Archive for 2011

THE NEW YORK TIMES VENDETTA continues.

SO OBAMA’S PEOPLE ARE TALKING TAX INCREASES AGAIN. Here’s my proposal: A 50% surtax on anything earned within five years after leaving the federal government, above whatever the federal salary was. Leave a $150K job at the White House, take a $1M job with Goldman, Sachs, pay a $425K surtax. Some House Republican should add this to a bill and watch the Dems react.

UPDATE: Should we also provide that salaries paid to former government officials aren’t deductible for corporations? Or is that going too far? I say: Put it in as a negotiating point!

PROVOCATIVE! REVOLUTIONARY! “As edgy as the school depicts itself, it being in California means the vast majority of its graduates will end up as government employees with union collective bargaining rights.”

RAND SIMBERG ON SpaceX’s new Falcon Heavy rocket. “The Falcon Heavy could have major space business implications. A cheaper launch cost could bring in customers that were priced out before, and the extra payload capacity could entice new customers, too. That could include the Air Force and NASA. While the Falcon Heavy has only half the capacity of Saturn V, it offers twice the payload of its American competitors—United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V and Delta IV rockets, and for quite a bit less per launch—at least according to Musk’s plan.” Well, let’s hope things go according to plan.

YEAH, WE’VE BEEN ASSEMBLING FURNITURE. Not only a computer desk, but a file cabinet/credenza. (An office chair, too, but that didn’t take very much in the way of actual assembly). The desk was nicely set up, with all the parts clearly labeled and with straightforward instructions. The credenza, on the other hand, came with bags of loose, unlabeled parts and instructions written in several languages, one of which was probably intended to be English, along with crude and hard-to-read drawings. It turned out okay, and honestly wasn’t that bad, but I just don’t like doing this any more.

When I lived in DC my apartment looked like an Ikea showroom, and I didn’t mind putting furniture together so much. Nowadays, I’m pretty much over it. I’m sure it helps keep my manual skills up to snuff but I think I’m just offended when stuff is poorly packaged and presented.

WE’RE NUMBER ONE! Beating out Louisville by a substantial margin, 100 points to 94.25.