Archive for October 14th, 2008


Observations on the presidential race (or what the @#$%$ is McCain doing?)

Posted on October 14, 2008 by JS OBrien under Politics, Law & Government [ Comments: 5 ]

Today’s polls are beginning to show Obama pulling away in what were once toss-up states.  SurveyUSA, which fivethirtyeight.com rates as a high-quality poll, puts Obama up five points in Ohio and 15 points in Pennsylvania.  Quinnipac/Wall Street Journal/Washington Post, a better-than-average poll, puts Obama up by 16 in Michigan, nine in Colorado, 11 in Minnesota, and 17 in Wisconsin.  An average survey, Public Policy Polling, gives Obama a three-point lead in North Carolina.  Assuming these numbers are close to being correct, and given past Democratic/Republican voting patterns, it’s probably safe to say that Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are out of reach for McCain, and Colorado is a very long shot.  Though there are no recent polls, I would also put Washington out of reach based on past voting patterns.

Ohio is still very winnable. Full story »


JonBenet, pt. 3: time to wake up, Professor Tracey

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Michael Tracey under American Culture, Crime & Corruption, Journalism, Media & Entertainment, Music & Popular Culture, Politics, Law & Government, Sex, United States [ Comments: 4 ]

by Michael Tracey

In the mid-1980s David Mills had tried to get a budget together to make a documentary based on my work on public broadcasting, making the case that market forces would prove disastrous for broadcasting as a means of serving the public interest. We would also argue that deregulation, along the lines of American television, would be deeply unfortunate, along with the more nuanced argument that there is, anyhow, no such thing as de-regulation – there is only regulation (ie someone making decisions about content) in the public interest or a private interest. Culture is never, finally, neutral.

David’s efforts came to nothing. Full story »