Chris
- : 44
- : Obscure
- : I live in Utah. Here, what most of the country calls a "Republican", we call a "Democrat". What we call a "Republican", most of the country calls "insane". :-)
The fights are so fierce because the stakes are so small.
Some weeks ago I was talking to a friend of mine and quoted this line, which is about academia. It may be more often phrased as a riddle:Q: Why are the battles in academia so fierce?A: Because the stakes are...more »
Posted on March 29, 2008 5:41 PM
Why I like Barack Obama more than Hillary Clinton
There are a number of reasons, including that I think he is more likely to beat McCain, and I think his style is more suitable for a president. The most important thing of all, though, may well go back to...more »
Posted on March 29, 2008 2:29 AM
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The one good thing about eliminating job-provided health care: it would help create political demand for universal health care.
(Kind of a rough road to fixing the problem...)
Posted at May 1, 2008 10:24 PM in response to The McCain Health Plan: Millions Lose Coverage, Health Costs Worsen, and Insurance and Drug Industries Win
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It's very easy to "support the flag": you just need to be a wooden pole. (Metal will also serve.)
Posted at April 19, 2008 9:03 PM in response to Why Nash McCabe Makes Barack Obama's Point
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as bad as the welfare queens your type constantly rails against ...
Clearly we need a new snappy term. How about "gasfare queens"? (Doesn't seem to have that ring of truthiness, dang it :-) )Posted at April 16, 2008 1:35 AM in response to More Reasons to Worry about McCain-onomics
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Accuse your opponent of what you are really guilty of yourself.
They learned this trick from the master himself (i.e., Karl Rove).It is (or can be) an effective tactic, because if you get the first shot off without the reporters catching you at it, a later rebuttal pointing out the facts sounds like "whining".
What I don't get is why reporters have not yet caught on. After 8 years of Rove's "accuse your opponent of whatever you are doing now or planning to do", they really should be doing some fact-checking.
Posted at April 15, 2008 9:37 PM in response to Annie "the Tuzla Tigress" Oakley: Oops! Shoots Herself in the Foot. Again.
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Agh. "Malaysia", and "final assembled products" not "final assembled components". I ken two type rite!
Posted at April 12, 2008 4:12 AM in response to The Crunchian Take on Globalization
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Good question, don't know the answer, but will add that it's cheaper to ship the components to China (since they are mostly made in Taiwan, Japan, and Maylasia) than to the US. Given that the final product is eventually shipped to the US, it seems like this should not matter; but perhaps as many final assembled components are shipped to places also sufficiently local to China that this holds prices down.
It's also worth noting that the margins on non-Apple computer products tend to be pretty thin. Apple products have much higher margins, so they could absorb greater logistical inefficiencies (not saying they do, just that they could).
Posted at April 12, 2008 4:08 AM in response to The Crunchian Take on Globalization
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China has pegged the yuan to the dollar, but lately have been fiddling with the range for the peg. As a result, the yuan is now relatively stronger (quite a bit actually) than it was five years ago, for instance.
Posted at April 12, 2008 4:03 AM in response to "Merit" Trouble
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Computer assembly is hardly automated at all. Production of the components is "mostly automated": individual boards are produced en masse, and smaller components (resistors, capacitors, etc) are loaded by machine. Larger components (wide connectors and FPGA sockets) are inserted by hand, then the board runs through a wave solder machine. Once the boards are finished, assembly is all by-hand.
(Motherboards count as an "individual board" in this process.)
Posted at April 11, 2008 4:54 AM in response to The Crunchian Take on Globalization
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The team of DeLay and Doolittle may be gone, but the philosophy of "delay and do little" is still alive and well in the Republican ranks....
Posted at April 10, 2008 8:38 PM in response to Earth to John Boehner
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Think of it this way, if somebody gives you a free dollar you may be willing to pay more for a product than you would otherwise.
Indeed, this is something that I never saw anyone else bring up in Utah's "school voucher" wars last year. (The referendum vote went against vouchers in the end, so it is now kind of moot.) Anyway, I had predicted that if the voucher idea passed, the effect would be that private school prices would rise by approximately the amounts of the vouchers.
Posted at April 8, 2008 2:34 PM in response to The Problem With Housing Bailouts: Arithmetic, Not Ideology
