The trends continue

Next week's looking better for Kerry, worse for Dean. See the newest Zogby poll here.
- posted by Anonymous @ 11:46 AM 0 comments

 
Piling on

Here's a collection of remixes of Dean's little post-Iowa rant. I realize I am little late on this, but better later late than never for something this amusing
- posted by Anonymous @ 10:47 PM 0 comments

 
New great website

Check out miniclip.com, featuring a slew of amusing java games. Personal favorites include Penguin Arcade, Mission Mars, and World Cup Soccer, all of which combine the amount of minor amusement and repetitive simplicity you're looking for in an online game. Enjoy. (And for those more violently inclined, there's a game in which you just beat up Osama bin laden over and over)
- posted by Anonymous @ 10:00 PM 0 comments

 
Political wisdom of the day

Perhaps a partial explanation of Bush's success, despite the oft-repeated allegation from our friends on the left that he is stupid, from The Godfather:

And so [the Godfather] tried to teach [his son] Sonny his own disciplines. He claimed that there was no greater natural advantage in life than having an enemy overestimate your faults, unless it was to have a friend underestimate your virtues.

That's from page 221 in my version.
- posted by Anonymous @ 9:56 PM 0 comments

 
Hutton report exonerates Blair

It also exorciates the BBC. Here's a basic news report, here's a slightly harsher one from The Economist, and here's the account of the BBC itself. Here's the entire report, here's the summary. Here is resignation statement of the head of the BBC, and there may be more coming.
- posted by Anonymous @ 7:47 PM 0 comments

 
The few, the proud, the cold - the North Dakotans

I am always defending my home state against charges that it's too cold there. I have actually said things like, "60 below isn't really any worse than 10 or 12 below." But I may have to stop that now, thanks to this story in the Fargo Forum (registration req'd):

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Allan Ashworth says his visit to Antarctica was like a tropical getaway from his hometown of Fargo.

The North Dakota State University geology professor recently returned from six weeks at the bottom of the world, about 300 miles northeast of the South Pole.

"It was balmy compared to here," Ashworth said, by telephone from Fargo on Wednesday.

Fargo reported a temperature of 29 below zero Wednesday morning, with a wind chill factor of more than 40 below, the National Weather Service said.

Ashworth said temperatures in Antarctica never got colder than 15 below zero while he was there.

What can I say? I love the place and always will, but it is really, really, cold.
- posted by Anonymous @ 7:41 PM 0 comments

 
The fallout continues

Dean cans campaign manager Joe Trippi. Apparently, he did it with a primal scream.
- posted by Anonymous @ 7:38 PM 0 comments

 
Who would have thunk it?

The most interesting magazine in the world comes through again with a remarkably interesting defense of Dr. Laura.

To a person, just about, my friends are liberals, and when I try to talk to them about Dr. Laura, they think I've gone completely cuckoo. I took her first book on a family vacation a few years back, and my father read it one night and then sat me down for a very serious and disappointed discussion about my declining literary and political tastes. But none of my loved ones, if they could tease Laura's central argument about children and marriage from the tissue of arrogance and crackpot harangue in which it is embedded, would disagree with it in the least.

This kind of unique stuff is what makes the Atlantic so good.
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 7:43 PM 0 comments

 
The Great Debate

There are many important and contested issues in our society, some of which have been addressed on this blog: abortion, free trade, and gay marriage, for example. Yet, we have not yet grasped the third rail of the blogosphere. So, with hope, but not without significant trepidation I ask – which is correct, doughnuts or donuts?

Look not to the dictionaries, my friends, to resolve this issue for you. Cowards, they will not take a stand. No, they will not. Indeed, even the world’s two great purveyors of small ring-shaped cakes deep fried in fat cannot help. Even mighty Microsoft will not venture into the arena; its spellcheck contains both. Where to turn? How can we decide?

Fear not. When confused, turn to the expert. Apparently, simplicity wins out.
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 8:12 AM 0 comments

 
Recommended reading

I heartily recommend The Atlantic's "State of the Union" articles (unrelated to the speech), especially this one about the differences between Republicans and Democrats, or the Party of the Church and the Party of the Chieftans, respectively.
- posted by Anonymous @ 10:10 PM 0 comments

 
Funny stuff

Alaska Air has created a joke website for a joke airline, Sky High Air. Here's a news article explaining why, but believe me, it is hilarious. Enjoy.
- posted by Anonymous @ 10:04 PM 0 comments

 
Just following up on last week's posts about soccer and internationalism, US soccer forward Brian McBride has signed with Fulham of the English Premier League.
- posted by Anonymous @ 9:59 PM 0 comments

 
Caption Contest Winner - Guess which picture

SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!!

Thanks to Radical Cowboys for the contest, and Tony Rosen for the idea.
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 8:54 AM 0 comments

 
Change is good, but not too much

I would like to go on record as a big supporter of NASCAR's new points system. Overall, they've done a nice job.

Here is the outline:

The new format will take effect after the first 26 races. The drivers in the top 10 and any other within 400 points of the leader will earn a berth in what NASCAR has dubbed the "Chase for the Championship."

Those drivers will have their point totals adjusted. The first-place driver will begin the final 10 races with 5,050 points, the second driver 5,045 and so on, with incremental drops of five points for all those involved in the championship showdown.

The first thing you should notice about that is that they did not change the way points are awarded. That's good. NASCAR rewards consistency, which, aside from being a laudable goal on its own, keeps the racing exciting even when one driver runs away with a race - you still need to cheer your driver on to a top 10, even if he can't win the darned thing.

I'm also on board with NASCAR?s decision to create this "playoff" system. I'm a pretty big fan, but it's even tough to get me to watch Atlanta at the end of the year because everything has been decided. This system will prevent that, and it'll be GREAT for the last 10 races.

In addition, they?ve made it fair. Take a quick gander at the last 10 races: New Hampshire, Dover, Talladega, Kansas, Charlotte, Martinsville, Atlanta, Phoenix, Darlington, Miami. I count 1 short track, 1 superspeedway, 2 1-mile ovals, 5 of these 1.5 to 2 mile banked D tracks that are taking over the sport, and Darlington. That's a decently representative selection (although the D shaped tracks are a bit too cookie cutter for me - weren't Charlotte and Michigan enough?). No road course, but, hey, let's be honest, those aren't real NASCAR races anyway. And they even softened the blow of moving Darlington from Labor Day weekend by giving it a "semi-final" position, and likely ensured that Martinsville will remain on the schedule by putting it in the final 10.

So, hip hip horray for NASCAR. Well done boys.

- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 7:11 PM 0 comments

 
Signs of reason on the left

The New Republic has endorsed Joe Lieberman. It's a very thoughtful piece, and it really highlights the divisions within the Democratic party.
- posted by Anonymous @ 10:24 PM 0 comments

 
I know when I am beaten

I am used to Travis being out ahead of me on virtually everything, and to Tom being there on many topics, but when he horns in on soccer posts, I'm in trouble. (On soccer globalization, by the way, note that several Americans have recently made the move to Europe: Carlos Bocanegra to Fulham, Clint Mathis to either Hannover or Sunderland, and Brian McBride (maybe) to Blackburn).

So, I've been called out - and maybe my shame will hit Walker and Jonathan as well . . .
- posted by Anonymous @ 10:17 PM 0 comments

 
Soccer and Globalization

I can't believe I beat MSR to this article, which points out the global reach of soccer in this, most convincing manner:

During the 2002 World Cup, the English midfielder David Beckham, famed bender of the ball, styled his hair in a mohawk. Almost instantly, Japanese adolescents appeared with tread marks on their shorn heads; professional women, according to the Japanese newsmagazine Shukan Jitsuwa, even trimmed their pubic hair in homage.

As MSR is far more qualified to discuss this issue (globalization, that is, not the intimate grooming habits of female Japanese lawyers), I'll be satisfied just pointing this article out.
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 7:36 PM 0 comments

 
Des Moines Register endorses Edwards. As a fan of chaos, rooting resolutely for a long, tortured, costly primary, anything that makes someone else a viable contender, and extends the process, is wonderful.
- posted by Anonymous @ 10:15 AM 0 comments

 
Not a joke. I repeat. This is a real headline.

Kucinich Shows Pie Chart on Radio Debate

And he thinks he should be President.
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 7:05 AM 0 comments

 
Make it stop

I am insanely addicted to this online game, via Popcap. Their other games are good too, but this one is just killing me lately.
- posted by Anonymous @ 8:25 PM 0 comments

 
The Economist has an interesting piece on whaling, concluding that there is an insufficient market for whale meat to justify the massive restrictions on some species, some of which are in any event less endangered than environmental activists would claim.

And if that doesn;t entice you, it also includes the following line: "Were it not for the politics, Japan and Iceland might even be up to their elbows in whale faeces already." (Trust me, it makes some sense in context.)
- posted by Anonymous @ 8:20 PM 0 comments

 
A colleague of mine at the office has pointed out to me that Rich Lowry has some great questions for candidate Dean.
- posted by Anonymous @ 2:12 PM 0 comments

 
Oh, oh, let me try!

Everyone loves a self-referential quiz, and this one has a chance to be interesting for our readers as well. Here's where I scored, which strikes me as just about right. Here's an explanation of the graph, and a graph of the scores of historical figures. Here's where other bloggers scored, and here the Presidential scores. I encourage the other Remove All Doubter's to give it a go too.

Thanks to Lawrence Solum's excellent blog for the link.

UPDATE: Becky scored this. I think that means we're gonna be fine.
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 2:51 PM 0 comments