Nate Knows Nada

From over at Crooked TImber:

If you’re a regular reader in the academic blogosphere, you may have noticed that there are a fair number of blogs out there, either written by economists (and which present economic research) or that simply present the results of economic research that the general public might find accessible and interesting.

Henry Farrell has done those of us who study politics a favor by trying to get us to do some of the same. He’s started a blog that posts the abstracts and links to papers and articles that the average, educated reader might find interesting and thought-provoking.

I have no illusions that what we in the academy do has much, if any, effect on the vast majority of what goes on in this world, at least at the time we do it. But one of the failings of the American polity in the last 20 years or so has been a failure to imagine and envision the necessity of political engagement. And good research well-presented might be some small contribution toward showing how politics matters in every aspect of our lives, no matter how mundane it might seem on the surface.

Now for a shameless plug: How about highlighting my paper (previously published in a collection) on the political theory inhering in The West Wing?

Technorati Tags: academia, politics, political science, research, social science

Web designer extraordinaire Eston Bond is quite the handsome geek. Moppish hair, serious look, what’s not to love?

Plus, his design work is absolutely beautiful.

Slate puts it nicely:

With its ridiculous premise, creepy intimacy, and hollow candidate, the Romney video ought to be unbearable to watch. But the opposite is true. When the camera’s not on Romney, the video is irresistible. It’s like watching a reality show set in the 1950s—in color. It’s as if Jerry Mathers discovered a lost episode of Leave It to Beaver in which Ward Cleaver asks June, Wally, and the Beave whether he should challenge Vice President Nixon for the Republican nomination.

Individually, the Romney boys are as dull and wrinkle-free as their father. But put all five of them in one living room with their five wives and 10 children, and the Five Brothers’ very sameness is hypnotic. The odds against having five boys in a row are 31 to 1. Five boys even more frighteningly wholesome—and shallow—than their father must be the result of extraterrestrial intervention or human cloning.

Technorati Tags: humor, hypocrisy, politics, public v. private, weird

I am listed in a directory of “traditional Anglican” blogs. “Traditional Anglicans” are those who don’t like gays, think that we should scrap tradition and reason, and generally think the Episcopal Church is a nest of vipers.

I note there are a couple of other non-traditionalist bloggers in there too.

Technorati Tags: anglican, christianity, religion

Russell seems not to have these needs:

Technorati Tags: bad science, puppy, sex, weird

April 9, 2007
Black Colleges Fail to Welcome Gay Students and Groups
Gay students often feel unwelcome at historically black colleges,
where homophobia may prevent classmates and administrators alike from
acknowledging the presence of lesbians and gay men, reports the
Associated Press.

The wire service says black colleges have a disproportionately small
number of gay-student organizations, in some cases because the groups
can’t find faculty members willing to serve as advisers. Hampton
University has twice refused to permit a gay-student group to form
because of a moratorium on the number of student organizations.

A representative of the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group, told
the AP that some historically black colleges were hostile to the idea
of allowing groups of gay students to meet, while others denied having
any gay students.

But the head of the Coalition of African-American Pastors in Memphis,
Tenn., said black-college administrators “don’t have to give a lot of
reasons” for banning gay-student groups, because acceptance of
homosexuality would be “a threat to the black family.” —Lawrence
Biemiller

Technorati Tags: academia, gay, politics

I have just fnd the most awesome site ever, especially considering my dissertation. Take a look at GiantMicrobes.com.

And here’s my personal topic, HIV. I’m ordering right now!

Hey, this is pretty cool.

I have a ton of tracks in my iTunes library. 3763, to be quite exact. Which iTunes tells me is 10.5 days of music.

I often set my iPod on random when I go to the gym, and mark the peppy gym tracks so that I can use them to keep moving on the elliptical or whatever I’m doing.

Tangerine is a great little app that analyzes your library (really fast), sees how many beats per minute your tracks have, how intense those beats are, and then lets you make up a playlist based on that info. Totally cool.

I’m so gonna go to the gym, after my little nap…. At least I have a playlist. And I can make one for naptime, too.

Technorati Tags: apple, ipod, music, potion factory, tangerine

More than 300 cats that look like Adolf Hitler.

I’m just disturbed by this. Not deeply, but still….

Technorati Tags: cats, humor, hitler