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
Is It Just Possible That Americans Define Good Health Differently Than You?
“Nine in 10 Americans say they’re in good health. They’re wrong“: This flies a bit in the face of what public health research tells us about how healthy Americans are. More than one-third are obese, according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control numbers. Show More Summary
Oh Noes! Success!
From the same genre as “The Democrats should throw the 2008 presidential election and make the GOP handle the economic crisis” and “Roe v. Wade actually hurt abortion rights,” we have the New York Times opining that the political success...Show More Summary
Uh…What?
Ezra Klein is a national treasure. Kenneth Pollack is not. He’s not because of gems like this (which, I’m sorry to say, E.K. brought into) I supported Kenneth Pollack’s Iraq war. In 2002, Pollack, a Persian Gulf expert who’d worked at...Show More Summary
Women in Combat: One Sentence Answers
G.S. Newbold, a retired Lieutenant General in the Marines, has an article in Time, entitled “Seven Myths About ‘Women in Combat.’” Like most articles with the word “myth” in the title, it implies that it is offering a clear-eyed and tough look at the issue. Show More Summary
Rank amateurs.
The US News and World Report education issue is out! As ever, USNWR has taken up the critical task of ranking colleges and universities, including specific departments, and made a complete mess of the job. Kieran Healey has a couple of typically excellent posts on the subject (here and here). Show More Summary
Randomly Noted
This blog (I can say that, since I’m the only one who (&)(&)& posts around here) approves of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter project. It does not approve of Google Reader shutting down: This blog finishes by noting that yesterday–the day a new Pope was anointed (crowned? elected? appointed?)–those two issues were trending on Twitter, while the Pope was not.
The Senate and Democratic Representation
The United States Senate, while directly elected, is organized in such a way as to overrepresent rural areas. The two Senators in Wyoming, for example, represent around 576,000 people, while the two Senators of California represent 38 million. Show More Summary
Outsourcing Friedman
Since the world is flat, per Thomas Friedman, I’m going to outsource my incredulity at his column on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to John Warner over at Inside Higher Ed: Thomas Friedman has MOOCs in his sights and that should...Show More Summary
Ouch
“Gross lack of intellectual standards” could be the name of my next band: Senator Sessions’s staff on the Budget Committee has contacted both me and my editor objecting to the item in the most strenuous terms. I have further explored the matter at length and determined that, in my haste, I treated Senator Sessions’s claims far too generously. Show More Summary
But Did He Ride Them Down To The Ground?
Breitbart has the scoop: Journalists on the campaign trail saw [President Lyndon] Johnson drunkenly board a plane armed with nuclear weapons and then accidentally drop them on the United States. Luckily, by the grace of God, they did not go off. The day is not lost as long as there’s a Dr. Strangelove reference possible. (h/t @davidfolkenflik)
Notes On War
The difficulties of figuring how one side is doing militarily in a war where terrain is less than important are legion, even without allowing for errors: The U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan incorrectly reported a decline in...Show More Summary
God Has Set Us Up Over Kings And Kingdoms
But over each other? Not so much.
Storm of the Century
Been having a lot of those lately:
Not An Original Thought
John F. Kennedy really is a blank slate to be used for whatever grand narrative someone wants to tell about 20th century American politics, foreign policy, or just about anything: Their next hero, two decades later, is President John F. Show More Summary
Living In William Faulkner’s World
Or so it seems: Essie May Washington-Williams was the daughter of Thurmond and his family’s black maid. The identity of her famous father was rumored for decades in political circles and the black community. But not until after the South...Show More Summary
On Women in Combat (Roles)
It’s about time. The reality, of course, is that women have been in combat for a long time, and nowhere more than in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the front lines rarely exist except in the most fluid way. This is exemplified...Show More Summary
As shameless and self-serving a plug as you’re likely to see this side of facebook.
Okay, this is as close as I’ll come to shilling for my new book (which, you’ll note, has already been panned by a disgruntled reviewer at Amazon). My friend Phillip Barron has just built me an author website. Please check it out if you’d like. Show More Summary
A Quick Note, Provoked By Senator Rand Paul (Junior Senator, KY)
Senator Rand Paul, to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today: Mr. Paul told Secretary Clinton if he had been president at the time of the Benghazi attack that he would have relieved her from her job, for not knowing about appeals for more security. Show More Summary
Argumentation and Empire, Defense Budget Edition
The US has always tried for empire, at home and abroad.
Your Electoral Update For The Day, Nuclear Gerrymandering Edition
The GOP, coming off a substantial defeat in the 2012 election and facing difficult demographic trends, is looking to eke out every last electoral vote they can. The latest strategy is to take advantage of blue states where the GOP nonetheless controls the state government. Show More Summary