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A bit of Hoboken trivia

2009-11-30T03:02:02Z

If you had gone down to the River Lot at Stevens to get your car (or, more likely, went down to the River lot to examine the hole in the pier where your car used to be) you probably noticed train tracks in River Street (now Sinatra Drive). I had always figured these were old streetcar tracks, but they are actually freight tracks.

The Hoboken Shore Railroad ran along the Hudson, from Weehawken to the NJ Transit station (Lackawanna RR Terminal then).

It's amazing how different the waterfront looks now that shipping has moved out to deeper ports.

That's the East Asiatic Company pier buildings on the right, which were demolished to make the River Lot.

Looking the other way, you can see the Physical Plant Building, and some of the dorms and the fine road. (The passengers are an excursion from the National Model Railroad Association convention)

One last Stevens image, where you can see the steps up to campus.

Another major change in Hoboken, the Port Authority pier complex along River Street. This area is now the cycle/jogger path near the train station.

Proportionality? Pt. 2

2009-11-22T18:57:51Z

Back in July, I posted about an off-duty firefighter who shot a cyclist, because the firefighter thought the cyclist was endangering his child by riding on a road.

The charges were reduced by a grand jury to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and he recently pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 120 days in jail anger management classes, another 12-24 months of a suspended sentence, and ordered to pay $1,200 in restitution. The fire department fired him after he was indicted.

State sentencing guidelines are 20-39 months in prison, but the judge found that mitigating factors included that he served in the military and was a fireman. One would think that a military veteran would understand the lethal power of a firearm, and would have had enough practice with one to not hit someone with a "warning shot" as he claimed.

On the same day, a man was sentenced to 14 years and a $200,000 fine for selling LSD at a concert in Asheville. No one claimed to be injured by the substances he sold. The seller apparently was not a fireman or military veteran.

Proportionality?

2009-11-21T03:39:50Z

Back in June, the story of 2 kids in Connecticut killed in a traffic accident made some headlines, because the other car was a police cruiser, and the kids' car was so severely mangled.

After Freedom of Information requests and threats of lawsuits, the video was finally released.

The police officer was driving an estimated 94 MPH on a 40 MPH road without lights or siren (and full throttle up to 0.6sec before impact), and wasn't responding to a call. The victims' lawyer contends that the officer was racing with the probationary officer driving the cruiser that recorded the collision.

The police officer has been charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter. The host of the party the kids had attended has been charged with serving alcohol to minors. The officer faces a year in prison if convicted; the host of the party faces 18 months.

DIY keylogger protection

2009-11-20T02:54:29Z

The Times had a piece today on various services you can buy to avoid getting personal information stolen while shopping online.

A few of them seem like they have some features beyond what you can do yourself, like seeing if your info shows up on sites that criminals use to trade IDs. OTOH, some of them seem to present as much risk as they remove, like Shop Shield that consolidates all of your online accounts in a juicy target.

Instead of a service like Shop Shield, you can avoid keyloggers yourself. Keep your name & shipping address on your address book program or in a text file. When you need to fill out a form, you can cut & paste them into the forms with the right-click menu & avoid using the keyboard at all.

Obviously, you can't do the same with credit card #s, but your bank may offer disposable numbers through a web app.

50 years of progress

2009-11-19T03:03:10Z

Be thankful that "they don't make them like they used to"

check out what happens to the passenger compartments in the 1959 and 2009 (0:45 to 1:15 on the video)

Bless you, automotive engineers, for what you've done to protect passengers in lighter and lighter cars. Now get to work on figuring out how to protect people outside of the cars in collisions.

Anybody got an old bike?

2009-11-18T04:19:50Z

mizerychick's mother wants to give her brother a new bike for Christmas. He lives in Philly, so a shiny new bike will attract more attention than is good for keeping it. I'd rather restore an older bike and make it as nondescript as possible.

Does anyone have an old bike in their garage? Ideally, I'm looking for an 1980s-era mountain bike or older road bike. I really don't know enough about fixing suspension forks or checking aluminum frames to handle anything newer.

We'll use eBay to figure out what it's worth.

Get out of jail free card, courtesy of the Fed

2009-11-06T03:58:09Z

So now, were up to 14 people indicted for insider trading related to the Galleon hedge fund.

Meanwhile, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Stephen Friedman, made millions of dollars by buying Goldman Sachs stock after the bailout of AIG was ordered (by Friedman and Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner) but before it was publicly known how much of that bailout would flow through to Goldman Sachs.

So Friedman is going to face trial for insider trading, right? Of course not, prosecutions are for people without connections. He resigned as Chairman of the NY FRB, and that was it.

Matt Taibbi has the sordid story, including how Goldman made a bigger profit by engineering AIG into a government bailout, here.

Looking into the future

2009-11-04T02:19:43Z

From the set of Red Dawn

Winner of the PeeWee Herman design award

2009-11-03T02:21:57Z

A bubble-blowing "tailpipe" for your bike that spreads seeds, too.

It's just a design experiment, though.

My favorite holiday economics article

2009-11-01T22:49:23Z

Halloween and its Candy Economy by Jeffrey A. Tucker

Tucker describes the trading floor that spontaneously arises in his house when his kids come back from trick-or-treating. Kids have a natural tendency towards mutually beneficial exchange, and illustrates the fact rarely grasped by critics of freedom that free exchange is not a zero-sum exchange. Once kid's gain is not another's loss, both gain or else a trade doesn't happen. Also, values aren't objective, each kid has his own subjective sense of value for each kind of candy, from Nerds to Hershey bars to Necco wafers.

The exchange gets pretty complex, with 3 and 4-party trades, then some candy becomes a kind of money, in that it's a medium of exchange that can be used to get the things really wanted, not to be consumed itself.

Thankfully, without a Federal Reserve of candy, and absent government bailouts, the kids wound up generally with the best (in their opinion) set of candy they could, given the candy they earned trick-or-treating and their skill in exchanges.

An amusing read and great introduction to exchange economics in easily grasped concepts.

It's different when the US government does it, Chapter MCCLXVII

2009-10-17T17:46:20Z

Remember when protesters in Iran were using twitter to organize and avoid Iranian police from mass arrests of protests. The protesters' freedom of speech was so important to the State department that they pressured Twitter to delay a scheduled maintenance window to keep the protesters twittering.

Clinton said she considered it important to keep "that line of communication open and enabling people to share information, particularly at a time when there [were] not many other sources of information. . . . It is a fundamental right for people to be able to communicate." Iranians protesting the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been using the medium to organize demonstrations because they do not have access to other communications.

Apparently, the US government doesn't think that fundamental right extends to America. You see, using twitter the same way in Pittsburgh will get you arrested.

State police arrested two New York men for using Twitter to inform protesters in Pittsburgh about the movements of local officers.

They are accused of hindering apprehension, criminal use of communication facility and possessing instruments of crime.

The US government - defending the freedom of everyone except Americans.

I call bullshit

2009-10-13T02:13:40Z

on any government school shill who claims that schools encourage independent decision making, since they are the place where you find the most mindless "zero tolerance" policies.

A 6 year old was sentenced to 45 days in reform school (a more obvious child prison) for the crime of bringing a Cub Scout fork-knife-spoon to school. I'm sure that kids are really learning critical thinking skills in an environment where they are surrounded by authority figures who can't make a distinction between a butter knife and a machete.

Thankfully, the kid has more sense than the bureaucrats “I just think the other kids may tease me for being in trouble,” he said, pausing before adding, “but I think the rules are what is wrong, not me.” He's being homeshcooled now, he'd probably be better served by staying there.

Very scary out there now

2009-10-07T01:04:07Z

The Dow and S&P were both up significantly today (1.37%, to 9731 and 1055, respectively) on news that the dollar is weakening against commodities and other currencies, a completely nonsensical explanation. Of course, mainstream financial reporting consists mainly of picking two things that happened today and stating that one caused the other. They may as well claim that the latest development in the Letterman extortion case drove stock prices up.

Gold made a new all time high, on panic that oil producers would stop pricing oil in dollars. That has some plausibility, but there's probably a lot more at work here.

Andrew Marshall has a story at GlobalResearch.ca reporting on some statements issued at the Bank for International Settlements and leaks from the recent Bildeberger Group meeting. I don't know or care if the Bilderbergers run the universe, but I'll easily believe that they have access to the best information available.

To summarize that piece, the recent runups in assets is an effect of the worldwide government stimulus programs and central bank money creation. Banks are reluctant to put money into the real economy (you know, businesses that employ people and actually do useful things) as evidenced by the increasing unemployment rates, commercial real estate vacancies, and so on. Instead, that money has been chasing after investments, driving up the price. Eventually (in the next couple of quarters) people will ake up to the fact that the economy isn't really growing to support those asset prices, and it will fall apart. A financial Wile E. Coyote moment - it will stay levitated until someone looks down.

Needless to say, I'm really nervous. I've had a pretty good run of knowing the momentum shifts just by watching the headlines (you see "end of the world" headlines at the bottoms and "boom ahead - don't miss it" headlines near tops), but I've been totally lost for the past couple of months. I thought we saw the top around Dow 8500-9000. In any case, I think I'll be selling rather than buying stocks. I might miss the top, but I see it going a lot lower in the near future. If I really had an iron stomach, I'd be selling gold. Maybe it's time to look into some put options.

Unlike the ones on my grade-school art projects, these square wheels work.

2009-10-03T02:48:42Z

Legos and bikes, what's not to like

2009-10-02T01:57:09Z

Why are there so few mortgage modifications?

2009-10-01T02:01:29Z

Because the FDIC has made it a better deal for the banks to just foreclose on properties, rather than allow a short sale or modification.

Bob Hertzog has it here:

So, you ask...Why does this program hurt short sales? Because, our brilliant government offers this SAME PROGRAM FOR FORECLOSURES! The only difference is, the government picks up 80% of the tab on all of the extra costs associated with a foreclosure (BPO's, upkeep, utilities/maintenance, legal fees, etc.)

So, If I'm OneWest, why would I want to waste my time negotiating through a Short Sale, when I can make the same amount of money (if not more) by just letting it go to foreclosure? And we wonder why nobody can get a Loan Modification? Why would OneWest approve a loan modification for this guy, when they can foreclose and make over $100k? And, to add injury to insult, they have held this loan for 6 months! Not a bad ROI, huh?

Your tax dollars at work.. going to the pockets of billionaires like George Soros and Michael Dell who now own OneWest. They need the money much more than you do.

The FDIC, after coming up with brilliant plans like this, is now hemorrhaging funds so badly that they are asking banks to prepay their annual assessments to the fund. You wind up paying for this in higher interest rates on loans, lower interest rates on savings, and higher fees all around.

Truly a woman of the people

2009-09-19T02:13:24Z

I mean, when I want to get some arugula, I always have a couple of streets shut down and send out teams of security to clear my path.

Much more "green" than just sending out a staffer to walk to the market.

For mizerychick

2009-09-17T03:36:26Z

OK, it's pretty callous to use real footage of victims, but the Hillary Clinton warning siren is beautiful.

Dumber than normal in NJ...

2009-09-12T19:14:42Z

In Fredon, the school board and PSE&G have reached an agreement to keep a school from closing due to concerns that kids will be harmed by (wait for it) elevated electromagnetic-fields from nearby power lines. I wonder how many of these people use cell phones.

Also, 3 kids got thrown out of the (taxpayer owned) Newark Bears stadium by team owner Tom Cetnar for not standing during "God Bless America." Apparently, they did not show enough respect for America to satisfy Cetnar, who previously showed his respect for America by stealing money used in drug buys when he worked in the prosecutor's office.

The comment thread is amusing, full of guys with "show some respect or get the hell out of the country" comments. I'm not a close follower of comment threads, but I'll bet that most of those guys are the same ones who were commenting about how great it was to see the guys with rifles and/or Obame with a Hitler mustache posters at the recent town halls.

Investment opportunity for mark_o_rama

2009-09-12T18:03:12Z

Keep your money in a mattress

How it's done

2009-09-11T01:47:10Z

Much as I'd like the President have to stand before Congress and take angry objections like the PM does in Parliament, Joe Wilson's outburst was so rude and pointless that I'd almost believe that he was working for the Democrats to discredit the real objections to the government health care expansion.

And there are real problems with what Obama said, pointed out by the not-exactly right-wing AP.

OBAMA: "I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits either now or in the future. Period."

THE FACTS: House Democrats offered a bill that the Congressional Budget Office said would add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years. But Democrats and Obama administration officials claimed the bill actually was deficit-neutral. They said they simply didn't have to count $245 billion of it - the cost of adjusting Medicare reimbursement rates so physicians don't face big annual pay cuts.

There are other fun half-truths pointed out in the AP piece, like the impossibility of promising that your current plan would continue in the wake of the massive changes that they are envisioning.

Ron Paul, as opposed to Wilson, raised his objections to the proposals like an adult

While I'm thinking about it, if the justification for universal health care is that "health care is a right," why does that right not extend to illegal immigrants? If it's something that we can offer to some people but deny to others, isn't it a privilege?

He probably just should have read "My Pet Goat"

2009-09-09T01:23:25Z

The protests are mainly bullshit, and most of the people complaining now would be OK with John McCain or George W. Bush making such a speech. But in any case, Obama really should fire his speechwriters.

From Obama's speech to the kids: "It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation."

Most of the founding fathers didn't complete school, and none of them attended compulsory, government-run schools. I wonder how the revolution would have worked out run by a bunch of people who pledged allegiance to the crown every morning.

While he's at it, he should fire the adviser who convinced him that he should give a speech that's supposed to engage both kindergarteners and voting-age high-school seniors.

Memo to Bob Lutz

2009-09-04T01:52:28Z

I've started looking for a new car, since ours is approaching senescence. I'd really like something a little larger than a hatchback, but I don't want a full-size 4-door station wagon. Apparently, a 2-door coupe based wagon used to be a category called a shooting brake.
One of the coolest examples was the Aston Martin DB5 version, which I suppose is what James Bond would drive on the weekend.

It seems that a few versions are available again. The BMW Z3 hardtop fits the definition, but is a little too phallic for me.

Volvo's new C30 may be the one I wind up with, especially if I can get a diesel version in the US.

Sadly, the one I would buy right now isn't available. GM had this prototype in 2004 based on their Nomad wagon from the 1950s.

Amazingly, I even like the interior design, which is usually terrible on a Chevy product.

Hey Bob, now that you're the head of design at GM, why not try making cars that are different enough to attract buyers instead of making cars that are crappier versions of Japanese cars?

In other car news, Hyundai is making a luxury car to take on Mercedes and BMW. They're calling it the Equus. We have yet to hear if Daniel Radcliffe will be their pitchman.

In response to mizerychick

2009-09-03T01:49:01Z

Red light runners are just as dangerous to drivers as cyclists:

I think that drivers run reds as often as cyclists, if there's such a thing as a "National Stop on Red Week."

BTW, red light running is the leading cause of all urban automobile crashes. In 2007 in the U.S., almost 900 people were killed and an estimated 153,000 were injured in crashes that involved red light running.

Remembering Ted Kennedy

2009-08-29T22:17:10Z

While the political rally they call Ted Kennedy's funeral is incessantly covered by the mainstream media (who note every detail while missing that the whole thing shows the Democrats to be just as dominated by an self-serving wealthy elite as the Republicans), a few people are inadvertently taking the shine off of the powermmongering lech's reputation.

According to Ed Klein, former Newsweek foreign editor and author of a new hagiography about Ted, Kennedy loved to hear jokes about Chappaquiddick.