mind

This week’s two biggest media story brouhahas have been Dr. Laura’s N-word gaff and the Ground Zero mosque, both of which commentators insist are First Amendment issues. They are not. Here’s why.

As a woman who wears three-inch high heels on a daily basis, often sprinting in them from one meeting to the next, I want a Senator who understands the issues facing working mothers. That’s why I’m voting for Ken Buck Tuesday. Colorado Democrats have had many reasons to smile in recent weeks, especially as Buck and his U.S. Senate primary opponent, Jane Norton, have duked it out over so-called gender issues. It could have been a real chance for Republicans to debate our party’s strategy for attracting female voters. It still can be. And it should.

In the weeks following its mid-May release, I found myself, in public and print, issuing wrong-headed disclaimers and qualifications about my novel, The Bradbury Report . I was worried that my concept, cloning (a relatively ‘high’ concept), might subsume everything else, i.e. the more important stuff, I meant to do in the book. I expressed concern that the word ‘cloning’ used in any way connected to my novel - this was, of course, inevitable - would mark it, misleadingly, as science fiction.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina lawmaker on Thursday called a Republican gubernatorial candidate of Indian descent a “raghead,” saying we have one in the White House, we don’t need one in the governor’s mansion. Republican state Sen. Jake Knotts later apologized for the slur, saying the remarks about President Barack Obama and state Rep. Nikki Haley were meant as a joke. They came on Internet political talk show, Pub Politics.

Today on “Hardball,” Jack Conway charged that Ron Paul wanted to do away with the Civil Rights Act. In fact, Rand Paul’s words to the Courier-Journal, in their editorial board interview, were even more extreme than the paper’s editorial reveal. The interview that reveals Rand Paul’s views on civil rights was done in April. People have linked to the editorial, but the transcript has not been circulated. Conway’s charge today on “Hardball” sent me searching.

Throw open the shade that covers my mind I’m going to touch I’ve got to believe The bell tolls for me I, I want to testify - Melissa Etheridge Maybe mistakes are what make our fate… without them what would shape our lives? - Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) in Sex and the City Sometime in the 1980’s, Alan Abelson, the editor of Money Magazine, said that money was “the new sex.” There is one distinct difference. Many people talk about sex. There are hundreds of television shows, chat rooms, and web sites devoted to sex.

“I don’t know, Senator,” says John McCain’s assistant. “There’s no return address. Just a Phoenix postmark.” “The bastard.” “J.D.?” “Who else?” McCain holds up one of the black flip-flops. “Not even my size.” He flips the rubber sandal back into the box, tosses it to his assistant. “Get Shiree in here.” Fifteen minutes later, McCain, his composure reclaimed, leans back, hands clasped behind his head.

“Curiosity: The Questions of Our Life” is the name of a new 60-episode five-year “landmark” series just announced with much fanfare by the Discovery Channel. So what are those 60 “fundamental questions and underlying mysteries of our time”? They’re looking for nominations. Princeton, Georgetown and Syracuse are among the universities who’ve delightedly signed on to come up with them. Discovery has primed the pump with examples like these: What is consciousness? What will our understanding of genomics mean for future generations?

Sarah Palin’s wackadoodle “death panel” fantasy got me (and everyone else in the world) Tweeting the other day. And then the Tweeting got me back on CNN.com. I’ve got no format or plan for presenting them to you. They came to mind, got Tweeted, and lived and died as Tweets should. But what the hell, right? It’s nearly time for Netroots Nation, and at this point, we’re just happy to have something to laugh at.

Brandwashed (def) A confused state of utter and complete denial, wherein marketers believe that the brand they create and their opinion of it are more important than the wants/needs/desires of the consumer. Consumercentrics (def): The logical yet renegade assertion that retail products should be built from a consumer-centric perspective that begins at point of consumer purchase, not from the traditional brand-centric approach shaped well outside of the purchase arena. Let’s face it: the marketing industry is brandwashed.