Wednesday, February 06, 2019
No Ambition
I know I keep harping on this, but Trump could go from being a somewhat unpopular president to being a somewhat popular president so easily. Totebagging Democrats are so forgiving. Trump could keep doing the racism for his adoring MAGA fans and then actually give the Democrats something they could work with. Infrastructure, whatever. It would be so easy and require so little in the sense of giving anything up because Trump doesn't give a shit about most things so what would he even be giving up?
Someone just needs to tell him that they'll put a 60 foot picture of him next to every fixed pothole, giving him credit for it, and he'll love it.
(Whether or not the Democrats should play along is another question, but I'm pretty sure they would.)
Someone just needs to tell him that they'll put a 60 foot picture of him next to every fixed pothole, giving him credit for it, and he'll love it.
(Whether or not the Democrats should play along is another question, but I'm pretty sure they would.)
Can Dish It Out
Don't know what's going to break the UK madness. Maybe we'll find out in 51 days when they, uh, break.
Anyway: the lesson here is clear. Pro-Brexit politicians and commentators think it’s entirely reasonable to describe European leaders as Nazis, Soviets, or whatever other historically inept slur leaps to mind, and just expect them to take it. But the minute they answer back, even politely, they have somehow crossed the line into indecency, sir, and this shall not stand.
Somehow, Britain has ended up in an abusive relationship with the European Union – and Britain is the abusive partner.
There are 51 days to go until Brexit.
2019
They're better than they used to be, but Democrats still haven't quite figured out that they don't have to have a response to whatever shit the Republicans are cooking up in the kitchen that week. Trump talks about the wall and the Dems feel the need to stress how much that while they don't want the wall they do want MORE MONEY FOR BORDER SECURITY AND TECHNOLOGY AND SHIT LIKE THAT.
A few years ago they'd be saying, "how about half a wall," so they are better. But, really, just say "fuck that we've got other things to worry about."
A few years ago they'd be saying, "how about half a wall," so they are better. But, really, just say "fuck that we've got other things to worry about."
OWNED
We all get sucked in sometimes, but the theater of politics is just entertainment even though it's a bit hard to forget that when a reality show star is the president. Sure the theater sadly matters, some, for appealing to voters, but elections are pretty far away right now.
The Language of Diplomacy
Oh dear.
I've been wondering what that special place in hell looks like, for those who promoted #Brexit, without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely.
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) February 6, 2019
Tuesday, February 05, 2019
ACA Was A Failure
No, really, a total failure. Yes there were some good regulatory changes. Yes the exchanges make it possible for some people to buy on the individual market (though that insurance is mostly...not good). Yes the Medicaid expansion was great.
But the important thing to remember about the Medicaid expansion was that it was a last minute *fix* to keep the price tag down. Think about that. It was cheaper to provide free health care for more people than to throw them onto the subsidized exchanges at subsidy levels that they could possibly afford. If they'd taken it up to 500% of FPL and 600% of FPL it would have been even cheaper! And that became a political problem, because your poor neighbor has free health care and you have to pay for a bronze plan which sucks.
The failure was the exchanges. Now we're supposed to talk about all of the other good things in ACA, but remember back in 2009, the exchanges *were* Obamacare. They were the plan. Everything else was tinkering. The exchanges were going to free us from employer-provided health care (a good goal!) by letting everybody buy "affordable" individual health insurance. The exchanges were going to be great, because there's nothing we love more than buying health insurance every year through a website, and employer-linked health insurance would, over time, just fade away. ACA wasn't about the exchanges because a few million more people would be able to buy insurance. ACA was about the exchanges because the exchanges were THE FUTURE OF HEALTH INSURANCE, my friends.
Nobody involved wants you to remember this. And the same people are going to bullshit you in 2020 and beyond.
But the important thing to remember about the Medicaid expansion was that it was a last minute *fix* to keep the price tag down. Think about that. It was cheaper to provide free health care for more people than to throw them onto the subsidized exchanges at subsidy levels that they could possibly afford. If they'd taken it up to 500% of FPL and 600% of FPL it would have been even cheaper! And that became a political problem, because your poor neighbor has free health care and you have to pay for a bronze plan which sucks.
The failure was the exchanges. Now we're supposed to talk about all of the other good things in ACA, but remember back in 2009, the exchanges *were* Obamacare. They were the plan. Everything else was tinkering. The exchanges were going to free us from employer-provided health care (a good goal!) by letting everybody buy "affordable" individual health insurance. The exchanges were going to be great, because there's nothing we love more than buying health insurance every year through a website, and employer-linked health insurance would, over time, just fade away. ACA wasn't about the exchanges because a few million more people would be able to buy insurance. ACA was about the exchanges because the exchanges were THE FUTURE OF HEALTH INSURANCE, my friends.
Nobody involved wants you to remember this. And the same people are going to bullshit you in 2020 and beyond.
Chasing Buses
Reporting on collisions between cars and pedestrians/cyclists is almost always horrific.
The cyclist was crossing with the green, and the bus driver made a right turn into an intersection on that same green and hit someone in that intersection. What the hell is with "Jones' bicycle didn't stop, hitting the passenger side of the bus." The Bus drove into him!
The guy was riding in the sidewalk. My point is not to condemn the bus driver, but... you know, as reported, if anybody is at fault it is the bus driver who made a right turn and slammed into somebody who was traveling straight with the light. Not "bicycle hits university bus." Jeebus.
JUST IN: Georgia college student killed after his bicycle hits university bus
Wow his bicycle hit a bus! Sort of hard to even picture that, but he must have been at fault somehow then!
Just before 10:15 a.m., 21-year-old Logan Jones of Milledgeville was traveling east on the sidewalk next to Hancock Street, Georgia State Patrol said in a news release. The bus was also traveling east on the street and was approaching the intersection with Clark Street while the traffic light was green.
...
The bus made a right turn onto Clark Street, and Jones’ bicycle didn’t stop, hitting the passenger side of the bus, the release said. Jones fell off the bike and was struck by the rear wheels of the bus.
The cyclist was crossing with the green, and the bus driver made a right turn into an intersection on that same green and hit someone in that intersection. What the hell is with "Jones' bicycle didn't stop, hitting the passenger side of the bus." The Bus drove into him!
The guy was riding in the sidewalk. My point is not to condemn the bus driver, but... you know, as reported, if anybody is at fault it is the bus driver who made a right turn and slammed into somebody who was traveling straight with the light. Not "bicycle hits university bus." Jeebus.
Speaking Of Things That Were Predicted
Dem charter advocates mostly went silent a few years ago as reality caught up with them. All of this was perfectly predictable.
After more than 20 years of growth nationally, it is noteworthy that some of the trend lines for charters are on the decline. This experiment with deregulation has resulted in massive corruption, fraud and diminished learning opportunities for young people.Teachers unions are bad... so what if we just throw lots of money at unaccountable for profit companies with minimal oversight! Because freedom! I see no problems with this approach at all.
As a state monitor, I observed a number of incompetent people serve as charter school administrators because Ohio state law has no minimum educational requirements nor any professional licensing prerequisites for school leaders.
In addition, numerous conflicts-of-interest, including a board member serving as landlord and management companies charging exorbitant rents for properties conveniently used for charter schools, are only part of the problem of the charter experiment.
We'll Do Better Next Time
Nobody has any excuse for being surprised by this stuff ever. It is how it supposed to work.
Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have transferred American-made weapons to al Qaeda-linked fighters, hardline Salafi militias, and other factions waging war in Yemen, in violation of their agreements with the United States, a CNN investigation has found.Well if they violated the agreement I'm sure we'll stop providing weapons
Monday, February 04, 2019
Monday Happy Hour
Apparently Northam hasn't resigned yet.
It isn't that the dude couldn't have found a path to redemption, but he didn't try and certainly didn't take it.
It isn't that the dude couldn't have found a path to redemption, but he didn't try and certainly didn't take it.
Monday Crass Commercialism
I don't read that much science fiction these days, but occasionally. The Three-Body Problem is good old school style "hard SF" if you like that sort of thing.
Autopilot
Yes. In fact Autopilot is getting so good you rarely need to pay attention to the road at all.
— Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) February 4, 2019
Despite things Elon says, Tesla's have neither the hardware nor software to safely let you stop paying attention. They tell you that! People are gonna die.
Everybody's Just A Little Bit Racist
I think that was the theme song from Crash. Anyway, uh, this is not actually inevitable and does not excuse people from their dumb takes.
Apropos of so much stupid.
Apropos of so much stupid.
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