My rule is that you never get something difficult right the first time. Usually you can't, or I can't, get something easy right the first time.
John Holbo at Crooked Timber has a post which discusses, among other things, how long it took Western humans to start using "spaces" in their writing. (Languages which use pictographs obviously don't have the problem.)
For example: "overthecourseoftheninecenturiesfollowingromesfallthetaskofseparatingthewordsincontinuous
writtentextwhichforhalfamillenniumhadbeenafunctionoftheindividualreadersmindandvoicebec
ameinsteadalaborofprofessionalreadersandscribestheseparationofwordsandthussilentreadingor
iginatedinmanuscriptscopiedbyirishscribesintheseventhandeighthcenturies...'
I wonder whether the space didn't contribute to the growth of productivity?
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Cage Hens
US egg producers and the Humane Society are proposing a deal: if Congress will pass national standards, they can live with 144 square inches per hen, instead of 67. See this post on the Rural Blog.
The deal represents the sort of interest group bargaining we often see: in essence the big guys are working against the little guys.
[Note: I'm using Blogger's new editor, which I'm not sure I like--change is bad. I keep forgetting labels before I post.]
The deal represents the sort of interest group bargaining we often see: in essence the big guys are working against the little guys.
[Note: I'm using Blogger's new editor, which I'm not sure I like--change is bad. I keep forgetting labels before I post.]
Friday, July 08, 2011
Changing the Payment Process at Treasury
Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution links to a Felix Salmon post discussing, in part, the problems Treasury faces on August 2/3, including this sentence:
On the one hand, since the government hasn't done this (prioritizing payments) before, yes, the process is likely to be difficult and full of glitches. On the other hand, at least in the old manualish days, people had to certify the payment document before transmitting to Treasury for payment. Then, moving ahead to the tape days (i.e., 1960-80's), SSA would have provided reels of 7 or 9 track mag tape containing the payment data to Treasury. Back then, they could have just stuck the reels in storage and waited to mount them and run the program until the debt limit was lifted.
I'd expect there's the automated equivalent of that still in place. In others words, at some point SSA stops updating their payment file with the deaths, new retirees, corrections, and transmits the whole file to Treasury for payment of Aug 2 pensions. I wouldn't think on the Treasury side their systems would know much about the data, except to record the payee, amount and date of payment--etc. But their system doesn't know or care whether they're printing Aug 2 checks on Aug 2, or on Sept. 2.
"At that point — and no earlier — there would be enormous pressure on the White House to pull out the 14th Amendment and declare the debt ceiling unconstitutional, if only for practical reasons: doing so would be a lot easier than trying to reprogram the computers which are set to send out $49 billion of Social Security checks on August 3."I know (almost) nothing about this, but when has lack of knowledge ever kept a self-respecting blogger from writing? I've two thoughts:
On the one hand, since the government hasn't done this (prioritizing payments) before, yes, the process is likely to be difficult and full of glitches. On the other hand, at least in the old manualish days, people had to certify the payment document before transmitting to Treasury for payment. Then, moving ahead to the tape days (i.e., 1960-80's), SSA would have provided reels of 7 or 9 track mag tape containing the payment data to Treasury. Back then, they could have just stuck the reels in storage and waited to mount them and run the program until the debt limit was lifted.
I'd expect there's the automated equivalent of that still in place. In others words, at some point SSA stops updating their payment file with the deaths, new retirees, corrections, and transmits the whole file to Treasury for payment of Aug 2 pensions. I wouldn't think on the Treasury side their systems would know much about the data, except to record the payee, amount and date of payment--etc. But their system doesn't know or care whether they're printing Aug 2 checks on Aug 2, or on Sept. 2.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
The Sexist Food Movement?
Sharon Astyk sends us to Harvard Magazine and a piece on restaurant food (bad) and home cooking (good). Much of it is channeling Mollie Katzen who's an adviser to Harvard cafeterias. On page 2 I find this:
“I have friends in their forties who grew up right at the height of Mom never being in the kitchen,” says Katzen, who co-wrote Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less (2006) with Willett. “They didn’t see their mothers in the kitchen in any meaningful way—it wasn’t an integral part of life in the home. So they were opening a lot of cans, or buying fast food. In my [baby-boom] generation, our mothers lived in the kitchen; that’s where they parked themselves during the day and held court. In my family, at dinnertime, the kids would all help with the final steps: setting the table, helping Mom get the food on the table, helping clear afterwards. It was a team activity, part of what we did together as a family. My guess is that an equally, if not more, common way to gather around food now is to sit around the TV and watch Top Chef.”I'm a male chauvinist, due to my age, but it seems very anti-feminist to me.
Most Important for Liberals: Obama Wins in 2012
Amidst all the hullabaloo about debt ceilings and grand bargains, the one thing liberals should be most concerned about is: can Obama win in 2012? Republicans have notoriously said their goal is to make Obama a one-term President. That's honest. By the same token, the goal for liberals should be to make Obama a two-term President.
A one-term Presidency means the probable loss of most of the liberals gains of the past 2 1/2 years (though it'd be interesting to speculate on which are most vulnerable). It means the Supreme Court gets more conservative justices and fewer liberals. It means years on the defensive, being hypocrites as the Dems in the Senate use the threat of filibuster in a delaying action against President Romney. It means the reopening of the debt limit deal to add further tax cuts and further spending cuts.
A two-term Presidency means protecting the liberal gains, and with the opportunity to make more gains. It means the possibility of new liberal blood on the Supreme Court. It means the reopening of the debt limit deal to tweak the tax system (think of the changes to the welfare reform that Clinton got through in subsequent years).
A one-term Presidency means the probable loss of most of the liberals gains of the past 2 1/2 years (though it'd be interesting to speculate on which are most vulnerable). It means the Supreme Court gets more conservative justices and fewer liberals. It means years on the defensive, being hypocrites as the Dems in the Senate use the threat of filibuster in a delaying action against President Romney. It means the reopening of the debt limit deal to add further tax cuts and further spending cuts.
A two-term Presidency means protecting the liberal gains, and with the opportunity to make more gains. It means the possibility of new liberal blood on the Supreme Court. It means the reopening of the debt limit deal to tweak the tax system (think of the changes to the welfare reform that Clinton got through in subsequent years).
I Am a Federal Employee
Actually, I'm not, used to be, but not now. Here's a site for people who want to rise in defense of federal employees, or at least get things off their chest.
The Commentariat Lose Weight
Matt Yglesias posts that he lost 50-70 pounds last year. Ta-Nahesi Coates lost about the same amount in the same time. Do two pundits make a trend?
Love This Conjunction
An MSNBC article on people who can't go with other people near, ends this way:
"Shy bladder is a real disorder," says Soifer, "not something to be snickered about or laughed at."
Want more weird [emphasis added] health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
"Shy bladder is a real disorder," says Soifer, "not something to be snickered about or laughed at."
Want more weird [emphasis added] health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
First Tomato of the Year
Harvested our first tomato of the year. Unfortunately it wasn't perfect, it'd split and something, maybe birds, had been at the flesh, but we got 3/4 of it. Tasted great. Today is also the day the NYTimes reviews the book on Florida tomatoes. The reviewer liked it. I suspect I'll have reservations. July 6 to maybe Oct 15 marks the outer limits of our garden tomatoes. For the rest of the year we have to rely on hothouse tomatoes or tomatoes which have to travel, meaning they lose some flavor. There's always a tradeoff.
Takes the Bureaucracy a While to Catch Up
Politico runs a story saying the online application for marriage licenses in NYCity still said "groom" and "bride". It was quickly changed.
I hate to think of all the forms and processes and databases which are going to have to be changed to handle same-sex marriage. I can predict with great confidence there will still be "husband/wife" blocks and fields existing long after I'm dead, maybe still in 2040.
I hate to think of all the forms and processes and databases which are going to have to be changed to handle same-sex marriage. I can predict with great confidence there will still be "husband/wife" blocks and fields existing long after I'm dead, maybe still in 2040.
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