I'm reading Going Rogue and blogging about it - so you don't have to

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Vanity Fair is Great - Larry Summers is Not

It’s been one more month since my last post (called 3 months+).

I just received my September issue of Vanity Fair, which reminded me I wrote that I was going to blog about the August issue. So, before I plunge into “The Style Issue,” let’s backtrack a month…

I bought the issue because of all the chatter around Todd Purdum’s article about Sarah Palin. Had to read it. I thought the story about Heath Ledger might also be interesting (he’s on the cover and still selling magazines posthumously).

Both of these articles were interesting but the standouts for me where the story about Politico, the “Man Who Sank the World’s Economy” and the financial troubles at Harvard.

1) Sarah Palin. Been there, done that. The best details were actually discussed in TV interviews designed to sell the magazine.
2) Heath Ledger. I felt sorry for Michelle Williams every time the reporter wrote some sort of rumor from one of Heath’s “friends” who also happen to be promoting his last movie. Generally boring article.
3) Politico. I learned more about my favorite Washington geeks. Who knew Mike Allen got up SO early each morning? I now know sending him a 4am email might be my best bet when pitching him. Interesting to hear more about their theories on news coverage – and the future of the news industry.
4) A.I.G. Finally, a reporter does an in-depth article about what happened within A.I.G. So interesting to read something more than, “They are bad guys, but we must save them anyway, and we’ll keep them around so we can kick them and feel better.” I am continually amazed at the mistakes smart people made because they were allowed – and they won’t really lose anything because of their own bad bets.
5) Which brings me to Harvard. Talk about smart people making bad decisions and not losing anything. Next example: Larry Summers. Why is this man back in the small circle of individuals making decisions about our nation’s economy? Voting for change did not mean bringing back this guy who lost his job at Harvard – not for making bad financial decisions (which it sounds like he did), but for making stupid comments about women and science – back into the inner circles in Washington. These are the people who caused the mess we are in, but Obama reinstated as many as he could. What was the line Sarah Palin repeated endlessly? “That’s not change. That’s more of the same.”

I read August's issue cover-to-cover and ended up subscribing...so now, on to September!

Which State Showed the Highest Jump in Teen Births?

Alaska. (please read with Sarah Palin's accent.)

Wonder if anyone has asked the governor about this news?

The latest numbers are from 2006...Alaska showed the greatest increase in teen birth rates (up 19%), while the District of Columbia reported the most dramatic decline in rates (down 24%). Overall, 26 states saw increases, which researchers are saying may mark the reversal to the progress that was made in the 1990s. (Heard that about anything else?)

My former boss is quoted in the USA Today article:

But now, the new state-by-state data gives credence to the idea that this marks the reversal of the downward trend, says Kristin Moore, a senior scholar at the nonprofit Child Trends.

"It occurred among teens 15-17 and 17-19 and among whites, blacks and Hispanics, and now we know it occurred in most of the states," says Moore, who has tracked teen births for 30 years. "It appears to be quite a general pattern, which makes me think it might not be a blip but a turn-around."

(I'm slipping from my news diet, I know.)

Real Americans Live Here

Thanks to the folks at Daily Kos for this map...helping to explain where the "real Americans" live. John McCain and Sarah Palin (not mention Rep. Bachmann) seem a little confused about this fact.

Daily Kos Decision-Makers?

I'm curious why the Daily Kos decided not to let its contributors blog about the John Edwards' affair, but have allowed them to blog about this story about Sarah Palin's son potentially really being her grandson. How do they decide which 'tabloid rumors' can be discussed on their site?