It’s wild to me how people crawled over my 60 mins interview with a fine-toothed comb to find any word or reason to claim I’m unfit for the job, yet here Kevin McCarthy (the GOP Leader!) is a bumbling, sloppy, dishonest mess & his mediocrity is accepted as a matter of course. https://t.co/zx7qlhW9dh
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 30, 2019
Monday, September 30, 2019
Drag Him
Following The Worms Around The Brain Maze
I admit I'm having a hard time following this story because it's all taking its cues from Trump's mushmelon.
Saint Rudy Of 9/11
House Dems are subpoenaing Rudy for some documents. The important question is when Rudy goes "lol no" do they know how they are going to respond?
A Lot Of Crimeing Is Okay
That's the precedent being set by Pelosi by limiting impeachment.
In some ways Trump shaking down everybody to stay in his stupid hotels seems like the most inconsequential of his crimeing, but it's also one that's clearly in the constitution. In addition, while the US has all kinds of corruption in politics, the simple "put a big sack of money on the desk" kind has arguably not been so dominant, at least in federal politics. Leaving that door open is... a problem.
In some ways Trump shaking down everybody to stay in his stupid hotels seems like the most inconsequential of his crimeing, but it's also one that's clearly in the constitution. In addition, while the US has all kinds of corruption in politics, the simple "put a big sack of money on the desk" kind has arguably not been so dominant, at least in federal politics. Leaving that door open is... a problem.
The Good Republicans
I'm not one to imagine there was some era of Good Republicans, but is true that there were usually a couple senators who would occasionally do the right thing, and not just in "pretend to be concerned" sense.
I don't know if Joe Biden (and others) believe this idea that they've all been mesmerized by that mastermind Trump, and once Trump is gone they'll all be back to being a reasonable again. The first part about Trump is ridiculous, and the "again" part also is.
I don't know if Joe Biden (and others) believe this idea that they've all been mesmerized by that mastermind Trump, and once Trump is gone they'll all be back to being a reasonable again. The first part about Trump is ridiculous, and the "again" part also is.
But If You Can't Solve Parking Lots
They might be a hard problem, but if you can't figure them out you can't have robotaxis. Sure you can have niche applications of automated vehicles which are probably more neato than commercially viable (maybe the latter, too), but not useful robotaxis.
Anyway my bigger point is whatever happens with automated vehicle technology generally, the focus on "robotaxis" was always absurd, both as a technological issue and as the idea that it was the path to riches for companies like Uber. Making them kinda sorta work in a geofenced bit of a slice of suburbanish Phoenix or newer California after a years-long dedicated effort is very different from creating something which can adapt to the mean streets of San Francisco or Philadelphia.
And more realistic applications, such as fixed or semi-fixed route shuttle systems in lower density environments, while more likely to be technologically feasible, aren't much more likely to be something communities are going to invest in. Sure drivers are expensive, but so are roboshuttles, and demand for these things is likely to be too low in most places where people they imagine they should be for the same reasons systems with drivers have low demand in these places. What if a bus was more like a taxi is always the fantasy, and the idea is that if you make them driverless this is for some reason more possible, but it still doesn't make any sense.
Anyway my bigger point is whatever happens with automated vehicle technology generally, the focus on "robotaxis" was always absurd, both as a technological issue and as the idea that it was the path to riches for companies like Uber. Making them kinda sorta work in a geofenced bit of a slice of suburbanish Phoenix or newer California after a years-long dedicated effort is very different from creating something which can adapt to the mean streets of San Francisco or Philadelphia.
And more realistic applications, such as fixed or semi-fixed route shuttle systems in lower density environments, while more likely to be technologically feasible, aren't much more likely to be something communities are going to invest in. Sure drivers are expensive, but so are roboshuttles, and demand for these things is likely to be too low in most places where people they imagine they should be for the same reasons systems with drivers have low demand in these places. What if a bus was more like a taxi is always the fantasy, and the idea is that if you make them driverless this is for some reason more possible, but it still doesn't make any sense.
Just Like Any Other President
I can imagine the conversations in newsrooms when Trump became president. They aren't all that stupid. "How are we supposed to cover this freak show of a man?" And the answer they came to is "we cover it like we cover any other presidency." But that's not what they've done, even if they think it is. They aren't covering Trump as they would've covered Obama or even George W. Bush. Pretending everything is normal is not normal coverage. Normally "tan suits" are enough to cause a freakout.
The AP simply ignores Trump’s civil war threat and his call for Schiff to be tried for treason. https://t.co/eTn9AjaYp2 pic.twitter.com/OlW74vufT8
— Dan Froomkin (@froomkin) September 30, 2019
Sunday, September 29, 2019
There's A Little Green Man In My Head
I don't know if it's good that the president is completely losing it (you know where to find him), but I will point out that it has been trivially easy this entire time to make him lose it.
Nobody Puts "Party Over Country"
I hate this cable news brain saying. Nobody has that much allegiance to a "party" and concepts of "country" or "national interest" are too vague and abused to be meaningless, and in practice are usually closer to "what's good for General Motors is good for America" than "wow what if people didn't worry about paying for cancer treatment for their kids."
Mitch McConnell doesn't put "party over country," he uses political power to get what he wants in ways some people find distasteful and other people cheer.
If people are bad it isn't because of party allegiance. They might be concerned with their individual fortune as it is linked to various things, but nobody cares about The Party. They're bad people who are using and maybe abusing power. This is dumb.
...adding that this is just another version of "The problem with Washington is TOO MUCH PARTISANSHIP" which is about 3 centimeters away from "The problem with Washington is TOO MUCH DEMOCRACY." Bad people who are bad is the problem.
Mitch McConnell doesn't put "party over country," he uses political power to get what he wants in ways some people find distasteful and other people cheer.
If people are bad it isn't because of party allegiance. They might be concerned with their individual fortune as it is linked to various things, but nobody cares about The Party. They're bad people who are using and maybe abusing power. This is dumb.
...adding that this is just another version of "The problem with Washington is TOO MUCH PARTISANSHIP" which is about 3 centimeters away from "The problem with Washington is TOO MUCH DEMOCRACY." Bad people who are bad is the problem.
No Issues At All Here
Nothing I can think of.
A military official formerly in charge of all White House communications for the U.S. Army at Mar-a-Lago was sentenced to three years of probation on Friday after he made false statements to a federal agent during a child pornography investigation.
Richard Ciccarella — a non-commissioned officer who told federal agents he was in charge of communications at President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach resort — became a target of an investigation after he uploaded photos of a young girl to a seedy Russian website between 2017 and 2018, according to court documents.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
And His Hair Was Perfect
Trump keeps expressing that his Ukraine conversation was "perfect." I'm not entirely sure what he means but he thinks each moment of his existence is perfection.
Parking Lots Are Hard
At 5mph (assuming everyone is going 5mph, which of course they aren't) the chance of absolute catastrophe is minimized (though your toddlers don't have crash bumpers), but there's no greater evidence that adolescent genius Elon Musk is an idiot that he thought they'd be the easy first step in his much touted "full self driving" project. Aside from the low speed, they actually magnify everything difficult about driving in the real world. Nonstandard or nonexistent lane markers, imperfect or nonexistent or nonstandard signs, large numbers of pedestrians who have no defined paths of their own, etc... etc... The also highlight how much the ability to navigate such spaces, even at 5mph, even with people being relatively behaved drivers, depends on various nonverbal communication methods which exist between drivers even if imperfectly. The eye contact. The wave. The light flash. The slight pull forward-then-stop to make clear you are stopped. Also you know things even the best robot driver likely can't, especially as parking lots are infinite in their variety and unmapped, such as the fact that there's a good chance someone's going to be entering the parking lot suddenly and you'd better be aware of that particular point.
Musk is unleashing his supposedly better "smart summons" which allows you to supposedly push a button and have your car find you in a parking lot. Even as advertised it's more limited than this. It has to be fairly close, you have to hold the button at all times for it to move, and you're supposed to keep an eye on it and take your finger off the button for sudden braking (your only option if things go wrong).
It is not going to go well.
(people are posting videos of actual crashes but as I don't want to help them torpedo their insurance claim I won't repost them)
Musk is unleashing his supposedly better "smart summons" which allows you to supposedly push a button and have your car find you in a parking lot. Even as advertised it's more limited than this. It has to be fairly close, you have to hold the button at all times for it to move, and you're supposed to keep an eye on it and take your finger off the button for sudden braking (your only option if things go wrong).
It is not going to go well.
So, @elonmusk - My first test of Smart Summon didn't go so well. @Tesla #Tesla #Model3 pic.twitter.com/yC1oBWdq1I
— Roddie Hasan - راضي (@eiddor) September 28, 2019
(people are posting videos of actual crashes but as I don't want to help them torpedo their insurance claim I won't repost them)
Waiting For Morning Joseph
I know I'm not inside their heads, but as a long time Watcher of Democrats, I do think they are constantly waiting for the Nonpartisan Referee (the Marshal of the Supreme Court, or a Republican FBI Man, or some Respected By Both Sides Teevee Pundit, or David Brooks, or the Washington Post Editorial Board) to make a judgment on the outcome of the game without ever bothering to go play on the field. Gotta suit up at least. They started to and suddenly everything is different!
This Is Excellent News For John McCain
It always is.
Executive Director of the McCain Institute Kurt Volker resigned from his position as the U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Friday, following reports he collaborated with Ukraine and President Donald Trump.
An ASU official confirmed Volker's resignation Friday, and said the University could not speak about his future at ASU because the University does not comment on personnel matters.
Friday, September 27, 2019
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)