Get used to headlines like this: "Pete Buttigieg Isn’t a Transit Visionary. But Biden Might Not Need One" (New York Magazine).
I was wondering why it made any sense that Buttigieg should run the Department of Transportation, but I think questions like that will be answered with a brush off. Oh, what difference does it make?! Let go of your anxiety. Biden is here. And everything's going to be all right.
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245 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 245 of 245And Marcus, several of Chuck’s comments are still here, go figure, huh?
When I was in College, I took Calculus. I wanted to take calculus. My Professor was Chinese. I couldn't understand a word he said. Not a prob. Most of the work was with the TA anyway. He was Indian. Couldn't understand a word he said. Dropped out.
I really wanted to understand calculus, so in Grad School, I took it again. American Professor. I studied hard. I could not hear the music.
I loved Algebra. I use Geometry in every day life. Trig was ok. I hit the wall at calculus. Math has a music to it. I couldn't hear the music of calculus. I know others can. I couldn't.
What better life can a man have than to hear the music of his profession?
That’s right, I’m yur elder on this blog. So show some respect, sonny.
There is usually a reason why people change ID and hide their names.
Inga was "unknown" for a while. Ritmo had all sorts of "names."
At least you did not deny being a troll.
“Sounds racist. She defends Anglo Joe but criticizes Chao's Chinese family.”
“The Chao family’s connections to the Chinese state go back decades
James S.C. Chao, 91, Ms. Chao’s father, studied navigation at a university in Shanghai before fleeing the mainland ahead of the Communist takeover in 1949. His schoolmate for a time was Jiang Zemin, who would become China’s president.
Read The Times’s report on Elaine Chao and her family’s shipping company.
A ‘Bridge’ to China, and Her Family’s Business, in the Trump CabinetJune 2, 2019
As China was emerging from decades of turmoil in 1984, the Chao family took a stake in a state-owned Chinese manufacturer of marine electronic equipment, documents show. The company targeted sales to China’s military, among other sectors, and was closely affiliated with a ministry run by Mr. Jiang. After Mr. Jiang came to lead the Communist Party a few years later, Mr. Chao met with him at least six times, including in August 1989 in Beijing — inside the party’s secretive leadership compound. Chao family members said they could not recall this investment.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/02/us/politics/transportation-secretary-elaine-chao.html
“At her confirmation hearing, Ms. Chao did not mention her family’s extensive ties to the Chinese maritime industry. She also did not disclose several accolades she had received in China — including a role as an international adviser to the city of Wuhan — though the Senate questionnaire requires nominees to list all honorary positions. An agency official described that as an oversight.
Marilyn L. Glynn, a former general counsel at the Office of Government Ethics, said Ms. Chao should recuse herself from decisions that broadly impacted the shipping industry. “She might be tempted to make sure her family company is not adversely affected in any policy choices, or it might even just appear that way,” Ms. Glynn said.”
Hercules, not that one though said...
When I was in College, I took Calculus. I wanted to take calculus. My Professor was Chinese. I couldn't understand a word he said. Not a prob. Most of the work was with the TA anyway. He was Indian. Couldn't understand a word he said. Dropped out.
I had an Indian professor for calculus, too. Couldn't understand a word he said. I was not assiduous at doing homework assignments and needed a "B" to keep my scholarship. I talked to him before the final. He told me if I got an A on the final I would get a B in the class. I got an A but my final grade was C. I made a couple of appointments to meet with him after but he never showed up.
Finally, one day, I saw him on University Avenue and called "Doctor Bajwa." I started to cross the street. His eyes bulged and he started to run away. I figured chasing him was not then way to rescue my grade.
Went to work at Douglas Aircraft and took night classes.
That was my experience of calculus as well. There is a certain intuition you must have to integrate some things, otherwise you can do valid things to the equation all day yet never come to the answer.
Biden is a stand-in, a place-holder president until he is 25th'd. All of the Cabinet picks are also just place-holders. Kamala will change all of the Cabinet heads after her presidential oath-taking. Who will she nominate for each post. More importantly, who will she nominate as her VP? And, when will that VP replace her? I see not so much an administration as a game of high stakes musical chairs.
Blogger Narr said...
Here's a title for Mayor Pete's presidential campaign bio--
A Crowd in the Face.
That's him: Mayor Bukakke.
OT. There is a place in North Scottsdale called the Boulders. It's a golf course. For those who heard the music of their profession, it is a joy, a respite.
Post WWI Calvin Coolidge got rave public reviews by cutting spending every day to reduce the huge post war debt. Someone who can do this and make it look novel would do well. Biden lacks the imagination.
In 1918 you could exchange your dollars for silver bullion, so there was really no way to square the debt without raising taxes or cutting services. These days it's all funny money, numbers changed in a computer. Essentially anybody who holds dollars has already paid for the overspend. Of course people who believe in MMT and other fairy tales will say it doesn't matter, but there's a reason commodities like wood and steel have tripled in price this year.
Inga said...
“Sounds racist. She defends Anglo Joe but criticizes Chao's Chinese family.”
“The Chao family’s connections to the Chinese state go back decades
Interestingly the more important Inga claims this issue is the more obvious her double standard to protect Joe Biden from his decades-long corruption trail.
Joe Biden may be a corrupt, Chicom agent, but who cares?
I mean, what power does the President have, anyway?
Inga is just mad that Trump was not to be a Russian agent and she is reminded how much of an idiot she has been going on about pee pee tapes.
Right on Q - as we find out all of the left's entanglements with the Chinese communists... They are suddenly concerned about Mitch's wife. She's been his wife for how long?
I wonder where the left's concern was yesterday - before Eric Salwell was flushed out having dicked around with a Chinese Spy. and of course the well known yet media approved Biden family Chi Com grift.
Inga - tell us about your issues with the corrupt Biden family international grifting schemes. Explain how you are very concerned about the actual money laundering for family fortune they exploit.
Otherwise - shut the fuck up.
On the left, everything is a lie. Everything.
A lot of posters in this particular thread are revealing their badly-hidden misogyny. As for the incompetence statement, I think the people who elected him knew he was pretty far gone already and now want to pretend it didn't really matter. i suspect they also are counting on gross insubordination from the person carrying the football if Joe asks for the codes.
Thank you, driver, for getting me here (Too much, Magic Bus)
You'll be an inspector, have no fear (Too much, Magic Bus)
I don't want to cause no fuss (Too much, Magic Bus)
But can I buy your Magic Bus? (Too much, Magic Bus)
I said, now I've got my Magic Bus (Too much, Magic Bus)
I said, now I've got my Magic Bus (Too much, Magic Bus)
I drive my baby every way (Too much, Magic Bus)
Each time I go a different way (Too much, Magic Bus)
(He knows Norwegian..and moisturizes)
"I was wondering why it made any sense that Buttigieg should run the Department of Transportation..."
Steven said, "It is to be hoped the position is indeed nothing but a sinecure, because that's certainly how Biden, and Obama before him, have been treating it."
Come on, man! Alfred, uh, I mean Buttigieg knows about cars and trucks and probably something about choo choo trains, too. He'll be a swell Transportation Secretary!
A lot of people voted against Hillary, rather than for Trump. We were pleasantly surprised when he turned out to actually be competent, against all odds, and unbelievably clean.. (Seriously, every govt agency and MSM hack investigating a big time contractor could not come up with a single genuine crime? Simply amazing.)
A lot of people voted against Trump, rather than for Biden. They will not be pleasantly surprised at his competence. Unlike us anti Clinton voters, the anti-Trump voters will regret their decision.
The first time I took calculus, I got a D. Didn't get it at all. I took it a second time, and maybe because I already took it, or maybe because I studied harder, or maybe because the professor was more clear about what he expected me to test on, I got an A. I rarely turned in homework, but scored 100% on most exams, and on some I scored higher, as high as 118%, because the curve was so low. I made it through Calc II also, and I was really proud of that until I got my ass kicked in by Differential Equations.
"I was wondering why it made any sense that"
I thought Althouse wanted boring. Biden is giving her boring. Now she starts complaining about things not making sense. Some people you just can't please.
Anyway, gonna be a long 4 years for people interested in sense.
I got through calculus in HS pretty well, putting in my normal amount of studying- none. Where I finally lost it was a course called engineering mathematics. Totally and completely over my head. And- I had no clue how to study. This where the people who have to grind through things get ahead of the smarter people. They've had to study all along- and just keep banging away. Me? I either understand something- or I don't. If I understand it- I can pretty much guarantee no one else understands it better. As well maybe, but not better.
Men know you listen to women. Listen. Don't act on what you hear. They've already moved on. They don't even remember what they said. Just listen.
Gospace, thanks for describing your experience, it makes me feel a little less morbid
Gospace describes my experience pretty well, though he got a lot farther than I did.
I was always so interested in things I was pretty good (or better) at, that butting my poor brain against something I wasn't interested in and would never be good at was not really a prospect.
Narr
Reinforce success
@readering: John Cox ran against Newsom for governor in 2018. https://www.foxla.com/news/john-cox-launches-exploratory-committee-to-challenge-gavin-newsom-in-2022-the-state-is-in-crisis
"Men know you listen to women. Listen. Don't act on what you hear. They've already moved on. They don't even remember what they said. Just listen. "
Good advice. My biggest communication problem with my darling is in performing home repairs and improvements. She conceptualizes what she wants, and I tell her what is going to be reasonably possible, or that I can do it, but I have to do it this way and not that way, and she takes it as an insult to her opinion and taste or thinks I'm just being lazy about it. It got bad just the other day. I had to reminder her that I worked for 37 years in chemical manufacturing and logistics, and was paid very well to solve problems just like this every minute of every day of every year on a much larger scale than this. I told her I'm not arguing with the vision, I'm just telling you what and how it can be done, and what it's going to cost. No arguments since, so maybe she listened to my mansplaining.
Blogger SensibleCitizen said...
The most pressing issue at the moment is how China is going to reimburse the US for the damage it has done to our economy.
The mechanism for repayment is in place: China owns $1.1 trillion in US Treasury bonds. Those bonds can be marked:
PAID. IN. FULL.
MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF US TREASURY SECURITIES (Billions of $) October 2020:
Japan: 1269.5
China: 1054.0
UK : 442.8
Ireland: 316.4
Total: 7068.4
This debt is function of trade volume and is tied to the US Dollar boosting its value.
But the real culprit here is Donald J. Trump!
Since taking office, President Trump has unilaterally imposed numerous new tariffs on steel, aluminum, and a variety of goods from China, creating upward pressure on prices in the United States.
Based on 2019 import levels, U.S. and retaliatory tariffs currently impact over $460 billion of imports and exports, and President Trump’s tariffs are increasing annual consumer costs by roughly $57 billion annually. [And subsidies paid to American farmers for lost commodity sales overseas resulted in an additional $30 billion leaving government coffers.]
The tariffs are having a notable impact on trade levels, decreasing both imports and exports, which reduces consumers’ options and further increases prices in the United States.
https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/the-total-cost-of-trumps-new-tariffs/#ixzz6grZxLsbp
Rosalyn C thanks for reminding me. Wonder if there will be a recall before 2022. I did not favor the last one.
"Biden might not be a competent President. But America might not need one.
I for one, welcome our new President Chance the Gardener.
<Inga said..."
Ever since I was a little kid I wanted a one-trick donkey.
And you wonder why we are laughing at the Democrats??
When identity is the criteria for gov't posts, it's good to manage expectations.
Sure. But every Secretary of Transportation appointed in the last 25 years was an "identity" hire, which was the point of my second comment. Even Obama's straight white man was "identity" in that he was the Obama Cabinet's token Republican.
That Buttigieg is blatantly less qualified than any of a quarter-century of identity hires is noteworthy.
What is happening in the DC area is this:
1. A substantial list of expensive and large transportation projects approved and construction underway, or approved and planning underway, or proposed and studied: Light rail, extension of subway lines, new bridges extra lanes on the beltway.
2. The increasingly likely prospect of remote working, reducing the demand on transportation for commuting.
I watch the metro trains rolling by with zero or one people per car, every day, at all hours. This can't be sustainable.
No matter what I think about Mayor Pete's politics and personality, he is extremely smart, and that's what we need more than anything here.
I watch the metro trains rolling by with zero or one people per car, every day, at all hours. This can't be sustainable.
DC is losing a large chunk of people leaving for places that won't tax them out of existence. And the riots and arson aren't attracting many folks from other places. DC is a city on its way out. As so often said, it would take a heart of stone not to laugh out loud.
FullMoon said...
A lot of people voted against Trump, rather than for Biden. They will not be pleasantly surprised at his competence. Unlike us anti Clinton voters, the anti-Trump voters will regret their decision.
12/16/20, 9:32 PM
Do you really believe that? I have a hard time getting there. I believe the Biden voters will ignore all that goes wrong, blame it all on Trump, blame it all on the "obstructionists Republicans", or all of the above. I can not imagine a Biden voter coming within a mile of understanding and acknowledging what a colossal mistake they have made. I just don't see any that have that level of self awareness.
"DC is losing a large chunk of people leaving." When I hear reports like this (and in NYC, LA, SF, Seattle, Minneapolis), I check the real estate market. Median DC home prices are up nearly 17% from late 2019 to 2020. That's bigger increase than any surrounding jurisdiction except one (Fairfax City up 19%)
https://wtop.com/business-finance/2020/11/median-price-of-a-single-family-home-in-the-district-tops-1m-for-first-time/
:"I had an Indian professor for calculus, too. Couldn't understand a word he said."
I had a professor from China for calculus and linear algebra. His English was okay but heavily accented such that "half" came out as "hair." My classmates and I always hoped pi over two would be part of a problem just to hear him say "hair pi" like the guy in Revenge of the Nerds.
So a white male replaces a minority female.
Interesting.
DC area will never go down unless they disperse government agencies/defund pentagon. Amazon driving growth.
Its true. Trump got him the vaccine and peace in the middle east. Just don't screw up Joe.
A cabinet job must have been Buttigieg's price to give up his campaign. He must be a better poker player than Warren, who walked away with nothing (so far).
About the headlines: it's similar to what The Atlantic would do under the last owner. "Counter-intuitive" headlines "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?" to get people to read the articles.
They stole the counter-intuitive thing from The New Republic (a few owners back), and gave it a pointedly partisan twist with articles about how John Kerry could be a great secretary of state and how Joe Biden is really really smart.
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