"I think this will be what the 21st century is going to be about, how freedom will survive all these pressures where it’s never really been tested"

President Bill Clinton, in Taylor Branch’s The Clinton Tapes

shortformblog:

brooklynmutt:

The Senate… In Pixels!!!

Click on the image to see it bigger!

TOP ROW:  Richard Shelby (R-AL), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Begich (D-AK), John McCain (R-AZ), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Mark Pryor (D-AK), John Boozman (R-AK),Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Mark Udall (D-CO), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Coons (D-DE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA); SECOND ROW:  Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim Risch (R-ID), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Dan Coats (R-IN), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), David Vitter (R-LA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Ben Cardin (D-MD); THIRD ROW:  John Kerry (D-MA), Scott Brown (R-MA), Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Al Franken (D-MN), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Max Baucus (D-MT), Jon Tester (D-MT), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Harry Reid (D-NV), John Ensign (R-NV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ); FOURTH ROW:  Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Tom Udall (D-NM), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Burr (R-NC), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Kent Conrad (D-ND), John Hoeven (R-ND), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Rob Portman (R-OH), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jim DeMint (R-SC); FIFTH ROW:  Tim Johnson (D-SD), John Thune (R-SD), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Bob Corker (R-TN), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), John Cornyn (R-TX), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Mike Lee (R-UT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jim Webb (D-VA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Enzi (R-WY), John Barrasso (R-WY)

iotacons 

@Dusty Trice

Tom Coburn doesn’t have a beard, invalidating this entire graphic.

(via theatlantic)

"The research shows that, when students are ranked by SAT math scores and divided into three groups, each institution awarded science degrees to, on average, 54 percent of students in the top tercile, 31 percent in the middle group, and only 15 percent in the bottom third, regardless of differences across colleges in each tier’s average math scores."

Europe’s borders over the last 1000 years.

"[Amazon] just received a patent for a bad gift defense system that intercepts gifts you don’t want and instead sends you something that you actually do want."

http://techflash.com/seattle/2010/11/amazons-bezos-patents-gift.html

U.S. Patent Office Lets Green Technologies Jump The Queue →

"There was something unsettling and creepily disproportionate about the idea that Congress couldn’t muster the will to improve energy efficiency, so it voted to change time itself—but leave that aside."

http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/79023/roll-back-the-bush-changes-daylight-saving-time

"

A new study out today, commissioned by Intel, finds 85 percent of U.S. teens are confident in their math and science abilities, even though the United States lags behind many other countries in those areas. That said, about 90 percent of U.S. students ultimately declined to name their own country as the world leader in math or science - suggesting a disconnect between students’ faith in their own abilities and their thoughts about the country at large.

Broken down, Intel found teens didn’t attribute those shortcomings to a lack of resources, as some educators might argue. Rather, most students (51 percent) said it was because “we don’t work as hard as other countries.” Still, roughly 99 percent of teens across demographics recognize those subjects as somewhat or very important, suggesting it isn’t necessarily apathy keeping U.S. teens from performing as well as they should.

"

POLITICO’s Morning Tech

"Pell Grants are potentially the area where divided government could produce the worst outcomes for students. If the Republican House doesn’t want to commit to higher spending, then the award is likely to decrease. And blame for that outcome can’t be put totally on Republicans—Congress had several months to pass a spending bill that contained the needed funds, but failed to do so."

http://www.quickanded.com/2010/11/what-do-the-2010-election-results-mean-for-higher-education.html

"The district-by-district vote can be explained almost entirely by the partisan tilt of each district; the historical popularity of the incumbent; and whether the incumbent was a Democrat,” Mr. Levi wrote in a blog post on Friday. “Alternatively, it can be explained by partisan tilt; historical popularity; and whether the incumbent voted for health care reform. Votes on Waxman-Markey predicted pretty much nothing, by themselves, about how individual candidates fared."

Should Democrats Blame Waxman and Markey?