christophe thinks out loud

The single most disturbing letter to the editor that I have read about the election (but probably only because I haven't been looking)

From the November 27th, 2004 issue of The Economist:

The ideological split in America is not between left and right or moral and amoral. Instead, it reflects the world view of the voters. Those with a natural perspective, such as farmers, ranchers, or even child rearers understand the progression of planting seeds, nuturing growth and patience for the harvest. These people tended to vote for Mr Bush. Those who wish the world to resemble a 30-minute sitcom with laugh track tended to vote for John Kerry. This difference is reflected in the distinct geographical distribution of the election results as well as Europe's seeming distain for Mr Bush.

Ah, yes. The good, solid people who till the soil and have a connection to the Land, they understand. The decadent intellectuals who cluster in the cities cannot be expected to. (And, of course, all of Europe is decadent, it goes without saying.)

This sounds very familiar, somehow.

James Boyle: A natural experiment

James Boyle, writing in the on-line edition of the Financial Times, has a simply brilliant article about copyright and its failings, in the particular context of databases. It is very pleasing to see someone use the terms "copyright" and "monopoly" together with such eloquence and frequency.

My favorite quote: "First rule of thumb for regulators: when someone with a profit margin over 20% asks you for additional monopoly protection, pause before agreeing."

A helpful tip for porn producers

A valid ID has the following characteristics:

• It was issued by a government agency. (Hint: Blockbuster is not a government agency.)
• It has a photograph of the person on it. (A photograph of a person who is a close relative or who looks vaguely similar does not count.)
• It has the performer's date of birth on it. (If you cannot subtract 18 from the current year to figure out whether or not the performer is legal, you might ask one of the camera people. They have to learn f-stops and complicated stuff like that.)

In case you are still a bit confused, let's be clear that a ripped-apart Social Security card and a check-cashing card are not valid ID. Thank you for your cooperation in keeping us all out of jail.