all around the world, the WAR IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING crowd just shrugged. I suspect their "fear" of other countries getting nukes is less about fearing they'll use them, and more about fearing that it will make us harder for us to bomb them into freedom.
Whatever the reality, the concept of MAD still exists. No one who uses nukes against us can expect to survive. It's all pretty silly. I don't want nuclear proliferation, but we've been telling countries for years that having them is the best way to prevent us from attacking them.
Whatever the reality, the concept of MAD still exists. No one who uses nukes against us can expect to survive. It's all pretty silly. I don't want nuclear proliferation, but we've been telling countries for years that having them is the best way to prevent us from attacking them.
I Guess The Asian Women Are Whores Remark Wasn't Quite Enough
Because, with all our faults, we love our House of Peers.
Lord Sewel has resigned from the House of Lords as fresh details emerged from a video allegedly showing him snorting cocaine with prostitutes.
The former deputy speaker has written a letter to Parliamentary officials apologising for the “pain and embarrassment” he has caused.
It came on the day more lurid details emerged from the footage, including Lord Sewel's boast that he had sex with a married BBC presenter "in the attic".
When All Else Fails, Rig The Vote
I think this method of choosing a party leader is kind of stupid, but so is deciding that you can invalidate all the voters you don't like.
Not Going To Matter
Ivana is just another Loser.
An immigrant, too!
I'm not making light of the allegations. Just pointing out that fans of The Donald will not give a shit.
A lawyer and spokesman for current Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump issued a series of vulgar threats to a reporter on Monday, while falsely claiming that it was legal for a husband to rape his wife in New York.
Michael Cohen, special counsel for the Trump Organization, threatened Canadian-American reporter Tim Mak of the Daily Beast with untold legal consequences in response to an article that resurfaced allegations that Trump had raped his then-wife Ivana.
An immigrant, too!
I'm not making light of the allegations. Just pointing out that fans of The Donald will not give a shit.
This Comes As A Complete Surprise
A New Jersey asshole whose entire schtick is yelling at people who voted for him isn't massively popular in other parts of the country? This is a complete surprise.
Ben. Carson.
Gov. Christie returned Monday to New Hampshire, where a new poll shows his standing has slipped since February, after a dozen trips by him to the first-in-the-nation primary state.
The NBC/Marist poll of potential New Hampshire Republican primary voters – the first such survey since Christie announced his presidential campaign June 30 – found the New Jersey governor with 6 percent support, putting him in a 5th place tie with neurosurgeon Ben Carson on the GOP side. Leading the crowded field was media mogul Donald Trump, with 21 percent support.
Ben. Carson.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Where Are All The White People At
Sometimes I just do not understand.
The same goes for longtime Alhambrans adapting to the city's new Asian identity. At the new hybrid 99 Ranch on a recent weekday, more than 80% of the shoppers were Chinese.
A white couple, Mike and Kathy, wandered into the store recently and began to explore. They examined the rotisserie chicken cartons under the heat lamp at the front and admired the bread selection at the bakery.
But despite the store's efforts to disguise itself as a Western grocery store, Mike described it as an exotic cultural experience.
They left without buying anything, then drove to Pavilions.
Lords
They're clearly better than the riffraff.
A benefits cap is a good idea, after all!
He paid women in prostitution for their services in a grace and favour flat in Dolphin Square for which he pays £1,000 a month instead of the going rate of nearly £3,000. This man’s “private life” is subsidised to the hilt by the taxpayer, and that is what really sticks in the craw. That, and his comments about Asian women. He asks if there will be any “nice little young Asian women” at the party, before adding, “they sort of look innocent but you know they are whores”. As he was the guy in the Lords responsible for making sure that his colleagues, his fellow public servants, behaved properly, the notion of “double standards” covers him much less impressively than that unfortunate bra. His awful moaning to the women who charged him £200 a night about how he can’t get by on a Lords allowance of £200 a day is the worst element of the whole scandal. “I do spend it on wine and different things,” he remarked.
In reality the allowance for peers is £300 a day, though it does not apply to Sewel. He is paid £120,000 a year, made up of his salary for his part-time work chairing committees in the Lords (£84,525) and his allowance of £36,000 for maintaining a home in London. He complains that he is struggling, and when one of the women asks if his £200 allowance pays for his lunch, he replies: “it’s not lunch luvvie darling, its paying for this”. Wow. Is there any real question that he should remain in the House? That he should not be expelled? He certainly can’t be put back in charge of the conduct committee, or appointed to any others. His behaviour and his sense of entitlement have clearly prospered in the context of the Lords. This is six-figure scrounging.
A benefits cap is a good idea, after all!
In The UK, As It Is Here
QOTD:
This is specific to one candidate, but the basic dynamic is the same.
It’s worth remembering that in the press, public opinion is often used interchangeably with media opinion, as if the public was somehow much the same as a group of radically rightwing billionaire sociopaths.
This is specific to one candidate, but the basic dynamic is the same.
To be fair, much of the negative commentary on Corbyn explicitly focuses on how badly he will play in the media, without asking why that should be when he is the only candidate with any obvious personality or charm. In lieu of any charisma from the preferred candidates, Tony Blair appeared like a prize-winning Iraqi Halloween costume and was cheered for spewing out some meaningless rhetorical algorithm by a political class that somehow still uses the phrase “big beast” in the middle of a paedophile scandal.
I suspect that what all the Corbyn-bashing really means is that our media thinks the only people who are fit for anything in this society are those who have internalised the assumptions of its propaganda. That banks are too big to fail but countries aren’t. That unbelievable foreign villains have made movies ridiculous, but not history or the news. I honestly don’t think that Corbyn would make a good leader but only because he would quickly take his own life in a highly unconvincing manner on a long country walk, an inquiry taking 15 years to report that he had kicked himself to death.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Not so good.
Stocks fell in Europe for a fifth day after the Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 8.5 percent as Chinese industrial company profits decreased in June.
16 Forever
There's something about getting stuck in high school.
The world's changed quite a bit, but he's still just the spotty teenager playing air guitar to Born to Run, deciding it's better to be the bully than to be bullied. And he has stuck around a bit too long...
Christie has remained especially close to his high school friends. He checks in by phone and attends reunions. But he's also made a habit of appointing and nominating his former classmates to plum state positions, including judgeships. An Associated Press review of his senior class yearbook, state payroll records, agency websites and state press releases found that a handful of Christie's former high school classmates have ended up in state positions since he took office.
The world's changed quite a bit, but he's still just the spotty teenager playing air guitar to Born to Run, deciding it's better to be the bully than to be bullied. And he has stuck around a bit too long...
Residual Delays
Good chance it's only going to get worse.
People tend to overestimate the capacity of highways. Generously a highway lane can handle 2000 cars per hour. Congestion and accidents obviously reduce this. Take away rail capacity, and...
Commuters in New Jersey were given one more reason to dread morning rush hour, when New Jersey Transit on Sunday pre-emptively announced “residual delays” to its Monday morning service, and said that commuters could use their tickets on private bus and ferry services as well as PATH trains.
People tend to overestimate the capacity of highways. Generously a highway lane can handle 2000 cars per hour. Congestion and accidents obviously reduce this. Take away rail capacity, and...
The Greatest Sin Is To Insult Saint McCain
No I'm not defending The Donald's comments about McCain and POWs, but anyone who thought they'd hurt his candidacy is an idiot.
Fans of The Donald hate Losers. That's the point. Who are Losers? Pretty much everybody else. Conservatives never liked McCain much anyway, for understandable reasons (from their perspective). The Villagers feel tribal allegiance to him. The rest of the country doesn't.
Fans of The Donald hate Losers. That's the point. Who are Losers? Pretty much everybody else. Conservatives never liked McCain much anyway, for understandable reasons (from their perspective). The Villagers feel tribal allegiance to him. The rest of the country doesn't.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Not Just Us
There must be a German word for that tiny bit of satisfaction you feel when you realize that other countries are capable of fucking everything up just as much as we tend to.
America's Worst Humans
Chris Christie.
Amtrak also depends on money from states, and its relationship with Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, soured last week. On Friday, Mr. Christie accused Amtrak of “abject neglect” of its infrastructure. He said he had asked New Jersey’s attorney general to determine how the state could make sure that the nearly $100 million it pays Amtrak each year was being used properly.
Amtrak officials countered that New Jersey Transit’s payments mostly go toward operating costs, like train dispatching and inspections, and for electricity to run the trains, and that in the 2014 fiscal year, for example, only about $13.6 million was left for system upgrades.
Unelectable
They all could be right, of course, but I'm currently amused by the Labour establishment completely freaking out because they might elect an "unelectable" leader. Everybody agrees he's unelectable! And, hey, maybe he is. So was the last guy.
The weirdest thing about analysis of Labour politics in Britain right now is everyone just pretends Scotland doesn't exist. It rarely factors into the analysis at all, even though the last supposedly electable unelectable gang drove Scotland out of the Labour party, probably for good.
The weirdest thing about analysis of Labour politics in Britain right now is everyone just pretends Scotland doesn't exist. It rarely factors into the analysis at all, even though the last supposedly electable unelectable gang drove Scotland out of the Labour party, probably for good.
Every Little Thing
Just stop treating people like crap. We don't even pretend to try to live up to our soaring rhetoric about ourselves anymore.
Let them go. How hard is it to build decent facilities? It isn't rocket surgery. Just build damn decent facilities if you want to lock people up. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEARGH
A federal judge in California has ruled that the Obama administration’s detention of children and their mothers who were caught crossing the border illegally is a serious violation of a longstanding court settlement, and that the families should be released as quickly as possible.
In a decision late Friday roundly rejecting the administration’s arguments for holding the families, Judge Dolly M. Gee of Federal District Court for the Central District of California found that two detention centers in Texas that the administration opened last summer fail to meet minimum legal requirements of the 1997 settlement for facilities housing children.
Let them go. How hard is it to build decent facilities? It isn't rocket surgery. Just build damn decent facilities if you want to lock people up. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEARGH
Saturday, July 25, 2015
If Only There Was Some Way We Could Help People Without Money
We do actually spend a lot of money to "help" poor people in various ways, we're just allergic to giving them cash. Maybe food stamps (which is a close second to cash, admittedly, we just don't give people very much), maybe some housing assistance of some sort, but we just can't bring ourselves to give people cash. That's what they need.
If we're going to do the paternalistic version, which is that we can't give you cash because we need to make sure you make the right life choices instead of spending it all on T-Bones and Cadillacs, then we have to do that better. Doing it right is really expensive, by having case workers with actual resources really working with families.
I guess those homeless kids just need a bit of gumption.
If we're going to do the paternalistic version, which is that we can't give you cash because we need to make sure you make the right life choices instead of spending it all on T-Bones and Cadillacs, then we have to do that better. Doing it right is really expensive, by having case workers with actual resources really working with families.
I guess those homeless kids just need a bit of gumption.
Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit
Someone just needs to tell these kids to lift themselves up by their bootstraps.
It's Pat
How could our elite political discourse possibly survive unless it gives a prominent "respected" platform to everybody's favorite racist uncle.
If you're a conservative, you can speak admiringly of Hitler and still keep your chair in the green room.
If you're a conservative, you can speak admiringly of Hitler and still keep your chair in the green room.
San Francisco II
People seem to like San Francisco, but land use and zoning laws barely let you build San Francisco in San Francisco, let alone building San Francisco II somewhere nearby. Not enough parking, you see.
Lacking Self-Awareness
All for taking in refugees. We should do a bit more of that ourselves. Still I laughed out loud when I got to the last sentence of this WaPo editorial.
Thailand should issue an immediate moratorium on deporting not only Uighurs but also anyone whose refugee status is pending. And China should provide open information about the well-being and whereabouts of those returned to its territory against their will. It should also stop twisting arms to make weaker countries do its dirty work.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Bring It On
Last year a lot of people were like "oh, drought schmout, El Niño is coming." And then it didn't happen. Hopefully this time.
The El Niño hitting the mountains of the north is critical because California's vast waterworks rely on rain and snow from the Sierra to supply farms and cities. By contrast, much of the rain that falls in Southern California ends up in the ocean.
Experts are becoming more optimistic about El Niño's northern reach.
Only three months ago, all of California had an equal chance of a wet or a dry winter. But in May, the scales began to turn in favor of a wet winter.
The Grift Goes On
I admit I'm constantly surprised the the grifters just keep on going... and going... and going... and going...
ERIC BECOATS was very dedicated to his administrator job in Charlotte, N.C.
He was also equally committed to his consulting business, Queen Educational Planning LLC, whose client was the Little Rock School District in Arkansas. Once Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials found he made at least 17 calls from district phones to Little Rock, he was censured and suspended for a day.
Becoats, now a newly hired top school district administrator in Philadelphia, has resigned from two previous jobs, including Charlotte, following accounts of his alleged misuse of public resources, the Daily News has learned.
All Of Those Accidents
I'm no expert and I'm happy to be corrected by those who are, but PTC really seemed to me to be a really expensive solution to a fairly mild problem. Accidents are bad, yes, but train fatalities that would be prevented by PTC are tiny compared to cough car accidents cough which are just seen as inevitable. Maybe it's good that it's being installed, but I don't really think it's pressing.
WASHINGTON — Two months after the high-speed derailment of an Amtrak train killed eight people and injured hundreds more in Philadelphia, a Senate transportation bill headed for debate this week calls for a three-year delay of the deadline for installing a rail safety system that experts say would have almost certainly prevented the Pennsylvania accident.
Lawmakers from the Northeast and train safety experts expressed outrage over the provision, which is included in the 1,000-page legislation to finance highway and transit projects for the next three years. Several lawmakers vowed to fight the extension of the deadline to install the safety system, called positive train control, beyond December 2015.
Sue Sue Suedio
This will go on forever.
"Bound to" if people negotiate idiotic contracts. Ahem.
Yah, you just hope. You know, dream. Maybe...wish a little on a star!
Good luck, Seattle!
Bertha may have a new timeline in place to complete a four-lane tunnel underneath Seattle's waterfront, but skepticism over the machine's ability to get the job done isn't gone.
Bertha, the world's largest boring machine, is scheduled to begin drilling again in November, after sitting idle for repairs. But some worry the tunnel project will eventually lead to the court room for a variety of reasons, such as former state attorney general and KIRO Radio political analyst Rob McKenna. He was in office at the time the contract for Bertha was being negotiated and his office handled some of those contract details.
McKenna told KIRO Radio's Dave Ross that any complex project, like the tunnel project, is bound to end up with some litigation.
"Bound to" if people negotiate idiotic contracts. Ahem.
"When a contractor goes bankrupt you hope that they are bonded, in other words, that they are insured. And you go after that bond, or that insurance, to recover [money]," he said. "Here you have a complicating factor that this joint venture is a consortium of more than one company. So what's going bankrupt? The consortium, or the individual companies in the consortium? It would be a big mess and take years for the state to recover its losses. It will be a mess."
Yah, you just hope. You know, dream. Maybe...wish a little on a star!
Good luck, Seattle!
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Um, NY Post? I Think You Left An Important Detail Out Of This Story
I wonder who it could be.
Just why is little being done about it? Anyone know?
For the third straight day, train passengers from New Jersey were hit with mammoth morning delays Wednesday. NJ Transit even tweeted an unprecedented apology, calling the situation “unacceptable.”
This, just a week after riders were hit with a 9 percent fare hike and service cuts.
And it’s all-too-typical of the delays these riders frequently face.
What’s being done about it? Little.
Just why is little being done about it? Anyone know?
People Live Here
I know I keep beating on this, but roughly (I don't have a figure for the precise geographic area so I'm guessing a bit) 140,000 people live within the planned security perimeter zone. What the hell are they supposed to do?
Worried everything is going to a be a mess for the DNC, too. There's no need for it to be, but, hell, people need their overtime I guess.
Worried everything is going to a be a mess for the DNC, too. There's no need for it to be, but, hell, people need their overtime I guess.
But He Went Too Far Insulting SAINT MCCAIN!!!
What Villagers don't get is that Trump fans don't like "losers" who get captured, either. Well, maybe if they manage to bust out with Rambo-style heroics or similar.
Again, whatever I think of McCain, belittling him for being a POW is pretty sick.
What if someone in the clown car becomes president?
Businessman Donald Trump holds a slim two-point lead over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in a 2016 Republican presidential primary poll released Wednesday by the left-leaning Public Policy Polling (PPP).
Trump takes 19 percent support in the poll, with Walker at 17 percent. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (12 percent), neurosurgeon Ben Carson (10 percent) and Sen. Marco Rubio (10 percent) round out the top five.
Again, whatever I think of McCain, belittling him for being a POW is pretty sick.
What if someone in the clown car becomes president?
Laws For Some, Coverups For Others
Just gotta be in the right club and you can get away with anything.
However, the papers did contain a “striking example” of how crimes against children were treated much less seriously than they would be now. The lawyers cited a document written in November 1986 about an unnamed MP accused by two sources of having a “penchant for small boys” by the then head of MI5, Sir Antony Duff, and sent to Sir Robert Armstrong, now Baron Armstrong of Ilminster but then Secretary of the Cabinet under Margaret Thatcher.
Sir Antony wrote: “At the present stage... the risks of political embarrassment to the government is rather greater than the security danger.”
Mr Wanless and Mr Whittam wrote in a supplementary note to their formal review report that “the risk to children is not considered at all”.
Better Have A Plan 'B'
And a few hundred warehouses filled with Lira. Just in case.
Put it on the table before they do. I have no opinion about whether Italy should leave the Euro, but they should plan for the moment when it could be the least bad option, which also makes leaving a credible threat.
But his stance hardened significantly in a blogpost on Thursday in which he compared the Greek bailout negotiations to “explicit nazism”.
Grillo constructed what he called a “Plan B” for Italy, which he said needed to heed the lessons of Greece so that it was ready “when the debtors come round”.
His plan called for Italy to adopt a clear anti-euro stance and to shake off its belief that – if forced to accept tough austerity – other “peripheral” countries would come to its aid.
Put it on the table before they do. I have no opinion about whether Italy should leave the Euro, but they should plan for the moment when it could be the least bad option, which also makes leaving a credible threat.
The Good Stuff
Owen Jones makes a good point, that Labour under Blair and Brown actually did a lot of good things, but the New Labour wing of the party never talks about them. That's like their communist legacy and it's best forgotten, or something.
And then there’s the cornerstone of New Labour’s achievement – the thing that made it truly distinctive and different from Thatcherism: investment in public services. As both a principle and a reality, this achievement has been shredded. The myth that Britain’s economic plight was caused by Blair and Brown spending too much on schools and hospitals – every penny of which was backed by the Tories – was challenged by the left almost alone.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
FUBAR
I've been in other cities with high security mass events. They certainly weren't perfect, but they weren't like this.
Can't drive here, can't realistically take public transit here, can't get around unless you can walk several miles, and can't expect any businesses in the entire city to manage to stay open because their workers won't be able to get here, either.
Greyhound knows that its bus terminal at 10th and Filbert, which it also rents out to other bus lines like Peter Pan, has been designated part of a “highly-secured area” and will be closed “for several days,” said Greyhound’s Senior Communication Specialist Lanesha Gipson.
The terminal closure plan was news to representatives from some of the other bus lines that operate out of the station. When PlanPhilly asked Peter Pan’s Marketing Director, Kimberly Hailes, where that company would operate during the visit, she replied by email: “We depart and arrive into the Philadelphia Greyhound Bus Terminal,” as though the terminal was remaining open.
Can't drive here, can't realistically take public transit here, can't get around unless you can walk several miles, and can't expect any businesses in the entire city to manage to stay open because their workers won't be able to get here, either.
When The Tunnels Go
Ok, if, but it will be a disaster.
I know plenty of transit nerds who didn't much like the project that Christie cancelled and gave 1-2 cheers for its cancellation, but I also remember their confidence that a replacement project would be in place. The ARC project was cancelled almost 5 years ago. There is no replacement project.
For the third day in a row, electrical problems in century-old rail tunnels under the Hudson River on Wednesday stymied the commutes of tens of thousands of New Jersey Transit riders, illustrating again the shortcomings of the region’s languishing infrastructure system.
I know plenty of transit nerds who didn't much like the project that Christie cancelled and gave 1-2 cheers for its cancellation, but I also remember their confidence that a replacement project would be in place. The ARC project was cancelled almost 5 years ago. There is no replacement project.
Yurp
Those socialists spend all their money on "food" and "drink" instead of giant storage lockers for all of their crap big houses!
Fortress Philadelphia
I admit I have regular fantasies about closing the bridges, at least on weekends, but this entire event is crazy. Just put out a sign for the pope, "Sorry pope, city closed, go back to the Vatican.
Just tell everybody they can't leave their homes. That's probably best.
"The Secret Service and other agencies have discussed the possibility of closing the Ben Franklin Bridge to traffic during Pope Francis' visit in September.
Just tell everybody they can't leave their homes. That's probably best.
Just Gonna Roll It Out
I'm no expert on Seattle traffic and transit, but you can't just "roll out a massive transit plan." You need buses and drivers. My guess is if they have an actual plan, instead of a notion about an idea about a plan, it involves shifting resources away from people who actually use the buses to people who don't. Because America.
Work harder, streets! Harder!
If Bertha stays stuck and the viaduct fails, Seattle would work with the state and King County Metro to shift traffic to downtown surface streets and roll out a massive transit plan to help get people around.
The street grid would need all the help it could get because already-congested surface streets would have to "work a lot harder," Foster said.
Work harder, streets! Harder!
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
THE MCCAIN CONTROVERSY
Like Repblicans care about that.
Businessman Donald Trump surged into the lead for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, with almost twice the support of his closest rival, just as he ignited a new controversy after making disparaging remarks about Sen. John McCain’s Vietnam War service, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Concepts Of Editorial Independence I Don't Understand
You don't want the business side telling you things like "don't write things that piss off Apple because they advertise here." That's the business side interference journalists do and should be concerned about it. That's not the same as "I get to write whatever the hell I want and my bosses can't say anything about it even if it might lead to a lawsuit which will destroy the company."
It's similar to thinking the First Amendment gives you a right to be listened to. It doesn't.
It's similar to thinking the First Amendment gives you a right to be listened to. It doesn't.
Times Change
I remember temping at these places and experiencing deep ennui about my life's future.
There are 71.5 million square feet of vacant office space in the Washington region, much of it piled in office parks. That’s enough emptiness to fill the Mall four times over, with just enough left to fill most of the Pentagon, the granddaddy of office buildings. If office space was a commodity, we would make a killing by selling our excess in bulk to San Francisco, where it’s so scarce and costly, according to Quartz, that start-up employees are starting to work in shopping malls.
Monday, July 20, 2015
LEAVE JOHN MCCAIN ALOOOOONE
You can say horrible things, just don't dare question the sainthood of Saint McCain.
I thought Trump's comments were gross, too, but saying gross things about rich powerful politicians really is less important than saying horrible racist things. But, hey, The Village.
I thought Trump's comments were gross, too, but saying gross things about rich powerful politicians really is less important than saying horrible racist things. But, hey, The Village.
Asylum
The security precautions for the pope's visit are insane. They're crippling public transit, shutting down all of center city to any traffic, including vehicles which could be used to aid the movement of the elderly and disabled.
The Secret Service security answer seems to be "discourage people from coming at all." And people should be discouraged. You'd have to be nuts to try to show up.
The people whose job it is to get people in and out won't be able to get in and out.
No worries, the Pope's fans are pretty much the same demographic as Taylor Swift fans.
Really just stay way. If city officials want to send different message they'd better start, because that's the message they're sending now. Just. Stay. Away.
The Secret Service security answer seems to be "discourage people from coming at all." And people should be discouraged. You'd have to be nuts to try to show up.
Even SEPTA employees know they won't be able to easily get into and out of Center City amid the throngs when Pope Francis visits on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 26-27.
The people whose job it is to get people in and out won't be able to get in and out.
Throughout the city, there will be no shuttles for the elderly or disabled.
No worries, the Pope's fans are pretty much the same demographic as Taylor Swift fans.
Really just stay way. If city officials want to send different message they'd better start, because that's the message they're sending now. Just. Stay. Away.
When Pigs Fly
I do not this is going to happen.
Left behind were the deep roots and rich life her American-born grandfather had begun building in Cuba more than a half-century before, along with everything else of value that belonged to the family: a 14,000-acre farm, a shirt factory that made guayaberas, and a stately 17-room Spanish colonial home in a section of Havana then known as “Country Club,” which belonged to Ms. Rosoff’s grandmother.
Continue reading the main story
Related Coverage
For Ms. Rosoff and the thousands of other American individuals and companies who hold financial claims against the Cuban government for property seized in the revolution — valued today at somewhere between $6 billion and $8 billion — the resumption of diplomatic ties between Washington and Havana, with embassies to reopen in both cities on Monday, represents more than a historic thaw in relations between two Cold War-era adversaries.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Spongeworthy
Doubt Prince Philip makes the cut.
Prince Philip is back in the headlines with another “gaffe”, followed by the usual “oh what is he like” response. This time, he asked a group of East End women: “Who do you sponge off?” The easy response here is that they weren’t personally offended, so what’s the problem? Well, if a senior politician expressed sentiments that aren’t, let’s just say, very favourable to women as a whole, it would be goodbye career. It’s perfectly right to hesitate before criticising a 94-year-old, out of respect for his age. And I think that’s a good point. But at the same time, he’s one of the chief representatives of the nation.
Causes
I get that people can be, for example, anti-gay marriage. I don't get why it's a major cause for nontrivial numbers of people. I actually do get why people people can be anti-choice, even if I completely disagree and think some of the reasons for being so are totally messed up. I get that people are pro-death penalty. I can read polls. I have no idea how it can actually be a major cause for some.
This is what gets you out of bed on a weekend morning? I just don't understand.
The State Legislature voted resoundingly in May to repeal capital punishment, but Mr. Stauffer and other proponents of the death penalty have begun a counterattack: They are collecting signatures in grocery stores, on doorsteps and at county fairs to try to block the new law and to force a statewide vote on whether the death penalty should be reinstated. And their effort is largely bankrolled by Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, and his billionaire father.
This is what gets you out of bed on a weekend morning? I just don't understand.
Uninformed People Can Have Better Fantasies
One thing about being a political junkie is you become acquainted with the art of the possible, rather than the art of what should be. I roll my eyes a lot at, for example, people who think my local transit authority should just triple service levels, or have buses that fly, or whatever. But the point is often those people are right! That should be what happens! I roll my eyes because I know all too well why those things don't happen, and those people probably don't, but that doesn't mean they're wrong.
It's too easy to get trapped into the constraints of what can be. We shouldn't forget what should be.
It's too easy to get trapped into the constraints of what can be. We shouldn't forget what should be.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Evening Thread
Chuck Todd has tweeted or retweeted 4 negative things about Trump almost in a row, and the one inbetween was a reference to Vietnam POWs.. I suppose this is normal for the objective journalist who hosts Meet the Press.
Obviously I don't have nice things to say about Trump, but that isn't my job description.
Obviously I don't have nice things to say about Trump, but that isn't my job description.
What Could Go Wrong
Hey, why don't we train our own computer hacker supervillains? Perfect.
I get that the NSA doesn't exactly have a monopoly on this knowledge, but...
The dozen or so teenagers staring at computers in a Marymount University classroom here on a recent day were learning — thanks to a new National Security Agency cybersecurity program that reaches down into the ranks of American high school and middle school students — the entry-level art of cracking encrypted passwords.
I get that the NSA doesn't exactly have a monopoly on this knowledge, but...
Reporters Assemble At The Tire Swing
I'm curious about how the press will react to this. It isn't as if recent coverage of The Donald has been favorable, but even though given the polls he deserves coverage now, he didn't deserve all of the (favorable) coverage he received before he was in full presidenting mode.
Wow. Trump tears into McCain in Iowa. “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) July 18, 2015
Just Add Another Three Months
What's one half an F.U., really.
Tunnel-boring machine Bertha, whose front end remains in pieces along the downtown waterfront, is to resume digging Nov. 23, according to a new timetable from the construction team.
That’s three months after the August goal set by Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) project manager Chris Dixon, when the drill’s 4 million-pound front end was hoisted to the surface in March.
Friday, July 17, 2015
Subsidies
I'm really not clear on the meaning of this word here.
Ok, I guess I get it, it means a surcharge to fund "just in case" capacity unrelated to actual use by customers. But through the magic of the market shouldn't they be able to keep the plants open and pass a much smaller insurance cost on to customers? No? Bueller?
The energy regulator has issued a new and more alarming warning about the potential for blackouts, saying Britain’s spare capacity margin could dwindle to zero as early as next year.
The prediction from Ofgem has forced the infrastructure operator, National Grid, to consult on another round of subsidies to encourage companies to keep open power stations, a move which is likely to further raise household energy bills.
...
National Grid, whose role involves ensuring the lights stay on, has now said it wants to talk to power companies about what sort of new subsidy regime it needs to put in place to raise capacity margins in 18 months time.
Ok, I guess I get it, it means a surcharge to fund "just in case" capacity unrelated to actual use by customers. But through the magic of the market shouldn't they be able to keep the plants open and pass a much smaller insurance cost on to customers? No? Bueller?
Meta-Blogging
Someone who worked in tabloid celebrity news many moons ago (pre-internet, or at least pre such things being dominated by the internet), explained to me how things worked. It wasn't that they always "got it right," but the better publications did have some boundaries and rough codes of conduct. First, the public/private figure distinction is important. Not so important for tabloids that mostly traffic in celebrity gossip, but even with them there are non-public figures who can get caught up in celebrity stories as parties to whatever the story is. That's a consideration. And, second, the dirty little non-so-secret is some celebs use the tabloids as PR outlets, and some don't. So there's a bit of live by the tabloid, die by the tabloid. If you publicize the details of your public life as a way to promote yourself (or your publicist does), then the details of your public life are much more fair game generally.
Not saying all of this is perfect, but there's a certain logic to it.
Not saying all of this is perfect, but there's a certain logic to it.
Who Is Struggling
WaPo:
I've seen plenty of places that were supposedly trying to deal with their diversity problems. There's always a lot of show of struggle by the people in charge of hiring/promotion practices. Not a lot of actually struggling.
Silicon Valley struggles to hack its diversity problem
I've seen plenty of places that were supposedly trying to deal with their diversity problems. There's always a lot of show of struggle by the people in charge of hiring/promotion practices. Not a lot of actually struggling.
Who Is Next
All of the other shitty little countries, including France (because they're all shitty other than Germany, really), need to be asking that question.
It increasingly sounds like the problem isn't so much that the refused to take their beatings (which they ultimately did), it's that they refused to take their beatings with a smile.
“I fear that the German government, including its social democratic faction, have gambled away in one night all the political capital that a better Germany had accumulated in half a century,” he told the Guardian. Previous German governments, he said, had displayed “greater political sensitivity and a post-national mentality”.
Habermas, widely considered one of the most influential contemporary European intellectuals, said that by threatening Greece with an exit from the eurozone over the course of the negotiations, Germany had “unashamedly revealed itself as Europe’s chief disciplinarian and for the first time openly made a claim for German hegemony in Europe.”
It increasingly sounds like the problem isn't so much that the refused to take their beatings (which they ultimately did), it's that they refused to take their beatings with a smile.
Counting Pennies
I actually think we should pay elected officials - also, too, civil servants and not just the top ones - more than we tend to do. Until they start whining about it.
For one Conservative minister, being paid £67,060 just wasn't enough.
So when the House of Commons expenses watchdog approved a 10 per cent pay rise today, he must have taken a huge sigh of relief - he'll be dragged above the breadline now he and his 649 fellow MPs have received a £7,000 pay rise.
...
Luckily for Mr Ellwood, he is paid an extra £20,375 because he's a junior minister. Let's just hope he has a big enough calculator to count the £96,435 pennies he'll now be receiving every single year.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Progress
I think the problems with the criminal justice system were something too many liberals (including me!) overlooked a bit too much over the years. Without excusing it, I think even activists were cowered by the seemingly unbeatable Tough On Crime stance. You couldn't win by coddling those criminals. Good Obama is going to, at the very least, shift the winds a bit.
The Math
So how much does Greece get then?
What is the €7bn for?
Greece needs €7bn by Monday 20 July. A total of €4.2bn is due to the European Central Bank and €2bn to the International Monetary Fund to clear arrears. The Greek government also has to fund wages and pensions. The country is broke and the banks are shut.
The American Front Lawn
I admit it's become one of those aesthetic mysteries to me. Usually they're just grassy setbacks. People might plant a few different things - a tree here, a row of plants or shrubs by the house - but they're usually mostly blank spaces. And they're blank spaces that nobody uses. Nobody (obviously "nobody" is an exaggeration, but basically true) throws a party in their front lawn, or even sits out there. Maybe kids play a bit on the front lawns, but not so much. Most of that activity happens in the backyard, the more hidden space.
People seem to love their lawns - and who am I to question that preference - but I don't really understand what they're for.
People seem to love their lawns - and who am I to question that preference - but I don't really understand what they're for.
Complete Your Mission Well, Jade Helm
Once Texas is part of the United States, Oklahoma will be next.
CHRISTOVAL, Tex. — Despite the Internet chatter about trains with shackles and Walmart stores being closed to be used as detention camps, this small West Texas town on Wednesday seemed to be surviving the start of Jade Helm 15, the military exercise that some people fear is actually a ruse for a federal takeover of the state.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Sucky Blogging
Yah, busy today. I'll never claim blogging is Hard Work, but keeping up with the zeitgeist actually takes constant attention, so when I have to leave the computer behind for a bit I'm lost. Pretty sure The Donald said something dumb today, but I just can't keep up.
He has my endorsement anyway.
He has my endorsement anyway.
Lies And The Lying Liars
After all these years, the Right can still throw out just about any horseshit and have the media eagerly eat it.
It's out there, after all.
It's out there, after all.
Perpetual Crisis
One could suspect that's the goal.
What this means is very simple: the third bailout agreed in principle on Sunday night is doomed to fail. First because the IMF cannot sign up to it without debt relief; second because, without debt relief it will collapse the Greek economy. This is even before you factor in issues like mass resistance to its details, or the total lack of enthusiasm for execution of the deal by the Syriza ministers who will have to do it.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Shame None Of Them Will Actually Get To See The Pope
I'm happy to be wrong, but what I've seen of the security and transportation plans for the Pope's visit to the urban hellhole will prevent anyone from actually seeing the Pope. If the plans are better than I think, the people responsible for talking to the press about them should start making that clear. If the plans are what I think, they should do the same to clearly sound the alarm.
Subtweeting
A constant locally is suburbanites who lecture Philadelphians on how they're suppose to run their city, including a large number of the local journalist types. I'm not saying this is always wrong. It's a regional economy. Much of the local culture is here. People who work here (and pay taxes!) have a legitimate stake in what is going on. People can have opinions about stuff that doesn't really impact them! I express such opinions myself sometimes.
But there's a subgenre of this, which is the paternalistic Great White Colonial Father Lectures Native Inhabitants About What's Best For Them. It isn't the expressing of the opinion that's the problem, it's the condescension that comes with it. It's a bit like mansplaining, assuming the person you're talking to is an idiot when they probably know much more than you do about the subject at hand. "If only you knew what I know...." Yeah, we know it, and think you're wrong. And maybe you're right! But don't assume we're stupid.
But there's a subgenre of this, which is the paternalistic Great White Colonial Father Lectures Native Inhabitants About What's Best For Them. It isn't the expressing of the opinion that's the problem, it's the condescension that comes with it. It's a bit like mansplaining, assuming the person you're talking to is an idiot when they probably know much more than you do about the subject at hand. "If only you knew what I know...." Yeah, we know it, and think you're wrong. And maybe you're right! But don't assume we're stupid.
One Fewer Evil Evil
I claim no expertise on Iran, but much like Cuba they just seemed like people who pissed off our military-industrial-intelligence state a few years ago for failing to be obedient so they become The Next Hitler for several decades. All the nuclear stuff and imperial ambition stuff just seems entirely made up to me, but what do I know. I don't know why people wet themselves over their fear of nuclear Iran but nuclear North Korea and nuclear Pakistan (and nuclear everybody Pakistan gave nuke tech too), but that has been the Washington Consensus for a long time.
From that perspective, I don't really care about a deal on their nukes, I just hope there's one less supposed Hitler to our Chamberlain in the world. That stuff gets old. We have the power to destroy anyone a thousand times over, yet fear of little Hitlers everywhere is our constant foreign policy motivation. It's stupid. Just make it stop. We have normalized relations with so many horrible countries, and Iran doesn't seem to be that horrible, really. Again, no expert, so feel free to tell me I'm wrong.
From that perspective, I don't really care about a deal on their nukes, I just hope there's one less supposed Hitler to our Chamberlain in the world. That stuff gets old. We have the power to destroy anyone a thousand times over, yet fear of little Hitlers everywhere is our constant foreign policy motivation. It's stupid. Just make it stop. We have normalized relations with so many horrible countries, and Iran doesn't seem to be that horrible, really. Again, no expert, so feel free to tell me I'm wrong.
The World's Worst Humans
Harriet Harman.
When you give the people a choice between the Tories and the Tories they'll vote for the Tories every time...
When you give the people a choice between the Tories and the Tories they'll vote for the Tories every time...
Time To Pacify The Restive Province Of Texas
Assholes.
Complete your mission, Jade Helm.
But Texas has other plans. In the last year, the state has refused to issue birth certificates to children who were born in Texas to undocumented parents. In May, four women filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services alleging constitutional discrimination and interference in the federal government’s authority over immigration.
Complete your mission, Jade Helm.
Morning madness
I'm trying to cheer myself up after looking at the typically grey typical London sky, bleh. Hope your sky looks better.
If you want something to read or look at or listen to, I posted a bunch of links. I can't believe I am up this early.
Need to swill more coffee.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Gonna Need A Bigger Clown Car
That "debates" (which are a pretty silly format actually) are basically impossible with that many candidates, so the method by which primary voters actually choose their GOP candidate is going to be interesting. 2012 wasn't that different, but it's more extreme now.
Gonna Be A Big Mess
We're going to have big crowds to see the Pope. What should we do? If we make it as inconvenient as possible maybe they won't come. Genius!
Is Bernie Sanders Too Liberal You Stupid Liberals Or Not Liberal Enough You Stupid Liberals
Whenever there's a candidate that is "too liberal" one of the main narratives that gets expressed by our glorious political press is that the candidate's supporters are stupid. You're stupid for supporting someone who is liberal because they're unelectable, and you're stupid for thinking that too liberal candidate is actually liberal because you're stupid, you stupid liberals.
There are lots of low information voters out there. I'm sure even high information voters don't know every single detail about Bernie's career, but they probably are relatively well acquainted with the last 15 years or so of it. I'm not making the case for Sanders, just commenting on the inevitable narrative which is: liberals are stupid.
There are lots of low information voters out there. I'm sure even high information voters don't know every single detail about Bernie's career, but they probably are relatively well acquainted with the last 15 years or so of it. I'm not making the case for Sanders, just commenting on the inevitable narrative which is: liberals are stupid.
The Very Serious People
With deep sighs and heavy hearts, in sorrow not anger, they always inform the hippies that, like Will Smith's parents, they just don't understand. They never manage to explain just what isn't being understood. It's just the deeper truths of the universe which are out of reach, things which can only been seen by those with clear eyes and a distinct lack of patchouli smell.
If only the people of Greece paid their taxes! shriek tax haven countries and those who allow their corporations to use them.
It's be funny, expect I'm a bit tried of those who rejoice in the suffering of other people. The Very Serious People never want to punish the perps, just the victims.
If only the people of Greece paid their taxes! shriek tax haven countries and those who allow their corporations to use them.
It's be funny, expect I'm a bit tried of those who rejoice in the suffering of other people. The Very Serious People never want to punish the perps, just the victims.
The Free Market
Happy to be wrong, but the only real question to me is just how fast this place gets demolished.
Silly Atrios, New Yorkers will be clamoring to visit...
Triple Five needs up to $2.5 billion in financing to complete American Dream Meadowlands, through a complex funding combination of bonds, a portion of sales tax and PILOTs and state Economic Development funding. The plan is for Triple Five to make PILOT payments to East Rutherford, under the RAB law, whereby the financial agreement together with the PILOTs paid will secure non-recourse RABs. "Proceeds will be used to make disbursements to the developer for project costs, pay the borough a sum certain to retire outstanding debt of the borough related to the project and fund borough purposes, establish reserves, if any, under an indenture of trust by and between the borough and a financial institution, acting as trustee for the RAB owners and pay costs of issuance for RABs," the ordinance reads.
Silly Atrios, New Yorkers will be clamoring to visit...
Larry Summers Saves The World Again
Recently (probably always), op-eds by Larry Summers have had a standard format. Basically, the hippies are really wrong but have a point, the non-hippies are kind of wrong, but they could still return to the path of righteousness if they listen to me, Larry Summers, and here's vague policy prescription that, in 5 years, I can point to as proving I Was In Favor Of It All Along, whatever It is. Or Against It, if It didn't work.
Name the bastards, say what they should do, otherwise you're boring us, Larry.
It's in the WaPo, you can find it.
Name the bastards, say what they should do, otherwise you're boring us, Larry.
It's in the WaPo, you can find it.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Cunning Plans
After spending 5 years not explaining how they're different than the Tories, Labour plans to continue this excellent strategy that has worked so well for them.
It's like 2002 Dems, only much much worse.
It's like 2002 Dems, only much much worse.
Shorter Every Single One Of These Practically Identical Pieces
Dear New Yorkers:
I know it's hard to believe, but there are other places you can live. Some of them are pretty nice in their own way, and most of them are cheaper. If you decide you can't afford your rent anymore, it isn't too shameful to move out.
Love,
The New York Times
People Live Here
Aside from what Krgthulu said, I'm a bit surprised by apparent support for Merkel by some of the other little shitty countries of Europe (note I don't think they're shitty, but that's how they're obviously looked at by the big paternalist states). I know nerds support the bullies because they think they'll avoid being bullied that way, but that's not how the social dynamic actually works. You're next, Malta!
No.
It's pretty simple. You can run through (most) muscle pain if it isn't causing other pain, though a day or two off might be a good idea. Bone, tendon, joint pain...no. Just stop.
The Mindkiller
I was thinking about how back in the early nineties, violent crime really was a big issue. Sure it was a real issue in some urban hellholes - violent crime genuinely did peak then in such places - but it was also an issue to everyone else. I'm not sure exactly why. The crime was a real issue, but it wasn't really an issue for the people most freaked out about it in the mainstream narrative (I'm sure people in crime-ridden neighborhoods had genuine reasons to be a bit freaked, but otherwise...). I remember a friend of mine telling me that her mother was traumatized by The Silence of the Lambs, particularly the scene in which someone helps the "it puts the lotion on its skin" guy and ends up getting kidnapped and skinned. She saw herself as a nice person who would help a random stranger, and this made her not want to help random strangers because SERIAL KILLERS.
Violent crime happens. It's real. Most of it isn't actually "stranger danger." There are far bigger risks in life (cough, driving, cough).
Violent crime happens. It's real. Most of it isn't actually "stranger danger." There are far bigger risks in life (cough, driving, cough).
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Old
I haven't had the necessary, um, enthusiasm to run much lately, so I've been doing a lot of walking/hiking instead. Now I am tired.
They Used To Care
I have mixed feelings about all the attempts at campaign finance regulation for various reasons, but one notable change in the last 15 years or so is that it used to be one of those nonpartisany/bipartisany issues that political reporters would support without fearing that they'd lose their objective cred by doing so. All that money was seen as "corruption" and even your nonpartisan objective reporter can oppose corrupt, right? If I were a bit more paranoid I'd say this was because McCain-Feingold was widely regarded as the Democratic Party Suicide Act. It didn't actually turn out that way, but that was the belief at the time.
But, in any case, that zeitgeist is good. Money is good. More money is better.
But, in any case, that zeitgeist is good. Money is good. More money is better.
Social Engineering
What's a bit weird is that so many people think that the loosening of zoning regulations - allowing, not requiring developers to build more densely - is the real social engineering. Don't worry, there will still be plenty of single family homes available.
As I've written many times, it would be illegal to build the urban hellhole in the urban hellhole today. There has been a bit of progress in the way the city sees these things, though it's generally two steps forward and one step back.
As I've written many times, it would be illegal to build the urban hellhole in the urban hellhole today. There has been a bit of progress in the way the city sees these things, though it's generally two steps forward and one step back.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Sometimes I Need To Pat Myself On The Back
I started doing the sucky blog thing because I thought that maybe it'd be a better way to make change in the world than writing sucky academic papers. Maybe occasionally I managed to score.
Print The Press Release
It's really easy to spread misinformation when there are people who are very willing to do it.
Pope On A Rope
I see a lot of liberals expressing sentiments like "THE POPE STILL SUCKS ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND GAY ISSUES SO HE STILL SUCKS." And, well, that's basically true. But he's the Pope, the head of a mostly conservative worldwide religion, not the leader of liberals. This Pope is better. I'll happily cheer better. The last two popes really sucked. JP II was treated as a nice guy, because he knew how to project that image, but he was a complete asshole. As for Benedict, well, I'll just say nothing. Better doesn't mean perfect, but better is progress.
Most people have no idea just how horrible the church was in Latin America, and how strong the backlash against them was in some places, particularly Mexico. They were bad actors and this should be acknowledged.
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — Pope Francis offered a direct apology on Thursday for the complicity of the Roman Catholic Church in the oppression of Latin America during the colonial era, even as he called for a global social movement to shatter a “new colonialism” that has fostered inequality, materialism and the exploitation of the poor.
Most people have no idea just how horrible the church was in Latin America, and how strong the backlash against them was in some places, particularly Mexico. They were bad actors and this should be acknowledged.
Also, Too, At Movies
Put your damn phones away.
Last I was at the theatre in NYC, a young woman was facetiming her boyfriend. Yes it was before the show, not during, but still. Don't do that. Ugh.
Last I was at the theatre in NYC, a young woman was facetiming her boyfriend. Yes it was before the show, not during, but still. Don't do that. Ugh.
Thursday, July 09, 2015
Random Thought
It never occurred to me that there could possibly be a somewhat successful anti-Confederate flag campaign. Especially as it hasn't even been much of a campaign, just a thing which happened in response to horrible events.
A Winning Message
And Jeb was supposed to be the smart one. Yes, his brother didn't hide his dufusness, but I'm pretty sure he is actually smarter.
The beatings will continue, you lazy fucks who didn't win the lucky sperm lottery.
Today, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who as of-late has gone relatively gaffe-free, uttered a phrase that may not go over too well with the constituency he seeks to reach. During an interview that was live-streamed on the app Periscope, Bush told New Hampshire's "The Union Leader" that to grow the economy, "people should work longer hours."
The beatings will continue, you lazy fucks who didn't win the lucky sperm lottery.
Trumped
It's always fun when Republicans get upset because one of their own says what they all think and say, just with a bit less refinement. Trump's views are perfectly mainstream Republican, he just chews the scenery a bit more than is appropriate.
And the press generally focuses too much on the theater and not on the actual policies. Policies matter much more. Trump is an asshole, but he's really a typical Republican asshole, with just a bit more asshole.
And the press generally focuses too much on the theater and not on the actual policies. Policies matter much more. Trump is an asshole, but he's really a typical Republican asshole, with just a bit more asshole.
We've Made Nice With Everybody Else
I guess maybe not Iran or North Korea, but the ridiculousness of our anti-Cuba policies for so many years is, well, ridiculous. That we are BFFs with Saudi Arabia pretty much nullifies any "human rights" justification for anything we do, but more than that nobody know what the supposed "goals" of our Cuba stance is anymore. Notionally left wing governments are EEEEEVUUUHHHL and notionally right wing governments are just awesome, no matter what they do.
I've been to Cuba (legally). It ain't paradise, but its flaws mostly aren't how they're portrayed here. I've long been "amused" that Castro's treatment of gay Cubans was held up as evidence of his evilness. Yes he was horrible in the early days of the AIDS crisis, as we were. When I was there it was Pride in Havana and and rainbow flags were everywhere.
Anyway, my point isn't to defend Fidel Castro-era Cuba, or even Cuba now. It's just that whatever its flaws, we're good buddies with plenty of countries that obviously have bigger flaws.
I've been to Cuba (legally). It ain't paradise, but its flaws mostly aren't how they're portrayed here. I've long been "amused" that Castro's treatment of gay Cubans was held up as evidence of his evilness. Yes he was horrible in the early days of the AIDS crisis, as we were. When I was there it was Pride in Havana and and rainbow flags were everywhere.
Anyway, my point isn't to defend Fidel Castro-era Cuba, or even Cuba now. It's just that whatever its flaws, we're good buddies with plenty of countries that obviously have bigger flaws.
Wednesday, July 08, 2015
Cunning Plans
Yes I'm sure a ferris wheel and an outlet mall are just the ticket.
The rendering makes clear just why it will be a miserable failure. Visit the wheel! And, uh, nothing else! That even actual New Yorkers don't understand what makes a place desirable to visitors is unsurprising and sad.
And yet the problem persists — how to get tourists to venture out onto Staten Island and not take the next ferry right back to Manhattan.
Now, New York City officials believe they have found the answer: a gigantic wheel.
The rendering makes clear just why it will be a miserable failure. Visit the wheel! And, uh, nothing else! That even actual New Yorkers don't understand what makes a place desirable to visitors is unsurprising and sad.
The World's Worst Humans
Leonid Bershidsky
The far-left political forces were outside the London process in 1953; they were in the GDR. Now, far-left Syriza wants to be on the inside, with its plans to nationalize banks and utilities and its costly promises to voters. It will use the debt relief to provide free electricity to households, subsidize rents, restore Christmas bonuses to pensioners, raise minimum salaries -- that is, to return to the practices that led to the accumulation of Greece's debt. It is an extreme case of moral hazard, which the post-war German governments conscientiously avoided.
Of course there are political arguments for Greek debt relief, as there were in the German case 62 years ago. European leaders are worried that Greece might leave the euro zone and trigger its disintegration. It might be less costly to write off some of the debt than to deal with such dire consequences of a tougher stand. Then, however, the problem should be framed in these stark terms: Greece's creditors would be paying ransom to its far-left government so it doesn't mess up the common currency, which Greece had no business adopting in the first place.
Unsustainable
A few years ago I was on retirement savings panel at a conference. My designated role was to be the "MOOOOAR SOCIAL SECURITY" guy because of course. But the point I was trying to make to the more private savings folks was...how do you expect people to start their careers with a hundred thousand dollars in debt, and then save for a downpayment, and then save for retirement. This is unpossible even with high paying jobs, which most people don't have. It's true that the magic of compound interest works really well if you start saving at age 21 and continue until retirement, but it's also true that it's stupid to save if investment returns are lower than the interest rates on the absurd amount of debt that you were supposed to rack up to enter civilized life. Really no one should go into this much debt to go to college, but The Kids Today don't even have the option of cheap public universities like The Kids In My Day did. They're cheaper then private schools, but not by much.
Those who mock The Kids Today enrage me. Us olds had access to cheap public universities and we took that away from them. Also, too, gave them a shitty job market. Still let's laugh about their beards and their tattoos and their ipods and their hippity hop and how lazy they are! Silly Kids Today. So lazy. Such silly interests. And all that debt! So irresponsible.
Democratic presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley plans Wednesday to put forward an ambitious five-year goal of allowing students to graduate debt-free from public colleges and universities across the country.
The proposition is deeply personal for O’Malley: Aides say he and his wife have already incurred $339,200 in loans to put the two eldest of their four children through private universities. And college affordability was a leading priority for O’Malley during his tenure as Maryland’s governor.
Those who mock The Kids Today enrage me. Us olds had access to cheap public universities and we took that away from them. Also, too, gave them a shitty job market. Still let's laugh about their beards and their tattoos and their ipods and their hippity hop and how lazy they are! Silly Kids Today. So lazy. Such silly interests. And all that debt! So irresponsible.
Dick Move, Magnum
This is not ok.
Actor Tom Selleck had truckloads of water from a public hydrant delivered to his sprawling Hidden Valley ranch, according to court documents filed against the veteran actor by a Ventura County water district.
The Calleguas Municipal Water District said in a complaint filed Monday in Ventura County Superior Court that on more than a dozen occasions since 2013, a white truck filled up at a Thousand Oaks hydrant and hauled the water to Selleck’s 60-acre ranch in Westlake Village.
Late Capitalism
All about rent seeking. Tribe Econ oddly quiet about this stuff, even though when I was in grad school rent seeking was EVIL. I guess it depends on who is doing it.
But They're The Most Responsible Country The World Has Ever Known
Stop harshing their mellow, dude.
It shows Hermann Josef Abs, head of the Federal Republic of Germany’s delegation in London on Feb. 27, 1953, signing the agreement that effectively cut the country’s debts to its foreign creditors in half.
It is an image that still resonates today. To critics of Germany’s insistence that Athens must agree to more painful austerity before any sort of debt relief can be put on the table, it serves as a blunt retort: The main creditor demanding that Greeks be made to pay for past profligacy benefited not so long ago from more lenient terms than it is now prepared to offer.
But beyond serving as a reminder of German hypocrisy, the image offers a more important lesson: These sorts of things have been dealt with successfully before.
Tuesday, July 07, 2015
Sometimes It's Best To Shut Your Piehole
I like very much that the whole "mansplaining" concept and term was introduced to the world. I don't think I'm really a mansplainer - I don't actually think the ladies always need my sage knowledge - but I do get that sometimes I engage in discussion in a style which can probably be seen that way. I used to teach, so sometimes I go into "teacher mode," and like many people I can be a blowhard knowitall at times which isn't actually the same thing as mansplaining, but it can seem very much the same.
Still that there's a word and a concept makes me aware of the possibility, and I'm just a bit less likely to do it. Sometimes I do shut my piehole and let the ladies talk. Amazingly, they can have smart things to say! Hard to believe, but true.
Still that there's a word and a concept makes me aware of the possibility, and I'm just a bit less likely to do it. Sometimes I do shut my piehole and let the ladies talk. Amazingly, they can have smart things to say! Hard to believe, but true.
Drumming On The Walls
Funny.
Thrush tries to pull rank on Digby. Hilarious. I've long been amused when they get their panties in a twist because people actually read their stuff and dare to think they might be influential? Would they prefer that they were completely inconsequential? Villagers are so weird.
Thrush tries to pull rank on Digby. Hilarious. I've long been amused when they get their panties in a twist because people actually read their stuff and dare to think they might be influential? Would they prefer that they were completely inconsequential? Villagers are so weird.
Choices
We've let transportation infrastructure degrade in the past. If we're going to do it again, we should do it by choice, not by random attrition.
Success Stories
I get annoyed when people talk about the legal constraints that central banks face because "do whatever the fuck they want just call it an emergency" seems to govern their actual behavior when necessary. Greece is a tiny part of the Eurozone. The ECB could have taken over their debts without causing inflation. They could've mailed giant checks to every citizen of Greece without causing inflation. They could have made the lives of actual people infinitely better at essentially no cost.
But Teh Moral Hazard!!! The only moral hazard issue we see these days is that big banks lend without fear of default, knowing well that they - not the people - will be bailed out. Both could be bailed out, of course, but apparently that's not an option. Because serving the people is not what these institutions are for.
But Teh Moral Hazard!!! The only moral hazard issue we see these days is that big banks lend without fear of default, knowing well that they - not the people - will be bailed out. Both could be bailed out, of course, but apparently that's not an option. Because serving the people is not what these institutions are for.
Germany Is The Most Responsible Country In The World
Germany has been involved in some unpleasantness which I'm generally willing to overlook, but that doesn't give them license to create myths about their more recent existence.
I've long been a bit amused by the fact that Tribe Econ tends to idolize Germany and also ignore the reasons for success. Just how does a generous welfare state high wage country achieve success in exporting high value manufacturing goods? Unpossible! Something something German character or something. I don't know.
I've long been a bit amused by the fact that Tribe Econ tends to idolize Germany and also ignore the reasons for success. Just how does a generous welfare state high wage country achieve success in exporting high value manufacturing goods? Unpossible! Something something German character or something. I don't know.
Monday, July 06, 2015
Extremist Parties
NYT:
The choice for leaders of Germany, France and the rest of Europe will look something like this:
If they tolerate the Greek government’s demands, they will be setting a bad example for every other country that might wish to challenge the strictures of the European Union, telling voters in Portugal and Spain and Italy that if they make enough fuss, and elect extremist parties, they too will get a much sweeter deal. It would send the signal that a country can borrow all it likes, walk away from those debts and make the rest of Europe pay the bill, as long as it is intransigent enough."Borrow all it likes, walk away."
Kickstart Tom Tomorrow
One weird thing about this sucky blogging thing is that because of it I ended up meeting a lot of cool people over the years, some of whom were my heroes long before I did the sucky blogging. I've known Dan for what seems like a million years now. He snuck me into the Jimmy Carter skybox at the 2004 DNC!
He wants to provide you with all of Tom Tomorrow. Consider helping.
He wants to provide you with all of Tom Tomorrow. Consider helping.
The Man Can't Tie His Own Shoes
Dear Greece, if there's anybody you should be ignoring more than you should be ignoring Fred Hiatt and the gang, it's George Osborne.
He's Always Welcome To Be A Guest Blogger At Eschaton World Industries
This seems like a dumb idea. Unless they all behead themselves I don't think the powers that be in Yurp will find anything to be mollifying.
In another extraordinary development the Greek finance minister has just announced his resignation.
In a move likely to spark further concerns about the role of other European leaders in Greece’s internal politics, Varoufakis said he was made aware of a preference by “some European participants” of his absence throughout the continuing negotiations.
USA USA USA
Hey we won something!
The United States' 5-2 victory Sunday over the defending champion in Vancouver, British Columbia, gave the Americans their first opportunity to lift the World Cup trophy since 1999.
Sunday, July 05, 2015
Above My Pay Grade
I don't claim to know what's "right" for Greece, I just do know that there's been a slow motion coup by the banksters with Greece as one of their many trial sites. Perhaps giving in would be better for their citizens. Perhaps not giving in is better for everybody.
Not Going To Click Through
But based on this, there's literally no conservative who can't get a fawning profile in the NYT or WaPo.
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