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a bucket full of thoughts

[tofias]

Has Apple Been Neglecting Politics?

I did some research and discoved that Apple has not used lobbying and campaign contributions as much as might be expected by one of the largest companies in the world ... read the whole thing →

[merlin]

And now it’s all this.

[tofias]

I support this Kickstarter.

[politicalprof]

The political brilliance of FOX’s made up War on Christmas

… is pretty simple to understand. The notion that there is a WAR ON CHRISTMAS in the United States – a country where huge percentages of its citizens attend church regularly, where evangelicalism has been on the rise for 30 years, where 25% or more of many stores’ annual sales are seasonally derived, and where Christmas carols and Christmas specials are an inescapable fact of life – is so gobsmackingly absurd that it renders people with even the slightest amount of intellectual honesty or discernment utterly speechless. It is an unanswerable charge because it is completely, unspeakably – literally unspeakably – false.

it is a topic, therefore, perfectly attuned to FOX’s “news” strategy: it allows FOX hosts to scream about the end of the world while facing no actual challenge or opposition to their ideas … especially on FOX News itself.

It’s actually brilliant. It also just happens to be false. But those two things don’t seem to cancel themselves out much these days, do they?

[tofias]

You Say You Want a Revolution (The Critical Path #163 on 5by5)

Horace Dediu interviewed me on his podcast The Critical Path:

Horace discusses politics and disruption with Michael Tofias. Is disruption of government possible? Michael pursues the study of American political institutions, elections, Congress, and computational political economy to reveal how disruption might play out within governments.

It’s a pretty wide-ranging discussion, but a pretty fun one too. I hope that you’ll give it a listen.

[2kindsofpeople]

[tofias]

Best Tumblr I’ve seen in years (via DF). Instant follow.

[merlin]

Accept the things you can’t change. The wisdom to know the difference. Blah, blah, blah.

John Siracusa’s Serenity Prayer. (via merlin)

[tofias]

It’s time to take a side. #I❤️🗽🍕

[tofias]

From a collection of Milwaukee bus passes, 1930-1979 (via Kottke).

[tofias]

Hickman/Dragotta. East of West #17.

[everythinginthesky]

[tofias]

Batman

[tofias]

Milwaukee City Hall

[tofias]

Keep your ear to the grindstone.

[tofias]

There’s nothing quite like a slivovitz-gribenes high…. It turns out our ancestors were quite wise.

Alana Newhouse, Brooklyn-based schmaltz popularizer

[politicalprof]

I know people like me keep saying it … but here you go. There was nothing particularly shocking — or uniquely meaningful — about Tuesday’s results. Indeed, a 12 seat gain in the House and a 7 or 8 seat gain in the Senate is pretty normal. It’s how it works in America. Even though it shouldn’t.

[tofias]

I wrote a review of the new beer journaling app TapCellar.

It's a great app, you should check it out even if you don't read my review.

[tofias]

[tofias]

[E]very time I visit New York, there’s at least one time when I catch myself remembering a fond New York memory that only ever happened in the movies.

Jason Snell