Category: Data Governance

  • Understanding demographics of American voters

    Evolution of the American voter: ‘The tectonic plates of politics are shifting’ Gary Younge in Albuquerque, guardian.co.uk As US demographics change – becoming less white, less religious, more urban – the electoral rhetoric of Republicans and Democrats is failing to keep up. Gary Younge reports Kasha Nelson, 31, was only supposed to go hiking with…

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  • Republican civil war

    Republican right weeps over Obama’s victory – then begins internal civil war Paul Harris in Pella, guardian.co.uk The clash between diehard conservatives and modernisers will dictate the fate of a party which increasingly seems to appeal only to angry, older white Americans The town of Pella, Iowa, looks an almost too perfect vision of smalltown…

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  • Obama data geeks

    Obama’s data geeks add up to four more years John Naughton, guardian.co.uk Mastery of the numbers game meant the president’s team was able to exploit its database more effectively than Romney, reeling in £1bn in donations Some years ago I went to a lecture given by Professor David MacKay, who in addition to being a……

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  • The end of the ridiculous war on drugs

    As US states legalise marijuana, is this the end of the drugs war? Eugene Jarecki, guardian.co.uk The director of a landmark documentary which chronicles how the current penal approach has resulted in social disaster says the greatest legacy of the US elections may be shifting attitudes towards illegal narcotics Last week was a momentous wee……

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  • Nokero Sunray solar charger saved my life

    How The Nokero SunRay Pro Power Solar Charger Saved My Skin & My Sanity During Hurricane Sandy Jill Fehrenbacher, inhabitat.com When Hur­ri­cane Sandy hit last week, and the power in my lower Man­hat­tan apart­ment went out, my first thought, as I dug around for can­dles and LED lamps was “Well this will be a fun…

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  • Floating sheep: mapping racist tweets in election

    Mapping Racist Tweets in Response to President Obama’s Re-election Matthew Zook, floatingsheep.org Note: for ques­tions about the methodology/approach of this post, see the FAQ (added 16:20 EST 11/9/2012). Note: as of 11:00 EST 11/10/2012, we have dis­abled com­ment­ing on this post. Dur­ing the day after the 2012… http://flpbd.it/nZi5W Related articles Judge who sent racist email…

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  • Why we need better voting systems

    Shame on the Republicans Who Curtailed Early Voting James Fallows, theatlantic.com Hours-long election lines stretching many city blocks are a national embarrassment. And those responsible should be condemned across ideological lines. In 32 states and Wash­ing­ton, D.C., vot­ers are eli­gi­ble to cast their bal­lot early with … http://flpbd.it/6byNS Related articles From the Director of the…

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  • The decline of the Fox News brain trust

    ‘There is some holy hell to pay’ Steve Benen, msnbc.com Getty Images I’ve never fully under­stood how Karl Rove devel­oped a rep­u­ta­tion as a strate­gic genius. In 2000, it was Rove’s idea to keep George W. Bush in Cal­i­for­nia in the cam­paign’s wan­ing days, instead of stump­ing in key… http://flpbd.it/juBYP Related articles Karl Rove Responds…

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  • Charles Darwin gets 4000 write-in votes against Rep. Paul Broun in Georgia election

    upi.com Remem­ber Rep. Paul Broun, the Geor­gia Repub­li­can whose speech decry­ing evo­lu­tion and the Big Bang The­o­ry (the sci­ence, not the hit TV show) as lies “from the pit of hell”? At least a few Geor­gia vot­ers did: at least 4,000 of them wro… http://flpbd.it/43sDn Charles Darwin gets 4000 write-in votes against Rep. Paul Broun…

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  • Do natural disasters redistribute wealth?

    NYC Crime Rate Drops After Storm thedailybeast.com HURRICANE SANDY Hur­ri­cane Sandy may have dev­as­tat­ed areas of New York City, but there was one sil­ver lin­ing in the oth­er­wise mas­sive­ly destruc­tive storm cloud: the city’s over­all crime rate dropped 27 per­cent com­pared with the sam… http://flpbd.it/NBBoL Related articles A History of Disaster Capitalism (motherjones.com) How capitalism…

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  • The new green barons

    The New Pot Barons: Businessmen Bank on Marijuana By Tony Dokoupil, thedailybeast.com Pot use in the United States is rising sharply, and voters may make it fully legal in two states this fall. Smart businessmen are banking on that happening. Full dark in down­town Den­ver, and inside one of the twin­kling high-rises that make th……

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  • Power grid flaws exposed by Sandy hurricane

    Superstorm Shines A Light On Power Grid Vulnerabilities Scott Neuman, npr.org The storm that has spawned so many worst-ever superla­tives man­aged a few more when it comes to elec­tric­i­ty, with record-breaking power out­ages across 18 states stretch­ing from Michi­gan and Indi­ana to Maine and North Car­oli­na, accord­ing… http://flpbd.it/hDP1l Related articles Preparing The Grid For The…

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