Tipping

From the author of Waiter Rant, who is writing a book about tipping (and no, this isn’t even a book excerpt AFAIK, just a paragraph from a regular ol’ post):

Tipping, as I’m discovering, is a very strange phenomenon. Existing in a netherworld off human emotions, social utility, and economic theory, it defies easy classification. Tipping is both rational and irrational, self serving and altruistic, a form of freedom and control, and beneficial and harmful in it’s social impact. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Tipping is a human activity. And. like all human activity, it generates a certain amount of ambivalence. Maybe that’s why people get so hot and bothered when discussing tipping. Deep down there’s no one answer to why people tip. And that lack of clarity is unnerving. Man, I have my work cut out for me.

He can write, that’s for sure.

Link Dump

Why don’t I update this crappy blog, blah blah blah…. basically, it’s summer, and I’d rather be outside than spend any more time at a computer.  Strange, I know, but somehow true.  Anyway, below is a collection of links I always intended to post on within a day or two of finding them, but never did.  Thus the link dump.

Dean Dad analyzes the Ricci case quite well, and the Supreme Court comes out looking like a bunch of assholes.  Which seems fitting, since a good portion of them have shown themselves to be, well, a bunch of assholes.

It turns out there is something called the Corvallis Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, and that it does, well, metro planning for the Corvallis area.  And they have a website.

Some early polling on the 2010 Oregon Governor’s race.  Of note:  Gordon Smith manages to be the only person with higher negatives than positives.  However, he still smokes Steve Novick, which I suspect is partially due to Novick’s low name recognition.

From the NYT, some neat info about drinks ingredients.  I’m filing this one away for later use.  (As a side note, the thing about cane sugar would explain why the Cuba Libre I had in Germany in 2001 was by far the best one I’ve ever had.)

Republican Presidential candidates are not faring so well:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal saw his stock drop after a disastrous television appearance; Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been embroiled in feuds with her state legislators and with late-night talk-show host David Letterman [and has since resigned]; Nevada Sen. John Ensign admitted he had an extramarital affair with a former campaign staffer; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was forced to back step after he used the word “racist” to describe Sonia Sotomayor, a nominee for the Supreme Court.

About the only reason the Republican Party is still #2 is that there is no #3.  In a true multiparty system, they’d be coming completely apart by now.

What does international relations theory say about parenting?

Dead Dad (again!) advocates that all employers in America, public and private, be forced to make their salary data publicly available.  As he notes, this will put a lie to the idea that he public sector is overpaid – or, more accurately, it will show just how little the public sector does pay.

A comprehensive Housing and Transportation Affordability Index.  Neat.

Courtney trial moved from Benton County

The GT’s Rachel Beck has a story today noting that the Courtney trial is being moved out of Benton County:

In a surprise move at a hearing Tuesday afternoon in Benton County Circuit Court, prosecutors said they would concede to the defense’s motion to change the trial’s venue.

As the story makes clear, the prosecution’s decision to not oppose the motion was tactical.  But this bit interested me:

The motion itself gave no reasons for the change of venue, but the defense often seeks a change of venue in high-profile cases where there has been extensive pretrial publicity, arguing it makes finding an impartial jury difficult.

Given that this is being reported in the newspaper, one has to see the irony, no?

But more important than the irony (yes, there is such a thing) is the question of balancing the fact that the Courtney stuff is unquestionably news with the fact that yes, publicizing the case has consequences.

So, my question:  How should journalists balance those two conflicting issues?  Should they even worry about it at all?

Another instance in which the appropriate response falls between ‘fuck off’ and ‘die’

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

[LCSD] More Sansom

Word has it he’s not going to Lacomb, but staying put.  While Lacomb will be happy, with all the outstanding complaints against Sansom, I can’t imagine this is going to mean smooth sailing at Seven Oak.

The 4th

It strikes me that one of the mental dividers I use is whether someone celebrates the 4th of July qua 4th or not.

Dividing what?

Whether one’s politics are radical or not, of course.

[LCSD] Sansom

As it turns out, I can help LT out – click here to get a copy of the letter Tre’ Kennedy sent to Superintendent Lanning regarding the complaint.

The story on the Lebanon Express site from last week garnered close to 70 comments, and having read the letter, some of those comments are factually incorrect.  I’m posting the letter as a way to set the record a bit straighter.

Assuming what is in the letter is true – and since Kennedy is effectively putting his name on the line by claiming it is, I think that’s a relatively safe assumption – Sansom might have made an error or two in how he handled things.

Finally, I’ve heard there are something like six or eight sets of parents who are looking at retaining an attorney, or have done so already, over the way Sansom has disciplined students.  LT’s right – the incoming Superintendent has something waiting for him.

Charter Schools

I don’t have much to add to this post from Blue Oregon (h/t KD), except to say: Holy crap!  And Jeff Kropf!

…also, make sure and read all the comments.  It gets pretty intense.  Kudos to Carla Axtman for putting the post together and staying engaged throughout the comment thread.

[LCSD] Compare and Contrast

The G-T ran a story on the Corvallis Superindendent’s yearly evaluation.  If you’re at all familiar with the train-wreck evaluation procedure adopted by the LCSD intermittently over the last half-decade, you should go read the story.  And if you’re on the school board, you should make sure that all of your peer board members fully participate in the evaluation process going forward.  Seriously.

Parking and OSU

So, OSU is planning to create some new parking spaces. Problem is, some of the land in question has been parking in the past – free parking, even, I think.  So this isn’t the creation of new parking spaces per se, but the movement of parking spaces from free, open spots to permitted, closed spots.

OSU also did this with Reser Stadium several years ago – when I started at OSU, the lots were gravel and the spots were free.  One summer, the university decided to pave the spots, mark them off, put up “student or visitor permits required”…. and declared the creation of hundreds of “new” parking spots.  Given the requirements of formal parking lots in terms of trees and the like (requirements which I agree with, by the way), I suspect there were actually less spots after the work than before.

Parking Services might be misunderstood, but they don’t do themselves any favors with this kind of transparent misleading of the public.  Lots of people aren’t buying.

UPDATE:  As commenter Larob notes, parking prices are also going up.  You can find out more here.  I have to say, though, that this I understand more – Parking Services does broadcast, to an extent, the reasoning behind the increases (they are a self-funded unit).  And OSU is one of or the cheapest Pac-10 schools at which to park.  None of that, though, means that it’s not, in the end, insult to injury.

Iran

This is hard to beat (but hard to process) for real-time news.  Just keep hitting refresh, or download tweetdeck already.

Why I’m not all that partisan

Digby, in an aptly titled post, lays it out:

The bipartisan elite consensus that governs this country is quite simple. First, deficits and high taxes are always the basic cause of economic stress or the biggest threat facing a recovery, no matter the circumstances. (The corollary is that cutting taxes and spending are the ultimate answer to every economic challenge.) Taxes on the wealthy (excuse me “the most productive”) must be kept as low as possible, the military cannot be subject to any budgetary constraint and the national security state cannot be held accountable, business and industry must always be given top priority and all other government expenditures are legislative bargaining chips regardless of their impact on the lives of average Americans. Nobody questions that consensus or even suggests that some other set of priorities might be useful from time to time.

This goes a long way towards explaining why I disdain anyone who understands politics only through a left/right or Dem/Repub lens; a far more useful lens is that of power – who has, what they decide to do with it, and how that relates to what happens to the rest of us.  Digby, here, is laying out the understanding of the world as shared by the power elites, who come from both major parties.

Second, I think that this is the consensus of the power elites suggests that ‘conservatives’ have been far more successful in moving conventional wisdom in the last two decades than any other group, especially any group that could generously be labeled liberal.  To wit:  what Digby describes above is basically Milton Friedman’s wet dream with lots of guns. (Which, to be fair to Friedman, is a bit redundant.  He loved guns.)  That this understanding of the world, if enacted, will result in a tremendous amount of pain and suffering – well, as Digby points out, “actual impact” is really not that important to the group that holds this view, because they will only be positively affected by this crap being implemented.  Look at the wealth transfer of the last decade.

None of this is to say, by the way, that political parties don’t matter at all.  Of course they do, but only to an extent.  They are not the end of American politics; they are only the entertainment for the hoi polloi, constrained to pick between a list of narrow, pre-defined choices that don’t disrupt the political world of the elites.  Don’t believe me?  Look at what’s happening on health care reform in regards to both single-payer and now the public option.

Health Care

Given that there appears to be some form of health care reform on the horizon, there’s been a tremendous amount of media coverage, both old and new, of health insurance and the health care system in general.  I’ve followed some of the ins and outs, especially as they pertain to a public plan and the politics of it all, and I have one question for the people involved (especially the naysayers):

Why should a person’s health be a for-profit enterprise at all?  How in the world is that moral?

[LCSD] Sansompalooza

Two things.  First, the story in the LE this week about the suspension of two students at Seven Oak and the fact that the parents have filed complaints and retained an attorney.

Rumor has it that there are three additional complaints that have been filed against Sansom that have yet to be resolved.  Sounds like things aren’t running as smoothly at Seven Oak without Yates around (and in some ways, that’s understandable, since he wasn’t replaced).  But I don’t actually know that much about the complaint stuff.  Presumably it’ll be covered in the newspapers.

The second thing is the rumor that’s been floating around since shortly after Lanning announced his administrative re-shuffling:  That while Lanning announced that Sansom would be going to Lacomb, Sansom is fighting the transfer, and even that incoming Superintendent Rob Hess might be reconsidering the move.  One rumor I heard included the possibility of Sansom threatening a lawsuit, but I have no idea how true that is.  Another included the possibility that Sansom has filed a complaint against Lanning for his latest review…. not really sure about that either.

I’m also told that Lacomb parents – some of them, at least – want nothing to do with the guy.  And don’t get me wrong; I’ve never met him, and I’ve seen very little concrete evidence one way or the other regarding his skills as an administrator, so at this point I’m just passing on what I have been told (which, to be fair, is about all I ever do).  But I also know that I keep being told that Yates was a far more effective administrator, to the point that it was predictable that when Yates left things would start falling apart.

Assuming that the LCSD administration does not think Sansom is doing a very good job – and I definitely don’t know that to be true – then you can look at this in a couple of different ways.  First, that Sansom is being shunted to Lacomb because it’s the smallest school in the district, and thus the place he can do the least damage.  Were I Sansom, that would have crossed my mind pretty quickly, and certainly provides some measure of motivation to fight it (though the drive might provide another, natch).  However, from the admin’s perspective, if the goal is to get him out of the district using the proper channels (plan of assistance, review, non-renewal), then you almost have a perverse incentive to leave him at Seven Oak until things get bad enough you have cause to let him go.  Neither option looks pleasant, especially for the students involved (paging Mark Finch’s job!).  But this is pretty hypothetical on my part.

Whaddaya got, commentariat?

Iran

This photo is too good not to link to.

It’s almost always the eyes, isn’t it?