Wednesday, July 31, 2019
To The Left To The Left To The Left To The Left
Trump is unlikely to quiet down the racism, because that's his one true ideology aside from "give me all the money," but otherwise he's likely to run to the left on issues. He'll rarely if ever be asked to explain himself or how he plans to pay for it because savvy reporters will be in on it and know he's full of shit - though they won't bother to tell you that he's full of shit - but Dems shouldn't be surprised when Trump starts pretending that all prescription drugs will cost $1 a prescription IF THE DEMOCRATS GET OUT OF HIS WAY or some shit like that. CRAZY BERNIE WANTS YOU TO PAY MORE FOR DRUGS.
Trump will soon start promising Nice Things, maybe even nicer things than most of the Democrats. He'll be full of shit, of course, but so are some of the Dems.
Trump will soon start promising Nice Things, maybe even nicer things than most of the Democrats. He'll be full of shit, of course, but so are some of the Dems.
The Guardians of Our Discourse
There's really no way to be "objective" or "unbiased" or whatever we call it these days in the context of political journalism. You can reasonably do a "just the facts" kind of coverage of certain things which at least strives for that, but political coverage these days is so much theater criticism and imagining "how it's going to play" and all sorts of judgments which are only "objective" if you confuse your opinions with facts, which of course is something a lot of people do.
The occasional bad tweet just reaffirms that the bad coverage generally isn't just a mistake, or an attempt to placate conservatives, but a consequence of a worldview which isn't that much different from white nationalists. Years of covering old conservative white people who like Trump (and still like Trump! just checking!) reflects the view that the are the only voters who matter, so much so that minority Americans are excluded. People in the Northeast or the West Coast don't matter. People who live in cities in the South or the Midwest don't matter. Rural minorities don't exist to them, so they don't matter. People who vote for Democrats don't matter.
Real America is what white nationalists say it is, and that drives the political coverage in the NYT and elsewhere.
The occasional bad tweet just reaffirms that the bad coverage generally isn't just a mistake, or an attempt to placate conservatives, but a consequence of a worldview which isn't that much different from white nationalists. Years of covering old conservative white people who like Trump (and still like Trump! just checking!) reflects the view that the are the only voters who matter, so much so that minority Americans are excluded. People in the Northeast or the West Coast don't matter. People who live in cities in the South or the Midwest don't matter. Rural minorities don't exist to them, so they don't matter. People who vote for Democrats don't matter.
Real America is what white nationalists say it is, and that drives the political coverage in the NYT and elsewhere.
If You Pretend I Said Something Different Than I Said
Obviously saying "lol John Lewis isn't from the Deep South" is not the same thing as saying "Atlanta is not synonymous with Georgia."
What geographic subunit of Georgia is synonymous with Georgia?
How did all the garbage people at the Times get their jobs? Meritocracy!
Saying @RashidaTlaib (D-Detroit) and @IlhanMN (D-Minneapolis) are from the Midwest is like saying @RepLloydDoggett (D-Austin) is from Texas or @repjohnlewis (D-Atlanta) is from the Deep South. C’mon. https://t.co/C8d8OWHu3j
— (((JonathanWeisman))) (@jonathanweisman) July 31, 2019
Also, I grew up in Atlanta. John Lewis was my congressman. But my first jobs were with the Marietta Daily Journal. So please don’t tell me that Atlanta is synonymous with Georgia. It isn’t.
— (((JonathanWeisman))) (@jonathanweisman) July 31, 2019
What geographic subunit of Georgia is synonymous with Georgia?
How did all the garbage people at the Times get their jobs? Meritocracy!
Garbage Newspaper
Saying @RashidaTlaib (D-Detroit) and @IlhanMN (D-Minneapolis) are from the Midwest is like saying @RepLloydDoggett (D-Austin) is from Texas or @repjohnlewis (D-Atlanta) is from the Deep South. C’mon. https://t.co/C8d8OWHu3j
— (((JonathanWeisman))) (@jonathanweisman) July 31, 2019
Deputy Washington Editor, New York Times.
Cancel your fucking subscriptions.
The Debate Winners
The important judges of this are the people who are not registered to vote in Democratic primaries, have never voted for a Democrat, and while they do not like Mr. Trump, will, at most, vote for Evan Whatshisname in November 2020 like they did in 2016, because while they could have voted for a Democrat if they had nominated [some random person they just deemed to be more "moderate" than that communist Joe Biden], sadly the Democrats are just doing this to themselves.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Also, 1989 Was The Worst Moment In Modern American History
Not quite, perhaps, but really it was a bad time. People who had their worldview solidified in 1989 did so at the worst possible moment. Like everything bad about post-war America was peaking and everything good was waning and I don't think things (not all things, but some) started to shift for the better until 1995 or so.
Buy This Book
Somebody I know rather well (20+ years!) wrote a book. It is a good book. It isn't a travel guide or a recipe book, but a history, though it does have significant discussion of the contemporary food situation and some representative (including historic) recipes.
Amazon lacks copies at the moment, but because I love you so much, dear readers, I can even give you a 30% off discount code to get it from the publisher. RLFANDF. Enter RLFANDF at the checkout page for the promo code.
...since I last checked amazon seems to also have discounted copies being sold through the site though still not from an amazon warehouse.
Amazon lacks copies at the moment, but because I love you so much, dear readers, I can even give you a 30% off discount code to get it from the publisher. RLFANDF. Enter RLFANDF at the checkout page for the promo code.
...since I last checked amazon seems to also have discounted copies being sold through the site though still not from an amazon warehouse.
Teslanos
I know Elon Musk is my latest obsession that bores most of you, but it isn't just about self-driving cars or even (though this more) about his Jetsons transportation ideas. It's about pure fraud, and how much pure fraud our system tolerates. Tesla is a publicly traded company and you aren't supposed to be able to get away with this kind of bullshit according to the SEC. This was from 2015.
Yet again, Elon Musk is setting lofty goals for Tesla, claiming the upstart EV automaker's models will have a range of roughly 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) as well as full autonomous, self-driving technology by 2020.Neither of these things has happened or is going to happen (there haven't even been incremental improvements in the batteries). Musk has actually been selling "full self driving" with the bait and switch "pay for it now it's cheaper than it will be when it exists later" and while it's hard to feel too sorry for idiots who fall for this, it's still epic fraud. And it was one thing when Tesla only sold luxury vehicles and skimming a few more thousand bucks from rich suckers isn't the worst crime in the world, but now their low end vehicle is, while not cheap, not priced at luxury car levels so less than rich people are getting scammed.
Stolen Valor
That they all lie about so many easily checkable things... they must have been doing this stuff for years and got used to the fact that no one ever checks.
During that time, Ratcliffe became a federal prosecutor, named chief of anti-terrorism and national security for the Eastern District of Texas. In 2007, Ratcliffe was named the district's acting U.S. attorney by President George W. Bush.Let the Eagle Soar
Although Ratcliffe's website says he "put terrorists in prison," there is no evidence he ever prosecuted a terrorism case.
When Obama took office, Ratcliffe went into private practice, forming the firm Ashcroft, Sutton, Ratcliffe — a Texas outpost of the Washington, D.C., law firm founded by former Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Nobody Could Have Predicted
If only someone would have given me just a tiny bit of all the money that people have been lighting on fire for this stuff.
(Reuters) - General Motors Co’s self-driving unit, Cruise, said on Wednesday it was delaying the commercial deployment of cars past its target of 2019 as more testing of the vehicles was required.They no longer have a specified timeline.
Case Closed
When the RJ Rushdoony Distinguished Chair of the Science Of The Lesser Races says someone isn't a racist there's no room for argument.
Obsessions
Whether it's Stephen Miller devoting his life to Making America White Again or Nazis shooting up a crowd just because... how did they get there? It's one thing to be major racist. They're all around us! Another thing for it to be your calling.
Related
The "seriousness" of any health plan will be judged, by the serious people, not by how nice it would be to have. Only weirdo countries can let you just go to the damn doctor.
Who Is On Speed Dial
On one side we have the various players in the health care industry and their lobbying entities. On the other side we have the public. Maybe a third set of players are non-health care businesses of various sizes and shapes. Ok, 3 sides! The first side is going to fight anything that will take away some of their money. Anything. They cannot be negotiated with, except from a position of power. As in, "go along with this or it's going to be worse." Then there's the public who need to actually like what you do so they vote to keep you in office long enough to make sure it's implemented. The third "side" is a bit more complicated. Various players with not necessarily aligned interests.
No compromise is going to make the first side happy. Start by compromising and they'll thank you for your lunch money and demand tomorrow's, too. Keep on compromising like this and the public, whose support you need, will be increasingly unhappy.
As for who reporters have on speed dial...
No compromise is going to make the first side happy. Start by compromising and they'll thank you for your lunch money and demand tomorrow's, too. Keep on compromising like this and the public, whose support you need, will be increasingly unhappy.
As for who reporters have on speed dial...
Lynching Postcards
The sad truth is a decent chunk of the population is pretty damn cruel. I don't mean indifferent or selfish or merely "I got mine, fuck you," but actively cruel, taking enjoyment in the suffering of others. Every time someone says or writes "this is not who we are" as if America is a special angelic country filled with nothing but good and nice people and any deviation from that is just a momentary aberration, I get angry. This is who "we" are. Not all of us, but enough. Trump's continued significant support is enough proof of that.
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Obummer
I don't follow Trump's polls. They don't change much. But at best he's no more popular than Obama was, and the press always treated Obama like an unpopular president, not a POLITICAL GENIUS who CONTROLLED THE NARRATIVE.
Nice Work
Another day, another New York Times column about how the readers of the New York Times are stupid and people on the internet should not be mean to New York Times columnists because that is worse than the holocaust squared.
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Rat-Infested Shitholes
If a Democrat ever talked about rural (I mean REAL) America the way that Republicans talk about urban America pretty much daily, it would be a 24/7 cable news story.
Saturday Morning
APPLICATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FOR AN ORDER AUTHORIZING THE RELEASE OF CERTAIN GRAND JURY MATERIALS
Just in case anyone needs something to read with their morning coffee.
Just in case anyone needs something to read with their morning coffee.
Friday, July 26, 2019
Thursday, July 25, 2019
But I Have A Party To Go To
Elizabeth Spiers:
This has not, of course, stopped her from fundraising off of it. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee donor inboxes are littered with appeals signed by the speaker to, all caps, stop Trump, as if the critical brake mechanisms are being controlled by donors and not by the officials whose elections they support. It’s like watching a person drown while the lifeguard sits in her tower, performatively noting with alarm that someone is sinking into the sea and surely someone—someone!—must save the swimmer.Read the whole thing, as the kids say.
All You Gotta Do
Is give us the House, a supermajority in the Senate, and the presidency.
Okay, sorry, we admit that supermajority in the Senate will include Manchin and Sinema and a few others as needed to obstruct our agenda, so maybe a supermajority plus? plus plus plus?
Mystery why people keep chucking out the party in power, whichever it is.
Okay, sorry, we admit that supermajority in the Senate will include Manchin and Sinema and a few others as needed to obstruct our agenda, so maybe a supermajority plus? plus plus plus?
Mystery why people keep chucking out the party in power, whichever it is.
"We" Voted "You" Into Office
And I saw what happened last time Pelosi was Speaker and the last Republican president had 26% approval ratings and...
50% polling for impeachment? 70%? 90%? What's it going to take?
You guys have the power. I'm just a dumb guy with a dumb blog.
Elijah Cummings called y'all out.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) July 24, 2019
"I'm begging the American people to pay attention to what is going on...if you want to have a democracy intact for your children and your children's children ... we have to guard this moment. This is on our watch."
50% polling for impeachment? 70%? 90%? What's it going to take?
You guys have the power. I'm just a dumb guy with a dumb blog.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Wow So Many Crimes
Guess we better signal as loudly as possible that it's okay to do more crimes.
Love crimes.
Love crimes.
They Didn't Get Their Sorkin Moment
All the reporters are bored now.
To be fair, even the pee tape wouldn't have qualified as a Sorkin Moment because nothing does.
Journalism, how the fuck does it work?
By "people" Maggie means "her and her friends" because the New York Times does not have brain implants in the population signalling back to them what you care about.
NYT colleagues reax to Mueller:@adamgoldmanNYT:
— Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) July 24, 2019
So far, this hearing is not revealing new ground...By tomorrow it could be forgotten in this frenetic news cycle.@maggieNYT:
Adam, I think you’re being generous with “by tomorrow.”
On the one hand, Mueller stated incredibly damning things under oath, on the other he didn't sing them in a rich, deep vibrato. https://t.co/BXkwzY4QC8
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) July 24, 2019
To be fair, even the pee tape wouldn't have qualified as a Sorkin Moment because nothing does.
Journalism, how the fuck does it work?
The perennial belief that we can dictate what people should care about instead of reporting on the news... https://t.co/uvNzO8ryt8
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 24, 2019
By "people" Maggie means "her and her friends" because the New York Times does not have brain implants in the population signalling back to them what you care about.
More Thread
A hearing like this can be good and important and also ultimately pointless if everyone is waiting for some sort of Aaron Sorkin moment (and even if there is one there can never really be one because they will keep lifting the bar). There is nothing that can be said which will change Mitch's mind, or get Republicans on board, or get any of the editorial boards who called for Clinton's resignation to call for Trump's resignation, or anything else which frees Democrats from doing the one thing Mueller keeps telling them to do. Other people aren't going to solve this problem for them.
Mueller Day
The day that everything changes.
In case I haven't been clear... the Dems have to lead if they want something to happen. The Celestial Hall Monitor will not do it for them. They seem to be unwilling to do so. Happy to be wrong!
In case I haven't been clear... the Dems have to lead if they want something to happen. The Celestial Hall Monitor will not do it for them. They seem to be unwilling to do so. Happy to be wrong!
Morning Thread
I guess I was misinformed. Damnit!
I feel like I need to be out of my pajamas and fully dressed for the outside world for this.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Tuesday Night
Everything's gonna change on Mueller day. At least if he says "Trump did all the crimes and he is guilty and you have to impeach him now and the only reason that the Marshall of the Supreme Court has not put him on death row already is because he is the president so you have to do it."
Bending The Cost Curve
Too often lost in all the discussion of ACA is that its prime architects were just fundamentally wrong. This is not an argument that ACA should not have been passed, it's an argument that the wonks who had all those wonky wonk wonk profiles written about them as they were getting rich on grifting in various ways were wrong about what they saw as the fundamental problems - and solutions to - our private insurance system. Obviously my solution is just burn the whole thing to the ground, but if that is not your position - if for whatever reason, you think this is a system that is either worth preserving or politically necessary to preserve - then following the ACA leaders was a tragic mistake.
All the talk about "bending the cost curve" and "skin in the game" was all about making employers (for group plans) and individuals (for... I dunno, your ambulance, or something) better shoppers. This was going to be the big cost cutting benefit of ACA. Cutting costs for who? Well, overall costs. Make that trend line a bit less steep. Success! Pop the wonk champagne corks. This was obviously dumb to anybody not corrupt or stupid, but alas.
All the talk about "bending the cost curve" and "skin in the game" was all about making employers (for group plans) and individuals (for... I dunno, your ambulance, or something) better shoppers. This was going to be the big cost cutting benefit of ACA. Cutting costs for who? Well, overall costs. Make that trend line a bit less steep. Success! Pop the wonk champagne corks. This was obviously dumb to anybody not corrupt or stupid, but alas.
One of the general theories to the ACA was that health care is too expensive in America because people paying for care aren't trying hard enough to get a good deal. The Obama administration's main plan to control costs was to make health-care buyers better shoppers. The Cadillac tax was designed to encourage employers to try to shop for cheaper insurance plans and to increase deductibles for their workers. The idea was that forcing people to have more "skin in the game" would result in them becoming smarter health-care consumers and not buying care they don't need.Imagine being in the hospital waiting for your chemo treatment and hearing the president telling you that the problem with our health care system is that people don't have enough "skin in the game." The thing about health care is that you do, by definition, have skin in the game. Your fucking skin.
The Cadillac tax was one of the main ways the ACA applied this payer-focused theory to the large employer market, while the law's new exchanges did the same for the individual and small business market. The exchanges were designed to be a central hub to make comparing plans easier, thus helping individuals be better shoppers. People on the exchanges were nudged toward high-deductible "silver" plans, and subsidies were capped so middle-class people would need to pay the full price of whatever plans they chose.
But this strategy didn't work, because the problem isn't that businesses or individuals have never thought to try to negotiate for lower premiums. Similarly, regular people can't shop smartly for care because they don't have the training to know which treatments they actually need or can skip. There is after all a reason it takes so long to become a doctor. The problem is that dominant hospital networks and drug makers with patent-protected monopolies have all the leverage to set prices as high as they can. Since the passage of ObamaCare, the average premium for an individual coverage by private employer insurance has gone from $5,049 in 2010 to $6,896 in 2018, even as the average deductible for employer coverage increased from $646 to $1,350. Since 2014, the ACA exchanges' first year, average benchmark premiums have gone from $3,276 to $5,724.
There Is Only One Way
As I suggested at the end, the point of this post was not really to talk about children, but to point out how many adults are like this too. It isn't just an American thing, or a supposedly unsophisticated thing either (sophistication is a concept which, like "authenticity," is mostly bullshit, but some things are branded as such). Try cooking green beans with some Parisians differently than the way they are used to. Mon Dieu!
Which is why minor lifestyle impingements, like banning plastic straws or bags, drive conservatives insane. Anything which deviates from narrow expectations is extremely frustrating.
Which is why minor lifestyle impingements, like banning plastic straws or bags, drive conservatives insane. Anything which deviates from narrow expectations is extremely frustrating.
Oh Well
This didn't happen.
The last generation of kids who will need to learn to drive has already been born, as far as Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is concerned.Give it another 18 months.
He’s incredibly bullish on self-driving cars and expects Uber to begin putting them into service within 18 months. Khosrowshahi shared his ambitions in an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at The Year Ahead 2018 conference.
“We will have autonomous cars on the road, I believe, within the next 18 months,” Khosrowshahi said. “Not as a test case but as a real case out there.” Though he noted, “true autonomy for every single use case is some ways away.”
What If We Use The Oversight Powers We Have?
No let's pass legislation that will never become law instead.
WASHINGTON —And by "do something" we mean "do nothing."
Although some Democrats want to use former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s testimony Wednesday to spark impeachment hearings, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hopes to lay the groundwork for legislation to address issues raised by the Russia investigation.
Her team is preparing a wave of measures that would likely be introduced after the August recess that starts Friday.
“We hope that hearing from Mueller will spark a sense of urgency to do something,” said a senior Democratic leadership aide, who requested anonymity to discuss the caucus’ plans.
Monday, July 22, 2019
Bad Men And The Bad Men Who Protect Them
I'm not going to argue that everyone who was aware of, for example, Charlie Rose's behavior had an obligation to come forward with it. I think we understand that not everyone who tried would even be heard, and attempting would be a career-destroying move. Some people have the luxury of taking such risks. Other people gotta eat and put food on their families.
But of course Charlie Rose wasn't just untouchable because people below him weren't going to risk their careers and reputations to try to take him down. He was untouchable because he was protected by his peers and bosses. People - mostly men, but probably not just - who didn't have to protect him. Who didn't have to create a safe space for him to abuse in. Who didn't have to sign his absurdly large checks.
You get that stuff when it's like Hollywood's Most Bankable Star who brings in the megabucks. That doesn't make it right but okay at least "it's all about the money" is an argument. But Charlie Rose? Matt Fucking Lauer? Lauer was a thing maybe in 1995 but we know there's no way he was actually pulling in his salary in added ratings and advertising bucks. Old, bald, and creepy is no way to bring in the ratings, I say as someone increasingly old, bald, and hopefully not as creepy.
But of course Charlie Rose wasn't just untouchable because people below him weren't going to risk their careers and reputations to try to take him down. He was untouchable because he was protected by his peers and bosses. People - mostly men, but probably not just - who didn't have to protect him. Who didn't have to create a safe space for him to abuse in. Who didn't have to sign his absurdly large checks.
You get that stuff when it's like Hollywood's Most Bankable Star who brings in the megabucks. That doesn't make it right but okay at least "it's all about the money" is an argument. But Charlie Rose? Matt Fucking Lauer? Lauer was a thing maybe in 1995 but we know there's no way he was actually pulling in his salary in added ratings and advertising bucks. Old, bald, and creepy is no way to bring in the ratings, I say as someone increasingly old, bald, and hopefully not as creepy.
The Discourse Rulers
Elite media is so awesome. Only the best people.
Rose, Charlie: Television journalist."The rest of the staff" and, of course, his bosses.
Name found in Epstein’s black book.
You learn things answering phones, and in the spring of 2005, answering Charlie Rose’s phone at his PBS show, you would learn that his friend Jeffrey Epstein had some recommendations to make for whom Rose ought to hire as his next assistant. Written call logs from 2005 and 2006 show Epstein and his own assistant calling dozens of times, making plans for lunch and tea in Manhattan or to try to meet up in Paris. Epstein also called with a total of five women’s names and phone numbers. One woman was described as “world’s most perfect assistant she used to work for Harvey Weinstein he’s lucky if he can get her.” Another entry reads, “Jeffrey Epstein wants to talk to you before you call these two girls.” A fourth woman shows up on the manifests of Epstein’s jet, including on Bill Clinton’s trip across Africa, and wound up working at the Clinton Foundation. Two former staffers remember another Epstein referral, a young woman not mentioned in the logs, who interned at the show. In all, Rose hired three (“Jeffrey Epstein from time to time recommended various candidates for open positions at the Charlie Rose Show,” Rose’s representative said in a statement, but said the ex-host only learned about Epstein’s alleged abuse years later, when he pleaded guilty in Florida). When I called one of these women recently, she was stunned to learn she was one of many women Epstein recommended for the job. “I was being offered up for abuse,” said the woman, who was 22 at the time she worked for Rose. It helped her understand not only how her boss Rose — whom in 2017 she would accuse, along with 34 other adult women, of sexual harassment — had treated her, but also how the rest of the staff had seen her. And it helped her understand a grim version of networking among powerful men.
Waiting for Mueller
We already did that (correctly, both in terms of letting it play out and waiting until the House Dems actually had some power). Now...one more thing! The explosive outrage is coming! The Celestial Hall Monitor will step in and take care of things, or maybe the Marshall of the Supreme Court.
“The dam is holding back the floodwaters,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D., Va.). “But we are one explosive testimony, one new consequential outrage, from that dam being breached.”
— Natalie Andrews (@nataliewsj) July 22, 2019
Dems hope Mueller will turn the tide on impeachment https://t.co/hdLWne8hRk https://t.co/nAub4WTSCS
Turns Out Tunneling Is Hard
Elon probably gets stoned, gets mad about being stuck in traffic, decides he can do tunnels better than anyone, has some Jetsons visions of an underground transportation network, calls his engineers and says "build some tunnels! cheap!" They say, sure, Elon, and go out and buy a used Chinese sewer boring machine, bore one tunnel, for years keep promising that they were going to make their own tunneling machines which would be the very best tunneling machines ever, almost con Chicago (Rahm, of course) into letting them build a dumb project which would be dumb even if it worked, and then... wow tunneling is hard and it turns out some rich weirdo who had never thought about the problem before doesn't actually have the solution.
“I think a tunnelling thing would be pretty exciting,” Musk said later in response to a follow-up question by one of the student team members on site. “Because as I just articulated the primary challenge is how do you tunnel effectively, especially how do you put in the reinforcing segments and get the dirt out effectively – it’s harder than it seems.”Nobody could have predicted.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Fix The Insulin Problem
I'm not one who is ever especially optimistic that our political system is up to the task of fixing things, but the insulin problem seems like pretty low hanging fruit with ways to solve it (some bad! but still) that don't even harm stakeholders. Type 1 diabetics are relatively common in that we all probably know somebody with it, they exist in all race/class categories, there is no "lifestyle" to blame (even incorrectly) for their illness so that they can somehow be faulted for their condition, insulin is incredibly cheap to make, and the the history of it makes clear that those who are profiting off of it obscenely are basically just criminals exploiting a bad system.
Laverty has Type 1 diabetes, and as of that day in 2017, he was no longer eligible for coverage under his parents’ health insurance. He found himself needing medication to live that he could not afford.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
You Can't Do It, My Friends
This humble blogger almost melted in his sleep a few weeks ago, and the idea that 1.1 million people can evacuate from a refinery explosion at 4am is ridiculous. Large scale evacuations might be possible when you have advanced warning of something, like a hurricane (though not all people have the resources to do so), but at 4AM the acid cloud is just gonna eat us and 400,000ish cars couldn't possibly get out of Philly quickly enough.
...adding that banning cars and have everybody take literally any other alternative means (walk, bike, mobilized bus fleet) is the only possible way a sudden mass evacuation could avoid just being a parking lot but lol not the plan.
...adding that banning cars and have everybody take literally any other alternative means (walk, bike, mobilized bus fleet) is the only possible way a sudden mass evacuation could avoid just being a parking lot but lol not the plan.
Saturday, Saturday
Yesterday is the day Donald Trump became President.
....he could not have been nicer or more respectful to your favorite President, me. Then I saw the column he wrote, “Trump Will Be Re-elected, Won’t He?” He called me a Racist, which I am not, and said Rhode Island went from economically bad to great in 5 years because the.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2019
Saturday Morning
Don't know what else to say, but LOL.
Most of us are getting some Hot Stuff, weather we want it or not.
Most of us are getting some Hot Stuff, weather we want it or not.
Friday, July 19, 2019
He Just Lies
And so-called journalists still have no interest in dealing with it responsibly.
Moments after this, he falsely accused the squad of referring to "evil Jews." This is an obscene, dangerous, and, yes, evil lie, and it went uncorrected by either the reporters at the White House or the studio anchor and panelists after they carried it unedited.
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) July 19, 2019
Why Don't Democratic Senate Candidates In Purple States Support Popular Things
I explain this a lot because it's always Groundhog Day here and because I don't think it's something the press ever explains. You can point to polls showing something like increasing the minimum wage in a state is very popular. And you can also see a Dem Senate (or other) candidate not supporting it. And you can also see this explained as "can't win in a purple/red state supporting the socialism of a higher minimum wage, that's just the way of the world." This is contradictory. Polls say it's popular but a candidate can't win if they support it? Does not compute does not compute beep beep beep.
The reason it does compute is that those races are generally going to be tough/close races, but the calculation is not "boy if I support a higher minimum wage then the voters will get mad." The calculation is "boy if I support a higher minimum wage then the voters will like that, BUT the Chamber of Commerce types will dump a bunch of money into the race to oppose me and run ads calling me a child molester (or highlighting something else that might be unpopular about me)." Supporting the popular thing is a problem not because the popular thing is unpopular (by definition!), but because it's tough to win as a Democrat generally and extra hard if the big money comes after you.
Supporting the minimum wage will not inspire a bunch of negative ads about the minimum wage. They'll attract a bunch of money trying to take you down however they can.
The reason it does compute is that those races are generally going to be tough/close races, but the calculation is not "boy if I support a higher minimum wage then the voters will get mad." The calculation is "boy if I support a higher minimum wage then the voters will like that, BUT the Chamber of Commerce types will dump a bunch of money into the race to oppose me and run ads calling me a child molester (or highlighting something else that might be unpopular about me)." Supporting the popular thing is a problem not because the popular thing is unpopular (by definition!), but because it's tough to win as a Democrat generally and extra hard if the big money comes after you.
Supporting the minimum wage will not inspire a bunch of negative ads about the minimum wage. They'll attract a bunch of money trying to take you down however they can.
It's Exotic
Related is that Americans who travel (not all Americans) can fall in love with Paris, but balk at any attempt to make an American city more Paris-like (I mean functionally, not necessarily aesthetically). It's very confusing to cross the bridge from South Jersey to Philadelphia, and not so confusing to push through the back of the wardrobe into a mystical land of baguettes.
What Do We Want? $15 Per Hour!
When do we want it? 2025!
Truly inspiring.
It would increase the federal pay floor to $15 per hour by 2025, then index future increase to median wage gains.Better than not, but if this is the best a Dem House can do with a *message* bill that has no chance of passing in the Senate, or if on the outside chance it did.. it's the opening bid in a compromise discussion...
The minimum wage hikes would take effect on the following schedule: $8.40 in 2019, $9.50 in 2020, $10.60 in 2021, $11.70 in 2022, $12.80 in 2023, $13.90 in 2024 and $15 in 2025.
Truly inspiring.
The Wrong Brand Of Chicken Tenders
Having spent a bit of time, though not all that much, with my nieces, one thing I find funny if maddening is the things they have the hardest time with are slight deviations from what they are used to. The wrong brand of condiment. The wrong brand of frozen chicken bits. Peanut butter which is just a little bit different. That kind of thing. They might or not be open to something truly different. Often not, but at least they'll be curious enough to give it a look. But take something they're used to and modify it slightly and they do not want.
Some adults are like this too.
Some adults are like this too.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Lies and The Lying Liars
I've said this many times (I repeat myself constantly on this dumb blog), but the issue with Trump is rarely the individual lies, it's that he is a liar. I don't mean that as a moral judgment (though it can be). I mean that he is someone who has no interest in not lying, and lies come out of his mouth as easy as, or perhaps easier than, the truth. That the press still thinks "Trump says" is news, in the sense that what he says might actually mean something, is an ongoing problem.
I WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING FOR YOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUU
House Dems can barely manage to stand up for their own colleagues.
Some Of Our Faves
This Epstein case is horrific and the young women deserve justice. It is quite likely that some of our faves are implicated but we must follow the facts and let the chips fall where they may - whether on Republicans or Democrats. #WeSaidEnough #MeToo https://t.co/2mvskwQwW1
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) July 7, 2019
Likelihood this stuff just disappears?
Likely within days, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will release almost 2,000 pages of documents that could reveal sexual abuse by “numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known prime minister, and other world leaders,” according to the three-judge panel's ruling. The documents were filed during a civil defamation lawsuit brought by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a former Mar-a-Lago locker-room attendant, against Epstein’s former girlfriend and alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell. “Nobody who was around Epstein a lot is going to have an easy time now. It’s all going to come out,” said Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies. Another person involved with litigation against Epstein told me: “It’s going to be staggering, the amount of names. It’s going to be contagion numbers.”
Ban Cars
Okay I am a reasonable moderate and I'm not going to advocate for banning cars everywhere, or even everywhere in the urban hellhole, or even everywhere in what we call "center city" in the urban hellhole. Still as I was stuck on my bus behind too many cars, it occurred to me that there is almost no single street (or at least several block stretches of streets) that couldn't be car free. Not all of them at the same time, but some of them. You can have retractable bollards to allow certain delivery and/or local vehicles and/or taxis and/or buses. There's a problem with blocks that have parking garage entrances. Those are hard to shut to general traffic. Otherwise... pick a bunch of blocks at random. Close them down to most car traffic. The world would go on. Might even be nice.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Wednesday Night
It's funny (but not "ha ha" funny) that conservatives (the "serious" ones anyway) decide, after the fact, that those nasty communist Democratic presidents were pretty moderate after all. But never the next one.
Excuses, Excuses
They're right that Elon isn't helping, but it's also an excuse because Elon or no Elon, they don't have working products either and they've all been overpromising.
The Washington Post spoke with a dozen transportation officials and executives, including current and former safety regulators, auto industry executives, safety advocacy group leaders and autonomous-vehicle competitors. In interviews, they expressed worries that Tesla’s plan to unleash robo-cars on the road on an expedited timeline — likely without regulated vetting — could result in crashes, lawsuits and confusion. Plus, they said, Tesla’s promised “full self-driving” features fall short of industry standards for a true autonomous vehicle because humans will still need to be engaged at all times and ready to intervene in the beginning. Some of the people interviewed requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.I don't think shutting down Elon's slaughterpilot is a "knee-jerk reaction."
“That concern among the industry writ large is real and valid because what potentially happens is you’re going to see fatalities in the news attributed to Tesla vehicles and the response you’re going to get from certain policymakers — kind of a knee-jerk reaction,” said a former senior official with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which oversees the motor vehicle industry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so he could comment candidly about the industry view of the company’s claims. That, in turn, will affect “other manufacturers who were a lot more deliberate, a lot more careful.”
Don't Look Under That Rock
Sometimes things are so obvious and I say them thinking they're so obvious and then people disagree and I feel like I'm Nathan Eckert all over again because the "you're wrong" folks all sound like Bob Sheffer.
The House Dems are slow-walking all oversight because they know that under every rock they turn over they will find more crimes and then they will have to get on teevee and talk about "self-impeaching" or some bullshit like that which is just code for "haha I think you voters are so stupid that you'll believe this shit please send money to the DCCC to stop Trump."
The House Dems are slow-walking all oversight because they know that under every rock they turn over they will find more crimes and then they will have to get on teevee and talk about "self-impeaching" or some bullshit like that which is just code for "haha I think you voters are so stupid that you'll believe this shit please send money to the DCCC to stop Trump."
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Trump Racism Is Just For The Diner Rubes
One reason for the focus on old people in midwestern diners is that elite media types don't want to believe that the people they feel affinity with - other mostly white well educated people - are huge MAGA racists. It's just the blue collar dum dums. Hicks from the sticks. Not those nice suburban car dealer owners who come to our parties sometimes.
But those nice suburban car dealer owners don't exactly hide their racism, and nor do rich urbanites. If elite media types can't see it it's because they share it.
But those nice suburban car dealer owners don't exactly hide their racism, and nor do rich urbanites. If elite media types can't see it it's because they share it.
These Words Are Strung Together But Do Not Have Meaning
I'll just let this one be obvious.
Related. Check the date.
Livingston is a software engineer for Designated Driver, a new company that’s getting into teleoperations, the official name for remotely controlling self-driving vehicles.
Related. Check the date.
In ~2 years, summon should work anywhere connected by land & not blocked by borders, eg you're in LA and the car is in NY
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2016
Real America Loves When He Does Raicsm
The widespread belief that it helps Trump to do his Bull Connor impression is related to the widespread belief that the most important voters in the country are blue collar whites.
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) July 16, 2019
It's implicit in all the coverage. Whenever Trump cranks up the racism political journalists cover it like they used to cover a new James O'Keefe video dropping. He's got you now, libs! But they never make the next logical point, which is that if the racism appeals, and appeals specifically to Trump's base, that is because Trump's base and by implication Real America is filled with... um... help me out? Fill in the blank?
Monday, July 15, 2019
Fractal Griftery
Nobody could have predicted.
And of course.
Ex-Fox & Friends co-host Clayton Morris has left the country amid more than two dozen lawsuits from investors who say he defrauded them in real estate deals involving properties in Indianapolis.America, love it or leave it.
Morris, who previously resided in a $1.4 million home in New Jersey, has moved with his family to a coastal resort town Portugal, according to his wife's Facebook post.
And of course.
In December 2018, Fox & Friends ran a segment about “real estate secrets” that promoted former co-host Clayton Morris’ rental property company and his recommendation that viewers buy rental properties as a passive investment. Several months later, Morris’ company is under scrutiny and he and the company are reportedly being sued by “nearly two dozen customers.”And of course.
Racism..How The Fuck Does That Work?
Not sure whether too many journalists are genuinely confused if Trump is a racist or if they are just pretending to be confused, or which is better.
Perfectly Normal
The number of people who actively covered for and socialized with this guy...
"Just this morning the government became aware of a safe that contained a pile of cash, diamonds, a passport from a foreign country with a picture of the defendant under another name," Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller told U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.
"The passport was issued in the name of a foreign country, it was issued in the 1980s, it is expired, it shows a picture of Jeffrey Epstein, and another name," Rossmiller said, adding the passport showed Epstein's residence as Saudi Arabia.
This Is Our Emergency
The concentration camps are making clear who in the Democratic party actually sees this as a moral crisis, and who spends their Friday nights making dumb ass tweets against those who do.
Leadership hates the "professional Left" (who mostly aren't professional) more than Trump.
The crisis provided the backdrop to an ugly back-and-forth between these progressive women of color and Nancy Pelosi and her staff, which has played out mostly on Twitter and in the mind of Maureen Dowd. In a move reminiscent of the segregated South, someone in House leadership leaked a poll of only white non-college voters to “prove” that squad members, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), represent a problem in swing districts.That poll did not include just how popular Nancy Pelosi was with those same voters.
Leadership hates the "professional Left" (who mostly aren't professional) more than Trump.
New Phone Who Dis
Actually not a new phone but might need one. Don't realize how dependent you are on the damn things until they break.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Advice On How To Win From A Loser
Claire McCaskill closing campaign ad.
The men then turn to McCaskill, with one conceding, "I don't always agree with Claire McCaskill."This has been not just the acceptable "moderate" playbook but the expected one for decades. If it works, well ok... but when it doesn't.
"But she works hard, fighting against those tariffs, doing all those town halls," the man adds. "Claire's not afraid to stand up against her own party."
"Yep," the second man chimes in, "and Claire's not one of those crazy Democrats. She works right in the middle and finds compromise."
Trump and Pelosi And The House Democrats Agree
"The Squad" should just shut up and go away.
This is unfair, of course, but Pelosi has been foaming the runway for this stuff by singling out these 4 women while letting a bunch of "centrist" white guys get away with much "worse" if "shit talking the party" is how we define "bad." So-called moderates have been running against the party forever. It's why they are called "moderates." When they tried to unseat Pelosi, the lefties stood up for her.
This is unfair, of course, but Pelosi has been foaming the runway for this stuff by singling out these 4 women while letting a bunch of "centrist" white guys get away with much "worse" if "shit talking the party" is how we define "bad." So-called moderates have been running against the party forever. It's why they are called "moderates." When they tried to unseat Pelosi, the lefties stood up for her.
Followers of Jesus
My long pet peeve is people trying to impose Christianity on Christians. I don't really know or care if, for example, Mike Pence is 100% full of shit or if he truly believes he is A Good Christian (he can also, too, be both!) But obviously his Christianity does not bear any resemblance to any kind of "caring Jesus" brand of Christianity and it isn't productive to even suggest it should.
Being an evil piece of shit or a big hypocrite doesn't make him not a Christian. If he says he's a Christian, he is one. Pointing out that he's a Bad Christian just lends credence to the idea that embracing the label somehow should make you Good. Nothing against religion or Christianity but while it doesn't necessarily make you Bad, it also obviously doesn't necessarily make you Good. "But Mr. Pence, you're a Christian, and according to Jesus you must be Good!" This just lets him continue cloaking himself in false Goodness. That nice Mr. Pence can't be Bad, he's a Christian! Not how it works.
Being an evil piece of shit or a big hypocrite doesn't make him not a Christian. If he says he's a Christian, he is one. Pointing out that he's a Bad Christian just lends credence to the idea that embracing the label somehow should make you Good. Nothing against religion or Christianity but while it doesn't necessarily make you Bad, it also obviously doesn't necessarily make you Good. "But Mr. Pence, you're a Christian, and according to Jesus you must be Good!" This just lets him continue cloaking himself in false Goodness. That nice Mr. Pence can't be Bad, he's a Christian! Not how it works.
Sunday Morning
After a long and expensive court battle The Halifax Examiner finally got the police file in the wrongful conviction case of Assoun released. It is exactly as suspected. Not only was the conviction based on trumped up evidence, but police withheld exculpatory evidence when Assoun's case came up for appeal, resulting in a further nine years imprisonment.
I guess the moral of the story is that when the justice system completely fails, as it did here, investigative reporters are our last resort. It takes time and money. Consider a contribution to the The Examiner's Legal Fund, or take out a subscription.
I guess the moral of the story is that when the justice system completely fails, as it did here, investigative reporters are our last resort. It takes time and money. Consider a contribution to the The Examiner's Legal Fund, or take out a subscription.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
This Is Our Emergency
We are operating concentration camps and treating humans (including children) who aren't even accused of any crimes (not that this would make it OK but I am not naive about our current prisons) in conditions which would cause a dog kennel to be shut down and the House leadership is currently mad at people who are pointing out that the Dems gave Trump $4 billion to open more concentration camps without any conditions.
Vote them all out.
Vote them all out.
Friday, July 12, 2019
Not One Sorry Asshole In DC
Indeed.
Lillard felt emboldened to do something as plainly ridiculous as sending out a mass “on background” email, an act inherently disdainful of real journalistic practices, because she knew no one would break the terms of engagement. Not one sorry asshole in DC would do that. Wong’s source felt comfortable throwing out a racist accusation against AOC because they knew Wong wouldn’t break their agreement and publish their name.
That, I’m afraid, is this town.
FOR ONE MILLION DOLLARS
I would've provided dumb investors with consulting services to tell them this was all dumb.
Starting around May 2016, Uber projected in public and private presentations that it would manufacture 13,000 autonomous vehicles by 2019, only to change that forecast four months later to over 75,000 units. The company also said that human safety drivers, who take over the wheel when an AV needs help, would not be required on its cars by 2020. And in 2022, the company declared, tens of thousands of fully self-driving Uber taxis would be in 13 of the largest cities.I guess I already told them for free on this dumb blog.
As it turns out, even Uber didn’t have any faith in these claims. According to the released court files, nobody at Uber vetted its AV deployment figures, which Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, described as nothing but “hypothetical scenarios.” He added, “They are assumptions and estimates. I don’t think anything in this document would be described as accurate. It’s a set of knobs you turn to try to understand parameters that you need to try to meet.” Perhaps more damning, the Uber employee responsible for the forecasts said that while she was designing them, executives had asked her “to think about a way” to show accelerated Uber AV development.
Prototypes
I've said this before but if the light at the end of the tunnel was just around the corner for self-driving vehicles, there'd be a working too-costly-for-consumer-sales prototype. People don't want to think about it this way because they just want to think about it as a "software problem" which is in a way true, but it's just not a problem that's going to be solved with a few more lines of code. If expensive sensors+advanced mapping+current state of software+state of the art computing power haven't yet solved the problem, I really don't know what's supposed to solve the problem in another year...or another year... or another year. A few more people clicking captcha stop signs?
Making cheaper LIDAR will make them cheaper to produce, when they work. which they don't.
If they can't make it work with the expensive LIDAR, they can't make it work with the cheap one, as cost isn't a barrier to "making it work," it's just a barrier to making it a commercially viable product.
This was my favorite recent Musk (who thinks even LIDAR is unnecessary) tweet.
It's especially funny because he's been touting his will be released any day now, 3 months, 6 months tops, "advanced summons" feature which supposedly lets you press a button and have your car come find you in the parking lot. Suddenly he realizes this is actually a hard problem, not an easy one (it is! parking lots are a nightmare! how did he not realize this before...)
Making cheaper LIDAR will make them cheaper to produce, when they work. which they don't.
The vast majority of self-driving developers, however, consider the laser sensor not vestigial but a crucial element of a safe, capable system. That’s why many of those outfits have developed their own systems (like Waymo) or acquired lidar makers (like Cruise, Aurora, and Argo). It’s also why everyone who hasn’t taken such steps should welcome Luminar’s announcement Thursday that it has developed a production-ready lidar that will cost as little as $500—cheap enough to make it work not just on robotaxis, but on consumer vehicles.
If they can't make it work with the expensive LIDAR, they can't make it work with the cheap one, as cost isn't a barrier to "making it work," it's just a barrier to making it a commercially viable product.
This was my favorite recent Musk (who thinks even LIDAR is unnecessary) tweet.
Intersections with complex traffic lights & shopping mall parking lots are the two biggest software challenges. Developer branch already mostly works in these scenarios, but massive effort required to get to 99.9999% safety.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2019
It's especially funny because he's been touting his will be released any day now, 3 months, 6 months tops, "advanced summons" feature which supposedly lets you press a button and have your car come find you in the parking lot. Suddenly he realizes this is actually a hard problem, not an easy one (it is! parking lots are a nightmare! how did he not realize this before...)
Hashtag Resistance
AOC is a woman of color. Dem leadership is mad at her and her (also person of color) chief of staff for standing up for minority toddlers who have been placed in cages. She beat a white guy in a primary and represents a majority nonwhite district.
DEMOCRATIC UNITY has been postponed until next week ... https://t.co/9HYvpgR25o pic.twitter.com/yu28z0q3WW
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) July 12, 2019
That's Just Trump
The big myth of the Trump era will be that it was something unique, something special. The press will treat him as a special phenomenon and things will be "back to normal" when he's gone. But the truth is Bush was covered much in the same way Trump was. Republicans define the rules, and Democrats have to obey them. Are tan suits forbidden? They are if Republicans say so. Can the president be a rapist and invite Nazis to the White House? He can be if Republicans say so.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
I Guess Someone Convinced Him
Who knows how the Supremos would have ultimately ruled (again) but the lower court action was already an embarrassing shitshow for them.
President Donald Trump is expected to announce later Thursday he is backing down from his effort to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census, and will instead take executive action that instructs the Commerce Department to obtain an estimate of U.S. citizenship through other means, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Nothing Wrong With This Plan
Zombie Reagan and the extreme piety of our prominent and influential faith leaders will do the job.
In a statement Saturday, Pelosi said that while many Americans will attend religious services Sunday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will carry out “heartless raids” authorized by Trump.(somehow I missed this before)
“It is my hope that before Sunday, leaders of the faith-based community and other organizations that respect the dignity and worth of people will call upon the President to stop this brutal action which will tear families apart and inject terror into our communities,” Pelosi wrote.
Giving The Game Away
It's one thing to not conduct aggressive oversight with the possibility of actual consequences. It's quite another to essentially announce that it's your plan.
Trump: gonna do all the crimes
Pelosi: keep on self-impeaching
Trump: thinking of even more crimes now
Trump: gonna do all the crimes
Pelosi: keep on self-impeaching
Trump: thinking of even more crimes now
The Only Way To Get Ahead
Shapiro is a disgusting bigoted twerp, of course, but it is really a bedrock conservative belief that the people with the REAL UNFAIR ADVANTAGES in this country are minorities and marginalized people of all types.
Al Franken had a joke he'd tell when he gave corporate speeches (back before he was a senator), something like he'd survey the room and say "Oh, I see affirmative action has had a big impact on this company" (audience chuckles knowingly). All you have to do is look around and know how ridiculous it is.
Al Franken had a joke he'd tell when he gave corporate speeches (back before he was a senator), something like he'd survey the room and say "Oh, I see affirmative action has had a big impact on this company" (audience chuckles knowingly). All you have to do is look around and know how ridiculous it is.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Our Faves
All of this isn't a big celebrity gossip story, or high school. People have real power and (yes) responsibilities and while the rest of us can all do our part, much of that "part" is actually finding ways to try to get the people with actual power to do their damn jobs. Maybe complaining about it on this dumb blog is about as useful as not complaining about it on this dumb blog, but I'm not really sure what else to do.
Loyalties And Hierarchies
Nobody doubts this is how the world works to some degree, but it takes a weird lack of awareness/self-awareness to think that it always should.
Also, the lede:
Harpootlian characterized Harris’ debate assault as below-the-belt given Biden’s past political support for her and Harris’ friendship with Beau Biden.Harpootlian is a "top Biden South Carolina surrogate, former state Democratic Party."
“It’s not right, it’s distressing. It shows a lack of integrity: win at any cost,” Harpootlian said. “Why is she taking that shot when Joe Biden and his son did everything they could to help her? It was more of a comment about her than it was about Joe Biden.”
Also, the lede:
Joe Biden intended to stay above the fray. He wasn’t going to punch down at opponents, or embark on any apology tours for past votes or statements. Creating a sense of inevitability was the goal."There is me, and then there is a fray. How dare the fray drag me down into the fray!!!"
Wednesday, Wednesday
Windows did the "forced 45 minute reboot" thing. What'd I miss? Is all that humanitarian aid flowing to our own concentration camps yet?
Tuesday, July 09, 2019
We Don't Need No Stinking Oversight
The president, known above all for being an honorable man, gave me his word that things would improve.
WASHINGTON — The poor treatment of migrant children at the hands of U.S. border agents in recent months extends beyond Texas to include allegations of sexual assault and retaliation for protests, according to dozens of accounts by children held in Arizona collected by government case managers and obtained by NBC News.
What Does It Explain It
Elites hate the idea of accountability for elites because they could be next.
Even when it involves covering up child trafficking and rape.
Even when it involves covering up child trafficking and rape.
With Great Power Comes Blah Blah Blah
House Democrats are the only ones with any actual power in this country, and they prefer to punt to random judges and Morning Joseph.
Ramping Up, 3 Months, 6 Months Tops
Team B's working on the teleporter.
Several key Tesla engineering managers working on its Autopilot semi-automated driving feature left the company after CEO Elon Musk told some employees he was unhappy with the progress in developing fully automated driving capabilities, according to one current and one former Tesla employee who have been involved in the effort. He is also upset that some team members have told him they can’t meet the timelines he has set for developing the technology, they said.It can't be done. "We" can debate the value and quality of various driver assist technologies - and how they should be marketed and used - but the "robotaxi" fantasy is not happening before I hit retirement age.
In The Old Times
I'm not one to defend the Bush administration, but they did at least attempt to color inside the lines, if in garish bloody colors. I'm sure Yoo's torture memo was quite a marvel of legal reasoning that only someone who went to the best law school could come up with (our best laws schools are churning out sociopaths, but still).
At this point, the Trump administration is just saying "we are going to continue doing crimes and you can't stop us and hahaha you aren't even trying."
Self-impeaching, twirling twirling twirling.
At this point, the Trump administration is just saying "we are going to continue doing crimes and you can't stop us and hahaha you aren't even trying."
Self-impeaching, twirling twirling twirling.
Monday, July 08, 2019
Monday Evening
Been mulling over the possibilities and suspect no way this Epstein thing moves forward in the way that it could (and should).
A+ Trolling
From Bouie.
What is President Trump going to do to win the voters who rejected him in 2016?The thing is even though he's trolling it's actually a perfectly reasonable non-trolling column, but instead of these we see 400 of the mirror versions from nevertrumpers and "moderate Democrats."
It’s a serious question. Roughly 137 million people voted in the last presidential election. Most of them — about 74 million people, or 54 percent of all ballots cast — did not vote for Trump. His self-proclaimed “massive landslide” rests on a thin margin of victory in just three states.
Once in office, Trump abandoned the heterodox Republicanism of his campaign for hard-right policies opposed by most Americans. He fought to repeal the Affordable Care Act. When that failed, he pushed for an unpopular upper-income tax cut. He reveled in cruelty toward immigrants and took the side of racist demonstrators in Charlottesville, Va. He governs for his base alone, with no sense or understanding of the collective good.
Also Bad
Maybe you're not the type of rich and/or powerful person who engages in underage sex trafficking, but just the type of rich and/or powerful person who thinks people engaged in such activities are not to be shunned.
What is wrong with people?
What is wrong with people?
Rich Men Behaving Criminally
There are things "everybody" "knows" which is not quite the same thing as saying they actually know things, but if you are a billionaire with a plane nicknamed the Lolita Express and you hobnob with lots of other powerful people, they all "know" even if they don't know and they hobnob anyway. Hobnob being the best case scenario. Also maybe don't hobnob with the guy who is known for barging into the changing room of the Miss Teen USA pageant. You never know what could happen if he isn't socially shunned!
One would think the sex trafficking of minors would be a line for some, but, well...
One would think the sex trafficking of minors would be a line for some, but, well...
Sunday, July 07, 2019
This Is Our Emergency
When there are babies in cages, going to complain to Maureen Dowd is not the best look.
Sunday, Sunday
I am going to prove my LACK OF PARTISANSHIP by declaring that any powerful people, EVEN DEMOCRATS, who were involved with raping minors in a sex trafficking ring should be locked up.
Sunday Morning Thread
I'm sure the rich guys trafficking underage girls don't think of themselves as such. Traffickers are icky gang members or Mafia types. They are not successful businessmen. In their minds, there is a difference. Hey, the dick wants what the dick wants.
Saturday, July 06, 2019
Rich Guy Pedophile Ring
Welcome development but I suspect we'll never really know...
Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for allegedly sex trafficking dozens of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005, and will appear in court in New York on Monday, according to three law enforcement sources. The arrest, by the FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force, comes about 12 years after the 66-year-old financier essentially got a slap on the wrist for allegedly molesting dozens of underage girls in Florida.
Status Quo
We can argue about what a majority of voters in enough of the right states want to hear, but reasonably sure "more of the same" as of 2016 was rejected, if only barely.
And no I'm not saying that's all Clinton ran on, but when the party in power gets chucked out...
And no I'm not saying that's all Clinton ran on, but when the party in power gets chucked out...
Buffoons
It isn't that I think that there was some Republican party golden age pre-Newt. Policy aside, the Reagan administration was a corrupt shit show (and people actually did get convicted! almost seems quaint now) and before that some guy named Nixon. But Newt was a buffoon. A completely ridiculous human being who was treated like some elder statesman political messiah the instant he took control of the House in 1995. Trump before Trump, though with a history PhD* that impressed our easily impressed press. His successor was Denny Hastert. Denny Hastert was Speaker until after the 2006 elections! You might remember what happened to him after that. The Bush administration was filled with absolute clowns including, of course, Bush. The press treated them all as sages, too, but they were all ridiculous. How could The Teens, or any normal people not infected by DC brain virus, not think they were absurd? And not just "all old people are absurd" as The Teens can see things, but these particular people? The Teens like some old people!
*wikipedia tells me the title of his Phd was "Belgian Education Policy in the Congo 1945–1960." Oh boy.
*wikipedia tells me the title of his Phd was "Belgian Education Policy in the Congo 1945–1960." Oh boy.
Friday, July 05, 2019
Me Too, Really
At least from Newt onwards.
For the newcomers, this is completely foreign. To them, Republicans shouldn’t be feared, they should be beaten. Ocasio-Cortez told me that she treats Republicans like buffoons because that’s how they’ve behaved for as long as she can remember. “Even before I was of voting age, I saw Republicans accuse the Obamas of doing a ‘terrorist fist bump,’ so they’ve been clowns since I was a teen,” she said.You shouldn't have to be as young as she is to see this.
Activate The Omega 13
Biden says he might nominate Merrick Garland to SCOTUS again.https://t.co/qxlojrRvjt
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) July 5, 2019
So while Republicans nominate young conservatives to shift the court's balance for decades to come, he might respond by nominating a 66-year-old moderate.
Friday Crass Commercialism
Just because you all need to backup your stuff more, and 2TB for 60 bucks is really cheap!
Also these drives are tiny now.
Also these drives are tiny now.
Hacks
We're all hacks to some degree. Some of this is both a bit unconscious and justified. We're more favorably inclined to politicians we like and the party we like and more likely to trust that even when they're doing something wrong that ultimately they have some grand plan to do the right thing. Obama did a lot of bad and dumb stuff, some of which was supposedly to "win over" the evil lunatics known as The Republican Party, and while none of that ever actually worked out I get that people trusted that he had A Plan (if only we deport a few more people we'll get that comprehensive immigration bill...).
And then there are the real hacks. The paid spinners. Probably cable news should not rely on these people so much, but they've got a job to do and they do it.
But hackery in the age of Trump is off the charts, even by people who aren't (at least directly) paid to be hacks. If Trump put his gold toilet out on the White House lawn and went out there naked to do his business every day at noon, they'd praise the new aura of nobility* he had brought to the office. It's quite nuts.
*Historically this is something actual nobles would probably do, as they often weren't exactly drawn from the finest gene pool, but this would not be what they meant.
And then there are the real hacks. The paid spinners. Probably cable news should not rely on these people so much, but they've got a job to do and they do it.
But hackery in the age of Trump is off the charts, even by people who aren't (at least directly) paid to be hacks. If Trump put his gold toilet out on the White House lawn and went out there naked to do his business every day at noon, they'd praise the new aura of nobility* he had brought to the office. It's quite nuts.
*Historically this is something actual nobles would probably do, as they often weren't exactly drawn from the finest gene pool, but this would not be what they meant.
The War On Public Higher Education
Higher education, generally, of course, but public is the low hanging fruit.
I claim no knowledge of Alaska, but in general a state which provides no real opportunities for its young people to stay except in the declining resource extraction industry is probably not doing itself any favors.
I claim no knowledge of Alaska, but in general a state which provides no real opportunities for its young people to stay except in the declining resource extraction industry is probably not doing itself any favors.
But Trump Was Always Like This
Many people say Trump has not changed, that he was like this all of his life, and that the brain worms don't exist. 1990s Trump was a dumbass lying blowhard just like the current one, but he wouldn't have talked about George Washington and the airports.
Morning Thread
Yup, the first thing General Washington did in his offensive was secure the airports. Just common sense!
Thursday, July 04, 2019
America Is Truly Great
Roy:
This is a reminder that we are all very lucky to live in the real America, where not only can we make fun of buffoons like Stephens, but also buffoons like Stephens are allowed to make ever-greater fools of themselves for our entertainment.
Blogofascism
Bret Stephens has been paid a lot of money to bless New York Times readers with *yet another* column about how people are mean to him on the internet. It's the Twitter Mob now, not Blogofascism, but it's the same thing really. Rich white guys who never heard a word of criticism in their lives actually think it's a valuable use of your subscription money to inform you that being mean to rich white guys with tenured newspaper columns is (I am not kidding) equivalent to the two minutes of hate and proof that twitter users are now overseeing The Terror in America.
These are incredibly silly people and they run the country.
These are incredibly silly people and they run the country.
Trump Rally
Of course it's dumb but really it's a few tanks and other military vehicles (people in the military get very upset when you call something that isn't a tank but looks like a tank a tank, also the AR in AR-15 stands for automatic rifle) sitting there, and some plane flyovers. 3 jets buzz my house every Eagles home opener and reasonably sure that isn't martial law. But also dumb.
Wednesday, July 03, 2019
Moral Crisis
Forget all the other crimes, just fix this.
This is a policy magazine. We write about what’s happening in our country and our world, and we outline how it can be improved. There will be a time for applying such analysis to border policy. (My early read is that it will be politically wrenching, practically challenging, and generally tragic.) But that time must wait for the moral crisis at the border to cease. There can be no path forward in a continuous period of human rights abuses, where the United States stands in perpetual violation of refugee obligations and international law. This is a time only of action, not strongly worded letters or battle cries or even the words you’re reading right now.
Thinking about whether middle America is ready for a more welcoming immigration policy while state-sponsored torture is occurring would be like wondering about the political practicalities of busing while the bodies of the three civil rights workers in Mississippi during Freedom Summer were exhumed, or the four little girls at the church in Birmingham, Alabama. The state is carrying out a sadistic fantasy, repressing Hispanic men, women, and children for sport. They’re doing it intentionally, with purpose and glee. The primary question, the only question worth asking, is what those in power, and those of us with only the power to enter the streets, are going to do about it.
Proved Fucking Right
One underappreciated thing is that almost no prominent supporters of the Iraq war think they were actually wrong to support it. There are a couple of exceptions. But about as far as most of them ever went with their mea culpas was "I should've known George Bush would fuck it up." The execution was bad, not the premise, even though acknowledging that there was a decent chance the execution could be fucked up should have undermined the premise (which was something to do with WMDs and spreading peeance and freeance, or something, I still don't know).
My favorite was Will Saletan's mea culpa, in which he basically wrote "the problem with supporting the Iraq war is now it's going to be harder to go to war with Iran."
War is the thing, is the thing.
My favorite was Will Saletan's mea culpa, in which he basically wrote "the problem with supporting the Iraq war is now it's going to be harder to go to war with Iran."
War is the thing, is the thing.
Insurance Rates Are Gonna Skyrocket
A couple liability suits and insurance companies are gonna drive these things off the road, so to speak.
This idea is gibberish. The eyes-on, mind-on standard does nothing. It doesn't matter how much you're paying attention if your car decides to drive into a median (or a pedestrian) at 65 MPH. There's no way to realize it's happening and react quickly enough. If your response is "well the cars will be good enough that they won't drive into the median" then there's no reason for the eyes-on, mind-on concept and there's no reason for the drivers to be individually liable if the car fails.
Level 2+/3- (best described as “Hands-off, eyes-on, mind-on”): This is not an SAE automation level, but it approximates to a system with operational design domain (ODD) limits maintained via over-the-air updates and an advanced IR vision DMS to permanently monitor driver state. Level 2+/3- will be distinguishable from Level 2 by long duration lane centering for a “highway assist” function — Ã la Autopilot.
GM’s updated Super Cruise will meet the definition for Level 2+/3- in 2020 and you can expect similar systems to be launched by every OEM by 2023. Tesla’s Autopilot/Full self-driving will be classed as Level 2+/3- with the addition of an ODD and IR vision DMS.
In a Level 2+/3- system the human driver will be liable at all times — including when the highway assist function is operational. The legal position for the driver would therefore be: “You engage it, you are liable for it.”
This idea is gibberish. The eyes-on, mind-on standard does nothing. It doesn't matter how much you're paying attention if your car decides to drive into a median (or a pedestrian) at 65 MPH. There's no way to realize it's happening and react quickly enough. If your response is "well the cars will be good enough that they won't drive into the median" then there's no reason for the eyes-on, mind-on concept and there's no reason for the drivers to be individually liable if the car fails.
I Guess The Sternly Worded Tweets Haven't Been Enough
Pelosi wrote a sternly worded letter to Trump, too. He's busy reading it now I bet.
Morning Thread
Big win for justice by Tim Bousquet and his Halifax Examiner. Nice to remember that, yes, one person can make a difference. Congratulations Tim!
Tuesday, July 02, 2019
Evening Thread
enjoy
....dotard lost again.
....dotard lost again.
The Trump administration has begun printing the 2020 census without including a question about citizenship status, seemingly bringing an end to a contentious legal battle that reached the highest court in the land.
In an email obtained by CBS News to attorneys who have been leading the court fight, a lawyer from the Justice Department wrote that "the decision has been made" to print the census without the question and that printing had already begun. The Justice Department confirmed the move later Tuesday afternoon, as did the Commerce Department.
We Do Love Children
One of our weirdest "American Exceptionalism" myths is that America is somehow uniquely dedicated to children and family. I'm not sure why we'd think that people in other countries didn't also have some concern for children, but more than that we are actually exceptionally cruel to children and families as a society and much of the time I don't see much evidence that even loving one's own children is especially common. People are fucking mean in this country.
It's usually not as bad as kiddie concentration camps, of course, but...
It's usually not as bad as kiddie concentration camps, of course, but...
Same As It's Always Been
It wasn't quite as obvious, but I do think people forget that back during the Bush years, even when he was popular enough, "Republicans who don't like George Bush" were also granted more legitimacy as critics than Democrats were. MSNBC's positioning and target audience were basically "Republicans who don't like George Bush all that much" as was reported at the time. So, you know, the debate was always the Republican versus the Republican who doesn't like George Bush versus (sometimes) the Democrat. Then when Obama came in, the debate was the Republican, the Tea Party Republican, and the Democrat. Now, again, it's the Republican, the Republican who doesn't like Donald Trump that much, and the Democrat.
The ratio is preserved.
The ratio is preserved.
If Only There Was Some Means Of Communicating Your Brilliant Plan
If the Dems had some plan other than, basically, "ride this out until November 2020 and hope for the best," they'd have managed to communicate it, through surrogates, at least. "Trump is self-impeaching" is not quite up to the task.
It's July. The executive branch has said "fuck you, no" to basically everything, even claiming the power to prevent former employees from testifying as if they made any sense at all.
yassss queen.
It's July. The executive branch has said "fuck you, no" to basically everything, even claiming the power to prevent former employees from testifying as if they made any sense at all.
yassss queen.
Oversight Over
The Mueller testimony will be meh and then... that's it. Dems will have established that defying subpoenas "because fuck you lol" is the new norm, at least when Republicans are in power.
Morning Thread
Use Atrios's link to Amazon on the left side of the page and support the blog. It's a win, win, win type situation.
Monday, July 01, 2019
And The Next Step Is
"The media" is never comfortable expressing disapproval of state violence, so the Dems are on their own with this. And...
Just left the 1st CBP facility.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2019
I see why CBP officers were being so physically &sexually threatening towards me.
Officers were keeping women in cells w/ no water & had told them to drink out of the toilets.
This was them on their GOOD behavior in front of members of Congress.
Power
Even if you think (I don't, but ok) that this guy losing his dorm RA job is somehow wrong due to the fact that the sanctity of our criminal justice system depends on Harvard Law professors being able to bill at $700 per hour to defend rich scumbags and also hold yet another position as a dorm counselor...it doesn't matter? I mean it just isn't important outside of being a very small community issue at an elite college. I could probably search any keyword on google news and find some greater injustice to be concerned about.
Anyone who thinks that students have disproportionate power even at their institutions, let alone in society generally, is an idiot. Are students dumb and wrong sometimes? Of course! Do colleges occasionally listen to dumb and wrong students? Actually not that often! But this entire genre in our elite publications is so stupid.
Anyone who thinks that students have disproportionate power even at their institutions, let alone in society generally, is an idiot. Are students dumb and wrong sometimes? Of course! Do colleges occasionally listen to dumb and wrong students? Actually not that often! But this entire genre in our elite publications is so stupid.
Speed Trap
I uncharacteristically mildly lean against automated traffic fine systems - red light cameras in particular - because they can be just big revenue raisers that are more about the $ than actual traffic safety. But if they're calibrated to 10 miles above the speed limit and the fine is only $50... I mean, come on...
When a camera catches a vehicle going more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit — 25 m.p.h. on most streets — a $50 fine is mailed to the registered owner.
“It’s going to mean you’re going to have to drive at a safe speed in New York,” Polly Trottenberg, the city’s transportation commissioner, said of the speed camera program
.
“It’s going to mean you’re going to have to drive at a safe speed in New York,” Polly Trottenberg, the city’s transportation commissioner, said of the speed camera program.
“New York City is going to become just one big speed trap,” said Shelia Dunn, a spokeswoman for the National Motorists Association, a grass-roots advocacy group that opposes speed cameras. “Making every street in New York into a school speed zone is not really going to protect people.”
Cruel Trick
Destroying tenure is the point, and it'll destroy the university in the process.
Stakeholders at the University of Alaska system spent the weekend preparing for a difficult future after the state’s governor cut 41 percent of the system’s state appropriations through a line-item budget veto.
University leaders have begun an uphill battle to lobby members of the Legislature to override the veto and have warned that if they are unsuccessful, they will have to take drastic cost-saving measures.
Governor Mike Dunleavy had previously promised extensive cuts to the state’s operating budget, which university leaders, working with legislators, thought they had averted. But on Friday, Dunleavy vetoed portions of the budget passed by the Legislature -- taking the largest chunk from the University of Alaska system. The veto resulted in the university losing $130 million in state support. Dunleavy has indicated that the statewide cuts would enable an increase in contribution to the Alaska Permanent Fund. The fund provides a dividend to state residents based on oil revenue.
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