November 20, 2008
Jason Parsons Might Run for City Council
Since I was just commenting on the student government president, I suppose I should link to this.
Waxman Wins
John Dingell had been the top Democrat on Energy and Commerce since 1981, long before several dear friends of mine were born. Next Congress though he'll be without that gavel - he's lost it to Henry Waxman. Let the fight for Waxman's old committee commence!
November 19, 2008
November 18, 2008
The Cabinet Takes Shape - A Cabinet of Steady Hands?
So if the rumors are right, Sen. Clinton will be Secretary of State, Eric Holder will be Attorney General, and Peter Orszag will be Budget Director. Of course we already know Rahm-bo will be Chief of Staff and Greg Craig will be Counsel. It's looking like we will have a government headed by veterans of DC (and the Clinton administration).
UPDATE: And Tom Daschle will head HHS.
Liebermania in the Senate's Democratic Caucus
Ugh. I wish Harry Reid didn't remind me of Kevin Bacon getting initiated in Animal House (I apologize for that visual).
November 17, 2008
Huntington Wins!
It's the fattest, unhealthiest city in America. Undoubtedly it faced stiff competition from certain locales in Louisiana and Mississippi.
(Ryan, no doubt Ben is deeply displeased.)
Another Episcopalian Diocese Secedes
This time it's Fort Worth (not a surprise). They will join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.
Bill Clinton Is Being Vetted
One more sign that Sen. Clinton may very well be the next Secretary of State. I'd think that Bill Clinton's ties may well be the only thing standing between her and the job.
No Morris, the Media Is Not Liberal (Example 56,916,725)
Newsweek covers the burning question - is Obama the anti-Christ?
Jason Parsons Continues to Suck Up and Promote Himself
If there's an award out there for SGA president who is the quickest to kiss ass in the service of his own future, Parsons should run away with it. First he was the loving toadie of Mike Garrison and Steve Goodwin. Then he practically tried to meld into the Clintons during last May's primary. And now he's getting press for an attempt to keep tuition down - an attempt with so little substance behind it that the BOG president says she's never heard of it.
There are some very fine students in SGA who do some valuable things. But Parsons continues to come across as someone who puts the greatest value on advancing his own future career in the state. Now he could prove me wrong and actually accomplish something on this. But until he does, this looks more like self-promotion than serving the students' interests.
November 16, 2008
Other Notable Football on Nov. 15, 2008
Congratulations to Vanderbilt (bowl eligible), Oregon State, Rutgers (4 straight wins), and Florida, who gave Steve Spurrier the biggest defeat (by margin of victory) in his coaching career. "You're so lame" awards go out to the ranked teams in the ACC. North Carolina, Florida State, and Wake Forest all lost yesterday. Every team in the conference now has at least 3 losses, and all but Maryland and Miami have at least 3 losses in intra-conference play. Doesn't anyone want a conference championship and a trip to a BCS bowl?
November 15, 2008
Rich Rod's Michigan Team Makes History
Today Michigan lost to Northwestern. Northwestern won, pushing the long-time Big 10 power's record down to 3-8. Yes, 8 losses. Never before in the 129-year history of Michigan football has their team lost 8 games in the regular season. Now, under Rich Rod, they have. And given that they still have to play #11 Ohio State, Rich Rod might take them down to 3-9.
November 14, 2008
Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State?
Possible motives behind this press story/possibility, via Sullivan, are that a) it's a way for Obama to contain the damage the Clintons could otherwise inflict, or b) it's a way for Sen. Clinton to bloody and block two men who didn't endorse her in the primaries, Gov. Richardson and Sen. Kerry.
Of course it is also possible that Sen. Obama simply thinks Sen. Clinton would do a good job at State.
November 13, 2008
November 12, 2008
No, This Is Not Evidence Bobby Jindal Is Smart
He is smart. Very smart. But the idea that not wanting to be a vice presidential nominee is a brilliant political move is freakin' nuts. Jack Kemp, Joe Lieberman, Lloyd Bentsen, John Edwards - none of these men were hurt by running on a ticket that didn't win the White House. Instead in every case it increased their profile. And of course if lightning had struck they'd have had the inside track to the presidency (well, maybe not Bentsen given his age, but otherwise ...). Jindal's team is spinning here, and for whatever conservatives at The Atlantic are buying the spin.
Now if he didn't want to be vetted because he didn't want others in the party to know his darkest secrets - now that is smart. But that's not the argument at hand.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Yet another Apatow and friends film that I find to be "eh" entertainment. That crowd has hit on real situations and feelings occasionally. Superbad, far and away the best of their films, hit true feelings and relationships in ways both funny and poignant. But it's telling that the one time their writing has worked (well, you can throw in some of their tv stuff too as another time it's sometimes worked) they were writing about male teenagers and grown men who yearned to be teenagers once again. Because if if doesn't relate to questions and life issues that are of primary importance to a 16 year old boy, these guys seem poorly able to relate to the topic.
That said, this movie does have a number of things going for it. Much of the cast is strong and appealing, when given the chance. Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell do nice work with what they are given. But once again (this time the script was written by actor Jason Segel, probably best known for being, along with Willow, one of the bits of dead weight on How I Met Your Mother) this crowd has written a script where the women are presented as goals or plot devices, not real characters. That Kunis is charming with the thinner than thin character she is given is a testament to her skill. Bell is great in the one real scene she is given (where she allowed to point out that Segel's lead is a tiresome bore who was holding her back for years and who never appreciated her - things that are quite true, and so one wonders who such a character was made the center of a movie), but mostly her job is to scowl or look jealous. Jack McBrayer, Maria Thayer, and Paul Rudd are as funny as you would expect, but they aren't on screen for long. Sadly the lead, Segel, you see all the time. Mostly doing things that these guys thing are hilarious - standing around naked! crying like a girl! singing zany songs!- but which are really usually sophmoric.
All that said, I'd still give the film a C+ and I didn't mind sitting through it. And it's mostly because of Russell Brand. He is hilarious as Sarah Marshall's (Bell) rock star boyfriend. I can't say enough good things about him. It's one of the best performances I've seen all year. Maybe not in an Oscar-worthy way, but he's great and pretty much single-handedly saves the movie from from being too disappointing.
November 11, 2008
Democrats - Worry Less
Ezra Klein considers a number of interrelated questions tied to how voters make their choices.
November 10, 2008
What the Hell is the Treasury Dept. Doing?
I realize that financial news has dropped off most people's radar screens these days, but the crisis continues to roll through our markets (and most everyones).
Today's news comes via a discussion on naked capitalism on the (continuing) AIG bailout. And make no mistake, it is a bailout. I won't quote the whole thing (as they say, go and read it), but the government is making AIG a sweet deal for no reason (or, at least, no reason a bunch of good economists can figure out).
Money quote:
But the worst is that not only was the initial AIG de facto bankruptcy a case of looting, the government has now decided to aid and abet AIG management in further looting. What pro-taxpayer purpose is there in the improvement of terms above? None. As we pointed out, there were only a couple of reasons for easing up on AIG, and they could have been provided for with minor changes that would not leave the taxpayer materially worse off. Instead, major concessions have been made to AIG, all to the detriment of the taxpayer. AIG management now has job security for five years (and AIG top brass is very well paid) and better odds of salvaging something for themselves when the five years are up thanks to the government giving them an unwarranted subsidy.
The bottom line is that the US Treasury Department has renegotiated the original deal the to benefit of AIG twice at this point (and the original deal was pretty sweet for AIG), and hasn't offered a good reason to Congress/the taxpayers as to why this was a good idea.
I may be idealistic, I may be libertarian, and I may not fully understand modern capitalism, but I fail to see how a system that doesn't actually punish people who make poor economic/financial decisions (and, conversely, reward those that make good decisions) can work over the long term. I mean, the whole point of capitalism is that there are winners and losers; if we change the rules so there can't be any losers (or, more accurately, the losers are just those that can't lobby the government effectively), then it isn't capitalism anymore, and I don't know what we have. Or how long it will last.
As they say, read the whole thing. It's not long, but worth the four minutes.
November 09, 2008
November 08, 2008
Kitteh Committee
A post for all who have ever lived through or watched a friend go through the tenure process: Kitty gets tenure. The perfect search committee write-up, complete with redacted letter of reference in the comments, here.
And I know she's in the other kind of science from us, but FSP is always a great read, particularly if you are interested in the journey of women to senior levels of academia.
The Crud
Is in my chest, having migrated from my sinuses.
And what is worse, perhaps, is that when I think "the crud is in my chest," for some reason, I hear it as if sung to that awful Tom Green song about him rubbing his butt on people. Perhaps it is time to lay off the Robitussin.
November 07, 2008
Bipartisanship In the Cabinet
Al Kamen runs down the history of it since the days of JFK, and notes that if Obama only names one or two Republicans he may be accused of simply behaving like his (supposedly more partisan) predecessors.
The Coveted Raven Crown
Neat.
Btw, that post on the King of Bhutan also features a list of the world's youngest and oldest leaders. You can see how many world rulers were born after your birth.
