Motherland Security
: I’m one of the apparently few who actually likes Homeland Security as a name for the department charged with protecting us.
But in the interest of (rare) open-mindedness I will propose an alternative.
Tonight, I was listening to Natalie Merchant‘s latest album — Motherland — and it came to be:
Motherland Security.
It works on so many levels: Don’t mess wid my Muddah. Mother and apple pie. Mother nature. The feminist version of Fatherland.
And besides, I like the song:
Motherland, cradle me
Close my eyes,
Lullaby-me to sleep.
Keep me safe,
Lie with me.
Stay beside me,
Don’t go,
Don’t go…
Motherland Security II
:My colleague Joe Territo (the guy who turned me onto The Week, below) has a good suggestion regarding our Homeland/Motherland Security Department: The Washington Post says:
A possible complication in recruiting a secretary for the new department was revealed by a senior administration official, who said most of the department might be located outside the Washington area for security reasons.
The official said a new Homeland Security building could be located in Maryland or Virginia, well beyond the Beltway. “We think it’s something that at least should be discussed,” the official said. “We should be thinking differently about this department.”
Joe’s suggestion: “Maybe they should put it way beyond the Beltway, in lower Manhattan, providing a symbolic and economic boost and putting Rudy in charge.”
Amen to that.
(I think this counts as Joe’s first blog post; he’ll join the cult soon.)
WiFi goes wide
: From my Fierce Wireless newsletter:
According to a report in today’s BWCS, both Toshiba and IBM are said to be planning their own 802.11-based wireless networks. IBM is currently planning to launch a national Wi-Fi network and is gathering members for a consortium to work together on this plan. No word yet when IBM’s network will make its debut.
Meanwhile, Toshiba is planning to launch a “public spaces initiative” in which the company will set up hotspots in malls, coffee shops, and possibly supermarkets. All of these will connect back to Toshiba’s hosting site, effectively turning the company into an ISP. Toshiba plans to launch its Wi-Fi initiative on June 25 at PC Expo in New York.
Big doings. WiFi everywhere…. It’s the next big thing. But we learned lately not to trust the next big thing until we see it….
Nonprofit
: Kuro5hin raises $10k in its tip jar in one day and decides to go nonprofit (via Metafilter).
: Speaking of nonprofit…
I owe you all an update on my thinking on the Weblog Foundation: coming soon. I’m not a nonprofit; I have to work and that has gotten in the way.
Join the club
: Another Rossi fan: Asparagirl.
TeeVee
: Marc Weisblott has started a blog reviewing fall TV pilots. It’s cool. It’s useful. It’s blogging about something other than politics, which is good.
It’s also deja view for me: I used to spend the end of summer getting and watching all those tapes and coming to grand conclusions about them for TV Guide and People before that.
I do miss those days.
But what I really miss are the days a few decades ago when the new season really meant something, when shows didn’t die in a week, when we all watched and talked about the same stuff. That was fun. I’d still take the wealth of choice we have today over that — and the new seasons that come year-round (what’s more important: the new season on ABC or the new season of The Sopranos?) — but still, those days were fun.
Deep Link
: Josh Marshall is ever-more convinced that Pat Buchanan is Deep Throat. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking this one through. But the one thing I wonder is: If Buchanan is DT, why wouldn’t he announce it and make political hay as the one honest man in American politics? Marshall argues that he can’t because his fellow conservatives would consider him a traitor. But it’s not as if they do him any favors anyway. And running on a third-party ticket is a worse form of betrayal to them. So why not put yourself on a pedestal and nya-nya all those below?
Science is amazing
: An artificial lung.
