The Best of 2011: The Arab Fucking Spring
Oh hello, devoted readers, reluctant friends, confused Google compatriots. It is that time of year again: the time when I take a quick moment to revisit everything that I think highlighted our year together (ohh… and sorry for, ya know, not being here for a lot of it. I was busy? Yes? No… Yes! Super busy and important!) 2011 was a year of big news stories. I’d go through them in a list right now, but I always end up forgetting something massive. Remember that huge fucking Tsunami that wiped out Japan and nearly started a nuclear meltdown? Totally forgot that happened this year. Remember when a man from Norway went to an idyllic summer camp and murdered 69 children to prove how much he hated...
Read MoreDemocracy or Bust: Rules For a Feel-Good Revolution
Congratulations Egypt. In all seriousness, I’m happy to see that Mumbarak bitch go. You should all take note, I hated him before it was cool. Proof. But this isn’t about me, and me being a wise sage, or my beautiful flaxen locks, this is about…. other people? Over the last two weeks, Egypt has not only unseated a tyrant and got on thier way to a hastily essembled democracy, but they have schooled the world on how to run a successful and entertaining revolution. Not every uprising works. I’ve looked at the last fifty-odd years of revolution, and you’d be surprised how many either ended in terrible bloodshed or lasted so long that people just kind of got bored and wandered off. So to all of you potential...
Read MoreFun With Photoshop
On July 16, 1966, a time when infighting within the Communist Party of China was at it’s height, after the disaster of the Great Leap Forward, the People’s Daily released a photo of Chairman Mao swimming the Yangtze River. The photo was taken to prove that Mao was still a youthful and vigorous leader, capable of feats of strength even at age 72. Never the type to quit while they’re ahead, along with the photograph the People’s Daily reported that the rotund Chairman swam nearly 15 km in 65 minutes, which would have been a world record pace at the time. Now, Mao was known to be quite the swimmer in his youth, no one would argue with that, but that photo next to that inflated distance was just too much for some...
Read MoreAbout the Site
Polonoscopy is a site devoted to political fluff. While I do appreciate that there are important issues out there… with respect… eh… don’t really care. Not here anyway, not now, that is not what Polonoscopy is about. Fluff. It’s all about image and perception in politics. Rather than vote for someone based on a record of public service and commitment to the meaningful issues of the day, wouldn’t you rather vote for someone who’s personality seems similar if only slightly more impressive then your own? Of course, we all would.