This is a question that I have been asking myself on and off for my entire adult life. Alex Tabarrok asks the question (originally posed by one of his readers) on his blog. The answers from the various commenters are interesting and for the most part refreshingly free of cant.
This strikes me as the right kind of question do-gooders and would-be do-gooders should be asking themselves, even if it is impossible to come up with the correct answer in a reasonable amount of time.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Mitigating the Tragedy of the Commons
Vernon Smith explains on Forbes.com how Elinor Ostrom, one of the two Nobel Economics Prize winners, focuses on the surprising success that various groups of people over the years have had in avoiding the "tragedy of the commons." She indicates there may be a way around this age-old resource management problem which involves neither pure privatization nor pure socialization.
Missing Manny
It's pretty clear to me that the departure of Manny Ramirez in July of 2008 is the one change that, more than any other, turned the Red Sox from a World Series champion into an also-ran.
In addition to his ungodly hitting ability, Manny provided a type of playful attitude that I think is sorely missing from the current squad. I do love the intense players, like Pedroia, Youkilis, and Beckett; and the quiet players, like Lowell. I am less enamored of the automatons like Bay and Drew. Papelbon does have his cut-up moments, but they tend toward the the out-of-control frat guy mode, which gets old quickly.
I maintain that 2004 doesn't happen without the inanity of former St. Paul Saint Kevin Millar. And Manny's "whatever" attitude after the Sox were down to Cleveland three games to one in 2007 was also a welcome relief from the gray-sky New England scowl that was on everybody else's face around here.
I do understand that Manny's off-field behavior was getting to be intolerable, and that it was beginning to ooze onto the field (refusing to play, claiming injury), and that he didn't really want to be here. I guess we have to assume that Terry Francona and Theo Epstein did everything humanly possible to get him to shape up. But I have to say that I miss the guy. I will be rooting for him to get a chance to beat the Yankees in the World Series.
In addition to his ungodly hitting ability, Manny provided a type of playful attitude that I think is sorely missing from the current squad. I do love the intense players, like Pedroia, Youkilis, and Beckett; and the quiet players, like Lowell. I am less enamored of the automatons like Bay and Drew. Papelbon does have his cut-up moments, but they tend toward the the out-of-control frat guy mode, which gets old quickly.
I maintain that 2004 doesn't happen without the inanity of former St. Paul Saint Kevin Millar. And Manny's "whatever" attitude after the Sox were down to Cleveland three games to one in 2007 was also a welcome relief from the gray-sky New England scowl that was on everybody else's face around here.
I do understand that Manny's off-field behavior was getting to be intolerable, and that it was beginning to ooze onto the field (refusing to play, claiming injury), and that he didn't really want to be here. I guess we have to assume that Terry Francona and Theo Epstein did everything humanly possible to get him to shape up. But I have to say that I miss the guy. I will be rooting for him to get a chance to beat the Yankees in the World Series.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Cool New Travel/History Blog
Here Is Where: The little-known places where different historical things really happened.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Toys of the 1970s: Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle
Received this for Christmas, 1974 or 1975. Place Evel on the cycle, and the cycle in the red launching apparatus. Turn a crank (hidden from view in this picture) to get the rear wheel on the cycle spinning, then release the bike, which zooms across the floor. Note that Evel comes complete with his regal cane.
Some Super-8 footage of the toy in action, shot by the Vasquez family:
This toy, in mint condition, now sells for $350.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Book Review: The Quantum Rose
Catherine Asaro
2000
Awards: Nebula
Rating: ☆ – – – –
The initial idea and most of the first half of this book were pretty good. The book was billed as "romantic fantasy" which made me skeptical from the start but it won a Nebula so I was willing to try it. The first half takes place on this rural, backwards planet but you eventually learn that the planet was seeded by a highly technological empire that is monitoring and interfering from afar. Which was all cool. But halfway through the book the main character gets taken off her rural homeworld and it turns into a space story and a mass-uprising adventure a la Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age
. It's like the author is trying to combine Asimov and Clarke and Stephenson and doesn't do any of them very well.Also the main character is the classic madonna/whore, impossibly perfect, unbelievably beautiful and kind and generous woman who can't make up her mind about anything and yet everyone still loves her. By the fifth or sixth time that some woman was described as having hair in curls that tumbled to her waist I wanted to slap the author.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Book Review: The Gods Themselves
Isaac Asimov
1972
Awards: Nebula, Hugo
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ – –
Asimov is always good for a fun story. This one is about a portal from our world to another world where creatures in another dimension have discovered a way to change one of our elements into one that gives us an unending energy supply, which originally people think is great but then turns out to be bad because it is slowly making our sun hotter so that it will soon explode. The creatures in the other dimension are actually each made up of a triad of partner creatures, which each carry different aspects of the single creature's personality (parenting, logic, and emotion).
I really liked Asimov's introduction in which he explains that this book came about because he was having a conversation about physics and he referred to an element that couldn't possibly exist, and he was called on it, so then he swore he was going to write a story in which that element did exist and was the center of the plot.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The Demise of the Southern Veto
As a region, the South is more politically isolated right now than at any time since the Civil War. For most of our nation's history, the South has been so disproportionately powerful that the section has wielded a "Southern Veto" over U.S. politics and policy. A brief and admittedly oversimplified history of the Southern Veto over the years would include the following:
In 1776, Thomas Jefferson was forced by delegates from Georgia and South Carolina to remove a clause from the Declaration of Independence condemning the African slave trade.
During the drafting of the Constitution, the Southern states insisted on being allowed to include their slave populations to determine representation in Congress and the Electoral College. The Northern states objected of course, since they had few slaves. To break the impasse, delegates from North and South agreed to count three-fifths of a given state's slave population in determining that state's representation. This shifted the balance of power in the Electoral College to the South in such a way that it routinely swung antebellum presidential elections in favor of candidates that were acceptable to the South.
When the modern Democratic Party organized itself the 1820s, it decided to require a two-thirds majority in order to nominate a presidential candidate. This gave the South an effective veto over any Democratic presidential nominee. For over a century afterwards, the Democratic Party existed as a coalition between Southern slaveholders and segregationists and the big-city machines of the North. Thanks to the two-thirds rule, every Democratic presidential nominee and his platform had to be acceptable to the South.
As a northerner, FDR found his New Deal initiatives severely constrained by the Southern Democrats who controlled key Senate committees. For instance, to get Social Security passed, FDR agreed to exclude agricultural and domestic workers from the program, leaving huge numbers of Southern Blacks out of Social Security entirely.
Other than Obama, the only non-Southern Democrat to be elected President since FDR was JFK. His domestic social agenda, which included civil rights and Medicare, went nowhere until after he was assassinated. His Southern successor LBJ pushed through both initiatives, turning the "Solid South" over to the Republican Party in the process.
Today, with Obama in the White House, the G.O.P. boasts electoral strongholds only in the South and in the sparsely populated Plains states. The Southern Veto, and especially its power over the Democratic Party, appears to have been finally overridden, at least for the time being. For example, there was only one Southerner among the "Gang of Six" centrist Senators in this summer's health care debate: Mary Landrieu from Louisiana. It is instructive that this lone Southern moderate hails from a state with a polyglot, cosmopolitan culture and history that sets it apart from the rest of the South.
Barack Obama is the gravest threat to the political power of the South since Lincoln. Viewed against this backdrop, the current town-hall-birther-deather-teabagger freak-out makes a bit more sense to me.
In 1776, Thomas Jefferson was forced by delegates from Georgia and South Carolina to remove a clause from the Declaration of Independence condemning the African slave trade.
During the drafting of the Constitution, the Southern states insisted on being allowed to include their slave populations to determine representation in Congress and the Electoral College. The Northern states objected of course, since they had few slaves. To break the impasse, delegates from North and South agreed to count three-fifths of a given state's slave population in determining that state's representation. This shifted the balance of power in the Electoral College to the South in such a way that it routinely swung antebellum presidential elections in favor of candidates that were acceptable to the South.
When the modern Democratic Party organized itself the 1820s, it decided to require a two-thirds majority in order to nominate a presidential candidate. This gave the South an effective veto over any Democratic presidential nominee. For over a century afterwards, the Democratic Party existed as a coalition between Southern slaveholders and segregationists and the big-city machines of the North. Thanks to the two-thirds rule, every Democratic presidential nominee and his platform had to be acceptable to the South.
As a northerner, FDR found his New Deal initiatives severely constrained by the Southern Democrats who controlled key Senate committees. For instance, to get Social Security passed, FDR agreed to exclude agricultural and domestic workers from the program, leaving huge numbers of Southern Blacks out of Social Security entirely.
Other than Obama, the only non-Southern Democrat to be elected President since FDR was JFK. His domestic social agenda, which included civil rights and Medicare, went nowhere until after he was assassinated. His Southern successor LBJ pushed through both initiatives, turning the "Solid South" over to the Republican Party in the process.
Today, with Obama in the White House, the G.O.P. boasts electoral strongholds only in the South and in the sparsely populated Plains states. The Southern Veto, and especially its power over the Democratic Party, appears to have been finally overridden, at least for the time being. For example, there was only one Southerner among the "Gang of Six" centrist Senators in this summer's health care debate: Mary Landrieu from Louisiana. It is instructive that this lone Southern moderate hails from a state with a polyglot, cosmopolitan culture and history that sets it apart from the rest of the South.
Barack Obama is the gravest threat to the political power of the South since Lincoln. Viewed against this backdrop, the current town-hall-birther-deather-teabagger freak-out makes a bit more sense to me.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Obama's Health Care Speech
A classic of rhetorical technique:
1. Start with Ethos: Establish your credibility as someone to listen to. "When I took office, the economy was on the brink. Things are still bad, but we've pulled back from the edge. I am a competent manager."
2. Logos: Give a logical argument for why your approach is best. Obama offers a series of wonky arguments for why his reform is the best route.
3. Pathos: Appeal to the heart, and ask people to take some action. Obama invokes Ted Kennedy, and reminds us that wanting to help your fellow man is not a partisan issue.
Rhetorically, a very strong speech. Unknown is how many persuadable people actually watched it.
1. Start with Ethos: Establish your credibility as someone to listen to. "When I took office, the economy was on the brink. Things are still bad, but we've pulled back from the edge. I am a competent manager."
2. Logos: Give a logical argument for why your approach is best. Obama offers a series of wonky arguments for why his reform is the best route.
3. Pathos: Appeal to the heart, and ask people to take some action. Obama invokes Ted Kennedy, and reminds us that wanting to help your fellow man is not a partisan issue.
Rhetorically, a very strong speech. Unknown is how many persuadable people actually watched it.
Monday, September 07, 2009
The Unfulfilled Promise of Dome Homes
I lament the unfulfilled promise of dome homes as a suburban housing option. Also yurts.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Comparing Obama and FDR
This New York Times op-ed, Roosevelt: The Great Divider, argues that FDR rammed through his New Deal program with nary a care for the opposition. The implication is that Obama can and should do the same with health care reform.
However, there are some key differences between the situations faced by Obama and FDR:
1. The economy was much, much, much worse during the Great Depression than it is now. Much worse. Unemployment was 25%. There was no government safety net to speak of. The severity of three and a half years of Depression prompted the electorate to demand a radical response.
2. The economy was so bad, in fact, that the middle class identified politically with the poor, which is rarely the case. It certainly is not the case today.
3. The Congress is much more evenly split today. In 1937, the GOP was down to 17 seats out of 96 in the Senate and 88 seats out of 435 in the House.
4. The populist energy during FDR's administration was on the left and it demanded change. Today, the populist energy is on the right and it opposes change.
However, there are some key differences between the situations faced by Obama and FDR:
1. The economy was much, much, much worse during the Great Depression than it is now. Much worse. Unemployment was 25%. There was no government safety net to speak of. The severity of three and a half years of Depression prompted the electorate to demand a radical response.
2. The economy was so bad, in fact, that the middle class identified politically with the poor, which is rarely the case. It certainly is not the case today.
3. The Congress is much more evenly split today. In 1937, the GOP was down to 17 seats out of 96 in the Senate and 88 seats out of 435 in the House.
4. The populist energy during FDR's administration was on the left and it demanded change. Today, the populist energy is on the right and it opposes change.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Foiled Assassins of the 1970s
Lynnette "Squeaky" Fromme. Pointed a pistol at President Gerald Ford while dressed in a red robe. Apprehended by Secret Service before the gun went off.
Janet "Tweety" McGuire. Poisoned National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski's lunch. Running late, Brzezinski skipped lunch that day.
Dolores "Mouse" Garrett. Attempted to run Secretary of State Cyrus Vance off the road. Her car, a 1975 AMC Gremlin, was not up to the task.
Marge "Tootie" Phillips. Struck Vice President Walter Mondale in the head with a lead pipe. Mondale was wearing a hard hat while touring a solar panel factory and was uninjured.
Karen "Birdie" LaChance. Schemed to kill OMB Director Bert Lance with a well-tossed lawn dart. Two days before her planned attempt, lawn darts were banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Beverly "Buzzy" Lee. Planned to stab Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz with a dagger. On her way to intercept Butz at a Cleveland hotel, she dropped the dagger down a storm drain while attempting to hail a cab.
Denise "Chirpy" Butler. Rented a motel room across the street from the office of HEW Secretary Joseph Califano, planning to take him out with a sniper rifle as he left the building. Butler failed to notice Califano's departure when she became engrossed in an episode of Barnaby Jones.
Rhonda "Perky" Schmidt. Plotted to strangle Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker during a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Due to Volcker's height (six feet seven inches), Schmidt was only able to wrap the ligature around the Fed Chairman's mid-section.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Choose Your Own Apocalypse
Slate is asking readers to Choose Their Own Apocalypse: How will the United States meet its end?
Out of 144 possibilities, my top 5:
Robot Overlords
Unitary Executive
China Unloads U.S. Treasuries
Isolation of Elites
Pax Sinica (Chinese hegemony)
According to my choices, I am a "humanitarian internationalist. You're convinced mankind will terminate America—but at least we won't off ourselves in the process. You'll know you're right when: Everyone on Earth pledges allegiance to a world government; the feds default on the national debt."
Out of 144 possibilities, my top 5:
Robot Overlords
Unitary Executive
China Unloads U.S. Treasuries
Isolation of Elites
Pax Sinica (Chinese hegemony)
According to my choices, I am a "humanitarian internationalist. You're convinced mankind will terminate America—but at least we won't off ourselves in the process. You'll know you're right when: Everyone on Earth pledges allegiance to a world government; the feds default on the national debt."
Monday, August 03, 2009
Red Sox Update
I am happy with the trade for Victor Martinez. We really needed a good bat, and Lowell is a statue at 3rd. When V-Mart plays 1st, Youk can play 3rd.
We still need to figure out the starting pitcher situation, though. Beckett and Lester can't do it all by themselves. Dice-K is finished in Boston for this season, possibly forever. Our elderly pitchers Wakefield and Smoltz are moving to and from the mound on Hoverounds™. Buchholz is unpredictable. Penny is doughy. Look for Theo to pick up another starting pitcher off the waiver wire.
We still need to figure out the starting pitcher situation, though. Beckett and Lester can't do it all by themselves. Dice-K is finished in Boston for this season, possibly forever. Our elderly pitchers Wakefield and Smoltz are moving to and from the mound on Hoverounds™. Buchholz is unpredictable. Penny is doughy. Look for Theo to pick up another starting pitcher off the waiver wire.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Vegetable Pick-up
I'm just about to go pick up our weekly share of vegetables from the local farm, Heaven's Harvest. Here is what is in season now in Massachusetts:
Scallions
Edible Snap Peas
Edible Pod Peas
Pickling Cucumbers
Bok Choi
Green Peppers
Sweet Potatoes
Red Cabbage
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Dandelion Greens
Green Leaf Lettuce
Red Boston Lettuce
Red Kale
Parsley
Sage
Oregano
Thyme
A full share is a bushel; we just get a half share, which means we only get the items that I've marked in red. However, we have gotten all of the other items in previous weeks.
This is the third week of produce (out of 15 total). The first two weeks we also got a pint of strawberries, but the cool wet weather has already washed out the rest of the strawberry crop. Blueberries are next.
The farmers bring our share, plus those for about 80 other families, to a warehouse here in town, once a week. I can ride my bike to go pick them up -- they fit in a backpack. When carrots come in, the carrot leaves fly out the top of the backpack like a flag.
It is fun to get these veggies and then have to figure out how to use them up within a week. Also interesting to see what is in season at a given time.
We pay for the produce ahead of time. That way, the farmer has the money at the beginning of the season, and we customers all take on part of the risk. If a given crop should fail, we all share in the loss. On the other hand, we all benefit if a particular crop does better than expected. The organic aspect is nice I guess but the main reason I like it is this financial set-up. It's proven as a good model for keeping these small truck farms going in the rural areas around large cities. I don't think it would work for the giant grain farms like my uncle's in Kansas: what would we do with 100 bushels of wheat or corn?!
Scallions
Edible Snap Peas
Edible Pod Peas
Pickling Cucumbers
Bok Choi
Green Peppers
Sweet Potatoes
Red Cabbage
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Dandelion Greens
Green Leaf Lettuce
Red Boston Lettuce
Red Kale
Parsley
Sage
Oregano
Thyme
A full share is a bushel; we just get a half share, which means we only get the items that I've marked in red. However, we have gotten all of the other items in previous weeks.
This is the third week of produce (out of 15 total). The first two weeks we also got a pint of strawberries, but the cool wet weather has already washed out the rest of the strawberry crop. Blueberries are next.
The farmers bring our share, plus those for about 80 other families, to a warehouse here in town, once a week. I can ride my bike to go pick them up -- they fit in a backpack. When carrots come in, the carrot leaves fly out the top of the backpack like a flag.
It is fun to get these veggies and then have to figure out how to use them up within a week. Also interesting to see what is in season at a given time.
We pay for the produce ahead of time. That way, the farmer has the money at the beginning of the season, and we customers all take on part of the risk. If a given crop should fail, we all share in the loss. On the other hand, we all benefit if a particular crop does better than expected. The organic aspect is nice I guess but the main reason I like it is this financial set-up. It's proven as a good model for keeping these small truck farms going in the rural areas around large cities. I don't think it would work for the giant grain farms like my uncle's in Kansas: what would we do with 100 bushels of wheat or corn?!
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