January 2010
40 posts
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Understanding the Filibuster →
On NPR’s Fresh Air, political scientist Greg Koger explains the politics involving the Senate’s filibuster rule and how maybe possibly potentially (and probably why not) it could be changed (via The Monkey Cage).
Most Allegedly Independent Voters Are Really... →
via John Sides at the Monkey Cage
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“But history doesn’t really repeat itself—or if it does, it’s not always quite...”
– Andrew Gelman, pointing out the similarities between Obama’s proposed spending freeze and Herbert Hoover
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“Just since Tuesday, half a dozen Republicans have expressed interest in...”
– G.O.P. Seeks to Widen Field of Play in Fall Elections - NYTimes.com
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“Here on Earth, [Gary Matthews Jr.] is probably one of the best thousand...”
– Christina Kahrl
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Obama to Centralize Democratic Party Strategy →
The head can’t trust the fingers. From the New York Times:
Our own political operation will be more rigorously in communication with the other elements, so we can compare notes,” Mr. Axelrod said. “What we learned from Massachusetts is that we need to be more assiduous about getting our own data and our own information so we have a better sense of where things stand.
I guess that means...
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“Thousands of people don’t like what I do. Fortunately, millions do.”
– James Patterson, mass market fiction author, in The New York Times.
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In Which the GOP Embraces Heterogeneity
From The New York Times recap of the Massachusetts special Senate election:
But Republican officials, after a series of primary challenges from conservative and Tea Party candidates, have learned the dangers of being identified as an establishment candidate. They determined the best way to help Mr. Brown was not to be seen as helping him.
Without a NY-23, I don’t think we ever see...
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I’ve never eaten in Houston, Texas. I don’t know what was up with that.
EDIT: It seems like Yelp user RSS/Atom feeds are broken. Sorry to my 2 (is it three now?) readers.
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“The phones work perfectly with their respective software, but both of them don’t...”
– Torn Between 2 Phones: Nexus One vs. iPhone - Bits Blog
This sounds obvious but also devestating in terms of long run market dynamics with lock-in.
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House and Senate Health Care Bill Comparison →
Something gained, something lost.
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“I know political science is a buzzkill. And no one gets paid to say “We don’t...”
– John Sides – The Monkey Cage: Obama, Working Class Voters, and the MA Election
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“I think records were just a little bubble through time and those who made a...”
– Brian Eno (via Eric Case, buzzandersen)
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“One possibility is to ask House Democrats to approve the Senate version of the...”
– The New York Times
Well, that’s one way to end strung out negotiations that need to get wrapped-up in a conference committee.
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The tumbleblog is the new mixtape.
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“There’s no money in political loyalty, but there’s money in being disloyal.”
– former senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE)
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The Rural Alberta Advantage – Mad Planet →
A review and photos from Muzzle of Bees. I agree that it was a great show. RAA can’t release their second LP fast enough for me.
Early in the show, Amy Cole (multi-instrumentalist, backup vocals) said something about how lucky we were in Milwaukee to have the “bronze Fonz” and that they had nothing like it in Toronto. Someone in the audience quickly replied, “You have...
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“If you can’t graduate two out of five of your players, what are they doing at...”
– US Education Secretary Arne Duncan on NCAA basketball
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Q: Are We Not Men? →
A: We Are Devo!
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Issue Ownership is Keeping Obama Down →
Merolla and Zechmeister on partisan asymmetries in public opinion with respect to Obama’s approval and the recently increased anxiety about terrorism threats.
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The $550 Ticket Tea Party →
Real-time party formation? Put me down for probably not.
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“People are crazy if they think we win by getting more pure. We win by getting...”
– Haley Barbour, former Chairman of the Republican National Committee (via Political Wire)
Contrast to the repeated censure of the not all-that-moderate Lindsey Graham.
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“The difference between journalists and political scientists is that we test...”
– John Sides of The Monkey Cage on political journalism
Kaufman's Bagel & Delicatessen (5/5) on Yelp →
Very tasty everything bagel toasted with plain cream cheese. I look forward to trying some of the great deli items.
Nonna Bartolotta's (4/5) on Yelp →
Look, it’s at the airport. It might be a 5 star airport experience. Everything has to be in light of the fact that you’re at an airport. Visit #1. Pizza was very good for airport pizza, peperoni was…
Wildwood BBQ (3/5) on Yelp →
Get the ribs, they were the best. Long bourbon list if that’s your thing.
Pino's Pizza (4/5) on Yelp →
Enjoyably greasy. Pillowy Sicilian pie.
Yama Japanese Restaurant (4/5) on Yelp →
I don’t think my mother would reveal to anyone how often she eats here. They treat her very well. I’ve probably been well over a dozen times with her and never had a bad meal.
Sweet Tomatoes (4/5) on Yelp →
Sausage and carmelized onion pizza was a 4 star experience. But the spinach salad 5. I know, I know, “you don’t make friends with salad.”
Zaffiro's (3/5) on Yelp →
They take reservations which would be good to know if you were trying to also catch a movie which is presumably why you’re at a pizza place at a movie theatre anyways. Additionally, if you go up…
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Hot dogs and complexity. From This American Life...
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Why isn’t the Tumblr Dashboard able to serve as a general purpose RSS reader?
Truly Not Quite Ready For Primetime →
Seth’s blog is now sucking in his Twitter @ replies. which makes it annoying to follow in tumblr.
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“Only 7 percent of [the University of Michigan’s] budget is provided by the...”
– At Public Universities: Less for More - Paul Fain for the New York Times
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A Lesson in Parenting →
I learn a lot about parenting just watching Seth tumble through the internets.
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“When you don’t like a candidate, you say he doesn’t measure up to...”
– Rob Neyer raking Dan Shaughnessy over the coals for his Hall of Fame ballot discussion
Also hasn’t Shaughnessy single-handedly sucked more “joy out of our national pastime” than anyone else?
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Broadcasting tragedy →
Matt Haughey defends twittering from the hospital.
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Readability Vs Instapaper
This story (link via MR) on Economics and the MLA illustrates the difference between the Readability and Instapaper clutter-stripping methods.
Instapaper holds onto an ad at the top of the page, but gets all the text. Readability loses the first two paragraphs.
If you run Readability on the Instapapered page you get “perfect” results.
Instapaper Text Bookmarklet →