Rock on.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Balls
I wonder if Labour will ever figure out that running to the right of the Tories might not be the cunning plan they think it is...
And Then What
I just can't picture what happens when a major metro area loses its water supply.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - São Paulo, Brazil’s drought-hit megacity of 20 million, has about two months of guaranteed water supply remaining as it taps into the second of three emergency reserves, officials say.
Atlantic City Tried The Communism And That Didn't Work
I guess "private sector" just means whatever we want it to mean these days.
As Atlantic City continues to suffer an economic free fall, state officials are contemplating turning to the private sector to jump-start development there.
One proposal being reviewed by Gov. Christie and legislative leaders is the creation of a nonprofit development corporation that would help decide what projects to build. That could involve demolishing the shuttered Trump Plaza to create walkable retail and restaurant space and open sight lines, officials said.
...
In some cases, Atlantic City's group would work with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), a state entity that uses casino gaming revenue for development.
In such cases, the public authority could use eminent-domain power to acquire property and then hand it over to the private development group.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Confess Your Unpopular Opinion
Standing up for a domestic violence perpetrator is not the hill I am going to die on, and standing up for rich NFL players is not the most important labor rights cause you can devote yourself to. Still, NFL players are labor, and policies about dealing with labor should be clear, contractual, honest, and not arbitrary. I'm uncomfortable generally with punishing employees for things they do off the clock. I get that major league sports players are part celebrity - and that for better or for worse 'image' is at least a minor consideration when they're being hired - but hiring decisions of individual teams are different than random sanctions imposed by the league.
The NFL does punish players for things they do off the clock, and to the extent that they do, a domestic violence perpetrator is certainly high on the list of people who should be punished. But any employee deserves some sort of due process, not a make it up as we go along in order to cover our asses process.
The NFL does punish players for things they do off the clock, and to the extent that they do, a domestic violence perpetrator is certainly high on the list of people who should be punished. But any employee deserves some sort of due process, not a make it up as we go along in order to cover our asses process.
That Confounded Bridge
Pricey
Anyway, no deep thoughts on the merits of a replacement bridge. It's going to be very expensive, and tolls likely won't pay for it.
The price gap between the bridges has existed for decades. Indeed, New York State — during Gov. Thomas E. Dewey’s tenure more than 60 years ago — decided to site the three-mile-long Tappan Zee illogically at the river’s second-widest spot partly because doing so would place the bridge just beyond the jurisdiction of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which, in addition to the George Washington Bridge, operates the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels. New York could set the toll, draw all the revenue and not share it with its neighboring state.
The Tappan Zee, the longest bridge in New York, opened in 1955 and was designed to last 50 years. Now work has begun on a bridge to replace it, one that will also be the widest in the world by some measures. Articles in this series are chronicling the construction of the new double-spanned bridge and the people building it.
But chances are that the gap between the tolls collected at the two bridges will narrow in the next few years because the construction of a $3.9 billion replacement for the Tappan Zee will force the state to raise the price to cross the river. The tantalizing, politically freighted question that no one has yet answered is how high the toll will rise. Logic and fairness will not necessarily be the main factors in that decision.
Anyway, no deep thoughts on the merits of a replacement bridge. It's going to be very expensive, and tolls likely won't pay for it.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Friday Evening
I hope you all bought things like good little citizen-consumers.
Travel over. While in theory one can blog from a moving car these days, it doesn't work well in practice.
Nothing like discovering you have 10 minutes to get home, unload the car, and return it to the rental company after realizing it isn't actually due back tomorrow.
Travel over. While in theory one can blog from a moving car these days, it doesn't work well in practice.
Nothing like discovering you have 10 minutes to get home, unload the car, and return it to the rental company after realizing it isn't actually due back tomorrow.
And speaking of drug pushers...
I guess you aren't paying enough for drugs, yet.
Honestly, I'm not sure if anything can influence them, but maybe if enough people scream at the Congresscritters there can be some push-back against this. (If the right-wing was for real, they'd run like crazy with this one - but no, God forbid they should complain about anything real.)
We'll Serve Them Lean Cuisine To Make Them Lean And Mean
Well this will work for sure.
As the Obama administration scrambles to counter the Islamic State, commanders have decided against trying to rebuild entire vanished divisions or introduce new personnel in underperforming, undermanned units across the country, according to U.S. officials. Rather, the officials said, the hope is to build nine new Iraqi army brigades — up to 45,000 light-infantry soldiers — into a vanguard force that, together with Kurdish and Shiite fighters, can shatter the Islamic State’s grip on a third of the country.
“The idea is, at least in the first instance, to try and build a kind of leaner, meaner Iraqi army,” said a senior U.S. official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Officer Friendly
I'm still trying to figure out if people whose experiences with the police have always been pleasant (or at least appropriate) don't believe that isn't the case for all people or just don't care.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Blowback
This covert ops thing never seems to work out well. Certainly not in the long run.
Marcy on Bhengazzzzz.
Marcy on Bhengazzzzz.
But the key questions all come down to what degree the attack on Chris Stevens and two former SEALs who might have been training the Special Forces that didn’t come through when it mattered was blowback, a horrible but perhaps unsurprising outcome when you arm a range of militias to overthrow someone you want gone.
Justice In America
Only looked at snippets of the grand jury stuff, but it's quite obvious that it wasn't a grand jury proceeding, it was a trial without a prosecutor.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Just For One Day
I've been reading these "area man actually does something around the house" stories for decades.
I won't claim to live up to the 'equality in housework' standard, especially when adjusted for certain time availability factors, and ultimately that's what matters, but I don't think I deserve a medal every time I cook a meal, either.
I won't claim to live up to the 'equality in housework' standard, especially when adjusted for certain time availability factors, and ultimately that's what matters, but I don't think I deserve a medal every time I cook a meal, either.
Ferguson
Grand jury decision announcement today.
No deep thoughts other than it's time for heavily armed law enforcement to stop assuming that unarmed black people are a danger to them.
No deep thoughts other than it's time for heavily armed law enforcement to stop assuming that unarmed black people are a danger to them.
Why All The Parking
I often wonder why businesses in places where land is relatively plentiful but still not cheap don't fight back against parking minimums more than they do. They do cost a lot of money. A tool for excluding smaller competitors might be a reason.
GOP Daddies
Silly Booman, it's in the constitution that all super macho security jobs must go to Republican dudes, all Very Serious People who know how to Keep Us Safe.
Maybe Rudy Giuliani?
Maybe Rudy Giuliani?
Benghazighazi
Benghazi was a lot like Whitewater, in that it never even made any sense. The Clintons are being accused of corruption so nefarious that they lost money on a land deal? What?
Of course Whitewater led to son of Whitewater, and third cousin 7 times removed from Whitewater, etc. Maybe that ultimately was the goal of the Benghazi Show.
Of course Whitewater led to son of Whitewater, and third cousin 7 times removed from Whitewater, etc. Maybe that ultimately was the goal of the Benghazi Show.
Hagel's Out
And it seems like the administration is really pissing on him as he goes out the door. Weird.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
And The Spoils Go To
A reminder that local politics is almost always corrupt, but that corruption is tolerated depending on who is doing it and who benefits.
Morning Thread
Just finished the Rolling Stone article A Rape On Campus. After reading that, I'm glad I'm not sending my daughters off to college.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
What's It All About Then
If powerful men can't rape and kill children with impunity then the empire might fall.
Two newspaper executives have told the Observer that their publications were issued with D-notices – warnings not to publish intelligence that might damage national security – when they sought to report on allegations of a powerful group of men engaging in child sex abuse in 1984. One executive said he had been accosted in his office by 15 uniformed and two non-uniformed police over a dossier on Westminster paedophiles passed to him by the former Labour cabinet minister Barbara Castle.
We'll Win It This Year
And on and on...
WASHINGTON — President Obama decided in recent weeks to authorize a more expansive mission for the military in Afghanistan in 2015 than originally planned, a move that ensures American troops will have a direct role in fighting in the war-ravaged country for at least another year.
Friday, November 21, 2014
Major League
Obviously a guy who is capable of drugging and raping multiple women is a complete asshole, but I get that absent criminal proceedings, members of the press aren't going to be comfortable adjudicating such matters in public. But what has struck me in the wake of the Cosby rape allegations it that it's increasingly being revealed that the guy is a total asshole generally in ways which there aren't really any excuses for not reporting about.
Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that the fact the he's an asshole is more important than the fact that he's probably a serial rapist, I'm just saying that general asshole behavior is easier to cover than allegations of serious crimes that aren't in the legal system. Dr. Huxtable - what an asshole!
Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that the fact the he's an asshole is more important than the fact that he's probably a serial rapist, I'm just saying that general asshole behavior is easier to cover than allegations of serious crimes that aren't in the legal system. Dr. Huxtable - what an asshole!
Rigged Market
I actually think lots of people do want to live in some version of the post-war American suburb, have a detached single family home, etc. But it's wrong to think that landscape emerged purely due to consumer preferences. Policy has been rigged against the alternatives for a long time and in many ways.
To Protect And Serve
Inspiring.
IN A DECISION that Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey called "disappointing," an arbitrator on Wednesday moved to reinstate fired Philadelphia narcotics cop Jeffrey Cujdik.
Ramsey booted Cujdik from the force in May, following a long-running Internal Affairs investigation into allegations that the veteran cop lied on search warrants and had an inappropriate relationship with an informant - and then lied about both to investigators. The allegations were first unearthed in the 2009 Daily News series "Tainted Justice."
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Thursday Night
Admit I didn't expect that the executive order would compel all homeowners to house an undocumented immigrant.
The Moneys
Lemieux:
This is probably what he meant, but the key point is that we spend more per capita in total than everyone else, and we also spend more per capita in public money than many without the associated universal access that sane countries have. Even before Obamacare, we had a lot of government expenditures on health care, just very expensive government expenditures on health care.
In fact, every other liberal democracy has addressed them in ways that provide universal coverage for less and often much less money per capita than the American system.
This is probably what he meant, but the key point is that we spend more per capita in total than everyone else, and we also spend more per capita in public money than many without the associated universal access that sane countries have. Even before Obamacare, we had a lot of government expenditures on health care, just very expensive government expenditures on health care.
Monarchy In The UK
I remember reading a piece years ago on some random anonymous blog about how hardcore British monarchists were really worried about the future King Charles era because he wouldn't rule quietly, but instead throw his weight around as much possible. Monarchists were concerned because they were worried it would ultimately doom the monarchy.
This isn't a random anonymous blog...
This isn't a random anonymous blog...
Let's Not Think About What We've Wrought
And on and on...
Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, warned the American public against a kind of intervention fatigue, emphasizing that U.S. leadership is needed now more than ever amid global threats from Ebola to the Islamic State.
“I think there is too much of, ‘Oh, look, this is what intervention has wrought’ … one has to be careful about overdrawing lessons,” Power said Wednesday during the Defense One Summit. At the same time, she said, “we are asking an awful lot right now of our forces.”
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Dumb Ideas Never Die
I'm fine with people objecting to gas taxes because they're regressive, but a VMT tax is also regressive. And suddenly instead of having to have enforcement/collection on a few hundred or thousand gas stations, you have to have an enforcement/collection bureaucracy on every single licensed vehicle.
The gas tax is a nice simple tax, easy to enforce, which has all the incentives going the right way. A VMT tax is a needlessly complex way of trying to get the same money. Just make it stop.
The gas tax is a nice simple tax, easy to enforce, which has all the incentives going the right way. A VMT tax is a needlessly complex way of trying to get the same money. Just make it stop.
Good Luck With That
I'm all for publications making money any way they can. Some manage (it seems) to make the paywall model work. Good for them! But all the geniuses running newspapers these days don't seem to understand that customers always just essentially paid for distribution, that reader eyeballs were always the real product they sold to advertisers to pay the bills.
Good luck with that paywall, but it won't work. Happy to be wrong.
Good luck with that paywall, but it won't work. Happy to be wrong.
Need The Post Office
I can envision something replacing the need for it, but we need the post office for more than just sending clothing catalogs and Christmas cards. There needs to be a uniform accepted way of sending bills and notices. I get a bit puzzled by the people who don't get this.
What About The Affordable Housing
A slightly maddening thing here in the urban hellhole is that any time there's a development proposal people start asking about affordable housing. Philadelphia doesn't have an affordable housing problem. It does have a no damn jobs and no damn money problem, which can lead to people not being able to afford housing, but that's not the same thing. Lack of "affordable housing" happens when land prices get absurdly high, and when only high end units are built. Philly still has plenty of places where land prices are negligible and, for better or for worse, a lot of the housing stock is substandard. Yes gentrification is driving up prices in some places, but it's still really a block by block thing.
I'm all for helping poor people, and in my socialist utopia everyone has a stable living situation, but it doesn't help to incorrectly diagnose the problem. There isn't an affordable housing problem, there are just too many people who have an affordable everything problem. Building a couple of hundred below market rate units isn't going to do much to help people, and it's generally a very expensive way to try.
And don't get me started on how the affordable housing crowd often overlaps with the 'every unit must have 2 parking spaces at $20,000 each' crowd...
I'm all for helping poor people, and in my socialist utopia everyone has a stable living situation, but it doesn't help to incorrectly diagnose the problem. There isn't an affordable housing problem, there are just too many people who have an affordable everything problem. Building a couple of hundred below market rate units isn't going to do much to help people, and it's generally a very expensive way to try.
And don't get me started on how the affordable housing crowd often overlaps with the 'every unit must have 2 parking spaces at $20,000 each' crowd...
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Out of Sight
The urban hellhole was destined to get a second casino, by state mandate. The first one is, by accounts (I have not been), a depressing shithole. The second one will inevitably be as well, as instead of granting it for any of the proposals that were more centrally located, they decided to put it down by the stadiums. On one hand it offends my urbanite aesthetic, but on the other hand they weren't going to allow a truly urban project anyway. Always gotta have more parking. So put it where the highway ramps and plentiful parking are. People can go before and after games and the rest of us won't even notice.
That's Your Swan Song?
I don't know if Mary Landrieu really thinks that ramming Keystone XL through Congress will save her job, or if it's just an audition for another job, but either way it's a pretty crappy way to end a Senate career.
It's a funny issue, really. Sure there's money behind it and all, but basically the Morning Joe crowd spends time obsessing about it because hippies don't like it. Why else would they care about using eminent domain to build a pipeline so a Canadian company can export oil?
It's a funny issue, really. Sure there's money behind it and all, but basically the Morning Joe crowd spends time obsessing about it because hippies don't like it. Why else would they care about using eminent domain to build a pipeline so a Canadian company can export oil?
Fat Al Gore
I find that social media encourages people to freak out over relatively minor weather events. Yes it's cold here for November, but it's not that cold.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Hot Takes
Governor Nixon will bring in the National Guard in order to pacify the restive province of Ferguson.
"We must use state violence in order to put down peaceful protests of unlawful state violence"- Nixon, probably.
Large numbers of white people (especially) in this country see black people as inherently criminal, as irrationally violent, as a problem to be dealt with. Not as citizens who sometimes have very legitimate grievances.
It's all very depressing.
"We must use state violence in order to put down peaceful protests of unlawful state violence"- Nixon, probably.
Large numbers of white people (especially) in this country see black people as inherently criminal, as irrationally violent, as a problem to be dealt with. Not as citizens who sometimes have very legitimate grievances.
It's all very depressing.
Unpossible
What I find fascinating is that the conversation about innocent people going to jail due to police and prosecution misconduct is that it too often ignores that if they really are innocent, then the actual perp(s) never faced justice.
You aren't being "tough on crime" if you're locking up the wrong people, you're just locking up the wrong people.
You aren't being "tough on crime" if you're locking up the wrong people, you're just locking up the wrong people.
About As Effective As The War On Christmas
My war on the suburbs involves not living there and advocating for transportation policies in the city that are a bit more in line with what residents, as opposed to visitors or people just driving through, need.
Everything Is Horrible - Let's Stay The Course
So weird.
David Cameron has issued a stark message that “red warning lights are flashing on the dashboard of the global economy” in the same way as when the financial crash brought the world to its knees six years ago.
...
Politically, Conservatives believe an emphasis on the risks still facing the UK will make anxious voters recoil from handing stewardship of a fragile economy to a relatively untried Labour team.
It Isn't A Taxi
I have no idea if this project could be made better, but it's also the case that people seem to have an inability to comprehend distances. It takes 10 minutes to walk one half mile. Sure, closer is always better, but it's...10 minutes.
If the bus rapid transit stops are not within a short walking distance of people's jobs, they'll forgo the service and drive, he said. The preferred option in the study has the two stops up to a half mile from major employers.
"We need to get people to the door of their office," said Anderson, who was part of the team that created the feasibility study for the M-1 Rail streetcar project now under construction on Woodward Avenue. He now works for the U.S. Patent Office in Virginia.
Nothing But The Grift
If we don't put any labels our agenda, which like every other "centrist" Washington group is ultimately cutting Social Security and cutting taxes for rich people, maybe nobody will notice...
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Fracked
Just gonna drink your milkshake.
In mid-2013, landowners in Pennsylvania who had leased their gas rights to Chesapeake saw the payments they were receiving abruptly slashed by as much as 97 percent. In some cases checks for thousands of dollars a month were replaced with payments for less than a dollar. Those early complaints prompted a probe by Pennsylvania's Attorney General and a letter from the state's governor, Tom Corbett, to Chesapeake's chief executive calling the practices "unfair and perhaps illegal."
SUPERTRAIN
That's pretty fast.
The first passengers have travelled at an incredible 311 mph on a hovering bullet train in Japan.
The maglev trains have been tested before between the cities of Uenohara and Fuefuki but now members of the public have been allowed on board for the first time.
The Heartland
This bit from Catch-22 can't be re-run often enough.
Major Major’s father was a sober God-fearing man whose idea of a good joke was to lie about his age. He was a longlimbed farmer, a God-fearing, freedom-loving, law-abiding rugged individualist who held that federal aid to anyone but farmers was creeping socialism. He advocated thrift and hard work and disapproved of loose women who turned him down. His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government paid him well for every bushel of alfalfa he did not grow. The more alfalfa he did not grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn’t earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce. Major Major’s father worked without rest at not growing alfalfa. On long winter evenings he remained indoors and did not mend harness, and he sprang out of bed at the crack of noon every day just to make certain that the chores would not be done. He invested in land wisely and soon was not growing more alfalfa than any other man in the county. Neighbors sought him out for advice on all subjects, for he had made much money and was therefore wise. “As ye sow, so shall ye reap,” he counseled one and all, and everyone said, “Amen.”
Major Major’s father was an outspoken champion of economy in government, provided it did not interfere with the sacred duty of government to pay farmers as much as they could get for all the alfalfa they produced that no one else wanted or for not producing any alfalfa at all. He was a proud and independent man who was opposed to unemployment insurance and never hesitated to whine, whimper, wheedle and extort for as much as he could get from whomever he could.
So-So
DDay lists some obviously good public policy choices that would increase the GDP growth rate.
That is one of our policy objectives, isn't it?
- Moving to a postal banking system would reduce living expenses for the poor by relieving them of the $2,400 a year they pay in interest and fees to predatory “alternative financial services” like check-cashing stores and payday lenders.
- Legitimate corporate governance practices could rein in CEO compensation and more equitably spread profits.
- Keeping common resources like energy and infrastructure public, rather than privatizing those functions, also can lower the cost of living, raising inflation-adjusted wages.
- Adding good jobs with proper pensions in the public sector — which employs the fewest workers since 1966 — could help.
- Empowering labor through both unionization and laws around freelancing and contract work can only help restore wages and employee rights.
- Better retirement through expanding Social Security puts money in the hands of people who will spend it.
- Even increasing housing density in expensive residential areas, more of a market-based approach, could yield benefits at the margins.
- Heck, not raising taxes on the middle class because of dubious ideas about the budget deficit would at least minimize the pain.
That is one of our policy objectives, isn't it?
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Saturday Crass Commercialism
A whole bunch of X-Men related program activities!
I admit I'm sort of off "serious" movies. Not that I'm unwilling to watch them or incapable of liking them, just that there's something fundamentally flawed with the 100-150 minute story telling format. There just isn't that much time to tell a story. 45 minutes for the premise, 30 minutes for the plot, and 30 minutes for the conclusion. The fun stuff works better in this format.
When TV mostly sucked they were all we had for more serious things, but now there's a bunch of good (and even pretty good medicore) TV which tells longer stories. I prefer.
I admit I'm sort of off "serious" movies. Not that I'm unwilling to watch them or incapable of liking them, just that there's something fundamentally flawed with the 100-150 minute story telling format. There just isn't that much time to tell a story. 45 minutes for the premise, 30 minutes for the plot, and 30 minutes for the conclusion. The fun stuff works better in this format.
When TV mostly sucked they were all we had for more serious things, but now there's a bunch of good (and even pretty good medicore) TV which tells longer stories. I prefer.
What Could Go Wrong
Nothing of course.
Arming and training. That will fix everything. It always does.
The Obama administration has been weighing plans to escalate the CIA’s role in arming and training fighters in Syria, a move aimed at accelerating covert U.S. support to moderate rebel factions while the Pentagon is preparing to establish its own training bases, U.S. officials said.
Arming and training. That will fix everything. It always does.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Afternoon Thread
I think every crappy local band I knew in college (90s pre-grunge) was trying to recapture this magic.
Hillaryland
The person you don't want anywhere near your campaign is the one who would leak emails from a private listserv to Rick Klein.
Boss
Amazingly, being wealthy and a little bit famous isn't always a get out of jail free card.
Hire a damn driver. Get a damn hotel room.
Police stopped Valastro near 10th Avenue after following him for a bit; they said he was unsteady on his feet when he stepped out of the vehicle. They say his face was flushed and his eyes were bloodshot. He allegedly failed a Breathalyzer test and was taken into custody.
Prosecutors say Valastro allegedly told arresting officers, "You can't arrest me. I'm the Cake Boss," and asked to be put into a cab.
Hire a damn driver. Get a damn hotel room.
Probably Just A Big Kitty
A 25 pounder (yes they exist) outside, with the right colors, probably would look like some sort of wild cat.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Opportunities
With gas prices falling, now would be a good time for states to stick in a 5 cents/gallon gas tax increase.
Not that it's going to happen.
Not that it's going to happen.
We Do Love Our Children
We put hideous people in charge of our schools, let the grifters steal all the money, and then put on our sadfaces and talk about our failing urban schools.
Because this is America, where we believe that children are the future. And we love them so much.
Because this is America, where we believe that children are the future. And we love them so much.
Still Going
I think they have done some remediation, but empty buildings don't do very well. This Christie-backed project will open right around the time the Dallas to Chicago SUPERTRAIN does.
It's one of these deals where the local government signs off on the financing under the pretense that they aren't actually assuming any of the risk because magic.
EAST RUTHERFORD — Both Democrats elected to the council Tuesday oppose the borough's role in financing the American Dream Meadowlands project, the Record reported.
It's one of these deals where the local government signs off on the financing under the pretense that they aren't actually assuming any of the risk because magic.
Above The Law
One day we'll find that ever elusive evidence of criminal wrongdoing by banksters, but until then...
It's On
The war has begun, my good soldiers. We fight for king, and country, and to wipe out the scourge of holiday gift giving.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
I Am The Czar Of All The Agencies
Nobody could have predicted that hiring a telecom lobbyist...
A growing source of frustration for White House and congressional Democrats is that they have three of their own on the five-member commission at the FCC, a majority that should give them the power to push through a policy of their liking. But if Wheeler charts a different course, he could bring the other members along with him.
And, as Wheeler reminded participants at his meeting with Web companies Monday, the FCC does not answer to the Obama administration.
“I am an independent agency,” Wheeler told them repeatedly, according to several officials.
Seems Like An Easy Thing To Provide
Sure there are some jobs that really require people to be present at particular times for various reasons, but plenty of jobs aren't like that. Demanding 8-5 facetime just because is often neither necessary nor productive. Frankly I have no idea how people with children and inflexible - or worse (random constantly changing shifts) - jobs manage. Give people flexible hours. And there certainly should be at least some mandatory paid sick/family leave days.
Wednesday Crass Commercialism
While the massive price drop cycle for new technologies shouldn't really surprise anyone, I admit I still do get surprised. Buy yourself a big teevee for Christmas! They got a lot cheaper!
Maybe You Should Vote For Us Because
This de Blasio piece is pretty good.
Ultimately voters need to think that Dems are actually going to push for the things that they supposedly support. Brand Dem tells us that We All Know that they're going to be better than the other guys, but Brand Dem hasn't been delivering enough awesome products lately, or even promising them.
Ultimately voters need to think that Dems are actually going to push for the things that they supposedly support. Brand Dem tells us that We All Know that they're going to be better than the other guys, but Brand Dem hasn't been delivering enough awesome products lately, or even promising them.
"Vote For Us And We'll _______"
There were a few exceptions, but I just don't get how Dems keep thinking they'll win elections without filling in that blank.
Inspirational Actions
Yes this will bring Democrats to the polls.
I know Louisiana isn't California, but how about bringing up some votes on things that might positively impact people. Federal minimum wage increase maybe?
Senate Democrats are looking at taking a vote in the lame-duck session that starts today to force approval of TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL pipeline, a party aide said, a move that may bolster Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu’s re-election chances.
The purpose of the vote would be symbolic: To highlight Landrieu’s support for the pipeline and her influence on energy issues in Washington -- a centerpiece of her campaign. A vote in favor of the pipeline may benefit Landrieu in her Dec. 6 runoff election, in which she faces Republican Representative Bill Cassidy.
I know Louisiana isn't California, but how about bringing up some votes on things that might positively impact people. Federal minimum wage increase maybe?
Moar Charters
They're working so well.
Even in a school district with more than its share of charter-school controversies, the answers stood out. Questioned about billing practices, two officials of an embattled Philadelphia charter school cited their Fifth Amendment right to silence - 77 times.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Evening Thread
Some reading: Without Obamacare I would have died. That's good to remember if the Supremes decide to pack the ACA in for good.
Fiefdom
It's good that this horrible practice of civil forfeiture is finally getting some attention. Local cops basically deciding that they own you and your stuff. God bless America.
And Where Would They Go?
I lived in Laguna Beach for a bit. Yes it has a parking problem. But...if you add more parking, where would it go? You can hollow out the town for parking spots, I suppose.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Bring It On
Pennsylvania education funding is totally messed up, especially given the clear provision in the state constitution. Time for the state supremes to do their jobs.
Net Neutrality
This statement by POTUS is pretty good.
Even the net neutrality groups aren't, as far as I understand (correct me if I'm wrong!), necessarily against "paid prioritization," as long as it isn't about oligopolists colluding with oligopolists. Meaning, it's one thing to recognize that maybe video streaming, to work properly, needs prioritization, another thing to use that to let people with market power exclude new entrants, etc.
Obviously we should just have public fiber everywhere but that's commie talk so shut up.
Even the net neutrality groups aren't, as far as I understand (correct me if I'm wrong!), necessarily against "paid prioritization," as long as it isn't about oligopolists colluding with oligopolists. Meaning, it's one thing to recognize that maybe video streaming, to work properly, needs prioritization, another thing to use that to let people with market power exclude new entrants, etc.
Obviously we should just have public fiber everywhere but that's commie talk so shut up.
Doorbell Dreams
I have this recurring dream, well more of a recurring dream moment. Every few weeks or so I dream I hear the doorbell. It's loud and jarring and I wake up. I, of course, think it's my actual doorbell. It's happened enough times that I pause for a second to think about the likelihood of it being real, and to consider whether I really need to run down from the 3rd floor to open the door. I've finally recognized it as being higher pitched and faster than my actual doorbell.
It's still annoying.
It's still annoying.
Did The Grifters Go Too Far
The testing is there to make testing companies get rich and to provide an excuse to turn schools in to for profit charters.
Everybody "knows" urban schools are hopeless and there's nothing to be done so shut up, but make this stuff universal...
In Gainesville, one kindergarten teacher, Susan Bowles, explained to parents on her Facebook page that she would refuse to give state-ordered diagnostic reading tests. The kindergartners were obligated to take the tests one by one on a computer. After the first go-round, Ms. Bowles calculated it would eat up three weeks of teaching time.
Her public stance galvanized even more parents and educators. Not long after her posting, Ms. Stewart, the education commissioner, suspended that particular test for younger pupils. Parents and teachers across the state began to air their grievances, detail by detail.
Everybody "knows" urban schools are hopeless and there's nothing to be done so shut up, but make this stuff universal...
Sunday, November 09, 2014
The Audience
I don't think the people who run the NYT have a very good sense have who their actual - and potential - audience is.
The college professor poors read our paper too!
There just aren't that many rich people.
So who is The Times written for — the superwealthy, or for citizens of all income levels? Is the paper trying, in the axiom about journalism’s mission, to “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted”? Or is it plumping the Hungarian goose-down pillows of the already quite cozy?
I asked the executive editor, Dean Baquet, whom he has in mind when he directs coverage and priorities.
“I think of The Times reader as very well-educated, worldly and likely affluent,” he said. “But I think we have as many college professors as Wall Street bankers.”
The college professor poors read our paper too!
There just aren't that many rich people.
Saturday, November 08, 2014
Saturday Crass Commercialism
I'm sure somebody you know wants Guardians of the Galaxy in their stocking.
I liked the movie, but was surprised it was as big of a hit as it was.
I liked the movie, but was surprised it was as big of a hit as it was.
Might Be Some Jobs, But Still No Money
It isn't really a big mystery why people still aren't thrilled with the economy. The foreclosure crisis and the great recession destroyed lives, and opportunities for The Kids Today are pretty crap.
Maybe it'll continue to get better. Maybe.
Maybe it'll continue to get better. Maybe.
We'd Better Find The World's Worst Human For This Job
Sadly, Lanny Davis wasn't available, but close enough.
5$
We need at least one person from 10128 to donate $5 for Tim to break the tie and win this thing.
This one was for a Long Island incumbent Congressman.
Got one of these pretty much every day.
He lost.
Badly.
Yellah stripe in the original.
This one was for a Long Island incumbent Congressman.
Got one of these pretty much every day.
He lost.
Badly.
Yellah stripe in the original.
Friday, November 07, 2014
Did We Forget To Tell Them How To Use Their Iron Man Suits?
Maybe we didn't program Jarvis to speak Arabic?
Presumably we didn't program anybody else to speak Arabic, either, because it's only been 12 years.
Presumably we didn't program anybody else to speak Arabic, either, because it's only been 12 years.
Average
I'm all for "wasting" money on nice things. We waste plenty of money on some very not nice things, some of which involve killing a lot of people. If we can lose billions of dollars in Iraq, we can "lose" billions of dollars making a nice supertrain.
While I'm no railroad engineering expert, I do think there's too much focus on the top speed of trains. It's really the average speed that matters. That's the problem with Acela - there are too many places where it can't go anywhere near top speed, and in fact can really just creep along. 220 mph trains are neato, but if we can get average speeds up to 100 mph on the whole NE corridor that'd be pretty awesome.
While I'm no railroad engineering expert, I do think there's too much focus on the top speed of trains. It's really the average speed that matters. That's the problem with Acela - there are too many places where it can't go anywhere near top speed, and in fact can really just creep along. 220 mph trains are neato, but if we can get average speeds up to 100 mph on the whole NE corridor that'd be pretty awesome.
Morning Threading
Morning with the plumber finished. One of those weeks.
But thanks to whoever bought this great camera so I could pay the bill.
(Don't worry, there are no privacy issues. I know what people buy through the links, but not who.)
But thanks to whoever bought this great camera so I could pay the bill.
(Don't worry, there are no privacy issues. I know what people buy through the links, but not who.)
Thursday, November 06, 2014
Overnight
Saw a production of Death of a Salesman. Oddly had never seen it any version (movie, theater) before.
Talk amongst yourselves.
Talk amongst yourselves.
Don't Be A Bike Salmon
Saw a cyclist going the wrong way on a one way street almost get whacked by a driver going the other (correct) way making a left on a green light. If you're going the wrong way, especially at a nontrivial speed, there's a pretty good chance that a driver isn't going to notice you. They're going to scan for pedestrians in the crosswalk, then go. If you pull out into the intersection there's a good chance you'll be roadkill. They're not going to see you because you're not supposed to be there.
Even More Thread
One of those weeks with lots of random things I have to do that make it hard to stare at a computer screen.
There Are Polls
I'm not too optimistic that Earth logic will prevail instead of Bizarro logic, but the great mystery is why Dems can't bring themselves to get behind policies which are a) clearly popular and b) they're associated with anyway. In many places, at least, it apparently pays to be the "legalize weed and increase your paycheck" candidate. So, you know, be that.
Let's Keep Chasing The People Who Don't Vote For Us
Instead of the people who might.
The Dem midterm strategy is just wrong. The consultants can get rich and everyone can blame The Left, but whatever. It isn't working.
The Dem midterm strategy is just wrong. The consultants can get rich and everyone can blame The Left, but whatever. It isn't working.
Wednesday, November 05, 2014
Don't Do This
I suppose we can argue about just what the hierarchy of bad distracted driving behaviors is, but aside from just climbing into the backseat with the cruise control on, it's hard to see that texting doesn't come out on top. Yes grabbing your cup of coffee, or fiddling with the radio, or glancing at your GPS probably aren't always optimal, either, but texting is one of those activities which takes more attention/concentration than people think. Just don't do it.
Vote For Me And I Will Improve Your Life By ______
Indeed.
I suggest we fill in the blank with "enacting commonsense bipartisan solutions." That'll work!
“We have a huge problem: People do not think the recovery has affected them, and this is particularly true of blue collar white voters,” Lake said. “What is the Democratic economic platform for guaranteeing a chance at prosperity for everyone? Voters can’t articulate it. In the absence of that, you vote for change.”
“Our number one imperative for 2016,” Lake concluded, “is to articulate a clear economic vision to get this country going again.”
I suggest we fill in the blank with "enacting commonsense bipartisan solutions." That'll work!
The Professional Left
As was the case in 2010, I see a lot of carping about how emoprogs and (this time around) Glenn Greenwald made everybody not vote. This is silly. Very few people who are actually engaged enough in politics to know who the hell Glenn Greenwald is, or to read political blogs, would decide to take their ball and go home because Obummer. Do those people exist? Sure, but not, you know, tens of thousands of them in every state.
A bunch of people get paid a hell of a lot of money to run campaigns and to get people to the polls and to win their damn elections. If they fail to do that they suck at their jobs (I get that plenty of races were just too hard to win, but some weren't). It ain't Glenn Greenwald's fault.
A bunch of people get paid a hell of a lot of money to run campaigns and to get people to the polls and to win their damn elections. If they fail to do that they suck at their jobs (I get that plenty of races were just too hard to win, but some weren't). It ain't Glenn Greenwald's fault.
The 50 State Strategy
One thing that I think people tend to forget is that Howard Dean's 50 state strategy wasn't simply about fighting everywhere, it was about shoveling money out of DC before the vultures there could get their hands on it. It was about the idea that people who run campaigns out of Washington don't know what the hell they're doing, but that as long as the money was sitting there, candidates didn't have much choice but to deal with them.
The Morning After
Well that was a shitshow. Another fine campaign of "vote for me, the Dem, because I'm not like those nasty other Dems."
Works every time!
Works every time!
Tuesday, November 04, 2014
I Am The Worst Political Blogger
Various family obligations, combined with lack of recent sleep, so I'm going to bed soon. We can cry over our bloody marys tomorrow.
Voted
My machine was broken and wouldn't let me vote for any Republicans. :(
#ikeed #donttellfoxnews
#ikeed #donttellfoxnews
The Ebola Panic Epidemic And Need to Vote
A teacher in Lousville, Kentucky, resigned because of the Ebola panic in the US:
Susan Sherman, a religious education teacher who is also a registered nurse, was recently on a mission in Kenya in eastern Africa. When she returned, St. Margaret Mary school requested she take a precautionary 21-day leave and produce a health note from her doctor, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Louisville.
How close did Susan Sherman go to the areas of Ebola? This map gives you an idea if you remember that Kenya is on the right edge of the African continent:
Kenya is shown on this map:
I'm too lazy to figure out the distance from Kenya to the nearest country which does have people with Ebola. But it's sort of wanting to quarantine people who have been to Louisiana because Oregon had some illness.
All these reactions may be understandable, because of the hind-brain response to new and poorly understood threats. But information is the proper vaccination here, and information seems sorely lacking. And some politicians play on that fear.
Speaking of Ebola and politics, can you even imagine what would happen if the party in power during a real Ebola epidemic in the US were the one which wants to choke the public health care system to almost-death and save lots of money through privatizations? Vote. It's important.
Stupid Ideas That Never Die
I do not understand this obsession with adding an exciting new tax/fee/whatever when we can just raise the damn gasoline tax. Yes it's regressive, but no more regressive than a per-mile fee. The incentives are roughly correct - big vehicles with bad MPG ratings that damage the roads and climate more pay more.
It's easy to collect a gas tax. There aren't a hundred million gas stations. A mileage tax has to be collected on every car owner. And there has to be enforcement. And collections. And punishment for nonpayment.
Increase the damn gas tax.
It's easy to collect a gas tax. There aren't a hundred million gas stations. A mileage tax has to be collected on every car owner. And there has to be enforcement. And collections. And punishment for nonpayment.
Increase the damn gas tax.
Fetal
The Shirley Sherrod firing was an ominous sign that all was not well in the Obama administration.
Crazy Talk
Doesn't the commie mayor of New York know that you're supposed to shut down failing schools, completely disrupt the lives of children who went there, and let for profit charter schools occupy the buildings rent free?
In the packed auditorium of an East Harlem high school, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new approach to fixing New York City’s most troubled public schools on Monday, offering them more money and staffing, extending the length of their day, and arranging for social services to be delivered to students and families on site.
Monday, November 03, 2014
Happy Hour/Dinner
We had lunch out and, as usual, the portions were about double what we could eat. So, leftover lunch chez ql. Spinach pie. Yum.
Bi-Annual Tradition
The actual "professional left," the people who get to take your campaign contributions and run shitty campaigns, go to the press and explain why the fact that they (might) have failed at their jobs is everybody's fault but theirs.
My favorite was in 2010 when they explicitly blamed voters for not voting. It's your damn jobs to get them to the polls.
My favorite was in 2010 when they explicitly blamed voters for not voting. It's your damn jobs to get them to the polls.
But You Can't Take Away A Parking Space!
Parking is a weirdly tribal thing here, especially in South Philly. Policies which almost certainly allow more people to visit commercial corridors without cars, at least increasing the ratio of people/cars, don't necessarily get neighborhood support because there's nothing more important than the existence of a parking space. Even if it's full.
You can fit a lot of bikes in a parking space. Also, too, better people bike drunk than drive drunk (not sure how the law approaches drunk biking here, but you're certainly less likely to hurt somebody else if you do it).
You can fit a lot of bikes in a parking space. Also, too, better people bike drunk than drive drunk (not sure how the law approaches drunk biking here, but you're certainly less likely to hurt somebody else if you do it).
Sunday, November 02, 2014
Happy Hour Thread
After some brand engagement with the geniuses at the Apple genius bar, I need a drink.
Not just liars, but trained liars.
ugh
Not just liars, but trained liars.
ugh
Space Dreams
I always hate it when I'm skeptical about exciting new fun technology. I want to be able to go to the stars and upload my brain into an immortal robot body as much as the next guy, but that doesn't mean I think these things are going to happen any time soon. Fine with people wanting to spending stupid amounts of money to visit space, but it's probably not going to be very safe any time soon.
Saturday, November 01, 2014
Caturday Evening Thread
If you are an American voter, vote this year.
If you are a cat,voting is optional.
If you are a cat,voting is optional.
Superbowl
I think I'm going to have a house guest on Tuesday, so I might not be able to handle election night related blogging. I'll post up a bunch of threads at least.
Good For Landrieu
It's rare for Dems to not back down when there's an orchestrated hissy fit, especially when it's something involving the suggestion that some white people are less than perfect on racial issues.
Never Mind Then
As I said before, I do think a lot of eventheliberals who used to be pretty positive about the whole "school reform" thing have just gone chasing other new shiny balls. Philadelphia is a "school reformers" paradise. They got - and keep getting - what they wanted. All of the predictable things have come to pass. Much corruption in the charter schools. Money siphoned off from the actual public schools. Constant turmoil for students as schools (both charter and public) close, either by fiat or because they collapse. No evidence that educational performance has improved (the opposite).
And the solution will be more of the same until the whole thing collapses and what money is left just goes into the hands of the grifters.
Because we love our children.
And the solution will be more of the same until the whole thing collapses and what money is left just goes into the hands of the grifters.
Because we love our children.
When Washington, DC Invented The City
The Post is getting to be as bad as the New York Times about this kind of thing.
Spy stuff
Marcy Wheeler talked with Patrick Eddington, a former CIA officer, and former intelligence staffer to Rush Holt, about the nature of "intelligence" and the loss of Congressional oversight, on Virtually Speaking.
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