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For Cliff Sitters
Google finds "heavy duty park bench" prices maxing out at $800 each including thermoplastic coatings that should be good enough for twenty years by the sea. Some heavy duty benches cost less than $200 and come with three year warranties. So why are the taxpayers charged almost three thousand dollars each?— November 5, 2009 11:51 p.m.
Did Dominelli Study Ponzi?
Editing note: Don, it's "poli-sci", short for "political", not "poly-sci" which would mean that they'd actually studied some plethora of REAL science. I, regretably, studied poli-sci. To call it a "science" is like describing banging rocks and sticks together as "medicine". I strong hope that in the future our leaders would study "poly-sci" as that might actually teach them something useful.— November 5, 2009 11:25 p.m.
Did Dominelli Study Ponzi?
George Mitrovich is still in San Diego, doing the same work he did for J. David. Just like he was hired to give credibility and spread money around for the ponzi scheme, John Moores had George out as the "people's voice" for his ballpark scam. George still regularly gets quoted in the local press advocating one or another of the establishment's bad ideas...and he's never called on it. Don, why was Mitrovich not put in jail too?— November 5, 2009 8:22 p.m.
Supreme Court Justice Asks: Who Passed Bribe?
Puppy, I didn't assert it as a defense. I repeat it as a reasonable question. Why haven't those f***ers been charged? Just how corrupt is our system when there's never accountability even for notorious wrongdoing. Even the Chinese crack down on corruption with more seriousness and openess than we are doing in San Diego. Instead of busting pot dispensaries, why doesn't Dumanis go after the former mayors and councils, the sports moguls, the city managers and other top staff who orchestrated what all the country now recognizes was a massive fraud? We're a laughing stock. The particular issue before the court points to how difficult it is already to prosecute public service malfeasance, and if the judge gives the defendants what they want (betcha he will!) it will be even worse. I wonder how hard the DA is really working on prosecuting this case, or whether they'd be much happier to see it all go away and to use an adverse ruling as an excuse for never having to investigate public fraud again... How convenient for the politicians who appoint the judges, heh?— November 4, 2009 10:55 p.m.
Supreme Court Justice Asks: Who Passed Bribe?
A pity the DA doesn't take the judge's question seriously. Why haven't any of the members of the city council or mayors who acted in such a grossly negligent and conflicted manner been prosecuted? When the decision makers are insulated from the consequences of their bad decisions we no longer have a representive democracy.— November 4, 2009 10:09 p.m.
Death of PR
Visduh, I'd like to point out that UCSD has gained its reputation solely on the strength of brain power. In cognitive science particularly, it's considered the best in the world. Collegiate sports had NOTHING to do with this, and that's as it should be. Universities shouldn't be known for winning games. They should be known for winning knowledge. Compare UCSD to SDSU. Poor SDSU wastes hundreds of millions every year on football games nobody cares about. SDSU, academically, is third tier at best. UCSD avoids this waste and concentrates on education and research instead of foolish games. It's consistently ranked among the best universities in the world. Instead of ever emulating schools like UCLA by grafting on an unwanted sports franchise onto their campus, UCSD should be the example leading UCLA to jetison its jocks and replace them with scholars.— November 1, 2009 8:37 p.m.
Who Killed Richard Swink?
Occum, you ROCK!!! I stand refuted. I especially love this about a Czech woman committing "food violence": "....a woman intentionally put a lot of sugar into her husband's coffee and a lot of oil and fat into his meals to make him fat and less attractive for other women." Classic. (and yes, this thread has so completely deviated from its origin that following the twists and turns would require a heavy doses of hallucinogens followed up with severe sleep deprivation)— October 31, 2009 12:39 a.m.
Burnham's "Elitist" Remark Hands Victory to Rider
Time to "out" these fraudsters. Don, what about a compilation of San Diego's "Great and Good" who've been advising the city into its ruin? I think that would make an excellent cover story or ongoing column for the Reader and a valuable research resource for those of us fighting the notion that we should continue listening to these same people after they've given such horrible advice in the past. The format is simple: Name, picture, description of various quasi-official duties like being named to the various sham "task forces" over the years that always came up with the "correct" preordained conclusion. Following that, for each character in this tragedy, describe how their own ventures have faired. Burnham would be an easy example. Claims to be the smartest guy in the room, but his own results have been disastrous. I'd particularly like more information about Bob Nelson, recently a shill for the convention center expansion who shouted nasty comments at the economist who disagreed with phoney numbers. Todd Gloria just appointed him to the revenue task force. Huh? Who is this guy? What the hell is he doing on these important task forces when it's obvious that he's delusional? The same could be said of so many other establishment players in San Diego. If we had more information about these people, we'd have a chance maybe to fight them off. Best, Fred— October 30, 2009 11:47 p.m.
Local Lead Indicators Continue Rising
See: http://biggovernment.com/2009/10/30/the-economy-i… Nationally, the numbers are compiled in such a way as to have little real meaning. How do Gin's sources stack up? Do they reflect reality or the vagaries of arbitrary measurement. This is important. When we develop and test complex systems we use two approaches...test both the structural specifications and test the actual user scenarios. We measure both because even when the system seems to meet all the technical parameters, it may not actually be useful to anyone. I suspect a lot of the numbers the government has been using over the last few decades are technically accurate, but practically meaningless. Relying on such bogus information is useless, as we've all found out to our great disadvantage. Are the local numbers Gin regularly releases similarly constructed, or do they represent actionable reality? I'm convinced we're in a dead cat bounce, reflected only in offical numbers but not experienced by anyone in reality, and we have quite a bit further to fall. Best, Fred— October 30, 2009 11:20 p.m.
More ballpark lies from Oregon this time
Thank you Don. I wrote some comments on your articles recently...and deleted them at the last moment because they were just too angry. It's really frustrating watching what's going on in the world today. I'm worried about the future. The fat-cat shenanigans are only the most pointed examples of what's wrong. I fear that American prestige, capability, and relevance is dropping like a stone and taking down a lot of good with it. I'm afraid America is in for the same kind of humiliating reassessment of its place in the world that Russia faced not long ago. It won't be pretty. What does one do? Rail at the injustice of our world, or retreat into a Voltairean garden? It's awfully tempting to resign myself to the inevitable and just ignore the evil around us. Certainly it would be healthier. Best, Fred— October 30, 2009 10:32 p.m.