Ends and Means

The Supreme Court Justice looked down from the bench and asked, Could the city then take a Motel Six and give the land to the Ritz because it would pay more taxes?

The lawyer for the city answered, Yes.

He said this before the bench, which the justices above him and the hushed gallery behind. No more explanation was needed.

Yes, the city has the right to take the land because some developers have a scheme and that scheme will generate revenue.

Ends, meet means.

10:21:21 PM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []  

Making Municipal WiFi Illegal

Pennsylvania did it (granting Philadelphia an exception). Texas might do it. Across the country, the telcos are bidding the politicians to eliminate the thorn of municipal competition in providing wireless.

Here is a Wired is a article by Larry Lessig about our state politicians keeping the nation safe from the red threat of municipal WiFi:

if you look closely, you'll see the communist menace has infiltrated governments everywhere. Ever notice those free photons as you walk the city at night? Ever think about the poor streetlamp companies, run out of business because municipalities deigned to do completely what private industry would do only incompletely? Or think about the scandal of public roads: How many tollbooth workers have lost their jobs because we no longer (since about the 18th century) fund all roads through private enterprise? Municipal buses compete with private taxis. City police departments hamper the growth at Pinkerton's (now Securitas). It's a national scandal. ...

City and state politicians should have the backbone to stand up to self-serving lobbyists. Citizens everywhere should punish telecom toadies who don't. Backwater broad-band has been our fate long enough. Let the markets, both private and public, compete to provide the service that telecom and cable has not.

And while we're on the subject, here's a weblog dedicated to fighting Texas House Bill 789, which would ban municipal wireless networks in Texas.

9:35:09 PM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []