Link roundup: The end of July edition

Here is a bunch of stuff I haven't had a chance to post. It's hard to believe that it is the end of July already. So far, it has been a pretty good summer. But, it will all be over in six weeks. Enjoy it while you can.

The answer is more debates

Hillary Clinton and John Edwards were reportedly talking about limiting debate participants the other night in this exchange caught on camera and hot mics, I believe by C-SPAN, after a recent debate:

If they are frustrated because they aren't getting enough face time or need more than 60 seconds to answer a question, and who can blame them for that, that is understandable. But, the answer isn't fewer debates or fewer people in the debates. The answer is more debates.
I'm not surprised that Hillary would try and limit the voices in the debate. She calls her speeches "listening tours" even though she doesn't do a lot of listening during them. However, I'm a bit taken aback by Edwards' move. He never looks bad in these things and Gravel and Kucinich going after the frontrunners only really hurts Clinton and Barack Obama, IMHO.

Here is another YouTube clip worth looking at, with Edwards really taking it home:


FCC Hearings

The FCC has been traveling around the country, holding hearings concerning problems with broadcast media consolidation. C-SPAN has aired a couple of the hearings and they've been pretty interesting to watch. Recently, they held one in Portland, Maine, the only hearing in New England. Dan Kennedy has a bit about the hearing here: ["Local media and the FCC"]. And here is a letter from a resident complaining about hearing: ["FCC didn't hear me"]. So much for these hearings being about the public talking about consolidation. As much as I enjoy working in the broadcast industry and respect many of my colleagues, for them to do this just to protect their corporate masters is just intolerable.

9-11

Congress finally passed a terrorism bill including recommendations from The 9-11 Commission: ["Congress Passes Major Anti-Terror Bill"]. I don't know if this means anything considering both The Commission and its report seem like quite the whitewash, especially when you look at some of the outstanding questions. Interestingly, at my job, I constantly get emails from Lee Hamilton's PR firm, pitching columns. Since we only publish local stuff at work, I wouldn't consider them there. I hadn't thought about whether or not I wanted to publish them here on Politizine. I usually just give them a cursory glance and then delete them.

Speaking of 9-11, this French official thinks Bush was involved: ["French officials suggests Bush was behind September 11"]. This blog post caused a furor at the Post: ["Blog post that made the N.Y. Post"]. And here is a Web site with a slew of resources on it: ["9-11 Review"]. One of those resources is this interesting picture of a woman waving from the plane hole: ["Person waving from the plane shape hole"]. As noted, if this floor was burning so hot that it basically melted the infrastructure of the tower, how could a person stand at the hole and wave for help? Of course, it could be a cool video trick. But I really wonder about this.

Carbon taxes

Roy Morrison continues his work on alternative energy, including a long report on building a sustainable electric grid in New Hampshire: ["EcoPowerHedge"]. Readers may recall that I linked comments by Al Gore promoting Morrison's carbon tax idea. Well, now another person has taken hold of it: ["Counting on Failure, Energy Chairman Floats Carbon Tax"].

Short takes

Here is a long piece about microchips worth the time it takes to read: ["Microchip Implants Raise Privacy Concern"]. And then there is this: ["Microchips mulled for HIV carriers in Indonesia"].
By accident, I found this pretty cool horror movie site: ["Bloody Disgusting"].
Another 2008 candidate? Possibly: ["General Zod 2008"].
Rightwing newspaper says it's time to go: ["Scaife-Owned Newspaper Calls for Iraq Troop Withdrawal -- Questions Bush's 'Mental Stability'"].
Kerry dishes some out: ["Kerry to Mitt: Who's flip-flopping now?"].
AP Poll: ["GOP pick is 'none of the above'"].
This guy isn't too happy: ["The Audacity of Fraud: How Barack Obama Is Losing My Vote"]. It should be noted that Foreign Affairs is published by the Council on Foreign Relations, the same think tank that is coming very close to suggesting that the United States basically absorb Mexico and Canada and make the best of it: ["Building a North American Community"]. GOP candidate Rep. Duncan Hunter was able to get his amendment to keep federal funds from going to the NAFTA Super Highway down in Texas: ["Hunter NAFTA Super Highway Amendment Passes House"].
Kristin Gore: Dad's not running: ["Gore Daughter: '08 Run Not Happening"].

Headline Roundup: Good Government?
It has been a quick few weeks since I've done any headline roundups. Sorry about that. Things have been a bit crazy but here are some of the things which have piqued my interest over the past few weeks.

Front page editorials: You gotta love 'em. And, almost no one does them anymore. This is too bad because it does bring you back to the classic days of the newspaper business.
Locally, the New Hampshire Union Leader has them every once in awhile, although they aren't as rough and tumble as the old days. Here is one from publisher Joe McQuaid from today's UL: ["Seatbelts good; big government force is bad"].
Most days, I wear my seatbelt. It's a no-brainer to wear your seatbelt. But that doesn't mean our state or nation needs a law forcing us to wear them. We simply don't. But that is what we are about to get here in the Granite State. McQuaid doesn't make the point of economics in his editorial today but it is an issue. This is a revenue stream for state and local governments and nothing more. Shame on them!
I admit, I voted for a lot of Democrats in 2006. I was angry like a lot of folks were and I wanted to make a major statement with my vote. In my neck of the woods, the Democrats always win anyway, so my votes for the state Legislatures weren't very meaningful. Although, my vote for one Republican, Rep. Liz Hager, admittedly, a liberal one, who I happen to like personally, probably helped her hold onto her seat because she only won by a measly 155 votes over someone named Karen Kelly.
At the same time, I didn't vote for Democrats so that they could turn New Hampshire into a nanny state. I also didn't vote them in to obsess over social issues which often distract us from more important issues like economics and education. I voted to send a Democrat to Congress so he would work to end this stupid war. I voted to send Democrats to the Legislature so they would work with Gov. John Lynch to fix the education problem and eliminate the broad-based property tax.
So far, they've haven't gotten the job done and they have been there for months.
Instead, the Legislature has spent time rescinding the rights of parents to know if their under-age daughters are getting abortions, passing a useless resolution against the Iraq war, and is now looking at passing a seatbelt law [Yeah, I know, I know, it was Hager's bill to rescind the rights of parents on the abortion. We'll agree to disagree on that issue]. Maybe it's bad PR, but I doubt it. I normally wouldn't have a problem with a resolution on the Iraq issue but there is too much work to be done to waste the Legislature's time on such things. That is the Congress' job. The Legislature should leave the federal issues to the federal candidates and work on issues they actually have jurisdiction over.
I truly hope that the Democrats in this state can get back on track or they will probably find themselves out of power just as quickly as they got in.

FCC makes good: Over the years, I, and others, have been really disappointed in the FCC. They have done some pretty ridiculous things. But today, they made good. And the next time you are on a long trip on a plane, you can thank them for this one: ["FCC Says 'No' to Cell Phones on Planes"].
Cellphones, as I've written before, are great tools. They shouldn't be treated as toys, even though they are. Almost all of us who have them have come to rely on them and we wouldn't know what to do without them. However, when you are trapped somewhere, the last thing you want is some yahoo yacking on his cellphone. Sure, we can put on our headphones and ignore it. But this change wasn't needed. And we can award the FCC with a big Thank You!

An aware government?: As we complain about government, it is important to recognize when governments do good things. Let's take a look at one recent example, in France, where the government has decided to release its UFO files: ["France opens secret UFO files covering 50 years"]. Wow. Fifty years? Amazing. The article gives the official site but it is useless to those of us who don't know French.
Speaking of space, I continue to be fascinated by stuff going on in space, including these very cool pictures of the sun: ["Dazzling new images reveal the 'impossible' on the Sun"].

Two bogus stories which make we wonder about things. First, the National Organization for Women has to complain about this one: ["NOW Demands Access to Program Geared to Fathers"]. Like, can't fathers get a break?
And then this, a questionable report about who pays taxes in America: ["Who Pays America's Tax Burden, and Who Gets the Most in Government Spending?"]. I'm sorry, this study just doesn't wash. You can prove almost anything with numbers, especially when you don't count corporate welfare, giveaways, and subsidies, which almost always go to the more affluent. Just counting welfare and poor people's programs skews the numbers. I will update this with a bit more in-depth analysis in the future.

My dad has a hot new band that is all the rage in South Florida: [Sol Expressions]

Lastly, a long, but good, article on NPR: ["Has Success Spoiled NPR?"].

Here are some quick political headlines:

The first quarter money numbers are in and here are the details.

For the Dems:
Sen. Hillary Clinton: $26 million-plus.
Former Sen. John Edwards: $14 million-plus.
Gov. Bill Richardson: $6 million.
Sen. Chris Dodd: $4 million.
Sen. Joe Biden: About $3 million.
Sen. Barack Obama: Unknown but expected to be close to Hillary's numbers.

For the GOP:
Former Gov. Mitt Romney: About $20 million.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani: $17 million.
Sen. John McCain: $12.5 million.
Sen. Sam Brownback: $1.3 million.
Rep. Tom Tancredo: ABout $1 million.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee: About $500,000.

The figures don't include money transferred from previous accounts, just funds which were raised in the quarter. Money transfers don't count. As I find more numbers for the other candidates, I will post updates.

The firefighters continue to go after Giuliani: ["Giuliani Faces Questions About Sept. 11"]

MSNBC eyes New Hampshire 2008 Senate race: ["Sununu seems beatable, but by whom?"]

Sunday night thoughts
Alright, I'm done working for the night and I figured I would put together a post. Thanks to all the new people who have been visiting the site lately. Here are some of the things I've been thinking about lately, in no particular order.

Good band names
I mentioned recently that I thought Tina Fey's Scar would be a cool band name. Well, I found another one from this band who is on Fenway Recordings: Cold War Kids. That kinda tells you what the band is thinking about when they came up with the name. Another one? Bullet For My Valentine. I think they are a metal band. Don't know a thing about 'em but you can see something dark and violent in that name. There are others, I'm sure, but those are just a couple I've seen recently.

Gloating Dems
The Mark Foley scandal has unleashed a bit of over-confidence over at DailyKos, IMHO. The Dems are just giddy about their prospects in the mid-terms and that almost always leads to disaster. The Kool-Aid drinking crowd are so obsessed on their computers, they could miss the big one again. Can anyone say President Howard Dean?
But why shouldn't they gloat a little? It's been a rough couple of years. And maybe it is time for a major shift after watching what the Republican-led Congress has done to the nation. But, as Jesse Jackson once said, "Now is not the time to gloat!"
The biggest fear I have from watching all these folks is that they are so caught up in polls and noodling on their computers that they are probably aren't investing the time they need to in the field organizations of their candidates. It is the lifeblood of politics - not blogs, not ads, not goofing around in chat rooms - but ground assault field organizations.

Speaking of Dean
If the Dems take back the House, it won't be because of Rep. Nancy Pelosi and it won't be because of Rep. John Murtha and it won't be because of Bob Woodward's book or the admissions in it and it won't be because of the GOP stumbling all over the place. It will be, however, because of DNC Chairman Howard Dean's insistence that the Dems run a 50-state strategy. This strategy laid the groundwork for people to have at least a second choice in most Congressional districts [they should have four or five choices but that's a discussion for another time ... or probably another decade at the rate we are going]. It effectively put the Dems in play in many places which they would have normally not run a candidate. As part of the 50-state strategy, Dean also put all available monies into hiring campaign staff in red states to build field organizations in places where Dems haven't been competitive. If the House shifts to the Dems, and they only need 15 seats, Dean will be the one that Democrats can thank for thinking ahead and planning the assault.

'Beam me up, Scotty!'
I don't know if anyone else saw this but it is pretty cool: ["Scientists teleport two different objects"]. Science is so cool.

FCC Roundtables
One of the things which was brought up at the NAB Radio Show by the two FCC members in attendance was the fact that they were going to be meeting with a number of people around the country who are concerned about media consolidation. It seems as though the first one of these meetings has happened: ["Consolidation in Media Is Called Stifling"]. And this one, on becoming the media: ["Pirate radio challenges U.S. officials as it proliferates"].

Frist: Give it back to the Taliban
Just in case you were wondering what we were fighting for in Afghanistan, Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist believes we should let the Taliban have a role in the Afghani government: ["U.S. Senate majority leader calls for efforts to bring Taliban into Afghan government"]. Of course, this is the same Taliban who gave comfort to Usama bin Ladin and the same people who are killing our troops as we try to stabilize their government and economy ... and get the UNOCAL pipeline built. Unbelievable ... but actually not that unbelievable if you really think about it.

The FCC indecency obsession

The Federal Communications Commission has been on a real tear lately in the wake of Justin Timberlake ripping Janet Jackson's top and having her boob flop out during the Super Bowl half time show.
Other offensive material during that broadcast - like those Cialis commercials which now run non-stop on TV, at all hours - seem to have gotten by the FCC. Maybe they all have erectial dysfunction problems or something, I don't know.
The FCC has also targeted Howard Stern for I think - good reasons, coming from a First Amendment advocate like myself. If Stern's show were on late night instead of the early morning, it wouldn't be such a problem. But when he tells a woman that he is so hot for her that he wants to cut off her head and rape her neck socket [an actual statement I heard Stern say once], I think it might be time to look at Stern's programming hour.
Sidebar: Strangely, the FCC isn't upset about a statement about raping a woman's neck socket - which he said a year or two ago - they are upset about the nudity and sex talk, which says a lot about the FCC's current tirades. IMHO, the nudity is amusing to watch on E! but annoying to listen to on the radio. Stern is currently threatening to go to one of the pay-to-listen satellite radio networks where he assumes he would be free from "censorship."

But now, the FCC is branching out - looking at the soap opera industry: ["FCC leader to stay tuned to racy soaps"] and maybe it is about time. Daily serials or soap operas are very racy indeed: rape, murder, and adultery, are all regular occurences on the daytime soaps. I know - I'm married to a "General Hospital" fan and when I was in high school, I was a regular watcher of both "GH" and "One Life to Live" [Yeah, I know, pretty pathetic. But it is similar to my fascination with pro-wrestling and the drama and plot lines, etc.].
However, maybe it is time for them to start looking at soaps. If Stern is fair game and a tassled Jackson tit is an outrage, they should turn on the daytime serials. And yeah, they should also look at how "Oprah!" has discussed some of the same sexual subject matters. Some of these shows are so over the top. And while they are at it, maybe the FCC should look at country music too! During the record labeling phase of the 1980s - when Tipper Gore was abusing her husband's power in the senate to flail against Twisted Sister, the Dead Kennedys and Frank Zappa - almost nothing was said about country music's offensive lyrics about adultery, murder, revenge, violence, etc. Country music was just as violent and "immoral" as punk rock or metal was. And we all know why Tipper didn't say word one about country music but attacked "violent" punks and metalheads [and later rap]: Country music fans are a more potent voting bloc!
I'll admit, I have mixed feelings about what the FCC is doing.
On the one side, there are some seriously offensive things on TV and radio right now which are regularly exposed to children and can easily be contributing to our accelerated violent society. But it isn't just the sex stuff, which the FCC seems obsessed with. It is violence. It is also commercials and consumerism bombarding the minds of kids. And there is almost no discussion about the corporatization of media interests into a few hands - which has clearly limited the voices on the airwaves to those who can afford to own them.
On the other side, there are the more libertarian-minded who say the government shouldn't limit any speech and people like Stern are unfairly being targeted by religious zealots. There is some truth to this. People can just shut off the radio. But some balance between the two is what is needed. There is a fine line between infringing on the First Amendment and keeping severely harmful material away from children. Frankly for the same reasons we wouldn't trust Clinton's FCC we shouldn't trust Bush's FCC either. The politization of the media is what makes it all dangerous. The Bush FCC is clearly motivated by preserving its religious base - similar to what Hillary Clinton tried to do by attacking the "vast rightwing conspiracy" - which pleased the liberal base.
In the end, we must remember that these are the people's airwaves. Currently, the people are being ruled by Bush and his misguided religious conservatives who wouldn't know the path of Jesus Christ if they tripped over it. They are going to try and get smut off the air. And some of this is good. The key will be to keep a very close eye on what they go after - and make sure it doesn't fringe on a broadcaster's political rights.