Couple from Agity

I don't like smoking either, but Europe is getting out of control.
This needs further investigation, and there is a very good chance that one of Balko's suggestions for how it happened is right, but they aren't exhaustive. Shit happens, and not everything can be controlled. Should they have inspected the overpass every two months? Every month? Every week? Should they have spent twice as much time on each inspection? Four times? Etc. There are only so many resources to go around. Perhaps more need to be put to use in this area, or the resources currently used could be better used doing the same things (working harder for instance), but at this point it doesn't look clear to me what the problem is.

All you need to know about drugs

From Ali G.

Art

This is some fucked up shit right here.

Turnabout is fair play

Well, it would be, if there weren't innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire like myself. But Tabarrok demonstrates the perversity of the living constitution argument quite nicely.

How to Nap

Keep it Short. I'm a big fan of the 5 minute nap myself.

How to do Great Work

Basically, ask yourself "What are the important problems of your field " and "If what you are doing is not important, and if you don't think it is going to lead to something important, why are you...working on it?"

Is this real?

AG Gone Wild.

Hey Ladies

Let 'em burn!

Not a Big Deal

I'm not sure what the implications for the 2006 season are, other than probably not good, but I'm pretty sure the Yankees made a mistake and the Sox are smart not to offer more than what they did. Damon has one good, not great, season left in him, and NY will regret the signing by the end of the 2007 season. That's my prediction.

I Guess I Just Don't Get It

What does "extralegal but constitutional" mean? I mean, that may be the most ridiculous thing I've read this year.

Why oh Why...

Can't DeLong think of a better way to introduce such an important topic? Also, why does he use the same way to end the (spot-on) post as he does when he is merely expressing strong disagreement with the administration?

Huh?

I get that Boortz was wrong. Obviously. But how does this show he's racist? (via Atrios, who, I think, agrees with the racist characterization). I'm not saying Boortz is or isn't racist, I have no clue either way, I just don't see where Olbermann gets it.

Right?

I have no idea if NPR uses conservative or liberal think tanks more, but I do know that this tally is deeply flawed. Cato is conservative? Uh, no. It is closer to the right on most economic issues, but closer to the left on most social and civil issues. This is called being libertarian. It's different from being liberal, and, wait for it, it's different from being conservative. I know, mind blowing stuff.
Also, I like how Atrios tries to paint every media outlet as conservative. Fox is conservative, the rest are either more or less balanced or liberal, but all have a bias for power and for sensationalalism. When your side is out of power and on the wrong side of sensationalism, and the other side is better at playing the media than you are, it can appear that the media is biased against you. But, that is defintely not the same as being conservatively-biased.

Yao!

There are apparently a lot of interesting things that I don't know about Yao Ming (via MR). This could definitely explain his lack of killer instinct. As I've said elsewhere, I think Yao is good to very good, and he will be very, very good, but he will never be a great player.

The coin is good

The salt shaker is great!

It doesn't just annoy us

Product placement raises writers' ire (via Wired). Of course, their problem is basically just that they should be paid more for doing it.

What country is this (part 2)?

Now we have secret laws?
As I've said before, Bush isn't Hitler by any means, but he is making the emergence of one much more likely here.

What country is this?

You don't have to be pro-legalization of drugs or anti-death penalty to find this ridiculous.

Greatness

Chuck Klosterman looks at Phil Jackson and at what makes a man great. It's an interesting column, and it was pretty good, up until paragraph #10. There it becomes crystal clear that he looks at failure not as a necessary contrast to success, a way to dramatize events, part of the whole picture of a person, but rather as a good thing, period. He even uses the Red Sox as an example, saying that "Ten minutes after the 2004 World Series, that franchise was no longer captivating, and all their long-suffering fans immediately became lost, boring and strangely self-absorbed. Today, being a Red Sox fan is almost meaningless." I'll admit to the self-absorption, but if what I am is meaningless, long live lack of meaning!

What?

What? What? Yeeeeeessssss!

Innovative Football

Michael Lewis on Mike Leach of Texas Tech, who is a bit different than your typical football coach, both in his methods of coaching and in his personal life. In the interest of being as fair and balanced as an albino gymnast, here's someone with a more negative assessment of Leach and Lewis' article.

When Police Attack

It's taser time!

Modern Oracles

Via MR (among many referencing it), Tetlock's warnings on trusting expert predictions. Need evidence of the essentially meaningless nature of most predictions? See CXO's summary of the prediction record of 24 investment 'experts'; a coin flip would do just as well. There probably are people with a superior record of predictions that isn't due to luck, but good luck figuring out who they are.

Be Efficient

Read more than 60 books in about an hour (via The Door)

Does the CIA Hate Freedom?

Or are they just trying to appease those who do? WTF!!!? (via Yglesias)

My Two Hayeks

Salma and the wisdom of Friedich in one post? Yes!

Hmm

Provocative post from Winterspeak on why we should be running a deficit now. Quick problems I see with his argument: there's no good reason to think that the government will react to high interest rates the way he wants it to; interest rates will probably rise at a time when closing the deficit will be harder due to the economy's peaks and valleys; if you spend the money badly (see, $200M bridge in a tiny Alaskan town), rates can't be low enough to justify the borrowing. I do think the deficits aren't as big a deal as most seem to, but give the federal government an inch here, and they will almost certainly take a mile.

Is this serious?

"Congress to look into 'deeply flawed' BCS system". Great, because we all know that this is the most important thing for them to be worried about. Well, maybe it's good in that way, insofar as it will distract them from messing up things that really matter.

Hold on

Everyone is ready to anoint the Colts as all-everything. Manning is the greatest QB ever. The defense is elite. They'll go 19-0. Bullshit. Don't get me wrong, they are a great team, but haven't we seen this movie before? Weren't the 1996-97 Broncos unstoppable? The 1998-99 Vikings were 15-1 (and shouldn't have lost the 1), look what happened to them. The 2001-02 Rams were supposed to stomp the Pats, but were one flag away from being blown out. Here are a few reasons why the Colts are not a lock (though still the best bet):
- Tony Dungy's playoff record
- Peyton Manning's playoff record (going back to college too)
- Edgerrin James' fumbles
- The defense is good, but not great, it can be beat. They've given up 22 points/game over their last 6
- If the Patriots can fix their secondary (admittedly not likely), they will beat the Colts no matter where the game is played
- You never know when a Warren Sapp-wannabe will tear apart the knee of your best player. Injuries are a huge wild card in the NFL

Missing the point

The 'real' price of gold is at the level it was at in 1935. Supposedly this shows that gold doesn't matter. Perhaps it shows that gold is a good barometer of bad monetary policy?

Most in need of a logic class nominee

Wretchard. Wow. (via Balko)

Somewhere Nic Cage is smiling

Or maybe it's Travolta....