Monthly Archive for October, 2007

“Why Jews are so doggone smart.”

Published
by
Jake
on October 30, 2007
in General
. 0 Comments

Post title comes from Dana Milbank’s column in today’s WaPo (via Michelle at the Plank) about a forum at AEI yesterday on the topic of why me and my people are “so doggone smart”:

Entine, author of the new book “Abraham’s Children: Race, Identity and the DNA of the Chosen People,” argued that genetic mutations gave Jews very high IQs. “If you had one of these mutations” — such as those that cause Tay-Sachs disease — “it probably could cause high intelligence,” he asserted.

Fellow AEI fellow Charles Murray suggested that the rigors of Talmudic study drove out the dull Jews centuries ago. “If you were dumb and a Jew,” said the philo-Semitic Murray, “it was a lot easier to be a Christian.” Murray, best known for his incendiary book about race and intelligence, “The Bell Curve,” explored Jewish smarts in an April article in Commentary titled “Jewish Genius.”

I love this line from Charles Murray: “Jews get so embarrassed about Jewish IQ: ‘We know we’re smart but don’t tell anyone else.’” Yes indeed, that must be it.

I myself, it should be noted, have no opinion on any of this whatsoever.

Cabbies going on strike tomorrow

Published
by
Jake
on October 30, 2007
in D.C
. 0 Comments

Hmmm, looks like the cabbies aren’t going to allow Mayor Fenty to give we the people of Washington our sweet, sweet meters without a fight:

District businesses are bracing for a 24-hour taxi strike threatened on Halloween, a high-volume day for cabs, in what drivers say might be the first in a series of strikes to protest Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s recent decision to switch from zones to meters.

Tourism officials said out-of-town visitors will be inconvenienced, although many hotels plan to provide limos and shuttles, and bar owners are concerned about the effect on business if customers are not sure of a taxi ride home.

It is unclear how many drivers will participate.

Organizers said more than half the city’s estimated 7,500 drivers will be on strike from 6 a.m. tomorrow to 6 a.m. Thursday. Their claims were difficult to gauge, however, because there have been no mass meetings on a strike, and drivers, most of them independent contractors, are represented by several organizations.

Spreading the message through leaflets and word of mouth, organizers contend that there are enough angry drivers to bring taxi service in much of the city to a standstill.

“We just want to say to the mayor that we are in complete disagreement with him and that we are opposed to time-and-distance meters,” said William J. Wright, president of the Taxicab Industry Group, who is leading the strike. “We’re going to do everything we can to overturn this decision.”

Matthew Yglesias asks/says the following (refering to the cabbies arguement that meters will lead to big companies taking over and driving the independent cabbies out of business:

What he’s referring to is DC’s unusual system of independent-proprietor taxicabs. Most cities face sharp limits on the number of cabs allowed to roam the streets. Consequently, the licenses become very valuable, which is to say very expensive, and cab driving thus becomes a capital intensive business in which firms own multiple cabs (with the license rather than the cab itself being the valuable commodity here) and employ drivers to drive them. In DC, by contrast, it’s much cheaper and easier to get a cab up and running so they’re mostly owner-operated. Tadesse and many other cab drivers feel that letting the mayor impose the meter will somehow undue this system. But it’s not clear exactly why they think that, so it’s hard to know what kind of policies could assuage those fears while simultaneously letting us enjoy the bounty of the meter.

Over at the Plank Brad Plummer gives three guesses in response:

One is that, right now, it’s very hard for big cab companies to enter the D.C. taxi market in the absence of meters, since there’s no easy way for a large company to monitor its drivers under the zone system and see how much they’re making. That has partly helped independent cab drivers flourish. Scrap the zone system, and suddenly the big boys will start moving in.

Another possible rationale comes from this old Post piece: “The concern about meters might seem an overreaction. But many see meters as the ultimate regulatory tool, the first in a series of bureaucratic demands that would strip them of their autonomy. Like many small-business owners, the drivers prefer less government meddling. They wonder, what’s next? Limited work hours or caps on taxi licenses?” Fair enough.

OK, a third, more cynical explanation is that some drivers think they can rip off tourists more easily under the current, confusing zone system. But I don’t know if that’s the main concern here, and anyway, it seems like it’s just as easy to hornswaggle unsuspecting tourist under a meter-based regime—just take the long, roundabout way to any destination, no?

I myself am going to go with 1. cabbies dont want any change, in any form 2. the zone system, which no one but cabbies seem to understand (and even then this is questionable) gives total power to the cabbies and away from an independent 3rd party (the meter). BRING METERS TO DC!

(Previous coverage)

On Tila Tequila

Published
by
Jake
on October 30, 2007
in Celebrities and TV
. 0 Comments

From here:

The easiest thing to say about Ms. Tequila is that she lacks talent. In a review of “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila”— whose flimsy premise offers 16 straight men and 16 lesbians the usual chance to swill alcohol, hang around in board shorts and bikinis (and, let’s not forget, heels) and compete for her affections — a New York Times critic said she would rather watch a dating show starring Danny DeVito than endure another second of psychodrama with Ms. Tequila’s sad-sack entourage.

Yet if Ms. Tequila is no Julie Harris, if she is not stereotypically stellar, she is still a hypnotic presence on the screen. Perhaps it is how her large head sits atop a pert pneumatic torso. Perhaps it is the way her wide-set eyes give her the look of a figure from an anime cartoon. Perhaps it is the steeliness of her will to succeed on whatever terms and the insistent sincerity she brings to the task.

Tila Tequila has, I feel safe in saying, nothing valuable to contribute to the human race….but I’ll be watching “A Shot At Love” tonight and, if past shows are any indication, loving every minute of it.

Law school can be a stressful place

Published
by
Jake
on October 30, 2007
in General
. 0 Comments

My dear friend Dan, himself a 2L, passed this story along:

An Indiana University law student accused of firing several shots from an apartment balcony may have been aiming at a textbook, police said.

Investigators said Friday that they found two bullet holes in a book on real estate transfer finance and development in the complex’s parking lot.

Jesse M. Sneed, 27, faces a felony charge of criminal recklessness with a weapon in connection with Tuesday morning’s shooting.

No one was injured, but the incident prompted police to close businesses and roads around the complex for several hours.

The apartment is about a mile away from the Indiana University campus.

Officers arrested Sneed on Tuesday as he tried to drive away from the area. Police have said they found Sneed “under the influence of alcohol” and uncooperative.

Investigators said they found two assault rifles, an AR-15 and an AK-47, in the attic of his apartment.

I imagine if I was taking a class that involved a textbook on “real estate transfer finance and development” I too would be inspired to do something along these lines.

Send this guy to jail for a long, long time

Published
by
Jake
on October 30, 2007
in News
. 1 Comment

David Brooks (not NY Times columnist David Brooks mind you, though he too is a tool but on a smaller scale), I hope you go to jail for quite a while:

The former CEO of the leading supplier of body armor to U.S. soldiers in Iraq was charged yesterday with looting the company to bankroll a lavish lifestyle that included a $10 million bat mitzvah for his daughter.

In addition to the bat mitzvah - which included performances by Aerosmith, 50 Cent, Tom Petty, Kenny G and the Eagles - prosecutors said David Brooks got the firm, DHB Industries, to pay for other goodies.

Among them were a face lift for his ex-wife; vitamins for his stable of 100 horses; pricey vacations; fancy jewels; an armored car; a $194,000 Bentley; and a $100,000 diamond-studded belt buckle.

snip

According to the indictment, Brooks lined his pockets by having DHB underwrite his lifestyle and by artificially inflating the value of company stock.

He allegedly reaped $185 million by selling DHB stock when he learned that 6,000 bullet-proof vests the company made were about to be recalled for being faulty and not able to block bullets.

Hatfield, who left the firm in 2005, allegedly made $5 million in the scheme.

Brooks also was accused of evading taxes by giving money to charities he ran.

Brooks made headlines in November 2005, when he rented two floors of the Rainbow Room for the bat mitzvah of his daughter, Elizabeth.

He reportedly sent the company jet to fly Aerosmith in from Pittsburgh, paying them a cool $1 million. In return, they let his nephew play drums.

In honor of the band’s appearance, Brooks changed from a black leather suit into a magenta suede biker outfit covered with chains.

The indictment said the body-armor tycoon spent $122,000 of company cash on iPods and digital cameras for his guests. It also revealed he shelled out $20,000 for leather-bound invitations to his son’s bar mitzvah in 2000.

And I hope you have a really big cell mate.

(via Oliver)

1776

Published
by
Jake
on October 29, 2007
in haha
. 0 Comments

(via Ezra)

Quote of the Day

Published
by
Jake
on October 29, 2007
in General
. 0 Comments

If there is a place with more abject stupidity swirling around than the right-wing blogosphere, I’d like to know where it is.

-Glenn Greenwald, in a post citing another example of how stupid right-wing blogs are.

Someone needs to get fired

Published
by
Jake
on October 29, 2007
in Politics
. 0 Comments

How stupid is the House Judiciary Committee? Here’s how stupid:
1. They set up a private email tipline for whistleblowers
2. They email the people who’ve sent in tips, ensuring privacy measures have been taken to protect them.
3. Said email has all the addresses in the “to” field rather then the “bcc” field, meaning everyone can see everyone else’s email address.
4. The committee sends out a second email recalling the first one….in which the addresses are again in the “to” field and not the “bcc” field.
5. Oh, and the Vice President’s Office was sent the emails, with the addresses included. Not like he’s known for getting back at people or anything like that.

Hopefully someone gets the boot for this.

(via TPM)

Well that would really suck

Published
by
Jake
on October 29, 2007
in Gambling
. 0 Comments

I enjoy quality time at a casino every now and then. My game of choice is blackjack; I rarely if ever partake in the slot machines as game that relies entirely on luck holds no appeal to me. When I’ve had a spare $5 bill handy I’ve given it a whirl but for the most part I’m fine with letting the seniors dominate.

Having said that, as a gambler, the following story is an outrage. If losing all your money is the worst thing that can happen to a person in a casino then I think this has to be the second worst:

Hoffman was playing the nickel slot machines at the Sandia Resort and Casino on an Indian reservation in New Mexico when he appeared to hit the jackpot: the machine said he won nearly $1.6 million.

“I became ecstatic,” he said.

But the ecstasy was short-lived. Hoffman says in a lawsuit filed earlier this year that Sandia refused to pay, claiming that the machine malfunctioned. Instead, he said, they gave him about $385 and a few free meals at the casino.

“I won money, fair and square, and I’ve been cheated out of my winnings,” Hoffman told ABC News.

The casino says it’s not responsible for what it describes as a computer error and says it offered Hoffman the maximum payout of $2,500 for that particular slot machine. But, a jury may never decide who is right. Lawyers told ABC News that gamblers like Hoffman may have little legal recourse against Native American casinos, which sometimes operate beyond the reach of U.S. courts.

Can you imagine the highs and lows of this experience? Thinking you’ve just won well over $1 million and then finding out they are refusing to pay it? If I was in this situation I’m quite sure I’d flip out.

The nickel slot said he’d won $1,597,244.10. Patrons and casino employees came to congratulate him. He even got a marriage proposal, Hoffman said. But, soon he was asked to come to an executive conference room, where he says he was told the casino refused to pay.

A casino employee “became quite intimidating with me, pointed his finger in my face and said, ‘You didn’t win. We’re not paying you any money. Do you understand what I’m telling you? You’re not getting any money,’” Hoffman said.

A technician from the slot machine manufacturer arrived at the casino within the hour and the casino cordoned off the machine.

“I was a winner and I walked out empty handed,” Hoffman said.

A technical report said the slot machine’s computer malfunctioned, and incorrectly made it appear as if Hoffman won more than the machine is able to pay out. The slot machine has a disclaimer that says it pays a maximum of $2,500 and warns that malfunctions void all winnings, said Paul Bardacke, Sandia’s lawyer.

The technical report, prepared for the casino by Gaming Laboratories International, showed that the machine’s memory malfunctioned, causing the slot to treat a losing spin as a winner — what the report called an “erroneous jackpot.” The machine manufacturer, International Gaming Technology, blamed the problem on a software program.

Bardacke said Sandia offered Hoffman the maximum payout of $2,500.

“If he had gone into a bank and deposited $1,000 and got back a deposit slip that said a million dollars, he doesn’t get to keep the balance,” said Bardacke. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“He knew it was wrong; he knew it was incorrect,” Bardacke said of the “jackpot.” “That’s why he took a picture of it immediately.”

Hard to know whether or not to believe the casino here. On the one hand they clearly would prefer not to pay out $1.6 million and so you could see them doing something dirty; on the other not paying winners is not really a good PR move for a casino. I agree with this assessment completely:

Cases like Hoffman’s may still be bad for business, gambling experts say. “The players have to have an enormous amount of trust in the casino and in the slot machine,” said slot machine expert John Robison.

“The player cannot go inside and look at that random number generator and figure out what really happened on the machine,” he said. “If the machine tells you you won, well then I think you’ve won.”

Pretty sure I won’t be hitting up the slots anytime soon.

Published
by
Jake
on October 24, 2007
in Blogs and Odds and Ends
. 1 Comment

How is Red State (the conservative “response” to DailyKos) handling Ron Paul supporters? Not well, they’ve all been banned. (via Memorandum)