Matt Yglesias

30 Responses to “Endgame”

1. 24AheadDotCom Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 6:22 pm

   - Do you trust Andrea Nill of ThinkProgress? Click the link and decide.

   - CAP has finally found the bright side of the tyrannical Saddam Hussein regime. Amanda Terkel triumphs again!

   - the alternative SOTD is this tribute to MattY’s intellectual habits: youtube.com/watch?v=G6×8GGXrCFQ

2. 24AheadDotCom Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 6:26 pm

   The “x” in the Youtube URL above was converted into a strange “x”, but here’s the alternative SOTD.

3. joe from Lowell Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 6:52 pm

   Oh, thank goodness.

   The “colorblind” thing to do about the Transformers movie is to pretend not to notice that stuff.

4. Everyone Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 6:55 pm

   Shut up, Lonewacko.

5. Alan Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 7:22 pm

   Map of the political blogosphere?

   I zoomed in to find the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning New and NIH.gov. I don’t think of any as political blogs.

6. Terrance and Phillip Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

   Shut your fucking face, racist Wacko!
   No, the Mexicans won’t get you, racist Wacko!
   You’re a racist Wacko, yes it’s true
   Nobody’s a blogwhore quite like you — hahahaha!

   Shut your fucking face, racist Wacko!
   You’re a bona fide Birther, racist Wacko!
   You’re a racist Wacko I must say.
   You’d fuck Dave Weigel any day.

   Racist Wacko, it’s true — Ass-for-a-head, fuck you, racist Wacko! [bite my balls]

7. EndOfTheWorld Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 8:31 pm

   What use is David Broder to anyone? That he’d be so dismissive of Al Franken as a mere “loud-mouthed former comedian” isn’t terribly surprising. Washington DC is David’s little gated community, and it really chaps his ass to see the hoi polloi get past the gate. I recall Colbert’s bit at the correspondent’s dinner really pissing him off.

8. Jeffrey Davis Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 8:42 pm

   The Electroids from Planet 10 spoke with Jamaican accents because they learned from a Jamaican radio station while in geosynchronous orbit.

9. Patrick C Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 9:00 pm

   I’m not buying the “Against the hydraulic model”. Fluid dynamical models are used in professional traffic analysis to great effect, and the author doesn’t provide much in the way of sound reasoning to reject that model. Just a muddled analogy.

   My comment from the article itself:

   ”
   The major difference between a fluid model and a gas model is that a fluid is normally treated as incompressible. We might treat light traffic conditions as more like a gas, but during heavy traffic, the amount of space between automobiles would be at minimum, thus the traffic would be incompressible and more like a fluid.

   For example, if we decrease the number of lanes from 3 to 2 on a road that averages 2/3 car/(lane*car-length), then we will probably just increase the density to 1 car/(lane*car-length). Beyond that density is at maximum, so decreasing volume(# of lanes), will result in spill-over, like a fluid.

   Neither model is always correct. Which one is most correct depends on circumstances.”

10. DTM Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 9:54 pm

    Last Splash is a pretty kick-ass album in general (useful information for the three people still buying entire albums).

    I thought my Pistons did pretty well in signing Gordon and Villaneuva, particularly when you factor in age and potential. Wallace may or may not add a lot of value to the Celtics–it is a crapshoot with him.

    I suspect Matt may have gotten a little beat up by some of his fellow bloggers over dissing the urban renewal side to urban farming originally.

11. Anonymous Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 10:15 pm

    Patrick C: He was clearly referring to the “folk” hydraulic theory of traffic, rather than the mathy fun that comes when you actually whip out some partial differential equations.

12. Frankie d Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 10:25 pm

    The pistons screwed up in their free agent signings. They paid starters’ money for two bench players.
    Sheed will help the celts. He is still an excellent low post defender – though he cannot hedge out and recover on the pick and roll like he used to – and he can still get hot and bury a team from 3 point land.
    In other words he’s a perfect bench guy.
    The celts will be tough, again.

13. 24AheadDotCom Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 10:32 pm

    I want to assure all MattY’s readers that the sleazy, foul-mouth comments are most likely from libertarians who comment at Reason; some might even be from Reason contributors. They aren’t smart or grown-up enough to engage me in debate (or have and have failed miserably), and thus you see comments like the above.

    Back to more important things: a corrupt judge who’s now a Congressman is trying to keep “extremists” – as defined by the AG – out of the military. If you have a military connection, send that link to your lists.

14. D & D dork Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 10:44 pm

    I’ve always wondered if divine hammer is a D & D reference? I’ve never heard the phrase outside that context other than this song. Can any of my fellow dorks enlighten me?

15. Max424 Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 10:58 pm

    MY “Not looking forward to this whole five-day workweek thing”

    Matt, I thought you worked 24/7.

    When I think of the Yglesias lifestyle I think of the cat. Even in deep rest, the feline has at least one ear ever alert -sweeping the environment like radar, the inmost recesses of the cat brain always cogitating, always assimilating information.

    Now you are telling me you get two days off. If I didn’t know you posted on Saturday’s and Sunday’s, I’d be forced, as a quintessential American who believes in ceaselessly working for “the man,” to call you a lazy bum.

16. James Gary Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 11:15 pm

    I’ve always wondered if divine hammer is a D & D reference? I’ve never heard the phrase outside that context other than this song. Can any of my fellow dorks enlighten me?

    FYI: “Divine Hammer” is apparently code for a well-sized male frontal member, or a gentleman skilled in the use of same. I only know this because I read it somewhere–SPIN or Rolling Stone sometime in the 1990s.

    I like the Breeders’ music but – maybe it’s just my maleness – without explanation the lyrics are just completely opaque to me.

17. Terrance and Phillip Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 11:17 pm

    I want to assure all MattY’s readers that the racist self-promoting comments are most definitely from a worthless bigot who, when not posting disguised mash-notes to Dave Weigel, is hitting “refresh” over and over in order to get to the top of “Endgame” comments. He isn’t smart or grown-up enough to engage me in debate (or has and had failed miserably), and thus you see comments like the above. Buttpipe.

18. Flo Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    Right. The Celtics signing Rasheed is great…. for the Pistons. And if Garnett or someone can make him want to play again, it could help the Celts too, if they can handle all the technical fouls.

19. DTM Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 11:36 pm

    The pistons screwed up in their free agent signings. They paid starters’ money for two bench players.

    With Wallace gone Villanueva is going to start. Sooner or later they are going to trade Rip, and at that point at the latest Gordon is going to start (and he actually makes some sense paired with Stuckey). Of course maybe you meant they don’t have starter talent. I think they have already proven otherwise, and that their best years are likely still coming up, but I guess we shall see.

    In any event, apparently their contracts are going to be starting at $15 million combined. Assuming the Pistons trade Rip (and maybe Prince), that will leave them plenty of cap space to go after one of the top free agents in 2010.

20. Max424 Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 12:10 am

    DTM

    I haven’t been following this. The Pistons are thinking about trading Rip Hamilton? And Tayshaun? What is up with that? Man, talk about trading your “heart” and “soul.”

    I used to think Joe Dumars was the best GM in American sports, but he has made some funny moves the last couple of years. I believe he made a monumental blunder when he traded his team’s “brain,” Chauncey Billups.

    What is old GM Joe up to? Is there a coherent plan? Basketball is definitely the hardest sport among the Big 4 to build, or re-build, a winner. It seems to me an NBA GM should try to steadily add helpful pieces if he already has a very good team -not break it up and start from scratch. I don’t get it.

21. DTM Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 1:17 am

    Max424,

    So a combination of age and rules-changes made it highly unlikely the Pistons could rebuild a championship team around their existing core from 2004. What Dumars is trying to do is shift the team to a much younger core better-suited to the current NBA game, but on the fly, meaning without totally blowing the team up and counting on high draft picks for the major pieces. The logic of doing that is that the uncertainty in the draft is very high as compared to rebuilding through young free agents, but top young free agents generally want to be stepping into a decent situation for the next several years.

    So, Billups for Iverson was basically all about getting Gordon and Villanueva in this free-agency round, two much younger guys who are well-suited to the current game. Trading Rip (and/or Prince) would be the same sort of deal: the idea would be to go into 2010 free agency period with a good young surrounding cast locked down, including Stuckey, Gordon, Villanueva, maybe Prince, and various other recent draft picks, along with the cap space to target players like Bosh and Stoudemire (or LeBron and Wade, if for some reason those guys were considering the Pistons).

    Anyway, that is how I understand the plan.

22. mpowell Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 5:48 am

    21: There are some other good reasons to not want a massive rebuilding phase (financial). But it really helps if you can land at least one decent lottery pick. Maybe you can trade for a protected first rounder? Anyhow, since sports is a business, I’m sure the GM gets a new set of priorities every year from management which frequently make his previous moves idiotic. This is always overlooked, of course.

23. Max424 Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 6:27 am

    DTM

    Maybe Dumars knows what he is doing after all. Old Rip is gonna be 32, right about the age when a 2 starts to hit the wall.

    Amare Stoudemire would look good in Pistons uniform, that’s for sure. Being with a franchise that is renowned for demanding an all-out defensive commitment from its players couldn’t hurt him either.

    I don’t know what I was thinking. Never underestimate Joe Dumars is a rule we should all live by.

24. Njorl Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 8:43 am

    The major difference between a fluid model and a gas model is that a fluid is normally treated as incompressible.

    Fluids include both liquids and gasses and are not assumed to be incompressible.

25. Njorl Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 8:46 am

    “Divine Hammer” is a reference often attached to a passage in “Jeremiah” in biblical interpretation.

26. Frankie d Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 10:03 am

    Joe d’s record since the title has been abysmal.
    I’ve been a fan since his playing days – always thought he was the bad boys’ MVP – but the fact is that his bad decisions far outweigh his good/decent ones. Since his title. He’s been living off his pre-2003 reputation since.
    Imho, this year’s draft – austin daye, another “project” – and then giving starter’s money to 2 guys who have been bench players during their careers has only continued his string of bad decisions.
    Yes, we will see about them, but both gordon and CV have serious holes in their games, holes that have heretofore kept both as bench players. It is a historical fact that each has primarily been a reserve.
    Joe d has unfortunately gone past the point where he deserves a benefit of the doubt. And what he’s done this summer has only deepened his hole.

27. DTM Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 11:26 am

    It is a historical fact that each has primarily been a reserve.

    Ben Gordon did start his career swapping back and forth between starting and being Chicago’s Sixth Man, but last season he was a full time starter, and in fact he started all of Chicago’s playoff games for the last three seasons.

    It is a somewhat similar situation with Villanueva, on a more compressed schedule: he started last season as a reserve, but was promoted to starting about halfway through the season. And fortunately for his future paycheck, his productivity held up nicely: Villanueva averaged 19 points and 7.2 rebounds in 30.7 minutes over the second half of the season.

    By the way, it is exactly these sorts of players that Dumars used to build the core of the 2004 team. Billups was not a full time starter during his two seasons in Minnesota before Dumars picked him up. Rip hadn’t been a full time starter in Washington until his last season. Ben Wallace wasn’t a full time starter in Washington, and while technically a starter for his one season with the Magic, he only played 24 minutes a game.

    On the draft: obviously no one knows yet what will happen with this class (which includes two interesting second round picks). But Maxiell, Amir Johnson (since gone for cap space), and Afflalo were all good value picks recently by Dumars, and Stuckey was a steal at #15.

    Anyway, the proof of Dumars’s abilities will be in whether or not the Pistons successfully rebuild with the next couple years, and that remains to be seen. But the Pistons definitely needed to rebuild, and swapping established but aging veterans for younger players still developing their game is necessarily part of such efforts. And again, it seems Gordon and Villanueva are starting their contracts at a combined $15 million, which should leave the Pistons plenty of room to do a lot more rebuilding in the next couple years.

28. jerry 101 Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 4:06 pm

    I noticed a lot of stereotyping in the transformers movie, not to mention a lot of other really bad attempts at humor (leg-humping robot, one of the dogs establishing “dominance,” cheap franco-phobia, etc, etc, etc). But, am I the only one who thought that only one of the autobot twins was a racist caricature of black people?

    I ask because I thought the other twin (the green one, IIRC) was more a cheap caricature of an inbred redneck (a la Cletus on The Simpsons, but lacking the funny)?

    Or, maybe I missed something? I wasn’t paying so much attention to appearances as to the way they spoke and what they said – seemed like they were distinctively different stereotypes.

29. Patrick C Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 4:18 pm

    @Njorl:

    It might have been clearer if it read “ideal fluid” rather than just “fluid”. It is really a practical matter in modeling, but you more often need to abandon the incompressibility assumption when modeling gasses.

30. cleek Says:
    July 7th, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    Divine Hammer is prolly my favorite Breeders song, but the mix is just terrible – all flat and quiet, blah.

    the Breeders’ 08 album (Mountain Battles) is pretty good, too.