The Daily Background

Uh-oh. You must have mistakenly wandered into my boring ‘about me’ page expecting to find something interesting here. Sorry to disappoint.

My name is Arlen Parsa. I’m a full-time college student majoring in documentary film at a midwestern arts and media school. I’m originally from the Northeast, (New Hampshire’s second Congressional district, if you care), and consider that my home, despite only spending most of each year at school in Chicago. I’ve been a blogger since 2004, but The Daily Background has only existed since December 4th, 2005.

I blog about politics and current events from a progressive point of view.

My writing and analysis have been referenced and/or linked to by the Reuters news service, The San Francisco Chronicle, a New York Times blog, a USA Today blog, Raw Story, Slate, The Columbia Journalism Review Online, Salon, The Center for American Progress Progress Report, MyDD, The Inquirer, The Huffington Post, C|Net, and some of the most influential blogs on the internet (such as Daily Kos, Americablog, Crooks & Liars, Shakespeare’s Sister, Feministing, ThinkProgress, BuzzFlash, Wonkette, Pandagon, Boing Boing, TalkLeft, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Firedoglake, The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh, War & Piece, Dvorak Uncensored, and Tech President among others).

In July 2007 I wrote an exclusive report that ABC News’ Investigative Unit picked up. I’ve also been seen on the front pages of Slashdot, Digg, and Reddit, Metafilter, College Humor, and others. Additionally, I’ve had work published at Truthout, IraqSlogger, BradBlog, Scoop.co.nz, The Columbia Chronicle, and been featured on the radio a couple times.

Oh, and Townhall.com bloggers National Review Online bloggers, Hot Air, Protein Wisdom, and The John Birch Society have cited me. I still can’t get over those ones.