What Caught My Eye Today

2008 Presidential Race - Fred's Note: A fellow political junkie, let's call her "JE," pointed out to me that I missed a rather large development in the GOP presidential race this past Friday. Long-shot White House hopeful Ron Paul formally abandoned his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination last Thursday, vowing to remain on the political scene. Paul got into the presidential race with no chance of winning. But his opposition to the war in Iraq, his isolationist foreign policy, and his leave-us-alone views on the domestic front won him faithful supporters during the debates earlier this year. Based on those performances, the Paul campaign raised millions of dollars, especially on the Internet. As of the end of April, he had pulled in $35 million. Now Paul's band of followers are planning their own little rump convention in September, when the GOP meets in the Twin Cities to certify McCain. While the real convention meets in St. Paul, the Paul crowd plans a meeting on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. And here I was thinking that the Democrats had a monopoly on infighting within the ranks. Admittedly, Hillary Clinton got more time in the spotlight than Ron Paul, but $35 million is $35 million. That kind of money doesn't just magically appear.

Television - The Federal Communications Commission would be required to regulate the volume of television commercials for excessive loudness under a House bill recently introduced by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) God love ya, Congresswoman. Those jerks on Fox really do a number on my eardrums. Eshoo's bill, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act or the CALM Act, would give the FCC one-year to adopt regulations that would ensure that the loudness of TV ads was not “substantially higher than the program material that such advertisements accompany.” Has kind of a nice ring to it, doesn't it? In January, the FCC released a report showing that it had received complaints from consumers about the “abrupt changes in volume” during transitions from regular programming to commercials. Eshoo's bill contained no findings regarding the prevalence of volume manipulation in TV ads, no statements about who is responsible for the practice, and no language regarding the bill's impact on the First Amendment. Damn that Constitution. First Bush gets screwed on human rights and now my television viewing comfort is threatened by this stupid document. When will the madness stop?

Cuba - Cuban television showed the first images of Fidel Castro in 6 months, with a silent video of the ailing 81 year old revolutionary chatting in a garden with visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The two countries are collaborating on a major petroleum refinery and petrochemical plant in the eastern Cuban port city of Cienfuegos. Chavez said he and Castro also discussed the need for both countries to produce their own food, using as little land as possible. Castro's exact medical ailment and condition have remained state secrets since he underwent emergency intestinal surgery in late July 2006 and ceded provisional power to his brother Raul, who replaced him permanently as president in February. I've always been curious as to what constitutes a state secret. Seeing as Fidel no longer holds any official office within the government, why would his health be considered a secret. I'm not saying that folks aren't interested in Fidel's condition, but is it really a state secret. I'm thinking Cuba will have a lot more control over its destiny when he's out of the picture. Not that that picture is particularly great. Honestly, guys, I know things aren't going great with the U.S., but you all can do better than Hugo Chavez. The dude is nuts.

Copyright Infringement - Uh-oh, busted... The Associated Press, following criticism from bloggers over an AP assertion of copyright, plans to meet this week with a bloggers' group to help form guidelines under which AP news stories could be quoted online. This meeting is part of an effort to create standards for online use of AP stories by bloggers that would protect AP content without discouraging bloggers from legitimately quoting from it. Mea culpa. I'll come clean. Much of the source material I get for my blog comes from news wires like the Associated Press and Reuters (among many, many others). I tend to paraphrase the articles a fair bit focusing in on what I consider to be the salient points. However, should you be curious (and if you haven't figured this out already), my opinions are clearly highlighted in italics--like this.