It's been awhile

Let's listen to a podcast together!

I include this for the ballsy anecdote in the beginning but I also think this is a listicle that I need to paste to my door.

Well if it can learn to roll our socks, I can totally see us getting this

Perhaps we should consider only having 1 bathroom in our new place...



Hello

Making holes in masterpieces

This is not a realistic home to admire but it's got style

Fighting drugs with ....economics?

Good reading for when we're fighting

An argument for more massage and cuddling?

I've only ever posted one question on Quora - have you ever been rewarded for being generous - and I got some piddling responses.  This article is perhaps the best response.

Kitchen porn. I think this is interesting because the styles are so different. Which style calls to you?




Responses
1. I mean, I get it in theory. You should never smoke at all. You should never drink while pregnant. It's very belt and suspenders AND tight pants, but I understand where the CDC is coming from.

2. I will try to do these but I keep getting my credit card stolen and it's not because of the passwords.

3. Noted. We can have a sign at our wedding "__ Days without accidental Krispy Kreme deaths."

4. I like this guy's research but he seems to harp on the same point in every article he writes. 

5. Wow, the play by play of that game was really painful. I would be super embarrassed for everyone.

6. As I've said before, I'm a little mad at you for posting such a bad article. But it probably is "good" for me to know what insane thoughts other Asian people are having. I'm not sure if having Peter Liang is better or worse as a mascot than Michael Brown. 

7. This is key:  "It’s still unclear how big of a deal this is, but it seems that we have been underestimating the progress of Hispanic immigrants and their offspring because some of the more successful ones don’t mark themselves as “Hispanic” on government surveys." But in my mind, Asians and Hispanics are the most difficult races to hide from with your surnames so it's never really mattered to me to check off "Asian" anywhere because my name is unambiguously Asian.
I believe there was a study somewhere that when girls had to check off "female" before they completed a task, they did worse than if they completed the task without checking off their gender. So maybe the Asians and Hispanics that don't identify as such do better because they aren't checking those boxes. 

R2R
1. Agreed that a couple shouldn't be treated differently in the tax code than two single people. However, I think it does make sense for one person in the couple to reduce hours/work for childrearing. Do you think differently?
2. I think people have extra incentive to come because we are wonderful company! But yes, a home cooked meal is harder to come by these days.
3. I don't think there's anything wrong with a paleo/GF option if you want something different. I think paleo sounds like fun! Meat meat meat!
4. Let's download it together.
5. Our wedding will be both cool and timeless!
6. Maybe these hotels could be associated with overworked white collar workers instead?
7. I am agreed and I think Apple won anyway? I kept seeing all these "Apple victory" articles but I'm not sure they were hypotheticals. I was surprised at the number of people who thought Apple should comply. I thought we were more skeptical of the government and more pro-Apple a country than this.
R2R2R
2. I realize this but that was the first thing that popped into my head. It's certainly a cultural aspect - the only time I've ever seen silencers are in cartoony assassin movies so of course we should ban them so the cartoony assassins don't use them! But I thought about it more and realized that that's not a realistic depiction of how they're used.

R2R2R2R
1. I mean I understand that many of the measures that people employ to combat loneliness are stopgap measures but, unlike Louis CK's shoulder, you can beat loneliness. I think maybe counseling and 1 close friend is all you need (though I might need to do more research).
2. Well I'm only talking about us, silly! Not all the mooses who go without!

I Don't See Color

The CDC, in an effort to reduce incidents of fetal alcohol syndrome, somehow released a report with this infographic suggesting (see step 2) that women who do not use contraception should abstain from drinking altogether.  It sparked several responses.

Here are some ideas to keep the hackers at bay.

If we do Krispy Kreme favors, let's make sure this doesn't happen.  Ormsby.

A more interesting Black History Month (or just understanding of the history of black people in America) would highlight these points.

It is refreshing that people are actually talking about the harm this does to everyone (as opposed to just the harm it might do to the losing team, which harm likely inspired the stupid rule in the first place).

I'm not a big fan of this article, but it relates to some of the things we've talked about with respect to how Asian-Americans are viewed through the lens of race in America.  The article does a good job of demonstrating that Kang's perspective is based on a bizarre irrational anxiety that events plagued by small sample size still must mean something.  But it also tees up an interesting decision point for many Asian-Americans who may or may not feel as though they have really achieved the American Dream.

The Washington Post tackles immigration, mixed marriages, and ethnic self-identity, I guess.

Responses:

1. We learned about this phenomenon in the context of the marriage penalty/benefit in income tax class.  I think too many people still get married and rely on one spouse to reduce his or her earnings (in favor of childrearing, or because they don't need all of both incomes), such that it's hard to see a marriage as two people as opposed to one economic unit.  That said, I think it's fundamentally problematic for the tax code to treat a married person differently from a single person.  Perhaps there are ways to dodge this problem in specific circumstances (e.g. with income taxes, you pay the lower of what you would pay as two single filers versus what you would pay as married filers), but even those are controversial somehow.

2. This is a nice idea too.  But I like the idea of cooking (even if something simple) so that people have extra incentive to come.

3. Not sure how I feel about the gluten-free/paleo aspect, but it is interesting.

4. Would you like to try it?  Let me know if you download and I will too.

5. I don't want a cool wedding.  I want a timeless wedding.

6. It's never made sense why hotels stuck to the overnight stay model.  For all the fixed costs they have, why not try to parcel out remaining periods of time.  That said, one objection might be the sleaze factor: the hotels that have hourly stays (where you can stay for a minimum of one hour or as many hours as you like) are typically associated with prostitution.

7. This strikes me as a 13th Amendment problem.  My reading of the problem is that the FBI wants to force Apple to make something (not force them to turn something over, as the FBI already has the iPhone).  But even if the FBI is willing to compensate Apple for the labor and production costs for building the program, Apple (indeed, anyone) should have the right to say no.  In my view, if the FBI wants to prevent this, then they should ask Congress to pass a law requiring any technology that can be used to commit terrorism or conspiracy crimes to contain a backdoor only accessible by federal authorities.  Of course, when such a law is proposed and everyone realizes that eventually hackers will be able to exploit that same security opening, then maybe people will realize the folly of this idea and change their minds.  But in my (limited, partially informed, and humble) opinion, that's the only way to overcome the constitutional problem.

R2R:

2. The "why does anyone need [blank]" question in the context of firearms typically reflects either a lack of familiarity or comfort with firearms or a lack of belief that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms on a level of any other constitutional right.  Almost every gun control conversation I've had with a gun control supporter goes like this: GCS: We should ban [insert gun thing here]; Ben: Why should we ban it?; GCS: Well, why does anyone need it?  That strikes me as not much of an argument.

R2R2R:

1. It reminds me of a Louis CK bit where he goes to the doctor for his bad shoulder, and the doctor tells him to stretch and take a lot of Advil, but when Louis CK asks whether that will fix the problem, the doctor laughs and says of course not - it's not going to be fixed, and when Louis CK mentions that some professional athlete his age got treatment for his bad shoulder, the doctor scoffs and tells him that he's definitely not a professional athlete.  The sad aspect is that, for many of these people, the stopgap measures they employ are just bandages on a broken leg.  I think about the study that shows that a majority of widowers die within a year of the death of their wife because men are less likely to have a social network outside their wife.

2. Your summary of the article said "we're all ok."  My (tongue-in-cheek) question suggested that not everyone has all of those things.

B

Hard Times

I'm glad that someone is defending bears out there!

Setting aside the merits or effectiveness of the policies in question, it's mostly just amusing that the one thing we can conclude about Obama's gun control policies is that they've led to more gun and gun-related purchases.

What kind of feminist (or anti-feminist) are you?  (This is the story that accompanies that quiz.  Also, I got "certainly not a feminist.")

Those guys at Uber are so innovative.

Responses:

1. That comment more or less sums up the problem with loneliness.  I think it's so scary for people that any solution that isn't the magical discovery of a robust social network seems bleak.  These people (especially the old people) are lonely in a way that doesn't seem possible to fix.  They have makeshift solutions that will tide them over until the inevitable.  That's a hard realization.  Also, don't ever leave me! :P

2. What if you don't have those things???

3. If I just do what he says, can we not call him please?

4. I want that kitchen!  Give me the kitchen!

5. That's a nice story, and it's nice that he'll have the legacy of his life's writings to pass on.

6. NSFW!

R2R:

2. That may have been a rash judgment.  That said, I'd like for there to be a resolution to the refugee issue sooner rather than later.  Even so, we can come up with some travel ideas.

3. Agreed.  That argument proves too much.

4. That's a possibility, although it might be more expensive and disruptive since Verizon/Comcast/Time Warner would likely charge the a la carte rate for everything if done seasonally.  It's certainly worth considering, though, as long as it wasn't disruptive to other viewing.

R2R2R2R:

2. When the U.S. government budget deficit is $500 billion, it's easy to feel as though your net worth is small.  Something my mom's pastor told me that I thought was helpful was that, as an individual, you have to find the thing that you can do, your small contribution.  Many progressives see big problems and require big solutions that are so expensive that they require other people's money.  I think if we foster a belief that people can voluntarily come together to solve problems on a small scale, those small solutions will add up to something far bigger.  But it's harder to persuade society than it is a majority of Congress.

3. You add it to yours, and I'll add it to mine.  That's easy enough...

R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R:

1. That's a factual question at least in part, but the basic principle is that the media's job should be to inform the public about matters and events that impact their lives both personally and in their capacity as members of a self-governing republic.  To the extent that reporting on these events contributes to or takes away from that, fair enough.  That said, I don't believe in keeping people in the dark except if there is a risk of immediate incitement.  Yelling "fire" in a crowded theater is the classic example of that.  But some people want to argue that, for example, reporting on the San Bernardino incident is akin to doing just that, and in my view that's too attenuated.

The San Bernardino incident in some ways is a hard case, and I think it's much harder than, say, some serial killer operating far from the community whose news service is reporting it.  In my view, the role of journalism school should be not only to help aspiring journalists to figure out how to report the news, but also to think about questions like the meaning of "newsworthiness" in a manner that can consider the factors that you and I have both raised.

B

Resolutions

The first comment on this article on loneliness is: "I have to say, that what the writer describes as "Glimmers of hope" sound even more bleak than anything else in the article".

I loved this article as a way of saying - hey, we're all ok

this is pretty cool and random

I've seen a lot of apartment tours and this is my favorite of them all.

Inspiration for journaling


Bunny butt makes another appearance!

Responses
1. That was a nice article. I think weight loss is incredibly hard and should be cheered on, even if people who are always thin don't get congratulated on that. It's achieving a goal and improving oneself, which should always be applauded.

2. I thought the problem with going to Europe for us was terrorism...

3. I did appreciate the line "The Post generally does not identify people who are purported victims of sex crimes." The "purported" speaks volumes.

I also question the paragraph:

In court filings, Jackie’s lawyers wrote that she should not have to produce any of the requested documents because of certain legal protections for sexual assault victims. Jackie’s lawyers wrote that asking her to provide the information “constitutes exactly the abusive re-victimization that these protections were designed to prevent.”

I wonder what legal protections those really are and if they prevent fake rape allegations from being successfully adjudicated.

4. This person only pays for cable during her preferred sports seasons. Maybe you could do that too? It seems like all you watch is football and Netflix.

Also, I think it's kinda weird for a dad to buy his daughter a diamond bracelet. That seems like a husband kind of gift.


R2R

3. I thought it was interesting that the husband did that and the wife appreciated it so. I could easily see a story like that where the wife is like "I really don't like #8-10, that jerk!" It's nice when people are nice.

5. Just that it's one way to connect. My dad is an accountant after all. My dad and I also connect on sports, news, politics and car maintenance.

7. What made me sad is that the school was probably exultant that some of its students had been murdered. Yay we won't be shut down!

8. Of course I mean cute and adorable!

10. The formation is impressive but it looks painful!

R2R2R

2. What a sad way to live - to be a billionaire and think you didn't have enough money to change the world. 

3. But wouldn't that require us to have a joint bullet journal? Should we discuss our bullet journal topics on our calls?

R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R

1.  I think we agree on copy cat killers and that the media should change its reporting tactics. But one last question - you think reporting on such incidents is important for the citizenry to have an informed opinion when it comes time to voting for someone who proposes how to fix the problem. but what if the actual results of the reporting was fear and not added knowledge to the citizenry? what if the people who vote know enough already and the people who don't just get misinformed and scared? does reporting on these incidents have any intrinsic value then or should we weigh whether we think the media should report on this based on the results?

New Developments

Bill Barnwell is one of my favorite sports writers (formerly of Grantland), but he wrote a very nice article about his weight loss over the course of 2015.

If this gets popular among U.S. airlines, perhaps we can make it back to Europe after all.

Here are more developments on the UVA lawsuit against Rolling Stone.

And here are more developments on how millennials have been spending their money.

Responses:

1. It won't make money in the short run, but I suspect they are relying on divorce data and high enough interest rates to cover the loans that won't be paid back.  Moreover, they won't give the money to just anyone - I suspect that their rating system will give some loans to some pretty "undeserving" couples.

2. Wheel in the bacon!

3. That is a nice story.  I'm glad that she was able to appreciate the kind gesture.

4. Maybe we can check it out after we check out the Chinese place you mentioned last time. :P

5. Is it that the topic of finances is a way for you and your dad to connect, or that it's the only way?  I'm glad their relationship has improved with time, though.  When there's hurt that you've started to heal from and you just want to be able to restart a relationship, it's nice to be able to find that one thing that serves as a way to get back in.

6. I imagine that the intensity, however short term, explains the preference among many young people.  Short-term intense happiness vs. long-term consistency is the difference between social media and books.  I think both are important, though.  It doesn't make sense to have to choose.

7. The story of the guy who couldn't find a job to pay his loans after attending his crap college and instead attending law school and accumulating more loans makes me very sad.  In my view, this provides evidence that the college method of higher education is lacking.  This also reaffirms my belief that the problems should be fixed at the primary and secondary school levels before turning to higher education.

8. Do you mean cute and adorable?  If so, then yes. :)

9. Mission accomplished!

10. Do you not like the cool formation?  That took years of practice... :/

R2R:

2. They would not.  One primary reason why many modern progressives prefer government action is that they insist that change is impossible without forcing all of society to participate.  For all the money that, say, George Soros has and spends on political activities, he would insist that it's not enough to effect real change.  See also the claims of people like Warren Buffett that they would support increasing taxes on millionaires and billionaires, despite the fact that literally no one is stopping them from just writing a check to the U.S. Treasury.  Modern progressives respond to the collective action problem and the bias towards short-term thinking with government action, whereas many conservatives and libertarians respond by trying to align incentives with voluntary action.  This is why conservatives would totally go for that plan while progressives would probably just scoff.

3. Add it to the Bullet Journal!

R2R2R2R2R2R:

1. The second paragraph was me questioning the role of the media, so I agree with you there.  But the San Bernadino massacre is relevant to me inasmuch as it influences policy action on terrorism, gun control, foreign policy, and other issues, since policy action by our elected representatives is relevant to me in my role as a member of a society based on self-government and republicanism.  You are right that I was not in immediate danger of being harmed by those gunmen, but if you believe that that incident reflects the potential for domestic radicalization of ordinary citizens (because of ISIS or other organizations), then that justifies the consideration of policy action.  To be sure, I would be less inclined to agree if the reporting of the incident itself increased radicalization efforts, but that's a cost-benefit analysis that I hope that the media would consider.  Also, I would not agree if the cause of the shooting was less relevant to policy considerations.  And I acknowledge that almost any incident could have policy implications, but given the current debates about dealing with Syrian refugees, how and whether to intervene in Syria, the efficacy of domestic surveillance programs, etc., there seems to be a clear policy angle here.

The policy angle would not exist in your hypothetical regarding the Chinese miners.  The policy angle may not even exist in the case of a similar hypothetical event regarding American miners (to the extent that, say, the mine accident was really just a freak accident).

I wanted to add an additional word about copycat killers.  To the extent that the media is reporting on, say, serial killers, I think the concern for copycat killers outweighs any potential newsworthiness outside of the local area in which the murders are happening, and even then it would be close.  To the extent that the news media needed to report in order to warn people to stay on high alert for a suspect - or if the media wanted to warn about his modus operandi in order to protect, say, the class of victims that was the target of the serial killer - I think there's an argument for reporting.  But if the concern is how we as a society through our elected officials should respond in the face of a growing threat of radical Islam in America, then it seems irresponsible for the media to ignore these incidents, even if I would agree that the manner in which they report these stories should change (i.e., de-emphasizing the fame- and glory-related details and focusing on the facts and narratives that relate to the policy implications).  If this leads to a greater potential for copycat killers or even publicity of the event in a manner that increases recruits, then that is the price we pay for self-government.

B

Short Stories Edition

I don't understand how this could make money

I've read many accounts of people who live to be very old and they all seem to eat bacon regularly

this was a nice story

This isn't too far from your place, reasonably affordable and interesting.

this reminded me of my dad. except for the deadbeat part.

buy stuff! the research

this is that sad article about how we are funding bad colleges

is this what our children will look like?

sometimes the heart just needs to be warmed


is it weird that they're all stacked on top of one another?

Responses
1. Ugh, this makes it worse knowing the exact stupidity. For a little while, I started thinking maybe this is actually as good as it can be given how the system was designed.

2. Ricky Ricardo and my piano teacher were the only Cubans I knew growing up. They all seemed very glamorous.

3. Tom Brady is doing a good job deflecting. The whole media frenzy for sports stars seems designed to make them slip up - to say something they shouldn't or make people hate them. He's smart for keeping mum.

4. I've always liked Justin Bieber.

R2R
2. It wouldn't require government money but I wonder if climate change crusaders would go for this idea. Will they realize that they have enough money to effect the change they want without paying for lobbying?

3. Whoops we forgot to check it out. =P

4. Lauren and Aprotim. I'm ok with more Annandale.

6. Oh my!

R2R2R

5. I guess I'm all for anything that creates more community.

R2R2R2R2R
1. I think as a citizen, I should question the role of the media. The San Bernadino massacre is not relevant to you. You live about as far as possible away and the gunmen are dead, with no sign of a bigger plot. It seems that this story, if only reported locally, might be better for the citizenship because it wouldn't spread widespread fear or paranoia and because copycats would be less likely to know about it around the nation. I think we've discussed this before - is the citizens' right to know more important than preventing copycat killers and giving killers the fame they desire?

Of course, 100 people dying in a Chinese mine would also be irrelevant to you and everyone else under this rubric in addition to being a bummer, doesn't have any salacious details.