Slate surveys the recent spate of politically-minded online games, including Enduring Freedom and New York Defender. Warning: You may find either to be of questionable taste, and you may want to check out this (via Lake Effect) after playing the latter.
Dubya and the Dems.
Is the Bush White House hoping for heavy GOP losses in 2002? Somehow, I doubt it…the last thing he’d want to see is a Democratic House looking more carefully into subjects such as Enron, Halliburton, and Harken.
A Carnival of Sorts.
Mike Mills (of R.E.M.) muses on the recording of Chronic Town twenty years after its release.
Tactical Retreat.
A “close aide” of Colin Powell suggests the general is on his way out. If so, I shudder to think which right-wing apparatchik Dubya will replace him with. And you gotta think that this story leaking out is going to even further reduce the General’s influence in the Bush White House.
Mea Culpa means I’m Responsible,
(Big Gulp means ice cream headache.) Newsweek critic David Ansen revisits some of his earlier reviews, downgrading Minority Report in the process.
Blam! Kazow!
Early pics of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen leak out. Looks Kavalier & Klay campy at the moment, but I doubt these fellows will be hamming it up this much for the studio shots.
With Power Comes Responsibilitude!
The Amazing George W, via PlasticBag. Can we get Cheney with the J. Jonah flattop?
Show him the money.
Dubya sets a new (and dubious) record for raising midterm campaign cash. “There’s some senators up there who would rather listen to special interests in Washington, D.C., than listen to the voice of the people,” Bush told Republicans in Little Rock. “There are senators who would rather give us a rule book this thick about how we have to behave, and what we must do to protect the homeland than to trust any administration for protecting America.” THAT‘s his speel? I’ve heard better, more plausible stuff on late-night infomercials. I guess if you’re a GOP bigshot and you’ve already thrown lots of money Dubya’s way, all you can really do at this point is protect your investment.
Betamax and DivX Redux.
Three different formats vie to become the standard for blue laser DVD’s, expected in the market by 2005. No 8-track worries just yet – all models will be retro-compatible with red-laser DVD’s.
Shame of the Founders.
“The only thing the FISA court proved was that when wolves are guarding the henhouse, they eat a lot of coq au vin.” The always incisive Dahlia Lithwick rails against secret courts and the overlooked provisions of the Patriot Act.