Monthly Archives: January 2015

  • State Run Media sad because they are treated like State Run Media

    Apparently the media doesn’t like it when their message is tightly controlled by outside forces…….except when they are totally cool with it.

    Reporters covering the House Democrats’ retreat in Philadelphia this week are having a much different experience than when they’re on their home turf on Capitol Hill. Reporters are being escorted to and from the restroom and lobby and are being barred from entering the hotel outside of scheduled events, even if they’ve been invited by a member of Congress. During Vice President Joe Biden’s remarks at the retreat Friday, reporters were required to have a staff member, usually a junior member of the press team, escort them when going to the bathroom or to the lobby. The filing center for reporters was at a separate hotel from where the retreat was taking place, so access was limited to members of Congress specifically made available to the press

    ……………..

    Peters said he was told by a staffer they were being escorted to prevent them from talking to members of Congress.

    Basically we had Congress slamming their iron fist as to what information reporters were going to get from the Democrat Representatives……sort of like what the media does with the general public.

  • State Run Media sad because they are treated like State Run Media

    Apparently the media doesn’t like it when their message is tightly controlled by outside forces…….except when they are totally cool with it.

    Reporters covering the House Democrats’ retreat in Philadelphia this week are having a much different experience than when they’re on their home turf on Capitol Hill. Reporters are being escorted to and from the restroom and lobby and are being barred from entering the hotel outside of scheduled events, even if they’ve been invited by a member of Congress. During Vice President Joe Biden’s remarks at the retreat Friday, reporters were required to have a staff member, usually a junior member of the press team, escort them when going to the bathroom or to the lobby. The filing center for reporters was at a separate hotel from where the retreat was taking place, so access was limited to members of Congress specifically made available to the press

    ……………..

    Peters said he was told by a staffer they were being escorted to prevent them from talking to members of Congress.

    Basically we had Congress slamming their iron fist as to what information reporters were going to get from the Democrat Representatives……sort of like what the media does with the general public.

  • FCC redefines words, thinks that makes the Internet faster

    Today the FCC put the final touches on their latest hair-brained idea for broadband in America. They have redefined “Broadband” to mean 25Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps to 3Mbps for uploads. Previously “Broadband” was defined as anything at or above 4 megabits per second. See what they did there? They gave “Broadband” a new definition. Now service providers won’t be able to meet this definition and the government will have to intervene. This is just one more step towards Net Neutrality, which I have written about several times on these pages. (You can watch my interview with former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell)

    In a 3-2 vote, the commission approved a measure that increases the minimum standard for broadband speed, giving the agency more power to force internet service providers to improve their service.

    The definition of broadband is set to be raised from 4 megabits per second (Mbps) to 25Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps to 3Mbps for uploads.

    With that speed as the benchmark, significantly fewer Americans have access to high-speed broadband. Under the previous definition, 19 million Americans were without access; the new definition means that 55 million Americans – 17% of the population – now do not have access to high-speed broadband, according to the FCC’s 2015 Broadband Progress Report, which is in the final editing process but was cited at the hearing.

    Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, our FCC is charged with making sure broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion”. So, if the service you are paying the same amount for today is no longer broadband tomorrow, who do you think will pay for the new and ever increasing speed demands? And, if you’re dissatisfied with your cable provider today, what exactly does changing the definition of broadband do to improve that relationship? While the US might be ranked 25th in broadband speed globally, changing the definition of the word “broadband” does nothing to improve access and encourage innovation. Do you ever wonder why companies like Netflix and Google aren’t founded in other countries? Our open and free markets create an environment where a couple of folks sitting around in their basement can have an idea they can take to market all by themselves. If we want better Internet in this country we don’t need more intrusive and strangling regulation by the government, we need less. With moves like this and Net Neutrality you only need look at the massive innovation of the telephone over a 50 year period (there was basically none) to see what will happen if the Internet falls under Title II control. It wasn’t until the government loosened their stranglehold on the telecommunications industry that we got things like provider choice, call waiting, call forwarding and the like. While these may even seem like dinosaur inventions these days, keep in mind this same deregulation also gave you that shiny cell phone you’re reading this article on.

    Changing definitions doesn’t bring the Internet to more people, it doesn’t make it faster or better or cheaper. Changing definitions only give the government a stronger hold on one of the last truly free and open market places we have left in this country.

  • The Science is Settled-Gun Ownership Reduces Crime

    A post over at bearingarms.com highlights newly released information for the first 6 months of crime data from the FBI which shows violent crimes are reducing as gun ownership is increasing. That is great news. The science is settled-gun ownership lowers violent crimes!

    Violent crimes reported for January through June of 2014 were down 4.6 percent from the same time period in 2013. All of the offenses in the violent crime category—murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery—showed decreases. And the number of property crimes during the same time period decreased 7.5 percent, with all three offenses—burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft—showing declines.

    Society is much safer as a result of people legally owning and learning to use firearms to defend themselves. As gun ownership becomes more commonplace, those that choose to break the law have a much greater chance of running across someone willing to defend themselves as not. This is a good thing.

  • FCC redefines words, thinks that makes the Internet faster

    Today the FCC put the final touches on their latest hair-brained idea for broadband in America. They have redefined “Broadband” to mean 25Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps to 3Mbps for uploads. Previously “Broadband” was defined as anything at or above 4 megabits per second. See what they did there? They gave “Broadband” a new definition. Now service providers won’t be able to meet this definition and the government will have to intervene. This is just one more step towards Net Neutrality, which I have written about several times on these pages. (You can watch my interview with former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell)

    In a 3-2 vote, the commission approved a measure that increases the minimum standard for broadband speed, giving the agency more power to force internet service providers to improve their service.

    The definition of broadband is set to be raised from 4 megabits per second (Mbps) to 25Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps to 3Mbps for uploads.

    With that speed as the benchmark, significantly fewer Americans have access to high-speed broadband. Under the previous definition, 19 million Americans were without access; the new definition means that 55 million Americans – 17% of the population – now do not have access to high-speed broadband, according to the FCC’s 2015 Broadband Progress Report, which is in the final editing process but was cited at the hearing.

    Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, our FCC is charged with making sure broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion”. So, if the service you are paying the same amount for today is no longer broadband tomorrow, who do you think will pay for the new and ever increasing speed demands? And, if you’re dissatisfied with your cable provider today, what exactly does changing the definition of broadband do to improve that relationship? While the US might be ranked 25th in broadband speed globally, changing the definition of the word “broadband” does nothing to improve access and encourage innovation. Do you ever wonder why companies like Netflix and Google aren’t founded in other countries? Our open and free markets create an environment where a couple of folks sitting around in their basement can have an idea they can take to market all by themselves. If we want better Internet in this country we don’t need more intrusive and strangling regulation by the government, we need less. With moves like this and Net Neutrality you only need look at the massive innovation of the telephone over a 50 year period (there was basically none) to see what will happen if the Internet falls under Title II control. It wasn’t until the government loosened their stranglehold on the telecommunications industry that we got things like provider choice, call waiting, call forwarding and the like. While these may even seem like dinosaur inventions these days, keep in mind this same deregulation also gave you that shiny cell phone you’re reading this article on.

    Changing definitions doesn’t bring the Internet to more people, it doesn’t make it faster or better or cheaper. Changing definitions only give the government a stronger hold on one of the last truly free and open market places we have left in this country.

  • The Science is Settled-Gun Ownership Reduces Crime

    A post over at bearingarms.com highlights newly released information for the first 6 months of crime data from the FBI which shows violent crimes are reducing as gun ownership is increasing. That is great news. The science is settled-gun ownership lowers violent crimes!

    Violent crimes reported for January through June of 2014 were down 4.6 percent from the same time period in 2013. All of the offenses in the violent crime category—murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery—showed decreases. And the number of property crimes during the same time period decreased 7.5 percent, with all three offenses—burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft—showing declines.

    Society is much safer as a result of people legally owning and learning to use firearms to defend themselves. As gun ownership becomes more commonplace, those that choose to break the law have a much greater chance of running across someone willing to defend themselves as not. This is a good thing.

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