About 10 years ago (perhaps not that long, but it feels like it), I did something really stupid. I gave $25 to the Kerry campaign. It was right after he hooked up with Edwards, when many of us were dewey eyed with our liberal theologies and that nascent hope that W could be vanquished. I gave online. I clicked a box on an email. I was a reporter at the time, so I probably shouldn’t have done it.

More recently (five years ago? Who knows, everything gets cloudy when you move to a foreign country and politicians start campaigning from the crib), I contributed $25 to Barack Obama. A volunteer called me on the phone. She was nice. I respect people who sacrifice their personal time for a cause they believe in. She said uplifting stuff about social justice. White girls are a sucker for that line. She knew it.

*Note to men: If you ever want to get a progressive girl into bed, all you have to do is tell her that you love "social justice and giving sight to the blind." You’ll have to dig up a few articles from The Economist or The New Yorker to back it up. It’s not that hard.

Anyway, because of my past foolishness, I have to delete email campaign contribution requests from Obama every day.

Will I call a friend? No.

Will I join a canvassing party? I live in Korea. And thank god I do because before moving here I was already broke from my meager reporter’s salary and high oil prices.

Hillary doesn’t even try to stalk me. I must’ve been "tagged" early as an Obama supporter. This is what I got Saturday:

"Senator Clinton has decided to use her resources to wage a negative, throw-everything-including-the-kitchen-sink campaign. John McCain has clinched the Republican nomination and is attacking us daily. But I will continue to vigorously defend my record and make the case for change that will improve the lives of all Americans."

When aren’t politicians waging a negative campaign? You all claim to promote changes that will improve the lives of all Americans.

Instead of giving your $25 to put more ads on CBS, why not send it to 826CHI, a literacy program in Chicago (find it online at www.826chi.org). Then take W’s rebate check and save it. Invest it yourself rather than handing it over to the Man to buy more shit that you don’t need. But keep $25 and get a box of Leffe, or a case of cab sauv if that’s your thing. You’re going to need it to get through this political war. 

Becky Ann Bosshart

Vanity Fair‘s new issue features a big, glossy spread about famous funny women. A year ago this same magazine ran Christopher Hitchens’ piece about why chicks aren’t funny, in response to which women with nothing better to do stood up and proclaimed that they, too, laugh at fart jokes (I don’t) or proved Hitchens’ point by acting, you know, humorless, and even suggesting censorship.

Now the funny females are getting their due in what is essentially another celebrity rag. Except, I never cared in the first place. So a bloated Brit had an opinion — why should I care? The last line of the article, provided by Tina Fey: "[She] says that there are people who continue to insist that women are not funny. ‘You still hear it,’ she says. ‘It’s just a lot easier to ignore.’"

Jennifer Leblanc

Toward the end of every year, it seems warnings resume anew about an inevitable fare increase for subway riders.

The discussion between the transit authority, politicians, union groups, and advocacy organizations feels almost scripted.

MTA: Remember that $32 billion we borrowed over the last 25 years? Well, the bill’s coming due. Time to raise fares.

Governor Spitzer: On behalf of all of the low-income workers in New York City, this is an injustice! There must be something we can do. As you know, my proposed legislation to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants failed, so I am jumping on the "no fare increase" bandwagon to divert all of that bad publicity.

Straphangers Campaign: Can’t the MTA wait at least until March 2008 to raise fares? That’s when they submit their five-year, multi-billion dollar capital rebuilding plan for approval. Seems kind of short-sighted to ask for an increase now. Anyone?

Mayor Bloomberg: No comment.

MTA: Wait just a minute! What do we have here? Looks like we found $220 million laying around in this old shoebox marked "Extra money." Guess we don’t need to increase fares in 2008 after all.

Governor Spitzer: Whew! But come to think of it, Albany is running at a $4.3 billion defecit. We should at least raise the unlimited Metrocard fares. Four percent seems like just the right amount not to ruffle any feathers.

Straphangers Campaign: Well that about does it. See you this time next year.

Jacquelin Cangro

As much as I enjoy paying for the right to view movies, it can get a little tough in Seoul where English movies, especially the non-big-budget ones, are hard to come by. So, like everyone else over here, I watch them on the Internet. While relaxing at home on my bed. Laying in the sunlight. It’s been a gray week in Seoul. Squinting at the screen. Video piraters are not known for a high-quality product.

An interuption here. I’ll never buy another pirated video, though. I purchased what I thought was all three Godfather movies from a street vendor. It contained two blank disks. I got the best one, number one, but I really, really wanted number two. What a waste of 10,000 won. I suppose it was the karma fairy exacting her penalty.

I watched Be Kind Rewind. At first I was a bit incredulous. But it got me in the scene where Mos Def and Jack Black attempt to reshoot Ghostbusters, including the famous (ok, to me) opening scene with the librarian. The movie touched on all those themes that white people love: (please see the blog www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com for clarification on this statement) gentrification, community involvment, and the corporate strong arm.

Watch it. For free or not. Perhaps we’ve entered a time when art can be free to the masses via a solid Internet connection. À la Radiohead. Of course, they already had a following. I don’t suppose this movement helps all you starving artists out there. But I should talk, my field (print reporting) is becoming obsolete because of Internet reporting and blogging. But that’s another story.

I’m falling in love with State Radio’s new album Year of the Crow. Check them out online at www.stateradio.com. They are intellectual. Angry. Punk. Sometimes acoustic. All you Dispatch fans will likey. My favorites: "The Story of Benjamin Darling" and "The Fall of the American Empire."

Becky Ann Bosshart