“Wasteful” spending

I don’t know why I’ve chosen to torture myself with the daily Gallup poll updates.  Mabye I can write a program that automatically generates an outraged blog post from them.  Yesterday’s:

Yeah, that’s the problem,  ”not needed” and “wasteful” programs.  Like Medicare.  Or the EPA.  Or national defense.  Got to give it ton Chait’s “one fact” on this one.

The mysteries of Google

So, I understand google improved their search algorithm to cut down on “content farms” and such, but somehow they are over-rating my blog.  Not that I should complain.  Still, surprising to see that a post I off-handedly did last night about Kate not being a princess brought in a surprising amount of traffic.  Search for: why Kate is not a princess, and my post is somehow the #2 hit.  No sign of Yglesias, from whom I took all the material.  It’s also well ahead of the Post’s royal wedding blog.  Just weird.

Why Kate is not a princess, but will be someday

Found this post from Yglesias much more interesting than Kim thought I should:

The crux of the matter is that “prince” and “princess” aren’t real titles of nobility. A real title goes with an “of Someplace” after it. If you’re the Duke of Something then your wife is also Duchess of Something. “Prince” and “princess,” by contrast, specifically denote that you’re the direct descendent of the Queen. Thus Prince Charles is a “prince” as are his sons, and his brother Prince Andrew and his daughters Princess Beatrix and Princess Eugenie. But Kate’s not descended from The Queen so she’s no princess. William was made Duke of Cambridge in part specifically to address this, since as the wife of the Duke of Cambridge she now has a title befitting her position as an important member of the Royal Family.

But there’s an exception here! The Heir Apparent to the throne isn’t just any old prince, he’s the Prince of Wales. Consequently, his wife (if applicable) is the Princess of Wales. So if the Queen dies, Prince Charles will become King, Will will become Prince of Wales and then Kate will be Princess of Wales. Long story short, it’s hard to become a princess (sorry ladies) since at any given times there’s at most one Prince of Wales and the proliferation of other princesses doesn’t help you.

And even cooler, this handy princess flow chart: