Sunday, June 14, 2009

Assorted links

1. World Beard and Moustache Championships. Sorry to miss these but my schedule has been pretty hairy lately and I had to trim a few things out.

2. Wise words from the Economist on the government debt burden. More opportunities for change we can believe in.

3. Reason mocks four decades of phony moral crises from Time Magazine.

4. The "first time" story website is back in action again, though with an odd system of gaining access to the stories via "karma". It is for, as they say, mature audiences, though it is all text so unless your co-worker is looking directly over your shoulder, you should be okay. If you think of social science as voyeurism systematized, then you will like this site.

5. Unrest in Iran following a contested election. It seems much more real to me than past Iranian crises given that I actually know some Iranians now. My sense is that westerners underestimate the appeal of Ahmadinejad among the poor and the poorly educated. He might not have had to cheat all that much to win. I hope that events play out in a way that allows Iran to have a president who is not an international embarrassment (and, who, unlike Ahmadinejad, retains possession of all of his assigned marbles).

Hat tip: Kevin Stange (can you guess which one?)