Serendipity Falls

“It was decided in 1992, that the Haveli should be...

sjswitzer — Sun, 12 May 2013 23:13:00 -0400

“It was decided in 1992, that the Haveli should be restored and preserved as a musseum of Mewar’s aristocratic culture as it may be imagined to have existed in the 18th and 19th centuries. The idea wasn’t to realistically reconstruct the past, but to symbolically invoke the spirit of the by-gone culture by means of a few selected objects displayed in a context that would defy the conventional notion of a museum and also save itself from the arduous task of artificial reconstruction of history under the name of authenticity.”

A typical day at the office.

sjswitzer — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:54:21 -0400

A typical day at the office.

Chinese power adapter. Yes, Im travelling. I blog my travels @...

sjswitzer — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:51:16 -0400

Chinese power adapter.

Yes, Im travelling. I blog my travels @ http://embarked.wordpress.com/

Business class on a Cathay Pacific 747. It’s like a cross...

sjswitzer — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:43:19 -0500

Business class on a Cathay Pacific 747.

It’s like a cross between The Matrix and a horse stable…. But in a good way!

In my mail slot today.

sjswitzer — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 18:07:10 -0500

In my mail slot today.

Jason Lytle @ Brick & Mortar

sjswitzer — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:41:13 -0500

Jason Lytle @ Brick & Mortar

National Journal...

sjswitzer — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:30:00 -0500

Pfeiffer had just posted his objection to a spirited New York Times column by David Brooks, who rebuked both parties for failing to lead: “For anyone reading David Brooks’ column, here is the President’s detailed sequester plan that he doesn’t think exists (link)”

I replied: “let us know when you’ve got a deal and the government your running isn’t headed over a cliff again. #ThisIsCrazy”

I regret the obnoxious tone. I was trying to reinforce the point of my post on presidential leadership.

— National Journal

You’d have better regretted the homonym fail, you idiot. The only “cliff” here is the political brinksmanship of a bunch of GOP dead-enders.

"The great thing about articles like this is how stupid they seem afterwards"

sjswitzer — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 21:49:15 -0500

From the comments on a particularly vapid filler article at Slate.

(Having seen neither, I have no opinion about either Lincoln or Argo but this article makes some interesting points about Argo.)

Hoover Institution fellow endeavors to understand 'The Left"

sjswitzer — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 18:15:00 -0500

And discovers it flourishing vibrantly as—wait for it…—the Democratic Party itself!

“Extreme” positions such as cutting our safety nets somewhat less than the GOP would and pretending to regulate the looters of our economic system now define the outer limits of left-leaning political thought even as the Right openly embraces paranoia and sedition.

The sad thing is, he’s not entirely wrong.

The making of a classic.

sjswitzer — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 02:48:09 -0500

The making of a classic.

Whole Lotta Helter Skelter

sjswitzer — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 02:37:36 -0500

Whole Lotta Helter Skelter

Rotten Deal

sjswitzer — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:52:09 -0500

My periodic reminder about the rotten deal known as the Grand Bargain:

Starting in 1983, the payroll tax was deliberately set higher than it needed to be to cover payments to retirees. For the next 30 years, this extra money was sent to the Treasury, and this windfall allowed income tax rates to be lower than they otherwise would have been. During this period, people who paid payroll taxes suffered from this arrangement, while people who paid income taxes benefited.

Now things have turned around. As the baby boomers have started to retire, payroll taxes are less than they need to be to cover payments to retirees. To make up this shortfall, the Treasury is paying back the money it got over the past 30 years, and this means that income taxes need to be higher than they otherwise would be. For the next few decades, people who pay payroll taxes will benefit from this arrangement, while people who pay income taxes will suffer.

If payroll taxpayers and income taxpayers were the same people, none of this would matter. The trust fund really would be a fiction. But they aren’t. Payroll taxpayers tend to be the poor and the middle class. Income taxpayers tend to be the upper middle class and the rich. Long story short, for the past 30 years, the poor and the middle class overpaid and the rich benefited. For the next 30 years or so, the rich will overpay and the poor and the middle class will benefit.

The trust fund is the physical embodiment of that deal. It’s no surprise that the rich, who didn’t object to this arrangement when it was first made, are now having second thoughts. But make no mistake. When wealthy pundits like Krauthammer claim that the trust fund is a fiction, they’re trying to renege on a deal halfway through because they don’t want to pay back the loans they got.

— Kevin Drum, MoJo

Make no mistake: all this nonsense about the deficit is about reneging on that deal. The 1% stole the trust fund fair and square and they have no intention of paying it back.

Point made

sjswitzer — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:57:26 -0500

Missouri state Rep. Mike Leara (R) loves the Second Amendment so much he wants to make it a felony for state lawmakers to propose legislation he thinks would violate it.

…

Unlike some of the sponsors of those bills, Leara said he doesn’t expect his bill to pass. He filed the bill criminalizing certain bill language to make a point about freedom, he said.

— TPM

Some freedoms are more equal than others?

Meteor (1979) A craptacular B-movie with an A-list cast. I want...

sjswitzer — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 23:58:18 -0500

Meteor (1979)

A craptacular B-movie with an A-list cast. I want to say, “What the hell were they thinking?” but then I remember Jaws.

Make some popcorn and be glad the 70s are but a dim and distant memory.

In honor of Presiden’t Day: LBJ orders slacks.

sjswitzer — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:16:38 -0500

In honor of Presiden’t Day: LBJ orders slacks.

Outlook.com?

sjswitzer — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 02:04:53 -0500

Seriously? I’d rather be scroogled.

Another trip around the Sun

sjswitzer — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:26:03 -0500

Take that, Sun!

Pillow Fight! Like a mosh pit with goose dander.

sjswitzer — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:18:28 -0500

Pillow Fight!

Like a mosh pit with goose dander.

WTF Files

sjswitzer — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:23:52 -0500

Olympics drop wrestling?!

My pet peeves are as petty and irrational as anyone’s. Here’s one: I can’t stand...

sjswitzer — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:57:00 -0500

My pet peeves are as petty and irrational as anyone’s. Here’s one: I can’t stand the children’s tag game “Marco Polo.” It just drives me batty.

But here’s an idea. What if we could start an alternative, just to mix it up? How about “Andy Warhol?”

Andy… Warhol… Andy… Warhol… Andy… Warhol…