Liberal Talk Radio

There may be a slight reprieve for internet radio broadcasters: In the wake of an appeals court’s decision not to delay the imposition of a new, expensive royalty scheme, Internet radio broadcasters got an unexpected bit of good news from an unlikely source. During a Congressional roundtable initiated by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), SoundExchange executive [...]

Even Bob Costas didn’t get the true meaning of Cyndi Lauper’s “She Bop”* . . . does that make Tipper Gore a total perv? Yes, I think so. And by the way, douchebags — I distinctly remember Al Gore being one of the main advocates for toppling Saddam. Add the PMRC to the mix, and [...]

Verizon has apparently decided that the time is ripe for an Epic Battle of Liberties, pitting Right Against Right in a No-Holds-Barred Fight to the Finish. What else can you say about a claim that handing over customer data without a warrant is protected speech under the first amendment? The response also alleges that the [...]

Do we really still live in a world where potential first ladies like Cindy McCain need to showcase their favorite recipes on their husbands’ campaign sites? What years is this? What century is this? I browsed some other candidates sites and none seem to feature such an extensive recipe collection, so let’s chalk it up [...]

I wasn’t terribly surprised when Vonnegut left us; I saw him speak when I an undergrad, and he was frail then. Losing Halberstam, on the other hand, is a shock. I was hoping that he would produce a book on the Bush wars as incisive as this one and this one. If you haven’t, buy [...]

If they ever start allowing cell phones to be used on planes, I will be very, very mad. Getting to the airport is a stressful experience. Waiting on ticket lines stressful. Going through the invasive security check is stressful. Waiting to get a seat is stressful. But once you’re on the plane, you’re rocking the [...]

The details about the latest free speech in schools battle going on at the Supreme Court are supremely depressing: The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a case that has attracted attention mainly because of its eccentric story line: An Alaska student was suspended from high school in 2002 after he unfurled a banner reading [...]

Did I just hear the Buzzcocks’ “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” on an AARP ad? Why yes I did: Now approaching 50 itself, AARP is heading off a midlife crisis with a new TV ad that celebrates the aging process to the strains of the Buzzcocks’ classic punk song “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays.” The image overhaul, aimed in [...]

Follow up to the Contrarian’s piece on life-extending calorie-restricted diets. In today’s NYT, there’s a bit about a study involving rhesus monkeys. Check out the sample diets offered, one demonstrating a calorie restricted menu of 2000 calories, the other the “average” diet of 3000 calories. The diets were prepared by one Mike Linksvayer. Now, I [...]

As some of you will know, one of my bete noirs is poor personal hygiene, especially of the kind that leads to spreading illness. I sort of understand why hourly wage workers are reluctant to miss time from work, but it bothers me tremendously to see salaried employees — all of whom have laptops and [...]