Rock on
Thursday, May 31, 2018
I Hate The Ice Cream Truck
I hate that damn song (in 2018 can't they play spotify or something) and I hate when I have kids with me that it's like the crack dealer has arrived, but we live in the city so lighten up, francis.
Ronald Reagan, Gun Grabber
Everybody knows this, but of course everybody doesn't know this or pretends to not know this. Modern gun control laws came into effect when black people started scaring white Republicans in California.
Across the country, in California, when the Black Panthers asserted their right to armed self-defense by carrying rifles into the statehouse, Gov. Ronald Reagan signed the 1967 Mulford Act, banning open carry. “There’s no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons,” the Republican said.
Everybody Should Learn To Code For Murder
The dominant belief seems to be that progress requires that your self-driving car kills a few people as it learns, but I can't get over the fact that they turned off the emergency braking. This is negligent homicide, or should be.
Our vehicles are totally safe but we, uh, turned off the safety systems because they were a bummer, man.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Uber had disabled an emergency braking system in a self-driving vehicle that struck and killed a woman in Arizona in March even though the car had identified the need to apply the brakes, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released on Thursday.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Uber had disabled an emergency braking system in a self-driving vehicle that struck and killed a woman in Arizona in March even though the car had identified the need to apply the brakes, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released on Thursday.
Our vehicles are totally safe but we, uh, turned off the safety systems because they were a bummer, man.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Mini Theatre Reviews
Went to the Big City to see a couple of plays: Three Tall Women and Travesties. Both are good if you like that kind of thing. The former stars Laurie Metcalf and I saw it on Roseanne's big day. There is a bit of the play which echoes a bit too closely current events, and I don't think I was imagining that Metcalf hammed it up a bit. Travesties is a great production of one of the better Stoppard plays so, again, good if you like that kind of thing.
Shoulda Gone With Fire
Such fun.
Federal prosecutors also revealed for the first time that among the items seized Cohen last months was a shredding machine, the contents of which are among the only items that the government has not yet turned over to the special master or Cohen’s legal team.
Federal prosecutors declined to comment on whether they would try to reassemble the contents of the shredder before turning them over or whether the very existence of a shredding machine necessitated the search warrant out of fear Cohen was attempting to destroy evidence. In defending the raids, the Justice Department has previously expressed concern that “absent a search warrant, these records could have been deleted without record, and without recourse for the law enforcement.”
I've watched people piece together shredded docs. It's amazing. This is not going to end well for the defense. https://t.co/APeqRJQmwk
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) May 30, 2018
Never Tweet
People are so weird.
...more.
Minutes after sources confirmed Brett Brown’s contract extension Tuesday night, a report from the Ringer surfaced alleging that Sixers general manager Bryan Colangelo has been using fake accounts on Twitter to spar with his detractors and criticize former players and colleagues around the league.
...more.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
You Called It Autopilot, Elon
I do not think youshould have done that.
A Tesla sedan in Autopilot mode crashed into a parked Laguna Beach Police Department vehicle Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Roseanne
I'm so old I remember when the country lost its shit over this.
There's a certain symmetry to the universe.
There's a certain symmetry to the universe.
People Take This Man Seriously
I do not understand.
And that’s basically what he’s doing here. The internet is speeding up business communications, and global labor markets are more fluid than ever. Therefore, the moon is made of cheese. That is the rhetorical gist of The World is Flat. It’s brilliant. Only an America-hater could fail to appreciate it.
Happy 15th Anniversary Of Suck On This Day!!!!!!!
Time sure does fly. 30 Friedmans.
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 to 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.
Monday, May 28, 2018
Monday Night
I'm so old I remember when I had to worry about bandwidth when I posted up a picture on this sucky blog.
How Bullshit Spreads
It's one thing to not call Trump a liar, but quite another to accept his false proclamations as kingly Truth.
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Life in the Urban Hellhole
Was waddling home after a run and someone with Jersey plates drove by and, trying to prank me, the passenger yelled out the window "LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU SOMEONE IS AFTER YOU."
Narrator: he did not look behind him.
Narrator: he did not look behind him.
The Rollercoaster Line
I thought I was done writing about PRTs because self-driving cars were the new stupid thing, but stupid billionaire Musk has resurrected them and I am mad about it. David Dayen takes a swing in the LA Times.
Even if we buy the semi-plausible claims of boosters about these things (not that we should, but ok), Musk's underground PRT is at best an extremely low capacity subway. If speed is the issue, subways are pretty fast. What keeps them from being fast is boarding and the number of stops. But boarding is pretty efficient! 24 trains 1000 person capacity trains per hour on a modern subway is pretty standard. As for the number of stops, well, it doesn't matter how fast the technology allows your train to go at full speed. Braking and accelerating take time (also given the lack of inertial dampeners in our not very advanced civilization, there are human limits). If you increase the number of stops, or even potential stops, you just slow things down even more. And if you don't have a large number of stops... the system is an improvement over a high capacity subway...how? I have no idea. Not rubbing elbows with strangers is apparently the draw, but if the price of that is 1/100 of the capacity, optimistically.... take a damn limo, Elon. You're never gonna ride this public transit system, either.
Even if we buy the semi-plausible claims of boosters about these things (not that we should, but ok), Musk's underground PRT is at best an extremely low capacity subway. If speed is the issue, subways are pretty fast. What keeps them from being fast is boarding and the number of stops. But boarding is pretty efficient! 24 trains 1000 person capacity trains per hour on a modern subway is pretty standard. As for the number of stops, well, it doesn't matter how fast the technology allows your train to go at full speed. Braking and accelerating take time (also given the lack of inertial dampeners in our not very advanced civilization, there are human limits). If you increase the number of stops, or even potential stops, you just slow things down even more. And if you don't have a large number of stops... the system is an improvement over a high capacity subway...how? I have no idea. Not rubbing elbows with strangers is apparently the draw, but if the price of that is 1/100 of the capacity, optimistically.... take a damn limo, Elon. You're never gonna ride this public transit system, either.
Horrific Conditions
Not sure how "we" let this stuff go on.
We love children in America. So much.
Will has more.
They are undocumented. They entered the country illegally. And when they were apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, they were shipped to Nogales from overwhelmed processing facilities in Texas.
But they are still children in cages, not gangsters, not delinquents. Just children, 900 of them, in a makeshift border-town processing center that is larger than a football field. They pass the day sitting on benches or lying side by side on tiny blue mattresses pressed up against each other on nearly every square inch of the floor in the fenced areas.
We love children in America. So much.
Will has more.
I Read A Book
I don't read as much nonfiction as I should because after reading all of your nonsense (I kid, dear readers) all day I need a bit of escapism. But I did just read For All The Tea in China which has been sitting on my shelf for awhile. It's a lively, concise, and informative story of how the British (and one man in particular) stole the secrets of tea cultivation and production from China.
How You Can Tell If Someone Is An Idiot
I suppose there is always the "stupid or lying" complication, but if you think they are serious, people who fret about "free speech on college campuses" are, without exception, idiots. Unless they are lying, of course. As usual, either stupid or evil, or both.
(To the extent that this is a real issue on college campuses, it is Palestinian rights activists who experience it more than anyone, and people of color generally who are perceived as "radical," and no one who claims to care about this issue cares about that.)
(To the extent that this is a real issue on college campuses, it is Palestinian rights activists who experience it more than anyone, and people of color generally who are perceived as "radical," and no one who claims to care about this issue cares about that.)
Lie
The twittersphere is having another round of "why can't you just call Trump a liar" debate. I don't much care if they use the word "lie" but as was the case the last 15 times "we" had this debate, it's an incredibly dishonest debate, so to speak. Reporters say that they can't truly know that someone is lying, that they might just be mistaken, or that they have accidentally misspoke, and that labeling something a "lie" requires mind reading skills. It requires knowing what's in their hearts.
But journalists, in other contexts, do this *all the time*. "Paul Ryan believes..." or "Donald Trump believes..." or "Republicans believe..." (I'm sure they do similar for Democrats but I tend not to notice because it's usually at least closer to the truth) are regular constructions. You know, "Republicans believe that deficits are bad." That kind of thing. Republicans say lots of things and believe very few of the "beliefs" that are regularly attributed to them, beliefs that can only be, well, believed, if the journalists are capable of mind reading.
Word choice aside, we know that they know that they are dealing with regular liars (excuse me, people who pass on misinformation). And they still pass their bullshit along, sometimes anonymously, which is "information laundering" in the DC press. Allowing someone to pass on bullshit anonymously actually gives the bullshit more credibility than it would have had with a name attached to it. It's the silliest trick in the book, and one that our access press understands well but allow to happen anyway.
They can't call the president a liar, and they sympathize with the people who supposedly "have to" lie for him. They don't care much about their readers.
By "they" I mostly mean Maggie, of course.
But journalists, in other contexts, do this *all the time*. "Paul Ryan believes..." or "Donald Trump believes..." or "Republicans believe..." (I'm sure they do similar for Democrats but I tend not to notice because it's usually at least closer to the truth) are regular constructions. You know, "Republicans believe that deficits are bad." That kind of thing. Republicans say lots of things and believe very few of the "beliefs" that are regularly attributed to them, beliefs that can only be, well, believed, if the journalists are capable of mind reading.
Word choice aside, we know that they know that they are dealing with regular liars (excuse me, people who pass on misinformation). And they still pass their bullshit along, sometimes anonymously, which is "information laundering" in the DC press. Allowing someone to pass on bullshit anonymously actually gives the bullshit more credibility than it would have had with a name attached to it. It's the silliest trick in the book, and one that our access press understands well but allow to happen anyway.
They can't call the president a liar, and they sympathize with the people who supposedly "have to" lie for him. They don't care much about their readers.
By "they" I mostly mean Maggie, of course.
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Imagine Being The Kind Of Person Who Willingly Works For Donald Trump
And, well, fuck that person.
Imagine being the WH background briefer who led this briefing, who now has his boss - the president of the US - saying he/she doesn’t exist. https://t.co/6tYHxp3ZFK
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 26, 2018
Gather Around, Children
Let me tell you about the years 2009-2017.
Actually, nah, I'm gonna go enjoy the sun and then go see Fun Home.
Actually, nah, I'm gonna go enjoy the sun and then go see Fun Home.
Friday, May 25, 2018
Stupid Or Evil
Facebook's internal policies say that white nationalism and white separatism is OK but white supremacy is not: https://t.co/dY3uMcpMqm pic.twitter.com/SxBfF1ENam
— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) May 25, 2018
Creating a white-only ethnostate out of (or even within) the US requires genocide. Chef's kiss.
Tripping Over The Bar
I'm cranky today because Trump has set the bar for being a decent human being so low, and for some reason the people who just manage to trip over it get elevated more than people who have been sailing above it for so long. Redemption stories are great, but you actually have to seek redemption. "Centrism" is as much - or more - of a problem in this country as the Right, as it has a strangehold on all of our institutions. William Kristol is now a "centrist" because he says mean things about Trump sometimes on twitter, and MSNBC's "liberal" lineup is filled with former Bush administration people who never confront the reality of the monstrous administration they were a part of.
Nazis and people who support universal health care. Both sides, really.
Nazis and people who support universal health care. Both sides, really.
15 Years Later
In his new memoir, John McCain concedes that the war in Iraq he fought so hard to launch and then escalate now “can’t be judged as anything other than a mistake, a very serious one, and I have to accept my share of the blame for it.” https://t.co/qxIFQoTfU3
— POLITICO Magazine (@POLITICOMag) May 24, 2018
The President Is Not A Racist
So STOP SAYING THAT SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!
Trump reminded them the crowds loved his rhetoric on immigrants along the campaign trail. Acting as if he was at a rally, he then read aloud a few made up Hispanic names and described potential crimes they could have committed, like rape or murder. Then, he said, the crowds would roar when the criminals were thrown out of the country — as they did when he highlighted crimes by illegal immigrants at his rallies, according to a person present for the exchange and another briefed on it later. Miller and Kushner laughed.
LOL Nothing Matters
There are moments when I get sickened by the Bohemian Rhapsody ethos of the political press ("nothing really matters, anyone can see..."). I get the objective pose in journalism, and it makes sense in a lot of contexts, but in political coverage it is inconsistently applied and, for normal people, completely inverted. It's okay to express outrage that someone said something mean about John McCain. It's "political" and "taking sides" to give a shit about brown kids being kidnapped from their parents. It would not be "taking sides" to give a shit if white kids were being kidnapped from their DC private schools. In other parts of journalism, the question of what to emphasize can be divorced from ideological leanings, but in political coverage it just can't be. It is everything.
And built into most of the reporting are certain assumptions that at best make no sense and at worst are, themselves, highly ideological. Bipartisanship is good, even though usually the worst things in DC happen under the cover of bipartisanship. Deficits are bad, unless caused by tax cuts. Poor people get "welfare" and rich people get "incentives." There is no racism, there are just things that are "racially charged." The only poor people in America are white people in coal country. Black people don't exist in the South or, really, anywhere. Cops are good. The military is unquestionably good. Republican style patriotism is good. America does not torture. All of these things infuse political coverage.
It wasn't his best book, but I quite liked Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, due to its basic setup. A mentally ill car dealer (Dwayne Hoover) reads a science fiction short story, written as a letter from the Creator to its reader, informing him that he is the only being on the planet with free will, and that everyone else is basically a robot there to test him.
I sometimes rank people on my own internal Hoover scale, by how much they seem to actually believe this, that they are the only free willed beings on the planet. Political reporters, who I obviously only know from their "work," often do not do well.
And built into most of the reporting are certain assumptions that at best make no sense and at worst are, themselves, highly ideological. Bipartisanship is good, even though usually the worst things in DC happen under the cover of bipartisanship. Deficits are bad, unless caused by tax cuts. Poor people get "welfare" and rich people get "incentives." There is no racism, there are just things that are "racially charged." The only poor people in America are white people in coal country. Black people don't exist in the South or, really, anywhere. Cops are good. The military is unquestionably good. Republican style patriotism is good. America does not torture. All of these things infuse political coverage.
It wasn't his best book, but I quite liked Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, due to its basic setup. A mentally ill car dealer (Dwayne Hoover) reads a science fiction short story, written as a letter from the Creator to its reader, informing him that he is the only being on the planet with free will, and that everyone else is basically a robot there to test him.
I sometimes rank people on my own internal Hoover scale, by how much they seem to actually believe this, that they are the only free willed beings on the planet. Political reporters, who I obviously only know from their "work," often do not do well.
Nobody Knows In America
One could even let slide the dubious "well they're just here temporarily so they shouldn't be allowed to vote here" argument (I mean, I wouldn't let it slide, but it wouldn't be so different from arguments made about college students). But the "where they belong"... uh.
Ward replied by saying, "First of all, I don't think they should be allowed to register to vote. It's not lost on me that, I think, the Democrat party's really hoping that they can change the voting registers in a lot of counties and districts, and I don't think they should be allowed to do that."
The candidate went on to say that "we should be looking to put the Puerto Ricans back in their homes. The idea that they can come to the mainland United States, I don't necessarily have a problem with that, but I think we should be thinking about it in terms of getting them back home and providing the capital and resources to rebuild Puerto Rico, which is, I honestly think, is where they belong."
We Do Love Children
So much. That's what makes America special. Other countries don't love children like we do.
Well then.
WASHINGTON — A top official with the Department of Health and Human Services told members of Congress on Thursday that the agency had lost track of nearly 1,500 migrant children it placed with sponsors in the United States, raising concerns they could end up in the hands of human traffickers or be used as laborers by people posing as relatives.
The official, Steven Wagner, the acting assistant secretary of the agency’s Administration for Children and Families, disclosed during testimony before a Senate homeland security subcommittee that the agency had learned of the missing children after placing calls to the people who took responsibility for them when they were released from government custody.
Well then.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Kinda Both But Not Quite Either
The #resistance is here to empower William Fucking Kristol.
The hippies have been trying to warn you.
The network — composed of overlapping groups led by Democrats such as the donor Rachel Pritzker and several veteran Obama administration operatives, as well as leading Never Trump Republicans like Evan McMullin, Mindy Finn and William Kristol — aims to chart a middle path between a Republican base falling in line behind Mr. Trump and a liberal resistance trying to pull the Democratic Party left.
The hippies have been trying to warn you.
Evening Thread
I regret that I failed to address the pressing question of our time: what did The Left do wrong today?
Unless You Don't Program Them To Do That
I've long said safety isn't the real issue with self-driving cars, in that if they work they'll be safe enough, and that programming them not to hit things has to be the bare minimum easiest thing to do. Even this isn't *that* easy as there is a bit of a problem at high speeds. They don't actually see that far ahead at the moment. Still. "If see object, brake or turn." Not hard.
Unless, of course, you don't tell them to do that.
And why was that? Oh.
There's a lot of chatter about where exactly the civil liability is going to fall for these things. What about the criminal liability?
Unless, of course, you don't tell them to do that.
Uber’s vehicle used Volvo software to detect external objects. Six seconds before striking Herzberg, the system detected her but didn’t identify her as a person. The car was traveling at 43 mph.
The system determined 1.3 seconds before the crash that emergency braking would be needed to avert a collision. But the vehicle did not respond, striking Herzberg at 39 mph.
And why was that? Oh.
According to Uber, emergency braking maneuvers are not enabled while the vehicle is under computer control, to reduce the potential for erratic vehicle behavior. The vehicle operator is relied on to intervene and take action. The system is not designed to alert the operator.
There's a lot of chatter about where exactly the civil liability is going to fall for these things. What about the criminal liability?
Shuttle Buses
Building cars is actually very hard and the idea that Apple was going to build its own car (self-driving or not) was always a bit... let's say, ambitious... but the degree to which their ambitions have faltered reflect not just this but their failure to pay me $10 million dollars to tell them "this is stupid, don't do this."
I'm sure one day we will all upload our brains into robot bodies, but until around that time "self-driving cars" will mostly be segways. Neato, some interesting niche applications, but even where they "work" they'll not live up to the promise of their boosters. Even self-driving technology long haul trucking, which I can see "working" to some degree (specific routes, dedicated transhipment center to transhipment center), probably won't actually get rid of the drivers.
The article documents the long decline of Apple's ambitions, which because Apple everyone thought would revolutionize the world. I know I'm a bit of an Apple cynic, but aside from that they do have a history of failures which people forget about. Not that there's anything wrong with that, aside from a generally uncritical tech press about everything they do.
From 2015:
(ht reader jo)
Instead, Apple has signed a deal with Volkswagen to turn some of the carmaker’s new T6 Transporter vans into Apple’s self-driving shuttles for employees — a project that is behind schedule and consuming nearly all of the Apple car team’s attention, said three people familiar with the project.
I'm sure one day we will all upload our brains into robot bodies, but until around that time "self-driving cars" will mostly be segways. Neato, some interesting niche applications, but even where they "work" they'll not live up to the promise of their boosters. Even self-driving technology long haul trucking, which I can see "working" to some degree (specific routes, dedicated transhipment center to transhipment center), probably won't actually get rid of the drivers.
The article documents the long decline of Apple's ambitions, which because Apple everyone thought would revolutionize the world. I know I'm a bit of an Apple cynic, but aside from that they do have a history of failures which people forget about. Not that there's anything wrong with that, aside from a generally uncritical tech press about everything they do.
From 2015:
Apple is building a self-driving car in Silicon Valley, and is scouting for secure locations in the San Francisco Bay area to test it, the Guardian has learned. Documents show the oft-rumoured Apple car project appears to be further along than many suspected.
(ht reader jo)
We All Are, My Friend, We All Are
South Korea's presidential Blue House seems blind-sided by Trump's cancelation of the summit: "We are attempting to make sense of what, precisely, President Trump means," says spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom.
— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) May 24, 2018
But The Coin
So predictable.
Breaking: Trump issues letter to Kim Jong Un cancelling their summit. pic.twitter.com/r7UdVj0Pcn
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 24, 2018
"Affordable Housing"
I hate this phrase because nobody ever defines what it means and almost nobody has a coherent view about what it would take for such a thing to exist. Yes there's a precise federal definition of it - related to local median incomes - but that isn't what most people who use the term mean. It's a term that means whatever people want it to mean!
All good people agree that people should be able to afford places to live (even if they can't afford anything). I don't object to that. But the "affordable housing" conversation is quite often directed at new construction, which is the weirdest place to focus on affordability. Building new construction is expensive and acquiring the land to build it on in high rent areas is also really expensive. It's the most expensive way to think about providing "affordable housing." Also, new construction has to face contemporary neighborhood concerns and contemporary land use regulations (without arguing these are good or bad they also make things more expensive!). Construction codes (safey, etc.) get ratcheted up regularly and while, again, this does not make them bad it makes new construction more expensive.
Locally the conversation tends to go something like this: developer proposes something (There aren't a lot of big plots in Philly, so most developments aren't massive. We aren't talking about razing neighborhoods or even blocks for things). The neighborhood group objects. Often people say they want more "affordable housing." Also, they want more parking. Also, they want single family homes (rowhouses, so attached single family, but still).
The thing is, granite countertops just don't cost much money relative to the whole. All new construction is "luxury" as you will notice if you read your local real estate listings. Not because they have golden toilets (or granite counter tops), but just because they're new.
The only way to make market rate housing affordable - and I'm zeroing out developer profits here - is to build smaller units and with less land/unit (no parking). Sure you can skip the granite counter tops, too, but that doesn't actually save much.
If I ran the zoo I'd build massive amounts of public housing along the British "council housing" model. But I don't.
All good people agree that people should be able to afford places to live (even if they can't afford anything). I don't object to that. But the "affordable housing" conversation is quite often directed at new construction, which is the weirdest place to focus on affordability. Building new construction is expensive and acquiring the land to build it on in high rent areas is also really expensive. It's the most expensive way to think about providing "affordable housing." Also, new construction has to face contemporary neighborhood concerns and contemporary land use regulations (without arguing these are good or bad they also make things more expensive!). Construction codes (safey, etc.) get ratcheted up regularly and while, again, this does not make them bad it makes new construction more expensive.
Locally the conversation tends to go something like this: developer proposes something (There aren't a lot of big plots in Philly, so most developments aren't massive. We aren't talking about razing neighborhoods or even blocks for things). The neighborhood group objects. Often people say they want more "affordable housing." Also, they want more parking. Also, they want single family homes (rowhouses, so attached single family, but still).
The thing is, granite countertops just don't cost much money relative to the whole. All new construction is "luxury" as you will notice if you read your local real estate listings. Not because they have golden toilets (or granite counter tops), but just because they're new.
The only way to make market rate housing affordable - and I'm zeroing out developer profits here - is to build smaller units and with less land/unit (no parking). Sure you can skip the granite counter tops, too, but that doesn't actually save much.
If I ran the zoo I'd build massive amounts of public housing along the British "council housing" model. But I don't.
Morning Thread
Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy morning.
The Prez will be on his favorite television show at 6:00 a.m.
The Prez will be on his favorite television show at 6:00 a.m.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Just A Setback
Light some more money (and lives) on fire.
Uber knows how to throw the money around.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Uber has shut down its self-driving car operation in Arizona two months after a fatal crash involving one of its vehicles, the company said on Wednesday.
Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] is not shuttering its entire autonomous vehicle program, a spokeswoman said, adding that it will focus on limited testing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and two cities in California. It aims to resume self-driving operations this summer, likely with smaller routes and fewer cars.
“We’re committed to self-driving technology, and we look forward to returning to public roads in the near future,” the spokeswoman said.
Uber knows how to throw the money around.
Uber’s behind-the-scenes efforts to court Ducey, and the governor’s apparent willingness to satisfy the company, is made clear in the emails, which were sent between 2015 and 2007 and obtained by the Guardian through public records requests.
They reveal how Uber offered workspace for Ducey’s staff in San Francisco, praised the governor lavishly, and promised to bring money and jobs to his state. Ducey, meanwhile, helped Uber deal with other officials in Arizona, issued decrees that were friendly to the company, tweeted out an advert at the company’s request, and even seems to have been open to wearing an Uber T-shirt at an official event.
Philip Roth, RIP
I'm no Rothologist. I quickly counted that I'd read 7 of his novels. I thought Portnoy's Complaint was dumb and The Plot Against America was overrated and unsatisfying. The other 5 I thought were great. I think the books I read weren't his more dick lit-ish ones, for which many great white men authors of a certain generation have received an overdue backlash due to their creepiness and cluelessness about women (charitably). I don't know how anybody can read Updike, and not just because of that.
That time is long ago and far away, but I thought this passage from The Human Stain captured a certain moment.
That time is long ago and far away, but I thought this passage from The Human Stain captured a certain moment.
The summer that Coleman took me into his confidence about Faunia Farley and their secret was the summer, fittingly enough, that Bill Clinton's secret emerged in every last mortifying detail—every last lifelike detail, the livingness, like the mortification, exuded by the pungency of the specific data. We hadn't had a season like it since somebody stumbled upon the new Miss America nude in an old issue of Penthouse, pictures of her elegantly posed on her knees and on her back that forced the shamed young woman to relinquish her crown and go on to become a huge pop star. Ninety-eight in New England was a summer of exquisite warmth and sunshine, in baseball a summer of mythical battle between a home-run god who was white and a home-run god who was brown, and in America the summer of an enormous piety binge, a purity binge, when terrorism—which had replaced communism as the prevailing threat to the country's security—was succeeded by cocksucking, and a virile, youthful middle-aged president and a brash, smitten twenty-one-year-old employee carrying on in the Oval Office like two teenage kids in a parking lot revived America's oldest communal passion, historically perhaps its most treacherous and subversive pleasure: the ecstasy of sanctimony. In the Congress, in the press, and on the networks, the righteous grandstanding creeps, crazy to blame, deplore, and punish, were everywhere out moralizing to beat the band: all of them in a calculated frenzy with what Hawthorne (who, in the 1860s, lived not many miles from my door) identified in the incipient country of long ago as "the persecuting spirit"; all of them eager to enact the astringent rituals of purification that would excise the erection from the executive branch, thereby making things cozy and safe enough for Senator Lieberman's ten-year-old daughter to watch TV with her embarrassed daddy again. No, if you haven't lived through 1998, you don't know what sanctimony is. The syndicated conservative newspaper columnist William F. Buckley wrote, "When Abelard did it, it was possible to prevent its happening again," insinuating that the president's malfeasance—what Buckley elsewhere called Clinton's "incontinent carnality"—might best be remedied with nothing so bloodless as impeachment but, rather, by the twelfth-century punishment meted out to Canon Abelard by the knife-wielding associates of Abelard's ecclesiastical colleague, Canon Fulbert, for Abelard's secret seduction of and marriage to Fulbert's niece, the virgin Heloise. Unlike Khomeini's fatwa condemning to death Salman Rushdie, Buckley's wistful longing for the corrective retribution of castration carried with it no financial incentive for any prospective perpetrator. It was prompted by a spirit no less exacting than the ayatollah's, however, and in behalf of no less exalted ideals.
It was the summer in America when the nausea returned, when the joking didn't stop, when the speculation and the theorizing and the hyperbole didn't stop, when the moral obligation to explain to one's children about adult life was abrogated in favor of maintaining in them every illusion about adult life, when the smallness of people was simply crushing, when some kind of demon had been unleashed in the nation and, on both sides, people wondered "Why are we so crazy?" When men and women alike, upon awakening in the morning, discovered that during the night, in a state of sleep that transported them beyond envy or loathing, they had dreamed of the brazenness of Bill Clinton. I myself dreamed of a mammoth banner, draped dadaistically like a Christo wrapping from one end of the White House to the other and bearing the legend A HUMAN BEING LIVES HERE. It was the summer when—for the billionth time—the jumble, the mayhem, the mess proved itself more subtle than this one's ideology and that one's morality. It was the summer when a president's penis was on everyone's mind, and life, in all its shameless impurity, once again confounded America.
Gulags
This is a good piece by Henry Farrell is good. Read the whole thing, as the kids say.
In juxtaposition, Sullivan’s and Coates’ pieces provide a miniature history of how a certain variety of self-congratulatory openness to inquiry is in actual fact a barbed thicket of power relations. What Sullivan depicts as a “different time” where “neither of us denied each other’s good faith or human worth,” is, in Coates’ understanding, a time where he was required to “take seriously” the argument that “black people are genetically disposed to be dumber than white people” as a price of entry into the rarified heights of conversation at the Atlantic. The “civility” and “generosity of spirit” that supported “human to human” conversation is juxtaposed to Coates’ “teachers” who didn’t see him “completely as a human being.” What was open and free spirited debate in Sullivan’s depiction, was to Coates a loaded and poisonous dialogue where he could only participate if he shut up about what he actually believed.
The Sean Hannity Expanded Universe
For a long time journalists defended Fox News, basically arguing that they had real reporters that were somehow distinct from their prime time (and morning, and throughout much of the day, but whatever) opinion shows, which MSNBC also has, so, you know, both sides really. There was a bit of truth to that. Fox has had "real reporters" and those were the people who the political press knew and hung out with, because obviously none of them ever actually watched Fox News.
But the Fox News influence isn't just limited to Sean Hannity, it's the entire network and beyond.
But the Fox News influence isn't just limited to Sean Hannity, it's the entire network and beyond.
A Bit Close
I suppose we can be thankful he lost, but...
Dallas attorney J.J. Koch eked out a win for the Republican nomination for Dallas County commissioner, beating Vickers "Vic" Cunningham, a former judge who drew national headlines over alleged racist behavior and language.
Twenty-five votes decided the race for northern Dallas County's District 2 seat.
...
On Friday, the last day of early voting, Cunningham admitted to rewarding his kids financially if they marry a white, heterosexual, Christian person in a story that reverberated nationally after it was published by The Dallas Morning News.
Does Anybody Remember Laughter?
Sometimes I forget that part of the point of this sucky blog is to have a bit of fun, to laugh as the fires of hell rain down all around us. We had some good fun during the Bush years! Let's do some more of that.
The Best Of Both Worlds
Which one of you, dear readers, is going to buy me that modest flat in London. It has all I need now.
Around the corner from my apartment. Phillies theme bar. Waiters all wearing Phillies caps. Phillies posters and pennants everywhere. My lord. I’m sorry, London. @FanSince09 pic.twitter.com/fsNzhGd1Rn
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) May 22, 2018
Chastity Or Comfort Women
Some people think there's a weird contradiction in the conservative movement, between the "teenage girls must put out to keep men happy so they don't shoot up schools and malls" and "celibacy until marriage is the only good and moral thing for women." There is no contradiction. There never has been.
All the conservative men (and, to be fair, women) who push this stuff aren't against fucking. They're against unapproved fucking. Approved or unapproved of by whom? Well that's the tricky bit. By them, of course! Women should have sex when and with whom they say they should. Even though this makes no sense, it makes perfect sense to them.
Of course there are no actual "rewards" for women playing the Calvinbill of promiscuity. Fuck "our" good boys when they want you to, and then when they're done with you, away with you foul slut!
All the conservative men (and, to be fair, women) who push this stuff aren't against fucking. They're against unapproved fucking. Approved or unapproved of by whom? Well that's the tricky bit. By them, of course! Women should have sex when and with whom they say they should. Even though this makes no sense, it makes perfect sense to them.
Of course there are no actual "rewards" for women playing the Calvinbill of promiscuity. Fuck "our" good boys when they want you to, and then when they're done with you, away with you foul slut!
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Taxi King
Well then.
A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure Mr. Cohen to work with the special counsel examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
But You Made The Coin
Call off the ball.
But... he is... Supreme Leader...
President Donald Trump says the planned Singapore summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un “may not work out for June 12” and is suggesting it could be delayed.
But... he is... Supreme Leader...
Broken Brain
Perhaps it is difficult to differentiate between narcissism and a certain manifestation of a degenerative brain disorder like Alzheimer's, but..
"Suspenseful."
Going into the North Korea meeting, senior administration officials say, the president has been almost singularly focused on the pageantry of the summit —including the suspenseful roll-out of details. He has not been deeply engaged in briefing materials on North Korea’s nuclear program, said three people with knowledge of the White House efforts. They were not authorized to speak publicly.
"Suspenseful."
A President Can't Be Indicted
I saw someone raise this basic point on the twitter yesterday (sorry, forget who), though I've obviously heard it raised before. There's some basic logic to "impeachment, not indictment" as the constitutionally required remedy for presidential corruption and similar. Essentially for abuses of powers of the presidency, broadly defined. I'm no Bob Loblaw so I'm not interested in debating the finer constitutional points.
But the question does seem a bit different when it's... can Donald Trump walk outside of the White House, point a revolver at the nearest child, and shoot her in the head with CNN cameras recording? And still be immune from arrest/indictment?
But the question does seem a bit different when it's... can Donald Trump walk outside of the White House, point a revolver at the nearest child, and shoot her in the head with CNN cameras recording? And still be immune from arrest/indictment?
President Deals
Who are these people.
During that trip, Mr. Mnuchin agreed to a private meeting with China’s top economic official, Liu He, without Mr. Navarro or any other members of the American delegation. He and Mr. Navarro stepped outside to engage in a profanity-laced shouting match, an unmistakable demonstration to the Chinese of their deep differences of opinions. Mr. Mnuchin sought to play down tensions between the American officials, saying on CNBC that Mr. Navarro was “an important part of the team.”
Monday, May 21, 2018
Clown Prince
Laughs are all we get these days.
Broidy met Trump once again on Dec. 2. He reported back to Nader that he'd told Trump the crown princes were "most favorably impressed by his leadership." He offered the crown princes' help in the Middle East peace plan being developed by Jared Kushner. He did not tell Trump that his partner had complete contempt for the plan — and for the president's son-in-law.
"You have to hear in private my Brother what Principals think of 'Clown prince's' efforts and his plan!" Nader wrote. "Nobody would even waste cup of coffee on him if it wasn't for who he is married to."
Their Brains Are Broken
Teenagers have broken brains. Even the "good" ones. I was probably a reasonably "good" kid. Still I did some incredibly stupid stuff that fortunately didn't have worse consequences. A big part of life is figuring out that when you push a glass off the table, it will fall and break, when you put your hand on the stove, you'll get burned, etc. Scale this up into an existence of complex social interactions, and it takes awhile to figure out when you're going to break something and when you're going to burn yourself, metaphorically speaking.
Fortunately most kids figure out its best not to go kill a bunch of their classmates, but I bet quite a few more might do it if the circumstances were just right (wrong). One of those circumstances is, of course, access to a bunch of guns.
Keep your damn guns away from your kids. Even better, melt them down. But at least keep them away.
Fortunately most kids figure out its best not to go kill a bunch of their classmates, but I bet quite a few more might do it if the circumstances were just right (wrong). One of those circumstances is, of course, access to a bunch of guns.
Keep your damn guns away from your kids. Even better, melt them down. But at least keep them away.
Cars Make People Crazy
Having had occasion to drive a bit more than usual recently, what the hell is wrong with people? I'm talking about the road ragers, and impatiently aggressive drivers in general. Look, buddy, you're gonna save 45 seconds on your journey max if you drive like that, and increase your change of killing or being killed by a nontrivial amount.
This wasn't the most important moment, but it was so ridiculous I was a bit stunned. I was at a light on a not very busy exurban intersection. I was paying attention. Like 100% paying attention. I was not staring at my phone or looking out into space or zoning out. I was staring at the light waiting for it to change colors. It changed colors. I started to move my foot onto the gas pedal as fast as any human reasonably can. Before my foot got all the way there the guy behind me was honking and making enraged faces at me.
#notallpeople
This wasn't the most important moment, but it was so ridiculous I was a bit stunned. I was at a light on a not very busy exurban intersection. I was paying attention. Like 100% paying attention. I was not staring at my phone or looking out into space or zoning out. I was staring at the light waiting for it to change colors. It changed colors. I started to move my foot onto the gas pedal as fast as any human reasonably can. Before my foot got all the way there the guy behind me was honking and making enraged faces at me.
#notallpeople
A Possibility We Never Considered
Problems, fam.
The Entertainment.
For those holding out hope that the infamous pee tape will eventually surface and expose President Trump for the depraved monster he truly is, sadly it’s now looking like, if anything, the video will only make him more popular than ever: According to new intel from sources close to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the pee tape is indeed real, but it is reportedly hot as hell—perhaps the sexiest event ever caught on camera in human history.
Sorry, #Resistance, but it doesn’t look like this one’s going to play out in our favor.
The Entertainment.
TV Lawyers
It's pretty clear the Trump has no actual concerns about personal legal jeopardy. And given the various legal complications regarding the law and the president, he might not be wrong (though the same can't be said for everybody close to him). But I think this is less a rational understanding of the situation he faces and more just another aspect of the fact that the man only sees himself in what gets reflected back to him from the funny papers and teevee. He's afraid of being embarrassed, of being shown to be a fraud. A broke fraud. It's his image as he's constructed it that he's worried about, not shackles.
No Stress In That Job
Every time I try to picture this I think...who could handle the stress of that job? I don't care what kind of VR 360 degree panoramic visual brain implant display you have. This just won't work.
I'm sure with a bit of creative thinking they can make these "gig economy" jobs, too! You can do it from your phone!
I know this topic bores most of you but I gotta post about something. Anyway it's this kind of thing which makes me keep pushing the idea that safety as conventionally understood isn't really the issue. I mean, it could be, and will be to some degree, but if they work they'll be safe enough. The point is... they aren't going to work! Not well enough.
I get how seen from certain parts of newish California, with nice weather and very standardized wide stroads, etc... this all seems easy. And, ok, maybe they'll work well enough in those places, though I still don't see them working well/cheaply enough to be... useful? But good luck in Philly.
Call Centers
Self-driving cars won’t be infallible. In case they get stuck or stumped by things like road construction, humans in call centers (maybe former Uber and Lyft drivers) will be ready to take control and get them out of jams.
I'm sure with a bit of creative thinking they can make these "gig economy" jobs, too! You can do it from your phone!
I know this topic bores most of you but I gotta post about something. Anyway it's this kind of thing which makes me keep pushing the idea that safety as conventionally understood isn't really the issue. I mean, it could be, and will be to some degree, but if they work they'll be safe enough. The point is... they aren't going to work! Not well enough.
I get how seen from certain parts of newish California, with nice weather and very standardized wide stroads, etc... this all seems easy. And, ok, maybe they'll work well enough in those places, though I still don't see them working well/cheaply enough to be... useful? But good luck in Philly.
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Why Does The Times Always Do This
Interesting scoop!
wait...hold on there a sec.
Oh so it's just something Rudy said. Probably true then right? I mean, America's Mayor and all. Let's go...7 more paragraphs.
That's certainly quite a different story then isn't it! Almost like it could have been written upside down!
Let's head over to Reuters and see what's going on there.
Good job again, NYT! Wow, story could just have been:
"Rudy lies again!"
Nah.
WASHINGTON — The special counsel hopes to finish by Sept. 1 the investigation into whether President Trump obstructed the Russia inquiry,
wait...hold on there a sec.
according to the president’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, who said on Sunday that waiting any longer would risk improperly influencing voters in November’s midterm elections.
Oh so it's just something Rudy said. Probably true then right? I mean, America's Mayor and all. Let's go...7 more paragraphs.
And by putting an end date on the obstruction inquiry, he is apparently seeking to publicly pressure Mr. Mueller to stick to that timeline and trying to assuage the president by predicting the inquiry will end soon, a strategy that some of his other lawyers tried, with mixed results.
That's certainly quite a different story then isn't it! Almost like it could have been written upside down!
Let's head over to Reuters and see what's going on there.
Giuliani was quoted by the New York Times later on Sunday as saying that Mueller had said the investigation would wrap up by Sept. 1.
A source familiar with the probe called the Sept. 1 deadline “entirely made-up” and “another apparent effort to pressure the special counsel to hasten the end of his work.”
Good job again, NYT! Wow, story could just have been:
"Rudy lies again!"
Nah.
The Stone Zone
Roger Stone tells @chucktodd he’s prepared to be indicted by Mueller for what he suspects would be an “extraneous crime, pertaining to my business, or maybe not even pertaining to the 2016 election.”https://t.co/69nETOH6B8
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 20, 2018
Responsible Gun Owners
Everybody knows that responsible gun owners keep their guns locked up inside, unloaded, and certainly out of reach of children. Everybody also knows that a locked up unloaded gun isn't much good for the self defense against home invasion fantasy. Gotta have that bad boy loaded and under the bed for that.
"Gun Culture"
It's just one of the terms that I think is so ridiculous that I can't understand why anybody uses it. I also hate when people preface their lukewarm support for any gun control with, "As a gun owner,... " Go melt those things down, asshole. What do you need a gun for? Just part of the problem.
I get that some people have a genuine "need" for guns. And some people like to hunt. And some people like to go to the shooting range and go pew pew pew. They aren't magic totems, something which gives you credibility simply by virtue of owning one. Here is a picture of me going pew pew pew at the gun range, therefore I have authority to speak on this subject. They're tools or toys, depending. What is this "culture" bullshit?
Anyone who carries as a matter of course or has one for "self defense" in the home is just part of the problem.
I get that some people have a genuine "need" for guns. And some people like to hunt. And some people like to go to the shooting range and go pew pew pew. They aren't magic totems, something which gives you credibility simply by virtue of owning one. Here is a picture of me going pew pew pew at the gun range, therefore I have authority to speak on this subject. They're tools or toys, depending. What is this "culture" bullshit?
Anyone who carries as a matter of course or has one for "self defense" in the home is just part of the problem.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Maybe One From My House To The Wawa
Rich people are so stupid.
I know I'm the stupid one, ultimately. Give me all your money.
Musk’s Boring Co. network, if and when it gets built, would ferry passengers from Dodger Stadium near downtown L.A. to Los Angeles International Airport in 10 minutes, according to the presentation Musk made Thursday evening at the Leo Baeck Temple in the affluent Bel-Air neighborhood. The trip now can easily take more than an hour by car.
I know I'm the stupid one, ultimately. Give me all your money.
Cranky Saturday
It's raining. And Ari Fleischer keeps tweeting. And George Bush keeps painting dogs. I am so tired.
Boring
I thought the one good thing about the self-driving car craze is... at least we don't have to hear about stupid PRTs anymore. And then Elon comes along and says... let's build a PRT (personal rapid transit) system... underground!
It isn't even a new idea. If the dude can really improve tunneling technology to make it massively cheaper, good for him. I am not an expert but my understanding is that this really wasn't a problem that needed to be solved in that the expense of tunneling isn't really putting a machine into the ground and telling it to go. Anything's possible I guess. But the idea of a PRT subway isn't new. It's been the fantasy of the "like a subway, but just for me" and "like a taxi, but cheap" and "if you ignore all the actual expenses, this isn't very expensive" and "if we promise the Jetsons, we can keep building highways until they arrive" crowds.
Aside from many other issues, the problem with these systems is that even their fantasy versions tend to ignore the fact that employment is concentrated in both time and space. Meaning, rush hour is a thing and even in Los Angeles employment centers are a thing, and if lots of people want to ride the underground taxi at 5pm there's no way your underground taxi system, even the fantasy version, can handle the capacity that a subway train can.
The Victoria Line in London can currently run 30 trains per hour. Not 30 train cars, 30 trains. 1000 people per train (theoretically more, but realistically).
When the DNC was in Philly in 2016, all the muckity mucks complained that it was too damn hard to get their Ubers when they all spilled out of the arena at precisely the same time. That's basically the problem (among others) of a PRT system. Just picture the taxi line at the airport. It really doesn't matter how many taxis you have waiting. You still have to load them, somehow. A couple of people at a time. They should've taken the subway.
It isn't even a new idea. If the dude can really improve tunneling technology to make it massively cheaper, good for him. I am not an expert but my understanding is that this really wasn't a problem that needed to be solved in that the expense of tunneling isn't really putting a machine into the ground and telling it to go. Anything's possible I guess. But the idea of a PRT subway isn't new. It's been the fantasy of the "like a subway, but just for me" and "like a taxi, but cheap" and "if you ignore all the actual expenses, this isn't very expensive" and "if we promise the Jetsons, we can keep building highways until they arrive" crowds.
Aside from many other issues, the problem with these systems is that even their fantasy versions tend to ignore the fact that employment is concentrated in both time and space. Meaning, rush hour is a thing and even in Los Angeles employment centers are a thing, and if lots of people want to ride the underground taxi at 5pm there's no way your underground taxi system, even the fantasy version, can handle the capacity that a subway train can.
The Victoria Line in London can currently run 30 trains per hour. Not 30 train cars, 30 trains. 1000 people per train (theoretically more, but realistically).
When the DNC was in Philly in 2016, all the muckity mucks complained that it was too damn hard to get their Ubers when they all spilled out of the arena at precisely the same time. That's basically the problem (among others) of a PRT system. Just picture the taxi line at the airport. It really doesn't matter how many taxis you have waiting. You still have to load them, somehow. A couple of people at a time. They should've taken the subway.
We Are Ruled By Monsters
Asked about separating parents and children of illegal immigrants, Nielsen says "don't break the law." "If you break the law, you go to jail and you're separated from your family. It shouldn't be any different for illegal immigrants," she tells driveway gaggle at WH. pic.twitter.com/vBDDdZLB8G
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) May 18, 2018
Viet Thanh Nguyen:
My removal from my parents was a benevolent act that led me to being housed for several months by a generous American family. And yet being separated from my parents hurt enough for me to remember it vividly more than 40 years later. I can easily imagine the kind of damage a prolonged removal, under much more adverse circumstances, would do to a child. Or to a parent, since I am now the father of a 4-year-old myself. I say I can imagine it, but the pain of losing my son is actually unimaginable.
I wonder whether whoever decided to take me from my mother considered her pain. Maybe they only saw her alienness and her lack of education, which happened because she was born poor and a girl. Perhaps they never saw that in Vietnam she had been a successful businesswoman. But even if she hadn’t, what difference should that have made? Are people who are less successful not human or deserving of the right to hold on to their children? Our answer to that question says everything about us.
Stans
One thing I have long not understood is the way that there is a segment of the population - younger men, and specifically younger white men at least in this context - who become a bit worshipful of older white men. I'm sure this exists in real life, but it's one of those things you see in its concentrated form on the internet.
Recent examples are people like Elon Musk and Jordan Peterson. It's one thing to think they are Good or even to think they're worth arguing about on the internet (everything is worth arguing about on the internet). But there are people who seem to believe in their infallibility. Elon Musk is a genius who can do no wrong. Jordan Peterson is the greatest philosopher who has ever lived.
I think it tends to be more of a right wing thing, but not just. I've seen it for left wing figures too. It's a bit weird. People can be good without being Jesus.
Recent examples are people like Elon Musk and Jordan Peterson. It's one thing to think they are Good or even to think they're worth arguing about on the internet (everything is worth arguing about on the internet). But there are people who seem to believe in their infallibility. Elon Musk is a genius who can do no wrong. Jordan Peterson is the greatest philosopher who has ever lived.
I think it tends to be more of a right wing thing, but not just. I've seen it for left wing figures too. It's a bit weird. People can be good without being Jesus.
Friday, May 18, 2018
What A Country
Only the best people.
Vickers “Vic” Cunningham, a former criminal district judge now in a runoff to be the sole Republican Dallas County commissioner, acknowledged Friday that in 2010 he set up a living trust with a clause rewarding his children if they marry a white person.
Thoughts And Prayers
Reminded of the old Emo Phillips joke:
When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.
Wonkavator
So basically it's a massive PRT system which would certainly have no capacity, scaling, or congestion issues. And so cheap to build!
Seems like a Shelbyville idea to me.
The Boring Company founder shared more details Thursday night in Los Angeles about his project to cure the city's traffic congestion with hundreds of tunnels. He said rides on the subway-like rail service -- dubbed "Loop" -- would cost one dollar. Musk spoke of above-ground roads being converted to park space, as commuters gravitate to the personalized mass transit in his tunnels.
Seems like a Shelbyville idea to me.
Dragons
I've managed to remain sort of unaware of how this Peterson character become the sad loser misogynist dude's latest great white man hero, but for once the NYT covers such a creature appropriately.
I'd like to think this was some minor inside the building rebuke of the absurdity that is Bari Weiss though I have no idea.
“It makes sense that a witch lives in a swamp. Yeah,” he says. “Why?”
It’s a hard one.
“Right. That’s right. You don’t know. It’s because those things hang together at a very deep level. Right. Yeah. And it makes sense that an old king lives in a desiccated tower.”
But witches don’t exist, and they don’t live in swamps, I say.
“Yeah, they do. They do exist. They just don’t exist the way you think they exist. They certainly exist. You may say well dragons don’t exist. It’s, like, yes they do — the category predator and the category dragon are the same category. It absolutely exists. It’s a superordinate category. It exists absolutely more than anything else. In fact, it really exists. What exists is not obvious. You say, ‘Well, there’s no such thing as witches.’ Yeah, I know what you mean, but that isn’t what you think when you go see a movie about them. You can’t help but fall into these categories. There’s no escape from them.”
I'd like to think this was some minor inside the building rebuke of the absurdity that is Bari Weiss though I have no idea.
Active Shooter Drills
I still can't believe "we" make little kids do this. I don't know if they are of any use, but I certainly get why people think they are necessary.
Everybody's Obstructing
Back in those exciting 90s, Clintonites saying perfectly accurate things in public was often characterized as obstruction of justice by various people.
President Trump’s allies are waging an increasingly aggressive campaign to undercut the Russia investigation by exposing the role of a top-secret FBI source. The effort reached new heights Thursday as Trump alleged that an informant had improperly spied on his 2016 campaign and predicted that the ensuing scandal would be “bigger than Watergate!”
The Kids Today
lolzzzz..
I have 13 different angles on this one I don't know which one to use.
A senior White House official insisted that some of the procedures were meant to keep information secure, not stanch leaks, but other precautionary steps were taken in response to staff carelessness that fueled Mr. Trump’s sense of being undermined. In one case, a crackdown came after a junior aide was found to be taping meetings with Mr. Trump and playing them to impress friends, according to several people familiar with the episode.
I have 13 different angles on this one I don't know which one to use.
Pick A Side
The universe does not always dish out justice perfectly. I don't think this is controversial. Good things don't always happen to good people, and bad things don't always happen to bad people. But there are numerous stories every day in the press about people who are probably getting something they don't deserve. Illness, economic misfortune, ridiculous prison sentences (even if they're guilty of something), police violence, etc.
So when a richish white asshole takes one on the chin, and that's what inspires you to say, "oh, wait, hold on now, the universe has gone too far this time," you're just saying, "that could be me." Well it could be all of us in the sense that bad things can happen to all of us, but we're not all... that kind of asshole.
So when a richish white asshole takes one on the chin, and that's what inspires you to say, "oh, wait, hold on now, the universe has gone too far this time," you're just saying, "that could be me." Well it could be all of us in the sense that bad things can happen to all of us, but we're not all... that kind of asshole.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
My Point, Proven
QED
What is the Latin for "everyone disagrees with my shit opinion, so I am right"?
So thank you, mob, for proving my point.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) May 18, 2018
What is the Latin for "everyone disagrees with my shit opinion, so I am right"?
Choices
They have been made.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former son-in-law of Paul Manafort, the one-time chairman of President Donald Trump’s campaign, has cut a plea deal with the Justice Department that requires him to cooperate with other criminal probes, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
I Don't Think They Can Show That On MSNBC
So we have some exclusive, never before seen video tonight that @realDonaldTrump is going *love*.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) May 17, 2018
(And by love, I mean hate.)
So Many Problems
This is a bit clickbaity as it focuses on bodily fluids, but generally there a million problems with various self-driving car fantasies. My related but not equivalent issue is that especially for people with kids, cars are actually storage accessories. You keep stuff in your car.
Generally my take is: urban taxis won't work and suburban commuter vehicles won't replace ownership. The latter won't really work, either, but even if they do they will just be neato features and won't reduce car ownership.
(ht reader bl)
Generally my take is: urban taxis won't work and suburban commuter vehicles won't replace ownership. The latter won't really work, either, but even if they do they will just be neato features and won't reduce car ownership.
(ht reader bl)
Abolish ICE
Really only thing that can be done. Not that the great Eschaton Editorial Page Endorsement matters (or will even be forthcoming), but no presidential candidate is going to get many nice things said about them unless they are on board with this. It's clearly an organization which is rotten from top to bottom, in a way that we imagine some police departments to be, but with the power of the Feds and even less legal recourse against their abuses, usually.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez shot down the federal government’s efforts to strip Daniel Ramirez Medina of his DACA status. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement had arrested and detained Ramirez last year, then falsely claimed that he was affiliated with a gang and attempted to deport him. He filed suit, alleging that ICE had violated his due process rights. Martinez agreed. His order barred the federal government from voiding Ramirez’s DACA status, safeguarding his ability to live and work in the United States legally for the foreseeable future. What may be most remarkable about Martinez’s decision, though, is its blunt repudiation of ICE’s main claim—that Ramirez is “gang-affiliated.” The judge did not simply rule against ICE. He accused the agency of lying to a court of law.
Where'd They Go
Quite stunning.
The report also refers to two previous suspicious-activity reports, or sars, that the bank had filed, which documented even larger flows of questionable money into Cohen’s account. Those two reports detail more than three million dollars in additional transactions—triple the amount in the report released last week. Which individuals or corporations were involved remains a mystery. But, according to the official who leaked the report, these sars were absent from the database maintained by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or fincen. The official, who has spent a career in law enforcement, told me, “I have never seen something pulled off the system. . . . That system is a safeguard for the bank. It’s a stockpile of information. When something’s not there that should be, I immediately became concerned.” The official added, “That’s why I came forward.”
...
Whatever the explanation for the missing reports, the appearance that some, but not all, had been removed or restricted troubled the official who released the report last week. “Why just those two missing?” the official, who feared that the contents of those two reports might be permanently withheld, said. “That’s what alarms me the most.”
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Career Paths
So sad.
But further down in the trenches, two others still working for the administration — and one other who has departed and is still looking — said they’re all worried about how Trump will be perceived by employers on their resumes.
“Not everyone can get a gig at Fox News,” bemoaned a current administration employee considering grim job prospects for jobs elsewhere. “A lot of us are going back home.”
It's Gonna Be A Long Long Time
I didn't think the North Korean summit was going to happen as planned.
I have no opinion on whether that's good or bad. Just is.
I have no opinion on whether that's good or bad. Just is.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
The Boy Is Doing It
The thing I don't get about deliberate misconduct by cops and DAs designed to convict innocent people is that as far as I can tell, in this city at least, there isn't actually much pressure to do it (or, alternatively, rewards for doing it). Except for the very few cases which became high profile cases, I don't know where the pressure to close these cases is coming from. I mean that aside from the very obvious issues of it being WRONG and that it leaves an innocent murderer out there.
In an extraordinary step, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday pointed an accusatory finger at onetime members of its own office, asserting in a court motion that police and prosecutors helped to convict a city man of murder a decade ago by “hiding” evidence that suggested he was innocent, possibly breaking the law in the process.
...
Patterson’s prosecution, the motion says, was “illogical” and “completely lacking in integrity.” Not only was Patterson improperly imprisoned, the motion says, but the victim’s family was given a false sense of closure and the public was ill-served when the likely shooter remained on the streets until he was killed.
Nothing But The Grift
Gotta give them some credit, I admit.
Ten months ago, the 26-year-old posted her first politically-themed video to YouTube, a reenactment of “coming out” as conservative to her parents. In November, amid allegations of racial bias, the conservative campus advocacy group Turning Point USA hired Owens, who is black, as its director of urban engagement. Last month, Kanye West tweeted his approval of Owens’ thoughts. Last week, President Trump tweeted that Owens was a “very smart ‘thinker’” who is “having a big impact on politics.” And this week, Owens mingled with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump at the dedication of the new American embassy in Jerusalem.
Yet Owens, suddenly a new face of the American right, was less than two years ago the CEO of an online publication that frequently mocked then-candidate Trump, including conducting a mock “investigation” into his penis size. (The story determined that it was likely very small.) And in a 2015 column for the site lambasting conservative Republicans, Owens wrote that it was “good news” that the “Republican Tea Party...will eventually die off (peacefully in their sleep, we hope.)”
If Only People Had Listened To The Hippies
Torture edition.
I suppose the elite consensus now is "that was a nasty bit of business let's just move beyond it." But at the time it was pretty mainstream elite opinion that torture was good and also not torture and shut up dirty hippies.
“While I won’t condemn those that made these hard calls, and I have noted the valuable intelligence collected, the program ultimately did damage to our officers and our standing in the world,” Haspel said in the letter, first obtained by CNN. “With the benefit of hindsight and my experience as a senior agency leader, the enhanced interrogation program is not one the CIA should have undertaken.”
I suppose the elite consensus now is "that was a nasty bit of business let's just move beyond it." But at the time it was pretty mainstream elite opinion that torture was good and also not torture and shut up dirty hippies.
Complexity
And of course in practice all almost all policy implementation is complex, but the complexity should fall on the dedicated decently paid civil servants who toil away, not on people or even businesses (mostly). It will anyway! No need to share the pain or compound it.
Raise The Damn Minimum Wage
Sherrod Brown talking up an idea that could gain ground with D's: Legislation requiring companies whose workers make enough to qualify for food stamps to pay a "corprorate freeloader fee" to taxpayers
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) May 15, 2018
This is a constant maddening Dem approach to policy. Basically there's meaningful opposition (and probably some intellectual agreement with this opposition) to a very simple idea. So someone comes up with a much more complicated solution to achieve essentially the same thing (but not really because it's really complicated) premised on the idea that maybe they can sneak that idea through because the lobbyists won't notice. Then you still don't get your complicated solution - or at least by the time it does get through the lobbyists it's even shittier - and you don't even get credit for campaigning on a simple idea.
Autopilot On
Unsurprising.
Obviously you can blame the driver, but I think people usually miss the point of this stuff. In any individual case you can assign specific blame, but when thinking about designing systems that are supposed to be safe, you have to take into account inevitable human behavior. If you want to claim these things are safety enhancing, they have actually enhance safety in practice.
Even the biggest self-driving car boosters realized fairly early on that "it drives itself, but you still have to pay attention" couldn't work. More than that, it actually sucks worse than driving. Elon was just like, ah, fuck it, call it autopilot.
The owner of a Tesla Model S that crashed into a parked firetruck in Utah last Friday said she had the car’s semi-autonomous Autopilot system engaged at the time of the incident, police said Monday. More than likely, this crash will lead to yet more scrutiny around Tesla’s driving assistance system, which is already under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
In a statement, police in the city of South Jordan, Utah, reported that the 28-year-old female driver said in an interview that she had been using Autopilot at the time. The driver, police said, admitted that she was looking at her phone prior to the collision.
Obviously you can blame the driver, but I think people usually miss the point of this stuff. In any individual case you can assign specific blame, but when thinking about designing systems that are supposed to be safe, you have to take into account inevitable human behavior. If you want to claim these things are safety enhancing, they have actually enhance safety in practice.
Even the biggest self-driving car boosters realized fairly early on that "it drives itself, but you still have to pay attention" couldn't work. More than that, it actually sucks worse than driving. Elon was just like, ah, fuck it, call it autopilot.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Dude, You Called It "Autopilot"
It’s super messed up that a Tesla crash resulting in a broken ankle is front page news and the ~40,000 people who died in US auto accidents alone in past year get almost no coverage https://t.co/6gD8MzD6VU
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 14, 2018
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — A Tesla sedan with a semi-autonomous Autopilot feature has rear-ended a fire department truck at 60 mph (97 kph) apparently without braking before impact, but police say it’s unknown if the Autopilot feature was engaged.
The cause of the Friday evening crash, involving a Tesla Model S and a fire department mechanic truck stopped at a red light, was under investigation, said police in South Jordan, a suburb of Salt Lake City.
Which might have had nothing to do with what happened, but every single fender bender is going to be big news because you called it Autopilot, told people the cars were basically ready for full autonomy and they could prepay for a software update that never materialized, and otherwise suggested that the technology was better than it is, whatever the fine print.
The Game
I lament the WWE nature of The Discourse as it obscures the fact that this stuff actually matters and isn't just a spectacle. But Democrats do have a tendency to believe that reporters should be the referees, but they won't. They're the color commentators and the people who type up the box scores, not the referees. Besides, how do you referee a game when only one side is playing?
Something Else To Do At The Megamall
I don't entirely know why local governments think "just add casino" is some sort of magic development plan even though it never quite seems to work out for reasons that are actually obvious, but this will presumably bring more of that.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court acted Monday to bust Nevada's monopoly on legal sports betting, allowing more states to get in on the action and reap the tax benefits.
The court, in a 6-3 ruling, struck down a federal law that required states to ban gambling on the outcome of sporting events. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was highly unusual: It did not ban sports gambling nationwide as a matter of federal law, but it said the states were not allowed to permit it. (Nevada was grandfathered in when the law was passed in 1992.)
Hey They Get Fox
It's funny that this person in the White House understands Fox News better than I've ever seen any mainstream reporter acknowledge.
With the hope of calming him down, then–chief of staff Reince Priebus and then–press secretary Sean Spicer began a subtle campaign. “It got to the point that they were just like, ‘We need to get him off these channels and onto Fox & Friends or else we’re going to be chasing down this crazy-train bullshit from MSNBC and CNN all day,’ ” one former White House official said.
Like all other ideas, this had the highest chance of implementation if Trump believed he’d thought of it on his own. Priebus and Spicer worked talking points about the network’s high ratings and importance to his base of supporters into conversation until, eventually, it stuck, so that the president’s television consumption is today what the current White House official called “mainly a complete dosage of Fox.” The former official added, “Trump’s someone who loves praise more than he likes hate-watching Morning Joe.”
But the current official acknowledged that it has created a different set of problems: “Sometimes on Fox, a lot of stories are embellished, and they don’t necessarily cover the big news stories of the day. When they cover the smaller stories, if that gets the president riled up, then that becomes an issue. Whenever he tweets, all of us do a mad dash or mad scramble to find out as much information about that random topic as possible. We’re used to it in a lot of ways, so it’s part of our morning routine.”
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Who, Exactly?
Years ago I participated in a little discussion with some people who are more important than me (and some people who aren't) about the 2005ish version of "why do real Americans hate liberals so much." This was focused on religious voters, because at the time the story was that John Kerry lost Ohio because of genius mobilization of churchgoers. I don't even know if that was true, but that was how the Bush re-election geniuses took credit for their brilliance. People who win presidential elections know how to tell a story of their brilliance. People who lose them, too! It's weird.
There was burgeoning industry of religious Dem consultants. Hey, we all gotta eat. And, sure, if peppering some speeches with some more Jesus-y speech could get a few more voters in Hillsboro, then John Kerry should have done that so that he would've been president. But part of the discussion - and the one I came prepared for - was the idea that Democrats were hostile to religion.
This is one of those big ideas that was being kicked around at the time by people who believed it but also, as we all do, had to eat. And my prepared response for when this was asserted was basically:
I agree that Nancy Pelosi probably shouldn't spend her days going on MSNBC and calling conservative voters stupid racist shitwhistles.
Also Nancy Pelosi does not do that. Nor do the liberal hosts on MSNBC as far as I am aware of. Nor does anyone except cranky people on twitter (in the old days this was cranky people on blogs, but blogs don't exist anymore).
There was burgeoning industry of religious Dem consultants. Hey, we all gotta eat. And, sure, if peppering some speeches with some more Jesus-y speech could get a few more voters in Hillsboro, then John Kerry should have done that so that he would've been president. But part of the discussion - and the one I came prepared for - was the idea that Democrats were hostile to religion.
This is one of those big ideas that was being kicked around at the time by people who believed it but also, as we all do, had to eat. And my prepared response for when this was asserted was basically:
I have thought long and hard about who the prominent people in public life are who are openly hostile to religion, and I can only think of 3:
Bill Maher, comedian, self-styled libertarian, not a Democrat, though not always only a critic of Democrats, but not someone who has an recognizable affiliation with the Democratic party in any way.
Sam Harris (this one is funny now, but at the time people sort of saw him on the left). Also, not a Democrat, no affiliation, etc.
Christopher Hitchens. Once a man of the left, never a fan of Democrats, now a giant fan of George Bush.
I agree that Nancy Pelosi probably shouldn't spend her days going on MSNBC and calling conservative voters stupid racist shitwhistles.
Also Nancy Pelosi does not do that. Nor do the liberal hosts on MSNBC as far as I am aware of. Nor does anyone except cranky people on twitter (in the old days this was cranky people on blogs, but blogs don't exist anymore).
But That's What Trump Promised
I often think that this is wrong argument made by journalists who want justify everything Trump does by claiming it's what the people want. This is a weird view not applied to, say, Democratic administrations, but with Trump it isn't even true because mostly his "campaign promises" were contradictory gibberish. Yes he promised to get rid of ACA but he also promised to replace it with something better and while maybe that last part is more ambiguous it's still important.
But the one thing he was clear about - if not on all the details - was that immigrants, especially brown ones, are bad and he was going to do something about that. You can't be surprised by that one.
But the one thing he was clear about - if not on all the details - was that immigrants, especially brown ones, are bad and he was going to do something about that. You can't be surprised by that one.
Harry Phillips, owner of Russell Hall Seafood, understands that. Like his neighbours, he voted for Trump and supports him. But he believes the president has been misinformed on the seasonal H-2B worker visas and would see the devastating results in one quick visit to the island.
“We’re 15 minutes away from Washington by helicopter,” says Phillips, whose crab house was quiet Sunday morning, with empty bushel baskets stacked high because the crab pickers aren’t coming. “There’s a landing pad for the helicopter, and we would welcome him here. If the president could just come and see what’s happening to American workers, he could see it right here, the effects of all this.”
Technolibertarianism
I don't think the "economics" of Star Trek was consistent in any way, but to the extent that it made any sense it was the idea most reflected in TNG of a post-scarcity society. Pretty sure Amazon workers aren't living that dream. Well, Bezos is, but not the ones in the warehouses.
Also...HGTTG was funny. I mean I liked it and I totally get why people like it. I especially liked it when I was 14. But it wasn't...that...brilliant.
Much of the tech industry, Amazon included, has been driven by guys dedicated to science fiction fantasies. Paul Allen has his science fiction hall of fame at MoPop, Elon Musk says the book that changed his life was Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Bezos considered naming Amazon “MakeItSo.com” in tribute to the Enterprise’s Capt. Jean Luc Picard’s catch-phrase in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Also...HGTTG was funny. I mean I liked it and I totally get why people like it. I especially liked it when I was 14. But it wasn't...that...brilliant.
Two Trends With The Same Cause
UFO sightings suddenly ceasing.
Undeniable reports of black people being abused by cops increasing.
Undeniable reports of black people being abused by cops increasing.
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Oh My God I Hate Driving With Cyclists
Having had to drive a bit more recently, oh my god the additional cyclists in the city make it stressful. I almost ran into one. It was my fault for starting to make a right turn on a red without noticing her in my side mirror. Also it was her fault for starting to run a red light (straight, not to the right), which is the kind of thing you don't look for as a driver. 360 degree awareness is just not always possible and cyclists (also motorcyclists who pull this kind of shit on highways) can't expect it.
But really this just an argument for more truly separated bike lanes. They'll make their lives and those of drivers better.
But really this just an argument for more truly separated bike lanes. They'll make their lives and those of drivers better.
But Will It Be Useful?
He's just blowing smoke but this is the basic question with so much of this stuff. Wow, a tunnel...and?
pods.
Elon Musk's first Boring Co. tunnel under Los Angeles is "almost done" and set to offer free rides to the public "in a few months," the CEO said late Thursday in an Instagram post.
"Super huge thanks to everyone that helped with this project," Musk said in a caption for a video racing through the tunnel. "Once fully operational (demo system rides will be free), the system will always give priority to pods for pedestrians and cyclists for less than the cost of a bus ticket."
pods.
Morning Thread
Echidne's blog doesn't suck!.
It's her annual fund raising week. If you can afford to do so, send her some turkee.
It's her annual fund raising week. If you can afford to do so, send her some turkee.
Friday, May 11, 2018
The Grownups
Having had to do a bit of minor childcare duties lately...um... these are bad people.
Even though people say that's cruel and heartless to take a mother away from her children?
I wouldn't put it quite that way. The children will be taken care of — put into foster care or whatever. But the big point is they elected to come illegally into the United States and this is a technique that no one hopes will be used extensively or for very long.
Time To Pay The Piper
That would be ECHIDNE. If you can afford to contribute a few scheckles, please do. Damnit, writers should get paid for their work. It's nice that Echidne shares her knowledge with us without expecting a return, but she should be able to earn expenses plus enough left over for a few truffles.
Savvy
The worst pose of the political press is "we know things you don't."
Ah, yes, perhaps you should tell us? Just an idea.
Ah, yes, perhaps you should tell us? Just an idea.
2018 is Bad
Lol 2016 you were just warming up.
LONDON — Police searching for Scott Hutchison, the lead singer of Scottish rock band Frightened Rabbit, confirmed Friday that they had located a body.
This Town
REALITY CHECK: For all the outrage of Michael Cohen $$ in on Trump — @JakeSherman and I have some truth talk in today’s Playbook. pic.twitter.com/o3MvMp1gJo
— Anna Palmer (@apalmerdc) May 11, 2018
Give me all your moneys so I can get me that sweet 2nd home in DE.
Thursday, May 10, 2018
It's The Price Of Land
It's more complicated than that...and really the issue in most places is that people don't got no money... but it certainly it isn't the price of bricks.
Move over, candy and flamethrowers. Elon Musk tweeted out plans Monday for yet another side venture: alleviating the nation's housing crisis.
"The Boring Company will be using dirt from tunnel digging to create bricks for low-cost housing," he wrote in a tweet about his nascent tunneling enterprise.
Dictionaries Will Save Us
Dark web: The portion of the Internet that is intentionally hidden from search engines and is accessible only with a special web browser.
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) May 8, 2018
Used in a sentence: Bari Weiss wrote in the New York Times about people she says are stuck on the dark web. https://t.co/6EcnGv3TOo
Do You Have A Copy Of Your Birth Certificate?
These things are silly because these documents are hardly standard and universal anyway [random bureaucrat squints: looks good to me!] but aside from that... do you?
Morning Thread
Me: I got connections. Wire me $100,000 on the first of every month.
Big Company of your choice: Okay.
See, easy peasy!
Big Company of your choice: Okay.
See, easy peasy!
Wednesday, May 09, 2018
It Was The Only Thing Holding Me Up
Maybe he didn't speak to you but he spoke to me and I am upset about this.
This Makes Perfect Sense
Late capitalism already great.
"After the inauguration, the firm hired Michael Cohen as a business consultant regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures," the Columbus Nova statement said.
"Reports today that Viktor Vekselberg used Columbus Nova as a conduit for payments to Michael Cohen are false. The claim that Viktor Vekselberg was involved or provided any funding for Columbus Nova's engagement of Michael Cohen is patently untrue.
"Neither Viktor Vekselberg nor anyone else other than Columbus Nova's owners, were involved in the decision to hire Cohen or provided funding for his engagement."
Angry Birds
For some reason I never remember that in addition to Spring basically being shit in this part of the country, the damn birds wake me up every day at 6 AM.
Modern Leper
One of the pasty white guy bands I post videos of regularly. Saw them about a month ago. Hope he's ok.
The lead singer of indie band Frightened Rabbit has been reported missing amid concerns for his welfare.
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