Lie Down and SHUT UP!!!

Sakinah Aaron was walking to catch a bus, and apparently having a very loud conversation on her cell phone. She was so loud in fact that Officer George Saoutis demanded that she keep her voice down. When she ignored him and "broke away", Officer Saoutis forced the pregnant woman to the ground, face down, then handcuffed and arrested her. She wasn't driving, she wasn't on the bus, she was talking loudly on the phone. However annoying, I'm not sure we should be arresting people for talking loudly on the phone.

Goodbye James A. Westphal

Astronomer and former director of the Palomar Observatory James A. Westphal died on Wednesday at his home in Altadena, Calif. The 74 year old MacArthur Foundation winner is said to have died after a long illness. Described by collegues as a giant of astronomy, Mr. Westphal never got his PhD, yet made a significant contribution to our knowledge. He is greatly appreciated and will be missed.

Reporters Win Award in Scalia Case

Last April, after a speech by Justice Scalia regarding the importance of the Constitution, U.S. Marshalls ordered two reporters to destroy their recording and photos of the event, even though the public was allowed to take pictures. While there are still aspects of this case to be settled, the Feds have agreed to pay each reporter $1000 for the violation of law.

Mom Is a Loving Friend

It seems Britney's mom has been spending too much time at a river in Egypt lately. How else to account for her lambasting the media for its coverage of her dear, sweet daughter? Ok, so maybe the little one goes barefoot into public restrooms "because she needs to wear only tennis shoes because of her knee problems and they're too hot". And besides, can't you tell? She really needs to go! But I still gotta wonder if Mom has looked into what MILF in Training really means.

Eisner to quit. Mickey weeps with joy.

Disney CEO Michael Eisner has announced he'll leave the company when his contract expires in 2006. I hope he takes that ugly building with him.

Boringest. Convention. Whatever.

Wonkette summed up the general feeling after the RNC quite well:

Also, it occurs to us that we are not very angry. Shouldn't we be angry? The protests, the traffic tie-ups, the insane man challenging Chris Matthews to a duel, Rudy Guiliani attempting to turn falling bodies into this convention's "thousand points of lights," the giant cross on the podium. . . So much to be angry about. But we're just kind of bored.

I get all misty remembering sitting in front of the T.V. while I was a kid, watching the conventions of the 60s and early 70s. The networks and mainstream press of today keep trying to bullshit us into believing these shows are just sooooo boring that there's no way people will watch. Well, that's true, but it does it have to be? The networks get people to watch Big Brother 5 for God's sake. The top 7 shows last week were the (most boring ever) Olympics. So media can get people to watch boring crap.

Which leaves us with the questions: Why don't they make the conventions interesting? Why no "Up close and personal" on the delegates? How did they get there? What are their concerns? Why not explore the party's platform? How does its various planks play in Peoria? In Pittsburgh? In Pensacola? How do the things said at the podium compare with reality? What promises were made during the last campaign, and what has been done in the following four years? Who are these people?

And that's just the fat for the reality generation. If they wanted to bring actual substance to the screen there's enough to replace a whole week's work of the media's currently fashionable fare. But substance is what real things are made of, not the vacuous thought-free crap currently being passed off as entertainment. And if the public were given something of substance, there's no telling what they would build. The status quo might shift. Fear Factor indeed.