Baskin-Robbins Retires 5 Icons "Baskin-Robbins announced that is was shelving five of its 31 signature flavors including the classic staple French Vanilla, which was with the company since it started in 1945, Caramel Praline Cheesecake (1970), Campfire S'mores (1975), Apple Pie a La Mode (1976) and Superfudge Truffle (2007). "
"Join our effort on Facebook -- our mission is to gather enough support to convince Baskin-Robbins that they must keep French Vanilla around!"
I couldn't care less about French Vanilla and I'm surprised to learn that Basin-Robbins is even in Massachusetts, let alone in Cambridge.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Deficits of Mass Destruction
Chris Hayes in the The Nation calls it like it is. Deficits of Mass Destruction "Perhaps the most egregious aspect of the selling of the Iraq War was its false pretext. It never really was about weapons of mass destruction, as Paul Wolfowitz admitted. WMDs were just 'what everyone could agree on.' So it is with deficits. Conservatives and their neoliberal allies don't really care about deficits; they care about austerity—about gutting the welfare state and redistributing wealth upward. That's the objective. Deficits are just what they can all agree on, the WMDs of this manufactured crisis. Senator John Kyl of Arizona, speaking on Fox, has come out and admitted as much. All new spending increases must be offset, he said, but 'you should never have to offset the cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans.' So there you have it."
Greenspan Says Congress Should Let Bush Era Tax Cuts Expire
Bloomberg has a pretty entertaining interview with Greenspan, Greenspan Says Congress Should Let Bush Era Tax Cuts Expire. I particularly enjoyed how he can only partially get his head around more stimulus.
Signs of the Stimulus
Signs of the Stimulus "Have you noticed those signs—they usually appear along the freeway—indicating that some infrastructure repair or upgrade has been paid for by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus bill? An ABC News story reports on the money being spent on the signs, and asks if it's a waste."
Seriously!??!
Seriously!??!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
10 Lessons From Apple
Farhad Manjoo wrote in Fast Company Invincible Apple: 10 Lessons From the Coolest Company Anywhere "How does one become the 'Apple of [insert industry here]'? After speaking with former employees, current partners, and others who have watched Apple for many years, it's clear that the answers center around discipline, focus, long-term thinking, and a willingness to flout the rules that govern everybody else's business. It's an approach that's difficult to discern and tougher to imitate. But everyone wants to give it a try. Here, then, is our report on the Apple playbook. Short of something falling into your hands in a Bay Area bar, this may be as close to the truth about Apple as you're going to get."
A very interesting read.
A very interesting read.
How We Subsidize Fossil Fuels
Boing Boing wrote How we subsidize fossil fuels referring to Jon Taplin's blog post about this graphic:
The original paper is here.
The original paper is here.
What Caffeine Actually Does to Your Brain
What Caffeine Actually Does to Your Brain "What follows is a brief explainer on how caffeine affects productivity, drawn from Buzz and other sources noted at bottom. We also sent Braun a few of the questions that arose while reading, and he graciously agreed to answer them."
Two Graphs on Unemployment
Here are two good graphs to debunk any GOP talking points about unemployment benefits being the cause of unemployment.
slacktivist writes Tom Corbett is not right, smart or good "Tom Corbett, the Republican candidate for governor in Pennsylvania" thinks there are jobs out there but that people aren't applying for them because they're getting unemployment benefits. Here:
Kevin Drum rips apart the infamous Arthur Laffer. "Yep: Laffer is seriously suggesting that unemployment benefits, which, according to his own chart, begin rising after unemployment rises, are what cause unemployment to rise. It's groundbreaking stuff, but as an exercise for the reader, can you think of an alternate mechanism to explain why total unemployment benefits paid out might go up when the unemployment rate goes up? Anyone? Take your time. I know it's a chin scratcher."
Seriously, this is the level of stupidity the Democrats seem incapable of beating. I just don't understand it at all. I was never a big fan of David Axelrod so I'm not surprised if he's awful at talking points, but what's David Plouffe doing the last couple of months?
Update: Number of the day. "The average weekly unemployment check is: $307. This figure, which comes from a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of Department of Labor data, shows why it's unlikely many people are passing up jobs in favor of continuing to collect unemployment checks. With average weekly wages around $800, it doesn't make sense."
slacktivist writes Tom Corbett is not right, smart or good "Tom Corbett, the Republican candidate for governor in Pennsylvania" thinks there are jobs out there but that people aren't applying for them because they're getting unemployment benefits. Here:
Kevin Drum rips apart the infamous Arthur Laffer. "Yep: Laffer is seriously suggesting that unemployment benefits, which, according to his own chart, begin rising after unemployment rises, are what cause unemployment to rise. It's groundbreaking stuff, but as an exercise for the reader, can you think of an alternate mechanism to explain why total unemployment benefits paid out might go up when the unemployment rate goes up? Anyone? Take your time. I know it's a chin scratcher."
Seriously, this is the level of stupidity the Democrats seem incapable of beating. I just don't understand it at all. I was never a big fan of David Axelrod so I'm not surprised if he's awful at talking points, but what's David Plouffe doing the last couple of months?
Update: Number of the day. "The average weekly unemployment check is: $307. This figure, which comes from a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of Department of Labor data, shows why it's unlikely many people are passing up jobs in favor of continuing to collect unemployment checks. With average weekly wages around $800, it doesn't make sense."
Obama's Problems
digby wrote Winning Isn't Everything, It's The Only Thing about Obama's predicament. "Greg Sargent has been making the argument for a while that GOP obstructionism is helping them at the polls because people actually blame the majority Democrats for failing rather than blame the Republicans for succeeding. I think he's right about that and there are two reasons."
"The party in power is expected to do what's necessary to pass its agenda. If it can't, it is held responsible for the failure, not those who stopped them from doing it. "
"The failure of those things to materialize as a measure of his failure to deliver on his promise. This president is more hampered than most in making the (legitimate) argument that the Party of No is to blame for the nation's troubles."
I suppose those things are true, but it doesn't seem like the administration is even trying. He should be explaining his policies clearly instead of leaving it up to Congress to bicker about (for a year with health care) and he should explaining how the obstructionism is working. It's not like the GOP positions even make logical sense, it should be a simple slam dunk. Instead the GOP controls all the messaging and the Dems start to add their policies into the bills making everything destined to fail. It's moronic.
Update: Atrios, Krugman, Benen and DeLong talked about this too: What Rough Beast?.
"The party in power is expected to do what's necessary to pass its agenda. If it can't, it is held responsible for the failure, not those who stopped them from doing it. "
"The failure of those things to materialize as a measure of his failure to deliver on his promise. This president is more hampered than most in making the (legitimate) argument that the Party of No is to blame for the nation's troubles."
I suppose those things are true, but it doesn't seem like the administration is even trying. He should be explaining his policies clearly instead of leaving it up to Congress to bicker about (for a year with health care) and he should explaining how the obstructionism is working. It's not like the GOP positions even make logical sense, it should be a simple slam dunk. Instead the GOP controls all the messaging and the Dems start to add their policies into the bills making everything destined to fail. It's moronic.
Update: Atrios, Krugman, Benen and DeLong talked about this too: What Rough Beast?.
MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals New Information About Mercury
NASA reports MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals New Information About Mercury "Launched in August 2004, the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging spacecraft, known as MESSENGER, conducted a third and final flyby of Mercury in September 2009. The probe completed a critical maneuver using the planet's gravity to remain on course to enter into orbit around Mercury next year. Data from the final flyby has revealed the first observations of ion emissions in Mercury's exosphere, or thin atmosphere; new information about the planet's magnetic substorms; and evidence of younger volcanic activity than previously recorded."
Ronald Reagan Redux
Tom Schaller at 538 writes Ronald Reagan Redux "Saturday marks the 30th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's 1980 acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Detroit. I wrote about the speech this week in my Baltimore Sun column which, limited to 700 words, provides insufficient room to discuss fully the impact that Reagan's campaign and presidency had on the course of American politics during the three decades since."
Then and Now: The Retreating Glaciers
Then and Now: The Retreating Glaciers "In 1921, George Mallory, a British mountaineer, took a black-and-white photograph of Mount Everest. The photo, now legendary, shows the world’s highest peak in the distance and an S-shaped river of ice running toward the foreground: the Rongbuk glacier.
Three years ago, David Breashears, a mountaineer, photographer and filmmaker, returned to the very spot where Mr. Mallory stood to take the photograph and updated the vista. The change is sobering."
Three years ago, David Breashears, a mountaineer, photographer and filmmaker, returned to the very spot where Mr. Mallory stood to take the photograph and updated the vista. The change is sobering."
First Half of 2010 Warmest on Record
MSNBC report First half of 2010 warmest on record "Jan.-June warmest first half of year on record. 2010 tops 1998 temps; question now is whether 12 months will break 2005 record for warmest year"
"Each of the 10 warmest average global temperatures recorded since 1880 have occurred in the last fifteen years," it added. "The warmest year-to-date on record, through June, was 1998, and 2010 is warmer so far."
Waiting to hear from George Will....
"Each of the 10 warmest average global temperatures recorded since 1880 have occurred in the last fifteen years," it added. "The warmest year-to-date on record, through June, was 1998, and 2010 is warmer so far."
Waiting to hear from George Will....
The 400th Anniversary of Galileo's First Saturn Observations
The 400th Anniversary of Galileo's First Saturn Observations "On July 15, 1610, four months after the publication of Sidereus Nuncius, Galileo first aimed his 30 power telescope at Saturn."
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Should Businesses Be Run Like The Post Office?
The New Republic has a nice article on the post office. Should Businesses Be Run Like The Post Office?. It's short and worth reading the whole thing, but here's the beginning.
"The post office plans to raise stamp prices again. The usual groans about government inefficiency are sure to follow. But the post office doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Contrary to popular perception, it receives no federal funding for its operations, subsisting almost entirely on the fees it charges for delivering mail. It’s a great bargain: It’ll take your letter anywhere in the country for what’s still a modest fee. And when Consumer Reports compared package services, it concluded that ‘the good old U.S. Postal Service is often cheapest by far.’
But put all of that aside. The post office bests the private sector in another way: It’s actually put the money aside to pay for its workers’ retirements. Audits show that, at the end of fiscal 2009, it had contributed enough funds to cover all but 1 percent of future pension obligations to its current workers. The post office does this because it must: Federal law mandates that the post office, like all other federal agencies, finance pensions fully. The private sector faces a similar requirement, but many firms use loopholes to wiggle out of their responsibilities. A recent study shows that pensions among S&P 1500 companies are underfunded by 21 percent."
"The post office plans to raise stamp prices again. The usual groans about government inefficiency are sure to follow. But the post office doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Contrary to popular perception, it receives no federal funding for its operations, subsisting almost entirely on the fees it charges for delivering mail. It’s a great bargain: It’ll take your letter anywhere in the country for what’s still a modest fee. And when Consumer Reports compared package services, it concluded that ‘the good old U.S. Postal Service is often cheapest by far.’
But put all of that aside. The post office bests the private sector in another way: It’s actually put the money aside to pay for its workers’ retirements. Audits show that, at the end of fiscal 2009, it had contributed enough funds to cover all but 1 percent of future pension obligations to its current workers. The post office does this because it must: Federal law mandates that the post office, like all other federal agencies, finance pensions fully. The private sector faces a similar requirement, but many firms use loopholes to wiggle out of their responsibilities. A recent study shows that pensions among S&P 1500 companies are underfunded by 21 percent."
Oh Yeah, What To Do About Iran and Nukes is Still an Issue
The New York Times wrote Israeli Attack on Iran Would Start Long War
"Oxford Research Group, which promotes non-violent solutions to conflict, said military action should be ruled out as a response to Iran's possible nuclear weapons ambitions. 'An Israeli attack on Iran would be the start of a protracted conflict that would be unlikely to prevent the eventual acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran and might even encourage it,' it said in a report. It would also lead to instability and unpredictable security consequences for the region and the wider world, it added."
"Oxford Research Group, which promotes non-violent solutions to conflict, said military action should be ruled out as a response to Iran's possible nuclear weapons ambitions. 'An Israeli attack on Iran would be the start of a protracted conflict that would be unlikely to prevent the eventual acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran and might even encourage it,' it said in a report. It would also lead to instability and unpredictable security consequences for the region and the wider world, it added."
Remember, The Deficit is Bush's Fault
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out Critics Still Wrong on What’s Driving Deficits in Coming Years. "Some critics continue to assert that President George W. Bush’s policies bear little responsibility for the deficits the nation faces over the coming decade — that, instead, the new policies of President Barack Obama and the 111th Congress are to blame. Most recently, a Heritage Foundation paper downplayed the role of Bush-era policies (for more on that paper, see p. 4). Nevertheless, the fact remains: Together with the economic downturn, the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years (see Figure 1)."
My Obama Problem
I completely agree with Krugman about My Obama Problem.
"We’ll never know how differently the politics would have played if Obama, instead of systematically echoing and giving credibility to all the arguments of the people who want to destroy him, had actually stood up for a different economic philosophy. But we do know how his actual strategy has worked, and it hasn’t been a success."
"We’ll never know how differently the politics would have played if Obama, instead of systematically echoing and giving credibility to all the arguments of the people who want to destroy him, had actually stood up for a different economic philosophy. But we do know how his actual strategy has worked, and it hasn’t been a success."
No, Bush's Economy Wasn't Great
Krugman in Invincible Ignorance takes on the GOP myths that tax cuts are the solution to everything and pay for themselves.
"But anyway, look: it’s been a long time since Morning in America. We’ve now been through two two-term administrations, one of which raised taxes, the other of which cut them. Which looks like it presided over a more vibrant economy?"
Graphs in the article. And it doesn't look like people can accept it.
"But anyway, look: it’s been a long time since Morning in America. We’ve now been through two two-term administrations, one of which raised taxes, the other of which cut them. Which looks like it presided over a more vibrant economy?"
Graphs in the article. And it doesn't look like people can accept it.
Scientists Expected Obama Administration to be Friendlier
The LA Times reported Scientists expected Obama administration to be friendlier "When he ran for president, Barack Obama attacked the George W. Bush administration for putting political concerns ahead of science on such issues as climate change and public health. And during his first weeks in the White House, President Obama ordered his advisors to develop rules to 'guarantee scientific integrity throughout the executive branch.'
Many government scientists hailed the president's pronouncement. But a year and a half later, no such rules have been issued. Now scientists charge that the Obama administration is not doing enough to reverse a culture that they contend allowed officials to interfere with their work and limit their ability to speak out."
Obama really needs to get better at executing his policies. These don't sound like the same issue as under Bush as they don't really advance Obama's positions. It just seems like bureaucracy getting in the way. Then again, I could be wrong.
Many government scientists hailed the president's pronouncement. But a year and a half later, no such rules have been issued. Now scientists charge that the Obama administration is not doing enough to reverse a culture that they contend allowed officials to interfere with their work and limit their ability to speak out."
Obama really needs to get better at executing his policies. These don't sound like the same issue as under Bush as they don't really advance Obama's positions. It just seems like bureaucracy getting in the way. Then again, I could be wrong.
My New Desktop Wallpaper
"A colourful star-forming region is featured in this stunning new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 2467. Looking like a roiling cauldron of some exotic cosmic brew, huge clouds of gas and dust are sprinkled with bright blue, hot young stars.
Strangely shaped dust clouds, resembling spilled liquids, are silhouetted against a colourful background of glowing. Like the familiar Orion Nebula, NGC 2467 is a huge cloud of gas — mostly hydrogen — that serves as an incubator for new stars."
This shot of Pluto crossing a dark Nebula, taken by an amateur on July 6th doesn't suck either.
Strangely shaped dust clouds, resembling spilled liquids, are silhouetted against a colourful background of glowing. Like the familiar Orion Nebula, NGC 2467 is a huge cloud of gas — mostly hydrogen — that serves as an incubator for new stars."
This shot of Pluto crossing a dark Nebula, taken by an amateur on July 6th doesn't suck either.
Rosetta Triumphs at Asteroid Lutetia
In 2004 the European Space Agency launched Rosetta, intended to orbit a comet and set a lander on it in 2014. In the mean time, since there are giant rocks just floating around in the solar system, Rosetta took some great photos.
Rosetta triumphs at asteroid Lutetia "Asteroid Lutetia has been revealed as a battered world of many craters. ESA’s Rosetta mission has returned the first close-up images of the asteroid showing it is most probably a primitive survivor from the violent birth of the Solar System. The flyby was a spectacular success with Rosetta performing faultlessly. Closest approach took place [on July 10th], at a distance of 3162 km."
Lutetia is the Latin name for Paris which is where Hermann Goldschmidt discovered it in 1852. It's the largest asteroid a spacecraft has visited and is in the asteroid belt beyond Mars. The Planetary Society Blog has more on Rosetta's Lutetia pictures.
Rosetta triumphs at asteroid Lutetia "Asteroid Lutetia has been revealed as a battered world of many craters. ESA’s Rosetta mission has returned the first close-up images of the asteroid showing it is most probably a primitive survivor from the violent birth of the Solar System. The flyby was a spectacular success with Rosetta performing faultlessly. Closest approach took place [on July 10th], at a distance of 3162 km."
Lutetia is the Latin name for Paris which is where Hermann Goldschmidt discovered it in 1852. It's the largest asteroid a spacecraft has visited and is in the asteroid belt beyond Mars. The Planetary Society Blog has more on Rosetta's Lutetia pictures.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
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