I wonder what COBOL refactoring tools can do.

https://increment.com/programming-languages/cobol-all-the-way-down/

«COBOL also suffers from the flaws of early computer languages, such as allowing arbitrary jumps via GO TO. While it allowed for procedures, parameters couldn’t be passed, and all variables could be globally modified anywhere in the code. This makes it extremely difficult to predict how any segments of code work in isolation, because you never know whether or not variables that seem to have a local context are being modified elsewhere by intent or error. That in turn makes it almost impossible to have a gestalt view of an entire system. Replacing any piece of code could have completely unpredictable effects on parts not even known to interact with it.»

Interesting. I guess certain places are identifying themselves as resentful of having to pay a living wage.

http://www.workingwa.org/action/surcharge

Or maybe they just aren’t able to change their pricing? How DOES that work? Nobody wants to turn a $7.00 pint into $7.14, I guess, or a $13.99 chicken plate into… $14.30? Is that so bad? I guess so, if your competitors keep their $13.99 price?

«If there’s no line item for the electrical bill, no napkin-laundering charge called out, and no special fee levied because a few employees had to work overtime last pay period, then there’s no good reason to tack on an extra 2% and attribute it to the minimum wage.

(And by the way, if a living wage only costs 2% more, why didn’t they just pay better in the first place?)

If you run a business, your prices reflect your total costs, of course — from the cost of rent to the cost of a cleaning service and everything in between — but each cost isn’t itemized on the receipt. So when a business adds a surcharge and attributes it to the minimum wage, they’re making a political statement that seems to be about publicly begrudging having to pay a higher wage.»

https://rmagazine.com/articles/4-methods-for-pricing-menu-items-2.html

Hey @WaffleHouse! Found this via @SPLCenter:

https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/chikesia-clemons-assault-waffle-house-video.html

«Want to thank black women for defeating Roy Moore? For voting against Donald Trump? Protect us. Support us. Demand justice for Chikesia.»

«Anyone categorizing the House as “all but” certain to be won by Democrats in 2018 is repeating the same mistake of 2016, when polls showed a Hillary Clinton win as more likely than not but far from inevitable.»

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/trump-right-on-house-majority/index.html

Source: https://www.fastcompany.com/40565050/say-goodbye-to-the-information-age-its-all-about-reputation-now

I’ve been thinking this for a few years, now, mostly to wonder if social media will ever manage reputation well. We’re drowning in opinions and half-baked lore passed along at lightning speed. How do we filter? (btw: stupid headline)

«In a world of fake news, the only antidote is our ability to judge the reputation of the people supplying us with information.»

Wow.

https://weeklysift.com/2018/04/23/flipping-the-script-on-fossil-fuels/

«today’s conservatism has a bad-boy aesthetic that glories in its own hard-heartedness: We live in a dog-eat-dog world where you’re either the predator or the prey. Bleeding-heart liberals are weak, and would let Those People (foreign, non-white, non-Christian) take advantage of People Like Us.»

Welp….

https://apnews.com/0c87e4318bcc4eb9b8e69f9f54c7b889

Interesting. Former G. W. Bush Republican running as a Dem for Al Franken’s old seat. I guess he’d be a moderate-to-conservative Dem?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/04/30/make-no-mistake-richard-painter-is-running-for-senate-thanks-to-trump/

https://twitter.com/HoarseWisperer/status/991093563873267714?s=20

«The short version: Republicans are planting fake Green Party candidates in competitive races to try to get voters on the left to piss away votes on Mini Jill Steins.»