Media Watch

This is clearly not a small thing. Podcasting has unquestionably hit the maintream -- repeatedly. And they're not just 2-5 minute 'casts; I frequently see mainstream media producing 20 to 60-minute shows, some longer. Podcasts are largely free, although some big names, like Rush Limbaugh, have managed to collect a fee from their fanbase in exchange for their exclusive content. For those that stumbled across this post accidentally, Podcasting is an audio (and video, in some cases) form of "blogging", using a communications protocol known as RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, which enables anyone to automatically receive feeds to which they subscribe, similar to email. Wired News: Tracking Rita: Interactive

Read carefully this story. It says, in essence, that the President cannot manage, for its definition is "getting things done through other people". This imbecile couldn't lead a dog catcher. Health Emergency Declared for Texas, La. - Yahoo! News

My advice to the right-wingers in American politics is this: beware! The open source community is mobilizing to shut you down. I don't know from where, but the 'libs' are going to hunt you down and take away your 'G' membership cards. Just giving you fair warning. Peace out.

Despite clear and documented evidence to the contrary, US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist maintains ignorance to his own assets. Frist's sale of the "blind trust" fetched an undisclosed amount, but his earlier statements indicate values in the range of $7 to $35 million. Okay. We don't know if this particular transaction was illegal or not, but we damn-well know now that the Frist family are the epitomy of the bloated & greedy healthcare industry -- being the largets for-profit hospital company in America. One quesiton certainly looms: do you trust Senator Frist to be the next leader of the free world? Just asking. Prosecutors, SEC Probe Frist Stock Sale - Yahoo! News

New University of Iowa law professor (and former Bostonian) Erin Buzuvis apparently came to Hawkeye country to make trouble. She says Coach Hayden Fry promoted homophobia by having the visitor locker room at Kinnick Stadium painted pink and plans to change her new home. Doggonit! I knew that should have been a screening question in the hiring process. Funny. "Buz" sounds a bit like a "Butch". TheIowaChannel.com - Sports - Professor Says Pink Locker Room Promotes Sexism, Homophobia : "Homophobia"

I'm not sure where I came up with the idea, but I thought of a big national coffee house that seems to be the epitomy of the undermining of American values and culture and wanted to do something that people would want to support. If I start a coffee chain, it will be a locally owned franchise in each location and have only a few restrictive guidelines. The first rule: wi-fi is free. Beyond a few basic rules, let them serve Folgers in plastic cups for all I care, so long as the spirit of open source is felt. Oddly, when I Googled "open source cafe", which I made up, seems someone else made it up first: The open source cafe - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Ideas - News Rats!

The Des Moines Register is telling us that kids are upset about a ban on soft-drinks on campus. In its next breath, the reporter writes that students now go off-campus to get their sugar fix. Well, I've made a couple fundamental observations: 1) Cash-draining, electricity hungry, health compromising vending machines have no place in public schools -- and I don't care what they put in them. 2) I'm expected, by law, to leave my kids in the care of the public school system, purportedly so they might get a proper education. I submit that when the schools release students to run around town during lunch, health and education are both undermined. When I went to public school, we had a lunch ticket. One punch meant you got a plate of food handed to you and you could add bread & butter and milk, or drink water. It was a certified diet and parents could trust it. There were no vending machines, and no, students were not permitted to leave campus. It worked. Parents had t