Archive for the Politics Category


Chart of the day: Did McCain ever have a chance?

Published November 3rd, 2008

This morning, I moseyed over to Iowa Electronic Markets to see what the futures markets were saying about tomorrow’s election. (If you’re not familiar with IEM in particular, or prediction markets in general, click here or here.)Not surprisingly, people investing real money in election futures contracts give Barack Obama a whopping 90% chance of victory [...]

Now *this* is a viral video

Published October 30th, 2008

Earlier tonight, Drayton Foltz sent me this video. (Some of you might have received your own version of it, too.) It’s one of the most brilliant pieces of marketing I’ve seen this year.

Politics is a (video)game

Published October 22nd, 2008

In what has to be a first, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has been placing ads . . . in videogames. According to The Hill, ads are appearing in “Madden NFL 09,” “NASCAR 09,” and seven other games on the Xbox 360 system.As Walter Alarkon explains:“Only gamers playing online in 10 states can see the ads, which [...]

Factoid of the day: Election special

Published October 21st, 2008

Over at The Page — which, imho, is the single best source for election news — Mark Halperin asks an intriguing trivia question:“When was the last U.S. presidential election the Republican party won without a Nixon or a Bush on the ticket?”The surprising answer is here.

The candidates . . . in manga

Published October 17th, 2008

Using FaceYourManga, Random Tech Stuff decided to “manga-ify” the candidates. 

Breakfast of (political) champions

Published October 15th, 2008

Joe Gebbia is a talented young designer and one of the founders of AirBed & Breakfast, an online marketplace for peer-to-peer traveling. (In short, you offer up a spare bed or room for travelers; travelers then pay you to lodge there. Think eBay for crashing.)Now Gebbia is involved in an adjacent venture: Customized breakfast cereals [...]

Factoid of the day: Tetanus shot with that latte?

Published September 14th, 2008

This weekend, I had the opportunity to read Matt Miller‘s outstanding upcoming book, The Tyranny of Dead Ideas. In his chapter on the folly of employer-provided health insurance, Miller gives us today’s startling factoid:“It’s crazy but true: Starbucks spends more on health care than on coffee; General Motors spends more on health care than on steel.”  

Factoid of the day: Maybe Americans aren’t so cynical after all

Published September 6th, 2008

A week after Barack Obama attracted a stunning number of TV viewers to his convention acceptance speech, John McCain did just as well.When all the figures are added up, 42.4 million people watched Obama — and 42.4 million watched McCain.As the Associated Press notes: “Three times in two weeks, political speeches [Sarah Palin's barnburner was the [...]

Why Americans are cynical about politics

Published September 4th, 2008

 (Note: I’m sure the Daily Show could do the same sort of clip package for the Dems)

The morality of giving a finger

Published August 25th, 2008

Being a truly exciting guy, I’ve spent the last couple of days reading Robert Shiller’s The Subprime Solution: How Today’s Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It. It’s not exactly a page-turner. But it’s an interesting book.Take bailouts. I have a deep and abiding distrust of them. In fact, I happen to live [...]

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