Rock on.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
You Can't Do It, My Friends
This humble blogger almost melted in his sleep a few weeks ago, and the idea that 1.1 million people can evacuate from a refinery explosion at 4am is ridiculous. Large scale evacuations might be possible when you have advanced warning of something, like a hurricane (though not all people have the resources to do so), but at 4AM the acid cloud is just gonna eat us and 400,000ish cars couldn't possibly get out of Philly quickly enough.
...adding that banning cars and have everybody take literally any other alternative means (walk, bike, mobilized bus fleet) is the only possible way a sudden mass evacuation could avoid just being a parking lot but lol not the plan.
...adding that banning cars and have everybody take literally any other alternative means (walk, bike, mobilized bus fleet) is the only possible way a sudden mass evacuation could avoid just being a parking lot but lol not the plan.
Saturday, Saturday
Yesterday is the day Donald Trump became President.
....he could not have been nicer or more respectful to your favorite President, me. Then I saw the column he wrote, “Trump Will Be Re-elected, Won’t He?” He called me a Racist, which I am not, and said Rhode Island went from economically bad to great in 5 years because the.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2019
Saturday Morning
Don't know what else to say, but LOL.
Most of us are getting some Hot Stuff, weather we want it or not.
Most of us are getting some Hot Stuff, weather we want it or not.
Friday, July 19, 2019
He Just Lies
And so-called journalists still have no interest in dealing with it responsibly.
Moments after this, he falsely accused the squad of referring to "evil Jews." This is an obscene, dangerous, and, yes, evil lie, and it went uncorrected by either the reporters at the White House or the studio anchor and panelists after they carried it unedited.
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) July 19, 2019
Why Don't Democratic Senate Candidates In Purple States Support Popular Things
I explain this a lot because it's always Groundhog Day here and because I don't think it's something the press ever explains. You can point to polls showing something like increasing the minimum wage in a state is very popular. And you can also see a Dem Senate (or other) candidate not supporting it. And you can also see this explained as "can't win in a purple/red state supporting the socialism of a higher minimum wage, that's just the way of the world." This is contradictory. Polls say it's popular but a candidate can't win if they support it? Does not compute does not compute beep beep beep.
The reason it does compute is that those races are generally going to be tough/close races, but the calculation is not "boy if I support a higher minimum wage then the voters will get mad." The calculation is "boy if I support a higher minimum wage then the voters will like that, BUT the Chamber of Commerce types will dump a bunch of money into the race to oppose me and run ads calling me a child molester (or highlighting something else that might be unpopular about me)." Supporting the popular thing is a problem not because the popular thing is unpopular (by definition!), but because it's tough to win as a Democrat generally and extra hard if the big money comes after you.
Supporting the minimum wage will not inspire a bunch of negative ads about the minimum wage. They'll attract a bunch of money trying to take you down however they can.
The reason it does compute is that those races are generally going to be tough/close races, but the calculation is not "boy if I support a higher minimum wage then the voters will get mad." The calculation is "boy if I support a higher minimum wage then the voters will like that, BUT the Chamber of Commerce types will dump a bunch of money into the race to oppose me and run ads calling me a child molester (or highlighting something else that might be unpopular about me)." Supporting the popular thing is a problem not because the popular thing is unpopular (by definition!), but because it's tough to win as a Democrat generally and extra hard if the big money comes after you.
Supporting the minimum wage will not inspire a bunch of negative ads about the minimum wage. They'll attract a bunch of money trying to take you down however they can.
It's Exotic
Related is that Americans who travel (not all Americans) can fall in love with Paris, but balk at any attempt to make an American city more Paris-like (I mean functionally, not necessarily aesthetically). It's very confusing to cross the bridge from South Jersey to Philadelphia, and not so confusing to push through the back of the wardrobe into a mystical land of baguettes.
What Do We Want? $15 Per Hour!
When do we want it? 2025!
Truly inspiring.
It would increase the federal pay floor to $15 per hour by 2025, then index future increase to median wage gains.Better than not, but if this is the best a Dem House can do with a *message* bill that has no chance of passing in the Senate, or if on the outside chance it did.. it's the opening bid in a compromise discussion...
The minimum wage hikes would take effect on the following schedule: $8.40 in 2019, $9.50 in 2020, $10.60 in 2021, $11.70 in 2022, $12.80 in 2023, $13.90 in 2024 and $15 in 2025.
Truly inspiring.
The Wrong Brand Of Chicken Tenders
Having spent a bit of time, though not all that much, with my nieces, one thing I find funny if maddening is the things they have the hardest time with are slight deviations from what they are used to. The wrong brand of condiment. The wrong brand of frozen chicken bits. Peanut butter which is just a little bit different. That kind of thing. They might or not be open to something truly different. Often not, but at least they'll be curious enough to give it a look. But take something they're used to and modify it slightly and they do not want.
Some adults are like this too.
Some adults are like this too.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Lies and The Lying Liars
I've said this many times (I repeat myself constantly on this dumb blog), but the issue with Trump is rarely the individual lies, it's that he is a liar. I don't mean that as a moral judgment (though it can be). I mean that he is someone who has no interest in not lying, and lies come out of his mouth as easy as, or perhaps easier than, the truth. That the press still thinks "Trump says" is news, in the sense that what he says might actually mean something, is an ongoing problem.
I WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING FOR YOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUU
House Dems can barely manage to stand up for their own colleagues.
Some Of Our Faves
This Epstein case is horrific and the young women deserve justice. It is quite likely that some of our faves are implicated but we must follow the facts and let the chips fall where they may - whether on Republicans or Democrats. #WeSaidEnough #MeToo https://t.co/2mvskwQwW1
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) July 7, 2019
Likelihood this stuff just disappears?
Likely within days, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will release almost 2,000 pages of documents that could reveal sexual abuse by “numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known prime minister, and other world leaders,” according to the three-judge panel's ruling. The documents were filed during a civil defamation lawsuit brought by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a former Mar-a-Lago locker-room attendant, against Epstein’s former girlfriend and alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell. “Nobody who was around Epstein a lot is going to have an easy time now. It’s all going to come out,” said Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies. Another person involved with litigation against Epstein told me: “It’s going to be staggering, the amount of names. It’s going to be contagion numbers.”
Ban Cars
Okay I am a reasonable moderate and I'm not going to advocate for banning cars everywhere, or even everywhere in the urban hellhole, or even everywhere in what we call "center city" in the urban hellhole. Still as I was stuck on my bus behind too many cars, it occurred to me that there is almost no single street (or at least several block stretches of streets) that couldn't be car free. Not all of them at the same time, but some of them. You can have retractable bollards to allow certain delivery and/or local vehicles and/or taxis and/or buses. There's a problem with blocks that have parking garage entrances. Those are hard to shut to general traffic. Otherwise... pick a bunch of blocks at random. Close them down to most car traffic. The world would go on. Might even be nice.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Wednesday Night
It's funny (but not "ha ha" funny) that conservatives (the "serious" ones anyway) decide, after the fact, that those nasty communist Democratic presidents were pretty moderate after all. But never the next one.
Excuses, Excuses
They're right that Elon isn't helping, but it's also an excuse because Elon or no Elon, they don't have working products either and they've all been overpromising.
The Washington Post spoke with a dozen transportation officials and executives, including current and former safety regulators, auto industry executives, safety advocacy group leaders and autonomous-vehicle competitors. In interviews, they expressed worries that Tesla’s plan to unleash robo-cars on the road on an expedited timeline — likely without regulated vetting — could result in crashes, lawsuits and confusion. Plus, they said, Tesla’s promised “full self-driving” features fall short of industry standards for a true autonomous vehicle because humans will still need to be engaged at all times and ready to intervene in the beginning. Some of the people interviewed requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.I don't think shutting down Elon's slaughterpilot is a "knee-jerk reaction."
“That concern among the industry writ large is real and valid because what potentially happens is you’re going to see fatalities in the news attributed to Tesla vehicles and the response you’re going to get from certain policymakers — kind of a knee-jerk reaction,” said a former senior official with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which oversees the motor vehicle industry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so he could comment candidly about the industry view of the company’s claims. That, in turn, will affect “other manufacturers who were a lot more deliberate, a lot more careful.”
Don't Look Under That Rock
Sometimes things are so obvious and I say them thinking they're so obvious and then people disagree and I feel like I'm Nathan Eckert all over again because the "you're wrong" folks all sound like Bob Sheffer.
The House Dems are slow-walking all oversight because they know that under every rock they turn over they will find more crimes and then they will have to get on teevee and talk about "self-impeaching" or some bullshit like that which is just code for "haha I think you voters are so stupid that you'll believe this shit please send money to the DCCC to stop Trump."
The House Dems are slow-walking all oversight because they know that under every rock they turn over they will find more crimes and then they will have to get on teevee and talk about "self-impeaching" or some bullshit like that which is just code for "haha I think you voters are so stupid that you'll believe this shit please send money to the DCCC to stop Trump."
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Trump Racism Is Just For The Diner Rubes
One reason for the focus on old people in midwestern diners is that elite media types don't want to believe that the people they feel affinity with - other mostly white well educated people - are huge MAGA racists. It's just the blue collar dum dums. Hicks from the sticks. Not those nice suburban car dealer owners who come to our parties sometimes.
But those nice suburban car dealer owners don't exactly hide their racism, and nor do rich urbanites. If elite media types can't see it it's because they share it.
But those nice suburban car dealer owners don't exactly hide their racism, and nor do rich urbanites. If elite media types can't see it it's because they share it.
These Words Are Strung Together But Do Not Have Meaning
I'll just let this one be obvious.
Related. Check the date.
Livingston is a software engineer for Designated Driver, a new company that’s getting into teleoperations, the official name for remotely controlling self-driving vehicles.
Related. Check the date.
In ~2 years, summon should work anywhere connected by land & not blocked by borders, eg you're in LA and the car is in NY
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2016
Real America Loves When He Does Raicsm
The widespread belief that it helps Trump to do his Bull Connor impression is related to the widespread belief that the most important voters in the country are blue collar whites.
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) July 16, 2019
It's implicit in all the coverage. Whenever Trump cranks up the racism political journalists cover it like they used to cover a new James O'Keefe video dropping. He's got you now, libs! But they never make the next logical point, which is that if the racism appeals, and appeals specifically to Trump's base, that is because Trump's base and by implication Real America is filled with... um... help me out? Fill in the blank?
Monday, July 15, 2019
Fractal Griftery
Nobody could have predicted.
And of course.
Ex-Fox & Friends co-host Clayton Morris has left the country amid more than two dozen lawsuits from investors who say he defrauded them in real estate deals involving properties in Indianapolis.America, love it or leave it.
Morris, who previously resided in a $1.4 million home in New Jersey, has moved with his family to a coastal resort town Portugal, according to his wife's Facebook post.
And of course.
In December 2018, Fox & Friends ran a segment about “real estate secrets” that promoted former co-host Clayton Morris’ rental property company and his recommendation that viewers buy rental properties as a passive investment. Several months later, Morris’ company is under scrutiny and he and the company are reportedly being sued by “nearly two dozen customers.”And of course.
Racism..How The Fuck Does That Work?
Not sure whether too many journalists are genuinely confused if Trump is a racist or if they are just pretending to be confused, or which is better.
Perfectly Normal
The number of people who actively covered for and socialized with this guy...
"Just this morning the government became aware of a safe that contained a pile of cash, diamonds, a passport from a foreign country with a picture of the defendant under another name," Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller told U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.
"The passport was issued in the name of a foreign country, it was issued in the 1980s, it is expired, it shows a picture of Jeffrey Epstein, and another name," Rossmiller said, adding the passport showed Epstein's residence as Saudi Arabia.
This Is Our Emergency
The concentration camps are making clear who in the Democratic party actually sees this as a moral crisis, and who spends their Friday nights making dumb ass tweets against those who do.
Leadership hates the "professional Left" (who mostly aren't professional) more than Trump.
The crisis provided the backdrop to an ugly back-and-forth between these progressive women of color and Nancy Pelosi and her staff, which has played out mostly on Twitter and in the mind of Maureen Dowd. In a move reminiscent of the segregated South, someone in House leadership leaked a poll of only white non-college voters to “prove” that squad members, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), represent a problem in swing districts.That poll did not include just how popular Nancy Pelosi was with those same voters.
Leadership hates the "professional Left" (who mostly aren't professional) more than Trump.
New Phone Who Dis
Actually not a new phone but might need one. Don't realize how dependent you are on the damn things until they break.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Advice On How To Win From A Loser
Claire McCaskill closing campaign ad.
The men then turn to McCaskill, with one conceding, "I don't always agree with Claire McCaskill."This has been not just the acceptable "moderate" playbook but the expected one for decades. If it works, well ok... but when it doesn't.
"But she works hard, fighting against those tariffs, doing all those town halls," the man adds. "Claire's not afraid to stand up against her own party."
"Yep," the second man chimes in, "and Claire's not one of those crazy Democrats. She works right in the middle and finds compromise."
Trump and Pelosi And The House Democrats Agree
"The Squad" should just shut up and go away.
This is unfair, of course, but Pelosi has been foaming the runway for this stuff by singling out these 4 women while letting a bunch of "centrist" white guys get away with much "worse" if "shit talking the party" is how we define "bad." So-called moderates have been running against the party forever. It's why they are called "moderates." When they tried to unseat Pelosi, the lefties stood up for her.
This is unfair, of course, but Pelosi has been foaming the runway for this stuff by singling out these 4 women while letting a bunch of "centrist" white guys get away with much "worse" if "shit talking the party" is how we define "bad." So-called moderates have been running against the party forever. It's why they are called "moderates." When they tried to unseat Pelosi, the lefties stood up for her.
Followers of Jesus
My long pet peeve is people trying to impose Christianity on Christians. I don't really know or care if, for example, Mike Pence is 100% full of shit or if he truly believes he is A Good Christian (he can also, too, be both!) But obviously his Christianity does not bear any resemblance to any kind of "caring Jesus" brand of Christianity and it isn't productive to even suggest it should.
Being an evil piece of shit or a big hypocrite doesn't make him not a Christian. If he says he's a Christian, he is one. Pointing out that he's a Bad Christian just lends credence to the idea that embracing the label somehow should make you Good. Nothing against religion or Christianity but while it doesn't necessarily make you Bad, it also obviously doesn't necessarily make you Good. "But Mr. Pence, you're a Christian, and according to Jesus you must be Good!" This just lets him continue cloaking himself in false Goodness. That nice Mr. Pence can't be Bad, he's a Christian! Not how it works.
Being an evil piece of shit or a big hypocrite doesn't make him not a Christian. If he says he's a Christian, he is one. Pointing out that he's a Bad Christian just lends credence to the idea that embracing the label somehow should make you Good. Nothing against religion or Christianity but while it doesn't necessarily make you Bad, it also obviously doesn't necessarily make you Good. "But Mr. Pence, you're a Christian, and according to Jesus you must be Good!" This just lets him continue cloaking himself in false Goodness. That nice Mr. Pence can't be Bad, he's a Christian! Not how it works.
Sunday Morning
After a long and expensive court battle The Halifax Examiner finally got the police file in the wrongful conviction case of Assoun released. It is exactly as suspected. Not only was the conviction based on trumped up evidence, but police withheld exculpatory evidence when Assoun's case came up for appeal, resulting in a further nine years imprisonment.
I guess the moral of the story is that when the justice system completely fails, as it did here, investigative reporters are our last resort. It takes time and money. Consider a contribution to the The Examiner's Legal Fund, or take out a subscription.
I guess the moral of the story is that when the justice system completely fails, as it did here, investigative reporters are our last resort. It takes time and money. Consider a contribution to the The Examiner's Legal Fund, or take out a subscription.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)