Friday, May 30, 2003

Lynda Barry. Solar System [Salon.com] 9:36:28 PM    comment []

Waggy Dog Stories. The movie "Wag the Dog" told a tale of an administration creating a war in order to divert attention away from scandal. The Bush administration seems to be imitating art. By Paul Krugman. [New York Times: Opinion] 4:28:59 PM    comment []

Save Our Spooks. After 71 days of searching in Iraq, we have not found any weapons of mass destructions. Oh well, maybe we'll find them tomorrow or the day after. By Nicholas D. Kristof. [New York Times: Opinion] 4:28:39 PM    comment []

P H R A C K : R E L O A D E D : CALL FOR PAPERS. Deadline: Friday the 18th of July. 4:18:23 PM    comment []

From Benton Headlines: Monopoly Or Democracy? [Commentary] On the eve of the FCC's deadline for ruling on a proposal to relax its media ownership regulations, media mogul Ted Turner of AOL Time Warner expressed his personal opposition to the commission's impending actions. If these [proposed] rules had been in place in 1970, it would have been virtually impossible for me to start Turner Broadcasting or, 10 years later, to launch CNN, said Turner, who feels that the new measures will stifle debate, inhibit competition and prevent smaller companies from competing in the marketplace. Rallying against the notion that bigger is better, Turner notes that smaller companies that are less bound to profit maximization and more willing to take risks are the source of new ideas. Furthermore, he fears that news services will pare down their workforce and offer fewer divergent viewpoints in the news, with some large companies slanting their reporting to curry favor with the government or advance their owners' ideology. Turner closes with a call to action even if the FCC opts to deregulate. Congress has the power to amend the rule changes. Members from both parties oppose the new rules. This isn't over. SOURCE: The Washington Post; AUTHOR: Ted Turner Why The Fcc Is Wrong On Media Ownership [Commentary] Citing the diverse population of interest groups standing together in support of current media ownership rules, ZDNet AnchorDesk's David Coursey outlines another argument against the FCC's impending action. Coursey focuses on the issue of localism. The people who run broadcast companies should live in the communities they serve, he writes. And the ownership, as much as possible, should be there as well. He believes the owners should be responsible to their fellow residents, not enthroned in a New York or Hollywood office complex. Coursey also challenges the notion that the Internet provides a viable alternative to TV, radio and newspaper, noting that many sites are operated by the same six media conglomerates that control traditional media and that those companies, given more power to merge, could wield tremendous power over the future of broadband. SOURCE: ZDNet; AUTHOR: David Coursey Protestors Challenge Proposed Media Deregulation Rules Protestors around the US staged demonstrations against the FCC's plans to roll back media ownership rules. In Los Angeles, protestors picketed local Clear Channel outlet KFI Radio with signs reading "No Choice, No Voice: Reclaim Our Airwaves." The protestors argued that Clear Channel, through its 1200 stations around the country, stifles local voices by filling the airwaves with generic, nationally-oriented content. "We're frozen out," said Karen Pomer, a member of the group Code Pink, which organized the protest. "All of this is benefiting conservative voices." At a similar protest in New York City, 150 people gathered outside the offices of Clear Channel station WWPR. "We'll have only one parent company preprogramming everything we read and see and hear across the United States and it will be one-sided," said Sherry Bender, a physical therapist who took part in the NYC protest. SOURCE: San Francisco Examiner; Author: Gary Gentile, Associated Press 2:04:28 PM    comment []

Nigerian ''scammer'' sends ''victim'' $3.00. 12. Also, will you bring the rest of the CASH to Manila, or wire it in advance? I am concerned because Africa is a DANGEROUS PLACE, and if you walk around with $15 million, maybe someone will HIT YOU ON THE HEAD and take it. That would be such a VIOLENT TRAGEDY! We need to THINK, and BE CAREFUL, and PRAY TO GOD that all goes well! Maybe you can hire a SECURITY BODYGUARD to FOLLOW YOU AROUND, which rich people do here all the time? and later 2. We have one PROBLEM I am ashamed to raise but WE MUST ADDRESS!!! The Deputy Manager is my wife's 2nd cousin and we MUST FOLLOW his instructions or I am in the DOGHOUSE for LIFE. He exploded when we said we would transfer the money right away. He said, "YOU TELL THAT PYGMY-BRAINED SON OF YOURS HE HAS TO PROVE HIMSELF TO US FIRST! HE MUST WIRE US MONEY FIRST, EVEN IF IT IS JUST $3, TO PROVE HIS INTEGRITY AND SINCERITY! . . . . " I tried to REASON with him, I said you have NO MONEY, NOTHING, that is was all lost and BURNED! He said, "Even a beggar can get $3.00! Surely he has $3.00!!! Let him PROVE HIS INTEGRITY and then WE WILL TRANSFER THE MONEY TO ACCRA-GHANA STRAIGHT AWAY". and later a reply PLEASE I WANT TO KNOW MY QUICK REPLY FOR ME TO KNOW WHERE AND WHERE I WILL START FROM BECAUSE I AM GETTING FEED-UP WITH ALL THIS KIND OF THINGS. REMEMBER WHEN YOU ASK US TO GIVE YOU CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT WE GAVE IT YOU, YOU ASK OF [$3.00] WE STILL GAVE IT TO YOU. EVEN THE MONEY YOU WILL RECEIVE WE SEND THE PICTURE TO YOU, BUT WHY ARE YOU NOT STRAIGHT FORWARD TO US. WHEN WE ARE FAITHFULL TO YOU I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR MIND. PLEASE IF YOU KNOW YOU REALLY WANT TO HELP US PLEASE DO SEND THE MONEY THROUGH WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER BECAUSE I AM NOT READY TO GO AND MEET ANYBODY AGIN, Loads of other coverage on A blog doesn't need a clever name, including this correspondence with Kris Kringle from December. 1:04:14 PM    comment []

Fingerprint scanner to ID school children: Board votes to spend $700,000 on system, privacy advocates cry foul. (WorldNetDaily) Students in an Ohio public school district will be fingerprinted to identify them in lunch lines, raising privacy concerns among parents. The Akron school board approved, 5-2, a request for $700,000 to modernize its cafeterias, agreeing to pilot the system this fall at a middle school, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. . . . One board member who voted against the measure, Rebecca Heimbaugh, echoed some of the parents' concerns. I do not believe that any parent or any student has ever had the expectation that in order to go through the lunch line or to buy a cookie or carton of milk that they or their children would be requested to first be fingerprinted, she told the Akron paper. (thanks, Paul!) 3:00:58 AM    comment []