Saturday, May 07, 2011
A Nation Of Samars
The number of people, young and old, in Iraq with severe psychological trauma must be huge.
The Mouthpiece of the Establishment
Tomorrow's Meet the Press guests are Rudy 911, Michael Chertoff, and Michael Hayden.
Friday, May 06, 2011
Low Density Zoning Hurts Poor People (By Design)
This comes out of a twitter conversation, but aside from all of the other reasons I'm against all of the various ways in which zoning regulations reduce population density, they're also used to exclude poor people from certain school districts. Large lot zoning and lack of multifamily dwellings make housing too expensive for poor people by increasing the minimum amount of land and housing poor people must buy in order to buy into a school district. And, yes, this is deliberate. Schools are largely financed through property taxes, and if you let some moochers buy a too small house in your neighborhood than they're going to be paying less for access to that school.
Good For The Goose
Silly Washington Post moochers don't understand that their Galtian overlords deserve all the money.
Zombie Unicorns On The March
Krugman:
I guess it's good that my capacity to remain surprised remains, but I certainly never would have expected such passivity in the face of massive widespread long term unemployment.
It’s not as if our political class is feeling complacent. On the contrary, D.C. economic discourse is saturated with fear: fear of a debt crisis, of runaway inflation, of a disastrous plunge in the dollar. Scare stories are very much on politicians’ minds.
Yet none of these scare stories reflect anything that is actually happening, or is likely to happen. And while the threats are imaginary, fear of these imaginary threats has real consequences: an absence of any action to deal with the real crisis, the suffering now being experienced by millions of jobless Americans and their families.
I guess it's good that my capacity to remain surprised remains, but I certainly never would have expected such passivity in the face of massive widespread long term unemployment.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Model
The big hope for me was that HCR would, even if slowly, phase out private insurers in this country due to the existence of the public option. If Vermont manages to set up a single payer system, this could still happen as the state suddenly becomes insanely attractive to businesses who really don't want to be on the hook for health insurance for their employees.
The Great Depression Act
Hopefully Claire McCaskill's constituents start hearing about her plan to destroy Medicare.
More Than One Third
That's an amazing number.
That's why an increasing number of young adults are living with their parents — including "boomerang kids" who return after college. The percentage of young adults ages 19 to 29 who are living with their parents rose from 25% in 1980 to 34% in the late 2000s, Qian's research shows.
Monthly Jobs Report
Of course I hope the ponies are about to arrive. If they aren't arriving, then I hope we get a really awful measurement of reality on the off chance that somebody is encouraged to do something about it. Not that there's much hope for that anymore. Briefing.com forecast is +200K. I'll take the under.
Really Awful Ideas That Don't Go Away
I don't think the administration is actually planning to try to implement a VMT, but yes it is basically a Rube Goldberg tax. More than that, it's a Rube Goldberg tax based on the faulty premise that voters will somehow fail to notice it.
What Were They Thinking?
I suppose they were betting that Democrats would fail to realize that Medicare was, in fact, very popular among a key group of voters. It turns out they lost that bet, but I'm not sure it was a crazy one.
Actually Celebrated Here In The Urban Hellhole
I doubt most of the gringos know why, but most of the Mexican immigrants in my neighborhood are from Puebla, where they do actually celebrate beating the French on May 5, 1862.
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Local Anecdata
From observation and discussion, the local residential construction market in the urban hellhole is booming a bit once again and contractors are busy. Locally that mostly means rehabbing rowhouses and small scale infill development(as in, building on empty lots or groups of empty lots where something was demolished at some point).
There's Always Room For The Serious One
I think what Hunstman is doing makes sense. Eventually DC Republican elites will signal more and more loudly that most of the rest of the candidates are unelectable loons and there's a pretty good chance that Republican voters, aided by Rush and Fox and the rest of the wurlitzer, will come around. The chosen candidate might not be Huntsman, but it certainly could be.
There Will Be No B
I never though the rhetorical two-step of "invest now, cut later" was going to work very well, but more than that they handled it even worse than I imagined. It's all about the deficit, nobody talks about jobs anymore, and the administration isn't making the case that there's something they want that Congress won't give them. The plan is... hope for the best. Plan B will never come.
Lunch Thread
Think I'll try the new non-pho noodle place. Damn immigrants and their tasty temptations.
The Kids Are Alright
I'm not sure why people are surprised and even upset that some teenagers don't know who the hell bin Laden is. Bush said he didn't matter, then we replaced him with Saddam as Hitler of the Week, and then that guy in Iran, and now Ghaddafi. I'm sure for even somewhat aware teens, IraqAndAfghanistanAnd911 are all jumbled up in a confusing nonsensical mess because, you know what? It is a big clusterfuck of a nonsensical mess, with al Qaeda and the Taliban and SaddamHitlerHussein and various #2s and #3s that die off like Spinal Tap drummers, and endless wars with no purpose that anyone, even their advocates, can articulate with any clarity. No one's talked about bin Laden in years.
The kids are fine. It's our elite overlords that are all screwed up.
The kids are fine. It's our elite overlords that are all screwed up.
Lighting Piles Of Taxpayer Money On Fire
Christie's favorite mall.
And the people running the thing obviously have no idea what they are doing.
The state has already spent, by some accounts, as much as $1 billion on financing, tax breaks and highway improvements to support the development.
And the people running the thing obviously have no idea what they are doing.
“People always notice how you see the Manhattan skyline from here,” he said. “What they don’t think about is, that means Manhattan can see us.
“Millions of people are going to look out their windows and say, ‘Hey, what’s that?’ ”
Jobs
Government report comes out Friday, and ADP estimate of private sector job growth is +179K. That's good news, but barely, and doesn't include likely loss of public sector jobs.
Um, It's Almost The Same Question?
CNBC:
Bailing out those countries is basically... bailing out the banks.
Angela Merkel, Jean-Claude Trichet and to a lesser extent Nicolas Sarkozy have to answer the following question: do we bailout the banks or do we throw more money at highly-indebted nations like Ireland, Portugal and more urgently, Greece?
Bailing out those countries is basically... bailing out the banks.
Tweet Of The Day
From Virginia's attorney general.
How much would I give to be one of the 72 Virginans Osama is 'hanging out' with since Sunday?
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Bypass The States
Yes, on a per capita basis, older cities especially get stiffed on transportation dollars. Some of this is the general bias in favor of building new shiny things (and the added cost/difficulties of doing so in dense areas), and some of it is the disproportionate representation of rural interests in state legislatures.
May The Biggest Asshole Win
I don't think birtherism per se was at the core of TRUMPANIA, I think it was simply that Trump showed he was willing say anything to piss off liberals. The racism appeals to some of them, but basically pissing off liberals is the unifying desire of the 27percenters.
O Canada
An LG&M commenter reminds us of this old David Rees post.
This sums up much of the past 10 years of our discourse pretty well.
This sums up much of the past 10 years of our discourse pretty well.
Can the hero be wrong about everything, survive, and still convince people he's smarter than everyone in Moveon.org?
Bus Bombs
Post-9/11 I was in SoCal, and the mayor and LAX responded by not allowing any private automobiles to drive up to the terminals. They were very concerned about car bombs. At an airport. Why? I have no idea. There's no particular reason to set off a car bomb at an airport except for the fact that there are crowds, but there are crowds lots of places. They did let cabs and buses drive into the terminals. With a little thought you can probably get why this was very stupid.
At the '08 DNC the didn't let the light rail stop at the closest stop to the stadium, preferring to have people travel by bus. Of course the light rail is on a fixed guideway while a rogue bus driver can, you know, drive right into a building. This was all very stupid.
And, yes, most security at office buildings is also very stupid.
At the '08 DNC the didn't let the light rail stop at the closest stop to the stadium, preferring to have people travel by bus. Of course the light rail is on a fixed guideway while a rogue bus driver can, you know, drive right into a building. This was all very stupid.
And, yes, most security at office buildings is also very stupid.
Didn't We Solve This In The Aught Three Battle Of Saletan
I feel like we should all understand this now. Yes, not all people who are anti-abortion are sexist and motivated by a desire to control and limit female sexual activity. But the anti-abortion movement, its leaders, and the politicians who listen to them are.
Elsewhere
Other unfolding tragedies.
Radiation readings have risen to 100-1,000 times the normal level on the Pacific seabed near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the operator said Tuesday.
Intelligence
I'm already hearing crazy stories from Person A who works with Person B who has a friend, Person C, who knows someone in military intelligence, who says "this is what really took place," telling a story that just happens to reinforce what A wants to believe. The inadvertent live tweet of the attack on the bin Laden compound should help, some, with this kind of thing.
So maybe I'm biased; I've never been impressed with the US intelligence operation. But I find this a more plausible explanation of how bin Laden finally came to be found living in an Islamabad suburb than the story of plucky CIA officials working years-old sources.
--update: second link fixed.
LEARN DAMMIT
I met Sullivan once, randomly, briefly. Perfectly nice chap. But, you know, this is nothing new.
Monday, May 02, 2011
Billable Hours
Various people on the internets inform me that as a subscriber and/or ticketholder I have an ongoing contractual relationship with the orchestra which could potentially be impacted by the bankruptcy.
So, figuring that several or tens of thousands of these letters went out, I wonder how much the law firm is billing for this little action...
So, figuring that several or tens of thousands of these letters went out, I wonder how much the law firm is billing for this little action...
Management Failure
Mail just arrived and heart jumped a bit when I saw that there was a package of somewhat scary looking legal documents. For some reason I got copies of paperwork related to the bankruptcy filing of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Maybe it was sent to all subscribers for reasons I'm unclear on.
Anyway, this HuffPo article about it is pretty good. I don't think most of you care about my local orchestra, but it's another example of the people in charge fucking up royally and then attempting to stick it to the workers in order to try to clean up their mess.
Anyway, this HuffPo article about it is pretty good. I don't think most of you care about my local orchestra, but it's another example of the people in charge fucking up royally and then attempting to stick it to the workers in order to try to clean up their mess.
One would hope that the Bankruptcy Court would, at a minimum, refuse to approve any plan that calls for any member of the Orchestra Association's Executive Committee to remain in position and that the entire host of vice presidents be sacked for their abject failures as well. These gentlemen and ladies who have betrayed a public trust and who have sought to hide their failures behind a smoke-screen of "it is all the fault of these over-paid, greedy musicians" deserve forced retirement instanter. A decade of bad decisions ought to have consequences. The Orchestra Association is about to embark on a massive fund-raising campaign styled "Listen With Your Heart." One hopes that the Bankruptcy Judge will instead adjudicate with his head and clean house without delay.
Cars Are Too Damn Expensive
I haven't spent a lot of time in less developed areas, but the bit I have really drove home the fact that failure to build a transportation system that most of your population can afford is going to be a major hindrance to economic growth and development.
Cranky Oldhead Yells At Sky
I'd actually be surprised if adding bike lanes to these streets didn't improve traffic flow. The thing is, they really aren't wide enough for two lanes of traffic, more like 1.75 lanes of traffic. Two cars can't drive parallel to each other safely throughout, especially once you add in the random parked delivery vehicles, and so a lot of the congestion is actually caused by cars weaving in and out of a one-lane and two-lane configuration, and having to drive quite slowly when it is in a two-lane configuration because there's barely any room between the cars.
The point is, I'd bet one clearly marked continuous traffic lane will be an improvement over the current 1.75 lanes.
The point is, I'd bet one clearly marked continuous traffic lane will be an improvement over the current 1.75 lanes.
And On And On
After all this time I still have no idea what the ideal US response to 9/11 was, but I do know that pretty quickly anyone suggesting that maybe, just maybe, a full military invasion and occupation of Afghanistan wasn't the best approach was declared a decadent elitist fifth column.
And Iraq.
And Iraq.
Comments
If ever the comments link doesn't appear, just click on the time stamp and the comments will still show up. I gather when disqus has traffic and server issues they pull that functionality. But the comment system will still load if you click the time stamp to the post and will hopefully be mostly working...
Gibberish
The problem is that our publicly stated foreign policy with respect to the Global War On Terror is basically gibberish. Are we in Afghanistan to kill 300 bad guys or are we in Afghanistan to light piles of money on fire in the name of nationbuilding and protecting the wimmenfolk. What are 40,000 troops doing in Iraq?
Maybe there's some Straussian reason for all of this. But I doubt there's anyone who can articulate what it's all about in a way which makes sense and roughly tracks the official reasons.
Maybe there's some Straussian reason for all of this. But I doubt there's anyone who can articulate what it's all about in a way which makes sense and roughly tracks the official reasons.
Calling Out
I think the kinds of things things Jill is talking about here were much bigger part of this humble blog's existence years ago than they are now, but they're still relevant. Some things are a bit more specific to the online feminism culture, but I think anyone with a semi-popular blog has dealt with many of the things she talks about.
I have a better filter now, I think, and am better able to distinguish between people who are actually interested in the activism/cause/candidate/issue they claim to be interested in and those who just want daily affirmation of their belief that everybody and everything notthem sucks. Still, as Jill says, the internet is a big place. I don't have it all jacked into my head at all times. Sometimes I'm busy with other stuff. Sometimes I have nothing to add.
I have a better filter now, I think, and am better able to distinguish between people who are actually interested in the activism/cause/candidate/issue they claim to be interested in and those who just want daily affirmation of their belief that everybody and everything notthem sucks. Still, as Jill says, the internet is a big place. I don't have it all jacked into my head at all times. Sometimes I'm busy with other stuff. Sometimes I have nothing to add.
I Bet They Tried
Given the conventions of journalism I bet the Times tried to find someone to say that lighting taxpayer money on fire to restart a failed megamall was a good idea. No luck.
Good Morning
Pictures from Maddow's Blog of spontaneous celebration of OBL's death in front of the White House. Pretty strange.
Sunday, May 01, 2011
What A Long Strange Trip
Given everything that's happened between 9/11/2001 and today, I think it's fair for reactions to today's news to be somewhat more complicated than they might have been on, say, 10/11/2001. And admittedly there's something about surreal about this headline.
And The Winner Is
Various outlets reporting that bin Laden is dead.
I thought I'd post up the Osama bin Laden card from the evil deck of cards of evil people, but then I remembered that it was Iraqis that were in that deck.
So, well, happy Mission Accomplished day then.
I thought I'd post up the Osama bin Laden card from the evil deck of cards of evil people, but then I remembered that it was Iraqis that were in that deck.
So, well, happy Mission Accomplished day then.
Um, Whuh?
Twitter machine tells me Obama is giving unexpected statement on unknown topic at 10:30.
...Wolf sez major natsec development. I think he said not Libya related.
..."dramatic announcement" and, in case you were worried, justifies calling in Wolf from home.
...twitter rumors say dead bin Laden.
...Wolf sez major natsec development. I think he said not Libya related.
..."dramatic announcement" and, in case you were worried, justifies calling in Wolf from home.
...twitter rumors say dead bin Laden.
Step Away From The Internet
Long believed that when the internet is pissing you off it's time to turn it off for a bit. So light blogging today!
Wakey, Wakey
NASA's Earth Day Gallery. Fascinating. Still checking it out, but so far, Number Two, Alaska’s Susitna Glacier, is my favorite.
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