We use existing laws, to the extent possible, to weaken the concentration of power in private hands. We enact new laws to ensure that power is checked going forward. We raise wages so that people aren’t living at the whims of their employers.  We reign in the excesses of the past 40 years that have deregulated much of…

I think the tide is turning on this. Largely because the baby boomers are going to start dying off in the next few years.

Can this car justify its existence? It made a minor splash when they launched it, and since then, they really haven’t sold a lot of them. According to goodcarbadcar, they have sold 5258 of them in the five years since the car launched. It’s tech is now five years old, which is significant, I think. So, why is the BMW…

Ok, let’s all take a step back here. You are not a New York resident. What New York does with its taxis and ride sharing cars is not your business. Don’t take taxis if you don’t want to. But also don’t claim that you know a goddamn thing about what is going on in New York cabs, because you clearly don’t. This whole…

Engineers don’t typically make investment decisions for large companies.

That’s a fair point. Venezuela is an interesting. I know the right is hitting on that as an example of a socialist country, but Chavez was a left wing populist who destroyed his own economy.  I really have no idea if he actually enacted any socialist policies or what the status of those policies are under Maduro. …

That’s the interesting part, though:

From the link I posted:

Right, this is sort of my point. You have one definition of socialism, but “socialism” has been used to cover a broad variety societal arrangements and policies that go far beyond your definition. There is such a thing as “market socialism,” for example, that would naturally retain profit motives as a force in the…

Are you serious?  I can’t tell if this is sarcasm of not.  

What do you think “socialist” means? I am genuinely interested in your response, because I really think it doesn’t mean anything. It got tied up as some sort of communism-lite, but even when the term originated, it did not have exclusively economic meanings.  

This article addresses Food Network’s problems: http://www.grubstreet.com/2018/08/on-food-tv-its-netflix-versus-food-network.html

I once got in an Uber at about 50th and Park. Needed to go to 75th street on the upper west side.  Now, this driver proceeds to drive north on Park to 75th street and then turn left.  Apparently, he was completely unaware of this little thing called CENTRAL PARK.  

why though? Woman wants to cover up, she can cover up. She doesn’t, she doesn’t have to. It’s not impolite to breastfeed in public, but asking people to accommodate your fear of seeing boobs is impolite. I don’t get this at all.

I do this too.  All the time.  It’s going to be irrelevant to my kid’s generation, though, because all the cars are going to be electric.  If they aren’t, they really should be.  What will electric car enthusiasts look for?  

Fake News!

What was Caitlyn’s last name? I didn’t look at the name of the taxi driver from the last cab I took. He was a very nice man of south Asian descent who helped me and my wife get our two kids into and out of his vehicle. I didn’t look for his name, because everything was fine. It cost us about $15 to get from the…

Dude, you gotta read the article. The medallion regulations date to the 1920s and were designed to limit the number of for-hire cars in the city, because there were a lot and they were clogging streets. The situation we have now is that there are a lot of for-hire cars clogging streets because they are not subject to…

The taxi regulations serve several other purposes: reducing traffic, creating decent jobs, attempting to ensure the safety of riders, reducing pollution, etc.  Some of these are even mentioned in the article.  What happened here is that Uber and Lyft found a way around, and then recreated the problems that the…

Taxis and Uber are the same industry—driving people around. The article makes that point. There is nothing about this industry that is dying—it seems to be a growth industry. But there are two systems for this industry in New York right now. One is heavily regulated with limited access and significant requirements for…