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60 Minutes on Bumfights, brain surgery

I watched 60 Minutes for the first time in ages on Sunday. There was a decent segment on the recent rash of attacks by teenagers on homeless people. Apparently, Bumfights -- a series of videos produced by scary white boys who assault homeless men and pay them to hurt themselves on camera -- has inspired several dolts to imitate what they've seen on screen and brutally batter homeless men. After watching the segment, I think I know how they feel, because I desperately wanted to throw a brick at the TV and pummel the smug dickwad who created Bumfights.

The interview took a predictable course, with Ed Bradley blaming Dickwad for the copycat crimes. But, despite my loathing of the kid, I found the exchange kind of ironic considering that, in the same program, 60 Minutes ran a favorable story on a dubious new surgical procedure designed to treat depression. "Deep brain stimulation" -- at least at this point in time -- is highly risky and experimental (involves inserting electronic "nerve stimulators" in the brain) and yet 60 Minutes promoted it on national television, all but guaranteeing that people are going to start demanding it before it's been properly tested. The episode reminded me of the medical disasters Elliot Valenstein documented in his brilliant history of the lobotomy. Scary stuff.