Reason's Hit & Run - multimedia-intensive, well argued, not belligerent
Cosmic Log - Good site for pop science updates
Reiss's Pieces - My model for a great sports team blog
Since my long-term favorites don't exactly reflect the now, and I usually have some standbys for what seems like no other reason than getting really angry at my government and fellow citizens, I also threw in Instapundit.
In return, I got:
ichoosetofightwhiskey (his personal blog, mainly marathon training)
Free Darko is a basketball strategy blog. Entertaining, but a little too eggheady for me. I prefer the more dumb and absurd Truehoop and Ball Don't Lie.
First impressions of each: Huff Post reminded me of Instapundit. Lots of mudslinging, which is their foremost similarity - if you just took out the articles and posts based on poorly substantiated attacks on the other side from either of these blogs you would not have much left. The articles that did actually argue a point did so with tired arguments that only sometimes fit the case and then only by coincidence; again very similar to Instapundit. There was some substance in some articles, but I have to conclude that this blog is mainly useful for inciting righteous fury. Has anybody coined the term "soap-blopera" yet? If not, I just did.
Planet money was another thorn in my side, this one much stickier. Because it is a pretty darn good blog. For some reason NPR is the best thing on radio and also one of the best news portals on the internet. Unfortunately, while it does look for new and slightly deeper angles, the reports are typical NPR neuter - I wish they would combine some of their thoroughness in chasing a story with skepticism in questioning the people they find to give it to them... for instance, a recent story asks the question "do banks need the FDIC?" and then goes straight to an FDIC pr person for the answer. Duh. On the other hand, it asks questions like "What is the new normal?" and post charts that show (my interpretation) the federal government sucking up all the credit in a credit crisis. In other words, good questions, but too timid with the answers in some cases.
As an example, here's a quote from Robert Reich in one of the posts:
This is still not the Great Depression of the 1930s, but it is a Depression. And the only way out is government spending on a very large scale. We should stop worrying about Wall Street. Worry about American workers. Use money to build up Main Street, and the future capacities of our workforce.
It would be nice to get a counterpoint, or at least some critical questions. Like, why didn't massive government spending work in the New Deal to lower unemployment? Or, how will you give main street jobs without investment ("Wall Street")?
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