There’s a lot going on in the world, but there’s also a lot going on in my world, so here’s your abbreviated linkage:

• Jay Ulfelder explains why big data won’t kill theory (or as Dan would write, I can haz quant theory?) [Dart-Throwing Chimp]
• Seth Masket >yearns for a Neil DeGrasse Tyson of political science [Pacific Standard]
• Sounds like physics envy to me, Seth [Duck of Minerva]
• I’m actually normally pretty permissive on issues of pay for government employees, but this explanation of the Jack Lew bonus actually makes me less sympathetic to Lew. He’s still incentivized to seek public-sector employment because of the contract. [Kevin Drum]
• Aussie academic Inger Mewburn wonders whether jerks finish first in academia. target=”_blank”>More. [Thesis Whisperer, Inside Higher Ed]
• How one Jehovah’s Witness found China changed her.
• The Rise of the New Shanghai would have been better without the “Head of the Dragon” title. [Design Observer]

and also

• U.S. war plans to invade Canada [Mental Floss]