The Hillbilly Casino is the featured artist of the week on Podshow radio. You can listen to the entire episode if you copy/paste the below link. Brent, the host also gives some great historical info on the history of Rockabilly as well.

Keep Rockin'

Sounds and quality is great! :)

Podshow Radio- The Hillbilly Casino (Featured Artist)

Four Whites Creek High School students were suspended for chanting linked to gang rivalries.

The students reportedly chanted the letter "E," which is used as a form of disrespect among gang members.

Metro Schools officials said when the letter is chanted it often incites tension at area schools.

Ralph Thompson, MNPS assistant superintendent for student services, said the chant is a put down.

Metro police's gang unit isn't aware of the letter "E" being used by gangs, however a detective said they realize anything is possible.

"What typically happens is you can look for a fight to soon follow, not always on campus or premises, and sometimes it's delayed into the afternoon or the neighborhood," Thompson said.

School leaders said it's difficult to keep up with the ever-changing language of some gangs.

They said they rely on other students to keep them informed.

School official suspended the students for 10 days.

Apparently they were suspended for chanting the letter E. Apparently the local gangs have begun using the vowel as a slang "term" to insite violence...

I am not sure what is more ridiculous, the fact that they were suspended for chanting the letter E or that they are abusing the vowels. I had no clue you could abuse a letter... Is that a felony?

Students Suspended For Gang-Related Chanting....

The carrier this morning has provided details of a second incident involving Avestor's batteries, the ones that were said to be the cause of an October 2006 broadband equipment cabinet explosion in suburban Houston.

not just laptops anymore... and this time it could burn more than your crotch... *grin*

AT&T Confirms Second VRAD Fire, Concern is Sparked...

Last week, John Edwards fired a broadside against corporate America and, more significantly, "corporate Democrats," the likes of which hasn't been heard from a viable candidate with national appeal in decades.

Edwards is en fuego right now, and if he keeps up the heat, his candidacy will either be widely embraced by the emerging progressive movement or utterly annihilated by an entrenched establishment that fears few things more than a telegenic populist with enough money to mount a credible campaign.

"It's time to end the game," Edwards told a crowd in Hanover, New Hampshire. "It's time to tell the big corporations and the lobbyists who have been running things for too long that their time is over." He exhorted Washington law-makers to "look the lobbyists in the eye and just say no."

Real change starts with being hones

Edwards Goes After the 'Corporate Democrats' -- Is This a Turning Point for His Campaign?

Danny Fendley started more than just his lawn mower when he tugged at its pull cord - he started a fire that destroyed his home.

The mower exploded Tuesday in hot, parched conditions.

Fendley was trying to start the mower in the garage of his two-story brick home in this Atlanta suburb when the machine burst into flames. Before he could extinguish the fire, it had spread through the garage.

Then his wife tried to toss a can of gasoline out a window as the blaze spread, but she missed, spreading the fuel ``everywhere,'' Fendley said.

The flames engulfed the house in less than a minute. The couple escaped without serious injury.

Almost a Darwin Award... !

Exploding Lawn Mower Destroys Ga. Home

Few details are known at the moment, but according to parties on both sides of the transaction, Franklin's nonprofit Heritage Foundation and the owners of the Franklin Cinema are nearing an agreement that would save the 70-year-old historic theater. (See "Running Time," July 19.) Mark Bloom, the Nashville real-estate mogul whose Corner Partnership owns the property in downtown Franklin, says that a contract is on the table and ownership could transfer to the Heritage Foundation within 60 days.

Good to hear... I hope Rocky Horror Picture Show comes back to Franklin! :)

Franklin Cinema Saved?

On July 25, the ARRL filed an Informal Objection to Ambient Corporation's request for a renewal of their nationwide experimental authorization that allows them to operate broadband over power line (BPL) operations anywhere in the country they choose. Ambient has been operating its BPL equipment under experimental authorizations for more than five years, an unusual amount of time for an experimental authorization. An Informal Objection is the procedure dictated by the FCC's Part 5 rules protesting the renewal of an experimental authorization. Currently, Ambient currently operates a BPL system in Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, New York. Other installations have apparently been shut down by Ambient.

Ambient has been using experimental authorization WD2XEQ, issued in 2005, and its predecessor WB9XQT, issued on June 24, 2002. WB9XQT covered the BPL operation in Briarcliff Manor. It was replaced by WD2XEQ on July 28, 2003, a two-year authorization that was twice extended, most recently through August 1, 2007.

The ARRL states in its Objection that "since the issuance of the first experimental authorization, rules have been enacted for the regular Part 15 operation of BPL systems and there is nothing that has been filed by Ambient which could justify the continuation of experimental operation of this system rather than operation pursuant to the Commission's rules governing virtually all other BPL systems."

The ARRL filed complaints against Ambient and its BPL operation in Briarcliff Manor on October 12, 2004; December 17, 2004; January 7, 2005; March 17, 2005; January 6, 2006; March 29, 2006 and May 31, 2007. The Objection said that each complaint reported "ongoing, harmful interference caused by the unlawful operation of Ambient's BPL project at Briarcliff Manor in violation of the terms of the experimental authorization." These complaints, supported both by documentation by amateurs as well as tests made by ARRL staff, concluded that "this facility was, and now still is, causing harmful interference to Amateur Radio stations. As such, it is in violation of the terms of the experimental authorization."

ARRL Files Objection to Ambient's BPL Experimental Authorization Renewal Request

Preamble
Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice.

Seek Truth and Report It
Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

Journalists should:

— Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
— Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing.
— Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources' reliability.
— Always question sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.
— Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.
— Never distort the content of news photos or video. Image enhancement for technical clarity is always permissible. Label montages and photo illustrations.
— Avoid misleading re-enactments or staged news events. If re-enactment is necessary to tell a story, label it.
— Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information except when traditional open methods will not yield information vital to the public. Use of such methods should be explained as part of the story
— Never plagiarize.
— Tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience boldly, even when it is unpopular to do so.
— Examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others.
— Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status.
— Support the open exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.
— Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be equally valid.
— Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
— Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.
— Rec... [ Read More (0.3k in body) ]

Society of Professional Journalists: Code of Ethics

here are few television personalities more insufferably pompous and obnoxious than NBC’s Chris Hansen, who despite having earned several awards in journalism, has now been reduced to impersonating a reporter for the newsmagazine, Dateline. Hansen is the point-man for Dateline’s continuing series “To Catch a Predator,” a sting operation on which the show collaborates with the watchdog group Perverted Justice and law enforcement in numerous jurisdictions across the United States. The hidden camera investigation ensnares pedophile suspects red-handed using a coordinated effort that begins with internet chats between a “decoy” posing as a minor and a suspect and ends with police arresting the suspect. It’s a laudable cause.

Therefore, it’s a shame that Hansen and NBC continuously use Dateline to exploit and sensationalize a newsworthy issue for the purpose of generating Nielsen ratings, while mocking the concept of integrity along the way. Each week Dateline exposes an alarming number of creepy (almost exclusively) men, from all demographics, engaging in inappropriate sexual conversations with a Perverted Justice decoy, who the suspects believe is an underage boy or girl. Suspects unknowingly wander into the trap, a house rigged with hidden cameras, police hiding out in the back yard, an adult actor hired by Dateline (who appears to be underage) and the always overzealous Chris Hansen, who is none too shy about injecting himself into the middle of the lurid story.

What transpires next is an exhaustingly perverse scenario. The actor typically invites suspects into the house for a drink, or something equally arbitrary, engages them in small talk and even sometimes asks the suspects to completely disrobe. Meanwhile, in gleeful voice-overs, Hansen apprises viewers of the suspects’ full names, professions, hometowns, marital status and the number of children they may have. Hansen wreaks destruction on the families of the assailants and does so shamelessly, with the tone and enthusiasm of a stand-up comedian, not a newsman.

To Catch a Journalist Impostor

The 2007 Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference (GAREC-07) is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, August 16-17 in Huntsville, Alabama. GAREC-07 registrants will participate in emergency communications-themed presentations, discussions and demonstrations. The conference will be held just before the 2007 ARRL National Convention and annual Huntsville Hamfest, which take place on Saturday and Sunday, August 18-19.

In 2005, current IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Coordinator Seppo Sisatto, OH1VR, organized the first GAREC meeting in Tampere, Finland. Tampere was the site of an intergovernmental conference where the Tampere Convention was adopted -- an international treaty that facilitates the use of telecommunications in humanitarian assistance. In 2006, GAREC met in Tampere for the second time, in connection with the International Conference on Emergency Communications (ICEC-2006) and the United Nations Working Group on Emergency Telecommunications.

According to IARU International Coordinator for Emergency Communications Hans Zimmermann, F5VKP/HB9AQS, "…GAREC wants to be a forum for the exchange of information. Many IARU Member Societies and specialized emergency communications groups have developed and implemented emergency concepts. Many others want to benefit from their technical, operational and, not the least, their administrative or even 'political' experiences when establishing the necessary cooperation with partners in emergency and disaster response. GAREC also developed new concepts, such as the 'Center of Activity Frequencies,' meanwhile adopted by the IARU Region 1 and 3 conferences."

The packed GAREC-07 agenda includes reviews of advanced digital technologies and their applications to emergency telecommunications. The ARRL Alabama Section, Zimmerman said, "leads the way" with respect to D-STAR repeater systems, activities and users. There will also be a demonstration of the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS), another capability of the Amateur Radio Services. Zimmerman noted, "A demonstration of [APRS'] capabilities found much interest among the delegates of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Turkey last November."

Zimmerman added that EchoLink and eQSO are "yet more such tools, and specialized groups have developed emergency applications for these modes. More technologies are being developed or have become available already. The two days in August will be packed with practical information, and experts will arrange demonstrations of the capabilities of 21st century Amateur Radio!" Emergency communication vehicles and equipment will be on hand throughout the conference.

Huntsville to Host Global EmComm Conference in August