My subversive thought for the day is that North (and Chip below) are echoing the 'Base' talk of Movement Conservatives in 2015.
Bookmarking for the Non-Bernie person who steps up to the mic and says that the leadership is out of step with the Base, prioritizing their own Pelozian/Schumerian interests ahead of the interests of the Base... using Social Causes to their advantage without delivering anything of substance... selling out the Base to deliver goods to the elite establishment.
"Remember when they prioritized overriding a Defense act and delivering a massive wealth transfer to corporations instead of fighting for funding to the Base in the midst of a Pandemic?" That'll be the Trump moment of turning on the Establishment and realizing that the 'Base' that wasn't at war wasn't the base... and now is at war.
And that's ok... I'm all for it... I'm just giving you fair warning so when it happens and I'm doing my "I told you so dance" I can do so in good conscience.
Or I'm wrong, and this is all about 'good governance' [snicker].
"If the defense bill was blocked, the Democratic base would be furious, but the Republican base would be delighted."
A few thoughts on how this seems so confusing (at least to me):
1. This is what happens when 'base' no longer means base. It's just weird to hear about the Democratic base demanding a big Defense Bill.
2. Trump vetoed the bill... Trump owns the issue.
3. Prioritizing overriding a Veto of a Defense Bill rather than the Bernie strategy of banging the drums for relief for the 'Base' begs the question of #1 above... who's the Base?
In the end, one can only conclude that the National Defense Act plus the existing Relief Act is what the Base wants... whomever that is.
"Ultimately, the NDAA is a policy bill, not a funding bill," said Harrison, who pointed out the actual funding for the Pentagon was included in the government spending bill the president recently signed. The NDAA sets the budget and policies for the Defense Department but does not appropriate funds.
In short, "If the NDAA is delayed, it will not harm our national security in any irreparable way," Harrison said.
Honestly, I'm just surprised that the D's rolled-over on this... they have a stick to beat Trump, McConnel and R's with. I guess they just like the stick more than their 'base' - or so it seems.
Our social/interaction data is too important for twitter and facebook... it won't end there. To be clear I'm not saying that 230 should be repealed simpliciter... but that we need to re-examine all the laws pertaining to platforms/publishers/privacy etc. A little like WW2, the internet has unleashed powers and interests that are much more potent than mere engineering advances.
Whatever the Generation after Z is... they are going to look back on our failure to grapple with 230 as we look back on the Eisenhower Military Industrial Complex speech. It was all so obvious.
Fair enough... a recission that requires Congressional approval within 45-days or becomes moot in this case is a lot like a line-item veto: wishful thinking misleadingly packaged-up for purely internal consumption.
Or do you see Congress turning some of the recissions into law? Now that would be interesting indeed.
Eh... it'll be something catchy like the Reformed Democratic party or the Democratic League or some such. Our parties aren't anything useful other than a branding mechanism. I don't think the Democratic Party as it's constituted has much of a shelf life anyway, though.
Trump is Yeltsin/Berlusconi levels of Authoritarian... that's not a good level, but we're getting about as much danger as those figures entail. Stylistically Trump is like Yeltsin - incompetent and buffoonish - but unlike post-Yeltsin, I don't think the US is institutionally as weak, so Trump doesn't usher in a Putin... Unfortunately Trump doesn't have the good grace to drink himself to death, so we'll have to endure his post-Presidential nonsense for as long as CNN continues to insist we must.
Personally I'm less worried about a Putin than I am about a Xi.
Xi's rise is methodical, fully systematized, popular where it needs to be, it is supported by elite institutions and people, and will reproduce itself. Trump is an idiosyncratic detour to the Xi scenario. The thing about Xi is that he's not "enormously popular" as a personality...I'm less worried about enormously popular idiots... If I worry, I worry about the systemic consolidation of powerful institutions by people I've never heard of. One of them is our future Xi. It has nothing to do with The Squad and their back-bencher performative acts.
Yeah, corn syrup is just sugar... this 'issue' is we put sugar in all sorts of foods where we don't need to put sugar. Now if you read labels carefully they break out HFCS, Dextrose, Palm sugar, etc. etc.
Of course a popsicle has sugars... that's the point; the turn-about to that commercial is putting Honey on Pizza or piling sugar on potato chips or coating your salad in a thick ooze of Dextrose. Which is basically how we eat.
The nicest thing I could say is we're currently debating the flavor of our authoritarianism.
But you're delusional if you think this is a problem peculiar to the right.
In fact, the meanest thing I can say is that the Left is much further along and in a much better position to impose their flavor... the dissolving that Lee mentions is the solvent of technocratic liberalism that has the broad minority support of 'all the right people' and will impose a benevolent authoritarianism that we'll all agree is just right. How else could we not?
Among the bad things Trump has ushered in will be the constant whirl of "well, Trump did it" and "we're not doing what Trump did, that was bad... we're doing this, and this is good." In my ongoing One Ring analogy... we're not embarking on the hopeless mission of destroying the ring, we're going to use it for good!
Heh.. co-writing assistant based on my writing tics and bad habits? How anyone doesn't see that output as pure parody that should crush your soul? Shit, only the least self-aware writers will ever keep writing... and commenters.
It's pretty interesting in that clearly McConnel and Pelosi had moved into a Post-Trump mode and it turns out the king isn't quite dead yet.
Also interesting because while Trump is doing this to screw a) McConnel, b) Pelosi, c) Congress, d) Post-Trump Republicans, e) Post-Trump Democrats, and f) Yes, a big 'F' to all'y'all... He's doing it from the "High-Ground" of giving people *more* money. Heh.
I mean... he loses nothing... if they don't pass anything, its because Post-Trump Dem/Repubs are just the same as Pre-Trump Dem/Repubs... never doing enough for the little guy... always buying off their sponsors and making you grateful for scraps... etc. etc. And if they *do* turn around and increase the grant to $2k... well who did that?
The Presidency in the hands of a competent President who wasn't also part of the take* would be a fascinating thing to behold.
*I recognize that Trump is doing this purely for Trump and *his* Take/Grift... but its still interesting to see McConnel/Pelosi with their underwear around their ankles - just because Trump is playing a solo grift doesn't end the collective grift that's the status quo.
Yeah, I had the exact opposite experience... every time I went outside there was this guy in my neighborhood who kept staring at me and my bespoke mask.
I haven't changed jobs in quite sometime... but when I've entertained some interviews I've noticed a massive sea change in the questions.
The new code is: Culture is very important here, and we want to make sure this is a good cultural fit for you. For *me* mind you... this is for my benefit.
What I'm looking forward to is not only the moral impact of your choices, but also the aesthetic - cultural - impact.
You played Shadowbane? Could go one of two ways:
1. I'm sorry, but studies show PvP games indicate reduced levels of collaboration and...
2. Lolz SB.exe right? You're hired.
I have no idea how many 'cultural fits' I've failed.
Wow, this game is fraught with a capital F. I'm taking my gaming $$ elsewhere.
Future employers: So March, we see from your steam profile (standard background check in future world) that you played Cyberpunk2077... tell us about that.
In the scenario we're living through? Yes. The partial benefit back to us the community is that the size of the subsidy might be proportionally less if the business(es) can operate at some reduced capacity.
If we through Govt. are unilaterally changing the rules of the market - especially at this scale and not simply an accidental byproduct of some other law - then that cost is a social cost we [ought] to account for.
Administering these subsidies? Well, mostly a nightmare.
The only thing Congress wants to do is raise funds (for themselves and their allies) and allocate tax expenditures... when they don't have a green light for expenditure expenditures.
One of the reasons why I could be persuaded by an overhaul of the tax code and/or UBI would be to reduce some of the directed spending they do via taxation. Note, this isn't to say taxes should be lower or higher... just that they shouldn't be policy proxies.
On “McConnell Blocks Quick Vote on Stimulus Increase”
My subversive thought for the day is that North (and Chip below) are echoing the 'Base' talk of Movement Conservatives in 2015.
Bookmarking for the Non-Bernie person who steps up to the mic and says that the leadership is out of step with the Base, prioritizing their own Pelozian/Schumerian interests ahead of the interests of the Base... using Social Causes to their advantage without delivering anything of substance... selling out the Base to deliver goods to the elite establishment.
"Remember when they prioritized overriding a Defense act and delivering a massive wealth transfer to corporations instead of fighting for funding to the Base in the midst of a Pandemic?" That'll be the Trump moment of turning on the Establishment and realizing that the 'Base' that wasn't at war wasn't the base... and now is at war.
And that's ok... I'm all for it... I'm just giving you fair warning so when it happens and I'm doing my "I told you so dance" I can do so in good conscience.
Or I'm wrong, and this is all about 'good governance' [snicker].
"
This is just strange to my ears:
"If the defense bill was blocked, the Democratic base would be furious, but the Republican base would be delighted."
A few thoughts on how this seems so confusing (at least to me):
1. This is what happens when 'base' no longer means base. It's just weird to hear about the Democratic base demanding a big Defense Bill.
2. Trump vetoed the bill... Trump owns the issue.
3. Prioritizing overriding a Veto of a Defense Bill rather than the Bernie strategy of banging the drums for relief for the 'Base' begs the question of #1 above... who's the Base?
In the end, one can only conclude that the National Defense Act plus the existing Relief Act is what the Base wants... whomever that is.
Claiming "good governance" continues to beg the question, for whom? Delaying the NDAA doesn't put anything at risk:
"Ultimately, the NDAA is a policy bill, not a funding bill," said Harrison, who pointed out the actual funding for the Pentagon was included in the government spending bill the president recently signed. The NDAA sets the budget and policies for the Defense Department but does not appropriate funds.
In short, "If the NDAA is delayed, it will not harm our national security in any irreparable way," Harrison said.
Honestly, I'm just surprised that the D's rolled-over on this... they have a stick to beat Trump, McConnel and R's with. I guess they just like the stick more than their 'base' - or so it seems.
"
I'd suggest that knowing that the Dems would never block the Defense bill is the point of McConnel's maneuvers.
I might redirect to ask (in a different fashion than Stillwater) why won't the Dems block the defense bill?
Your heart is where you treasure lies.
"
Generation
"
No, of course it wasn't at the time... it will only be obvious to Generation [Prince Symbol?]
"
I disagree with your disagreement.
Our social/interaction data is too important for twitter and facebook... it won't end there. To be clear I'm not saying that 230 should be repealed simpliciter... but that we need to re-examine all the laws pertaining to platforms/publishers/privacy etc. A little like WW2, the internet has unleashed powers and interests that are much more potent than mere engineering advances.
"
Whatever the Generation after Z is... they are going to look back on our failure to grapple with 230 as we look back on the Eisenhower Military Industrial Complex speech. It was all so obvious.
On “Trump Signs Covid Stimulus and Spending Bill”
Fair enough... a recission that requires Congressional approval within 45-days or becomes moot in this case is a lot like a line-item veto: wishful thinking misleadingly packaged-up for purely internal consumption.
Or do you see Congress turning some of the recissions into law? Now that would be interesting indeed.
On “Ordinary World: Holiday Hangover Edition”
Heh... all 75M of them. The daily riots are... oh wait. Sheesh.
Honestly, this is just textbook othering.
"
Eh... it'll be something catchy like the Reformed Democratic party or the Democratic League or some such. Our parties aren't anything useful other than a branding mechanism. I don't think the Democratic Party as it's constituted has much of a shelf life anyway, though.
"
Trump is Yeltsin/Berlusconi levels of Authoritarian... that's not a good level, but we're getting about as much danger as those figures entail. Stylistically Trump is like Yeltsin - incompetent and buffoonish - but unlike post-Yeltsin, I don't think the US is institutionally as weak, so Trump doesn't usher in a Putin... Unfortunately Trump doesn't have the good grace to drink himself to death, so we'll have to endure his post-Presidential nonsense for as long as CNN continues to insist we must.
Personally I'm less worried about a Putin than I am about a Xi.
Xi's rise is methodical, fully systematized, popular where it needs to be, it is supported by elite institutions and people, and will reproduce itself. Trump is an idiosyncratic detour to the Xi scenario. The thing about Xi is that he's not "enormously popular" as a personality...I'm less worried about enormously popular idiots... If I worry, I worry about the systemic consolidation of powerful institutions by people I've never heard of. One of them is our future Xi. It has nothing to do with The Squad and their back-bencher performative acts.
"
Hah... nice.
Yeah, corn syrup is just sugar... this 'issue' is we put sugar in all sorts of foods where we don't need to put sugar. Now if you read labels carefully they break out HFCS, Dextrose, Palm sugar, etc. etc.
Of course a popsicle has sugars... that's the point; the turn-about to that commercial is putting Honey on Pizza or piling sugar on potato chips or coating your salad in a thick ooze of Dextrose. Which is basically how we eat.
"
Heh... Done and Done.
There's not the slightest ambiguity about the health impact of HFCS.
"
The nicest thing I could say is we're currently debating the flavor of our authoritarianism.
But you're delusional if you think this is a problem peculiar to the right.
In fact, the meanest thing I can say is that the Left is much further along and in a much better position to impose their flavor... the dissolving that Lee mentions is the solvent of technocratic liberalism that has the broad minority support of 'all the right people' and will impose a benevolent authoritarianism that we'll all agree is just right. How else could we not?
Among the bad things Trump has ushered in will be the constant whirl of "well, Trump did it" and "we're not doing what Trump did, that was bad... we're doing this, and this is good." In my ongoing One Ring analogy... we're not embarking on the hopeless mission of destroying the ring, we're going to use it for good!
On “Trump Signs Covid Stimulus and Spending Bill”
Article forgot to mention that he signed it with the Gr8t Kr4ken of Line-Item V3toes.
On “President Trump Demands More Cowbell”
Yeah... that's why it's so funny... if they could've waited until Jan 21 all of this would have come off the usual way(TM).
"
I think there's a Tumblr for that.
On “TextSpark AI leaves Beta”
Heh.. co-writing assistant based on my writing tics and bad habits? How anyone doesn't see that output as pure parody that should crush your soul? Shit, only the least self-aware writers will ever keep writing... and commenters.
On “President Trump Demands More Cowbell”
It's pretty interesting in that clearly McConnel and Pelosi had moved into a Post-Trump mode and it turns out the king isn't quite dead yet.
Also interesting because while Trump is doing this to screw a) McConnel, b) Pelosi, c) Congress, d) Post-Trump Republicans, e) Post-Trump Democrats, and f) Yes, a big 'F' to all'y'all... He's doing it from the "High-Ground" of giving people *more* money. Heh.
I mean... he loses nothing... if they don't pass anything, its because Post-Trump Dem/Repubs are just the same as Pre-Trump Dem/Repubs... never doing enough for the little guy... always buying off their sponsors and making you grateful for scraps... etc. etc. And if they *do* turn around and increase the grant to $2k... well who did that?
The Presidency in the hands of a competent President who wasn't also part of the take* would be a fascinating thing to behold.
*I recognize that Trump is doing this purely for Trump and *his* Take/Grift... but its still interesting to see McConnel/Pelosi with their underwear around their ankles - just because Trump is playing a solo grift doesn't end the collective grift that's the status quo.
On “Saints, Sinners, and the Limits of Public Policy”
Yeah, I had the exact opposite experience... every time I went outside there was this guy in my neighborhood who kept staring at me and my bespoke mask.
On “The Political Cyberpunk 2077 Thread”
I haven't changed jobs in quite sometime... but when I've entertained some interviews I've noticed a massive sea change in the questions.
The new code is: Culture is very important here, and we want to make sure this is a good cultural fit for you. For *me* mind you... this is for my benefit.
What I'm looking forward to is not only the moral impact of your choices, but also the aesthetic - cultural - impact.
You played Shadowbane? Could go one of two ways:
1. I'm sorry, but studies show PvP games indicate reduced levels of collaboration and...
2. Lolz SB.exe right? You're hired.
I have no idea how many 'cultural fits' I've failed.
"
Wow, this game is fraught with a capital F. I'm taking my gaming $$ elsewhere.
Future employers: So March, we see from your steam profile (standard background check in future world) that you played Cyberpunk2077... tell us about that.
On “Wednesday Writs: Win Stupid Prizes In Leonard v Pepsico Edition”
He is.
On “Desperate Times Call For Disparate Measures”
In the scenario we're living through? Yes. The partial benefit back to us the community is that the size of the subsidy might be proportionally less if the business(es) can operate at some reduced capacity.
If we through Govt. are unilaterally changing the rules of the market - especially at this scale and not simply an accidental byproduct of some other law - then that cost is a social cost we [ought] to account for.
Administering these subsidies? Well, mostly a nightmare.
On “Crossing the Suburbicon”
The only thing Congress wants to do is raise funds (for themselves and their allies) and allocate tax expenditures... when they don't have a green light for expenditure expenditures.
One of the reasons why I could be persuaded by an overhaul of the tax code and/or UBI would be to reduce some of the directed spending they do via taxation. Note, this isn't to say taxes should be lower or higher... just that they shouldn't be policy proxies.