Archive for 2020

HARSH BUT FAIR:

OPEN THREAD: Who’s gonna break the shape of things unknown?

NOW OUT FROM ANDREW WAREHAM: The Pinchbeck Peer, Book 3. As you may know, I’m a big fan of Wareham’s work, and I enjoyed the first two books in this series. I’ve ordered this one.

ACTUAL JOURNALISM:

AMERICA’S PAPER OF RECORD: Stacey Abrams Says She Will Step Down As Governor If Asked To Run For VP.

I’ve seen some people say that Stacey Abrams is the Democrats’ Sarah Palin, but there are some important differences: Sarah Palin was actually elected governor, Sarah Palin could give a good speech, the press hated Sarah Palin rather than lamely propping her up, and Sarah Palin was actually attractive. Other than that, sure. Well, maybe.

Also, the claim that Palin hurt McCain is BS. The only time he was ahead in the polls was the period after he picked Palin as his running mate, and before his unfathomably stupid decision to “suspend” his campaign because of the financial crisis. Whatever excitement his lame campaign ever possessed came from his running mate, whom he treated dishonorably once she was no longer of any use to him. Because McCain was as much a moral cripple as a politician as Joe Biden is.

BAD NEWS FOR LOCKDOWN PROPONENTS: The Results of Europe’s Lockdown Experiment Are in. Elaine He of Bloomberg crunches the numbers for 17 European countries and concludes that “the relative strictness of a country’s containment measures had little bearing” on the death rate.

OIL STILL RULES: The Global Economy’s Fuel Gauge. Oil powers almost all transportation — and Covid-19 will only intensify its dominance. The open-plan office will fall out of favor, but people will still be driving to work as the suburbs and exurbs keep growing (and as mass transit becomes even less appealing).