Credit: Screenshot from TalkingPointsMemo.com

Long overdue, to me.

Will it create a ripple effect in the military? Probably.

Did the integration of troops (during the Korean War, I believe), have ripple effects?

Sure.

Still there? (racial/gender etc)

Sure.

Some folks will never accept another gender/faith/ethnicity/sexual orientation of another. True in the military and out of the military.

Will the repeal of DADT wreak havoc on the troops? Well, the troops have spoken, and not so much.

I don’t always agree with the wars we’re fighting, but I’m never against the troops committed there. That’s what they do, and they are doing the work of heroes.

Yet I don’t care who those troops are: black/white, men/women, straight/not, religious/not. Still heroes.

Repeal of DADT is an American step forward.

In a death of a thousand cuts, Yahoo!’s circling of the drain continues with two more cuts over the last two days:

• Death of Yahoo! Video – Unable to compete with YouTube, it has stopped accepting uploads and will turn off downloads on March 15, 2011.
   
• Another round of layoffs – about 4% of the remaining workforce (650-700 employes)
   

Things must be grim there.

Update 12/16/2010: Eep! Many properties getting the ax: Is Yahoo Shutting Down Del.icio.us? [Update: Yes] – Del.icio.us is a service I never used, but many swore by. Acquired by Yahoo! and (to me) instantly neglected. Again, Yahoo! is where start-ups go to die….

Update 12/18/2010 When TechCrunch is saturated with news of your decline (image, right), that’s telling:

• Former Yahoo Engineers Shed Light On Why Delicious And Other Acquisitions Failed
• Yahoo Just Killed… Consumer Confidence In Them
• Yahoo Has Hit Rock Bottom And Is In “Absolute Disarray”

I’m still not sure about the whole WikiLeaks mess that’s dominating the news/web.

It’s a complex issue, and there are many facets to the story.

However, I am sure about a couple of aspects of the WikiLeaks story:

The hackers who are exacting revenge (denial-of-service attacks, outright hijacking of sites) over sites that have distanced themselves from WikiLeaks are just dead wrong. Whatever you think of WikiLeak’s founder – Julian Assange – and his actions, there is a lot of gray area in which to say he is doing some good. Impeding the access to Visa’s & Master Card’s web sites because they cut off WikiLeaks is just criminal. There is no upside. Yes, it is civil disobedience, to some degree, but civil disobedience requires a public – not anonymous – act of protest. Just wrong.

Jeff Jarvis is wrong. I usually agree with Jarvis (a professor of Journalism at CUNY, and someone who “gets” the internet), and his defense of WikiLeaks contains many compelling points. However, Jarvis totally misses the boat with this paragraph from the article:

Of course, we need secrets in society. In issues of security and criminal investigation as well as the privacy of citizens and some matters of operating the state—such as diplomacy—sunlight can damage. If government limited secrecy to that standard—necessity—there would be nothing for Wikileaks to leak.

   — Jeff Jarvis, Buzzfeed.com

While I agree with the first two sentences, the third is an incorrect conclusion that totally disregards human nature: Do we need to know why Hillary Clinton is traveling to China to meet with some X person? No. Do we need to know how actor/actress Y is doing in rehab? No. Do we need to know the sexual orientation of this or that public figure? No.

Do we still want to know?

Yes!

If we were an incurious lot, Nick Denton would have to fold up Gawker.com and the other titles he runs and get a real job. Ditto TMZ and so many more.

This has always been the case; Sherwood Anderson’s 1919 classic, Winesburg, Ohio, revolves to some degree around this issue of privacy: In a small town, there are no secrets…even if the so-called secrets are never publicly voiced.

And I think Jarvis is wrong for a second reason: In the case of politics – why we went to war etc – there are real reasons to want to see the secret documents. Think Watergate and the Pentagon Papers.

If we just complacently accept that what is secret is of no import to us, we are implicitly trusting government.

And ever since Watergate, the average US citizen has had issues with implicitly trusting government. The war in Iraq – i.e. how did we get here? – has made many citizens even more skeptical of government actions.

But, again, I can’t quite figure out what side I come down on with Assange’s actions. It’s a turning point in journalism and the web, however. I’m sure of that much – just not sure which way we’ll be turning.

Or if that direction is the correct one.

Well, the rumor running around the web this week was the possible acquisition of Chicago-based GroupOn.com by the tech giant Google.

Initial reports had it as a $2.5 – $3 billion deal; later reports doubled this buyout offer.

While there are no concrete confirmations, yesterday insiders reported that GroupOn spurned Google’s offer, possibly in favor of doing an IPO in the next year or so.

I have a few thoughts on this:

• I like GroupOn – I subscribe to the daily newsletter; have used it twice so far (Art Institute of Chicago renewal; restaurant discount). I think it’s a brilliant concept – now widely copied, of course – that, once you see, you smack your head at the sheer obviousness of it. Duh! Why didn’t I think of that?
   
• There were reports earlier this year that Yahoo! was trying to acquire GroupOn; that frightened me: Yahoo! – to me – is where promising start-ups go to die.
   
• When I first heard about the possible Google purchase, I wasn’t surprised, but I kind of wished that they (GroupOn) had remained independent and continued to innovate in a way they couldn’t under the new Lord Masters.
   
• Wow. GroupOn turned down a reported $5+ ($6?) billion. It must be 1) Crazy; or 2) Have a lot of faith in the products and its direction.
   

GroupOn just introduced some new tools, and – with these tools – they are actually moving into what is, to me, a Googlish direction. Among other things, it allows merchants to enter – online – various deals (I’ve only read an overview; may have some details wrong).

This is important for two reasons:

• The current deal structure made potential deal partners wait for months before getting a listing, and it took a lot of human (salespersons) time/effort. Now more deals, can post a deal faster, less human intervention per deal. All of that goes right to GroupOn’s bottom line.
   
• Is it just me, or does this sound a lot like Google’s Ad Sense, but for deals??
   

In other news, Amazon just invested $175 million in what is probably the No. 2 (after GroupOn) deal site, LivingSocial.

Fad? Flame-out? Over/underhyped?

Too early to tell, but investors are opening their wallets like it’s 1999.

Are we on the top of another internet bubble?

Just a few quick thoughts about the current state of TV and movies. I’m in no position to offer anything of substance on these issues; just my opinions about a handful of TV/movie issues I’ve been thinking of lately. Always fun to return to entries like this in a few years to see how stooopid I sounded:

• How will studios cut costs?: Studios – and networks – are in trouble. We all know it; they all know it. How to retain control in this internet world? (Hint: You can’t). What horse should you get behind/try to kill to maximize profits? Well, I have one suggestion that might help: Why are stars still getting $20 million or so per movie? That’s crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I think being an actor is difficult, tedious and makes you do things (on screen and off – the latter like the talk show circuit etc.) that you may not want to do. But $10-$20 million per movie? Think of how many decades/centuries I’d have to work – and I work hard – to make what many make in one movie. Nutty. Ditto for the $ per episode for some TV actors. Again, nutty. Just a thought – won’t solve everything, that’s for certain.
   
• Divergent quality: When the DVD debuted, it just kicked VHS’ butt. Video and audio. Just “wow!” (and no need to rewind!). Today, we are marching away from DVD quality … in two different directions. On the one hand, HD TV and Blu-ray movies are raising the barr over 480p broadcasting and DVD, respectively. On the inevitable other hand, YouTube, Hulu and movie streaming (i.e. NetFlix) are inevitably inferior to DVDs. Interesting dichotomy. As to the lower-quality march, we’ve seen this before: audio mpeg players. Virtually always a lesser quality than CDs, but no one really seems to care. And after seven years since the intro of iTunes, the bitrate is up, but still inferior to CDs (to me). But virtually on one I’ve talked to about this seems to care. Convenience trumps quality. I think the same is true for video, but as more fiber rolls out and broadband connections get faster, higher quality will evolve over all streaming (online and the NetFlix mode). Maybe – and this is just a “maybe” – at this point consumers will demand higher quality from the laggards.
   
• TV: I virtually never watch TV. This is not a point of pride nor the result of losing a bet. There’s just so little on that piques my interest that I rarely sit and watch. (Note: Yep, I’m fully aware that I’m missing some good stuff – “Mad Men,” for example. Never seen. Want to.) No “Must See TV,” no juggernauts of sitcoms on CBS or NBC as in the past, no mini-series like “Roots” that everyone watched. TV – How are you going to win me back?? Or do I have to get HBO and/or Showtime to watch quality material? I’m intentionally hyperbolic here – but this is, to me, a valid issue.
   
• TV Deux: With the rise of DVRs and time-shifting of TV viewing, there are only two categories that one must watch at the time the networks/cable deliver same: News (daily, but includes special events, such as unfolding events [example: elections]) or sporting events. Don’t have a DVR? Can probably catch whatever you missed online. In other words, networks & cable TV are in a heap of trouble. Mobile compounds the problem. Sure, cut the cord to Comcast, but still catch last night’s “The Daily Show” on the way to work on my SmartPhone/Tablet via ComedyCentral.com. Yeah, a browser. How’s that walled garden working fer ya?
   

I ordered a couple of items from Amazon last Thursday – a book and a CD – and elected for standard shipping.

I think I ordered during lunch, as I read about the book (Patti Smith’s Just Kids) somewhere while I was eating lunch.

Whatever.

On Saturday, I heard something out front of the house, and when I looked out the front window I saw a guy getting into a Penske rental van.

I opened the front door, and there – between the glass door and the regular door – was my Amazon order.

Less than two days, on standard shipping.

And that the guy is in a rental van means Amazon is hiring freelancers to do deliveries – anything to give them an edge in this all-important Q4 ecommerce shopping season.

Impressive.

Tomorrow (10/13/2010) is the 10th Anniversary of the launch of TalkingPointsMemo.com.

I followed Josh early, but I don’t think I followed him from the beginning. I think I ran across him via Kevin Drum – and I can’t remember where he (Drum) was at that point.

Great staff (many that have moved on to other impressive positions); great journalism.

First place I look every day for political news. Left slanted? Yes. But balanced? Pretty much.

Josh – and all – congrats.

Keep fighting the good fight (truth!)

TPM image stolen from TalkingPointsMemo.com – free advertising!

WATCHING:
Whip It
Director, Drew Barrymore

A somewhat formulaic film (rebellious teenager going against parent’s wishes/winning them over in the end) is saved by some low-key performances by many of the key performers.

Ellen Page – always great – stars in this film about a high school student trapped in a “nothing” town outside Austin, TX, whose mom puts her on the Beauty Pageant circuit, while Page gets interested in the somewhat underground roller derby scene in Austin.

Not a great movie, but very watchable. I think the movie – based on a book of the same title – left out much and made some of the situations somewhat “huh?” (ex: her best friend was accepted at very good colleges; never got that she was bright from the film). I think the screenplay/editing could have been done better.

Rent. Don’t buy. But Page is a force with which to be reckoned….

All movies

I’m still going though the Maryland/DC pics; lot of work (what pics make the cut – for example, I have a billion pics of the Washington Monument).

Pics at http://www.littleghost.com/cgi/gallery/gallery.cgi?gallery=md_dc_2010

Again, slowly filling up this gallery. But I’m out of Maryland, into DC, and am working my way up the Mall.

Some current favs that, well, don’t totally suck (click for larger pic):

Yep, we’ve just passed the mid-term elections (some recounts underway); Democrats – as expected – were hit hard (especially in the House; Dems fared better in the Senate thanks to weak Republican Senatorial candidates).

President Obama said the election was a “shellacking” and offered up the possibility of compromise.

Senator Mitch McConnell – Senate Minority Leader – has a different agenda: Making Obama a one-term president. This – to McConnell – is the Number One Priority of the Republicans.

OK, I understand that he (and all Republicans) want a Republican Prez in 2012, but …. is that the No. 1 priority?

People elected people to, ya know, DO STUFF these next couple of years. Not just block stuff.

Stuff, which, if passed, would be a plus for Obama – so, in McConnell’s eyes, is bad. Even if good for you and me. Doesn’t matter – just give Obama no wins (even a “compromise” win that the GOP did well in). Yikes.

Going to be a long two years. Pic a screen shot from HuffingtonPost.com.

OK, just trying to eat dinner and watch the election results (two days ago), but there is a bookend of cats that are more interested in my ribs (that I’m eating…) than the electoral process.

Hmm…maybe this is a good lesson on what matters.