Eideard

As a result of the campaign by sportsfans.org and others – the FCC is asking for public comment over the next month on its sports blackout rule. The FCC’s rule props up the leagues’ own blackout rules by prohibiting cable and satellite carriers from carrying a game if local broadcasters are prohibited from carrying the game because of league blackout rules. Sports Fans Coalition and other groups have asked the FCC to eliminate this rule because we think the government shouldn’t be in the business of supporting counterproductive and unethical blackout policies.

SFC is currently creating a website to make it easier for you to submit comments to the FCC, but in the meantime, if you’re chomping at the bit to put in your two cents, please see below. Remember that your name and comments will be visible to the public, so please be respectful. But feel free to share the details of your own frustrations with blackouts.

To submit a comment:

1. Your message will need to be in the form of an attachment, so just open up a Word document, write your message and save it.
2. Click here to be redirected to the FCC’s electronic filing system.
3. Where it says proceeding number, enter 12-3.
4. Fill out the required information and attach the saved Word document with your message.
5. That’s it!

Need help with what to say? Feel free to copy or adapt this example for yourself:

It’s time to end to the sports blackout rule. It is an unnecessary and anti-consumer regulation that only benefits team owners. Fans and taxpayers have already heavily subsidized professional sports, so blackouts are unethical and punish fans who can’t afford the high cost of attending games or who don’t have the right TV provider. The government should not be in the business of propping up sports leagues’ counterproductive blackouts. Keep the games on the air!

Overdue. And a terrific example of citizen pressure on the government getting the beginning of a result. The rest is up to you…

Iran says it will put on display a series of foreign spy drones that it claims to have obtained, including four Israeli and three US unmanned aircraft…the exhibition will be held “in the near future”, and that foreign ambassadors based in Tehran and local journalists would be invited.

“The latest domestically manufactured electronic warfare equipment will also be put on show at the exhibition,” the newspaper said. “The foreign unmanned aircraft that Iran has are four Israeli and three US drones…”

Last week, Iran’s elite revolutionary guards put on show a US unmanned aerial vehicle, believed to be an RQ-170 Sentinel drone, which they claimed to have brought down electronically. However, military experts have questioned the veracity of Iranian claims, while the US insists that the drone malfunctioned and was not brought down by Iran.

There was one Pentagon flunkie today who claimed Iran only had a replica of an RQ-170.

Mystery surrounds how Iran got their hands on the aircraft and whether it was genuinely intact, as shown on Iranian TV. Nato said earlier this month that a surveillance drone flying over western Afghanistan went missing and could be the one that entered Iranian airspace along the country’s eastern border. Iran says it downed the drone near the eastern city of Kashmar, some 140 miles from the country’s border with Afghanistan…

Iranian officials also promised to reverse-engineer the drone and decode its technical information. Iran has claimed that Russia and China have requested to see the drone.

The other two US drones were brought down by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps over the Persian Gulf in January, according to the Tehran Times report…

The Christian Science Monitor has published an interview with an Iranian engineer who claimed to be involved in the Islamic regime’s capturing of the US drone. The engineer said Iranian electronic warfare specialists brought down the drone by exploiting a navigational weakness in its GPS system.

Americans are well enough accustomed to our imperial bluster. There really isn’t any need to reassure the “patriots” – and those who oppose our arrogant tread across the landscape of the world will be ignored as usual. An area where true bipartisanship is foreign policy can be guaranteed.

The quarter-million confidential State Department cables obtained by WikiLeaks last year have been public on the Web for months. But don’t tell the government. It is pretending otherwise.

Asked in April by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act for copies of 23 cables on Guantánamo, rendition and other matters, the State Department responded as if the confidential documents were still confidential.

Twelve of the cables “must be withheld in full” because they are classified as secret or contain important information, Alex Galovich, of the department’s Office of Information Programs and Services, wrote to the A.C.L.U. on Oct. 21. The other 11, he concluded, “may be released with excisions.”

The accompanying documents were indeed carefully redacted — here a sentence is removed, there a whole page. But the ambassadors’ confidences that the department was intent on protecting are, meanwhile, just a click away for anyone interested.

Ben Wizner, litigation director for the A.C.L.U.’s national security project, said the group’s request for documents that were already public was “mischievous” but also had a serious point: forcing the government officially to acknowledge counterterrorism actions that it has often hidden behind a cloak of classification.

“In part the request was to expose the absurdity of the U.S. secrecy regime,” Mr. Wizner said. But he said the government had repeatedly blocked lawsuits challenging counterterrorism programs by invoking what is called the state secrets privilege and telling judges that allowing the cases to proceed would endanger national security. “The only place in the world where torture and rendition cannot be discussed is U.S. courtrooms,” he said.

Both the State Department and the Justice Department declined to comment, saying the A.C.L.U.’s request is still in litigation.

We have a government run by idiots, designed to maintain the sacrosanctity of idiots, constructed to preserve the inviolability of idiots for all time.

This is not trademark or copyright law where failure to defend your design means the loss of protection and litigation. This is simple acknowledgement of reams of crap files that didn’t justify concealment in the first place – having been exposed to the public eye. Our government pretends it isn’t so.

A Brooklyn-based artist has caught the attention of the Secret Service after installing a computer program on Apple Store computers that takes Webcam photos every two minutes, and posting those images on the Internet…

Kyle McDonald took the photos and posted them on a Tumblr blog called “People Staring at Computers.” He told Mashable that he got permission from Apple security guards to take photos in the store, but it’s unclear if they were aware that McDonald also meant installing software and snapping Webcam shots. Given that it attracted Secret Service attention, it’s safe to say that not everyone was excited by the project.

When asked on Twitter if he got permission from every person whose photo appeared on his blog, McDonald said no because “as i understand, photography in open spaces is legal unless explicitly prohibited.” He will, however, remove any photos if asked, he said. Well, duh?

It appears McDonald was committed, however; Apple wipes its computers every night, so he had to reinstall the program every day he took photos, Mashable reports. That program focused only on photos…

McDonald said the warrant he received from the Secret Service said his actions violated 18 USC section 1030. That deals with “fraud and related activity in connection with computers,” and covers, among other things, accessing a computer without authorization…

He took 1,000 photos over three days at computers in New York Apple Stores…

Sounds like a creep to me. Wonder if he considers public restrooms to be public spaces, too?

For wild animal lovers not content with watching tigers and gorillas during the day, a growing number of zoos are offering a more thrilling after-dark experience — overnight stays.

From Philadelphia to Denver nocturnal visitors are learning what happens when the gates slam shut, the sun goes down and the moon rises over some of America’s most well-known zoos…

The Philadelphia Zoo has been running its Roars and Snores Overnight Programs for about 20 years. The most popular theme program is the Night Flight Overnight Program where children aged five to 12 sleep in the zoo’s tree house.

The overnight stays are not only popular with young children. Teen programs are offered at many zoos for those young adults interested in the zoo industry. They are also a favorite venue for birthday sleepovers, family trips and with scout troops…

Most overnight stays include a night tour during which youngsters experience the mysterious sights and unusual sounds of the zoo without the usual distractions. A midnight snack and breakfast are also served…

Guests at the new overnight program at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Queens Zoo in New York make breakfast treats for parrots, bears, pigs, pumas and coyotes, and watch the keepers feed them to the animals the next morning, said Education Curator Tom Hurtubise.

With visitors at the Denver Zoo coming from as far away as Wyoming and Montana, Patterson said parents tend to be more worried about leaving their children than the children themselves. They have rarely had to call up a parent in the middle of the night.

“They love it,” Patterson said about the children. “For many, it’s their first overnight away from home. They are so excited that by the end of the day they are so tired that they have no opportunity to worry.”

Kids with groups of their peers, families sharing a learning experience together, any number of combinations can form up for a special adventure. Consider it. Add a special night to your kid’s memories.

In our neck of the prairie, the Albuquerque Zoo offers guided night walks for $10 – discounts available for the kiddies and old geezers like me.

Officials in the Russian capital say new public toilets, to be introduced by the end of the year, will be virtually indestructible.

With basins made from ultra-strong fibrous concrete, and fittings hewn from a mixture of steel and reinforced plastic, officials say the state of the art WC’s are vandal and terrorist-proof.

“If somebody will leave a bomb inside the lavatory and it explodes, then the toilet won’t be destroyed,” said Anatoly Ashikhmin, an official involved in the project from the Moscow State Department of Building Maintenance…

The high tech facilities, say officials, will also be kept above 16 degrees centigrade (about 60 degrees Fahrenheit), important in a city where winter temperatures often plunge below -30 degrees centigrade.

City officials say an extra security feature of the new unisex toilet is that members of the public will be able to spend a maximum of 30 minutes inside before the doors automatically open and an alarm sounds.

Please don’t let anyone in Homeland InSecurity know about this.

First off, every member of Congress will want a crapper like this in their office. Second, TSA will make them mandatory in every airport. And we’ll have to pay for them.

President Barack Obama’s new executive order creating a uniform category for federal documents that are sensitive but not classified is an attempt to bring order to an unwieldy hodge-podge of 107 agency-specific terms now used across government for touchy information.

Confusion now reigns as different federal agencies use varying terms to categorize documents. Worse, agencies also sometimes use the same term but to invoke different levels of discretion. Perhaps most famously was an innovation of former Vice President Dick Cheney who, according to Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman, would stamp papers “Treat As” classified when the official designation could not be obtained.

The new category will be a government-wide standard, “controlled unclassified information” or CUI.

William J. Bosanko, director of the Information Security Oversight Office within the National Archives, is heading up the government effort to standardize how sensitive documents are treated and will be soliciting public input over the next year. “It’s truly a chaotic system,” he told the Center, referring to the current state of affairs.

Advocates for open government hail the new designation as a victory.

RTFA. Anything that reduces [a] paranoid government reticence to let citizens in on whatever the hell it is they actually do with their time and our money – and [b] myriad plots and plans for classifying pieces of information to suit the security du jour – is OK by me.

Overdue.

Christian respect for freedom of speech
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

Atheists in Oklahoma City have erected a billboard seeking fellow non-believers, and Satanists have scheduled a conference in a city-owned building, drawing criticism from ministers in a state where more than eight out of 10 people say they are Christians…

Nick Singer, the coordinator of a local atheists’ group called “Coalition of Reason,” recently received $5,250 from its national counterpart to erect the billboard along Interstate 44 near the Oklahoma State Fair, which opens Wednesday. Its message reads, “Don’t believe in God? Join the club…”

Legislators pray in their chambers, led by a “minister of the day,” usually Christian. The Oklahoma City Thunder is one of the few NBA teams to begin each contest after a non-denominational prayer delivered by a minister on the public address system…

Yes. I think we all can agree that Oklahoma is a bastion of bible belt True Believers. Superstition overrules just about everything but the sunrise.

The Satanists, calling themselves the Church of the IV Majesties, have reserved a room at the Oklahoma City Civic Center for a “blasphemy ritual,” said James Hale, a founding member.

“I guess you could say we’re poking a dog with a stick. That’s the point of Satanism — to question all things,” Hale said.

Singer, from the atheists’ group, said his group has no connection to the Satanists.

“As far as Satan goes, we don’t believe in him either,” he said.

If you ask who might present a danger to the public order, whose hatred and fear might surpass any understanding of constitutional freedoms, the answer is clear.

“It’s not the people who don’t believe in God that worry me,” said Robin Meyers, senior minister at Mayflower Congregational Church…”It’s some of the people who do.

“Fundamentalism is the enemy worldwide, no matter what the strain.”

Oklahoma already bears national witness to the death and destruction that reactionary True Believers can bring to the innocent. The question of dissent – even on the side of reason and science – means little to those who think they are the sword-carriers for a wrathful god.

One of my favorite corners in journalism – “Letter from our journalist”. In this instance – from China:

The rush hour crush had just subsided on a stifling recent summer evening, when I stepped into the subway car on the circular line that serves the central city as part of the brilliant public transportation system Shanghai has built in what seems like no time at all.

Hot and bothered from hours of photographing on the street, I was relieved to find an empty seat by the door and promptly collapsed into it, savoring the refreshing gusts of air-conditioning.

A moment passed before I looked up and paid any attention to the other passengers. As the lone foreigner usually in situations like these, I had become accustomed during my summer stay in the city to finding all eyes focused on me. This time, though, commuters had something further out of the bounds of their daily commute to focus on.

Seated directly opposite me, two teenage girls were kissing in an unmistakably romantic way. They appeared to be no older than 17. One of them, strong of build and with short hair, was dressed and coiffed in a masculine style. Her longhaired companion, who was dressed in a pretty pastel skirt, was the picture of classic, old-school sweet 16.

I tried to do what I immediately noted few of my fellow passengers could accomplish: not stare. But as I looked up from time to time, it struck me that among other things, amid all of the sustained touching, billing and cooing, there was willful, if mild, provocation taking place before my eyes.

The statement that was being made seemed to say: “This is a new age, and people of our generation are free to do as we wish in our love lives, so get over it…”

The scene unfolding before me was a jolting reminder that the nuts and bolts transformation of China is the least of it. As this society rapidly grows richer, its social fabric and mores have been changing in ways far more dramatic than even the physical landscape, and sexual choice and expression are arguably in the leading edge of this upheaval.

Bravo. My lifetime of chipping away at reactionary politics, the conformity of fear so long in control of American politics, would likely be as long and dangerous in China as it has been here. The injuries and deaths in that struggle don’t make it to the Front Pages of American newspapers anymore often than they do in Beijing. But, they have always been here.

Nice to see the same sort of individual upstanding – happening in other lands. Especially one where most of my knowledge has been limited to revolutionary battles, repelling invaders – and that most boring of topics, economics.

Splashing around in a swimming pool on a hot summer day may not be as safe as you think. A recent University of Illinois study links the application of disinfectants in recreational pools to previously published adverse health outcomes such as asthma and bladder cancer.

Each year, 339 million visits take place at pools and water parks across the United States. Not only is swimming fun, but it’s also the second most popular form of exercise in the country. Because of this, disinfection of recreational pools is critical to prevent outbreaks of infectious disease. However, Michael Plewa, U of I professor of genetics, said negative outcomes can occur when disinfection byproducts form reactions with organic matter in pool water…

“All sources of water possess organic matter that comes from decaying leaves, microbes and other dead life forms,” Plewa said. “In addition to organic matter and disinfectants, pool waters contain sweat, hair, skin, urine, and consumer products such as cosmetics and sunscreens from swimmers…”

In this study, collections from public pools and a control sample of tap water were evaluated to identify recreational water conditions that could be harmful to your health…

The study compared different disinfection methods and environmental conditions. Results proved that all disinfected pool samples exhibited more genomic DNA damage than the source tap water, Plewa said.

You never know when someone is peeing down the other end of the pool.