It’s not my fault if nature never felt like evolving a system that obeys a simple little first order equation. Source here

by cactus Megan McArdle has a series of posts (this appears to be the last of them) about the folks bringing guns to protests or the president’s appearances. Her view – its idiotic, folks who do it are acting like jerks, but there’s nothing wrong with it. I have a few guns. I can’t see […]

by Rebecca Wilder Thrill. The Conference Board reported that the August consumer confidence index (CCI) jumped 14% in August to 54.06. In contrast, the August University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index (CSI) fell; but the two generally trend together, and the CSI is subject to revisions reported tomorrow. Confidence can be swayed by current political […]

by Bruce Webb Yeah well Marc Antony was not quite telling the truth, either. You could see this particular re-write of history coming a mile away and it is time to stop this one in its tracks. Both Parties Mourn Loss of Kennedy in Health-Care Debate Three GOP senators suggested in their remembrances of Kennedy […]

rdan Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy REMARKS BY THE VICE PRESIDENTON THE PASSING OF SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDYThe Department of EnergyWashington, DC THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, Mr. Secretary, thank you and your staff for the privilege of being with you today on what, as I prepared last night, […]

By Spencer; The new data that durable goods orders jumped 4.9% from June to July is a nice indicator that the economy is bottoming and it clearly beat expectations. Yes, a large part of the jump was civilian aircraft orders that tend to be lumpy, but even excluding civilian aircraft orders jumped1.9% month to month.On […]

Statement of Principles June 3, 1997 American foreign and defense policy is adrift. Conservatives have criticized the incoherent policies of the Clinton Administration. They have also resisted isolationist impulses from within their own ranks. But conservatives have not confidently advanced a strategic vision of America’s role in the world. They have not set forth guiding […]

rdan Boston.com carries a lot of material on Senator Kennedy’s life and politics, including comments from President Obama and Governor Schwarzenegger. The man had a huge impact on American government.

rdan Lots of comments did not “stick” yesterday, although there has been a problem intermittently in the last two weeks especially. Please wait for all “reply” “delete” links to appear at the bottom of your comment to confirm the servers keep it. I believe that a delay in processing is part of the problem. When […]

Robert Waldmann Via Ezra Klein I read Collender thinks this is wrong for two reasons. First, the Democrats with the most difficult reelection battles are the freshmen elected in Republican-leaning, fiscally conservative districts. They’ll need something to show for their time in Washington, and along with the Blue Dogs, they may well be able to […]