I saw something about TaskRabbit somewhere and took a look. It's kinda an interesting idea. It's like eBay for small jobs. Need something delivered or cleaned? Post a job and people bid to do it. Since tasks are often at homes, you pick who you want and TaskRabbit vets the "rabbits" (it's not just lowest bidder wins). Common tasks are pick up and setup Ikea furniture (small businesses like this one) or clean out storage or simple computer work. The rabbits get scored and compete for points or something. Kinda neat.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
David Brooks vs. David Brooks
Kevin Drum writes David Brooks vs. David Brooks pointing out his changes in positions day by day.
"Just yesterday I was telling a friend who likes Brooks that I'm not a Brooks hater. I'm still not. But honest to God, I've never seen a columnist who's so schizophrenic. One day we've failed because Republicans are just shy of insane, the next we've failed because Obama screwed up the negotiating process. It's like some part of him rebels whenever he finally admits to himself what the modern conservative movement has become. I wonder what it will take for him to finally figure it out for good?"
This Economist blog goes after Brooks too for his statements about Obama scolding the Republicans.
"So let me get this straight. On Mr Brooks' telling, Mr Obama scolded Congressional leaders like a bunch of teenagers. They responded by beginning negotiations with each other which, he thinks, are more likely to produce a deal. He scolded them, and they started doing their jobs. This "unintended consequence" of Mr Obama's actions proves that his scolding was a grave mistake."
"The notion that our political leaders are mainly driven by such considerations is itself infantilising; I would hope that John Boehner is insulted by Mr Brooks' accusation that his negotiating stance is largely driven by whether Mr Obama was nice to him or not."
"Just yesterday I was telling a friend who likes Brooks that I'm not a Brooks hater. I'm still not. But honest to God, I've never seen a columnist who's so schizophrenic. One day we've failed because Republicans are just shy of insane, the next we've failed because Obama screwed up the negotiating process. It's like some part of him rebels whenever he finally admits to himself what the modern conservative movement has become. I wonder what it will take for him to finally figure it out for good?"
This Economist blog goes after Brooks too for his statements about Obama scolding the Republicans.
"So let me get this straight. On Mr Brooks' telling, Mr Obama scolded Congressional leaders like a bunch of teenagers. They responded by beginning negotiations with each other which, he thinks, are more likely to produce a deal. He scolded them, and they started doing their jobs. This "unintended consequence" of Mr Obama's actions proves that his scolding was a grave mistake."
"The notion that our political leaders are mainly driven by such considerations is itself infantilising; I would hope that John Boehner is insulted by Mr Brooks' accusation that his negotiating stance is largely driven by whether Mr Obama was nice to him or not."
History of the Individual Health Insurance Mandate
ProCon.org documents the History of the Individual Health Insurance Mandate, 1989-2010. "The concept of the individual health insurance mandate originated in 1989 at the conservative Heritage Foundation. In 1993, Republicans twice introduced health care bills that contained an individual health insurance mandate. Advocates for those bills included prominent Republicans who today oppose the mandate including Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Robert Bennett (R-UT), and Christopher Bond (R-MO). In 2007, Democrats and Republicans introduced a bi-partisan bill containing the mandate. "
Al-Qaeda Could Collapse, U.S. Officials Say
Al-Qaeda could collapse "U.S. counterterrorism officials are increasingly convinced that the killing of Osama bin Laden and the toll of seven years of CIA drone strikes have pushed alQaeda to the brink of collapse."
"U.S. officials said that al-Qaeda might yet rally and that even its demise would not end the terrorist threat, which is increasingly driven by radicalized individuals as well as aggressive affiliates. Indeed, officials said that al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Yemen is now seen as a greater counterterrorism challenge than the organization’s traditional base."
I'm just reminded of Bush saying he wasn't paying attention to bin Laden that he was no longer important.
"U.S. officials said that bin Laden’s death was a turning point, in part because he remained active in managing the network and keeping it focused on mounting attacks against the United States, but also because his charisma was key to al-Qaeda’s brand and the proliferation of franchises overseas."
"U.S. officials said that al-Qaeda might yet rally and that even its demise would not end the terrorist threat, which is increasingly driven by radicalized individuals as well as aggressive affiliates. Indeed, officials said that al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Yemen is now seen as a greater counterterrorism challenge than the organization’s traditional base."
I'm just reminded of Bush saying he wasn't paying attention to bin Laden that he was no longer important.
"U.S. officials said that bin Laden’s death was a turning point, in part because he remained active in managing the network and keeping it focused on mounting attacks against the United States, but also because his charisma was key to al-Qaeda’s brand and the proliferation of franchises overseas."
Austerity Doesn't Work, Look at Britain
British Economy, After Austerity, at Zero Growth in the Past Nine Months "What’s amazing about this debt limit debate, and the headlong rush to austerity, is that we have empirical evidence of what can result, in this kind of economy, when you massively roll back spending. We even know what happens when you do that amid the threat of a debt downgrade rather than the fundamentals of the financial markets. All you have to do is look to Britain, which has never been the same since their austerity package was unveiled by the Tories."
Big Governments, Big People?
Ezra Klein questions Big governments, big people? "“You know,” Speaker John Boehner said [Monday] night, “I’ve always believed the bigger the government, the smaller the people.” That led Jonathan Cohn to tweet that the “Netherlands has 45% GDP from gov’tM spending and the world’s tallest people.”"
Boehner’s New Budget Proposal is Class Warfare
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a Statement: on House Speaker Boehner’s New Budget Proposal.
"House Speaker John Boehner’s new budget proposal would essentially require, as the price of raising the debt ceiling again early next year, a choice between deep cuts in the years immediately ahead in Social Security and Medicare benefits for current retirees, repeal of health reform’s coverage expansions, or wholesale evisceration of basic assistance programs for vulnerable Americans. The plan is, thus, tantamount to a form of “class warfare.” If enacted, it could well produce the greatest increase in poverty and hardship produced by any law in modern U.S. history. This may sound hyperbolic, but it is not. Both the mathematics and the politics are clear."
There's more details that follow, such as:
"To secure $1.5 trillion in entitlement savings over the next ten years would require draconian policy changes. Policymakers would essentially have three choices: 1) cut Social Security and Medicare benefits heavily for current retirees, something that all budget plans from both parties (including House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan) have ruled out; 2) repeal the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions while retaining its measures that cut Medicare payments and raise tax revenues, even though Republicans seek to repeal many of those measures as well; or 3) eviscerate the safety net for low-income children, parents, senior citizens, and people with disabilities. There is no other plausible way to get $1.5 trillion in entitlement cuts in the next ten years."
"House Speaker John Boehner’s new budget proposal would essentially require, as the price of raising the debt ceiling again early next year, a choice between deep cuts in the years immediately ahead in Social Security and Medicare benefits for current retirees, repeal of health reform’s coverage expansions, or wholesale evisceration of basic assistance programs for vulnerable Americans. The plan is, thus, tantamount to a form of “class warfare.” If enacted, it could well produce the greatest increase in poverty and hardship produced by any law in modern U.S. history. This may sound hyperbolic, but it is not. Both the mathematics and the politics are clear."
There's more details that follow, such as:
"To secure $1.5 trillion in entitlement savings over the next ten years would require draconian policy changes. Policymakers would essentially have three choices: 1) cut Social Security and Medicare benefits heavily for current retirees, something that all budget plans from both parties (including House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan) have ruled out; 2) repeal the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions while retaining its measures that cut Medicare payments and raise tax revenues, even though Republicans seek to repeal many of those measures as well; or 3) eviscerate the safety net for low-income children, parents, senior citizens, and people with disabilities. There is no other plausible way to get $1.5 trillion in entitlement cuts in the next ten years."
This American Life on Patents
I caught a segment on NPR on software patents and patent trolls. While I knew most it, it was really well done and I didn't know about the protection racket angle.
"Why would a company rent an office in a tiny town in East Texas, put a nameplate on the door, and leave it completely empty for a year? The answer involves a controversial billionaire physicist in Seattle, a 40 pound cookbook, and a war waging right now, all across the software and tech industries."
"Why would a company rent an office in a tiny town in East Texas, put a nameplate on the door, and leave it completely empty for a year? The answer involves a controversial billionaire physicist in Seattle, a 40 pound cookbook, and a war waging right now, all across the software and tech industries."
FAA Partial Shutdown Continues
The Washington Post wrote At $30M a day, FAA partial shutdown could cost more than program at center of dispute "A stalemate in Congress has led to a partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, leading 4,000 workers to be furloughed and costing the agency $30 million a day. Now in its fourth day, the shutdown – which has stemmed from a dispute over a program providing rural air service subsidies – means that the agency has been unable to collect the 7.5 percent-per-ticket tax on air travel, The Post’s Ashley Halsey III reports."
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Chart That Should Accompany All Discussions of the Debt Ceiling
James Fallows wrote The Chart That Should Accompany All Discussions of the Debt Ceiling pointing to this New York Times article on Sunday, How the Deficit Got This Big. They include these two charts, the second is what Fallows was referring to:
I agree with the data but don't love these graphs. They are comparing 8 years of Bush with 2.5 years of Obama and just projections for an eight-year term. It's also too easy to look at them and see the bigger lines during Obama's term.
If you look at both graphs you can piece together that the wars and tax cuts turned the surplus projections into actual deficits. You can then maybe piece together that the financial crisis led to the bailouts and stimulus. It's up to you to realize that while they hurt the budget in the short term, they're better in the long term. The chart also leaves out that the health care law is supposed to shrink the deficit after 2017 but that the costs are loaded up front.
As for the deficit I really prefer this chart, the latest version I posted a few days ago. Here's a version with recessions shaded:
This shows the revenue dropped in 2007 before the recession hit (I'm not sure why but I'll assume there was a tax cut in there) and the recession made it worse. Still I'm sure a Republican would look at this and see a spending problem, see that line just keeps going up. You have to think that things get more expensive and we get something for our money. Me, I'd rather be getting safety nets and infrastructure from our government rather than wars.
Another part I don't completely understand with this graph is that Bush cut taxes and yet clearly revenue did go up. Is that just inflation or the bubble? I assume there's something to the laffer curve but I know it doesn't mean cutting taxes always works and I thought that we were at the point that it didn't.
I do know that if you bring up to a tea partier that Bush's policies greatly exacerbated the debt problem they'll say they didn't support them either; but I never see an interviewer follow up and ask if they voted for Bush in 2004. The other annoying angle is that they will point out that Democrats were against the deficit under Bush and why don't they care now. My answer is that we're in a recession and different economic situations demand different policies. It's perfectly consistent to say you support deficit spending in bad times and making it up in surpluses during good times, in fact it's Keynesian. You can't say that the appropriate policy in every situation is cutting taxes, that's consistent but unsustainable and clearly wrong.
I agree with the data but don't love these graphs. They are comparing 8 years of Bush with 2.5 years of Obama and just projections for an eight-year term. It's also too easy to look at them and see the bigger lines during Obama's term.
If you look at both graphs you can piece together that the wars and tax cuts turned the surplus projections into actual deficits. You can then maybe piece together that the financial crisis led to the bailouts and stimulus. It's up to you to realize that while they hurt the budget in the short term, they're better in the long term. The chart also leaves out that the health care law is supposed to shrink the deficit after 2017 but that the costs are loaded up front.
As for the deficit I really prefer this chart, the latest version I posted a few days ago. Here's a version with recessions shaded:
This shows the revenue dropped in 2007 before the recession hit (I'm not sure why but I'll assume there was a tax cut in there) and the recession made it worse. Still I'm sure a Republican would look at this and see a spending problem, see that line just keeps going up. You have to think that things get more expensive and we get something for our money. Me, I'd rather be getting safety nets and infrastructure from our government rather than wars.
Another part I don't completely understand with this graph is that Bush cut taxes and yet clearly revenue did go up. Is that just inflation or the bubble? I assume there's something to the laffer curve but I know it doesn't mean cutting taxes always works and I thought that we were at the point that it didn't.
I do know that if you bring up to a tea partier that Bush's policies greatly exacerbated the debt problem they'll say they didn't support them either; but I never see an interviewer follow up and ask if they voted for Bush in 2004. The other annoying angle is that they will point out that Democrats were against the deficit under Bush and why don't they care now. My answer is that we're in a recession and different economic situations demand different policies. It's perfectly consistent to say you support deficit spending in bad times and making it up in surpluses during good times, in fact it's Keynesian. You can't say that the appropriate policy in every situation is cutting taxes, that's consistent but unsustainable and clearly wrong.
Activism
I'm still on a moveon.org mailing list. I'm on a couple of others too and I mostly just ignore them. They do tend to send out too much email and they basically just ask for money. A few do campaigns to get you to call your representative to take a stand on an upcoming vote. Normally this is dull for me as my representatives mostly do what I want. Now that Scott Brown is my senator I've called his office a few times. It feels good, but I don't think it does much.
Barney Frank is my congressman and he has an office a few block from my home, I drive by it often. Moveon sent email out a day or two ago saying to meet at his office today at noon to thank him for standing strong on his support for the social programs during the deficit talks. See they're not just about complaining. I didn't think such a thing would be particularly useful and I had lunch plans.
My lunch plans fell through at the last minute so I walked down, mostly to see what such an event would look like. It turns out it looks like about 15 people, almost all with grey hair, meeting out front of a four story office building. One or two people knew each other, I assume from other moveon.org events. A few printed out 8.5 x 11 signs that said "Thanks for Standing Strong" or something like that. We stood at the steps for a few minutes. One guy said he could have worn an Obama t-shirt but it's hard to still believe in Obama. Another was saying a few things about how annoyed he was at Republicans and how they're just so wrong. That the freshman tea party congressman just don't understand that their policies are not in their own self interest. If they studied their history they'd know that Marx said...and I trailed off. One woman said rather than small groups we should have a big rally on the common to tell the country that we have an alternative view. I said I think most of the country already believes that Massachusetts has an alternative view.
So someone went up stairs to tell them that we were there. There's one young staffer that, Frank is in DC. So eight of us went up to his office and stood at the reception desk. We stood in mostly silence not being at all organized. The staffer said why I don't I take your names and addresses and any statements. So we went around saying the info as he wrote it down. A few more came into the office and a few of us made sound bite statements. "Don't cut social security or medicare" or "The debt isn't the real issue it's jobs". I said I cared mostly about the debt ceiling and would most like a clean vote or the McConnell plan. Not raising the ceiling isn't an option.
We then funneled out and went our separate ways. It all felt rather depressing. Lack of organization in any sized group is always bad. It turns out even people with similar general beliefs have differences on the details, imagine that. The woman who said jobs were the important thing mentioned the WPA and a gentleman said "or the army, that's a good job" and she said "well not the army, we want to be shrinking that and bringing people home."
I don't think showing up meant any more than calling him (my understanding is that phone calls count much more than email messages as far as influencing congressmen). I also think that showing up in some way added to the kabuki theater of the negotiations with press conferences and cable news interviews while everything real happens behind closed doors. As was said months ago, no matter what it will all come down to the 11th hour. That's a week to go.
Barney Frank is my congressman and he has an office a few block from my home, I drive by it often. Moveon sent email out a day or two ago saying to meet at his office today at noon to thank him for standing strong on his support for the social programs during the deficit talks. See they're not just about complaining. I didn't think such a thing would be particularly useful and I had lunch plans.
My lunch plans fell through at the last minute so I walked down, mostly to see what such an event would look like. It turns out it looks like about 15 people, almost all with grey hair, meeting out front of a four story office building. One or two people knew each other, I assume from other moveon.org events. A few printed out 8.5 x 11 signs that said "Thanks for Standing Strong" or something like that. We stood at the steps for a few minutes. One guy said he could have worn an Obama t-shirt but it's hard to still believe in Obama. Another was saying a few things about how annoyed he was at Republicans and how they're just so wrong. That the freshman tea party congressman just don't understand that their policies are not in their own self interest. If they studied their history they'd know that Marx said...and I trailed off. One woman said rather than small groups we should have a big rally on the common to tell the country that we have an alternative view. I said I think most of the country already believes that Massachusetts has an alternative view.
So someone went up stairs to tell them that we were there. There's one young staffer that, Frank is in DC. So eight of us went up to his office and stood at the reception desk. We stood in mostly silence not being at all organized. The staffer said why I don't I take your names and addresses and any statements. So we went around saying the info as he wrote it down. A few more came into the office and a few of us made sound bite statements. "Don't cut social security or medicare" or "The debt isn't the real issue it's jobs". I said I cared mostly about the debt ceiling and would most like a clean vote or the McConnell plan. Not raising the ceiling isn't an option.
We then funneled out and went our separate ways. It all felt rather depressing. Lack of organization in any sized group is always bad. It turns out even people with similar general beliefs have differences on the details, imagine that. The woman who said jobs were the important thing mentioned the WPA and a gentleman said "or the army, that's a good job" and she said "well not the army, we want to be shrinking that and bringing people home."
I don't think showing up meant any more than calling him (my understanding is that phone calls count much more than email messages as far as influencing congressmen). I also think that showing up in some way added to the kabuki theater of the negotiations with press conferences and cable news interviews while everything real happens behind closed doors. As was said months ago, no matter what it will all come down to the 11th hour. That's a week to go.
Jon Stewart on the Debt Ceiling Negotiations
"When it comes to resolving the debt ceiling crisis, Congress isn't bad at its job, it's just equivalent to a skunk with its head in a jar of Skippy peanut butter."
It includes some comments on the Captain America movie (which I really liked) my favorite of which was calling the Red Skull a sunburned James Carville. I also loved how he pointed out the hypocrisy of both leaders latest positions. "So both sides switched, everybody caved, and no one agreed."
It includes some comments on the Captain America movie (which I really liked) my favorite of which was calling the Red Skull a sunburned James Carville. I also loved how he pointed out the hypocrisy of both leaders latest positions. "So both sides switched, everybody caved, and no one agreed."
Set Design Impossibilities in The Shining
Here's a two-part analysis of the sets of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. It turns out, the Overlook hotel interiors as we are shown in the film are not possible. Windows are where they can't be, doors appear where they shouldn't and rooms appear to be where they can't. This was found while trying to build a video game skin to set it in the film. Most of this analysis is examples of the anomalies, but it does suggest that Kubrick was so detailed oriented that it must have been deliberate in an attempt to further disorient the viewer.
More analysis can be found at Collative Learning. I'm off to watch the bits on other Kubrick films.
More analysis can be found at Collative Learning. I'm off to watch the bits on other Kubrick films.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Ezra Klein: Republicans have won. But can they stop there?
Ezra Klein writes Republicans have won. But can they stop there? "We don't yet know what the final deal to raise the debt ceiling will be. But now that Harry Reid is developing a proposal with $2.7 trillion in cuts and nothing in revenues, it's a safe bet that it won't include any tax increases. Which means that whether Republicans realize it or not, they've won. The question now is whether they can stop."
Sunday, July 24, 2011
A New Babylon 5 Series?
Here's a report of the J. Michael Straczynski panel at Comic Con: JMS Spotlight "The future of "Babylon 5" is still being negotiated, JMS said in response to one questioner, explaining that two years ago, when he was last asked to work on a new "Babylon 5," he told the producers, "I need three things. Two to three million dollars per episode, a full season commitment and creative control." At the time, they seemed amiable to his plan, but some parts of the deal fell apart. That said, negotiations are still ongoing."
Web Hosting
I received a notice from my ISP, "For security reasons, Verizon will no longer allow users to FTP their HTML files to the personal web site Verizon offers."
This doesn't affect this blog, but rather my personal site (which gets even less traffic). Still I do make use of it once a year for the oscar pool. Can anyone recommend a good cheap (or even free) web hosting site that allows FTP access and a little bit of storage?
This doesn't affect this blog, but rather my personal site (which gets even less traffic). Still I do make use of it once a year for the oscar pool. Can anyone recommend a good cheap (or even free) web hosting site that allows FTP access and a little bit of storage?
Penn Jillette on a Shuttle Launch
Penn Jillette wrote this very fun post a month ago, NASA's Successful Quantifying of Comedy Timing. "Excerpt from “How To Play In Traffic”, Penn Jillette and Teller, 1997 (out of print). This is long, but for my money, it’s the best thing about the space shuttle ever written."
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Profiles in Un-courage
Krugman has some good posts today.
Profiles in Un-courage. "Matt Yglesias notes the odd failure of reasonably sensible Republican macroeconomists to confront their party’s descent into hard-money madness."
Naked Blackmail. "It turns out that in the final stages of the debt negotiations, Republicans suddenly added a new demand — a trigger that would end up eliminating the individual mandate in health care reform."
What Obama Was Willing to Give Away. "Jonathan Cohn summarizes what seems to have been in the deal that Boehner walked away from; it’s horrifying. Above all, the proposed rise in the age of Medicare eligibility was a real betrayal of both Democratic principles and good government."
Here's Cohn's summary, Obama Admits the Obvious: The GOP Is Unreasonable. "Debt Ceiling Negotiations: The Democrats Have Compromised. The Republicans Have Not. It's About Time People Noticed."
Profiles in Un-courage. "Matt Yglesias notes the odd failure of reasonably sensible Republican macroeconomists to confront their party’s descent into hard-money madness."
Naked Blackmail. "It turns out that in the final stages of the debt negotiations, Republicans suddenly added a new demand — a trigger that would end up eliminating the individual mandate in health care reform."
What Obama Was Willing to Give Away. "Jonathan Cohn summarizes what seems to have been in the deal that Boehner walked away from; it’s horrifying. Above all, the proposed rise in the age of Medicare eligibility was a real betrayal of both Democratic principles and good government."
Here's Cohn's summary, Obama Admits the Obvious: The GOP Is Unreasonable. "Debt Ceiling Negotiations: The Democrats Have Compromised. The Republicans Have Not. It's About Time People Noticed."
Serenity in Lego
Here are some photos on flickr by Dufresne07 of his Lego model Serenity from Firefly. It's pretty damn impressive.
The drive even lights up.
The drive even lights up.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Watching the Shuttle Reenter the Atmosphere
This NASA - Image of the Day isn't of the highest quality, but it is amazing. "This unprecedented view of the space shuttle Atlantis, appearing like a bean sprout against clouds and city lights, on its way home, was photographed by the Expedition 28 crew of the International Space Station. Airglow over Earth can be seen in the background. "
The Persecution of Daniel Lee
Stanford University's magazine wrote of The Persecution of Daniel Lee "An Internet smear campaign nearly destroyed the South Korean star, but he fought back with the only weapon he had: the truth." It's an interesting story of how conspiracy theories can be really damaging.
Dodd-Frank — a real work of art
Alphaville in The Financial Times wrote Dodd-Frank — a real work of art "Every now and again we come across pictures meant to simplify the complexities of the landmark legislation. (We’d never of course suggest they’d ever be designed to obfuscate.) And it hasn’t escaped our attention that, on occasion, they carry a (very) vague likeness to certain works of art. "
TED: Kevin Slavin: How Algorithms Shape Our World
I thought this was really interesting and in some ways frightening TED talk on algorithmic trading and using such techniques in other areas.
Congress Continues Debate Over Whether or Not Nation Should Be Economically Ruined
I've been trying to avoid following the debt ceiling crisis. I believe that it will keep going with political posturing until the deadline Aug 2nd and it will just upset me. I have been reading about it but commenting would make me crazy. Well now that Boehner has walked out here are a few articles I've saved.
The Onion put it well, Congress Continues Debate Over Whether Or Not Nation Should Be Economically Ruined. "Members of the U.S. Congress reported Wednesday they were continuing to carefully debate the issue of whether or not they should allow the country to descend into a roiling economic meltdown of historically dire proportions. "It is a question that, I think, is worthy of serious consideration: Should we take steps to avoid a crippling, decades-long depression that would lead to disastrous consequences on a worldwide scale? Or should we not do that?" asked House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), adding that arguments could be made for both sides, and that the debate over ensuring America’s financial solvency versus allowing the nation to default on its debt—which would torpedo stock markets, cause mortgage and interests rates to skyrocket, and decimate the value of the U.S. dollar—is “certainly a conversation worth having.” "Obviously, we don't want to rush to consensus on whether it is or isn't a good idea to save the American economy and all our respective livelihoods from certain peril until we've examined this thorny dilemma from every angle. And if we’re still discussing this matter on Aug. 2, well, then, so be it.” At press time, President Obama said he personally believed the country should not be economically ruined."
Ezra Klein's post, 11 days until disaster, three options to prevent it, isn't that much different.
An Economist blog says Worst Congress ever? "Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute quite literally wrote the book on congressional dysfunction. So it is profoundly depressing to see that he has now labelled the 112th Congress the worst one ever. More discouraging still, this is not a temporary problem brought about by transient phenomena such as the recent recession and the advent of the tea-party movement. It is the culmination of a long period of realignment in American politics, encompassing sharper ideological conflict between the parties, the extinction of the Boll Weevils and the Gypsy Moths, the simultaneous balkanisation of the mass media, the advent of the permanent campaign and a new way of thinking and operating on Capitol Hill. Moreover, it is going to become even worse"
Kevin Drum posted this chart, which I think has to be taken more as correlation than causation, but maybe not:
And if you thought the debt ceiling was the only thing the House was breaking, there's also this, FAA faces partial shutdown. "The Federal Aviation Administration faced a partial shutdown Saturday morning as Congress adjourned Friday without approving a routine stop-gap funding measure amid partisan acrimony. More than 4,000 FAA workers, 1,000 of them in the Washington region, and tens of thousands of airport construction workers under FAA contract faced immediate furlough. The nation’s air travel system will not be affected, with air traffic controllers remaining on the job and airline operations continuing as normal."
The Onion put it well, Congress Continues Debate Over Whether Or Not Nation Should Be Economically Ruined. "Members of the U.S. Congress reported Wednesday they were continuing to carefully debate the issue of whether or not they should allow the country to descend into a roiling economic meltdown of historically dire proportions. "It is a question that, I think, is worthy of serious consideration: Should we take steps to avoid a crippling, decades-long depression that would lead to disastrous consequences on a worldwide scale? Or should we not do that?" asked House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), adding that arguments could be made for both sides, and that the debate over ensuring America’s financial solvency versus allowing the nation to default on its debt—which would torpedo stock markets, cause mortgage and interests rates to skyrocket, and decimate the value of the U.S. dollar—is “certainly a conversation worth having.” "Obviously, we don't want to rush to consensus on whether it is or isn't a good idea to save the American economy and all our respective livelihoods from certain peril until we've examined this thorny dilemma from every angle. And if we’re still discussing this matter on Aug. 2, well, then, so be it.” At press time, President Obama said he personally believed the country should not be economically ruined."
Ezra Klein's post, 11 days until disaster, three options to prevent it, isn't that much different.
An Economist blog says Worst Congress ever? "Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute quite literally wrote the book on congressional dysfunction. So it is profoundly depressing to see that he has now labelled the 112th Congress the worst one ever. More discouraging still, this is not a temporary problem brought about by transient phenomena such as the recent recession and the advent of the tea-party movement. It is the culmination of a long period of realignment in American politics, encompassing sharper ideological conflict between the parties, the extinction of the Boll Weevils and the Gypsy Moths, the simultaneous balkanisation of the mass media, the advent of the permanent campaign and a new way of thinking and operating on Capitol Hill. Moreover, it is going to become even worse"
Kevin Drum posted this chart, which I think has to be taken more as correlation than causation, but maybe not:
And if you thought the debt ceiling was the only thing the House was breaking, there's also this, FAA faces partial shutdown. "The Federal Aviation Administration faced a partial shutdown Saturday morning as Congress adjourned Friday without approving a routine stop-gap funding measure amid partisan acrimony. More than 4,000 FAA workers, 1,000 of them in the Washington region, and tens of thousands of airport construction workers under FAA contract faced immediate furlough. The nation’s air travel system will not be affected, with air traffic controllers remaining on the job and airline operations continuing as normal."
Breaking Bad Is Back
Chuck Klosterman tried to make the case of Why AMC's Breaking Bad beats Mad Men, The Sopranos, and The Wire.. After starting with something I can agree with: "Though some may disagree (and I'm sure some will, because some always do), there doesn't seem to be much debate over what have been the four best television shows of the past 10 years. It seems like an easy question to answer, particularly since it's become increasingly difficult to write about the state of TV (or even the state of popular culture) without tangentially mentioning one of the following four programs — The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men, and/or Breaking Bad."
He then admits that picking a best show of those four is difficult. Apparently by picking The Wire, I'm an "obstinate fan". I just thought I was right. I do agree with most of this: "Which is not to say The Wire wasn't brilliant, because it was. Of the four shows I've mentioned, The Wire absolutely exhibited the finest writing; Mad Men has the most fascinating collection of character types, and The Sopranos was the most fully realized (and, it's important to note, essentially invented this rarified tier of televised drama). But I've slowly come to the conclusion that Breaking Bad is the best of the four, or at least the one I like the most.2 And I've been trying to figure out why I feel this way. It's shot in the most visually creative style, but that's not enough to set it apart; the acting is probably the best of the four, but not by a lot (and since good acting can sometimes cover deeper problems with direction and storytelling, I tend not to give it much weight). I suspect Breaking Bad will be the least remembered of these four shows and will probably be the least influential over time. Yet there's one profound difference between this series and the other three, and it has to do with its handling of morality: Breaking Bad is the only one built on the uncomfortable premise that there's an irrefutable difference between what's right and what's wrong, and it's the only one where the characters have real control over how they choose to live."
He makes the argument that Breaking Bad is the only where the main character started off good and has become bad, one choice at a time, and that's an interesting moral tale. That may be the case. On that basis I think Dexter also needs to be evaluated. It would clearly be in the next batch of four on any list, in fact I'd put it fifth with Deadwood sixth. Dexter starts off bad and we root for him but while we think he might be turning good, and he does evolve over the seasons, he distinctly stays evil, serial killer evil.
Still, I watched the season premiere of Breaking Bad and it was great. Salon recaps it saying "A drawn-out, horrifying setpiece underlines the AMC drama's most distinctive qualities." It's true, what struck me about it was how it was such wildly different storytelling than anything else. They also point out how watching the whole series really pays off in spades in comparing the characters now to what they were in season one.
In fact, this list of Breaking Bad's 10 best moments was most remarkable to me in that they are all great, and none of them would I have picked for my list (some I hadn't even remembered).
That's all to say, it's great show and you should watch it, but only from the begining.
He then admits that picking a best show of those four is difficult. Apparently by picking The Wire, I'm an "obstinate fan". I just thought I was right. I do agree with most of this: "Which is not to say The Wire wasn't brilliant, because it was. Of the four shows I've mentioned, The Wire absolutely exhibited the finest writing; Mad Men has the most fascinating collection of character types, and The Sopranos was the most fully realized (and, it's important to note, essentially invented this rarified tier of televised drama). But I've slowly come to the conclusion that Breaking Bad is the best of the four, or at least the one I like the most.2 And I've been trying to figure out why I feel this way. It's shot in the most visually creative style, but that's not enough to set it apart; the acting is probably the best of the four, but not by a lot (and since good acting can sometimes cover deeper problems with direction and storytelling, I tend not to give it much weight). I suspect Breaking Bad will be the least remembered of these four shows and will probably be the least influential over time. Yet there's one profound difference between this series and the other three, and it has to do with its handling of morality: Breaking Bad is the only one built on the uncomfortable premise that there's an irrefutable difference between what's right and what's wrong, and it's the only one where the characters have real control over how they choose to live."
He makes the argument that Breaking Bad is the only where the main character started off good and has become bad, one choice at a time, and that's an interesting moral tale. That may be the case. On that basis I think Dexter also needs to be evaluated. It would clearly be in the next batch of four on any list, in fact I'd put it fifth with Deadwood sixth. Dexter starts off bad and we root for him but while we think he might be turning good, and he does evolve over the seasons, he distinctly stays evil, serial killer evil.
Still, I watched the season premiere of Breaking Bad and it was great. Salon recaps it saying "A drawn-out, horrifying setpiece underlines the AMC drama's most distinctive qualities." It's true, what struck me about it was how it was such wildly different storytelling than anything else. They also point out how watching the whole series really pays off in spades in comparing the characters now to what they were in season one.
In fact, this list of Breaking Bad's 10 best moments was most remarkable to me in that they are all great, and none of them would I have picked for my list (some I hadn't even remembered).
That's all to say, it's great show and you should watch it, but only from the begining.
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