I saw this in a parking lot the other day. It’s a car covered with stickers (there were as many or more on the sides), but one stood out: “Simplify”. Click for a bigger version, and consider this an open thread.
Read a fucking book.
mistermix has been a Balloon Juice writer since 2010.
Cable Is Dead
For some reason, John and I both decided to finally set up Netflix streaming on our TVs this week. All I have to say is that I understand why six of eight cable services posted their worst quarterly subscriber losses ever. It costs less than one premium channel to have unlimited streaming and two DVDs out, and it’s a better experience than any of the “On Demand” cable services I’ve used.
That’s why I’m expecting another push by cable providers to add usage caps and tiered plans to their Internet offerings in an effort to increase average subscriber revenue. After their recent shack job with Verizon, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google team up with Comcast to save our endangered cable operators.
Mama Grizzly Hearts Unions
One of Palin’s political consultants posted a long paean to the glory and wonder of unions on her Facebook page, titled “Union Brothers and Sisters, Join Our Commonsense Cause!” Here’s the nut of the argument:
In the past there were many great union leaders who courageously defended the rights of workers. Unions were founded for all the right reasons! They were to give working men and women the clout to negotiate fairly with their employers and to fight for decent pay and working conditions. The unions of old would often end up fighting big government on behalf of the little guy. Today’s unions seem to be big government’s most enthusiastic supporters. It’s turned into some nonsense when union bosses back the government takeover of the car industry, and the mortgage industry, and the entire health care sector. And with the help of big government they aim to push through card check legislation that some characterize as being unfair to workers, and even un-American, because of its insistence on stripping workers of their right to privacy with a secret ballot. And that’s not just me voicing concern over card check – ask current union members how comfortable they are with what some of their leaders are saying about the legislation.
I know she spouts this kind of crap all the time, but this one verges on comedy, combining the crazy idea that government hasn’t done shit for unions, and the insane notion that there’s a place for unions in today’s Republican party.
Bought and Paid For
A North Carolina town wants to install broadband fiber and provide Internet access that’s ten times faster than cable, but a state senator is trying to end it:
In the last legislative session Sen. Hoyle tried to put a moratorium on any more local governments expanding into municipal broadband.
When the I-Team asked him if the cable industry drew up the bill, Senator Hoyle responded, “Yes, along with my help.”
When asked about criticism that he was “carrying water” for the cable companies, Hoyle replied, “I’ve carried more water than Gunga Din for the business community – the people who pay the taxes.”
Of course, no stupidity like this is complete without the obligatory bow to the free market of Internet services:
“It’s not fair for any government unit to compete with private enterprise,” he says.
(via)
Free Markets and Glibertarianism
I don’t think anyone wants this blog to turn into a wonkfest, but I would like to defend two Balloon Juice catchphrases, one of which some (* cough *) think is an indicator of epistemic closure.
The first is “Free Markets Solve Everything”. I think ED is spot-on with this analysis of the role of redistribution in free market economies, and I also think John is right about the callous nature of some advocates of the free market. But my main gripe about the term “free market” is that it has become an overused, shorthand term, devoid of any real meaning, used mainly to justify corporate rights over individual liberty.
So, for example, a discussion of net neutrality or Internet pricing, which is at its heart a discussion of the regulation of public utilities operating as (at best) part of an oligopoly, gets sidetracked by discussions of “the free market” of Internet services. This is a classic category error — if the ISP market is a “free market’, then I don’t know what “free market” means. ISPs string their wires on or under private and public property that is allocated to them by the government, there aren’t enough ISPs to provide actual competition, and the facts about the service provided are hidden from the purchaser. This is a hell of a lot different from the market for, say, shoes, where purchasers can choose a clearly defined product produced by a variety of companies who don’t owe their very existence to an act of government. Treating the purchase of a service provided by a public utility as if it were a trip to the shoe store is the kind of sloppy reasoning that gets a “Free Markets Solve Everything” tag.
Sloppiness about “free markets” is often accompanied by blinders about threats to those markets. The free market defenders who are often tagged “Glibertarians” here are those who think that the only threat to free markets is excessive (or any) government regulation. My view is that the opposite is often the case — the biggest threat to free markets is regulatory capture by corporations who seek to rig the market to serve the interests of big incumbent players. When I call someone a “glibertarian”, it’s mainly because they’ve used free market rhetoric where it doesn’t belong, or because they don’t understand the necessary role of independent regulators in the maintenance of a free market.
Ron Paul may have many failings, but he at least acknowledges that corporatism exists. McMegan and the Reasonoids seem to have forgotten that, if they ever knew it in the first place. For them, the perjorative “glibertarian” is richly deserved. While I agree that it’s probably tossed around a little too freely, it is firmly rooted in a legitimate critique of some widely-accepted stupidities about the role of government in markets.
B**k
Facebook has sued a teachbook.com, a site devoted to teachers and learning, because it has the word “book” in its name. The site looks nothing like Facebook and the site founders say they picked the word “book” because the site is about teachers and education.
I doubt that Facebook has a real trademark infringement case here, but it really doesn’t matter. Teachbook has 20 users and not much money. Simply defending themselves in a lawsuit would probably kill the company, so they’ll change their name, and Facebook will effectively own the word “book”.
No Temple For The God of Terrorism
I’m sure this mosque vandalism, like yesterday’s cabbie stabbing, is another isolated incident that has nothing to do with the hateful rhetoric spewed by 2009’s most frequent guest on Meet the Press, Newt Gingrich, and the rest of the assholes hoping to leverage the base fears and prejudices of an ignorant minority.