Saturday, December 26, 2015
I Can See An Empty Bank Account From My Window
Not mine, for once.
With oil prices down along with oil production, the state is facing an Alaska-size shortfall: Two-thirds of the revenue needed to cover this year’s $5.2 billion state budget cannot be collected.
Many Alaskans are not old enough to recall times this bad. This is the nation’s least-taxed state, where oil royalties and energy taxes once paid for 90 percent of state functions. Oil money was so plentiful that residents received annual dividend checks from a state savings fund that could total more than $8,000 for a family of four — arriving each autumn, as predictable as the first snowfall.
Why Aren't You Laughing, Citizen
It's a secret weapon!!!
Press coverage of Republicans is so sycophantic.
Press coverage of Republicans is so sycophantic.
The Day After
Otherwise known as Boxing Day, or holy shit, I can't believe how much I ate and drank yesterday.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Heckuva Job
If we just deport a few more people...
Does everyone see that the Democrats and President Obama are now, because of me, starting to deport people who are here illegally. Politics!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2015
Do They Even Live In This World
Regarding Mona Charen's comments about being shocked to discover that Christians, instead of being home praying on Christmas Eve, were actually outside of their houses... it's been like that as long as I can remember. Sure, traditions vary, and some people do the big family dinner thing on Christmas Eve instead of on Christmas Day, but Christmas Eve has long been a "party the night before the holiday" for those inclined to do such things. And if you are going to cook a big meal the next day, you might just want to go out for dinner the night before.
And as for Christmas itself...Well, open presents, early meal, and then... it's movie time! Gotta do something before you start fighting with the in-laws.
I've spent a couple Xmases in England, where it's (hard to believe) a bigger deal than in the US. They shut down the tube/bus network in London so mostly people don't go out. But they do open the champagne at around 10 AM as it's perhaps the biggest piss-up of the year. Holidays are supposed to be fun!
As Roy says, why don't you know what your friends do for the holidays? Strange people.
And as for Christmas itself...Well, open presents, early meal, and then... it's movie time! Gotta do something before you start fighting with the in-laws.
I've spent a couple Xmases in England, where it's (hard to believe) a bigger deal than in the US. They shut down the tube/bus network in London so mostly people don't go out. But they do open the champagne at around 10 AM as it's perhaps the biggest piss-up of the year. Holidays are supposed to be fun!
As Roy says, why don't you know what your friends do for the holidays? Strange people.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Life
I don't think enough people have enough empathy to comprehend what it means to deport somebody. You're severing them from their familial ties, their economic opportunities, their entire life. Imagine you've been somewhere for 10 years, and suddenly they put you on a plane and dump you off in what is notionally your "home" but which probably no longer is.
I think I worked illegally somewhere once. I never quite figured it out. Bureaucracy is messy. I'm a person from a relatively privileged background and existence, but if suddenly they had said "uh, sorry, we can't pay you anymore and byebye" it wouldn't have been a small thing. And if I had a spouse? Kids?
Most people in the US can't imagine themselves in that situation. For various reasons, I can. Deporting people who have been here awhile is a horrible, mean, punitive, pointless thing to do.
Fuck yeah.
I think I worked illegally somewhere once. I never quite figured it out. Bureaucracy is messy. I'm a person from a relatively privileged background and existence, but if suddenly they had said "uh, sorry, we can't pay you anymore and byebye" it wouldn't have been a small thing. And if I had a spouse? Kids?
Most people in the US can't imagine themselves in that situation. For various reasons, I can. Deporting people who have been here awhile is a horrible, mean, punitive, pointless thing to do.
Fuck yeah.
Sacred
You'll only get your tax break if Jesus thinks you have enough parking.
Really just not enough parking.
But First Ward Councilman Tommy Cotter and Councilman-at-large Juan Perez last week opposed the abatement for 230-250 Ave. E, saying they don't want to help the project move forward because they don't think it provides enough parking.
"I know there's a light rail station (near the project) but there's nothing more sacred to day-to-day life in Bayonne than parking spaces," Perez said.
Cotter shared that sentiment, saying that while the project meets the minimum requirement of a 0.5 parking-to-unit ratio, that ratio is too small for Bayonne, which already suffers from insufficient parking spaces. The ratio should be at least 1.25, he said.
Really just not enough parking.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Life Day Eve Eve
Posting will be rather random during the holiday season. Some holidaying, some travel, some oh shit I'm actually busy with stuff.
Yah I know this blog sucks. You're used to it by now.
Yah I know this blog sucks. You're used to it by now.
It's A Grift
I don't know if Rubio is the grifter, or if it's just the people he has hired, but a presidential campaign focused on teevee advertising and exciting new "digital outreach" is just about lazy consultants pocketing all the moneys without actually having to do any work.
I've never understood the "ZOMG RUBIO IS THE GUY TO BEAT" sentiment, but in addition to that, a campaign requires a... campaign. People are going to get rich off of Rubio, but he isn't going to win anything if that's "his" strategy.
I've never understood the "ZOMG RUBIO IS THE GUY TO BEAT" sentiment, but in addition to that, a campaign requires a... campaign. People are going to get rich off of Rubio, but he isn't going to win anything if that's "his" strategy.
It Moved!
Though not very far.
Workers at the Seattle waterfront switched on the power to the world’s largest boring machine and revved it forward early Tuesday, bringing hope to the Highway 99 tunnel project after a two-year delay.
The drill known as Bertha advanced 1½ feet, the Washington State Department of Transportation announced in an update.
Shit is Fucked Up And Bullshit
Fuck yeah.
A British Muslim family heading for Disneyland was barred from boarding a flight to Los Angeles by US authorities at London’s Gatwick airport amid concerns of an American overreaction to the perceived terrorist threat.
US Department of Homeland Security officials provided no explanation for why the country refused to allow the family of 11 to board the planeeven though they had been granted travel authorization online ahead of their planned 15 December flight.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
So Savvy
One thing I hate about primary season is that it brings out what Jay Rosen calls "the savvy" in lefty-leaning opinion journalists who don't normally operate from that perspective. Your supposed detached analysis is transparently not that. We're all hacks, to some degree, just own it.
Why Do Old People Live At The Beach?
I'm a lazy blogger on deadline (ok, no deadline, just busy with some stuff today), so I can't look up the actual research at the moment, but I have a dim memory from my academic days of a paper with roughly that title. Basically, the populations of most of the beach communities/cities in California skew a bit to the elderly side. Short version (from memory): prop. 13 gives existing owners preferential tax treatment (can't increase property taxes much), and people who bought before the 70s inflation got their houses for nothing.
Leaving aside the specifics of that issue, the general point is that The Kids Today have it pretty hard. College (even state schools) is absurdly expensive. Real estate is absurdly expensive in most places. Nobody has a defined pension plan anymore, and 401(K)s have worked so badly that nobody even bothers to try anymore. Old Economy Steve had a pretty good run. His kids, not so much.
Leaving aside the specifics of that issue, the general point is that The Kids Today have it pretty hard. College (even state schools) is absurdly expensive. Real estate is absurdly expensive in most places. Nobody has a defined pension plan anymore, and 401(K)s have worked so badly that nobody even bothers to try anymore. Old Economy Steve had a pretty good run. His kids, not so much.
Did It?
Can't find any confirmation that this actually happened.
I'm not picking on Seattle with my minor Bertha obsession. It just seems to be an obviously bad project which was set up in an obviously bad way to benefit waterfront landowners in a city with immense traffic problems. Nothing all that special about any of that, except the might fail catastrophically part.
After being stalled for two years, Bertha is set to resume boring Monday morning underneath the Seattle waterfront.
I'm not picking on Seattle with my minor Bertha obsession. It just seems to be an obviously bad project which was set up in an obviously bad way to benefit waterfront landowners in a city with immense traffic problems. Nothing all that special about any of that, except the might fail catastrophically part.
Monday, December 21, 2015
They Heart Vlad
One twitter troll explained it to me something like: yes, Putin is a bad guy, but he makes Obama look like a wimp and we love him for it.
Hillary Clinton, You're Our Only Hope
I think the stupidest thing this weekend was the accusation that Hillary Clinton made a Star Wars reference because JJ Lens Flare gave her campaign or her SuperPac or whatever some money.
That movie would've tanked without the Clinton nod on a pre-Christmas Saturday night debate that nobody watched.
No spoilers in the comments assholes.
#jarjarforever
That movie would've tanked without the Clinton nod on a pre-Christmas Saturday night debate that nobody watched.
No spoilers in the comments assholes.
#jarjarforever
Something
I guess we have to pat Cuomo on the head when he does something right.
Shouldn't have to do this. No minor who gets involved in the criminal justice system for nonviolent crimes should have that record follow them around for the rest of their lives, though this step won't entirely solve this problem for these people.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said on Sunday that he would seek out and pardon thousands of people who were convicted of nonviolent crimes as teenagers but have since led law-abiding lives.
Shouldn't have to do this. No minor who gets involved in the criminal justice system for nonviolent crimes should have that record follow them around for the rest of their lives, though this step won't entirely solve this problem for these people.
Digby is having her
annual holiday fundraiser. She's a treasure. Any shekels you can spare will be appreciated.
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Acqua Alta
It's interesting that the regular flooding of Miami doesn't get covered. It doesn't take a storm. It just happens.
Don't Blame the Voters
We all know that Dems are less likely to vote in midterms. Roughly it's younger people who are less likely to vote and those young people, especially where it matters, are more likely to be Democrats. After the 2010 midterms this somehow morphed into the idea that THE LEFT, as distinct from Democrats, chose not to vote because they were firebaggers, or immature purity politics peddlers, or burn-it-down-to-save-it types. This all came from an internet pie fight lens view of politics, where a few anguished Daily Kos Diarists somehow represented a giant movement of Leftists Against Obama who took their balls and went home and that's how we got Speaker Boehner.
I'm sure a few of those people exist, and not just online, but for the most part people who spend precious time actually thinking about politics, including ones writing anguished Daily Kos Diaries or pissed off wonky housing policy critiques on sucky baby blue blogs, actually vote. It isn't THE LEFT who doesn't vote in midterms, it's Democrats.
But it was a useful bit of blame shifting. It wasn't the people who spent hundreds of millions of contributor dollars (raised with increasingly disgusting fundraising tactics by the DCCC especially) and who recruited a bunch of crappy candidates who were at fault. No, it was the fault of the politically immature dirty fucking hippie part of the coalition. Especially the ones on the internet, the patchouli powered internet.
We're already seeing the general election version of this, which is "ZOMG BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTERS WILL LOSE THE ELECTION FOR HILLARY CLINTON BY REFUSING TO VOTE." Good story bro, 10.5 months away from the election. Maybe there will even be some truth it! But it's the candidate's (and the campaign's and the party's) job to win elections. It's their job to get people to the polls and push the correct button. That's what they collected all that money and hired all of those people for. You have to win elections with the electorate you have, not the electorate you want.
I'd probably push the team 'D' lever in a presidential election (almost) no matter who the candidate was, and I'd probably argue with anyone who suggested that it's better for that candidate to lose than to win (which is the argument if you're arguing that people shouldn't vote). But when candidates lose, it isn't the fault of voters, it's the the fault of the candidates. Still, hey, go ahead and start blaming Bernie-bros 10.5 months away from the election. That's the clear path to victory! Or, at least, the clear path to excusing your own failure.
I'm sure a few of those people exist, and not just online, but for the most part people who spend precious time actually thinking about politics, including ones writing anguished Daily Kos Diaries or pissed off wonky housing policy critiques on sucky baby blue blogs, actually vote. It isn't THE LEFT who doesn't vote in midterms, it's Democrats.
But it was a useful bit of blame shifting. It wasn't the people who spent hundreds of millions of contributor dollars (raised with increasingly disgusting fundraising tactics by the DCCC especially) and who recruited a bunch of crappy candidates who were at fault. No, it was the fault of the politically immature dirty fucking hippie part of the coalition. Especially the ones on the internet, the patchouli powered internet.
We're already seeing the general election version of this, which is "ZOMG BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTERS WILL LOSE THE ELECTION FOR HILLARY CLINTON BY REFUSING TO VOTE." Good story bro, 10.5 months away from the election. Maybe there will even be some truth it! But it's the candidate's (and the campaign's and the party's) job to win elections. It's their job to get people to the polls and push the correct button. That's what they collected all that money and hired all of those people for. You have to win elections with the electorate you have, not the electorate you want.
I'd probably push the team 'D' lever in a presidential election (almost) no matter who the candidate was, and I'd probably argue with anyone who suggested that it's better for that candidate to lose than to win (which is the argument if you're arguing that people shouldn't vote). But when candidates lose, it isn't the fault of voters, it's the the fault of the candidates. Still, hey, go ahead and start blaming Bernie-bros 10.5 months away from the election. That's the clear path to victory! Or, at least, the clear path to excusing your own failure.
That's Their Power
Journalists have, in the past, informed me that the ability to out sources who lie to them is their superpower that prevents sources from lying to them. Take that away, and you presumably get more lying sources.
Of course that's a bit undercut by the fact that it's a superpower that is never used, but giving people license to lie with impunity, and having lies granted additional weight through the authority granting "anonymous source" process and then pasted onto the front pages of our nation's most respected newspapers, without any possible negative consequences, doesn't seem like an especially good idea.
And if you have high level sources in government who are attempting to leak lies for partisan purposes, that's actually the important story. "Top NSA (or whatever) staffer attempts to use press to manipulate election results." Kind of a big deal, really. Bring that story to your editor!
Of course that's a bit undercut by the fact that it's a superpower that is never used, but giving people license to lie with impunity, and having lies granted additional weight through the authority granting "anonymous source" process and then pasted onto the front pages of our nation's most respected newspapers, without any possible negative consequences, doesn't seem like an especially good idea.
And if you have high level sources in government who are attempting to leak lies for partisan purposes, that's actually the important story. "Top NSA (or whatever) staffer attempts to use press to manipulate election results." Kind of a big deal, really. Bring that story to your editor!
The Silliest Genre
Your candidate's supporters are meaner than my candidate's supporters!
People on the internet are assholes. Pretty sure everyone should have figured that out by now.
People on the internet are assholes. Pretty sure everyone should have figured that out by now.
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