I never cease to be amazed at how overtly racist Fox News folks can get. Gibson and O'Reilly are at best, incredibly racially insensitive, and at worst - flat out crackers.

Here's my latest from The OH REALLY? Factor. All abstracted symbols are totally intentional.

Just a hair more after the flip...

First a little background: I'm working on a sabbatical project this semester that allows me to create as many snarky political videos as my little heart desires. I do take requests, as well. With that out of the way, here's my initial entry...

More after the jump...

I'm no mathematician (as anyone who has read my previous diaries can attest) but can someone explain to me how a 5 dollar jump in crude oil prices brings about a 50 cent to 1 dollar jump in the price of a gallon of gasoline?

A quick Google search reveals that a barrel of crude on average produces 19.5 gallons of gasoline.

I know there are other costs involved in the process, but someone is getting rich as hell off these profits, and consumers on the edge of making ends meet are getting screwed.

THE RANT BEGINS AFTER THE BREAK.

I decided to build a flash game where you can hunt with Cheney.

I hate to beg, but please recommend - I'd love to have people play it.

First, get the free Flash 8 player:

http://www.macromedia.com/...

Then head to the extended section to play.

I'm posting this is response to comments in the NE-Sen: Nelson comfortably ahead main page thread.

Nebraska is a little bit goofy from an electoral standpoint, and as a die-hard liberal living in red state central, I want to post some stats and observations about Nebraska for folks from the coasts, and more importantly - dense population areas.

First, the disclaimer. I'm a graphic designer, not a social scientist - so I look at things from a target audience point of view. I'm used to seeing a large group of folks, and trying to find the best way to visually communicate with them. My conclusions are just my opinion, and are likely skewed because of my political and social leanings. That being said, I'm pretty damn good at empathizing with folks - or I'd be dead professionally. And, I have friends and family out-state in those rural areas. They aren't clueless, evil or stupid. They are just insulated from diverse opinions.

So, on to the Extended for some facts and observations.

From dictionary.com:

com·mis·sar (km-sär) n.

1. An official of the Communist Party in charge of political indoctrination and the enforcement of party loyalty.

2. The head of a commissariat in the Soviet Union until 1946.

3. A person who tries to control public opinion.

Sound familiar?

Make no mistake, that DOD official that "coached" the troops in the Tikrit photo op acted as a commissar in the US military.

There have been lots of diaries and theories about how the Democrats lost the election. Personally, I think the recent statements from James Carville are dead-on accurate - you need a narrative to effectively communicate a message.

However, the visual communcation (graphic design) of that message is extremely important, and the DNC completely blew it in 2004.

That's right. The visuals that accompanied the Kerry campaign actually reflected the Bush criticisms about Kerry, effectively reinforcing the Republican narrative.

As we learned in 2000 with flawed ballot designs - design matters. Read on in the extended entry to see some examples of what I'm talking about.