Category: The Dish

Way behind the British press.

McCain reprises his attack on Clinton and Woodstock.

The pro-torture coalition gathers behind its natural leader. No surprise that "24"’s Joel Surnow is high on the list.

In New Hampshire, among those paying attention, yes. Nationwide: not-so-much.

The dollar’s collapse and the price of pot. Bummer, man. Mark Thoma:

Get ready for a glut of B.C. bud in Canada, and a dry spell in Montana.

But look on the bright side: the feds will let you drink absinthe now!

Let’s not get too carried away by the signs of a thaw, shall we?

Go get vaccinated! Bottom line:

Under some conditions each person who is vaccinated reduces the expected number of other people who get the flu by 1.5.

Full study here.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney speaks during a Veterans Day event at Arlington National Cemetery November 11, 2007 in Arlington, Virginia. By Brendan Smialowski/Getty.

For all of you somewhat insecure around oenophiles, here’s some ammo:

In 2001, Frederic Brochet, of the University of Bordeaux, conducted two separate and very mischievous experiments. In the first test, Brochet invited 57 wine experts and asked them to give their impressions of what looked like two glasses of red and white wine. The wines were actually the same white wine, one of which had been tinted red with food coloring. But that didn’t stop the experts from describing the "red" wine in language typically used to describe red wines. One expert praised its "jamminess," while another enjoyed its "crushed red fruit." Not a single one noticed it was actually a white wine.

The second test Brochet conducted was even more damning. He took a middling Bordeaux and served it in two different bottles. One bottle was a fancy grand-cru. The other bottle was an ordinary vin du table. Despite the fact that they were actually being served the exact same wine, the experts gave the differently labeled bottles nearly opposite ratings. The grand cru was "agreeable, woody, complex, balanced and rounded," while the vin du table was "weak, short, light, flat and faulty". Forty experts said the wine with the fancy label was worth drinking, while only 12 said the cheap wine was.

Hat tip: Tom Christensen.

What exactly is the difference between a painting that is real and a painting that is so perfect a copy that no one but experts can tell? Kinsley has long argued that the fetishization of real art is silly. But now the web ups the ante: a depiction of "The Last Supper" that allows you to look at it from much closer quarters than anybody in real life. The image is here. One word: wow.