tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97222942011-08-01T21:23:59.320-04:00by Bunnie RiedelNonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-36168006151258844042010-02-08T07:04:00.002-05:002010-03-01T08:56:01.781-05:00

Last Thursday, Comcast and NBCU marched up to Capitol Hill to testify before the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications. At times it was a raucous exchange with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker making promises about what they will deliver once the two giant corporations are joined in holy merger matrimony. The spectacle reminded me of the Carol King song “Will You Still

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-90039366827179623212009-05-28T09:57:00.015-04:002009-05-28T12:00:56.389-04:00

So I’m watching BBC last night and here’s this story on a fella on some rural farm in Japan and he is bragging about his 50 Mbps broadband speed and how he has more time for fishing because he no longer has to commute and can service all his clients from home and it sent me right into a self-righteous diatribe about how crappy broadband service is here in the US. Then to pour lemon juice into the

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-42259163796067339112009-04-22T16:46:00.005-04:002009-04-23T09:01:45.344-04:00

When my kids were little they were quite adept at reading my facial expressions. Especially that expression that communicated to them that I was not pleased. Today they call it the “look” as in “remember when mom would give you the look?” I believe that moms are uniquely endowed with the “look.” The “look” meant “whatever it is you are doing right now, stop it immediately because I do not approve

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-88073475319923342662009-04-08T12:46:00.004-04:002009-04-08T12:50:54.355-04:00

Did you know it’s great to be in love? Love releases all kinds of chemicals in your brain, among them adrenaline, dopamine, fenylethylamine, endorphin and oxytocin. Adrenaline causes your pupils to get bigger, your heart to go up, your breathing get faster and reduces hunger. Dopamine acts like cocaine and it’s addictive. Fenylethylamine acts like ecstasy and speed. Endorphin has the effect

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-4181485515214500842009-03-27T13:57:00.007-04:002009-03-27T16:38:59.249-04:00

When I first heard about Ben Cardin’s (D-MD) bill to allow newspapers to become nonprofits, I said to myself “you need to stew on that for a minute.” I felt I needed time to percolate the idea through my little brain and try to think of all the permutations of the impact of that legislation. This morning I caught an email in which the sender asked a serious question:“Anybody have a clue why it

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-61566445103410114052009-03-18T11:02:00.003-04:002009-03-18T11:12:38.902-04:00

I love international travel, or any travel for that matter. But going to a country where the culture is different, the language is different and the sites are different from what I am used to, is particularly romantic. The challenge, of course, is in the language. I don’t like having to rely on the good likelihood that I will find English speakers. I like trying to muddle my way, however

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-75803246750936263932009-03-09T11:21:00.003-04:002009-03-09T11:28:32.563-04:00

There are 438 people who live in the town of Mecosta Michigan and boy, are they getting shtupped. The University of Minnesota report “Statewide Video Franchising Legislation: A Comparative Study of Outcomes in Texas, California and Michigan” (March 2009) says so. The rate for Basic + Expanded Basic cable went from $41.33 in 2006 to $69.71 in 2009. Now you could say that people in Ingham County

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-61963671277544058592009-03-01T13:56:00.008-05:002009-03-01T17:38:45.885-05:00

Here’s how I got the story. Seems a staffer in Maryland Delegate Sheila Hixson’s office (D-District 20), woke up one night and said to himself, “Gee, I think I’ll write a piece of statewide franchising legislation.” No one can testify whether a hallucinogenic was involved. Unfortunately for the staffer, he didn’t take time to go look at other statewide franchising legislation and his final

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-45595480010693609462009-02-14T00:57:00.002-05:002009-02-14T01:00:43.211-05:00

Just in case you don't open up the comments at the end of my post...from Zane Blaney, ED of Access San Francisco...in the "You Gotta Be Frickin Kidding Me" Category of Comments...Zane Blaney, Access SF E.D. has left a new comment on your post "DIVCA’s Chickens Come Home to Roost":The SF Franchise Fee is about $8 million. Since the 1980's the City has set aside .2% of the 5% for PEG. Today that's

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-14112289565065369162009-02-13T12:56:00.002-05:002009-02-13T12:59:10.835-05:00

I keep asking myself when will I stop being surprised, shocked and saddened by attacks on Public access television? I think the answer is never. I’ve mentioned before that I grew up in Fresno, California, but I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I spent my disco years running up to San Francisco. During college, San Francisco was my second home; I love everything about the City. From the St.

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-13757490312428748682009-02-05T12:20:00.002-05:002009-02-05T12:25:28.224-05:00

Dateline: April 2010Some interesting social trends are emerging across the country. A recent article in “All Things Baby” magazine reported an enormous and unusual spike in births during the month of March.“We’ve seen birthrates suddenly jump to an all time high,” said David Umpdefratz. “We aren’t quite sure why.”In addition to the increase in stork activity, communities are reporting that petty

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-21436820104994523832009-02-02T14:41:00.004-05:002009-02-02T14:56:29.837-05:00

at&t keeps making these “presentations” in places they say they say they are going to build. They pull Public, Educational and Government (PEG) access managers into a room and extol the virtues of PEG on U-Verse. The infamous channel 99 ghetto for PEG channels. The PEG “solution.”“We’ve lowered the load time to 8 seconds.”“Your viewers will be able to watch city council meetings from other cities

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-45105566645476306202009-01-30T14:52:00.004-05:002009-01-30T15:05:38.192-05:00

Not long after Los Angeles stopped being a farming community and became “Hollywood” the competition was on to outdo New York City. But now, even a century later, LA is still just the ugly stepsister that never can quite attain the sophistication, style and intellectual heft that is Manhattan. I say this as a former Angelino, who came to love all that is LA and who still misses the crazy laid-back

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-32661981473402142902009-01-23T12:52:00.003-05:002009-01-23T17:05:05.740-05:00

I have a brother in Missouri who lives on and works over 300 acres of land. He’s a cattle rancher. I rarely receive emails from him and I'm really careful about what I send him. No attachments, no embedded video or pictures, etc. If it’s not plain text, he can’t/won’t open them because it takes him forever and ever amen to download them. My brother’s livelihood depends on information. What is the

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-10584372053697393472009-01-05T11:31:00.006-05:002009-01-06T14:44:14.914-05:00

I am very excited about 2009. Personally I have some fun stuff planned. Professionally I will be expanding my business, adding a larger nonprofit component. As for telecommunications, there will be opportunities this year for modifying or overturning the harmful state legislation of the past few years. And we can all look forward to a “new” FCC being created. There is much to celebrate.In the

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-77034459572147893762008-12-16T11:56:00.001-05:002008-12-16T12:00:59.518-05:00

I am a loyal Comcast customer. Couple reasons. I would like to get FiOS, but I don’t want my twisted copper land line stripped out of my house and so far, Verizon isn’t offering an alternative. Also I just like their commercials, they’re funny.It pleases me to note that Comcast, like all the other cable operators, is taking the digital transition seriously and providing their customers with all

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-80019146180921937022008-11-14T12:19:00.003-05:002008-11-14T17:00:47.549-05:00

Most of us had that experience in grammar school, the being “picked” for the team experience. When it came to softball, I usually was last on the pick list along with the girl with the coke bottle glasses and buck teeth. However when it came to volleyball, not only was I a premium pick, I usually was captain because I was a volleyball diva on steroids. Give me the set-up and I delivered a vicious

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-760532477745302192008-09-16T11:56:00.005-04:002008-09-16T12:16:49.146-04:00

On the eve of a Congressional hearing regarding what has happened to Public, Educational and Government (PEG) access channels since the passage of statewide or state issued franchise legislation, it is heartening to note that the cable and telecom industries (and the FCC) have severely overplayed their hand. Tomorrow, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-30586620993935815682008-07-28T15:14:00.000-04:002008-07-28T15:15:52.686-04:00

I am a huge fan of persistence. There’s always more than one way to approach an issue and usually more than one way to reach a solution. But I have to take my hat off to at&t for the creative tricks they will employ to mislead, deceive and otherwise cheat local communities. The latest Ma Bell ploy is to present a “contract” to a local community or access facility in which they agree to carry

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-30025815320674993142008-07-15T17:46:00.005-04:002008-07-15T18:08:14.717-04:00

I will be the first to admit I love “Spin” just as much as the next guy. But even when you’re “Spinning” you should try to include just a kernel of truth in order to make your “Spin” plausible.Geoff Daily doesn’t seem to understand that concept. He writes a blog called App-Rising where he says “networks, applications and policy collide.” And they really, really collide with fantasy given he is

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-79175877066134423222008-06-12T10:01:00.002-04:002008-06-12T11:05:53.195-04:00

It would be untoward of me to sit around in my little office in Columbia Maryland railing against the cable and telephone operators for the losses Public, Educational and Government access television has suffered over the last couple of years without doing some brutal finger pointing at the “media reform movement.” The very folks who are righteously angry at the current state of media

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-67769978191446843812008-05-22T11:28:00.000-04:002008-05-22T11:29:28.439-04:00

Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin was a bright guy who exerted an extraordinary amount of energy figuring out ways to get over on his boss, Catherine the Great. To prove that he hadn’t wasted blood and treasure in the conquering of the wasteland that was Crimea, Grigori constructed facades, moved sheep from fake village to fake village and even had roaring campfires burning, as he led Catherine on

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-57074751009578478072008-04-10T15:05:00.003-04:002008-04-10T16:23:33.617-04:00

It’s every woman’s nightmare. You take your sweetheart to a dance and your best friend dances off with him. Sure it feels like betrayal, but they couldn’t help themselves, they fell in love with each other while they were dancing. Nothing personal, mind you, nothing personal.I would have loved to been a fly on the wall when at&t, Charter, Comcast and James O. "Jimmy" Naifeh (Speaker of the House

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-88731454352034175482008-03-13T14:35:00.005-04:002008-03-13T18:18:33.745-04:00

There once was a union maid, she never was afraidOf goons and ginks and company finks and the deputy sheriffs who made the raid.She went to the union hall when a meeting it was called,And when the Legion boys come 'roundShe always stood her ground.Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union.Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-2095000173791983722008-02-29T15:22:00.001-05:002008-02-29T15:33:14.323-05:00

There are people who have contributed greatly to your personal welfare that you will never hear about. One of those is Marston Bates. He studied mosquitoes in South America and his work improved the understanding of yellow fever. You gotta like a guy like that, somebody who does original and actual research. Bates didn’t take himself too seriously either. He is attributed with saying “Research is

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-810020335849203132008-01-30T09:58:00.000-05:002008-01-30T10:47:20.438-05:00

I do have a passion for two things, Science and Art. Science because I am in awe of those fifty pound brains that can figure out the solar mass of a black hole or the structure and functions of the GNAT superfamily of acetyltransferases; and Art, because I can’t draw anything more complicated than a stick figure and I’m a big fan of Salvador Dali. Ergo I was a wee bit fascinated to find out that

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-70191999098682265672007-12-11T14:11:00.000-05:002007-12-11T14:15:11.339-05:00

There’s an inch of ice in Salina Kansas right now. The power is out in some places. My son is worried that the access station he works at will be off. I told him not to worry, if the town’s power is out, nobody’s going to see that the channel is dark. That’s similar to the kind of logic Comcast is applying to PEG channels in Michigan, nobody will miss what they cannot see.Seems Comcast

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-4421383516890630842007-11-29T13:56:00.000-05:002007-11-29T14:08:58.127-05:00

Recently I was told that my naiveté was charming. That despite my worldliness and my often cantankerous disposition, I still believed that people should do the right thing and when they don’t it causes me great disappointment. “Childlike view of the world” was slipped into the conversation. Anybody else would have been insulted, but not me. I couldn’t dispute it.It was all those years of Girl

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-34344703882886885002007-10-23T14:52:00.000-04:002007-10-23T15:12:24.146-04:00

Are the executives at at&t completely unaware of the national video phenomena called "football?" In my house during football season my husband dons his Eagles cap and spends most of Sunday yelling at the TV screen. He doesn’t only watch Eagles games but takes an interest in Ravens, Patriots, Redskins, Packers, Bears and Chargers. He’s not a big Giants fan, but if pressed, he will watch. Sometimes

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-76520789351889631332007-09-27T22:59:00.000-04:002007-09-28T10:53:37.267-04:00

Today, I so desire not to rant. I would prefer to have a nice, genteel discourse. That is my preference; however, I can’t seem to get everyone else to cooperate.The term for it is “Self Licking Ice Cream Cone.” Not my invention by any means, but a favorite phrase of my dear sweet husband. He also calls the newscasters “Blow Dries,” but that is for another day.That Self Licking Ice Cream Cone

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-87517512537765375722007-09-07T02:08:00.000-04:002007-09-07T14:56:47.374-04:00

The study of language fascinates me. There are so many parts. The actual language itself or languages themselves. The socialization of language. How language metamorphoses over time, geographical areas, trends or necessity. The physical characteristics of language. How does the human palate form words working in concert with the tongue and the lips? How is language is learned, by demonstration,

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-66797765468718079682007-08-08T14:07:00.000-04:002007-08-08T14:10:15.588-04:00

I asked him if he had seen the “Arbitration Notice.” He said “No.” I said “Are you sure? Maybe it’s in the pile,” referring to the stack of bills and junk mail thrown into the basket for our attention at a later time. He pulled it all out and began riffling through the paperwork. “I don’t see it,” he replied. “Well, where’s the bill?” I asked. “Paid it already, the paperwork is on your

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-75498521254082556862007-06-27T09:24:00.000-04:002007-06-27T09:25:48.451-04:00

I understand the band played while the Titanic sank. It’s a romantic thought, a group of people, consciously ignoring their own peril, giving false comfort in a time of despair. I could never see myself tooting a French horn in the most extreme moment, rather I would have been kicking and scratching to make sure I got on the damn life boat. But that’s just me, I’m a hopeless cynic.Ohio went

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-77369093573067463622007-05-22T10:47:00.000-04:002007-05-22T10:50:21.239-04:00

I have this nosey neighbor. She loves to make commentary on everything and everybody in the neighborhood. It’s kind of sad because if she really could see herself she wouldn’t be so quick to point out the flaws of others. I think she does it in order to deflect attention away from her shortcomings. Kind of like the U.S. Department of Justice.In a letter sent to Wisconsin lawmakers (and lawmakers

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-85246084216680753752007-04-16T10:18:00.000-04:002007-04-16T11:09:08.448-04:00

My husband hates it when a news story cycles over and over, so it was no surprise that his response to seeing the “Imus” story yet again was “God, is that still on?”“No” I said, “It’s good. It’s created a dialogue.”This past week I’ve heard topics discussed that nobody was talking about in the “mainstream-all-Anna-Nicole-Smith-all-the-time-media.” Racism, sexism, media consolidation, money, power

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-10992299971006148062007-04-03T10:25:00.000-04:002007-04-03T12:52:34.171-04:00

It’s never a good sign when you find yourself swearing at your computer screen before 9 a.m. It’s a jumble, it’s just a jumble.It started with a story regarding a resolution passed by the U.N. Human Rights Council sponsored by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) that limits freedom of expression about religion. The resolution was presented as a measure to “

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-90119136765982502432007-03-16T13:22:00.001-04:002007-03-16T13:37:47.455-04:00

One week ago I was at a NATOA legal seminar in Alexandria listening to a panel talk about recent statewide franchising laws and proposed statewide franchising laws.The moderator of that panel was Lou Comer from the Georgia Municipal Association. Being aware of Georgia legislation that was pending, but not terribly certain of the details, I asked Ms. Comer to elaborate on the provisions for Public

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-19110671559079891842007-03-06T23:28:00.000-05:002007-03-07T09:51:52.092-05:00

I can’t even begin to explain how disgusted I was. I was so lured in, because the previous night PBS had shown a program on Tony Bennett’s recent album, An American Classic, that featured duets between him and some unlikelies, such as Sting, Elton John, Billy Joel and Michael Buble.And then immediately afterward they had a show on “Rockabilly,” how Rock-n-Roll actually got started in the country

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-40652444611525071972007-02-20T17:04:00.000-05:002007-02-21T09:50:25.621-05:00

I have the unique pleasure of having not one, but two cable providers, Comcast and Charter. The first is for my home and the second if for this little old beach house we have in Chincoteague Virginia.Last week, about a day apart, we received notice from both companies that our rates were going up. Not unusual, you say? Well it is if you consider that Comcast has competition (Verizon) and Charter

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1171034037550468702007-02-09T10:07:00.000-05:002007-02-09T10:13:57.566-05:00

Engineer William Pohts, native son of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (home of Phil) recently explained the “Cumulative Leakage Index” to those of us not in the know. It seems some radio astronomer was having problems with his equipment because the cable was “leaking” in his neighborhood. Bill wrote:“All systems leak to a certain extent. If the leakage causes interference to certain communications

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1166802866264939972006-12-22T10:50:00.000-05:002006-12-22T11:12:02.976-05:00

It’s funny. That’s how I usually sign off on a letter to somebody when I want to be “pissy.”“Thank you for your interest in this important matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.”That basically means “Go pound sand,” or “Bite me.”And there was no warm-fuzzy at the beginning of the letter FCC Chairman Kevin Martin sent to Representative John Dingell

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1166053742409275002006-12-13T18:46:00.000-05:002006-12-13T18:51:24.410-05:00

I learned a couple new things today. One, David Duke is a champion of free speech. I was thrilled to hear that because us “free speech types” need all the help we can get. When Wolf Blitzer asked him about the Iranian Holocaust Deniers’ Conference, Duke replied he was there because he was all for free speech. Wow, I didn’t know Teheran was the bastion of free speech in the Middle East. He kinda

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1163114277767108992006-11-09T18:13:00.000-05:002006-11-09T18:28:43.736-05:00

We can only speculate as to what Mabel was doing when it happened. Maybe she was washing the dishes or perhaps she was watching Oprah or maybe she was dollin’ herself up for a hot night on the town. Whatever activity she may have been engaged in there was no way she could have braced herself for the explosion that shook her home.Debris flew in two different directions, out into the street and

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1161896312417849812006-10-26T16:56:00.000-04:002006-10-26T16:58:32.436-04:00

I am way too old to be surprised or disappointed, but still I find myself in both predicaments.The news that Alice Huffman, President of the California chapter of the NAACP, being paid $12,000 per month to lobby on at&t’s behalf in the recent state franchising legislation goes beyond surprise or disappointment straight to shock and disgust. No doubt her title as NAACP head put her in a perfect

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1160562431295462192006-10-11T06:25:00.000-04:002006-10-11T07:10:36.890-04:00

They invited me to take the “Sex Scandal Quiz.” MSNBC told me, at the hard breaks, that all I had to do was to log on and I could take the quiz that would test my knowledge of sex scandals in Washington over the last decade. Being the Luddite I am, I could only think of one other than the current instant messaging scandal and while that other one was abhorrent, it seems to me it did involve

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1159795297284793072006-10-02T09:17:00.000-04:002006-10-02T09:21:37.296-04:00

I’ve always been a fan of Vampire movies, which is probably the reason I love watching the antics of the telecom companies. There’s nothing like the excitement of a bunch of bloodsuckers lurking in the shadows that start screaming and flailing when exposed to sunlight. So it is in Norwood where Verizon is blasting town officials for not giving up control of their rights of way.“Obviously we want

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1158329254372945622006-09-15T10:02:00.000-04:002006-09-15T16:31:07.253-04:00

I don’t want to be cynical but I fear I am losing that battle. I went to my trusty source, Wikipedia, to look up the word “cynic” and found that it has a long tradition dating back to the Greeks so that made me feel a little better.“Cynicism (Greek κυνισμός) was originally the philosophy of a group of ancient Greeks called the Cynics, founded by Antisthenes. Presently the word generally describes

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1157064170379864852006-08-31T18:39:00.000-04:002006-09-01T07:35:38.220-04:00

Irony is such a fabulous thing. I love it when people say or do things that are grist for making fun of them. Especially when those people are seeking to pull a fast one or are absolutely convinced that the nonsense spewing out of their mouths is sacred gospel.The California State Senate passed out its bill for statewide video franchising which makes the Public Utilities Commission responsible

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1155307542767952342006-08-11T10:43:00.000-04:002006-08-11T10:45:42.783-04:00

When you’re young, your lover can greatly upset and bewilder you by storming out the door. But as you get old and cranky, if your lover pulls that stunt the reaction becomes “Well, try not to let the door hit ya. By the way, have you seen the remote control?”Verizon’s behavior in Montgomery County and New Hampshire remind me of that high strung fella I dated for a while. Everything was always

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1154087564348100062006-07-28T07:49:00.000-04:002006-07-28T09:46:21.456-04:00

I don’t spend much time weighing in on what PBS does or does not do. Only time I’ve ever really cared is when PBS (or various affiliated PBS type groups) tried to steal local access channels. Bad girl that I am, I think PBS is mostly irrelevant.However, that said, I find the FCC fining of PBS affiliates for two words used in a documentary (Martin Scorsese’s “The Blues”) shown before 10 p.m. to be

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1153480924977306902006-07-21T07:21:00.000-04:002006-07-21T07:46:46.643-04:00

I’ve been volunteering lately at a horse rescue farm. Something I thought about for two years and finally did. It’s just once a week for three hours but it gets me out from behind the computer and the desk into the open air, sort of. A good chunk of that time is spent mucking out stalls and paddocks. I fill up huge plastic buckets with the stuff and carry it to a large dumpster; the process is

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1150983526716872402006-06-22T09:30:00.000-04:002006-06-22T09:43:35.796-04:00

The chemical plant sits smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood. So close it’s as if my neighbors across the street are the plant. Its purpose is to take toxic chemicals and neutralize them and then pump the neutralized byproduct into the sewage system. It doesn’t function willy-nilly, the Environmental Protection Agency keeps a stern eye on the plant and there are reams of reports about its

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1150296588716916022006-06-14T10:48:00.000-04:002006-06-14T12:35:56.070-04:00

I once had a drama teacher who told me that in comedy, timing is everything. Which is why I find Verizon’s antics so amusing. It’s that perfect sense of timing they possess.Three days after the House passed their nefarious COPE bill, a group of us went to the Hill to talk to a Senate office. When I came home, my husband took me out into the driveway, pointed upward and said “Look.” Above my head,

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1149863299580506382006-06-09T10:26:00.000-04:002006-06-09T10:28:19.613-04:00

Hilda Solis (D-CA 32nd) has always been one of my favorite people. I watched her enter politics while living in La Puente, California. She had an office about half a mile from my house. When Hilda said she would do something, she did it. She is sweet, passionate and really cares. Her testimony during the COPE debate yesterday almost moved me to tears. And it was especially fitting given

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1149090131019053672006-05-31T11:39:00.000-04:002006-05-31T12:09:25.896-04:00

He was right. It’s been over a month since I’ve written anything. To say I’ve been extremely busy is not exactly painting the correct picture, I have been wicked busy. But added to that was my inability to find anything amusing about what is going on. So it was good that he nagged me.I decided to figure out if I could file a cable modem complaint on the FCC’s website. Being able to get assistance

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1145031615379589092006-04-14T12:19:00.000-04:002006-04-14T12:23:31.136-04:00

Years ago a friend of mine made some biscuits. They looked really terrific when he placed them on the table, hot and steamy. Eagerly I buttered one up and bit into it with glee. Next thing I knew I was spitting it out. See he had read the recipe wrong, it called for three teaspoons of baking soda, he had put in three tablespoons of baking soda. All the lovely biscuits met their end in the

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1143665054340447452006-03-29T15:41:00.000-05:002006-03-29T15:53:42.383-05:00

I grew up terribly disadvantaged. We had only three or four tv channels, no video games and certainly not a cell phone. Somehow we managed to have fun playing with dolls or jacks or any number of simple toys. There were a couple of games called “Telephone.” In one you sat around in a circle and whispered a common phrase into the ear of the person next to you and they whispered it as they heard it

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1142251091726974162006-03-13T06:55:00.000-05:002006-03-13T06:59:27.243-05:00

I’ve been thinking about trying to get a job with Comcast. Strictly as a consultant and definitely not as a Customer Service Representative. I looked online at their job openings but they don’t advertise “consultant” positions. Those plum assignments are found through other channels. Working against me in this endeavor is the fact that I’ve never been elected to public office, I’ve never been

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1140128752092293532006-02-16T17:24:00.000-05:002006-02-17T09:43:57.270-05:00

It’s so tiring when people flap their yaps about things they know absolutely nothing about. Like when people who don't have children give you advice on how you should be raising yours. Or those Olympic program viewers making commentary about how Mark Grimmette should have kept his head down during the luge. I am not immune to such nonsensical babbling. I’ll admit I have very strong opinions about

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1138883768725177212006-02-02T07:34:00.000-05:002006-02-02T07:36:08.746-05:00

Public Knowledge let me introduce you to Freedom Works. You two have a lot to talk about, like national franchising for instance. At the nexus of some bizarre universe your paths cross with a harmonic convergence that makes my hair stand on end.“Our prepared testimony endorsed a national franchise for the phone companies, so they don't have to go to every city and county, because that would

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1137671631929122022006-01-19T06:41:00.000-05:002006-01-19T06:53:51.946-05:00

I miss Dick Armey. I know, he’s still around, but I miss having him as House Majority Leader. When he was Leader there was always this fabulous possibility he’d say something outrageously wacky straight to some camera and you’d get a whole evening’s worth of kitchen table discussion material absolutely free. Now, not so much. In his role as Co-Chair of FreedomWorks I hardly hear anything

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1135777952809298872005-12-28T08:47:00.000-05:002005-12-28T08:52:32.826-05:00

Post Christmas is always a bitter sweet time of year for me. No more presents to open, the eggnog starts going bad and my husband’s tolerance for endless hours of Christmas carol music streaming through the house goes right out the window. It’s probably that last one more than anything else that gets me, having to box up my Christmas c.d. collection knowing that I won’t be hearing those lovely

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1135281486507324892005-12-22T14:53:00.000-05:002005-12-22T15:03:11.120-05:00

When you look up the word “collusion” you are taken straight to an economic definition that talks about gouging and fixing and “game theory.” But collusion has many variations. You can collude to commit a crime. You can collude to keep your mother-in-law from finding out how much you actually paid for your new entertainment center. You can collude to keep your kids believing in Santa. And you can

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1134572649484724992005-12-14T10:03:00.000-05:002005-12-14T10:04:09.510-05:00

Much has been made over the last few days about an infamous survey conducted by Bright House Networks in Hillsborough County Florida. According to their survey results, Bright House says that fifty-seven to sixty-nine percent of subscribers never watch Public, Educational or Government access programming. It is their contention that with such low viewer numbers the number of access channels

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1133270192416211062005-11-29T08:13:00.000-05:002005-11-29T08:16:33.336-05:00

My cable went out. Dead as a door nail. And there we were, forced to actually talk to each other. It was a little scary and it made me think that my marriage might be glued fragilely together by Law and Order or West Wing reruns. The house felt so quiet and my nervousness grew as I realized I had no internet access. The next day we watched the clock waiting for the cable guy to

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1132144554154383522005-11-16T07:34:00.000-05:002005-11-16T07:35:54.166-05:00

I was just hanging out last night watching “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” tapping my feet to Hurricane Party, when I started thinking about this article I read in the online National Journal’s Technology Daily. The article talked about how minorities were split over the issue of video franchising. Seems the largest and oldest Hispanic organization in the country, the League of United Latin American

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1130350600308479312005-10-26T14:13:00.000-04:002005-10-26T14:16:40.320-04:00

I think it’s so cool that Senator John Ensign is a veterinarian. I love my dog and I think veterinarians are wonderful people. But maybe all the time spent with animals makes Ensign need a reality check or at least a fact check. See you can say anything to a dog and they’ll just wag their tails and take your word as gospel. Not so much with people, people tend to want you to tell the truth or

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1129726171652782472005-10-19T08:47:00.000-04:002005-10-19T08:49:31.663-04:00

That Saddam Hussein sure is a slippery fella. He’s on trial for his life and what are the first words that come out of his mouth? “Who are you? I want to know who you are,” he says to the presiding judge.It’s like the tactic SBC is employing in Walnut Creek. They’re challenging the City’s authority to require a franchise agreement for their delivery of video services. Their attorney fired off

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1128598535199863982005-10-06T07:33:00.000-04:002005-10-06T07:35:35.206-04:00

I used to have this neighbor who was always doing unsolicited favors for me. At first I thought she was just being generous but soon I learned she was attempting to make me feel obligated. She’d do things like lend me a bassinette for my new born son or bring over a cake she had baked or she’d offer to do my hair. It wasn’t long before she began asking me favors. Could I drive her and her

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1125575920415473852005-09-01T07:53:00.000-04:002005-09-01T07:58:40.423-04:00

Desk jobs are overrated. You sit at a computer screen all day, your eyesight goes bad staring at the monitor, your back feels stiff because you aren’t moving. Sometimes I watch people who do physical labor and think that it’s a better way to go. At least you get some exercise and if you’re lucky you get to work outdoors. Of course, wimp that I am, I only want to work outdoors on “nice”

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1124865361546981722005-08-24T02:27:00.000-04:002005-08-24T09:07:12.966-04:00

Ah, summer is coming to an end. Kids are on their way back to school, there’s a gentle nip in the air. The other day, I was reminded of the joys of summer when I pulled up next to a big yellow bus full of children coming back from some camp. Actually, they weren’t really children, they were just “child-like” men and women in business attire, on their way to somewhere or another, singing a classic

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1124443694192814672005-08-19T05:26:00.000-04:002005-08-19T15:15:44.436-04:00

Isn’t Mick Jagger fab? The guy just turned sixty-two in July and he is still strutting his stuff with a vengeance. Even my twenty-three year old son is a huge Stones fan. It gives us something to talk about.Mick may not know it but he has a lot in common with LaChania Govan of Illinois. She can’t get any satisfaction either. She called Comcast at least forty times in one month to complain about a

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1123587373500182582005-08-09T07:29:00.000-04:002005-08-09T07:36:13.506-04:00

Finally the FCC is doing something right. Seems they have hired a special advisor in the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis, a Ms. Penny Nance, whose job it will be to root out “indecency.” Just last January Nance sent a letter to President George Bush calling for a stricter enforcement of laws and identifying a “huge indecency problem” in cable. Her most recent gig as board

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1123015353411320942005-08-02T16:39:00.000-04:002005-08-02T16:42:33.416-04:00

I spent some time yesterday crunching numbers. I was trying to figure out how many potential households a particular video program could reach in the cities where it was being carried on cable systems.It was pleasing to estimate that for the one hundred and forty two communities the program was being carried, some 8.2 million households would be reached. These were franchise areas that ranged

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1122384643532835552005-07-26T09:29:00.000-04:002005-07-26T09:30:43.546-04:00

You ever have that conversation around the kitchen table with your friends? The one about how you wished you had bought Microsoft in 1988 or Google in 2003? It’s that conversation that has you calculating how much you might be worth right now had you only invested five or ten or twenty thousand dollars in such ventures. The conversation usually ends with somebody saying “I could retire right

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1120653537937100132005-07-06T08:33:00.000-04:002005-07-06T08:38:57.943-04:00

It’s easy to get to the point where you can be completely cynical about politics. Our representatives love to play fast and loose with ideas and language and can never resist the hyperbole. If “Grandstanding” were an Olympic sport, Congress would be the gold medal team. When Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner announced her resignation last week I felt a huge ball of anxiety rise up

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1119622742598707532005-06-24T10:08:00.000-04:002005-06-24T10:22:25.436-04:00

It’s less than five hundred miles from the City of Dayton, Ohio to the County of Mecklenburg, North Carolina but it might as well be five billion miles.On the same day that the County of Mecklenburg was filing a lawsuit to force Time Warner Cable to live up to its promise in the franchise agreement to build an institutional network (among other things), the City Manager of Dayton, James T.

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1119356931183415142005-06-21T08:28:00.000-04:002005-06-23T07:15:30.040-04:00

My husband drives me crazy sometimes. He is “Mr. Preventative Maintenance.” The oil in our cars is changed at regular 3,000 mile intervals. He keeps meticulous records of all service our autos have received making sure the tires are rotated, the brake pads are measured and all the fluids are checked and changed out. But it’s not just the cars. He dutifully replaced the oil in our new lawn mower,

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1118405524163897572005-06-10T08:05:00.000-04:002005-06-10T08:17:26.350-04:00

He was just “there” one day. In my front yard. I hadn’t asked him to be there he just appeared. It took me a while to figure out what he was doing and then I realized he was selling hot dogs, right there on my lawn.It wasn’t just the obnoxious stand that I objected to but the hole he had dug to access my water pipes and my electrical lines. Sure he’d covered the trench back up but now my lawn had

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1117715092855403892005-06-02T08:20:00.000-04:002005-06-02T11:21:40.450-04:00

I make what I call a “50 pound Lasagna.” That’s because by the time I get through it weighs about 50 pounds. I take great pride in my lasagna and on many occasions have been told it’s the “best lasagna” ever. It’s a meatless dish with cottage cheese instead of ricotta because I find ricotta a bit too rich. There’s a liberal amount of garlic, oregano, black olives and onions in the cottage cheese

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1117045915354828882005-05-25T14:27:00.000-04:002005-05-25T14:31:55.360-04:00

Down in North Carolina a couple years ago, was this lady who was determined to have the City Council meetings cablecast on the Government access channel. I tried to help her. All she wanted to do was video tape the Council meetings, uncensored, unedited and let the public decide if they liked how Council was behaving. At one point she said to me “I know more about what is going on at the White

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1116599235267365842005-05-20T10:20:00.000-04:002005-05-20T10:30:31.413-04:00

No one talks about playwright William Inge anymore. George Lucas is the story teller of the current generation and in the Lucas mythology the hero always triumphs.Not so much with Inge.The Inge protagonist can hardly be called a “hero” and most often they do not triumph, but always they learn something and come away different than they were. I am supposing it was Inge’s Midwest upbringing that

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1115726131557273392005-05-10T07:51:00.000-04:002005-05-10T13:03:43.173-04:00

Good evening! This is Bunnie Riedel coming to you live from lovely downtown Dinuba, California where I am standing on the red carpet of the “Most Loathsome Telecom Corporation Awards.” You can feel the excitement in the air as the nominees of these awards are about to arrive. This star-studded event proves to be even more thrilling than in previous years because various Telecom Corporations have

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1115386800787687012005-05-06T09:36:00.000-04:002005-05-06T09:40:00.793-04:00

It’s been tough for me to keep up with what’s going on lately. It’s required all my spare time just trying to keep up with the Michael Jackson trial. I mean there’s the real news about the real trial on all the broadcast and cable networks and there’s all those real-life re-enactments courtesy of E! News Presentations.This distraction has caused me to miss the monumental struggle going on in

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1115299149421780622005-05-05T09:18:00.000-04:002005-05-05T09:19:09.430-04:00

Every once in a blue moon I come up with a great idea. Here’s one I’ve given quite a bit of thought to and am convinced it will work. The “federalization” of trash pick up.Follow me on this. See when I lived in Los Angeles County we paid for a private company to do our trash pick up. It was great. You could put a refrigerator out on the curb and they would haul it away just like your kitchen

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1114690104095908422005-04-28T08:05:00.000-04:002005-04-28T08:08:24.100-04:00

If you take the Long Island Rail Road out of Penn Station in Manhattan you can be in Nassau County in less than an hour, even with the train change in Jamaica. My recommendation is you go straight to the Village of Malverne and try to do lunch with Mayor Anthony Panzarella. He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t like being lied to and he takes decisive action when he discovers he’s being played for a

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1114521152197401782005-04-26T09:11:00.000-04:002005-04-26T09:12:32.200-04:00

I’ve decided to start a campaign to get Brian Roberts, Comcast chairman and CEO, to marry my daughter. He’s not unattractive and now that she’s twenty-five, I figure it could work. Maybe I’ll invite him over for dinner and let her do most of the cooking so he can be impressed by her culinary skill. Or I’ll arrange a chance meeting at some charity benefit or another. Yeah I know the ticket

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1113997576272746392005-04-20T07:39:00.000-04:002005-04-20T07:46:16.276-04:00

I don’t like whining. In fact I have a rule in my home, no whining. I don’t even let the dog whine. You can complain. You can gripe. You can be irritated as all get out but whining is not allowed. That’s why I am really glad I wasn’t there for the speech given at the National Association of Broadcasters on Monday by Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg. Had I been there Mr. Seidenberg might have

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1113592325190679682005-04-15T15:09:00.000-04:002005-04-15T15:12:05.193-04:00

How many times have you written an email and then swiftly hit the send button only to recoil in horror that you sent it to the wrong person or group of people? I think I have finally learned my lesson on that one…maybe.So can you blame President Bush for not wanting to use email to communicate with his daughters? He’s right; any of his private communications could end up becoming fodder for the

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1113310187738203522005-04-12T08:48:00.000-04:002005-04-12T08:49:47.740-04:00

Some people go insane and some are driven to insanity. The picture that accompanied the story showed a man with wild eyes, a frightening expression of anger and defiance. The 41 year-old Daniel Taugher had ridden his bicycle to a Comcast service center to complain about his bill. Once inside he began yelling and threatening to blow up the place. The police later said he was probably drunk. He

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1112814835710523692005-04-06T15:07:00.000-04:002005-04-06T15:15:47.673-04:00

At the very same time that Cox Communications is playing Eagle Scout in Arizona by claiming that legislation to reduce franchise fees and PEG channels will help save the poor tax payers some dough, the rest of the industry is popping champagne corks in San Francisco over their continuing double digit cash flows.“With capital expenditures falling and revenue from new products pouring in, a panel

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1112199193043138282005-03-30T11:07:00.000-05:002005-03-30T11:49:08.286-05:00

I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but my family hails from Marshall, Missouri and spots thereabout. Last week I spent some time researching Marshall for a book I am writing about my family, in fact, a good deal of the book is set in Marshall. I have a brother who lives in Marshall, not in town, but owns a decent size cattle operation on the outskirts and a distant great aunt who does live in town.I

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1111672895982780972005-03-24T08:58:00.000-05:002005-03-24T09:01:35.986-05:00

It’s just one long hang-over. Or maybe a persistent head cold. Perhaps a nasty bug that made its way into the food chain and now you just can’t seem to shake it. It’s definitely a sickness but not the gotta-go-to-bed falling down kind. Certainly it’s an affliction that at any moment could turn nasty so you need to pay attention to the symptoms and nip them quickly in the bud.This illness is

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1111446636188176882005-03-21T18:07:00.000-05:002005-03-21T18:10:36.190-05:00

I thought about titling this one “Let’s Just Stay Naked” in deference to Joan Osborne but worried I might offend. "Naked DSL" is when you can buy just DSL without having to buy phone service. I love that moniker, makes DSL sound forbidden.FCC v. Consumers…another TKO. But that’s cool, consumers have been taking it on the chin from the FCC for quite some time. We’re used to the broken teeth

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1110860833359042482005-03-14T23:23:00.000-05:002005-03-15T12:13:29.896-05:00

I like Ken Ferree. No, I really, really like him. When he was head of the Mass Media Bureau at the FCC, I met with him and felt like I was talking to a “pal.” So I am thrilled that he is now Chief Operating Officer for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. The folks who dole out the money to PBS and community radio stations. Ken is personable, understands the importance of local media and seems

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1110550260059239682005-03-11T08:42:00.000-05:002005-03-11T11:05:55.366-05:00

You gotta love a state legislature that has a “Committee on Committees.”Kentucky just passed a comprehensive tax overhaul bill favored by Governor Ernie Fletcher. He must have stayed up nights working on the legislation; it is long and involved and leaves no sector untouched by his reform efforts. Buried deep was a provision to impose a tax on all video providers, even DBS, something that has

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1110289818249875052005-03-08T08:46:00.000-05:002005-03-08T08:51:01.556-05:00

Sometimes I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut. Okay, ALL the time I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut.My husband and I were at Best Buy looking for new stereo speakers when we happened to stroll over toward the televisions. We stood transfixed in front of a huge HDTV screen, oooohing and aaaahing at the crystal clear images of colorful fish swimming in bright blue water. I backed up a

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1109943212615237702005-03-04T08:32:00.000-05:002005-03-04T10:57:44.146-05:00

In October 2004, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report ironically called “Sending the Right Signals: Promoting Competition Through Telecommunications Reform.” The report is a romantic tribute to the telecommunications industry. It bemoans that regulation has caused the industry to sink into “a depressed economic condition.” It calls for closing networks to sharing, ending regulated

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1109690990359621362005-03-01T10:27:00.000-05:002005-03-01T10:29:50.363-05:00

It’s always exciting to start a new job. Especially a job in an industry you know nothing about. The learning curve may be stiff, but that’s part of the fun and when you get a firm grasp of the issues, you can feel proud of yourself for having met the challenge.Today, Kyle McSlarrow officially begins his reign as President of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. After running

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-1109255421526772652005-02-24T09:28:00.000-05:002005-02-25T10:45:10.313-05:00

Elizabeth Beaty, Executive Director of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, recently distributed a document that outlined the “core values” of NATOA. This effort to establish the fundamentals of what will be pursued by NATOA in regard to the rewrite of the Telecommunications Act has been joined by the National League of Cities, and there is a plan to work with the

Nonprofit and Government Consultingnoreply@blogger.com1