Mars Attacks

NASA has successfully touched down its Phoenix Mars Lander. Check out updated pictures on NASA's website.

New Belgian/French Brunch Restaurant

If anyone is in the Georgetown/Palisades area and looking for a place for brunch, check out Et Voila. All of the food is excellent, which also simple, fresh, and relatively inexpensive. The lox benedict and Belgian waffle with home made whipped cream are excellent.

It's been open for less than two weeks, and so is still relatively uncrowded, so one shouldn't have trouble getting a table.

(Hat tip to VFB.)

Teddy Kennedy, R'fuah Sh'lema

Teddy Kennedy was diagnosed yesterday with a malignant brain tumor. This is a crushing blow to Americans of all shapes in sizes. Kennedy's work as a senator over the past five decades has touched all of us. He truly represents the best of what American politics has to offer.

For more, read tributes here and here.

Lebanese Unity Government

The major powers in Lebanon just signed a major deal in Doha, Qatar. (Hat tip to FBK.)

Key highlights:

"As part of the deal, 11 of the 30 ministers in a national unity government in Beirut will be Hizbullah members, giving the Shiite organization the right to veto any decision."

"The sides also agreed to appoint Lebanon's army commander, General Michel Suleiman, the next Lebanese president."

"Another important achievement for Hizbullah was an amendment to the current election law: The sides agreed to return to the 1960 Election Law, which includes a change in the election districts, and particularly in the Beirut district which will be divided in three. The current law allowed the anti-Syrian camp to win the elections."

Hopefully this will bring peace and stability to Lebanon.

VP polling already

Survey USA polled head-to-head match-ups in Pennsylvania and New Mexico, asking voters whether they preferred Obama or McCain, each with one of four running mates: John Edwards, Kathleen Sebelius, Ed Rendell, and Chuck Hagel for Obama, and Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Joe Lieberman for McCain - a reasonable mix of former primary opponents, swing state governors, and opposing party mavericks.

The results show Obama/Edwards and McCain/Huckabee being the strongest tickets. Obama/Rendell does well in PA (no surprise), and all of the McCain tickets do relatively well in New Mexico.

Ideally, Survey USA would run polls like this in every state, which would give more data toward the question of whether vice presidential nominees matter. These two polls seem to suggest that they do.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirenomics life for me

Check out a great review of Peter Leeson's new book on the politics and economics of 17th century pirates (arrrr!).

Here are also a few older pieces from Freakanomics and the New Yorker for those you that just can't get enough of academics talking about pirates.

Super cool Mars Lander

Today's Science Times has a spectacular description of the mission, specs, and mechanics of NASA's Phoenix Lander, which is expected to touch down on Mars at 7:53 PM EDT today.