Author Archives: Brendan

Glockner: Irish gain “wiggle room”

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Bubble guru Andy Glockner says Notre Dame’s win over UConn yesterday gives the Irish some much-needed “wiggle room” — and means UConn is in “a lot of trouble”: Notre Dame (20-10, 9-8, RPI: 61, SOS: 54): The Irish’s unexpected push without Luke Harangody continued on Wednesday with a so-ugly-it’s-beautiful home win over bubble rival UConn. Now even if the Irish… Read more »

A friendly reminder about reconciliation, the filibuster, “nuclear options” and such

None of the political leaders in Washington hold, or care about, the moral high ground when it comes to these sorts of procedural arguments. NONE OF THEM. They’re all hypocrites with respect to such arguments. ALL OF THEM. The majority always likes majoritarian procedures; the minority always hates them. The minority always likes procedures that preserve minority power; the majority… Read more »

Health Reform = Thermonuclear War

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Remember what I said about how I love and hate Drudge? This is a classic example: Heh. (Here’s the story he’s linking.) UPDATE: As is being pointed out in comments, this bit of hyperbole isn’t even accurate on its own terms. The so-called “nuclear option” is the elimination of the filibuster (at least for certain purposes, like judicial nominations), not… Read more »

Enter my 6th annual Oscar Pool!

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It’s that time of year again: the 6th annual Living Room Times Oscar Pool is underway! (It was previously known as the BrendanLoy.com Oscar Pool, but the LRT “brand” is taking over all of my contests now. I’m looking at you, NIT Pool!) To enter the pool, just submit your Oscar predictions here. As always, contestants are urged to enter… Read more »

UConn women: 69 and counting

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The UConn women’s basketball team routed #6 Notre Dame at the Joyce Center tonight, 76-51, earning their 69th straight victory — all of them by double-digit margins, even though the Huskies routinely play Top 10 teams — and finishing their second straight undefeated regular season. UConn will tie its own record for longest winning streak in women’s NCAA history (70)… Read more »

Blue Marble redux

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NASA has released a pair of spectacular full-globe images of the Earth, updated versions of the famous “Blue Marble” shot from Apollo 17. These are “the most detailed true-color images of the entire Earth to date.” Awesome. (In the literal meaning of the word.) Eastern Hemisphere after the jump.

Hawaii lucked out

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Hawaii was lucky. As this awesome NOAA map shows, the main thrust of the energy in yesterday’s tsunami went almost “due” WNW from the epicenter of the Chile earthquake, at an angle of approximately 294 degrees, rather than 302 degrees — i.e., roughly halfway between WNW and NW — which would have taken it straight toward the islands. This helps… Read more »