Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Hello Fellow Children
The oldest millennials are 38 or so. I'm not entirely sure when 38 became "young" but ok fine 38 is young. But what 38 isn't is 20, and the cultural overlap between 20-year-olds and 38-year-olds is not huge. 38 young is not the same as 20 young.
How It's Going To Go
The Trump administration will fight all oversight. Conservative hack judges, many of whom had nice writeups about them from eventheliberal fancy lawyers, will defer to the executive based on some made up principles. If ever there is a Dem president in office they will rediscover the dangers of such deference - we went a bit too far, you see - and unimpeded oversight will suddenly be the norm.
The circle of life.
The circle of life.
Smears
Back when I had a tiny bit of contact with DC people, educating them about how the puke funnel works and how to deal with right wing media was part of what I tried to do (informally, mostly). They still are bad at it.
Sure.
After eight years of the Obama presidency, Democrats should be very good at identifying a baseless smear campaign when they see one. The skills they should have honed under Obama would be crucial now, with prolific liar Donald Trump in office. Relentless fact-checking won’t end Trumpism’s hold on America, but the president’s political opponents ought to at least be able to discern between truth and fiction. Instead, it’s not clear what, if anything, the party’s leaders learned from its Obama-era battles. Faced with a smear campaign against one of its newest congresswomen, the party has stumbled repeatedly.The instinct is to always blame the victim. This can't happen to me. If I just behave, they won't punch me.
Sure.
Nicer Things Aren't Possible
I'm not sure if I prefer vague aspirational bullshit or very detailed "all we can hope for is a slightly expanded tax advantaged savings vehicle."
The former is at least a little hopey.
The former is at least a little hopey.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Not Just Me
Consumer reports.
David Friedman, Vice President of Advocacy for Consumer Reports, said, “Technology has the potential to shape future transportation to be safer, less expensive, and more accessible. Yet, safety must always come first. Today’s driver assistance technologies have helped deliver on safety, but the marketplace is full of bold claims about self-driving capabilities that overpromise and underdeliver. For instance, Tesla’s current driver-assist system, ‘Autopilot,’ is no substitute for a human driver. It can’t dependably navigate common road situations on its own, and fails to keep the driver engaged exactly when it is needed most.
“We’ve heard promises of self-driving vehicles being just around the corner from Tesla before. Claims about the company’s driving automation systems and safety are not backed up by the data, and it seems today’s presentations had more to do with investors than consumers’ safety. We agree that Tesla, and every other car company, has a moral imperative to make transportation safer, and all companies should embrace the most important principle: preventing harm and saving lives.
More Of A Shelbyville Idea
Wasted a bit of time watching Elon's Musk pretend "full self driving" announcement. Then I went to the gym because running on the treadmill was more pleasant.
There's a new chip because at some point Elon got mad that his robot cars weren't working, threw a tantrum, and screamed "WOULD IT HELP IF WE HAD A BETTER CHIP???" And one of his highly paid guys said, uh, sure, Elon, we just need a better chip.
So they made a chip, or paid someone else to make a chip, or something.
It's better than the chip from 3 years ago, but not better than anybody else's chips from... today. But, ok, fine, there's a better chip.
It's a cool chip. And they just have to solve the software problem. Almost there. Gonna solve that software problem. By the end of the year (no, really). And the robotaxis will be ready... next year. IF the regulators approve! Elon always says it needs regulator approval, but he never says who the regulators are because they don't exist.
What a con man.
There's a new chip because at some point Elon got mad that his robot cars weren't working, threw a tantrum, and screamed "WOULD IT HELP IF WE HAD A BETTER CHIP???" And one of his highly paid guys said, uh, sure, Elon, we just need a better chip.
So they made a chip, or paid someone else to make a chip, or something.
It's better than the chip from 3 years ago, but not better than anybody else's chips from... today. But, ok, fine, there's a better chip.
It's a cool chip. And they just have to solve the software problem. Almost there. Gonna solve that software problem. By the end of the year (no, really). And the robotaxis will be ready... next year. IF the regulators approve! Elon always says it needs regulator approval, but he never says who the regulators are because they don't exist.
What a con man.
But What About Me
I wasn't kidding with the last sentence here. I've seen a lot of evenliberals get mad at the idea that someone else is being helped and they weren't. I get it. Sucks to be born at the wrong time. But "no one can have nice things unless I have nice things" is how we got here. Well that and a lot of "this self-made man paid for college with a minimum wage summer job in 1966, why can't you kids???"
3 Months, 6 Months, Certainly By The End Of The Year
Consumer fraud is rampant but it's a bit more of a problem when it involves two ton high speed death machines.
This is going to be hilarious.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears poised to transform the company’s electric cars into driverless vehicles in a risky bid to realize a bold vision that he has been floating for years.
The technology required to make that quantum leap is scheduled to be shown off to Tesla investors Monday at the company’s Palo Alto, California, headquarters.
This is going to be hilarious.
Jubilee
Sounds good to me.
The first step in addressing this crisis is to deal head-on with the outstanding debt that is weighing down millions of families and should never have been required in the first place. That’s why I’m calling for something truly transformational — the cancellation of up to $50,000 in student loan debt for 42 million Americans.Cue people saying "what about mah college that I paid for?"
Sunday, April 21, 2019
The Book of Faces
The good news is it won't be too long before the average age of users on that hellsite, at least in the US, is older than the average age of Fox viewers.
What I Hated About School Was
Every now and then I hear stories about why rich people get involved in education. There's the charter grift, of course, but other than the grift some of these people seem to be well-meaning, but if you boil down their motives it seems to be something like:
When I was a kid in school, I didn't like that they did things this way, and I would have learned better if they did things this other way.
I'm no expert teacher but in my not so vast experience, different students learn differently. All the various flavors-of-the-week of instruction style probably do better for some students, and less well for other students, and while you can't (also, this is bad, so don't) cater to every student individually, a little bit of a mix that plays to your own personal strengths (some teachers are better at THIS rather than THAT and that's just the way it is) as a teacher is the way to go.
Also you don't have to think rich people are all supergeniuses to think they probably aren't...typical.
When I was a kid in school, I didn't like that they did things this way, and I would have learned better if they did things this other way.
I'm no expert teacher but in my not so vast experience, different students learn differently. All the various flavors-of-the-week of instruction style probably do better for some students, and less well for other students, and while you can't (also, this is bad, so don't) cater to every student individually, a little bit of a mix that plays to your own personal strengths (some teachers are better at THIS rather than THAT and that's just the way it is) as a teacher is the way to go.
Also you don't have to think rich people are all supergeniuses to think they probably aren't...typical.
Saturday, April 20, 2019
I Didn't Plan To Lie, I Just Do It Automatically Like Breathing
What a defense!
Asked on “Good Morning America” if the report had damaged her credibility, Ms. Sanders responded that she had made the statement in the heat of the moment, and that it was not “a scripted talking point.”Good enough for the White House press, probably.
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