Disqus - Latest Comments for ikepigott

Re: Several SB Nation blogs getting shut down at the end of September

Ike Pigott — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 10:02:28 -0000

I’m curious what criteria they used.

There are stark differences in traffic for their many college blogs. Obviously those with greater traffic have better budgets to compensate the editors, and even some writers.

Not having access to traffic/engagement numbers, I find it hard to believe that Mississippi State didn’t somehow make the cut. I mean, Vandy doesn’t even have an athletic department, and has a championship sports profile no greater than MSU.

It would be one thing to say “We’re cutting the budget, and if you want you can blog for free.” It’s another if there had been any communication at all with site managers to set performance targets.

Re: Pope Francis Owes It to the Poor Be More Informed about Markets

Ike Pigott — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 17:52:23 -0000

Max, I don't believe you are granted to use "Libertariaism is theocratic" as the beginning of an argument.

First of all, this article isn't about libertarianism. It is about free markets, and even more specifically about the very real proven correlation that the freer the market, the less poverty in the society.

But if you want to talk about libertarianism, what is it specifically about celebrating the freedom of others that elevates this to a dogma and doctrine about personal god-hood?

I am genuinely curious as to where you get your very limited (and hobbled) definition of what it means to be libertarian. Can you help me please?

Re: The Knives May Finally Be Coming Out for Elon Musk: Vanity Fair Discovers the Tesla-Solar City Sham

Ike Pigott — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 14:24:01 -0000

Pulling no punches in her headline. https://uploads.disquscdn.c...

Re: Why I (Mostly) Don't Blog About Climate Anymore

Ike Pigott — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 15:07:50 -0000

How in the hell did Bjorn Lomborg score ahead of John Christy in the top ten? Lomborg isn't even a denier!

Re: Lessons from Our Family's Recent Identity Theft Mess

Ike Pigott — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 13:05:09 -0000

The reticence on the police end comes because the crimes tend to be spread out over so many jurisdictions. As a detective, you end up spending way too much time trying to track down the corresponding department, then finding the right person; there is a lot of friction there. All for a crime that may not end up being tried in your jurisdiction, which reflects poorly on your conviction stats. Identity theft thrives because the incentives for police departments aren't aligned.

Re: Lessons from Our Family's Recent Identity Theft Mess

Ike Pigott — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 13:01:49 -0000

I believe Warren has shared in the past that many of these campgrounds are in remote places, and they would be lucky to have any national bank presence at all. Much less having a single national bank that happens to be in all the places he would need.

Re: Additional Details on The Revival Requesting WWE Releases

Ike Pigott — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 01:10:58 -0000

What you aren't understanding is that simply letting The Revival walk without contractual basis creates a precedent that would have to be honored for every other contract they hold.

I was signed to a contract with a television station, and I needed to get out for health reasons. I actually found a new job, and was getting ready for a lengthy buyout negotiation -- when I discovered that another reporter had been allowed to walk just three days before.

So what you call a "dick move" is merely what any publicly traded company must do, or risk getting sued for failure to uphold fiduciary responsibility.

Re: In the Absolutely Most Predictable Scientific Finding Ever, Solar Roads Are Found to Suck

Ike Pigott — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 16:26:27 -0000

Wait! Let's kill two birds with one stone, and cut down on the heat!

https://www.foxnews.com/us/...

https://uploads.disquscdn.c...

Re: Amazon's $15 Minimum Wage Proposal is A Brilliant Way To Get The Government to Hammer Amazon's Competition

Ike Pigott — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 19:47:38 -0000

Exactly. https://www.bloomberg.com/n...

Re: Update: Labor Regulation and How It Harms Unskilled Labor

Ike Pigott — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 08:43:28 -0000

Looking at the chart, I can't help but notice that the trend lines starting in 2010 have not varied at all.

Re: I Am Tired of Being An Unpaid Laborer For My Own Destruction

Ike Pigott — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 12:53:09 -0000

They aren't economists. They are bureaucrat apologists, who speak in economic terms.

Re: The Cycles of Government and the US Constitution

Ike Pigott — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 22:52:00 -0000

I was on a parallel track - I was going to bring up Hari Seldon from Asimov's "Foundation" saga.

Re: Here is a Fun Challenge: Be Skeptical of Statistics Even When They Support Your Point of View

Ike Pigott — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 15:11:55 -0000

Warren, here is a perfect example: https://twitter.com/ikepigo...

Re: Tesla: With the First Domino Tipped Over, It is Just Physics Now

Ike Pigott — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 16:45:04 -0000

I am surprised that he has not raised the 4:20 defense: "Everyone knows that is a pot reference, and you would have to be seriously high to believe that was a real number."

Re: Why Tesla ZEV Credits Don't Appear on the Balance Sheet

Ike Pigott — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 11:33:01 -0000

Of interest:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ga...

Re: My Wife Is Ahead of Her Time

Ike Pigott — Sun, 20 May 2018 10:55:54 -0000

My father once performed a wedding where the couple insisted upon "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

Re: So You Think You Have Property Rights in This Country?

Ike Pigott — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 08:37:12 -0000

It is both the tawdriest collection of ne’er-do-wells and jacklegs you’ll ever encounter, and the best book on understanding American government you can read.

The farm subsidy chapter has the greatest introduction ever.

Re: Automation, or Perhaps Not (At Least for a While)

Ike Pigott — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 11:41:10 -0000

The moment I read this post in my email, I had the shipping-container idea.

While I think Dan makes great points in his note to Tyler, this isn't as simple as dropping a robot in the driver's seat. The availability of self-piloting vehicles will change the routes and the logistics in ways we aren't fully appreciating. And it will accelerate when the current drivers and contractors implement the technology - nothing says it has to be top down.

Re: 17 Ideas Guaranteed to Generate Comments and Shares

Ike Pigott — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 14:34:44 -0000

Be careful - too many marketing wannabes don't know the difference between Pedal and Peddle.

Re: 17 Ideas Guaranteed to Generate Comments and Shares

Ike Pigott — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 14:34:08 -0000

Thank you, Mike!

Perhaps I could interest you in my Vininar!

http://ike4.me/vininar

Re: Ethics Discussion

Ike Pigott — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 09:45:03 -0000

Here is the answer:

Let’s say you walk in with a wad of cash, and he suggests a price. You agree, and make a purchase. You complete the transaction, unaware of what the cost would have been had you included delivery, had you asked for insurance... or had you paid with a credit card.

The transaction is the transaction. Period. You are not beholden to the ethical considerations regarding what else you could have done with the money, nor what he intends to do with it. (For all you know, you’re financing his chainsaw purchase so he can slaughter children on a playground.)

Maybe he wants the cash in hand because he is going to buy pot. You don’t know. But if you’re so worried about what that person MIGHT do under your limited knowledge, then you can’t possibly use cash for anything.

So the answer is, you either believe in cash or you don’t.

Re: The Progressive Argument for Free Speech

Ike Pigott — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 10:43:28 -0000

This argument, if taken literally, leads to the following postulate:

"Any argument that meets opposition is automatically weak and flawed and wrong."

How in the f--k does a kid like this get into Princeton???

Re: Politicians Will Burn Down Anything That Is Good Just To Get Their Name In The News

Ike Pigott — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 13:05:04 -0000

Food deserts are a huge deal. Perhaps instead of being bought by Amazon, we should make Whole Foods open up locations in the food deserts. < / sarcasm>

Re: A Net Neutrality Parable

Ike Pigott — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 10:49:29 -0000

Net Neutrality is also an indirect subsidy for infrastructure manufacturers.

If you can't discriminate packets, and if you can't regulate who uses the road, and when --- then you need more "road."

In this case, Cisco and other makers of switches and relays and fiber reap a huge windfall, because demand for their products just went up.

Re: Democracy In Chains The Deep History Of The Radical Right S Stealth Plan For America 94deacdb 31bc 460b 9d90 B30c5f9335d7

Ike Pigott — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 13:30:32 -0000

The author, Nancy MacLean, sent out a note claiming that the vast right-wing conspiracy is out to get her. (and if she understood anything about libertarian thought to begin with, she wouldn't have made it out to be right wing OR powerful.)

Anyway, the language in her note implores progressives to flood the page with positive reviews, even though they haven't read the book -- and some of the reviews are simply copy-and-paste from her note, complaining about how Big Money is trying to game the system to take her down.