8:52 PM yesterday
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on The Only Thing More Tragic than a Bridge Collapse Would Be a 10 Cent a Gallon Increase in the Gas Tax.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on The Only Thing More Tragic than a Bridge Collapse Would Be a 10 Cent a Gallon Increase in the Gas Tax.
@39
If you freefall 20 feet, you hit the water at like 25 mph. With airbags, seatbelts, a two ton car surrounding you, and a water landing, is that really going to kill you? Sure, maybe, but it's not a miracle that nobody died. It's nice, it's good news, but it's not that incredible.
Unless you consider the hour it took to pull people out of the water. Two cars. Three victims. It took an hour to finally get them out.
Obviously it's too early to know all the details, but why jump to the conclusion that the first responders did such a great job? At first glance nothing terribly impressive in their performance jumps out at you.
I haven't even mentioned the absurdity of promoting a gas tax increase here. How much money does that take out of the bottom 25% of Washington workers? How much higher does it push up their tax burden? At least know that before you rush to make our taxes more regressive. Did the highest-taxed, lowest-paid workers of Washington cause this disaster? Or was it the state's oligarchs and plutocrats who are ultimately to blame?
I say all this based on looking at the numbers and paying attention to them. You insist "the number I had in error had nothing to do with my commentary and analysis"! Your unwillingness to care about the data is precisely why your commentary and analysis is wrong.
More...
If you freefall 20 feet, you hit the water at like 25 mph. With airbags, seatbelts, a two ton car surrounding you, and a water landing, is that really going to kill you? Sure, maybe, but it's not a miracle that nobody died. It's nice, it's good news, but it's not that incredible.
Unless you consider the hour it took to pull people out of the water. Two cars. Three victims. It took an hour to finally get them out.
Obviously it's too early to know all the details, but why jump to the conclusion that the first responders did such a great job? At first glance nothing terribly impressive in their performance jumps out at you.
I haven't even mentioned the absurdity of promoting a gas tax increase here. How much money does that take out of the bottom 25% of Washington workers? How much higher does it push up their tax burden? At least know that before you rush to make our taxes more regressive. Did the highest-taxed, lowest-paid workers of Washington cause this disaster? Or was it the state's oligarchs and plutocrats who are ultimately to blame?
I say all this based on looking at the numbers and paying attention to them. You insist "the number I had in error had nothing to do with my commentary and analysis"! Your unwillingness to care about the data is precisely why your commentary and analysis is wrong.
1:33 PM yesterday
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on The Only Thing More Tragic than a Bridge Collapse Would Be a 10 Cent a Gallon Increase in the Gas Tax.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on The Only Thing More Tragic than a Bridge Collapse Would Be a 10 Cent a Gallon Increase in the Gas Tax.
@9
Because sloppy numbers are no reason to criticize? Or what?
Numbers matter. They're not window dressing. They're not rhetorical flourishes. It makes a great deal of difference if L&I has a $1.8 billion shortfall, or if it's a $1.3 billion shortfall, or no shortfall at all. It makes a great deal of difference if you fall 120 feet or 20 feet.
If you're not sure about a number, just leave it out. Don't spew bullshit "made the kessel run in under 12 parsecs" crap for the sake of a little color or drama. Or to make yourself sound clever and informed.
Because sloppy numbers are no reason to criticize? Or what?
Numbers matter. They're not window dressing. They're not rhetorical flourishes. It makes a great deal of difference if L&I has a $1.8 billion shortfall, or if it's a $1.3 billion shortfall, or no shortfall at all. It makes a great deal of difference if you fall 120 feet or 20 feet.
If you're not sure about a number, just leave it out. Don't spew bullshit "made the kessel run in under 12 parsecs" crap for the sake of a little color or drama. Or to make yourself sound clever and informed.
9:36 AM yesterday
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on The Only Thing More Tragic than a Bridge Collapse Would Be a 10 Cent a Gallon Increase in the Gas Tax.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on The Only Thing More Tragic than a Bridge Collapse Would Be a 10 Cent a Gallon Increase in the Gas Tax.
It's 120 metric feet, people. Metric is more scientifically precise. Goldy does the conversion in his head.
And the guy with the dislocated shoulder only had to tread water for one metric hour. Bravo, indeed, for the first responders' quick response.
And the guy with the dislocated shoulder only had to tread water for one metric hour. Bravo, indeed, for the first responders' quick response.
May 23
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on An I-5 Bridge Over the Skagit River Has Collapsed.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on An I-5 Bridge Over the Skagit River Has Collapsed.
Not on the list of structurally deficient bridges
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/6A5…
It is "Somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is".
http://www.nationalbridges.com/index.php…
Even if you you think that if the political philosophy you are in love with ruled all and therefore all sorts of money were available to fix our collapsing bridges, this bridge wasn't even on the list. You'd have fixed a hell of a lot of other bridges with money you got from taxes you want raised or pork waste you want cut before you'd have ever fixed this bridge. You probably wouldn't have gotten around to fixing this one for many years.
So. Why did this one fall down?
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/6A5…
It is "Somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is".
http://www.nationalbridges.com/index.php…
Even if you you think that if the political philosophy you are in love with ruled all and therefore all sorts of money were available to fix our collapsing bridges, this bridge wasn't even on the list. You'd have fixed a hell of a lot of other bridges with money you got from taxes you want raised or pork waste you want cut before you'd have ever fixed this bridge. You probably wouldn't have gotten around to fixing this one for many years.
So. Why did this one fall down?
May 23
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on 10-Year-Old Girl Accidentally Shot Dead by 14-Year-Old Boy.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on 10-Year-Old Girl Accidentally Shot Dead by 14-Year-Old Boy.
@3
Hey, Five Large, are you going to own up to those posters? You lapse into silence every time they are discussed.
Hey, Five Large, are you going to own up to those posters? You lapse into silence every time they are discussed.
May 23
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on Glenn Beckwatch: CNN's Atheist Plot, Revealed!.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on Glenn Beckwatch: CNN's Atheist Plot, Revealed!.
Maybe atheists are here for a reason. Perhaps to try to get you to use the reason you were born with. As if by providence, almost.
May 23
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on The K in Garlicky Is Stupid.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on The K in Garlicky Is Stupid.
@20
I felt the same way in 1775 but after 238 years I've gotten used to it.
I felt the same way in 1775 but after 238 years I've gotten used to it.
May 23
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on Usually When I'm Sent a Photoshopped Image of a Gun Pointed At Me....
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on Usually When I'm Sent a Photoshopped Image of a Gun Pointed At Me....
What could be a more first world, white people problem than my-subgroup-suffers-a-not-enthusiastic-enough-endorsement-from-Dan-Savage? O the humanity.
May 23
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on Despite Having a Leg Up, Ed Murray Still Loses 36th District Dems.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn commented on Despite Having a Leg Up, Ed Murray Still Loses 36th District Dems.
With nobody terribly excited about any candidate, the election is going to default to the incumbent. People who hate McGinn don't want to believe that, but their problem is they've expended so much energy seething against McGinn that they never bothered to properly articulate an alternative vision, or find a candidate who embodies it.
And if you feel a rush of anger at being told these facts? You might be too emotionally invested to judge this race. Just saying.
But at least you'll know what the teabaggers who thought they'd unseat Obama felt. The heat was there, but the light was too, too dim.
And if you feel a rush of anger at being told these facts? You might be too emotionally invested to judge this race. Just saying.
But at least you'll know what the teabaggers who thought they'd unseat Obama felt. The heat was there, but the light was too, too dim.
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