Go ahead and read these two paragraphs (go ahead, I’ll wait for you): So there sat Bezos at the breakfast table, faced with a question for which he was apparently unprepared. Many painful seconds passed without an answer. Rutledge let the pause lengthen as long as he could bear it and was just about to tell his host to forget it, when Bezos finally spoke. He looked down at his plate. Bezos had ordered a dish called Tom’s Big Breakfast, a preparation of Mediterranean octopus that includes potatoes, bacon, green garlic yogurt, and a poached egg. “You’re...
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New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you frequent this here premier “web log,” there’s a good chance you may once or twice have read the New York Times op-ed page. You might even recognize the names of the columnists, who every day spout the most conventionally wise of the conventional wisdom. This is a feature that is dedicated to these folks, highlighting one line that is either funny, ridiculous, strange, or actually intelligent or well-written. Today’s is from Paul Krugman, who in his column today “Beliefs, Facts and Money,” writes: Well, it turns out that money is indeed a kind of theological issue. Huh, but I don’t...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you frequent this here premier “web log,” there’s a good chance you may once or twice have read the New York Times op-ed page. You might even recognize the names of the columnists, who every day spout the most conventionally wise of the conventional wisdom. This is a feature that is dedicated to these folks, highlighting one line that is either funny, ridiculous, strange, or actually intelligent or well-written. Today’s is from David Brooks, of course, who in his column today, “The Evolution of Trust,” writes: People are renting out their cars to people they don’t know, dropping off their pets...
Continue reading...The Knockout Game (not that knockout game): Weekend World Cup Preview
Yesterday was probably the happiest I\’ve ever been after watching my team lose, and J Reed\’s post yesterday in its aftermath summed up my feelings in words better than I could have put together (ed. note: that can\’t possibly be true). Because of the way the group stage is set up, all the US had to do yesterday was not lose badly, and they\’d see themselves through. Ghana helped by losing to Portugal, who needed to make up considerably more goals than the Black Stars would have. The US weathered the first fifteen minutes, which was one wave after...
Continue reading...Thank God Pepe Was an Idiot so the U.S. Could Advance, or WHOOO DID WE WIN THE WORLD CUP YET?
Sunday, I was ready to celebrate the U.S. advancing to the next stage of the World Cup. I was watching USA-Portugal at my favorite local, managing to get seats at the bar because I’m overly punctual and anxious. Portgual was looking if not worse for wear, at least potentially beatable. I was surrounded by perhaps a hundred rabid and drunk-since-brunch USA fans, a group that was made more fun by the addition of about ten unafraid Portugal fans. It\’s always more fun watching your side win when fans of the opposing side are nearby. Because schadenfreude. Then Portugal score that first...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you frequent this here premier “web log,” there’s a good chance you may once or twice have read the New York Times op-ed page. You might even recognize the names of the columnists, who every day spout the most conventionally wise of the conventional wisdom. This is a feature that is dedicated to these folks, highlighting one line that is either funny, ridiculous, strange, or actually intelligent or well-written. Today’s is from the Mustache of Wisdom himself, Thomas Friedman, who in his column today, “ISIS and SISI,” writes: Unfortunately, it might take exhausting all other options before a critical...
Continue reading...Five Things to Know About the World Cup
Yesterday, good friend and former V+V contributor Jack Burden took to The Social Network™ and shared wahurd’s outstanding World Cup coverage with a note “World Cup discussion for Americans beyond the “5 things to know about the World Cup\” garbage.” Challenge accepted, B. 1. There are a bunch of countries playing in the World Cup Like, seriously, a whole bunch. Like, more than 10. That’s a lot! Did you see yesterday that they even let Iran play? That’s crazy! Okay, so it isn’t “countries” that “play” in the World Cup (that would be insane!) , but teams...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the three people who reads this here premier “web log ,” you may once in a blue moon have checked out the New York Times op-ed page. You might even recognize the names of the columnists, who every day spout the most conventionally wise of the conventional wisdom. This is a feature that is dedicated to these folks, highlighting one line that is either funny, ridiculous, strange, or actually intelligent or well-written. Today’s is from Thomas Friedman, who in his column today “What to do with the Twin?” writes: The post-Saddam generation of...
Continue reading...Pepe Has a Case of the Mondays: Day Five Review/ Day Six Preview
An eventful Monday began just 10 minutes after noon, when João Pereira brought down Mario Götze in the Portuguese 18 yard box, conceding a penalty and drawing a yellow card for his troubles. A little over fifteen minutes later, Portugal’s striker Hugo Almeida grabbed his hamstring and exited the match, swiftly followed by another German goal — this tally from Mats Hummels — and then, well, Pop covered this yesterday: What you can’t see from that angle is the referee staring directly at them as it occurs, nor the incident that preceded it, for which this was...
Continue reading...Quick Take: Portugal’s Pepe Gets Himself Red Carded for Being Stupid
Portguese midfielder Pepe just got himself red-carded for head-butting German attacking midfielder Thomas Muller. https://vine.co/v/MIdTOXbzzTe DID PORTUGAL\’S PEPE HEADBUTT THOMAS MÜLLER OR FORCE HIM TO JOIN THE ILLUMINATI? #WorldCup2014 pic.twitter.com/3Lnh2Io5Lz — STOP THE ILLUMINATI (@Illuminati_Stop) June 16, 2014 That makes three remarkably stupid red cards so far in this tournament, but this one might be the dumbest. That said, this is good for Team USA, as Portugal were favorites before, but no longer.
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