February 28, 2005
Color me surprised
Ted Rall
admitting that he was wrong?!?!?!?! Holy shit! Excerpt(and this may be the first time that I've willingly linked to Ted Rall):
Those of us who identify with the left must set an example by seizing the moral high ground on this point. While I still stand by my chapter in WAKE UP, YOU'RE LIBERAL about dirty politics, threats of violence are where we should not go. And we should call our friends on it if and when they do it.
Here are, as part of the challenge wrap up, some entries from over the weekend submitted by rigt-wingers. (No need to send more, folks, and thanks for playing! I, for one, feel enlightened if a little soiled.)
...
Don't doubt, my fellow progressives, that there are more--many more--where these came from. I have about 20 more acceptable entries along these lines. And I received a few that were so ugly that I won't even post them because they were so racist and bigoted that I'm afraid people might think *I'd* posted them.
P.S. Some people have asked whether I checked these links to make sure they were authentic. Answer: of course.
The challenge is met, I am depressed and disgusted, and now I'm going to grab my first cup of coffee.
Give the guy kudos(::gag:: Can't believe I'm saying that) for not attempting to spin this too much and for decrying the sheer animalistic hatred being espoused by his leftist kinsmen. Thanks to Jonathan Hawkins for the link.
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Before you give the guy too many kudos maybe you should check out his cartoon for today. I don't know if it's a new personal low for him, but it's close.
Posted by: Jim at February 28, 2005 09:34 PM (DU92j)
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My employer pays for my computer and he would be none too happy if I barfed all over it. I think I'll skip the Rall cartoon today. Come to think of it, that'll make today like every other day.
Posted by: physics geek at March 01, 2005 01:50 PM (Xvrs7)
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Really, I can't even read Rall's crap - even to mock it - because it's just SO screechingly unfunny.
Reading it makes me feel all sad inside, like when I see a homeless guy sitting in a doorway mumbling to himself as he sqats in a puddle of his own urine.
Posted by: Harvey at March 02, 2005 06:14 PM (tJfh1)
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This week's sign that the Apocalypse is upon us
Watch
The Dukes of Hazzard every night on television. Post on TDOH blog. Attend TDOH festivals.
Receive $100k annual salary. ?Thanks? to
Wizbang for the link.
Why couldn't it have been Vice President of the Buffy/Angel Institute? I'd be soooo there.
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If your stuff doesn't stink
Then this might be the toilet for you:
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Quote of the day
From
Hog On Ice:
What are you monkeys clapping for? The fact that he called terrorism victims “little Eichmanns” or the fact that he lied about being an Indian? Liberals, I have some news that may floor you: the fact that conservatives hate someone doesn’t mean he’s not a mammoth asshole. And Ward is an asshole you could build a suspension bridge across. An ordinary asshole is to Ward Churchill as a colonoscope is to a Greyhound bus with a camcorder on the dashboard.
I haven't bothered to comment on this particular douchebag because I don't find him all that interesting. Hypocrisy, self-importance, anti-Americanism, lies: these are the tools in trade of modern leftist academia. In my opinion, Churchill's comments are getting more press because he actually made them on record. Most crap like this simply passes beneath the radar. And while I think he's a reprehensible, lying sack of shit, I don't really care what happens to him. The fact that he's drawing a paycheck from the University of Colorado would bother me if I lived there. As it is, I'm getting a big kick out of watching the university get it's reputation besmirched by someone that should never have been hired. At least with the national press' attention, a few more people around the country might wake up and realize what kind of instruction their children are getting for 20+ grand a year. And that would be a good thing.
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And the crapsack will be appearing at the University of Wisconsin - Whitwater, about 20 miles from my house, this Tuesday.
I'm tempted to go there dressed up as the Lone Ranger and then shout at him, "Tonto! Where the hell have you been?"
Posted by: Harvey at February 28, 2005 06:51 PM (tJfh1)
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"Tonto! Can you tell me why Silver acts nervous when you're around?"
Posted by: physics geek at February 28, 2005 07:56 PM (Xvrs7)
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February 25, 2005
Things To Do While Your Coworkers Are On Vacation
Received via email this morning(click extended entry):
Update: Welcome Delphi Forum readers! Stick around and visit some more; I love the company.
more...
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These are so funny. The paper one reminds me of what we did to a co-worker... including giving him a ceiling. ;-)
Posted by: vw bug at February 25, 2005 07:05 PM (xRFyn)
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Hadn't seen the keyboard through the desk one before.
Love it :-)
Posted by: Harvey at February 25, 2005 07:26 PM (tJfh1)
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I like to take a screen capture of Monster.com and make it their wallpaper.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at February 25, 2005 11:29 PM (U3CvV)
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At an undisclosed place where I worked, some guys found a batch of old high-power flashbulbs in a storeroom. They were the size of regular light bulbs, and had standard light bulb bases. And if you screwed one into a fixture and flipped the switch on, you got a flash that would leave you blind for a couple of minutes, and would pop the circuit breaker.
So, did they donate the bulbs to the Smithsonian? No. They went into the office of the guy on vacation, and replaced every one of his light bulbs.
Posted by: Bob Hawkins at February 28, 2005 08:13 PM (2LKPp)
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makes me want a cubicle.
Posted by: Joel Williamson at February 28, 2005 09:19 PM (hvRZM)
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I heard a story about a bunch of students at Aberystwyth University in Wales. One of their number was away for a while, so they jemmied his door, turfed the room from wall to wall, and watered and maintained the new grass with great care. The day before he was due back, they kidnapped a sheep. When the guy comes back, he opens his door to find a well-kept lawn with a sheep contentedly munching the grass. Of course, I have no idea whether this actually happened, but it's too good to check.
Posted by: David Gillies at March 02, 2005 03:09 AM (WYjGZ)
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IOW attack!Wackity whack!
Posted by: IOW at May 19, 2005 08:49 PM (u2Vdk)
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Great stuff, but I loved the one that showed the cubicle filled to the brim in styrofoam peanuts.
And
I think the monitor should becom a chia pet as well.
Funny
clay
Posted by: Claynstone at May 27, 2005 06:22 PM (mt46F)
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This was not a cube but a car. A person bought 5 bags of Ladybugs from the garden store and let thm loose in the car. I was cool inslde. Well he got nmost of them out but a week later when it got hotter, he turned on the AC and dead bugs flew into his facfe. Lucky he was parked.
Posted by: Chris P. Bacon at August 09, 2005 12:53 AM (Z64LW)
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oh my gosh thats some funny stuff :]
whenever i deside to park myself in a cubicle ill remind myself to never go on vacation!
xoxox karebare xoxox
Posted by: karebare at August 26, 2005 06:41 PM (RrGDK)
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Don't screw with the pizza guy
As someone who delivered pizzas during my junior year in high school, I can relate to
this story, where an intrepid reporter sat down to have a discussion with six pizza delivery men. Excerpt:
He knows more about you than you will ever know about him. There are the tangibles: your name, your address, your phone number. And there are the countless intangibles. If he has worked in the racket for a few years--and a decade's labor on the pizza road is not so unusual--he has glimpsed the insides of thousands of homes and apartments. He has borne witness to unimaginable squalor. He has breathed in the stink from your unemptied garbage and your beige urine-soaked carpets. He has gawked at the regal excess of your Lake of the Isles mansion. He has made countless numbing visits to your bleak, ill-lit shithole apartment. He has even caught the scent of the hydroponic marijuana you furtively cultivate under grow lights in the basement.
You should know this: If you stiff the pizza man, he will hate you. There are Nazis. There are baby rapists. And there is that vast class of indifferent, callous swine who stiff the pizza man. Same shit, different name. On the other hand, if you do him up right--prompt exchange, $5 tip--the pizza man will sing your praises to his fellow drivers. If you tip him extravagantly--say, $20 or more on a large order--he will personally arrange an audience with the pope to make the case for your beatification. To the pizza man, the tip is the thing.
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For the good customers, I didn't even mind picking them up a pack of smokes or some beer on occasion :-)
Posted by: Harvey at February 25, 2005 07:42 PM (tJfh1)
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I had a couple of customers GIVE me beer. Back then, the drinking age was 18, so no problem.
I think I got the better end of the deal.
Posted by: physics geek at February 25, 2005 08:26 PM (Xvrs7)
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February 24, 2005
How well do you know your money?
Can you select the
correct image of a penny?
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Congratulations! You've made the right choice. - I was amazed at how many people selected the coin with Lincoln facing the wrong way.
Posted by: vw bug at February 24, 2005 09:21 PM (aCuoh)
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I got it right, too. I didn't bother to check how many others selected. Really, though: how can you not know that Lincoln faces to your right? Unless you don't actually live in the US, that is.
Posted by: physics geek at February 24, 2005 09:37 PM (Xvrs7)
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Got it in one.
Considering I work at a bank, I would've been REALLY embarrassed to have missed that :-)
Posted by: Harvey at February 25, 2005 07:45 PM (tJfh1)
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February 23, 2005
Text adventure games
Michele goes into the wayback machine and discusses Adventure(akaColossal Cave) and Zork. If you aren't familiar with
plugh or
xyzzy, then you've been missing out.
You see a fierce green dragon.
>Kill dragon
With what, your bare hands?
>Yes
Congratulations. You've just killed a fierce green dragon with your bare hands. Amazing, isn't it?
And by the way, that dwarf really pissed me off. A lot.
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I once was deep into diagnosing a wierd software problem in a humongous Fortran program written all in double precision integer. I reduced it to a simple test program:
I=1
J=-1
K=I*J
Print K
and K kept coming out -2
After pounding on all the fixed point diagnostics, calls to DEC, I finally realized that although the program was all integer, the run-time multiply routine used the floating point processor to do double precision integer math, and the FPP was bad. A replacement of a board of the FPP fixed it.
With all the number crunching we were doing, the problem only appeared when you tried to fill your bottle with oil from the east end of twopit room (to oil the rusty hinges of the treasure chamber,) but no matter what you did, you got a bottle filled with water instead of oil.
Posted by: Frank Borger at February 24, 2005 09:02 PM (HhQC8)
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The dates are set
Do you know where you're going to be on September 29 through October 1? I know
where I'm going to be. That is, if the chief gives me permission. My streak of six consecutive GABFs was interrupted by the birth of my second child last year; there will be no similar interruptions this year.
Three whole days of nothing but drinking beer, talking to other beer lovers, drinking beer, eating, drinking beer, releasing great gobs of methane into the atmosphere. It just doesn't get any better than that. Oh, and did I mention the drinking of beer?
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Pleasure...
...or
business? Could be both, perhaps. Mrs. du Toit has a post up that's piqued my interest. Maybe you'll be intrigued as well.
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February 22, 2005
New to the blogroll
Dean links to
an article at
Whiteperil.com which, I believe, everyone should read. At least, everyone with an open mind in the debate. Just my opinion, of course. Anyway,
a new site has been added to the blogroll.
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ok...after reading what fluffybunny has had to say...i had to make a posting of my own...I am in an area that has been declared under eminent domain...so when you state that 'real estate is different from personal property'. I do not see the distinction. MY HOME IS MY PERSONAL PROERTY, AND VIEWED AS REAL ESTATE, THE CITY'S LIL MONEY MAKER. I would just like to post some information that i released to the press. As well as findings upon these (as you would have believe) innocent developers and city's that just want to do the right thing.....
I am not sure where to begin, so I will just get down to brass tactics so to speak…I am a new homeowner, my home is a 100 year old craftsman house. Which we purchased approx. 8 months ago, and started to restore to its original glory. To my horror on June 26th 2004 I was informed by the neighbor that the city plans to demolish the homes in the area, to continue their “Uptown Re-development” project, they have already started demolishing homes behind us, and have taken out a number of homes a street over, they have not been sending notices out as they stated they were, they want to demolish 430 acres of homes affecting thousands of property owners to put in parking lots and commercial buildings, also this is not an isolated event, for instance currently in Riverside county the city of Murrieta also has a re-development project ongoing to consume a number of acreage also, as well as Norco stated by the press enterprise pertaining to re-zoning publishing date of 7-28-04, all cities officials state when asked what this means for the project areas…..(in the san Bernardino area in particular) they state that this does not affect us, however of the 2 notices I personally received(after being informed by my neighbor) both notices blatantly state my street and to ‘vacate the street’ they are stating that the area has ‘non-specific symptoms of blight’ when asked what they consider symptoms of blight, they will not answer, they took photos of the area to prove their point of a ‘blighted area’ however some of the properties they took photos of to prove their point are city acquired properties! Non-project areas get street sweeping services, we have not had a street sweeper come down this street in the whole duration I have lived here….the city doesn’t even clean the refuge from their own lots….which makes our neighborhood looks deplorable, we are tired of cleaning the cities lots for them. They have listed us on the ‘Cortese’ list of hazardous waste and substances for our drinking water, yet at the end of that same paragraph by their own admission they state there is nothing above drinking water standards. We believe that they are trying to do a ‘taking’ at this point, by zoning the area commercial zoning, and also reinstating eminent domain. They held the last public meeting on July 19th 2004, they have closed all other meetings from this point forward due to the turnout of concerned residents until they will reopen the meetings on august 16th,I get the distinct feeling they will render their final decision at that point, this project in the san Bernardino area has been ongoing since 1986 with eminent domain being instated and expiring…they want to reinstate eminent domain for another 12 years….in that time we can not sale our homes without legally disclosing that fact, who would buy a home that is going to be demolished? I know I wouldn’t had we known. We are very fearful for our homes, they are not telling us the truth, they are being deceptive in their tactics, I can not believe that the tactics that they are employing are being accepted as a whole by the city, this is horrendous that in this day and age these tactics are still acceptable, they should not be tolerated in any fashion, our constitutional rights are being violated. We desperately need help, at this point I do not know where to turn anymore…I have personally printed up flyers which I walked around to most of the project area and handed out myself trying to bring awareness to the area of this situation, most did not have any knowledge of this just as I did not. I have alerted the local papers and news media, the local paper took the story. The news media has not yet returned my calls since I last spoke with them, I can not stress enough how much this needs to get out to the public…I also phoned the historical society, they stated they can not do anything, I phoned an eminent domain attorney, they want a large retainer we don’t have, most of the community is Hispanic, we do not have much money, we just purchased our home, and put all of our money into restorations. I hope you will be able to help us in bringing public awareness to this issue that is an ongoing problem for the united states as a whole….this can happen to anyone at anytime, when they pass eminent domain (condemnation) to obtain properties, they have a 12 year time frame for their project…it expires then they reinstate it again? When does it end? Does it ever end? Should they be allowed to whittle away at a communities character, force of will and determination for 50+ years? And then the problem becomes the legacy/burden of the children?, this is a very large portion of the city of san Bernardino, ca. and a good portion of murietta that they want to uproot.
So, when you state about the cities and governments general goodwill and intentions, i think we know all to well, from experience. So personally, until you have had your business or your property declared (a war zone essentially, since thats what it looks like around here now, thanx to them!)we/I, the victims in greedy plot to undermine the rights of property owners and the american dream, dont want to hear it.
Posted by: Carolyn at June 26, 2005 05:32 AM (qPSPg)
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What it all means
I'm watching
Kelo vs. City of New London closely. The outcome of this case, should Ms. Kelo lose, will have negative and lasting repercussions, far beyond what a Kerry victory this past November would have brought.
Professor Bainbridge puts it best:
After news of Napoleon's victory in the Battle of Austerlitz was conveyed to British Prime Minister William Pitt's, Pitt pointed to a map of Europe and said: "Roll up the map; it will not be wanted these ten years." If the Supreme Court sides with New London, we might just as well roll up the Bill of Rights, for we won't need it any longer.
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Real estate has many failings when it comes to our collective belief in the free market. Are you in favor of externalities and market failures?
Posted by: Fluffy Bunny at February 22, 2005 10:10 PM (4m7UP)
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I'm not certain that I understand your point. Please try and clarify.
Posted by: physics geek at February 23, 2005 02:19 AM (lFYIM)
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Real estate is intrinsically different than personal property. Its value is dependent not only upon the materials that are present on the property, but also upon its location.
What is the relevancy of location with respect to this discussion? The most obvious example is access. We want to be able to gain access to our property. We want to travel to other property. Thus, we have public roads. That's right, public roads. Public roads are antithetical to the free market, are they not? But I dare say that no one who has posted comments would say that we should get rid of public roads. In addition, location is not something that can is easily replaceable. If I need some steel, it doesnÂ’t matter from where or from whom I get the steel, it only matters that I get the steel. But if I need a 32 acre piece of land for a factory, it does matter where I get that 32 acres. 32 acres in the Outback of Australia ainÂ’t the same as 32 acres in New London, CT. The response may be, well if you pay enough money, the free market will provide you with the 32 acres. But that is obviously not true, is it, because New London is in the Supreme Court.
Another intrinsic difference between real and personal property is that our uses of real property have lots of externalities. Both statutory and common law are replete with well-established property conditions/uses that are nuisances and thus impermissible. And uses/conditions that were not nuisances when they were first created can become nuisances because of other encroaching users. (i.e. a rooster breeder that has become surrounded by suburban homes, see also http://www.cortland.edu/polsci/boomer.html).
Third, and finally, a healthy, vibrant, livable community requires different uses. You wouldn't want a community with only homes or just gas stations. Many people make the argument, that the free market will correct those uses. And to a certain degree, yes, the free market will work towards a balance. But not always. The free market makes mistakes, lots of mistakes. And mistakes made regarding real property are not easily corrected by the free market. For example, a shopping mall built in a location that cannot sustain it and is doomed to failure, will sit vacant, because it is too expensive to operate. And the owner, having sunk millions of dollars into it, will hold it for years if not decades waiting the best time to reopen it or sell it. Meanwhile, the community is left to suffer the effects of carcass that is the shopping center.
In addition, some uses or improvements to real property are not mistakes at the time they are made, but there failure to be updated becomes a failure. For example, houses that were built in the 1930s, 40s, & 50s are completely different in design than houses constructed today. But those houses will not be renovated or demolished and rebuilt until the neighborhoods have become completely bombed out.
So, what does this have to do with the Kelo case. Because of externalities and market failures, the Kelo's use of their property cannot be viewed in a vacuum, isolated from changes in the economy, surrounding land uses, building standards/construction. For society to effectively deal with externalities and the market failures of real property, eminent domain may have to be used when all other land use regulations (i.e. zoning, nuisance, etc.) have failed.
Frankly, all of the issues that I've discussed are the underpinnings of zoning, nuisance, urban renewal/community redevelopment programs. If you accept the legality/necessity of eminent domain for those land use programs, making the leap to the economic development program put in place by New London is not that hard.
I feel that much of the backlash against eminent domain comes from the failure to understand that real property is not like personal property.
That doesnÂ’t mean I donÂ’t think that the KeloÂ’s arenÂ’t entitled to substantial compensation.
I want to make clear, I'm not for government supported real estate, or tax subsidies, and I think governments are really bad being real estate developers. But I do think that governments are, in many instances, the only instruments that can correct market failures.
Posted by: Fluffy Bunny at February 23, 2005 03:03 AM (qHZfH)
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"If you accept the legality/necessity of eminent domain for those land use programs, making the leap to the economic development program put in place by New London is not that hard."
I believe that you've made a non sequitur here in that
a) the area in question is not blighted or in need of demolition
b) there is no public use in question here
The fact that the local government can extract more tax dollars from a business than from property taxes does NOT constitute a public use. Also, but entirely beside the point, the private entity that desires the property has no concrete plans on its usage as yet. It merely believes that the land in question is a prime location; I don't even question that assertion because the case is wending through the courts.
Public roads, highways, perhaps public schools: these would all constitute decent public reasons for the use of eminent domain. Taking property from one private entity and giving it to another private entity based solely on the possiblity of increased tax revenues from the second party does NOT constitute a valid public use. Essentially, if this case is decided in New London's favor, the concept of private ownership of real estate will have ceased to exist. Any government entity(local, state, federal) can almost always find another tenant that will provide it with more revenue. Eminent domain is not meant to apply in these cases.
Posted by: physics geek at February 23, 2005 05:44 PM (Xvrs7)
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Just for some perspective. I am an attorney in New York. I work with communities across the State on community redevelopment issues, and many of them are suffering severe economic distress. They are on the verge of financial collapse after decades of declining property values. (This leads into an ancillary discussion of whether property taxes are the best way to fund local governments, but that's a discussion for another day.)
Also, in New York State, a local government could not do what New London did, because there is not statutory authority. "Economic condemnation" in New York is limited to urban renewal or community redevelopment programs that are carried out according to the statutorily defined procedures. In addition, the State's Municipal Redevelopment Law has some built in safegaurds to protect property owners. In addition, there are Industrial Development Authorities that have condemnation powers. Frankly, I think that IDAs are ineffective.
As for the argument that this development was solely for increasing the tax revenue, I think the record is clear that this is not the sole purpose, or even the main purpose, but a recognized and welcomed benefit. From the CT Supreme court opinion, the development plan's "goals were to create a development that would complement the facility that Pfizer was planning to build, create jobs, increase tax and other revenues, encourage public access to and use of the city's waterfront, and eventually "build momentum" for the revitalization of the rest of the city, including its downtown area."
New London's plan is quite extensive. It's not just speculative and with the goal of increasing tax revenue.
How are New London's remedial actions different from zoning a barren strip of land? Or what if New London had rezoned the area of land in question? The Kelo's property would have been grandfathered in under the doctrine of vested rights, but over years or more likely decades, the properties would probably slowly be converted to the comply with the new zoning requirements. That's a very inefficient way of regulating land use.
I'm not arguing that "economic condemnation" could not be abused. I'm sure that it can. I'm just not sure that it has been abused in this situation.
Posted by: Fluffy Bunny at February 23, 2005 07:04 PM (4m7UP)
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What is a "market failure?" "Market failure" is whatever the person making the argument needs it to be. In reality, there is no such thing. One cannot justify an action due to "market failure", because it does not exist. "Market failure"="a result I am not happy with" and nothing else.
Posted by: Xiaoding at February 24, 2005 06:12 PM (sQKTc)
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I'm not arguing that "economic condemnation" could not be abused. I'm sure that it can. I'm just not sure that it has been abused in this situation.
No offense, but if you're not certain that this case constitutes abuse, then I don't know what'd you consider a case of abuse. Maybe if it were your house on the chopping block for a new Wal-Mart.
Let me be clear: if the government can seize your private property and give it to another private owner solely because the 2nd owner will generate more tax revenue, then there will be no property rights in this country. None. The government will now recognize no restraint when it comes to the issue of eminent domain.
Heck, maybe I should move into Wal-mart. They've got food, clothing, beds, toys. What more could I need? I doubt that the local government would declare eminent domain against such a large tax contributor. The bastards.
Xiaoding: your last comment made me laugh. I ignored the term market failure because it's an oxymoron. The market doesn't fail. Rather people incorrectly anticipate what the market will do.
Posted by: physics geek at February 24, 2005 09:49 PM (Xvrs7)
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physics geek,
I believe that your statement that the purpose of the condemnation was "solely because the 2nd owner will generate more tax revenue" is inaccurate. While increased tax revenue was one of the justifications for the project, it was only one. As I noted in my previous post the trial court found that the project's
"goals were to create a development that would complement the facility that Pfizer was planning to build, create jobs, increase tax and other revenues, encourage public access to and use of the city's waterfront, and eventually 'build momentum' for the revitalization of the rest of the city, including its downtown area."
The list contains several public purposes:
1) rectifying incompatible land uses (one of the justifications of both zoning and urban renewal/municipal redevelopment laws)
2) job creation, and
3) to give the public access to the waterfront.
All three of those justifications have a long history of being recognized as a public purpose.
Just today, I met today with a group of property owners in a struggling downtown. Their biggest problems are
1) adjecent properties that have buildings that are sitting vacant because the structures are outmoded and there is no demand for outmoded buildings or
2) incompatible adjacent property uses or
3) current business models require higher quality commercial space that cannot be created without assembling smaller parcels of property. In their current condition, the private sector is rejecting these properties and going elsewhere. Meanwhile, the properties continue to deteriorate, along with the municipal infrastructure.
And mind you, I wasn't meeting with municipal officials, I was meeting with SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS who are having to struggle to survive because of the negative impacts the adjacent properties are having on their business. There problem is that they can't get the local city officials to act.
I've heard a lot of individuals argue that urban redevelopment to remedy blight is o.k., but what New London is doing is not. And I guess the reasoning there is that once a location gets really run-down, and looks like Dresden at the end of WWII, well then it is o.k. for the municipaltiy to go in and condemn the properties, but not until it is a wasteland. Until that happens, 5, 10, 20 years from now, the community will just have to suffer.
Let me pose another question, let's say that New London isn't allowed to condemn the Kelo's property and subsequently becomes so economically run-down, that to support the water, sewer, and roadway infrastructure, to provide for fire and police protection, to pay for the basic operations of the municipality, the City has to raise property taxes 7,000 percent, which the Kelos then could not pay. New London then levies a tax lien on the property and forecloses. Would that be o.k.? Because, I can tell you, that is exactly what is happening in many communities across this country.
As for local government's having no restraint, I don't think that there is a basis for that statement. This project was not undertaken willy-nilly and without jumping through considerable procedureal hoops.
I admit I am not a professional economist, but DUDES, your defintion of market failure would not earn you a very good grade in economics 101.
A generally accepted definition of market failure is a case in which a market fails to efficiently provide or allocate goods and services (in this instance, real estate). The two main reasons that markets fail are (1) sub-optimal market structures and (2) the lack of internalization of costs or benefits in prices and thus into microeconomic decision-making in markets. Although you may not think so, I am a BIG fan of property rights, but I'm not in favor of externalities, are you?
Posted by: Fluffy Bunny at February 25, 2005 03:04 AM (qHZfH)
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Geeky post of the day
Found
this article via
Peeve Farm about a guy who built his own self-balancing, two-wheeled scooter. Essentially, it's a homemade Segway™ , without the fancy price tag, the fancy design, or the fancy safety features. Still, it's a pretty ingenious contraption. Check it out.
Posted by: Physics Geek at
08:24 PM
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Ways to destroy the Earth
Ignoring the Kyoto Protocol is not mentioned
Not goin' anywhere for a while? Then drop that Snickers and head over here to read something just a bit different. Link found via Cold Fury.
Posted by: Physics Geek at
07:39 PM
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Bring out yer dead!
You might want to
make sure that they're
actually dead, though. Just an FYI. Autopsies are notoriously difficult to survive.
Posted by: Physics Geek at
05:03 PM
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Whatever happened to good old hanging?
From
Fox News comes this little tidbit: a US citizen conspired to kill President Bush. Excerpt:
The federal indictment said that in 2002 and 2003 Abu Ali and an unidentified co-conspirator discussed plans for Abu Ali to assassinate Bush. They discussed two scenarios, the indictment said, one in which Abu Ali "would get close enough to the president to shoot him on the street" and, alternatively, "an operation in which Abu Ali would detonate a car bomb."
According to the indictment, Abu Ali obtained a religious blessing from another unidentified co-conspirator to assassinate the president.
More than 100 supporters of Abu Ali crowded the courtroom and laughed when the charge was read aloud alleging that he conspired to assassinate Bush.
...
Abu Ali is charged with six counts and would face a maximum of 80 years in prison if convicted.
Conspiring to assassinate a US President gives you only 80 years in prison? I've got a better idea: how about an unlimited number of years underground? Unlike the wingnuts the frequent the DU(probably some of the people laughing in court), I'd support the death penalty for someone who conspired to kill a Democrat president. I don't have the stomach to wade through the fever swamps today, but I'll guarantee you that there will be lots of cheering and "atta boys" from a certain segment of the ultra-leftists in this country. I take that back: they'll probably be pissed off that Abu Ali failed in his assignment.
Posted by: Physics Geek at
04:08 PM
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