Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Comedy Central on YouTube (continued)

Jeff Jarvis:

I can’t find anything about this online, but on the local NBC news this morning, they reporrted that Comedy Central was not asking YouTube to pull all the clips from its show, only full episodes - a reasonable and wise position. It seems that cooler heads prevailed. YouTube is a magnificent new means of distribution and promotion. Now the key will be for Comedy Central to also make money on those clips; once that happens, the networks will fall over themselves to put their own stuff up.

it’s not over ‘til the fat kid stops singing:

I still say, make the player the ad and make everyone happy.

More on Pelosi’s agenda

Is this what Republicans are complaining about?

If Democrats gain the 15 seats they need to win control of the House—and most analysts think they will—one of the first things the new House will do is restrict or end outright a slew of lobbying practices.

In a little-publicized statement, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the House Democratic leader, has promised to change the chamber’s rules to reflect the provisions of her not-so-modestly-named Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2006. The months-old measure would, among other things, prohibit House members from accepting gifts and travel from lobbyists or from organizations that employ lobbyists. [...]

That would be a major development for K Street. If the House rules were altered in ways that even came close to Pelosi’s preferences, lobbying of House members would be changed significantly and immediately. The new rules would apply as soon as they were approved by a simple majority.

Read the whole thing. A ban on gifts and travel; limit the access perks of former congressmen, require disclosure of earmarked spending and create an Office of Public Integrity. Right on Nancy!

He’s ba-ack

I get that our races are important to the Republicans. I don’t get that they’re overlooked by Democrats:

About 6,500 people are expected at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter today for President Bush’s second visit to Middle Georgia in a month, and his second visit to the state in two days.

All of the free tickets to the event are gone, according to the Georgia Republican Party. Gov. Sonny Perdue, Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, and Republican congressional candidate Mac Collins are expected to join the president at the event, which is being billed as a “Victory Rally.”

“It will be a huge event,” said Clelia Davis, spokeswoman for the the Georgia Republican Party. “The one (Monday) was huge.”

Bush was in Statesboro on Monday for a similar event in the 12th Congressional District, where Republican Max Burns is running against Democratic U.S. Rep. John Barrow. That race and Collins’ attempt to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall in the 8th District are among a limited number of races across the country considered competitive.

More from the WaPo on Bush’s visit to Georgia yesterday.

Marriage equality

Evan Wolfson, executive director of the gay-rights group Freedom to Marry. He spoke with Newsweek about the NJ decision:

What do you make of the New Jersey decision?

I think it’s a very powerful decision that illustrates the difference between happy and satisfied. I’m happy to see a unanimous high court ruling that gay couples must be treated fairly. But I’m not satisfied because the high court opened the door to equality but didn’t finish the job [because it referred the decision to the legislature]. There’s only one way to provide equality and that is by equal treatment.

So not calling it marriage makes a big difference?

One of the main protections that comes with marriage is the word “marriage” and the security and certainty that come with that. There’s not a married couple in the country that would trade in their marriage for a civil union or something else. Marriage is more than just the legal protections and responsibilities. It’s a statement, a commitment that everyone recognizes. The best way to think about it is ask yourself this question. Either marriage and civil unions are the same-in which case why do we need two lines at the government clerk’s office-or they’re not the same, in which case why is the government withholding from these families and what reason does it have for doing that. It’s funny because when we’re discussing this question on the one hand, pretty much everyone agrees that marriage matters. And people have emotions and a rich set of feelings about marriage. But when the question is can gay people be denied marriage, people say it doesn’t matter at all. How can it matter and not matter?

Lego Thriller

Happy Halloween

Don’t try this on MySpace.