Category: Thoughts

Someone just moved to Boston from Texas and has just a few questions about snow. Things like “Where do I get salt? And what do you do, just sprinkle it all around?”

That’s not particularly surprising. If you’re new to the climate, you’re new to the climate.

What’s impressive is that nobody (so far) has developed any serious snark, and the posts have actually provided useful information about where to get snow-clearing supplies, who is responsible for snow-clearing in apartment buildings, and the nuances of conflicting snow and street-sweeping rules (What do you do if the snow-emergency rule says not to park on the odd side, and the street-sweeping rule says not to park on the even side? Call 311, apparently).

The shoe throwing and heckling? Yeah, sure. Free society. Torturing protesters?

Apparently that’s just what happens in a society where people are free to torture.

I’m sure that once Obama is in office this sort of thing will be nothing but an unpleasant memory.

It will all be fine.

It will all be fine.

You’re not the only one. I was waffling about whether to go, but M. called me shortly after five to let me know that the 6:30 event was already completely packed, and I shouldn’t bother coming. Fortunately there’s simulcast and video and so forth up if you want to hear what the celebrated mad Catalan chef has to say.

There are an awful lot of desperate people living in the steam tunnels under Las Vegas.

After Bank of America canceled a line of credit, a window manufacturer had to shut down, and all the workers are screwed out of their back pay right before Christmas.

Bloomberg: General Motors Corp. plummeted as much as 31 percent after a Deutsche Bank AG analyst downgraded the shares and cut the price target to zero.

I’m sure there’s a very good answer to this question, but why should GM continue to exist? It doesn’t seem to sell very good products. If GM went under, maybe the remaining US automakers could survive. Maybe if we had some sort of national health plan, GM and the rest of the US manufacturing sector could be competitive.

But they’d still have to start making products that don’t suck and get more than 20MPG… and offering them to US customers as well as Europeans.

The gay marriage ban is damaging the bridal industry. As I’ve said before, it makes no sense to have such intrusive government regulation of the business of setting up a household.

I saw a protestor on TV last night holding a sign that said “Yes On 8: Less Government.” Which is pretty much the opposite of true. But then, I’m used to the opposite of true from the anti-marriage, anti-love, anti-household-formation, anti-small-business crowd that creates the right in this country.

My old pal Mark has a great analysis of Republican coalitions since 1902: The upshot is that plutocrats dominated the party, and Coolidge and Hoover really screwed things up for the party and the country. Only in the sixties was the Republican party able to peel off enough special to form a winning coalition: Nixon attracted racists who hated the civil rights act, McGovern alienated the xenophobes and warmongers, and of course the bible-beaters left the tent when the Dems came out against homophobia, sexism, and back-alley abortions. Fox News, as much as it’s been thumping for social conservatism, is fundamentally a plutocrat-led institution, and so it has now begun to undermine Sarah Palin, because she’s not part of their core constituency of rich bastards and people who just hate the poor.

I wrote a review of my friend’s sister’s book, and of course he linked to the review from Twitter, and… it all feels like some kind of pat-on-the-back thing. But I like Peach herself, and I liked her book. I mean it.

No, seriously.

McCain just gave a very graceful concession speech. MA Prop 1 looks like it’s going to fail, and Prop 2 looks like it’ll pass. I’m still worried about California’s Prop 8, but that’s out of my hands. I’ve got the pinko champagne and elitist arugula salad out, and I’m deeply proud of my country.

I know you care deeply about how I plan to vote, so here’s my guide to voting in the Somerville area:

Elected officials: I am on the record as being in favor of elected officials. I’m voting a straight Democratic ticket, despite the fact that Bob Underwood, the Quixotic Party candidate to unseat John Kerry, has a cute walrusy mustache and is a member of a Jewish gun club.

Ballot measures:

Question 1: Abolish the income tax?
Probably a bad idea, but I doubt it makes much difference. If we ditch the income tax, we’ll have an increase in sales and property taxes, and it’ll come out about the same.

Question 2: Decriminalize marijuana?
You know, if we legalized and taxed it, instead of just leaving it in a gray area, we really could cut the income tax.

Question 3: Abolish dog tracks?
Just think of them as little horses!