Monthly Archives: January 2011

Post-midterm approval ratings: about as meaningful as preseason football polls

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From a FiveThirtyEight post on presidential approval ratings and re-election chances, a nifty chart: “What does this mean for Barack Obama?” Nate Silver asks rhetorically, then answers: Right now, we’re still in the period where the most useful number for estimating his re-election chances is not his approval rating but rather the historical track record of incumbent presidents. … [S]ince… Read more »

What he said.

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At the end of a fantastic column about Egypt, Ross Douthat says something I was trying to say recently, and says it better: The long-term consequences of a more populist and nationalistic Egypt might be better for the United States than the stasis of the Mubarak era, and the terrorism that it helped inspire. But then again they might be… Read more »

Denver 80, North Texas 67

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Denver got a Mean Green monkey off its back Saturday, winning for the first time in six tries against defending Sun Belt champion North Texas — and cementing a commanding West Division lead in the process. The Pioneers bounced back impressively from an early 11-3 deficit, winning convincingly at home by a final margin of 80-67. Junior guard Brian Stafford,… Read more »

Denver-North Texas liveblog

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Heeeere we go! Huge Sun Belt battle this afternoon, and I’ll be covering it live from Magness Arena, thanks to CoverItLive. You can join in the conversation by tweeting something “@brendanloy“; it’ll appear below. You can do this using the reply window at the bottom of this post. (NOTE: After the first tweet, you will need to retype “@brendanloy” in… Read more »

The Egyptian Revolution?

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I’m not paying nearly enough attention to events in Egypt, but from the tweets I’m seeing here & there, it’s clear that things are pretty damn serious. What I can’t figure out is whether I should be #PANIC!!!-ing (instability!), rejoicing (democracy!), or both. Anyway, here’s a live feed of Al Jazeera English (though it may be shut down soon, apparently).

More SOTU criticism

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Mickey Kaus says it better than me: [Tuesday] night Obama staked “his claim to decades of well-worn political detritus,” writes Ed Kilgore, who accurately notes that the president’s plans “could easily have been harvested from any number of interchangeable speeches given during the last 20 years—not just by presidents but by members of Congress, governors, mayors, and CEOs—from both parties.”… Read more »

The Jimmer Show

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He was epic, as per usual, last night against #4 San Diego State: Yeah, I think I need to go this guy in person. Remember when Becky and I almost impulsively drove from South Bend to Spokane to see Adam Morrison and the Zags? Well, this is sort of like that, except this time, I only have to drive to… Read more »

Brendan & Bally’s Excellent Above-the-Red-Line Adventure?

My original plan for last Saturday evening was not to go see Brian Clancy at the Irish Snug, but rather, to take my parents up to Fort Collins to see #9-ranked BYU, and its superstar Jimmer Fredette, play at Colorado State. Those plans fell through because, wanting to wait and see what the weather would be like for the drive… Read more »

Losing the future

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Curated and elaborated from my Twitter stream, here are some raw, incomplete, somewhat disjointed thoughts on last night’s State of the Union address: After that underwhelming speech, I have little hope for 2011 and, of course, none for 2012. Obama failed to inspire or lead. And so the nation creeps ever closer to its day of fiscal reckoning, with no… Read more »