Not a Potted Plant

[A] I link to this article of a fire in Chicago because you have to see the picture. It’s far out.

[B] Farhad Manjoo is singing the same old tired song about the death of the PC. Bring able to do 80% of PC functionality is enough to use the tablet on the go, but heaven help is if, as a culture, we simply forgo the other 20%. Meanwhile, Rob Enderle hits the mark.

[C] Slate explainer tackles the question of whether states can exile people. Actually, I know someone who was exiled from Arizona.

[D] The few remaining ninjas out – and Americans are fascinated with ninjas – there are financially struggling.

[E] How Newegg fought back against a patent troll and saved the online shopping cart.

[F] Ryan Noonan introduced me to this article on McWorld, the world’s McDonald’s for Times Square. Also, a Disney World movie, without Disney’s approval.

[G] It really is annoying that all-in-ones won’t let you scan images if you are out of ink. Apparently there is a bypass for my Canon, though. Cool.

[H] I’ve never understood tail-bobbing. Tails are awesome! And communicative. It’d be like shaving off eyebrows.

[I] How much does Yelp help businesses that get positive reviews? It turns out to be significant.

[J] Researchers are looking at the Facebook pages of people that commit suicide to see if they can identify warning signs.

[K] Dr. Phi gives us a glimpse into government IT.

[L] XXfactor takes exception to GQ separating out Indian and Asian women from its “Hottest Women List.” It seems to me that you can just as easily chalk this up to “Yay diversity!” rather than get irate. Beyond which, it’s been noted elsewhere that Italians also get their own group. The follow-up on modeling specification is a good point, though.

[M] Some businesses are looking to fix our sleeping habits. I’m a big fan of employee nap rooms. That my wife’s hospital didn’t have one for on-call docs was always baffling to me.

[N] If this is Google, I once worked for the anti-google. Google tries to find ways to make its employees happy. My former employer tried to find employees who would be happy in its oppressive atmosphere.

[O] I pass on a lot of links about alternative housing. Here’s one on alternative hoteling!

[P] Graphic novels rule, books drool. People retain more information from graphic novels than typical books.

[Q] The USPS sent Laura Northrup’s package 1,688 miles out of its way. I had a package from the east coast sent to me in the mountain west that, for some reason, went through Hawaii.

[R] Apparently, the magic number for an economy is $8,500. Once average purchasing power reaches that number, political extremism and populist promises start losing their appeal.

[S] You can always count of Dave Schuler for sober analysis. On the bright side, he has a post on how we can cut health care costs without lowering payments or reducing services.

[T] This is pretty cool: A phone for your smartphone. I really hope that the future of smartphones includes modularization. They need to get everything talking to everything else. In addition to smartphones-as-car-keys, I want an Android fridge.

[U] Apparently, back in the 80’s in fear of a Sam’s Club’s arrival, Oklahoma passed a law requiring a six-percent profit margin.

[V] Why comment trolls suck.

[W] I’m about as pro-resource-exploitation as you can get whenever the economics warrant it, but I will admit that this makes me uneasy.

[X] Google is hoping that we will trust our personal information to a USB drive. Speaking of passwords, when I read this post at Dustbury I was thinking “Hey, that guy had the exact same problem I had!” Then I realized that “this guy” was me.

We are apparently going to get a new tallest building in the city, the future 73-story Wilshire Grand Hotel. Which visually brings to mind another mega-hotel from another part of the world. I hadn’t heard about this before today.

Check-in on the 70th floor is a pretty cool idea.

Doug Mataconis has a piece up on the urban-to-rural subsidization of post offices. The post and the response to the post are predictable (including my own). But I wanted to share a great comment on there from a guy named Kip Smith, chalk full of interesting information:

OK Doug — do you want a serious answer to your question? I actually worked for the USPS as a rate economist AND published a paper about the economics of delivery 15 years ago (and can provide a cite if you’re really interested). That paper was (believe it or not), one of the the first attempts to quantify where the USPS made money on a route basis.

So this is actually a REALLY complicated question – when I wrote the paper profitability was dictated NOT by location (e.g. rural vs. urban) but by level of affluence. Think about it — there is a fixed cost to run a particular route. The “profitability” of any individual route will be based on the number of pieces of mail that are delivered on the particular route. Which makes sense, if you think about it. And who gets the most mail? The most affluent people. There are also costs associated with mail processing (primarily class based — a presorted barcoded bill is MUCH less expensive to process than a hand written letter and that has an impact on overall profitability) — but the idea that “rural” delivery is in and of itself unprofitable is wrong. Delivering to people who are generally NOT sent much mail is unprofitable; delivery to those who receive a great deal is profitable. I’ve been out of postal economics for a long time now but the economic logic should co!
ntinue to hold.

Well, I could go on for many hours — but here are a few key points:
1) Most USPS delivery is “unprofitable” — delivery to the top 10% is and business delivery was (and is?) where the USPS makes most of its money.
2) Implicit cross-subsidies are rampant — it’s not simply rural vs.urban
3) There is a HUGE value in having universal service
4) YOU don’t personally cross-subsidize mail delivery (and for individuals, the cross-subsidy runs from all those business TO you when you want to send a holiday card or a check to the dentist)
6) Of all the crap that’s going on in the US and the world, WHY (!) do we want to spend the time on the USPS? Aren’t there better things to do with our limited time?

As I have said before, there is a powerful networking effect that would likely compel someone to assure delivery to the vast majority of rural areas (Alaska might be out of luck) and most likely for a predictable cost. The USPS (and government, more generally) is not the only entity that will take some losses here and there for the sake of cost-predictability and universal service.

Another interesting thing is that I may have underestimated the extent to which UPS and FedEx pass things off to the USPS for final delivery. But commenter Ron Beasley points out something interesting: The potential environmental benefit. It’s great that UPS and the USPS are working together to cut down on consumption. But, absent the USPS, I remain skeptical that UPS or FedEx would let large parts of the country go unserved. If not for the person in Glasgow, Montana, then for the person in Atlanta who wants to send something to them.

There are, of course, areas of “give” that are possible and ways in which ruralites would have to accommodate. For instance, though delivery may be guaranteed, the back-end of how long it takes might become much longer (“We deliver to some places only once a week.”) and it’s also possible that ruralites would need to incorporate getting the mail into their various trips into town (or wait for the once-a-week delivery).

Don’t get me wrong: People out here appreciate the postal service. There was a lot of resistance to the shuttering of local post offices around here. And I personally like the post office and whether I live out here in ruralia or not, I will support subsidies where necessary to ensure that people can get their mail*. But contrary to a lot of assertions, life would go on without it.

Except maybe in Alaska.

* – Here is where the debate over the extent to which the Post Office’s problems are caused by Republicans and if it weren’t for that it would be profitable. That’s beside my point, though, which is that I would be supportive even if this were not easily made solvent.

An assistant football coach of the Texas Longhorns had sex with a UT student at the 2009 Fiesta Bowl:

In separate statements released Friday night, Dodds and Applewhite called the incident a one-time occurrence. [UT Athletic Director Deloss] Dodds said it happened during activities related to the 2009 Fiesta Bowl, when [UT Offensive Coordinator] Applewhite was UT’s assistant head coach and running backs coach.

Dodds said he learned of the incident later that month, and that Applewhite admitted his “inappropriate conduct.” Applewhite “fully accepted his discipline, including counseling,” Dodds said.

“Several years ago, I made a regretful decision resulting in behavior that was totally inappropriate,” Applewhite said in his statement. “It was a one-time occurrence and was a personal matter. Shortly after it occurred, I discussed the situation with DeLoss Dodds. I was upfront and took full responsibility for my actions. This is and was resolved four years ago with the university.

The university may have had reason to make this belated disclosure:

Last month, Bev Kearney, the women’s track coach at the University of Texas, resigned over an affair with “an adult student-athlete” in 2002. Was the African-American, gay, woman forced out over a consensual affair while the white male football coach (who was also a star football player at the school) received preferential treatment? In Applewhite’s case, the affair was not with an athlete, but there may have still been a supervisory role. It will be interesting to see how Texas spins this.

It seems to me the central question is whether or not there was a supervisory role (and if there was, what was the nature of it). That, to my mind, is a critical difference between the two incidents. I could be convinced that Applewhite should have been fired for his transgression (UT is reviewing the policy). The case that Kearney shouldn’t have been fired is much more difficult to make. Even at the professional level, where there is a much more ambiguous power relationship between coach and player and the players are older, that is a fireable offense under any reasonable handbook. Such things are almost certain to cause instability within the team the coach was hired to lead.

In the Applewhite case, I can really see it going either way. It seems inappropriate for anybody who is even technically a sorta-member of faculty to be sleeping with students. It also sets a bad standard for the student athletes and their conduct (how they handle the attention and adulation they receive, if of course we care about such things). It can be hard enough to get coaches to crack down on inappropriate (or illegal) personal conduct without coaches having inappropriate relations with students ten years their junior. On the other hand, it’s consensual and there is very little to indicate that their was sufficient power differential to cause concern for coercion.

One suspects that the Applewhite case is one of those things that is going to depend heavily on factors unrelated to the allegation. Which means that someone more prominent like Applewhite stays, while a lesser-known figure would be quietly dispatched.

I’ve heard that the tri-tip or ‘triangle cut’ roast of beef is still relatively unknown in many parts of the United States. It’s taken from the bottom sirloin — that portion of the cow above the flank and in front of the round, near the muscles moving the animal’s rear leg. Certainly that portion of the animal used everywhere you go, but it seems that the manner of butchering a cow resulting in a tri-tip is still somewhat unusual and distinctive to the western United States.

You can roast it, but it’s better grilled. It comes out flavorful and with the precisely right amount of fat for my taste, and when prepared right, it can be every bit as juicy and flavorful as a tenderloin. I take it for granted that I’ll have access to what to me is a superior cut of beef at an affordable price. I had some for dinner last night at a friend and colleague’s house, and it was great. I’m still thinking about it and I wish I could have some now for lunch on a sandwich, but we ate it all at dinner.

So especially for people from points east in the United States or globally, is this a cut of beef with which you’re familiar?

[A] Not often, but I sometimes get conspiratorially-minded. The case of the NCAA screwing up the investigation of Miami (FL) to my usually dormant conspiratorial instincts. This has the potential to save the NCAA from making a very difficult decision. Enough so that I wonder – at least a little – if it wasn’t sabotaged. I’m sure Miami-Ohio is breathing a little easier, though.

[B] Tom Tancredo lost a bet and will have to smoke pot. Awesome. Good on him for keeping up his side of the bargain.

[C] I link to this article of a fire in Chicago because you have to see the picture. It’s far out.

[D] Canada has denied Randy Quaid’s request for permanent status. It looks like we’re stuck with him.

[E] Via the New York Post and AP, an interesting story of how a clerk at Papa John’s managed to talk a thief out of taking money and into taking a pizza instead.

[G] I’ve been addicted to the Android game Temple Run lately. I can play it with one hand, which is very helpful when holding a baby. Here’s the story of how it came to be. Also from BusinessInsider, a look at where Google keeps your data.

[H] Discussed recently on NaPP, a look at the rebound effect of energy efficiency. The “rebound effect” being that people who have more energy efficient things end up using it more and undercut the energy savings. They exist, but are not large enough to offset the energy savings.

[I] A case for and against the Rooney Rule (actually the “pro-” says TRR isn’t enough). The Rooney Rule is the NFL’s insistence that minority candidates be interviewed.

[J] Here is more on the giant squid, and its hunter.

[K] Aquaman gets no respect.

[L] After we made one, what exactly would we do with a neanderthal? Is there a remotely ethical answer to that question?

[M] Minnesota is taking some needed steps to prevent some of the debt collection abuse we’ve been seeing in this country.

[N] My recent experiences with the IRS have been less than pleasant, and apparently I am not alone. But there have been some positive developments.

[O] American companies have pushed their limits on India and outsources.

[P] I think China is in for a world of hurt with a lot of their perpetual construction, but I actually think their knock-off cities and landmarks are kind of cool. It reminds me of Las Vegas, actually. But hard core. Relatedly, a look at China’s future.

[Q] James Bond, for realz. (Well, the seduction angle, anyway.)

[R] Mona Lisa… on the moon.

[S] TechCrunch calls Utah an unlikely tech hub, though there’s really no particular reason for that to be the case. It has a strong white-collar culture, good education system, and business-friendly culture. The corridor between Salt Lake City and Provo is really quite impressive.

[T] The extraordinary cynicism of Dick Morris. What’s notable is that he was a great political mind, once.

[U] Dave Schuler has some ideas on inequality and stimulus investment that are worth thinking about.

The partner at my firm was irritated that I had jury duty and wasn’t trying to get out of it. I’d deferred the summons from December as I had a long-cause jury trial of my own on calendar then, so having indulged the court’s courtesy in rescheduling my service for a time better for me, I would seem an ingrate to not submit to service. Sure it would be inconvenient for me, but it’s inconvenient for everyone.

He suggested I show up in a suit. After all, that’s what I wear every day on a normal day. I didn’t do that. It would come out soon enough that I’m an attorney and that would create its own weird deference. A collared, long-sleeved shirt and khaki pants with casual shoes was going to be just fine. And as it turned out, I was better-dressed than about three-quarters of the jurors anyway. Which didn’t matter a bit, either.

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When it was announced that Ray Nagin had been indicted for corruption, the response included a lot of “it figures” or “When was the last time a New Orleans mayor wasn’t indicted?”

The answer is Nagin’s predecessor, actually. And his predecessors before that. Which is not to say that there hasn’t been corruption in New Orleans and hasn’t been, but this is actually new.

What I find particularly interesting about the reaction to the story is the extent to which Ray Nagin has been shoehorned into the role of “corrupt, black, inner-city mayor.” It minimally brings to mind party machine politics. For some, it brings to mind maybe a little race-baiting. Or racism on the part of his opposition.

Mayor Nagin, though, was from the start supposed to be different. He didn’t rise through party machinery. He didn’t even rise through government. He was actually supposed to be the “outsider” to come in and clean things up. Prior to Katrina, he had a broad base of support among Democrats and Republicans alike. He endorsed Bobby Jindal (arguably costing Jindal his first gubernatorial bid). There was some talk of the Louisiana GOP trying to recruit Nagin. He stood by and watched his own cousin get indicted in his efforts to clean up New Orleans’s cab system.

Then, of course, Katrina happened. The insufficiency of the city’s response seared him in people’s minds as a certain type of mayor, even though he didn’t really fit the profile. Gradually, he did seem to start growing into the role. He stuck with those that stuck by him, and that included very few people in his previously broad-based coalition. Regardless of who he had previously, he found himself the mayor of an ineffectual city apparatus that couldn’t do its part to respond to a crisis (regardless of the failures at the federal level, there were not only failures at the federal level).

It reminds me a bit of Sarah Palin, in a way. When Palin was picked as McCain’s vice presidential candidate, she wasn’t who she eventually became. But everybody decided that was who she was. The Democrats wanted a right-wing bogeyman. The conservatives wanted someone on the ticket they could believe in. And so, that’s who she became. Eventually, a cartoon of herself. Nagin never became a cartoon, but there was a fair amount of enthusiasm among not just conservatives, but liberals as well, to consider Nagin in a particularly light.

Due to Katrina, Nagin may actually be the last African-American mayor New Orleans has in a while. One wonders if the perception of the mayoralty of New Orleans will change because of that.