Gonzo Not Gone and Google Not God (Yet)
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"Morning Meeting" is a recap of our daily editorial meeting. If we had a show today, these are some of the stories you would probably hear.
Credit: Joshua Roberts/Getty Images
In spite of the heat, Alberto Gonzales remains in the kitchen.
Monday, Monday. It hasn't been an overly manic one here at BPP HQ, which left time for us to wonder whether more good songs have been written about Monday than any other day of the week. There's the Mamas and the Papas' classic, there's T-Bone Walker's oft-covered "Call It Stormy Monday," which B.B. King said inspired him to play electric guitar, and there's "Monday" by Wilco. But I do feel like I'm leaving one out, if only I could think of it. What's your vote for best Monday-inspired song of all time?
Alison is out today and Luke is still in Chicago riding the high of his brilliant turn as host of "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" while preparing for another turn this weekend. He dialed in. Here's what we discussed...
NEWSCAST: Iraqi soccer team wins, Vick co-defendent to take plea deal and testify against Vick, Bush and Brown meet, Ingmar Bergman dies, Japan holds elections, 'Merger Mondays' on hold, Stewart wins Brickyard, Contador wins Tour de France, Ripken and Gwynn inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in front of record crowd.
GONZALES UNDER FIRE: Matt said several people have mentioned to him that yesterday's New York Times called for the impeachment of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, although it was contingent upon the Justice Department's failure to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate him. We weren't sure how (or whether) to tackle the Times editorial. Is it newsworthy in itself? If so, what's the best way for us to discuss it? Meanwhile, the AP has a news analysis piece by Tom Raum entitled, "Gonzales Endurance is Baffling." Clearly this is a front burner issue, but how many people actually know why Gonzales is in trouble? And how many people care? We're going to break this story out on Wednesday to answer those and other questions.
THE GRID IS HERE: This is a story that is equal parts fascinating, confusing and disturbing. When the nation fully converts to HDTV in 2009, it will somehow free up a bunch of frequencies in the ether, which will be used for mobile phones and wireless internet access. There's a billion dollar battle over how the rights to those frequencies will be auctioned off, and the FCC is scheduled to decide tomorrow. The fascinating part is that this all-encompasing network may exist. The confusing part is that this all-encompasing network may exist. And the disturbing part is...you guessed it. The battle over the rights to the air pits Google against cellphone companies like Verizon and AT&T. The cellphone companies want the status quo, but according to the New York Times, Google has a different idea:
Consumers would buy a wireless phone at a store, but instead of being forced to use a specific carrier, they would be free to pick any carrier they wanted. Instead of wireless carriers choosing what software goes on their phones, users would be free to put any software they want on them.Google believes that the cost of voice calls and data connections to the Internet may be partly subsidized by advertisements brought to users by Google's powerful online advertising machine.
There might even be a Google phone.
As Crunchgear says, "Do you trust Google to continue to not be evil, or do you trust the traditional telcos to do right by you?"
WHILE YOU WERE OUT, POSSIBLY DRINKING: Our regular Monday segment today would feature a helicopter crash in Phoenix. Two news helicopters were covering a police chase of a man on the run when they crashed, killing all four people aboard the two copters. (Amazingly there were five news helicopters and one police helicopter following the chase at the time.) The story is especially noteworthy because police in Phoenix have suggested that they may charge the man who was the object of the chase in connection with the helicopter accident.
SIMPSONS SURPASSES EXPECTATIONS: "The Simpsons Movie" had a big weekend at the box office, prompting today's papers to print such witty headlines such as "Simpsons Rake In D'oh!" and "Mmm....Money." As a longtime Simpsons fan I enjoyed it, although it definitely lost some steam once the actual plot kicked in. It's basically a long episode of the show, albeit a better one than most in recent years. Fellow Simpsons fan and BPP staffer Win also saw it, and said, "It was a really long, really good episode of the Simpsons, which is what it should have been. In a way they kinda played it safe, but it would have been such a train wreck if they had tried to be too meta. Overall, I really liked it." For an interesting behind-the-scenes interview, check out the NYT video with Matt Groening, et al, by going here and scrolling down.
CITIES SUING GANGS: In a novel approach to stopping gang violence, some cities are filing lawsuits against gang members, requesting injunctions to stop the members from congregating. Luke said that in LA people can be banned from certain neighborhoods just for associating with gang members, but the policy has had little impact on reducing gang violence. This approach to the problem reminds us of a post we did last month about cities and towns attempting to restrict panhandling by passing laws that prohibit solicitation in front of certain types of stores, too close to street corners, etc. Do these types of policies actually work to alleviate root problems, or do they just turn police work into a big game of Whac-A-Mole?
THE RAMBLE: Three masked robbers broke into the Chicago home of NBA player Eddy Curry and held Curry and his family at gunpoint. No one was injured, but the robbers made off with cash and jewelry. Miami Heat forward Antoine Walker, also a Chicago resident, was robbed in similar fashion July 11...A man missed out on a $1,000 prize in the North Dakota State Fair text messaging contest after he forgot to include an exclamation point. A similar event in New York netted a 13-year-old girl $50,000. (No word on whether emoticons can be used in these contests.)...Lindsey Lohan's new movie, "I Know Who Killed Me," is getting some HORRIBLE reviews. Any old celebrity can recover from a few coke busts, but Luke wonders whether LiLo can recover from this.
10:14 AM ET | 07-30-2007 | permalink
