Fast Food Workers Unite!

Why are there fast-food workers? Back in the American Graffiti - Fast Times  at Ridgemont High era, fast-food work  provided a kind of rite of passage for teens into college/adulthood. But now, we are told, people are supposed to be making a living off this work. And isn't it interesting how the typical news report on this topic never mentions immigration?

But is there any function in the fast-food work stream that a machine couldn't do better? Perhaps you might want an assistant manager there to monitor things and deal with non-technical customers. But overall the industry just seems ripe for an automation revolution, particularly in the wake of this strike.

Ah, the NY Times Again

The link headline blares it out: A Coach Joins a Short List by Announcing He’s Gay.

But, then you click on the link where there's a picture and you'll never, ever in a hundred billion years guess which sport he works in. When it comes to pushing the narrative there's just no story too mundane for the Times.

The Perfect NY Times Op-Ed Opening

Every Times op-ed could start this way, regardless of topic - what could be more, well, NYTimesy:

My husband and I are about the same age and build, wear the same clothes and share the same gender...

You could then complete the sentence as the topic requires - the possibilities are endless. This one was about stop-and-frisk, so it introduced even a more delicious twist: "...but I am far more likely to be stopped by the police. This isn’t because I have a criminal record or engage in furtive movements. Nor is my husband a choirboy. Statistically speaking, it’s because I’m black and he’s white." That's pure NYTimes gold there - what would be the greatest abomination imaginable in the old South than a same-sex, bi-racial couple? And what makes life more satisfying than rubbing those old loser's noses in it? It never gets old.

And speaking of crime and punishment, I predict Eric Holder's new policy of avoiding mandatory sentences won't have much of an impact on the Federal prison population. I seriously doubt federal prosecutors are currently wasting time prosecuting hapless, small-time drug-dealers. Anyone getting prosecuted is either getting a plea-down or is a really bad actor for whom selling drugs is the only crime prosecutable due to lack of evidence for his more serious crimes. Sure, there are no doubt a relative handful of tragic cases where some bit player gets caught in a major case and goes to jail for 10 years for delivering a package. But is that really that common?