I'll have the lot

So much to say, so much to say...

• Jon Bernstein has a really interesting post on differences between the two major parties. Democrats, he argues, use majorities to pass policy objectives, while Republicans use them to alter institutional rules to preserve their majority status.
• Are Democratic presidents better for the economy? Well, it depends on how you measure economic growth.
• Brendan Nyhan convincingly demonstrates that Tom Friedman has long since run out of ideas.
• One way to teach about the Civil War: Have your white students buy your black students.
• Senator Strom Thurmond kicked Senator Ralph Yarborough's ass in the Dirksen office building in 1964.
• We are spending more on our kitchens but using them less.
• An excellent discussion of Bruce Wayne's eyes from SEK.
• When my son did the Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland, I don't think it occurred to him that he could opt for the Dark Side.
• Drinking helps you remember. Alcohol is truly the cause of, and solution to, all life's problems.
• Maybe alcohol made you remember the Ivan episode of "Magnum P.I."?
• Ridiculous pictures of Céline Dion.