Media Watch

Click to Play This is April, right? The promise of rains this month is our assurance of flowers next. So what's the deal with these huge snowflakes?

Things that teenagers should not be permitted to carry include really nasty looking knives. The one pictured is stamped "Pakistan" and "Stainless", but at least the stain-free promise may not pass inspection as rust is developing along the blade. But that's not really the point. This knife was temporarily seized during a search of a teenager's car last month. Pulled over for speeding, a state trooper conducted what he called a weapons check of the subject's person, which revealed a pill bottle and pipe, purportedly giving rise for a full search of the subject's car. This happened on a rural Iowa highway some 30 miles northeast of Des Moines. The trooper suggested to his subject that "everyone" he lets in his car has to be checked for weapons, "for my own safety". The trooper commenced the initial pat-down as the subject was attempting to open the passenger-side door (conveniently off-camera), but the door was locked. This is

One of the very few responsibilities of government is to provide, maintain and secure sane infrastructure, which emanates from its Constitutional duty to make post roads. Think about it. More than half of all accidental deaths occur on the public roadways. Tens of thousands of traffic tickets are handed out every day. The national cost to city, county and state governments to manage this fiasco is so incredibly ridiculous that it's really impossible to calculate. Imagine if we would design a sane transportation infrastructure. It would almost eliminate traffic injuries and deaths. Imagine no more drunk and reckless driving and no more speeding tickets! And all it would take is restoring and enhancing the 100-year-old rail rights-of-way that were dismantled (stolen) by the auto industry -- one of the biggest killers in the world. If you're thinking light rail or high-speed trains, you're only partly right. I dismiss multi-car trains, light or heavy, because they carry

The FRC (Federal Radio Commission) was established at a time when the threat of chaotic arrays of RF transmissions were so numerous and unpredictable that radio communications of any useful nature became nearly impossible. As technology advanced, it was decided that communication was a larger issue than radio alone, so the FRC grew into what is now the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and encompassed a wider swath of media and telecommunications, including copper, fiber and satellite transmission of data in the form of text, photos, audio and full motion video. The basic principle behind the right of the government to regulate communications was predicated on the fact that it utilized public airspace and cross-properties, borders and rights-of-ways and therefore intruded upon that which is owned by the people. In cities, the concept is franchise oversight (the cable local franchise, for instance, is a monopoly that is regulated by the city because it imposes on and along many p

Every once in a while, I get what I think is an epiphany, often inspired by something I see or read. You might think these thoughts are exhibitions of my ignorance, but I believe there's something to them, so I share. Perhaps I should call these entries "Bishop's Charter" additions, or "How the Law Ought to Be Written". CASELAW: No court shall decide, nor pontificate in its decision, with respect to case law or precedent, but on the sole merits of the case before it, and applying its own reasonable and thoughtful interpretation of pertinent laws and the Constitution of the United States, or errors thereof, notwithstanding spirit and intent of applicable law. However, on appeal, a court may consider error or misinterpretation of the law by the lower court, as well as new evidence that is shown to be previously and wrongly suppressed. As always, I welcome thoughtful criticism.

Android is not Gphone, but a software platform by Google that may facilitate other phone makers and carriers to bring a phone to the masses using the newly allocated frequency spectrum. Google wants to be able to use some of the newly available spectrum the FCC opened up, but it's not clear what exactly they'll do with it. In any event, Android will use the G3 network, and Open source platform that will facilitate free development of widgets, clocks, stock tickers, maps and whatnot -- which is an aside from iPhone's development kit because Apple will reserve veto rights to any app it doesn't like.

It's apparently a hoax, but several McDonald's restaurants have received phone calls warning of impending armed robberies using machine guns. The stores phoned earlier today include those located in Ames, Boone, Des Moines and Marshalltown, all in Iowa. Des Moines police are the latest to respond to calls.