Sunday maps and lists

Sunday maps and lists

With the filibuster and U.S. Senate dysfunction now a front-burner issue, it's worth a look at what the Senate might look like if it were apportioned by population the way the House is.



Without the benchmarks of traditional state lines I can't tell if Iowa City ends up with Lincoln or with High Plains.

Of course, this scenario has one serious barrier: the one remaining un-amendable section of the Constitution states that no state can lose its equal Senate representation without its consent. (The other un-amendable section related to the slave trade.) I have my own idea for Senate reform; someday I might write it.

Here's some lists:

Five Massachusetts myths from Chris Cilizza. "There are clearly ill omens for Democrats in the results, most notably the flight of independents from their party. But ups and downs in politics seem to occur on an accelerated timeline these days. Extrapolating from Massachusetts in January to nationwide elections in November is a dangerous game."

Dan Froomkin at HffPo has 7 Things About The Economy Everyone Should Be Worried About: "The principle that reducing the deficit is of the greatest urgency (and must come at the cost of entitlements) is for some reason firmly lodged in the halls of power in Washington.. But deficit hawkery right now is not just ludicrous, it's dangerous."

Prehistoric humans as an endangered species.

And internet meme followers will remember band OK Go for the "treadmill video." The follow-up album is out and the band is bummed that the record company won't let you embed their new video from YouTube. It's a springboard to a very interesting discussion of music biz economics from the artist's point of view. And here's the new video.

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo