Month: January 2013

Dissent Of The Day

Among a growing chorus in the in-tray:

Amen to the reader whose comment you posted saying you should make it 20 bucks, not $19.99. I had already sent in my $20 contribution when I read the comment. Being a quantitatively literate person, I hate that .99 stuff.  It's a way to try to fool people, and that is exactly the opposite of the honesty that has attracted me to your site over the years (I’ve been reading you since almost the very beginning).  And it is inefficient: it takes much longer to say and write 19.99 than 20.  I would be happy to see us abolish the penny and even happier if every merchant and gas station in the country would stop with their ridiculous .99s and just round up to the next dollar.  Truth in advertising.

That's a good point. I wonder if there's strong evidence that using the whole .99 thing works. And by "work", I simply mean brings in more money than all those extra pennies put together. Is it a myth? Or is it real? We're happy to adjust, but figure Dishheads will know the answer to this empirical issue beforehand. Anyone?

Quote For The Day II

"There's no sugar daddies anymore," – yours truly, in a Q and A with the NYT's inimitable David Carr on the new independent Dish.

And as of this post, as I write, we passed the $400K mark. That's $400K in 48 hours. "Thanks" seems like such a puny response. But you've offered us a serious challenge. We'll do all we can to meet it.

(Bonus coverage of the move in Italy's La Reppublica here and the UK's Guardian here.)

Quote For The Day

"It is easy to understand why even the most generous person might be averse to paying taxes: Our legislative process has been hostage to short-term political interests and other perverse incentives for as long as anyone can remember. Consequently, our government wastes an extraordinary amount of money.  It also seems uncontroversial to say that whatever can be best accomplished in the private sector should be. Our tax code must also be reformed—and it might even be true that the income tax should be lowered on everyone, provided we find a better source of revenue to pay our bills.

But I can’t imagine that anyone seriously believes that the current level of wealth inequality in the United States is good and worth maintaining, or that our government’s first priority should be to spare a privileged person like myself the slightest hardship as this once great nation falls into ruin," – Sam Harris.

Will Iran Turn Green In 2013?

Iran_Fingers_GT

At Tehran Bureau, Alireza Nader writes that that 2013 Iranian election "may be more tightly scripted than any earlier presidential race to prevent serious debates or competition." Mark Katz agrees:

If indeed the only candidates allowed to run for president are just those few approved by the regime, the Iranian public may come to regard the entire presidential election process as illegitimate. With the downfall of long-ruling leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen (and possibly Syria by mid-2013) providing role models for what popular uprisings can accomplish, the Iranian public may launch a more concerted effort in response to what it regards as an illegitimate presidential election outcome in 2013 than it did in 2009.

Here's hoping – as long as we don't push the opposition into the regime's hands by a new war.

(Photo by Majid/Getty Images)

Arizonans Self-Report

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A reader writes:

I read with interest the statistics regarding sign-ups by country and state.  When I saw Arizona, though, I was surprised, because I had subscribed yesterday evening and I live in Goodyear, AZ.  (Our zip is 85395, in case you're looking for it.)  Perhaps it's just that the statistics were captured before I signed up. So, even though Arizona is pretty hopeless in its politics, there are a few of us here who appreciate your point of view and this Arizonan is proud to be a Dishhead.

Another:

PLEASE, PLEASE let us know if we are the first subscribers in Arizona! Can we be the only Dishheads in the state?

Not nearly so, since more than two dozen Arizonans wrote the Dish to announce their formal support. According to the most recent data, we have 181 subscribers in Arizona. The subscriber numbers on the world and state maps were added manually. In our rush to get the statistics up as soon as possible, subscribers in The Grand Canyon State must have inadvertently been left off the map. But the error had at least one good effect:

I've been putting off buying my membership, but the empty space on the enrollment map over my home state of Arizona moved me to action. If there's a "1" over it now, that's me.

In fact, four other readers emailed to say the same thing. Join them in subscribing to the new Dish here.

(Modified Dish subscriber chart from The Atlantic Wire)

Obama: Like Eisenhower And Reagan

Screen shot 2013-01-04 at 11.52.59 AM

With respect to two things:

Obama is the first president to achieve the 51 percent mark in two elections since Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, who did it in 1952 and 1956.

Then there's the golf and the fact that Obama really has restored the cultural Waspiness of the presidency. And:

Obama is the second president since World War II to win re-election with a jobless rate above 6 percent. The other was Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

And that makes Sean Hannity's head explode.

(Chart: Obama's approval ratings across his first term compared with Reagan's, from Gallup's fascinating presidential approval center.)

“It Makes Me Cry Only When I See My Friends Go Before Me”

Maurice Sendak on growing old (truly a must-must-listen):

Mike Springer loves Christoph Niemann’s animation:

In late September of 2011, Maurice Sendak spoke one last time with Terry Gross for the NPR program Fresh Air. Ostensibly the interview was to promote Sendak’s final book, Bumble-Ardy, but as the conversation progressed it was clear they just wanted to talk. The beloved children’s writer and illustrator was 83 years old and in declining health. He was feeling the loss of people close to him who had died in recent years. Inevitably, the discussion turned to issues of mortality. As the conversation built to an emotional crescendo, Sendak laid bare the qualities that made him such a great author: sincerity, depth of feeling, and an insuperable need to connect with people in some elemental way.

It’s the voice that takes my breath away. And Terri Gross’s brilliance. And the simple statement: “I’m in love with the world.” Why is that so hard for so many of us to feel?

The Mystery Mega-Donor

A reader notices:

Someone paid $9999.99!? And here I thought I was a loyal reader.

Another:

I'm sure most of your readers are curious who that one donor of $9,999 is, but I assume you can't divulge that! 

Correct. What I'm wondering is what we would have gotten if we'd added another digit to the price box. By the way, we're closing in on $400,000. You can help put us over the line here.