Month: April 2011

Justin Davidson recounts New York's embrace of apartment life:

Over and over, the desire for better, cheaper housing has become an instrument of urban destiny. When we were running out of land, developers built up. When we couldn’t climb any more stairs, inventors refined the elevator. When we needed much more room, planners raised herds of towers. And when tall buildings obscured our views, engineers took us higher still.

This architectural evolution has roughly tracked the city’s financial fortunes and economic priorities. The turn-of-the-century Park Avenue duplex represented the apotheosis of the plutocrat; massive postwar projects like Stuyvesant Town embodied the national mid-century drive to consolidate the middle class; and the thin-air penthouses of Trump World Tower capture the millennial resurgence of buccaneering capitalism. You can almost chart income inequality over the years by measuring the height of New York’s ceilings.

"I Started Early – Took my Dog" by Emily Dickinson:

I started Early – Took my Dog –
And visited the Sea –
The Mermaids in the Basement
Came out to look at me –

And Frigates –
in the Upper Floor
Extended Hempen Hands
Presuming Me to be a Mouse –
Aground – opon the Sands –

But no Man moved Me – till the Tide
Went past my simple Shoe –
And past my Apron – and my Belt
And past my Boddice – too –  …

The rest of the poem can be found here.

(Photo by Flickr user Kevin Collins)

Today on the Dish, Andrew commended the People's Budget, but concentrated on how we'd handle healthcare rationing going forward. We bandied around ideas for a gas tax that wouldn't hurt the working poor, and Aaron Carroll hoped for a solution, for the country's sake. The government shutdown ball was in Boehner's court, and Andrew dismissed the GOP for putting all their eggs in a trivial basket. Frum envisioned the implications for Romney if the government shuts down, and a NASA employee couldn't even volunteer if the shutdown goes through. A reader feared Trump even more than Palin, the birthers went after Obama's knee, and a vote for Palin is a vote for Esther.

Stalemate watch continued in Libya, with rebels painting their trucks a different color than Qaddafi's, and the world's interest dropped off. Abuse continued in Afghanistan, and we examined Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. Robert Samuelson explained how we should tax corporations without losing jobs, and Derek Thompson tracked the average male's spending habits. Global warming necessitated a new color threat, parents expressed customer satisfaction after having their kids, and the Oregon legislature got Rick Rolled. Jesse Bering examined the wild world of sex with the elderly, a reader schooled us on tax brackets, and South Park replaced the bible as the new in-joke. Giancarlo DiTrapano cruised Craigslist, Akwaeke Z. Emezi exited the polyamory closet, Andrew gave up on Ulysses, and Drew Grant was saved by "Six Feet Under."

View from your tiny airplane here, normal airplane here, Yglesias award here, Moore award here, more pooping with the Dish apps here, FOTD here, and VFYW here.

Thursday on the Dish, a government shutdown clouded the horizon, troops could be cut off from their pay, and both parties wanted to play the victim. Blumenthal thought a shutdown could wake Americans up to the budget story, Andrew agreed the Ryan plan is heavy on tax cuts for the rich, but relished having a real conversation about balancing the budget. Douthat yearned for an Obamacare alternative in Ryan's plan, John Cole couldn't grasp that ending tax breaks wouldn't do it, and Nick Clegg cried regularly to music. Obama tried to be candid about gas prices, and we pondered why deficits get more press than the looming climate crisis. Wasserman Schultz disapproved of her own death trap comment, and Maggie Koerth-Bakerexplained two sides to polygamy in the Muslim world.

We caught up with a rebel rebound, Exum imagined a post-Qaddafi Libya, and Andrew grew dismayed by our continuing humanitarian imperialism. Trump pulled ahead on the virtue of his insane far right rhetoric, we still sucked up to the Saudis despite the Bahrain crackdown, and China prepared for a freedom chill. Rob Tisani argued for gay marriage on the grounds of children come first, Mississippi turned back the clocks on interracial marriage, readers debated suicide depictions on screen, and Christopher Pramuk sought faith after a miscarriage. College replaced religion for our sense of community, our calories climbed, and France feared agricultural extortion. Bristol made pregnancy cool and lucrative, Tarantino made us consider grace in violence, and YouTube sought a piece of the TV programming pie. NPR whooped PBS in coolness, we couldn't resist more airplane window views, and readers advised readers on how to poop with the Dish. Quote for the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here and here.

Wednesday on the Dish, Andrew gave more thought to Ryan's budget and the sacrifices we'll all have to make. He heard out readers from the hard left and beyond, but still couldn't stand the gut reaction of some Democrats without a plan of their own. Catherine Rampell reminded us of other budget proposals on the table, Andrew parsed the CBO score, Tyler Cowen criticized the Democrats for criticizing Ryan's plan, and we all wondered what happened to cutting defense. Andrew backed Will Wilkinson's belief that conservatism has to evolve, tried to understand the KSM trial options, and the GOP steered itself towards a fully anti-Islam platform. Jason Pack unpacked the bands of Libyan rebels, and the frontlines kept moving back and forth.

Glenn Beck ended his reign of terror, Bernstein wasn't holding his breath for Bachmann, and Palinism reached Canada. Bristol raked in the celebrity bucks and made the Situation look good, Andrew got psyched for the pot candidate, and we read the tea leaves on a government shutdown. Mark Johnson tracked the economic center of gravity head east, Joseph E. Stiglitz tied the fate of the rich to the fate of the poor, and whiteness in America grew malleable. Ta-Nehisi tried to tap into the voices from the Civil War, Bruce Schneier exposed e-book scams, and Donald Shoup dismissed free parking.  Freddie DeBoer worried about Twitter, an astrophysicist worried about earth's future, and a reader worried about pooping without a Dish app.

Map of the day here, view from your airplane window here, chart of the day here, correction of the day here, apology of the day here, quotes for the day here, here, Moore award here, MHB here, VFYW here, and FOTD here.

Austin, Texas, 11.36 am

Tuesday on the Dish, Andrew commended Ryan for rebranding the GOP with a real dedication to fiscal reform. The hard left freaked out, Douthat thought it an important gamble, Andrew kept an eye on Ryan's blindspots, Gleckman anticipated Obama's response, and the war costs added up even in the face of proposed benefit cuts for the poor and elderly. Andrew despaired at the coverage of KSM's trial, and the politics of fear Obama's decision indicates. Noah Millman reminded the US we sometimes have to be a fickle friend, Yemen beat the US (just barely) in gun ownership, and the Nationa Review came around to civil liberties. Andrew skewered Karzai for keeping US welfare alive in Afghanistan, the situation at the Ivory Coast came to a head, and Andrew Exum explored whether Muslims fully grasp freedom of religious speech.

Contra Beinart, Andrew eagerly awaited the circus of 2012, third party candidates and all. Joyner tangled with the Republican candidates, Trump milked the birther vote, and not voting is like not doing anything about pollution. Andrew weighed love and friendship as a choice,  and demanded that we see the casualties that result from the policies we choose. Biking wasn't as yuppy as you think,  Nathan Yau jammed out to traffic patterns, and we remembered sad geniuses. Aaron Bady analyzed journalism's booty on the internet, Annalee Newitz examined why rejection hurts like physical pain, and America diversified. Will Wilkinson pondered David Foster Wallace's work ethic, Emily Bazelon bemoaned the wrong way to fight bullying, and a reader re-cartooned Andrew.

More takes on the Beast switch here, cool ad watch here, Malkin award here, quotes for the day here, here and here, MHB here, FOTD here, VFYW here, and VFYW contest winner #44 here.

From photographer Martin Usborne's project titled Mute: the silence of dogs left in cars.

Monday on the Dish, we got a warm welcome at the Daily Beast and heard your take on the changes, with a reader's solution to blocked feeds at work here. Andrew feared the blood, pus and tears from popping the Qaddafi zit, and parsed the implications of Richard Goldstone's op-ed on Israel. We followed the stalemate watch in Libya, and Ryan Calder explained why you can't fist pump in Libya. Gideon Rose counseled against pulling out, and Greenwald and Drum went another round on trusting Obama's judgement. Gregory Djerejian sought out a full Middle East strategy, Yemen descended into more chaos, and Andrew categorized KSM's military trial in the same sad category as Gitmo.

Andrew anticipated Paul Ryan's debt reduction plan, and reax from the blogosphere trickled in. We tallied TARP's profits and Andrew patted Obama on the back for handling Bush's programs effectively. Huck destroyed records from his past, Romney still aimed to please, and Obama entered the race selling his personality more than his politics like Reagan. Mark Blumenthal didn't discount Palin, and Conor Friedersdorf catalogued Limbaugh's Libyan misinformation. Walter Russell Mead and Yglesias debated black flight to the south, and Keith Humphreys reminded us of the danger of taking half steps in ending the war on drugs.

Andrew remembered being gay in high school, Catholic acceptance of gays tracked with the rest of society, and some opponents still wanted gays just to be friends. Google determined how we find our recipes online, and McSweeney's couldn't crack the Brian Wilson beard code. Readers rationalized the popularity contest between Mickey and Bugs, Andrew surfed virtual museum collections, and Matthew Wollin buttressed himself against awkwardness. We measured the safety of cycling, the era of 99 cents ended, and Gavin McInnes taught us how to pee in public.

Real life Angry Bird here, short history of sissy bounce here, cool ad watch here, dissent of the day here, quotes for the day here and here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.

–Z.P.

 

Holly Bailey reports on Oregon House member Jefferson Smith's amazing prank – Rickrolling the legislature:

The lines had to be delivered on the House floor during a lawmaker's regular floor speech–which is, under Oregon law, videotaped for public records purposes. And the lines of the lyrics had to be spread out, so as not to tip off the state House clerk or other observers to what lawmakers were up to.

"It was way harder taking words and spreading them out than simply manipulating them (on video)," Smith says. "There are some easy lines in there to say without getting noticed. 'You're never gonna' is easy. 'I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling' is easy. But an 'ooh?' That's tricky." …

"It was real, and it was really awesome … Democracy is a glorious thing."

Jason Kuznicki has a solution for pro-lifers, anti-war activists, and drug war opponents who are upset about how their tax money is spent.

"[Senator Jon Kyl's] remark was not intended to be a factual statement, but rather to illustrate that Planned Parenthood, an organization that receives millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, does subsidize abortions," – a statement from Kyl’s office. Kyl had claimed that abortion is “well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does," when in fact that figure is 3 percent.

Derek Thompson peeks inside how the average American male (and female) spends money:

Every morning, a man walks into a coffee shop, removes the earbuds from his iPod, and orders a bottled water. It costs him $2. But what is this simple routine worth to the U.S. economy when multiplied across the country?  Tens of billions of dollars, it turns out. The coffee shop economy was worth $11 billion last year. Bottled water sales contributed another $15 billion. Portable music players add another $11 billion. You can throw in his jacket (part of a $3 billion men's suit industry), Ray-Bans ($750 million for sunglasses), and the Captain Crunch crumbs on his shirt ($13 billion in cereal sales).

Roger Cohen as a must-read. Money quote:

[Goldstone's] shift is attributed to the findings of a follow-up report by a U.N. committee of independent experts chaired by Mary McGowan Davis, a former New York judge, and what is “recognized” therein about Israeli military investigations. Well, Goldstone and I have not been reading the same report.

McGowan Davis is in fact deeply critical of those Israeli investigations — their tardiness, leniency, lack of transparency and flawed structure. Her report — stymied by lack of access to Israel, Gaza or the West Bank — contains no new information I can see that might buttress a change of heart.

On the core issue of intentionality, it declares: “There is no indication that Israel has opened investigations into the actions of those who designed, planned, ordered and oversaw Operation Cast Lead.”

It says Israel has not adequately answered the Goldstone Report’s allegations about the “design and implementation of the Gaza operations” or its “objectives and targets.” Victims on both sides, McGowan Davis argues, can expect “no genuine accountability and no justice.”

There is a distinction between specific alleged war crimes and an enitre campaign structurally designed not only to target Hamas but also to add even more misery and death to Gaza civilians.

Yglesias rails against term limits in advanced democracies:

What happens when you contravene democracy by introducing term limits, is that practical power shifts into the hands of unelected staffers (to the extent that they’re available) and unelected lobbyists (who are always plentiful). Legislating isn’t child’s play, after all, you need to have some familiarity with the issues and the process. Extra power naturally flows to veterans. In a democratic legislature, may of the veterans are veteran legislators—elected officials. In a limited legislature, the only veterans are the staffers and the lobbyists.

I'm with Matt on this. And I'd get rid of the 22nd Amendment too. Why can't the people elect who they bloody well want?

Drew Grant's essay on being saved by pop culture (in her case, the deaths on "Six Feet Under") ties in nicely with our recent thread on suicides:

I hated that show for killing off Nate, because Nate was us, he was our window into the world of "Six Feet Under." The fact that the story could continue without him would be to admit that life could go on without us. Without me. … I'm not saying that a fictional person's pretend death counts (Peter Krause is currently on "Parenthood," alive and well), but it's the closest I had ever come to seeing the profound and personal way a death affects a family, especially a death so random and senseless as Nate's.

After that episode, I stopped buying painkillers from shady drug dealers. I got out of bed and got another job. (Well, I worked from home, so technically I still stayed in bed, but at least I was earning a paycheck.) I also took trips home to my mom's house for weeks at a time, just happy that she wasn't the frigid and uptight Ruth but also wanting so badly to never, ever put her through what Ruth had to go through.