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Today's Topics:

   1. Bridge Collapse, Radio Feedback... (TeckStuff Steve)
   2. Speeding drivers face DNA swabs under new Big Brother     powers (Rob)
   3. Microchips in humans: High-tech helpers or Big Brother
      surveillance? (Rob)
   4. Music Piracy At All Time High (Rob)
   5. Comcast: Human Contact Costs Extra (Rob)
   6. Do Not Call Registry gets wake-up call (Williams, Gregory S.)
   7. The Chicago Spire is officially under construction
      (Williams, Gregory S.)
   8. Hit man's bullet finds newspaper editor (Williams, Gregory S.)
   9. Legendary Irish singer Tommy Makem dies (Williams, Gregory S.)
  10. Massachusetts Sales Tax Holiday August 11-12 (Monty Solomon)
  11. YES network for sale (Greg Williams)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:35:14 -0800
From: "TeckStuff Steve" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Bridge Collapse, Radio Feedback...
To: medianews@twiar.org, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
        <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

*From: The Morning Mouth*
**
*Minneapolis Bridge Collapse - Radio Feedback:* Following yesterday's
horrific bridge collapse in Minneapolis, The Mouth quickly put calls out to
various personalities there in the city. *Cindy Barton*, morning host at
Lite 105.9/Minneapolis told us: "Just a total catastrophic collapse. The
bridge is less than a mile from the station, so I cross it 2-4 times a day
coming and going to work. I was just on it at 2pm and it caved at 6pm, so
I'm shook up and everyone in the Twin Cities are in a state of shock. I
didn't do any of our normal programming today, we just wanted to talk about
what happened, share thoughts and info etc.... 4 people dead, but there will
be more because they are counting over 50 cars in the water that they can
see. They fell over 64 feet. A lot of heroic efforts from people that were
walking by. Part of the bridge fell on a train below carrying toxic
material, so they had to evacute some people from their homes. It's just
horrific.* ----------- " *I first heard about the bridge collapse via text
message and hoped it was something minor. Bit by bit, I found out it was
anything but minor. Everyone's first reaction was to call their friends and
family to make sure they weren't on the bridge. We had a big promotion last
night with strippers and booze but everything was a little more somber than
usual as word spread of what had happened. This morning, we dropped all
music and contesting and dedicated the entire show to talking to people who
saw the bridge collapse, had loved ones injured or had just driven over the
bridge seconds before. It was a very powerful and moving morning and
something no iPod or syndicated program could have provided. *Dave Ryan, *KDWB.
More feedback to come.
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------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:51:43 -0500
From: Rob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Speeding drivers face DNA swabs under new Big
        Brother powers
To: Tom and Darryl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,         Media-News
        <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Speeding drivers face DNA swabs under new Big Brother powers

JAMES SLACK
UK Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=472515&in_page_id=1770&ct=5

Drivers stopped for speeding - or even for failing to wear a seatbelt - 
could soon be placed on the 'Big Brother' DNA database for life.

The most trivial offences, such as dropping litter, would also lead to 
samples being taken under sweeping new powers which police are demanding.

The samples would stay on the database, alongside those of murderers and 
rapists, even if the people involved were later cleared of any wrongdoing.

Campaigners condemned the plan as a step too far which could affect 
someone's job prospects for many years.

Under current rules, a person can have his or her DNA and fingerprints 
taken only if stopped for a 'recordable' offence - a crime serious 
enough to carry a jail term.

Minor offences such as allowing a dog to foul the footpath are excluded.

But police - backed by the Crown Prosecution Service - want to take DNA 
samples, fingerprints and even imprints of footwear for all offences.

They argue that, just because a person initially commits a low-level 
misdemeanour such as dog fouling, it does not mean they will not 
progress to the gravest crimes.

A chance to take their DNA - making any future crime far easier to solve 
- would be missed without new powers. Police also want to take samples - 
usually a mouth swab - at the scene of the "crime".

They say having to take offenders to the police station, as happens now, 
is too "bureaucratic".

The Home Office suggested the new powers to police in a consultation 
document earlier this year. Ministers are now under pressure to confirm 
the change.

There are already four million samples on the database - including those 
of a million suspects who turned out to be innocent.

Helen Wallace of GeneWatch UK said last night: 'There is significant 
potential for the loss of public trust in extending the taking and use 
of biometrics. They pose a serious threat to individual privacy and are 
unlikely to be an effective way to tackle crime.

"Any attempt to take DNA samples outside a police station is clearly 
unworkable."

Sonia Andrews of the Magistrates' Association said: 'We would find it 
difficult to justify extending the ability to take biometric data to 
cover nonrecordable offences.'

The Information Commissioner's Office warned of the danger of people 
being turned down for jobs if checks reveal details of minor offences 
committed many years ago.

Under the current system records of such offences are deleted after 
time. But if they are tagged to a DNA sample on the database they could 
remain 'active'.

But the idea is backed by police across the country, according to 
consultation responses published yesterday.

Inspector Thomas Huntley, of the Ministry of Defence Police, said 
failing to take samples 'could be seen as giving the impression that an 
individual who commits a nonrecordable offence could not be a repeat 
offender.

"While the increase of suspects on the database will lead to an 
increased cost, this should be considered as preferable to letting a 
serious offender walk from custody."

Pete Hutin, of Sussex Police, said the "taking of DNA samples in custody 
is unnecessarily bureaucratic".

David Evans, of the CPS, argued that the move would allow a 'more 
comprehensive database'.

The Home Office said: 'The DNA database has revolutionised the way the 
police can protect the public through identifying offenders and securing 
more convictions.

"The database provides police with, on average, over 3,500 matches each 
month and in 2005-6 alone led to matches against 422 homicides, 645 
rapes, 1,974 other violent crimes and over 9,000 domestic burglaries.

"The consultation is about maximising police efficiency and ensuring 
that appropriate and effective safeguards are in place. No decisions 
have yet been made and any detailed proposals will be subject to a 
further public consultation next year."

The police demand was revealed as the Human Genetics Commission, the 
Government's independent DNA watchdog, launched an inquiry into the 
database. Panels across the country will gather evidence on public opinion.



------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:52:46 -0500
From: Rob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Microchips in humans: High-tech helpers or Big
        Brother surveillance?
To: Media-News <medianews@twiar.org>,   Tom and Darryl
        <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Microchips in humans: High-tech helpers or Big Brother surveillance?
AP

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/08/01/chips.humans.ap/

CityWatcher.com, a provider of surveillance equipment, attracted little 
notice itself -- until a year ago, when two of its employees had 
glass-encapsulated microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their 
forearms.

The "chipping" of two workers with RFIDs -- radio frequency 
identification tags as long as two grains of rice, as thick as a 
toothpick -- was merely a way of restricting access to vaults that held 
sensitive data and images for police departments, a layer of security 
beyond key cards and clearance codes, the company said.

"To protect high-end secure data, you use more sophisticated 
techniques," Sean Darks, chief executive of the Cincinnati-based 
company, said. He compared chip implants to retina scans or 
fingerprinting. "There's a reader outside the door; you walk up to the 
reader, put your arm under it, and it opens the door."

Innocuous? Maybe.

But the news that Americans had, for the first time, been injected with 
electronic identifiers to perform their jobs fired up a debate over the 
proliferation of ever-more-precise tracking technologies and their 
ability to erode privacy in the digital age.

To some, the microchip was a wondrous invention -- a high-tech helper 
that could increase security at nuclear plants and military bases, help 
authorities identify wandering Alzheimer's patients, allow consumers to 
buy their groceries, literally, with the wave of a chipped hand.

To others, the notion of tagging people was Orwellian, a departure from 
centuries of history and tradition in which people had the right to go 
and do as they pleased without being tracked, unless they were harming 
someone else.

Chipping, these critics said, might start with Alzheimer's patients or 
Army Rangers, but would eventually be suggested for convicts, then 
parolees, then sex offenders, then illegal aliens -- until one day, a 
majority of Americans, falling into one category or another, would find 
themselves electronically tagged.

Thirty years ago, the first electronic tags were fixed to the ears of 
cattle, to permit ranchers to track a herd's reproductive and eating 
habits. In the 1990s, millions of chips were implanted in livestock, 
fish, pets, even racehorses.

Microchips are now fixed to car windshields as toll-paying devices, on 
"contactless" payment cards (Chase's "Blink," or MasterCard's 
"PayPass"). They're embedded in Michelin tires, library books, passports 
and, unbeknownst to many consumers, on a host of individual items at 
Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

But CityWatcher.com employees weren't appliances or pets: They were 
people, made scannable.

"It was scary that a government contractor that specialized in putting 
surveillance cameras on city streets was the first to incorporate this 
technology in the workplace," says Liz McIntyre, co-author of "Spychips: 
How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with 
RFID."

Darks, the CityWatcher.com executive, said his employees volunteered to 
be chipped. "You would think that we were going around putting chips in 
people by force," he told a reporter, "and that's not the case at all."

Implants in humans spark outrage

Yet, within days of the company's announcement, civil libertarians and 
Christian conservatives joined to excoriate the microchip's implantation 
in people.

"Ultimately," says Katherine Albrecht, a privacy advocate who 
specializes in consumer education and RFID technology, "the fear is that 
the government or your employer might someday say, 'Take a chip or starve."'

Some critics saw the implants as the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy 
that describes an age of evil in which humans are forced to take the 
"Mark of the Beast" on their bodies, to buy or sell anything. Others saw 
it as a big step toward the creation of a Big-Brother society.

"We're really on the verge of creating a surveillance society in 
America, where every movement, every action -- some would even claim, 
our very thoughts -- will be tracked, monitored, recorded and 
correlated," says Barry Steinhardt, director of the Technology and 
Liberty Program at the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington D.C.

In design, the tag is simple: A medical-grade glass capsule holds a 
silicon computer chip, a copper antenna and a "capacitor" that transmits 
data stored on the chip when prompted by an electromagnetic reader.

Implantations are quick, relatively simple procedures. After a local 
anesthetic is administered, a large-gauge, hypodermic needle injects the 
chip under the skin on the back of the arm, midway between the elbow and 
the shoulder.

John Halamka, an emergency physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical 
Center in Boston, Massachusetts, got chipped two years ago, "so that if 
I was ever in an accident, and arrived unconscious or incoherent at an 
emergency ward, doctors could identify me and access my medical history 
quickly." (A chipped person's medical profile can be continuously 
updated, since the information is stored on a database accessed via the 
Internet.)

Hazards and benefits

But it's also clear to Halamka that there are consequences to having an 
implanted identifier. "My friends have commented to me that I'm 'marked' 
for life, that I've lost my anonymity. And to be honest, I think they're 
right."

Indeed, as microchip proponents and detractors readily agree, Americans' 
mistrust of microchips and technologies like RFID runs deep. Many wonder:

Do the current chips have global positioning transceivers that would 
allow the government to pinpoint a person's exact location, 24-7? (No; 
the technology doesn't yet exist.)

But could a tech-savvy stalker rig scanners to video cameras and film 
somebody each time they entered or left the house? (Quite easily, though 
not cheaply. Currently, readers cost $300 and up.)

What's the average lifespan of a microchip? (About 10-15 years.) What if 
you get tired of it before then -- can it be easily, painlessly removed? 
(Short answer: No.)

How about thieves? Could they make their own readers, aim them at 
unsuspecting individuals, and surreptitiously pluck people's IDs out of 
their arms? (Yes. There's even a name for it -- "spoofing.")

The company that makes implantable microchips for humans, VeriChip 
Corp., of Delray Beach, Florida, concedes that's a problem -- even as it 
markets its radio tag and its portal scanner as imperatives for 
high-security buildings, such as nuclear power plants.

"To grab information from radio frequency products with a scanning 
device is not hard to do," Scott Silverman, the company's chief 
executive, says. However, "the chip itself only contains a unique, 
16-digit identification number. The relevant information is stored on a 
database."

VeriChip Corp., whose parent company has been selling radio tags for 
animals for more than a decade, has sold 7,000 microchips worldwide, of 
which about 2,000 have been implanted in humans.

The company's present push: tagging of "high-risk" patients -- diabetics 
and people with heart conditions or Alzheimer's disease.

In an emergency, hospital staff could wave a reader over a patient's 
arm, get an ID number, and then, via the Internet, enter a company 
database and pull up the person's identity and medical history.

To doctors, a "starter kit" -- complete with 10 hypodermic syringes, 10 
VeriChips and a reader -- costs $1,400. To patients, a microchip implant 
means a $200, out-of-pocket expense to their physician. Presently, chip 
implants aren't covered by insurance companies, Medicare or Medicaid.

For almost two years, the company has been offering hospitals free 
scanners, but acceptance has been limited. According to the company, 515 
hospitals have pledged to take part in the VeriMed network, yet only 100 
have actually been equipped and trained to use the system.

Some wonder why they should abandon noninvasive tags such as MedicAlert, 
a low-tech bracelet that warns paramedics if patients have serious 
allergies or a chronic medical condition.

"Having these things under your skin instead of in your back pocket -- 
it's just not clear to me why it's worth the inconvenience," says Westhues.

Silverman responds that an implanted chip is "guaranteed to be with you. 
It's not a medical arm bracelet that you can take off if you don't like 
the way it looks..."

In fact, microchips can be removed from the body -- but it's not like 
removing a splinter.

The capsules can migrate around the body or bury themselves deep in the 
arm. When that happens, a sensor X-ray and monitors are needed to locate 
the chip, and a plastic surgeon must cut away scar tissue that forms 
around the chip.

The relative permanence is a big reason why Marc Rotenberg, of the 
Electronic Privacy Information Center, is suspicious about the motives 
of the company, which charges $20 a year for customers to keep one its 
database a record of blood type, allergies, medications, driver's 
license data and living-will directives. For $80 a year, it will keep an 
individual's full medical history.



------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:21:58 -0500
From: Rob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Music Piracy At All Time High
To: Media-News <medianews@twiar.org>,   Tom and Darryl
        <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Music Piracy At All Time High
Suing grandmothers and kids not helping?

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Music-Piracy-At-All-Time-High-86310

Though you'll never hear an ISP admit it, music and film piracy has been 
the primary driver of broadband adoption worldwide. And despite the best 
legal efforts by the entertainment industry, a new survey (pdf) by 
Entertainment Media Research says illegal music trading has reached an 
all time high.

Click for full size
In turn, the company saw a slowdown in the growth rate of legal music 
downloaders. There's some interesting numbers in the report, such as the 
fact that the majority of users still find new music via FM radio. 
There's also a lot of unsurprising data, such as respondents stating 
their major reason for downloading music illegally is that it's free (go 
figure).

Interestingly, when asked what could deter them from downloading music 
illegally, the majority of those surveyed said they were more worried 
about computer viruses than being prosecuted. The report's primary focus 
is on how social networking sites are revolutionizing consumer exposure 
to music



------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:23:13 -0500
From: Rob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Comcast: Human Contact Costs Extra
To: Media-News <medianews@twiar.org>,   Tom and Darryl
        <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Comcast: Human Contact Costs Extra
Cable ops now charging in-person payment fee

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Human-Contact-Costs-Extra-86306

Users in our Comcast forum note that as of July 1, the company is now 
charging customers in many markets a $1.99 fee if they want to pay their 
bills in person. Yes, you can mail, electronically transfer your payment 
or even leave it in a drop box at the payment center for free -- but 
some people are just annoyed on principle:
"Some folks do not like to pay things by mail and like the opportunity 
to get it done right there and then with a receipt in hand. Sure $1.99 
is not really a big deal, but dammit anyway, like I said originally, 
Comcast is already getting a buttload of my money, and now they want 
want to charge me to give it to them, that's ridiculous."
Resident cable technicians justify the decision by noting it's an extra 
expense to have an already busy human being process the payment 
(apparently that's not part of what you're already paying for).

Users claim that Time Warner Cable also now charges a fee to pay in 
person, and an Ohio TWC user tells us the company charges an extra fee 
if you want to pay your bill over the phone with a credit card.



------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 17:29:23 -0400
From: "Williams, Gregory S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Do Not Call Registry gets wake-up call
To: <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID:
        <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"

Submitted by Layer 8 on Thu, 08/02/2007 - 1:52pm. 
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/18066

If you signed up for the federal or your state's Do Not Call Registry a few 
years ago, you might want to think about refreshing it. Pennsylvanians this 
week got a wake up call, so to speak from the state's Attorney General Tom 
Corbett who kicked off a public awareness campaign designed to remind people 
what many have forgotten or never knew - that the 2002 law set registrations to 
expire after five years. That is of course unless you want to start hearing 
from those telemarketers as you sit down to dinner. Corbett said about 2 
million people signed up in the immediate aftermath of the law taking effect 
and those who do not act by Sept. 15 will have their numbers dropped from the 
registry on Nov. 1. The Pennsylvania action is a reminder that the National Do 
Not Call Registry has a five year life span as well. The Federal Trade 
Commission is set to being a nation campaign in Spring 2008 to remind all US 
citizens to refresh their federal Do Not Call Registry standing.The FTC has 
also warned landline and cell users to be on the lookout for Do Not Call 
Registry scams. A recent report said emails have been circulating saying cell 
phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and a separate cell 
phone registry has been set up in conjunction with the national Do Not Call 
Registry. The FTC says neither of these actions are true. In congressional 
testimony this week the FTC said of the Do Not Call Registry: While the 
Commission appreciates the high rate of compliance with the Do Not Call 
provisions, it vigorously enforces compliance to ensure the program's ongoing 
effectiveness. Violating the Do Not Call requirements subjects telemarketers to 
civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation. Twenty-seven of the 
Commission's telemarketing cases have alleged Do Not Call violations, resulting 
in $8.8 million in civil penalties and $8.6 million in redress or disgorgement 
ordered. A Harris Interactive Survey released in January 2006 showed that 94% 
of American adults have heard of the Registry and 76% have signed up for it 
."The testimony states that the committee is in the process of reauthorizing 
the Do Not Call Implementation Act. "The Commission believes that the bill can 
be strengthened by statutorily mandating the fees to be charged to 
telemarketers accessing the National Registry, and specifically mandating such 
fees in an amount sufficient to enable the Commission to enforce the registry."

Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
?
?




------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 17:31:51 -0400
From: "Williams, Gregory S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] The Chicago Spire is officially under
        construction
To: <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID:
        <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"

http://www.newcityskyline.com/TheChicagoSpireisofficiallyunderconstruction.html

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Chicago, IL, US (NCS) -  The Chicago Spire is now officially under 
construction, according to Tom Murphy, the lawyer for developer Garrett 
Kelleher, president of Shelbourne Development, Ltd. of Ireland.  

"We broke ground on June 25th pursuant to a permit issued by the City for the 
deep rock caissons which with the concrete core are the main support for the 
building," Murphy said. "The permit was issued to our contractor the Case 
Foundation Company."

The sales office will open on the 18th floor of the NBC Tower at 455 North 
Cityfront Plaza Drive in late September, and international marketing will begin 
soon after.  

According to Murphy, the team will not seek financing for the project until the 
first quarter of 2008.

Final plans for the twisting, 150-story residential tower, which will include 
1,200 condominiums and an underground parking garage, were approved by the Plan 
Commission on April 19th and the City Council on May 9th. 

Now that the infamous tower has finally broken ground, residents can witness 
the awe as it climbs to the sky and becomes the tallest building in North 
America.

Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
?
?




------------------------------

Message: 8
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 20:04:13 -0400
From: "Williams, Gregory S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Hit man's bullet finds newspaper editor
To: <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID:
        <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/02/editor.shot.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

OAKLAND, California (AP) -- The outspoken new editor of the Oakland Post was 
shot to death Thursday near a downtown courthouse in what police believe was a 
deliberate hit.

Chauncey Bailey, who had been a reporter for The Oakland Tribune before moving 
to the Post in June, was killed around 7:30 a.m., Oakland Police spokesman 
Roland Holmgren said. He said witnesses told police that a single gunman shot 
Bailey and then fled.

Police had no motive for the killing but said it did not appear to be random. 
Holmgren said investigators would look into any possible connections with 
Bailey's work.

"I've spoken with him several times," Holmgren said. "I know him as being a 
somewhat outspoken type individual, assertive in his journalistic approach when 
trying to get at matters at hand."

Bailey grew up in Oakland and worked with several area media outlets, including 
KDIA radio and Soul Beat TV, a local cable channel. He wrote for the Tribune 
for more than 10 years before being named editor of the Post, a weekly 
community newspaper.

Oakland Tribune managing editor Martin G. Reynolds said Bailey was "a friend, a 
valued colleague and a loving father" whose coverage of Oakland's black 
community was "a tremendous asset."

At the Oakland Post, Gwendolyn Carter, the paper's advertising manager, said 
the staff of about 10 was shocked by Bailey's death.

"He was a good man," Carter said. "He always took care of me. He would say I 
was his little sister and he was my big brother."

Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland offered up to $10,000 in reward money for 
information leading to the gunman's arrest.


Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
?
?




------------------------------

Message: 9
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 20:03:02 -0400
From: "Williams, Gregory S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Legendary Irish singer Tommy Makem dies
To: <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID:
        <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/02/obit.makem.ap/index.html

I starting to feel like the Grim Reaper - Greg


DOVER, New Hampshire (AP) -- Irish singer, songwriter and storyteller Tommy 
Makem, who teamed with the Clancy Brothers to become stars during the folk 
music boom, has died of cancer. He was 74.

Makem died Wednesday in Dover, where he lived for many years, his son Conor 
said Thursday. He had battled lung cancer.

The Irish-born Makem, who came to America in the 1950s to seek work as an 
actor, grew to international fame while performing with the band The Clancy 
Brothers and Tommy Makem. The brothers, also from Ireland, were Tom, Liam and 
Paddy Clancy.

Armed with his banjo, tinwhistle, poetry, stagecraft and his baritone voice, 
Makem helped spread stories and songs of Irish culture around the world.

He brought audiences to tears with "Four Green Fields," about a woman whose 
sons died trying to prevent strangers from taking her fields. Other songs 
included "Gentle Annie" and "Red Is the Rose."

"He just had the knack of making an audience laugh or cry. ... holding them in 
his hands," Liam Clancy told RTE Radio in Dublin, Ireland.

The New York Times wrote in 1967 called them "an eight-legged, ambulatory 
chamber of commerce for the green isle they love so well. ... At one point, 
Irish teenagers were paying as much homage to them as to the Beatles."

After touring for about nine years as The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, he 
struck out on his own, but he remained friends with the brothers. Tom Clancy 
died in 1990 and Paddy in 1998.

Back in the 1950s, Makem and his friends, saw their first few albums -- "The 
Rising of the Moon" and a collection of drinking songs -- as a fluke.

In a 1994 Associated Press interview, Makem recalled he was astonished when a 
Chicago club offered him more money to sing for a week than he was getting for 
acting with a repertory company.

"I was the opening act for Josh White. I felt sort of silly, coming out and 
singing unaccompanied, and then Josh coming out and almost making the guitar 
talk," he said.

As their fame spread, they appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and other major 
TV shows, and headlined concerts at Carnegie Hall and London's Royal Albert 
Hall.

A young Bob Dylan was one of the folk singers who got to know Makem and the 
Clancys during the early 1960s.

"Topical songs weren't protest songs," Dylan wrote in his memoir "Chronicles 
Volume One." "What I was hearing pretty regularly, though, were rebellion 
songs, and those really moved me. The Clancy Brothers -- Tom, Paddy and Liam -- 
and their buddy Tommy Makem sang them all the time."

In 1992, Makem and the Clancys were among the stars performing in a gala 
tribute to Dylan at New York's Madison Square Garden. Eric Clapton, George 
Harrison, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Tracy Chapman and Dylan himself also took 
part.

President Mary McAleese of Ireland led the tributes to Makem after his death. 
"Always the consummate musician, he was also a superb ambassador for the 
country, and one of whom we will always be proud," McAleese said.

Even while battling cancer, he was maintaining a performance schedule, and he 
visited Belfast last month to receive an honorary degree and returned to his 
native Armagh.

"He had very much wanted to get over there," said his son Conor. "I think he 
knew it might have been his last time over."

Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
?
?




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Message: 10
Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 00:10:25 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Massachusetts Sales Tax Holiday August 11-12
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


TIR 07-12: The 2007 Massachusetts Sales Tax Holiday Weekend

I.  Introduction

A recently enacted statute provides for a Massachusetts "sales tax 
holiday weekend," i.e., two consecutive days during which most 
purchases made by individuals for personal use will not be subject to 
Massachusetts sales or use taxes.   St. 2007, c. 81, ?? 1-6 ("the 
Act"). The Act provides that the sales tax holiday will occur on 
August 11 and 12, 2007 and on those days, non-business sales at 
retail of single items of tangible personal property costing $2,500 
or less are exempt from sales and use taxes, subject to certain 
exclusions. The following do not qualify for the sales tax holiday 
exemption and remain subject to tax:  all motor vehicles, motorboats, 
meals, telecommunications services, gas, steam, electricity, tobacco 
products and any single item whose price is in excess of $2,500.  The 
Act charges the Commissioner of Revenue with issuing instructions or 
forms and rules and regulations necessary to carry out the purposes 
of the Act.

...

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=dorterminal&L=7&L0=Home&L1=Businesses&L2=Help+%26+Resources&L3=Legal+Library&L4=Technical+Information+Releases&L5=TIRs+-+By+Year(s)&L6=2007+Releases&sid=Ador&b=terminalcontent&f=dor_rul_reg_tir_tir_07_12&csid=Ador




------------------------------

Message: 11
Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 02:24:14 -0400
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] YES network for sale
To: medianews@twiar.org
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/01/news/companies/yes_sale.fortune/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories
 
The dismantling of the Yankee empire
YES Network is the MVP of Steinbrenner's business empire, and it's for 
sale, report Fortune's Jon Birger and Tim Arango. Will the team end up 
on the block too? His son Hal says no.

FORTUNE Magazine
By Jon Birger and Tim Arango, Fortune
August 2 2007: 6:28 AM EDT

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The New York Yankees' cable network, the YES 
Network, is for sale, Fortune has learned. And some baseball insiders 
and Yankees limited partners are wondering whether the team itself might 
be next.

The highest-rated regional sports network in the country and the cable 
home of the Yankees and the NBA New Jersey Nets, YES is jointly owned by 
the Yankees, investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co. (Charts, Fortune 500) , 
and former Nets owner Ray Chambers. Goldman and Chambers would like to 
cash out, YES and Yankees insiders say, and one source says to expect a 
deal by summer's end. Some possible bidders: Cablevision, Comcast 
(Charts), News Corp. (Charts, Fortune 500) and Verizon (Charts, Fortune 
500).

Publicly, Yankees and YES officials are noncommittal. "Absolutely not," 
Yankees president Randy Levine replies when asked whether YES is for 
sale - though not before acknowledging some "testing of the market." 
Gerry Cardinale, a Goldman managing director and YES board member, is 
more forthcoming, conceding that YES is in fact being shopped. "We're 
testing the waters with a limited universe of quality buyers," says 
Cardinale. "We would consider selling only if we receive a full and fair 
price."

And what might a "full and fair" price be? Try a cool $3 billion to $3.5 
billion. At that price, one could argue that the true gem of the Yankees 
business empire isn't the team itself but YES.

The team hasn't distributed profits to owners in about 10 years, two 
Yankees insiders say. (Responds Yanks chief operating officer Lonn 
Trost: "There have been distributions in the past and the expectation is 
there will be more in the future.) Meanwhile, YES brought in $340.5 
million in revenue in 2006, up about 6 percent from the prior year, 
according to Kagan Media Research estimates. (YES doesn't release 
official financial data.) Kagan believes that 40 percent of that revenue 
- about $136 million - translated into cash flow.

The cash flow, of course, is the key to YES's valuation. John Mansell, a 
prominent sports-industry analyst, notes that stakes in other regional 
sports networks have traded hands recently at 19 times cash flow. So if 
YES, which is the cable home of the Yankees and Nets, can grow its cash 
this year by 8 percent or more - as Mansell thinks it will - a $3 
billion valuation seems well within reach.
Drama in the owner's box

News of a possible YES sale comes at a crucial time for the Yankees. On 
the field, a team loaded with All-Stars and future Hall-of-Famers is 
struggling to keep pace with the American League East-leading Boston Red 
Sox.

Off the field, an even weightier drama is playing out. George 
Steinbrenner, the Yankees' demanding, combustible, and usually 
larger-than-life principal owner, has been strangely silent. This 
silence is feeding rumors of the Boss's failing health. He also lost his 
well-regarded number two - son-in-law and Yankees Global Enterprises 
chairman Steve Swindal - in March when Jennifer Steinbrenner, Swindal's 
wife and George's daughter, filed for divorce. And the team is building 
a new $1.2 billion ballpark across the street from existing Yankee 
Stadium in the Bronx - a somewhat risky venture given skyrocketing 
construction costs, but one that comes with a potentially huge payoff.

Details about the new stadium and its value to the Yankees will be 
examined further in the next issue of Fortune. Some highlights: The new 
stadium will add a minimum of $100 million annually in extra 
ticket-and-luxury box revenue. The rent the Yanks are paying New York 
City for the new stadium will drop to $10 a year (from $10 million a 
year for the old stadium). And the cherry-on-top: City officials get 
their own luxury box.

With Swindal gone, George's youngest son appears to have stepped in as 
his father's chief lieutenant. An executive with another club tells 
Fortune that Harold "Hal" Steinbrenner, 38, was the Yankees' surprise 
representative at Major League Baseball's owners meeting in May - 
something which the Yankees confirm.

Hal runs the family's hotel business, and associates describe him as 
bright, capable and driven - much like his father. "Hal is probably more 
like George than any of his other children," says one Yankees limited 
partner. "He's a very strong businessperson," adds John Swart, a Florida 
real estate developer who worked with Hal on a hotel project. "If Hal 
says he'll get something done, you know he will."

In an interview with Fortune, the usually press-shy Hal is forthcoming 
to a point. He declines to put a label on his stepped-up role: "That's a 
decision for George." Nevertheless, he acknowledges that his Yankees 
responsibilities did expand significantly following Swindal's exit. 
"When he left, of course there was a void," he says. "Let there be no 
doubt that I will fill that void enthusiastically."

Hal won't discuss his father's health, which is the subject of much 
speculation and little certainty. George Steinbrenner himself declined 
an interview through his spokesman. Yankees president Randy Levine says 
he talks to Steinbrenner "ten times a day" and insists the Boss is still 
making the important decisions. Daniel McCarthy, a Yankees limited 
partner and a long-time Steinbrenner friend, says Steinbrenner seemed 
"100 percent sharp" when he saw him in the spring.

However, such assurances conflict with what other well-placed sources 
say - reluctantly - about the Boss's health. A baseball executive - 
someone who has seen Steinbrenner this year and talks with Yankees 
officials - describes him as "inconsistently lucid." A New York 
businessman who knows Steinbrenner reports "George is very sick."
Are the Yankees next?

On the subject of a possible sale, Hal is emphatic. "There's no thought 
of selling the team," he says. "It's been in the family for 35 years, 
and it's going to stay that way."

Indeed, selling YES could well be part of a long-term plan to keep the 
Yankees in the Steinbrenner family. The windfall from YES, of which the 
Yanks own 36 percent, would provide a cushion to pay off any future 
estate taxes as well as provide the money needed to sign expensive free 
agents, pay draft picks and otherwise run a business heavy on fixed 
costs. "The reason they're cashing out is in very large part so they'll 
have enough cash to continue to own the team," says one source.

Even so, there remains speculation among the Yankees limited partners 
and other baseball insiders that Hal is simply echoing the wishes of an 
ailing father - that the Steinbrenners do not intend on keeping the team 
long term. The topic of a sale "comes up all the time" in conversations 
with the other partners, says Yanks minority owner Edward Rosenthal, a 
retired steel executive. Adds another Yankees limited partner: "If I 
were handicapping it, I think we're looking at a sale of the team within 
three or four years."

Were the Yankees to be auctioned off, the price tag for the team alone 
(in other words, not including the Yanks' stake in YES) could easily 
soar past $1 billion, given the global reach of the Yankees brand, the 
benchmark that will be set by the upcoming sale of the Chicago Cubs (for 
a sum that could approach $1 billion), the untapped revenue sources (a 
Yankees hotel or restaurant chain?), and the fact that many if not most 
of Wall Street's heavy hitters are Yankees fans (or have children who 
are). "My golden retriever could sell the Yankees," jokes one sports 
banker. "It would be the greatest bidding war in the history of bidding 
wars."

A banker with the firm helping to sell the Cubs - J.P. Morgan managing 
director Richard Walden - believes the Yankees would fetch "at least" 
$1.5 billion. "I actually think three years from now," says Walden, 
"that will look conservative."

-- 

Gregory S. Williams
gregwilliams(at)knology.net
k4hsm(at)knology.net

http://www.etskywarn.net
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.icebearnation.com





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