Gone Camping

Offline

---

 ~ I'll be sleeping on the ground in Chelan for a few days and completely unplugged. Glad for the break from political mendacity and blather. Back posting on Tuesday. Stay safe everyone!

Where's It Wednesday—XCVI

Where in Seattle is this?

Answer next week.

Details on the weekly Where's It Wednesday puzzle here.
Other weeks' puzzles here.
Answer to last week's puzzle, after the jump.

Hamster Wheel

Pew Research

---

 ~ Hard work paying off for you?

Pretty much everyone I know works harder, often much harder, today than they did 10 years ago.

That hard work isn't working:

Over the past decade, the Great Recession, a housing market collapse, an unemployment surge and an anemic recovery have squeezed the middle class. An overwhelming majority of middle-class Americans (85%) say it is more difficult today than 10 years ago for those in the middle class to maintain their standard of living, according to a Pew Research Center national survey of 2,508 adults.

Constituent Service

But, Which Constituents Are Being Served?

---

 ~ Amazing how people vote against their own interests, and accept whatever baloney they're fed.

Weasels and Their Words

Who Said That, Exactly?

---

 ~ Probably talking heads talking to other talking heads:



It's similar to an argumentum ad populum. Why do some people say that? Here's one NSFW explanation.

h/t Upworthy

---

Update:

The Incredibly Shrinking Middle Class

Watch Them Disappear!

---

 ~ From the Pew Research Center:

When you consider how the ranks of the poor are swelling, their per-capita income looks even worse. Our country is having an identity crisis—is this who we want to be?

Lakes and Oceans

Scratching the Surface

---

 ~ We know less about the depths of the ocean than we do the surface of the moon. Maybe even the surface of Mars.

We can only sense that in the deep and turbulent recesses of the sea are hidden mysteries far greater than any we have solved. — R. Carson

So we foul it with oil and plastics and pretend that acidification isn't a problem. But we don't know that.

Corporate Profits and Unemployment

Decoupled

---

 ~ Corporate profits have rebounded completely from the Great Recession. The employment picture is improving, but remains at levels not seen in 30 years. Apparently the rising tide is not lifting all boats as capital is buoyant in a way labor is not.

Corporate profits look like a hockey stick. The unemployment rate? Looks like workers have been pucked.

Where's It Wednesday—XCV

Where in Seattle is this?

Answer next week.

Details on the weekly Where's It Wednesday puzzle here.
Other weeks' puzzles here.
Answer to last week's puzzle, after the jump.

Buried Treasure?

Keep Fossil Fuels Buried

---

 ~ We should leave our fossil fuels in the ground.

And not just because it would keep that carbon and its climate change impacts out of the atmosphere, but also because it would add to our energy security as a country.

Keeping more of our fossil fuel wealth in the ground would increase our energy security in two ways:

Alien Redux

Probing Thoughts

---

 ~ We might be embarrassed if aliens showed up.

We should be embarrassed anyway:

So Just Build It Already

It's Not Who, It's Where

---

 ~ Actually, you did build it.

But you didn't just do it in the abstract; you actually built something specific, and more importantly, you built it somewhere specific. You built it in America, which, as every flag-waving patriot will insist, is the best place in the world to build a business.

Why? Just like in real estate: location, location, location.

Primitive Energy

Advancing Society?

---

 ~ How would you explain our society to a visiting alien?

Neil deGrasse Tyson is not Bill Nye or Carl Sagan, but he is at least as effective in making science accessible and understandable to the general public.

He's embarrassed by our addiction to fossil fuels. We should all be so, because it is an indication that our society is primitive.

Why? Consider the anthropological arc of humanity.

Impunity

The Art of the Raw Deal

---

 ~ Imagine I had some really hot investment opportunity* for you.

Imagine further that I talked at great length about how exciting it was, its high quality, its impressive fundamentals. I might tell you about all its wonderful aspects, attributes, and upsides. I might even suggest it was an unusual chance to make a lot of money. I might imply it was as close to a sure thing as you could find, and you should back up the truck to really load up on this rare chance for a big score.

Water-front property in Florida! Gold mines in South America! Penny stocks!

Now what if it turned out I wasn't being truthful with you? What if I knew the opportunity about which I gushed was actually much less wonderful, and perhaps had some real problems? What if I knew there was a lot of hair on the deal? What if that great opportunity was not so great, or even a complete dog?

Energy Lies—XIII

"The Administration continues to prevent, delay and obstruct development of [oil and gas] and puts off jobs for another day"

 ~ This allegation, by Erik Milito of the API, and many others like it, are zombies of political mendacity. They just won't die!

We've been hearing this since the start of the Obama Administration. It both ignores the larger truth, and has been consistently wrong for three years.

What occasioned the latest surge of reflexive outrage? The announcement of the proposed management plan to develop oil and gas on Alaska's North Slope. That's right—a management plan. Not an unfettered free-for-all of fossil drilling frenzy certainly, but not a moratorium either. According to US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, "About 11.8 million acres would be available for leasing, including most land projected to contain oil reserves." According to Alaska Senator Murkowski, however, it is the "most restrictive management plan possible." Um, no. The most restrictive plan would be to, you know, actually "prevent, delay and obstruct" rather than what the Administration actually has done—open up the richest half of the entire National Petroleum Reserve.

Where's It Wednesday—XCIV

Where in Seattle is this?

Answer next week.

Details on the weekly Where's It Wednesday puzzle here.
Other weeks' puzzles here.
Answer to last week's puzzle, after the jump.

Free Speech

Free in What Sense?

---

 ~ There are just under 3 months until the November elections. Many are spending freely, but what are you hearing? Mostly a lot of hooey:

An analysis by the Annenberg Public Policy Center conducted for the Center for Responsive Politics found that from December 1, 2011 through June 1, 2012, 85% of the dollars spent on presidential ads by four top-spending third-party groups known as 501(c)(4)s were spent on ads containing at least one claim ruled deceptive by fact-checkers at FactCheck.org, PolitiFact.com, the Fact Checker at the Washington Post or the Associated Press.

These "top" 4 groups are the American Energy Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, the American Future Fund and Crossroads GPS. All are closely aligned with the most reactionary faction of the GOP and all are hostile to renewable energy. Despite persistent efforts to equate corporate and union spending, the numbers show clearly the dominance of corporate speech on our political debate. Big money is free to buy megaphones, but we are not free to learn who's doing the buying.

Olympic Transport

Tubing in London

---

 ~ Olympians can be role models for more than their athletic prowess. Check out the gold medal means of getting around:

The US men's gold medal-winning basketball team weren't the only Olympians skipping the limo and the various other chauffeured options, either. Also seen on the Tube were medalists from Venezuela, the UK (of course) and Rwanda, as well as other Americans.

Public transit, offering "cachet as well as convenience" is, as Chris Paul tweeted, a #fasterwaybacktothehotel.

---

Cross-posted to Fare Free Northwest blog.

Saying Hello

Welcome Leo

---

 ~ Look who got a puppy for her birthday!

Even though we still keenly miss the Hounderrific Fellow, puppies do perk up everything and everyone.

He's a pound puppy of course, and we are told a Saint Bernard mix, which seems a bit unlikely based on what he looks like, as well as a trifle overwhelming, since the "average" size of a purebred can be over 200 pounds. However, the mix may matter more, so... mixed with what? Any dog aficionadi want to weigh in?

---

Update: The vet today opines: a Saint Bernard and Boxer mix. That would explain his pugnacious yet plucky character!

Serenity

Bridge

---