And you are here why?

There is a whole bunch of stuff in the PPACA - ELI5 has a gorgeous summary of the whole thing here - but the best (oh yes, by far the best) part by far is on Page 81, section 1312 of the act .  (D) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN THE EXCHANGE.— (i) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the effective date of this subtitle, the only health plans that the Federal Government may make available to Members of Congress and congressional staff with respect to their service as a Member of Congress or congressional staff shall be health plans that are—  (I) created under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act); or  (II) offered through an Exchange established under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act). ii) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: (I) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—The term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means any member of the House of Representatives or the Senate. (II) CONGRESSIONAL STAFF.—The term ‘‘congressional staff’’ means all ful...

No commentary needed

Google Images is a pretty neat way to classify and browse images, but bestiario has done one better w/ Tessera .  It uses a navigation methodology based on semantics (reMap), with tags applied using their own semantic engine.  They've applied their reMap interface to three specific photography collections, to wit, Changing New York, 1935 - 1938, Berenice Abbott, from the New York Public Library's photostream Chicks, by merkley Proyecto agua (water project), Antonio Guillén and students from the Instituto Batalla de Clavijo     Its truly fascinating, and mind-blowing in its elegance - go check it out! (The image above and below are just that - images. Go the original via the links above...)

Trulia has really managed to hit one out of the park here - they've put together heat maps for commute times for various cities around the country.  You can (kinda) thank Google for this - Trulia used the GTFS spec that they popularized as well as OpenStreetMap to put together this awesome chunk of awesomeness.  Basically, put in your city, and get a heat map that shows you commute times (driving as well as mass transit) within 15 minutes, 27 minutes, or heck, whatever you move the slider around to. Oh, all the other Trulia goodies are there too, viz., School ratings, Crimes, etc. Go check it out! (Note - the above is an image. Go to the Trulia location! )

Today's news - Fitch just downgraded Cyprus from BB+ to BBB- . And that, my friends, is what is officially called junk bond status . The reason is pretty obvious - Cyprus has massive exposure to Greek Banks and the Greek Economy.  As the put it While most of the increase in losses is associated with Cypriot banks’ Greek exposure, the reported non-performing loan ratio for domestic Cypriot loans has also risen notably over the past year as the Cypriot economy has contracted and unemployment has risen. Even assuming that Greece remains in the eurozone, Cypriot banks will have to bear significant further loan losses as the Greek economy continues to contract over the medium term as well as the deterioration in domestic asset quality So why, apart from Schadenfreude, is this interesting?  I'm glad you asked! Guess which country is taking on the Presidency of the EU Council? As of July 1st? Yup! You got it!  Cyprus ! This, I guess, has got to be the least pleasa...

From andersramsell Staggering work - I'm in awe...

They just had a fawning, fawning , article on The Brant Brothers, and I tell you what? You don't know who The Brant Brothers are? That, as it turns out, is the point! You don't, and, quite frankly, you don't want to! NOBODY should care who they are, except for the doofi at the NY Times Style Section who have decided that they are going to push them as the New Hilton Sisters! Anyhow, the NY Times Style Section had a fawning, fawning article on The Brant Brothers , which has such brilliant phrases in it as Harry, 15, and his 18-year-old brother are the well-spoken product of cross-pollination of the Übermenschen. “Everybody loves celebrity children,” said Stephanie Trong, the editorial director of The Cut. “But perhaps the biggest appeal is that these guys live in the lap of luxury and they’re extremely open about their exploits. How many teens go to couture shows or fashion parties, much less document them on their joint Twitter feed, in such a hilarious, unc...

OK, its actually The Anglo-EU Translation guide from Zeb Dropkin , but it works just as well. Anglo-EU Translation Guide

From the irrepressible SMBC

Anyone remember this chart from Pierre Bourdieu's Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste ? It basically classified foods based upon our social status, education, and (societal) class, I know I do, as does Molly Watson of Gastronomica , and to my awe, she has updated it for today.  As she puts it I was struck again by the elegance of such complex information displayed so simply. Parts of the chart hold true 30-plus years later and a continent away (raw and recherché food can still be seen as the purview of those with more cultural than economic capital), and yet other elements have completely flip-flopped. Charcuterie, listed as a choice of those without economic or cultural capital, has, if nothing else, become recherché. [...] What I found rather glorious was how, when I thought through any single food item (i.e. yogurt), it couldn’t really be placed in one specific location. Rather, specific versions of it would belong in different places. Such are the...

quote, overheard on the streets of Williamsburg

 From the irrepressible Wulffmorgenthaler

From Dave Delisle of davesgeekyideas.com we get this gem (click to embiggen. a lot...)

"Kicking the can down the road', sadly, says almost everything that needs to be said about the EuroCrisis, and the way its been dealt with over the last few years.  Barry Ritholz takes it one step further though ... Yeah! The Greeks Voted! For the X n-th   time, important events took place in Europe that either did or did not resolve an impending crisis that is either imminent or not. This was absolutely and unequivocally crucial, unless it didn’t matter at all. Either of which was equally likely. Indeed, this past week was absolutely critical, except that it wasn’t. The Greek elections determining their future relationship to the EuroZone was simply of the utmost importance, unless not. Yes, they didn’t matter; No it was quite important. Unless it was the other way around. The ‘ mother of all central bank interventions ’ is going to save Europe, unless it doesn’t, in case its back to square one. Everything has changed, except nothing is different. Indeed, nothin...

Another day, another display of epic cluelessness by the Serious Mr. David Brooks - this time when he takes on the American welfare system.  His latest article in the NY Times contains some classic Serious-isms.  Take this bon-mot for instance But many Republicans have now come to the conclusion that the welfare-state model is in its death throes ... the first phase of that collapse [of the welfare state] is playing out right now in Greece, Spain and Italy. Really dude?  Really ? Does he actually know anything about Europe, other than a reflexive " Europe sucks! U.S.A! U.S.A! " response?  If he'd bothered to use The Googles, he'd find that in Europe, countries spending more on welfare than Greece, Spain and Italy include (get this!) Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands !  In fact, Spain is actually waaaaay down on the list, with basically most of the rest of the European countries ahead of it!  I mean, Germany! Switzzerland!...

From Natsune , home of every possible type of meat slicer that you could ever want, we have this $160K wonder.  Per Engadget   its new Libra 165C meat slicer is using some mighty advanced technology to cut   pork   quickly. Beating a   Nikko creation   to the punch by about a year, it uses a displacement sensor to scan the shape of a slab of meat and make cuts that are the exact same weight, regardless of their shape or thickness. By knowing as much as it does in advance, the Libra can cut as many as 6,000 slices every hour Awesome indeed!

Well heres a change.  From FT Alphaville, according ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance “In 1990, North American reserves and production were falling but thanks to unconventionals, proved reserves have risen 68 percent since then,” Lance told an audience of OPEC ministers on Wednesday. “North America could become self sufficient in oil as well (as gas) by 2025,” he said at a conference before OPEC’s policy-setting meeting in Vienna” Seriously? Well, it turns out that he is pretty serious, as are a whole bunch-a other people.  Its due to a confluence of factors - unconventional sources (shale gas), increasing exports in the US, Candian tar-sands, etc. etc.  The bottom line is that the U.S. might, actually, be getting closer to energy self-sufficiency, something that I find unexpected and shocking (in a good way!) Mind you, this is causing ripple effects all over the place, the main one being that Saudi Arabia seems to be (slowly) becoming a lone-wolf in OPEC.  FT ...

Moody's cut Spain's bond rating - from Ba1 to Ba3 (next stop - junk !).  The reaction from the market?  The magic chart sez. it all. Note that the yield maxed not at 7%, but at 6.998 which means, technically ,  Spain is still OK :-) Just kidding - at these rates, there is no way that Spain can go to the markets...

From The Droid You Are Looking For , we have this awesome flowchart (Click to embiggen. A lot...)

ISA is (was?) one of the great Williamsburg restaurants - think upscale BrooklynHipster fare.  Locovor-y, forage-y, innovative-y, quasi-moleculary-y, casualy-y and basically all brilliant-y.  And then this --> First sous-chef Jose Ramirez (@chezjosebk) tweets that "chef got fired, I got let go... Turning something special into another grilling, burger, pizza joint... Better things coming" which pretty much sez. that chef Ignacio Mattos was fired. Then somebody points out at Craigslist has the following ad up since June 7th ISA, in Williamsburg is hiring for all kitchen positions! Please send resume and message and we will get in touch with you. Which means that they fired everyone . And now, the following sign up on the door Sooo, WTF? Is it gone? There are pretty much no other details out there, just rehashes of the above :-(

Well, that didn't take long. The Spanish Bank bailout got announced , and the markets opened relatively well, and lasted for, well, two hours. Thats it. Two Hours! I mean, this was the Big Gun ™ ! Ok, maybe not the Big Gun ™, but certainly a Big Gun ™ . And it lasted two hours. Sigh. We're doomed, I tell you, doomed .  In David Einhorn's now infamous chart (below), the cycles are getting shorter and shorter.  They didn't even get to the Champagne Party this time... Also, it looks like now everyone is looking at Italy and (ominously) saying "Well?".  From Bloomberg Italy’s 10-year bonds reversed early gains today in the first trading after the Spanish bailout and fell for a fourth day, sending the yield up 20 basis points to 5.98 percent. Doomed...

John Kovalic lays out the essential conflict between The Dark Knight and The Avengers

Bedford Avenue is - essentially - "Main Street" in Williamsburg.  Ground zero is the few blocks on either side of N. 7th and Bedford, and its basically a mish-mosh of hipster dives, wacky coffee shops, ultra-cheap eateries, and the occasional bodega. On June 9th, they decided to make the place slightly more presentable - if only for a day - and closed off most of Bedford, putting strips of sod down on the street. It was a huge hit, and scenes like this were all over the place.  It made the street surprisingly pleasant - a huge return for a small investment. They should consider doing this on Broadway....

Its bad enough that the US Air Guitar Championships exist.  What frightens me si that they actually have a NYC Regional . I weep for my country...

The Paige - admiring a Tesla...

via @peerstr

Mr. Serious David Brooks has a doozy of an article up in the NY Times , which he starts off in thrilling fashion with Every generation has an incentive to borrow money from the future to spend on itself. But, until ours, no generation of Americans has done it to the same extent. Say what? WTF is "borrowing from the future "?  Seriously, WTF?  Is there a special bank somewhere where you get to go and ask your (unborn) great-grandkids for a loan?  Where time-traveling repo-men come by and take your car Back To The Future in case you stop paying? For the last time (ok, probably not the last time, but I can hope),   Borrowing Happens NOW! When you borrow money, you get it from someone else, right now . The big-honking deficit?  Thats money you - and I, and everyone else - are borrowing from China and Norway and a bunch-a other countries.  They are lending us the money, right now , (at crazy cheap rates I might add). What? You are troubled by al...

Michael Belkin, via Barry Ritholz, on how to resolve the Crisis in Europe : The Uncollateralized Trillion Euro Perpetual Zero Coupon . Read it, and pay attention to the fine print. (click to embiggen wildly)

Continuing on the recent Star Trek trend , we have Sheldon Comics on Klingons.

For those of you obsessed with Wes Anderson movies, Slate has got everything you need to get your online Bingo on , complete with an interactive Bingo board (image below). The rules are pretty simple - just watch your favorite Wes Anderson flick, and whenever you spot one of the pieces below, mark it. Five in a Row?  Bingo!  

Yeah, yeah. He is Klingon, a warrior, blah, blah, blah. But d'you actually remember TNG? A typical scene would go something like <Worf snarls> <Worf leaps into the fray> <Worf gets his butt kicked> Somebody (usually Beverly Crusher) bails him out Mind you, they did make Beverly Crusher quite the dab hand at command (and, well, pretty much everything), but man, did they ever make Worf into a wuss - as evidenced from this video of Worf's greatest hits (or hits on Worf?)

An oldie but goodie from Bloom County

The Oatmea l has the scoop on how a Zombie Apocalypse gets the show on the road .