Nov 9, 2012
Edward commented on Coal Piles Taller than the Columbia Tower and Wider than Downtown.
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Oct 3, 2012
Edward commented on Public Editor.
Iphgenia,
I'm sorry, I left out how much I enjoyed reading your thoughts and thinking of such things. Thank you.
I'm sorry, I left out how much I enjoyed reading your thoughts and thinking of such things. Thank you.
Oct 3, 2012
Edward commented on Public Editor.
I feel the absolute tone of the Kant quoted here is founded in his own and that of his times sexual puritanism. Are we, as this tone suggests, really unable to make the round trip to the constricted realm of sexual objectification and back to appreciation of the entire being? Must we even lose the broader perspective at all? In which ways are love and lust incompatible? Once sexual lust has disabled "...all motives of moral relationships..." what then, are we stuck? Does it disable all of them? Is their a specific degree or kind of lust required for this to happen? Do all sexual thoughts, no matter how small and passing, seize up our moral machinery?
Or is it an insisted upon division between the sexual and the moral, between sexual temptation and an assumed moral path from which we are able to be tempted, that makes us only think that this is what will happen? 'Lust makes me do it' is what Kant seems to imply here, 'and therefore I myself am not at fault'.
Perhaps the onus isn't on the particular desire, be it sexual, or, for example, for a loved ones happiness, but on the capacity for maintaining responsibility to the "...motives of moral relationship..." regardless of our desires.
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Or is it an insisted upon division between the sexual and the moral, between sexual temptation and an assumed moral path from which we are able to be tempted, that makes us only think that this is what will happen? 'Lust makes me do it' is what Kant seems to imply here, 'and therefore I myself am not at fault'.
Perhaps the onus isn't on the particular desire, be it sexual, or, for example, for a loved ones happiness, but on the capacity for maintaining responsibility to the "...motives of moral relationship..." regardless of our desires.
Aug 3, 2012
Edward commented on Mitt Romney Says He Has Paid Taxes, So Harry Reid Just Better Stop Picking on Him, or Romney Will Tell Mom.
@20,
His returns probably reveal off shore tax sheltering and the conversion of income into lower taxed capital gains through the sorts of complicated financial strategies rich people employ. But I wonder if Reid alleging no tax was paid at all will raise the expectations for Romney's tax avoidance to a point where the most likely revelation that he paid at least some tax will appear acceptable enough to get him off the hook with independent voters. Could Romney's campaign be gaming Reid's accusations to its advantage by intentionally inflaming this controversy? Or is that too clever by half?
His returns probably reveal off shore tax sheltering and the conversion of income into lower taxed capital gains through the sorts of complicated financial strategies rich people employ. But I wonder if Reid alleging no tax was paid at all will raise the expectations for Romney's tax avoidance to a point where the most likely revelation that he paid at least some tax will appear acceptable enough to get him off the hook with independent voters. Could Romney's campaign be gaming Reid's accusations to its advantage by intentionally inflaming this controversy? Or is that too clever by half?
Jul 27, 2012
Edward commented on Romney Offers Barista Half-Consumed Hot Cocoa in Lieu of Tip.
Some places don't take tips. If they are offered, they're refused. If I remember correctly, Tully's, SBC, some Starbucks and chain fast food places have refused tips in my experience. I suppose they are trying to remove the burden of the question for their customers and assume the customer will remember and appreciate them for it. I always tip reflexively if it's food service and I deal directly with the food preparers. In cafeterias with hidden kitchens where you deal with the cashier only, I won't expect to tip unless a a tip jar is visible. At any other counter food place I'll add a tip to my card or wave money around looking for the tip jar. That's when I've been told by employees that they don't take tips.
While food service is poorly paid work, so is working in a convenience store or any number of other retail non-food establishments and I never think about tipping then. The rules are somewhat arbitrary and inconsistent.
Tipping would seem to relate to the degree of intimacy and anytime anyone makes something for me to eat or drink it is always quite intimate, apart even from the difficulty involved or the degree of customization I request. After all, I am asking someone for something that I will be putting inside of me, that I will come into the closest possible contact with for purely pleasurable purposes. It might seem like a reach, but it's on the same continuum with asking for sex. And this intimacy is that much clearer when I watch them prepare it for me. But tipping is also a performance incentive for doing it better and doing it the way I prefer it done.
I also tip because I use the establishments space to sit and read and work. It's payment for making a pleasant, clean place available without pressure or expectation beyond the initial order. Bathrooms aren't fun to maintain, so the tip is for taking care of that too.
The desire to tip or not is highly subjective. That the rules for tipping are as arbitrary and inconsistent as they are reflects this, I think. I suppose we will always be argue whether it's an obligation or optional to tip, and why.
Eating is innately pleasurable and tipping for the food I enjoy is, I suppose, a way to say I'm happy and I want you to be happy that I'm happy. It makes up for my shyness and the impression that I might otherwise leave that I'm not satisfied. Subjective indeed.
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While food service is poorly paid work, so is working in a convenience store or any number of other retail non-food establishments and I never think about tipping then. The rules are somewhat arbitrary and inconsistent.
Tipping would seem to relate to the degree of intimacy and anytime anyone makes something for me to eat or drink it is always quite intimate, apart even from the difficulty involved or the degree of customization I request. After all, I am asking someone for something that I will be putting inside of me, that I will come into the closest possible contact with for purely pleasurable purposes. It might seem like a reach, but it's on the same continuum with asking for sex. And this intimacy is that much clearer when I watch them prepare it for me. But tipping is also a performance incentive for doing it better and doing it the way I prefer it done.
I also tip because I use the establishments space to sit and read and work. It's payment for making a pleasant, clean place available without pressure or expectation beyond the initial order. Bathrooms aren't fun to maintain, so the tip is for taking care of that too.
The desire to tip or not is highly subjective. That the rules for tipping are as arbitrary and inconsistent as they are reflects this, I think. I suppose we will always be argue whether it's an obligation or optional to tip, and why.
Eating is innately pleasurable and tipping for the food I enjoy is, I suppose, a way to say I'm happy and I want you to be happy that I'm happy. It makes up for my shyness and the impression that I might otherwise leave that I'm not satisfied. Subjective indeed.
Jun 22, 2012
Edward commented on Off the Grid.
Do realize that the investment to obtain this building's level of self sufficiency is probably greater than anything the average for-profit developer or individual renter or owner could afford to pay. I see that there is no mention of how long it will take to defray the cost of that additional investment through not having to purchase power and other services from the existing shared infrastructure. Given the building's unproven technology and the scale of its implementation, I wouldn't be surprised if the operating budget is higher, even after reducing or eliminating electrical, water and sewage costs. The benefits for the users of this building are likely not financial.
But also consider what this investment in grid replacing technology is doing as well: decreasing the pool of users for the existing infrastructure without, at the same time, reducing the costs of operating that infrastructure. Most people who can't afford to leave the grid will find themselves paying more for its services since grid cost is a function of the costs of the pipes and wires as well as the cost of the water and electricity that travel through them - but revenue is collected on a quantity consumed basis. Such systems are most cost effective when everyone uses them. Cost creep is occurring for electrical and water rate payers now as more efficient plumbing and appliances become popular.
Going it alone as this building is doing isn't in the common interest if that interest is measured in terms of the money people must pay in the present for their utility services. In terms of pioneering a new, efficient and environmentally beneficial common infrastructure though, it may set the stage for reduced costs in the future. This is extremely important but it certainly won't happen without a collective willingness to bear the price of transition. Does this project discuss that aspect of its social impact?
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But also consider what this investment in grid replacing technology is doing as well: decreasing the pool of users for the existing infrastructure without, at the same time, reducing the costs of operating that infrastructure. Most people who can't afford to leave the grid will find themselves paying more for its services since grid cost is a function of the costs of the pipes and wires as well as the cost of the water and electricity that travel through them - but revenue is collected on a quantity consumed basis. Such systems are most cost effective when everyone uses them. Cost creep is occurring for electrical and water rate payers now as more efficient plumbing and appliances become popular.
Going it alone as this building is doing isn't in the common interest if that interest is measured in terms of the money people must pay in the present for their utility services. In terms of pioneering a new, efficient and environmentally beneficial common infrastructure though, it may set the stage for reduced costs in the future. This is extremely important but it certainly won't happen without a collective willingness to bear the price of transition. Does this project discuss that aspect of its social impact?
Jun 6, 2012
Edward commented on Rep. Pollet Proposes Bill Requiring Retailers to Post Cost of Liquor with Taxes.
Has anyone noticed that all retailers, especially grocers, play with pricing in a variety of intentionally devious ways to make sales? For instance, there is the classic $x.99, .98. to avoid posting a higher dollar price, or there is the quantity price listing posted right next to the smaller font, higher single unit price listing, making it very easy to assume that the lower quantity-price applies to the single unit purchase when it doesn't. And there is the really evil one in my opinion, when the sale price tag on the shelf is located so close to another more expensive product selling at full price that it appears to apply to that product, rather than the lesser product to which it actually applies. Or the variation on that scheme wherein the sale price for a product only applies to a particular variety of that product, say its flavor - for example ice cream - thus the chocolate chip flavor is reduced but the chocolate cookie crumble flavor right next to it in the identical package is full price. Of course there is the amazing shrinking package that has been carefully altered to appear to be the same size while stacked on the shelf. On this one it's not at all uncommon for the store to advertise that the newly shrunken package is selling "now at a lower regular price!," failing to mention they mean a lower package price and that the unit price is the same or even higher. I'm sure these examples barely touch the extent of this kind of thing. Buyer beware indeed.
Not posting the after tax price on a complicated tax scheme like we have for liquor is only the latest opportunity for this kind of mendacity. Further, anyone who thinks that the lovely uniform statewide pricing for liquor at the WSLCB stores wasn't a huge advantage, is in for a big surprise. You will face a version of the Podunk gas station selling gas at more than a dollar over the average regional price when you rush into that convenience store, late for the party, to pick up a fifth, and sign the credit receipt without looking at it, only to realize later you paid double what you might of somewhere else. But at least there is the convenience. To bad though that there will never be enough competition to eliminate this kind of price gouging because it's now built into the system.
Face it, we have handed liquor sales over from an efficiently run, accountable entity of government that sought to make everything as predictable in terms of pricing, selection and variety as possible, a deal that was better in every other way - including, it appears now, the markup - but store hours and locations, to the unaccountable market which will do everything it can along the lines of the above to extract as high a margin as it can from us. But hey, the free market is always better. I wonder.
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Not posting the after tax price on a complicated tax scheme like we have for liquor is only the latest opportunity for this kind of mendacity. Further, anyone who thinks that the lovely uniform statewide pricing for liquor at the WSLCB stores wasn't a huge advantage, is in for a big surprise. You will face a version of the Podunk gas station selling gas at more than a dollar over the average regional price when you rush into that convenience store, late for the party, to pick up a fifth, and sign the credit receipt without looking at it, only to realize later you paid double what you might of somewhere else. But at least there is the convenience. To bad though that there will never be enough competition to eliminate this kind of price gouging because it's now built into the system.
Face it, we have handed liquor sales over from an efficiently run, accountable entity of government that sought to make everything as predictable in terms of pricing, selection and variety as possible, a deal that was better in every other way - including, it appears now, the markup - but store hours and locations, to the unaccountable market which will do everything it can along the lines of the above to extract as high a margin as it can from us. But hey, the free market is always better. I wonder.
Jun 4, 2012
Edward commented on Privatized Liquor Fails to Produce Citywide Binge of Criminal Recklessness.
I saw two thirty to forty year old white-collar types nearly come to blows in the parking lot of my regular Roosevelt Safeway over a parking space at 5:30 this evening. I've gone there for years around that time and I've never before seen anything even close. It's true the lot was unusually packed, with more cars arriving steadily. A meaningless anecdote surely, but still, the excitement was palpable.
May 22, 2012
Edward commented on North Seattle Slams Plans for 900-Car Parking Garage at Northgate Mall.
The Northgate Way underpass at I-5 is, as anyone who walks it just once knows, a very inhospitable route. There are many breaks and deviations in the sidewalk that sacrifice the ease and safety of walking in order to accommodate the constant daytime high volumes of arterial traffic distractedly jockeying to enter, exit or just get beyond the four (four!) separate I-5 interchanges crammed into that immediate area. Pedestrians are inevitably an afterthought, even an annoyance in a streetscape which has been optimized to process cars above all else.
The 92nd Street overpass is walkable enough if you have the time and energy and the weather cooperates, since it will add, like the Northgate way underpass, around one third mile or more to your route, depending on your point of origin and destination.
Between the Northgate Way and 92nd St. passages under and over I-5, a span of fifteen blocks that encompasses the entire Northgate commercial district on the east side of I-5, including the train station when it's built, and North Seattle Community College on the west, there are no routes past I-5. Relying only on these two passages between the two places means routing pedestrians to the periphery of the districts and then back to their centers.
True, an overpass would be expensive given its length and the elevation required to cross I-5 at this point. A tunnel likely wouldn't help much cost-wise, and would be very long and imposing to walk as well. Quite simply, reversing course back to pedestrian-centric development in an area first built out during the 1950's -60's apex of car-centric development, will be costly. But with the coming of Sound Transit and the designation of the area as a high-density residential zone, there will eventually be the foot traffic to justify it.
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The 92nd Street overpass is walkable enough if you have the time and energy and the weather cooperates, since it will add, like the Northgate way underpass, around one third mile or more to your route, depending on your point of origin and destination.
Between the Northgate Way and 92nd St. passages under and over I-5, a span of fifteen blocks that encompasses the entire Northgate commercial district on the east side of I-5, including the train station when it's built, and North Seattle Community College on the west, there are no routes past I-5. Relying only on these two passages between the two places means routing pedestrians to the periphery of the districts and then back to their centers.
True, an overpass would be expensive given its length and the elevation required to cross I-5 at this point. A tunnel likely wouldn't help much cost-wise, and would be very long and imposing to walk as well. Quite simply, reversing course back to pedestrian-centric development in an area first built out during the 1950's -60's apex of car-centric development, will be costly. But with the coming of Sound Transit and the designation of the area as a high-density residential zone, there will eventually be the foot traffic to justify it.
May 4, 2012
Edward commented on The New York Rangers Won Last Night's Game in Triple Overtime.
But hey, it's a great game!
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There are far simpler realities than the weight of a mole of carbon or the finer points of federal railroad law to consider here. Though these subjects are technically relevant, they will never stir the blood the way the actual trains will as they quite literally, every single day, physically encroach on us in their many ways. If you really think about it, none of us will be entirely beyond their reach. The honest cost of the trains' full, short and long term environmental impact surpasses any economic benefit by such a margin that it seems almost surreal the proposal is being taken seriously. But for the federal mandates on rail right of ways it wouldn't be.