"This is the first time in your life you are not a consumer," suggests that people in Brooklyn don't poop.
Anyway, I'm poor and Catholic enough to be protected from things like that.
I guess I could try for a less rarified type of status anxiety.
Haven't finished reading the article yet, and I'm not sure I want to revisit the discussions about helicopter parents, but this part jumped out at me.
Then one morning in 2015, one of the school's 3-year-old charges walked several blocks to her home, surprising her parents, and loosey-goosey started to seem like a liability.
For this, plus the insane pressure quoted in the OP, they pay $40,000??? I could tell you a concerning story or two about our and our friends' experiences in DC public preschools, but this makes me feel a lot better about our decision.
3: Isn't that precisely what [prestigious inner-city Catholic high school] is for?
Still, not much worry about that stuff among the local preschool set.
In Pittsburgh, toddlers learn to fight off giant eagles before they can walk.
I knew somebody who was a preschool teacher in Boston. She had an anxiety disorder for which she was getting treatment. She was supposed to write summary letters, but all of the parents wanted her to write recommendations and were eager to get their kids into the best private schools.
It really was a source of considerable stress and anxiety for her.
I only had to write report comments every now and then. Turns out Excel has this handy concatenate function.
Don't you just give recommendations based on how much money the parents have?
11: If only it was that simple! You also have to consider fame, looks, and quality of bribes.
Fame and good looks are only possible in California.
13: If you actually read the article you would know better.
(I didn't read it to the end).
In Holland they know the proper way to raise children.
https://twitter.com/nytimesworld/status/1152999448907321344
Fewer than one in fifty are taken by a witch because the schools teach about the dangers of gingerbread houses.
Morgano herself never got an official reason for her firing. But a few weeks later, she found a clue in an unmarked envelope in her mailbox: the word KARMA, spelled out in stickers on Grace Church stationery. She wasn't sure who the sender was, but she had a couple ideas.
Christ, she and the parents and board of directors deserve each other.
Very few people in the preschool world have access to the traditional token of threats (horse head).
You know who I'm jealous of in this whole story? Jessica Pressler. This would have been awesome to work on. Not the most substantive story on the world, but that makes things more difficult and stressful anyway. Crazy class issues and a legal battle with rich idiots with no filter on both sides? Assuming no deadline, this must have been more fun than any story I ever wrote, when I was a reporter.
I once wrote a story about a tree. It was the highlight of my reporting career. Or at least the only story I ever got a thank you letter for.
20: Trees are always so grateful for any attention.
19: I didn't know you'd been a reporter!
20: Hard to say what my very favorite piece was. Probably two profiles of local businesses/businesspeople, definitely not hard-hitting stuff. The story about the crouton factory was about twice as long as expected and almost had a follow-up because it turned out they were making interesting changes. The story about the elderly local artist included an interesting exchange about the meaning of love and stuff, and she told me "no one has ever asked me that before," which is flattering to an interviewer.
22: Heh. It was over 10 years ago by now. Wow, time flies. Rural local stuff in Vermont's only twice-weekly newspaper.
15 I'm in the Netherlands now and I asked some Dutch friends about that and they said it's bullshit.
24: Did you read the linked Twitter thread?
13: I guess I'm alone in my teenage infatuation with eugene talmadge.
26: Sounds like quite a guy.
In 1936, according to a United Press (UP) article printed in the Atlanta Constitution on August 21, 1936 titled "Gene Selects Hitler as Favorite 'Author'", Talmadge reportedly told a Los Angeles newspaper that while he didn't have time to read many books, he read Adolf Hitler's "My Struggle", or Mein Kampf, seven times. In response, the Nazi publication Die Bewegung reprinted the interview with Talmadge and praised him, stating that "Governor Eugene Talmadge, of Georgia, is obviously a very intelligent man
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Talmadge
28: But I understand alameida. The heart wants what the heart wants.
Apparently, Brooklyn is flooding now. I'm guessing it's a different part.
GY/Spike/anyone awake, how likely is it the SEC will totally ban Security Token Offerings within, say, 6 months? 4 years?
And will it allow immovable US assets to serve as the underlying assets for tokens issued elsewhere, like Singapore?
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Actually, that's totally on-topic for "the poor dears". Anyway, I'm assuming the answers are 100%, 100%, and "only if token issuer complies with SEC regulations" ie. no.
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Speaking of poor dears, my poor feet, walking around Amsterdam and Utrecht all day long for the past two weeks in brand new shoes that are a bit too big and new socks right out of the bag that make my feet slip inside the shoes. The blisters! They hurt!
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No to mention your poor dear eyes, staring at all that beautiful Dutch Mastery all day! It must be agony!
*very Humphrey Lyttleton voice*
In the evening, he's planning to spend some time looking at Dutch mistresses.
31: An outright ban seems unlikely, but now that Libra has attracted Trump's ire, maybe. Making it so that nobody would want to do a compliant one, on the other hand, definitely. To be honest, I thought that's where things were at, though I haven't followed the latest developments.
32: I don't at first glance see what power the SEC would have to stop it, if it were genuinely offshore and not sold to US investors. If the only nexus with the US is the location of the property, wouldn't that be a matter of US property and tax law, not securities law?
how likely is it the SEC will totally ban Security Token Offerings within, say, 6 months? 4 years?
I understand the tech a lot better than I understand the SEC, but given the pace they have been working at I would say 4 years is a lot more likely than 6 months. And I suspect they would not ban token offerings per se, but rather they would point out the stack of existing regulations that any securities offering needs to comply with and insist that token offerings comply with them. Which they probably won't be able to, but who knows?
The thing is that tokens really are a different financial product than existing types of securities, with their own set of unique properties and challenges. To date there has been an insistence on both the part of the regulators and the industry that they can be regulated through existing regulatory frameworks, rather than by drafting new rules. But I think this is a case where new rules are actually warranted.
I should caveat 37.1 with the point that there's a non-trivial chance that the West will follow much of Asia's lead and basically ban all crypto activity, so I guess that would technically mean an SEC ban on security tokens.
And I suspect they would not ban token offerings per se, but rather they would point out the stack of existing regulations that any securities offering needs to comply with and insist that token offerings comply with them.
They've already done that.
For security tokens, anyway. And Clayton has said most ICOs were offerings of security tokens, not utility tokens.
I can't really think of a way to make it happen, but can the tokens look like the coins in John Wick?
Thanks. Especially to Moby.
But I think this is a case where new rules are actually warranted.
Frex?
Not to speak for Spike, but the way the SEC has set up its taxonomy, it can be pretty tricky to do the one thing that seems to be a valid, non-scammy/faddy reason for doing an ICO, namely funding the development of a decentralised protocol for the benefit of the market. Basically if the thing the token is going to be used for doesn't exist, the SEC says it's probably a security, or at least definitely isn't a utility token. But obviously the thing doesn't exist if you're issuing the token to fund its development. And if it's a security token, not only do you have to comply with the rules for security offerings, but it makes it hard to get the tokens in the hands of end users (if they're not all accredited investors).
Now there's work being done to create security tokens that morph into being utility tokens once the relevant platform is operational, but I can see the benefit to creating a regime to facilitate that. The thing is, 99% of ICOs aren't about that, and only exist because it is, or was an easy way to get free money from crypto bros. So there isn't much of a push to create a robust but appropriate regulatory regime, and the SEC isn't really concerned about facilitating that tiny part of the market - especially when tech companies aren't exactly finding it difficult to get people to throw money at them in private securities offerings anyway.
GY has a good answer. I would add that the whole "accredited investors" thing breaks down when you are using a blockchain to facilitate transactions instead of making trades through a registered broker.
Moreover, these things are trans-national in a way that previous securities have not been. So far the solution has been to ban Americans from investing in foreign tokens that have not achieved regulatory compliance - or rather, to have tokens ban themselves from sale to American investors. Blockchains being what they are - anybody can participate - such restrictions have been rather farcical and are not something that's really going to be sustainable long term.
There is also the matter of the extremely blurry line between securities tokens and utility tokens. That line has to be drawn somewhere, but I think that having regulators draw that line is overstepping the bounds of their appropriate role. It should be the job of Congress to consider the issue and draw the line as a mater of law, rather than to expect regulators to piece together the rules based on statutes written before so much of this technology existed.
What is a utility token? A coin used to pay for the right to use a service? If so, why not use cash?
45.1: If you're legitimately developing a technology which will when operational use crypto, why do you need to issue crypto to finance its development? If it's legit, why are you not able to raise cash like any other business?
46.3: I'm sure they'll get right on it.
The tone of this comment sounds combative, but isn't. Real questions.
Can't we just outlaw the whole blockchain because it's designed to waste electricity in a vast, polluting scale?
Moreover, these things are trans-national in a way that previous securities have not been. So far the solution has been to ban Americans from investing in foreign tokens that have not achieved regulatory compliance - or rather, to have tokens ban themselves from sale to American investors. Blockchains being what they are - anybody can participate - such restrictions have been rather farcical and are not something that's really going to be sustainable long term.
I'm not sure I agree with this. Restrictions on sales to US investors are nothing new. Certainly it's harder to police (at least in theory - on the other hand you generally know exactly which wallets own tokens, which is more than you can say for bonds), but the underlying principles are the same.
46.3: On the other hand, you can hardly expect the SEC to sit idly by while rampant securities fraud is going on, simply because Congress is dysfunctional and technophobic. Most of these ICOs do in fact clearly violate existing law. And besides, I imagine they think it's better to ask Congress for forgiveness than permission, and they're not wrong. Look at the stick the UK FCA is getting over a recent minibond fraud, which was very clearly outside its regulatory perimeter.
I just learned there are £100,000,000 notes. If you stole one, could you spend it? Asking for a friend.
You're not the first person to ask that.
He's also smart enough not to use his real name when asking.
46.3: THE LINE MUST BE DRAWN HERE
What is a utility token? A coin used to pay for the right to use a service?
Basically, yes. As the SEC defines it (kind of), it's one that doesn't convey any ownership right or profit participation in a common enterprise, it's immediately usable on sale, it's only owned by users of the platform, and isn't marketed for speculative purposes.
Why? In principle, it allows a decentralised system to be self-sustaining - the users can be incentivised with tokens to do various things. Also potentially smart contracts and all that bollocks.
45.1: If you're legitimately developing a technology which will when operational use crypto, why do you need to issue crypto to finance its development? If it's legit, why are you not able to raise cash like any other business?
If you're a legit company that plans to profit from the technology, probably no reason. Like I say, the only real use case seems to be platforms that are designed to be decentralised and non-profit once they are operational. See Matt Levine for a rather more eloquent take, eg here.
50. You couldn't spend it because those things never legally leave the premises of the Bank of England, where they're used essentially as markers for large transactions at the level of the government. If you offered them one in Pizza Hut, they'd either know it was stolen and call the cops or assume it was forged and call the cops.
Well, yeah, obviously in the absence of congressional action, regulators got to regulate based on what they have. I'm just saying that, if we had a functional Congress, they might get off their ass to create legislative frameworks that reflect new realities brought about by technology is the kind of thing they would do, rather than delegating the executive branch to piece things together based on precedents set in the 1930s and 1940s.
If I'm in London, I'm not going to eat at Pizza Hut. We have those here.
55: Also they would have difficulty coming up with the change.
57: But in the London Pizza Hut you can get BBQ Americano Pizza. Bet you can't get that in Pittsburgh.
That's how you separate the good Pizza Huts from the bad.
Technically I don't think the SEC is executive branch.
Independent agencies of the United States federal government are agencies that exist outside the federal executive departments (those headed by a Cabinet secretary) and the Executive Office of the President.[1] In a more narrow sense, the term may also be used to describe agencies that, while constitutionally part of the executive branch, are independent of presidential control, usually because the president's power to dismiss the agency head or a member is limited.
My n=1 observation is that baristas in London Starbuckses are not as nice as at Pittsburgh Starbuckses. I'm already working on my Thomas Friedmanesque piece on what this says about globalization and a changing Europe.
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What papers do Texas old money / rich people / oilmen read? And don't say Fox, I'm not dealing with that.
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Yeah, they say FBI and the Justice Department are independent of presidential control too, but...
Hmm, on reconsideration I guess the FBI is the Justice Department.
WSJ is paywalled. Sometimes.
Because they have enough rich people subscribing that they can use that business model.
Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. (Probably these days they mostly read the WSJ and other national outlets, but those are the big papers in the biggest and most oil-oriented Texas cities.)
Any interest in a NYC meetup Thursday or Friday this week?
Or a reasonable cover charge considering the amenities.
And no bear baiting. Probably no rat baiting either, but I can be flexible if there's a disease vector that needs fixing.
Honestly, I'm fine with cock fighting, assuming the cover charge is reasonable. I don't understand the ban. We do pretty much more horrible things to nearly every other chicken that exists.
Why do all your meet up ideas involve animal fights?
I guess I shouldn't judge since I won't even be in New York for the cock fighting.
I'll just eat a totally different chicken that had no chance to stab its way to freedom.
If you think about it, replacing horse racing with cock fighting would probably improve animal welfare if adjusted for the animal brain size. Plus, less real estate.
I spent my evening doing the things related to things mentioned 5, which is more stressful than abusing chickens but less stressful than Brooklyn. Probably. I never done either but I'm very good at imagining things.
I just ran into somebody who I never knew except in passing, but it think she's on meth now. There's no good way to ask.
As long as I don't post this comment, I don't have the whole sidebar.
amazing cloud films. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur4k8cAuQUY .
Thanks teo. What about west Texas, rural? San Antonio? (I believe some commenters even live thereabouts?)
Are you buying an early Christmas gift for a budding polluter?
Always polluting. Never Christmas.
Listen: Could the Astrodome become Houston's Eiffel Tower?
Is i the one with the inflatable roof? You could do some kind of blow-injection thing.
94: I like the way it starts with "Listen:". It gives the impression that, if you pay attention, you can hear the distant creaking and groaning as the Astrodome hatches into its new, terrifyingly French form.
91: El Paso Times, San Antonio Express-News. I'm sure some of the smaller cities have papers too but I don't know their names offhand.
97: Not sure if I like this American Akira reboot.