by Dan Nexon | 11 Oct 2008 |
by Dan Nexon | 10 Oct 2008 |
In my failed attempt to implement a different haloscan configuration, I inadvertently added "ratings" to the blog. My general inclination is to remove them, as I don't understand what purpose they serve and the stars look really ugly. But I see people are already using them. So, should they stay or should they go?
by Dan Nexon | 10 Oct 2008 |
Andrew Sullivan proves himself a shill for Svalbard. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Sullivan claims that the seed vault is a hedge against human extinction. But Svalbard watchers know the true role of the vault in Svalbard's plans for Panzerbjørn world domination. Why else would the Norwegians and the Russians engage in grim-faced saber-rattling over Svalbard?While we're on the subject, I should mention Zak's concern about a...
by Dan Nexon | 10 Oct 2008 |
My side of the blogsphere seems to think the video of a McCain supporter mouthing off about socialists and hoodlums is an indictment of McCain himself.When I watch the video, I see McCain affirming the man's anger but trying hard not to endorse his views. McCain, in fact, says he will work with "anyone" to solve the current crisis. Although I find the accusation that the contemporary Democratic party and its Presidential nominee are...
by Dan Nexon | 10 Oct 2008 |
I've been curious about the accusation--which can be found in almost any comment thread on a media website--that Obama wrote a "foreword" for the William Ayer's book, A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of the Criminal Court. The rumor is obviously false, as the book doesn't even have a foreword (but does have two five-star reviews. I wonder how long that's going to last). So where did the rumor come from?The best I can tell is that Obama...
by Dan Nexon | 9 Oct 2008 |
When Obama's participation in an anti-redlining lawsuit is characterized as a "smoking gun" for his culpability in the current crisis, I know that we're through the looking glass.The bizarreness of attempts to blame the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and ACORN for the current subprime crisis is so totally bizarre that it raises an important question: is the point of all of this to (1) simply find some way, no matter how warped, to blame Obama...
by Dan Nexon | 9 Oct 2008 |
the peoples of the advanced industrial countries could live in Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate - already the world's highest - has soared to 231,000,000%, newly released official figures for July show.The rise - from 11,200,000% last month - was largely due to increases in the prices of bread and cereals.A landmark power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has failed to ease the...
by Dan Nexon | 9 Oct 2008 |
When a polling organization conducts a mere 300 interviews each day for a national tracking poll, this is what you get: the potential for one day of outlier polling to produce phony movement. Or, to quote Brad DeLong (who we really should be linking to more):...the Diageo/Hotline Tracking Poll [is] an undersampled daily poll designed to produce a whole bunch of spurious three-day climbs in one candidate's relative vote share followed by a...
by Peter | 9 Oct 2008 |
Brad DeLong reveals the secret to success in your career:B People Hire C People, A People Hire A People, A+ People Boast that They Have A+++ People Working for Them...Wise words. Heed them.
by Randy Waterhouse | 8 Oct 2008 | Featured
Hello loyal Duck readers. I wanted to briefly introduce myself as the newest member of the Duck. I am a longtime friend of the site that has decided to start posting rather than just commenting on the great insights of colleagues.A little truth in advertising: my real name is not Randy Waterhouse. For fans of a certain author you will immediately notice that it is a pseudonym. Unfortunately, my current employer does not allow for employees to...
by Dan Nexon | 8 Oct 2008 |
Brad DeLong finds... uh... fault with McCain's "game changer."His conclusion?There's a big difference here: Democrats want to prevent depression and support the financial markets by investing taxpayer money in banks with troubled assets. Republicans want to give taxpayers money away to the shareholders and managers of banks with troubled assets.I would say that this is unbelievable, but I do believe it.My guess, however, is that most...
by Dan Nexon | 8 Oct 2008 |
Erik Erickson at RedState thinks he's found an Obama gaffe:Barack Obama suggests we need to consider moral issues in intervening with combat forces. He mentions intervening in the Holocaust and how we should have done that.Um Senator, we did intervene in the Holocaust. It was called World War II.I guess you hadn't heard of that, kind of like you hadn't heard of Bill Ayers.I hate to say it, but Mr. Erickson just had a moment of profound...