Katrina & The Media
Is it just me or does it seem that the media has actually re-grown a spine? It just seems that even the normally “softball” reporters are taking out bats when they are interviewing government officials.
What does it mean to lose New Orleans?
One of my brothers emailed this to me. It’s a pretty good op-ed piece by Anne Rice in the New York Times :
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html?pagewanted=1
(BTW, www.bugmenot.com is your friend)
Katrina
My thoughts & prayers go to the people of Louisiana & Mississippi.
My money goes to :
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/news/katrina.cfm
My anger goes toward the ineptness of the government to respond in a timely manner to this crisis.
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Related
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FYI, Info on Tulane University :
http://emergency.tulane.edu/
More Wright is wrong
Southwest brings Maryland One to Love field.
The Wright Amendment
Just a quick political rant. I’m not sure if you are aware but there is a Federal law called the Wright amendment(see Shelby act as well) that prevents Love Field in Dallas from having flights to any states that do not touch TX. In theory this helps the economy, in reality it makes us pay artificially inflated rates for airlines since competition is stifled (read as: AA is afraid of competing directly
with Southwest and other low-cost carriers).
For more info :
http://www.setlovefree.com/
http://www.fightwright.org/
For the opposing view :
http://www.keepdfwstrong.com/
My favorite quote concerning DFW airport’s “impartial” review of opening Love field up is :
“What we got was a 15 page PowerPoint presentation with no concrete examples or explanation of the modeling scenario that was used that rambled on about how Southwest would devastate the International Flights (ahem…. SWA is a domestic airline). Each scenario seemed to lead to a 31-square mile smoking crater between Irving and Hurst. It focuses on worst-case scenarios and regrettably does not have a “best case” scenario. When reading it, note one important thing: The word
AIRFARE does not appear in the report. Not even once. Since it was a report to study the economic effects of repealing the Wright Amendment, not mentioning airfare is truly a smoking gun result. It either means that SH&E is incompetent or DFW micromanaged that report from day one.”
The good news is that TX Rep Sam Johnson announced yesterday that he and TX Rep. Hensarling are going to work towards repealing this. If they are your reps then write and thank them and if they’re not poke your Rep with a stick, while you are at it you may want to poke the TX Senators with a stick to get them on the bandwagon as well. If your Rep is Rep. Joe Barton, find a bigger stick as Barton said he will “vigorously fight any effort to repeal that measure.”
As always you can reach your congressional peeps at :
www.house.gov
www.senate.gov
Of course, since it is a Federal law, anyone in any state can get their Reps and Senators looking at this as well.
If you can’t fix your problems … blame television
Seems that Tom Delay is attempting to get his own show “Law & Order : Wag the Dog” :
Take a look at this CNN article.
Broadcast flag struck down
Waving the Flag
As I’m sure you are aware the FCC is mandating that all new TV receivers process a Broadcast flag starting on July 1, 2005 (just 3 days before Independence day).
Why should you care?
The broadcast flag, as a side-effect, limits what you can or can’t record, or if interpreted “nicely” will let you record a low-quality version of the TV program but only on a flag compliant piece of hardware/software.
So this is affecting only cable and satellite right?
Actually, no, this is affecting what you receive over the airwaves via your rabbit ears. Satellite and cable use their own proprietary mechanisms for transmission which may or may not incorporate a broadcast flag-like “feature”.
Why did we need this?
The government wants the transition to digital tv broadcasts to happen sooner rather than later but until 85% of the country is able to receive digital broadcasts it can’t happen. And once the transition happens, the government will be able to auction off the newly available spectrum and make $$$. In order to help our government, several motion picture studios “selflessly” offered to provide “exclusive” digital tv content to woo us to go out and buy new TVs but, they would only do this if their transmissions were not able to be copied and thus, the broadcast flag was born.
Well, if the FCC is mandating it, they must have a mandate from an act of congress because they cannot unilaterally do such a thing, right?
You would think that but you would be wrong. Although the FCC does not technically have the power to force this on electronic manufacturers without a congressional mandate, it seems to think it does… which is what makes this whole deal kinda shaky.
Who proposed the broadcast flag? A standards body?
No, it was Fox and was subsequently ratified by the ATSC as an “optional” part of the ATSC digital TV standard.
Does the MPAA support this?
Yes.
Does the EFF support this?
No.
Does HDNET the only 100% digital broadcaster support this?
No.
But it is in court right now and the judges don’t seem to like it, case closed right?
Not quite. Although the judges believe the FCC overstepped its bound, the court is also not sure that the case was brought up by the right people, i.e. the library groups and EFF do not neccessarily represent the people potentially affected by the broadcast flag. So although the FCC is wrong it may be allowed to continue on its merry way.
Where can I find more information on this :
MPAA FAQ with EFF Commentary
G4 TECH TV Broadcast Flag FAQ
Broadcast Flag in the News (and currently in Court)
Man builds Giant Robot to defend Home
OK … maybe that title is a little far fetched, but according to this article on Engadget and the original link from CNET News, a man in Alaska is building a Giant Robot/Exoskeleton in his backyard. He plans to be finished by next summer and then plans to go to the local racetrack and test out the “mecha’s” destructive uses on some old cars.
Dude, a linguistic Study
If you have ever found yourself using the word dude then you should head over to take a sneak peek at this CNN article.A linguist at the University of Pittsburgh has written a paper on the subject which, among other things, discusses the “effortless kinsmanship” that the word brings.
So here’s to you dudes!
IPPA stripped of bad mojo
According to this article, the Senate seems to have heard the people.
Unless I’m reading things incorrectly its now :
- *more* illegal to film movies in theatres
- *more* ok to skip through parts of films
- *more* difficult for promoters to take advantage of professional boxers
IPPA still trekking …
Nothing much really new to say on the subject of HR2391. Here’s another article on the matter.
A good quote from John McCain in the article: “Do we really expect to throw people in jail in 2004 for behavior they’ve been engaged in for more than a quarter century?” Did I mention I really like John McCain … but only in a political way.
Now Reading
Planned books:
None
Current books:
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The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time, Book 4) by Robert Jordan
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A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3) by George R.R. Martin
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1776 by David McCullough
Recent books:
- Lamb by Christopher Moore
- The Demonata #6: Demon Apocalypse (Demonata) by Darren Shan
- A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2) by George R.R. Martin
- The Demonata #5: Blood Beast (Demonata) by Darren Shan
- Demonata #4, The: Bec: Book 4 in the Demonata series (Demonata) by Darren Shan
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