The Battery Changer

One job, but I do it well.
Politics makes people stupid.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

One source of the rot our culture is currently undergoing is the tacit acceptance of the utilitarian formulation that happiness is the absence of pain and the presence of pleasure. 1/x
A small 🧵

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@walterkirn This land is your land.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@QuetzalThoughts Given that the profit margin of most "Retail Food Establishments" is <5%, the only way to make this work is to raise prices on all goods.

Call this the "raise the price of groceries" bill.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

The American doctrine of unconditional surrender (or the destruction of civil society, followed by a hasty and disastrous retreat) has come to an end.
The man who has alienated almost the entire State Department has done what the US has failed to do since its entrance into WWI, i.e., ending a war with a negotiated treaty.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

Were the media capable of objective reporting, it might be pointed out that what was avoided by Trump's willingness to accept a negotiated peace was not just the meaningless slogs that were Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

Unreal: the symbolism of Trump signing a surrender agreement at Versailles in which the US agrees to pay massive reparations is just too perfect.

I wouldn't be surprised if Macron weaponized Trump's complete ignorance of history and told him something like: "Mr. President, Versailles is where the most consequential deal of the 20th century was signed. Yours deserves the same stage."

Either that or Macron stumbled into the perfect historical parallel through sheer obliviousness - which, knowing him, is actually even more likely.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@DanK652 @JonahKarsh His the capitalist's bitch, parading around like a radical socialist.

The only effect of Brandon Johnson's reform would be higher rents to defray the inevitable cost of tenant payments. But that is also by design.

https://t.co/wXiLWIC2GR

[Jonah Karsh @JonahKarsh]

Damn right! That relocation assistance is not a penalty: would cover the cost of a tenant’s move, mitigating gentrification and homelessness. (The City estimated a decade ago that moving costs $10.6k, much less than what this ordinance would require in most cases.)

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@DanK652 @JonahKarsh Of course it is. Since Moms & Pops don't give big grants (His Metropolitan Tenant's Org has received > 800k), all of the regulations proposed tend to aid large landlords, and make housing scarce for low income renters.
1/x

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@wil_da_beast630 @FedEx One of the best uses of AI is finding ways to avoid AI. @grok What is the Fedex customer service phone number, and what is the option to speak directly with a representative?

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@jeffcharlesjr This looks more like a Black Muslim gathering than it does an Islamic invasion. Which means that sweet bean pies are in the offing, nearby. As a teetotaler who enjoys a good pastry now and then, I am more disappointed than anything else.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

I am almost certain the liberal politicians don't necessarily lie, they just ascribe to others their baser motives.
Robert Reich is confused between those whose wealth comes via proximity to power and those who, I don't know, launch rocket ships.
https://t.co/qId0MdXSbF

[Robert Reich @RBReich]

There are basically 5 ways to accumulate a billion dollars:

1) Profiting from a monopoly

2) Insider-trading

3) Political payoffs

4) Fraud

5) Inheritance

Don’t believe the self-made myth.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@RBReich I am so glad Robert Reich is addressing the most glaring problem today. The growth in wealth of the political class.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@MattBruenig @BrandonMagner @TheStalwart @DKThomp @jdcmedlock Poor authors and rich authors are both protected by IP laws. (So are successful companies and unsuccessful companies.) Nothing about IP laws guarantees a windfall.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

Your logic doesn't hold. If the laws were the same (anyone who runs 2 hour marathon is paid a billion dollars), it would only be equivalent if the law said, "anyone who copyrights an image is guaranteed to become a billionaire.) If the latter were true, then you would have many more billionaires. IP preserved Lucas' profits by preventing piracy. But Lucas also had the foresight to forego a portion of his salary in exchange for exclusive rights. He also created a blockbuster movie.
1/2

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

Even his "conclusion" (things are complex) doesn't hold water. Saying that price constraints distort the market, is not a physicist saying that "space travel is impossible." The laws of physics say that unless you achieve escape velocity, space travel is impossible. Every economist would agree that rent control creates tradeoffs: lower rents for newcomers, higher rents for new arrivals. Nothing the author says actually "contradicts" economic thinking.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@JulianAcciard1 Did they also force you to clap on the 1st and 3rd?

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@magattew The bootlegger and the Baptist, is the American expression for this odd synergy.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@Ifitsthisname @politicalmath Cliff House and Louie's. Sad, sad, sad. There is not much of the SF I loved that is left.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@SenecaSpeaks21 Yeah. Just pointing out, little has changed. Except Steyer earned his money. Gore just inherited his.

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

@politicalmath Oakland pretty much gutted itself. There are small pockets of life and interest. Berkeley is nearby, but a bit boring. Nice way to spend a day, take the Ferry from SF to Alameda island, have a nice dinner, and travel back.
2/2

[The Battery Changer @Battery_Changer]

It is been a while since I have made my way to SF.
1. Bring a jacket. It will be cold at night, and depending on where you are, during the day.
2. Ride a cable car. The Powell St. line is much more enjoyable than the California line.
3. Don't know if it still is, but Union Square around 2 am was once one of my favorite places to hang, high class escorts trading barbs with Cable Car Drivers. It was once street theater at its finest.
Lands End is nice. The Cliff House is nice, but better is the diner a few blocks up the hill. Nice view of the ocean.
Avoid the Yerba Buena Center, the Metreon, or China Basin. They are all attempts by the corporate shirts to remake what was once a charming city. 1/