This post , “why does everyone hate Applebee’s” gets at some of it:

TGIFridays. Houlihan’s. Bennigan’s. Chili’s. Applebee’s. Aren’t they all pretty much the same place? Sure they are. They’re all corporate chain restaurants that desperately want you to believe that they’re just an old-fashioned neighborhood bar & grill. If somebody blindfolded you and took you into one of them and then took the blindfold off and told you to tell them where you are, you’d probably be hard pressed to answer right away. They all have the same random knick-knacks pasted to the wall, they’re all staffed by the same sullen college kids who won’t be there when you go back in six months and they all serve the same $7.50 bacon cheeseburgers and the same chicken tenders with the same honey mustard dressing.

So I can’t say I’m thrilled about those aspects of Applebee’s.  But I think looking at their nutritional information (gleaned from 3d party sources) had an effect too. Here are the riblets that I gave some thought to ordering

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 meal

Amount Per Serving

Calories 2027

Calories from Fat 1170

Total Fat 130.0g

200%
Saturated Fat 42.0g

210%
Cholesterol 390mg

130%
Sodium 2228mg

93%
Total Carbohydrates 106.0g

35%
Dietary Fiber 10.0g

40%
Protein 103.0g

There is a lawsuit against Applebee’s for misrepresenting the nutritional info on their “healthy” menu.

In April an independent laboratory tested the fat and calorie count
in various Weight Watchers menus at Applebee’s across the U.S.,
according to the complaint, and found that many dishes contain up to
three times the amount of fat and more calories than advertised.

“All of these companies appear to be taking advantage of customers who
pay attention to nutritional information when they eat at
restaurants,” said August Matteis, a Gilbert Randolph attorney for
Valiente.

The lawsuit alleges claims under Kansas consumer protection law and
the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. It
seeks classwide damages and injunctive relief.

http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2008/09/15/daily3.html

Left to Right: Barack Obama “Get Out the Vote,” precinct workers Michael Harrison, St. Petersburg, and Tim Wu, New York City, order free “Chick-fil-A,” sandwiches at the Chick-fil-A Restaurant at 4241 4th Street North, St. Petersburg, on election day. The restaurant chain was offering a free “Chick-fil-A,” sandwich to each customer that voted. “It’s been a great promotion for the restaurant,” said owner David Neely. “We’ve been swamped since this morning,” he said. “Everyone has been joining in, in the great feeling of the election.” The promotion continues until 9pm Tuesday night when the business closes, said Neely. [Scott Keeler, Times]

Mainly, I want to get my hands on those books!!! Save some trips to the library.

I’ve known Zittrain since 1997, when we met  in a strange class called “The Law of Cyberspace,” taught at Harvard by an obscure visiting professor named Lawrence Lessig. Zittrain was sort of cyber-teaching assistant, tasked with duties like running a “Multi-User Dungeon” for the class.  He was, and is, hilarious, as you needed to be when trying to get a room of uptight law students to “explore cyberspace.”
Then and now, Zittrain and I agreed on a lot.  Having grown up as computer and networking hobbyists (geek is another word)…

The man, who has equipped himself with many things for his journey, spends everything, no matter how valuable, to win over the gatekeeper. The latter takes it all but, as he does so, says, “I am taking this only so that you do not think you have failed to do anything.”

The question to think about is how many of the things you do are, in fact, exactly this category.

“Both individuals stated they would dress in all white tuxedos and wear top hats during the assassination attempt.”

That’s not a white tuxedo, but close.

Here’s what fascinates me about his post:

1.  It assumes that his only incentive to do any work outside of his regular teaching and research is to make money.  This seems so counter to what the idea of academia is for, and is passed over so easily.

Tenured academics like Greg M. have an incredible luxury: the time, freedom to work on what he wants, and a guaranteed paycheck (in his case, a large one).  To say in that position you’ll only do “more work” if paid seems an offense to the idea of academia itself.   Academics aren’t supposed to be on sale or work only on commission.

Greg M. himself is disproof of his own ideas.  He spends alot of time blogging, and writing advice for junior professors and so on, all for free.  If Obama wins, it looks like he’ll be doing more of that in the future.   Obama, if his blog post is right, will alter the balance of commercial and non-commercial work he does. The irony is that that result might be better for society than Greg M. doing a bunch of consulting or paid-speaking.

2.  The implication, taken by other writers like “Beldar” though not by Greg himself, is that Greg working less is proof that Obama’s tax cut will hurt the country.  But hold on - Greg represents 5% of the country.  The rest — the 95% percent who get a tax cut, will presumably have reasons to want to work harder, because their taxes are going down.

It’s a simple calculation.  The tradeoff is those who make more than $250,000 doing less commercial and more non-commerical work, versus 95% percent of the population who have reasons to do more.

Its at least ambiguous.  And since the money is worth more, on the margin, to people who make less than $250,000, they have more reason to want to work for it.  $1000 means more to someone who makes $60,000 than to Greg M.

The upshot:  Obama’s tax plan will encourage a rich man like Greg M. to devote more time to the public and his children instead of paid speaking gigs, and gives a lot more other people more incentives to earn more money.  Sounds pretty good to me.

From canvassing in Iowa onwards through our big Obama fundraising party, and Texas and the Convention and Florida next week, this is the election I’ve done the most work for.  And it is the first time, maybe, that I’ve felt like part of a truly mass movement.

That being defined as something where your own effort doesn’t real make a difference, in the grand scheme of things - Obama would have won or lost whether I’d done anything or not, but collectively everyone whose supported Obama from the beginning has done a pretty good job, whether we win or lose in the end.

My 64

My 64 1