Month: May 2019

Assholes

benfell

Tesla

Elon Musk has a lot of great ideas, some of which—not all—are worth pursuing. The trouble is, he’s also CEO. And he’s fucking that part up, big time.

Charley Grant, “Wall Street Is Losing Faith in Tesla,” Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/wall-street-is-losing-faith-in-tesla-11558450829

Brexit

Those of us who sit in opposition to the right should take notice: Nigel Farage’s Brexit party is expected to win elections for the European Union election that Britain wasn’t even supposed to have to hold. Farage sounds a lot like Donald Trump.[1]

Sam Knight, “The Alarming Return of Nigel Farage,” New Yorker, May 21, 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/the-alarming-return-of-nigel-farage

  1. [1]Sam Knight, “The Alarming Return of Nigel Farage,” New Yorker, May 21, 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/the-alarming-return-of-nigel-farage↩

Elon Musk and the Thai cave rescue: a tale of good intentions and bad tweets

benfell

Li Zhou, “Elon Musk and the Thai cave rescue: a tale of good intentions and bad tweets,” Vox, July 18, 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/7/18/17576302/elon-musk-thai-cave-rescue-submarine

Alistair Walsh, “Elon Musk won’t stop calling diver a pedophile,” Deutschewelle, September 9, 2018, https://www.dw.com/en/elon-musk-wont-stop-calling-diver-a-pedophile/a-45372611

Niraj Chokshi and Eric A. Taub, “Elon Musk Is Cleared in Lawsuit Over His ‘Pedo Guy’ Tweet,” New York Times, December 6, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/business/elon-musk-defamation-verdict.html

Tim Higgins, “Elon Musk Cleared by Jury in Defamation Case Over ‘Pedo’ Tweet,” Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-cleared-by-jury-in-defamation-case-over-pedo-tweet-11575678498

Let me count the ways that shit jobs are shit

benfell

Since I arrived in Pittsburgh, I’ve been seeing these patches of purple and white flowers, almost always together, almost always in spots where and at times when I could not stop to photograph them. And of course I was afraid they’d all go away before I had a chance to photograph them. But today, finally:IMG_20190520_124203

Labor market

Here’s yet another way that shit jobs are shit:

Noncompete clauses “severely impact low-wage workers, who are working in those [low-wage] industries because they don’t have alternatives,” said Ronald Gilson, professor of law at Columbia and Stanford universities who has researched the topic. Among such workers, the agreements have “no other purpose than to restrict competition in the market for employees,” he said.[1]

It seems that one way to keep wages low is to stop workers from accepting higher offers from competitors.[2] And people wonder why I’m fed up with this bullshit.

Harriet Torry, “Resistance to Noncompete Agreements Is a Win for Workers,” Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/resistance-to-noncompete-agreements-is-a-win-for-workers-11558195200

Donald Trump

Spencer S. Hsu, “Judge denies Trump bid to quash House subpoena for years of financial records,” Washington Post, May 20, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/us-judge-denies-trump-bid-to-quash-house-subpoena-for-years-of-financial-records/2019/05/20/74e45880-7b21-11e9-8bb7-0fc796cf2ec0_story.html

  1. [1]Harriet Torry, “Resistance to Noncompete Agreements Is a Win for Workers,” Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/resistance-to-noncompete-agreements-is-a-win-for-workers-11558195200↩
  2. [2]Harriet Torry, “Resistance to Noncompete Agreements Is a Win for Workers,” Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/resistance-to-noncompete-agreements-is-a-win-for-workers-11558195200↩

Panicking over nine percent response rate polls

benfell

Brexit

Britain’s Labour Party is panicking over a poll—yes, more nine percent response rate[1] bullshit—suggesting Remain voters are choosing the (neo)Liberal Democrats in upcoming European Parliament elections, while far-right Nigel Farage’s Brexit party appears to be taking a lead overall.[2] This particular fuss, however, elides a more fundamental division within Labour between advocates for Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘socialism’ and those for corrupt neoliberal policies that mirrors the division among U.S. Democrats.

Michael Savage, “Labour panics as remain voters switch to Liberal Democrats,” Guardian, May 18, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/18/labour-panic-remain-voters-switch-to-lib-dems

  1. [1]Steven Shepard, “Report: Phone polls aren’t dead yet,” Politico, May 15, 2017, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/15/pollsters-phone-polls-238409↩
  2. [2]Michael Savage, “Labour panics as remain voters switch to Liberal Democrats,” Guardian, May 18, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/18/labour-panic-remain-voters-switch-to-lib-dems↩

Road rage, or maybe ‘road bullying’

benfell

Road Rage

I should begin by pointing out that Pittsburgh area drivers are often courteous to each other in ways I saw considerably less often in California, routinely relinquishing right of way to allow someone to complete a left turn, for example, or more readily allowing someone to do a lane change. Traffic backups here can stretch out quite a ways and these are quick courtesies. I’ve benefited from them, I appreciate them, and I’m still working out how to reciprocate them and how not to take them for granted.

Then there are the assholes, for whom the term, “road rage,” seems inaccurate. Last night, I was taking a passenger on a ride that required me to do a right turn off Washington Road. Somebody behind me began honking and tailgating as I signaled—yes, I signaled—and slowed to do the right turn. At the time, traffic was not so bad; this driver could have simply changed lanes if s/he was in such a hurry. But oh no, s/he had to make a fuss. It was the most extraordinary display of road rage I’d seen in, well, quite some time. Even in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I thought people were driving like overpopulated rats.

I strongly suspect, but do not know, that it was this incident on Washington Road that led to an implicitly threatening communication from Lyft last night. And this is what makes me think “road rage” may not be the appropriate term:

Hi David,

I am following up on feedback that we have received from a member of our community regarding your driving safety.

It was reported that you allegedly drove under the required speed limit. As you know, safety is Lyft’s highest priority, so we take reports of this nature extremely seriously. Our drivers are also vital to the platform and we’d like to give you the opportunity to respond to these allegations directly.

Do you recall any such incident occurring as stated? Can you provide any additional details about the ride from your perspective?

Please respond to this email directly if you’d like to provide any additional details or dispute this allegation.

Thanks,

My passenger, who has apparently lived here all his life, commented on such assholes and confirmed that they were especially prevalent on Pennsylvania Route 51, a main road near where I live, and that I rely on heavily.

In California, I heard about and witnessed road rage all the time. It’s a problem I felt was exacerbated by traffic controls were the work of traffic engineers for whom I was convinced these were an expression of rage and of their unique power.

But not only was this driver incensed that I should dare to make a right turn in front of him, he went after my job. He first wanted me not only to miss the turn I needed to make but, presumably, every turn after that until he had turned off and was no longer on my tail—never mind that my passenger had someplace to go. And he was unwilling to even change lanes to get around me. When I refused all this, he called Lyft on me.

It sounds more like bullying.

South Africa

When I see seemingly intractable racial strife, I sometimes wonder if there isn’t a kernel of truth in the paleoconservative claim that people of different races and ethnicities cannot live in harmony and therefore must be segregated, even if only for their own protection. (More radical flavors of paleoconservatism include white supremacism and neo-Nazism.)

As stated, the claim itself is obviously wrong and I remain mystified that paleoconservatives cling to it in the face of so much contrary evidence. But it does seem to be extraordinarily difficult to get past what Elizabeth Minnich called hierarchically invidious monism, a so-called ‘dualistic’ view that always prefers one side, “us,” or men, or whites, or the wealthy, for examples, and therefore, in her view, could not properly be referred to as dualism.[1]

If I’m right, it would not be the race or the ethnicity that is the cause of the strife, but rather the monism itself, with the latter being incredibly damaging to human relations in ways that, in the most optimistic scenario, may take many generations to repair. And I sometimes wonder if it is even possible to repair, that perhaps, once we have gone down that road, we can never come back.

South Africa is clearly a difficult case,[2] but, from what I can see, Nelson Mandela may have erred in confronting only the racism of apartheid, and never, really, the class discrepancies that it embedded.

Max Bearak, “‘Born free,’” Washington Post, May 9, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/world/born-free-generation-in-south-africa/

Australia

Results such as this in Australia[3] will continue to be a “complete shock” as long as we continue to accept polling with a nine percent response rate.[4] (The response rate should be ninety percent.[5])

A. Odysseus Patrick, “‘Complete shock’: Australia’s prime minister holds onto power, defying election predictions,” Washington Post, May 18, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/australia-holds-elections-with-labor-party-looking-to-regain-power/2019/05/17/f661d2ea-7705-11e9-a7bf-c8a43b84ee31_story.html

  1. [1]Elizabeth Kamarck Minnich, Transforming Knowledge, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: Temple University, 2005).↩
  2. [2]Max Bearak, “‘Born free,’” Washington Post, May 9, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/world/born-free-generation-in-south-africa/
    ↩
  3. [3]A. Odysseus Patrick, “‘Complete shock’: Australia’s prime minister holds onto power, defying election predictions,” Washington Post, May 18, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/australia-holds-elections-with-labor-party-looking-to-regain-power/2019/05/17/f661d2ea-7705-11e9-a7bf-c8a43b84ee31_story.html↩
  4. [4]Steven Shepard, “Report: Phone polls aren’t dead yet,” Politico, May 15, 2017, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/15/pollsters-phone-polls-238409↩
  5. [5]I learned this from Valerie Sue, who labeled herself “quantitative girl,” and who taught the first methods class I took at California State University, Hayward (now East Bay), probably in Fall, 2003, or Spring, 2004.↩

Texas attitude

benfell

I remember the first time I encountered what I’m calling a “Texas attitude.”

I was standing in line at the Sonoma County (in California) Department of Human Services applying for welfare and food stamps. The woman in front of me dropped her glasses.

And then she stared. At me. “If you were from Texas,” she said reprovingly, bending down to pick up her glasses, “you’d pick these up for me.” Astonished, I stumbled out that I was not from Texas and had no interest in being from Texas.

When it was finally my turn, the person behind the counter asked what had happened. I told her and she just replied to the effect that no one wants to be here, that clients have to adapt to the humiliation of being a “client” of the social safety net.

Fast forward to yesterday. I get an order to pick up a lady at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant. I’ve seen a few of these restaurants around here now in the Pittsburgh area. Atop one corner of the building, there is a U.S. flag. Atop another, a Texas flag.

I haven’t even gotten to the order, and she’s on the phone to me explaining almost unintelligibly that she’s at the Texas Roadhouse. So I pick her up and take her towards where she’s going.

I don’t know my way around this area much at all and she’s been silent the entire journey. “Do you even know where you’re going?” she demands.

“Just following the map.”

“I know the map didn’t tell you to go this way.”

I had been in a situation where I needed to make a left turn. Traffic here is every bit as horrible—even worse—than I had imagined when I arrived here. “It is what it is,” people say to each other. There’s no point in getting upset about it because there just isn’t anything anybody can do about it and as someone else explained to me, things the traffic engineers have tried that, get this, actually make sense, actually made it worse. It is what it is.

The only way I could make that left turn was to pull into a lane that turned out to be the wrong one. Now, here in Pittsburgh, usually when I’m in the wrong lane, my passenger will speak up. “This lane becomes a right turn only lane,” they’ll say, or something to that effect, as they tell me to change lanes.

This woman remained silent. Google Maps had shown the turn as a viable alternative route (requiring two more minutes, but this wouldn’t account for the difficulty of getting into the correct lane), so I accepted it as the price of being able to make the turn at all and followed a recalculated route. And sure enough, I got her where she was going.

Now understand, neither of these women had any cause to feel superior to me. The woman in the welfare line was there for more or less the same purposes as me. My passenger yesterday lives in, or at least was going to, a modest townhouse in Mon Valley, a place beset by pollution partly from U.S. Steel.[1] It’s not horrible like I used to see in California but also not a great neighborhood.

But they both had the same tone in their voice, a whine really, a whine expressing resentment that I wasn’t recognizing their non-existent superiority. So I have a message for the state of Texas: If you’re really bigger and better than anyone else, you need to start acting like it.

And yes, I’m remembering George W. Bush. Come to think of it, he has that whine too.

Working Class

Van Badham, “Bob Hawke spoke like us – until him the working class only saw themselves mocked on screen,” Guardian, May 16, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/17/bob-hawke-spoke-like-us-until-him-the-working-class-only-saw-themselves-mocked-on-screen

  1. [1]Jessi Quinn Alperin, “Clairton, PA, wants to be clear: Residents demand accountability from U.S. Steel,” Environmental Health News, May 13, 2019, https://www.ehn.org/clairton-coke-works-air-pollution-2636784943.html↩

Coming soon: “The Sequel No One Wants To See”

benfell

In California, there aren’t many places where graveyards and cemeteries are prominent. The Sierra Nevada foothills, along Highway 49, come to mind. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Colma is notorious for having a vast underground population. There actually is a town there with living residents, but for most people in the Bay Area, it’s that place with all the cemeteries glimpsed from Interstate 280 or just sped on by.

Here in the Pittsburgh area, it’s different. Graveyards and cemeteries are everywhere you look. I was trying to track down an address with my mother over the phone and we were both looking at maps on our computers and wondering why a couple streets didn’t go through that seemed like they should. It turns out there’s a graveyard there, probably associated with one of those grand churches I mentioned in a previous post.

For me, the message is really rather blunt: People died here. We don’t forget them. We don’t hide them from view. Their graves are right in front of us.

It’s really rather poignant. I think I’d have to say that when I lived here as a kid, for just a little over two years, I had relatives who were probably my favorite part of being here; with them, I felt loved and safe in a way I never could with my abusive father at home. They were of my grandparents’ generation and are gone now.

But all these graveyards and cemeteries remind me.

Brexit

One might recall that Parliament demanded meaningful votes (abbreviated in the cartoon below as “MV”). They’ve had three of them now already—and managed to completely derail Brexit. The latest, if you can stand to look, really is captured in Bob Moran’s cartoon. I don’t think, at this point, there’s anything more to be said about it.BOB_160519_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqeo
Bob Moran, Telegraph, May 15, 2019, fair use.

Environment

George Monbiot, “Net Curtains,” May 15, 2019, https://www.monbiot.com/2019/05/15/net-curtains/

Those promotional codes Uber has been handing out for its IPO? Only one guess who gets screwed.

benfell

There is a new blog entry, entitled “The lesser of two evils? The more successful con artist.

So. I have just found out the hard way that Uber won’t allow me Instant Pay unless my riders, that is, the people they offered promotional codes to, accept orders from, and send me on, have actually paid them. I’ve been driving in Pittsburgh for Uber now for all of four days (Lyft for six because Lyft didn’t require me to resubmit to a background check). And this, already.

Uber says that if I take enough trips—here’s where it really gets rich—and the number of people who’ve paid once again exceeds the number who haven’t, I’ll have access to Instant Pay again.FireShot Capture 058 - I have an issue with my Instant Pay - benfell@disunitedstates.org - D_ - mail.google.comWhen I informed them first that my name is David, not Kenneth, and second, that this is unacceptable, they responded with this:FireShot Capture 059 - I have an issue with my Instant Pay - benfell@disunitedstates.org - D_ - mail.google.com

I should still get the weekly payout. What this means is that I can’t get paid instantly up to five times a day.

But Uber has this backwards. In an exchange system, there’s supposed to be exchange. And in the gig economy, relationships are explicitly transactional. Uber’s cash flow is not my problem, except that they’ve made it my problem. And they clearly have much more money available than I do.

No pay, no work. Lyft seems to treat me better here anyway.

Donald Trump

Susan Glasser expresses skepticism that Donald Trump’s stonewalling of Congressional investigations is really a constitutional crisis. She thinks it could easily become one, however.[1]

The fact is, we’re playing word games here. The term “constitutional crisis” isn’t any better defined than “high crimes and misdemeanors.” These terms mean what politicians and pundits want them to mean, and not much else.

Susan B. Glasser, “Is This the Official Trump Constitutional Crisis?” New Yorker, May 9, 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/is-this-the-official-trump-constitutional-crisis

David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell, “Trump’s prized Doral resort is in steep decline, according to company documents, showing his business problems are mounting,” Washington Post, May 15, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-prized-doral-resort-is-in-steep-decline-according-to-company-documents-showing-his-business-problems-are-mounting/2019/05/14/03cc701a-6b54-11e9-be3a-33217240a539_story.html

Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman, and Daniel Lippman, “How would you explain the Democratic investigations to a Washington outsider?” Politico, May 15, 2019, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2019/05/15/how-would-you-explain-the-democratic-investigations-to-a-washington-outsider-436677

Pacific Gas and Electric

That Pacific Gas and Electric would be found culpable for the Camp fire in November last year[2] was pretty much expected.

Joseph Serna and Taryn Luna, “PG&E power lines caused California’s deadliest fire, investigators conclude,” Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-paradise-camp-fire-cal-fire-20190515-story.html

  1. [1]Susan B. Glasser, “Is This the Official Trump Constitutional Crisis?” New Yorker, May 9, 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/is-this-the-official-trump-constitutional-crisis↩
  2. [2]Joseph Serna and Taryn Luna, “PG&E power lines caused California’s deadliest fire, investigators conclude,” Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-paradise-camp-fire-cal-fire-20190515-story.html↩

Sex strike! (Well, maybe not.)

benfell

Sex Strike

Natasha Frost, “Should women go on a sex strike over Republican abortion laws? Feminists are divided,” Quartz, May 12, 2019, https://qz.com/1617531/feminists-disagree-on-alyssa-milanos-sex-strike-over-abortion-laws/

Donald Trump

Marc Fisher, “A riddle in New England: A casino, 321 acres of Indian tribal land and a presidential tweet,” Washington Post, May 13, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-riddle-in-new-england-a-casino-321-acres-of-indian-tribal-land-and-a-presidential-tweet/2019/05/13/dfcc6dd8-7354-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html

Fast Food

Kate Taylor, “Evidence is mounting that fast-food chains from Chick-fil-A to McDonald’s will be forced to add vegan menu items — or face the consequences,” Business Insider, May 13, 2019, https://amp.businessinsider.com/vegan-items-sweep-fast-food-chick-fil-a-mcdonalds-eye-options-2019-5

Uprisings

The researchers appear to have pitted non-violence against violence and compared the historical results.[1]

But the reality of uprisings is more nuanced: Few are purely one or the other. Edward Said criticized the emphasis on Mahatma Gandhi in expelling the British from India by pointing out that he arrived at the end of a centuries-long struggle and arguing that such a focus actually enables colonizers to treat examples such as Gandhi as exceptions and thereby to obscure a resistance that included both violent and non-violent factions.[2]

There are a number of possible explanations for the relationship between social change and 1) violence and 2) non-violence. But a reductive approach necessarily elides important factors.

David Robson, “The ‘3.5% rule’: How a small minority can change the world,” British Broadcasting Corporation, May 14, 2019, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world

  1. [1]David Robson, “The ‘3.5% rule’: How a small minority can change the world,” British Broadcasting Corporation, May 14, 2019, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world↩
  2. [2]Edward W. Said, Culture and imperialism (New York: Vintage, 1994).↩

‘Greek’ death to die

benfell

‘Greek’ death

At Swarthmore College, so-called “Greek Life,” the extension of high school level demands for conformity and misogyny,[1] celebrated with drunkenness and violence, including manslaughter and rape, will come to an end.[2] Good riddance.

Zipporah Osei, “After Protests, Swarthmore Will End All Greek Life on Campus,” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 10, 2019, https://www.chronicle.com/article/After-Protests-Swarthmore/246279

China

Yet again, the self-proclaimed master negotiator (“trade wars are easy to win”) demonstrates his incompetence. But the Chinese haven’t been doing much better.[3]

Thomas Heath, “U.S. stocks suffer big across-the-board losses as trade war escalates,” Washington Post, May 13, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/05/13/dow-plunges-points-market-open-investors-fear-escalating-trade-war-threatens-economy/

Joe McDonald, “China announces tariff hikes on $60 billion in US goods in retaliation for Trump penalties,” Boston Globe, May 13, 2019, https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/05/13/companies-bracing-for-china-retaliation-tariffs-dispute/uNsoHVoEHyqa2FHtNpVxHI/story.html

Akane Otani, “Stocks Post Their Worst Day in Months on Trade Anxiety,” Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-stumble-on-renewed-trade-anxiety-11557734434

Lingling Wei et al., “Frustration, Miscalculation: Inside the U.S.-China Trade Impasse,” Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/frustration-miscalculation-inside-the-u-s-china-trade-impasse-11557692301

Russia

James Marson and Thomas Grove, “Moscow’s reputation for subterfuge surfaces in waters off Norway,” Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-that-whale-a-russian-agent-the-beluga-wont-tell-11557576036

Julian Assange

Dominic Chopping and Jason Douglas, “Sweden Reopens Julian Assange Rape Investigation,” Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/sweden-reopens-julian-assange-rape-investigation-11557739279

Ritual

Terry Bookman, “Reveal Parties: What Do They Really Reveal?” Tikkun, May 10, 2019, https://www.tikkun.org/reveal-parties-what-do-they-really-reveal

Pittsburgh

Clairton turns out not to be very far from where I live—I drove through it a couple times yesterday. It was a rainy day, so the smell of sulfur dioxide wasn’t strong, but it was present.

Jessi Quinn Alperin, “Clairton, PA, wants to be clear: Residents demand accountability from U.S. Steel,” Environmental Health News, May 13, 2019, https://www.ehn.org/clairton-coke-works-air-pollution-2636784943.html

Binyamin Netanyahu

Donald Trump is surely jealous.

Raoul Wootliff, “Netanyahu said to plan bill to override High Court, safeguard his immunity,” Times of Israel, May 13, 2019, https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-said-to-plan-bill-to-override-high-court-safeguard-his-immunity/

  1. [1]C. J. Pascoe, Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School (Berkeley: University of California, 2007).↩
  2. [2]Zipporah Osei, “After Protests, Swarthmore Will End All Greek Life on Campus,” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 10, 2019, https://www.chronicle.com/article/After-Protests-Swarthmore/246279↩
  3. [3]Lingling Wei et al., “Frustration, Miscalculation: Inside the U.S.-China Trade Impasse,” Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/frustration-miscalculation-inside-the-u-s-china-trade-impasse-11557692301↩