Watch this City of Sarasota council meeting for some laughs. Steve Lightfoot gives a semi-coherent presentation of how writer Stephen King is implicated in something big. Apparently Mr. Lightfoot would often call in to The Dennis Miller Show and the aforementioned Mr. Miller would promptly hang up on him, until Dennis understood he was dealing with a nut job and started to have some fun with it.

AJH

Paul Allen looks to save millions because of the recently passed stimulus package. Personally, if I had any sway (and, of course, I don't), I would institute a special tax on him, just for being a rude man who happens to have it all (or deceptively seems to).

With the news that a student at Los Angeles Community College is suing because of an idiot teacher, I thought my experience with the radicals on campus might be interesting to note. Recently the story and the attorney were featured on The B-Cast, so I sent a little email to the crew, Scott Baker and Liz Stephans, explaining some of the background on the bureaucrats trying to control speech and thought at colleges nationwide. I recommend anyone concerned about this effort to stifle the rights of students (and faculty, too) to check out the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).

Here's my note:

Free Speech Zones and Colleges‏

A "free speech zone" is actually a designated area, often quite small, on a campus where free speech is allowed. It does not apply to the entire campus, thus implying that the First Amendment is limited at college. I have personal experience with this at my own community college, and I live in "Red State" country.

When I reorganized the College Republicans during the 2004 election, I became a huge target for the Left and was considered Hitler by many on campus. Colleges today are very scary places. It is the prime example of what a nanny, fascist state looks like.

My college, for example, has one official "free speech zone" and one "free speech board" for the entire campus. It is beyond ridiculous. When we tried to put up posters from Young America's Foundation on communism and Eastern Europe, we were not allowed to do so.

The bureaucrats are so entrenched that it is difficult to make much progress. They certainly know what they are doing. As the lawyer said in the webcast, it will take suing every school individually to change the system, and even then, many activist officials will subvert the law whenever they deem necessary.

AJH

The other new site is Big Hollywood, the latest online venture from Andrew Breitbart, who has worked on some of the internet’s most popular news sites. A co-creator of the Huffington Post, he has also had a long-term editorial relationship with the Drudge Report, one of the most visited websites.

Mr Breitbart aims to redress what he says is Hollywood’s liberal bias. His site uses the “group blog” model and has already attracted plenty of offerings from conservative Hollywood thinkers who Mr Breitbart says have been unfairly marginalised in the film industry because of their views.

“There are people out there who have been ignored by Hollywood,” he says. “The mainstream media – and Hollywood is complicit in this – has created an intellectual status quo.”

Mr Breitbart is targeting different users to Ms Waxman but he says the impact of new Hollywood sites that reach highly targeted audiences so beloved of advertisers could be dire for Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. “There’s an opening here to blow them out of the water.”

AJH

Conan's Last Late Night show is tonight. It's hard to believe it has been so long. The Daily Beast has a short summation (“The Best of Conan”).

AJH

Tom Leykis is leaving the airwaves, at least for the moment. It's nice to hear some good news during the economic downturn. One never thinks about or hears in news reports how some of these people laid-off or fired actually deserve it. Unfortunately, Leykis is still under contract and will continue to be paid.

An article on CNET reports some recent developments at Hulu, which for the uninformed is basically online television (“Is Hulu rethinking its distribution strategy?”).

I receive promotional emails from MGM and they just sent me info on a new movie, A Dog's Breakfast, with David Hewlett. He is on Stargate Atlantis. It's rated PG-13 and slated to be at Hulu for a month. It probably isn't much of a film, but then again, it's free.

AJH

I just received A Doughboy With the Fighting 69th: A Remembrance of World War I in the mail very shortly after ordering it online. I am using it in my research for a book of my own on the 1868^th Iowa Infantry, which was the 3^rd Iowa National Guard. Both the 69^th and the 3^rd became part of the 42^nd (Rainbow) Division. Thankfully the author and his son, Albert Ettinger and A. Churchill Ettinger, left us something colorful and insightful to read.

AJH