BuzzMachine

The latest

: Lost Remote reports that a Miami TV station is making good use of mobile alerts (and the same use could be made of RSS): hurricane alerts.

Using the innocents, continued

: To be blunt: The so-called International Freedom Center at the World Trade Center should be nothing less than a temple to democracy, modernity, tolerance, separation of church-and-state, capitalism, and America — yes, damnit, America.

I couldn’t get the reputed Freedom Center out of my mind this morning because, as our church year ends, we talked about the start of the next, which happens to fall on September 11, the four-year anniversary. On that date, I know I will debate whether to mark the moment, memories, and memorial at one holy place or another: at church or at the site of the crime and sacrifice of our innocents.

The World Trade Center is a sacred place and so I hate to see it used as a monument not just to those innocents and to freedom but also to those who try to deprive others of freedom. Oh, yes, you can argue that they are two sides of the same card, two ends of the same lesson. But I agree with those who say that lesson can and should be taught elsewhere. And wherever it is taught, it must be completely: It must include all the many affronts to freedom, democracy, and human rights that occur in the lands that allegedly hate us. And I don’t care if they hate us. I don’t care, not at that place, not at that moment.

The World Trade Center should be the one place where America and what it stands for is defended against any assault. It should be like the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National Cemetary, and the Statue of Liberty: a place to be proud of our nation and what we stand for against those who would try to defeat us.

The more I think about the so-called Freedom Center, the more offended I am. But I didn’t say it as bluntly as this before; I mistakenly saw that we needed to edit the plan that was presented to us. No, we need to start over with a proper plan.

Between now and September 11th, Gov. Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, the LMDC, and other officials should assure that the Freedom Center will, in fact, celebrate Freedom and mean it.

My earlier posts here and here.

Defending their own

: The debut NY Times business column on blogs takes the opportunity to defend newspapers against blogs:

A reporter for The New York Times, she writes, “is just a blogger who happened to attend college; impress some bosses with his or her talent; get some training through experience – and possibly (though certainly not always) journalism school; and receive a podium for his or her pains.”

Which is a little like saying a lawyer is just someone who likes to argue who happened to go to law school, pass the bar, and get a job at a law firm. There is little doubt that blogs are transforming the news media, mostly in positive ways. But what the “blogs will destroy the media business” argument misses is that there are fundamental economic reasons that it can never happen.

And just why is that?

It’s not necessarily that blogs become a new force to challenge newspapers and bring them to their knees. It’s that newspapers’ business models — the very thing the columnist thinks is their salvation, without explaining how — are vulnerable. Sing along: plummeting classified revenue, falling retail ad revenue, declining audience, new competition. This creates a competitive void into which blogs and the internet can march… unless newspapers stop trying to keep them at bay, and instead finds the ways to embrace and take advantage of this great new source of news, information, and diverse viewpoints. See a new newsroom.

A case for Supernanny

: A leaked government report in Britain recommends identifying future criminals as early as age 3 and sending them to foster homes. Or perhaps Guantanamo.