Friday, September 30, 2022
Defund News Outlets
That news outlets - and not just the local ones - are just copaganda megaphones is a criticism every reporter is aware of. They could disagree with this criticism, but instead I don't think I've seen a single prominent reporter (again, this is a national problem, too, even if some of the less obviously sophisticated examples tend to be local news) even address the complaint.
(The national outlets do copaganda on issues like bail reform and "blue city/state" urban crime rates, generally ignoring all facts in favor of right wing/cop union spin on any given issue).
How do you reform that?
(The national outlets do copaganda on issues like bail reform and "blue city/state" urban crime rates, generally ignoring all facts in favor of right wing/cop union spin on any given issue).
How do you reform that?
Local news is literally like, "An officer ODd looking at fentanyl."
— Tana Ganeva (@TanaGaneva) September 30, 2022
Big city rags are like, "Gangbanger gets off free after trying to kill cop because of bail reform"
Prestige national outlets are like, "Here's our 95th article about why Chesa Boudin is bad."
Good Tweet
this is brilliant. using this approach, high-achieving conservative students could go to Scalia Law without the disgusting shame of everyone thinking they're as dumb as everyone else at Scalia Law https://t.co/4jawxEHslR
— Law Boy, Esq. (@The_Law_Boy) September 30, 2022
Stunning Twist
I'd like to say this tragedy is the ultimate representation of current American policing practices, and the way our news media reports on them, but I'm sure it'll be exceeded by tomorrow.
Stunning new twist: Amber Alert teen likely unarmed before being killed in shootout with SoCal deputies, report says. Now on ABC7 https://t.co/CPpasyiXI6
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) September 30, 2022
Anthony John Graziano, a fugitive who had been wanted in the death of the teen's mother, and his daughter were killed were killed Tuesday in a shootout with deputies on the 15 Freeway in Hesperia after a 45-mile chase. Shots were fired at the officers from the pickup truck as it was being chased."Everyone" knows precisely what happened here. The girl got out of the car, made a run to the cops, made a run to "safety." Maybe the Dad even told her to do it, knowing it was over for him. Then they sent approximately 12,000 bullets in her direction and started making up things to tell the press. Who wrote it down.
Once it came to a stop, the girl, wearing a tactical helmet and vest, got out and ran toward deputies amid a hail of gunfire, police said. Authorities are investigating whether she was shot by deputies or her father, or both.
Musky
After years and years of being a bullshitter, and after everyone finally *knows* he's a complete bullshitter, press reports about Musk's latest product and technology announcements are still absolute gullible stenography.
Details don't matter, really. He's got another one of his exciting presentations today, about AI, and articles are filled with exciting possibilities about Musk's "supercomputer" and his robot prototype. You'd think "showed off his unbreakable glass by breaking it" or "announcing his robot with a guy in spandex pretending to a be a robot" [last time] would add a tiny bit of skepticism, but...
Details don't matter, really. He's got another one of his exciting presentations today, about AI, and articles are filled with exciting possibilities about Musk's "supercomputer" and his robot prototype. You'd think "showed off his unbreakable glass by breaking it" or "announcing his robot with a guy in spandex pretending to a be a robot" [last time] would add a tiny bit of skepticism, but...
There is a bit more skepticism than there used to be, but "get a load of this nonsense" should be the default.
Natural Disasters
As we learned with Bushie and Brownie, Republican governance isn't able to cope with the idea that there's actually work to be done, sometimes, like when a big hurricane destroys an area.
The resources required to put parts of Florida back together again are immense, but also require a government that is capable not just having the money to do so but some idea of how to do it.
Yelling at Brandon isn't going to do it, and nor will just handing money to America's Greatest Governor, but I'm sure that will be their plan.
The resources required to put parts of Florida back together again are immense, but also require a government that is capable not just having the money to do so but some idea of how to do it.
Yelling at Brandon isn't going to do it, and nor will just handing money to America's Greatest Governor, but I'm sure that will be their plan.
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Dark Brandon Was Put On This Earth To Mint The Trillion Dollar Coin
It is his destiny.
(image from)
If Democrats don’t use their power to act against this threat, it will be a serious dereliction of duty. Here’s a start: Pass legislation in the lame-duck session that will disable coming GOP threats to default on the nation’s borrowing limit (causing financial havoc), which Republicans will try to use as leverage to force major concessions from Democrats.They will threaten to blow up the world, and "everyone" will agree that the Democrats have no choice but to given in to their demands. There is another way:
The Freak Show
Right wingers are very successful at getting their nonsense into The Discourse daily in part because plenty of journalists either basically agree with them or believe they have to cater to an audience who does.
But they also are successful because so much of their nonsense is nonsense, and it lets liberals talk about how stupid it is.
I don't have a solution to the problem, but I do try to resist the lure of the freak show more than I used to.
But they also are successful because so much of their nonsense is nonsense, and it lets liberals talk about how stupid it is.
I don't have a solution to the problem, but I do try to resist the lure of the freak show more than I used to.
What's Going On
And that's no malarkey.
Biden last night made clear his concerns about Italy: “You just saw what’s happened in Italy in that election. You’re seeing what’s happening around the world. The reason I bother to say that is you can’t be sanguine about what’s happening here either.”
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) September 29, 2022
Looks Pretty Bad
Tampa sorta missed, but Ft. Myers and Cape Coral got whacked.
Politically, Biden will mobilize FEMA as well as it can be mobilized (I don't know what kind of shape FEMA is in), send all they money he can to Florida, America's Greatest Governor (And Covid Hero) will be a big dick about it, and reporters will run with, "Why Isn't Biden Doing Enough For The Victims Of Ian?"
Politically, Biden will mobilize FEMA as well as it can be mobilized (I don't know what kind of shape FEMA is in), send all they money he can to Florida, America's Greatest Governor (And Covid Hero) will be a big dick about it, and reporters will run with, "Why Isn't Biden Doing Enough For The Victims Of Ian?"
Should Be A Shitshow
I'm guessing if she says anything it all, it's basically the equivalent of, "fuck you," over and over again.
NEWS- the Jan. 6 committee’s interview with Ginni Thomas is TODAY, according to two sources familiar with the situation
— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) September 29, 2022
w/ @kyledcheney
Lessons
I often think about the simple lesson every student learns (or did learn, back when I taught) in Econ 101, which is that if firms have monopoly pricing power, then capping prices appropriately actually increases the quantity of the good supplied. Normally we think of capping prices to be BAD BAD BAD because in some theoretical world of perfect competition, firms will supply less of the particular good.
And you don't even need monopoly to tell a similar story. If, for example, energy producers are at capacity - there is no way to squeeze out anymore kilowatt hours, or not really - then capping energy prices will reduce profits without reducing the quantity supplied. With a vertical supply curve, the price can go up up up up up without providing anymore energy. Just ridiculous profits.
And you don't even need monopoly to tell a similar story. If, for example, energy producers are at capacity - there is no way to squeeze out anymore kilowatt hours, or not really - then capping energy prices will reduce profits without reducing the quantity supplied. With a vertical supply curve, the price can go up up up up up without providing anymore energy. Just ridiculous profits.
Similarly, there are a roughly fixed number of hotel rooms reachable from the Florida's Gulf Coast. Letting hotels increase their prices won't add any. Capping prices wouldn't reduce the numbers of rooms available, just reduce their profitability.
No one model is "right," they're just ways of representing and thinking about things, but sometimes the lesson of one applies a bit more than the lessons of the other. By excluding the monopoly model as a tool, you can arrive at solutions that are wrong. In The Discourse, saying things like, "sometimes, price caps (or rent caps, or, for monopsony, minimum wages) are Good, Akshually," makes you a deeply unserious person. "Obviously, you don't know anything about economics," some internet glibertarian, or the WaPo "fact checker," will smugly assert, but it's right there in like week 5 of every econ class.
No one model is "right," they're just ways of representing and thinking about things, but sometimes the lesson of one applies a bit more than the lessons of the other. By excluding the monopoly model as a tool, you can arrive at solutions that are wrong. In The Discourse, saying things like, "sometimes, price caps (or rent caps, or, for monopsony, minimum wages) are Good, Akshually," makes you a deeply unserious person. "Obviously, you don't know anything about economics," some internet glibertarian, or the WaPo "fact checker," will smugly assert, but it's right there in like week 5 of every econ class.
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
You First
Is he fasting?
On Monday night, Mastriano’s campaign posted on Facebook a photo of two hands under the words “40 days of fasting & prayer” with the dates Sept. 29 through Nov. 8 — Election Day. “Interceding for our elections, our state, and our nation,” it stated, along with a verse from the Book of Isaiah.Not sure "all my voters are too weak to go to the polls" is the best plan, but...
“Starting in a few days,” Mastriano wrote in the post. One Facebook supporter responded: “It’ll be my honor to fast with you.”
While it is unclear who Mastriano expects to start fasting on Thursday, the recent entreaties seem to indicate that his campaign, which epitomizes what scholars call Christian nationalist ideology, has fallen on hard times.
Growth
Crank right wing ideas, like "tax cuts for rich people always lead to higher growth," and "spending on schools for poor kids, while nice, will possibly destroy the economy," are basically believed in The Discourse. Right wing crankery is a bit too mean, but otherwise correct.
So even as the Truss actions in the UK are threatening to destroy the economy, the press will still portray the "tax cuts for rich people" budget as a "growth plan." If a left wing government called their plan to hike taxes on rich people to 70% while spending all the money on public services a "growth plan," the press would certainly not echo the label.
So even as the Truss actions in the UK are threatening to destroy the economy, the press will still portray the "tax cuts for rich people" budget as a "growth plan." If a left wing government called their plan to hike taxes on rich people to 70% while spending all the money on public services a "growth plan," the press would certainly not echo the label.
A Good Time To Hike Mortage Costs
Unlike the US, where fixed rate mortgages are the norm, most people in the UK have adjustable rate mortages with an initial fixed rate. All fine as long as interest rates remained low - and people could reset their fixed rate with new mortgage every couple of years - but mortage rates going up like this will directly affect existing homeowners, not just aspirational ones.
Compounded by various policies which encouraged every middle class person with a bit of savings to own a couple of investment properties, which will also suddenly see their monthly payments spike...
Big problems!
Compounded by various policies which encouraged every middle class person with a bit of savings to own a couple of investment properties, which will also suddenly see their monthly payments spike...
Big problems!
The Woke IMF
I don't think the IMF should be held out as some uber-authority, with their pronouncements arriving on 15 10 tablets, but the UK conservative reaction to them is "funny."
Woke lefty plot.Embarrassed for the IMF. This is the IMF self-declaring as a left-wing body. The UK should now withhold its IMF contributions. https://t.co/iNfGivF1fA
— Andrew Lilico (@andrew_lilico) September 27, 2022
Some in government are understood to see the market assault on the pound and government debt as a plot by the left, something which has surprised city traders.
There's Always Money In The Banana Stand
UK day on this blog, perhaps, because it's scary/funny.
Lads, they found the magic money tree.
They're now both fighting inflation and fighting a spike in government borrowing costs. If you want to give them credit for being clever, it's "raise short term rates and lower long term ones," but I don't think that's a trick they can pull off.
...after I typed this, but before it published, they stopped the "raise short term rates" part.
Right wing economics hits reality, blows up the economy yet again, but somehow never loses its credibility.
As for this:
A phrase used for a dozen years in the UK to deride any attempt to spend money on nice things, repeated dutifully by every political reporter and the state broadcaster is, "there's no magic money tree."BREAKING:@bankofengland: “ will carry out temp purchases of long-dated UK government bonds from 28 September. The purpose of these purchases will be to restore orderly market conditions.”
— Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) September 28, 2022
“The purchases will be carried out on whatever scale is necessary to effect this outcome.”
Lads, they found the magic money tree.
They're now both fighting inflation and fighting a spike in government borrowing costs. If you want to give them credit for being clever, it's "raise short term rates and lower long term ones," but I don't think that's a trick they can pull off.
...after I typed this, but before it published, they stopped the "raise short term rates" part.
Right wing economics hits reality, blows up the economy yet again, but somehow never loses its credibility.
As for this:
I honestly can't think of a obvious scenario such that pension funds would be blowing up, unless they were hideously mismanaged, which of course some of them are. Somehow "hedging" (making small side bets to reduce risk) became synonymous with "leveraging" (borrowing immense amounts of money generally to try to make large amounts of money on tiny swings in risky assets) so the discourse around this is all fucked up.I'm told by a city source it's hard to overstate how serious the situation is today. There is concern over the health of pension funds and this is why the Bank of England has acted
— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) September 28, 2022
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Amazing Tweet, Possibly World Ending
No idea what happened to the Nord Stream pipeline, but I'm not sure this, from Mr. Anne Applebaum, is helpful!
Thank you, USA. pic.twitter.com/nALlYQ1Crb
— Radek Sikorski MEP (@radeksikorski) September 27, 2022
Hope He Got His $3 Million
(Actually don't care).
The newest addition to former President Donald Trump’s legal team, Chris Kise, has been sidelined from the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation less than a month after he was brought on to represent Trump in the matter, two sources familiar with the move tell CNN.
Kise is expected to remain on Trump’s legal team but is not leading the work related to the federal government’s investigation into how the former President handled 11,000 documents seized from his Florida home in August following a lengthy effort by the government to retrieve them. The reason for the shift in Kise’s role remains unclear and he may instead focus his efforts on the other investigations Trump is facing, which range from his business practices to the January 6 insurrection.
Hurricane
[Serious pundit voice] Now is not the time to bring politics into this...
The simple point about climate change is that both action and inaction get more costly every year. Whether action is reducing carbon emissions or trying to reorient society to deal with the failure to do so, it gets harder and harder to do (even as the price of renewables falls, one good thing).
And as for inaction, that one's pretty obvious.
Above my pay grade to know how 'good' the IRA is. It's a big enough victory that the well-intended interest groups will want to claim it as a victory (I'm not faulting them for that), but...
Stay safe, Florida.
The simple point about climate change is that both action and inaction get more costly every year. Whether action is reducing carbon emissions or trying to reorient society to deal with the failure to do so, it gets harder and harder to do (even as the price of renewables falls, one good thing).
And as for inaction, that one's pretty obvious.
Above my pay grade to know how 'good' the IRA is. It's a big enough victory that the well-intended interest groups will want to claim it as a victory (I'm not faulting them for that), but...
Stay safe, Florida.
Sounds Good
The way that anti-trust law was gutted by judges ("we don't like the law, so we're going to pretend it says something else") and the priorities of a series of administrations has not been good!
Better signal, at least.For decades, we've seen less competition and more concentration in our economy.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 26, 2022
That's why I signed an Executive Order committing the government to full enforcement of our antitrust laws.
No more tolerance for abusive monopolies.
Sounds Bad
He has some experience getting served.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fled his home in a truck driven by his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, to avoid being served a subpoena Monday, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.
NYT Defense Force, Assemble
It is a bizarre defense, suggesting the sole purpose of reporting was its specific impact, something they would normally deny (disingenuously).Please Twitter, leave @maggieNYT alone. Trump lost the election, for God's sake. If Maggie had told you a little bit more before the election (she told you A LOT, btw), what, you think Trump would have lost ... twice?
— Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) September 27, 2022
There are actually some valid defenses for "held the bombshell for the book," but I actually rarely see them being made, suggesting they aren't actually the reasons. Instead you get this nonsense.
My big problem with the practice of sitting on bombshells is, how does a reporter actually report stories while pretending not to know lots of things they actually know? A minefield of their own making.
Monday, September 26, 2022
The People Must Suffer
There actually hasn't been any wage inflation, just price-excluding-wages-inflation, but some workers got a bit uppity and...
Reserve Currency
I'm not sure "plunging the world into recession in order to fix our supply chain problems" makes any sense, but that's the plan!
Is There A Relationship Between Inequality And Growth!??!!?!?!
When I was in grad school, that was one of the sexy research questions. Obviously the desired answer was, "yes," in the sense that unequal societies were the necessary price we paid for making the pie higher, and any efforts at redistribution (as if there were any serious efforts at redistribution), were bad, according to SCIENCE.
Just ridiculous.
Just ridiculous.
Purification By Fire
The new nutters who run the UK are basically strong believers in "we must burn it all down to save it." Phoenix, rebirth, that kind of thing.
The Discourse generally accepts that right wing economic ideas are basically correct, but maybe we should be slightly nicer around the edges. It's never really defined what actual outcome would make this true. The word "growth" is thrown about, but as "we" all know, the high growth eras in both the US and UK were before the Reagan/Thatcher demolition of the post-war consensus.
The Discourse generally accepts that right wing economic ideas are basically correct, but maybe we should be slightly nicer around the edges. It's never really defined what actual outcome would make this true. The word "growth" is thrown about, but as "we" all know, the high growth eras in both the US and UK were before the Reagan/Thatcher demolition of the post-war consensus.
Sunday, September 25, 2022
The Last Honest Man In Washington
I frequently think about our objective political journalists, and how a primary challenge to Joe Lieberman was portrayed as a Taliban insurgency, and the run against Markey in MA by a Kennedy failson was not.
Anyway, good on Markey for winning that.
Anyway, good on Markey for winning that.
Saturday, September 24, 2022
Welcome To The Nursing Home
Was in a cafe and they were playing (ha ha) "oldies" and Welcome To The Jungle (Guns N' Roses) came on. My memory was correct, as wikipedia confirmed, that it came out almost exactly 35 years ago.
It isn't weird that I'm old; it's weird that things I remember as new are. Not sure that makes sense.
It isn't weird that I'm old; it's weird that things I remember as new are. Not sure that makes sense.
Nothing Matters, Nothing Is Real
Sometimes I wonder if I am the weirdo? Basic things like, "women might die because a doctor can't treat them without risking jail," bother me a bit?
I know there's a sort of South Park "caring is the worst sin" ethos, along with the establishment of "virtue signalling" as a slur, but it doesn't seem to weird to see that as a problem?
And honestly I think I'm a bit of an asshole.
I know there's a sort of South Park "caring is the worst sin" ethos, along with the establishment of "virtue signalling" as a slur, but it doesn't seem to weird to see that as a problem?
And honestly I think I'm a bit of an asshole.
Friday, September 23, 2022
Us
Journalists being too close to their sources is common, but elite legal journalism seems to have zero interrogation of these obvious problems.
Reaping
As I said, the good or bad of currency strength is complicated, but it does seem that 15 years of the UK punching itself in the face is coming to fruition.
Is The Work Happening
Once upon a time, for various reasons, I was much more in tune with on the ground activism. Voter registration and similar. Now I have no idea. This is about my ignorance - I have no idea - but are people doing the work?
Shoupism
There isn't enough good public transit in the US, but this is greatly exacerbated by land use laws near rail stations.
Newsom, just back from an international climate conference in New York, announced in a video that he signed AB 2097, which frees developers of parking requirements for new housing and businesses located within a half-mile of a public transit stop. The regulation won’t prohibit developers from building parking in their projects but will ban local jurisdictions from imposing strict off-street parking allotments.Philly, for example, had an extensive commuter rail systm which is kneecapped by local authorities wanting to preserve park-n-ride lots and low density development. Should have 5000 housing units within .5 miles of every station. At least allow it!
Their Problem
The Discourse always assumes the existence of Serious Conservatives, the previous generation who are less evil and insane than the current one. And who, somehow, still retain power despite not being in power. Tom Ridge is lurking in the background, ready to save us.
I don't believe in that, but I do think many Republicans can't be entirely thrilled with their Trump problem.
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Wait And See
I think the first time I really tried to follow legal arguments was in the post-2000 election fiasco. Details forgotten, but it was quite clear the Supremos would not rule as they eventually did because of clear precedents
Ah, well, nevertheless.
I don't follow legal arguments closely anymore.
The Simple Life
Why do people own 7 houses? Or keep working long after they have more money than they can ever spend?
I get that rich people can pay people to take of their problems, but hiring those people is itself stressful. OK so you have the one trusted guy who handles all the other guys, etc..., but these are all still things that come across your desk, eventually.
I guess, to me, money can buy a degree of freedom from hassle, yet so many people who have it choose to not use it that way.
I get that rich people can pay people to take of their problems, but hiring those people is itself stressful. OK so you have the one trusted guy who handles all the other guys, etc..., but these are all still things that come across your desk, eventually.
I guess, to me, money can buy a degree of freedom from hassle, yet so many people who have it choose to not use it that way.
Our Donald Problem, And Yours
I get the impediments to publicly betraying The Donald, but that elite conservatives generally - including judges - don't obviously want to quietly push him off stage is a bit of a mystery.
Sure they love Trumpism too, but not the guy!
Sure they love Trumpism too, but not the guy!
Who Matters
The political press had a collective freakout when some people showed up to Tucker's house once.
They freak out when one of "them" is mildly inconvenienced, so it's always a useful signal about who is in the club.Tucker Carlson just named and showed pics of executives at a hospital that provides gender affirming care to trans teens, calling them criminals who deserve the bomb threats they receive. I won’t share the image, but I think we all know where this is headed…
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) September 22, 2022
10 Points For The Judiciary
Needle moving in "not as corrupt as we feared" direction.
A three-judge appeals court panel has granted the Justice Department’s request to block aspects of U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling that delayed a criminal investigation into highly sensitive documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.Smart law talking consesnsus is, "surely the Supremos won't touch this!" and lol we will see!
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Dark Brandon
Senator Cruz voted against this. https://t.co/mht1OgtvwL
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 21, 2022
Don't See How Donnie Two Scoops Wriggles Out Of This One
NEW YORK (AP) — New York's attorney general is suing former President Donald Trump and his three adult children, alleging business fraud.
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) September 21, 2022
That this is factually true, and the fact that any of us would be jammed for overstating income on a mortgage by 20% if our lender got cranky...NBC News | BREAKING: NY Attorney General Letitia James is referring the findings of her investigations to the IRS Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for possible federal criminal prosecution.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) September 21, 2022
For 20 years, Donald Trump and his family enriched themselves through "numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentations," New York Attorney General Letitia James alleges in a new lawsuit that accuses the Trumps of "grossly" inflating the former president's net worth by billions of dollars and cheating lenders and others with false and misleading financial statements.Two sources close to Maggie Haberman insist this is very unfair.
Seems Bad
No one catastrophic weather event proves anything, but we've had quite a lot of them lately!
At a time when over a million people continue to be without power after Hurricane Fiona , the National Weather Service (SNM) in San Juan issued a heat warning for 27 towns, due to the risk of experiencing heat indices. heat between 102 to 112 degrees Fahrenheit (°F).(this is chrome's translation of the original Spanish)
You Could've Had Other Hobbies
I suppose we don't lack other examples throughout history, but "I have all the power and money to do basically anything I want and I'm going to do war for fun" is really profoundly weird! Like, dude, you're 69, you can do basically anything... and you're doing this! Why!!!??!!
I supposed I'm blessed in my ability to find new ways to amuse myself. I wouldn't even need all that much more money to feel like I was barely constrained (some more, of course).
I supposed I'm blessed in my ability to find new ways to amuse myself. I wouldn't even need all that much more money to feel like I was barely constrained (some more, of course).
The Good Republicans
It's been good seeing Dark Brandon call out *Republicans* a bit more, in more general terms. It should be the case that it isn't odd to treat the opposing team as, well, the opposing team, even if you like to convey that after you've finished killing each other on the field you can still go out and have a beer.
But now, the "good Republicans" are, like, Kinzinger and Cheney and that's it? I'm sure some senators tell Chuck what he wants to hear in the Senate gym, in private, but that doesn't make them good.
"Good" in this context basically means publicly acknowledging that Donald Trump is not all that great, and that's a pretty low bar!
But now, the "good Republicans" are, like, Kinzinger and Cheney and that's it? I'm sure some senators tell Chuck what he wants to hear in the Senate gym, in private, but that doesn't make them good.
"Good" in this context basically means publicly acknowledging that Donald Trump is not all that great, and that's a pretty low bar!
There's a bunch of GOP officials who are going to try to sue to stop debt relief for middle class borrowers.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 20, 2022
I go to work every day to make life easier for working families. I can't for the life of me understand why these folks want to make it harder. https://t.co/3zdD5a0SKw
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Yes, Dearie
From the twitter coverage, the Trump document "special master" sounded perfectly reasonably. Also some smart law talking people (above my pay grade), made it clear that Trump's judge, Cannon, reserves the right to play Calvinball! What will happen?
Vibes
The evolution of people like Nate Silver from "punditry is dumb, need data" to "my vibes are science, baby" has much to do with troll farms on twitter warping his brain.
I'm not verified on twitter, so I don't get it even though I have a reasonable number of followers, but if you look at the mentions of anyone with a verified check it's just nonstop.
I'm not verified on twitter, so I don't get it even though I have a reasonable number of followers, but if you look at the mentions of anyone with a verified check it's just nonstop.
Armchair Warriors
Really hate rich comfortable dudes who call for other people to do violence. Obviously the "calling for violence" is bad on its own, but I'd respect it a bit more if Tucker was planting pipe bombs himself.
Can get a bit of this from lefties, sometimes, but lefties don't have prime time news shows, so it's just shit talking.
Monday, September 19, 2022
Honorable Gentleman
An important thing to understand about The Discourse is that all savvy political journalists/pundits believe that every time Republicans become bigger assholes, they win, and it's only admirable restraint that keeps them from taking the assholeness to 11 every time.
Democrats tend to believe this too - if we punch them, they'll punch back twice as hard! - and this explains their frequent reticence.
There certainly is a fan base for assholes in politics, but I don't think the bigger asshole wins every time.
Democrats tend to believe this too - if we punch them, they'll punch back twice as hard! - and this explains their frequent reticence.
There certainly is a fan base for assholes in politics, but I don't think the bigger asshole wins every time.
Wish It Away Now
There is some range between "lockdowns and mandatory masking" and "public policy and messaging designed to offer some mitgation as well as making living with the reality of covid more bearable for those who can't afford to bear it, especially."
There is something inbetween mandatory masking and, "lol only nerd losers wear masks, you do you."
Polls don't actually support the big covid measure backlash that all INFLUENCERS agree existed, because they are the marks for the troll farms and they are still mad that their moms told them to clean their rooms.
There is something inbetween mandatory masking and, "lol only nerd losers wear masks, you do you."
Polls don't actually support the big covid measure backlash that all INFLUENCERS agree existed, because they are the marks for the troll farms and they are still mad that their moms told them to clean their rooms.
Marks
I'm not just being snarky about this. Troll accounts latch on to verified accounts on twitter. Their mentions are absolutely filled with the troll issue of the day. It helps, of course, that many journalist types are rather sympathetic to the basic message of "whatever The Left is doing, it's bad."
Askew
Obviously people can't literally reshape reality, but if enough influential people insist 2+2=5 then pointing out 2+2=4 eventually becomes not worth the hassle and we all just go on accepting the new math.
Troll Farms
Not made explicit enough in this article is that the targeted audience for troll farms is influential people - journalists, for example. They are the marks, and the trolls are simply reinforcing their views and catering to their prejudices.
But then something shifted, seemingly overnight. What she saw on Twitter that Monday was a torrent of focused grievance that targeted her. In 15 years as an activist, largely advocating for the rights of Muslims, she had faced pushback, but this was of a different magnitude. A question began to form in her mind: Do they really hate me that much?
That morning, there were things going on that Ms. Sarsour could not imagine.
More than 4,000 miles away, organizations linked to the Russian government had assigned teams to the Women’s March. At desks in bland offices in St. Petersburg, using models derived from advertising and public relations, copywriters were testing out social media messages critical of the Women’s March movement, adopting the personas of fictional Americans.
THE PANDEMIC IS OVER
So says Biden.
One thing about doing this "job" for so long is seeing several major events about which it becomes apparent that if enough people with prominent platforms assert something is true, it becomes true.
Watching the recent history of covid be rewritten so quickly has been maddening.
Influential people enraged because someone suggested they put a mask on have completely reconfigured reality. It's interesting, I guess.
Get your boosters, slip on a mask when it isn't too inconvenient. Somehow even that message became too much for the "MOOOOOM, YOU CAN'T MAKE ME" crowd.
One thing about doing this "job" for so long is seeing several major events about which it becomes apparent that if enough people with prominent platforms assert something is true, it becomes true.
Watching the recent history of covid be rewritten so quickly has been maddening.
Influential people enraged because someone suggested they put a mask on have completely reconfigured reality. It's interesting, I guess.
Get your boosters, slip on a mask when it isn't too inconvenient. Somehow even that message became too much for the "MOOOOOM, YOU CAN'T MAKE ME" crowd.
The Common Clay
The joke (in case anyone doesn't get it) is our pundits project their bigotries and cruelties onto the imagined masses.As an enlightened coastal person who gradated from a university some describe as a "New Ivy", of course I was horrified by Ron DeSantis's cruel treatment of migrants. But I am surprised that such a well-executed stunt didn't go over better with all the idiots in flyover country.
— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) September 19, 2022
Sunday, September 18, 2022
So About Those DHS Agents
The ones who filed paperwork giving Abbott's human trafficking victims fake addresses? They still working? What's going on with that.
The Law Is Filled With Asses
The piece I would read is from a fancy law professor discussing how he's teaching constitutional law now.
Saturday, September 17, 2022
Judges Gone Wild
Other people can write smarter things about this - though I suspect that smart writing about The Law can sometimes obscure more than enlighten - but the basic issue is that the most democratically unaccountable bit of our government has been granted supreme power based on some mutually understood interlocking deferences. There has to be a judicial order so nuts that, "and how will you enforce that," is a perfectly necessary response, once those deferences are abandoned.
So where is that line?
Cracking
I worried a lot during the Bush administration about the system breaking. And it cracked a lot, in ways we just sort of accept now. We tortured some folks, you know.
But I suppose it didn't break, even if in certain areas, but not all, it is a one way ratchet in the "bad" direction.
"Unitary executive" and "Fourthbranch" were worrying "legal theories," but they at least did have some theorizing behind them (okay Fourthbranch was pretty ridiculous). Now it's "lol the constitution says former presidents named Trump are president for life!"
I do keep asking, where is the line? If some random judge in Florida issues a decree that, "Atrios must be shot," and it goes up the appeal chain, and the Supremos say 5-4, Atrios gets it, are the Feds obligated to put a bullet in me?
How ridiculous can it get?
But I suppose it didn't break, even if in certain areas, but not all, it is a one way ratchet in the "bad" direction.
"Unitary executive" and "Fourthbranch" were worrying "legal theories," but they at least did have some theorizing behind them (okay Fourthbranch was pretty ridiculous). Now it's "lol the constitution says former presidents named Trump are president for life!"
I do keep asking, where is the line? If some random judge in Florida issues a decree that, "Atrios must be shot," and it goes up the appeal chain, and the Supremos say 5-4, Atrios gets it, are the Feds obligated to put a bullet in me?
How ridiculous can it get?
Friday, September 16, 2022
Defund DHS
Another rogue agency.
Self said the migrants were intentionally used to create chaos and crisis, as no government agency or humanitarian organization was alerted about the group’s arrival in Martha’s Vineyard. Self said the problem was exacerbated when officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security allegedly falsified addresses on the migrants’ immigration paperwork, and said they could change them upon arriving in Massachusetts.
By far the worst thing in these four terrible minutes is the thing where DHS falsified the immigrants' paperwork to random homeless shelters across the country and then made mandatory immigration appointments at offices near those addresses, thousands of miles away https://t.co/XSQwiixmt2
— Laura Jedeed (@LauraJedeed) September 16, 2022
Kidnapping
Smart lawyer talking dudes can always come up with reasons why "luring people into a vehicle under false pretenses the transporting them across state lines to somewhere else" is not a federal offense, but, I dunno, suspect they'd feel a bit differently if it happened to them!
Corrupt
I don't need to be a smart law talking guy to get how corrupt Cannon is.
The question is, really, what is DOJ going to do about it?
I ask a version of what I've asked before, which is what if the Supreme Court decrees tomorrow that, AKSHUALLY, Donald Trump is president? Does Biden vacate the White House, saying, "gotta vote harder, folks!?" or what?
We imagine they won't do that, but where, exactly, is the line? There are 4 on SCOTUS who are unbelievably, undeniably, corrupt, and 2 more who are likely to decide with them on any given issue (I'm not really putting the other 2 in a different category, other than, "haven't let the mask slip quite as much").
I try to be a bit chipper, but really this stuff takes a toll on me.
The question is, really, what is DOJ going to do about it?
I ask a version of what I've asked before, which is what if the Supreme Court decrees tomorrow that, AKSHUALLY, Donald Trump is president? Does Biden vacate the White House, saying, "gotta vote harder, folks!?" or what?
We imagine they won't do that, but where, exactly, is the line? There are 4 on SCOTUS who are unbelievably, undeniably, corrupt, and 2 more who are likely to decide with them on any given issue (I'm not really putting the other 2 in a different category, other than, "haven't let the mask slip quite as much").
I try to be a bit chipper, but really this stuff takes a toll on me.
Thursday, September 15, 2022
Normal Island
I can get a bit defensive about the UK sometimes (in the same way that I can get a bit defensive about the US, despite everything!) but lol the queen stuff is out of control:
Football (soccer, in the local lingo) was singled out for enforced cancellation because it was believed that, unlike the fans of other sports, the football fans would fail to be respectful enough.Two football teams who played the weekend after the Queen died are being investigated and will be "dealt with in the strongest possible terms" https://t.co/i4lFrLOTIC
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 14, 2022
THEY CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH
Right wingers understand better than Democrats, generally, that what they want is actually horrifying to normal people.
Oopsy
Venezuelans are "good immigrants" because they've been fleeing the evil communist governments.
Local Venezuelan leaders and other immigration advocates gathered in Doral where they denounced what they call DeSanits' blatant disregard for human life and the lies he told to the Cuban and Venezuelan communities. They point to a September 7th press conference in Miami where they said he promised that neither Cubans nor Venezuelans would be sent out of the state.Honorary Cubans, in a sense.
Human Trafficking
At some point the Feds have to step in and start handing out kidnapping charges.
The migrants said a woman they identified as "Perla" approached them outside the shelter and lured them into boarding the plane, saying they would be flown to Boston where they could get expedited work papers. She provided them with food. The migrants said Perla was still trying to recruit more passengers just hours before their flight.Start by locking up "Perla" and the plane company, and go from there.
Don't Know How Donnie Two Scoops Wriggles Out Of This One
We'll see!
(CNN)Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has complied with a subpoena from the Justice Department's investigation into events surrounding January 6, 2021, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN, making him the highest-ranking Trump official known to have responded to a subpoena in the federal investigation.
Debate Me, You Cowards
A simple explanation for why you don't appear on the stage with paid liars (I know nothing about Koonin, but generally), or why you don't respectfully interview the head of the racism factory for your prominent news outlet, even if you think you're scoring points.
If you engage them as equals, this is what happens. And it reboots every single day.
The "ideas" don't deserve respect, but more than that the people peddling them don't deserve respect and they should not be granted the presumption of respect simply because they earn a salary from a fancy think tank, all of which (all!) have some pretty dodgy funding!I declined to debate Koonin a long time ago. It’s a simple matter of Bayesian statistics. You get up on the stage with a charlatan, you signal to the audience a prior of 50/50. You have to spend the whole debate trying to work back to the true weight of evidence (99.999 to 0.001)
— Prof Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) September 14, 2022
If you engage them as equals, this is what happens. And it reboots every single day.
Rail Crisis Averted?
Maybe!
Moments ago, following more than 20 consecutive hours of negotiations at @USDOL, the rail companies and union negotiators came to a tentative agreement that balances the needs of workers, businesses, and our nation’s economy. (1/2)
— Secretary Marty Walsh (@SecMartyWalsh) September 15, 2022
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
George Soros Is 92
Obviously "old rich people using their fortunes to meddle in the world" is a thing," but I also suspect he doesn't have quite as much energy for hastening civilization collapse as he once did.
You Don't Have To Hand It To Them
My various minor obsessions evolve over time, and my latest one really is about the enforced social norm in The Discourse about being cordial and friendly to liars and racists. You don't have to try to CANCEL THEM to just recognize them for what they are, not feel the need to sugarcoat what they are doing, and never, ever hand it to them. Or agree to appear on (metaphorically or literally) stage with them.
Social media adds a "we can see you" aspect to this. And, yes, your minority colleagues can actually see you being chummy with the skull measurers and white supremacists. As can the rest of us.
Social media adds a "we can see you" aspect to this. And, yes, your minority colleagues can actually see you being chummy with the skull measurers and white supremacists. As can the rest of us.
Fruition
Also, just what do you all think your good friends and honorable debating partners at the Federalist Society were up to all those years?
With that in mind, the experts look at Cannon’s decision and see balderdash everywhere. What they don’t get is that Cannon looked at her balderdash and thought, “Well, who’s going to stop me?” There are no “judge cops,” you see, only other judges, and if all roads eventually lead to the Roberts court, there’s no reason for her to worry too much about whether she’s stuffed a bunch of legal half-assery into her rulings. As TNR’s Matt Ford has reported, Cannon’s hardly the first lower court judge to indulge herself in some right-wing hackery. She won’t be the last.Consider decades of reporting on the conservative legal movement, including by many "liberal" legal journalists/lawyers. Just all nonsense from start to finish. Just giving the con man's pitch for him.
Loyal Until The End
Some Starr obituaries are leaving out his later career jobs excusing rape/pedophilia (Epstein) and/or adult rape (Baylor). His journalists are loyal even now.
Old man yelling at clouds stuff, now, but one reason I chafe every time people talk about journalists "making mistakes" with Trump is that I lived through the Starr era, and I can't recall a single one ever saying, "ya, maybe we got that a bit wrong." Ones who were critical were shoved out of the club.
Our top journalists don't make mistakes. Ask them.
This was the objective journalist portrayal of Starr, the Last Honorable Man (Except for Joe Lieberman) in Washington.
Practically the only pushback then were a few internet weirdos and like 3 journalists who didn't do their careers any favors.
We used to call Steno Sue Schmidt and Mike Weisskopf (linked above), "Scheisskopf," back in the day. We did try to amuse ourselves.
I did this tweet and had many responses along the lines of, "just like now!!!"
Old man yelling at clouds stuff, now, but one reason I chafe every time people talk about journalists "making mistakes" with Trump is that I lived through the Starr era, and I can't recall a single one ever saying, "ya, maybe we got that a bit wrong." Ones who were critical were shoved out of the club.
Our top journalists don't make mistakes. Ask them.
This was the objective journalist portrayal of Starr, the Last Honorable Man (Except for Joe Lieberman) in Washington.
In Truth at Any Cost, two of America's preeminent investigative reporters, Susan Schmidt and Michael Weisskopf, reveal for the first time what really went on inside the Office of the Independent Counsel. The book details Ken Starr's motivations, his inner struggles, and his anguish as he comes under attack by Clinton's ferocious partisans. It goes behind the locked doors of Starr's office as prosecutors make the fateful decision to pursue the case against Clinton for lying to conceal his embarrassing affair with an intern half his age. Schmidt and Weisskopf lay bare what happened on the night when FBI agents first confronted Monica Lewinsky, how the White House launched a political jihad to survive, and how Starr's team agonized over Clinton's fate.Ah, yes, Starr was CANCELLED in PURSUIT OF TRUTH.
For four years, the bland, smiling man behind the investigation of President Clinton remained a mystery, both to many who supported him and to those who feared him. Until now. Truth at Any Cost shows Ken Starr in a new light: as an upright but politically naive prosecutor who withstood public vilification to pursue the truth--including what he and his deputies saw as the president's attempts to use the power of his office to thwart a legitimate inquiry. Here is an unblinking look at the battle between Starr's legal absolutism and Clinton's chronic evasions. It examines Starr's impassioned quest to bring the president to justice, and explains how Starr eventually became a casualty of his own mission, leaving the arena as bloodied as the man he had pursued.
Practically the only pushback then were a few internet weirdos and like 3 journalists who didn't do their careers any favors.
We used to call Steno Sue Schmidt and Mike Weisskopf (linked above), "Scheisskopf," back in the day. We did try to amuse ourselves.
I did this tweet and had many responses along the lines of, "just like now!!!"
and yes:hard to explain the Starr era to The Kids, but one aspect was every top political journalist just printing up whatever nonsense his team sent their way. Made a bunch of careers, not a regret expressed
— Atrios (@Atrios) September 13, 2022
Just What Is The Racism Factory For
The racism was okay, but the pervy stuff crosses the line?what exactly do you think the Manhattan Institute does, Will? https://t.co/sslr7dbyOF
— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) September 14, 2022
A giant problem in The Discourse is that chummy media bros treat the people who work in conservative media/politics/think tanks as Respectable Honorable opponents. The conservative movement is built on bigtory. It's all bigotry. I know it was more fun when you could pretend it was about top marginal tax rates, or whatever, but stop it!
You don't have to be nice to your racist uncle, and you don't have to be nice to the guy who runs the racism factory.
...expanding the tweet to make the context clearer.
Hey @reihan, do donors have your nads in a vise or do you keep this despicable hatemonger on payroll because you agree with him? https://t.co/OlEIORRusE
— Will Wilkinson 🌐 (@willwilkinson) September 14, 2022
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
Snoozed
A good entryGOP snoozed on abortion as a midterm issue, saw nightmare poll numbers. Now, they’ve awoken and are racing to redefine themselves.https://t.co/zMWWyaYuMq
— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) September 13, 2022
Republicans achieve their top goal of several decades, oh wow how did this happen when they weren't paying attention???.GOP snoozed on abortion as a midterm issue, saw nightmare poll numbers. Now, they’ve awoken and are racing to redefine themselves.https://t.co/zMWWyaYuMq
— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) September 13, 2022
One of the iron laws of DC journalism: Republicans are never responsible for the things they champion.
Bye Ken Starr
A horrible man who was the meal ticket for many journalists. Funny how that keeps happening.
Dead at 76.
Wobbly Instincts
This (today) was much better than this (June).
Joe Biden’s goal in responding to Dobbs is not to satisfy some activists who have been consistently out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party. It’s to deliver help to women who are in danger and assemble a broad-based coalition to defend a woman’s right to choose now, just as he assembled such a coalition to win during the 2020 campaign.For some reason it's the happy place of many Democrats. Hopefully they're learning!
This Is No Time To Go Wobbly
Lindsey's play is to turn things around, go, "no, you're the extremists, we're the reasonable ones," knowing that his favorite stenographers in the press (like jmart) will dutifully run with that.
Won't work unless Dems take the bait and start playing defense. I'm mildly optimistic they won't, but...
Calmly explain to people what Republican policies do. It isn't harder than that.
Won't work unless Dems take the bait and start playing defense. I'm mildly optimistic they won't, but...
Calmly explain to people what Republican policies do. It isn't harder than that.
How Are My Apes Doing
I saw the greatest minds of my generation devote themselves to this shit.
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Mr. Male Centrist Pundit, Sir, Your Wife Isn't Quite Dying Enough Yet
I try to resist wishing bad things on people, though I fail more and more with age*, but it seems our largely empathy-less pundit class needs things to happen to them, personally, before an abstract problem becomes a real one.
One thing I have long said is that contrary to the long perpetuated myth, "rich ladies" won't actually be able to buy themselves out of abortion restrictions. Possibly fatal pre-eclampsia (for example) doesn't hit until about 20 weeks, at which point Lindsey Graham won't let you have any medical care.
This has never been just about flying your daughter to a pro-choice state to take care of a little problem. Abortion is medical care, and all women are considered "pre-pregnant" at all times, except when they're pregnant.
*I don't think it's that I've become crueler with age, more that I see that there's plenty of bad shit happening all the time, and it wouldn't be the worst thing if it was redistributed a bit.
One thing I have long said is that contrary to the long perpetuated myth, "rich ladies" won't actually be able to buy themselves out of abortion restrictions. Possibly fatal pre-eclampsia (for example) doesn't hit until about 20 weeks, at which point Lindsey Graham won't let you have any medical care.
This has never been just about flying your daughter to a pro-choice state to take care of a little problem. Abortion is medical care, and all women are considered "pre-pregnant" at all times, except when they're pregnant.
*I don't think it's that I've become crueler with age, more that I see that there's plenty of bad shit happening all the time, and it wouldn't be the worst thing if it was redistributed a bit.
Dumb Or Pretending To Be Dumb
Graham has been a major anti-abortion crusader his whole career, but portraying him as a reasonable moderate despite having never been a "reasonable moderate" even by the easy standards of these things on *a single issue* won't stop access journalists from playing along.
Reporters talk to a single person who know anything about anything challenge.
This will be the new Wise Moderate Compromise. By the end of the day this will be Graham trying to do the Democrats a favor, because that's how abortion coverage has been for decades.Irony of the umpteen quote tweets piling up here is many think Graham was/is trying to give Rs a way out of their pol problem by ensuring legal abortion for 20 weeks. (Of all the GOP senators who'd push a total abortion ban, he's....not high on list)https://t.co/jVHDqNWYFB
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) September 13, 2022
Reporters talk to a single person who know anything about anything challenge.
Monday, September 12, 2022
Hey How'd That Get In There
They can just do that.
Returning to the question of restraining the lawless Supreme Court, it turns out this is a classic wedge opportunity for Democrats. The Data for Progress poll finds 34 percent of Republicans support reining in the Court’s power, while just 13 percent of Democrats have the opposite view. And one doesn’t need to endorse adding more justices to the Court or ending judicial review to address this problem. The Constitution stipulates that the “Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make,” thus indicating that Congress can limit its jurisdiction. It has done so many times before—including, remarkably enough, in the Inflation Reduction Act, which says “There shall be no administrative or judicial review” of some of the drug price control measures included in the bill.
Your Moment Of Zen
Mourners asked to stop leaving Paddingtons and marmalade sandwiches as Queen tributes https://t.co/hcukL8BBon
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 12, 2022
Flee
For various reasons people get mad when you say things like this - have to stay and fight, it just punishes the people that stay behind, most people (true) can't easily do it - but living in a state where you can't get treated for cancer until it's too late is not something people should willingly embrace!
And in Texas, oncologists say they now wait for pregnant women with cancer to get sicker before they treat them, because the standard of care would be to abort the fetus rather than allow treatments that damage it, but a state law allows abortion only “at risk of death.” Some hospitals have established committees to evaluate whether a pregnancy complication is severe enough to justify an abortion.Decades of Very Serious Pundit Discourse about abortion, and somehow these inevitabilities (almost?) never made it into print. All Grand Compromises and Let The States Decide. Congrats, this is it.
Or You Could Try To Save The World
The billionaires do want to be slave lords in the post-apocalyptic feudal society of their imagination, but they're a bit nervous about keeping the help in line.
This single question occupied us for the rest of the hour. They knew armed guards would be required to protect their compounds from raiders as well as angry mobs. One had already secured a dozen Navy Seals to make their way to his compound if he gave them the right cue. But how would he pay the guards once even his crypto was worthless? What would stop the guards from eventually choosing their own leader?They don't try to save the world - in fact, they lean towards hastening this - because it is what they think they want. But what if the help gets a bit uppity?
The billionaires considered using special combination locks on the food supply that only they knew. Or making guards wear disciplinary collars of some kind in return for their survival. Or maybe building robots to serve as guards and workers – if that technology could be developed “in time”.
Incentives
Suspect having a system such that if cops do their jobs extremely poorly, they are rewarded with lucrative moonlighting gigs to solve the problems they caused, has all kinds of bad consequences.
The City’s Finest is no mere security firm. With about 200 officers moonlighting for it, it’s the biggest of several private policing companies that some of St. Louis’ wealthier and predominantly white neighborhoods have hired to patrol public spaces and protect their homes and businesses.
Related
If your response to the George Floyd inspired protests of 2020 (and what led to them) was to concern troll about how, "black people participating in public life is a big barrier to achieving civil rights goals (which I do not support, though I claim to), and thus the fault of black people," we also don't have to pretend you are a non-racist good faith actor.
I've seen this shit for decades! It isn't clever or new, except in the Jonah Goldberg sense of, "It is a very serious, thoughtful, argument that has never been made in such detail or with such care."
I've seen this shit for decades! It isn't clever or new, except in the Jonah Goldberg sense of, "It is a very serious, thoughtful, argument that has never been made in such detail or with such care."
Debate Me, You Cowards
There's another dumb piece in the prominent outlet for dumb pieces about how university life should be a nonstop hellscape of DEBATE ME, YOU COWARDS, and snowflake liberals REFUSE to listen to me shouting racisms at them while they're trying to sleep.
The Atlantic gets a lot of money (or did, at least, don't know if they still do) to run this neverending series. It is important to acknowledge that, because people who love to talk about the Purity Of The Essences Of Journalism also like to pretend Nobody Tells Them What To Write which is ridiculous. That Koch money tells you what to write.
These pieces are all ridiculous for the reasons people point out every time, but I'll add my little bit: if you have a prominent outlet in 2022 and you survey what's happening in America related to speech issues and your conclusion is "the Oberlin student council is too intolerant," then your agenda is not what you claim it is and none of us are obligated to pretend you are a good faith actor.
Insisting we pretend liars are good faith actors is, of course, very important to the DEBATE ME, YOU COWARDS crowd. The appropriate response is "fuck you, no, you liars."
The Atlantic gets a lot of money (or did, at least, don't know if they still do) to run this neverending series. It is important to acknowledge that, because people who love to talk about the Purity Of The Essences Of Journalism also like to pretend Nobody Tells Them What To Write which is ridiculous. That Koch money tells you what to write.
These pieces are all ridiculous for the reasons people point out every time, but I'll add my little bit: if you have a prominent outlet in 2022 and you survey what's happening in America related to speech issues and your conclusion is "the Oberlin student council is too intolerant," then your agenda is not what you claim it is and none of us are obligated to pretend you are a good faith actor.
Insisting we pretend liars are good faith actors is, of course, very important to the DEBATE ME, YOU COWARDS crowd. The appropriate response is "fuck you, no, you liars."
Sunday, September 11, 2022
Happy 9/11 Day
I don't miss the annual ritual of newcasters recounting their harrowing 9/11 experiences of watching 9/11 on teevee.
No One Cares About Your Nerd Shit
I don't actually think my peculiar interests are all that interesting to most people. I get to spout off about them sometimes here (though I show some restraint), but still I know my personal nerd shit is basically nerd shit.
The entire news apparatus of multiple countries attempting to sell interest in the monarchy is basically that. Most people don't care about this nerd shit, and the dual message of "the queen (king) is super important and powerful but also has no real power" doesn't really help to sell it.
Everyone likes this bit from the Irish Times, which is funny, but I think it gets to the point even without the last line.
The entire news apparatus of multiple countries attempting to sell interest in the monarchy is basically that. Most people don't care about this nerd shit, and the dual message of "the queen (king) is super important and powerful but also has no real power" doesn't really help to sell it.
Everyone likes this bit from the Irish Times, which is funny, but I think it gets to the point even without the last line.
Having a monarchy next door is a little like having a neighbour who’s really into clowns and has daubed their house with clown murals, displays clown dolls in each window and has an insatiable desire to hear about and discuss clown-related news stories. More specifically, for the Irish, it’s like having a neighbour who’s really into clowns and, also, your grandfather was murdered by a clown.Most people just aren't that into clowns.
Saturday, September 10, 2022
Main Character Syndrome
How should the queen's death be incorporated into our own political psychodramas?
You've made enough money, Jake, you can retire rather than embarrass yourself to please the new boss. Go write some more tributes to The Troops.
You've made enough money, Jake, you can retire rather than embarrass yourself to please the new boss. Go write some more tributes to The Troops.
Branding Failure
It occurs to me that the kind of base level anglophilia was a part of American culture when I was growing up - certainly a part of 'educated' American culture - has faded quite a bit. I don't have my finger on the pulse, of course, but I don't sense that The Kids Today have the weird at least mild deference to symbols of the mother country and knee jerk positive reponses to Received Pronunciation accents that were once standard.
Just another weird old people thing.
Just another weird old people thing.
The Queen Is Still Dead
A bit more over the top than when Reagan died, but not by much. In both cases, an attempt by The Powers That Be to enforce a level of public mourning that is alien to most people (if not all!).
Friday, September 09, 2022
Heading Home Early, Boss!
Been mostly fine post-Covid, but haven't been sleeping well. Might need a nap!
Main Character Syndrome
I wonder why people in some countries - US and UK in particular - seem to believe they (the country) are always the main character, and those in most other countries don't.
If You've Done Some Murders, Then Your Tax Evasion Is Legal
It is the logic behind the mocking of "getting Capone for tax evasion," and the general inovcation of that mockery to defend powerful people for their numerous crimes.
Sounds Bad
I used to mistakenly be a bit relaxed about climate change. Not that I didn't think it wasn't real and serious, just that it was slow enough to be perhaps less than catastrophic. Ah, well, nevertheless.
The climate crisis has driven the world to the brink of multiple “disastrous” tipping points, according to a major study.
It shows five dangerous tipping points may already have been passed due to the 1.1C of global heating caused by humanity to date.
These include the collapse of Greenland’s ice cap, eventually producing a huge sea level rise, the collapse of a key current in the north Atlantic, disrupting rain upon which billions of people depend for food, and an abrupt melting of carbon-rich permafrost.
And Speaking Of Transparently Corrupt
This isn't going to go anywhere good.
WASHINGTON — The hundreds of pages of classified government records seized from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate last month aren't the former president's "personal records," and he has no right to possess them, the Justice Department said in a court filing Thursday as it said the government would appeal a judge's ruling on the matter.11th circuit - the next appeal step - is filled with Trump nutters too.
On The Ballot
Shouldn't ignore how transparently corrupt the Republican attempt to keep it off was.
The Michigan Supreme Court ordered Thursday that a citizen-initiative ballot measure seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution be added to the November ballot.
The court’s 5-2 ruling was issued the day before Michigan’s ballot needs to be finalized on Friday.
Morning
The thing about overdosing on the hagiography is eventually you lose track of why people were actually important, instead of just being, in their own way, famous for just being famous.
Thursday, September 08, 2022
Don't See How Donnie Two Scoops Wriggles Out Of This One
We'll see!!!
According to subpoenas issued by the grand jury, the contents of which were described to The New York Times, the Justice Department is interested in the inner workings of Save America PAC, Mr. Trump’s main fund-raising vehicle after the election. Several similar subpoenas were sent on Wednesday to junior and midlevel aides who worked in the White House and for Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.
Cuffs!!!
Happening now: Steve Bannon, handcuffed, is making an initial appearance in court in New York on money laundering and conspiracy charges
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) September 8, 2022
New "Compromise" Just Dropped
I suppose it's a little funny that conservative are now doing what supposed center-lefties did for decades, demanding people on "their side" agree to compromises that aren't actually on the table and wouldn't put the issue to rest even if they were.Not having pro-life battleground candidates stake out a clear, unified position on something like a 15-week ban on the day that Dobbs was announced seems like a strategic blunder.
— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) September 8, 2022
Roe was the compromise, Casey was the unworkable modification of that compromise, and Dobbs is now giving one side what they said they wanted. There is no "compromise" that makes people say, "ah, yes, this is a wise compromise, we can move on from this issue now."
Just starting places for the next battle in a fight that will never end.
Lock Him Up!!!
Got him!
NEW YORK, N.Y. — Steve Bannon, who managed Donald Trump's successful 2016 campaign for the presidency and served his administration as a White House adviser, surrendered Thursday morning to New York state authorities on charges that he laundered money by diverting funds donated to the We Build the Wall organization.
Bannon is charged with two counts of money laundering, three counts of conspiracy, and one count of scheming to defraud - Reuters News
— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) September 8, 2022
I Can See You
In the category of, "don't expect me to pretend you are a good faith actor," centrist dickheads and other people in the media pretending to care about public school kids only when teachers go on strike is a regular entry.
Over the images of striking teachers we hear about how these strikes are not “a good look”, with the obvious implication being “okay, let’s wrap it all up”. Since it’s the district that hasn’t offered the teachers a contract yet, the only way this can hurry up and end is if the teachers simply pack it up and go home.
Wednesday, September 07, 2022
People Gotta Eat
Gotta keep your job, fine, but the maddening thing is journalists - WHO ARE IN THE TRUTH TELLING BUSINESS, THEY KEEP INSISTING - who want to pull this shit and want everyone to pretend they aren't doing it.
Oh, Elon
Nice try.Reuters: Delaware judge denies Elon Musk's request to delay Twitter trial
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) September 7, 2022
The timing of our pal "Mudge" was convenient.
Also Seems Bad
They're just mad about "defund" of course.
The names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that’s accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to a report released Wednesday.Nothing to be worried about, hysterical libs.
Driving, But Worse
ST worked in the self-driving car technology field for a bit.
The point ST is trying to make here is that self-driving cars will "always" be inferior to a human driver. They will not be able to adapt quickly to all situations, to the little unexpected things (double parked cars, construction zones, etc... etc...) that we are confronted with every time we're on the road. They will be a bit annoying, at best! Regular moments of an "unsure" AI, regular moments of not adapting and responding as quickly as a human would.
Not just annoying for the passenger, but annoying for all the other nearby cars!
The technology is really neato, it's amazing how well it works even now, but even in the geo-fenced areas in which robotaxis are working "pretty well," they're... kind of annoying! Is it worth adding an average 5 minutes to every trip around town?
Shoot down one use and people come up with other ones. Long distance trucking! Sure and why haven't they been implemented on a wide scale yet, despite regular reports of testing?
The answer is left as an exercise for you, dear readers.
One reason driving is so enraging a lot of the time is because it's only "nice" when it works in the best way possible. No congestion, no getting stuck at lights, easy to find parking, no unexpected diversions, etc... etc... Add in any of these frictions and suddenly the driving experience seems "broken."Not to pick on somebody who seems to do very cool work in their own right but this is precisely the issue: self-driving cars will never be "like an Uber, except without a human driver". They'll drive differently, they'll be slower, they'll have unexpected limitations. Always. https://t.co/RLHZXDKEul
— Sifu Tweety Fish, cDc (@sifutweety) September 6, 2022
The point ST is trying to make here is that self-driving cars will "always" be inferior to a human driver. They will not be able to adapt quickly to all situations, to the little unexpected things (double parked cars, construction zones, etc... etc...) that we are confronted with every time we're on the road. They will be a bit annoying, at best! Regular moments of an "unsure" AI, regular moments of not adapting and responding as quickly as a human would.
Not just annoying for the passenger, but annoying for all the other nearby cars!
The technology is really neato, it's amazing how well it works even now, but even in the geo-fenced areas in which robotaxis are working "pretty well," they're... kind of annoying! Is it worth adding an average 5 minutes to every trip around town?
Shoot down one use and people come up with other ones. Long distance trucking! Sure and why haven't they been implemented on a wide scale yet, despite regular reports of testing?
The answer is left as an exercise for you, dear readers.
Seems Bad
Just some tchotchkes.
A document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities, was found by FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club last month, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about classified material stashed in the Florida property.This Haberman piece was one of her all time greats. Just speculating here, readers!
Some of the seized documents detail top-secret U.S. operations so closely guarded that many senior national security officials are kept in the dark about them. Only the president, some members of his Cabinet or a near-Cabinet-level official could authorize other government officials to know details of these special-access programs, according to people familiar with the search, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive details of an ongoing investigation.
The question, as with so much else around Mr. Trump, is why?Potential reason one: Trump is a pack rat!
Exciting documentsPotential reason two: Oh just because thinks he can!
Mr. Trump, a pack rat who for decades showed off knickknacks in his overstuffed Trump Tower office — including a giant shoe that once belonged to the basketball player Shaquille O’Neal — treated the nation’s secrets as similar trinkets to brandish.
‘L’état, c’est moi’Potential reason 3: Just ornery like a toddler!
Ripping up paperPotential reason 4: Just personal info, nothing sinister, but, you kow, he could be careless! Maybe! Just maybe!
Personal information
Mr. Trump, Mr. Bolton said, never told him he planned to take a document and use it for something beyond its value as a memento. It was “sort of whatever he wants to grab for whatever reason,” Mr. Bolton said. “He may not even fully appreciate” precisely why he did certain things.
Tuesday, September 06, 2022
Sounds Like Ron DeSantis Won The Week
According to his voluntary PR team in the press corp, he wins every week!
Yet, in the days that followed DeSantis’s campaign-style event to announce those arrests, cracks have begun to emerge in the state’s case amid intensifying questions about whether the governor and his election police unit have weaponized their new powers for political gain.No worries, Ron's still a Good Republican. We've got a lot invested in him!
Several of those charged told The Washington Post that they were led to believe by election officials and voter registration groups that they were eligible to vote as part of Florida’s widely publicized push to restore the voting rights of most felons. They expressed despair that they could face prison time for simply misunderstanding the law.
Note on Covid
I was lucky, my covid experience was fine. Something I would have self-diagnosed as "the flu" in the before time ("we" call everything worse than a bad cold "the flu" whether or not it is influenza), and never would have though to call a doctor. My fever briefly headed to 102, but only briefly, and otherwise was 101 or lower when I had it.
So, yes, covid is "no big deal" then. What's with all the dummies wearing masks???
I don't know what's typical for everyone, but it isn't typical for me to get "the flu" regularly. Last time I remember was, I dunno, 2014 maybe? In any case, I don't recommend getting covid or "the flu." Even in my easy case, I was basically useless for 3 days. Couldn't have gone to an actual job (shouldn't have, either, but couldn't have). Would have had a very hard time taking care of children.
One of the most bizarre developments in The Discourse was the anti-mask wearing bros. You know, the Nates and the Joshes and the Davids. I don't mean mask policy, I mean just the general derision heaped on mask wearers who are just minding their own damn business. This started the spring after the vaccines came out and never stopped, despite waves of covid since.
And, you know, sticking a mask on my gob when I remember is a pretty small price to pay to reduce my chances of getting covid a bit. I know it makes you super UNCOOL to have some concern for others, but the contempt for store workers involved with not just being against mask policies, or against wearing one yourself, but spending months getting enraged at the practice it all is quite amazing!
Christ, what assholes.
So, yes, covid is "no big deal" then. What's with all the dummies wearing masks???
I don't know what's typical for everyone, but it isn't typical for me to get "the flu" regularly. Last time I remember was, I dunno, 2014 maybe? In any case, I don't recommend getting covid or "the flu." Even in my easy case, I was basically useless for 3 days. Couldn't have gone to an actual job (shouldn't have, either, but couldn't have). Would have had a very hard time taking care of children.
One of the most bizarre developments in The Discourse was the anti-mask wearing bros. You know, the Nates and the Joshes and the Davids. I don't mean mask policy, I mean just the general derision heaped on mask wearers who are just minding their own damn business. This started the spring after the vaccines came out and never stopped, despite waves of covid since.
And, you know, sticking a mask on my gob when I remember is a pretty small price to pay to reduce my chances of getting covid a bit. I know it makes you super UNCOOL to have some concern for others, but the contempt for store workers involved with not just being against mask policies, or against wearing one yourself, but spending months getting enraged at the practice it all is quite amazing!
Christ, what assholes.
Everyone's Paid To Lie
This is related to my longtime obsession with an aspect of official DC culture, which is that when so many people, including many people who are my dear friends and show up to my parties, are paid to lie, it is poor social form to acknowledge this. It's very rude indeed to call people liars!
There's some range between 'honest advocate' and 'paid liar for Evil Corp,' but almost everyone is somewhere along a continuum that includes lying as just a normal part of the workday. Your boss, the politician, might be one of the good ones, but it's still your job to shade the truth a bit to make them look good when necessary!
Even when people are relatively honest, they're still paid to take positions they don't necessarily personally share.
My point is not that these are all bad people (though some are!), my point is that it's an entire culture - which includes political journalism, notionally about THE TRUTH - that has absorbed unlimited dishonest as normal.
There's some range between 'honest advocate' and 'paid liar for Evil Corp,' but almost everyone is somewhere along a continuum that includes lying as just a normal part of the workday. Your boss, the politician, might be one of the good ones, but it's still your job to shade the truth a bit to make them look good when necessary!
Even when people are relatively honest, they're still paid to take positions they don't necessarily personally share.
My point is not that these are all bad people (though some are!), my point is that it's an entire culture - which includes political journalism, notionally about THE TRUTH - that has absorbed unlimited dishonest as normal.
When You're A Star They Let You Do It
One similarity between Boris and Trump is that they are both people who lie even when the truth is available, buttressed by a system of political journalism that more often than not considers it rude to notice.
Monday, September 05, 2022
I Don't See How Donnie Two Sc...
Ah, well, nevertheless.
I'm sure the smart lawyers will pick it apart, but here's me on The Law: the law, lol, lmao.
A federal judge has granted, at least in part, Donald Trump’s request to have a so-called special master set aside documents seized by the FBI from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate that could be subject to privilege protections in the investigation into his retention of government secrets.Gonna be one hell of a SCOTUS ruling when it all gets there!
I'm sure the smart lawyers will pick it apart, but here's me on The Law: the law, lol, lmao.
Replacing Trump With Marjorie Taylor Greene
I suppose the UK versions are posher, with both the good and bad that entails, but it's a bit like that.
Liz Truss will become Britain’s next prime minister after beating Rishi Sunak in the bitterly fought Conservative leadership contest.
On This Labor Day
It occurs to me that the only pricing power mainstream economists believe exists is the possibility of wage demands by union thugs.
Sunday, September 04, 2022
Enemies Of The People
One does wonder why much of the American political press seem to think Trump's always been kidding when he calls them that. Or that his followers know that he's kidding (he's not kidding).
Let's Give The Money Job To The Crook
Or maybe there are just no non-grifters left.
The campaign arm of Senate Republicans had collected $181.5 million by the end of July — but spent 95 percent of it. A big investment in digital, and hyperaggressive tactics, have not paid off.
How is He Still Around
Due to a combination of, "people who were 'old' when I was young weren't as old as I thought they were," and, "fucking boomers will never ever go away," the "he" in the title could apply to so many people.
Turn on The Politics Show and so many of the many characters are the same damn people who were the main characters 20 years ago. Sometimes their roles change in interesting ways - hey there, Rudy - but still... Introduce some more new main characters!!!
Turn on The Politics Show and so many of the many characters are the same damn people who were the main characters 20 years ago. Sometimes their roles change in interesting ways - hey there, Rudy - but still... Introduce some more new main characters!!!
Saturday, September 03, 2022
Saturday Afternoon
Sadly, the little line next to the 'T' is still there. I did leave the house, however, because according to the CDC, "if you isolate for more than 5 days, it means you are probably a disturbed misanthrope who hates capitalism." Something like that, anyway.
Brilliant Lede
Every now and then there's a news article which gets widely praised by other journalists for its "brilliant lede" or other quality writing-with-a-bit-of-flair. Almost every time, my response is, "oh, there's a reporter who doesn't have to play by the rules of other reporters, for reasons." If it's about a serious topic, anyway.
Generally I don't think that "ability to write good" (in that way, at least) is an important skill for good journalism, but some journalists get to color outside the lines a bit and some don't. In many ways. If you're a star they let you do it!
Generally I don't think that "ability to write good" (in that way, at least) is an important skill for good journalism, but some journalists get to color outside the lines a bit and some don't. In many ways. If you're a star they let you do it!
CNN Going Full Wingnut
Cable news is bad for you, so I'm not entirely sure the "not even pretending anymore" development is actually bad. One can have differing views on this, but I tend to worry more about the influence of the NYT and NPR and the supposedly "neutral" press on mushy centrist brains, and coverage of issues more widely, than I do about the right wing press. Or, at least, I don't think I can *change* the right wing press, merely attempt to cauterize its impact on The Discourse more widely.
Flushing
Never know what you might scare out of the brush.
CNN — Within a week of the FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows handed over texts and emails to the National Archives that he had not previously turned over from his time in the administration, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
Friday, September 02, 2022
Michael Schultz
This is actually a pretty fascinating read with some frank recollections. Never knew the guy's name before, but of course know a lot of the things he's done.
Critics savaged “Sgt. Pepper’s,” especially the Bee Gees, who were kind of in an impossible position, standing in for the Beatles, who don’t appear in the film. How did it feel when you were shooting?
The Bee Gees were cool when they were playing music, but trying to get them to act was quite tedious. Peter Frampton, as well. When the guys were singing, they were fine. But otherwise it was elementary school theater. Barry Gibb couldn’t get out of bed unless he had a stogie; he was high constantly. [A representative for Gibb didn’t respond to a request for comment.] Peter was a really sweet guy, but the Bee Gees hated him. I think they resented the fact that he had this huge hit album out [“Frampton Comes Alive!”]. They were always ignoring him and trying to make his life as difficult as they could. But I ended up really liking the movie and thought it was going to be a big hit. At the very first screening, the audience loved it. The studio was ecstatic. But it got really damning reviews. It was like “The worst musical in the history of modern Hollywood moviemaking.”
Good Nazis And Bad Nazis
This is a joke, but the point is that the contemporary American Right is just filled with out and proud Nazis, and yet they still regularly accuse liberals of being the real Nazis. It does get a bit confusing.
You’ll never out twitter twitter, it can’t be done pic.twitter.com/ZZ79CpwZkz
— Jane Coaston (@janecoaston) September 2, 2022