Month: June 2012

The Brampton Guardian might want to have a chat with its layout editors:

Corruption in soccer is reaching epic proportions:

Soccer match fixing has become a massive worldwide crime, on par with drug trafficking, prostitution and the trade in illegal weapons. As in those criminal enterprises, the match-fixing industry has been driven by opportunistic greed. According to Interpol figures, sports betting has ballooned into a $1 trillion industry, 70 percent of which is gambled on soccer.

The explosive growth reflects the rise of online gambling, which has turned local bookies into global merchants, flooded by money from every continent. Asian bookmakers alone see a $2 billion weekly turnover, according to Eaton. "It's now one huge liquid market," says David Forrest, an economics professor at the University of Salford in Manchester, England, who specializes in the study of sports gambling. "Liquidity is the friend of the fixer. You can put down big bets without notice and without changing the odds against yourself."

The Obama campaign continues to hammer Romney's record as governor:

Alex Burns explains the approach: 

Romney's campaign has pushed back on that characterization of his governorship. But this isn't just about driving home Romney's liabilities on key issues — it's also about muddying the water on some of the Republican's standard attack lines. Obama will probably never have the advantage on spending and size-of-government issues, so the next-best thing would be convincing voters that Romney doesn't have much high ground to claim there.

Previous Ad War Updates:

June 11, June 8, June 6, June 5, June 4, June 1, May 31, May 30, May 29, May 24, May 23, May 22, May 21, May 18, May 17, May 16, May 15, May 14, May 10, May 9, May 8,  May 7, May 3, May 2, May 1, Apr 30, Apr 27, Apr 26, Apr 25, Apr 24, Apr 23, Apr 18, Apr 17, Apr 16, Apr 13, Apr 11, Apr 10, Apr 9, Apr 5, Apr 4, Apr 3, Apr 2, Mar 30, Mar 27, Mar 26, Mar 23, Mar 22, Mar 21, Mar 20, Mar 19, Mar 16, Mar 15, Mar 14, Mar 13, Mar 12, Mar 9, Mar 8, Mar 7, Mar 6, Mar 5, Mar 2, Mar 1, Feb 29, Feb 28, Feb 27, Feb 23, Feb 22, Feb 21, Feb 17, Feb 16, Feb 15, Feb 14, Feb 13, Feb 9, Feb 8, Feb 7, Feb 6, Feb 3, Feb 2, Feb 1, Jan 30, Jan 29, Jan 27, Jan 26, Jan 25, Jan 24, Jan 22, Jan 20, Jan 19, Jan 18, Jan 17, Jan 16 and Jan 12.

Samuel Goldman suggests new terminology to address the question:

Let’s restrict the term "college" to four-year degrees in the arts and sciences, taught by faculty engaged in independent research and geared toward traditional, often residential students. Let’s call the constellation of part-time, vocational, non-residential programs geared toward non-traditional students "higher and continuing ed." Even though they’re sometimes housed in an umbrella organization called a university, these seem to me to be rather different businesses. When it comes to funding and their connection to the public interest, they should be evaluated differently. My suspicion is that the country really doesn’t need more students in college, which is largely a status marker. But it would benefit from better and cheaper higher and continuing ed.

Today on the Dish, Andrew defended Obama's use of drones to target al-Qaeda leaders, declared his support for Obama rested principally on foreign policy grounds, and laid the blame for our economic problems squarely at Bush's feet. We uncovered America's hidden austerity, gave advice to the uninsured, listed the many ways Romney decieves, discovered that Romney's anti-gay sentiments caused him to veto an anti-bullying law, looked at evidence that the election would be all about turnout, debated whether America's disbelief in evolution mattered, and feared the consequences of the death of local news. Ad War Update here.

Andrew also explained how a study that would be used to damn marriage equality actually ended up praising it, found an instance of a GOP campaign outing the candidate's son, and found quasi-Victorian awkwardness about sex extended to the proclivities of penguins. The blogosphere exploded with views on the gay Mormon in a straight marriage and the NFL remained a closeted place. We continued discussion on America's most important allies, weighed a hypothetical about assassinating Assad, and imagined a nightmare future…that actually played out organically in a ten year long Civilization 2 game.

Finally, Andrew shared his scatological secret with the legion of emailers on poop psychology and reupped a joke about our insomnia post for the wakeful. We delved into the dark history of fairy tales, found an instance of product placement gone wrong, tracked the increasingly exclusive character of broadway, and learned about the first paparazzo. Tampons doubled as wilderness survival tools, your trash piled up, and humans reconstituted nature. White matter in the brain might not have caused more lying, Google Street View paved the way for driverless cars, and Google built a more meaningful search. Ask Tina Brown Anything here, Headline of the Day here, Hathos here, VFYW Contest Winner here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.

– Z.B.

Reddit user Lycerius has been playing the same game of Civilization 2 for the past 10 years, guiding his virtual people from the beginning of time to 3991 A.D. It didn't turn out well:

The world is a hellish nightmare of suffering and devastation. There are 3 remaining super nations in the year 3991 A.D, each competing for the scant resources left on the planet after dozens of nuclear wars have rendered vast swaths of the world uninhabitable wastelands. The ice caps have melted over 20 times (somehow) due primarily to the many nuclear wars. As a result, every inch of land in the world that isn't a mountain is inundated swamp land, useless to farming. Most of which is irradiated anyway.

Kelsey Atherton wonders why video games so often take place in post-apocalyptic settings:

Lycerius has plotted out the twin nightmares of the Cold War, both Orwellian and Apocalyptic.  The only reason given for this grim pursuit is a morbid curiosity in seeing the simulation through to it’s end. It’s that narrative, that fascinating pull through terrible consequences as viewed in a harmless media, as fleshed out through rigorous calculations and well-designed opponents, that makes games an ideal tool for seeing and plotting a way to, through, and out of the end times.

Alexis Madrigal explains why this specific Reddit post about Civ 2 has become an instant hit around the web:

I grew up playing the computer game Civilization and its successors. The games provide kids and adults alike with a playable introduction to world history: You come up with metallurgy, invent religions, discover the forms of government, war against neighboring countries, etcetera. When I was a kid, it felt like some expansive History of All Time, except that it was a turn-based computer strategy computer game. Which is why a 10-year game of Civilization II has struck a chord around the Internet today: if you could learn a history of western civ from the game, then its vision of the future feels oddly significant.

Reddit users are giving Lycerius advice on how to end the war. Alex Knapp summarizes:

The most commonly suggested tactic was for Lycerius to change his government to Fundamentalist (if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, I guess). Then ally himself with one of the other nation states to wipe out the third. The primary problem with this tactic, though, is that according to Lycerius, the Vikings keep the Americans in a stalemate by using their Navy to constantly bombard American cities, for which the Americans have no response.

The original post now has its own subreddit, "The Eternal War."

That's how Harry Enten reads the fact that, while Obama consistently leads in "registered voter" polls, Romney consistently tops the "likely voter" ones:

Let's say the gap between registered and likely voters is 3-5 points, similar to 2004, with the averages listed above being a correct reading of the electorate. It makes for a potentially very exciting election, as Republican strategist Liz Mair has noted: President Obama has spent millions on a supposedly unstoppable get-out-the-vote machine. Can Obama actually bring youth voters out as he did in 2008? Will Latinos really fulfill their supposed promise to become the next great force in American politics? Obama will have to focus on his base to ensure that they don't just sit at home. At the same time, he can't afford to alienate the centrist middle who are, no doubt, worried about the economy.

Well, at least it didn't happen in the #EType. #MadMen #MadJag

— Jaguar USA (@JaguarUSA) June 4, 2012

Think getting your brand on Mad Men is an advertising coup? Think again: two Jaguar VPs reflect on a season-long arc that's seen the company's fictional execs involved with prostitution, extortion, and a suicide attempt foiled by a malfunctioning Jag:

Somewhat elated, but empty feeling as we get congratulated for a marketing coup that frankly we didn't orchestrate. Everyone wants to know did we know what was going to happen (no), did we pay for placement (no). Others are indignant. "This is awful, What are you going to do about how Jaguar executive was portrayed?" This is going to be complicated. But our job is to promote the desirability of our cars, not the morality of our fictional executives.

The above tweet was Jaguar North America's reaction to the attempted suicide of a Mad Men character.

Pareene fears the consequences:

People are actually reasonably well-informed regarding what is going on in Washington. They should be: Washington is full of hundreds of reporters all covering the same things. There are far fewer reporters than there used to be, though, in Jefferson City. As a result, I think it’s entirely possible that the generations now ascendant will be, by and large, reasonably well-versed on national politics and totally, horribly ignorant of local affairs. Young people may have a better sense of what’s going on in Syria than in their state capital, let alone their city hall.

ArcelorMittal steel workers from the plant in the French city of Florange kiss during a demonstration in front of the European Parliament in the French eastern city of Strasbourg, on June 12, 2012. By Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images.