How You Frame Policy Is Everything and Other Fascinating News on the Web

Framing the Debate

So much of our political discourse is targeted at naming and framing issues. So what’s in a name? A lot. Just take a look at the current (and seemingly never-ending) debate over the new health care law. How do you feel about Obamacare? And what’s your opinion about The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act? People have wildly different opinions on those two things, even though they both refer to the exact same law. Most Americans prefer the Affordable Care Act to Obamacare. But that hasn’t stopped both sides from referring to the latter. BloombergBusinessweek’s Peter Coy provides a inside look at the name and frame game.

+ Here’s a clip from Jimmy Kimmel’s show that features people explaining why they prefer either Obamacare or The Affordable Care Act.

+ Whatever it’s called, there was a whole lot of demand for the new health care program on the first day of its existence. Just ask the people trying to run the website servers.

Twitter Explained By NYT

If you are starting a new company, the first thing you need to do is to create a clear and concise (and preferably one-sentence) mission statement that explains exactly what your product or service does. That is one of the early keys to success and it enables your employees, the media, and your customers to effectively promote your brand. But Twitter seems to be an exception to this rule. From its earliest days through the buildup to its IPO, people have had a hard time describing exactly what it is. Quartz has put together a complete history of Twitter as told through tortured descriptions of it in the NYT. These days the service is ubiquitous enough that an accurate description has emerged: Twitter. It’s for Tweeting.

The Most Important Meeting

Obama. Boehner. Pelosi. Reid. McConnell. How great would it be to watch a live feed of the closed door meeting scheduled for this afternoon at the White House? I’m guessing that the meeting will end with a frustrating cliffhanger, not a shutdown finale.

+ Mike Cassesso and MaiLien Le really hope the government shutdown ends soon. They, along with their 130 guests, are scheduled to get married on Saturday at 5:30pm at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. If the shutdown continues, the site will remain closed. There. I found someone connected to DC politics that you can actually root for. I deserve a Pulitzer.

Purse Snatching and the NSA

“A local street thug crouched alongside his green Monte Carlo, pretending to change a flat, biding his time. Finally, a young woman passed by walking alone to her suburban home. Smith wrenched her handbag from her grasp, jumped into his car and tore off down the street.” That seemingly ordinary purse-snatching took place in Baltimore in 1976. But it is still affecting people today, including you. From Wired’s David Kravets, How a purse snatching led to the legal justification for NSA domestic spying.

Fatigue Hampers Endurance

The more we look, the more we find key mind/body connections. In a recent study, researchers found that mental fatigue led to impaired physical performance, especially when it comes to endurance. “Exercise simply feels harder when your brain is tired, so you quit earlier, although objectively, your muscles are still somewhat fresh.”

+ Wilson Kipsang must not have done much thinking before the Berlin Marathon where he set a new world record of 2:03.23. Does that mean someone will soon break the two-hour mark? Not really. But just think about how fast this guy was running each mile. Amazing. (I’d do the math for you, but I was a Humanities major).

+ Maybe this is a good sign. People are running faster. But fast food has gotten slower.

Baby Talk

Talk. And Talk some more. And then talk some more. I’ve just described two things. My 5 year-old daughter’s life philosophy and the key to making your child smart. Very interesting stuff from Slate’s Sara Neufeld: Baby Talk Bonanza.

The Future of Microsoft

In order for Microsoft to better prepare itself for success in the quickly changing tech landscape, does Bill Gates have to go? That’s what three of the company’s top investors seem to think. Interestingly, Gates financial stake in the company has shrunk dramatically: “Gates, who owned 49 percent of Microsoft before it went public in 1986, sells about 80 million Microsoft shares a year under a pre-set plan, which if continued would leave him with no financial stake in the company by 2018.”

+ Apple now holds $147 billion in cash. iCaramba.

End of the Silk Road

The Silk Road, the foremost site for purchasing all things illegal, has been getting a lot of press these days. Apparently, journalists weren’t the only ones interested in the site. The Feds have shut it down and arrested site owner Ross William Ulbricht.

The Mile Cry Club

Have you ever cried while watching a movie on a plane even though that movie really wasn’t worth crying about? Well, you’re not alone. “You’ve finally reached the end of what was likely a full day of getting to the airport, and could have been weeks of preparing, or even years of an important life phase culminating in an end and new beginning. And that’s the time to have a good, long cry.” Either that, or you’ve just realized that your in a heavy, giant metal tube 36,000 feet above the ground.

The Bottom of the News

The melting sensation. The feel of fat. The gold dust on your fingers. The bright colors. The MSG. The NYT takes you inside the lab of a food scientist to find out why you love Doritos so damn much you can’t believe it.

+ Mental Floss: 42 Idiom Origins Explained.

+ Damon Lindelof set out to write a glowing piece on the Breaking Bad finale, but he ended up talking about the Lost finale — because you are driving him nuts on Twitter.

+ It won’t happen for another 70,000 years. So you better be ready for this year’s Thanksgivukkah.