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|Cato Policy Analysis No. 34
|March 13, 1984
by Clint Bolick
Clint Bolick is an attorney specializing in constitutional litigation with Mountain States Legal Foundation in Denver, where he is counsel of record in a legal challenge to municipal authority to award monopoly cable franchises.
Executive Summary
The invention of print...made it easier to manipulate public opinion, and the film and the radio carried the process further. With the development of television, and the technical advance which it made possible...the possibility of enforcing not only complete obedience to the will of the state, but complete uniformity of opinion on all subjects, now existed for the first time. --George Orwell, 1984
It is 1984. Many of the more horrific Orwellian prophecies fortunately have not come to pass. Nonetheless, ours is an enlarged government, taking unto itself increasing functions that were once left to voluntary interaction among individuals.
In tribute to Orwell's book, consider the following scenario, which, if it occurred, could sow the seeds for the world he envisioned. In this scenario, our benevolent city fathers, concerned about the trend toward one-newspaper cities, decide that the increasingly monopolistic tendencies of newspapers in local markets necessitate governmental action to protect the public interest. Assuming that newspapers are natural monopolies, the city must act to protect consumers against such inevitable effects as price gouging, one-sided news, and lack of public access to the medium. Because newspaper boxes, trucks, and carriers use the city streets, the local government concludes that it has jurisdiction to take whatever action it deems necessary.
The city quickly realizes that if it supplants the marketplace and controls the mechanism that determines which company will enjoy the local news monopoly, it can extract enormous concessions in return from that company. It promotes an intense bidding war for the franchise, the winner of which must be not only wealthy enough to meet the costly requirements demanded by the city but possessed of sufficient political know-how to appeal to the city's decision makers as well.
The competition is fierce. Each bidder spends $1 million to curry favor with the city, staging media events, gathering support from prominent community figures, and wining and dining the decision makers. Finally a winner is chosen to serve the community.
The franchise does not come cheaply, for the winning bidder must pay millions of dollars in tribute to the city, both now at the outset and then throughout the life of the franchise. And for the first time in U. S. history, a newspaper must cede editorial control to government officials. It must publish verbatim transcripts of all city council meetings, make available and relinquish content control over access pages for specified special-interest groups, and provide training centers to teach people how to write newspaper articles. Any changes in the initial editorial format are subject to city approval, as are transfers of newspaper ownership. Free newspapers must be delivered to all city offices. The price of the newspaper--22 percent higher than before owing to the costly giveaways--is controlled by the city as well. The newspaper is guaranteed a minimum rate of return. The primary quid pro quo, however, is a guarantee from the city that the newspaper will be insulated from all competition for at least 15 years.
Of course, we know that this scenario is ludicrous. It would shock our consciences to allow government control of our newspapers to this extent. Our Constitution, through the First Amendment, forbids government interference with the press; it entrusts regulation of the press to the marketplace and allows the people to determine their own interest. As Thomas Jefferson explained, in the area of information exchange, it is "better to trust the public judgment, rather than the magistrate...And hitherto the public has performed that office with wonderful correctness."
Aside from constitutional prohibitions against government interference with the free flow of information, this scenario is also improbable because of its faulty economic premises. We know that newspapers are not natural monopolies. In many communities, two or more daily newspapers thrive. Even in one-newspaper cities, competition is provided by small specialized newspapers and by alternative media. Free entry into newspaper markets furnishes omnipresent competitive pressures. And technology has made possible national daily newspapers that provide competition throughout the country. Far from constituting a natural monopoly, the news industry is vigorously competitive, offering diverse sources of information as a by-product of our commitment to a free market in the area of information exchange.
However, while wholesale government control over the press doubtless would cause public outrage, we have hardly blinked an eye over the application of such an Orwellian scenario to the newspaper of the future--cable television. This dynamic medium has been subject to the most pervasive regulation at every level of government of any medium in American communications history. Yet no stronger economic rationale exists for government regulation of cable than of newspapers. Given our metamorphosis from print to electronic media as the mainstay of our information society, the implications of continued government control over cable are ominous indeed. As Ithiel de Sola Pool has declared, "The issue of the handling of the electronic media is the salient free speech problem for this decade."[1]
The Vast Promise of Cable
Cable television has grown rapidly from its humble beginnings in the 1940s as a means to bring distant television signals to viewers with poor over-the-air reception. Cable systems and their myriad offerings now serve 35 percent of American television households--a total of 25 million subscribers--and should achieve 62 percent penetration by 1990.[2]
Cable's greatest technological achievement has been in overcoming spectrum scarcity, the physical limitation that has provided the legal basis for broadcast media regulation. Cable has potentially unlimited channel capacity, thus providing opportunities for anyone with the requisite resources to use the system. Its most revolutionary aspect is its interactive (two-way) capacity, which facilitates instantaneous viewer response. Thus, in addition to its almost infinite entertainment and information possibilities, cable can be used for polling, voting, home banking, consumer services, education, home security, meter reading, computer interaction, and personal communications. It will enable us to become more self-sufficient by conducting more of our affairs at home, while fostering expanded opportunities for voluntary interpersonal contact. As Ralph Lee Smith concludes in The Wired Nation, "In short, every home and office can contain a communications center of a breadth and flexibility to influence every aspect of private and community life."[3]
The reality of this breathtaking potential is inhibited, however, by the long history of extensive regulation at the federal, state, and local levels. Between 1966 and 1975, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), prompted by complaints of unfair competition from competing media, brought cable development almost to a standstill. Since 1975, a series of court decisions and shifting FCC policies have removed much of the federal regulatory burden, resulting in enormous technological advances and increased availability. The greatest threat to cable's potential now is at the local level, through the franchise process and the countless restraints and regulations it sustains.
Cable as a "Natural Monopoly"
Nearly every community in the United States allows only a single cable company to operate within its borders. Since the Boulder decision [4] in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that municipalities may be subject to antitrust liability for anticompetitive acts, most cable franchises have been nominally nonexclusive but in fact do operate to preclude all competitors. The legal rationale for municipal regulation is that cable uses city-owned streets and rights-of-way; the economic rationale is the assumption that cable is a "natural monopoly."
The theory of natural monopoly holds that "because of structural conditions that exist in certain industries, competition between firms cannot endure; and whenever these conditions exist, it is inevitable that only one firm will survive." Thus, regulation is necessary to dilute the ill-effects of the monopoly.[5] Those who assert that cable television is a natural monopoly focus on its economies of scale; that is, its large fixed costs whose duplication by multiple companies would be inefficient and wasteful. Thus, competitive entry into the market should be proscribed because it is bound to be destructive.
Most natural monopolies turn out to be self-fulfilling prophecies. Once a governmental entity has determined that a certain activity is a natural monopoly, it is within its power to so decree by limiting entry into the market to a single producer. Such is the case with cable television.
The typical municipal government will not permit wiring for cable television until it has solicited bids through issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP), which establishes minimum prerequisites for all bidders (such as channel capacity and allocation, community access, and construction requirements). The bidders tacitly understand that they are bidding for the exclusive right to serve the community, and base their proposals on an expectation of monopoly profits. After submittinq proposals, the bidders battle one another through the use of such weapons as cocktail parties, media campaigns, and prominent community advocates known in the industry as "rent-a-citizens." The RFP process itself effectively excludes all but a few companies from offering services to potential subscribers, in that most companies do not have the financial backing to meet the city's articulated prerequisites or to engage in the political gamesmanship involved in nearly every contemporary franchise contest.
The Denver franchise, awarded in 1982, provides an example of this process. Of 53 companies expressing an interest in serving Denver's citizens, only 3 submitted proposals. Each of the bidders spent approximately $1 million in the political contest to win the franchise.[6] The massive regulatory scheme imposed on the winner is embodied in a permit and contract of over 100 pages that incorporates by reference a four-volume proposal. Among other requirements, the franchisee must
- pay 5 percent of its annual gross revenues as a franchise fee, plus an additional 2 percent for community programming;
- defray the city's expenses for the RFP process ($80,000);
- provide a $1 million construction bond and a $100,000 letter of credit;
- grant $1.5 million in loans and capital to small businesses and minority groups;
- wire the entire city according to a fixed construction schedule based on political rather than practical considerations;
- agree to pay $1,000 penalty per day for franchise violations;
- submit to rate regulation;
- allow the city to veto programming changes;
- set aside all or part of 22 channels for programming access, and cede editorial control over them !
- build studios and other facilities for access to selected special-interest groups at a cost of $7.34 million; and - provide an emergency override system that enables city officials to turn on subscribers' sets, adjust the volume, and broadcast "emergency" messages into their homes at any hour of the day or night.
In exchange, the franchisee receives a de facto exclusive 15- year franchise and is insulated from some of the effects of competition through a guaranteed rate of return.
The franchise process is an excellent arrangement for revenue-starved cities and power-hungry bureaucrats. For cable companies, it is a mixed blessing: Winners of franchises can reap windfall rewards, but, by defending the franchise process against the free marketplace, they provide carte blanche to regulators by conceding the natural monopoly premise. As Cablevision's Charles Dolan warns, "As an industry, it is really bad for us to have an articulated view that cable can operate successfully only...in a monopoly environment. That view is an invitation to a regulatory response that would set us up as common carriers,"[7] just like telephone and utility companies.
The clear losers, however, are the subscribers. Instead of cities purchasing the desired public-interest services and paying for them through general taxes, the costs of the cable company's giveaways are passed along to subscribers through a hidden tax built into monthly rates. A recent study by the Ernst & Whinney accounting firm reveals that typical cable regulatory costs amount to $5.60 Per month per subscriber.[8] In addition to rendering cable unaffordable to many, the regulatory burden limits choice, investment, and innovation. These are the costs of replacing market competition with political competition.
The Competitive Reality
A skeptic hearing exhortations that cable television is a natural monopoly that should be locally regulated could have some questions at this point. First, if cable is a natural monopoly, why do we need to guarantee it with a franchise? Economists Bruce Owen and Peter Greenhalgh argue persuasively that given economies of scale, if a cable company "is responsive and efficient in its pricing and service quality then there will be little incentive for competitors to enter, and no need for an exclusionary franchise policy."[9] Thus, if entry restrictions are necessary to arrest competition, the industry by definition is not a natural monopoly.
Second, if cable is a natural monopoly, is it necessarily a local monopoly? Some observers use the terms interchangeably, but there is no evidence that economic laws respect municipal boundaries. Given large fixed costs, does it make sense to award a local franchise to one company when another already has facilities in an adjacent community? Yet such "wasteful duplication," as the natural monopoly proponents would call it, occurs frequently under the franchise system. Local franchises make no sense in a true natural monopoly setting.
These questions, however, go to the heart of natural monopoly theory itself, a doctrine that is under increasing attack.[10] In the face of crumbling conventional wisdom in this area, the burden should be on the natural monopoly proponents to demonstrate that competition is not possible, and further, that regulation is necessary. Such a demonstration will prove impossible in the cable context. Cable is both extremely competitive, facing both direct and indirect market challenges, and, in any event, is better left unregulated.
Direct Competition
Cable companies can--and, in numerous markets, do--compete head-to-head for subscribers. In the absence of entry restrictions, direct competition can be expected to increase.
There are three sources of direct cable competition, which though presently limited by government fiat, would thrive if unleashed. The first type of direct competition is between full-service cable companies competing citywide or in geographical areas where their services overlap for the same subscribers. There are no physical constraints on direct competition. Multiple entrants can expand limited utility pole space by using so-called F-arms or by burying their cable underground, a process that should prove minimally disruptive at worst. After hearing testimony on the issue, Boulder trial judge Richard Matsch found that "there can be competition in the marketplace, with the choice of price and service left to the consumers."[11]
A study conducted for the city of Maple Heights, Ohio, concluded that one company can provide cable services less expensively than can two competing companies, and that entry restrictions therefore constitute sound economic policy. This conclusion is hardly surprising in light of the models compared: a heavily regulated monopoly versus two companies subject to the same regulatory scheme. As cable regulations are premised on a monopoly award, it is absurd to expect multiple companies to operate profitably within their confines. While the Ohio study conceded that two companies would be likely to achieve higher subscriber penetration owing to intensified marketing (which seems sufficient reason itself to commend open market entry), it failed to measure the viability of two competing companies in an essentially unregulated environment as contrasted with the usual situation of an extensively regulated monopoly.[12]
There are no studies making this relevant comparison, but the necessary data can be extrapolated from two otherwise unrelated investigations. Owen and Greenhalgh found an 18 percent penalty in unit costs per subscriber in head-to-head competition between cable companies operating on the same streets,[13] while the Ernst & Whinney study found that 22 percent of cable costs are directly attributable to local regulations.[14] A comparison of these two findings reveals that the penalty for duplicated services that would occur in a competitive environment is offset by the extra costs imposed by municipal regulations under the franchise system. Thus, it appears that two companies, operating in a competitive, unregulated environment, could profitably offer cable services at the same or lower cost as a single company operating as a heavily regulated monopoly.
This conclusion is borne out by the few existing truly competitive cable markets, whose operations underscore the benefits attributable to a relatively unfettered cable marketplace.[15] In the essentially unregulated Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, two companies have competed successfully with each other for years. Edward Downing, business administrator of Bethlehem, Pa., asserts that the by-products of the region's laissez-faire attitude toward cable include price discounts, superior service, and freedom of choice.[16] The recent introduction of a second cable company in Presque Isle, Me.--a city of only 2,000 residents--induced the sluggish incumbent franchisee to dramatically update its technology and increase service options.[17] In Slidell, La., the city administrator, Reinhart Dearing, explains that the "spirit of free enterprise" that prompted the city to deregulate buses and taxicabs has also led to a thriving competition between two cable companies.[18]
The largest and most dramatic instance of direct competition is in Phoenix. Competing companies starting at opposite ends of the city have set records for their fast construction pace and are offering a choice to subscribers. As one observer reports, what distinguishes Phoenix "from a run-of-the-mill cable war is that this contest was fought with trenchers and sweat, not flip charts, slide shows, and cocktail parties for community bigwigs."[19]
A second source of direct competition is satellite master antenna television (SMATV), often referred to as private cable. SMATV is simply cable television using wires that do not cross public property. Generally restricted to apartment complexes and condominiums, SMATV firms install satellite dishes on the particular properties involved after negotiating with the property owners. In contrast to the "tier" system used by most cable franchises, which requires subscribers to purchase entire programming packages in order to receive the particular services they want, SMATV typically is more tailored to individual consumer tastes and choices.
In many areas, cable franchisees, accusing SMATV operators of skimming off the most lucrative markets, have attempted to erase SMATV competition by claiming that their exclusive franchises extend even to private property--despite the fact that municipal authority to award such franchises in the first place is predicated on control of the city-owned streets. The FCC recently resolved this issue, at least for the present time, by preempting nearly all state and local SMATV regulation. The FCC explained that this "open entry policy" will "encourage direct competition" as well as "a more diverse...telecommunications environment. [20]
If local prohibitions against the use of public property by cable competition were lifted, SMATV could easily serve subscribers in the vicinity of existing operations. It also could develop highly specialized services, akin to those offered by small special-interest (religious, trade, or neighborhood, for example) publications. In Austin, Tex., SMATV is circumventing city regulation and competing widely with the cable franchisee by using microwaves rather than cable to distribute programming from its central facilities to other parts of the city, thus avoiding the need to use public streets. [21] This is a creative approach that could be duplicated in other areas.
A third--and perhaps the most provocative--source of direct competition is available from an industry that itself has been partly deregulated only recently--the telephone industry. With the burgeoning development of optic fibers (silicon dioxide threads capable of carrying vast numbers of voice and video channels in the form of encoded light waves), telephone companies should be able to readily compete for cable services by the 1990s. Eli Noam, a Columbia University business professor, has proposed direct competition between telephone and cable companies for each other's services, noting that capital investment is already largely in place. Noam concludes that "[b]y pitting large carrier systems against each other one encourages a dynamic development of technology and applications, and at the same time reduces the need for regulation."[22]
Here, as elsewhere, the greatest impediment to direct competition has been legal in nature. The FCC's ban on cross-ownership of cable systems by telephone companies has proved a major stumbling block. Commissioner Joseph R. Fogarty, an opponent of the cross-ownership restrictions, argues that the ban will "seriously retard, if not completely preclude, the introduction and deployment of broadband, fiberoptic technology," and maintains that competition would be beneficial to consumers.[23] Heeding his advice, the FCC in 1982 moved to reconsider the cross-ownership restrictions, and still has the matter under advisement. Because the two industries are already connected to vast numbers of homes, removal of the ban should induce spirited competition in two areas long considered natural monopolies.
Indirect Competition
Only cable television offers its full range of telecommunications services. However, for each of its individual services, such as satellite programming or home security, competitors are mounting increasingly stiff challenges to cable franchisees. Competitors for video services include:
- direct broadcast satellite (DBS), which sends signals directly to home satellite dishes:
- multipoint distribution service (MDS), which sends microwaves to home antennas but which requires a direct line of sight from the transmitter to each antenna; and
- subscription television (STV), which requires a decoder to unscramble the broadcast signal.
Because these alternative media are not subject to local franchise regulations, they enjoy a competitive advantage to that extent over cable for the services they perform. Their existence gives additional weight to the argument that cable should be freed from the stifling confines of the local franchise process, to which it alone is subject.
The Inefficacy of Regulation
It is conceivable that even in a free market, given economies of scale or other factors, a single cable company will emerge to serve some markets. If so, should the company be regulated, to protect consumers against the exercise of monopoly power?
Monopoly power is the ability of a firm to raise prices above costs or to engage in inefficient or wasteful operations without fear of competitive response or lost customers. Competition--direct or potential-- is the mechanism that forces prices to follow costs and encourages efficiency and innovation. As Owen and Greenhalgh argue, "[E]ven where competition fails to meet the textbook picture of 'perfect' competition, there is often nevertheless reason to expect competitive incentives to work to the advantage of consumers."[24]
This is particularly true in cable. As economist Irwin Stelzer observes, an unregulated cable monopoly will face competitive pressures on both the supply and demand sides. On the supply side, if entry is open to all (that is, no exclusive franchise), Stelzer explains that "even in situations where it is efficient for only one firm to provide service, the continual threat of being supplanted can effectively check" monopoly power. And the elastic demand for cable services (that is, acceptable substitutes are available and consumers are responsive to price changes) further curbs monopoly power.[25] Far from protecting cable customers, municipal entry restrictions and regulations immunize the franchisee from competitive influences that otherwise would promote low costs, responsive service, and technological innovation.
The Denver franchise again provides a good illustration of the inefficacy of regulation. Although awarded an exclusive franchise on the basis of natural monopoly, the franchisee when faced with a lawsuit that would open the city to competition, responded by cutting nonrevenue-generating community services, trimming its rates, and accelerating its construction schedule. Failure to take such actions, explained one company official, would mean "we could be left with a dinosaur."[26] Indeed, free competition would force upon bloated and unresponsive franchises the same dilemma that confronted the dinosaurs-- adapt or face extinction.
The Market or the State?
As a matter of economics, cable is clearly a very competitive industry. But whether in fact it will compete is unfortunately not so much a question of economics as it is one of policy.
The battle over this issue is fierce. On one side are municipal governments seeking to protect their regulatory grip on cable and the power and profits it means to them. On the other side are cable competitors eager to obtain their share of the power and profits. In the middle are cable franchisees, who, despite their entrepreneurial instincts, are forced to play by the rules of the game and who are fighting to resist regulatory dictates while seeking to protect their franchised investments
Much attention has focused on Congress, where two cable deregulation bills are causing a stir. Both Senator Barry Goldwater's bill (S.66) and Representative Tim Wirth's bill (H.R. 4103) would preempt much local authority and preclude common carrier regulations, but also would protect existing local requirements and preserve the franchise process. The Senate bill authorizes media cross-ownership, while the House measure prohibits it. The prognosis for success for either proposal is questionable.
Meanwhile, under free market advocate Mark Fowler, the FCC is presently at the forefront of deregulatory efforts. Despite acknowledging its own jurisdiction over cable television and demanding "open entry policies in the satellite field," however, it has essentially taken a deferential, hands-off position on cable owing to cable's use of city-owned streets. r 27]
The other principal forum has been the courts. Since the Boulder decision, numerous challenges to specific awards and to the franchise process itself have been mounted on antitrust grounds. But both federal and state governments can insulate cities against antitrust liability, thus limiting the enduring value of the antitrust remedy.
The most comprehensive basis for a legal challenge to municipal authority over cable appears to be the First Amendment.[28] In Mountain States Legal Foundation v. City and County of Denver,[29] a group of citizens is challenging municipal authority to award exclusive franchises and to heavily regulate that medium as violative of their right to a free flow of communications under the First Amendment. Traditionally, newspapers have been subject only to the narrowest governmental regulations. Broadcast television, conversely, has been held subject to somewhat broader regulations owing to the perceived need to fairly allocate a physically limited spectrum [30]--a limitation that no longer fully applies in the cable era.
The extent to which the First Amendment restricts government's power over cable television is far from resolved. One court has rejected the notion that "economic scarcity" (natural monopoly) is a sufficient rationale for government regulation,[31] while another has declared that cable should be treated as a newspaper/broadcast hybrid for purposes of First Amendment analysis.[32] Under almost any view, however, it is doubtful that the unprecedented extent to which cable communications are presently regulated can survive First Amendment scrutiny.
Prerequisite for Freedom
Cable television and related technologies have deposited us on the threshold of an information society brimming with potential for increased freedom. From our individual homes, we can direct more of our own affairs, we can obtain vastly more voluminous yet personalized information, and we can make voluntary contact with anyone with whom we wish to communicate.
Nevertheless, as Orwell recognized, the same technologies that offer to so expand the horizons of freedom can just as easily be subverted once control over the mechanisms of information exchange is wrested from the individual. As de Sola Pool cautions, "It would be dire if the laws we make today... in such an information society were subversive of its freedom."[33]
Our Founders recognized that the free market provided the greatest guarantee of a free and vigorous exchange of ideas. As Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall declared, "Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds."[34] The free marketplace of ideas is the only aspect of laissez-faire with any degree of judicial protection today.
Somehow cable television has slipped past the free enterprise bulwarks that have provided unique protection to communications media throughout American history. But there is no evidence of market failure justifying this troublesome departure. The natural monopoly myth must be laid to rest if the integrity of cable communications is to be protected and its great potential for freedom to be fully realized.
[1] Ithiel de Sola Pool, Technologies of Freedom (Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1983), p. 10.
[2] Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Print and Electronics Media: The Case for First Amendment Parity, Committee, 98th Cong., 1st Sess., 1983, p. 71.
[3] Ralph Lee Smith, The Wired Nation (New York: Harper & Row, 1972), p. 1.
[4] Community Communications Co. v. City of Boulder, 455 U.S. 40 (1982).
[5] Walter Primeaux, Jr., "Some Problems with Natural Monopoly," Antitrust Bulletin 24 (1979): 63.
[6] William Schmidt, "Millions Spent in Contest for 'Showcase' Denver Cable Contract," New York Times, February 22, 1982, p. A12.
[7] Fred Dawson, "How Safe is Cable's 'Natural Monopoly'?" CableVision, June 1, 1983, pp. 333, 342.
[8] R. Peterson and A. Pearce, The Cost of Cable Television Regulatory & Franchise Requirements: A PreliminarY Analysis (Tacoma, Wash.: Ernst & Whinney, 1982), p. 3.
[9] B. Owen and P. Greenhalgh, Competitive Policy Considerations in Cable Television Franchising (Washington, D.C.: Economists Inc., 1982), p. 19.
[10] For example, see Primeaux, "Some Problems with Natural Monopoly"; and Jan Bellamy, "2 Utilities are Better Than One," Reason, October 1981, p. 23.
[11] Community Communications Co. v. City of Boulder, 455 F. Supp. 1035, 1040 (D. Colo. 1980).
[12] Touche Ross & Co., Economic Analysis of Multi-Franchising Television Operations in Maple Heights, Ohio (Portland, Touche Ross & Co., 1982).
[13] Owen and Greenhalgh, Competitive Policy Considerations, p. 40.
[14] Peterson and Pearce, Cost of Cable Television Requirements, p. 30.
[15] See Richard Coorsch, "Cable Could Compete," Consumers' Research, October 1982, p. 22.
[16] Personal interview with Edward Downing, business administrator, Bethlehem, Pa., September 23, 1982.
[17] Personal interview with Dana Connors, city manager, Presque Isle, Me., October 22, 1982.
[18] Personal interview with Reinhart Dearing, city administrator, Slidell, La., October 22, 1982.
[19] Victoria Gits, "Adrenalin Days," CableVision Plus, January 17, 1983, p. 4.
[20] In the Matter of Earth Satellite Communications Inc., FCC Docket No. 33812, slip op., pp. 9-10 (November 8, 1983).
[21] Eric Taub, "SMATV inroads in Austin," CableVision, October 24, 1983, p. 25.
[22] Eli Noam, "Toward an Integrated Communications Market: Overcoming the Local Monopoly of Cable Television," Federal Communications Law Journal 34 (1982) pp. 209, 246.
[23] Noam, Toward an Integrated Communications Market, pp. 248-49.
[24] Owen and Greenhalgh, Competitive Policy Considerations, P. 5.
[25] I. Stelzer, The Economics of Cable Franchising (London: National Economic Research Associates, International Inc., 1983), p. 16. H. Shoosan III, C. Jackson, and A. Kahn, "Cable Television: The Monopoly Myth and Competitive Reality," unpublished report, 1982.
[26] Schmidt, "Denver Suit Looming as Threat to Way Cities Award Cable TV Franchises," New York Times, December 12, 1983, pp. 10.
[27] In the Matter of Earth Satellite Communications, Inc., pp. 9, 11-12.
[28] See George Shapiro, Philip Kurland, and James Mercurio, 'CableSpeech' (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983), and William Lee, "Cable Franchising and the First Amendment," Vanderbilt Law Review 36 (1983), p. 867.
[29] 567 F. Supp. 476 (D. Colo. 1983), appeal docketed, No. 83-2145 (1Oth Cir. August 29, 1983).
[30] Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. United States, 395 U.S. 367, 388-90 (1969).
[31] Home Box Office, Inc. v. F.C.C., 567 F. 2d 9, 46 (D.C. Circ. 1977).
[32] Community Communications Co. v. City of Boulder, 660 F. 2d 1370, 1378-80 (1Oth Cir. 1981).
[33] de Sola Pool, Technologies of Freedom, p. 10.
[34] Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557, 565 (1969).
� 1984 The Cato Institute
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Images: It's game time at the carnival [Image 5 of 7]
Photo by Sgt. Quentin Johnson
Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, participate in a carnival game at the Reliant Park Carnival during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Feb. 29. All service members in uniform and their families were given free admission to Reliant Park, the rodeo and a concert as part of Armed Forces Appreciation Day.
This work, It's game time at the carnival [Image 1 of 7], by SGT Quentin Johnson, identified by DVIDS, is free of known copyright restrictions under U.S. copyright law.
Date Taken:02.29.2012
Date Posted:03.02.2012 19:01
Photo ID:534653
Size:1.12 MB
Location:HOUSTON, TX, US

subset: commoncrawl


text:
when will my baby laugh?
my 5 1/2 month old giggles when i tickle him but i can't get a good laugh out of him. i try making noises, faces, i play with his toys. he's happy, he smiles and babbles all the time. i want that belly laugh i see other babies doing. Should i be worried?
Posted: 01/18/2008 by chunkysmommy
Mom Answers
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Mine is 3 months old, and she just laughed for the first time yesterday. I've been looking it up, and it looks like babies start to laugh at around 4 months old. It sounds like you're doing everything right by smiling and making noises to him, he should laugh anytime now. My grandmother is a nurse for a pediatrician, and she says that there isn't anything to worry about yet. He is smiling and reacting to you, so just give him a little more time. After that if you're concerned just ask his doctor. I've tried to get my daughter to laugh again, and she's doing the same thing, just smiling and cooing.posted 03/29/2008 by samantha51083
my son will be a month old wed and i was also curious. everytime he goes to sleep he giggles and smiles and sometimes i laugh when i hear him and he'll laugh again as if he heard me. but this is all while he is asleep i can't ever get him to laugh when he is awake maybe a smile here and there. why does he laugh in his sleep it is literally every time he sleeps he laughs.posted 05/19/2012 by CDLR2011
My baby started social smile when she was a little over 1 month old, and a few weeks later before she turned 2 months old she started laughing. Every baby develops at a different pace, but One thing that will DEFINITELY help is you smiling and laughing at them WHENEVER you can. I've been doing that every morning when she wakes up, every minute we are together I'll smile and laugh at her..and now she is 3 months old and she even screams when she is happy~ Shes a happy baby!posted 09/17/2012 by Ibizasmama
My baby was 9 weeks when she first laughed in her sleep (not a proper laugh) then the other day she turned 10 weeks and i sat her up doing 'ahhhh.. boo!' and we had fits of laughter, was so amazing :) she's really vocal I think she's going to be a fast talker :)posted 08/13/2014 by rebeccarothwell
My lo coos and laugh! He had a doc visit today, his ped said he was astonished and asked how i got him to do it. Well it takes alot of baby talk and also try to getting his attention by waving his blanket around so he can see it with soft noises. Yes u will b his personal clown but its well worth it! :-)posted 05/29/2014 by 13yrsl8r
The answer is 'Yes' - Mums are supposed to worry about every insignificant detail. I tried desperately to get belly laughs out of my boy for so long - before you know it he's over a year old and you can turn on the laughs like flipping a switch and feel silly about all that worrying you did when he was only 4-5 months old... Best belly laugh comes from threatening to blow raspberries on his belly - it's so intense that I only need to look as if I'm going to do it now.posted 01/23/2014 by ben2talk
I'm not 100% sure on when a baby will actually start to laugh. actually I was looking it up myself, HOWEVER you may notice smiles and noises coming from your baby as early as a week or two. these are caused by gas. they are not officially smiles :Pposted 01/23/2014 by madampirate
My baby started smiling at 4 days old, i have pictures. i know he's not intentionally doing it but its still nice to see :)posted 08/24/2013 by erika_villalpando
my 3 wk old smiled at 2wks i was so happy lucky i was taking a video, anyone who dont believe i show dem.posted 07/05/2013 by LARUSDA
My baby is 3 months and 3 days old and she has been doing the little giggles, but tonight when I did the CHKSCH sound, like in the word "Hanukkah" she let out the biggest belly laugh ever! I couldn't stop laugh so hard it made her laugh even more! the CHKSCH sound is great, she loves to make it too!posted 06/10/2013 by Alyshells
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Don't know about you guys, but I like keeping an eye on the number of members we have and the regular posters. It's stunning that we have now broken through 10,000 members. It was only about 4 years ago when there were about 20 of us. I believe that the secret to our success is pretty simple: be welcoming, be polite and be constructive in your criticism....oh and share your knowledge. Keeping the site strictly 'non application' specific and welcoming maps from any software or hand drawn has also proved to be a great success.
This is a congratulations to everyone here. Thank you all for making the CG grow and to respect the values that we hold. In the thousands of posts here we have had only one locked thread and one banned user (apart from spammers). I think that must be some sort of record given our member base, but more importantly it just shows that a polite enviornment will perpetuate itself.
For myself, I have to say that this is one of the best bbs's on the internet I've ever visited and I'm proud to be a part of it. We're all volunteers but we do what we do out of a passion for mapping. I don't know if you've checked out the Finished Maps section lately but the standard of mapping lately has been phenomenal. We have recently had our first featured map inspired purely from the tutorials on this site.
The 'jewels in the crown' have been the tutorials by RobA, Ascension, Pyrandon and Butch Curry's youtube tutorials (apologies for anyone I've left out) which have allowed people who don't believe that they can produce a decent map to make something they probably didn't believe was possible. I know I've stood on the shoulders of the people here in making my maps, the level to which people are prepared to share their knowledge is truly a gift.
So congratulations everyone and thank you for being a part of our very small but rewarding part of the internet.
All this would not have happened if Robbie (Arcana) had not built the site. Robbie deserves a huge round of applause from all of us for creating a place in which we all feel comfortable, constructive and which is a melting pot of shared knowledge. In that sense this truly is a 'guild'.


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Nikki Reed student
1 Nikki Reed student Articles
EXCLUSIVE! Nikki Reed Reveals: 'Breaking Dawn' Begins Shooting In Less Than Two Weeks In New Orleans!6 years ago 1
Get ready for the next installment of the Twilight saga! The star said the cast will be back together and working on Breaking Dawn in less than two… Read Article ▶
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Exactly year after debuted at SXSW, Bob Byington's "Somebody Up There Likes Me" scored a huge exclusive debut at Chicago's Music Box Theater. The film -- which stars and was co-produced by Chicago native Nick Offerman -- grossed an estimated $38,495.
The 700 seat theater featured multiple sold out shows with Nick Offerman in attendance, delivering the second highest opening weekend in the last 6 years at the theater, trailing only "Sleepwalk With Me", and the third highest since Rentrak began tracking numbers 10 years ago.
To put that into further perspective, Tribeca Films current all-time top theatrical grosser -- 2011's "Last Night" -- grossed $98,986 in its run. Clearly this weekend's numbers are difficult to use to predict how the film will expand, but It seems all but certain "Somebody Up There Likes Me" will top "Last Night" by next weekend and become the distributor's first $100,000 grosser.
"We all love this film and couldn't be more thrilled with its opening weekend success," Jane Rosenthal, CEO of Tribeca, said. "Bob's work truly has a sensibility of its own, and the film has been building strong word-of-mouth at festivals ever since its premiere last year at SXSW. Our team has worked closely with the filmmakers on the marketing campaign -- this week will see the premiere of a companion video to last year's acquisition announcement, which featured Nick, Megan Mullally, and Alison Brie partaking in some off-color fun -- and we have put together a release plan that allows Nick to support the film in select cities while bringing it to everyone across the country through On Demand and iTunes."
The film next opens at the Cinefamily in Los Angeles where Tribeca said half of the shows are already sold out for next weekend. Offerman will also be in attendance, before travelling with the film to San Francisco on 3/22, New York on 3/29 and Austin on April 5. It will be available on iTunes and all major VOD carriers beginning March 12.
"Somebody" wasn't the only film people liked this weekend. Also managing a very impressive debut -- on 259 more screens than "Somebody" no less -- was Roadside Attractions' WWII drama "Emperor," which stars Tommy Lee Jones and Matthew Fox. On 260 screens, the film managed a $1,042,800 gross, averaging $4,010.
"We had particular success targeting the older demo, and with areas of the country with strong military presence like San Diego and parts of Virginia," Roadside's Howard Cohen noted.
The film will be expanding moderately for next weekend.
Michel Gondry's Paladin-released "The We and the I" also had a strong weekend, taking $12,280 at an exclusive run at New York's IFC Center. The film began the weekend on a smaller screen in the complex but was upgraded to the largest given the early demand. Gondry showed up for an in-person event at the theater on Friday night.
The film expands to Los Angeles, San Francisco and 5 other top markets on March 22 before rolling out to additional markets.
Full list of numbers for reporting openers and holdovers below, ranked by per-theater-average.
1. Somebody Up There Likes Me
Distributor: Tribeca Film
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross: $38,495
Theaters: 1
Average: $38,495
Cumulative Total: $38,495
2. The We and the I
Distributor: Paladin
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross: $12,280
Theaters: 1
Average: $12,280
Cumulative Total: $12,280
3. Emperor
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross: $1,043,000
Theaters: 260
Average: $4,012
Cumulative Total: $1,043,000
4. Beyond The Hills
Distributor: Sundance Selects
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross: $18,000
Theaters: 3
Average: $6,000
Cumulative Total: $18,000
5. The Girl
Distributor: Brainstorm Media/Vitagraph
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross: $10,400
Theaters: 2
Average: $5,200
Cumulative Total: $10,400
6. The Silence
Distributor: Music Box
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross: $9,170
Theaters: 2
Average: $4,585
Cumulative Total: $9,170
The Holdovers
1. Stoker
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Weeks in Release: 2
Gross: $115,239
Theaters: 17 (up from 7)
Average: $6,779
Cumulative Total: $329,727
2. No
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Weeks in Release: 4
Gross: $167,361
Theaters: 35 (up from 11)
Average: $4,782
Cumulative Total: $510,519
3. The Gatekeepers
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Weeks in Release: 6
Gross: $250,122
Theaters: 67 (up from 46)
Average: $3,733
Cumulative Total: $1,027,092 (includes Oscar qualifying run)
4. Hava Nagila
Distributor: International Film Circuit
Weeks in Release: 2
Gross: $39,369
Theaters: 12 (up from 1)
Average: $3,281
Cumulative Total: $90,766
5. Like Someone In Love
Distributor: Sundance Selects
Weeks in Release: 4
Gross: $16,800
Theaters: 6 (down from 7)
Average: $2,800
Cumulative Total: $117,900
6. Lore
Distributor: Music Box Films
Weeks in Release: 5
Gross: $67,000
Theaters: 12
Average: $2,481
Cumulative Total: $255,741
7. Quartet
Distributor: The Weinstein Company
Weeks in Release: 9
Gross: $1,279,000
Theaters: 715 (down from 725)
Average: $1,789
Cumulative Total: $13,269,831
8. Amour
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Weeks in Release: 12
Gross: $195,511
Theaters: 205 (down from 333)
Average: $954
Cumulative Total: $6,244,649
9. The Impossible
Distributor: Summit
Weeks in Release: 12
Gross: $90,000
Theaters: 114 (down from 151)
Average: $789
Cumulative Total: $18,478,391
10. Chasing Ice
Distributor: Submarine Deluxe
Weeks in Release: 18
Gross: $7,214
Theaters: 11
Average: $656
Cumulative Total: $1,255,791


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- 5 years ago by Jessica P. Ogilvie
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Earlier this week, Crystal Harris went on the Howard Stern show and talked shit about Hugh Hefner, his sexual prowess and his desirability. We wondered whether that was an appropriate thing to do, and it appears as though we're not alone. More


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hi my power steering went from making a grinding noise to now steering very tightly i looked under the hood and they appears to be power steering fluid leaking all over from one of the hoses. also does any one know how much firestone would charge to repair this?
by chris7033 in Metairie, LA on March 25, 2011


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Sergio Layos Interview: Part 2
Posted By miker in BMX | May 1 2009 / Friday Skip To The Comments (26)
Part 2 of 2 « go to part 1
Anything embarrassing happen to you in BMX?
I'm sure there's a lot more but one time I was getting mad at a contest. And I threw my bike and I got my pants stuck on the peg. Doing that was so embarrassing in front of… I don't know how many people. I'm sure there are plenty of others.
Anything embarrassing in your life… ever pee your pants or anything?
One time I had to run to the bathroom, because I was gonna shit my pants so bad… right in the middle of class. I was like "I gotta go to the bathroom. Can I go? Can I go? Can I go?" And I just ran, holding my pants. It was the worst.
Obviously you're a bit older now, is there anything you miss from when you were a kid riding your bike… when you were first getting into BMX?
Yeah, I guess just hanging out with my friends from school. I always went riding whenever they went out. It's something I would like to do now. Even now, I still kinda wanna hang out with those people that I grew up with. But I have no regrets. I think I did better than just hanging out at a park.
Anything you dislike about the BMX industry?
Just companies lately. They've just not been fair at all. They've been copying shit and playing dirty and that's not what BMX is about. What I like about BMX is we are all friends. We all work together to have fun and make this thing blow up. I think some people are forgetting that.
Is there any music you like, that you think people would laugh at you for… like, embarrassing music?
There's this Spanish band, Los Delicuentes. It's weird music. They kinda mix flamenco with some other stuff. I like it but I found out one of my other good friends is a big fan, so I don't feel bad about it. But I haven't been listening to new stuff lately so I can't tell you more.
One time I had to run to the bathroom, because I was gonna shit my pants so bad… right in the middle of class. I was like 'I gotta go to the bathroom. Can I go? Can I go? Can I go?'
What's your favorite TV show?
Any Discovery Channel show is so entertaining. So many interesting things. People building bikes or destroying cars is so cool to watch. You get to see how they do the stuff, how they work on the metal and how they fix so many things. I like how they can do all those things with tools and their hands. Like, there's not a special machine for it. You see how it looks at the end and it amazes me, for sure.
When's the last time you lied?
A while ago, it was at the end of my relationship. I was becoming a person I didn't wanna be. I wasn't being fair at all. That was pretty much the last time. I didn't cheat or anything, but I just wasn't being who I am. I never lied and I was doing it. I was becoming a person I didn't like so hopefully that was the last one.
When's the last time you cried at a movie?
I never really cried at a movie but there's a few that make me almost cry. Lately I've been in that mood where pretty much anything can make you feel weird. One would be that Cars movie.
That cartoon?
Yeah, at the end, haha. I was in an airplane and I was not in a good mood at all. It made me feel like kinda happy.
Last time you felt like you were wasting your life away?
Pretty much any day you're not happy. If you're not doing whatever you want, you're kinda wasting your time. There have been times when I wasn't in the mood to do anything and that's a waste. Of course you can't always be always happy but you should find something that goes with your day.
How about a little word association?
Someone who's gonna be there.
Good times.
Flying high.
Bad weather.
You could say bad food too.
Yeah that too.
People are gonna kill you for that. Fly Bikes.
Good work. Keeps me working. Motivation.
What size shoe do you wear?
What's your favorite etnies shoe?
I used to like Joe Rich's… and for now, RVM. I've been riding those lately and they work pretty well.
What plans to you have for the rest of the year 2009?
Travel as much as I can and my main thing is filming, so I'm gonna focus on that as much as I can. Hopefully by the end of the year it'll be enough footage to make a really good part. That's the main goal for the year. Of course I will go out to contests but it won't be a main thing.
Any other projects you're working on besides the Fly video?
The Empire video. Right now that's the main thing, because there's going to be some film in the Fly Bikes video so there's some guy we have to do it with them. And we didn't even start it yet. So the Empire video is the main thing for now.
Any last words?
Just "thank you" for being over there. Thanks to my family because they're always there to show me the right thing. Pretty much all my friends that are there for whenever I'm not doing well. Thanks to everybody.
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Runway Hazel Leather Contrast Mesh Jacket
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Step into tomorrow sporting this sleek jacket in contrasting fabrics.
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- Imported.
- Measures approximately 26.5" from shoulder to hem.


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Police: Towanda man tried to order hit on psychic mediums
Craven Vaughn sat beside the hitman in a car parked Thursday outside Wal-Mart on Route 29 in Eaton Twp. He gave the man $3,000 and the names of three psychic mediums he wanted "eliminated."
The 32-year-old Towanda man did not want to talk about why the three mediums - two of them television personalities, all of them authors - had to die. But the man Mr. Vaughn spent about two weeks soliciting to kill for him had a secret of his own.
While Mr. Vaughn allegedly spoke about James Van Praagh, an author, television producer and self-proclaimed medium; Maureen Hancock, another TV medium credited with a series on the Style Channel; and David M. Baker, another professional medium who has written books, investigators from the state police and Wyoming County district attorney's office listened to the conversation, which a hidden microphone recorded.
And just moments after Mr. Vaughn got out of the car, climbed into his green Chevrolet 1500 and pulled out onto Route 29, the undercover state trooper he had just hired to kill three people on the West Coast radioed the arrest team.
The state troopers took Mr. Vaughn into custody on three counts each of criminal solicitation of criminal homicide, criminal attempt to commit criminal homicide and criminal use of a communication facility.
Despite the brazen plan, the whole arrangement took only about two weeks to put together, according to an affidavit of probable cause supporting the charges against Mr. Vaughn.
That is at least as long as state police knew about Mr. Vaughn's intentions - on Dec. 5 an unidentified source told troopers at the Towanda station that Mr. Vaughn planned to hire a hitman to take out the three mediums at the price of $1,500 per head.
Mr. Vaughn would pay up to $10,000 for the job if he had to, the source told them, but he could only afford that price on an installment plan. He had $3,000 for a down payment.
When Mr. Vaughn called the source at 9 a.m. on Dec. 7, the individual had already arranged to have the conversation recorded, according to the affidavit.
"I'd like to get this done," Mr. Vaughn said during the call. "Soon as I could."
The source then gave Mr. Vaughn a phone number for the state trooper who would pose as a hired gun and told him that the man would get the job done.
Over the next week or so Mr. Vaughn repeatedly called the trooper, leaving messages seeking return calls.
On Tuesday, the trooper arranged to have his phone call recorded and dialed Mr. Vaughn, who agreed to meet him at Wal-Mart in Eaton Twp. on Thursday with the $3,000 he promised him.
As they discussed the job minutes before his arrest, Mr. Vaughn did not explain to the trooper why he wanted the three mediums killed. He offered to tell him the trooper the whole story once he finished the job.
It was also not clear Friday if and how Mr. Vaughn came to know the three mediums.
Mr. Van Praagh, the highest-profile among them, has published books, hosts live seminars and online courses on topics like meditation and recovering from grief and has appeared on a litany of television shows, from "Unsolved Mysteries" to "Larry King Live," according to his website.
Ms. Hancock, who is identified as Nina M. Hancock in the criminal complaint against Mr. Vaughn, had a special on the Style Channel called "Psychic in Suburbia" which Mr. Van Praagh produced.
The special features the blonde-haired, blue-eyed "soccer mom who talks to the dead," as a news report once referred to her, finding herself overcome with psychic visions in innocuous places like the neighborhood hair salon. She has also written a book and is affiliated with organizations that help emotionally prepare the terminally ill for death.
Mr. Baker's resume is the most modest among the three mediums, as far as his website relates it. The page credits him with writing at least one book, appearing on various radio programs and podcasts and also mentions that an encounter he had with Mr. Van Praagh is what made him realize that all his life he had been suppressing his psychic abilities.
Efforts to reach all three mediums were unsuccessful on Friday. It was not clear if Mr. Vaughn had retained an attorney.
After his arrest on Thursday, Mr. Vaughn was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge David Plummer and was sent to the Wyoming County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Dec. 26.
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Richard Meier's Shenzhen Clubhouse is a Naturally Lit Island Oasis
The main clubhouse is designed as a series of jutting white angular facades, with trapezoidal forms intersecting each other. Made from white metal panels, the facades allow daylight to flood the interior through vertical screens and spacing between the panels.
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Will Batman vs. Superman Introduce Nightwing?
By Sean O'Connell 2013-11-07 07:28:38 comments
Fire up the rumor wheel, fanboy nation. A juicy Batman-Superman items dropping over at Latino-Review, which suggests (in the above clip) that Dick Grayson and his costumed alter ego Nightwing will be part of Zack Snyders 2015 sequel.
Holy sidekick scoop, Batman! Grayson, as you know, is the adopted son of Bruce Wayne who assumed the identity of Robin so he could fight crime alongside of Batman. As Dick grew older, he dropped the Robin moniker and assumed the mantle of Nightwing, fighting with the Teen Titans, the Outsiders and in certain storylines stepping in to fight as Batman while Bruce healed from wounds.
So Justin Bieber was right?!
Latino-Review, in putting the feelers out to Batman sources, reports that the team behind Snyders epic are on the lookout for "a young John Hawkes type." Fascinating! I didnt know the grizzled character actor ever looked young:
The site also notes that in this treatment of the script, well have a tired and broken version of Batman (whom we know will be played by Ben Affleck), and that he and Dick "havent spoken in years."
That explains, to a certain extent, why the movie is skipping right over Robin as a character. If Afflecks playing an older, grizzled (and possibly retired) version of the Dark Knight, then Grayson likely will have graduated to Nightwing status. I wonder if Nightwing will be Gothams protector in the wake of Batmans "retirement," with Wayne having to step back into the cape and cowl because of the threat that Superman might bring to Metropolis.
There are so many different places that Snyder can go, with the possible introductions of Nightwing and Wonder Woman (as was rumored earlier this week). At the very least, it sounds like DC/Warner is ramping up the addition of characters to its universe so that it can get to a Justice League of America movie sooner rather than later. Maybe heroes like Nightwing and Wonder Woman dont need their own standalone movie. Maybe they can be introduced the way Hawkeye and Black Widow appeared first in other Marvel movies before getting in on the action in The Avengers. Either way, treat it all as speculation until the studio confirms, but do you want Nightwing to play a part in Batman-Superman, and whom do you think should play him? (Dont say Joseph Gordon-Levitt.)
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Chiesa Parrocchiale di San Nicolò (Pfarrkirche St. Nikolaus) – Duomo di Merano (Meraner Pfarrkirche)
This church dedicated to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, sailors, businessmen and merchants, stands at the top of the portici arcade. It is usually referred to simply as the Duomo (in Italian) or the Pfarrkirche (in German).
The 83-metre clock tower, which is one of the highest in South Tyrol, is a landmark of the Old Town. A parish church, it was one of the first monuments in Tyrol built entirely in the Gothic style. It is Merano's largest church and comprises a central body consisting of three naves. Mentioned in the historical record for the first time in 1220, the Duomo was enlarged in the fourteenth century; it was completed in 1465. Notable exterior features include the numerous frescoes on the southern façade and the richly decorated door with rose window; inside there is a magnificent altar in addition to a Gothic choir, sculptures and paintings.
Masses (in German only)
Weekdays: 9:00 a.m.
Saturdays: 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Sundays: 8:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m.


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04/19/2008, Shelter Bay Marina
After you've been in a marina for a while you get to know many of the locals. Shelter Bay is an interesting spot because it is so far from everything. It makes the odds of running into someone on a boat in the marina during your day very high.
Bruce and April are a couple from the US west coast living on their cat in the marina. Bruce runs the dock and April is a representative for Marine Warehouse. They are a wonderful family with two great kids and some wild pets. They are currently rehabilitating a toucan and a little sloth. Both are very cute (sloth pictured).
We have met many folks going east and many going west and some planning to stay put for a while. Our new friend Ed just hauled out his Norseman 430 in the Shelter Bay yard. We met Ed our first day on the dock and have enjoyed his company when he has stopped by the marina. Ed has purchased Little Star for his place out in Bocas Del Toro and is likely to join us on the trip to the Galapagos.
Our friends Peter, Debbie and their kids Josh and Mattias on Sea-u-manana arrived a few days ago. They are spending a lot of time in town trying to replace a number of electronics items that some unscrupulous individuals stole from their boat in Columbia. The four of them have agreed to help us out tomorrow as line handlers on our boat as we transit the canal.
Nobu from Wakamizu has also agreed to join us for the trip through the canal. Including Hideko, that gives us four adult line handlers plus the skipper which is what the canal requires. After going through once I'd say that is also a minimum. It is nice to have one person to sweat the line and one to bring it in when you are going up at Gatun. If you end up with three or four lines on you boat (not likely but it can happen) you'll have everyone working hard.
There's a swap meet at Shelter tomorrow morning so we've collected a pile of stuff to get off of the boat. We'll sell what we can and then head through the canal. Very exciting stuff!
04/18/2008, Shelter Bay
I hate to say it but we have decided to sell Little Star, our dinghy. The longer distances you need to cover to explore in the Pacific and the desire to go fast with guests aboard were our primary motivations. We loved Little Star and it was a hard decision. Crazy to get sentimental over a dinghy, I know, but these things happen.
After looking around quite a bit we ordered a new 12' AB with a 25hp Yamaha 2 stroke from Marine Warehouse. Marine Warehouse is run by Albert in Miami but they have offices in Panama. These guys are fantastic for shipping to Panama and other out of the way destinations (http://www.marinewarehouse.net). We had a very good experience with them.
Some folks had come over to purchase the Yamaha 8 hp outboard today so I put it on their boat and told them that it was a one pull motor. Four hundred pulls later it would not start. Needless to say they didn't buy the motor.
I'm not much of a 2 stroke mechanic but fortunately our neighbors are. Paul and Colin began tearing the thing apart before I could blink an eye. We had thought we were going to be through the canal in a week when we arrived so the outboard had been sitting with fuel in it. Normally you run a 2 stroke out of fuel before laying it up so that the oil in the fuel mix doesn't gunk things up.
After cleaning up the injector nozzle and sprayer the motor looked great. Colin put it back together and it ran like brand new. Cruisers are really cool people. I have now added, "recently serviced by an expert mechanic" to the for sale sign.
04/17/2008, Colon
We paid our canal bill today. Ouch.
Crossing the Panama canal is not cheap. The admeasurer measured us in at 49' and change but after looking at our documentation, recorded us at 50'. He indicated that he had to record us at the greater of the ships documentation or the measurement. The difference between 49'11" and 50' is about $350. If you have a 50 footer and want to sooth your anguish over the extra change simply consider the average cargo ship's vig, which is in the neighborhood of $250,000 a trip. Could be $500,000 or more if they buy a premium slot.
The current wait for new yachts arriving is 8 weeks. This pretty much eliminates cruising plans for the South Pacific. If you arrived today 4/18 and went through in three to four days (as one might expect) you could be in French Polynesia by June after a nice stop in the Galapagos. This gives you plenty of time to get to New Zealand or Australia and see the sights on the way. Add two months and you end up in French Polynesia in August staring storm season in the face and with 3,000 or more nautical miles still to cover.
Two boats we have talked to have come into Colon, received their date, had a melt down and then arranged freight. By this I mean they have pulled the mast off of the boat, packed it up and put it on a ship, or a truck in one case, bound for Panama City. On the other side you unpack the boat and put the mast back on, then sail away. This could run you $3,000 to $10,000 for a small boat. It is also a little more hazardous for the boat. That said it is a whole lot faster, running perhaps a week and a half or two.
Our tab ran something like this:
$910 - Toll for the Panama Canal
$300 - Taxes
$350 - Agents Fee
$100 - Rental of 4 Lines
$070 - Rental of 10 tires
$086 - Miscellaneous vigorish (not sure what this was for)
$090 - Charge for using a VISA (that VISA tells everyone not to charge in their contract)
The only ways to reduce this are to get an admeasurer that will record what he measures (our sister ship benefitted from this treatment) and/or cut the agent out. A 49'11" boat is good for a $350 savings and doing it yourself without the agent will cut out another $350 to $400.
While pricey I think I would use our agent, Enrique Plummer 507-6674-2086, again if I had it to do over. Enrique is bilingual and for us with our poor Spanish this is a pretty big help. Enrique generally answers his phone and gets back to you quickly if you have to leave a message. This may seem trivial, but I assure you it is above and beyond the call in this neck of the woods. Such expeditious turn around may make the difference between being moved up and staying in line. Enrique also cleared us in and will clear us out. We have never had to talk to anyone but Enrique and everything has been hassle free. He sourced the lines and tires (Panama Fenders) for the transit and has kept us posted on all of the timing issues.
I have seen others lose their spot due to payment issues (a VISA won't clear because the bank has stopped the card for possible fraud, etc...) or they have just missed a communication from the ACP. Agents have corporate accounts and they make you good with the canal so as long as you pay the agent you never have to worry about the canal. Agents also keep track of their boats and can work out new slots amongst their boats if conflicts arise. From a communications stand point the agent is talking to the ACP several times a day making it very unlikely that you get missed when things shuffle.
$2,000 is a big chunk out of the cruising kitty but it beats Cape Horn...
04/16/2008, Colon
We have been moved up twice in the queue to go through the canal. Our new date is Sunday the 20th. We are pretty happy about this but now scrambling a little more to get everything ready.
Over the previous weeks we have been refining our passage plan for getting to French Polynesia. The first step is to get through the Panama canal, then to cruise the Las Perlas, next the Galapagos and then on to Fatu Hiva in the Marquises.
From the looks of it the Galapagos bit will be the toughest to sail. As you can see from the current GRIB the wind from Panama to the Galapagos is anything but normal. Some say beat your way down to Ecuador and sail out on the equator. Some say sail around the peninsula to the north and then head more south to make the crossing.
If you watch the unpredictable patterns for a few days you may come to the same conclusion I have come to. The shortest path between two points is a straight line. Perhaps this is not the purists approach but I think it is probably the fastest this time of year.
Reports from the Galapagos are: diesel delivered to the boat at about $2 a gallon. This is not Venezuela cheap but it is half off the rest of the world. Given the option of topping up in the Galapagos I think we will be ok with burning a few dinosaurs on the way. With these wind patterns we could just as easily sail the whole way, who knows?
04/15/2008, Everywhere
We e-filed our US taxes from the boat today. If I didn't have Turbo Tax and a good Internet connection I don't know how we would have managed (yes I do, we would have filed an extension...).
It also reminded me how backward the US is tax wise. The Turbo Tax interview (necessary to get a fair shake on deductions) is a forensic map of the PAC influences and election campaign promises which have created the beast.
Many have a vested interest (particularly the IRS) in seeing the status quo go on but there are options. The Fair Tax is certainly compelling and I would encourage anyone displeased by the bureaucratic overhead associated with April 15th to take a look. I can't imagine a better system for cruisers!
04/14/2008, Colon
Hideko and I visited the "Free Zone" in Colon just to see what it was all about. What a place. It is a massive industrial warehouse facility directly connected to the port. Everything inside is tax free if you are in transit. You need a passport to get in and the Panama citizens are not typically allowed to shop there. The prices are ok but I think you get the same things for about the same price in a much more pleasant setting in Panama City.
With all of the shipping and receiving that goes on around the canal the country does seem to have the whole yacht in transit bit worked out. We had four boxes sent out from our mail forwarder, Saint Brendan's Isle, with spares and lots of other odds and ends. Most places in the Carib, even the supposed free ports, give you quite a hassle when you try to receive this sort of shipment. SBI puts all of the small things you get in the mail in a larger box, breaking things down and tossing junk mail to save space. The manifest is an SBI one because they can't pull the invoices for each individual item (they may not even have access to them). This non-original manifest gives the Grenada customs folks a serious conniption. Curacao had a big problem with DVDs. They charge different rates for Games, Movies and computer software.
In Panama the package comes right to the boat and they charge you $15, even for four boxes. This makes Panama the #2 spot we've found in the Caribbean to get mail. The number one spot was the BVI. The same as Panama but no $15 fee, which allowed them to leave things at the marina office when you aren't at the boat.
We just got moved up again by the ACP so we are now going through the canal this Sunday! Apparently they are getting too many yachts stacked up on the north side. They are sending three rafts of three through with us (9 yachts total). Most of the yacht transits we have seen lately have been a single raft of three behind a cargo ship on the Gatun side and the you go down on the Pacific side with the tour boats. It will be nice to go through with all yachts because it will avoid any problems you might have with prop wash from the big boats.
04/13/2008, Gamboa
Nobu and Nirai from Wakamizu joined us for a trip to Gamboa today.
It is a fairly long cab ride from Shelter Bay to Gamboa so we had to leave at 7AM. It turned out to be not early enough. We were booked to ride the aerial tram through the rain forest but didn't make it in time. Instead we enjoyed a nice breakfast buffet at the resort and then visited some exhibits that the resort runs including a mock Embera Indian village, a reptile house, and a butterfly farm.
The Kuna Indians get all of the fame in Panama due to their lovely and popular San Blas islands. The Embera are a similar but different group living in the more central area of Panama. The Embera usually go topless but when visiting the developed towns they cover up so as not to shock the gringos. There were two Embera women at the village selling incredibly intricate woven bowls and masks. Seeing the $100 price on one might surprise you until you realize that they only charge $1 per day that they work on the piece.
After a break at the Monkey Bar we piled on a jungle boat to explore the Chagres river and some of the islands in Gatun lake. It was a nice two hour trip with lots of wildlife. We spotted various kinds of monkeys, including the elusive howlers. We also ran across a couple of sloths moving in slow motion up in their trees and a few crocodiles and some turtles swimming or sunning on the banks.
When you travel through all of this wonderful territory while transiting the canal there's no dilly dallying. It was nice to have an afternoon to explore the area a little. Like all resorts, Gamboa is more expensive than it would be to pursue similar activities on your own but you get to do a lot in one day.


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Vol. III, No. 9
Senate Bill Would Spend $2 Billion to Prevent Global Warming
On April 27 Senators Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), introduced a bill (S. 882) that would create a $2 billion, 10 year research and development program to reduce greenhouse gases. The funds would support a public-private research effort funneling new subsidies into the energy industry.
Murkowski, who opposes the Kyoto Protocol, claims that the bill "represents a long-term technology based, global alternative." He also said it would "leverage American ingenuity in the marketplace to develop new technology that can be exported and deployed around the world." Murkowski also told reporters, "We anticipate a great deal of support from industry." There is little reason to believe that this R&D program would be any more successful than previous failed programs.
The bill would also create the Office of Global Climate Change within the Department of Energy, to be headed by an assistant secretary. Hagel's defense of the bill, highlighted one of its main weaknesses. He said, according to the BNA Daily Environment Report (April 28, 1999), "this change would centralize accountability and responsibility for climate change policy within the executive branch."
The bill would also expand Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which allows companies to voluntarily report greenhouse gas emission reductions, to include new categories such as agricultural activities, forest products, grasslands and drylands management and iron fertilization of the oceans to enhance carbon dioxide absorption rates.
The Global Climate Coalition, an industry group opposed to Kyoto said, "if this or any other proposal allows the United States to move forward on recognizing and encouraging voluntary actions without any potential linkages to the Kyoto albatross, it should be widely accepted." A coalition of 11 environmental groups expressed satisfaction that Murkowski and Hagel "have finally acknowledged that global warming is a serious problem," but that the bill is "a dangerous diversion from real solutions to global warming."
Other co-sponsors include Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Rod Grams (R-Minn.), Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.).
Green Imperialism in Asia
The Philippines has struggled to escape the grinding poverty that has plagued its people for decades. Although it hasn't been altogether successful, there are signs that the Filipino's economic health is improving. The use of fossil fuels has always been essential to economic growth due to their relative abundance. Though many see this as a positive, radical Greens oppose increased use of fossil fuel in the Third World. Currently Greenpeace is lobbying the Filipino government reject "fossil fuel-based technologies to increase energy production," and to create a clean air act, according to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (April 19, 1999).
Greenpeace is alarmed that the Philippines and other Asian nations are heavily investing in coal-powered development programs. According to Athena Ronquillo Ballesteros, climate campaigner for Greenpeace International, "We have to stop using the atmosphere as a giant watebasket for gases like carbon dioxide that cause global warming." She also said, "In order to seriously reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere and thus prevent or slow down dangerous climate change, we need to start thinking about independence from fossil-based technologies."
Greenpeace is urging the Filipino government to "serve as a model in proactive environmental advocacy" for the Southeast Asian governments. "We are calling on the leadership of the country to heed our call for a clean air act as well as create a healthy environment for renewable and energy-efficient power producers," said Greenpeace.
Insurance Industry off the Global Warming Bandwagon
In the past, global warming activists have counted the insurance industry as an ally in their anti-energy crusade. Claims that manmade global warming might increase weather-related calamities have caused concern amongst property and casualty insurers who feared that a significant increase in hurricane activity, for instance, would expose their companies to financial risk.
A new report by the American Insurance Association, however, downplays these fears. The report points out that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found "little evidence that a general warming would result in an increase in the frequency and severity of hurricanes." It further argued that "much of the research seems to indicate that global warming would not increase the frequency of hurricanes and might even suppress hurricane development."
AIA cites William Gray, a pre-eminent expert on hurricanes at Colorado State University, who argues that hurricane activity is influenced by "other oceanic and weather patterns that tend to run in 20-30 year cycles," not global warming. The real problem regarding hurricane activity, says the report, is "the tremendous growth in population, homes, commercial development in the most hurricane-prone regions of the United States, especially Florida and other states along the Southeast and Gulf coasts." For example, Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties in Florida now have a greater combined population than all coastal counties from South Texas to Virginia during the 1930s.
The report lists the lines of insurance and the impact of weather on claim experience. Lines with moderate or significant exposure include Homeowners, Commercial Multi-Peril Non-Liability, Allied, Inland Marine, Farmowners, and Ocean Marine. These lines only account for less than 20 percent of industry premiums. The rest have little or no exposure to weather events. The report notes that hurricanes can "endanger the solvency of a significant number of insurers," but says the report, "weather events that are cited as more likely consequences of climate change do not imply levels of loss that could threaten industry solvency."
Moreover, global warming could mitigate winter storm and freeze losses, which is a significant weather exposure for the industry. "Four of the property-casualty insurance industry's largest 20 natural catastrophes as defined by insured dollar losses have been winter storm events," says the report. "Higher winter temperatures in the U.S. and Canada could help to lower the frequency and severity of cold outbreaks that cause massive winter storm and freeze losses."
Finally, the report expresses confidence in the ability of the insurance industry to adjust to any changes that may occur. In the event of increased weather related losses the industry would have the ability to adjust premiums. The greatest obstacle to rapid adjustments to changing conditions is the "heavily regulated" nature of the industry. "Adjustments are subject to state review and occasionally, to intense political debate," notes the report. However, solvency of the industry is one of the primary responsibilities of regulators, and "insurers and regulators would have to respond" to changes in loss trends. The report can be found at www.aiadc.org.
Slower CO2 Emission Growth in 1997
According to the Energy Information Administration, worldwide carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels grew by only 1.2 percent in 1997 compared to 2.8 percent in 1996. "Carbon dioxide emissions grew more slowly in 1997 than in 1996 because of the actual decline in consumption of natural gas and the slower growth in the consumption of coal and petroleum," said the EIA (Daily Report for Executives, April 21, 1999).
Fingerprints Vanish in Analysis of 11 Climate Models
Global warming predictions are based on detection studies that use Coupled Global Climate Models (CGCMs) to find a human fingerprint in the climate system. Climate modelers attempt to imitate the natural variations of the climate system and then add manmade greenhouse gases to see how global temperatures respond.
A new study in the Journal of Climate (February 1999) throws doubt on the validity of these types of studies. According to the author Tim Barnett, of the Climate Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, modelers "have taken their estimates of natural variability from long control runs of CGCMs. This would be a valid procedure if the internally generated variability in the models was a realistic estimate of natural variability. Whether this is true or not is at the moment uncertain."
Barnett sets out to see if model variability is realistic by comparing natural climate variability to the temperature variability in 11 different models, run for 100 model years. He finds that "differences of a factor of 2 or more are common for even the best behaved models." He also states that "there is no model that consistently agrees well with the observations."
Even more damning is the finding that it is difficult to distinguish "natural" model runs from those with anthropogenic forcing. Barnett's analysis shows that "CGCMs can, without any anthropogenic forcing, produce patterns that resemble those expected from anthropogenic causes. This, in turn, will make it more difficult to apply a fingerprint strategy to detect anthropogenic signal since the 'natural' variability estimated from CGCMs and used in the detection scheme 'looks like' the anthropogenic signal itself."
Continental U.S. Getting Cooler
Green activists have been have been trying to convince the American public that global warming is underway by highlighting warmer temperatures and remaining silent when temperatures are on the cooler side. Much has been done to give the impression that things are heating up. A new study conducted by researchers at the Climate Prediction Center (CPC), a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has found that the continental United States has become cooler, one-thirtieth of a degree per decade, since 1941, although the finding is probably not statistically significant.
The study also finds that nearly the entire U.S. has become significantly wetter, by nine-tenths of an inch more rainfall per decade since 1966. Each month has become wetter over the same period, with the fall becoming much wetter. The study confirms what has been found by several past studies, but it also contradicts others. According to David Easterling, principal scientists at the National Climatic Data Center, an NCDC study shows a cooling only in the Southeast United States. The NCDC study also covers a longer time span going back to 1900.
But, according to Rich Tinker, a co-author of the CPC study, argues that his research has been used by the CPC to devise "this year's winter and spring predictions. They have been the most accurate on record (Omaha World-Herald, April 20, 1999)."
- According to AAP Newsfeed (April 22, 1999), "renowned U.S. scientist on climate change (we've never heard of him, Eds.)," Professor Richard Turco called for global environmental regulations in a speech delivered on April 22. Turco argued that technology is out of control saying that "it is growing at such a pace, we have a problem in maintaining control over it...we either have to evolve with the technology or we're going to be simply overtaken and swamped by it."
The solution to the problem, according to Turco is to "develop global regulations and global environmental laws to control technology and its implementation."
- John Wellner with the Toronto Environmental Alliance describes his Earth Day experiences in the April 27, 1999 issue of The Toronto Star. Wellner and his colleagues decided to hand out "'informative' traffic tickets" to cars entering the Toronto City Hall parking garage." They greeted each car with a friendly "Happy Earth Day!"
Wellner was appalled at the reception he received. "Some drivers were friendly, albeit a little sheepish, but the majority were far from civil. Non-traditional environmental greetings like, 'Get out of my way!' -- usually with a traditional expletive and, sometimes, succinctly, just the expletive -- were plentiful...I guess they were late for their morning coffee, or something."
Here's an alternative explanation. Maybe people are sick and tired of sanctimonious environmentalists telling them how to live their lives.
- The Cooler Heads is sponsoring a science briefing for congressional staff and media on May 28. The briefing will feature Dave Malmquist of the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, who will discuss "Climate Change and Sea Level Rise." Further details will be forthcoming.


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A road project in Craven County, that is about to get underway, is so big, a public information meeting is scheduled to help people better understand what to expect.
Phase two of New Bern's "Neuse Blvd. Water Main Improvement Project" is starting soon, and it will be a long haul to the finish date, 9 months. Crews will be replacing the AC water main between First Street and Glenburnie Road, along with branch lines, fire hydrants and water services.
A public meeting is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. October 17th at the New Bern Fire Station at 1401 Neuse Blvd.


text: AdChoices Terms of Use Privacy Policy Hide GALLERIES McG McG Picture 6 6/8 McG AskMen Editors January 27, 2008 Share Tweet 0 Shares McG is an acclaimed filmmaker whose three movies -- Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and We Are Marshall -- have grossed over $500 million at the worldwide box office, while his behind-the-scenes work as a producer has resulted in such small-screen/TV hits as Chuck and Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious. Continue reading McG's profile. Next Slide gallery Comments Share your opinion Your name More Like This Actor McG Read More Celeb Galleries Anton Yelchin Read More Actor Anton Yelchin Read More Celeb Galleries Mike Myers Read More Celeb Galleries Georgina Chapman Read More Celeb Galleries Brian De Palma Read More Around the Web Special Features Gift Guide Top 25 Father's Day Gifts Read More Dating Tips A Guide To Hooking-Up Online Read More


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text: Watches for dying man's sons stolen 21 Jan 2014 A distraught family in Co Louth is appealing for the public's help in retrieving two watches which were left by a dying man for his two young sons, but have now been stolen in a burglary. Share Share Share Story by UTV Staff, Belfast Father-of-three Stephen Carroll, 38, died in November after battling cancer for over a year.Before his death, he had two Omega watches - which he received for his 21st and 30th birthdays - engraved for his two sons Senan, 10 and Keelan, eight, to inherit.One of the watches was a Constellation model engraved on the back with 'To Keelan Love Daddy x' while the other was a Seamaster model which had 'To Senan Love Daddy x' inscribed on it.Thieves struck at his parent's home in Blackrock, where the watches were being stored, sometime between Friday 17 and Saturday 18 January. Gardaí said that jewellery and an unknown amount of cash was stolen in the burglary.The family, who are worried that the thieves may try to sell the watches across the border, are particularly appealing for people in Northern Ireland to contact the police if offered the watches for sale."Anyone can get in touch and even leave the watches somewhere for collection, a hotel reception, a church, anywhere that ensures we can get them safely back," a family statement said. © UTV Share Share Share