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Because only other alternative is 1.5mbps DSL. That's what Mediacom preys on: cities that have 0 choice.

Moreover, they are fighting heavily for things to stay that way
Mediacom readies lawsuit against Iowa City
http://www.press-citizen.com/s...

Recently in Iowa City (my hometown) there was a guest editorial in the local newspaper complaining that allowing the city's firemen to give one another free haircuts deprived local haircutters of their livelihood. The Mayor and the City Council got on it right away and banned the city's firefighters from giving each other haircuts. (True story.)
So anything you do for somebody else that could potentially make a profit for anyone who is in business is now illegal? You can't give a buddy a free beer, because that deprives the local bar of business. You can't have friends over for dinner because they might have gone to a restaurant for dinner. Heck, you probably can't even have sex with your significant other, because they might have gone to a prostitute!
I hate the 21st century. I think I'll to out and sue somebody.

All warez originate from Kommunist China via a secret underground network. Don't be fooled by that copy of WindowsXP on the shelf, studies have shown that upto20% of all labelled warez DvDs and CDs contain hidden kIddIe pron, they are the only kiddies associated with the Warez network.

Yours,
Danie Glick--man. MPAA.

Why God? Why of all people, do you, "The Man"-hating intellectuals, actually give them your business?

Starbucks hasn't really hurt the local coffee houses at all, from what I can see actually living in a town where Starbucks recently arrived. The coffee house I am always found in has one big advantage over Starbucks: free Wi-Fi. It's always full in here and sometimes hard to even find a seat. Maybe even more so since Starbucks opened.

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

A new stand-alone Starbucks store is not the only change that downtown Iowa City patrons will notice on the coffee front later this month.

The downtown Java House, 211 1/2 E. Washington St., is in the process of a $250,000 renovation to improve customer service, reduce waiting times and add seating options.

"We are doing a remodel, but it has nothing to do with Starbucks coming and everything to do with us stepping up our service," said owner Tara Cronbaugh, adding that renovation plans for the 10-year-old coffeehouse have been in place for several years. "We are in our last phase of renovations. Our only goal is to improve the speed of service."

Work on an extended coffee bar, which includes two more slots for brewed coffee, an additional register, a second espresso machine and more seating, should be complete by the time University of Iowa students resume classes for the spring semester Jan. 20.

Developer Marc Moen said the new Starbucks store at 228 S. Clinton St., eastern Iowa's first stand-alone location, should open about the same time.

"They look like they are ready to roll," Moen said, adding that he heard drinks will start flowing Jan. 20.

Cronbaugh said she is not worried about Starbucks' expansion into Iowa City and thinks it will strengthen the specialized coffee scene.

"Long-term, I think it's a good thing for the industry," she said. "And I think downtown is loyal to its local businesses."

David Meyers, co-owner of Terrapin Coffee Brewery, 257 E. Iowa Ave., agreed.

"Starbucks will make the game fun," Meyers said. "It will be really interesting to see how they play."

Meyers opened the downtown Terrapin with his brother, Robert Meyers, on Oct. 21, 2002. He said they are not planning store renovations but will expand their menu this month.

"There will be additional hot teas, desserts and other complimentary items," he said. "The reasoning is that we have been here over a year and we are taking our natural form."

The first of the Java House renovations began in July 2002 with a new window bar in the front of the store and an expansion to the service area.

Cronbaugh said crews made the majority of the Java House's recent changes on Christmas and the day after. In addition to expanding the front portion of the coffee bar, Java House crews are removing the elevated platform across from the coffee service area and replacing it with alternate seating options.

Officials also will add tables in the back of the coffeehouse, and Cronbaugh said the store will be able to accommodate a total of 18 to 20 more patrons.

Although Cronbaugh said she has not planned any immediate changes to the other Java House locations at 713 Mormon Trek Blvd. on the west side of town, 1555 S. First Ave. on the east side, and 15 S. Dubuque St. above Prairie Lights, she is planning to implement a new pre-paid card system linking all the stores.

The pre-paid coffee cards will allow regulars to pay a lump sum and subtract each purchase from the card as they purchase beverages or food items.

"They can use it so they don't have to get out $3 all the time," Cronbaugh said.

To accommodate changes, the downtown staff will increase by 10 employees and the east- and west-side stores will each add two to three workers.

Cronbaugh said she doesn't anticipate any price increases and said the last time she made cost adjustments was in October based on economic changes.

"We increased espressos, teas, anything having to do with milk cocoa or tea," she said. "But our brewed coffee stayed the same, our bakery line stayed the same."

If you always give the thumbs up to every little thing (either if you're directly voting on it or if you're electing people like Chuck Grassley), they're going to take it out of you in some way. A better way of doing things would be to ditch the obnoxious and allocate that money for the reasonable projects, rather than raising new taxes for every reasonable thing.

Ooops! Here are all of my employer's salaries for 2003 http://www.press-citizen.com/salaries2003/uihome.h tm
Seriously, why not just make salary figures public? In Iowa, all state employee salaries are public information, and most newspapers publish them at least once each year. It just keeps everybody honest.