It’s been an interesting morning spent blogging in a car crawling through a snowy/icy stretch of I-80 just west of Reno, which was a bit unexpected insofar as it’s still October. Should be some good skiing at Lake Tahoe for those so inclined.

Here are some midday news/view snacks now that internet service is a bit better:

* New York Times front-pager notes WaMo’s role in stimulating new measurements of colleges’ value. More about that later.

* Nine car bombs exploded in Baghdad yesterday as part of an offensive by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

* Reid announces Senate floor action before Thanksgiving for ENDA.

* At the Plum Line, Ryan Cooper suggests it’s time for a recalibration of the Security State.

* Jason Richwine, bounced from Heritage for research arguing Hispanics intellectually inferior to white folks, re-emerges as writer for National Review.

And in non-political news:

* Hurricane-force winds hit Britain. But climate change is clearly a hoax.

Here’s another Lou Reed tune that non-aficianados may not have heard, from Transformer: “Andy’s Chest.” Never been sure if that’s a reference to Warhol.

Back in a bit.

Ed Kilgore

Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.