What are you interested in this afternoon?
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Requests Thread
17 Jun 2008 03:03 pm
Comments (62)
John Lynch: Why is he not in the discussion for Veep.
Why do you have a disdain for Boston area sports teams?
Go Celtics!
I'd like to hear an argument for urbanism that doesn't require leaning on environmentalism. If possible, also avoid economic efficiency. In other words, if you didn't know that global warming existed but were still a liberal willing to trade economic growth for other considerations (eg justice), would you still want to promote urbanism?
So is Jim Webb an economic populist? That is his reputation. But several of the articles making the case against picking him for VP assert that he doesn't actually back up his rhetoric with populist policy stances.
Your dream ad for Barack Obama....
Alot of escalating noise on Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.
Since there is no magic bullet to global warming/reliance on middle eastern, why shouldn't all alternatives be on table. Specifically the left may need to accept more nuclear and ANWR drilling, and the right will need to accept some form of cap-and-trade and/or carbon tax and/or investment in public transport. Why is that compromise so hard to accept for all concerned?
What bars in dc are cool and yet relatively cheap? I'm a real american who drinks beer. Also, I'm visiting soon and may need an extended stay at one of these establishments if my C's choke.
Maybe this is covered in your book, but I'd like to see a substantive argument about why we should be deeply involved in Middle East and nearby areas like Afghanistan. What are the drawbacks (in terms of our national interest, not in terms of politics) of a much more isolationist policy towards this region?
Where I am coming from is I believe that, since the end of the Cold War, our deep involvement in this area doesn't really have anything to do with our national interest. I think it instead is all about giving the foreign policy intellectuals who ultimately determine our policy options something to do with their time, and a sense of mission in their lives. Of course, some of these intellectuals (neocons) are much worse than others (liberal internationalists), but I really think they are all delusional to the extent that they think a high level of involvement in this region actually advances our national interest.
So is Jim Webb an economic populist? That is his reputation. But several of the articles making the case against picking him for VP assert that he doesn't actually back up his rhetoric with populist policy stances.
I'm interested in the Yglesias response to this Ross Douthat post:
http://rossdouthat.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/06/iraq_in_theory_and_practice.php
I'm also interested in why you don't shamelessly promote your book on here as much as you used to. Now perhaps there's a reason you didn't try a career in marketing, but I'm really not sure why it appears to have made more sense to mention HITS every five sentences back in April, but not two months after its release. This would make sense if you were promoting a movie or an album, but the last time I checked book sales aren't really front-loaded like movies or albums. Indeed, the bestseller lists are always crowded with books that have been out for months.
BTW, I've thoroughly enjoyed HITS. Almost finished.
Alot of escalating noise on Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.
Since there is no magic bullet to global warming/reliance on middle eastern, why shouldn't all alternatives be on table. Specifically the left may need to accept more nuclear and ANWR drilling, and the right will need to accept some form of cap-and-trade and/or carbon tax and/or investment in public transport. Why is that compromise so hard to accept for all concerned?
Urban Education
In a lot of discussions here and elsewhere you read the same objections over and over about folks moving into higher density areas. Some of these, like crime, are red herrings and easily countered. Others are very legitimate concerns. Primarily, schools. I know very little about what is/ can be done to help urban school districts. Pretty important though.
A requests thread
Why are the democrats still going to give the telecoms immunity from warrant-less wiretapping?
Are they that afraid of the GOP's talking points on this issue?
A Foreign Policy Question:
Why not reconceive of the "war on terrorism" as a war on the means of terrorism?
Or, to put another way: If the question of international order is the grand international theory question - as we read in Heads in the Sand - then why not conceive of terrorism as a problem of international disorder, regardless of motivating ideology, and a priori to the threats from Al Qaeda or other Islamic terrorists?
And, of course, to suggest why I ask the question, a prospective answer:
If terrorism is seen primarily as a problem of international disorder, then policymakers would be more likely to focus on those issues of order - proliferation, network technology, international institutions, police work and intelligence - that if not solved might enhance a terrorist danger motivated by any ideology, whether the current radical ones now, or future ones later - instead of simply demonizing Muslims and saber-rattling abroad.
If our questions fail on their Requests Thread debut, should we fight on, or should we concede defeat?
Talk about the legitimacy of a potential attack on Iran, so RSH can STFU.
Alternatively: Who are some local politicians who drive you crazy, and why?
What do you think of Portishead's THIRD? I think it's awesome.
I actually enjoy the posts where Matt travels somewhere outside of the Boston-Washington corridor and discovers amazing new things about the rest of the country, like "taking a cab from LAX to Yorba Linda is really expensive."
Do you own any pets? Have you ever written a poem about them that you would share with your readers?
I believe this would make for a most excellent post.
What bars in dc are cool and yet relatively cheap? I'm a real american who drinks beer. Also, I'm visiting soon and may need an extended stay at one of these establishments if my C's choke.
If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?
What is your policy on trolls?
the girl sitting in the next bank over. she is beautiful!!
A requested thread: Missouri as a possible swing state for Obama. I would like to see a discussion of the factors in his favor and those which he needs to address. Even a disussion about Obama's chances in the the Midwest, even Kansas (Go MU--Beat KU!), would be welcome.
... Some of these, like crime, are red herrings and easily countered. Others are very legitimate concerns. Primarily, schools. I know very little about what is/ can be done to help urban school districts. Pretty important though.
The poor schools are a huge reason The Mrs and I don't live in Kansas City proper -- the district is an absolute clusterfuq and there's little chance of it getting better any time soon.
If MY -- or anyone else, for that matter -- can come up with a solution that is workable, I'd love to read it. As I'm sure millions of others in many cities would.
Whether or not you think that Sylvester Stallone's character in Cobra would have actually gotten along with the bad guy (Night Slasher) if the circumstances were somehow different. They seem to me to be cut from the same cloth.
The perfume your Mother wore years ago and how you were strangely attracted to it and her.
sjb,
Mizzou grad? What year? Always nice to see a fellow tiger.
Matt, are you planning an audiobook version of HITS?
If so, might I suggest someone like Scarlett Johansson doing the reading?
BTW interesting interview with Obama at the WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121365641014879041.html?mod=Leader-US
I'm honestly surprised you haven't commented on the NY Times story about the "no-car zone" that NYC will be trying out for three Saturdays in August...
On 3 Days in August, City Will Try No-Car Zone
As I sit here in my cubicle at Ford WHQ after having driven 20 miles to get here from Ann Arbor, I wonder if cheaper and improved broadband access would make the average white-collar worker as productive at home as in the office thus removing the need for big old office buildings sucking up energy removing the need to commute? If so would this be cheaper to implement than improving/providing mass commuter transportation?
Should an Obama administration push for a real "accountability moment" for various members of the Bush administration, with regard to the various misdeeds related to Iraq?
Why can't programmers write a simple script that checks for redundant comment posts. Not too hard, I would think. If a post has a 100% match to another post, then it shouldn't be published. (resisting the urge to post this several times...)
Also, what are your thoughts on the Naomi Klein (hit?)-piece on Obama?
www.thenation.com/doc/20080630/klein
Also, what are your thoughts on her more generally?
First, with all due respect since I enjoy this blog very much and agree with many of Matt's points, the issue of why a 27 (or 26?) year old blogger who has never had a real job (assumption) should feel as if he should have an authoritative voice on any public policy issue.
And 2nd, in the spirit of Tim's Cobra comment above:
Whether the evil character "Bennet" from the movie "Commando" was based on the concept of putting Freddie Mercury in a chain mail shirt. Bonus points to anyone that can explain plot of Commando.
The EU! - yeah, boring I know, but one would think Lisbon was a bit too big to simply ignore, no?
I want to know why the government should not deliver a daily dose of marijuana to those who would like some. I think the postman could bring it by, with some extra for the weekend with the Friday delivery. It would be a better world.
How much of current US foreign policy was influenced by Commando, Cobra, Missing in Action, and Red Dawn?
Hi, I enjoy your blog.
Is it me or are conservatives becoming more and more GAY even if some of them - like Larry Craig - won't acknowledge it? Is it just a function of the Internet and more information?
Not that there's anything wrong with it.
Have you had any interesting dreams lately? Tell us about them. Do you ever dream about other bloggers? Any recurring nightmarish blog-related scenarios?
McCain trying to scare people into thinking that "giving bin Laden habeas" will be some kind of unthinkably terrible outcome. (see http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/06/kerry-mccain-pu.html)
That article, unhelpfully, doesn't do anything to define habeas or what that would mean. The whole point of habeas is to prevent the executive from imprisoning innocent people -- so if we captured bin Laden, who is clearly not innocent, a court would take one look at his habeas petition and toss it out, end of story. So while the Boumediene decision is significant for those detainees who have a shot at proving their innocence, it means practically nothing for detainees who are actually terrorists. The McCain campaign is trying to scare voters who have no idea what habeas is, and should be called on it.
Does anyone actually like Lil Wayne or his music or was he created by Toby Keith to finally destroy hip hop music?
(I was at a party last week where several NYC school teachers attempted to explain to me how "deep" Lil Wayne's lyrics are. My effing head almost exploded)
Do you think you will ever be offered a position as an advisor, after which you will be shut up like a cricket in a cage never to sing again?
Shouldn't there be an Obama Sell-Out Watch, ticking off his distasteful policy changes since getting the nomination: approving school vouchers, lowering corporate taxes?
How hard did you laugh at my joke about McCain's position on gay marriage? ("He's old-fashioned, he thinks marriage should be between a short man and a rich woman who hasn't been in a car accident.") And if you had to marry gay, who would you pick?
Answer my questions about Iran you stupid fuckitty fuck fhbal zxciviwg thbbbttt!
I am looking for a good biography of Henry IV of England. For some reason the Yale English Monarch series doesn't include him yet. Any suggestions?
What is your position on the Goldberg/Walt disagreement over whether Ahmadinejad has called for genocide.
I have been blogging on this quite a bit and have argued that Goldberg's position, though probably quite mainstream, is actually extremely unhelpful, and unsupported by the evidence.
Why push back against the demonisation of Ahmadinejad? For the same reason that we should have with Saddam: it leads to very bad decisions and policy, for reasons that I explain.
This is not a topic that many people will want to deal with, but just in case...
I'd love to see ongoing debates about the worthiness/unworthiness of various rock musicians and their work, past and present. Today's Bush post was perfect. More please.
Continuing the health care trend today, I'd like to see address the topic in this article from today's Baltimore Sun:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.generic17jun17,0,6222587.story
Which notes that drug companies are quietly pushing legislation on the state level that bars pharmacies from substituting the generic equivalent. (Suppossedly already passed in Republican Utah, now on the table in Democratic Maryland.)
I guess it's part of the extension of drug company sales pitches on physicians - get them to prescribe your drug (or at least know the trade name) and then bar the competition.
Since you've got that post up about Bush, I'm going to repeat my earlier question as to whether you (Matt) have any interest in any other kind of music. I'm not (just) snarking -- alt-rock is well and good, but it seems like someone of your intelligence, interests, background, and inquisitiveness would be attracted to other kinds of music as well.
So consider this a renewed request for you to mention if you like any other kind of stuff. Glenn Gould playing Bach? A Love Supreme? Those are hoary, but also great, and would do as a starting point.
Failing that, what do you think about Bishop Allen?
The post at 5:30 was not mine. This one is.
"Talk about the legitimacy of a potential attack on Iran, so RSH can STFU."
Thank you. But I never said I would shut up if he answers the questions - depending on how he answers the questions, of course. If he agrees with me, then fine. If he doesn't, well, this will prove he's a clueless wannabe pundit.
So once again, in the spirit of whoever posted the 5:30 post:
"Answer my questions about Iran you stupid fuckitty fuck fhbal zxciviwg thbbbttt!"
Chris Dornan: "This is not a topic that many people will want to deal with, but just in case..."
Matt is the last person to deal with it.
How's your bicycling going? What kind of bike are you riding? I hope you're not riding one of those squishy wide seats -- it may seem comfortable for short rides, but the more you ride the more it'll get in your way. There were some useful comments on Rob Mackey's NY Times blog (about his attempt to ride a stage of the Tour de France) after he posted a photo of one of those silly saddles.
Cheney ordered Plame's outing. Let's get that on the congressional record while we have the chance. It's too late to impeach him, but let's make sure history has the story right because in 4 years he's going to be a hero to the right.
PS - Cheney's role in the Plame affair is on record in Libby's testimony. I don't want to fly into Cheney International Airport anywhere in the country (and I fly between DC and Wyoming a lot).
I would love to see some discussion of our outsourcing our military support services to such as KBR and Halliburton. Does any other military in the world do such a thing, and at what comparative cost? What is Iraq costing us in adjusted dollars by comparison to previous wars?
Stacy--
2003--MA-Ancient History, currently ABD, hoping to finish PhD in May 2009. Go MU!
You,too?
131 to 92 - How does something like that happen?
Talk about the FISA bill "compromise" being negotiated by Steny Hoyer (also known as the "attempt to let the telecoms and Bush Administration avoid examination of their campaign of illegal wiretapping" bill) and the efforts of Glenn Greenwald and others to stop it.
I would like a post about the drug lord war down in Mexico with particular focus on the following:
- What are both candidates positions on this?
- Which position makes more sense?
- Why are they ignoring it?
I'd like to know who actually IS more bi-partisan in their legislation, McCain or Barack. I couldn't find numbers for how many pieces of bi-partisan legislation McCain has produced in his long career, but the percentage of bi-partisan legislation by each would be interesting.
Shouldn't there be an Obama Sell-Out Watch, ticking off his distasteful policy changes since getting the nomination: approving school vouchers, lowering corporate taxes?
He talked about means-testing Social Security again, too. I hope he's just tracking to the center b/c of the general election.
On the other hand, some of the advisors he picked are Robert Reich, Jared Bernstein, James Galbraith, and Joseph Stiglitz.
In the WSJ interview, Obama said "We have drastically increased productivity since 1995, and there was the theory that if you increase productivity enough some of these problems of living standards would solve themselves. But what we've seen is rising productivity, rising corporate profits but flat-lining or even declining wages and incomes for the average family."
I don't remember Clinton ever saying that. This should be a time for the left to get excited, not be nitpicking and nagging.
Besides, on the one hand you have Obama's supposed rhetorical "sellouts" - not even policies yet just talk, and other side you have Justice Scalia saying that the recent Supreme Court decision means that prisoners of war will be sent to dictatorial allies who will torture them for info, after Bush said that wasn't happening. The Republicans have become a joke. The main thing is whether or not Democrats get 60 in the Senate.
Let's say we opened up drilling in ANWR. A) how much would the infrastructure required cost; B) how long would it take to see this oil on the market; C) would this crude go on sale in the world market, and if so how much would it end up relieving our prices? I'm guessing it's A) a lot; B) years; and C) yes, so not much. Do you know specifics? I think this "mid-term" relief that is spoken about is rarely accompanied with a realistic time-line.
Let's say we opened up drilling in ANWR. A) how much would the infrastructure required cost; B) how long would it take to see this oil on the market; C) would this crude go on sale in the world market, and if so how much would it end up relieving our prices? I'm guessing it's A) a lot; B) years; and C) yes, so not much. Do you know specifics? I think this "mid-term" relief that is spoken about is rarely accompanied with a realistic time-line.
Comments closed July 01, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
Whether or not the Lakers can finally put together a complete game and force this to a 7th.
Posted by Theodore | June 17, 2008 3:18 PM