Political Dirty Tricks: or, How To Become a Felon

This guy went to federal prison on charges of phone harrassment, and is living proof that it isn't just left-wingers who engage in election fraud.

...Although I think that dead people and cartoon characters can still be considered solid Democrat constituencies.

The former Republican political operative went to federal prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of phone harassment. He jammed the phone lines of New Hampshire's Democratic Party on Election Day six years ago.

"The concept was to disrupt lines of communication. That's a fancy way of saying, 'make it so the phones didn't work,' " Raymond said recently. "No calls going out. No calls going in."

Make Your Own X-Rays!

Yes, all you need is some regular Scotch tape and a vacuum chamber!

On the Road Meets the Web Generation

This one goes out to Official Friend of the Brink Ben; I'm a little afraid that he will actually follow the example of these folks and sell all that he has, buy an RV, have a kid named Tristan, and commence to drive around the continental US, stopping at campgrounds to be an occasional knowledge worker.

Tortured Genius: A Charlie Kaufman Profile

Here's an interesting, in-depth article on the mind that brought you feature films Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Adaptation--one of the oddest and most imaginative ouvres in Hollywood.

I'm always interested in the intersection of art and business, and I always wonder how in the world you can have a multi-million-dollar enterprise like a feature film production depend on the whims of an artist trying to give birth to his beloved story.  This article provides a window into the process.

Hitler, the KKK, and Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood has done a pretty good job distancing their organization from the philosophy of their founder Margaret Sanger, a supporter of eugenics and a proponent of the removal of "human weeds".  Perhaps history's most ardent eugenicists?  The Nazis.  In fact:

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Nazi regime forcibly sterilized hundreds of thousands of people whom they viewed as mentally and physically "unfit", an estimated 400,000 between 1934 and 1937. The scale of the Nazi program prompted one American eugenics advocate to seek an expansion of their program, with one complaining that "the Germans are beating us at our own game".

Apparently folks today prefer to remember her as a heroic supporter of the rights of the regular folks to obtain contraceptives, and prefer to forget that she was well received after speaking to the Ku Klux Klan:

"I accepted an invitation to talk to the women's branch of the Ku Klux Klan...I saw through the door dim figures parading with banners and illuminated crosses...I was escorted to the platform, was introduced, and began to speak...In the end, through simple illustrations I believed I had accomplished my purpose. A dozen invitations to speak to similar groups were proffered." (Margaret Sanger: An Autobiography, P.366)

So, count me out when you're celebrating the 92nd anniversary of the Margaret Sanger's first clinic.

Media Coverage in the US Elections

OK, it's about time for a post, so here we go:

I stumbled onto a site called RussiaToday, which purports to be "a 24/7 English-language news channel" that brings "you the Russian view on the global news".  I don't know what political bias they espouse; judging by this article from the GOP convention (Sarah Palin lays into Russia; Thousands of opponents take the streets and set up vigils outside the jailhouses of their arrested compatriots) it isn't American-style conservative.  Anyway, they have a very interesting take on the role of satirists in American politics.  The article compares the influence Jon Stewart on that of Rush Limbaugh from yesteryear.  My opinion: Limbaugh has never been a balanced source of news, but at least there is discussion of the issues; Stewart's Daily Show and others of its ilk feature a shallow format more geared to a laugh every 7-10 seconds than any type of exchange of ideas.  The result is the host verbally piling on to whatever target he prefers; with left-wing hosts those targets are, of course, overwhelmingly Republican.  The fact that a substantial minority of the American electorate gets its political intelligence from "fake news" and late night shows is disturbing at best.

Speaking of late night shows, they seem to be making Republicans the butt of their jokes over Democrats by a ratio of 7-to-1; the article does bring up some interesting points besides bias as to why that gap exists, especially: Biden is way more boring than Palin.  Actually, I think unbiased observers could find some pretty embarrassing gaffes by Biden, but I guess it's fair to say that Palin is more interesting and thus a much better ratings bet.  And for a little more on late-night political coverage: here's a blow-by-blow of appearances by McCain and Biden on Letterman and Leno, respectively--note the very different tone.  Of course, McCain had blown off and thus personally insulted Letterman, which resulted in what this Huffington Post blogger called "the most scathing performances I have ever seen a late night comedy host give" leading up to McCain finally appearing on Letterman's show.

Finally, here are some interesting thoughts on reasons for unbalanced coverage: lazy reporting in a media echo chamber, and the fact that lots of media people have a crush on him and don't want to know the whole truth.