July 2009
16 posts
WatchBuy One Anyway.
Video Clears Up Obama Photo →
Thanks Steller for the link. My favorite part about the video is Sarkozy.
Where is stimulus money going?
According to a USA Today study, counties that supported Obama have received twice as much stimulus funding to date than those that voted for McCain.
This probably isn’t a case of Obama directing money to his supporters. Instead, it likely tells us something about the types of voters more likely to vote for a Democrat than a Republican. Then again, it could just be a random aberration in how...
Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Presidential...
Two books I just finished reading recently: John Meacham’s American Lion, a political biography of Andrew Jackson, and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, a study of Lincoln’s presidential leadership. Jackson served as our 7th president from 1829-1837; 24 years later, in 1861, Lincoln was improbably elected our 16th president, and served four years before he was assassinated shortly after his...
This is what happens when the government runs...
When it was deciding where to build its new compact car, General Motors Corp. made a point of saying it would push politics aside and use strictly commercial criteria.
So Tennessee’s three top officials were astonished last month, in a meeting with GM, when they were told the first two criteria were “community impact” and “carbon footprint” — or how the choice...
June 2009
33 posts
"We're at the point where we don't want respect....
- Landon Donovan, after the U.S.’s crushing 3-2 defeat to Brazil. I’ve never been happier - and more disheartened - with the U.S. team. We played beautifully in the first half, and like against Spain, capitalized on all of our scoring opportunities, while denying Brazil any goals. Conceding the goal 38 seconds into the second half was deflating to our morale, and it was all downhill...
Bravery.
Stuyvesant Town, Fashion Icon →
I think its gentrification is now complete.
Goldman Sachs enjoys a banner year
And will pay out biggest bonuses ever.
The reason? Partly, it’s that profits are being split amongst fewer, more highly consolidated competitors.
A few op-eds I've enjoyed of late
I’ve been somewhat absent from the blogosphere of late, but here are three links, all from the WSJ, I’ve found particularly insightful and worthwhile reads of late.
(I should also give a shout-out to the Journal’s Blackberry application, which provides all their news completely free, and comes particularly in handy when lacking laptop internet access.)
A terrific Peggy Noonan...
North Korea qualifies for the World Cup
This after drawing Saudia Arabia today. Setting the stage for a U.S.-North Korea clash?
It wouldn’t be without precedent. One a sad June day 11 years ago, Iran defeated the Americans 2-1 in Lyon, bouncing the U.S. from France ‘98.
On another soccer note, the U.S. plays Brazil tomorrow morning at 10am in the Confederations Cup.
Schumer: MTA should bring free WIFI to LIRR
Here is Schumer’s quote:
“The time for high speed Internet on rapid transit is right now,” said Schumer. “It is long past time to bring the LIRR in to the 21st century and wireless Internet will make commuting more productive and pleasant for LIRR riders. The technology is ready and raring to go so its time for the MTA to get rolling.”
How are we going to pay for...
Vinny Vincenz Expands its 'Pizza Truck' Fleet
This is great news - Vinny Vincenz (at least at its original location at 14th and 1st) has the best pizza in Manhattan.
Sign of the times: Bologna sales up 124%
Apparently sales of everyone’s favorite sandwich meat are up 124% over the past two years. One person argues it’s not just about saving money - it’s about nostalgia for the days when we were too young to realize how bad bologna actually is:
“In times like this, people feel insecure; they like to go back to the food of their childhood,” he said. “Often in...
WatchThe Daily Show’s hilarious interview with The New York Times.
Daily Show: “What’s black and white and red all over?”
Bill Keller: “A newspaper?”
Daily Show: “No, your balance sheet.”
"We are not talking here about the amount. We are...
Barney Frank is leading the charge to have the government dictate compensation in the private sector. Which brings to bear some relevant data:
25,303: Number of days Barney Frank has lived.
0: Number of days Barney Frank has worked in the private sector.
45% of Americans oppose stimulus spending
So it is, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Wednesday. Thus far only the Washington Times and Weekly Standard are reporting on this.
As Obama enters his fifth month in office, it’s clear now that this is his, not Bush’s country. Further, he is certainly in full swing of enacting his sweeping legislation.
And so it will be interesting to see the poll numbers come in over...
We all laugh like monkeys
An ejoyable read via Wired:
Scientists have known that great apes vocalize when tickled at least since Charles Darwin’s time. But it was unclear whether these sounds were actually related to human laughter. Now, researchers at the University of Hannover in Germany have concluded that laughter has been evolving in primates over the last 10 to 16 million years, since at least the last common...
Obama, Sotomayor, and race
Shelby Steele has a thoughtful op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today where he applies his “bargainer” and “challenger” framework of race relations to Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. A very interesting read:
But the Sotomayor nomination shows that Mr. Obama has no idea what a post-racial society would look like. In selling himself as a candidate to the American...
50% fewer Harvard grads enter finance and...
Via The Crimson. And be sure to check out the beautiful graphics they made to accompany the article.
Be sure to check out the Crimson’s annual mammoth Commencement coverage, released yesterday, graduation day.
The key tradeoff in healthcare reform: longer wait...
The latest round of healthcare reform is about to kick off, with Obama hoping to bring the legislation up for a vote in the fall. Paul Krugman launches his opening salvo today, telling us matter-of-factly, “Don’t trust the insurance industry.”
He argues that “we need a serious, real public option to keep the insurance companies honest.” At the same time he appears to...
A harsh condemnation of Harvard's treatment of...
Via Wall Street Journal:
How different this is from Harvard. On its Web page, Harvard Law School cites the university’s nondiscrimination policy and then goes on to describe how it lives up to that principle:
“The Harvard Law School makes one exception to this policy. Under threat of loss of funding to the University resulting from the Solomon Amendment, the Law School has suspended...
Nieman Foundation suspends program
Wow. This is very sad news, for journalism, for Harvard, and for the Crimson as well, which has an annual conference at the Nieman Foundation.
“Like most parts of Harvard, we’re facing the necessity of making cuts, and the narrative conference has become a very expensive undertaking,” said Nieman Foundation Curator Robert H. Giles.
"I never thought that Kim Jong-il was human and...
A North Korean defector, on King Jong-il, revealing just the extent to which North Koreans are brainwashed by their regime. The quote is from a New York Times article on King Jong-Il reportingly tapping his son as his successor. The Washington Post’s writeup is the best, with lots of fascinating details about Kim’s children, including this about the 26-year old heir apparent:
A...
“We’ve seen this before, albeit in different context: An overconfident government...”
– The Quagmire Ahead - David Brooks (NYTimes) writing about GM (via mbb)
WatchFree Dave Matthew’s Band concert, via Hulu. Their new album was also released today.
Obama and the press
Via Newsweek, an article that itself would buck the trend:
Obama has inspired a collective fawning [in the news media]. What started in the campaign has continued, as a study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism shows. It concludes: “President Barack Obama has enjoyed substantially more positive media coverage than either Bill Clinton or George W. Bush...
May 2009
54 posts
"Terry McAuliffe is slipperier than an eel in... →
Ralph Nader, accusing Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe of offering him a financial bribe to stay out of key contested states during the 2004 Bush-Kerry presidential election.