Minneapolis has Matt's, the Convention Grille, and a few Culver's. That town knows how to burger.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 2:16 PM on July 26, 2005

That graph posted by troutfishing is a textbook example of why your average Joe should keep all his excess cash in 401ks.

You realize that a 401(k) is a registration, not a type of investment? You realize that you can't just put "excess cash" in a 401(k)? You realize that 401(k) withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income (and penalized for the under 59 1/2 crowd unless they meet very specific tests)? You realize that due to their tax-deferred... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 7:28 AM on June 20, 2005

"In all fairness, I want to hear from Senator Frist directly on this issue of leadership. I left a message with his press office yesterday asking for one of his staff to call me or e-mail me for an interview, in order to allow them to respond to my criticisms on this blog."

Best of luck, Cap'n!
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 7:30 PM on April 21, 2005

Regarding your statement that health care related bankruptcy is not fact, it is true: the leading cause of bankruptcy in this country is health care costs.

Hooey.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 11:41 AM on April 17, 2005

I didn't realise astro-turf was a useful focus for rebuttal.

You can attack the content of the article, as others here have done, or you can play the astroturf card. Are you out of ideas?
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 11:46 AM on April 17, 2005

The unique factor about the American health care system is that health insurance is tied to employment... giant corporations such as GM, Ford, United and Boeing realize that they don't want to be in the health insurance business. The conservatives that oppose socialized medicine will eventually lose as their corporate benefactors turn against them.

To me, the most interesting points in the thread. The current... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 12:07 PM on April 17, 2005

Well, Spiggot, no one usually cries when someone links to Kos.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 12:10 PM on April 17, 2005

Whassamatta, mk1gti?

Zywicki's piece is a thorough fisking of some extremely poor scholarship that people like you continue to peddle as if it were simple, uncontested fact.

But it's on Volokh, so I have to do better? Enjoy your small-minded dismissal, and pat yourself on the back. I have better things to do than argue with kneejerk ideologues who ignore inconvenient facts.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 12:21 PM on April 17, 2005

1-28 ;-).

Disturbing.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 2:06 PM on April 15, 2005

If I had a time machine and a shotgun, Warwick Kerr would be victim number one.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:56 AM on April 15, 2005

Apparently, the UK Greens (+15) are slightly less insane than the American Greens. Liberal Democrats chalked up a minus-thirty on my scorecard. Guess there's a difference.

Ignorant Yank.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 12:52 PM on April 14, 2005

Misesian Gene Callahan wrote favorably about Ms. Jacobs.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 12:43 PM on April 14, 2005

Your friend Emily's mom can always give (or sell at $1) her house to Emily. Emily would, then, presumably not kick her mother out, and she'd be responsible for the property taxes just like she would if she'd inherited it.

Well, no. That would be assessed as a gift, and subject to gift taxes and/or subtracted from the unified credit. That loophole has been closed for a very, very long time.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 6:21 AM on April 13, 2005

They say that inheritance elevates privilege above merit. But this is a false distinction that asserts an egalitarian view of merit. It is also very dangerous because it puts government instead of the private sector in charge of deciding who merits what.

The adage says that wealth corrupts; perhaps, but wealth has no monopoly in this regard. It is easy enough to lead a worthless and parasitical life without an inheritance; I have seen neither argument nor evidence which... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 6:32 AM on April 13, 2005

Also, has no one in this thread noted that the stepped-up basis on inherited assets disappears when the estate tax goes away? It's a significant point.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 7:08 AM on April 13, 2005

Why should I get a 4 bedroom house in primo condition worth a fortune when I haven't earned it?

Why shouldn't your mum be able to give the house to the person of her choosing-- she has earned it?

Isn't having money you haven't earned just a sense of entitlement in a society that prides itself on individual effort in pursuit of success?

Isn't being able to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 7:30 AM on April 13, 2005

Mitheral-- The only tax I would "support" is an LVT. I am slowly drifting away from anarcho-capitalism and towards Georgism.

But, in our current framework, if we must tax estates, I think the best case could be made that those (non-spouses) receiving any/all gifts and estates should be subject to income tax on the value of the gift or inheritance, but that the estates themselves should be unburdened. I think our current system-- replete with its layers of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 7:56 AM on April 13, 2005

I'd rather £500,000 of the £750,000 value in the property was invested in the society around me so that we can all benefit. £250,000 is way more than I'd need to purchase a house suitable for me and my family.

Well, then, inherit the house, sell it, buy your house, and give the remainder to charity. Or are you more concerned with what others do with their windfalls?

My mum's wishes don't really... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:25 AM on April 13, 2005

longbaugh: I understand what you're saying, I think-- That those who inherit don't deserve their inheritance. But it seems to me that to take that position necessitates taking the position that those who bequeath don't deserve to bequeath. That's problematic, IMO.

Whether rich people "earn" their money is an altogether different debate.

klangklangston: I have no idea what you're trying to say.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 9:01 AM on April 13, 2005

I think you've taken that out of context, ROU. I simply stated that one necessitated the other:

those who inherit don't deserve their inheritance. But it seems to me that to take that position necessitates taking the position that those who bequeath don't deserve to bequeath. That's problematic, IMO.

And a gift is hardly a transaction in the same sense as the other two (goods for money, labor for money).
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 11:07 AM on April 13, 2005

She's a cheater, he's a snitch and a fraudster. They should marry.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 10:27 AM on March 29, 2005

"Snitch"? "Narc"? "Tattle-tale"? Do adults really have these views?

Well, no one wrote "narc" or "tattle-tale" until you did. I (an adult) called him a snitch, because that's what he is.

You'd prefer busybody?
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 10:52 AM on March 29, 2005

I uninvoke the plep.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 11:00 AM on April 13, 2005

Are there legal obstacles to an open-source-type Adobe-compatible reader that strips out garbage like spyware and print-disabling?
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 9:44 AM on April 13, 2005

Nice to see "LOOGY" making its way into the broader lexicon. Are you a BTF regular, sohcahtoa?
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:45 AM on April 13, 2005

If the asshats who run the medical establishment would just let the damn pills be sold over the counter, none of this would be necessary.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 1:42 PM on April 12, 2005

The minarchists free-market libertopians seem to be comfortable leaving energy policy up to Big Oil.

Find a credible minarchist who thinks that an "energy policy" ought to exist. You wouldn't know a minarchist if he punched you in the nose.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:25 PM on April 7, 2005

I applaud you, frenetic. I didn't know what to think until I saw your comment, and I think that I should think what you think.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:17 PM on April 7, 2005

Insofar as I do hate certain American attitudes - rather than America itself - that statement of clockzero's (assuming it wasn't intended ironically) is a wonderful illustration of just why. The notion that taking someone's life is a perfectly fitiing response to damaging or stealing mere property is...

I could never pull the trigger on a thief (I'm too soft), but I have no problem with those who could. They value their justly acquired property more... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 7:40 AM on April 7, 2005

So all "bad guys" deserve death, as long as you've got the stones to mete it out?

I don't think that they "deserve" death, but if a few dead thieves is a consequence of letting honest people be more secure in their persons and their dwellings, it's a pretty good trade.

To put it another way, I don't know whether killing an intruder to protect one's possessions is moral, but it ought not be illegal.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:12 AM on April 7, 2005

It was a response to trharlan's statement, about two centimeters above mine.

Which was a response to Decani's statement, a bit above mine.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:24 AM on April 7, 2005

On a related note, behavioral finance.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 6:58 PM on April 6, 2005

the very nature of LPFM advocacy is decentralized, un-organized, grass-roots, local interest broadcasting to serve the unmoneyed, unpowerful, voice. duh.

Well, then, it seems like the regulators either are complicit, or they got snookered. I hope this comes as a surprise to no one.

Of course, it's the MeFi way to complain about those who exploit government's crookedness and/or stupidity. Those evil, evil self-interested organizations!
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:56 AM on April 6, 2005

It's always striking how the people who have the least experience with "socialism" bitch about it the most.

It'd be nice to read the comments of those who have extensive experience with socialism, but the dead and the starving tend to lack web access.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 9:59 AM on April 5, 2005

nathan_teske-- Unless you miraculously jet from Bahrain to Minneapolis every time you get a hankering for java, you're not frequenting a locally-owned business.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 9:50 AM on April 5, 2005

Mencken's Wikipedia page has some fantastic quotes.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:50 AM on April 5, 2005

High school student knocks off Mondrian, earns B+, gets album cover gig.

And Coldplay is indeed one of those bands that I am slightly ashamed to admit liking.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 6:29 AM on April 5, 2005

This thread is a litmus test.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 3:17 PM on April 4, 2005

Stop self-moderating, learn how to hyperlink, and GYOBFW.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 12:43 AM on April 3, 2005

This page was eye-opening.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 7:28 AM on April 1, 2005

I just don't understand this hatred of public schools. I went to both public and private secondary schools and, without exception, the public schools were *always* better.

Well, it seems that public schools have taught you an unhealthy overreliance on induction.

Do you feel like the local schools aren't up to your standards? Then get involved with the PTA. Is that not enough? Send your kids to private school. Do you... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 7:52 AM on April 1, 2005

heh. I write a snarky post (with a sic, even), and I can't tell read from red.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 7:54 AM on April 1, 2005

or oppose from propose. Think I'll go kill myself now...
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 7:56 AM on April 1, 2005

Or how about realizing that we're better off if we work together to make sure that our public schools are effective, rather than trashing the whole system?

Oh, yes, if we'd just start cooperating, everything would be peachy! Rent-seeking and bureaucracy would disappear!

False dilemma, much?

I'd love to hear another plausible explanation, then.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:13 AM on April 1, 2005

It sounds like you're the one who isn't actually interested in a solution.

My solution starts with the realization that the thing we're trying to fix is hopelessly broken. If you want to try to fix a severed head with a band-aid and some gauze, be my guest.

I was clearly talking about public school funding.

This is what you wrote: That's also why giving vouchers to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 8:31 AM on April 1, 2005

Urgo, with all due respect, which is not much, I know less about the net, the web, and non-web protocols than you'll ever know. I don't even know what an RFC is!
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 6:46 AM on April 1, 2005

you're all extremely slow. I scooped you all.

she's dead.
posted by matteo at 3:55 PM CET on March 31 [!]


You didn't scoop me, matteo.

Can I go to FARK now?
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 9:01 AM on March 31, 2005

She passed away. How long till her death makes the front page?
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 6:54 AM on March 31, 2005

If I were that clever, I would find the exposure edifying.

What a shame.
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 6:13 AM on March 29, 2005

Michael Wolf's Hong Kong
posted to MetaFilter by trharlan at 2:29 PM on March 22, 2005