TheAgitator.com
Links for 8/25/08
Monday, August 25th, 2008Who designs the best “nudges?” Markets, not government
“Eccentric space-god religion could appear unacceptably bizarre to pious nation of devout 2000-year-old Jewish zombie worshipers.” The Medium Lobster evaluates the veep candidates
Obama’s impersonal text doesn’t strike the right marketing tone
A devoted prose guy dives into the world of comics
WB will reboot Superman movie franchise
In a time of hops shortage, why must Tom’s of Maine waste them in a deodorant?
On the difficulty of hitching a ride in L.A.
Nuts to these allergy warning cards
Wow. Of all the stories that we’ve read here of doors kicked in, homes terrorized, people killed, etc. by the police, we finally see the correct response when one has committed an offense. Unfortunately, the offense was pretty minor, but the officer should nonetheless be commended for honesty and proper apology.
On the Barack Text Message, this nut was expecting Obama to send him a PERSONAL text message?
What did he want it to say, “Dear David, thank you so much for your interest in whom I’d pick to be my running mate. You should know that I’ve made my decision and it’s Senator Biden. Please join us for lunch at McDonalds down the street and let us discuss further. Peace out! B.?”
If he didn’t expect what he got then I must say he should call me and arrange to purchase the bridge I have for sale.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t an “officer,” he was just what is called (even by those like me who are or were in the profession) a “paper pig.”
If he had been a real cop, he would have tased the guy, no doubt while screaming, “Respect mah authoritay!”
The Medium Loster Veep picks is the best I have read in a long time.
Republicans this year will be looking for candidates with a kind of energy or vitality, what the French call a certain having-a-pulseness. Once again we ask: who has what it takes? Who can check if the president’s still breathing at a state dinner while maintaining an air of dignity and resolve? Who can project the confidence and authority America expects from its leaders while wiping the dribble off the commander-in-chief’s chin?
Thank you, thank you
The Medium Loster Veep picks is the best I have read in a long time.
Republicans this year will be looking for candidates with a kind of energy or vitality, what the French call a certain having-a-pulseness. Once again we ask: who has what it takes? Who can check if the president’s still breathing at a state dinner while maintaining an air of dignity and resolve? Who can project the confidence and authority America expects from its leaders while wiping the dribble off the commander-in-chief’s chin?
Thank you, thank you
I’m wasn’t sure what point Harford was trying to make on “nudges,” but when he introduced the subject of “climate change,” I realized that he had no point……
Nando,
He was expecting the text to be written in first person rather than third, regardless of who was actually typing the message. The author’s sample “personal” message:
To be sure, I think it’s a silly thing to whine about, and is probably his republican self trying to find something to bitch about, but don’t attack a strawman.
Cheers.
I use Tom’s of Maine roll-on because I’ve found it works much better than their solids. It also doesn’t contain hops, which I’d prefer to drink. Did you also know that hops are closely related to cannabis, my favorite vice?
Does anyone else think that the Superman reboot blows? I liked the last reboot (which ignored Superman 3 and 4, which was fine with me) and was looking forward to seeing the Son of Superman storyline.
Also, didn’t they notice that the Hulk reboot wasn’t a huge blockbuster, at least not of Iron Man/Dark Knight proportions? Perhaps they should stick to telling new stories about existing characters, or new stories about new characters, rather than repeatedly starting over.
Dude, who doesn’t get the medium? This isn’t a text message from a friend. This was a broadcast message to thousands of interested people, and why would hiding things behind 1st person pronouns make it more authentic? Would he really then have believed that Obama himself sat and typed the thing out with his thumbs?
Does Tom’s of Maine make you smell like a lager or an ale? A British bitter or a German weizenbrau?
What a waste.
chsw
Yeah, it’s definitely a waste to sell something that consumers in the marketplace want to purchase…
Also, warning people with deadly allergies that their triggers are in the food they’re about to consume? When will the government madness end?
People with deadly allergies not bothering to bone up on the ingredients in food before consuming it? When will the stupidity end?
Asking the staff what’s in the food before eating it. You could probably ask them how many calories it has, too. Christ, people are dumb.
I won’t rest until there’s a government mandated warning about the hops shortage on every package of Tom’s of Maine deodorant. After all, markets run on information, so let’s print every random fact we can think of on every box we sell crap in.
Matt,
How is somebody supposed to know what specific ingredients a restaurant is going to put in its food? Contrary to what you apparently believe, finding a recipe in a cookbook doesn’t guarantee that the restaurant visited uses the same recipe.
Meanwhile, markets do run on information. That you don’t believe in consumers having information makes me wonder how committed you are to markets. You’re definitely committed to sellers, but you don’t have nearly the same level of respect for consumers.
Ask! They’ll fucking tell you what’s in the tandoori, I promise!
And I have plenty of respect for consumers. I respect their ability to figure shit out without being constantly harangued by petty government bureaucrats.
Matt,
How can you possibly be a troll on a website you like?
I don’t know, Sam. Do you actually like this website?
People with deadly allergies not bothering to bone up on the ingredients in food before consuming it? When will the stupidity end?
More like people with deadly allergies not bothering to bone up on the ingredients that they aren’t about to consume but which might be prepared in the same kitchen, perhaps using some of the same utensils.
I have friends with nut allergies, and playing 20 questions with clueless waiters can get pretty tiresome, not to mention the risk that the waiter’s knowledge may not be comprehensive. A restaurant that actually prints the warning, even in excessive detail, would be helpful, I think.
Nick:
Yep. It’s much nicer to get a “Don’t try to eat here, God knows if we’ve gotten peanuts in your food” up front than a room-temperature-IQ drone telling me “No, I don’t think the peanut butter cookies would have any peanuts in them.” Some restaurants helpfully put up a sign to this effect, and that’s a good thing.
The restaurant in question did print a warning:
The lawsuit basically forced them to ask all customers if they have a nut allergy, and then personally hand them a card with a legal warning.
#23: The threatened (not actual) lawsuit didn’t force them to do that, at least not in the sense that government regulations do. They decided that handing out the card was the best way to prevent diners puffing up and collapsing in the aloo ghobi, but that particular solution wasn’t forced on them by some outside power.
Isn’t that how libertarianism works? Customer who thinks he was harmed by a product files civil lawsuit against the company rather than resorting to government legislation. Company responds to lawsuit by changing its practices, or not, depending on whether it thinks the disgruntled customer will harm the bottom line.
If I’m ever transported to an alternate earth in the multiverse, my first clue that I have landed in libertopia will probably be the plethora of legal disclaimers accompanying every transaction.
Note : the dish that made the customer sick did not contain nuts as an ingredient, so your initial suggestion to ask the staff what’s in the tandoori was not terribly useful.
Matt,
Love the website, even though I frequently disagree. You, though, are just spitting at anybody who dares to cross your religious obsession with the stupidity of people and the perfection of marketplaces.
Sam - You insist that markets thrive on information. Yet you endorse a legal mandate (calorie counts on menus) that does not increase the amount of information in the marketplace. That bit of poor reasoning drives me a bit crazy.
I have no religious obsession for anything. Not even religion. Why the constant refrain about those that disagree with you basing their arguments in faith? You might think that dismissing as mystical everything you can’t actually come with an argument against is clever… it’s not.
Also: Spitting?
Nick - That’s a good point, re: libertopia and legal disclaimers. And you’re right, asking what’s in the food doesn’t help if others foods have been contaminated by the nuts… I wasn’t responding directly to the article, but instead to Sam’s comment:
Note he didn’t say “triggers might be in the food.”
The restaurant already had a warning on the menu that nuts were used in the kitchen, and therefore might be in any food. They were covered there.
If you’re worried that your dish might definitely contains nuts: ask. If you know you have an allergy, read the menu that states this food might be poisonous to you, and still eat it? Tough.
Matt,
If you believe that markets will fix everything, a claim you have made repeatedly, then you’re putting your faith in something just as magical as the notion of God. It’s one of the more confusing things about hardcore free-marketeers - many are aghast at religion, and then put all of their faith into the marketplace fixing all things. It doesn’t make any sense, unless you subscribe to the “our God is better than your God” sort of argument, which I don’t.