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Question of the day
Thursday, Nov 10, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller * Many congratulations to Illinois Review…
I started my own blog about seven years ago, in October of 2004. CapitolFax.com has been around since, I think, 1998. It was mainly a comprehensive link site back then. Many of the pull-down link sets in the middle column originated on that site. Then, somewhere around the early ’00s I started adding a daily “snippet” of subscriber content, but I eventually decided to do the blog thing using the blogspot system. You can see the bare remnants of that blog here. I eventually moved to the WordPress platform so I could moderate comments and block morons from posting their bilge. Not long after that, I caught Gov. Blagojevich’s campaign posing as conservative Republicans in order to attack Judy Baar Topinka. Heh. Ever since I can remember, I always wanted to post headline feeds from newspapers around the state, and as soon as somebody started a company to do that I began displaying them on the blog. Anyway, enough of this memory lane stuff. I have things to do today. So, let’s get to the question. We’ve done this before, but it was a long time ago… * The Question: What is your favorite non-Illinois politics/news/other blog or website? Explain.
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- Cincinnatus - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:04 pm:
The Corner at NRO:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner
Some of the best written conservative writing you’ll see, with some occasional snark to boot.
- soccermom - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:06 pm:
Can’t live without Gawker. And the Atlantic, especially Fallows.
- Addicted - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:13 pm:
Real Clear Politics. Which may or may not be considered an Illinois site.
- k3 - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:18 pm:
Talking Points Memo has some good stuff. The New York Times is still my first stop in the mornings though.
- I wonder... - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:29 pm:
Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:32 pm:
I typically visit several non-Illinois web sites on a daily basis. In no particular order, the Drudge Report, Teagan Goddard’s Political Wire, Democracy in America (the Economist blog, I love their live blogs of the recent GOP debates), Kos (just to check to see what I should be mad about, never left a comment there), Andrew Sullivan’s The Dish, Politico, and Real Clear Politics. I don’t spend much time at any of these, but do check in on them regularly. My job brings me to DC quite a bit and it helps to be up on the various topics of the day.
CapitolFax is a minor obsession for me. I spend way too much time here. It’s kind of a problem. Are there any support groups for CapFax addicts? I think I need some help.
- david starrett - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:35 pm:
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/
Good polling data and analysis.
- olddog - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:38 pm:
Most informative - Fallows at http://www.theatlantic.com/james-fallows/
Most fun/quirkiest - The Mudflats (”tiptoeing through the muck of Alaska politics”) at http://www.themudflats.net/
- just sayin' - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:42 pm:
IR mostly just posts press releases I can get from one small corner of Capitol Fax. IR is basically like Facebook but even more boring.
- cynical - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:42 pm:
www.engadget.com - If you’re into gadgets, this is the site.
- Stuff happens - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:48 pm:
http://www.electoral-vote.com/
It’s very slow during non-election season, but I love his reports.
- Wickedred - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:51 pm:
The Daily Coyote and Shreve’s related sites. I like to remind myself I have a life outside Illinois.
And Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo, so I know when I can see my favorite blues band live.
There is a world outside of the Capitol Fax, sometimes.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 1:56 pm:
The Economist site is the best chronicle of the world today. News, opinion and research.
- Justin Boland - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:00 pm:
Cryptogon. Which probably says more about me than I’d like to admit. Also, Automatic Earth for global economic analysis.
- shore - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:01 pm:
real clear is based in evanston I think. Congratulations to Illinois Review, for followers of this stuff, they and a lot of their rivals provide us with a lot of stuff we wouldn’t otherwise be able to get.
- LN - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:03 pm:
cynical, I concur with the engadget recommendation. I read that daily. also, I love www.cakewrecks.com . instant hilarity and a general mood-booster to your day. and if you’re in to Android phones/OS, www.androidcentral.com is the place to be. they have an entire network of blogs for your preferred mobile platform, too.
- YesWeHaveNoBananas - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:06 pm:
Technology - Ars Technica (Best Tech Policy analysis)
Economics - Tie between the Tax Policy Center’s TAXVOX blog and the Economist’s Free Exchange blog
Finance - Barry Ritholtz’s The Big Picture
Mid East - Juan Cole
Culture - Tie between the New Yorker and Vanity Fair
General Domestic Reporting - Tie between NYTimes and ProPublica
- Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:10 pm:
The Doonesbury Daily Dose. Trudeau has been a consistently on-target political analyst.
http://www.doonesbury.com/strip
- Will - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:10 pm:
The New York Times. Without a doubt the best newspaper in the nation. The rest is just noise.
- John Galt - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:15 pm:
For conservative stuff I ditto National Review’s The Corner. Thoughtful, non hysterical (not not normally). They highlight the “news” stuff but also throw in a good mix of off-the-radar issues & deeper background issues.
For bead & butter political stuff, I ditto Real Clear Politics. It’s a nice blend & being from the conservative side of things it forces me to read some of the more liberal media columns that I would normally just skip. Good for both the top headlines nationally & reading some of what “the other side” has to say too. The video clips aren’t too shabby either.
- Lefty Lefty - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:29 pm:
Political: Here and The Great Orange Satan keep me abreast of current political events. Great links from both of those lead to more meat. Also read Krugman every day. And starting to read Charles Pierce at Esquire every day.
News: The Google News aggregator does a good job of letting me know what the big news of the day is. Again, from there it’s off to the meaty stories as needed.
Other: If you like pop culture and you’re under 50 (arbitrary age, but its reference point starts in the 1980s and more recent), you have to visit www.avclub.com, technically out of Chicago but a national treasure. It’s run by the Onion people but it’s not Onion-like except for the wit and insight. Great writing and reviews of music, TV, movies, comics, etc.
- Team Sleep - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:35 pm:
I hate reading national blogs/websites. Everything is too tainted by talking points, attacks and fluff. I will therefore note that my favorite daily visit is ProFootballTalk. It’s run by a former lawyer who has a cooperative with NBC. Mike Florio is on Sunday Night Football each week and he provides much better football insight than anyone else on the web. It’s a great escape for those who tire of the national news scene and are die-hard football fans.
- The Googler - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:39 pm:
Google
- Dan Vock - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:42 pm:
I’ve gotta second Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire. It’s all aggregation, but Goddard is selective enough in what he posts that I don’t get bored. It’s not all about Washington, but it is all about politics. I end up following a lot of his links.
- One of Three Puppets - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:48 pm:
The Drudge Report of course! Links to just about everything and breaks news quickly.
- Chevy owner/Ford County - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:54 pm:
Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire and Huffington Post…
- Ivory-billed Woodpecker - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 2:59 pm:
If you want to know what’s going on in Botswana — and really, who doesn’t? — you can’t beat Mmegi.
http://www.mmegi.bw/
When I lived there a lifetime ago, I waited by the mailbox for my Int’l Herald Tribune to arrive a week late. Now, we all can read about the Botswana Movement for Democracy the moment the reports are filed. Blows me away.
- Zool - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 3:31 pm:
www.debka.com if you’re interested in the Middle East
- Edge of the 14th Ward - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 3:44 pm:
Hardly a day goes by that I don’t read the Comics Curmudgeon.
- thechampaignlife - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 3:57 pm:
I don’t think it’s really in the spirit of the question but it is technically a non-Illinois political website: http://www.thirty-thousand.org/. Not really updated much and definitely not a news or blog site but it’s got some good thinking info in there. I also like the concept of sortition but there’s not a good site I’ve found about that beyond Wikipedia.
- Responsa - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 4:02 pm:
1st read every day, and also a follow up read late in day–Real Clear. I like that you almost always can get both the left and the right angle on the same topics, written by good, (usually non hysterical) writers who know their stuff and have connections. I feel I am better informed as a citizen by trying to understand and evaluate the 360 view of things, which is always more complex than the professional idealogues with talking points on both sides would like you to think.
Another favorite is Instapundit. Blog owner is a libertarian lawyer and writer from Tennessee who pens a short introduction and then links to another article from somwehere that he found interesting. He frequently links to specialty mags and small town/regional newspaper sites that most of us would miss entirely otherwise. He seems particularly interested in politics, economics, law, photography, live music, physical science, technology, earthquakes/hurricanes and medical treatment advances.
Thanks everybody for contributing to the QOTD today. I’ve learned about or have been reminded of some sites I intend to check out.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 4:04 pm:
Real Clear Politics for a nice blend of op-ed pieces and polling news and Politico for more Washington, DC based news.
- Kiyoshi Martinez - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 4:34 pm:
The Drudge Report has been the one constant read of mine since 2003.
- Retired Non-Union Guy - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 4:34 pm:
About the only other political blog I read on a regular basis is Rick Francona’s Middle East Perspectives - Insightful, no punches pulled analysis
http://francona.blogspot.com/
He’s been there, done that, and gotten the T-shirts. You can read his bio (or at least non-classified portion of it) on his site. I don’t know Rick personally, but know people who used to work with him.
- D.P. Gumby - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 4:47 pm:
Daily Beast Cheat Sheet–great way to get up and running
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheets/2011/11/10/cheat-sheet.html
- Freddy - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 5:19 pm:
drudgereport, realclearpolitics, dailycaller, foxnation — easy use links to stories and videos
- Boone Logan Square - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 6:21 pm:
Add one more voice for Political Wire.
Also History News Network.
http://hnn.us/
- Steve Downstate - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 7:07 pm:
Politico and The New Republic (in addition to checking the website, I get the entire mag delivered to my Kindle every couple weeks for a nominal fee), plus the NY Times, though I don’t go there often enough to trigger its “visit often enough and we’ll make you pay a toll” mechanism. Otherwise I’d be hopping into NYT articles daily. Sigh.
- stuckinthemiddlewithyou - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 7:47 pm:
Instapundit.com/pjmedia.. Professor Glenn Reynolds..a right thinking Professor. He links to any and everything imaginable..and secondcitycop.blogspot.com..insiders info.and much more reference the inner workings/or lack there of the CPD.
- Retired Non-Union Guy - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 8:03 pm:
Steve Downstate,
The NYT will mail you a summary every day for free. And if you want to avoid their fees, use Google to find the article and link in that way … they don’t seem to count visits from search engine results. Hey, us retired guys got to save money wherever we can …
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 9:17 pm:
Facebook is the new blog.
And The Onion is almost as ironic as CapFax.
- wishbone - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 9:36 pm:
Andrew Sullivan’s The Daily Dish. Politics, religion, culture, you name it. Smart!
- Marie - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 10:34 pm:
For everything you ever wanted to know about the world of pardons, commutations, etc., poli-sci prof Ruckman’s Pardon Power:
http://www.pardonpower.com/
My kind of pop culture, then and now:
http://popdose.com/
If you want to get lost in some really old photographs (the comments are as good as the pictures):
http://www.shorpy.com/
- jimbo2600 - Thursday, Nov 10, 11 @ 10:52 pm:
guardian uk for news about the US from outside the US. Lots of articles that we would not see here until later, if ever
- VanillaMan - Friday, Nov 11, 11 @ 1:26 am:
RCP
Instapundit
- PrecinctCaptain - Friday, Nov 11, 11 @ 3:27 am:
The Monkey Cage
The Monkey Cage is a group blog written by political scientists that discusses current political issues and provides commentary by drawing upon existing research. A lot of the nonsense spouted by political pundits and journalists is put to rest at The Monkey Cage.
Others have already mentioned Political Wire, which is great for pithy political stories and headlines.
Another great politics site is Jon Bernstein’s A Plain Blog About Politics. Jonathan Bernstein is a political scientist who blogs commentary on American politics.
- Oberver no. 12 - Friday, Nov 11, 11 @ 7:34 am:
I check newshound.us every day. The site’s slogan is “WE WATCH FOX SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO”. It points out the entertaining (crazy?) things that O’Reilly, Hannity and the other conservative propagandists have to say.