Looks like Mitt Romney is actually doing something useful.  I’ve long worried that copyright law would be used to control and shape not just creative expression, but public debate. Fox is attempting to do just that, with its claims that none of the candidates can use footage from the GOP debate that it broadcast. Romney doesn’t like it, and is fighting that, arguing that fair use rights prevents Fox from exercising full control over the footage. What’s good for Romney also happens to be good for you and me. These debates, as sad as they might be, are smack in the center of the ongoing public political conversation that the Constitution protects. No one should be able to control the content of that public conversation by asserting a private copyright claim.
Category: Policy Page 28 of 35
Gov. Sonny Purdue’s going on about about a disaster, now, and is asking the Federal government for help. Well, Sonny, water’s been a problem in Georgia for a damn long time, and Georgia hasn’t done much about it. Between the unchecked sprawl and seeming fetish for vast green lawns, this is a noose they put around their own necks. Let them figure out how to take it off and step back from the edge.
Things are always changing on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington. It’s come a long way since I first moved here, with the Vietnamese restaurant in the shape of a boat (with Christmas lights on it!) at the corner of Wilson & Nelson. And just last week, the last buildings (on the north side of Wilson) that were here when I arrived have come down. While there have been inevitable disappointments (the loss of Indian Spices Gifts & Appliances, broken promises about street level retail, etc.), it’s generally been a positive progression. I’m not so sure I can say that about the latest couple of changes, though.
Both changes are aimed at improving the pedestrian experience. The crosswalk in front of Ballston Mall has been replaced with a light. The other project involves the sidewalks along Wilson Boulevard (between North Oakland and North Monroe) being widened. And since I’m in my car 1/100th of the time I’m on foot, you’d think that I’d be happy. But I don’t think either is going to work out as planned.
First, the Ballston crosswalk – with a unique pedestrian activated light system – has worked out pretty well as is. Sure, there’s the occasional car that doesn’t defer to pedestrians, in that it rolls through the crosswalk when someone is waiting to cross – I’ve not seen a near-miss in years of watching. To insert yet another light on that short section of road will only snarl traffic a bit more (esp. if things continue as they were today, with the lights completely out of alignment). The new lights seem like a solution in search of a problem.
Second, the sidewalk project involves a significant narrowing of Wilson Boulevard. Same number of lanes, much less space. And extended corners with enormous radii. This, of course, has a traffic calming effect. You know in that calming = increased slowness and frustration way. I’m not sure that one of Arlington’s primary thoroughfares really needs calming. The leaves very little room to manoeuvre around the cars making the inevitable left-hand turns. Wilson is becoming a pretty busy alternative commuting corridor, and this will only make things worse. Last (but definitely not least!), this makes Wilson even more unattractive for cyclists, who are already pretty squeezed on this road.
I’m all for improved pedestrian access and safety, but I think Arlington went about it the wrong way this time. Let’s hope I’m shown to be incorrect.
I harbor no illusions about Benazir Bhutto, but she doesn’t – Pakistan doesn’t – deserve this:
[T]wo blasts in Benazir Bhutto’s motorcade were suicide hits and have killed more than 52 people while injuring close to 80 [it has since reportedly risen to 85 dead]. The dead and the injured include security personnel and PPP supporters who had come to welcome Benzair from across the country including those from Lahore.
The motorcade was on its way to visit the mausoleum of the father of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah:
Would that everyone involved had paid more attention to Jinnah’s words and principles.
Update: NYTimes puts the dead at over 100.
Further update: I’m going to post my take on Pakistan’s current political situation here because it’s as good a place as any to post it. That said, there are far more informed and interesting places for a real discussion to take place (not that I’m going to point you to any of them. If you think partisanship makes discussion hard in the US . . . ). So, that said, here’s my take as distilled for a comment over at dKos:
Both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif are crooks. Pervez Musharraf‘s a strongman who may have had the right intentions, but found that he quite likes being a dictator. The imams hover in the background (and while serious, they are not the enormous threat some would like everyone to think). And the other options are mostly political unknowns (hi, Imran!).
So, all in all, a real mess. But it’s a mess mainly of Pakistan’s making, and I don’t think that the US ought to get involved in picking a winner in this battle (not that it really could, if it wanted to).
Bhutto’s recent reemergence in Western political circles can be ascribed to 1) a general assumption that a woman in Pakistan has to be a good thing (thus they overlook what a crook she was/is), and 2) an incredibly well orchestrated (and funded) PR and lobbying effort of late. She’s got (a lot of) supporters, to be sure, but she’s no Second Coming (so to speak).
The picture above is from a rather peaceful day. To see the awfulness of today, click here. And imagine that that is your city.
The US Army, proud purveyors of the execrable “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, is advertising on the (even more execrable) Tila “Did I mention I like boys AND girls” Tequila show. What, it’s all good until you enlist?
h/t to MJ
(Not really related: I suspect Tom Davis is a very smart and decent guy. I wonder if he’ll ever tell the story about what it felt like to have to compromise himself as he rose to power in an ever more ignorant and amoral party.)
Bitch, PhD knocks it out of the park with this post. Which you should read. The primer for this is the following graph:
This New York Times article gives a much needed glimpse into the internal conversations going on at Ft. Leavenworth:
“home to the Combined Arms Center, a sprawling Army research center that includes the Command and General Staff College for midcareer officers, the School of Advanced Military Studies for the most elite and the Center for Army Lessons Learned, which collects and disseminates battlefield data.”
It’s far too short of an article (I’d loved to have seen a New Yorker-length treatment of the matter) and I don’t doubt for a minute that availability of the officers was carefully managed. But even with those limitations, it’s a good read. Take, for example:
[H]e questioned whether Americans really wanted a four-star general to stand up publicly and say no to the president in a nation where civilians control the armed forces.
For the sake of argument, a question from the reporter was posed: If enough four-star generals had done that, would it have stopped the war?
“Yeah, we’d call it a coup d’etat,†Colonel Fontenot said. “Do you want to have a coup d’etat? You kind of have to decide what you want. Do you like the Constitution, or are you so upset about the Iraq war that you’re willing to dismiss the Constitution in just this one instance and hopefully things will be O.K.? I don’t think so.â€
So I’ve been trying to cut down on talking about cycling here, but this is important. What follows has been stolen/modified from the IMBA site. I hope you’ll give it a minute and consider devoting a minute or two more to taking some action.
Mountain bikers may find some of the nation’s best singletrack off-limits if the Forest Service pushes through with a new directive. The agency wants to limit or prohibit bike access on the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), which runs the length of the country, from Montana to New Mexico.
The CDT includes the famous Monarch Crest, many sections of the Colorado Trail, well-known Steamboat Springs singletrack, important trails around Butte and Helena and much, much more.
So what can be done?Take Action
Your strong voice is essential to saving epic rides along the CDT. The Forest Service’s proposal to restrict and prohibit mountain biking has been warmly embraced by some anti-bike groups, who are giving it their full support. All mountain bikers are urged to take action:
- File Comments
Formally file your comments with the Forest Service. IMBA’s simple form takes seconds and will submit your official comments. The deadline is October 12. - Spread the Word
Rally your friends and ask them to echo your support for bike access on this outstanding trail. We need thousands of comments to hold out hope for continued access, so forward this to your riding friends across the country. - Help Maintain the CDT
If you live or play near the CDT, consider organizing or attending trailwork days to help build and maintain this magnificent trail. Learn about volunteer opportunities near you.
This Wednesday, the GAO is slated to release a report on improper Federal employee air travel. I suspect it’ll be held up and waved around as an example of those lazy and greedy government workers scamming the system again.  Which makes me hope that the report does tell us this – how many of these improperly authorized business/first class trips were taken by political appointees (as compared to civil service/SES types)?
I think answering that would help us get a clearer picture on exactly who’s responsible for all that waste, fraud, and abuse Republicans are always going on about . . .
(Personally, I think the rules are a bit ridiculous – no business class unless it’s a 14 hour nonstop flight, and you head straight to a meeting when you land? No, thanks. But the solution is to adjust the rules, not break them.)