July 2010
1 post
June 2010
2 posts
Migration to Austin →
I think it is funny that there are two notables from Wisco. It seems like I met tons of people from Dane co. in Travis co., and now there is a map, so it must be true.
“Corrections, June 15, 2010: The original stated that Uzbeks appear East Asian,...”
– From Slate’s article attempting to explain why Uzbeks appear to hate Kyrgyz. One of these days, we may see a correction to the tune of, “Everything which I said was true is actually false and vice versa. Sorry.”
May 2010
5 posts
Legal legacy of WWII service
From Unger, I got a point toward an interesting bit on out-going justice Stevens. Elements of personal experience (gasp!) apparently shape jurisprudential rationalizing decision-making irrespective of, or perhaps through, ideology.
“few of us would march our sons and daughters off to war to preserve the citizen’s right to see ‘Specified Sexual Activities’ exhibited in the theaters of our...
April 2010
4 posts
Should coverage of polling info be so smug?
From the tail-end of an NYT story on Tea/Party/whatever supporters:
Some defended being on Social Security while fighting big government by saying that since they had paid into the system, they deserved the benefits.
Others could not explain the contradiction.
“That’s a conundrum, isn’t it?” asked Jodine White, 62, of Rocklin, Calif. “I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller...
March 2010
1 post
February 2010
3 posts
“The plan to cut $62.1 million in funding to the state’s public colleges...”
– Brody & Alex, Bergen Record
January 2010
2 posts
"We see vast untapped grounds in our home base and...
In all this Google / Beijing dust-up, I wanted to see what this “Baidu” engine was about, so I went there. My Chinese literacy, is, shall we say, poor, but I did see the “Baidu Story,” where the last line cracked me up. Link to About Baidu.
November 2009
1 post
September 2009
6 posts
Sexy iPhone apps? Clever? Funny? Useful? YES!...
Saw this via Engadget. Some eAdvocacy effort, in the form of “iSinglePayer,” can help you locate your congressional district by GPS (that is cool), and of course, call the office to shame, blame, or congratulate a member of congress. It seems to have some bulletpoints on the health care debate, and probably has some sort of special feature that allows you to pin the tail on the...
What does the quantity of media coverage of...
The Washington Examiner, via Drudge, reports today that media attention to returning caskets containing fallen US servicemen has dropped to nothing, following very high attention paid when Obama lifted the ban on photojournalism of the dead. Byron York concludes, “With casualties mounting, the debate over U.S. policy in Afghanistan is sharp and heated. The number of arrivals at Dover is...
Overusing Obituaters of Omniquotism
Could someone please have a nice entry on Safire with mentioning the “nattering” line? Please?
Obama and "his" war. →
Obama faces heterogeneity in opinion on where to go from here in Afghanistan—within the electorate, among Democrats, and among his advisors. On NPR this morning, I heard Cokie Roberts claim that Obama has (I’m inferring) less ability to command his commanders because of his own lack of military credentials.
I suggest auditioning Craig T. Nelson...
I’ve flown in and out of MSP a few times (got some kin and amigos up there on both sides of the state line), and the first time I did after 6/11/2007, I asked the info desk which one was the famous bathroom (after a call to a friend with wiki access yielded ambiguous results), and I got unhappy shrugs as a result. I ultimately found it, but it lacks any plaques or other memorabilia. Anyway,...
August 2009
4 posts
Blogging is not a waste of time
If you do it right. And by that John means stringing together quick reactions into something more thoughtful.
Helping vets win elected office →
From Thomas Ricks’ excellent blog (author of Fiasco): there is some sort of organization of professional campaign staffers with an interest in helping eager but naive veterans run for office. I think this has been tried before, but not so much from the campaign pro angle. Link.
July 2009
9 posts
There are not many "George W. Bush" streets...
But, Biden just rode on the same one I have.
There's a lot to like about Pew
I like Pew. Lots of obvious reasons: lots of samples with interesting, germane questions, free and relative painless downloads, and a reasonable search feature. What spatially-minded political analysts might not know though, is that Pew maintains far more reasonable policies on disclosing respondents’ county of residence than the ANES. Of course, of course, we should protect personally...
Holy cow, what a good idea →
June 2009
11 posts
Pretender
Ok, so, yeah: Fathers’ Day. It still feels like something for my dad instead of me.
Where does the South start?
A question frequently asked in my family. I’m in Middletown, DE right now, and while there is a Dunkin Donuts, there is also a Food Lion, so my usual brand-store heuristics are thrown off.
What is Koenigsegg?
It appears that Saab may have found a new owner.
May 2009
8 posts
If you were curious about the length differential...
theduty:
THANKS SOCIETY!