la petite url – The absolute best Wordpress plugin for shortening your URLs. No bull.
A great pickup for the NYT, and makes a lot of sense for Silver, too. If you’re not familiar with FiveThirtyEight, it is the work of statistician Nate Silver doing his mathamagic on US Politics. He modeled the 2008 US election nearly perfectly. Do yourself a favor and read his introduction post.
Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg has given a second incredibly-well-written speech in support of the so-called “Ground-Zero Moqsue,” which manages to have some lovely pull-quotes such as:
But if we say that a mosque and community center should not be built near the perimeter of the World Trade Center site, we would compromise our commitment to fighting terror with freedom.
and:
This is a test of our commitment to American values. We must have the courage of our convictions. We must do what is right, not what is easy. And we must put our faith in the freedoms that have sustained our great country for more than 200 years.
It is incredibly rare that I agree with anything a modern politician has to say, but I agree with the hell out of this.
Without breaking the tamper-evident seals:
We received the machine with the original tamper-evident seals intact. The software can be replaced without breaking any of these seals, simply by removing screws and opening the case.
I don’t know about you, but my votes sure don’t feel safe.
A profile from Mother Jones about a right-wing member of the House who lost his re-election bid for being too sane.
“They were upset with me,” Inglis recalls. “They are all Glenn Beck watchers.” About 90 minutes into the meeting, as he remembers it, “They say, ‘Bob, what don’t you get? Barack Obama is a socialist, communist Marxist who wants to destroy the American economy so he can take over as dictator. Health care is part of that. And he wants to open up the Mexican border and turn [the US] into a Muslim nation.’” Inglis didn’t know how to respond.
This is your GOP, America.
Glad to see it. One of the most important parts:
I believe that, when my daughters grow up, barriers to marriage equality for same-sex couples will seem as archaic, and as unfair, as the laws we once had against inter-racial marriage.
And I want them to know that, even if he was a little late, their dad came down on the right side of history.
Wonder why? Definitely interesting fodder for the Skull & Bones watchers out there.
With 700,000 documents to comb though it is a totally rational approach. It can either take a team of experts 2 years or it can take “everyone” a few days.
Obviously the potential is there to game the system and make your guy look good or the other guy look bad, but review is a lot cheaper than the original work.
Hitchens on the #iranelection. From an Iranian compatriot:
I went to the last major Ahmadinejad rally and got the whiff of what I imagine fascism to have been all about. Lots of splotchy boys who can’t get a date are given guns and told they’re special.
Hey. What're you doing all the way down here? You get lost? Just looking around? Cool. I like you.