Dan Nexon is not responsible for today’s links.

Dan is traveling today, so it’s the Duck of Minerva’s version of Assistant Editor’s Month (or, perhaps, assistant to the editor‘s month):

• Dani Rodrik becomes the Clippy of forensic investigators, as he relates how the Turkish government may have faked evidence against 300 officers on coup-plotting charges: “It looks like you’re trying to frame someone for treason. Would you like help with that?” (Dani Rodrik’s Weblog)
• Jay Ulfelder shows off a political science version of the Netflix Prize, in which a bunch of quantoids tried to systematically evaluate different statistical techniques for forecasting political instability. In related news, Jay’s Netflix account says he likes “Brainy and Gritty Foreign Movies with a Tough Female Lead.” (Dart-Throwing Chimp)
• The West Wing is a source of inspiration for global democracy activists–and that’s a terrible, terrible thing. (The Atlantic)
• APSA–you remember APSA, they used to put on a political science convention–has released how they’ll be handling their elections for office and council seats. In unrelated news. Mikhail Saakashvili wishes he’d scheduled balloting for New Orleans during hurricane season too. (APSA)
• Academic Nina Garcia targets the intersection of academics and high fashion. It’s a small intersection. (Academic Nina Garcia)
• The furore over Drudge’s race-trolling reminds me of my favorite instrumental-variables paper (see, Dan really isn’t writing today’s links): “The geography of hate: How anti-Semitism in interwar Germany was influenced by the medieval mass murder of Jews” by Nico Voigtlander and Hans-Joachim Voth. Link to the QJE version via. (VoxEU, Opalo’s weblog)
• Great advice about grad school from Cal Newport, star Georgetown computer science professor; more available here; Andrew Gelman comments about work habits here. (Study Hacks, Gelman Blog)