Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Tuesday Evening
I've actually been in a coma since October or so. Who's the Republican nominee? Is it Fiorina or Rubio?
You Mean Reducing Poverty Might Cost A Bit Of Money?
I saw a play once which was a bit too heavy on policy and politics (education in this case). It was well done and funny, but didn't quite escape the basic problem that such pieces generally face. Theatre generally isn't the best way to advocate for your particular wonky policy proposal.
Still there was a very good line from one of the members of the play's Committee to Choose Wonky Policy (not its actual name) about a particular proposal to make the educational system, specifically admissions to higher education, more equitable and fair. The jaded and cynical well-meaning do-gooder explained to the young and not yet cynical enough do-gooder that the policy proposal would never be implemented in the current political system. Not because it wouldn't work, but because it might.
That's what I hear when I hear arguments against a universal basic income (even honest ones). Maybe there are arguments against it, but the biggest argument of all is, "A simple program that might reduce poverty without enhancing the suffering of the poors? You obviously don't know how these things work."
No policy is perfect, but only the ones that stand a chance of working get held up against the imaginary status quo of perfection. We don't spend that much money on poverty alleviation, and a lot of the money we do spend on it never gets anywhere near the people who actually need it. Maybe there are better ideas. OK, devote your life to making them happen instead of devoting your life to making sure that the poors we shall always have with us. Think less than needy people might get too much of that GIANT SUM OF MONEY? As with everything else, just increase their tax rates. That's how the tax code is supposed to "means test" things. It's suppose to make rich people for it, not take away their right to access public and publicly provided goods.
We do have a Universal Basic Income in this country. For defense contractors. They seem to be pretty happy with it, though admittedly not all who experience their Freedom Bombs are.
Still there was a very good line from one of the members of the play's Committee to Choose Wonky Policy (not its actual name) about a particular proposal to make the educational system, specifically admissions to higher education, more equitable and fair. The jaded and cynical well-meaning do-gooder explained to the young and not yet cynical enough do-gooder that the policy proposal would never be implemented in the current political system. Not because it wouldn't work, but because it might.
That's what I hear when I hear arguments against a universal basic income (even honest ones). Maybe there are arguments against it, but the biggest argument of all is, "A simple program that might reduce poverty without enhancing the suffering of the poors? You obviously don't know how these things work."
No policy is perfect, but only the ones that stand a chance of working get held up against the imaginary status quo of perfection. We don't spend that much money on poverty alleviation, and a lot of the money we do spend on it never gets anywhere near the people who actually need it. Maybe there are better ideas. OK, devote your life to making them happen instead of devoting your life to making sure that the poors we shall always have with us. Think less than needy people might get too much of that GIANT SUM OF MONEY? As with everything else, just increase their tax rates. That's how the tax code is supposed to "means test" things. It's suppose to make rich people for it, not take away their right to access public and publicly provided goods.
We do have a Universal Basic Income in this country. For defense contractors. They seem to be pretty happy with it, though admittedly not all who experience their Freedom Bombs are.
Clearly The Philadelphia Eagles Will Never Be President
None of this matters because Hillary Clinton is going to be the nominee and we have known this for 6 weeks or more (we've "known" it for longer than that, but eventually the opportunities for Sanders to roll a 1 on his 20 sided dice faded away), but the internet primary still seems to be focused on which fans are the biggest assholes.
Fine, Philly fans are the biggest assholes. The Eagles will never be president. Can we move on to winning this damn election? While you were having pissing contests the polls have been tightening a lot. Arguing on the internet about who is the biggest asshole sure is fun, but I'm not sure why anyone believes (and people really do believe) it's achieving anything.
Fine, Philly fans are the biggest assholes. The Eagles will never be president. Can we move on to winning this damn election? While you were having pissing contests the polls have been tightening a lot. Arguing on the internet about who is the biggest asshole sure is fun, but I'm not sure why anyone believes (and people really do believe) it's achieving anything.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Brexit
I don't expect the vote to support it, but if it does I do hope the rest of the EU tells them to fuck right the fuck off. The UK already gets pretty special treatment and they're always whining for more. Essentially they want the benefits without any of the rules. I'm not saying no case for exiting exists, just that the "we want it both ways" attitude is pretty childish.
And, yes, like all international institutions the EU is a flawed one which can never represent all of its member nations equally and fairly, but the UK is one of those extra extra special countries that more than gets what it wants, usually. The ECB and monetary union as implemented is a disaster, but the UK stayed out of that.
In any case, breaking up is hard to do. This breakup would be a big mess, one which can't be fixed by David Cameron holding up a boombox over his head by the window of the EU parliament.
And, yes, like all international institutions the EU is a flawed one which can never represent all of its member nations equally and fairly, but the UK is one of those extra extra special countries that more than gets what it wants, usually. The ECB and monetary union as implemented is a disaster, but the UK stayed out of that.
In any case, breaking up is hard to do. This breakup would be a big mess, one which can't be fixed by David Cameron holding up a boombox over his head by the window of the EU parliament.
Pork Américain
I'm not sure I'm sold on raw pork, though the concept doesn't make me gag or anything, but gone or the days when pork chop meant "thin piece of meat cooked to the consistency of a hockey puck." Generally get the thick ones and leave them a bit pink in the middle. Trichinosis just isn't a thing anymore.
Teen Curfews
My sleepy quiet "safe" suburb had a curfew for teens of a certain age. Don't remember precisely, it was probably midnight on weekends and 11pm on weekdays. I don't recall anyone actually getting arrested; I think the standard treatment was to call your pissed off parents so they had to pick you up and then deliver the iron hand of justice themselves (unless you actually snuck out the parents were probably more just pissed off at the hassle, but they couldn't take it out on the cops, so...). Still, what the hell? Why can't I go take a walk at 11pm on a summer night if parents are okay with that. It just reinforced the ideas that as a teen you have no agency, even as you're not that far from being dumped off at college with little supervision, and that the only appropriate place to be is inside your house.
Of course that was no big deal compared to places where curfews really are used to harass teens and speed certain teens into the criminal justice pipeline. Screw up your life by being outside after 10pm. Silly superpredators.
Of course that was no big deal compared to places where curfews really are used to harass teens and speed certain teens into the criminal justice pipeline. Screw up your life by being outside after 10pm. Silly superpredators.
Morning Thread
Who is going to a picnic today. I saw pictures of the crowded DE beaches and decided staying home was the best option.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Happy Hour
For however long it lasts. Hey, even though today is Sunday, most of you have tomorrow off. Enjoy!
Live Elephants
Hopefully Trump does turn the RNC into a total spectacle. Why not? There's no particular reason for them to follow the basic format they've followed for decades. Those have been shows, too.
Happy Suck On This Day
13 years later.
I think it [the invasion of Iraq] was unquestionably worth doing, Charlie.
...
We needed to go over there, basically, um, and um, uh, take out a very big stick right in the heart of that world and burst that bubble, and there was only one way to do it.
...
What they needed to see was American boys and girls going house to house, from Basra to Baghdad, um and basically saying, "Which part of this sentence don't you understand?"
You don't think, you know, we care about our open society, you think this bubble fantasy, we're just gonna let it grow?
Well Suck. On. This.
Okay.
That Charlie was what this war was about. We could've hit Saudi Arabia, it was part of that bubble. We coulda hit Pakistan. We hit Iraq because we could. That's the real truth.
It Gets Worse
Here is the worst thing that has ever happened. It is a completely sincere pro-Trump rap video. If you watch it you will develop eyeball scabs and pray for the sweet release of death.
Saturday, May 28, 2016
The Nickname Campaign
First jut don't. This campaign is not going to be won on who comes up with the most High-larious (kill me) nickname for their opponent. Second, don't play Trump's game. You don't validate him, you undermine him. Third, not "Poor Donald." I have no idea how rich Donald is. The repo men might be about to pull up to his house and pull out everything, including the stuff nailed to the floor. But he's created the airs of a rich man, if a gauche one (well in the American tradition). As far as anybody knows he lives like a very rich man. If Clinton starts suggesting the Donald's lifestyle is "poor," (I know that's not the intention, but...) it doesn't say much about Clintonland's perception of what poor in America is like. Being poor sucks, but I don't think the Clinton campaign should be using it as an insult? WTF.
My job should be to sit quietly in the room and every 2 weeks or so get a chance to hit a buzzer and scream "ARE YOU PEOPLE FUCKING STUPID?"
For now, her aides appear to be throwing ideas against a wall to see what sticks, including trying out different monikers after the Democratic National Committee’s “Dangerous Donald” flopped. An internal favorite is “Poor Donald,” with its implication that Mr. Trump, famously defensive about his net worth, is not nearly as wealthy as he lets on.Did you hear? Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump is poor! Ya, that's gonna go over well. Glad this is what they get paid the big bucks for.
My job should be to sit quietly in the room and every 2 weeks or so get a chance to hit a buzzer and scream "ARE YOU PEOPLE FUCKING STUPID?"
Apparently Prison Isn't A Holiday Camp
I'm all for improving prison conditions but it's, uh, "cute," that it never occurred to the Bundy Boys that they ain't a Club Med where the vacationers inmates get to carry their guns all the time. Well, they probably have an "only good guys" get to carry guns rule, and it's pretty easy to separate the good guys from the bad guys in the inmate population. Good guys = gun loving white people named Bundy. Bad guys = everyone else, especially the dusky ones.
And nointernet porn Facebook? Better call a war crimes tribunal.
And no
Friday, May 27, 2016
He Did Win The Primary
Not to throw too much cold water on the post below, but Trump did win the primary. Sure any dumbass with bit of luck can fall backwards into a seat in the House, but I've decided that people who manage to to ascend to higher offices - governor, senator, presidential nominee - must be smart enough to do something right. At the very least you have to be smart enough to fend off the several other dumbasses who wouldn't mind being senator, too. Whatever Trump's got, he's got something, and even if he has no idea what the job of president is, or how to manage (or hire the right people to manage) a campaign, he still managed to get this far. You don't need to have the Greatest Show on Earth to impress Morning Joseph. I think Joseph's level of sophistication is basically Homer Simpsonish, but you don't run for president with the media I want, you run for president with the media we have, and even if they're completely willing partcipants, Trump knows how to bully them onto the tire swing.
Afternoon Thread
As a lead in to Happy Hour, I give you Digby
That should do it for happifying the afternoon.
It should be obvious by this time that Trump has absolutely no idea what he's doing and is making it up as he goes along. Paul Manafort is experienced at dealing with this sort of character, and seems quite comfortable doing it. But the campaign is a mess and that's because the candidate is a vainglorious buffoon who has no clue what he's doing and thinks he's a genius. I wouldn't bet on Manafort lasting through the duration.I repeat, cause it's worth repeating and bolding: "But the campaign is a mess and that's because the candidate is a vainglorious buffoon who has no clue what he's doing and thinks he's a genius.
That should do it for happifying the afternoon.
The Word Hipster Used to Sort of Have a Meaning
It basically meant young people who worked 2 shifts at the coffee shop and the occasional bartending shift when they were lucky enough to get one so they could afford to drink cheap beer and go see a lot of bands and/or be in one. Add a bit of a certain kind of fashion - beards, tattoos, skinny jeans - and you had hipsters. A key feature was that they worked shit jobs and didn't have any money. Then somehow it morphed into some version of "trustifarian." And, yeah, maybe some New York and Bay Area hipsters were trustifarians, but not really the ones in the rest of the country. We get it, New York, no one is really poor there anymore. Well they are in the rest of the country. Then in its final evolution it just became a synonym for "the young Yuppie in my head who has more money and more fun and more sex than I do wish he would get off my lawn." Basically, it means a fantasy version of The Kids Today who are all rich and lazy and hedonistic.
For the olds, we get it, you (#notallyou) hate the Kids Today and their regular reminders of your mortality and all of the opportunities you think you missed. But the word "hipster" has become utterly meaningless except as some weird projection onto all younger people.
For the olds, we get it, you (#notallyou) hate the Kids Today and their regular reminders of your mortality and all of the opportunities you think you missed. But the word "hipster" has become utterly meaningless except as some weird projection onto all younger people.
Deep State
The portions of our government which consider themselves to be above oversight by Congress - and the individuals who worry not about getting in trouble for it - are growing.
At the Senate hearing, in an effort to defend the status quo, Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., then vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told the Senate about 93 sexual assault cases — all involving service members — in which civilian prosecutors “refused” to prosecute and commanders “insisted” on prosecuting the cases. For many of my colleagues, including former senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee at that time, it was a compelling argument, which they repeated on the floor of the Senate while successfully filibustering our reform. It was also verifiably false.
Last month, an independent investigation by the nonprofit group Protect Our Defenders, which was further investigated and substantiated by the Associated Press, found that two-thirds of the cases the Defense Department cited in the Senate hearing differed markedly from what was claimed. In a majority of cases, there was no sexual assault allegation to begin with, the military had failed to prosecute for sexual assault or civilian prosecutors did not decline to prosecute. After the news broke about the false testimony, the Defense Department told the AP that the information in the testimony came directly from military lawyers who had dealt with these cases.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Everybody Has Their Thing
It's always weird what sets people off, especially when it takes a deliberate misreading of what I write for people to get their desired ragegasm. I suppose it's just the season, but being willfully misrepresented tends to be what sets me off.
So fuck you you fucking fucks!
I kid. Enjoy your Thursday evening.
So fuck you you fucking fucks!
I kid. Enjoy your Thursday evening.
Asshole
Sure the bus driver might have done something wrong, but the cyclist obviously wasn't hit so it couldn't have been that bad.
You have the route number, the bus number, the time, and the intersection, all of which is recorded in the GPS system and is more than enough to file a complaint with the cops and the local transit authority. Or you could screw over dozens of people during rush hour for the equivalent of road rage.
It's a very busy part of town. Bikes have a right to use it and not have asshole drivers, bus or otherwise, abuse them, but if the guy wasn't even hit it's just the standard "shit happens on busy roads" that everybody deals with. People make mistakes. People who ride the bus have places to go, too.
You have the route number, the bus number, the time, and the intersection, all of which is recorded in the GPS system and is more than enough to file a complaint with the cops and the local transit authority. Or you could screw over dozens of people during rush hour for the equivalent of road rage.
It's a very busy part of town. Bikes have a right to use it and not have asshole drivers, bus or otherwise, abuse them, but if the guy wasn't even hit it's just the standard "shit happens on busy roads" that everybody deals with. People make mistakes. People who ride the bus have places to go, too.
Pennies
Infrastructure price tags always sound like huge unthinkable numbers. ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS. And it is true that it is hard for state and local governments to come up with that kind of money. For the federal government it is chump change, even leaving aside some more creative ways of paying for it.
Once upon a time the US really was ahead of basically every other country in the world. It was shiny and new. We had shiny new highways, our cities weren't bombed out by wars (though we did a pretty good job subsequently at destroying them ourselves), lower middle class people had things like refrigerator/freezers and cars, and potable water coming out of the tap was the norm. Things were clean. We had nice affordable hospitals. It was an understandable symbol of progress, of modernity.
Now much of the world has those things, along with in some cases some things are more humane and appealing. I don't think Trump is really talking about BUILD MORE SUPERTRAIN TUNNELS when he says "make America great again," but it is the case that the country isn't shiny and new like it was. The Reagan era made nice things, even fixing nice things, unpossible for going on 40 years now. Something has to change.
Once upon a time the US really was ahead of basically every other country in the world. It was shiny and new. We had shiny new highways, our cities weren't bombed out by wars (though we did a pretty good job subsequently at destroying them ourselves), lower middle class people had things like refrigerator/freezers and cars, and potable water coming out of the tap was the norm. Things were clean. We had nice affordable hospitals. It was an understandable symbol of progress, of modernity.
Now much of the world has those things, along with in some cases some things are more humane and appealing. I don't think Trump is really talking about BUILD MORE SUPERTRAIN TUNNELS when he says "make America great again," but it is the case that the country isn't shiny and new like it was. The Reagan era made nice things, even fixing nice things, unpossible for going on 40 years now. Something has to change.
Get That Person A Lucrative Writing Gig At A Prestigious Publication!
Oh, wait, she's had them at basically every one of them despite being wrong about everything all the time.
At Least There's No Popup Window Forcing You To Upgrade To Windows 10
Probably best, now that Microsoft has decided that "doing work" is no longer what computers are for.
The US military’s nuclear arsenal is controlled by computers built in the 1970s that still use 8in floppy disks.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
The Most Horrible Campaign In Modern History
I'm sensible to realize this campaign isn't actually about me and me feefees and my level of entertainment and whether or not I'm enjoying. Still it's my sorta job to pay attention to all of this crap, and the next few months are going to be excruciating. Gore won or almost won in 2000. Whatever one thinks of Kerry, he doesn't get enough credit for coming pretty damn close to winning in 2004. 2008 was a bit of a nailbiter, at least until Palin was brought on board (pretty sure I saw what a catastrophe she was for McCain pretty early, even as starbursts were traveling up the legs of the media-political industrial complex). You had to unskew the polls to find a plausible path to victory for Mittens (and Paul Ryan? that was hilarious!).
In 2016, Trump probably won't win. But he can win. Don't think otherwise.
In 2016, Trump probably won't win. But he can win. Don't think otherwise.
Some Good News
I don't care if you're a BernieBro or a Hillbot, but all right thinking people should agree that DWS is horrible. She was horrible before the presidential primary (for example, refusing to campaign against her Republican "friends" in Florida), and she didn't even try to fake not being horrible during the primary. Rumors are she threatened to go nuclear on Obama when he made some noises about replacing her, and she supports pay day lenders and generally undermining the CFPB. We all know that when Democrats lose elections it's the fault of those gross lazy voters, particular the young ones who are increasingly victims of various vote suppress schemes, but presumably it's also the fault of people with lots of power and huge budgets who don't wield those things effectively. She should have been gone years ago.
Just go.
Democrats on Capitol Hill are discussing whether Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz should step down as Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairwoman before the party’s national convention in July.
Just go.
Well-Trained Good Guy With A Gun
Supposedly.
The chief of police in Portland, Ore., was placed on leave Tuesday amid investigations into whether he inadvertently shot a friend during a vacation last month and covered it up.
I Do Not Think This is a Good Measure
I was bored this morning (still can't sleep!) and was clicking through various corners of the internet and found myself at a a BMI calculator. I'm 5'11. I have a smallish frame for the most part. Certainly not a beefy muscle guy. I'm not svelte, and could stand to be in better physical shape (been lazy lately), though that means more muscle tone, not losing a bunch of weight for its own sake.
It isn't news that BMI is a silly measure. But I'm about 5 pounds away from being "overweight" given my height. Well, ok, I'll take that. Losing 10 pounds wouldn't kill me. On the other side, however, I apparently could lose 40 pounds before I would be classified as "underweight." If I lose 40 pounds, unless I'm training for and running weekly marathons (and even then) I hope my friends consider putting me in the hospital.
It isn't news that BMI is a silly measure. But I'm about 5 pounds away from being "overweight" given my height. Well, ok, I'll take that. Losing 10 pounds wouldn't kill me. On the other side, however, I apparently could lose 40 pounds before I would be classified as "underweight." If I lose 40 pounds, unless I'm training for and running weekly marathons (and even then) I hope my friends consider putting me in the hospital.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
America's Worst Humans
Ken Starr.
I remember the absurdly reverential treatment the Villagers gave him. He was going to get that nasty Clenis,
I remember the absurdly reverential treatment the Villagers gave him. He was going to get that nasty Clenis,
On Trial
In no way minimizing the alleged offenses, but I do hope the Cosby criminal trial does not become a 24/7 cable news thing.
On the other hand, if it doesn't it'll be interesting, as it pretty much meets the standard for such things.
On the other hand, if it doesn't it'll be interesting, as it pretty much meets the standard for such things.
Assholes
People who "force" other people to pretend to pray anywhere other than their own homes are assholes.
If you're religious and it's you household tradition for people to grasp hands and bow their heads while someone says grace, fine. But I've had people do it to me in restaurants and in my own house. No. Bow your head and pray quietly if you want. Don't try to force me to pretend to share your religion or my shrine to satan will start being the table's centerpiece. Being religious isn't an excuse to be an asshole.
My husband is agnostic, I am atheist and we do not say grace. My father-in-law always says grace and insists everyone bow their head and participate. I have always respected this in his home, but I do not want this in my own home.
If you're religious and it's you household tradition for people to grasp hands and bow their heads while someone says grace, fine. But I've had people do it to me in restaurants and in my own house. No. Bow your head and pray quietly if you want. Don't try to force me to pretend to share your religion or my shrine to satan will start being the table's centerpiece. Being religious isn't an excuse to be an asshole.
BRT Creep
Once you factor in the greater ongoing capital costs (buses must be replaced frequently, rail cars don't), ideal BRT tends not to be much cheaper than light rail. More than that, the ridership that justifies spending that much on a "real" BRT system means your shiny new BRT system will be at capacity basically right away.
Of course you almost never get "real" BRT as it's always easy to cut costs until what you're left with is just a bus. Buses are great, but they usually aren't rapid transit...
Of course you almost never get "real" BRT as it's always easy to cut costs until what you're left with is just a bus. Buses are great, but they usually aren't rapid transit...
Or Maybe You Could Just Read It Online And Mouse Over It
Another cunning plan from the newspaper industry.
Print is saved!
In an interview, Soon-Shiong, a 63-year-old surgeon and chief executive officer of NantKwest Inc., a cancer-research firm, said he wants to use “machine vision” technology he’s developed to transform the experience of reading a print newspaper. The Tribune’s portfolio of newspapers includes the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune.
For example, a reader could pan a camera across a physical newspaper and the photos could be turned into video. Focus the camera on a photo of basketball star Kevin Durant or Donald Trump and “you’d hear him speaking or Kevin Durant would be dunking,” he said.
Print is saved!
Monday, May 23, 2016
Heading to the Finish Line
As is utterly predictable, Sanders will drop out or the equivalent some time after the last primary. He'll use his leverage to get something. Yes he's made some different noises at times, but so did Clinton in 2008. There are minor differences, but they aren't really differences that matter, and anyone who thinks the Clinton campaign was all roses to Obama towards the end of primary season in 2008 must have slept through it. Bernie supporters will get their chance to vote for him after putting in the time and money that some of them did. Then it will be over, except for people fighting to the death about it on Twitter until President Trump is elected.
I Kinda Doubt It
Predictions are hard, especially about the future, but "rock music" came into existence simultaneously with the birth of pervasive mass popular culture and mass communications. Sure even The Kids Today don't have the encyclopedic knowledge of music of the 60s and 70s the way that many of my generation did, but they know a hell of a lot more about popular music from 40-50 years ago than I knew about popular (or any) music from 40-50 years before my day (roughly 30s-40s) about which I knew essentially nothing.
yah, yah, in 300 years we might as a species be ashes or uploaded into robot bodies, but I expect some ancient histories will be more present than others. Not a comment on the merits, just the phenomenon.
Which Rock Star
Will Historians of the
Future Remember?
The most important musical form of the 20th century will
be nearly forgotten one day. People will probably learn
about the genre through one figure — so who might that be?
yah, yah, in 300 years we might as a species be ashes or uploaded into robot bodies, but I expect some ancient histories will be more present than others. Not a comment on the merits, just the phenomenon.
Assholes
Microsoft decided to automatically install Windows 10 on one of the Atrios household computers. Fortunately I knew how to roll it back right away. Asshole company is well aware of all of the problems this can cause for people, even aside from just not wanting a new operating system. If you run a small business and it nukes your payroll and accounting program (this kind of thing happens) you're pretty screwed.
I gather 10 isn't as bad as 8, in which Microsoft decided that what everyone wanted from their desktop computer was a tablet they couldn't carry with them and couldn't do any work on, but don't do this shit without my permission.
And don't get my started on Apple "we make it shittier every 6 months and planned obsolescence is our business model" products... At least Microsoft users complain about their products. Go to an unofficial Apple support forum and responses to problems are usually either "it's supposed to work that way" (oh, as a doorstop!) or "you must have done something wrong!" That Apple has to regularly release bug fixes (usually after much complaining) should clue these people into the fact that sometimes things are actually Apple's fault...
I gather 10 isn't as bad as 8, in which Microsoft decided that what everyone wanted from their desktop computer was a tablet they couldn't carry with them and couldn't do any work on, but don't do this shit without my permission.
And don't get my started on Apple "we make it shittier every 6 months and planned obsolescence is our business model" products... At least Microsoft users complain about their products. Go to an unofficial Apple support forum and responses to problems are usually either "it's supposed to work that way" (oh, as a doorstop!) or "you must have done something wrong!" That Apple has to regularly release bug fixes (usually after much complaining) should clue these people into the fact that sometimes things are actually Apple's fault...
Sunday, May 22, 2016
The Answer Is Pretty Obvious
Our local real estate writer.
Um, because they were illegal until 1995?
One of the things that has always baffled me about Philadelphia is why visitors appear to like the city more than its residents do.Some of this is just the basic culture of negadelphia, a hangover from the days when the city was somewhat less than awesome. But the city expends a lot of effort (and money) to attract visitors, who often just drive in for an event and then drive out, and has let quality of life issues for people who live here go by the wayside. Residents to a great degree aren't a priority. We're the nuisance.
When I moved here in 1980, Steve Poses' Frog restaurant and the Commissary - both a few years old - were inspiring the city's Restaurant Renaissance, but I cannot remember frequenting a single sidewalk café.
Um, because they were illegal until 1995?
There Are Protests At Every Convention
The media usually doesn't pay much attention, and given the rise in "first amendment zones" they're usually easy to ignore. The police/municipality settlements with mistreated protesters a few years later usually get ignored, too, even though they can be quite expensive. More fun to focus on how best to take away pensions.
There will be protests this year, too, unless Don Lemon's black hole whisks them all away. The only real question is how much attention they (and which protesters specifically) get.
There will be protests this year, too, unless Don Lemon's black hole whisks them all away. The only real question is how much attention they (and which protesters specifically) get.
Do You Really Believe This Shit?
It's my fault for reading too much of the internet, but I read so many stupid arguments on behalf of Your Favorite Candidate that I can't believe that a) people are stupid enough to make them and b) people are stupid enough to think that they'll persuade anybody.
Especially when this primary has been over for more than a month. Yes Sanders is still in it, as Clinton stayed in it in 2008, and I don't think that latter fact means that either he or his campaign are off limits for criticism (any more than I think Clinton's inevitable nomination implies that she or her campaign are off limits). But mostly I don't get what people are arguing about anymore. Clinton won. It's over. I'd say stop trying to persuade people to vote for Your Favorite Candidate (whoever that is), except nobody is much interested in doing that anyway. They're just interested in being right on the internet, even though people are mostly embarrassingly stupid about the whole thing. Butthurt and derp don't win elections. Butthurt and derp aren't going to help you persuade people when it might actually help.
Engaged people, the type that spend time blathering about politics on the internet, know why they made their choice. You aren't going to change their minds. More than that, there's no point in trying. Can someone send out that batsignal or something and let people know the primary is over? We have a winner.
Especially when this primary has been over for more than a month. Yes Sanders is still in it, as Clinton stayed in it in 2008, and I don't think that latter fact means that either he or his campaign are off limits for criticism (any more than I think Clinton's inevitable nomination implies that she or her campaign are off limits). But mostly I don't get what people are arguing about anymore. Clinton won. It's over. I'd say stop trying to persuade people to vote for Your Favorite Candidate (whoever that is), except nobody is much interested in doing that anyway. They're just interested in being right on the internet, even though people are mostly embarrassingly stupid about the whole thing. Butthurt and derp don't win elections. Butthurt and derp aren't going to help you persuade people when it might actually help.
Engaged people, the type that spend time blathering about politics on the internet, know why they made their choice. You aren't going to change their minds. More than that, there's no point in trying. Can someone send out that batsignal or something and let people know the primary is over? We have a winner.
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Money for the Poors
Haha just kidding there's no money for the poors.
Cash benefits in Arizona are smaller now than when Congress created the assistance program 20 years ago. In 2009, Arizona reduced the maximum benefit by 20 percent, to $278 a month for a family of three with no other income. That cut, coupled with inflation, has reduced the buying power of the maximum benefit by about half.
The federal law required states to set time limits on the receipt of cash assistance and specified that the payments could not exceed five years, which is still the limit in about two-thirds of the states.
In 2010, Arizona cut cash-assistance eligibility to three years, from five. In 2011, it reduced the limit to two years. Then last year it dropped to one, with that limit to begin on July 1.
Saturday, Saturday
Still enjoying my insomnia. Weird news season. A bunch of meaningless stuff happens during the week, then nothing happens over the weekend.
Gonna put my Kodos yard sign out today.
Gonna put my Kodos yard sign out today.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Another Cunning Plan To Take Your Money
Someone brought this up in the comments the other day (out yourself if you want! I never know). Once upon a time all good people were given advice to buy long term care insurance so that when you were old you wouldn't be a burden - financial and otherwise - on your family. Unsurprisingly that has gone badly. Whether they're crooks or they just screwed up the actuarial stuff, the plans started losing money. They started hiking rates on people, so that insurance you bought at $X when you did what you were advised like a good citizen, was now pinging you for $(2*X) or whatever. Stop paying your premium, no long term care for you. The industry largely collapsed. AARP doesn't even market LTC insurance anymore. One way or another a lot of people bought something which will likely not be there for them when they need it, or at best will cost them a lot more than it was supposed to.
Good thing so many people took that advice. What's the next scam for all responsible citizens?
Good thing so many people took that advice. What's the next scam for all responsible citizens?
At the End of the Day You're Another Day Older
I guess that's why there's so much contempt for The Kids Today.
Train to the Sea
It's finally here. But no one ever gets it in this silly country. Frequency is much more important than speed. People hate to wait much more than they hate to ride. And of course too low frequencies can dramatically increase the average total trip time. Run them often enough, and 50 minutes from downtown LA to the beach is fine.
When the long-awaited Expo Line extension opens Friday at noon, passengers will ride from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica in 50 minutes.
That's an improvement over the ugly rush-hour commutes many days on the 10 Freeway. But it's roughly as long as the trip took on the old Pacific Electric Red Cars, which operated a similar route six decades ago.
Speed is one of the biggest challenges facing regional planners as they try to coax Los Angeles drivers out of their cars and onto public transit. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say they hope to convert 20% to 25% of Angelenos into regular transit riders, triple the current percentage.
Brexit
People who want Britain to leave the EU essentially promise that they get to keep all of the good stuff while arbitrarily getting rid of the bad stuff which they're usually pretty bad at actually describing. Don't get me wrong, the EU is a flawed instititution, but the Euro/ECB is the main problem with it, and Britain already opted out of that. Free mobility for me but not for thee seems to be the promise.
Classical scholars must be struck by the parallels between the quality of this debate, and arguments between the Greek philosophers at the peak of their intellectual powers. You can imagine Plato posing the problem of how we can never define an object exactly, as every example is different from other objects that go by the same name, making it impossible to be precise about what anything is. And Boris Johnson would reply: “Yes, but on the other hand the Germans are a bloody menace. And the French.”
One of the joys of this campaign has been to unearth the full extent of Boris’s powers of persuasion. Every day he pops up on the radio to delight us with thoughts such the following: “Look, huh it’s really perfectly as was intimated by the paraphernalia contained, when one considers inter alia rather expurgated if I may say so the bloated incandescence we witness indeed as implicit in your in your in your ha ha your very question if I may be permitted to continue… was it not Bismarck or and let me say I have the greatest respect for Britney Spears, who sine que non as one of our more perfunctory antediluvian songstresses it seems to me perfectly, er er er er, perfectly clear the Hun are trying to steal our marmalade.”
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Don't Get in Fights
I had friends in college who liked to get drunk and get in fights. It was annoying, to say the least. I certainly never understood the desire to get in fights generally, but more than that I didn't get that nobody seemed to think that they could have serious life altering injuries or even death from a fight. At the very least, cosmetic facial scarring is a pretty likely outcome. Broken jaws are too, and they can be pretty serious. Also, it takes one bad bump to the head for things to go really really wrong.
It's not okay to just kick the crap out of someone. There can be consequences. The gay bashing element is important here, but it isn't the only issue. Don't be fucking idiots and beat people up. It might fuck them - and you - up for life.
It's not okay to just kick the crap out of someone. There can be consequences. The gay bashing element is important here, but it isn't the only issue. Don't be fucking idiots and beat people up. It might fuck them - and you - up for life.
The two men who were insulted by anti-gay slurs and viciously attacked in Center City Philadelphia nearly two years ago filed a lawsuit earlier this week against the three Bucks County defendants who were criminally charged in the assault.
The Good News
Rich assholes are often, if not always, extremely stupid about how they spend their money.
Still this could be the last election cycle of my blogging career. Getting in on the conservative election campaign entrepreneur grift really does seem like the way to go.
Still this could be the last election cycle of my blogging career. Getting in on the conservative election campaign entrepreneur grift really does seem like the way to go.
Still Growing
According to the just released 2015 population estimates, Philadelphia is still growing in population. Growing slowly, as it has been, but actually growing. It's a small thing, but for years the powers that be seemed to have a "will the last one to leave the city please turn out the lights" attitude, a belief that the post-war declines would inevitably continue. It isn't growing much, but it hasn't been shrinking for awhile. Going to take a few more years before the powers will believe it might continue. Many of them think it's just "millenial hipsters who will move away as soon as they have kids." Well, sure, some will move away. And maybe more will move in? Also, too, growing immigrant population.
Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit
The other thing Obummer has immense unilteral power over is immigration enforcement, detention, and deportation.
Unlike most USians, Obama traveled and lived elsewhere as a kid. He should have a better understanding of how quickly your new life becomes the new normal, and the old life - dangerous or not - a distant memory.
Unlike most USians, Obama traveled and lived elsewhere as a kid. He should have a better understanding of how quickly your new life becomes the new normal, and the old life - dangerous or not - a distant memory.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
What Could Go Wrong
It's as if I'm writing a dark comedy.
Gotta arm somebody, anybody....
Army Gen. David M. Rodriguez, the chief of U.S. Africa Command, told a handful of reporters here that Libya’s internal politics still make it difficult to determine which armed groups are aligning themselves with the Government of National Accord, an interim group that has backing from the United Nations. The militias would be called on to play a key role in stopping the spread of the Islamic State, which took hold in Libya in November 2014.
...
Rodriguez, who was in Brussels to meet with senior European military officials and Marine Gen. Joseph F. DunfordJr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that “everybody” is waiting to see how the United Nations examines the Libyan request, which must include details about who will receive the weapons.
Gotta arm somebody, anybody....
MetaWarp NINE
One thing about the current state of the internets is that it seems like every event goes meta practically before it even happens. The hot takes, the hot takes on the hot takes, predictions about the hot takes of others, hot takes on those imagined hot takes...And everything collapses into a black hole of discourse just in time for the next round.
The Obummer Years
Who is to blame for the bad stuff of the Obummer years? Much of that is debatable. Contrary to the regular assertions by the wingnut brigade, Obama isn't a dictator and he has faced a hostile Congress and a somewhat hostile Supreme Court. Some things were genuinely beyond his control. I have my opinions on some of that stuff, as all of you do I'm sure, but as I wrote, it's debatable how much better Ideal President Obama could have done over Actual President Obama, given the situation.
Still there is one thing which can really be pinned on him. His administration not only had authority, but oodles of money that they never got around to spending. It was supposed to help deal with the foreclosure crisis. They did not. Instead they let the narrative about innocent bankers preyed upon by supergenius poor people with poor credit ratings survive, letting the criminal fraud go on and on and on and on. They could have stopped it. They didn't.
Still there is one thing which can really be pinned on him. His administration not only had authority, but oodles of money that they never got around to spending. It was supposed to help deal with the foreclosure crisis. They did not. Instead they let the narrative about innocent bankers preyed upon by supergenius poor people with poor credit ratings survive, letting the criminal fraud go on and on and on and on. They could have stopped it. They didn't.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Tuesday Evening Fight Thread
For those of you who think that fighting in my comments section is a productive use of your time and that there's nothing more important than being right on the internet.
Berry Season
Been very much enjoying the fresh berries that are here this time of year. I normally eat relatively healthily, but for some reason manage to not eat a lot of fresh fruit. Remedying that.
This is a very insightful post. In other words, more thread!
This is a very insightful post. In other words, more thread!
They're Marijuana Tests
Anyone except actual addicts can avoid testing positive for a semi-planned (in other words, not spot) job interview drug test. Stay clean for a couple of days and most drugs are no longer detectable. The big exception is marijuana. That can be detectable in urine for quite a long time. Most discussions of drug testing leave out this basic fact, that drug tests are essentially marijuana tests. And they aren't picking up if you're high right now, or even high yesterday, but potentially if you were high 10 or more days ago.
So just stop the damn drug tests.
So just stop the damn drug tests.
Assholes
buh-bye.
Two Boston brothers who beat and urinated on a homeless Mexican man, then told police "Donald Trump was right: All these illegals need to be deported," were sentenced to prison on Monday.
Scott Leader, 38, and Steve Leader, 30, had previously pleaded guilty to indictments charging them with causing bodily injury while committing a civil rights violation, as well as assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, among other charges.
...
The victim, Guillermo Rodriguez, said in a statement that he was in fact a permanent resident.
What Could Go Wrong?
We must do something. Adding more weapons to a conflict is all we know how to do. So we'll do that. I'm sure it'll work out just as well as the last dozen times we've done this.
Fortunately only the good guys will get the guns. They come with "good guy" safety locks so only good guys can use them.
Vienna (AFP) - The United States, Italy and Libya's friends and neighbours agreed Monday to arm the war-torn country's fledgling unity government to fight the Islamic State threat.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said a 25-member group had agreed to exempt the Government of National Accord from the UN arms embargo imposed to halt the Libyan conflict.
Fortunately only the good guys will get the guns. They come with "good guy" safety locks so only good guys can use them.
Extras
I still have a lot of friends who teach in higher ed, so I hear a lot of these stories. Basically some institutions do a pretty good job of providing free or cheap college to some number of poor kids, but then the support structure just isn't there. There are students who just can't always come up with an extra 10 bucks to cover some extra expense. It isn't just wanting to keep up with the rich kids - though that's an issue, too - sometimes it's just having money to buy some extra supplies or feed yourself on those days when the dining halls are closed. The administrations are usually smart enough to understand that not all students are rich, but they fail to get just what being poor means. It means that sometimes an extra $10 is impossible to come by. And even if the resources are available to fill those holes when necessary, it still requires that potentially shy and a bit in over their heads kids go ask for them.
Here at Columbia University, money pressures lead many to cut corners on textbook purchases and skip city excursions routine for affluent classmates. Some borrow thousands of dollars a year to pay bills. Some feel obliged to send money home occasionally to help their families. Others spend less on university meal plans, slipping extra food into their backpacks when they leave a dining hall and hunting for free grub through a Facebook network called CU Meal Share.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Good Riddance (Hopefully)
About the stupidest big urban project I've seen, and it is very close to me. I do mean "stupidest" in that it would have been a complete failure, much more than "worst" in the sense of not conforming to my idiosyncratic urban preferences. Just a disaster.
I went to one of the community meetings about an earlier (but not really smarter) incarnation of the project. The architect helpfully informed the audience of locals that it was such a great location because it was just a 15 minute subway ride to center city/City Hall.
It's a 5 minute subway ride.
I went to one of the community meetings about an earlier (but not really smarter) incarnation of the project. The architect helpfully informed the audience of locals that it was such a great location because it was just a 15 minute subway ride to center city/City Hall.
It's a 5 minute subway ride.
Incrementalism
The unified message coming from both the Clinton and Obama camps is that incrementalism is the only possible path forward and [insert one here: BernieBros, The Kids Today, The Left, Naderites, Silly People Who Never Vote] just don't understand this iron law of politics and should be laughed at. The other message is we would have had the progressive Nirvana if only The Left turned out for midterms.
As for the first bit, well, incrementalism towards what? I can't speak for all [insert one here: BernieBros, The Kids Today, The Left, Naderites, Silly People Who Never Vote], but I imagine that just because people are asking for ponies doesn't mean they expect Benevolent Dictator Sanders to deliver ponies on his first day in office. Maybe some people are that stupid? I suppose. Lots of stupid people out there I guess. But, really, I think for most people ponies are the goal that they'd like politicians to get behind. Maybe providing tax incentives and inner city empowerment zones to establish pony shoe factories (led by Lincoln Chafee, of course), is the best first step to achieving the dream of ponies, but you gotta tell us that the goal is, actually, ponies. Pony shoes without ponies aren't much help.
As for the second part, I've never seen any evidence that The Left (either as an organized (hah) group or just people on that part of the political spectrum) fails to turn out for midterms and that's why Dems lose. Maybe someone could point me to that evidence. It's become an article of faith, something along the lines of "we would have gotten everything we wanted if not for those lazy kids." Or, more bluntly, "fuck'em, they didn't vote for us anyway." What I see every midterm election cycle, and comment on every time, is that the Democrats are determined to run elections about nothing. Keep your heads down, doing nothing but raising money until Labor Day, distance yourself from party ID as much as possible, drop all your money on TV ads which focus on "character" and mostly avoid any policy issue, and then hope that on election night the little roulette ball falls into the right slot and you luck yourself into a congressional seat. Makes the consultants who force this on candidates wealthy. Doesn't seem to win seats or inspire turnout. But, hey, let's blame The Left for not showing up, not the people who get rich losing elections.
As for the first bit, well, incrementalism towards what? I can't speak for all [insert one here: BernieBros, The Kids Today, The Left, Naderites, Silly People Who Never Vote], but I imagine that just because people are asking for ponies doesn't mean they expect Benevolent Dictator Sanders to deliver ponies on his first day in office. Maybe some people are that stupid? I suppose. Lots of stupid people out there I guess. But, really, I think for most people ponies are the goal that they'd like politicians to get behind. Maybe providing tax incentives and inner city empowerment zones to establish pony shoe factories (led by Lincoln Chafee, of course), is the best first step to achieving the dream of ponies, but you gotta tell us that the goal is, actually, ponies. Pony shoes without ponies aren't much help.
As for the second part, I've never seen any evidence that The Left (either as an organized (hah) group or just people on that part of the political spectrum) fails to turn out for midterms and that's why Dems lose. Maybe someone could point me to that evidence. It's become an article of faith, something along the lines of "we would have gotten everything we wanted if not for those lazy kids." Or, more bluntly, "fuck'em, they didn't vote for us anyway." What I see every midterm election cycle, and comment on every time, is that the Democrats are determined to run elections about nothing. Keep your heads down, doing nothing but raising money until Labor Day, distance yourself from party ID as much as possible, drop all your money on TV ads which focus on "character" and mostly avoid any policy issue, and then hope that on election night the little roulette ball falls into the right slot and you luck yourself into a congressional seat. Makes the consultants who force this on candidates wealthy. Doesn't seem to win seats or inspire turnout. But, hey, let's blame The Left for not showing up, not the people who get rich losing elections.
The Expectations Game
So what if killed 37 people execution-style? People expect it.
BARNICLE: It's about 7,500 twills, that's an old of typewritten lines from the newspaper business, of things that are totally not surprising, because they have to do a Donald Trump. It's boorish behavior, you wouldn't want it occurring to your daughter by a guy, but it's Donald Trump. And when it comes to Donald Trump, it comes with the dinner. People expect it, they know it, they're not surprised. They're not even offended.
He's A Very Devout Man
You can't be telling me that religious social conservative leaders are just conservative Republicans with a particular grift who have been feeding lines to the gullible press for years and are willing to suck up to any "conservative" in power?
Activists and leaders in the social conservative movement, after spending most of the past year opposing and condemning Donald J. Trump, are now moving to embrace his candidacy and are joining the growing number of mainstream Republicans who appear ready to coalesce around the party’s presumptive nominee.It is truly remarkable! I must rethink everything I thought I knew until this moment!
Though their support for Mr. Trump is often qualified, this change of heart is one of the more remarkable turns in an erratic and precedent-defying Republican campaign. It reflects the sense among many Republicans that, flawed as they may see him, the thrice-married billionaire is preferable to the alternative.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Sunday Evening
Tomorrow is...
Hopefully fewer real life distractions next week. Rains, pours, blah blah blah...
Hopefully fewer real life distractions next week. Rains, pours, blah blah blah...
Afternoon Post
Who knew when Carly Simon sang this, she was referring to Athenae, at First Draft? I bet y'all thought it was someone else.
The Squat
It isn't really a modern American tradition, though it has been elsewhere. I admit I admire it - not the associated crime and the trouble they cause for their neighbors, but just taking over truly abandoned buildings? Why not.
Geithner foamed the runway. This is part of his legacy. Better to kick people out and leave behind devasted neighborhoods than let those irresponsible mortgage holders find a way to stay in homes they were probably screwed out of.
Squatters have descended on every corner of the Las Vegas Valley, taking over empty houses in struggling working-class neighborhoods, in upscale planned communities like Summerlin, and everywhere in between. And they often bring a trail of crime with them.
Geithner foamed the runway. This is part of his legacy. Better to kick people out and leave behind devasted neighborhoods than let those irresponsible mortgage holders find a way to stay in homes they were probably screwed out of.
Well Okay Then
Sadly the philosophy of US transit agencies for decades.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority hopes residents will walk, bike, take the bus or even call an Uber or Lyft to get to the stations. But the lack of parking has been met with confusion and apprehension by some residents, particularly those who are used to driving.
"So how do I get to the station?" Liesel Friedreich, 64, of Pacific Palisades, asked when she learned the downtown Santa Monica station wouldn't include dedicated parking for transit riders. "Isn't the point to get more people with more money to ride the train?"
Saturday, May 14, 2016
How To Succeed
I never played football but I did play a bit of little league baseball. I won't claim my memory of that time is perfect, but my basic memory is:
a) The sons of coaches were almost always the pitchers. Pitching was the only thing I was actually any good at so this annoyed me a bit (I would not have become a good pitcher at an older age, but at that age I was pretty good, which basically meant I could throw a strike with reasonable confidence).
b) Traveling all-star type teams weren't exactly the meritocracies they were supposed to be. Those teams always had lots of pitchers for some reason. And all extra-season playing opportunities (camps, other traveling teams, etc.) required significant financial support.
Of course this basic framework isn't unique to sports, and the details aren't quite the same as described about football quarterbacks, but in sports, like in just about everything else, some people have more opportunities than others...
a) The sons of coaches were almost always the pitchers. Pitching was the only thing I was actually any good at so this annoyed me a bit (I would not have become a good pitcher at an older age, but at that age I was pretty good, which basically meant I could throw a strike with reasonable confidence).
b) Traveling all-star type teams weren't exactly the meritocracies they were supposed to be. Those teams always had lots of pitchers for some reason. And all extra-season playing opportunities (camps, other traveling teams, etc.) required significant financial support.
Of course this basic framework isn't unique to sports, and the details aren't quite the same as described about football quarterbacks, but in sports, like in just about everything else, some people have more opportunities than others...
Happy, Happy, Happy
As travel days that begin at 6:00 a.m. go, this one wasn't too bad. There was over an hour wait to get through security at SEATAC, but we were tagged "pre-screened" and there were about three people ahead of us. Maybe five minutes, tops.
Long story short, good to be home again.
Long story short, good to be home again.
Assholes
I do not get what possesses people to get so worked up about this stuff. I mean, fine, assholes and bigots, but can't you just up and keep it to yourself? It's similar to road ragers. How does that really send you around the bend? I can't stand driving, but I can't imagine losing my shit just because someone cuts me off. What victory did Payne hope to achieve here? Did he think he was going to win one for America?
Seated a few rows in front of him was a woman he had never met before. She was wearing a religious headscarf, known as a hijab, which Payne recognized as a Muslim practice. He stood up, walked down the aisle and stopped next to her seat. Looking down at the woman, Payne instructed her to remove the covering.
“Take it off! This is America!” Payne, 37, later recalled saying. When she didn’t do it herself, Payne did: He grabbed the hijab from the back and pulled it all off. Violated, the woman, identified by the Justice Department only as K.A., quickly pulled the hijab back over her head.
Kick the Poors
Food stamp benefits are already so meager that the poors can only afford a few T-Bones per month as it is!
Next they'll take away the free Cadillacs!
I forget who it was, but years ago some Republican explained their worldview in very blunt terms. Basically answering to the charge that the government gives lots of money to rich people and big corporations, this guy said something along the lines of well of course. The successful deserve their success - have earned it - and therefore they deserve even more of the spoils. It was if you proved your worth for government handouts by showing how successful you were elsewhere. It was part of your reward.
WASHINGTON -- Republicans controlling the House are proposing $23 billion worth of food stamp cuts over the coming decade. They are part of a $170 billion spending cut package aimed at getting tea party lawmakers to vote for a broader 10-year budget plan.
Next they'll take away the free Cadillacs!
I forget who it was, but years ago some Republican explained their worldview in very blunt terms. Basically answering to the charge that the government gives lots of money to rich people and big corporations, this guy said something along the lines of well of course. The successful deserve their success - have earned it - and therefore they deserve even more of the spoils. It was if you proved your worth for government handouts by showing how successful you were elsewhere. It was part of your reward.
Friday, May 13, 2016
Evening Thread?
Back to the other coast tomorrow, so wtf knows anymore. This could be the dinner thread on the West Coast.
Trump's Tax Returns
Even Trump's tax returns are big and beautiful. From last January:
“I have very big returns, as you know, and I have everything all approved and very beautiful and we’ll be working that over in the next period of time.”
More about those tax returns here. And here. And here. Though I do think that the above quote says it all about this particular presidential wannabe.
Sick Day
And I get to interact with the world's greatest health care system. Anyone with keys, feel free to go nuts.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
West Coast Time
Now is the perfect time to visit Echidne and read about high heels.
After that, show a little love and help fund her blog.
After that, show a little love and help fund her blog.
Bothsidesism
We talk a lot about it, but sometimes I think people forget the point of it. There isn't actually any bothsidesism. What we actually have it a mainstream press which will find any way to legitimize Republican candidates as mainstream - no matter how much they lie, no matter how racist or sexist they are - while not offering the same "consideration" to Dem candidates. In 2004 the press had no trouble monstering (a British press term) Howard Dean over something ridiculous. They couldn't even bring themselves to monster Trump when he said mean things (and they were genuinely horrible) about the patron saint of the Washington press, Saint John McCain. Sure they harumphed and said "Trump is dooooooomed now!" which was silly. But it might not have been silly had they chosen to monster Trump over it. Whatever one thinks of McCain, the comments were pretty disgusting. If they'd run them on a loop 24/7 as they did with Dean, it might have actually had an impact. And it's not as if there hasn't been plenty of other material to work with. Now it's just oh, well, Trump is Trump just let him be.
Both sides don't do it, and the press doesn't treat both sides the same.
Both sides don't do it, and the press doesn't treat both sides the same.
I like to be in America!
One thing that's changed is people no longer get all the free stuff they used to get. Can't have that.
The great shrinking of the middle class that has captured the attention of the nation is not only playing out in troubled regions like the Rust Belt, Appalachia and the Deep South, but in just about every metropolitan area in America, according to a major new analysis by the Pew Research Center.
Pew reported in December that a clear majority of American adults no longer live in the middle class, a demographic reality shaped by decades of widening inequality, declining industry and the erosion of financial stability and family-wage jobs. But while much of the attention has focused on communities hardest hit by economic declines, the new Pew data, based on metro-level income data since 2000, show that middle-class stagnation is a far broader phenomenon.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Think Pieces About MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE And How I Could Possibly Be Wrong
I'm tired of reading think pieces about WHY WE ALL THOUGHT DONALD TRUMP WOULD LOSE (I'm looking at you, Chait). First of all, we all didn't, you and your circle jerk did. Secondly, I don't care what your prior beliefs about the Republican party were. If you were an alien anthropologist sent to study this election but otherwise didn't know a damn thing about about the American electorate, you would have looked at the polls and predicted a Trump win. Thirdly, to the extent that your knowledge of Republican voters might have added a bit of special sauce to your poll analysis, we hippie liberals have been telling you for years that a sizeable chunk of Republican voters are absolute blithering idiots. Also, racist. This is not news. I'm even happy to accept for sake the holy grail of BothSidesism that a sizeable chunk of Democratic voters are absolute blithering idiots. The difference is that no one in power actually caters to those voters. They aren't treated as Real Americans by every mainstream news outlet. They aren't given their own response to the State of the Union address. Almost no elected officials will meet with them. Most importantly, they don't make up a third of the House of Representatives. The blithering idiots are on TV every day where you can see them, not just some random 19-year-old Ivy student who did a thing you read about in a student newspaper which made your boner shrink.
People who don't know shit sure do get paid a lot to not know shit, and then to write pieces about why they don't know shit but they'll be sure to know the shit next time. Or maybe get a new fucking job and give yours to someone who knows anything about anything.
People who don't know shit sure do get paid a lot to not know shit, and then to write pieces about why they don't know shit but they'll be sure to know the shit next time. Or maybe get a new fucking job and give yours to someone who knows anything about anything.
Radical
That such things are considered to be radical these days are a sign of the "can't do anything, don't try" times we live in.
This radical plan cost about $20 million. Why you could build 1/3 of a very non-radical high school football stadium for that!
But Madison’s response was like hitting a gnat with a sledgehammer. It was so aggressive that only one other major municipality in the United States has followed its approach so far. It’s also why some people now call Madison the anti-Flint, a place where water problems linked to the toxic substance simply couldn’t happen today.
Madison residents and businesses dug out and replaced their lead pipes — 8,000 of them. All because lead in their water had been measured at 16 parts per billion — one part per billion over the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard.
That’s a microliter, one-millionth of a liter of water. The utility’s water quality manager, Joe Grande, explains the reasoning in seven words: “The safe level of lead is zero.”
This radical plan cost about $20 million. Why you could build 1/3 of a very non-radical high school football stadium for that!
Show Me Your Junk
These people are insane.
A North Carolina school system has adopted a policy allowing high school students to carry pepper spray this fall, a policy one board member said may be useful for students who encounter transgender classmates in the bathroom.
Morning Thread
It's Funding Week, over at Echidne's. If you are able, please send a few shekels. Whatever would we do without Echidne drilling through the numbers so we have some idea, beyond the headlines, of what various studies actually mean. Thank you, Echidne.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
You Don't Need Residential Skyscrapers
As reading through the comments shows, too many Americans think "city living" = tall apartment buildings. It is true that urban living and too many detached single family homes aren't all that compatible. But really what ruins density - density is good for some reasons, bad for others - in cities are required setbacks, mandatory parking, minimum lot sizes, too many surface parking lots scattered around, etc. Put too much space between people and places and suddenly it's harder to walk anywhere.
Much of Philly is 2-3 story row houses on small lots. The lots are small. The two story row houses aren't huge, generally, I'll admit, and perhaps not large enough for what people generally consider to be big enough to raise a family in these days. The 3 story ones can be quite large. Not McMansion large, but certainly large enough. Want a nice big back yard? Those are a bit harder to find, and new construction/rehabs tend to gobble them up in order to build more indoor space, but they exist. Again, mostly not suburban big back yard, but big enough.
Yes I have shared walls. It's old solid construction. I almost never hear my neighbors through the walls. I hear them on the back porch sometimes, but I'd hear a party my neighbors were having in the suburbs, too.
If I ran the zoo I would do more upzoning to allow taller buildings in certain places. Not in all places, just along certain commercial corridors and along major transit lines (especially around stations). But the city's going to be mostly 3 story rowhouses for a very long time, no matter how much it booms (and it isn't booming, just very slowly increasing population).
Much of Philly is 2-3 story row houses on small lots. The lots are small. The two story row houses aren't huge, generally, I'll admit, and perhaps not large enough for what people generally consider to be big enough to raise a family in these days. The 3 story ones can be quite large. Not McMansion large, but certainly large enough. Want a nice big back yard? Those are a bit harder to find, and new construction/rehabs tend to gobble them up in order to build more indoor space, but they exist. Again, mostly not suburban big back yard, but big enough.
Yes I have shared walls. It's old solid construction. I almost never hear my neighbors through the walls. I hear them on the back porch sometimes, but I'd hear a party my neighbors were having in the suburbs, too.
If I ran the zoo I would do more upzoning to allow taller buildings in certain places. Not in all places, just along certain commercial corridors and along major transit lines (especially around stations). But the city's going to be mostly 3 story rowhouses for a very long time, no matter how much it booms (and it isn't booming, just very slowly increasing population).
The Insomnia-Nap Cycle
The naps aren't bad, but I don't think they really help with the insomnia. Though I didn't nap yesterday and that didn't help either.
Friday Night Lights
Here in Philly, the state and the grifters have stolen all the money so we can't even afford nurses and counselors.
A high school in McKinney, Texas has voted in favor of building the most expensive high school stadium in the country.
A board has moved forward with a bond that supports a $62.8 million, 12,000-seat high school football stadium.
About $50.3 million will come from the town as part of a $220 million bond. The other $12.5 million of the stadium's construction has already been raised as part of a bond that was approved in 2000.
"Crisis Pregnancy Centers"
There used to be one of those around the corner from my old apartment, though it eventually closed. I'm not even sure I realized what it was the first time I noticed it, even though I was pretty plugged into this stuff even then. Basically their job is to lie to desperate women.
We do love women.
We do love women.
We Do Love Our Children
For all of the general sex panic and pedophile predator panic we have in this country, when the right people are doing the child rape and the right institutions are doing the cover up, nobody cares.
Monday, May 09, 2016
Mixed on the Soda Tax
The problem here in the urban hellhole (and in Pennsylvania generally) is that the constitution doesn't allow for different income tax rates. Taxes can be raised, but across the board. We can't just soak the rich. For a local municipality to try to raise more money, they're inevitably going to have turn to regressive taxes. The mayor wants universal pre-K. That would be a good thing. How do we pay for it? That's tricky. If you're going to do regressive taxes then sin taxes are probably better than others. They're still regressive. I wouldn't support a soda tax for bloombergian nanny state reasons, but if all the funds are dedicated to program which is directed largely at the group of people who are being taxed... well, maybe.
Poor Batfleck
I didn't see, but it sounded horrible. As someone said, "they made a movie with batman and superman that you can't take your kids to." Even the Nolan movies weren't quite that "adult." It isn't that I think everything - even superhero movies - should be aimed at 8-year-olds, but they should still be something that a mature kid might actually enjoy.
Affleck was named as executive producer of the Justice League films last week, according to the site. And Birth.Movies. Death claims the timing is no coincidence as Warner battles to save its superhero cinematic universe following Batman v Superman’s critical travails.
“This move seems to help placate Affleck while also edging Zack Snyder out of a controlling central position in the DC Movieverse,” suggests Faraci. The site’s report claims the film-maker will work with Argo screenwriter Chris Terrio, who also co-wrote Batman v Superman, to ensure the script for the sequels are up to scratch.
Sunday, May 08, 2016
Until A Few Years Ago We Only Ate One Thing
Many cities are known for a particular sandwich or local specialty item, but for some reason Philly seems to be the only place where writers for other publications can't avoid framing any discussion of food by referencing the cheesesteak.
Skip the whiz, get the provolone like everyone else I've ever known, by the way.
Skip the whiz, get the provolone like everyone else I've ever known, by the way.
I Don't Think the Potty Mouth is the Problem
Dana does devote an entire paragraph to mentioning that Trump is a bigot, also, too, but really what has Mr. "Mad Bitch Beer" incensed is that the Donald says bad words. Of ourse Dana says bad words. Journalists swear. Politicians swear all the time. They've done it in front of me even when I didn't know them. Journalists know that politicians swear. Sure most are a bit less likely to do it in front of a camera, but so what? I'd prefer their public personas more accurately reflect their private ones. It's ridiculous when Official Washington gets up on their high horses about decorum, especially when most of them don't exactly have the Queen's manners themselves. It's a lot more impolite to go blow up a bunch of people for no good reason than it is to say "fuck" every now and then.
Saturday, May 07, 2016
Number 10
The racist smear campaign against Khan didn't just come from Goldsmith. It came from Cameron, too.
David Cameron is under pressure to justify Zac Goldsmith’s London mayoral campaign, after the leader of Muslim Conservatives called it a disgusting and risible attempt to smear Labour’s winning candidate, Sadiq Khan.
Mohammed Amin, the chair of the Conservative Muslim Forum, joined other senior Tory figures in condemning the attacks on Khan by Goldsmith.
Friday, May 06, 2016
Shootings At A Mall
I live in an urban hellhole. There are shootings almost every day in the city. Most aren't "stranger danger" shootings. I don't feel unsafe. But they happen pretty much constantly. They also (almost) never make national news. I get why certain kinds of shootings - seemingly random mass shootings, school shootings - that happen outside urban hellholes get a lot of attention, but quite often the fact that the shootings happen in places where they aren't supposed to happen, such as a nice suburban mall, is the news hook. It isn't supposed to happen there. Well, it does. I'm not sure if it's happening more, though it seems that way, but it happens.
Three people were injured in a shooting outside a Bethesda, Maryland, mall Friday morning, police said. The shooter is still at large.
Two males and one female were shot in the Westfield Montgomery Mall parking lot around 11:30 a.m., Montgomery County police told NBC News. All three were taken to area hospitals. There was no immediate word on their conditions.
Some Good News
It isn't official yet, as the voting system is a bit complicated, but the Muslim Labour candidate has almost certainly beaten the asshole Tory candidate to become the new mayor of London.
JoePa
We do love our children.
Pennsylvania State University paid settlements to end claims that Joe Paterno and other coaches at the school knew as early as the 1970s that Jerry Sandusky was assaulting children sexually, according to court filings and a person familiar with the payouts.
I'm Sure This Time It Will Work
This company completely failed. Maybe the assholes from the state who run the district have learned their lesson!
Yay! Oh, wait...
Another year, another year of kids not having teachers. It worked perfectly fine when it was in house, but there was no profit and (though of course I have no evidence of this) no kickbacks, so...
The Philadelphia School District will sever its ties with a New Jersey company that failed to deliver on its promise to provide substitute teachers to staff classrooms across the city.
Yay! Oh, wait...
On May 19, the School Reform Commission is expected to vote on hiring another company - Kelly Services - to take over placement of substitutes in the fall.
Another year, another year of kids not having teachers. It worked perfectly fine when it was in house, but there was no profit and (though of course I have no evidence of this) no kickbacks, so...
Thursday, May 05, 2016
The Trump Show
That's what this entire election is going to be. The political press loves the Freak Show, and they'll be his carnival barkers.
Much more fun than policy.
Much more fun than policy.
Disruption
Leaving aside the issue that the charter movement (not all charters schools) is basically a grift, I do not understand how our supposed education reformer experts (they aren't experts, of course, just grifters) and the people who listen to them don't get that closing down schools and reshuffling teachers and moving kids around all the time has an incredibly negative effect on a child's education and mental/emotional well-being.
I moved around a lot as a kid. Going to a new school was very traumatic. You had to make new friends (or try to). You had to learn all of the unwritten rules/customs of the new institution. All of that is incredibly difficult for an 8-year-old. It's hard to learn when you're still trying to cope with the lunchroom etiquette.
I moved around a lot as a kid. Going to a new school was very traumatic. You had to make new friends (or try to). You had to learn all of the unwritten rules/customs of the new institution. All of that is incredibly difficult for an 8-year-old. It's hard to learn when you're still trying to cope with the lunchroom etiquette.
Meat
Obviously girls are the most affected by this stuff, but it doesn't exactly help boys become enlightened and healthy beings either.
A poster at an Arizona school that compared girls to meat and boys to wolves has been taken down after a picture of it taken by a student was widely shared on social media.
The poster, which has the caption “So you think you come to school looking pretty cute” under a picture of what appear to be scantily clad anime characters, then the caption “but what boys see is meat” under a picture of a wolf, was spotted in the library of Desert Ridge high school in Mesa, Arizona, by senior Alissa Adams during a class on 27 April.
Wednesday, May 04, 2016
The Opera
This applies to basically any too-expensive-for-most-people live performance genre. I'm pretty sure the Met can fill every seat for every performance if they price things correctly. That's a bit complicated, of course, because we are talking about price discrimination (soak the richie riches, sell the leftovers at a discount to the less rich). But I don't think it's that complicated. In any season there are probably some superstar performances which will sell out, or at least close enough. But otherwise, I'd guess attendance isn't that hard to predict. They can reasonably guess there will be 200 empty seats or whatever. Get rid of rush tickets, which involve uncertainty and waiting, and change it to a lottery where people know by noon or whenever that they have a discounted seat. The miracle of phone apps can make this work. Distribute discounted tickets as a standard practice to university student activities office. Show up at 10AM, get your tickets, if no one does throw them into the lottery pool. Anyway, the point is to engage in price discrimination in ways which don't make it too inconvenient for those who pay the cheaper prices. I get rush tix at my local orchestra occasionally, but it isn't exactly convenient. Turns a two hour evening into a 5 hour one. I don't always have 5 hours to spare.
I used to go to the Met occasionally because I knew someone who had a line to discounted tickets. They still weren't cheap, but they weren't sold for crazy prices. But I can't afford to pay the standard rate, and nor can most young people (I no longer am) who might be the future audience.
I used to go to the Met occasionally because I knew someone who had a line to discounted tickets. They still weren't cheap, but they weren't sold for crazy prices. But I can't afford to pay the standard rate, and nor can most young people (I no longer am) who might be the future audience.
As For November
Sure the CW that Trump is unlikely to win is probably right - the polls and The Math actually back that CW - but if Trump actually hires smart people who know how to run campaigns then his loss isn't exactly assured. From what I can tell the national Republican consultant class is filled with self-promoters and grifters who usually don't know how to run a lemonade stand, but there have to be a few who know what they're doing...
A Healthy As Ever
The GOP currently runs the House, the Senate, has most governorships, and most state legislatures. Pretty sure Trump won't change things that much. The "worst" case scenario from the perspective of GOP insiders is that the distribution of wingnut welfare might change a bit. The horrors.
The GOP is dead, but, you know, long live the GOP, now Trumpified.
The GOP is dead, but, you know, long live the GOP, now Trumpified.
I See The WaPo Editorial Board Still Owns No Mirrors
What a lovely little war it was supposed to be.
Bye Lyin' Ted
America's most repulsive human is no longer running for president.
America's worst human still is.
America's worst human still is.
Tuesday, May 03, 2016
All Hail Trump
With his big Indiana win he's basically won this thing. As I've written before, I doubt (don't remember, but doubt it) I predicted his success when he first entered the race. I likely thought "no chance." But after a few months of him being ahead in basically every poll all available information at the time told us he was the likely candidate. Things can change, of course, so it wasn't as if in December his candidacy was inevitable. Still, if you were going to place a bet at the time you should have placed it on Trump.
All of the professional pundits kept telling us that Trump couldn't win. They kept pushing Rubio as inevitable and Kasich as the serious moderate and Fiorina because she didn't gnaw off her own foot at a kiddie table debate and whoever else was the seemingly agreed upon favorite of the week with their 6% poll numbers. Trump was actually ahead, always.
All of the professional pundits kept telling us that Trump couldn't win. They kept pushing Rubio as inevitable and Kasich as the serious moderate and Fiorina because she didn't gnaw off her own foot at a kiddie table debate and whoever else was the seemingly agreed upon favorite of the week with their 6% poll numbers. Trump was actually ahead, always.
The entire commentariat is going to feel a little silly when Marco Rubio wins every Republican primary.
— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) September 25, 2015
All About The Jobs
A lot of the opposition to Trump from the Republican insiders is that he doesn't need them. When a Republican gets back in the White House, they're all supposed to return to their rightful places in the Royal Court. Trump appointees might not be as unpredictable as people think, but the people who fancy themselves as the true rightful rulers of Washington know that Trump won't quite see things that way.
Living Large
It's the big corruption that matters most, but the little corruption is often simpler to understand and if you're willing to say 'who cares' about the little things...
For the fifth straight year, Emanuel’s close friend, confidant and unofficial adviser Michael Sacks made the list. The mayor reported receiving transportation and sports tickets from Sacks, who also is Emanuel’s most reliable campaign contributor. Sacks, his family and his company's employees have given $3.6 million to the mayor’s campaign and Emanuel-aligned political funds since he first ran for mayor in 2010.
...
That report noted that nearly 60 percent of Emanuel’s top circle of 103 elite donors had benefited from his city government, receiving contracts, zoning changes, business permits, pension work, board appointments, regulatory help or some other tangible benefit. Included on that list of firms that benefited was Finnegan’s Madison Dearborn, which holds a significant stake in the CDW Government firm that has received two Emanuel administration contracts worth more than $39 million.
Monday, May 02, 2016
Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit
This is the simple fact that our political class (who are mostly rich) fails to grapple with. I think they see the world as acombination of the way their peers see it (and they're mostly rich!), some 30 year old vision of Middle Class America, and The Poors. They don't get that middle class America are increasingly becoming like the poors. Maybe a bit more money, maybe a bit better lifestyle, but living paycheck to paycheck with student debt and one financial (medical, etc..) event away from nothing.
Of course these middle classish people with a bit more money than the poors should just be more frugal! Skip that frappuccino, get a flip phone, don't go out for drinks after work with your coworkers. But that's not how life works in practice. You can't fully avoid the social expectations of your peers. Having a "real" job requires a decent wardrobe, a phone that can bug you with your email 24/7, and after work socializing for networking purposes. A few happy hours aren't between people and a good retirement, student debt and the fact that The Rent Is Too Damn High are.
I'm sure we can throw a few more credits into the tax code and that will solve everything.
Of course these middle classish people with a bit more money than the poors should just be more frugal! Skip that frappuccino, get a flip phone, don't go out for drinks after work with your coworkers. But that's not how life works in practice. You can't fully avoid the social expectations of your peers. Having a "real" job requires a decent wardrobe, a phone that can bug you with your email 24/7, and after work socializing for networking purposes. A few happy hours aren't between people and a good retirement, student debt and the fact that The Rent Is Too Damn High are.
I'm sure we can throw a few more credits into the tax code and that will solve everything.
What Should Bernie Do?
Throwing it out there. Everybody can play, but especially curious what Bernie supporters think.
Nice Work
Economists are very good at fretting over whether a minimum wage of $9 per hour will destroy the economy, but for some reason don't spend much time fretting about what it means when our corporate overlords - the most important people on the planet - basically have an incentive structure which is "heads I get rich, tails I get rich." The golden parachute is nothing new, of course, but it is absurd. Mayer gets more attention than she should because of her gender and relative youth, but nevertheless, what's the point of trying to win the game if you win no matter what?
Sunday, May 01, 2016
MoDo
I think evidence points to the idea that Hillary Clinton is a lot more hawkish than I would like, but the evidence does not actually suggest that Donald Trump is a hippie Dove, despite what he sometimes claims and MoDo dutifully types up.
Hazardous Substance
I'm no expert, but some of the freight rails that run through Philly (including massive oil trains) are in visibly shitty condition (including one bridge in particular). Regulators freak out a lot more about passenger accidents, it seems, but I do worry about the impending oil train bomb.
Several cars of a CSX train derailed Sunday morning in Northeast Washington. Three overturned and were leaking a hazardous substance, according to the D.C. Fire Department.
WATBs
Apparently this did not go over well in The Room. Highly paid media celebrities really have the thinnest skins in the world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)