Dinosaurs Seek Protection

This entry was posted in Capitalism Democrats Economics Government Libertarianism Television on by

When a whiff of competition appears on the horizon what do bussiness in the American free market economy do? Why, of course, they head over to the nearest government regulative or legislative body to seek some form of protection:

Verizon Communications and SBC Communications’ plans to wire American homes with high-speed fiber connections may encounter regulatory roadblocks, members of Congress suggested Wednesday.
Both companies are spending billions on fiber links that can carry everything from Internet service to voice and video. Verizon’s Fios service already boasts speeds of up to 30 megabits per second with a digital TV package expected later this year……
These forays into digital TV are alarming television broadcasters and some cable companies, which view fiber service as a competitive threat. This week, for instance, Verizon announced that it plans to carry all of NBC Universal’s channels on Fios TV.
…
“Stations would lose audience share and advertising dollars, and these dollars fund local programming that makes broadcasting valuable,” Greg Schmidt, a lawyer speaking on behalf of the influential National Association of Broadcasters, told a House of Representatives panel on Wednesday. The NAB represents local radio and TV broadcasters.
Congress should prohibit SBC and Verizon from offering digital TV unless the companies follow an extensive list of government regulations, Schmidt said.

Now, some of you may find the relatively content free local news valuable but, really, if that stuff is the core value of broadcasting we are in deep trouble.
Read the whole article. It is full of fine whining, groveling and populated by congress critters who, seemingly only too eager to feed their patrons, should be put out to pasture.
Oh, and please don’t get me wrong, Verizon and SBC are not really good players here. They are companies who have drank heavier than most from the protected from competition by regulation trough over the last hundred years.

The 1st Anniversary Tangled Bank

This entry was posted in Science on by

Yes, the 1 year anniversary edition of The Tangled Bank is up at Circadiana. This entry is interesting:

If you think the Creationist stickers in textbooks are a new development, think again. Dave, a physicist blogging on Second Order Approximation translates for us the old Osiander Sticker that warns the audience that Copernicus’s stuff is “just a theory”. No kidding.

There is precedent for the ongoing evolution/creationism debates:

And even though scientists had all but agreed that the Copernican system was indisputably correct by the close of the 17th century, theologians and popular writers on science continued to argue over whether or not to accept the theory for another 100 years. In terms of education, although it was taught in many schools from 1700 on, the Sun-centered solar-system did not become the sole model taught at Cracow Academy in Copernicus’s native country of Poland until 1782. That’s almost 240 years.

There’s plenty of variety at the anniversary edition including snails, vulvas, mind control, genetics, health care, and much, much more.

Be Happy

This entry was posted in Health Care on by

Be Healthy!

the authors report that simply being happy — at work and at play — is directly related with specific bodily functions that protect against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune deficiencies and stress-related illnesses.

Hmm, the test subjects were all British civil servants but are they representative of the rest of us? The British part is ok…I’m just not so sure about the civil servant part….