Deinonychus Rap!

Hold on to your butts...

I took a class called Dinosaurs in college, because why not?  Part of our final project in this class had to be a performance, so I wrote a rap that I rapped a capella in front of the class.  The other day, I found the paper I wrote the rap on, which was covered in writing everywhere in all directions like a lunatic wrote it.  After much deciphering, I figured  out which part was the real rap.  Without further ado, I present to you the Deinonychus Rap:

My favorite dino's the Deinonychus
Unknown and anonymous, but in size synonymous
With all of the raptors / Who managed to capture
Many people's hearts starring in Jurassic Park / that movie is classic art
Deinonychus weighed over a hundred pounds
But could probably walk around making very little sound
Deinonychus stood about six feet tall
Yeah, his name is latin for "Terrible Claw"
Attached to the tip of the second toe
Was a claw twice as big as toes three and four
He used his arms to seize prey and his claw to kill them
Died out a hundred million years ago but until then
He was a lean, mean, killing machine
Came on the scene in the Mid Cretaceous
You know he was tenacious
A member of the meat-eating group Theropod
His wrists moved left to right / this was very odd
But also important as Theropods evolved into birds
It enabled their flight stroke to fly around the world
Bob Bakker analyzed Deinonychus's bones
To help him show / that Dinos weren't slow
And Ostrom claimed that he hunted in packs
More recent research showed Ostrom's methods were wack
But some folks say even though it's improbable
Pack-hunting Dinos are not impossible
At the least, the idea's entertaining
To think of eight Deinonychus killing and maiming / The Ornithopod Tenontosaurus
No, this scene will never bore us!
Deinonychus lived in Western USA
I hope you've learned something today
I'm at the end of what I have to say
I only hope that someday / a movie will come out
Giving Deinonychus the clout that he deserves
For sure / the world should know what he's about / I'm out!

A wedding limerick

The following limerick was written and read by my grandfather Tom Smith (not to be confused with my Uncle Tom Smith who I interviewed here.  Also not to be confused with my cousin Tom Smith.  Or my brother Tom.  Confusing, huh?)  He read it at my cousin Betsy's wedding to Ben Samson.  Here is the limerick in its entirety, complete with punctuation!

A Toast to the Busy "B's"

Betsy and Ben

Today - a new life has begun

And everyone's saying well done.

        A short walk down the aisle

        Caused all present to smile

They got married - son of a gun!

The saying is true that time flies

Bringing us a pleasant surprise

         It's been a real pleasure

         To see Betsy - our treasure

Maturing in front of our eyes!

Their high school is known as the place

Where the couple did meet face to face.

         A hot day at the park

         And the faces sun marked

Gave Ben the hunch he would trace!

That same year they both said goodbye

To the school - and their spirits did fly.

         Betsy was filled with elation

         Being the third generation

With a diploma from Allderdice High!

Miss Smith at Barnard was no clod

The Big Apple streets she would trod

         With English her major

          And subways no stranger

With both - she was magna cum laude!

While Ben chose to not hang around

To a Maryland school he was bound

         Architecture his major

         And I'll venture a wager

Their romance didn't lose any ground!

Then they returned to the Burgh - if you please

To earn cash for a trip overseas.

         Two thousand ten was the year

         Touring Europe brought cheer

A great trip for Ben and his squeeze

So - a toast to our Betsy and Ben

May their marriage be always a ten.

         She's a beautiful lass

         With a well rounded - - - - shape!

We wish them the best - and amen!

It's always Sunny.....

Came across this video the other day, and I laughed so hard I cried:



I can't wait for Season 7.

Some good stuff on the Times

Here's a link to an op-ed by David Brooks of the NY Times about the benefits of behavioral economics.  It's a good read, and concisely makes the case for more behavioral research - go check it out.

Here's another excellent op-ed on the Times, this one by my personal favorite Paul Krugman.  In this article, Krugman attacks President Obama for his use of conservative framing when discussing the economy.  Well done, Paul!

Well, I'm on vacation so I'm getting the heck off of the computer.

-Cy

Minnesota Government shutdown suspends childcare assistance

Note: If you closely follow politics in Minnesota go ahead and skip the next two paragraphs.  If not, tune in and I'll explain some of the shenanigans that have been going on in this frozen, god-forsaken state...

In Minnesota's last election, Republicans took control of both the state House and Senate, while the Democratic candidate Mark Dayton was elected Governor - somewhat similar to the US's national government, but with the Republicans controlling the Senate as well as the house.  Unlike Obama, Mark Dayton came out with a strong budget proposal that would balance the state's budget with two thirds spending cuts and one third tax increases on the wealthiest 2% of Minnesotans (click here for excellent op-ed by Dayton explaining his position).  Republicans rejected this of course, though one would think they had already won with over half of the budget being balanced with spending cuts. The problem with that sentence is the word "think" - there's been altogether too little of that by anyone lately.

Anyway, Dayton and Republican leaders couldn't agree on a budget before the deadline, so the state government has shut down!  Governor Mark Dayton named a list of services that are considered "essential" that would continue during the shutdown, and all other state government functions would stop(which begs the question: If something is not "essential" then why do it in the first place?  But again, pretty much nothing in this whole mess makes SENSE.)  Child care assistance was not on the list of essential services.

Some background is in order on the Childcare Assistance Program, for those who are not in the know.  The Minnesota Department of Human Services' Child Care Assistance Program (commonly referred to as CCAP) pays tuition for over 100,000 low-income children in Minnesota.  These families rely on the program to pay for childcare so that they can go to work.  Without these payments, many families will not be able to afford high-quality childcare (which as I have mentioned here, here and here is extremely important!).  They will be forced to either get unlicensed childcare, which is at best less educational and structured than licensed programs, and at worst dangerous and neglectful of children, [Note: See comments for discussion of this sentence] or quit going to work - a terrible choice that no one should have to make.

In addition, family child care providers and childcare centers are both left not knowing what will happen with their CCAP families.  Many do not have the cash on hand to withstand a prolonged shutdown, and will have to close if there is not a compromise soon.  I personally have worked with providers that have a majority of their children on CCAP, and some childcare centers are almost all CCAP children.  Click here for an article from the Saint Cloud times (hat tip to Anna for the link) about what family childcare providers are going through.

There's some hope on the horizon, as Dayton has now asked that childcare be added to the list of essential services, but no one knows what the Judge will rule (link here).  The Republicans refuse to raise anymore money from at all from millionaires and billionaires, no matter who is hurt.  Sometimes I feel like Will Ferrell in Zoolander:

Support Katy's bike ride!

My friend Katy Petershack is going on a bike ride to support her local Boys and Girls Club in Wisconsin.  Sounds awesome!  Here's her facebook post:

I'm doing a 50 mile bike ride for the Boys and Girls Club here in Dane County. I would love your support as I try to reach my goal of raising $250 dollars. I'd appreciate any donation, even $5 would put me closer to my goal!! Click on the link if you'd like to donate! Thank you!

Click here to donate to help Katy reach her goal.


-Cy 

Interview with Tom Smith, Executive Director of Long Run Children's Learning Centers Center

I have been working with a Minneapolis-based nonprofit called First Children's Finance for about 8 months now.  We do a lot of training and consulting for childcare center directors, so when I remembered that my Uncle Tom is the Executive Director at a center in the Pittsburgh area, I thought I'd email him with a few questions for the first ever interview on this blog!  As I have mentioned before on this blog, early education and childcare is extremely important.  Here is the interview in full, with a few notes that I have added in.

Question 1:  How long have you worked for Long Run Children's Center, and what attracted you to work there?
A:  I assumed the position of Executive Director in August of 1999. The school opened in 1962, and the founder, Bertha Mae Chaplin, had been its only Director until she decided to retire. It was an attractive job for someone looking for an administrative position in early childhood – a well-established program in a brand-new building, NAEYC-accredited, and (at the time) well-supported financially.

Question 2:  What is the mission of Long Run and why is it important?
A:  The Mission Statement is too long to insert here; let me just say that the Center was created to provide preschool services for children with special needs, a population that was largely un-served at that time. In the years since, the service has evolved, and now consists of inclusive preschool classes which also offer benefits to local typically-developing children. We believe that preschool education in general is of critical importance to the future of our communities, and that no one should be excluded from the opportunity to maximize his or her potential. We also feel that the inclusive program supports broader understanding and tolerance, an outcome that has been reported by a number of “alumni” parents.

The Elroy-Sparta Trail, or not: Part 1

Ready to go...

As you may or may not know, a couple weeks ago I set out on a bicycle ride to Wisconsin.  I took lots of pictures and even wrote a bit about my trip in a journal (which of course I can't find anymore).  I planned to start from my backyard, bike all the way to Sparta, Wisconsin, camp out every night, and then bike back.  I was originally thinking of writing 7 entries on this blog about the trip starting right when I got back, but obviously that didn't happen.... So instead I'm just going to post about the trip when I can, until I've posted about the whole thing.  As always, click the pictures to see the full size, and leave comments if you want.  Here goes:

Knowing that I'd be carrying everything by bicycle for hundreds of miles, I wanted to minimize the weight of all my supplies.  So of course I ended up with more stuff than Jim Carrey before he got robbed by a little old lady:



Here's what my bike looked like before it was loaded up:

"tim pawlenty idiot" - An Historic Moment for this blog!

Just noticed today that now two people googling "tim pawlenty idiot" have now ended up on this site.  I could not be more proud.  Here's the post, for the record.  And here's the printscreen:

Oh, random strangers on the internet, thank you for googling "tim pawlenty idiot" and thank you for stopping by my blog.  I have to ask, though, why did you only peruse my blog for an average time of 32 seconds?  And why did you only view 1.5 pages per visit?

Perhaps I didn't go into enough detail on why Pawlenty is an idiot.  Perhaps you were unsatisfied with my post, thinking that it would be all about how idiotic Tim Pawlenty is, only to see one link to an article by Paul Krugman and a few other links to economics articles.  Well, I can understand that.  Please accept my humblest apologies.  And to rectify the situation, enjoy this hilarious video of Stephen Colbert making fun of Pawlenty's ridiculous campaign ad / Michael Bay movie trailer:

Gotta love Colbert.

-Cy

Pics from my Wisconsin bike ride!

As you may or may not know, I took the week of Memorial Day off and went on a bicycle tour to central Wisconsin.

Click here to see a bunch of the pictures I took during the trip if you're interested.  Apparently there's a monthly limit on how many pics you can post on Flickr, so I'll post the other half of the pictures next month I guess.  In the meantime, I'll organize them and post a few on facebook.  And I plan on writing a blog post for each day of the trip, too complete with stories, pics, and Youtube clips, as always!

So stay patient.  I've been busy/lazy but will try to get some stuff up this week.

-Cy

Another link round-up

I know it's been a while since I posted, and I should make up for that with a really cool, long post but I'm feeling lazy and lots of people have been emailing me interesting articles.  Here are the links:

• This article is from a Minnesota blog about the harm caused by the Bush tax policy in Minnesota.  Kinda short, but still interesting
• Here's a blog post over on Daily KOs about DEA hypocrisy - apparently they have been handing out licenses to pharmaceutical companies to grow marijuana while still placing a high priority on raiding semi-legal pot farms.  They are also trying to legalize some derived parts of marijuana so that Big Pharma can make a profit without competition from ordinary people.
• My buddy Justin sent me a link to this article over on NPR about raising taxes on the rich.  The article mentions that many millionaires have petitioned to pay more in taxes, then questions whether doing so would be "class warfare".  To see what I think about this, check out this post.
• This is not a link, but I fucking hate the term "class warfare".  Why is it that this term only gets busted out whenever fair taxes on the rich are proposed?  Here are a few examples of actual "class warfare":  Poor people and blacks deliberately targeted for subprime mortgage loans that they did not understand / could not afford.  Grossly underfunded schools in inner cities across the nation.  No access to health insurance for millions that can't afford it - and millions of people with health insurance having no access to care.  A volunteer military fighting wars for oil and other mysterious reasons made up of disproportionately poor and minority men.  I could go on, but there would be no room for anything else on this post.....
• Actually, I will go on!!  A failed and disastrous "War on Drugs" that has cost billions and disproportionately imprisoned millions of young minority men.
• And finally, something that Libertarians and I agree on - public funding for stadiums.  Here's a post on Forbes Blog (which I don't normally recommend, as I find it fucking stupid other than their post on the wealth of fictional characters, which is hilarious) about the city of Glendale, Arizona spending millions to keep their losing (games AND money) hockey team in town.  I love my sports teams but this is just straight up giving public money to sports team owners.

Okay, well that was actually pretty good for just a bunch of links right?  I am also currently uploading a bunch of photos from my recent week-long bike trip (more on that soon) to my new Flickr account, and should be able to post that in a couple minutes.

-Cy

I call chicken wings Lil' Flappers!

www.tomhaverfoods.com

That is all.

More tunes from the Replacements

So remember the other day when I told you I discovered the Replacements?  I liked them so much I wanted to post some more of their songs.  Here are three more of their songs that I liked a lot:

I like how he yells "YOU'RE MY FAVORITE THING!"

Bank accountability, or lack thereof

This post contains serious information, so I tried to include as many pictures/Raylan Givens videos/Sidney Crosby gifs as possible.  Enjoy!

Part 1:

Eric Schneider: For America!

There are some interesting articles over in the Rolling Stone magazine (hat tip to Dad for the article!) and the less flamingly-liberal New York Times about New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman opening an investigation of some of the major players in the financial crisis.  The AG "requested" documents from Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.  Read the full post to see what the consequences could be...

Progressive Values, Part 2: Universal Health Care

In the first post of this series, I outlined what a progressive tax system should look like.  I mentioned that fairly taxing the richest individuals and corporations among us would raise a lot of money for the US government.  One thing that this money should be spent on is a Universal Health Care or Medicare For All program.

Warning: This post is going to be intense!  If you get confused, just remember that health insurance companies are like fictional character Gordon Gecko in Wall Street (great movie, by the way):


 Gordon Gecko would argue that having private companies offer health insurance policies, is the best health care system.  That is what the US currently has.  Let's see how that's working for us:

This post is for mom

Because it was Mother's Day this past weekend, and because my mom did not care for the rap videos that I posted a while ago, this post is for you, mom!  Maybe you will like these videos better.

A year or two ago, I downloaded a few albums by The Replacements.  But I had never really listened to them.  Last week at work, I realized I was sick of all the things I usually listen to on my ipod, so I figured I'd give The Replacements a shot.  Turns out they're awesome!  Who knew?  Well apparently a lot of people, but not me.

My favorite song so far is Unsatisfied.  I like the sense of something missing - I think a lot of people feel this way about their life.  The lyrics are repetitive, but it works somehow:



My second favorite is Hold My Life.  I like the speed of this song, and the main hook is so catchy...It's been stuck in my head for days:



And finally, I also like this song a lot:



Happy late mother's day mom!  Thanks for taking care of me all of these years.

A ridiculous ride to the zoo

Last weekend, my girlfriend Anna and I decided that since we both like bike rides, and Anna likes zoos, we should combine both of these things with a bike ride to the Minnesota Zoo.  So I grabbed my new bike, and Anna grabbed her old one-speed, and off we went (click on any of the pictures for a bigger version):

I had a slight advantage, as I was riding a brand-new 21-speed touring bike, while Anna was riding this insanely heavy single speed bike.  It's about 40 miles to the zoo and back, and according to Google Maps it should take about two hours each way. Here's a map of the proposed route:

Notice how easy it is to cross the river on the map!

Progressive Values, Part I: A FairTax System

I will be doing a series over the next few weeks called Progressive Values.  In it, I will present the case for a progressive point of view on all sorts of different issues, including: Taxes, Education, "National Defense", the Financial Sector, and Transportation.

Warning: the rest of this post is about taxes, so here is a Beatles song to get you through:


Since George W. Bush became president, the US government has not raised enough tax revenue to fund its programs, and the US National Debt is currently over $14 trillion (trillion - that's twelve zeroes after the 14!). The tax system as a whole is regressive, with Warren Buffett and Fortune 400 members having a lower tax rate than their secretaries.  In addition, many corporations like GE pay little to nothing in taxes.

Since the 80's, however, the average Americans' income has stayed the same, and they have had to contend with rising costs of housing, education, food, transportation, and childcare.  If you are already rich, it is easy to invest your money and earn even more money.  But if you don't have very much right now, it's hard to even pay your bills, not to mention get ahead and save money.  The United States is one of the richest countries in the world, we can do better than that!

New features and such

Hello to whoever is reading this!  Just thought I'd let you know about a couple of gadgets that I've added to the blog recently. 

Over on the right side of this page, there's a link called follow by email.  Type your email address in there, click follow and you'll get an email any time I make a new post!  You can also follow the blog through your Blogger account.  I could add an RSS feed, but I don't really know anyone who actually uses that stuff......if you want an RSS button, let me know in the comments and I'll add one.

Here's some other cool things that I've added - Down towards the bottom on the right side is My Blog List.  This has a list of excellent bike and economics blogs for your consideration.  The Nudge blog has interesting psychology / behavioral economics stuff (based on the book Nudge, a great book which I will review when I get a chance).  Over on the NY Times site, Paul Krugman's blog and the economix blog have solid economic analyses, and five thirty eight is an awesome statistics blog.  On the bikes side, Kent's Bike Blog has stories from a bike shop worker and tourer, and One Gear One Cause is a blog by a biker who rides single-speed bikes to raise money for cancer research.  The blog list also has links to the most recent post from each blog.

And finally, don't forget to vote in the poll on the bottom right.  Seriously, it's important.

Paul Ryan lives in a fantasyland with lots of unicorns

I'm working on some big posts about Progressive taxes and health care, but those take a lotta time/research, so for now keep cool with some bike posts and links to Paul Krugman's (awesome) blog.

The best thing about writing on a blog is that I can say whatever I want!  If I want to call Tim Pawlenty an idiot, I can.  And if I want to say Paul Ryan lives in a world where the laws of mathematics do not apply, I can do that too!  In all seriousness though, Republican House Budget Committee Leader Paul Ryan's proposed budget is absurd.  Nothing in the budget is based on anything that occurs on the planet earth.

I live in a "fantasy world"

NY Times economist Paul Krugman has done an excellent job taking him to task for this on his blog. First, he wrote this post, about the budget having unemployment magically fall to 2.8%, a level not seen in this country since 1950. Here's one of the graph's in that post:

1. Pass Ryan Budget 2. ???? 3. Unemployment is 2.8% 

It's really just absurd - there's no basis in reality for this prediction.  Then Krugman posted this, in which a fairy waves a magic wand and Social Security costs half as much as it used to.  Here's the chart from that:



Notice how the circled line dips to 3.5%?

 Krugman had this to say about the chart:

Ryan is assuming that everything aside from health and SS can be squeezed from 12 percent of GDP now to 3 1/2 percent of GDP. That’s bigger than the assumed cut in health care spending relative to baseline; it accounts for all of the projected deficit reduction, since the alleged health savings are all used to finance tax cuts. And how is this supposed to be accomplished? Not explained.

And finally, Krugman posted this detailing the budget's insane housing predictions.  Ryan's budget expects housing construction in 2015 to be the same as it was at the height of the Housing Bubble - I somehow thought that ended poorly for a few people...   Really, Paul Ryan?  Really?!

Final Score: Krugman 3, Ryan 0

New Bike!

Fuckin' sweet, don't you think?

So I just paid a down payment of a couple hundred bucks on a Surly Long Haul trucker just like this at Free Wheel Bikes, a local bike store in Minneapolis.  They didn't have my size in stock (no surprise there) but are ordering it and should have it soon.  Exciting times, no?  The bike's official site is here.  The bike is built for long-distance rides (like these that I am planning), but should also be fine to ride around town.  It's got a steel frame which is a little heavier than a lot of new bikes, but still a damn sight lighter than my current Schwinn Le Tour...

I bought the complete bike, but am planning on switching out a few parts.  I'm thinking of switching out the drop handlebars for mustache bars like these:

 A bar like that would be more upright and hopefully more comfortable to ride in for a long time.  It's also got lots of different potential hand positions, which is good so your hands don't get numb/tingly.  I'm also thinking of switching to a Brooks leather saddle like this one:

 At first glance, it doesn't look to comfy, but supposedly these seats are awesome.  You have to keep them dry, and they take a while to break in, but once they do they mold to your butt.

Other than that, I think I'm just gonna take it as it comes.  What do you think?

Even The Onion knows more about the Economy than the GOP

http://www.theonion.com/articles/gop-completely-fixes-economy-by-canceling-funding,19897/

7 reasons to participate in the 30 days of Biking Challenge



A 30 days of biking participant bikes along the West River Parkway.  Cool shot, no?

Around this time last year, bicyclists Patrick Stephenson and Zachariah Schaap created the 30 days of biking challenge to spark interest in biking among their friends.   The rules are this: Ride your bike for 30 days in a row, and share your experience online.  It doesn't matter how far you ride, just do it.  Their challenge went viral, and the challenge this year is getting about 100 tweets per hour (Star Tribune).  I saw this and immediately thought I should participate.  You should, too!  Here are 7 reasons why (I know I should have done 30 reasons, but that seemed like too much work):
1.  Exercise: Biking is good exercise - it gets your heart pumping, builds muscle in your legs, and can help you lose weight (though I'm a scrawny motherfucker, so I don't worry about that).

2.  Pollution / Fossil Fuels: Riding your bike doesn't pollute the air or use fossil fuels.  'Nuff said.

3.  Price:  The price of gas is about $3.50/ gallon and rising.  Not to mention thousands of dollars to insure and maintain a car.  And paying for accidents.  A bus pass in Minneapolis will cost $2/trip, or like $90/month.  A bike just costs a couple hundred initially, and then a few bucks every couple months to maintain.

4.  Convenience: You don't have to wait at a particular stop for a bus coming at a particular time.  You also don't have to deal with quarters for a parking meter or pay for a spot in a parking garage.

4.  Sharing is Caring: Sharing your pictures and stories will help motivate you to do something you like more often.

5.  Commutes: Bicycle commuters are part of an efficient transportation system.  Bikes take up less space than cars, and can ease congestion on crowded streets.

6.  Habits: Automatic habits take around 66 days to form (link).  Biking every day for 30 days will get you well on your way to forming a healthy and cheap habit.

7.  Fun: Riding your bike is fun!

Around the blogs: Is econ. a discipline?, Tim Pawlenty is an idiot, and the bystander effect

First, check out this blog post by UC Berkeley economist J. Bradford Delong about the Chicago School of Economics.  Neoclassical / "Chicago School" economists believe that the economy is in a long-term equilibrium, with any unemployment simply the result of a shock that hasn't been adjusted to.  No government action is required to manage the economy.  Keynesian economists believe that as people's spending habits change, the economy will have natural peaks and valleys, and that government action is needed to help the economy out of recessions.

You might think that the The Great Depression and the current recession alone would be enough to prove the Chicago School wrong, and they would have long faded into the background.  In a sane world, they would have!  But as the book Zombie Economics details, some ideas just won't die...

Next, go on over to my favorite columnist Paul Krugman's post here.  Tim Pawlenty, former MN governor, is running for president and decided recently that he'd talk some shit about monetary policy.  Paul Krugman takes him to task - here's the money quote:

Now, it’s perfectly clear, even from that small bit, that Pawlenty has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about

Love it.

Finally, click here for a sweet video about the bystander effect over on the Nudge blog (expanded from the book Nudge, which is a great read).  The bystander effect basically states that no one offers help during an emergency when lots of other people are present.  Interesting that it could also apply to things other than emergency help, such as picking up litter.  By the way, if they did that experiment in my neighborhood, all those people might have to wait a couple decades for their trash to get picked up...

Education and Transportation, or lack thereof

Warren Buffett makes it rain!  Read on to see why I posted a picture of  Buffett...

I was reading the Star Tribune, and I saw a few articles that caught my attention.  On the same page of the paper, there was an article about how the Republican-dominated MN Legislature wants to cut the state's higher education budget and the K-12 and Pre-kindergarten budget. (Sidenote: The higher ed bill is sponsored by Michelle Fishbach, no relation to Michelle Bachman.  What is it with this state and people named Michelle bach-something?)  Now, this was not in today's people, but these same Republicans also also want to cut funding for public transportation.

Never mind that the wage gap between educated and uneducated workers is increasing.  Never mind that education in schools is supposed to prepare the next generation of workers.  Never mind that early education provides the highest return on investment of any public spending.  Never mind that the University of Minnesota's research helped create Minnesota's thriving Medical devices industry.  Never mind that public transportation system allows people to get to work and contribute to the economy - and is in fact supported by businesses!  No, these things aren't important, right?

Republicans say that cuts such as these are necessary to close the state's $5.1 Billion deficit.  Horse shit.  What we need to do is reform the tax code so that the wealthy pay their fair share.  By his own admission, Warren Buffett pays a lower percentage of his income in taxes than his secretary does.  Buffett even bet $1 MILLION that no Fortune 500 CEO pays a higher percent of their income in taxes than their receptionist.  So far no one's taken his bet.  And over in New York, billionaire residents of a luxury building pay more than their janitors.

Why does this happen, you ask?  Well for starters, much of wealthy people's income is capital gains, which is taxed at 15% no matter how much money they make.  In addition, hedge fund managers are often allowed to defer their income, allowing them to earn compound interest on his money before paying taxes.  Don't ask me why on that one.  Rich people like Buffett also can take advantage of all the deductions in our tax code - mortgage interest, business travel, etc.  In addition, though Federal Income tax is generally progressive, state and local taxes are heavily regressive - the poor pay a much higher % of their income on sales and other local taxes.

Well, that was a long post, but if you're confused just remember this:

We can afford and must provide good public education and transport services - we just need billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes!

Sweet music videos: 6 foot 7 foot and Freaks and Geeks

I try to keep this blog on topic for the most part, but we all have to be entertained sometime, right? Check out this Lil' Wayne video:



I didn't like this song at first, but it grew on me for some reason.  You gotta watch and listen closely - Lil Wayne acts out close to every bar of the rap.  Dude who raps after him sucks, though.  Still the coolest music video in a while, if you ask me.  My favorite bar is: You know father time / We all know mother nature / It's all in the family but I am of no relation

The beat's sick, too.  Squash banana!

Here's another video - this one's by Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover:



I discovered this when one of my friends was listening to this in a car the other day.  I know Donald Glover from Community, and from his sketches back when he was on College Humor, of which my favorite was bro rape.  So when I heard he was a rapper, I thought it might be joke rap, a la Lonely Island (who are hilarious by the way).  But Donald Glover is serious about his Childish Gambino project, and he's actually got some skill.  Favorite line: You get sloppy drunk, I stay whiskey neat / Your clique should be cancelled, Freaks and Geeks

I gotta go to work so I'm out, peace.

JJ's Workers Union Update - 6 Jimmy John's Employees Fired

This is the JJ Workers Union logo - gotta love the cats, they are sweet!

It's been a while since I posted about the Minneapolis JJ's union election, and there have been a few updates.  First, 6 union organizers were fired, ostensibly for posting copies of this poster at Jimmy John's stores:

Franchise owner and overall douchebag Rob Mulligan claimed that the posters were defamatory, and "clearly crossed the line of protected activity".  While I'm sure he wasn't too happy to see these posters up at his shops, the union has a point.  

JJ's store policy is that you cannot call in sick.  If you are sick, you are supposed to call around and find a replacement worker.  However, if you wake up and notice that you are sick, the chances of you actually being able to find a replacement worker are pretty fucking slim.  So what do people do?  They go to work sick, which is unsafe for customers and coworkers, not to mention shitty for the sick person.

I'm also not sure this is the real reason for their firing.  In the Minneapolis Starbucks unionization drive, union organizers were fired and then rehired numerous times.  I think it's a scare tactic to lower support for the union, should they chose to call for another election.

The union responded to these firings, however, by filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.   In this complaint, they argued that the 6 fired employees were "engaging in protected concerted activity".  To be honest, I don't know the particulars of how they will decide.  If you know the law, let me know in the comments!

I have been considering writing a rap about working at Jimmy John's.  If over half of the responses to this poll are yes, then I will record this rap and post it on the blog:

Should I write a Jimmy John's rap?

Happynomics - England creates national happiness index

David Cameron, England's Prime Minister, has devised a system for tracking their national happiness :) - see this article from the Irish Times or this from the NY Times).  Apparently they want to ask a portion of their population four questions:

1. How happy did you feel yesterday?  

2. How anxious did you feel yesterday?  

3. How satisfied are you with your life nowadays? 

4. To what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?

They will then add up all the responses and calculate and publish an index quarterly, similarly to the way Gross Domestic Product (national spending) is looked at now.  The article mentions that there comes a point (I believe research has estimated it at about $70,000 annual income) when increased wealth no longer makes people happier.  At this point, enough is enough, and the law of Diminishing Returns begins to set in.  For example, buying a house when you used to be homeless might make you a lot happier!  But buying a second house after the first one, probably not as much.

My take: I think this is a great idea!  For too long, countries have used GDP and GDP per capita as one of the only ways of measuring how the country is doing.  As to how this could affect public policy, research shows that after basic needs are met, happiness is more affected by relative income - so governments should try to preserve income equality.  Being happy is also a more ambitious goal than "maximizing gdp", because it takes into account the environment, culture, infrastructure, commutes, and mood of a place and time.  And who would argue that a country would be worse off if their GDP decreased but they became happier?  For some more examples of the shortcomings of GDP I will leave you with this quote from one of my heroes Robert Kennedy:

"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."

Epic Bike ride(s!) in the works

Most of my posts have been pretty serious lately, and they've all been about politics/economics and such.  My only recent post about bikes was this one, and that one was definitely a Debbie Downer too.  So because it's finally looking somewhat like spring outside, I want to tell you about a few bike rides I am planning.

First, early this summer I want to take a week off work and bike over to Wisconsin and back.  I haven't traveled on my own since I went to Oaxaca, Mexico (which I highly recommend - cool place, and the food is delicious!) when I was in high school.  I want to get out on my own and just explore.  I'll probably have to figure out a basic route, but other than that I want to be able to just go wherever the wind may take me (which may be to get some beer and cheese - I hear that's what they do in Wisconsin).  I'll pack a bunch of food and water, and camp out in the woods at night.

Later in September, I'm planning to go on a ride to Duluth, Minnesota with my mom and girlfriend.  It should be a few day's ride each way, so we'll have to take another week off work.  Duluth is right on the coast of Lake Superior, but this "lake" is more like an ocean.  The water keeps going past the horizon, as far as you can see.  I'm thinking September will be a good time for a ride because it won't be as hot as July/August, but October is kind of too late because it could be snowing already, which would SUCK.

Well, thanks for reading!  Not sure what you will get out of this, but hopefully you were entertained.  Speaking of being entertained, I'm off to go watch some Justified, which is a sweet show.

Economics in the News: Early Education bill is introduced in MN Legislature

I was surprised to see this article in the normally conservative Twin Cities paper the Star Tribune the other day.  The Minnesota Legislature is introducing an bill that plans to restructure how the state spends its $400 million early education funds.  Impressively, the bill has bipartisan support and will likely pass.

The article does a good job stating the need for this money - in Minnesota, half of children are not ready for kindergarten at age 5, and like I mentioned in this post, preschool/head start programs generate a 16 to 1 return on investment over time.  Just think about that!  16 to 1!  As in every $1 that we invest eventually earns $16.

So how much of the state's budget is devoted to early education spending?  Less than one percent.  And this bill, though it does help increase quality child care programs and access to childcare for poor people, does not increase the amount of spending.  In Kurt Vonnegut's words, So it goes...


PS. I am doing my taxes, and it looks like I'll be getting $300 as part of the extension of the "Bush Tax Cuts" / Bush Spending on Rich Motherfuckers and Corporations (BSRMC).  Yeah, that's right, I just made that an acronym.  So I should be happy I get this $300, right?  Well, seeing as the BSRMC will cost $3.7 TRILLION over the next 10 years and there are 300 million people in the US, 3.7Trillion/300 million/10 years = $1,233.  The way I see it, W. owes me about $900.  I accept personal checks and/or cash.  Oh, and the BSRMC did not stimulate the economy, either.

Lil wayne says it best:

CRA-A-A-A-ZY Driver in Brazil hits 20 Bicyclists!!

(Hat tip to Brian DeMarco for showing me this video)


The above video took place at a Critical Mass gathering in Porto Alegre, Brazil.  (If you're not in the know, Critical Masses are large bicycle rallies where bikers take over an entire street).  Here's a link to a more detailed article about this...

Thankfully, no one was killed, but 12 people were hospitalized because of this crazy motherfucker.  Almost as disturbing as the driver's lack of empathy were the Porto Alegre police chief's remarks:

"This is no Libya," said the chief, Gilberto Almeida Montenegro. "Here we have complete freedom to protest, as long as you tell authorities. Do your protest, but don't interfere in the flow of automobiles. If you interfere, there will be confusion, chaos and accident."
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/bicycle/detail?entry_id=84019#ixzz1FPbuoLRi

Can you believe that?!  Some nutcase runs over a bunch of people peacefully riding bicycles, and the police chief blames it on "confusion, chaos, and accident"!  Un-be-fucking-lievable.  Imagine if someone had taken a gun out, shot, and wounded 12 people - hard to imagine that being called an accident.

To be fair, sometimes I get a little annoyed at people riding on bikes on the road, too.  For example, for a while in Minneapolis, every Friday afternoon there was a "Critical Mass" during rush hour that just happened to be on my way back from work.  These bikers held up everyone's commute every week for an extra 45 minutes, and for what?  I support their right to be on the road, but I don't think they accomplished anything but pissing a bunch of people off.

But I wouldn't drive my car through a bunch of them.  As ODB would say, that's enough to make someone go CRA-A-A-A-A-ZY

Links, links, links

Well, I don't have time to make a full post today, so here are a few links that you may find interesting:

Economics:

• Check out this link to some research on child care spending multipliers in PA.  (Hat tip to my Uncle Tom for the link!)  Note that the multiplier is one of the highest compared to the ones from my last post about stimulus spending, which implies that public spending in early education is an effective way to stimulate the economy
• Here's a link to an economics paper by Art Rolnick and Rob Grunewald at the Minneapolis FED showing the extraordinary long-run returns of investing in early education
• Check out Paul Krugman's (my favorite NY Times columnist) take on the Wisconsin situation.  I don't really know where I stand on this issue, but I think Krugman makes some good points.

Bikes:

• Haven't had anything about bikes on here lately, so here's another NY Times article about the (relatively) new bike lanes in NYC.  This is from their room for debate series, with different folks arguing the issue.  Note that Caroline Samponoro is the only one in the debate who backs up her article with statistics....
• Some cool stuff here about winter bikers in Minneapolis.  I had to bike all through winter last year at Jimmy John's, and I've been biking to work this winter, too because I am too impatient to wait for the bus......

Coming soon:

In the coming weeks, my girlfriend Anna and I will be having a rap battle.  I will win.

More on this as it develops....

Mark Dayton's Minnesota budget: Taxes

Several days ago, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, (who did NOT take six months to be sworn in, - I'm looking at you, Al Franken!)  released his proposed budget for the state of Minnesota.  Here's a summary of his budget:

• Through increased income tax and property taxes, the richest 5% of Minnesotans will pay an additional $4 billion
• Education: Increased funding for K-12 education by $37 million, mostly to fund more full-day Kindergartens
• Early Education: Funds a quality rating system for early child educators
• Health Care: Eliminate eligibility for MinnesotaCare for people making over $20,000 and raise the surcharge on health care providers
• State Agencies: Reduces state workforce by 6%
• This is not a part of the budget, but Dayton is also proposing $1 billion for new public works and construction spending.

Keep in mind that Minnesota currently is $6 billion in debt, and Republicans currently control both houses of the Minnesota legislature.  Since it's getting late, tonight I'm only going to talk taxes.  I'll try to make some more posts in the coming days about the other parts of the budget.  So here goes:

I have to give credit to Dayton for having the guts to raise taxes, which is never a politically popular move.  Despite what republican politicians say, lowering taxes is among the least effective ways to stimulate the economy.  For proof, check out this table from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office!

As you can see, tax cuts to lower/middle income people come in with a multiplier of .6 to 1.5, tax cuts to high-income people have a multiplier of .2 to .6, while on the high end "Purchases of Goods and Services by the Federal Government" has a multiplier of 1 to 2.5.

So what do all these multipliers mean?  Basically, if you want to stimulate the economy in the short run (which god knows we need right now...), a tax cut is among the least effective ways to do it, while increasing government spending is the best!  In addition, it's hard to argue that the richest 5% of Minnesotans will be seriously hurt by a tax increase.  Cry me a river, and buy one less yacht.......

Jimmy John's Workers Union

Hello to anyone who may be reading this!  It's been a long time since I last updated this blog.  Since I last posted, I have gotten a new job and quit my old job as a bicycle delivery guy at Jimmy John's.  Read the full post to see what's been going on there since I left...