Home

Bio & Disclosures

Discussions


xFruits

2007 Events

Monday, April 12, 2004

Author:   Doc Searls  
Posted: 4/12/2004; 8:53:04 AM
Topic: Monday, April 12, 2004
Msg #: 4674 (top msg in thread)
Prev/Next: 4673/4675
Reads: 5230

Freedom from drivel trend alert 
 Michael Fioretto:
 We are about ready to disconnect DirecTV and sink the money into Netflix or something similar. There is just so much drivel on that it is not worth the monthly fees.
 I wonder how this would change the equation for documentary film makers? Could this be an alternate distribution channel? I find some similarities to what is going on at the Public Radio Exchange. Their goal is to produce a bridge between independent producers and public radio stations.
 
Heavier weather 
 Going to D.C. today and the weather sucks.
 Not like home.
 
Consider the resource 
 Om's tour of India is some of the best mo'porting I've read lately. Dig this stuff about the outsourcing market.
 
Politically incorrect dining 
 Had dinner at Zorba's in Baltimore's Greek district last night. As it says here, the grilled meat (we had pork and lamb) was outstanding.
 The downstairs dining area is between the bar and the kitchen, and the service was good. The waitress visited between cigarettes (near as I could tell, we were the only nonsmokers in the place), while we enjoyed watching two silent TVs tuned to different shows while loud Greek music played over conversation that included more Greek than English.
 Highly recommended.
 
Legalize free speech 
 It's a shame that we're busy fighting for freedom and liberty abroad while continuing to stifle it at home. In The New Puritanism Spreads, Jeff Jarvis reports that Victoria's Secret has cancelled its TV show, no doubt terrorized, literally, by the prospect of Xtreme punishment for the showing of breasts and other forms of "indecency" as redefined by America's Taliban. Sez Jeff, America is undergoing a mass mastectomy.
 Bonus link: Creative Community Lobbies to Delay Indecency Vote, linked to by Britt.
 
Debate vs. the alternative 
 Micah Sifry wonders why Americans want to "finish the job" in Iraq. Better, he thinks, to call for early elections, internationally supervised, designed to allow Iraqis to represent themselves.
 But representation is one part of democracy. Governance is another. Are these people(s) ready to govern themselves? Does interim government we've installed even begin to have the legitimacy it needs? Can the international community be trusted to bring democracy (and, even more importantly peace) to Iraq when (Roger Simon tells us) it mostly supports neither in Iran?
 I believe the answer is that, deep down, they agree with Tony Blair, and his reasoning, even though all they get from George W. Bush is what Andrew Sullivan kindly labels "silence and inarticulacy."
 This is complicated stuff. There are no easy answers.
 My heart never wanted us in Iraq, and wants us out as soon as possible. But my gut tells me otherwise, mostly because, American that I am, I feel a sense of obligation to a people we set out to rescue and cannot abandon.
 The two argue. They read Omar and Zeyad and Salaam and Josh and River, and reach no conclusion. Kind of like the war itself.
 [Later...] A response I tend to agree with from Scott Reynen.
 
Conversation conservation 
 C-SPAN has a radio station in Washington: WCSP/90.1fm. Strange that what I find so boring on television — people talking, debating, reporting, trying to sell an idea or get to the bottom of a complex issue — becomes so compelling on radio. Last night I listened for a few minutes to some guy, I don't know who it was, clearly an insider friendly to the Administration and highly informed about everything that's going on, give thoughtful, informative and reasoned answers to deep questions that clearly vexed him as much as they did the questioner. I don't know the context (an interview? a congressional hearing?), but the content was compelling for anyone who thought the subjects at hand mattered deeply.
 Made me wish it was on everywhere. So I found out by looking at the Web site this morning that it's on both XM and Sirius satellite radio. Made me wonder... why is NPR only on Sirius? Why not XM too?


There are responses to this message:




Copyright 2009 The Doc Searls Weblog

Membership : Join Now : Login

Create your own Manila site in minutes. Everyone's doing it!

Click to see the XML version of this web page.

Blogroll

 
Search archives

Santa Barbarians
Edhat
SB Independent
SB Newsroom
Kevin Barron
Blogabarbara
Craig Smith
SB*Free Press
Joe Andieu
Patrick Gregston
John Quiimby
Das Williams' dad
Katy Pearce
Taymar Pixley
Lisa Gates
Cookie Jill

Everybody else
Spot-on
RageBoy
MysticBourgeoisie
David Weinberger
Miscellaneous
Dave
Berkman
John Palfrey
IT Garage
Bret Fausett
Susan Crawford
Bruce Sterling
Steve Lewis/Bubkes
Hak Pak Sak
Brad Kava
Brad Templeton
Sheila Lennon
Don Marti
Steve Urquhart
Wes Felter
Brad DeLong
Tom Evslin
Brian Oberkirch
Dean Landsman
Hugh MacLeod
LAist
Jeremy Ruston
Geoff Jones
Vaspers the Grate
Sig Rinde
Chris Albritton
Ronni Bennett
Thomas Hawk
Kevin Bedell
Howard
Bryan
Deep Fun
BoingBoing
edhat
Terry Heaton
Jay Rosen
Kim Cameron
George Lakoff
Scott Rosenberg
Larry Lessig
Jim Thompson
Jeff Jarvis
David Isenberg
Stephen Johnson
Tim Oren
Geoff Moore
Rex Hammock
This is Broken
Max Sawicky
Stuart Hughes
Dave Pentecost
John Perry Barlow
Mary Hodder
Dan Gillmor
Steve Gillmor
Dean Landsman
John Stodder
Seth Finkelstein
Renee Blodgett
misbehaving.net
Ruby Sinreich
Ed Cone
Julie Leung
Ted Leung
Ken Coar
Flemming Funch
Mike Sanders
Marc Canter
Joi Ito
Ethan Zuckerman
Doug Kaye
Jon Lebkowski
Judith Meskill
Allen Searls
Esther Dyson
Christopher Lydon
Russell Beattie
Tim Bray
Brian Millar
Mark Pilgrim
Michael Hall
Backup Brain
Frankston, Reed
Britt Blaser
Brent Simmons
Loic Le Meur
Leslie Winer
Mike Taht
Eric Raymond
Volokh Conspiracy
Steven Levy
Lisa Rein
Skywave
Epeus' epigone
Glenn Reynolds
James Taranto
Frank Paynter
Ross Mayfield
Dana Blankenhorn
Ken Bereskin/Panther
Daily Wireless
Filchyboy
OxBlog
Bryan Field-Elliot
Rajesh Jain
Oliver Willis
Gary Turner
Michael O'Connor Clarke
Jennifer Balderama
Kevin Werbach
Amy Wohl
Phil Windley
Fulcrum
Real Joe
Greater Democracy
Mitch Ratcliffe /biz
Mitch Ratcliffe/soc
Wayne Robins
VivaCapitalism
Cut on the bias
Howard Greenstein
The Poor Man
Mickey Kaus
Dave Sifry
Buzz Bruggeman
Ben Hammersley
Matt Jones
Paul Andrews
John Robb
Schoolblog
Tom Shugart
Matt Welch
Blur Circle
Denise Howell
JY
BlackHoleBrain
Chris Pirillo
Marek
Tony Pierce
Chris Nolan's
Spot On

Wil Wheaton
Meg
Brian Linse
Dan Pink
Dawn Olsen
Craig
Yoz
The Head Lemur
Ev
Jeremy Zawodny
Susan Kitchens
K5
Anu Gupta
Jonathon
Fishrush
Dave Ely
Euan Semple
Eric Norlin
Paul Boutin
James Lileks
David Williams
Mary Wehmeier
Bruner Blog
Halley Suitt
Webword
Ann Salisbury
Om Malik
Moxie
J's Notes
Meesh
NUblog
TBTF
Cam
Seth Finkelstein
Tom Matrullo
Chip Hoagland
Deborah
Fortboise
J.D. Lasica
Photodude
Phil Wolff
Andre Durand
Eric Hansen
Mike McBride
Jeneane Sessum
Chris Nolan
Gonzo Engaged
Michael Mussington
UseTheSource
Wes
Adam
Sam Ruby
Miguel
Frank Field
Rebecca Blood
Joshua Allen
Cluetrain
JOHO
EGR
Searls site
Scoble
AKMA
Kottke
Tomalak's Realm
Tim O'Reilly
Mitch Kapor
Bill Quick
Dan Bricklin
Lou Josephs
Alan Reiter
N.Z. Bear
Todd Morman
Zeldman
Glenn
Joshua
Rex Hammock
Matthew Thomas
Brian Dear
Baylink
Burningbird