The Caucus- The Early Word: Frenemies June 19, 2013Political news from today's Times and a look at the latest happenings in Washington.By JADA F. SMITH
- Testy Debate in Mass. Senate Race Over Term Limits June 19, 2013The Democrat, Edward J. Markey, accuses the Republican, Gabriel Gomez, of shading the truth about his discussions with Senator John McCain and term limits.By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
- Biden Touts White House Progress on Guns June 18, 2013Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. resumed the White House campaign for gun control on Tuesday by reporting on executive action taken unilaterally by the administration and pressing Congress to take up legislation again.By PETER BAKER
- The Early Word: Rematch June 18, 2013Political news from today's Times and a look at the latest happenings in Washington.By JADA F. SMITH
- The Early Word: Frenemies June 19, 2013
Favorite Podcasts
While I’m still preparing and adding some helpful visuals to the Digital Guide to Getting the News, I thought I’d carve out a section to post early: Podcasts. The perfect way to make use of a long wait, dull commute, or simple task; podcasts began as time filler for me but have become one of … Read more
Back After A Year
It’s been one year to the day since I last updated this blog. I know the least interesting thing to read is a post about not posting (see the incomparable XKCD for reference), but I thought I’ll indulge myself just this once. The real world took over for a year there: work, people, and all … Read more
Does Guilt Make the Dutch Spend Less on Christmas?
Santa’s helpers are not little, but they do wear blackface and goofy costumes. At least, that’s the Christmas lore in the Netherlands. Santa, as portrayed every December 5th by a different beloved Dutch actor, arrives on a boat to greet crowds of children and their families in Holland. Alongside him walk a number of men … Read more
Remembering Tim Hetherington
In what appears to have been a targeted attack, Syrian forces killed two western journalists in an artillery assault on the city of Homs today. Marie Colvin, a veteran American war correspondent, and Rémi Ochlik, a French photographer, died after their makeshift media center was destroyed in mortar and rocket strikes. Full story from the … Read more
Naming the Panic
Having not posted in a while (sick, work, family, other personal excuses), I wanted to throw up something interesting I found playing around on the Google Books Ngram Viewer. In my now month-old last post on the End of the Great Depression, I noted that: The Great Depression’s image of a slumping line, like a … Read more
Did Pearl Harbor or John Keynes End the Great Depression?
Beyond gray photographs of bread lines and barren prairies, the Great Depression conjures an image of a line bending downward. Sharply at first, then painfully flat and prolonged. Whether the line signifies social well-being, the country’s standing in the world, or simply economic growth isn’t important – the measure of our worth felt then and … Read more
Breakfast Time: Occupy Wall Street Should Embrace MF Global
MF Global is a complete, healthy breakfast for Occupy Wall Street. The derivatives brokerage, headed by former Goldman CEO and New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, recently filed for bankruptcy protection and the circumstances of its demise make for a Zuccotti Park dream: First, there’s the sugary pieces of pastry and cereal – those tasty simple … Read more
Save the Date: The Obama Campaign’s Best Move Yet
With an attack ad that swaggered like a Jerry Bruckheimer trailer, Rick Perry’s campaign recently targeted Mitt Romney’s Masschusetts health care reform (Romneycare) as the unholy sibling of the Affordable Care Act. ‘Obamacare’ to conservatives, the legislation is despised on the right and has consequently faced increasing legal challenges in many states. Having initially scoffed … Read more
Conflation Nation
Ask any stats student at any school in the world what the most important lesson in statistics is and they’ll all say the same thing: ”Correlation is not Causation.” But, printed as that aphorism is on the sides of each student’s head, the false appearance of causation has begun to dictate how the United States approaches … Read more
Burying the Leader
Two weeks ago, on Monday August 22, the United States accomplished one of the most important security triumphs in modern history. Unfortunately though, not too many people heard about it. Reports that the US had killed al-Qaeda’s number two came out five days later on Saturday August 27 when most of the country was enjoying … Read more
