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Why We Need Ultra-Broadband
Video on the web is becoming ever more ubiquitous. Some of the world’s biggest companies are pursuing strategies to make movies (See New York Times story), television shows, information channels, corporate training, video-conferencing, distance-learning, telemedicine, and numerous other services and applications available, on demand, from web sites.
Hardware and software is readily available that moves this video from a small computer screen and plays it in full-motion, high-definition quality on a big-screen TV or projector. Many corporate web sites are becoming “channels” that provide a broad range of information, including audio and video. The distinction between many web sites and TV/radio stations are blurring. Every web site can, in effect, become a broadcast and news station (such as NorthernUtahTV.com). Every home computer can become a receiver of millions of niche “channels” of information, including high-quality audio and video.
This is all happening very quickly and the only real constraint on Internet TV is the lack of bandwidth at the home and office level. The United States still badly lags many European and Asian countries in providing ultra-bandwidth so that video applications can be quickly downloaded or viewed in real time. Some telecommunications companies are rising to the challenge, replacing copper wire and coaxial cable with fiber connections in homes and businesses.
In Utah, customers of UTOPIA and iProvo can purchase ultra-broadband Internet connections as fast as anything offered anywhere in the country. This is especially helpful in smaller UTOPIA communities that are not well served by the large telecommunications companies. Developers of new subdivisions and office complexes are increasingly seeking partners to install fiber connections to make their developments more desirable to buyers. As video becomes more prevalent on nearly every web site, residents and businesses with fiber connections will enjoy a major advantage.
The Money Cops
In his weekly Tea Leaf Economic Update, Utah economist Jeff Thredgold writes about the role of the Federal Reserve, “easily one of the most powerful—and misunderstood—of all American institutions. The Federal Reserve’s steady hand as America’s ‘central banker’ has been especially critical to U.S. economic performance during the past 25 years.”
Washington Watch
Hatch, Crow Push Cancer Bill
Sen. Orrin Hatch joins a "bipartisan coalition of Senators and rock-star Sheryl Crow" to lobby for "the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act (S. 579), which authorizes grants for research of environmental factors contributing to breast cancer. Hatch is the original Republican cosponsor of the bill, which is sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and has 35 Senate cosponsors" (see press release and related ABC News story).
Bennett PILT Provision Approved
Sen. Bob Bennett joins "a bipartisan group of western U.S. senators to successfully pass a provision that will increase funding for two federal programs -- Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program and Secure Rural Schools (SRS) -- that counties rely heavily on to help support education, transportation, public safety, environment and housing efforts" (see press release).
Cannon Reintroduces Juab Measure
Rep. Chris Cannon reintroduces legislation "to authorize Juab County to participate in conjunctive use and other water supply management initiatives as part of the Central Utah Project. Says Cannon: "One of the greatest challenges Juab County faces is securing its long-term water supply. This legislation will remove some of the legal impediments to meeting that challenge."
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- Reason Magazine: Columnist Dave Weigel says the South's political power is on the wane while the West's is rising, and the political parties should recalibrate accordingly: "[I]f the Democrats are serious about expanding and consolidating power in the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest, they might have to think about economic as well as personal liberties. And if the Republicans are serious about expanding their power base in those same regions, they'll have to once again think about pairing economic freedom with personal liberty."
-- National Review: Editorial urges Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign.
-- New York Observer: Columnist Steve Kornacki says precedent suggests that sympathy over his wife's incurable cancer won't render John Edwards' presidential campaign immune to political attacks.
-- Washington Times: Columnist Tony Blankley says that "[w]ith every passing week it becomes more likely that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic Party nominee for president. This thought, alone, should provide the strongest possible motivation to the Bush administration and the Washington Republicans to get their acts together so that the eventual Republican nominee for president doesn't start the general election campaign in too deep a hole."
Today in Political History
March 29, 1790: Whig John Tyler, the 10th President of the United States, is born in Charles City County, Va. Tyler serves one term, 1841-1845, and dies Jan. 18, 1862, in Richmond, Va. (Source: NBC5)
March 29, 1995: The House of Representatives rejects, 227-204, a constitutional amendment placing term limits on lawmakers. (Source: perspicuity)
Wise Words
“An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation.”
-- John Marshall (McCullough v. Maryland, 1819) (Source: Patriot Post)
Political Trivia
What percentage of U.S. House incumbents seeking re-election in the 1980’s were successful?
Answer: Congressional Research Service (CRS) in the report, "Reelection Rates of House Incumbents: 1790-1988", states that, "incumbents seeking reelection [in the early 1980s] were successful 98 percent of the time and over 90 percent for the rest of the 1980s. . . CRS also found that turnover almost never resulted from defeat, but from retirement, death, seeking other offices, or criminal conviction. In 1790, only slightly more than one half of all House members sought reelection; in 1988, 94 percent did so," according to the book, Hill Rat, by John L. Jackley. (Source: perspicuity)
Lighter Side
Best of Late Night Humor
David Letterman: “Top Signs It’s Spring In New York City”: Tourists are getting mugged for their decongestant; The subways smell like urine and Starbucks iced coffee; Instead of convenience stores, thieves are sticking up Jamba Juice; Rosie O’Donnell has started a feud with her allergist; Katie Couric is doing the news in a tank top and hot pants; Donald Trump’s hair has begun to bloom; Stranded JetBlue passengers are on the tarmac in lawn chairs.
Jay Leno: I love when they say this [attorney firing business] is a constitutional crisis. Oh, please. We haven’t used the Constitution in years. ... It is officially spring. Al Gore blamed the end of winter on global warming. ... Al Gore returned to Congress. Everyone said Al Gore was treated like a rock star. I think the rock star was Meat Loaf. ... Al Gore testified that if we act now, we can still save the planet. Well, the whole planet except Florida. He’s still a little upset. ... Hillary and Bill Clinton appeared together at a fundraiser in New York last weekend. They’re appearing together again this weekend. Bill wants to be there to support her campaign. She wants Bill there because it’s Spring Break. |
