by Bill Petti | 2 Nov 2010 |
I recently finished Diego Gambetta's Codes of the Underworld: How Criminals Communicate. For those looking for a more academic take on signaling (particularly from a sociological point of view) it's a great find. As I previously mentioned, Gambetta uses the extreme case of cooperation amongst criminals to tease out more general dynamics of trust, signaling, and communication. The Mafia can be considered a “hard-case” for theories of...
by Vikash Yadav | 2 Nov 2010 | Featured
The participation of four Russian counter-narcotics agents in a US/ISAF raid on four heroin labs in Afghanistan has left many pundits wondering whether the war in Afghanistan as well as US/NATO/ISAF--Russian relations are entering a new phase. However, before one can speculate, there are a few misconceptions in news reports that I think should be clarified and corrected in order to place the story into its proper context.First, several news...
by Bill Petti | 1 Nov 2010 |
At Gallup, we are officially predicting--regardless of turnout level--at least 40 seats for Republicans. Based on the numbers and our historical model, Republicans should land about 60+ House seats, easily gaining the majority.Personally, I'll say 65 just to be (arbitrarily) specific. I'll also predict that Republicans pick up 7 seats in the Senate, 3 short of a majority in that body.What do you think? Feel free to leave your own predictions...
by Dan Nexon | 1 Nov 2010 |
CBS Nevada reporter Nathan Baca tried to approach [Sharron] Angle during a stroll through the airport and the airport parking lot with questions about her foreign policy views.After going through several evasive answers, an irritated Angle replied: "I will answer those questions when I'm the senator."Much of the liberal reaction to Angle's latest evasion of the press has taken the form of "if she can't face reporters, how can she a U.S....
by Jon Western | 1 Nov 2010 |
Last week, Asma Jahangir was elected to head Pakistan's Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the leading professional organization for the country's lawyers. She is a very skilled broker and a committed human rights lawyer (she is United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief) and will add a much needed counter force to the increasingly politicized judiciary that is destabilizing the current political system.We don't often...
by Charli Carpenter | 30 Oct 2010 |
According to NPR, the "great debate" in the hours before the big luau on the National Mall was whether people were coming to the rally for politics or comedy: When Jon Stewart announced his Washington, D.C., Rally to Restore Sanity, he inspired much joy among fans of his Daily Show.But he has also sparked a fierce debate among pundits over whether Stewart really has comedy or politics in mind for the event. It is scheduled for Saturday...
by Laura Sjoberg | 30 Oct 2010 |
Reading a recent TIME article on "Why Women Candidates are Talking Tough" inspired me to blog about the upcoming elections a little bit. While there are a record number of women candidates for national office, predictions are that women will lose ground in representational terms. If women pick up any ground (or even don't lose it), it is predicted to be GOP women winning seats and Democratic women losing them. With so many unappealing women to...
by Dan Nexon | 29 Oct 2010 |
A great many bloggers and policy wonks, motivated by the upcoming Lisbon Summit, are weighing in on NATO's future. NATO faces a number of challenges and difficult issues, including:The inconclusive war in Afghanistan that has led member after member to reduce (or eliminate) its commitment to ISAF;Whether to take on a missile defense as part of a broader "territorial defense" mandate;The future of tactical nuclear weapons in Europe;Continuing...
by Cliff Bob | 29 Oct 2010 |
Here is a fascinating story detailing how a network of legislators and corporations works together on bills such as Arizona’s recent and controversial immigration bill. The two-part report shows corporations and trade groups writing laws, encouraging “lawmakers” to promote and pass them, then using the legislation to expand their businesses. In this case, prison companies--one of the few bright spots in our woeful economy--were involved in...
by Charli Carpenter | 28 Oct 2010 |
Rob Farley opines at World Press Review on the political/strategic implications of War Diarii:Perversely, efforts to increase government transparency often have negative effect on actual secrecy policy. For example, the ability of individuals to uncover written notes from government meetings through FOIA requests or through lawsuit discovery has led to the practice of shredding notes following most meetings. Data that does not exist cannot be...
by Jon Western | 28 Oct 2010 |
I attended a forum on the math and science curriculum last night at my kids' school and we had an interesting presentation and discussion on the general state of math and science education in the United States. Several of the parents present at the forum were math and science faculty members from Smith College and from UMass. One prominent theme was the lament that the US was falling behind China and India in the math and sciences.One of the...
by Bill Petti | 27 Oct 2010 |
Makes you laugh, but also cry a little bit inside...Update: and for those polisci folks out there