Whose fault is the debt ceiling stalemate?

I've been following the debt ceiling talks. It's exactly as not-pretty as you've been lead to believe. it comes down to four players:

1. The so-called 'tea-vangelicals'. Newer members of the House primarily. Their position is absolute and uncompromising because they were elected on an ideological platform. On their own, they aren't a large enough voting bloc to get their way, but they've got the ability to tank legislation coming from the moderate right. Huge proponents of the 'Cut Cap and Balance' plan.

2. Moderate republicans. You've got McCain who isn't trying to court the Tea-vangelicals, and Boehner, who is.

3. President Obama. He's got veto power for anything that comes across his desk. He can also invoke Constitutional privilege and raise the ceiling himself.

4. Dems. Mostly in the Senate, but the House dems have some power.

Here's the problem in a nutshell: The ceiling must be raised AND there has to be a deficit reduction plan that will pass both a republican-held House and a Democratically controlled Senate. House Tea-vangelicals and Senate dems won't agree to the same plan.

This leaves moderate republicans. I'm laying the blame with them, but I'm giving them a major way out. They've been barking up the wrong tree, trying to court the tea-vangelicals. Boehner's new plan passed in the House, but lost the support of 22 moderate republicans, and it won't go anywhere in the Senate.

On one hand, if they try and court democrat's votes, it doesn't look good for their re-election chances. On the other hand, this could be their chance to spin themselves as the heroes who came forward and solved the debt crisis. Let's be honest, the dems have already agreed to give up a lot (massive cuts, raising no new taxes on the rich) so it wouldn't be too hard to craft a bill that GOP moderates will like. I'd gladly let the GOP moderates take the credit if it gets us out of this bickering.

Ideology is nice, but it shouldn't be an economic suicide pact. Pragmatic republicans and democrats should be able to see that.

And now, a white guy overthinks racism

Today, I came across an essay where the writer brings up something she calls 'hipster racism': people who say things perceived as racist who claim the comments aren't meant to be taken seriously. The writer's argument is that even ironic racism is bad, and that people who use it are horrible people whom we should look down upon.

In some ways, the essay has its own problems.
Claim: the hipster lifestyle is racist.
Reason: hipsters cause gentrification.
Why that's a load of crap: Is gentrification even racist? I mean, people have the right to buy houses and apartments wherever they want. It's not like hipsters are violently forcing people from their homes. It also bothers me to say that certain neighborhoods are supposed to be Mexican or African American or any other particular group. You only need two 'whys' to get to the truth. Allow me to demonstrate:
Why should hipsters not move into this neighborhood?
Because it's traditionally an African American neighborhood
But why did the African American community live there, as opposed to any other neighborhood?
Because white people wouldn't... oh my god. I'm enforcing segregation, aren't I?
Yuuuuuuuup.

Claim: hipsters are secretly racist
Reason: hipsters use reasons like “having black friends,” “dated an Asian girl once,” or “really liking Mexican food” as their reason why they're not racist.
Why that's a load of crap: Because that line is only used by idiots. I like Mexican food and my current girlfriend is (half) Asian, but the reason why I'm not racist is because I believe that people are fundamentally morally equal.

I admit this much: based on my own experiences, I cannot really actively engage in discussions about race. I don't feel comfortable using derogatory racial slurs, so I don't. But I'm also a standup comic, and I dislike the idea that people are allowed to tell me that there are certain topics I cannot ever use. Within a group of friends, (or even within the context of certain comedy programs) I think there's an understanding that people can (in good humor) make jokes that would appear offensive to an outside observer. When these jokes go beyond that close sphere of friends people not 'in the know' might take offense. The speaker has an obligation to listeners not in the know to tell them what's going on. But the listener has an obligation to not leap to conclusions.

Does racism exist even today? Absolutely. But I think we need a more nuanced approach than just 'no more talking about race ever again'. The essay writer makes the claim "The other favourite hipster defense is, of course, to claim that people are being “too politically correct” or “too sensitive.” [...] Saying that people deserve to be treated like human beings and that discourse should be respectful has nothing to do with being too sensitive, and everything to do with genuinely believing that people should be treated equally."

And I agree, to a certain point. People should be treated equally, but we should treat them as mature individuals who can recognize a joke, and who can laugh about it. I avoid making jokes that might be perceived as racist, but I will unconditionally defend anyone's right to make well-intentioned jokes on the subject of race.

Magazines for people like me

Los Angeles has a number of high-end fancy magazines: Genlux, Angeleno, Los Angeles, (now defunct) 944, and about four others. All of these are based around the central idea of "here's what rich people are buying this month". I just want to know where 'I'm broke and my apartment is a dump' magazine is. You'd think there's a pretty large market for that publication.

An effective deterrant

Happy Fourth of July, readers! (or as the rest of the world knows it, Monday) Despite the oppressive heat, I'm having a good one.

I believe that certain crimes should be punished more on holidays. Crimes like theft. Today's the day where you don't have to work, you get to drink beer and eat bbq all day and you get to watch things blow up at the end of the day. If that's not good enough for you, and you feel like you really need to go out and take someones TV, this is why you're getting the double punishment. Besides, someone else now has to remove themselves from bbq and beer to take you to jail.