Tag Archives: photo essays

Driverless Taxis By 2017?

by JeannieYewen08 Posted on May 6, 2016

Mother Jones

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Here’s the latest on the driverless car front:

General Motors Co. and Lyft Inc. within a year will begin testing a fleet of self-driving Chevrolet Bolt electric taxis on public roads, a move central to the companies’ joint efforts to challenge Silicon Valley giants in the battle to reshape the auto industry.

This is all in addition to a whole bunch of companies claiming they’ll have fully autonomous vehicles commercially available by 2020. If this really happens, it’s impressive as hell. I’m a longtime optimist on artificial intelligence, but even I figured it would take until 2025 for truly driverless cars to become a reality. Will I have to pull in my my prediction of 2040 for full-on strong AI too? Maybe. The next few decades are going to be very interesting indeed.

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Driverless Taxis By 2017?

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Everyone Is Getting Today’s Trump Tweet Totally Wrong

by TeodoroCoulombe Posted on May 5, 2016

Mother Jones

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I think everyone is badly misinterpreting this tweet from Donald Trump:

This is not an awkward and embarrassing outreach to Hispanics. It’s not aimed at Hispanics at all. It’s aimed at white people. This is the kind of thing that Trump’s base—the white working class—views as a perfectly sincere appreciation of Mexican culture. It says, “Yes, I want a wall, and yes, I want to deport all the illegal immigrants in the country. But that doesn’t mean I hate Mexicans.” It’s basically an affirmation to Trump’s voters that they aren’t racists.

Plus it gets a ton of attention, and it also induces loads of mockery from overeducated PC liberals who don’t understand a compliment when they see one. It’s really a genius tweet.

Does everyone understand now? Trump is playing this game at a higher level than most of his critics.

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Everyone Is Getting Today’s Trump Tweet Totally Wrong

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Obama Visits Flint, Tells the Truth

by AveryWinder Posted on May 4, 2016

Mother Jones

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President Obama visited Flint today and told residents, “It’s not too much to expect for all Americans that their water is safe.”

Obama made the comments during a speech in the city on Wednesday, a few hours after he drank filtered Flint water after a briefing by federal officials on the city’s lead-contaminated water. He also requested a glass of filtered water during his speech, saying “I really did need a glass of water. This is not a stunt.”

The president vouched for the safety of certified filters and encouraged most city residents to start drinking filtered water instead of bottled water. “If you’re using a filter … then Flint water at this point is drinkable,” Obama said after taking a brief sip of filtered water, adding that the Environmental Protection Agency says using the filter makes the water safe and drinkable.

The only exception is pregnant women and children under 6, who should continue to use bottled water “out of an abundance of caution,” he said.

Good for Obama. He told them the truth: Flint water is safe to drink. My own take is that Flint water is safe for children too, but if I were president I suppose I might back off on that a little. A president’s words carry a bit more weight than a blogger’s. Still, residential testing shows that lead levels in Flint water have been well below 15 ppb since the beginning of the year. Obama is right about the precautions residents should take (flush your pipes, get blood tests for your kids, etc.), but the bottom line is that most Flint residents should feel comfortable drinking, cooking, and bathing with tap water.

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Obama Visits Flint, Tells the Truth

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Economic Growth Slows to 0.5% in First Quarter

by FreddyHoliday Posted on April 28, 2016

Mother Jones

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The economy grew at a sluggish 0.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter. The main culprits for the poor performance were downturns in durable goods, nonresidential construction, and defense spending. This is the third year in a row in which growth has been poor in the first quarter, which means that one-off excuses about snowstorms and so forth don’t really hold water anymore. But it might be a statistical artifact. Jared Bernstein says “there’s some concern with the seasonal adjusters, which some argue are biasing Q1 down and Q2 up.” I guess we’ll have to wait until Q2 to find out.

Even if that’s true, however, growth is still fairly listless, averaging around 2 percent per year. It’s yet another indication that the global economy remains fragile and the Fed should think twice before raising rates any more than they’ve already done.

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Economic Growth Slows to 0.5% in First Quarter

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Obamacare’s Competitive Markets Are Starting to Work Pretty Well

by FerdinaKimber Posted on April 27, 2016

Mother Jones

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The decision last week by United Healthcare to drop out of Obamacare got a lot of attention, but the truth is that UH was a pretty small player in the exchanges. What’s more important—but hasn’t gotten much attention—is the fact that more and more Obamacare insurers are getting close to profitability. Richard Mayhew comments:

2014 was a year where there were only guesses about both the Exchange population, the market structure, and federal policy structure (specifically the risk corridor revenue neutrality restrictions. 2015 had a bit more clarity on who was coming into the market, what was working and what was not working, and what federal policy on risk corridors would actually be. 2016 is the first year where the policies are priced on functionally decent real information and some of the amazingly dumb strategic decisions have been unwound through either course changes or through exiting the market.

As a simple reminder, competitive markets should see some companies make money and some companies that offer more expensive and less attractive products lose money. I would be extremely worried if everyone was making money after three years, just like I would be extremely worried that everyone was losing money after three years of increasingly better data.

Obamacare critics have spent a lot of energy trying to pretend that premiums on the exchanges have skyrocketed, but that’s never been true. What is true is that premiums started below projections and have since risen moderately as insurers get a better grasp on their customer base. This is how competitive markets work: players enter the market with prices designed to attract market share; customers pick winners and losers; prices adjust over time; and some companies are successful while others drop out. Eventually you reach a rough equilibrium, which we’re getting close to with Obamacare.

It’s ironic (or something) that the problems conservatives are making such a fuss about are the result of precisely what they say they want: competitive insurance markets. Apparently Obamacare has produced a little more competition than they’re comfortable with.

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Obamacare’s Competitive Markets Are Starting to Work Pretty Well

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Donald Trump Is Right: The GOP Primary System Is Rigged

by SheritaClune Posted on April 20, 2016

Mother Jones

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I hate to agree with Donald Trump about anything, but he’s got a point: the Republican primary process is really unfair. Just look at New York: Kasich and Cruz won 40 percent of the vote but only 4 percent of the delegates. It’s an outrage.

And it’s been that way all along. In the early contests, Trump’s opponents won 68 percent of the vote but only 38 percent of the delegates. On Super Tuesday they won 66 percent of the vote but only 57 percent of the delegates. In early March they eked out a fair result: 63 percent of the vote and 66 percent of the delegates. But on Super Tuesday II it was back to business as usual: they crushed Trump with 60 percent of the vote but won only 38 percent of the delegates.

I’m glad Trump is helping shine a media spotlight on this gross inequity—and he deserves special credit since he’s the one benefiting from it. It’s a pretty selfless act. Maybe someone will finally start paying attention to the way the Republican establishment is so obviously in the bag for Trump.

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Donald Trump Is Right: The GOP Primary System Is Rigged

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Here’s a Sneak Preview of the Upcoming Republican Health Care Plan

by CorneliGandon Posted on April 19, 2016

Mother Jones

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Seven years after they first promised an alternative health care proposal, Republicans now say they’re close. “Give us a little time, another month or so,” Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) told reporters this week. Steve Benen is unimpressed:

The problem probably isn’t dishonesty. In all likelihood, Republicans would love to have a health care plan of their own — no one likes to appear ridiculous while breaking promises — but haven’t because they don’t know how to craft one.

Not true! They know exactly how to craft one. In fact, I’ve seen a leak of their upcoming plan. Here it is:

Block granting of Medicaid
Tort reform
Interstate purchase of health plans
High-risk pools
Tax breaks for buying individual coverage
Health savings accounts

None of this would have much effect on the health care market, and it would probably fall about 19 million short of covering the 20 million people currently covered by Obamacare. That’s why they don’t want to unveil it. They know what they want, and they know how to craft it, but they still don’t know how to make up a plausible set of lies about how it will do anybody any good. As soon as they figure that part out, they’ll go public the next day.

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Here’s a Sneak Preview of the Upcoming Republican Health Care Plan

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American Independent Party Voters in California Mostly Just Screwed Up When They Registered

by MohamedVirtue Posted on April 17, 2016

Mother Jones

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I suppose I shouldn’t laugh at this, but the LA Times reports today that the American Independent Party has grown to about 500 thousand members in California since it started up in 1968. Why? A survey suggests that about three-quarters of AIP members thought they were registering as lower-case independents—that is, voters with no party preference. Now that’s a low-information voter.

None of this has anything to do with Bernie Sanders. As you can see, voters declaring no party preference have been on the rise for well over a decade. But it still makes a difference: if you’re independent, you can vote for Bernie in the California primary. If you’re AIP, you can’t. So it’s likely there are upwards of 400 thousand registered voters in California who may be leaning toward Bernie but won’t be able to vote for him. They better re-register quick if they want to feel the Bern.

They won’t, of course. Anyone who made a mistake like this isn’t likely to care enough about Democratic Party politics to bother. Still, it makes you wonder if someone could siphon off, say, Republican votes by starting up the Independent Voters of the Republic Party or something. Worth a try!

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American Independent Party Voters in California Mostly Just Screwed Up When They Registered

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Marlboro Boys: Indonesia’s Youngest Smokers Light Up

by LandonCamarena Posted on April 17, 2016

Mother Jones

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More than 70 percent of Indonesian men smoke. So do more than 40 percent of 13- to 15-year old boys. And then there are the legions of even younger smokers. Despite recent bans on smoking in public places and prohibitions on cigarette ads, public-health activists describe Indonesia as a “playground” for big tobacco companies like Philip Morris, which makes the country’s No. 2 cigarette as well as the ubiquitous brand evoked by Michelle Siu‘s photos of the kids she calls “Marlboro boys.”

Illham Muhamad, who has smoked since he was five, slowly inhales his first cigarette of the day. If his grandmother refuses to give him money for cigarettes he goes through withdrawal, crying and throwing fits.

Dihan Muhamad, who used to smoke up to two packs a day before cutting down, smokes while his mother breastfeeds his younger sibling.

Kids buy single cigarettes at a kiosk after school in Jakarta.

Dihan Muhamad enjoys his first cigarette at 7 a.m. before he attends first grade.

Dihan Muhamad smokes at home.

Ilham Hadi, a third grader, smokes in his bedroom.

Andika Prasetyo, who smokes about a pack a day.

Muhammad Taufik Hidayat, 14, has smoked since he was 11.

Ardian Azka Mubarok buys a single cigarette in the town of Garut.

Then he smokes at home. He’s five years old.

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Marlboro Boys: Indonesia’s Youngest Smokers Light Up

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Donald Trump Is Now Way Out Ahead of Ted Cruz

by Dedra Temores Posted on April 14, 2016

Mother Jones

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Two days ago—two!—I posted a Pollster chart showing that Ted Cruz had nearly caught up to Donald Trump on a national level. This was based on polling through April 6, and today we have polling results through April 11. Look what’s happened:

Yikes! The head-to-head between Trump and Cruz has gone from 39-38 to 53-25. Trump now has a 28-point lead over Cruz, about as big as any he’s had since the beginning of the year.

Maybe this is just a temporary spike—or, then again, maybe April 6 was the temporary spike. Either way, this is an extraordinary amount of movement for an aggregate measure in just five days. Did something happen on April 6 that I missed?

UPDATE: Sam Wang says this spike is just the effect of one high-end-of-the-range poll (NBC/SurveyMonkey) and one super-high poll (YouGov). I don’t expect aggregates to move so strongly based on just one or two polls, but it looks like he’s right. Those two polls by themselves added 27 points to Trump’s lead. So I guess there’s no need to panic just yet.

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Donald Trump Is Now Way Out Ahead of Ted Cruz

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