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'It Was Magnificent and Moving': More on Going Back to Space
Last week I mentioned (here and here) the bittersweet excitement in California as the space shuttle Endeavor made a farewell fly-by around the state. Now, more correspondents in California chime in...
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Place-holder on 'Let's Open the Airplane Windows' Quote
I've just re-entered Internet land after 24+ hours out of contact. (Previous two posts were in the queue for publication at set intervals. Thus I didn't see and fix typos in them until just now.) On...
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Ask Dr. Popkin: Can the Romney Campaign Be Saved?
Through this election season we've heard from Samuel Popkin, of UC San Diego, a political scientist and author of a recent book on how presidents position themselves for election and re-election runs....
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California as Bellwether, for the GOP and for Us All
Last week I had an online back-and-forth about current politics with Josh Barro, of Bloomberg, at the NYÂ magazine site. The most memorable line from the exchange was Barro's, about the descent into...
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What the '60s Were Like Before They Were 'the '60s'
This was the way "cool" cuture came into mainstream American living rooms during the mid 1960s, just before everything blew up. RIP Andy Williams. And of course Antonio Carlos Jobim, who like Williams...
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The Secret Factor in Running for President
It's clear now that Mitt Romney was being funny when he made his crack about rolling down an airplane's windows to let some fresh air in. But in response to that episode, plus my mention that Romney is...
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If You Happen to Be in Australia These Next Few Days
I will happen to be there for the next few days too. Events Thursday evening (a few hours from now) at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne; Friday noon at the Lowy Institute in Sydney; and then Saturday...
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Readers on the Warpath about 'Tom' Jobim
On the occasion of the singer Andy Williams's death, I posted a clip of Williams and said that his mid-1960s style and look -- pre-Hendrix, pre-Sgt. Pepper, pre-Pet Sounds -- helped me understand Mitt...
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In Which I Reconsider My Entire Political Outlook
For anyone who might not yet have seen this: Mike Shannon and Will Feltus, at the Atlantic Media's Hotline site, have provided a psycho-graphic/beer-o-graphic post matching beer preference to political...
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On Fatigue and the Presidency: 'Backwards and in High Heels'
Have I mentioned recently that Samuel Popkin's book The Candidate is a very useful guide as the presidential debates draw near and as the campaign enters its final stage? Yes I have, and yes it is. And...
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Jim Webb on 'Givers' and 'Takers'
I have known, respected, and come very much to like Jim Webb over the course of more than 30 years. We originally met because of deep disagreements about the Vietnam War. He went to Annapolis, served...
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Robert Manning, Wendy Weil
Two of the people who were most generous to me in journalism and writing died in the past two days.Robert Manning was the editor of the Atlantic when I first started here, in 1979. Which is to say, he...
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All Jobim, All the Time
This is what the Internet is for. In response to an item about Andy Williams, and a followup that included a video of the great song Aguas de Março as performed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Elis Regina,...
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Things to Read on Monday Night
As mentioned before, my First Commandment of writing and life is: other people's travel problems are not interesting. Exceptions granted only for the Titanic, the Donner Party, Charles Lindbergh and...
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3 Quick Pre-Debate Points
With nothing to do with the debates. That's for tomorrow.1) Hacking. Many people who have done business in China have seen warnings like the one below, which I first encountered a few months ago and...
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Your Handy Debate-Day Reading Package
Just to have them all in one place:- Here is "Slugfest," the story I did last month about why Mitt Romney is better in debates than in most other phases of campaigning, plus how exactly the Romney...
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Debate Housekeeping Note: Watching It 'Cold'
I believe that some of my Atlantic colleagues will be weighing in with real-time color commentary on the debate. I look forward to seeing what they say -- about two hours from now.As a scientific...
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Debate 'Cold' Reaction: Yes, Romney Can Debate
I argued in my Atlantic story last month that Mitt Romney was better at debating than he was at any other aspect of campaigning, and that Barack Obama, famed and redoubtable orator, was worse.Anyone...
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Your One-Stop Debate Rorschach Test
From Patrick Conway, who was part of a team responsible for last year's marvelous "Young Conservative's Hip Hop Guide to Muslims" video, just now we have a psychographic guide to debate reactions in...
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The Line I Was Sure President Obama Was Going to Use
Your post-debate list of talking points, complete with historic videos:During the debate and immediately afterwards, I felt, along with most people, that Mitt Romney had performed very well, and Barack...
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