Reston has a custom of bird counting, and the results are just in. The birds which are most common here, in mid-January, are birds which don't belong here: specifically Canadian geese and American robins. They both should be south of here, or at least that's my understanding.
A little Googling reveals I'm mistaken, as is much too often the case. Robins (the males stick around to fight for territory in the spring, the females being wiser head south).
Monday, January 24, 2011
Samuelson on Sex: Funny
“If Casanova is not the definitive authority on sex, neither is a eunuch.”
From a piece on Paul Samuelson, the late MIT economist.
From a piece on Paul Samuelson, the late MIT economist.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A Test of Open Government
The following language has been included in most recent USDA appropriations acts. (Do a search in Thomas.loc.gov.) It's a gag order imposed by the appropriations sub-committee. It's also a test of whether the Republicans will adhere to their call for open government. Note the language prohibits telling the President or OMB of information provided to appropriations.
Sec 710 of 2010 Ag Appropriations Act
Sec. 710. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Agriculture or the Food and Drug Administration shall be used to transmit or otherwise make available to any non-Department of Agriculture or non-Department of Health and Human Services employee questions or responses to questions that are a result of information requested for the appropriations hearing process.
Sec 710 of 2010 Ag Appropriations Act
Sec. 710. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Agriculture or the Food and Drug Administration shall be used to transmit or otherwise make available to any non-Department of Agriculture or non-Department of Health and Human Services employee questions or responses to questions that are a result of information requested for the appropriations hearing process.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
AOL and DOD
Matt Yglesias posts on a recent New Yorker article on the (hoped for) revitalization of AOL, specifically the idea that many people are still paying AOL even though it's not their ISP and it's perfectly possible to use the AOL mail system and the AOL interface without paying. He calls it a "scam".
Why do people do such things? The answer is, of course, there's a tremendous inertia in human affairs. Many of us don't like change. Many are lazy. Many procrastinate. Many value time over money. So the bottom line is we don't do the things we ought to, like changing from AOL, or backing up our hard drives, or changing our passwords every six months, or...
That's true of the government as well. Just look at the Marines. They haven't land on a beach since Inchon in 1950, but they were still buying amphibious tanks.
And it's true of private enterprise as well. Just look at GM in the 70's, the 80's, the 90's. Then it went bankrupt.
Why do people do such things? The answer is, of course, there's a tremendous inertia in human affairs. Many of us don't like change. Many are lazy. Many procrastinate. Many value time over money. So the bottom line is we don't do the things we ought to, like changing from AOL, or backing up our hard drives, or changing our passwords every six months, or...
That's true of the government as well. Just look at the Marines. They haven't land on a beach since Inchon in 1950, but they were still buying amphibious tanks.
And it's true of private enterprise as well. Just look at GM in the 70's, the 80's, the 90's. Then it went bankrupt.
Boeing Can't Do Big Projects Either
The government has problems doing big projects on time and under budget, but so does Boeing. They just delayed their new plane again: it's now 3 years late. See article.
One Forgets
"Noting that he has survived two craniotomies, Biden said that one's attitude and determination are "an incredible, incredible weapon in dealing with what you're facing."
Friday, January 21, 2011
Not Your Father's GOP--Authority from the UN Charter!!
Some Republicans are turning over in their grave at the first two sentences of this Politico post:
"If Congress had rejected his request for authorization to liberate Kuwait, George H.W. Bush probably would have sent combat troops in anyway.
The most senior members of the former president’s national security team, here for a Thursday night event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first Gulf War, said Bush was already intent on moving ahead after August 1990 because he believed the United Nations charter gave him the authority he needed."
Did Obama Benefit from "Tiger Parenting"?
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Republicans To Cut Farm Programs
According to this post, a group of Republicans wants to take the meat cleaver to programs, including farm programs. What's on their hit list?
The Mohair Program, for a savings of $1 million.
The Sugar Program, for a savings of $14 million.
Yes, that's it.
The Mohair Program, for a savings of $1 million.
The Sugar Program, for a savings of $14 million.
Yes, that's it.
How To Balance the Budget: the Republicans Modest Proposal
Via Kevin Drum, the info that Goldman Sachs changed their fiscal year begin date from Dec. 1 to Jan. 1. They just happened to do it back in 2008, when they stuffed a lot of losses and bonuses into December, which then didn't count.
This triggers my suggestion. Back in the days of old, the federal fiscal year began July 1. But Congress started having more and more difficulty getting appropriations bills passed by that date. So finally everyone agreed to move the fiscal year start date to Oct. 1, a date by which Congress surely would have no problem in passing appropriations. This all was in the late 70's or maybe early 80's.
It's a truth universally recognized that Congress no longer is capable of passing appropriations bills by Oct 1, so we have all the justification we need to move the start of the 2012 fiscal year to Jan 1, 2012. As we do that, we'll move all the expenditures we can into the transition quarter, between Oct 1 2011 and Dec. 31. That will enable us to balance the budget in FY 2012. We can then run for reelection to Congress and our Presidential candidate can run on the basis that we did the impossible: balanced the budget without raising taxes.
This triggers my suggestion. Back in the days of old, the federal fiscal year began July 1. But Congress started having more and more difficulty getting appropriations bills passed by that date. So finally everyone agreed to move the fiscal year start date to Oct. 1, a date by which Congress surely would have no problem in passing appropriations. This all was in the late 70's or maybe early 80's.
It's a truth universally recognized that Congress no longer is capable of passing appropriations bills by Oct 1, so we have all the justification we need to move the start of the 2012 fiscal year to Jan 1, 2012. As we do that, we'll move all the expenditures we can into the transition quarter, between Oct 1 2011 and Dec. 31. That will enable us to balance the budget in FY 2012. We can then run for reelection to Congress and our Presidential candidate can run on the basis that we did the impossible: balanced the budget without raising taxes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)