] "The people of Lafayette feel like there is a history of
] seizing the initiative," said John St. Julien, a member
] of Lafayette Coming Together, a citizens group supporting
] the fiber network. "Our Creole and Cajun communities have
] always been told by outsiders that everything we did was
] wrong--from our language to the food we eat. Culturally,
] we've learned not to care what others think or say about
] us. I think it gives us a place to stand when companies
] like BellSouth and Cox come in and tell us we can't do
] something."

This is a storm that's been brewing for years and is mostly the result of the CLEC boom collapsing. There's been no real competition to drive broadband deployment for about 4 years now, and there's never been any competition to incent rural deployment.

The electricity analogy is an apt one. With it, the US leapfrogged the rest of the world and was on solid footing to become the dominant force of the 20th century. Broadband is not fast food. It is not a convenience. It is the next plank in the platform which can carry us into the 21st century as a leading force. One that we are sorely behind in by all accounts.

Cities brace for broadband war

] In the past 15 months, at least 35 school employees or
] those recently employed by schools have been charged or
] convicted of sexual misconduct involving minors or the
] mentally impaired.

This doesn't make me feel real good about sending my daughter to school.

22 convicted of sexual misconduct, online solicitation - 4/24/05

] It is as if we had signed an international stupidity
] pact, one that required us to ignore the evidence, to
] hand out new rights without asking for the simplest
] assessment of need. If the stakes were trivial, no one
] would care. But intellectual property (IP) is important.
] These are the ground rules of the information society.
] Mistakes hurt us. They have costs to free speech,
] competition, innovation, and science. Why are we making
] them?

I don't think I could have written a better apraisal of the state of things myself if I tried. This article is chock full of great quotes.

James Boyle: Deconstructing stupidity

] If you've ever longed for a way to monitor your dog's
] social life, map out its buddy network and sense who its
] true friends really are, you might have been waiting for
] SNIF.

This sounds like it was born simply because someone thought of the term "petworking". Well dammit, I'm gonna trademark the term "pee-mail"!!!

Collar Cultivates Canine Cliques

Ensure you don't become another Terry Schiavo in case some biological tragedy besets you.

I, _________________________ (fill in the blank), being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.

Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of peckerwood politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it.

If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to sit up and ask for a cold beer, it should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.

Under no circumstances shall the members of the Legislature enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own damn business, and pay attention instead to the health, education and future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma.

Under no circumstances shall any politician butt into this case. I don't care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge for their run for the presidency in 2008, it is my wish that they play politics with someone else's life and leave me alone to die in peace.

I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and crusade on my behalf. They should mind their own business, too.

If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence a living hell.


Signed: ________________________________________

Living Will

] The father of a 14-year-old Ricker Middle School student
] claims his son told him band teacher Laura L. Findlay
] took him to unfamiliar places and the band room, where
] she performed oral sex and lap dances.
]
] Tuesday, prosecutors upgraded charges against the
] 30-year-old Findlay to 20 counts of first-degree criminal
] sexual conduct with a person younger than 16 from
] third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person
] younger than 16.

Who knew that there were so many horny female teachers out there. This is like the 4th case in as many months!

Hot for Teacher!

A white male with a college diploma earns far more than any similarly educated man or woman - $66,000 a year. Among men with bachelor's degrees, Asians earned $52,000 a year, Hispanics $49,000 and blacks $45,000.

Are you keeping up?

Be sure to check out the detailed spreadsheets, too.

College Degree Nearly Doubles Annual Earnings

] "Nowadays life is getting better, sweeter and sweeter,"
] she sings. "You can fulfill your dreams. The roads are
] getting wider and wider."

Sounds like a quote from the US circa 1949.

China's Next Cultural Revolution

] One day you look at your baby and realize that the
] intense passion you felt just the day before has been
] replaced by a numb, hollow feeling. Do you know this
] child? Do you care? You'll feel like bagging this whole
] dad thing and starting a new life somewhere else. Chances
] are the very next thing you'll feel is incredible guilt.
] After all, if you aren't head over heels in love with
] your child 100 percent of the time, you're not a good
] father, right? Wrong. Ambivalence is a normal part of
] being a dad, and you're going to have the same feeling
] dozens of times over the next 50 years. So get used to
] it.

um, yeah.

Raising Kids

] Both chambers in Congress now will delay their Easter
] recess to try to pass a law Monday that would allow
] federal courts to intervene in Schiavo's case.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Congress jumps into Schiavo tug of war