Not sure if I'm going to do these regularly, but they seem pretty popular and it may be useful for people that read my blog but not my shared items feed. I'll have to check with some of my friends that I regularly have comment discussions with about whether and how they want to be quoted, that would probably get to some of the real value added of such a round-up.
Dan Drezner linked to an article by Sharon LaFraniere in the NY Times about just how screwed up the North Korean economy is post-currency devaluing. Key anecdote: party officials wives get part-time waitressing jobs in China. I wonder whether the brainwashing of totalitarianism will be enough to overcome the heightened coup risk when you are stiffing your inner circle.
Kevin Drum discussed whether both variants of "I couldn't care less could be valid." This makes sense to me, so long as you make sure your voice drips with sarcasm when you use the version with out the not.
Ezra Klein explores the logic behind near-miss challenge to Sen. Lincoln. I think her finding religion on the financial regulation bill already shows the merit of the primary challenge, good job labor.
Ta-Nehisi Coates covers more civil war history. Apparently Sherman was racist. Also, all this discussion of slaves being the best fighters makes me continue to ponder whether we should step up efforts to get women into security jobs in Afghanistan.
Matt Yglesias encourages calm regarding Turkey's Islamist turn because ultimately democratic countries with religious populations reflect that in their politics. I tend to agree, although I give some credence to Dani Rodrik's worries about government tactics. I've gotten some good advice about where to read up on Turkey and it's time I took it.
Also from Yglesias, a few suggestions about what we can do about the around 40k of driving-related fatalities per year. One commenter pushed back on the merits of congestion pricing as a fix, I'm not sure to what extent congestion causes more crashes. Market rate parking I think would definitely make a difference as finding a parking spot can just be dangerous. Getting people into mass transit instead is a terrific solution and one that I employ myself as a someone that is likely a below average driver (I'm too easily distracted).
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