Monday, April 03, 2017

It Costs A Lot To Move

I'm sure one can always find dodgier, somewhat cheaper, options, but here in Philadelphia, for example, which is still a cheap city, the standard for signing a lease is 3 months rent (deposit/first/last, after the first year the landlord in theory can only keep one month of deposit total, at least that's how it was last time I rented). So we're talking 2000 bucks cash minimum really to move in anywhere, over and above other numerous transition costs.

Almost every article about The Kids Today should be doing it differently with their finances assumes that everyone can go to the Bank of Mom and Dad for a couple of thousand bucks if they need to. It doesn't assume the Bank has infinite cash, that everyone has rich parents, but it does assume that there's always an insurance policy to smooth things over. Not everybody has that. A lot of people don't. Many people just can't come up with a few thousand bucks to move to a new place, especially when they probably just spent 800 bucks to fix their beater.

Day 2 Of The 2017 Spanish-British War

They thought the people of Gibraltar would treat them as liberators...

Morning Thread

Jared in Iraq? Handling the Chinese visit next week? Going to solve the Israeli/Palestinian stand off? He must be one the smartest guys in the room I hear about, but have never actually met. Meanwhile, what the hell is Tillerson doing? Tillerson, remember him? Nominated and confirmed as the Secretary of State.

Sunday, April 02, 2017

31

Vienna Teng - Level Up



Hilarious

Sunday Evening

Have a video.

Good To Know

Had been worried.

Afternoon Thread

It's Sunday, Sunday.

The End Of History

With any luck Spain will be at war with the UK over Gibraltar in a few months because why the hell not?

How Does Anything Work

You can find it yourself but there's a Washington Post op-ed by someone who seems to not get that the protest "pussy hats" were cat ears.

I Know Random Idiots On The Internet Aren't Representative

But when they echo things their politicians and right wing media are at least implying they provide a window into something.

A lot of Brits really do believe that "Brexit" means they get to travel and work in the EU as before, but they tell the EU to fuck off otherwise and throw out any Poles they don't like.

Democracy is funny.

Somebody's Bored

His random mewling into the twitter box this morning is even more incoherent than usual.

2017 is a funny year.

Overnight...




Saturday, April 01, 2017

The Secret Welfare System

Conservatives have successfully convinced a large number of people that there is a secret welfare system that only blah people have access to. And, of course, the blah guy from Kenya took that up to 11.

This is the result:


Moreno was sitting at a table with his boss, Rocky Payton, the factory’s general manager, and Amy Saum, the human resources manager. All said they had voted for Trump, and all were bewildered that he wanted to cut funds that channel people into good manufacturing jobs.

“There’s a lot of wasteful spending, so cut other places,” Moreno said.

Payton suggested that if the government wants to cut budgets, it should target “Obama phones” provided to low-income Americans. (In fact, the program predates President Barack Obama and is financed by telecom companies rather than by taxpayers.)

Bluffing With 7 High

Doesn't work very well when everyone can see your cards.

A divorce is between two equal partners. But the UK is to the EU what Belgium, Austria or Portugal are to Germany: an entity eight times as small. If the EU informs the UK that “no soft Brexit means no soft Brexit” then that is what it is.

For the same reason the analogy of a “game of chicken” for the coming negotiations should be cast aside. The UK and the EU may be driving at furious speed into one another, each expecting the other to swerve. But if the UK is a Mini then the EU is a truck.

A divorce isn't always between two equal partners, either, but watching the Tories is like watching some guy trying to impress a woman by boasting about his fantasy football team. It's embarrassing and sad. Overall the EU would prefer if the UK stays in, though that it's just going to be a giant pain in the ass is the main reason. They don't really care that much. The UK needs to sweet talk every other EU country, and not keep talking about how they'll miss him when he's gone. Because they won't much.

Afternoon Thread

Can jet fuel melt steal beams?

Lunch Thread

I have no lunch.

Falafel

He is a horrible human.
An investigation by The New York Times has found a total of five women who have received payouts from either Mr. O’Reilly or the company in exchange for agreeing to not pursue litigation or speak about their accusations against him. The agreements totaled about $13 million.

Two settlements came after the network’s former chairman, Roger Ailes, was dismissed last summer in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal, when the company said there was no room for behavior that “disrespects women or contributes to an uncomfortable work environment.”

I suppose this is why conservatives defend the "Mike Pence no dining with wimmin" rule. They know they're all assholes and think the rest of us are, too.

The Worst Day On The Internet

Happy April Fools' Day!

Morning Thread