McCain’s Drill Appeal
Lately [Obama], you’ve demonstrated an unsettling penchant for overly nuanced statements that meander into the cerebral. Earth to Barack: to Main Street America, nuance equals confusion. You don’t have to dumb it down, but you do have to sum it up.
I think that’s fair. Lord knows I think we need more nuance (and [...]
Author Archives: Swad
McCain’s Drill Appeal
August 23, 2008 – 10:10 am
Beijing Olympics Stadium: about 30 min. before Men’s 100m Final
August 22, 2008 – 1:59 pm
Beijing Olympics Stadium: about 30 min. before Men’s 100m Final
A 360 panoramic shot of the Birds Nest.
The Bounce Is Real: Why Conventions Matter
August 21, 2008 – 11:50 am
The Bounce Is Real: Why Conventions Matter
Since 1984, the candidate receiving the larger convention bounce has also won the popular vote.
And another thing…
August 19, 2008 – 7:57 pm
From the same Wall Street Journal article:
Democrats say the 294 public laws represent a solid record of achievement. Since the party took control of Congress in 2007, they’ve led passage of the largest expansion in college aid in 60 years, increased the minimum wage for the first time in a decade, and extended unemployment benefits. [...]
Congress unusually unproductive this year
August 19, 2008 – 7:48 pm
As U.S. Economic Problems Loom, House, Senate Sweat the Small Stuff
WASHINGTON — The 110th Congress, whose term officially ends in January, hasn’t passed any spending bills or attacked high gasoline prices. But it has used its powers to celebrate watermelons and to decree the origins of the word “baseball.”
Barring a burst of legislative activity [...]
A NYT review of ‘Traffic’ by Tom Vanderbilt
August 9, 2008 – 5:15 pm
A NYT review of ‘Traffic’ by Tom Vanderbilt.
This basic truth — feeling safe kills — lies beneath many of the book’s insights. Americans think roundabouts are more dangerous than intersections with traffic lights. Roundabouts require you to adjust your speed, to merge, in short, to pay attention. At an intersection, we simply watch the light. [...]
Trading Places: The beginning of the suburban exodus
August 9, 2008 – 5:13 pm
Trading Places: The beginning of the suburban exodus
Thirty years ago, the mayor of Chicago was unseated by a snowstorm. A blizzard in January of 1979 dumped some 20 inches on the ground, causing, among other problems, a curtailment of transit service. The few available trains coming downtown from the northwest side filled up with middle-class [...]
Post-college earnings
August 8, 2008 – 9:54 am
Which College Grads Earn the Most? University of Chicago students, among others. Granted, this is for undergrads, but I’m hopeful the effect holds for graduate students too. The Ivies, of course, are at the top of the list.
Why we tell stories
August 6, 2008 – 12:50 pm
The Scientific American on the science of storytelling:
A 2006 study hinted at a connection between the enjoyment of stories and better social abilities. The researchers used both self-report and assessment tests to determine social ability and empathy among 94 students, whom they also surveyed for name recognition of authors who wrote narrative fiction and nonnarrative [...]
Chicago Lightning
August 6, 2008 – 10:35 am
From one of Chicago’s worst ever lightning storms a few nights ago.
A Hyde Park Rental Revolution
August 6, 2008 – 9:55 am
Hyde Park Progress: How an occasionally hated development company is doing good things for Hyde Park. It’s an interesting look at the other side of urban renewal and gentrification.
Since acquiring its first rental property in Hyde Park, MAC Property Management has sunk a whopping $200,000,000 in construction costs to renovate, restore, and add to the [...]
Horrible Kung Fu Auditons
August 6, 2008 – 9:44 am
I hope these are real, but even if not, they’re hilarious.
“Press This” is Impressive
July 30, 2008 – 3:11 pm
One of the excellent improvements in WordPress 2.6 is the addition of a “Press This” bookmarklet that allows you to post just about anything from the current page you’re viewing. It’ll make it substantially easier for me to share my favorite links, and eliminates the need for an external editor. Very, very nice.
Theme update…
July 30, 2008 – 2:41 pm
Those of you who visit the site outside of a feed reader will notice that the theme has been in flux the past few days. I still haven’t had time to do a lot of the CSS work I want to do, but the current theme will do just fine for the time being.
I promise [...]
The Vanishing City of Lights
July 24, 2008 – 1:55 pm
Is Paris in decline? Who is the new Sartre or Camus?
For what it’s worth, I thought the cuisine in London was much better than Paris. I doubt the British will ever be able to kick the stereotype of bad food, though. Give me bangers and mash over the movable feast any day. (via Kottke)
A little rough around the edges
July 24, 2008 – 1:48 pm
Well, I made the jump from Typepad to a new host and new blog software (Wordpress) without any hiccups at all. You’ll notice that titles are repeated in each post, the result of a hack I had to make to Typepad. That’ll be fixed soon.
I’m diligiently working on finishing my thesis, so I won’t be [...]
After these messages, we’ll be right back.
July 23, 2008 – 10:18 pm
I’m in the process of reconstructing the blog after the move. It’ll be back up soon!
