Getting Closer

Harry Reid has reportedly scheduled a 3:15 press conference this afternoon and is expected to announce the details of the health care reform bill that will hit the Senate floor.

Rumors currently have it including the state opt out version of the public option and a CBO score in the works.

We'll try to bring you a round up of reactions later tonight, it seems like only 8 or 9 months ago that the powers that be said this day would come 3 or 4 months ago...

It's Gonna Be A Long Season

I haven't even managed to watch a Skins game yet this year, partly due to a lack of TV (although that technological fix has been made) and mostly because everyone says don't bother it's just too painful.

You know things are officially really bad when The Onion comes a calling...

Redskins Hold Press Conference to Announce That They Are Still Sort Of A Football Team.

(via FB)

Taking the Sandbox to a Whole New Level

This is absolutely mesmerizing...



the amount of time and practice and trail and error in discovering what moves would be required to create the desired images boggles my mind.

(via kottke)

Read This Now - SuperFreakonnomics, A Super Waste of Your Time

I've been increasingly disappointed in the quality of the posting and general work and thought on the Freakonomics blog of late, and now with a new book out I've been wondering whether I should try and make time to read some of it.

Reviews on the climate change section lump the authors squarely in the George Will camp and that's not a good place to be if you'd like to remain a respected author or academician (Right wing editorialists being another breed altogether.) Which makes me think I have better ways to spend my now (grad school is a lot of work) more precious time.

To seal the deal lets turn to Ezra Klein who'd like to point out that the problem isn't so much that Dubner and Levitt get climate change wrong it's how they go about getting it wrong and that they make those same errors throughout the book...

But before people begin believing that the problem with Super Freakonomics is that it annoys environmentalists, let's be clear: The problem with Super Freakonomics is it prefers an interesting story to an accurate one. This is evident from the very first story on the very first page of the book...

You can go on and on in this vein. It's terrifically shoddy statistical work. You'd get dinged for this in a college class. But it's in a book written by a celebrated economist and a leading journalist. Moreover, the topic isn't whether people prefer chocolate or vanilla, but whether people should drive drunk. It is shoddy statistical work, in other words, that allows people to conclude that respected authorities believe it is safer for them to drive home drunk than walk home drunk. It's shoddy statistical work that could literally kill somebody. That makes it more than bad statistics. It makes it irresponsible.

Blog Action Day - Saving the Environment Can Save $ Too

Well this seems right up my alley, strangely I knew nothing about it until 10 minutes ago and now there are but a scant two hours left to get on board with this years theme and blog about climate change.

Luckily I was already planning on steering folks towards today's NYT piece on gas leaks in natural gas processing and delivery. It seems that ton of methane, the major part of what we commonly refer to as natural gas and a really scary greenhouse gas worse than CO2 scary, is pretty much constantly escaping. The leaks go largely unnoticed since they are only visible through an infra red camera and apparently most of the industry isn't aware of or doesn't care about the problem. Not only is this bad for the environment, it's bad for business as any lost gas costs the companies extracting and transporting it.

As Revkin and Krauss point out this ought to be a no brainer, patch the leaks, save gas, make more money, save the environment and score some good PR all in one fell swoop. At least a few companies have already gotten with the program, but it would make sense for everyone to be doing it. And if the companies don't come to that conclusion on their own this would be one of those situations where regulation forcing innovation really would be a good thing for everyone involved.

Visit the Blog Action Day website.

The Gauntlet - Does Harry Reid Have A Backbone?

Last week the insurance agencies peeled off and hit the current leading health care reform plans hard.

Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid testified as a witness before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the need to strip the insurance agencies of their anti-trust exemption.

Ezra Klein points out that Harry Reid doesn't have any qualifications to testify as a witness in this hearing other than he's the Senate Majority Leader and if the insurance agencies want to take a run at health care reform well then they better be ready for the repercussions.

If Klein is right, that's a pretty nice turnaround from Reid and the Senate Dem's who have shown very little spine to date.

Forget Photo of the Day

This site will keep you busy for a while and coming back to see more.

Vivian Maier's photographs were recently acquired at auction, around 40,000 of them from the 50's, 60's, and 70's in and around Chicago, previously unknown they are now being exhibited for the very first time online.

That's my favorite from the first dozen or so, if you're in to street photography you're in for a good time.

(via kottke)