....on the SCOTUS ACA decision, ChronBlog decides to provide its readers with.....
an explenation of how angry Micheal Berry is...
a note letting us know that Obama really GOT texas this time....
and...a poor photoshop job illustrating a journalism meme.
It's a miracle that readership and subscription numbers are declining isn't it?
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thoughts on the SCOTUS Affordable Care Act decision.
So the SCOTUS has decided the Affordable Care Act (or, Obamacare) is Constitutional, we will now be inundated with Democratic ball-spiking, Republican hand-wringing and silly news stories about what this means for you.
While this is not a strict political blog, it's such a big decision that I felt the need to record a few initial impressions:
1. This is a big win for Obama and his campaign (one and the same I know). Any Republican attempts to catagorize it otherwise are folly.
2. It will be fun to watch Obama praise the same SCOTUS that he chastised so strongly for Citizens United. (and vice versa on the Republican side)
3. IF (and that's a big if) this kick-starts Republican enthusiasm for Romney, then we have a race. If not, then Obama could ride this momentum all the way to a second term.
4. The Republican response will be key. I don't think chastising the SCOTUS is wise. What the Republicans need to go is get very serious about how they would improve this law, either through subtraction or modification through legislative means should they receive majorities in November. Messaging will be key.
5. The Democratic response to this is already telling. I'm not going to link to anything but the DNC Executive Director's first response was: "It's Constitutional bitches!" You can find that on Twitter if you look hard enough.
All in all I've never gotten too fired up about this issue and that doesn't change now. I think it's going to be very punitive toward the poor (the new "tax" for having no health care will hit them hardest) and I think it will increase the cost of healthcare overall over time. Your mileage may vary.
While this is not a strict political blog, it's such a big decision that I felt the need to record a few initial impressions:
1. This is a big win for Obama and his campaign (one and the same I know). Any Republican attempts to catagorize it otherwise are folly.
2. It will be fun to watch Obama praise the same SCOTUS that he chastised so strongly for Citizens United. (and vice versa on the Republican side)
3. IF (and that's a big if) this kick-starts Republican enthusiasm for Romney, then we have a race. If not, then Obama could ride this momentum all the way to a second term.
4. The Republican response will be key. I don't think chastising the SCOTUS is wise. What the Republicans need to go is get very serious about how they would improve this law, either through subtraction or modification through legislative means should they receive majorities in November. Messaging will be key.
5. The Democratic response to this is already telling. I'm not going to link to anything but the DNC Executive Director's first response was: "It's Constitutional bitches!" You can find that on Twitter if you look hard enough.
All in all I've never gotten too fired up about this issue and that doesn't change now. I think it's going to be very punitive toward the poor (the new "tax" for having no health care will hit them hardest) and I think it will increase the cost of healthcare overall over time. Your mileage may vary.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Orlando's train: A mess worthy of Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson..
Thanks to a blog post by The Wandering Aramean and the following (quoted) article by the Orlando Sentinal we find out that Houston is not along in making a total rivet out of their mass-transit planning....
Orlando Airport Eyes $470 Million expansion. Dan Tracy & Sarah K. Clarke, Orlando Sentinal
So you have a one mile section that's projected to cost a fifth of what the entire high-speed rail line from Miami to Orlando is projected to cost? Somebody's gotten their numbers jumbled and I have a sneaking suspicion it's the train folks. For my reader's who like to tell me to "educate myself" on high-speed rail I offer the following: High speed rail cost overruns.
If there's one thing we've learned about cost projections on rail it's that they typically aren't worth the paper they're printed on. It is nice to see that Houston's not the only city without the foresight to plan their light-rail to connect at airports. I'd be curious to see how many potential fliers (as a percentage of all traffic) actual make use of the bus/train/bus option for arriving at MCO. A bevvy of Google searches came up with blanks, which leads me to believe that the number is so insignificant as to not matter.
These types of systems work in Europe because A) the trains have a terminus at the airport, which can then be taken into town where connections can be made to almost anywhere and B) because they are densely packed cities with roads and traffic that make driving impractical. Neither of these situations exist in the US except for New York City. Because of this it's just not working.
I understand the airport's desire to be included in these plans, I just wish that our transit leadership carried with them some new world horse sense. Instead we're getting the Frank "procurement disaster" Wilson, George "A company computer?" Greainas model of fantasy Europe. Something that doesn't fit in America's car-friendly cities and never will, no matter how hard you push that square peg. The round hole is just not malleable.
Who knows? Maybe MCO will pull this off. Given the pass/fail ratio of other non-dense city's rail dreams I seriously doubt it.
Orlando Airport Eyes $470 Million expansion. Dan Tracy & Sarah K. Clarke, Orlando Sentinal
Brown said preliminary talks have centered on All Aboard Florida paying for the station south of the existing terminal near what is now a parking lot for people waiting for planes to land.The airport, in turn, would be responsible for building a mile-long, elevated monorail to serve the station, at a cost of $181.4 million. OIA also would be responsible for roads and other infrastructure costs of about $78 million
The 3,500-space garage and depot would cost $210.7 million. About 80 percent of that expense would be the garage. But who pays for what part of that bill has not been determined, airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said.
Driving part of the garage expansion is demand from rental-car companies who want more space on airport property, Fennell said. Calls to airport-based rental-car companies for comment were unsuccessful.
Financing has not been figured out either, though a variety of sources could be tapped. They would include selling bonds, seeking federal and state grants, spending cash reserves and using surcharges on airline tickets and rental cars.
If an agreement is reached and financing is secured, the station could open in 2015, Brown said. It would be built in such a way that it could expanded to serve up to four systems, including the SunRail commuter train, he said.
SunRail is set to run in mid-2014, with its closest stop to OIA at Sand Lake Road. A bus would ferry passengers from the stop to the airport.
So you have a one mile section that's projected to cost a fifth of what the entire high-speed rail line from Miami to Orlando is projected to cost? Somebody's gotten their numbers jumbled and I have a sneaking suspicion it's the train folks. For my reader's who like to tell me to "educate myself" on high-speed rail I offer the following: High speed rail cost overruns.
If there's one thing we've learned about cost projections on rail it's that they typically aren't worth the paper they're printed on. It is nice to see that Houston's not the only city without the foresight to plan their light-rail to connect at airports. I'd be curious to see how many potential fliers (as a percentage of all traffic) actual make use of the bus/train/bus option for arriving at MCO. A bevvy of Google searches came up with blanks, which leads me to believe that the number is so insignificant as to not matter.
These types of systems work in Europe because A) the trains have a terminus at the airport, which can then be taken into town where connections can be made to almost anywhere and B) because they are densely packed cities with roads and traffic that make driving impractical. Neither of these situations exist in the US except for New York City. Because of this it's just not working.
I understand the airport's desire to be included in these plans, I just wish that our transit leadership carried with them some new world horse sense. Instead we're getting the Frank "procurement disaster" Wilson, George "A company computer?" Greainas model of fantasy Europe. Something that doesn't fit in America's car-friendly cities and never will, no matter how hard you push that square peg. The round hole is just not malleable.
Who knows? Maybe MCO will pull this off. Given the pass/fail ratio of other non-dense city's rail dreams I seriously doubt it.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
(Still more) Adventures in BAD Journalism
This time courtesy of ChronBlog....
Things to do in Houston before you die. Francisca Ortega, Chron.com
What they "came up with" was a list of impossible, illegal, and downright dangerous activities that will probably mean you spend your last few nights on this pebble in a jail cell, in prison, or worse.
To top it all off, this makes Houston seem so uninteresting that the #1 comment left by people is along the lines of:
"This makes me want to leave".
Shameful.
A good newspaper is an asset to the community, what does it make a newspaper when it's a laughingstock and embarrassment?
Things to do in Houston before you die. Francisca Ortega, Chron.com
Inspired by Steve Carell’s new film, “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” in which he plays a bumbling insurance agent confronting the apocalypse, the staff at the Houston Chronicle spent some time thinking about the things we’d like to do before the end of the world. You can see what we came up with in the gallery above.
What they "came up with" was a list of impossible, illegal, and downright dangerous activities that will probably mean you spend your last few nights on this pebble in a jail cell, in prison, or worse.
To top it all off, this makes Houston seem so uninteresting that the #1 comment left by people is along the lines of:
"This makes me want to leave".
Shameful.
A good newspaper is an asset to the community, what does it make a newspaper when it's a laughingstock and embarrassment?
What United doesn't seem to "get"...
....is the entire concept of customer service.
Does United "get it" with social media? Seth, the Wandering Aramean
Then again, maybe not. There's been a lot of babble about people leaving UA for greener pastures but very little evidence it's actually happening. Some of this is structure related (it's very hard to be an AA frequent flier if you live in Houston for example) and some of it is people not wanting to lose status.
What's increasingly clear is that, while Gordon Bethune placed customer service fairly high on the priority pole, the current UA management does not. Until the bottom line is affected I don't expect this to change.
Does United "get it" with social media? Seth, the Wandering Aramean
If I had to guess I’d say that Bergsrud not only "doesn’t always get it," but that he also doesn’t really seem to care all that much. Maybe that’s ok, but it certainly doesn’t say much for vision or foresight. And that’s probably not the image I’d want to be presenting at an industry conference.There's a larger point to be made that United doesn't really care all that much. They seem to be happy consolidating routes into their hubs while eliminating customer-friendly policies and gutting their Premier status levels in favor of credit cards. While this might bode well for short-term income, you have to think that, eventually, this will come back to bite them.
Then again, maybe not. There's been a lot of babble about people leaving UA for greener pastures but very little evidence it's actually happening. Some of this is structure related (it's very hard to be an AA frequent flier if you live in Houston for example) and some of it is people not wanting to lose status.
What's increasingly clear is that, while Gordon Bethune placed customer service fairly high on the priority pole, the current UA management does not. Until the bottom line is affected I don't expect this to change.
Hurry up and wait
Commissioners take no action on Astrodome, Chris Duncan, AP sports writer via Chron.com
There was never any doubt that this issue was going to drag out as long as possible. No one wants to be seen as "the folks that tore down the Astrodome". I can understand that but, given the terms of the lease made with Bob McNair, there's really no other choice.
You can't have something that would conflict with Texans' games or the rodeo, so it would have to be closed on days they have events (which rules out a casino btw) and every other idea is non-sustainable. Yes, you have some people who seriously believe turning the Astrodome into a movie studio would be a good idea but the lack of a serious financier shows that dream to be folly.
All of this brings us back to the inevitable conclusion:
Tear. It. Down.
There was never any doubt that this issue was going to drag out as long as possible. No one wants to be seen as "the folks that tore down the Astrodome". I can understand that but, given the terms of the lease made with Bob McNair, there's really no other choice.
You can't have something that would conflict with Texans' games or the rodeo, so it would have to be closed on days they have events (which rules out a casino btw) and every other idea is non-sustainable. Yes, you have some people who seriously believe turning the Astrodome into a movie studio would be a good idea but the lack of a serious financier shows that dream to be folly.
All of this brings us back to the inevitable conclusion:
Tear. It. Down.
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