Caption Contest Winners

The Coffee Party Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over.

The 112th Congress: A “Do Nothing Congress”?

Republicans are promising two years of gridlock and obstructionism if they take control of Congress, but is that really what the people who are likely to vote for them next week really want?

Blog Rage

Is angry and violent language which dominates blog comments sections a sign of broader trends in our political culture?

Palin For President, With An Assist From Mike Bloomberg?

Political columnist John Heilemann thinks he’s come up with a scenario that would put Sarah Palin in the White House, but his assumptions don’t add up.

OTB on CBC

Muslims Wearing Things

Tumblr called “Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things” shows that there’s no such thing as “Muslim garb.”

Constructive Blog Comments

Automated constructive blog comments cartoon fro xkcd.

Shakespeare in the Original Pronunciation

If you’re like me, you think of William Shakespeare’s plays as being rendered in an archaic but decidedly upper crust British English. It turns out that this is an artifact of modern theater.

Merle Haggard and the Gay Serial Comma

Merle Haggard was not gay. But he’s been retroactively gay married — twice! — for want of a comma.

Huckabee Attacks Republican “Elitists” For Not Backing Tea Party

Mike Huckabee is the latest Republican to tack up the banner against the so-called “elites.”

Elites: Americans But Not Of America?

Charles Murray argues that the Tea Party is right to complain about out-of-touch elites.

An Observation on the State of the Debate over Fiscal Policy

Instead of decades-old retreads like talking about abolishing the Department of Education, it would be nice if we had a real debate about the fiscal circumstances in the country.

Early Voter Numbers Confirming Enthusiasm Gap

The numbers coming out of the first few weeks of early voting confirms the enthusiasm gap that pollsters have been talking about for months.

Caption Contest

Time for the Monday OTB Caption ContestTM

Windows 8 Coming in 2012 – Does It Matter?

The next generation of the Windows operating system is about two years away. Does anyone care?

When It Comes To Ideological Purity, Democrats Can Be As Dumb As Republicans

A call for ideological purity in the Democratic Party in today’s New York Times demonstrates that Democrats can be just as foolish as Republicans.

The Election May Not End On Election Night

Thanks to races in as many six states that may be decided by absentee and write-in ballots, we may not know the outcome of the 2010 Elections for several weeks after Election Day.

Karzai Corruption Includes Iranian Bribes

We already knew that Hamid Karzai was corrupt, now we know he takes bribes from the Iranians.

Putting a Price on Professors

There’s a trend toward using metrics to identify ways to stem the skyrocketing cost of higher education. The likeliest result is to devalue the “education” component.

Caption Contest Winners

The National Public Radio Fire Flyer Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over.

Little Evidence Of Enthusiasm Gap In Early Nevada Voting

At least in Nevada, there appears to be little evidence of an enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats, which is potentially good news for Harry Reid.

Iraq War Not Fun

Michigan Iraq War veteran gets NOT FUN vanity plate.

Jane Austen’s Tight Prose Thanks To Editor

Jane Austen was a poor speller and sloppy grammarian but her published words were precise and exquisite thanks to her editor, William Gifford.

Multifunction credit cards Multifunction credit cards

Credit Cards Going High Tech

New multifunction credit cards will soon change the way Americans handle simple transactions.

Campaign Blogger Relations Etiquette

Being a political blogger during election season is getting to be rather infuriating, especially if all you want to do is check your email.

Political Robo-Calls

Are people actually being influenced to vote based on robo-calls? And, if so, what percentage of people are being influenced to vote against the candidate on behalf of whom the calls are made?

Subsidize Broadband, Close the Post Office?

Fast Internet access is becoming a necessity for modern life. Should we subsidize it by eliminating the Postal Service?

Former Girlfriend Claims To Corroborate Decades Old Charges Against Clarence Thomas

Thanks mostly to Virginia Thomas’s decision to place an early Saturday morning phone call to Anita Hill, a woman who had remained silent since 1986 appears in the press to claim she can corroborate the charges that Anita Hill made nineteen years ago.

Obama Approval Jumps in Newsweek Poll

Newsweek’s latest poll shows a boom in support for President Obama and the Democrats. It’s the only poll showing that, however.

Wikileaks Releases Treasure Trove Of Iraq War Documents

In what is being described as the largest leak of secret documents in U.S. history, Wikileaks has made public more than 400,000 documents related to the seven year long Iraq War.

Nancy Pelosi Rewards Disloyal Democrats!

Nancy Pelosi is irritating some party stalwarts by funneling money into the campaigns of Democratic incumbents running ads against her.

Time To End Government Subsidies For Public Broadcasting?

The firing of Juan Williams from NPR has led many conservatives to call for an end to government subsidies. As is often the case, they’re right but for the wrong reasons.

Government Unions, Not Chamber, Top Spender

The biggest outside spender in 2010 isn’t the Chamber of Commerce but the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.