I’ve been kicking myself all morning for missing the 43rd anniversary of the Infamous ‘Daisy’ political ad. The legendary spot debuted September 7, 1964 during NBC’s ‘Monday Night at the Movies’.

The ad, run by the Lyndon B. Johnson campaign, features a little girl innocently counting the petals on a daisy. Her counting is suddenly replaced  by a NASA-esque countdown, the frame freezes and zooms in the girl’s eye, and then the whole scene is replaced by a nuclear explosion. As the mushroom cloud billows, we hear Johnson saying “we must learn to love each other, or we must die”, and then it concludes with “Vote Lyndon Johnson on November 3rd. The stakes are too high to stay home.”

Scary stuff. The ad ushered in the era of ‘modern’ political communication, and remains a masterpiece of Machiavellian political manipulation. The combination of imagery, sound and omnipresent societal fears was a watershed in how politicians use the media to influence voters. The ad continues to resonate today- Warren Kinsella even named his strategy firm- Daisy Consulting Group- after the iconic commercial.

So why commemorate the 43rd anniversary of anything, let alone a political ad? Because, you wiseass, awesome Cold War history/fetish site Conelrad just published an amazingly thorough history of the Daisy Ad. They even have an interview with the ‘daisy girl’ Brigitte Olsen. Worth a read, as it opens a window into a fairly fascinating period in American history where a lot of the groundwork for today’s uber-campaigns were laid.

So, happy belated Daisy. We don’t need to look much farther than you to understand electioneering in 2007.

According to the ever-accurate and never propagandistic North Korean media, the Great Leader could whup Tiger Woods any day of the week.

Jong-Il routinely shoots 3-5 holes-in-one in a single round, and recently posted the astonishing score of 38 under. Presumably, these results all came on the Pyongyang golf course, since it is the only one in the country.

Let’s hope tensions remain high between the USA and North Korea. If Jong-Il is ever able to compete in the PGA, his sheer awesomeness will destroy what little competition remains in the post-Tiger world of professional golf.

H/T to RS for this one.

On an anniversary such as this, I thought it might be useful to highlight an University of Cambridge study that pulls the rug out from under 9/11 conspiracy theorists. Useful, because these folks muddy the waters surrounding 9/11, making it hard to both remember the victims of the terrorist atrocities and meaningfully negotiate ethical foreign policies in a world riven by religious, social and economic conflict.

The report demonstrates that both the speed and style- the so-called ‘pan-caking’ reminiscent of a controlled demolition- of the WTC collapse were caused by the airliner collisions. Dr. Keith Seffen was able to calculate the ‘residual capacity’ of the twin towers, or their ability to resist the progressive collapse of falling floors. Turns out, the collapse of the building sections damaged by the aircraft impacts provided more than ample force to drive lower floors into one another in a savage chain reaction. No explosives, cruise missiles, or any other half-baked method required.

Oh, and those little horizontal jets of gas and debris? Not demolition squibs, as many have suggested, but debris accelerating through elevator shafts and impacting on lower floors, ahead of the primary collapse.

I’d like to add my own little rebuff the 9/11 truthers. Namely, have you seen how badly the Bush Administration has screwed up Iraq? Any suggestion that these dimwits could perpetrate, and then cover-up, a crime the size of 9/11 is preposterous.

9/11 was a montrous act and profound human tragedy facilitated in part by negligent intelligence and poor foresight. It was then cynically exploited to the advantage of a narrow and intellectually bankrupt agenda. It was not an ‘inside job’. To suggest otherwise distracts from the urgent task or remembering the victims and preventing their memories from being used to foist more death and suffering upon the world.

A new study suggests the way your brain is wired may dictate your politics. Neurocognitive correlates of liberalism and conservatism, published in Nature, demonstrates that individuals with ‘liberal’ political beliefs are ”more able to handle conflicting and unexpected information than the brains of their conservative counterparts.” In other words, liberals are better able to eschew habitual behaviour in favour of a response more appropriate to the actual circumstances of a situation.

The Guardian and Slate- with varying levels of subtlety- pose the obvious question: does this mean liberals are smarter? The study is not conclusive, but provides strong evidence that progressive folks have more agile brains.

The new research casts some interesting light on the ‘universities-as-hotbeds-of-pinko-liberalism’ and ‘journalists-as-godless-liberals’ controversies. Being a journalist or a university professor requires intelligence and mental dexterity. Liberal brains are better suited to these jobs. It’s not a left-wing conspiracy- academics and journalists just need to have left-wing brains. Conversely, some jobs are better suited to the reflexive dogmatism of the conservative brain, like any position at Fox News (read: no actual journalism happens there) and…uh, well…I’m sure there’s something beyond corporate kleptocrat and inept president.

Actually, the Nature study may help explain why Bush and his gang went into Iraq with guns blazing, despite reason, logic and reams of information suggesting it was a really, really bad idea. It’s not their fault- their brains are just wired to be thoughtlessly ideological.

Of course, all of this builds on J.S. Mill’s pithy 1866 observation:

I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it.

Indeed. While this basic truth has been apparent for at least 141 years, it is nice to finally have a little scientific evidence behind it.

George W. Bush may be one of the greatest comedians of this, or indeed any other, age.

In one brief speech to the APEC conference in Sydney, he managed to mount a  routine unparalleled in the history of comedy. Highlights include:

• Confusing APEC with OPEC;
• Referring to Australian troops as Austrians; and
• Walking the wrong way offstage and stumbling around confused until rescued by reliable straightman and Australian (Austrian?) PM John Howard. 

Here’s the video of the greatest exit ever:

Man. After all that, what the heck do you do for an encore? Bomb Iran? Hilarious!

Until you realize this man is the President of the United States. Sweet Jesus.

Europe has a problem. A nasty, far-right nationalistic problem. The UK has the BNP, Austria has the Freedom Party, and Switzerland has The Swiss People’s Party.

And the SPP just came up with this:

Yep, it’s a bunch of white sheep kicking a black sheep out of the country, accompanied by the slogan “For More Security”. The SPP contends that ‘foreigners’ commit more crime than Swiss citizens, and should be deported. Also, the SPP are %$%@#&* idiots.

Anti-racism groups point to the symbolism and use of colour in the posters as eerily reminiscent of Nazi propaganda.  I guess if you’re going to be a racist xenophobic douchebag, you might as well learn from the best.

Europe- particularly Northern and Western Europe- needs to come to terms with the hate in their midst. I don’t know why these parties are as successful as they are, or why they continue to have electoral success. And thanks to widespread freedom of speech (and at times like this, I support this basic right from behind clenched teeth), we’ll have to listen to their braying. To shut them up, the economic and social roots of ultra-right politics need to be addressed. The alternative is more garbage, more hate, and maybe even violence.

H/T to RS for this one.

Are you ready? Are you ready for the craziness?

This is going to be better than Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashing into Jupiter. I hope someone has the presence of mind to bring a gong.

UPDATE [10/09/07]: From the BBC: Britney Spears’ first major performance in three years, at the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas, has been widely dismissed as a disaster.