You can go ahead and puke now. And feel free to blame whomever you'd like.
It's Always Darkest When It's Darkest
Just a quick post with the latest in bad news numbers. Andrew Sullivan has this as his chart of the day (link) and I agree. So with that is Calculated Risk's percent job-loss report (link):
You can go ahead and puke now. And feel free to blame whomever you'd like.
You can go ahead and puke now. And feel free to blame whomever you'd like.
Call Me Fanboy. Fanboy Wiebe.
I seriously have a man-crush on Paul Krugman. His piece today on Paul Ryan is a complete tear-down of the man's ideas. He uses plenty of facts to back up his argument. And then he rips the news media for treating him seriously. Here's Krugman's close (link):
And you think he's done, right? But wait... Look at the piece below in italics.
I can't say that it was Paul's decision to put that at the end. Maybe it was the NYT just letting us know that Mr. Brooks is off today. But it is at least INTERESTING that Brooks is exactly the person who would praise Ryan.
Ohh, Mr. Krugman. You had me at "One depressing aspect of American politics is the susceptibility of the political and media establishment to charlatans."
So why have so many in Washington, especially in the news media, been taken in by this flimflam? It’s not just inability to do the math, although that’s part of it. There’s also the unwillingness of self-styled centrists to face up to the realities of the modern Republican Party; they want to pretend, in the teeth of overwhelming evidence, that there are still people in the G.O.P. making sense. And last but not least, there’s deference to power — the G.O.P. is a resurgent political force, so one mustn’t point out that its intellectual heroes have no clothes.
But they don’t. The Ryan plan is a fraud that makes no useful contribution to the debate over America’s fiscal future.
And you think he's done, right? But wait... Look at the piece below in italics.
David Brooks is off today.
I can't say that it was Paul's decision to put that at the end. Maybe it was the NYT just letting us know that Mr. Brooks is off today. But it is at least INTERESTING that Brooks is exactly the person who would praise Ryan.
Ohh, Mr. Krugman. You had me at "One depressing aspect of American politics is the susceptibility of the political and media establishment to charlatans."
This Week's Twitter Links
Maybe I can make this into a weekly habit. Below are this week's links (beginning on August 3rd):
Not the best way to run a race
I may not like Ryan's plan, but at least he's talking
Being the head of the federal reserve doesn't make you correct
Do you like Palin's chances?
I said Brown
"Some miracle"
Not the best time to be a homebuilder
Learning from Jose Canseco
Those damned liberal activist judges!
If anything I do makes me unpopular, shouldn't I just do nothing?
Is scientific research wasteful government spending?
Is Iran reaching out?
Because government spending is wasteful. By definition. Right.
Limbaugh says stupid things
Evidence? Who needs evidence when you control the media?
Being for a larger deficit means being against health care policy
Remember those carefree college days?
Not the best way to run a race
I may not like Ryan's plan, but at least he's talking
Being the head of the federal reserve doesn't make you correct
Do you like Palin's chances?
I said Brown
"Some miracle"
Not the best time to be a homebuilder
Learning from Jose Canseco
Those damned liberal activist judges!
If anything I do makes me unpopular, shouldn't I just do nothing?
Is scientific research wasteful government spending?
Is Iran reaching out?
Because government spending is wasteful. By definition. Right.
Limbaugh says stupid things
Evidence? Who needs evidence when you control the media?
Being for a larger deficit means being against health care policy
Remember those carefree college days?
Lunch Break: Sarah Palin's Facebook Page
One thing you may know about Sarah Palin, is how well she has adapted to the new online media (Facebook, Twitter) in order to speak directly to her supporters. I've read some criticism of her approach in that it enables her to dodge tough questions that traditional media outlets would ask (Think Katie Couric: "...what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?"). But, you have to hand it to her as a political figure who 'gets' the new media.
What I didn't have any idea about was the level of screening that goes into her Facebook page. Check this (link) out from John Dickerson in Slate:
10% doesn't seem like a heck of lot to me. What really impressed me were the kind of comments that were edited. Below are couple of interesting one from the article:
The article identifies a few other types of comments that are edited (racial slurs, mean comments, anything about Obama's birth certificate, etc.). Despite the latest 'family crisis', I still believe that she's running in 2012 for president and has as good a chance of any of the potential GOP candidates of winning their nomination. Her ability to work the new media should prove handy in that upcoming battle.
What I didn't have any idea about was the level of screening that goes into her Facebook page. Check this (link) out from John Dickerson in Slate:
How much work does it take to keep everything so sanitized? To help me find out, my colleague Jeremy Singer-Vine wrote a program to capture comments to Palin's page before the clean-up crew could arrive. (Here's an explanation of how Jeremy's program works.) All these posts were initially public, if only for a few minutes. We looked at the comments to 10 Palin posts over 12 days, capturing the deletions in the 24 hours after the posts were live. In that period, a rough average of 10 percent of total posts were deleted.
10% doesn't seem like a heck of lot to me. What really impressed me were the kind of comments that were edited. Below are couple of interesting one from the article:
Polite disagreement. "Sarah, perception is everything! I learned that in the military. All you have to do is disassociate yourself from those Tea Partiers that are indeed racist and the NAACP gones [sic] away," wrote one in response to Palin's post on the NAACP's charge that the Tea Party tolerated racism. "Even they [the NAACP] admit the Tea Party is not a racist organization. Mrs. Palin, I believe you to be an honorable Woman. You believe in your cause. Sometimes for the good of the cause one has to make a stand even to those that support the cause. Remember John Mccain, circa 2008 in which a woman stood up and called Candidate Obama a Muslim. The Honorable John Mccain rebuked her. This could be your moment."
...
Too much agreement. "Do us a favor Sarah, trap a few Wolves and ship em to D.C., they do eat Rats don't they? Have a great trip Sarah, God Bless."
The article identifies a few other types of comments that are edited (racial slurs, mean comments, anything about Obama's birth certificate, etc.). Despite the latest 'family crisis', I still believe that she's running in 2012 for president and has as good a chance of any of the potential GOP candidates of winning their nomination. Her ability to work the new media should prove handy in that upcoming battle.
Dissecting Lies
The GOP/Tea Party line is that: Obama (A socialist) has, much like a dictator, taken a hold of the federal government and massively increased spending. I don't think I'm embellishing. I've heard this repeated by respected members of the GOP, in newspapers, on Fox News, and on right-wing blogs.
Paul Krugman has a fantastic post taking this lie apart (here).
Rather than just cut-and paste the entire blog post, here are a few key charts that really take apart what's going on with government spending.
So, what's going-on here? Simple. We have RECORD unemployment. This isn't a 'government take-over' of the economy. This isn't a massive spending designed to implement an agenda of socialism. I know that I'm supposed to balance my thinking with the idea that my side spreads an equal number of falsehoods. But seriously, the nonsense from the 'ring-wing noise machine' is tedious, loud, and wrong. Here's to Krugman finding another way to point that out. Cheers!
Paul Krugman has a fantastic post taking this lie apart (here).
Rather than just cut-and paste the entire blog post, here are a few key charts that really take apart what's going on with government spending.
So, what's going-on here? Simple. We have RECORD unemployment. This isn't a 'government take-over' of the economy. This isn't a massive spending designed to implement an agenda of socialism. I know that I'm supposed to balance my thinking with the idea that my side spreads an equal number of falsehoods. But seriously, the nonsense from the 'ring-wing noise machine' is tedious, loud, and wrong. Here's to Krugman finding another way to point that out. Cheers!
Some readings from July
Sometime ambition gets the best of me. Weekly just fell away huh? OK... Here's some housekeeping:
A new toy around the house. And yes, it's sweet.
Elizabeth Warren, the debate continues (even now)
Tax cuts do not automatically increase revenue
What are conservatives, now?
Making money by giving it away
The latest, greatest, board games
Long term, this is bad
Getting Krugman to stick a pencil in his eye
Improving GOP outlook in the senate
The shutdown won't happen
Where Kevin Drum reads my mind
How do people in the media keep up with the information flow?
"I'm not aware of any agency with the authority, responsibility or a process in place to coordinate all these interagency and commercial activities. The complexity of this system defies description."
What does BS look like?
Erick Erickson is a blowhard
Making decisions on the margin
If you tell lies often enough, you begin to believe them
The tea party pisses people off
The filibuster is here to stay
Sullivan loves Palin
27,000 abandoned wells not checked for leaks
The pain of Palin
Playing pretend with tax charts
How being liar makes you popular
The economics of Romneycare
Does anybody really care about the deficit?
How to shrink government services
Being on both sides of an argument
If the economy determines electoral outcomes, why was 2000 so close?
But... Does crazy win?
Another Facebook debacle
In case you were wondering, Krugman thinks he's right
I don't like FOX "News"
Great pictures from the war in Afghanistan
GDP. It's worse then we thought
How much does that hurt?
The structure of the conflict matters more than the players
Identifying propaganda (Regarding Bush's tax cuts)
Open source textbooks. What's not to like?
Spin, spin, spin, spin, spin...
How to piss off monkeys
A new toy around the house. And yes, it's sweet.
Elizabeth Warren, the debate continues (even now)
Tax cuts do not automatically increase revenue
What are conservatives, now?
Making money by giving it away
The latest, greatest, board games
Long term, this is bad
Getting Krugman to stick a pencil in his eye
Improving GOP outlook in the senate
The shutdown won't happen
Where Kevin Drum reads my mind
How do people in the media keep up with the information flow?
"I'm not aware of any agency with the authority, responsibility or a process in place to coordinate all these interagency and commercial activities. The complexity of this system defies description."
What does BS look like?
Erick Erickson is a blowhard
Making decisions on the margin
If you tell lies often enough, you begin to believe them
The tea party pisses people off
The filibuster is here to stay
Sullivan loves Palin
27,000 abandoned wells not checked for leaks
The pain of Palin
Playing pretend with tax charts
How being liar makes you popular
The economics of Romneycare
Does anybody really care about the deficit?
How to shrink government services
Being on both sides of an argument
If the economy determines electoral outcomes, why was 2000 so close?
But... Does crazy win?
Another Facebook debacle
In case you were wondering, Krugman thinks he's right
I don't like FOX "News"
Great pictures from the war in Afghanistan
GDP. It's worse then we thought
How much does that hurt?
The structure of the conflict matters more than the players
Identifying propaganda (Regarding Bush's tax cuts)
Open source textbooks. What's not to like?
Spin, spin, spin, spin, spin...
How to piss off monkeys
The Ugly Truth
Ezra Klein nails it on his blog (link).
It's ugly in the sense that policy is irrelevant to the outcome of most elections. I'd really like to believe that this isn't true, and political parties would be rewarded and punished on the basis of the policies that they enacted or blocked. But, as usual, the relationship is much clearer than that. Here's the chart Ezra uses to demonstrate the correlation:
Democrats won their massive majority because of an economic collapse. They've passed so much legislation because they have a massive majority based on an economic collapse. But the economic collapse isn't over. And having a lot more seats than the other party means 1) voters blame you for the condition of the country, and 2) you have a lot of seats to lose. What the bad economy and the huge majority giveth, the bad economy and the huge majority taketh away. Om.
If there's a tension here, it's in the way that public opinions and the system interact -- or, more specifically, the way they don't. You can look at this and ask why Democrats passed all this legislation that made them unpopular. But if Democrats had sat around and done nothing after the stimulus, does anyone think they'd be more popular? On some level, Democrats understand that if people's incomes had gone up over the last year, their agenda would be popular enough, but that in the presence of persistent joblessness, they're going to lose the election. The only thing to do in the meantime is try and pass legislation that'll make the country better off. That's what they've done, or at least what they think they've done.
It's ugly in the sense that policy is irrelevant to the outcome of most elections. I'd really like to believe that this isn't true, and political parties would be rewarded and punished on the basis of the policies that they enacted or blocked. But, as usual, the relationship is much clearer than that. Here's the chart Ezra uses to demonstrate the correlation:
This Week's Notable Readings
So here's the idea. I have begun tweeting links to articles I found interesting. This page is designed to be a sum up of what I those tweets. I'm not sure if I'll make this a weekly of a daily feature, but for the time being it'll be weekly.
So here's what I liked this week:
Clever needs to be kind
What kind of bias does reality have?
Coming Soon - Deflation
Who cares about deficits?
Do tax cuts generate additional tax revenue? (No)
What spending should we cut exactly?
Incentives matter
No one ever is to blame
Who will be our next POTUS?
Leaders of the next congress?
Consistently Greenspan
Current Contenders
He's down but he's not out
Got any links I should take a look at? Feel free to post them in the comments.
So here's what I liked this week:
Clever needs to be kind
What kind of bias does reality have?
Coming Soon - Deflation
Who cares about deficits?
Do tax cuts generate additional tax revenue? (No)
What spending should we cut exactly?
Incentives matter
No one ever is to blame
Who will be our next POTUS?
Leaders of the next congress?
Consistently Greenspan
Current Contenders
He's down but he's not out
Got any links I should take a look at? Feel free to post them in the comments.
Updates, Updates, Updates
Still playing with this blog format thing. Today I:
- Briefly added a link to my photos on Picassa and then thought better of it.
- Searched like crazy trying to find a way to get Facebook status updates onto the blog. It looks like you used to be able to do this with an rss feed and then Facebook turned off the functionality. Which makes sense. They want you to go to their page for content and not somebody else's. So no facebook status feed is in the works (No big loss - the Twitter feed updates more anyway).
- And (crowning achievement) I just added my Pandora stations to the blog. Admittedly, my use of Pandora is very much in its infancy, but I'm pretty sure that is about to change.
- I need to update my Linkedin profile. It's a skeleton. If I'm going to have a web profile, I need to manage it. So that profile needs to some meat. I consider it part of the blog because I link to it from the blog. (See "The Work of Wiebe" to the right).
- I finished Tyler Cohen's book on the train today, so I need to get my quick thoughts on the reading sub-blog, What's Wiebe Reading (again to the right), before I've lost them.
- I've been playing Wii Fit and need to get my quick thoughts on it in my gaming sub-blog, What's Wiebe Playing.
The Twitter Account
My buddy Taylor (Here's his blog: link) got me to sign up for Twitter account a little more than a year ago. It sat and sat and sat. I started using Facebook and wondered what the point of twitter actually was. So it sat some more. I literally never used it. Not even a single tweet.
A few days ago I got to chapter four of The Age of the Infovore: Succeeding in the Information Economy (link) in which the author, Tyler Cohen (Here's his blog: link), goes into detail on all the different types of communication available in this era and the how each one is distinct. And I think I agree. Email is completely different than texting which is completely different than a phone call. Each has a very difference emotional impact and each can be more or less useful depending on the content and intent of the message. Facebook and Twitter both have their own communication uses, as do blogs and face-to-face contact.
So my Twitter experiment begins. You can see I added my twitter posts to this blog (See right). I have exactly one follower (Taylor did have me set-up the account), so I'm not exactly setting the world on fire with my messages. Which is alright. I'd love to think a cluster of people I know and like will begin using it. But even if they don't, I have to say I'm already enjoying getting tweets from people (mostly my favorite bloggers) that I'm now following in my twitter feed.
If I'm still using Twitter next year, then something about this worked. Consider yourself invited to come along for the ride (link).
A few days ago I got to chapter four of The Age of the Infovore: Succeeding in the Information Economy (link) in which the author, Tyler Cohen (Here's his blog: link), goes into detail on all the different types of communication available in this era and the how each one is distinct. And I think I agree. Email is completely different than texting which is completely different than a phone call. Each has a very difference emotional impact and each can be more or less useful depending on the content and intent of the message. Facebook and Twitter both have their own communication uses, as do blogs and face-to-face contact.
So my Twitter experiment begins. You can see I added my twitter posts to this blog (See right). I have exactly one follower (Taylor did have me set-up the account), so I'm not exactly setting the world on fire with my messages. Which is alright. I'd love to think a cluster of people I know and like will begin using it. But even if they don't, I have to say I'm already enjoying getting tweets from people (mostly my favorite bloggers) that I'm now following in my twitter feed.
If I'm still using Twitter next year, then something about this worked. Consider yourself invited to come along for the ride (link).
My Current Facebook Resolution
I created this site in response to my sincere annoyance at the owners of Facebook and their willful disregard for their users. Several of my posts criticize Facebook and link to criticisms of their policy changes. I stand by those posts. It's all true. The people who run Facebook SUCK.
They also have the most useful social media tool going today. I admit that I hoped they would be taken down by their mistakes. It isn't going to happen. They hit the scale needed to keep growing and growing and displacing the other social media pages. Let me put it this way. Your parents bothered to set up Facebook profiles and some of them are actively using it. Your parents are not moving away from this. Neither is every other commercial entity that actively markets their own Facebook page. Facebook won (for now). Facebook is what the cable company was before the satellite providers.
So... How do I reconcile my complete disdain for the owners with the overall usefulness of their services? The key is this blog. I'm going to make a new Facebook ID. I'm going to make it completely public. There is no way I can be surprised by changes in privacy policy when I've given up all pretense of having any privacy. Then I'm going to completely minimize what I put into Facebook. I figure they own anything I put into their system. So what if I just post to my blog and... then use Facebook to link to my blog? Now they can own the link but I control my content. If I want to post photos, well, I'm NOT going to do it on Facebook. I'll link to any number of the other sites that hosts pictures (Flickr, Picasa, Shutterfly, etc.). Why should I give it to Facebook? I know I can't trust them. So I'll just give them the links. To stuff I control.
To sum up, (1) Assume no privacy (2) Keep control of my material. I get the benefits of the friend lists and the friend feed and the voyeuristic view of the people I used to know. I keep the fun stuff. And give Facebook as little as possible.
Will this work? I can't say for sure. It's worth a shot. And I'll continually re-assess my stand. I don't like these guys. But there are plenty of business with services I use whose business practices I don't particularly care for (Think Comcast). Upon reflection I believe I can make this relationship work.
They also have the most useful social media tool going today. I admit that I hoped they would be taken down by their mistakes. It isn't going to happen. They hit the scale needed to keep growing and growing and displacing the other social media pages. Let me put it this way. Your parents bothered to set up Facebook profiles and some of them are actively using it. Your parents are not moving away from this. Neither is every other commercial entity that actively markets their own Facebook page. Facebook won (for now). Facebook is what the cable company was before the satellite providers.
So... How do I reconcile my complete disdain for the owners with the overall usefulness of their services? The key is this blog. I'm going to make a new Facebook ID. I'm going to make it completely public. There is no way I can be surprised by changes in privacy policy when I've given up all pretense of having any privacy. Then I'm going to completely minimize what I put into Facebook. I figure they own anything I put into their system. So what if I just post to my blog and... then use Facebook to link to my blog? Now they can own the link but I control my content. If I want to post photos, well, I'm NOT going to do it on Facebook. I'll link to any number of the other sites that hosts pictures (Flickr, Picasa, Shutterfly, etc.). Why should I give it to Facebook? I know I can't trust them. So I'll just give them the links. To stuff I control.
To sum up, (1) Assume no privacy (2) Keep control of my material. I get the benefits of the friend lists and the friend feed and the voyeuristic view of the people I used to know. I keep the fun stuff. And give Facebook as little as possible.
Will this work? I can't say for sure. It's worth a shot. And I'll continually re-assess my stand. I don't like these guys. But there are plenty of business with services I use whose business practices I don't particularly care for (Think Comcast). Upon reflection I believe I can make this relationship work.
Blog Update
So...
I've been neglecting my blog. No postings for close to ten days and the last few posts were kinda weak. Here's the deal. Blog posting while on vacation is... not going to happen. Then work intruded upon my return. But, I'm still following the noise and just as annoyed at the rise of the tea party, fake deficit concern, and the BP oil spill. I've seen several items that I thought were discussion worthy, but timing is everything and opportunities sometimes get a pass. On to the next topics.
Here are my current blog to-do's:
Thanks for reading. More to come.
I've been neglecting my blog. No postings for close to ten days and the last few posts were kinda weak. Here's the deal. Blog posting while on vacation is... not going to happen. Then work intruded upon my return. But, I'm still following the noise and just as annoyed at the rise of the tea party, fake deficit concern, and the BP oil spill. I've seen several items that I thought were discussion worthy, but timing is everything and opportunities sometimes get a pass. On to the next topics.
Here are my current blog to-do's:
- I have one book to report on in my reading sub-blog (and I'm almost finished with another book).
- I actually have a game to report on in my gaming sub-blog.
- I decided today that I will re-join Facebook. Given the subject of this blog, an entry explaining how and why is imperative. I haven't joined up again yet. When I do, a blog post explanation will definitely follow.
- I decided to start using my twitter account. The best part is my feed gets posted to my blog. So, I need to figure out who to follow on twitter (You're welcome to follow me, my 140 character thoughts are amazing). My Twitter use demands a blog post explanation. Also to come.
Thanks for reading. More to come.
I'm not a fan...
of torture advocates. Sullivan find a great quote from one (link):
"Soccer is a socialist sport," - Marc Thiessen, AEI.
"His column is going to be scathing tomorrow morning"
That's what I said to my wife right after I read this headline last night:
World Leaders Agree on Timetable for Cutting Deficits
Sure enough, here's the title of Krugman's column as of this morning:
The Third Depression
World Leaders Agree on Timetable for Cutting Deficits
Sure enough, here's the title of Krugman's column as of this morning:
The Third Depression
Best Email Ever
OK,
I've used "Best Email Ever" way too many times for that headline to be credible. But really, this is pretty good stuff. Here's a snipet from a post on The Big Picture (Barry Ritholtz's blog) (link):
That explains a ton. Really, it doesn't much insight into human behavior to see how badly the incentives line up here. It wasn't just a housing crisis that brought us to the brink in 2008.
I've used "Best Email Ever" way too many times for that headline to be credible. But really, this is pretty good stuff. Here's a snipet from a post on The Big Picture (Barry Ritholtz's blog) (link):
“The old pay system (era of John Whitehead): you work at an investment bank for 30 years, have a reasonable draw and cash bonus, build up stock in the firm as most of your bonus, and when you decide to retire you request of the partners their permission to go limited. If they assent, you get to withdraw your money over five years, all the while continuing to expose the balance to the risks of the enterprise.
The new pay system post-Donald Lufkin Jenrette’s original I.P.O.: you’re a young 29-year-old punk playing with OPM (Other People’s Money), taking huge risks for which you get huge bonuses, while the outsiders shoulder the losses on your bets. You make all the money you’ll ever need in three years, stay around 15 years to pile up five times as much as you need, and then you retire with your cash hoard, buy a winery in Napa/Sonoma or a huge farm in Connecticut, living above the fray for the rest of your life.
Which system, do you think, makes people consider the downside of their actions?”
That explains a ton. Really, it doesn't much insight into human behavior to see how badly the incentives line up here. It wasn't just a housing crisis that brought us to the brink in 2008.
"It's just like our job"
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| McChrystal's Balls - Honorable Discharge | ||||
| ||||
Jon Stewart sets them up, then knocks 'em down.
When it rains...
Really awful story on the tents provided to Haiti (link):
(Hat Tip: Marginal Revolution)
Hurricane season in Haiti officially began three weeks ago, bringing rain to the region nearly every day. More than 1.5 million Haitians remain in the streets. Yet this week, the United Nations completed a study, revealing that 40 percent of all emergency shelters, including tents and tarps, already need to be replaced or "improved."
It took the international community five months to distribute almost 700,000 tarps and 70,000 tents and remains one of the most complex and difficult accomplishments of the disaster response. The new study, however, shows that emergency shelter materials cannot withstand the extreme weather in Haiti. In particular, small camping-style tents have fallen apart.
(Hat Tip: Marginal Revolution)
The home crisis isn't over
Here's Ritholtz on why home prices are too high (link).
I'd recommend reading the whole post if you're following the housing market. He's got a great perspective and it shows in this writing. Below are two charts he references in his post. Good stuff!
In my analysis, price stands out as being the prime mover of the next leg down. High unemployment, and a decade of flat wages aren’t helping to create any new housing demand. And the millions in homes they cannot afford will eventually add more pressure to inventory and prices.
But the bottom line is Home prices remain too high: There can be no doubt that home prices have moved way down from the 2005-06 peaks. How did I reach the conclusion that, even after a 33% decrease in prices?
By using traditional metrics. Whether we are looking at US housing stock as a percentage of GDP or Median income vs home prices or even ownership vs renting costs, prices remain elevated. Indeed, we see prices remain above historic mean.
I'd recommend reading the whole post if you're following the housing market. He's got a great perspective and it shows in this writing. Below are two charts he references in his post. Good stuff!
Hey, it can't be that bad. It got a B+.
Mmm. Burger. Mmm. Grilled Cheese.
Here's a sum up of the new Grilled Chess BurgerMelt from Friendly's (link):
Hungry? Take two of these and call me from the hospital.
Here's a sum up of the new Grilled Chess BurgerMelt from Friendly's (link):
Friendly's Grilled Cheese BurgerMelt
Grade: B+
Nutritional Info: 1500 calories, 97 grams fat, 2090 mgs sodium
While completely over the top, this sandwich is also pure genius. Yes, it's higher in calories, fat and sodium than the Double Down, but the ingredients in this sandwich are more harmonious, making it an embarrassingly pleasurable eating experience. (As one of our readers recently commented, "...at its heart, all this is is a cheeseburger on buttered toast.")
The grilled cheese "buns" were buttery, oozing with just the right amount of cheese and just the right amount of greasiness. True, the burger could have been more plump and juicy but it was the right amount of beef to balance out the two grilled cheese sandwiches. The only thing we'd do differently is skip the lettuce. Watery, shredded lettuce did not pair well with the grilled cheese.
Hungry? Take two of these and call me from the hospital.
Why not pay more for less?
First, three points:
1. Health care costs will drive the long-run federal deficit.
2. Our current health care system is one of the lowest international performers.
3. We spend more on health care than anybody.
For more on that second point , here's Ezra Klein (link) quoting from the most recent commonwealth fund report (link):
As we begin to see health care change over the next five years, it will be very important to keep an eye on these metrics. If the US doesn't find a way to improve, more change will absolutely be necessary.
Here are some illustrative charts from Ezra's post:
1. Health care costs will drive the long-run federal deficit.
2. Our current health care system is one of the lowest international performers.
3. We spend more on health care than anybody.
For more on that second point , here's Ezra Klein (link) quoting from the most recent commonwealth fund report (link):
But even with all that spending, "the U.S. ranks last overall, as it did in the 2007, 2006, and 2004 editions of Mirror, Mirror. Most troubling, the U.S. fails to achieve better health outcomes than the other countries, and as shown in the earlier editions, the U.S. is last on dimensions of access, patient safety, coordination, efficiency, and equity. The Netherlands ranks first, followed closely by the U.K. and Australia."
The issue isn't just that we don't have universal health care. Our delivery system underperforms, too. "Even when access and equity measures are not considered, the U.S. ranks behind most of the other countries on most measures. With the inclusion of primary care physician survey data in the analysis, it is apparent that the U.S. is lagging in adoption of national policies that promote primary care, quality improvement, and information technology."
As we begin to see health care change over the next five years, it will be very important to keep an eye on these metrics. If the US doesn't find a way to improve, more change will absolutely be necessary.
Here are some illustrative charts from Ezra's post:
Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick...
Per Charlie Cook (link), time to change the political dynamic before the mid-terms is almost out:
Great poll interpretation in the rest of the article. If you think the GOP has already peaked this cycle, you may want to change your assessment.
Two of the most common clichés in American political circles are "all politics is local" and "a few months is a lifetime in politics." Each contains a kernel of truth, but both have become all-too-handy excuses for pols seeking to explain away unpleasant realities.
...
In this election year, the circumstances and dynamics have not materially improved for Democrats since Labor Day. With a little more than four months to go before the November election, the chances of this contest's trajectory fundamentally changing decline with every passing week.
Great poll interpretation in the rest of the article. If you think the GOP has already peaked this cycle, you may want to change your assessment.
Do you mind if I take a copy of that?
Perhaps breaking copyright law is a good thing. Here's Matthew Yglesias (link) quoting from the abstract of research studying the impact of file-sharing (Felix Oberholzer-Gee of Harvard and Koleman Strumpf of the University of Kansas wrote the paper, here):
See, grabbing content from pirate bay is actually good for society. I knew it.
The advent of file sharing has considerably weakened effective copyright protection. Today, more than 60% of internet traffic consists of consumers sharing music, movies, books and games. Yet, despite the popularity of the new technology, file sharing has not undermined the incentives of authors to produce new works. We argue that the effect of file sharing has been muted for three reasons. (1) The cannibalization of sales that is due to file sharing is more modest than many observers assume. Empirical work suggests that in music, no more than 20% of the recent decline in sales is due to sharing. (2) File sharing increases the demand for complements to protected works, raising, for instance, the demand for concerts and concert prices. The sale of more expensive complements has added to artists’ incomes. (3) In many creative industries, monetary incentives play a reduced role in motivating authors to remain creative. Data on the supply of new works are consistent with the argument that file sharing did not discourage authors and publishers. Since the advent of file sharing, the production of music, books, and movies has increased sharply.
See, grabbing content from pirate bay is actually good for society. I knew it.
The stimulus problem.
Here's the problem with the Federal Stimulus bill passed in 2009.
(source)
OK, it's scary to run deficits. But, the problem in the states is what people were talking about when they said that the 2009 federal stimulus package was too small and should have done more to help the states. So now the states, which can't run deficits, are being forced to cut spending which further exacerbates the recession. Here's Bruce Bartlett (link), Ezra Klein (link), and Paul Krugman (link) far more eloquent than I on the issue.
Count me as one of those people worried about a double-dip recession. And no, I don't see how cutting government spending right now, with unemployment stuck around 10%, is going to make our economy better in the long-run. I wish I did. And no, I don't see how the current political environment is going to be supportive of a further stimulus plan. And no, the mid-terms should make it harder, not easier, to fix the economy.
Sweet.
(source)
OK, it's scary to run deficits. But, the problem in the states is what people were talking about when they said that the 2009 federal stimulus package was too small and should have done more to help the states. So now the states, which can't run deficits, are being forced to cut spending which further exacerbates the recession. Here's Bruce Bartlett (link), Ezra Klein (link), and Paul Krugman (link) far more eloquent than I on the issue.
Count me as one of those people worried about a double-dip recession. And no, I don't see how cutting government spending right now, with unemployment stuck around 10%, is going to make our economy better in the long-run. I wish I did. And no, I don't see how the current political environment is going to be supportive of a further stimulus plan. And no, the mid-terms should make it harder, not easier, to fix the economy.
Sweet.
The day the deficit didn't die.
I try to keep a little hope that any bipartisan deficit commission will actually end up being a useful exercise, rather then the policy punt it so obviously is. Well, even a little hope is probably too much. Here's Krugman (link):
So, it looks like another meaningless deficit commission. It's my belief that fear-mongering on the deficit is too useful a political weapon for the GOP to seriously engage in substantive discussions with their opposition. So, guess what? The quickest way to end meaningful policy discussions is to start making up 'facts' that are politically expedient but easily disproved by anyone paying attention to the numbers.
Nice.
UPDATE: Great post on the deficit commission from Jonathan Bernstein (link).
Specifically, Simpson has resurrected the old nonsense about how Social Security will be bankrupt as soon as payroll tax revenues fall short of benefit payments, never mind the quarter century of surpluses that came first.
...
here’s what you can’t do: you can’t have it both ways. You can’t say that for the last 25 years, when Social Security ran surpluses, well, that didn’t mean anything, because it’s just part of the federal government — but when payroll taxes fall short of benefits, even though there’s lots of money in the trust fund, Social Security is broke.
So, it looks like another meaningless deficit commission. It's my belief that fear-mongering on the deficit is too useful a political weapon for the GOP to seriously engage in substantive discussions with their opposition. So, guess what? The quickest way to end meaningful policy discussions is to start making up 'facts' that are politically expedient but easily disproved by anyone paying attention to the numbers.
Nice.
UPDATE: Great post on the deficit commission from Jonathan Bernstein (link).
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