Maybe Somebody Should Do Something

We could give more free money to rich banksters, or maybe figure out how to help the young unemployed. I don't know how they're supposed to pay their student loans, save for a down payment, buy a house, KEEP THIS ECONOMY GOING, when they're, you know, broke. As are their parents.

EVERYBODY PLEASE PANIC

I'm sure this is the union's fault, even though they've called off the strike.

Upzoning The World

I can't speak for every single spot in the Philly burbs, but I do know of some examples where there is a lovely little train station neighboring a small to medium sized parking lot, in a neighborhood which is somewhat walkable, though with its walkability eroded by decades of parking lot expansion. Occasionally there are proposals to stick up some apartment buildings, or to even add some additional retail and office space, and the neighborhood response is almost always a demand for more parking. Of course if you put in more parking, it makes it more expensive, decreases walkability, and, of course, increases the likelihood that people will drive there.

Even in the urban hellhole demands for more parking greet basically every project.

Bunker

I guess this is kind of a weird communitarian version of a certain survivalism mentality. When the rest of the world goes to hell and falls victim to the superpredators, their community gate and neighborhood watch will save them.

Even in the urban hellhole - where there is a genuine crime problem! - most serious crime isn't stranger crime. Why is it something people fear so much, especially in places where there really is very little crime?

Precedent

Bush v Gore.

Overnight

Evening Thread

Enjoy!

Happy Hour Thread

Don't Worry, Get Happy With Some Red Red Wine.

They're People

There's a difference between "Scalia is a corrupt hack" and "with what army"-style delegitimizing of the legitimate constitutional power of the Court. Elites need to earn their respect, especially elites who face neither voters nor any other realistic check on potential corruption and hackery. Frankly about the only realistic check on the power of Supremos is their potential concern that people on the internets might be mean to them in furious blog posts. If elites want us to respect elite institutions they should do a better job of policing their own. Instead they try to police us.

Afternoon Thread

Enjoy.

Oh Crap Where'd That Football Go

I have no idea what the Supremos will do, but the idea that you could make rational appeals to Scalia based on his own precedents.

uh.

LA's Dirty Little Secret

Sure it should engage in some upzoning along the subway lines, and perhaps elsewhere, but it's important to note that people actually ride LA's subway system. The Wikipedia tells me it gets about 150K average daily weekday riders, and that's despite the fact that "subway to nowhere" criticisms aren't entirely without merit. Also, too, LA has multiple light rail lines and commuter rail which people also use. And, shh, the bus.

Lunch Thread

enjoy

Can We End That Era

For the past couple of decades we've all (by "we" I man all the Very Serious People in the chattering classes) bought into the fantasy that all we need to do is pursue Conservative Means to achieve Liberal Ends and everything will be awesome. First of all, those conservative means usually don't work (I won't say never, but that discussion is too great for the margin of this blog post). But more importantly, the point of such "compromises" was to actually pass some legislation that might achieve stuff, and was premised on the idea that there were people in both political parties who want to make life better for poor people by improving educational opportunities a bit and maybe help a few more people get decent health insurance. Whether those people in the Republican party ever really existed or if they just mugged for the cameras and the Villagers I don't know, but they don't exist anymore. Right now we have one political party that is very up front about and proud of their desire to mug everyone in the non-millionaire club, steal all their money, and give it to rich people. It's time for the other political party to recognize that the era of dumb compromises is over, and if they'd actually come up with a way to help people, instead of a plan to set up a program to provide the incentives to blahblahblahblahblahblah....

Strike

General strike in Spain. The Guardian informs me:

A quick reminder of Spain's economic position.

Spain ended 2011 with a shrinking economy. GDP fell by 0.3% in the final three months of the year, and it is forecast to drop by another 1.7% during 2012.

The UK also had a GDP decline of .3% last quarter.

EVERYBODY PANIC SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO PANIC

Not sure if this was complete idiocy or a cunning plan to create chaos and blame it on the union.

Either way, hecukva job. At $10/gallon it's a miracle anybody buys the stuff.

Thursday Is New Jobless Day

359K new lucky duckies.

Not too bad.