Blog Profile / The Edge of the American West
| URL : | http://edgeofthewest.wordpress.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | History / US History | |
| Posts on Regator: | 570 | |
| Posts / Week: | 3.5 | |
| Archived Since: | April 9, 2010 | |
Blog Post Archive
Sheldon Whitehouse Stands Up For History
Well, okay, so he schools Chuck Grassley on the meaning of “pack the court:” Go to the one minute mark. (Yes, I know it wasn’t FDR’s best moment, but I’m still using the category “FDR owns everyone” because, well, he does.)
Reenacting Reconciliation
[Guest post! Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai of Angelo State University is kind enough to write for Edge on reconciliation and memory in modern day Texas.] Living in San Angelo, Texas, I often feel like I am living precisely at the edge of the American West. Show More Summary
Volume, Confusion, and Rage: On Commuting
Knocker-up in action Commuting has been part of the human experience since the Industrial Revolution. Ever since the workplace and the home got firmly disentangled, people have been waking up and resignedly making their way to their place of employment. Show More Summary
He Would Certainly Have Killed Me (Sherlock Holmes and Sookie Stackhouse Edition)
Charlaine Harris is the author of a massively successful series of novels with a southern heroine, Sookie Stackhouse. There have been 13 books, and a (ahem, so NSFW) HBO series. But now Harris is looking to be done with Stackhouse and the current novel is intended to be the last one: But after more than a decade, Ms. Show More Summary
Stop Digging
Oh dear: The charge of homophobia is equally easy to refute. If I really were a “gay-basher”, as some headline writers so crassly suggested, why would I have asked Andrew Sullivan, of all people, to be the godfather of one of my sons, or to give one of the readings at my wedding? Niall Ferguson goes for the “some of my best friends are gay” argument.
It’s Still Easier To Be An Effective President If Your Party Owns Both Houses (aka, A Quick Note On One Reason Why LBJ Was Effective In Ways Obama Is Not)
Legislating As a followup to the FDR post 88th Congress (January 1963 – January 1965): Senate:63 Democrats, 35 Republicans House: 258 Democrats, 177 Republicans 89th Congress (January 1965 – January 1967): Senate: 68 Democrats, 32 Republicans...Show More Summary
Today In Statistical Silliness
Heck, since I’m on that topic, I’ll pick on the New York Times: Now comes the hard part: Can movie studios, mired in a steep box-office slump, keep the momentum going? Between the first weekend in May and Labor Day, a period that typically...Show More Summary
This Week In Statistical Silliness
The Cato Institute discovers that – during hard times – the government spends more. Being the Cato Institute however, that’s not interesting, so they spin it around. More government spending leads to lower GDP: Higher government spending growth in a year corresponds to reduced private GDP growth that year. Show More Summary
A Quick Note On One Reason Why FDR Was Effective In Ways Obama Is Not
73rd Congress: Senate: 59 Ds, 36 Rs House: 311 Ds, 117 Rs 74th Congress: Senate: 70 Ds, 23 Rs. House: 322 Ds, 103 Rs. 75th Congress: Senate: 75 Ds, 16 Rs. House: 334 Ds, 88 Rs. 76th Congress: Senate: 70 Ds, 22 Rs House: 256 Ds, 173 Rs. Show More Summary
Today In “We’re Americans, We Don’t Have To Know Geography!”
The Ambassador of the Czech Republic is forced to issue statement clarifying that, no, his country is nowhere near Chechnya: As more information on the origin of the alleged perpetrators is coming to light, I am concerned to note in the social media a most unfortunate misunderstanding in this respect. Show More Summary
Always The Woman’s Fault
Because, of course, Mark Sanford was simply the hapless soldier, stuck in a minefield (on the Appalachian Trail, probably): Indeed, while Jenny has never come out and publicly opposed Mark’s congressional candidacy — choosing to remain officially neutral — she’s waged a brutally effective passive-aggressive campaign against it. Show More Summary
This Blog Loves Vin Scully
During last night’s play-by-play, Vin Sculley (the legendary Dodgers’ announcer) invoked the Sword of Damocles to talk about Chad Billingsley, the pitcher: He pitches ‘with the Sword of Damocles over his head.’ That’s an old Greek legend. Show More Summary
Brought Us Safe Thus Far
Judy Collins, the Boston Pops, and the audience doing “Amazing Grace,” in Boston’s Symphony Hall, 1976:
Comment Policy
This is one of those “So I can point to it later” posts. The comment policy here at Edge is fairly loose in some ways and fairly tight in others. I think of Edge as as personal space and commenters as guests. They’re very welcome, welcome...Show More Summary
Mine Eyes
On this day in history, I note, the South started the Civil War by shelling Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The war, which went on for four years, was over the “peculiar institution” of slavery, and ended with over 350,000 Americans dying in battle (as did over 300,000 Confederates). Show More Summary
Would Sir Like Some Mustard Gas With His Cod?
Ouch: Almost seven decades after the end of the war, residual explosives that were hardly taken seriously for a long time are now coming to light in the North and Baltic Seas. Experts estimate that there are 1.6 million metric tons of...Show More Summary
Miscarriage of Justice, Air Force Edition
So–to be clear–it’s not okay for the accused to have inconsistencies in her testimony: Franklin, commander of the 3rd Air Force at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, said a host of details led to his decision, including that the victim turned...Show More Summary
Wait, Whose Plantation Now?
Photo from Duke University Library Special Collections Patrick Rael returns! This time with a guest post on some odd (to put it politely) ways of remembering slavery: On Sean Hannity’s April 8 television show, Scripps Howard News Service columnist Star Parker likened modern “liberal” Democrats to antebellum slave owners. Show More Summary
Note To Book Reviewers
If you argue that the so-called Texas model [is] that is, a weak state government with few taxes and fewer regulations and services. It would be far harder to replicate the state’s civic DNA, which features traits that can be tracedShow More Summary
Rewriting the Times
There’s an article in the Times business section today about the use of miniature video cameras by police officers in a trial program in Rialto, CA. The article focuses largely on the technology and the way in which it allows police officers to refute false allegations of police misconduct. Show More Summary