This seems kind of like a cool idea: put a swimming pool in NYC rivers.

It’s lengthy, but 7S magazine has an interesting article about Marfa, Texas, out in the western desert. This leaped out at me because my wife once looked at being a doctor there. It’s apparently undergoing an intense upheaval due to an influx of wealthy people. Sort of. Also, a look at how West Texas is going to be handling this oil boom differently than the last. (h/t Mr. Blue)

It turns out, poor and middle class Americans have little say in government policy. Serious props to the (liberal) writer for acknowledging that a society in which these people did have more say is not necessarily one liberals would prefer.

The case for committing the seven deadly sins.

How lengthy clinical drug trials are stifling cures. You hear this a lot, but the author has some actual proposals beyond the “damn bureaucracy!” vaguaries.

A lot of teenagers listen to their music on YouTube. That’s not surprising. More surprising is that half of them still buy CD’s.

If stories about corporate sex parties in Germany interest you, click here (no pictures). I’m too square, I guess. The thought of being at one of these things creeps me out.

College graduates are apparently joining the military in record numbers.

In Washington State, a man was jailed for attempting to cash a Chase check at a Chase bank.

Gallup has a list of the approval ratings of many industries. I’m not surprised that oil and gas are not popular, but I am a little surprised that they’re dead at the bottom, below banking. Also below banking: the federal government.


Category: Newsroom

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12 Responses to Linkluster Years Since The Rock Springs Massacre

  1. Ω says:

    It’s a minor nitpick with an otherwise good article, but most of the drugs going for FDA approval aren’t “cures” but aides for improved management of disease. I don’t like medical hype, and it does not serve the author’s cause to engage in it.

  2. SFG says:

    Nothing wrong with being square. I’ve done a lot of…unorthodox things in an intimate setting, but only on a 1-to-1 basis. I think introverts really don’t like the public sex thing.

  3. trumwill says:

    That’s a good point, Omega.

    SFG, I hadn’t considered it an aspect of introversion, but that’s probably right.

  4. SFG says:

    Funny how the geeks are at the top. I guess people can’t get too riled up about Bill Gates selling people crappy software the way they do about companies polluting the environment or selling bad drugs.

  5. Scarlet Knight says:

    Comic Sans

    I don’t know what the big f-ing deal is about Comic Sans. It’s a font. Get a grip. (Not you personally)

    NYC pools

    The idea itself is cool if they can get ever get it to work. However, the problem with public pools in NYC aren’t the pools themselves or their location; it is the clientele. See HalfSigma for more details. BTW, I haven’t seen you comment there in forever.

    poor and middle class…government policy

    I don’t get the same conclusion about the article that you do. I don’t see see where the writer says what you say he says.

    music on YouTube

    When I am in the mood to listen to a song, this is how I listen to it.

    German sex parties

    Call me a prude, but the idea of being with a professional sex worker skeeves me out. To be with the same one that the other party goers have been with is even worse.

    College graduates … military

    Before I click the link, I would say it’s a reflection of the economy. After I click the link, the first sentence is: The weak economy is helping to drive thousands more college graduates into the U.S. military. Wow, I’m a genius (rolls eyes). Anyway, if these kids had done ROTC while in college, they wouldn’t have student loans to worry about.

    Gallup

    The paradox with the federal government is that most people like their congressman and think he is doing a fine job.

  6. trumwill says:

    I don’t know what the big f-ing deal is about Comic Sans. It’s a font. Get a grip. (Not you personally)

    I think the point of annoyance is the same point of annoyance as with hipsters in general. It’s not so much that the font is ugly rather than that it’s meant to represent an whimsy that gets irritating after a certain point. It doesn’t get to me quite like it gets to other people, but I find the passive-aggressive debate to be kind of funny. Not that I don’t understand where the annoyed are coming from. I tend to go nuts when words have quotes around them that don’t belong there, which I don’t consider to be altogether different in a way.

    The idea itself is cool if they can get ever get it to work. However, the problem with public pools in NYC aren’t the pools themselves or their location; it is the clientele. See HalfSigma for more details. BTW, I haven’t seen you comment there in forever.

    To be honest, the thought of demographics had crossed my mind, though I don’t know enough of New York geography to know the extent to which it would be an issue. As for HS, see my other comment. One part moderation queue, the other part declining interest. Kudos to Siggy on some of his posts about Hispanic crime rates, though.

    I don’t get the same conclusion about the article that you do. I don’t see see where the writer says what you say he says.

    When the interests or preferences of the lower and middle class diverge from the upper classes, the probability of a policy change favors the preferences of the latter. The article says “no say” but I hedged towards “little say.”

    Call me a prude,

    Prude! But hey, you’re a prude and I’m a square. I can sort of see why one might get “hired help.” I’ve never done it and don’t believe I ever would, but if I did it would probably involve spending extra so that we can pretend that it’s not what it is. I don’t know if that would work, though.

    Before I click the link, I would say it’s a reflection of the economy.

    I went through the same thought process and affirmation of my biases.

    The paradox with the federal government is that most people like their congressman and think he is doing a fine job.

    That’s the paradox with congress. Though if a pollster asks me about “the federal government”, I am actually more likely to be thinking about the IRS or SSA than I am the politicians.

  7. Scarlet Knight says:

    Looking back at the picture, the more annoying part of is was the exclamation points. As an aside, Spanish does it right by having them (and question marks) at BOTH ends of the sentences. Sort of like tagging in HTML.

    When the interests or preferences of the lower and middle class diverge from the upper classes, the probability of a policy change favors the preferences of the latter.

    Yes, that I see. But then you said Serious props to the (liberal) writer for acknowledging that a society in which these people did have more say is not necessarily one liberals would prefer. I couldn’t find that anywhere.

    but if I did it would probably involve spending extra so that we can pretend that it’s not what it is.

    This is known in the trade as the Girlfriend Experience. Also, even when you aren’t paying for it, do you want to be with a girl that everyone else has been with? Especially the same night? Theoretically it doesn’t matter, but theoretically gold shouldn’t be more valuable than aluminum.

    That’s the paradox with congress.

    I am getting a new Congressman come January. It is a shame because I have built up a relationship with my current one (not that he would know my name if I were to call him or anything; he would recognize me by sight though). When I had a problem with SallieMae, his staff fixed it to my 100 percent satisfaction post haste. It is amazing how quickly government can operate when properly motivated.

  8. trumwill says:

    Looking back at the picture, the more annoying part of is was the exclamation points. As an aside, Spanish does it right by having them (and question marks) at BOTH ends of the sentences. Sort of like tagging in HTML.

    I think we should revamp a lot of our punctuation.

    Yes, that I see. But then you said

    Ahh, well, when he talked about the issues that “the people” who aren’t heard on, he didn’t just talk about economic redistribution, but acknowledged “a more protectionist trade regime, more prayer in public life, and less access to abortion.” The only thing he left off was more dead criminals.

    This is known in the trade as the Girlfriend Experience. Also, even when you aren’t paying for it, do you want to be with a girl that everyone else has been with? Especially the same night?

    Whether or not it would work would depend on whether or not I can suspend disbelief of that not being the case.

    When I had a problem with SallieMae, his staff fixed it to my 100 percent satisfaction post haste. It is amazing how quickly government can operate when properly motivated.

    Back when we were waiting months and months and months for full medical licensure in Estacado (the process took over a year, meaning that she had to pay another $1000 application fee), Web actually had a really good idea: contact the state rep whose local doctor was needing but not getting doctors. By that point, though, we’d given up. Fourteen months was our “screw it” breaking point.

  9. Scarlet Knight says:

    Web actually had a really good idea: contact the state rep whose local doctor was needing but not getting doctors.

    This was a good idea by Web. State reps LOVE to cut through red tape. All they can say is no, and if they say yes the benefit is enormous. Having to pay another application fee is particularly appalling.

    My state senator has been helpful to me, and not just because I am politically active.

  10. trumwill says:

    Having to pay another application fee is particularly appalling.

    Having thought about it further, that was the reason we gave up. Not the 14 months, but the fact that (a) we had to reapply and (b) they never even told us this. We called to check up on how things were going and they replied “Oh, your application is on hold until you re-apply.” Those were the last straws.

  11. Scarlet Knight says:

    We called to check up on how things were going and they replied “Oh, your application is on hold until you re-apply.”

    That is ridiculous. Of course, to them it is obvious that you should re-apply when you haven’t even been officially declined. You are the misfit for even questioning their wisdom.

    I mean, how hard is it to send a letter to let you know what the F is going on? That was my big problem with SallieMae. I would call for updates, they would say they were backed up and asked me for patience, and then when I game them some time, they said it was too late to do what I wanted to do. That’s what I get for taking their word I guess. Like I mentioned above, it took the intervention of congressional staff to set things right.

  12. trumwill says:

    We had a run-in with Sallie Mae last year. They took down their tax information right in time for tax deadline.

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