My Thoughts Exactly:
“Online Free Expresson Day” from Reporters Without Borders

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Reporters Without Borders has a nifty little consciousnes-raising “virtual demostration” going on today, sort of a SimCity Second-Life kind of deal.

“Today, the first time this day is being marked, we are giving all Internet users the opportunity to demonstrate in places were protests are not normally possible. We hope many will come and protest in virtual versions of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, Cuba’s Revolution Square or on the streets of Rangoon, in Burma. At least 62 cyber-dissidents are currently imprisoned worldwide, while more than 2,600 websites, blogs or discussions forums were closed or made inaccessible in 2007.”

Today they’re also releasing a helpful, newly-revised Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents.

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My Thoughts Exactly:
Where's the goddamn Magna Carta when you need it?

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Here’s a story about some shadowy (nominally USian) government agency that’s going around shutting down websites it doesn’t like & snapping up the domain names.

Rankin, the Treasury spokesman, said Marshall was free to ask for a review of his case. “If they want to be taken off the list,” Rankin said, “they should contact us to make their case.”

That is a problematic system, Fitzgerald said. “The way to get off the list,” he said, “is to go back to the same bureaucrat who put you on.”

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Tales of the Sausage Factory:
Comcast to Illinois: I loves Me The Market Power!

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As reported on BroadbandReports.com, Comcast has greeted former Insight customers transferred to Comcast as part of unwinding a partnership with a 6% rate hike. Thanks to all the delightful cover given to Comcast by Congressional Republicans, who declare that all is “A OTAY” in Cableland, the Comcast guys are no longer even pretending that the rise in rates has anything to do with cost. Rather, as Comcast rep Libbie Steh told the Springfield Journal Register in a rare attack of honesty: “increased costs are not a factor this year.” Rather:

“Comcast periodically reviews prices and adjusts them to reflect what’s in the marketplace,” Stehn said.

More below . . . .

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Neutrino:
And the Wheels Fell Off…

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For the first time since the Federal Reserve began tracking home equity data in 1945 the amount of equity homeowners hold in their homes fell below 50% in the fourth quarter of 2007 according to the Federal Reserve. More interesting still is the finding by Moody’s Economy.com that approximately 10% of homeowners now have zero or negative equity in their homes. This resulted from a 8.9% drop in U.S. home prices in the fourth quarter of 2007.

And analysts are predicting roughly an equal decline in home prices in the first quarter of 2008. That will put nearly 20% of homeowners at zero or negative equity.

What happens if homeowners are genuinely the rational actors of neoclassical economics? They default on their mortgages the moment they reach zero equity and wait for the up to two years it would take for their lender to force them out by foreclosure. That means large-scale bank failures even with a massive federal bailout. Can we say the magic words “conjunctural crisis of capital”?

More below…

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Tales of the Sausage Factory:
And Now for Something Completely Different . . . .

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The Onion explains the FCC’s indecency rules.


FCC Okays Nudity On TV If Itâs Alyson Hannigan

It should be noted, of course, that the inquiry is very fact specific. For example, a sex scene between Alyson Hannigan (“Willow”) and Amber Benson (“Tara”) would have strong artistic merit — especially if it included Sarah Michelle Gellar (“Buffy”). By contrast, if it took place during Seventh Season and featured Hannigan and Iyari Limon (“Kennedy”), it would merit a significant fine because Kennedy was a really stupid character and the entire relationship between Willow and Kennedy made absolutely no sense. In fact, even without the indecency, the FCC should have fined UPN for pretty much the entire second half of the seventh season.

By contrast, J. Michael Strazynsky should be fined for not making it profoundly unambiguous whether or not Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian) and Talia Winters (Andrea Thompson) got it on in Divided Loyalties.

Such artistic programming can not only help avoid indecency fines, but it can be a serious assist next time you need a merger waiver. nudge nudge wink wink.

Finally, if any of the South Park characters appear nude, not only should the FCC fine every cable system in the country, but millions are likely to go blind.

Stay tuned . . . .

Tales of the Sausage Factory:
The Boston Tea Leaf Party

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Those interested in a great eye witness account of what happened at the FCC hearing in Boston on February 25 should read fellow Wetmachiner John Sundman’s piece on the part he saw (including the reception afterwards). But after listening to the FCC’s video archive, reading the statements, and reading the coverage, I’m willing to read the Boston Tea Leaves and see where we are so far and how I think this ends up.

Speculation below . . . .

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