Newmark's Door

Yes, indeed. I have hope.

In the midst of this ObamaCare chaos, I want to see a concise, well-articulated, detailed GOP health-care reform alternative. I want to see sharp messengers on TV clearly presenting that alternative every day.

And guess what? I want to see it showcased on a website that works.

But not a lot of faith. 

(Link via Glenn Reynolds.)

As usual, history proves instructive.

ndeed, history suggests that the rising income inequality of recent decades may prove to be a transitory phenomenon. The early years of the Industrial Revolution produced economic trends much like those we see today. A small elite of capital owners, mechanics and engineers — e.g. those who were first to capitalize on the opportunities created by steam engine, textile machines, and related mechanical technologies — saw their incomes rise rapidly, while the incomes of ordinary factory workers were stagnant. But as technology matured and skills became more standardized, the gains became more broadly shared.

We're likely to see the information revolution follow a similar course. So far, the gains have mostly flowed to the most talented and entrepreneurial workers. But as these technologies mature, we're likely to see increasing demand for moderately-skilled labor that complements the capabilities of computers.

As Mike Myers, doing Linda Richman on "Coffee Talk," might have said: "The Affordable Care Act is neither affordable nor caring. Discuss." (And we're all a little verklemmt!)

"Obama and Sebelius: 'The Dog Ate My Homework'".

When I first started reading comic strips more than 40 years ago, one of the most popular was Bil Keane’s Family Circus, a lighthearted look at childhood and family dynamics. One running gag had to do with the typical child’s response to accountability for errors and mischief. 

Keane would draw a ghostlike figure running through a scene, behaving badly with a manic sort of glee while the mother demanded to know who had broken the lamp, created a mess in the living room, or let the dog out.  Keane gave the ghost character the name of the inevitable response from the children – Ida Know.

Welcome to the Ida Know administration.

"The Definitive Guide to How Obamacare is Destroying American Lives".

On Sunday night, I wrote a short post soliciting stories from my readers about how Obamacare has already immediately impacted their lives. I asked that all of these emails be directed to [email protected]. I expected a response; I didn’t expect it to be quite so overwhelming.

Over the last 24 hours, my inbox has been flooded with hundreds of emails.

"Everything you need to know about Obamacare’s problems".

What exactly is broken?

It’s helpful to divide the problems into three categories: Getting in, getting eligible, and getting insurance.

"Obama has declared Healthcare.gov problems unacceptable. Problem solved."

The “unacceptable” speech is a staple of the Obama presidency. Through gritted teeth, the president acknowledges something he’d rather not, usually something his administration has screwed up royally—Benghazi, the IRS scandal, or the push for intervention in Syria. He detaches himself from the situation and all responsibility for what he’s acknowledging while offering a stern lecture for those who caused the problem— usually someone he hired and under his direct instruction— and promising to get to the bottom of it. He might show a flash of barely contained Spock-Obama anger to send a thrill up the legs of newscasters.

In the South Parkian parlance of the underpants gnomes, that’s Step 1. Step 2: ? Step 3: Problem solved.

"To fix Obamacare website, blow it up, start over".

Experts say the major problems with the Obamacare website can't reasonably be solved before the end of 2013, and the best fix would be to start over from scratch.

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself--and you are the easiest person to fool."

Hemingway said, "The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, shit detector."

Read the remarkable the story of a beginning graduate student who upended a subfield of psychology in "Nick Brown Smelled Bull". (Link via Glenn Reynolds.)

“For me, the real question is not about Fredrickson or Losada or Seligman,” Sokal says. “It’s about the whole community. Why is it that no one before Nick—and I mean Nick was a first semester part-time Master’s student, at, let’s be honest, a fairly obscure university in London who has no particular training in mathematics—why is it that no one realized this stuff was bullshit? Where were all the supposed experts?”

(Besides the obvious lesson, there's another important lesson here: the graduate student would have gotten nowhere fast if he hadn't first contacted two senior people who paid attention and who had plenty of juice.)

See also "How Science Goes Wrong".

"The 5 Most Important Physics Discoveries Of The Past 25 Years".

"The science behind why you just can't stop eating nacho cheese Doritos". 

Science has cracked the code of the nacho cheese Dorito’s ability to keep us coming back for more.

Ingredients, fat ratio, texture, and even the brightly colored bags all combine to make Doritos one of the most popular snack chip in existence.

Here.

Via Fark who comments, "Believe it or not, some people in Texas are opposed to spending $69-million in tax dollars to build a new high school football stadium."

Answer: not often, not much. 

It's all in Scorsese's great movie Casino:

In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing and to keep them coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose, and in the end, we get it all.