The Democratic Murder Board | A Sassy Show on Danish Schooling

In March, President Donald Trump’s administration announced it would stop all foreign aid — including hundreds of millions of dollars already promised — to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala until those countries reduced the numbers of migrants fleeing to the United States. He faced flak over the decision: Lawmakers warned that he was just encouraging more migration by making the situation for people in those countries even more desperate.

Trump’s action went against conventional wisdom that foreign aid helps stop migration from poorer countries to richer ones. But studies of migration have failed to back up this assertion. In fact, a systemic analysis of existing work on the subject last year found that there is no clear evidence that foreign aid deters migration.

When preparing for a tough debate or interview, political operatives use what’s called a murder board. It’s the analysis of people who are meant to ask the toughest questions and expose weaknesses. Campaigns keep it private. No recordings, no documentation — it’s that revealing of a candidate’s mind-set.

In Tuesday night’s debate, we saw the Democratic candidates let the murder board loose for the entire nation to see. Watch Tim Ryan go after Bernie Sanders for his Medicare-for-All plan, only for the Democratic socialist to fire back defiantly, “I wrote the damn bill.” Or Elizabeth Warren, who, surrounded by moderates, struck back, “We are the Democrats, and we should stop using Republican talking points!”

Imagine, if you can, a world where the latest video games are nearly instantaneously available at the press of a spring-loaded button without waiting for a download. All you would have to do was set yourself up with a six-pack of Surge soda and a plate of microwaved Pizza Bagels and settle in for a night, afternoon or sick day home from school with a catalog of games far greater than what could probably fit on the wobbly plastic game storage shelf in the living room.

It’s a popular claim by acolytes of the house the blue hedgehog built that Sega was the most innovative and forward-thinking of game hardware companies during their all-too-brief reign. Their answer to the monochromatic Game Boy, the Game Gear hand-held, featured a full-color screen with a built-in light for gaming after bedtime a full eight years before the Game Boy Color did the same thing. Sega beat Nintendo to the punch again with motion controllers for the Dreamcast almost a decade before the Wii brought families together to flail their arms around in the living room. Sega’s ill-fated Dreamcast was also the first system to have a built-in modem for online play. And its Genesis system was way ahead of its time: With a special cartridge and subscription, it let you download some 50 games without a trip to the store.