Open Thread and Links you might like, part IV

Lance Armstrong and John Edwards ride together in Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI).

Bora describes his San Francisco earthquake moment.

Edwards will have a live Webcast after the Youtube debate tonight.

Is there a Homeland Security conspiracy, one Congressmen asks.

Via Dana Rodrik, Americans and Europeans HATE globalization and think the rich should be taxed.

much, much more after the break.

Speaking of Dana Rodrik, this is interesting.

...That is, a good for which demand goes down when you lower its price, or for which demand goes up when you increase its price! Such a good is called a Giffen good...How can demand curves slope upward? Imagine a very poor household who spend a very large part of its income on some subsistence commodity such as rice. Now suppose that the price of rice goes down for some reason. How does the household alter its pattern of consumption? One response is to increase consumption of rice at the expense of other things because rice is now cheaper. This is the standard substitution effect that ensures demand curves are downward sloping. But another is that the household's overall purchasing power--its real income--has increased and therefore the family may choose to consume things, such as meat, that richer families tend to consume. If this decrease in demand for rice outweighs the substitution effect, we have a Giffen good. Put differently, the lower price of rice allows the family to satisfy its nutritional needs by a tastier combination of products, one that relies less on rice and more on meat.

As this example illustrates, a Giffen good is more likely to exist in a situation where households spend a large part of their income on a subsistence good. So Jensen and Miller went to Hunan and Gansu provinces in China, randomly subsidized the price of rice and wheat, respectively, for poor families for five months, and then observed the results. They found that the poorer families in both provinces did indeed exhibit Giffen behavior with respect to the subsistence crop. The price subsidy led to reduced consumption of rice or wheat, and its removal to more consumption.

via Ed Cone: Tonight's the fundraiser to benefit Marcus Green at Ziggy's Tavern in Winston-Salem.

Green was laid off by the N&R in June, and he's scheduled in August for a transplant to treat multiple myeloma. As the announcement for the benefit says, "All in all, he’s not in top job-hunting form right now, so here’s a chance to help."

Ezra Klein on MSM on Edwards Poverty Tour

It's a bit bizarre to read an article in a major national newsweekly that takes, as its primary subject, why it and other major national newsweeklies aren't giving much attention to a story. In this case, the subject at hand is John Edwards' poverty tour, and among the article's many unsatisfactory explanations for why the tour got so little ink is that "Edwards seems uncomfortable deviating from an established script" while "Kennedy would sometimes order his caravan to halt so he could chat with poor children he passed on the roadside."

Oh. At any rate, I think it's actually alright if the press doesn't lavish much coverage on a particular set of campaign stops, even if this set uses the topic of poverty to appear more virtuous than other sets. But if they don't want to cover it, they shouldn't cover it. If they do want to cover it, they should. But to simultaneously decide Edwards and poverty are too boring for column inches and then feel guilty and reach for a bunch of hollow explanations for "why" is just a waste of everybody's time.

Lifehacker: Eco-friendlier. Polish silver with baking soda and foil.

From Open Left: Gitmo whistleblower is Bush nightmare (NYT)

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Abraham is a potential p.r. nightmare for the Bush adminstration and its apologists, one whose message the Democrats should work hard to amplify. So, who is Abraham?
* A decorated intelligence officer;
* A lifelong Army reservist;
* A conservative who "cried when Nixon resigned";
* A very sharp lawyer;
* The son of a Holocaust survivor;
* Their own choice of who should manage and handle evidence on detainees at Guantanamo.

In short, Abraham has a resumé that's tough for even the most loyal Dittohead to dismiss. And he's blowing the whistle on the Guantanamo tribunals.

Religion-Based Discrimination, Hickory Reverend takes a legitimate swipe at John Edwards.

FBI using cell phones taps to eavesdrop on nearby conversations, without your knowledge.

Create a social network, make millions.

While Bush may hate Children, the House seeks to expand coverage of CHIP and care for all those kids Republicans love to say are children, not choices.

SocNets get into poker. About time.