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mcsluggo

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Everything posted by mcsluggo

  1. a lot of us...me included... have been thinking (assuming?) that the younger generation is more progressive and less willing to put up with the MAGA bull**** and ignorance. It turns out that this story is more complicated. Younger woman are are getting less willing to put up with MAGA bull****... younger men may be getting more drawn into the ignorance web. below is an abbreviated leader to a longer story (that is part of a section of stories around this theme) ... but the teaser is (grossly simplified): young men are falling behind young women academically young woman are in turn, seeing both greater opportunity, and also learning about the **** that other generations of women had to put up with and the struggles that women (and men) have made to advance their opportunities and reduce the oppressive crap layered on women. young woman have (on average) gotten more progressive with this education young men are split in two ... some are flourishing along side woman and are also getting more progressive (and more educated), but an increasing proportion of young men are falling behind academically. in a more integrated world, there is less economic opportunity for those with few skills. a larger portion of this crowd is getting bitter about things that they perceive that they have lost (relative to previous generations, relative to "foreigners" -- both here and abroad that are "stealing their jobs"; relative to women), and become ripe for MAGA echo chambers (woman are divided in to these two groups as well.... but the proportion of "winning" young women is growing, while the relative proportion of "losing" young men is growing) these trends lead to a greater proportion of women (that are flourishing) being less willing to put up with young men's maga bull****... leading to whole additional incel channels of resentment and bitterness. the alt right gleefully stokes this resentment.... and flourishes
  2. you are confusing describing a situation with approving of it. MAGA-ts are all of the atrocious things you describe. AND... people will continue to vote for them. In fact, there are signs that things might actually be getting worse, not better. (and it is global trends, not just US trends). Trump is a symbol of the rot, and has probably helped to assist/accelerate the rot, bit he mostly is just riding a wave that can more be traced to broader trends ... many of which are based on things that are mostly caused by things that the internet fosters--- the dissemination of bad information and the drowning out of good/reliable/verified echo chambers the gutting and undercutting of a viable accountable sources of information and or "authority" (and the press portion is just part of a broader undercutting of ALL sources of accountable and verifiable information or authority: the education system at all levels (from schools for young children through high schools up to Universities) government /diplomacy/ multilateral institutions science and scientists the entire ****ing scientific method the sense of a cohesive and caring community (rather than a fortress that is under siege)
  3. the people commenting in this thread need to watch this. John Oliver is a national treasure (for the USA! woot!!) and this is EXACTLY focused on the subjects at hand here. those of us that are geezers (or at least older than 35 or so) have a view of Boeing from its historical position as an engineering focused and driven institution. I knew several old Boeing engineers (from when i was young... so back in the days before color or electricity) and there was a notable and surprising level of universal pride and dedication to the company. That company doesn't exist anymore. The current Boeing is actually McDonnell Douglas with a name change ---- For those young turks in the audience... McDonnell Douglas used to join Boeing and Airbus as the third airplane manufacturer... until their shady management and crap quality control caused the firm to tank, and "be taken over" by Boeing... except it turns out that McDonnell Douglas ate Boeing, rather than the other way around. this story is just McDonnell Douglas tanking yet again, exactly like they did 20 years ago. It has just taken them this long to finish using up and monetizing all the residual Boeing engineering and name brand value.
  4. i dunno.... sounds like WAY too much abrasion for my jewels
  5. i continue to be shocked that a brown woman like Nikki Haley had a hard time building support in today's GOP. shocked.
  6. honestly, fast food is fine. I like it as long as I haven't any in about three weeks. but if I HAVE had fast food in the last couple of weeks,.... some how the "aura" of the last fast-food hasn't left my system, and the idea/smell/taste of new fast-food is ... bleh. i also only like fast food for 30 minutes after i have ordered it. at 35 minutes regret kicks in. at 45 minutes i can feel my arteries ****ing at me and no matter how neat i am while i am eating, after 45 minutes it always feels like i had eaten everything with my hands tied behind my back and have day-old essence-du-fast-food rubbed all over my face. but again... after a month the idea of fast-food sounds good to me again, and the whole cycle starts over.
  7. its obvious i am shopping for ... compensation. nothing shouts midlife crisis like a 56-year-old economist hopped up on viagra blasting debbie gibson from a fiery red convertable mini-van.
  8. truly the life of an economist but it's the specialization in econometrics that really gets the chicks. nothing gets the panties wet like statistics...
  9. seriously, though.... didn't Wendy's say they were investigating LOWERING the price during non-surge hours, rather than the other way around? its probably a lie, after all the negative backlash. and it would amount to the same thing anyway. they would raise prices to a high "standard" price that they would charge during prime-times, and then lower the price back to where it is now in the middle of the night. (like the $300 "standard rate" you used to see posted on the inside of the door of LaQuienta, Super-8 and other luxury hotel brands... )
  10. the only thing better than surge pricing would be the privilege to bargain the price... just to discover at checkout that your burger has unwanted dealership-special $17 undercoated-mushrooms, and the fries price you negotiated over the last 17 hours was per-fry. Lets see if we can get the manager over to allow the cashier to knock the burger's and fries price down from $287 to $286.97
  11. has anyone tried the Costco or Consumer Reports buying system? I would love to hear how they have worked out? they both require you to give out your phone number, and i've been wondering whether it is worth my time to buy a burner cell phone just to stay off the permanent caller list of every car lot within 100 miles of my house?
  12. i love minivans. I also looked at the Toyota highlander-hybrid which is supposed to be the 3 row SUV equivalent... i literally laughed out loud picturing my 5'11 daughter trying to squeeze into that "third row" for a drive to in-laws in kentucky.
  13. ahh for the days when you would have to (sorry, "get to") haggle for ****. I can hardly wait to argue at safeway over whether eggs should be $1.99/dozen or $2.15 life just keeps getting better and better. i REALLY look forward to when safeway is more like car dealerships and when you are finally done agreeing on the $2.27 for the $1.99 advertised eggs they add $0.90 more at the checkout, and then you have to count the ****ing eggs (sorry, "get to"), because they say you hadn't actually been haggling for a dozen eggs but for a "dealer adjusted dozen", which is actually three. good ****ing times.
  14. As an economist, this marketplace is just plain weird. it is highly regulated to throw in constraints that by all the evidence i see do nothing but harm the consumer, for the sole purpose of protecting the dealership franchises from competition. i have never bought a new car in my entire life. every 15 years or so i try, but hate the experience so much i eventually go back to Carmax and just buy something used. not because i want a used car, but because the experience is so much better. I probably end up with a worse deal -- i am taking on more risk with a used car (Akerlof and Yellen's paper "the market for lemons" was the single greatest paper ever written in the field of economics), but the price still remains high. However, with Carmax you go to a single showroom that has many choices available with the price clearly laid out in front of you. It is pretty close to the standard market experience we have for all other purchases.... and there is no fundamental reason that the new car experience has to be so much worse.... it is a clear market failure rooted exclusively in regulations that dealers have aggressively lobbied for to protect their local monopolistic power.
  15. trump is too glaringly stupid to be the antichrist. but if there is an antichrist roaming the earth today there can be zero question that trump would have actively sought him out to be at his beck and call. i personally think it is much more likely simple russian-mafia-thugs tugging dumbass-DJT's marionette strings... but theology isn't my strong-suit.
  16. i know we have some in our community in this profession.. so let me start with an insincere apology for starting this thread. I am not sorry. do car dealerships add ANYTHING but pain misery and loathing to the fabric of American society? ANYthing at all, that i could be missing. (spoiler alert, we all already know the answer... ) this NPR article actually tries to be nice (NPR is always polite and nice)... and manages to squeeze in a single positive paragraph about dealership benefits in the overall missive highlighting the overall suckitude of the industry: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/08/30/1119715886/inside-the-rise-of-stealerships-and-the-shady-economics-of-car-buying they highlight that dealerships provide a "distribution and service network.." and let you test drive cars. Ok. but they of course do it in the ****tiest possible way. I would drive past a dealership to find ANYBODY else to service my car even if my car was literally on fire (unless it was free because of some manufacturer notice that REQUIRES you to go to dealerships). I'd also be willing to pay a-la-carte to test drive a car, or just trust Consumer Reports, or the dickhead down the street... or whomever... to avoid the "dealership experience". we also know that car manufacturers HATE American car dealerships... car dealerships are another tangible example of "American exceptionalism". Consumers in other countries don't have to go through this absolute bull**** process. The car dealership lobby is strong, and fights HARD to keep the process as ****ty as possible, and maintain for themselves with as much anti-competitive leverage as possible. https://www.vox.com/2014/10/26/6977315/buy-car-hassle-free i don't pretend to FULLY understand the car market, but its not that complicated (certainly not as complicated as the dealerships make it!). The MSRP (plus the destination fee- normalized cost of shipping) already builds in profit for the dealership, and is the price that the manufacturers think should be charged for the car (the price they WANT to be the going price). it should be basically as simple as that: "here is the price: $x7,995, do you want to buy it?" https://www.autotrader.com/car-tips/buying-a-car-whats-an-msrp-228292 but.... no. i just spent more than a week trying to find out the price of a Toyota Sienna LE from 5 dealerships in the DMV. In several cases it was completely impossible. In one case i went to a dealership (a complete waste of my time) and then exchanged about 10 emails... to not know. In another case i MAY have found out the price, but every single email she has pretended that a new cited price is the "off the lot price --- except for taxes, tags and <fees>". and then every time I went back another dealer "fee" has been added (cumulative). in addition to the "destination fee" (the cost of shipping and handling), each correspondence has uncovered (one at a time) Delivery processing and handling $1,395 processing fee: $895 and finally (AFTER 10-ish emails) -- "dealer adjustments": $8,000 this is for the right to pay up front for a car that hasn't been built yet, wait 4 to 6 months for a car that Toyota WANTS sold for $37,685 (that invoices for about $5k less). But i cannot buy from Toyota because the dealerships have established monopolistic control over the relationship, which leads to them not only screwing the consumer but outright LYING about how much and for how long that screwing will take place. the system is ****ing broken. it is time for pitchforks, torches, stockades and the hurling of rotten vegetables.
  17. you know it must feel pretty terrible to be Tucker Carlson right now (even given his normal standard: "I know I am a steaming turd, and sometimes it even makes me sad") It really would not have been POSSIBLE for him to have picked worse timing to go to Russia, get on his knees, and fellate the dictator of Russia. Even amongst the barnyard traitors it's a bad look to kiss Putin's puckered bunghole THE VERY WEEK that he murdered Alexei Navalny... who amongst us will shed a tear for poor, poor beleaguered Tucker ??
  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Partisan_Voting_Index New York tilts towards Democrats by 10 percentage points... and puts 15 democrats and 11 republicans into congress Florida tilts towards Republicans by 2 percentage points..... and puts 20 republicans versus 8 democrats into congress Texas tilts towards Republicans by 5 percentage points..... and puts 25 republicans versus 13 democrats into congress make New York/Colorado/Virginia like Massachusetts (tilts towards democrats by 15% and puts 9 democrats and 0 republicans into Congress) and see how quick Republicans respond to a Democratic super-majority in the house of representatives? even MORE important than making the split between democrats and republicans look like actual votes in states.... it would go MILES towards getting rid of whack-job extremists in safe seats... fine. the fact is that there are more democrats than republicans in the country. Lets see how important "protecting minority voting rights" becomes to Republicans when they are <correctly> rammed into the minority. i actually DO absolutely DESPISE gerrymandering, on both sides of the aisle.... i just don't see ANY way to fight it where it needs to be fought (at the national level) until Republicans start hating it too.
  19. I'm frankly tired of Democrats almost always being fair on gerrymandering and republicans ALWAYS going full tilt. it will NEVER get solved nationally like this. never i think California, New York etc (blue states) ... and Wisconsin/Pennsylvania/Virginia (purple-ish states with a lean toward blue at the moment) should act like North Carolina/Wisconsin/alabama/Texas republicans (and Maryland democrats), to spur changes at the national level. See how republicans in red states react to Democrats getting 50 out of 52 California congressional seats??? or Wisconsin flipping from Republicans getting 6 of 8 congressional seats with 51 of the vote to Democrats getting 6 of 8 congressional seats with 51% of the vote. this **** needs to change at the national level... but at this point only democrats see it as a problem. MAKE republican ****bags see it as a ****ing problem
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