Thursday, March 01, 2012
Pedestrian Zone
While obviously in my utopia there are no cars, in the real world I actually tend to side with critics of pedestrian-only zones. Not against them, just do think that implementation has to be very carefully thought out.
Build More
I think I'm somewhat more sympathetic to various zoning/land use regulations than Matt is in that I don't think it's totally crazy that people have some say about what happens in their neighborhoods. My take is that often people just get this stuff wrong, as in against their supposed stated preferences/interests. The obvious example is the general desire to solve the problem of increased traffic associated with new development by adding more parking. A less obvious example is front setbacks. They're like magnets, how the fuck do they work anyway?
Not Enough Teen Sex
Actually I have no idea what The Kids Today are or aren't doing, but I do think the hysteria about teen sexuality has actually increased quite a bit since my day, and I grew up at the pinnacle of the IF YOU HAVE SEX YOU WILL DIE era. The sexytime was certainly discouraged back then, but I don't remember anybody actually being surprised when it happened. It was discouraged, but still expected and normal.
All right thinking people tend to nod their heads at the basic notion that delaying entry into the sexytime game is a good thing, because... well, uh, because! My "throw me out of polite society" take is that several years of sexual frustration during your high hormone years probably isn't such a good thing for your general psychological health, your attitudes about sex, and gender relations.
All right thinking people tend to nod their heads at the basic notion that delaying entry into the sexytime game is a good thing, because... well, uh, because! My "throw me out of polite society" take is that several years of sexual frustration during your high hormone years probably isn't such a good thing for your general psychological health, your attitudes about sex, and gender relations.
LA Is Really Dense
This isn't surprising to me. LA's a weird place in that (much of) it is actually a very dense urban area, but yet at the same time the scale isn't quite right for it to be pedestrian friendly. Basically, places are walkable but just not quite places where you'd want to walk. It's a big place and I'm painting with a broad brush here, but the point is that car-centric LA actually has the potential to be one of the best pedestrian/transit cities in the country.
Also, Too, I Am Very Hip
There comes a time in all of our lives when we should acknowledge and understand that maybe we've lost the thread.
SHHHHHHHH
Just notable when a bit of truth appears.
So if austerity measures and job market "liberalization" are "driving the economy deeper into a recession" what exactly are they for again?
Glibertarian paradises exist all over the world. They're also not nice places.
Pension and wage cuts are reducing state spending and changes to labor rules are liberalizing the jobs market. The measures are also driving the economy deeper into a recession and fanning discontent among Greeks as unemployment has jumped to 21 percent. The economy shrank 6.8 percent last year and is set to contract for a fifth year in 2012.
So if austerity measures and job market "liberalization" are "driving the economy deeper into a recession" what exactly are they for again?
Glibertarian paradises exist all over the world. They're also not nice places.
So There's Something That Doesn't Quite Make Sense
There was apparently a "so-called" robo-signing "scandal" otherwise known as rampant unprosecuted criminal fraud. And then there was an "oopsy my bad" settlement which actually hasn't even quite happened yet. Somehow we're now beyond all that and the foreclosure fun is now going full speed ahead again.
Mansplain
I missed this one from Amanda, until the link showed up in the Twitter. Fight and win the real argument, dammit.
"Some women aren't even taking the birth control pill for contraception! They need it for cramps/endometriosis/etc."(her bold)
Every time you say this, a right winger wanting to imply that women who have sex for pleasure are sluts gets his wings. This statement and all variations on it feeds into the right wing claim that a) contraception is not health care and b) that women who have sex for pleasure are so indefensible that you have to lean on off-label uses for a contraceptive drug to justify its existence. It also does absolutely nothing to defend the non-pill contraception that's covered by the health care act, such as IUDs or sterilization. Plus, that gives them an easy out, which is to say that they're fine with insurance covering pills that are prescribed for non-contraception use, but just object to prescriptions for women who use them to prevent pregnancy.
I realize talking about and defending female sexual pleasure is a hard thing to do. Our society still has a ton of shame around the topic. But that's what this fight is about.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Actually, Asshole, I Imagine You Don't Understand Their Stress
It is indeed stressful from going from being rich to slightly less rich. I won't deny that. I live pretty well, but my finances aren't exactly perfect or care free. Still I'm pretty sure people with no money have that kind of stress every fucking day of their lives. Jeebus.
People at all income levels have actual problems, including financial ones, but our new elites are quite possibly the worst people who ever lived.
“People who don’t have money don’t understand the stress,” said Alan Dlugash, a partner at accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron LLP in New York who specializes in financial planning for the wealthy. “Could you imagine what it’s like to say I got three kids in private school, I have to think about pulling them out? How do you do that?”
People at all income levels have actual problems, including financial ones, but our new elites are quite possibly the worst people who ever lived.
In Love With A Plan To Provide Incentives To Establish A Market For...
Got an email from Senator Sanders about how dental care is fucked up and bullshit in this country. Which it is. I know we're not going to achieve my free health care for all option anytime in the near future, but we really should provide a, uh, public option for basic childhood dental care in this country. No cosmetics, no non-necessary orthodontics, but free clinic for kids to get basic necessary dental care.
More generally, as the money in dentistry is in more cosmetic dentistry it seems we've decided that dental care isn't really medical care. Well a lot of it is. People need their teefers and they need to be free of pain and serious infection.
More generally, as the money in dentistry is in more cosmetic dentistry it seems we've decided that dental care isn't really medical care. Well a lot of it is. People need their teefers and they need to be free of pain and serious infection.
Simple Answer
She (likely) had sex, maybe even enjoyed it, and then became pregnant.
A mystery to childless me is why many parents think shielding their children from knowledge of TEH SEXYTIME is extremely important. Even if that was possible, what purpose does it serve?
A mystery to childless me is why many parents think shielding their children from knowledge of TEH SEXYTIME is extremely important. Even if that was possible, what purpose does it serve?
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