Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

Pretty much where I'm at these days.

I think you fail to grasp that evolved society lives in a Post-Morality Pragmatic Utopia in which empathy has become obsolete.

If you only had to read only one article to try to understand the complete upside down fucking absurdist clown show of a disaster that is our country, it might be this one:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.64c1ca9aae9d

The Daily Dose is Sly and the Family Stone. "Stand!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Yakl_xIkc

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Adder

Hm. I do not think that's at all true. I mean, the residents of Blue Earth, MN (pop. 3,269) might have a better view of their city government that residents of Minneapolis, but without saying anything specific about Blue Earth, I'd suggest that's almost certainly because its residents know all the people in city government, not because they are objectively better at it.

Or, to put it another way, my experience is that with few exceptions, the quality, capability and efficiency of government shrinks with the size of entity governed.



Right. Appear. People like their government better when it's only governing people they identify with. That's not the claim Cowen made, which was that state and local government are better run when run by the GOP.

It seems like "better run" is pretty value-laden when you drill into it. But. There are functions that most people think government should be doing, and it seems fair to me that governments are likely to do these better. There are other functions that have less consensus around them, partly but not entirely because they benefit a heterogenous population; e.g., trying to solve harder problems. Governments that take these functions on will be less successful with them, if only because they are harder. Democrats are more likely to want their governments to do this stuff, and more accepting of only partial success. Republican places are less likely to do these things at all, and so will have the higher batting average that comes with only facing poor pitching.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

If you only had to read only one article to try to understand the complete upside down fucking absurdist clown show of a disaster that is our country, it might be this one:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.64c1ca9aae9d

When I saw the WaPo url, I figured you were going to link to the story about how Minnesota has the most obese pets.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

It seems like "better run" is pretty value-laden when you drill into it. But. There are functions that most people think government should be doing, and it seems fair to me that governments are likely to do these better. There are other functions that have less consensus around them, partly but not entirely because they benefit a heterogenous population; e.g., trying to solve harder problems. Governments that take these functions on will be less successful with them, if only because they are harder. Democrats are more likely to want their governments to do this stuff, and more accepting of only partial success. Republican places are less likely to do these things at all, and so will have the higher batting average that comes with only facing poor pitching.

I think that's probably right, although another wrinkle of the homogeneity thing you mention is that Republicans might try to do hard things when they identify with the people hard things benefit. I'm thinking in particular of Salt Lake City as a pioneer in housing first approaches to homelessness.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

When I saw the WaPo url, I figured you were going to link to the story about how Minnesota has the most obese pets.

I'll have you know that Anxious Schnauzer is quite svelte.

Probably doesn't hurt that one manifestation of her anxiety is not eating unless the conditions are to her liking (primarily meaning my wife is home and someone is in the kitchen).

ETA: I cannot make any claims one way or another about the BMI of Flower's pets.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by Adder

I'll have you know that Anxious Schnauzer is quite svelte.

Probably doesn't hurt that one manifestation of her anxiety is not eating unless the conditions are to her liking (primarily meaning my wife is home and someone is in the kitchen).

ETA: I cannot make any claims one way or another about the BMI of Flower's pets.

One super skinny, but very fluffy cat. One mildy obese and generally ornery cat. Dog of healthy weight. There may be more pets, but I have lost track.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Headline for Hank:

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Headline for Hank:

OMG. That shit is dire AF!

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

I don't agree with all of it, but think there's some value here.

This, of course, can be said about almost anything.

When you look at those red states that are supposedly well governed, look to a few metrics, like number of people living in poverty, number of people insured, number of gun deaths, crime rates (Alabama beats NYC for violent crime by a country mile), etc.

Try it. Identify five metrics that you think are important. Pick five diverse red states (say, Utah, Texas, Alabama, Nebraska, and Kentucky) and five diverse blue states (say, California, NY, Virginia, Colorado and Vermont). Compare them.

Then let's talk.

I think you'll find the Red Staters who feel like Red States are such great models are people who are well off and mostly white. You'll get a very different view in El Paso than you will in rural Utah.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

When you look at those red states that are supposedly well governed, look to a few metrics, like number of people living in poverty, number of people insured, number of gun deaths, crime rates (Alabama beats NYC for violent crime by a country mile), etc.

Try it. Identify five metrics that you think are important. Pick five diverse red states (say, Utah, Texas, Alabama, Nebraska, and Kentucky) and five diverse blue states (say, California, NY, Virginia, Colorado and Vermont). Compare them.

Then let's talk.

I think you'll find the Red Staters who feel like Red States are such great models are people who are well off and mostly white. You'll get a very different view in El Paso than you will in rural Utah.

I don't agree with you on everything, but think there's some value here.

It's hard enough to measure how state governments are doing, and much harder still if you measure characteristics of the state itself as a proxy.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

This, of course, can be said about almost anything.

When you look at those red states that are supposedly well governed, look to a few metrics, like number of people living in poverty, number of people insured, number of gun deaths, crime rates (Alabama beats NYC for violent crime by a country mile), etc.

Try it. Identify five metrics that you think are important. Pick five diverse red states (say, Utah, Texas, Alabama, Nebraska, and Kentucky) and five diverse blue states (say, California, NY, Virginia, Colorado and Vermont). Compare them.

Then let's talk.

I think you'll find the Red Staters who feel like Red States are such great models are people who are well off and mostly white. You'll get a very different view in El Paso than you will in rural Utah.

FWIW, sometimes it's hard to tell "Red" and "Blue". Texas at the state level is very red, but most of the cities are run by Blue administrations. Houston is even more complicated because the city is more or less run by Democrats but the county is run more or less by Republicans. I tend to think that makes us more pragmatic than everything else, but I'm tending towards thinking that life would be a lot easier if every district were a swing district.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

It's hard enough to measure how state governments are doing, and much harder still if you measure characteristics of the state itself as a proxy.

Yes, well, but that is why we hire them.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

FWIW, sometimes it's hard to tell "Red" and "Blue". Texas at the state level is very red, but most of the cities are run by Blue administrations. Houston is even more complicated because the city is more or less run by Democrats but the county is run more or less by Republicans. I tend to think that makes us more pragmatic than everything else, but I'm tending towards thinking that life would be a lot easier if every district were a swing district.

And Mass. of course has a Republican Governor.

It can be productive on the days they work together. But that's not every day.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

This. ZOMG, the emails. What happens when you let email marketers own your brand.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

This. ZOMG, the emails. What happens when you let email marketers own your brand.

James Brown Thursday on the Daily Dose. My Thang:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtLrbJFwBWs