Up here in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the shortest day of the year. Where I’m at, the sun will be up (if not out) for a mere 8h 59m 51s. But the winter solstice arrives at around 6:30 tonight, and tomorrow things begin to pick up, as we gain an entire second of daylight. Hey, it’s a start. By the time June 21 rolls around, we’ll be getting 15h 22m 08s of daylight up here in these parts. I, for one, am looking forward to having a little daylight when I get out of work. But who cares about that when there a re puppies in the news?

Yes, with typical Kraut efficiency, a Rhodesian Ridgeback in Ebereschenhof, Germany gave birth to 17 puppies, all of whom appear to be doing well. Makes Nadya Suleman seem pretty unimpressive, doesn’t it?

I feel bad about Steve Landesberg. I was always a big Barney Miller fan (as my dad used to say, the only one who wasn’t funny on that show was Barney), and I was really happy to see Landesberg show up unexpectedly on “Head Case” with George Snufalufagus’ wife. He was great in that, too. I never thought Abe Vigoda would outlast Steve. But then again, Jack Soo has been dead for years (esophageal cancer got him, which sucked), and that’s a surprise (I thought them people lived forever, what with eating all that fish and rice and whatnot).

Chalk another big win up for the Obama Administration, this time with Net Neutrality.

Late Monday, a majority of the FCC’s commissioners indicated that they’re going to vote with Chairman Julius Genachowski for a toothless Net Neutrality rule.

According to all reports, the rule, which will be voted on during tomorrow’s FCC meeting, falls drastically short of earlier pledges by President Obama and the FCC Chairman to protect the free and open Internet.

The rule is so riddled with loopholes that it’s become clear that this FCC chairman crafted it with the sole purpose of winning the endorsement of AT&T and cable lobbyists, and not defending the interests of the tens of millions of Internet users.
[…]
For the first time in history of telecommunications law the FCC has given its stamp of approval to online discrimination.

Instead of a rule to protect Internet users’ freedom to choose, the Commission has opened the door for broadband payola – letting phone and cable companies charge steep tolls to favor the content and services of a select group of corporate partners, relegating everyone else to the cyber-equivalent of a winding dirt road.

Obama falling short of his rhetoric and promises. Gee, how unusual. Well, he couldn’t get it passed through the Senate, I guess. Oh, wait. It didn’t have to pass the Senate. Well, I’m sure there’s some reason it isn’t Obama’s fault, and he did every gosh-darned thing he could. Right?

Internet users deserve far better, and we thought we were going to get it from a president who promised to “take a backseat to no one in my commitment to Net Neutrality.” Watch now as he and his FCC chairman try to spin tomorrow’s betrayal as another “mission accomplished.”

Don’t believe it. This bogus victory has become all too familiar to those watching the Obama administration and its appointees squander opportunities for real change. The reality is that reform is just a rhetorical front for industry compromises that reward the biggest players and K-Street lobbyists while giving the public nothing.

It’s not the FCC chairman’s job to seek consensus among the corporations that he was put into office to regulate. His duty is to protect Internet users.
[…]
Net Neutrality is the freedom of speech, freedom of choice issue of the 21st century. It’s the guarantee of a more open and democratic media system that was baked into the Internet at its founding.

On Tuesday, Obama’s FCC is going to sell that out.

Damn Nigerian mooslam commie librul bastid.