“Whatever the effects of Specter’s defection, one can certainly say this of the Senate in the supposed age of postpartisanship: Of the 99 senators, 95 remain safely ensconced in their parties, huddling together for warmth.”

“With the Virginia Democratic primary just a few weeks away, that state’s gubernatorial contest offers the most significant early test of the broad mainstream impact of the Internet and new technologies on campaigning. And the four candidates have spent thousands of dollars in online advertising, hired top-flight Internet consultants and built elaborate Web sites.”

“For a century or so newspapers in the United States relied on the patronage of political parties; many papers abroad still do. In the 19th-century parties were replaced by the makers of consumer goods, who are now abandoning news media in favor of e-commerce sites and search-engine advertising.

“Who are the new subsidizers? In the Op-Ed model it’s the contributing journalists themselves. Either they’re donating their work outright or they’re selling it for a fraction of what reporters who were making a living from it would need. Either way, the journalists are paying.

“It’s not an ideal setup, but then, every subsidy system has its own drawbacks and distortions — partisan corruption when the parties ran the press, slobbering over local capitalists when the advertisers wrote the checks.”

“Daring to ask the questions no one else will, the filmmakers invite the world to rethink the fight against poverty in Africa. Could our good intentions be causing more harm than good? Have humanitarian interventions prolonged suffering? Who is actually benefiting from our good intentions? These questions and many more are addressed for the first time ever in this groundbreaking feature length film. If you ever wanted to know what happened to the $10 dollars you donated to charity last year, look no further. This film will change the way you look at charity in Africa forever.”