Off the Kuff Rotating Header Image

July 28th, 2002:

Getting their story straight

Charles Dodgson does some pundit watching, and it’s not pretty:

In the conservative Weekly Standard, two scholars from the American Enterprise Institute argue that the prospect of further regulation, such as the bill that recently passed through Congress on stiffening up accounting standards, ruining confidence in the economy, and driving down the markets.

On Meet the Press this morning, Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill praised the bill as a useful measure to restore confidence in the economy, and should help the markets come back (as have several Republicans in Congress).

[daffyduck cartoon=”duckamuck”] Is it too much to ask you to make up your minds??? [/daffyduck]

I haven’t been reading Slate all that much lately. Has Tim Noah started the O’Neill Death Watch again? Just curious.

What’s the smallest line you can read?

I’ve now had two requests to bump up the font size in the blog content area, so I’ve changed it from 11px to 12px in the style sheet. I hope this is better. As always, any constructive feedback is appreciated.

I got your deficit right here

Brad DeLong shows us an interesting memo from 1993 that measures budget deficits of the 1980s by Presidential versus Congressional component. You know how blame for the deficits in those days always seemed to go to the irresponsible, spendthrift Congress? Well, it wasn’t really like that. Check it out.

In the eye of the beholder

Kevin had pointed awhile back to this interesting take by Jeanne D’Arc on perception and bias. Sometimes, seeing distortions and slurs in a news story says more about you than it does about the writer.

Ryan Leaf

Here’s the funniest thing about Ryan Leaf’s announced retirement from the NFL: Leaf, who was once considered one of the top quarterback prospects in the game, threw a total of fourteen touchdown passes in his career.

Walter Payton, who was not a quarterback, threw eight touchdown passes in his career.

A real bike race

Congratulations to Lance Armstrong for winning his fourth straight Tour de France. It’s an amazing accomplishment, no matter how you slice it, and despite what some dumbass sportswriters may think, makes Lance Armstrong on e of the world’s greatest athletes.

But the big question remains: How would Lance do at the Tour de Donut?