MetaFilter posts tagged with USPolitics

Can't pirate, the IP Czar will eat me

schroedinger — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:51:20 -0800

The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act has added a whole other dimension to the term "copyright infringement." Sponsored by the US entertainment industry, it allows seizure of assets before the accused is found guilty and the creation of a new executive branch led by an "Intellectual Property Czar" who would report directly to the President on IP crimes--similar to the Drug Czar of the War on Drugs. Financial penalties for copyright crimes have increased dramatically. More information here, and a summary of critiques here. Is this a useful addition to the War On Copyright Infringement or just more bureaucratic red tape?

The story of the Democratic primaries so far, boiled down to seven minutes.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:10:22 -0800

The Democratic Primary Season in 7 Minutes.

Oh, Senator!

chuckdarwin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:13:50 -0800

This little news story might be slightly damaging to John McCain's campaign. You know how the press lets stuff like this slide. uno dos tres cuatro cinco sex?

The 5 Biggest Pricks in Congress

jonson — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:59:51 -0800

The 5 Biggest Pricks in Congress. via

Is that Constitution still living? Slap it a few times to make sure.

ibmcginty — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:41:19 -0800

"Is any jury going to convict Jack Bauer? I don't think so. So the question is really whether we believe in these absolutes. And ought we believe in these absolutes. ... I don't care about holding people. I really don't." Justice Scalia on 24 and torture. 24 and torture previously.

fact checkers out there in the factosphere

ibmcginty — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 17:17:08 -0800

"Tired of the LIBERAL BIAS every time you search on Google and a Wikipedia page appears?" At Conservapedia, a "conservative encyclopedia you can trust," you can learn that "faith" is a concept "exclusive to Christianity," and about how Wikipedia is biased in matters such as its description of the Bell Trade Act of 1946, its gossipy treatment of the private life of NPR reporter Nina Totenberg, and its seeming acceptance of evolution. The Wikipedia bias entry also complains of a "rant" against the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a group for which Conservapedia founder (and son of conservative gadfly Phyllis Schafly) Andrew Schlafly has worked. Signups are here; its take on evolution is criticized here.

20 questions for 20 politicians.

Sticherbeast — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:01:35 -0800

Let's play 20 questions. 20 candidates for President, 20 personalized questions.

"Democracy's Valiant Vulgarians" meet the great unwashed

ibmcginty — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:35:21 -0800

Time magazine recently launched a new politics blog, Swampland. The blog is, to this point, most interesting for its confrontations between the commenters and the bloggers. [m.i.]

Scooter throws Turd Blossom under the bus

ibmcginty — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:23:13 -0800

Politics/PlameFilter: In opening arguments today in the Plame investigation perjury case against Vice President Cheney's former Chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby, the prosecutor portrayed Libby as an agent of a Cheney-driven media offensive. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day came from Libby's attorney, who portrayed his client as a White House-chosen scapegoat for Karl Rove's misdeeds. A conservative reporter saw in Libby's emerging defense a "dramatic split inside the Bush White House." An MSNBC host asked whether this hullabaloo could lead to Cheney's resignation. Background on the case. Liveblogging of today's arguments from an anti-administration perspective.

Naughty politicians

eunoia — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 19:26:23 -0800

Should a politician's "artistic endeavors" come into play when voters go to the polls? George Allen thinks that parts of his opponent, Jim Webb's, novels are demeaning to women and contain depictions of incest. Also, Republican candidate for Texas Comptroller, Susan Combs, is being accused of writing porngraphy because of excerpts like these from a romance novel she wrote 15 years ago. And they're not the only politicians who've written naughty things.