America: Prudency Isn't Our Middle Name

Tax Checks Yield Surprising Growth in Retail Sales - NY Times

Or, roughly translated: Even Wall Street didn't think Americans would spend their money that quickly.

New Ratatat Album - "LP3"

Here's a few tracks from Ratatat's new album. Definitely one to listen to on headphones, or at least in a place where you can enjoy the sweet production. Probably good even if you're just blasting it, too.

Gay Marriage in California?

The California Supreme Court has announced it will issue its ruling about the legality of gay marriage this morning at 10:00 a.m. PST.

The opinion can be found here, when it's published:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/

Expect reporting on the ruling at these sites:

http://www.law.com/jsp/ca/index.jsp
(CalLaw - free subscription required)

http://legalpad.typepad.com/
(The CalLaw blog, totally free)

http://ebar.com/
(The Bay Area Reporter)

http://www.sfgate.com/
(The San Francisco Chronicle)

And maybe here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/
(The Wall Street Journal Law Blog)

http://www.nytimes.com/
(uhhh... the new york times.)

Why I Love Radiohead Fans

Someone has made a site to document the current Radiohead tour (I'm seeing them August 22 here in S.F.!). It's pretty extensive.. gets me excited for the show.

A Primary Thought

The New York Daily News is not, as far as I know, a bastion of journalistic integrity. But a recent article on the post-Indiana, post-North Carolina primary world got me thinking.

The article quoted two men who I'm assuming, based on the article's theme of race relations, are both white.

"I'm kind of still up in the air between McCain and Hillary," said Jason Jenkins, 32, who cited information from a hoax e-mail as a reason to spurn Obama.

"I'll be honest with you. Barack scares the hell out of me," he said. "He swore on the Koran."

...

Obama did manage to pull in many white voters, but still encountered similar sentiments from a man who refused to shake his hand at a diner in Greenwood, Ind.

"I can't stand him," the man said. "He's a Muslim. He's not even pro-American as far as I'm concerned."

...

In recent weeks, pundits have cited repeatedly the fact that Clinton outdoes Obama among working-class white voters. These days, everyone wants to know if Obama can win a general election campaign against John McCain. Besides the ever-present Democratic fear that Republicans will outwit their candidate, I think the subtext here is clear: Can a black presidential candidate win in a white nation?

Hell it's not even a subtext:

"He has to convince people that he can win over working-class whites in places like Florida, Ohio and Michigan," [former Bill Clinton pollster Doug] Schoen said.

So, here's the question, Democratic voter: Do you not vote for the historic, game-changing black candidate because America might still have a lot of racists who won't elect him come November? Would we be so cowardly as to reserve our vote for a reason like that?

I can understand voting for Clinton if you truly believe that she's the better candidate or that we need a woman in the White House now more than a black or white man. But more people have voted for Obama, and he's won more delegates. The Clinton argument that Obama can't win a general election campaign is cynical, defeatist and basically racist. She argues that you shouldn't vote for the black man, however astounding his potential is, because working-class whites won't vote for him in the end. She argues that voters should fear the racism of their countrymen instead of supporting the candidate who, so far, they believe in. I find that pretty depressing.

What is the Democratic Primary Like?

Some Ideas:

--It's like a solicitor who keeps knocking at your door, even when it's obvious you're ignoring him, but he keeps knocking, even at midnight when you're fast asleep.

--It's like a bad rash that you can't get rid of and you don't really know what it is but you don't want to go to the doctor because every time you make an appointment it goes away so you cancel it, but then a few days later it comes back and it itches even more this time and it has spread.

--It's like middle school when there are two new kids and they both want to be in the cool kids clique but the novelty of being new is diluted because there are two of them so the cool kids reject them but they won't give up and so spend middle school making each other's lives miserable.

--It's like when you are really hungry but you know you have no good food to eat so you put off eating and then you get hungrier and really anything sounds good to eat but you are too lazy to eat so you put it off longer and then you aren't really even hungry anymore but you feel like eating so you eat whatever you have in your fridge but it sucks so you are dissatisfied.

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Vampire WeekendonJimmy Kimmel LiveWith a Drumline!

We both love Vampire Weekend's single "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," and this performance does have the added benefit of a drumline, but I (Evan) was a little underwhelmed by the singing. Kinda boring, I thought, compared to the album version. But that's just me. Enjoy.