AMEN TO THAT! From The Economist‘s latest web experiment*, The Inbox, a blog where every letter to the editor we receive is posted on the web:

In Starbucks’ case, it’s not the ambience that puts off consumers, it’s the coffee. If only they roasted it a bit less. My colleagues agree that if they had another option they wouldn’t buy Starbucks but, since there is a Starbucks on nearly every block around our office in the District, our options are limited.

Any free market economists want to take a swing at this one? I too would prefer less roasting. I have two conjectures: either they’re benefitting from first mover advantage, or stupid Americans have some sort of macho attachment to burned coffee, as if that charred flavour makes it somehow more authentic and manly.

Personally, I think the manly thing to do is to drink the stuff with the most caffeine. And contrary to popular belief, that isn’t espresso; it’s regular coffee. (The longer you roast the beans, the more caffeine is destroyed.) Starbucks makes it even worse by overcooking their espresso beans. Anyone drinking burned Starbucks on the assumption that the smoky flavour must mean it carries a real kick–not so, not so. Char grilling is for steaks, not Arabica beans.

* Full disclosure: I work for The Economist, and manage one of its other blogs.

BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID: Citizens of Dallas, check out what your police and fire pension fund has been up to. Citizens of everywhere else, worry about what your local government pension funds are doing.

Studying The Study: Yesterday we queried a study purporting to demonstrate that the Bush Administration investigated Democrats out of proportion to their numbers. Pat at Stubborn Facts has taken a longer look and has found significant methodological problems with the research.

That probably means Paul Krugman will cite it again.

Bill Hobbs Has More On Fred Thompson.

Porkbusters Bookmark:

Welcome to the Green Eyeshade Blog. I’m John Campbell, Congressman from the 48th District in California. I am also a Certified Public Accountant.

…I am the chairman of the budget and spending task force for the Republican Study Committee. The Republican Study Committee is a caucus of about 100 of the most fiscal responsible members of the House of Representatives. We are tired of watching both parties spend away our money and our future.

Rep. Campbell will be blogging at TownHall.com.

DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY ONLY GOES SO FAR: The Israeli ambassador to El Salvador has been recalled. This might be why:

The Israeli ambassador to El Salvador has been recalled after he was found drunk, naked and bound in sexual bondage gear in his yard, an official said Monday.

Tsuriel Raphael has been removed from his post and the Foreign Ministry has begun searching for a replacement, said spokeswoman Zehavit Ben-Hillel.

Two weeks ago, El Salvador police found Raphael naked outside his residence, tied up, gagged and drunk, Israeli media reported. He was wearing several sex toys at the time, the media said. After he was untied, Raphael told police he was the ambassador of Israel, the reports said.

The British Broadcasting Corp. reported that he could identify himself to police only after a rubber ball had been removed from his mouth.

Frivolous motion on the joys of old-time radio:

For me, music is – always has been – about discovery. It’s what used to be amazing about listening to the radio (before it became choked with ads and regurgitated the same 20 tunes) – a random song you’ve never heard before comes on and is just perfect, hits just the right chord, at that singular moment in time. The joy in subsequently figuring out the artist, buying the album, and then popping it in your CD player was unbeatable. Being the first, telling your friends, sharing the experience of listening to something new and life-changing – being surprised by something you didn’t know even existed – that is totally what music is about. Was about.

Was about?
Yeah, like it or not, our listening patterns have changed. With the introduction of mp3 players (more honestly, the iPod) we were all given incredible levels of control over what we listened to at any moment. It’s simply next in the progression from LP (moving the needle from track to track), to cassette (pressing FF and guessing), to CD (pressing next, but still limited to one album). Now, at your fingertips, there is the power to pick any song, play it for any length of time, and skip to another song, and keep skipping until you find what it is you want to listen to.

While there is great, great joy to be had in simply shuffling at random (the wild success of the iPod Shuffle definitely illustrates this), I think all will agree that it is not enough. Now that you have control, how can you resist the temptation to take control? I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s set my iPod to shuffle during my morning commute, only to be aurally assaulted when a song by Melt Banana follows a song by Air. Likewise, who can deny the embarrassment and awkwardness when, in the midst of a tender, romantic, passionate make-out session, a Daniel Johnston tune pops up to destroy the moment entirely? (Note: I’m sure there are people in this world who love to make out to Daniel Johnston. That’s cool for them. Not for me.). Shuffling just isn’t practical, all the time. Part of the reason that radio used to work is that the playlists were hand-picked so that there could be surprises, but none like this:

A: Hey, guess what?
B: What?
A: Herpes! Are you surprised?
B: …

Inspired by my post at my own site on how much music is enough; more from Tyler Cowen here.

Pencils Down, Please. It’s time for a quick math quiz, so easy an eight year old can do it without pencil and paper. Well, if the eight year old goes on to win the Fields Medal and MacArthur Fellowship, anyway.

“OOOOOOH, SHINY! LAWYER GROG THINK PRETTY LADY in glittery snake shoes have mighty mojo.”

Militia Watch At The Washington Post: Christopher Fotos looks at the manner in which the WaPo treats militias and the Second Amendment. Soundbite – “it’s not called the Bill of Privileges.”

The Few, The Proud: Pardoning Scooter Libby is an idea whose time has not yet come, if polls mean anything.

I Owe Ann A Coke? Naturally I am delighted, but I am being dragged into a legal thicket here.

Octa-Gonzo: Jeralyn Merritt has thoughts on the eight fired US Attorneys:

The job has always been a political plum. The U.S. Attorney is nominated by the President, based on recommendations from the Senators in the particular District. Almost without exception, the appointee is from the President’s political party. When a new President is elected, we get new U.S. Attorneys.

…The travesty of the current U.S. Attorney firing scandal is not that U.S. Attorneys are being replaced. That is expected after an election, such as the one in 2004. It’s that it’s happening in 2007.

…I’m no fan of Republican U.S. Attorneys who got their job because they carried water for Bush in 2004 and had the blessing of their District’s Senators. That’s the way the job is assigned.

But, firing them because they didn’t bring the cases the Administration wanted them to bring, or because they brought cases against Republicans or didn’t bring cases against Democrats is beyond the pale.

…So have whatever sympathy for these U.S. Attorneys that you deem appropriate. Just remember that when appointed, it wasn’t because they were non-partisan champions of justice. It was because they were political friends of Bush or the Republican party.

Eventually we may find out why they were fired.

Laura Rozen rounds up some recent reporting.

MORE: “Octa-Gonzo”? Well, there are eight attorneys, they are gone, Gonzalez is involved… ahh, if I have to explain it, forget it (I need to ask John Tierney about this…). “Eight Men Out” works for me but the Black Sox have a prior claim.

AND NOW I SUPPOSE TOM WILL ALSO do a post saying whatever it is I’m saying here. That we both did the jinx-on-Coke post simultaneously. Except that he got in first, so I’m the Coke debtor. He probably beat me to this one too.

CORRECTION: Actually, he’s the Coke debtor. I called it.

TOM OWES ME A COKE. (Check out how I’m trying to get a Corner-esque vibe going here. Will Tom banter? Will Megan poke her head in from whatever time zone she’s in? Stay tuned.)

There’s Team Blogging, And There Is Insta-Team Blogging! OK, we doubled the fun on the Al Gore global warming story, but the morning is young… I blame Daylight Saving Time.

The Goldwater Girl Was a Martin Luther King Jr. Fan? Betsy Newmark is skeptical but I can offer this – Martin Luther King Jr. was in Chicago in January 1963, so at least we aren’t talking about childhood memories of church burnings.

Times To Gore – Chill Out. Mark Coffey has excerpts and a live comment section.

MORE: McQ thinks Hollywood has already charted their course:

“…being a student of human nature and by nature a bit cynical, I just don’t see it getting any cooler, in terms of hype, before it gets much, much hotter.

AL GORE’S ALARMISM is criticized by some scientists, and they are — take note — spotlighted in the NYT.

“We were being used completely as an ATM machine for the regime”: Dan McLaughlin picks up the North Korean version of oil-for-food.

CODE PINKSTERS CAMP OUT at Nancy Pelosi’s house. And, look out, they’ve got papier-mâché statue of Gandhi.

OH, PHEW! Tom’s back.

I Am Back From The Gym And Brainier Than Ever, if this is to be believed…
The proof will be in the next few posts. Onward, science!

MICKEY KAUS AND ANDREW SULLIVAN ARE SQUABBLING AGAIN. I think their troubles would be greatly reduced if Mickey would keep up with “South Park.” Or if Andrew wouldn’t assume that everybody does or that it’s cool to create a divide between people who get “South Park” references and people who don’t.

STARDUST. Now, dust.