D.C.’s prosperity reflects a parasite economy that battens on wealth created by others. We live in a vast, metastasizing tick of a city, swollen on the lifeblood it drains from the body politic.

Why did I move to the D.C. area again?  Oh yeah, I’m supposed to help keep this from happening.  I feel so productive…

Marie Curie died of anemia caused by her exposure to the radioactive elements she discovered. Jim Fixx wrote The Complete Book of Running to promote its health benefits, and dropped dead at 52 from a heart attack after a daily run. Now here is La Russa desperate for two wins to keep the monster he invented from turning against his reputation.

One more reason to love sports: commenters can make ridiculously outlandish comparisons that politicians could never get away with.  (Rush Limbaugh and Hank Williams Jr. exceptions noted.)

1. Ban all licenses for new taxis.
2. Later, lift the ban on just things you need, like handicap-accessible taxis.
3. Oooh, lift the ban on stuff you like too, like green taxis.
4. When you have the exact proportions for your desired economy, stop.

What could go wrong?

If this works, I say we ban all food, then just lift the ban one government-approved cuisine at a time.

Was Byzantium’s tax code Byzantine? Not at all. Byzantium’s two-pronged system would have made Steve Forbes proud. There was a flat tax on all citizens. Farmers paid an additional tax based on the size and quality of their land and their annual production. While the equation was straightforward, putting it to work was not. The Byzantines used alphabetic, rather than Arabic, numerals that were notoriously difficult to crunch.

More about calling things “byzantine” from Slate.

Read Matt’s post about mandating the number of parking spots at a barber shop, then read the comments.  According to the commenters, apparently the logical way to think about regulation is as follows: if a regulation exists, then there must be a conceivable acceptable justification for said regulation — that if not apparently obvious, only remains unearthed because of shoddy journalism.  Therefore, stop picking on the government.

I’ve rarely agreed with Matt over the years, but I do believe he’s a serious thinker.  One of the things I’ve found really disheartening about reading his blog over the last few months is how much crap he takes from his commenters whenever he suggests any one little thing that might not be an appropriate use of government regulation.

Of course, serious thinkers also tend to have a contrarian streak, so perhaps the disagreements will push him more libertarian  :)

What does this have to do with the New York Giants?  Well, you may recall a certain snowstorm grounding the Giants in Kansas City on December 11 and forcing a delay in the Vikings-Giants game.  (This was the same snowstorm that knocked out the Metrodome roof, but in fact the Giants being unable to get to the game was the main factor in postponing.)  Now, check out this ESPN.com post from that evening:

Giants defensive end Justin Tuck just told me via cell phone that the team will likely stay in Kansas City tonight and then try to get out early Sunday morning. He also wanted to plug a Kansas City-based restaurant called In-A-Tub that specializes in tacos. He and several defensive players bypassed the barbecue sandwiches in favor of tacos.

This was followed shortly by a post on the In-A-Tub Facebook page:

Sent a carry out order of tacos to the airport today for some of the NY Giants players. The team was delayed at KCI for several hours. Their flight ended up getting cancelled. No doubt they enjoyed the tacos from earlier in the day, since we ended up making a bunch more for them to scarf down at the hotel that evening. Thanks Dave Tollefson #71 for the order and Justin Tuck #91 for the plug on espn.com.

Well played, Giants.  Well played.

-Lattéland.  This place is much better than its name suggests.  Their espresso isn’t fantastic, but it’s decent, and more importantly they’re clearly attempting to make thoughtful drinks (designs and everything).  Their seating area, wi-fi, and outlets are great for laptop work.  I visited their North Kansas City location, which is on top of a hill with a scenic view of the Kansas City skyline.  The only thing I would knock them for is not having ceramic cups.

-Broadway Café.  This is a great little shop in Westport (which appears to be Kansas City’s resurgent hipster neighborhood) with excellent espresso, a decent number of seats, and plenty of ambiance.  I personally disapprove of any coffeehouse not offering free wi-fi, but from the look of the place I suspect it’s an artistic decision.

I don’t have any good leads on coffeehouses in Kansas City, so I did some scouting via the online reviews.  Looks like for my next visit, I should try to hit up Westport Coffee House, Crave Cafe, Crossroads Coffeehouse, and The Roasterie.  If anyone reading this actually has firsthand knowledge of the KC coffee scene, do let me know.

Related: what kind of person rates their local Starbucks on Yelp?  It really clutters things up.  Are there really people whose decision to risk a visit to the nearest Starbucks hinges on the Yelp reviews?

1. Ignorable.  In many ways, these are the closest friends.  You always want some friends with such a high mutual comfort level that you can watch TV together and not have to speak to each other with no love lost.  Sometimes it’s nice to be social without being social at all.  Downside: easy to get in a rut with these friends and forget about the others.

2. Available.  It’s also nice to have great friends that are highly likely to accept your invitations.  Sometimes they stay too long and require too much awkward conversation, but if you didn’t have them you would miss them in short order.  Downside: unlikely to be the gateway to a unique social network; you probably are their social network.

3. Sociable.  These can be some of the best friends to hang out with, and probably there for you when you need them, but their time always seems to be in high demand — perhaps they have many other friends who feel the same way about them?  Downside: if you get an invite to hang solo with them, it probably means they’re out of options.  Also most likely to arrive with three friends you’ve never met.

4. Unpersuadable.  Definitely also fun to hang out with, there when you need them, etc., but mostly available only at times of their choosing.  Hard to get them out on short notice.  In other words, much like #3, except their better option is usually their routine.  Downside: be prepared to tolerate excuses like tired after a long day at work, have to go to the grocery store — or, in the case of women, already put on pajamas. 

5. Affable.  The casual friend is an excellent subset of friend, provided you don’t assume it’s more than it is.  You can show up at random to each other’s events and be welcomed into the mix, but invites are rarely accepted and no-shows rarely come with a passable excuse — but you’re in the Acquaintance Zone, so why would they?  Downside: unless already out with a group you can join, they’re unlikely to be your no-plans-on-a-Saturday-night social crutch.

Okay, of course some friends are combinations of #1-5, but most people like lists and hate permutations.  The people who prefer to read about the 5! types of friends are likely not my friends.

I trust no actual friends were harmed in the writing of this post.

This was not an example of “a city coming together” or whatever — this was the familiar intersection of charity, opportunity, and enterprise.  And I’m happy to report that in addition to feeling good about the money that went to flood relief, I got to see one hell of a show.