Thursday Miscellany!

• Krugman is right, part one million. Would that Barack Obama had understood this four years ago; he'd be cruising to victory instead of fighting the hardest campaign of his life.


• Rasmussen polls the Missouri Senate race at Akin 38, McCaskill 48. I call bullshit on this poll; I think the Ras is trying to set the narrative here in order to accomplish what the GOP really, really wants right now, that is, for him to drop out. As it stands, he's just a sore reminder that the GOP is dominated by social conservatives who don't want smaller government, but a different, more odious nanny state. And that most definitely includes Paul Ryan. This is the last thing the GOP needs going into next week's convention, and it would be better for them to replace him with a candidate that isn't quite as outspoken about the GOP's actual core values.


• Speaking of which, Akin is still claiming that the liberal media want him out. Which makes me wonder, when the hell did Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove and Sean Hannity become part of the Liberal Media?


• A better way to describe this University of Colorado model that is making the rounds is that it was trained on the election data of the last eight Presidential elections (since 1980), and is now being used to predict the ninth. It certainly wasn't used to predict the last eight elections as the media claim. Aside from that, there are huge methodological problems with the model, including that it includes huge negative effects from unemployment for Democrats, but none at all for Republicans - despite the fact that unemployment probably contributed to Bush I's defeat in 1992. That's reason enough to treat this model as junk.


• Apparently having sons rather than daughters makes you more manly and a better leader according to the National Review. This claim is silly and stupid, and only a silly and stupid person would entertain it; in other words, it's pretty much on par for the National Review.


• Doctor Who Season 7 starts September 1st! Yes, that means I'm spoken for that night, and every Saturday night of September.

Thursday Miscellany!

• Krugman is right, part one million. Would that Barack Obama had understood this four years ago; he'd be cruising to victory instead of fighting the hardest campaign of his life.


• Rasmussen polls the Missouri Senate race at Akin 38, McCaskill 48. I call bullshit on this poll; I think the Ras is trying to set the narrative here in order to accomplish what the GOP really, really wants right now, that is, for him to drop out. As it stands, he's just a sore reminder that the GOP is dominated by social conservatives who don't want smaller government, but a different, more odious nanny state. And that most definitely includes Paul Ryan. This is the last thing the GOP needs going into next week's convention, and it would be better for them to replace him with a candidate that isn't quite as outspoken about the GOP's actual core values.


• Speaking of which, Akin is still claiming that the liberal media want him out. Which makes me wonder, when the hell did Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove and Sean Hannity become part of the Liberal Media?


• A better way to describe this University of Colorado model that is making the rounds is that it was trained on the election data of the last eight Presidential elections (since 1980), and is now being used to predict the ninth. It certainly wasn't used to predict the last eight elections as the media claim. Aside from that, there are huge methodological problems with the model, including that it includes huge negative effects from unemployment for Democrats, but none at all for Republicans - despite the fact that unemployment probably contributed to Bush I's defeat in 1992. That's reason enough to treat this model as junk.


• Apparently having sons rather than daughters makes you more manly and a better leader according to the National Review. This claim is silly and stupid, and only a silly and stupid person would entertain it; in other words, it's pretty much on par for the National Review.


• Doctor Who Season 7 starts September 1st! Yes, that means I'm spoken for that night, and every Saturday night of September.