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It wouldn't matter. Police dogs "alert" (sit down, or scratch, or something - anything the dog does can be an "alert") whenever and whenever the handler wants them too.

In one test, the researchers told the cops they wanted to test the dogs. They set up eights cans and told the handlers "there are drugs in can #1 and can #4, let's see how the dogs do". The dogs consistently alerted on can #1 and can #4. The drugs were in #6 and #8 - the officer's expectations matter more than where the contraband actually is.

See also:

http://illinoistimes.com/artic...

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

don't know about that, but.. the estimate of police dogs' efficacy suffers from the obvious flaw of all such evaluations; you never know how many people don't get caught. Could be they only catch 1% of the targets. And as your example points out, estimates from experiments can never be 100% certain to replicate actual real life numbers.

It wouldn't matter. Police dogs "alert" (sit down, or scratch, or something - anything the dog does can be an "alert") whenever and whenever the handler wants them too.

In one test, the researchers told the cops they wanted to test the dogs. They set up eights cans and told the handlers "there are drugs in can #1 and can #4, let's see how the dogs do". The dogs consistently alerted on can #1 and can #4. The drugs were in #6 and #8 - the officer's expectations matter more than where the contraband actually is.

See also:

http://illinoistimes.com/artic...

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

From last week's Illinois Times: a story about H-2B workers. If you read it, it will anger you. It isn't just tech workers who suffer.

Here, let me Google that for you:

http://ecowatch.com/2013/06/12/coal-companies-receive-taxpayer-subsidies/
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/04/13/463874/top-three-ways-that-american-taxpayers-subsidize-dirty-coal-development/
http://www.cato.org/blog/clean-coal-subsidies
http://illinoistimes.com/article-permalink-12589.html

Meanwhile - Chicago has the highest death toll by handguns in the WORLD. Imagine that. You won't address those statistics, will you?

Ah, but They do. They blame the NRA for the violence in Chicago, believe it or not (link is to a political cartoon).

It would be hard to have a bigger carbon footprint than that hypocrite Al Gore.

The Route 66 cavalcade goes past my house tonight, so I won't be driving; cops block all the side streets and it will be impossible to get in or out of the driveway. It will consume more petroleum tonight than I will in five years.

As to eating bugs, at my age I have nothing to worry about, I'll likely be dead long before that happens. If it does get so that bugs are all the meat there is, I'll be joining you in vegetarianism.

How do you pay for serious investigative journalism, something I think that we are seriously lacking and suffering from, if you can't pay for your journalists?

Traditionally, your newsstand price paid for the ink, paper, and other printing costs while the advertising paid for the content. If I'm paying good money for something I do NOT want to see an ad in it. Double dipping is theft.

The Illinois Times manages to do investigative reporting, pay writers and cartoonists, pay for syndicated columnists, turn a profit, and still manage to give the paper away for free -- and not just the online edition, the dead tree version is free, too. You can pick up a copy almost anywhere in Springfield. It's wildly popular because 1) it's good an 2) it's free. Meanwhile, the almost useless State Journal-Register is laying off all its workers (their cartoonist now works for the Illinois Times and they have no in-house cartoonist) and they're on the verge of bankruptcy.

Their problem is the same as every other newspaper's problem -- GREED. They're asking far more for a copy than what one is worth.

They do not deserve your pity, their wounds were self-inflicted.

How do you pay for serious investigative journalism, something I think that we are seriously lacking and suffering from, if you can't pay for your journalists?

Traditionally, your newsstand price paid for the ink, paper, and other printing costs while the advertising paid for the content. If I'm paying good money for something I do NOT want to see an ad in it. Double dipping is theft.

The Illinois Times manages to do investigative reporting, pay writers and cartoonists, pay for syndicated columnists, turn a profit, and still manage to give the paper away for free -- and not just the online edition, the dead tree version is free, too. You can pick up a copy almost anywhere in Springfield. It's wildly popular because 1) it's good an 2) it's free. Meanwhile, the almost useless State Journal-Register is laying off all its workers (their cartoonist now works for the Illinois Times and they have no in-house cartoonist) and they're on the verge of bankruptcy.

Their problem is the same as every other newspaper's problem -- GREED. They're asking far more for a copy than what one is worth.

They do not deserve your pity, their wounds were self-inflicted.

How do you pay for serious investigative journalism, something I think that we are seriously lacking and suffering from, if you can't pay for your journalists?

Traditionally, your newsstand price paid for the ink, paper, and other printing costs while the advertising paid for the content. If I'm paying good money for something I do NOT want to see an ad in it. Double dipping is theft.

The Illinois Times manages to do investigative reporting, pay writers and cartoonists, pay for syndicated columnists, turn a profit, and still manage to give the paper away for free -- and not just the online edition, the dead tree version is free, too. You can pick up a copy almost anywhere in Springfield. It's wildly popular because 1) it's good an 2) it's free. Meanwhile, the almost useless State Journal-Register is laying off all its workers (their cartoonist now works for the Illinois Times and they have no in-house cartoonist) and they're on the verge of bankruptcy.

Their problem is the same as every other newspaper's problem -- GREED. They're asking far more for a copy than what one is worth.

They do not deserve your pity, their wounds were self-inflicted.

Meanwhile, unless I'm mistaken, kids in Europe go to college for free. Meanwhile, some are calling for that here as well.

[Our leaders] focus on the price of everything, without grasping the value of anything. And the value of a college education â" not only to Americaâ(TM)s youth, but most significantly to our whole societyâ(TM)s economic and democratic future â" is clearly established.

So the big question to be asking is this: Why isnâ(TM)t higher education free? Les Leopold, director of the Labor Institute, notes in a July 2 Alternet piece, âoeFor over 150 years, our nation has recognized that tuition-free primary and secondary schools were absolutely vital to the growth and functioning of our commonwealth.â

Providing free education, from kindergarten through high school, paid off big for us. Today, though, thatâ(TM)s not enough, for open access to a college degree or other advanced training is as vital to America as a high school diploma has been in our past.

Forget interest rates, young people should not be blocked by a massive debt-load from getting the education that they need to succeed â" but also that all of America needs them to have for our mutual prosperity and democratic strength.

Where are you from, the 18th century? He was convicted in California, "debtor's prisons" are illegal in every US jurisdiction.

Are you sure?

How did breast cancer survivor Lisa Lindsay end up behind bars? She didn't pay a medical bill -- one the Herrin, Ill., teaching assistant was told she didn't owe. "She got a $280 medical bill in error and was told she didn't have to pay it," The Associated Press reports. "But the bill was turned over to a collection agency, and eventually state troopers showed up at her home and took her to jail in handcuffs."

Although the U.S. abolished debtors' prisons in the 1830s, more than a third of U.S. states allow the police to haul people in who don't pay all manner of debts, from bills for health care services to credit card and auto loans. In parts of Illinois, debt collectors commonly use publicly funded courts, sheriff's deputies, and country jails to pressure people who owe even small amounts to pay up, according to the AP.

Under the law, debtors aren't arrested for nonpayment, but rather for failing to respond to court hearings, pay legal fines, or otherwise showing "contempt of court" in connection with a creditor lawsuit. That loophole has lawmakers in the Illinois House of Representatives concerned enough to pass a bill in March that would make it illegal to send residents of the state to jail if they can't pay a debt. The measure awaits action in the senate.

"Creditors have been manipulating the court system to extract money from the unemployed, veterans, even seniors who rely solely on their benefits to get by each month," Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said last month in a statement voicing support for the legislation. "Too many people have been thrown in jail simply because they're too poor to pay their debts. We cannot allow these illegal abuses to continue."

Indeed. You would think the daily rag in a state capital would be digging, but the Springfield State Journal-Register is close to worthless. From looking at it you would think that every crime, fire, and accident is reported but few actually are. They want you to pay for worthless "news" as well as being subjected to popups, popunders, animated ads and all the very worse, annoying advertising? They're insane. The local TV station, wics, does more investigative reporting. There's a police scandal right now that they uncovered; the daily paper sort of repeats their nightly news of it in the next day's paper.

Meanwhile, we have a weekly paper that even the paper edition is absolutely free, its advertising is non-intrusive, and it does do investigative reporting. It also has movie reviews, a "pub crawl" section highlighting live music, recipes, etc. The SJ-R no longer has an editorial cartoonist; he was let go in their last round of layoffs. The Illinois Times hired him after the SJ-R layed him off. There are also a couple of syndicated cartoons.

Traditional newspapers are dead. There's way too much good free news to pay for it, especially when the free is better than the paid.

As part of the subscription service, have a questionnaire to fill out that personalizes the ads.

If I'm paying for the content, no way in hell do I want to see ads. With a paper magazine, the price of the subscription pays for the costs of paper, ink, and delivery while the ads pay for the content. With online the only costs aren't trivial is the content.

The Illinois Times manages to give away even the printed copies for free. If there are ads, I refuse to buy the content -- it's already paid for.

In the US? You have to be kidding. Here, insanity is illegal.

Travis became a regular at the Sangamon County jail, the repository of last resort for mentally ill people who are scary enough that they can’t be free and numerous enough that the system can’t help them.

Travis, 54, died Dec. 3 after he was found unresponsive in his cell. Everyone agrees that he didn’t belong in jail.

Declared unfit to stand trial on Nov. 15, Travis died on a waiting list five months after he was locked up, and there are still a half-dozen people in the jail who have been declared either not guilty by reason of insanity or unfit to stand trial due to mental illness. Some have been on the list for nearly two months, waiting for a bed to open up in the state’s stretched mental health system. And the trend isn’t promising.

Between 2009 and 2011, Illinois cut funding for the mentally ill by nearly $114 million, according to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, which found that the cuts were the fourth-highest in the nation. While the state has been cutting, demand has been increasing for beds to treat people deemed unfit to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity. As of Jan. 1, the statewide waiting list stood at 98. A year ago, the backlog was 64; in 2011, there were 71 people waiting for beds. Five years ago, the number was below 50.

Well, hello, Mr. Walton, meet Jim Hightower. He'll tell you where your twinkies went.

Not just fish. Ever hear of Project Censored?

A plume of toxic fallout floated to the U.S. after Japanâ(TM)s tragic Fukushima nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found radiation levels in air, water and milk that were hundreds of times higher than normal across the United States. One month later, the EPA announced that radiation levels had declined, and they would cease testing. But after making a Freedom of Information Act request, journalist Lucas Hixson published emails revealing that on March 24, 2011, the task of collecting nuclear data had been handed off from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the Nuclear Energy Institute, a nuclear industry lobbying group. And in one study that got little attention, scientists Joseph Mangano and Jeanette Sherman found that in the period following the Fukushima meltdowns, 14,000 more deaths than average were reported in the U.S., mostly among infants. Later, Mangono and Sherman updated the number to 22,000.

Before Prohibition, there were no bars, taverns, or pubs in the US; there were saloons. No respectable woman would step foot in one. It wasn't just "bad Italian westerns," any western that didn't have a saloon wasn't very accurate (but then again, how many outhouses do you see in old westerns?)

Prohibition closed the saloons, and speakeasies opened. Unlike saloons, women did indeed go there. Before prohibition, the few women who drank did so in secret.

After prohibition, we had bars, pubs, and taverns. This bit of history was imparted to me by my late grandmother, born in 1903 and died 2003. She was a young woman during prohibition.

And actually, there's a salloon here in Springfield.

Before anybosy mods this guy down, read this newspaper article from yesterday and you'll see why an awful lot of folks loathe and fear cops.

Huge accusations, but no cites.

Illinois abolished its death penalty when the Innocence Project proved that half the men on death row were innocent of the murders they were convicted of, and massive police and District Attorney corruption (including torture and planted evidence) were the reason most of the innocents were convicted.

He didn't need to make a citation about the cop shooting at unarmed teenagers; I'm surprised that nothing similar has happened where you live. Just last year there was a similar incident in Chatham (just outside Springfield). Sorry I can't make a citation either, but the SJ-R only archives its stories for a few weeks.

Then there are the murders (OK, negligent homicides) at the Sangamon County Jail. I knew one of the victims personally, his name was Maurice "Moe" Burris. He died in agony when the jail doctor refused to send him to the hospital, even though he was puking blood. His family recently successfully sued the county for Moe's death. The quack doctor that killed my acquaintence is still working for the county instead of sitting in prison for negligent homicide as he should be. Luckily the IT isn't as retarded as the SJ-R when it comes to data retention (among other things), you can find more about the Innocence Project and the police misconduct that led to the end of the death penalty there as well. I'd link to the SJ-R's take on the quack practicing medicine but they'll probably pull the story before you could see it.

This was a big deal a couple years ago; detectives lied to a judge about a "trash rip" to get a search warrant, then planted cocaine during the "search". The suspect was freed by the judge, no criminal action was taken against the detectives (but if you lie to a judge you'll go to jail). The detectives were fired, then later rehired after suing the city!

Those are instances just here in Illinois and mostly local! Multiply that by fifty and you'll begin to see how bad the situation really is. These kinds stories are incredibly easy to find in reputable newspapers.

You MUST remember Ruby Ridge and Waco, don't you?

The situation is bad. It's no wonder that poor people ALL fear and loathe the police. I assume the fellow you responded to has probably been personally victimized by thuggish cops.

Huge accusations, but no cites.

Illinois abolished its death penalty when the Innocence Project proved that half the men on death row were innocent of the murders they were convicted of, and massive police and District Attorney corruption (including torture and planted evidence) were the reason most of the innocents were convicted.

He didn't need to make a citation about the cop shooting at unarmed teenagers; I'm surprised that nothing similar has happened where you live. Just last year there was a similar incident in Chatham (just outside Springfield). Sorry I can't make a citation either, but the SJ-R only archives its stories for a few weeks.

Then there are the murders (OK, negligent homicides) at the Sangamon County Jail. I knew one of the victims personally, his name was Maurice "Moe" Burris. He died in agony when the jail doctor refused to send him to the hospital, even though he was puking blood. His family recently successfully sued the county for Moe's death. The quack doctor that killed my acquaintence is still working for the county instead of sitting in prison for negligent homicide as he should be. Luckily the IT isn't as retarded as the SJ-R when it comes to data retention (among other things), you can find more about the Innocence Project and the police misconduct that led to the end of the death penalty there as well. I'd link to the SJ-R's take on the quack practicing medicine but they'll probably pull the story before you could see it.

This was a big deal a couple years ago; detectives lied to a judge about a "trash rip" to get a search warrant, then planted cocaine during the "search". The suspect was freed by the judge, no criminal action was taken against the detectives (but if you lie to a judge you'll go to jail). The detectives were fired, then later rehired after suing the city!

Those are instances just here in Illinois and mostly local! Multiply that by fifty and you'll begin to see how bad the situation really is. These kinds stories are incredibly easy to find in reputable newspapers.

You MUST remember Ruby Ridge and Waco, don't you?

The situation is bad. It's no wonder that poor people ALL fear and loathe the police. I assume the fellow you responded to has probably been personally victimized by thuggish cops.

Huge accusations, but no cites.

Illinois abolished its death penalty when the Innocence Project proved that half the men on death row were innocent of the murders they were convicted of, and massive police and District Attorney corruption (including torture and planted evidence) were the reason most of the innocents were convicted.

He didn't need to make a citation about the cop shooting at unarmed teenagers; I'm surprised that nothing similar has happened where you live. Just last year there was a similar incident in Chatham (just outside Springfield). Sorry I can't make a citation either, but the SJ-R only archives its stories for a few weeks.

Then there are the murders (OK, negligent homicides) at the Sangamon County Jail. I knew one of the victims personally, his name was Maurice "Moe" Burris. He died in agony when the jail doctor refused to send him to the hospital, even though he was puking blood. His family recently successfully sued the county for Moe's death. The quack doctor that killed my acquaintence is still working for the county instead of sitting in prison for negligent homicide as he should be. Luckily the IT isn't as retarded as the SJ-R when it comes to data retention (among other things), you can find more about the Innocence Project and the police misconduct that led to the end of the death penalty there as well. I'd link to the SJ-R's take on the quack practicing medicine but they'll probably pull the story before you could see it.

This was a big deal a couple years ago; detectives lied to a judge about a "trash rip" to get a search warrant, then planted cocaine during the "search". The suspect was freed by the judge, no criminal action was taken against the detectives (but if you lie to a judge you'll go to jail). The detectives were fired, then later rehired after suing the city!

Those are instances just here in Illinois and mostly local! Multiply that by fifty and you'll begin to see how bad the situation really is. These kinds stories are incredibly easy to find in reputable newspapers.

You MUST remember Ruby Ridge and Waco, don't you?

The situation is bad. It's no wonder that poor people ALL fear and loathe the police. I assume the fellow you responded to has probably been personally victimized by thuggish cops.

There's an opinion piece in today's Illinois Times about that very subject.

Have a look at these two photos:

Springfield, Il in 1930
Springfield, Il today

Personally, I like my air clean.

Do the youth in Russia protesting understand exactly how free they are compared with the American's slandering them? Consider the facts.

Sorry, but the opinion of the uneducated is of no interest whatever to me. Your "journalist" should learn when, and more importantly when NOT, to use simple punctuation and I'll read his tripe. But what an aliterate says is of no value to me. I'm surprised you'd quote such a rag.

If it was meant as a possessive it should have read "compared with the Americans' slandering of them."

Six Corporations control the American press

Wrong. They do have undue influence, but I just linked to a newspaper (yes, they print paper editions as well) that is not connected to any of them.

Freedom of the press has always been for those with the money to buy a press -- which today, is almost anyone, since the 21st century printing press is a laser printer and the internet.

the American president recently authorized the assassination of an American citizen who was known for recording tapes and CDs denouncing America's policies as immoral, and oppressive.

Link? Oh, there are none. Funny, that.

Frequently in the last several decades children have had to rely on parents taking schools to court to avail themselves of the right to pray; Churches and Mosques are frequently having to show up in court to preserve their rights to call people to prayer, ring bells, or even maintain a cross that happens to be visible from a public highway.

And again, no link. Your Russian newspaper is full of shit. We have Christian churches, Jewish Synagogues, Islamic Mosques, and even a Bhuddist temple in this small city of 110k. Oh yeah, lots of atheists and agnostics as well.

American's Pay Almost 50% of their income in Taxes

There's that misused apostrophe again. Tell that stupid illiterate blogger to go back to the 6th grade. Hell, you'd have done better to link to this. At least I'm literate. Your Ruskie blog reads like it was written by a fourth grader.

You mean not news for only nerds. This is news for anybody and decidedly "stuff that matters." Had Martin been white and Zimmerman been black (Hispanic is not a race, there are Latinos of all races) he would have been in jail that night and might not have even survived the trip to the police station. Instead we get this.

Racism affects everyone, including us nerds.

And the point is a polite reminder that they can't get enough advertising to cover the cost of the content you want

Odd, a little weekly newspaper here in Springfield gets enough advertising dollars to publish both a print and web edition, and both are free to the reader. How is it they can make a profit yet the New York Times can't?

Seems like the Times doesn't have good enough content to attract enough eyeballs for the advertisers to pony up.

The town's daily is swimming in debt, laying off people, and their website (also with a "premium content" paywall) is a disastrous mess of advertising, popups, slideovers, and other such nonsense.

Seems to me simply a matter of incompetence. It sure seems so at SJ-R's site and newspaper.

Hopefully that'll bring this BS to an end, along with ending the jobs of the officers that continue to pull this stunt

Good luck with that...

Hopefully that'll bring this BS to an end, along with ending the jobs of the officers that continue to pull this stunt

Good luck with that...

example

Support the Innocence Project. Now incarcerated former Illinois Governor George Ryan stopped executions in Illinois when it was found that half of the men on Illinois' death row were innocent. The legislature has since abolished the death penalty here for the same reason, but there are still folks in prison who have been framed.

Citizens need to keep governments on tight leashes, rather than the other way around.

I hope you're logged in and just hit the "ac" button, because like another poster you made the mistaken assumption I'm an athiest. I'm not. I'm saying when I go to church, half the congregation (or more) love money more than they love God.

My own church is doing tremendous charity work, both here in Springfield and in Africa (link)

I'm priveledged to have Eddie Lowen as my pastor; he's the best preacher I've ever heard in my 59 years on earth (he gets the congregation laughing, he could have been a stand up comedian). I was baptised at WSCC.

Don't take my comment as bashing Christians, take it as a call to look closely at yourself.

The police also have been shown to hide the evidence collected by the undercover agents if it does not help them lead to convictions or even shows that they are lying to the prosecution.

In the US, they'll execute a man they know is innocent, and even cover up evidence of his innocence.

Link here

So is free air, free water, the Illinois Times print edition, slashdot, Google...

The concept of "free == worthless" is an incredibly stupid concept.

10/10/10 is how I date my checks. I sincerely doubt there are any copies if checks I wrote last century still left. Four digit year numbering is only needed in databases.

The Illinois Times covered this in the print edition but I can't find the story online.

This article might interest you.

"I think it's a dual thing," says Sue Ruff, the district's director of technology. "You see a lot of student engagement because of the technology, but also at Lincoln Magnet you have the piece where ... families took on the responsibility to get their children there. So you have a lot of parental support."

Former Lincoln Magnet student Matt Medley, now a freshman at Springfield's Southeast High School, agrees family involvement played a role in his and his fellow students' success. "Parental encouragement - there's no substitute for it," he says. But he adds that technology played just as important of a role.

Ball Charter, like Lincoln, is a choice school and had a low-income rate of about 40 percent in 2009, compared to Lincoln's 36.5 percent. It fared better on standardized testing than the other district middle schools, and that year's eighth-graders outpaced Lincoln's by 3 percent in math. However, Ball Charter had a smaller proportion of eighth-grade students meeting and exceeding standards in both reading, 77 percent compared to Lincoln's 98 percent, and writing, 66 percent compared to Lincoln's 84 percent.

"I'm not saying that [technology] is the only reason their test scores are higher, but that's got to be one of the reasons," Wise says, adding that the smaller population at Lincoln Magnet might help foster better faculty-student relationships. "Test scores aren't determined by one factor. There are a whole lot of factors that go into how well a student performs."

The story's title is A Computer for Every Kid

Not to mention the Bushes, and BTW, I agree that aristiocracy is a bad thing, even with Bushes and Kennedys. Common? Yes. The American Way? Hell no! To quote the guy on the train in Unforgiven, "I figger we don't no Queens!"

They wanted to make Washington king, and he refused. When did the "no aristocracy in America" lose its value?

What's worse, we have non-governmental aristocracy like the Koches and Hiltons.

This country was founded on the principle that all men are created equal. It looks like the unpatriotic rich have staged another revolution without anybody noticing, and they've won. Traitorous bastards.

From the AP (via Yahoo) (emphasis mine): "House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., abandoned the effort late Wednesday in the face of Republican opposition to his proposed "network neutrality" rules. Those rules were intended to prevent broadband providers from becoming online gatekeepers by playing favorites with traffic."

I'm going to piss some people off by saying this, but the Democrats are pussies. Goddamned balless wimps. For Christ's sake, they have a majority in both houses, yet they're so pussified that the minority Republicans can block them. WTF???

But the phone and cable companies insist they need flexibility to manage network traffic so that high-bandwidth applications don't hog capacity and slow down their systems. They say this is particularly true for wireless networks, which have more bandwidth constraints than wired systems. The communications companies also argue that after spending billions to upgrade their networks for broadband, they need to be able earn a healthy return by offering premium services. Burdensome net neutrality rules, they say, would discourage future investments.

First they say they don't have the bandwidth, then they say they need a "healthy" (read: windfall) profit from their investments in bandwidth. Which is it? Speak of talking out of both sides of your mouth! Is there anybody less honest than a corporate mouthpiece? I have more respect for a crackhead than these evil assholes. At least you know the crackhead is lying when he says he wants twenty bucks "for a prescription".

And the thing is, from the AP story, it's more about Net Neutrality for wireless customers than wired customers. This makes no sense whatever. I have a plethora of wireless choices; competetion makes Net Neutrality Regs completely unnecessary for wireless providers. On the other hand, I and most other people have only one "choice" for wired broadband -- in my case, Comcast. Others have other monopoly providers, but almost all of them are monopolies.

ALL MONOPOLIES NEED HEAVY REGULATION! Where there is a lot of competetion, the free market keeps things in check in most cases. But when there is little or no competetion, the government needs to step in.

Waxman's proposal, in part, fell victim to today's political climate, with Republicans hoping to rack up gains in the upcoming midterm elections apparently unwilling to help Democrats make progress on such a contentious issue. With an anti-government, anti-regulation sentiment sweeping the nation -- and boosting Tea Party candidates -- Republicans also were reluctant to support a proposal that opponents equate to regulating the Internet.

Contentious? Huh? The only contention is between giants like Google and Time Warner. Net neutrality is a boon for anyone wanting to USE the internet.

The anti-government sentiment comes from the fact that government (neither major party) has done Jack Schitt for the average working stiff while bending over backwards for sociopaths like Charles and David Koch, who are according to the Jim Hightower article linked, behind the tea party astroturfing movement.

"Opponents who equate" net neutrality "to regulating the Internet" are disingenuous at best. This doesn't "regulate the internet", it regulates the monopolies who deliver the unregulated internet to your computer.

If it comes between the goverment regulating the providers and the providers regulating the internet, I'll take government regulation any day.
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Mods, please read the guidelines.

Here in Springfield we don't need no stinkin' reviews... we have the Illinois Times yearly "best of" poll. Businesses big and small who win the IT poll proudly post their plaques.

The funny thing is, it's like a Chicago political vote: vote early, vote often. But somehow, the good places/things/people manage to win (WQNA, D'Arcy's Pint, Saputos...)

I guess I should be proud of my local paper. The non syndicated stories (non-AP, non-UPI, etc) are published under a Creative Commons license, so when I link and cut and paste from it for my slashdot journals (example here), I don't have to fear a lawsuit.

Their articles' links disappear after a set time, and you have to pay for archived content. Doesn't seem unfair to me.

Oddly, there are two papers in town; the daily SJ-R linked above, and the weekly Illinois Times. The SJ-R with its GPL costs seventy five cents for a paper copy, while the IT is free for both paper and web, but it publishes with a standard copyright notice.

Odd.

The fact that the Illinois Times has been thriving for years in a city of 110,000 without charging readers a dime, even for the paper version, says they're doing something right, and perhaps the dailies should take notice.

And most news in most newspapers are AP and UPI syndication, anyway. Perhaps that's the cost that the Illinois Times does without that keeps their costs down to where they can pay reporters, proofreaders, editors, and printers without charging readers and still make a profit? I don't know what the syndicates charge the papers, but I would guess it isn't a trivial sum.

They do use some syndicated content -- Jim Hightower, Ask Amy, This Modern World and two other cartoons. Almost all their content is geared for local readership; movie reviews are almost always for movies opening locally, they have the Pub Crawl informing us what local bands are playing where, news and opinion on local and state politics and events, the yearly Best Of Springfield poll, whose winners proudly display their awards (even the upscale places) etc.

The fact that their advertising isn't intrusive or annoying surely doesn't hurt.

But how sustainable is the current paradigm?

As sustainable as it's always been. The Illinois Times survives, makes a profit, and pays its staff on advertising alone. Even its paper version is free, and its yearly "Best of" poll winners all proudly have their IT "Best Of" awards displayed on their walls, even higher class joints like Saputo's and D'Arcy's.

Free sells, but only if it's quality. If your content sucks or your ads are intrusive, your newspaper will die.

I don't think any (print) newspaper can survive off internet advertising income alone.

That doesn't make any sense. When you buy a printed copy of a newspaper, what you pay covers the cost of the paper and ink, and that's it; advertisers pay for everything else. Few people outside central Illinois would have much interest in most of what's in the Illinois Times (which, BTW, is free both online and in print!) but a link to an article or editorial might be of interest. I've linked IT articles in slashdot comments and journals before.

I have no interest in reading the LA Times, but I often read the online edition (or stories from it).

Web editions don't add any appreciable cost to publishing, but they reach a lot more people -- meaning MORE ad revenue. Paywalling off your news is just stupid.

I don't think any (print) newspaper can survive off internet advertising income alone.

That doesn't make any sense. When you buy a printed copy of a newspaper, what you pay covers the cost of the paper and ink, and that's it; advertisers pay for everything else. Few people outside central Illinois would have much interest in most of what's in the Illinois Times (which, BTW, is free both online and in print!) but a link to an article or editorial might be of interest. I've linked IT articles in slashdot comments and journals before.

I have no interest in reading the LA Times, but I often read the online edition (or stories from it).

Web editions don't add any appreciable cost to publishing, but they reach a lot more people -- meaning MORE ad revenue. Paywalling off your news is just stupid.

Mr. Hightower? Is that you?

The fates did not blow up these 29 people. They are dead because self-serving profiteers in the coal industry have routinely used their enormous political clout to fend off commonsense safety regulations by the big, bad government, thus making these "accidents" inevitable. In the case of Upper Big Branch, the profiteer is one of America's biggest coal corporations, Massey Energy Co., along with its right-wing, multimillionaire CEO, Don Blankenship.

King Coal, as the industry is known both in Appalachia and on Capitol Hill, deploys more than 100 Washington lobbyists and doles out millions of dollars in campaign donations. All of this political firepower is used to sidetrack the simplest safety measures and muzzle the federal mine safety watchdog. How tight is the muzzle? Deliberate violations of safety rules that lead to deaths are treated as misdemeanors!

Upper Big Branch has been cited by the feds for more than 3,000 worker safety violations since 1995, and its record of dangerous disregard has gotten worse in recent years. Last year it had nearly 500 violations, roughly double the number in 2008, including ones that create life-threatening conditions for miners. Yet its "punishment" was $168,393 in fines, with no effective requirement to improve conditions. This is chump change to Massey, which had $56 million in profits last year.

No, Springfield, IL. Because god knows Homer needs more bandwidth!

Happens here, too.

You didn't specify which city had which population, I'm assuming Atlanta is the one with 8.5 million people. However, Springfield, Il has a population of 110,000 (1/5th of the smaller of your two compared cities) and had a total of seven murders last year. That's 18 times fewer murders than either city you mentioned.

Of those seven, most were from firearms, but other murder weapons were a wrench, a table leg, and an oxygen tank. Yes, this is the city where Alderman Simpson lives.

Recording technology and radio obliterated small-scale performances and local music. They still exist, obviously, but have nowhere near the cultural prominence or respect that they once did.

[citation needed]

Here's a citation of a refutation of your comment: http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/events.from.10-08-2009.to.10-11-2009-8.0.0.0.1.3.s0.html

I haven't been to a big ticket concert in years, but I see live music quite often in local bars. The last band I saw was Nothing But Trouble (NBT), and I'll be hearing some live music this Saturday as well. Bit name concerts are WAY overpriced. When there's a big name concert here, a rough estimate says more people are listening to local guys in bars than big shots in the auditorium.

No thanks, I waste enough time in school already.

Thats not the only problem with this. My local cartoon government here in Springfield has been talking about year-long school for a while now.

First, it gets damned hot here in the summer. They're going to have to inatall air conditioning in all the classrooms. There's no way to concentrate or learn when the temperature is 95 degrees and the humidity is 100%. The cost is prohibitive, especially since the city and state are having severe budget problems.

Secondly, there are things kids need to learn that school can't teach. That summer vacation is actually a valuable learning experience, especially for younger students.

Thirdly, why can't we let kids be kids? The best times of my life were when I was a kid and it was summer vacation. It's cruel to take this away from children.

They seem to be creeping toward year-long school anyway. When I was a kid (a long, long time ago) school started in late September and ended in early May. Now it starts in early August and doesn't let out until June.

I had hope for this President, but I'm far less hopeful than I was when he was first sworn in. Yearl long school is a stupid, STUPID idea.

If there is no advertising, I'll pay. But if there are ads, let the advertisers pay. I'm paying for content by looking at ads, if you want me to pay cash for your content you're going to have to give me a clean, ad-free page that doesn't blink and flash.

Funny, the Illinois Times, a weekly Springfield paper, doesn't even charge for its print version. If they can make money from advertising alone, why can't other papers? It's ludicrous that anyone wants me to pay for a web page that blinks and flashes.

And as long as there are online papers that don't charge, good luck charging. As long as there are free sources for news, why would anyone pay?