If you started your own business, which happened to be providing music, news and comedy for paying customers, why would the federal government have any say over the content you included?  If you were writing a book, should you have to include a heroic Native American character as per Uncle Sam?  If you made a movie, should you have to make it tell a story set in the US where an Italian immigrant did something nice?  What kind of shit is that!?  Today the FCC approved the Sirius/XM merger, but with a few conditions.

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 in favor of a proposal that would allow the deal to proceed as long as the companies meet a series of consumer protection conditions, including a three-year cap on prices, set-aside of channels for minority and non-commercial programming and payment of a $19.7 million penalty for past FCC rule violations. Source.

Now, who do you think knows what their customers want:  the satellite radio companies themselves or the massive bureaucracy of the FCC?  Sirius alone was already offering channels for kids, women, gays, lesbians, and various religious content.

A quick Google shows that out of the the total population of the US, 20% of us aren’t white and 7% of us have satellite radio.  Based solely on those numbers, that means that satellite radio already has over 4 million minority customers, amongst which I count myself.  If we weren’t getting suitable programming, do you really think we’d be shelling out $12 a month for it?

My favorite color is blue.  At the rate we’re going, it won’t be long before the federal government begins to mandate that in a given office building the color of paint on the walls must be divided equally between the 7 hues of the visible spectrum to support diversity because we are too stupid to choose a color of paint for ourselves.

Apparently all of us in America need the federal government to step in and mandate that a company offer a specific amount of programming to one type of person or another.  Apparently we minorities are too dumb to choose what entertainment services to purchase, what radio stations to listen to and what content to be entertained by.  If we let the federal government and agencies like the FCC continue to destroy the free market, maybe we are as dumb as they think we are.  Legislation like this is an insult to everybody involved in these companies from the top down.

I’ve had Sirius for probably 4 or 5 years now.  Within that period I also had XM for a month and hated it.  I’ve stuck with Sirius and loved every minute of it.  Between Neil and I, I would say we’ve sold a dozen people or more on the service.  It truly has something for everyone.  Initially I was very disappointed to hear that the two wanted to merge.  I though prices would go up from reduced competition.  I thought the play lists would become a Clear Channel knock-off like XM more commercial.  Actually, these things will still probably happen, but there’s not all bad news coming out of this:

Among the conditions that both companies had already accepted were à la carte programming that would give consumers flexibility in which channels they pay for, the permission for any electronics company to develop devices that would receive the service and a price freeze for three years.

Shares in both companies rose on Wednesday in anticipation of approval. XM rose 94 cents, or 10.3 percent, to close at $10.04. Sirius closed at $2.68, up 30 cents, or 12.6 percent.

Customized programming and better numbers from both companies is definitely something I can get behind.  We can only hope that the à la carte programming is a huge success and cable and satellite television providers follow suit.  Source.

I’ve had Libertarian ideas before I even knew that’s what they were.  When I was in high school, it made me sick to walk through a metal detector and have my backpack rummaged through.  My backpack was my own personal property.  To have every student that walked through the door presumed guilty of having some type of drugs or weapons was an insult. I’m not going to go overboard with trying to convince you to read this book. All I will say is that if you ever plan to vote for a president in the US, you need to do so only after reading this book.

My eyes have been opened even further upon reading this short book.  It is surprisingly light reading, even given it’s subject matter, but Dr. Paul is still manages to drive home the importance of his ideals of less government and more liberty.  I’ll end with a few excerpts.

“Every election cycle we are treated to candidates who promise us “change,” and 2008 has been no different.  But in the American political lexicon, “change” always means more of the same:  more government, more looting of Americans, more inflation, more police-state measures, more unnecessary war, and more centralization of power.”

“…Every four years we are treated to the same tired, predictable routine:  two candidates with few disagreements on fundamentals pretend they represent dramatically different philosophies of government.”

“[The] mainstream media…focuses our attention on trivialities and phony debates as we march toward oblivion.  This is the deadening consensus that crosses party lines…and that is strangling the liberty and prosperity that were once the birthright of Americans.  Dissenters who tell their fellow citizens what is really going on are subject to smear campaigns that, like clockwork, are aimed at the political heretic.  Truth is treason in the empire of lies.”

“Early on in my presidential campaign, people began describing my message and agenda as a “revolution.”  In a way, it is, albeit a peaceful one.  In a country with a political debate as restricted as ours, it is revolutionary to ask whether we need troops in 130 countries and whether the non-interventionist foreign policy recommended by our Founding Fathers might not be better.  Is it revolutionary to ask whether the accumulation of more and more power in Washington has been good for us.  It is revolutionary to ask fundamental questions about privacy, police-state measures, taxation, social policy, and countless other matters.”

I know what you’re gonna say, but this is just too neat!

Not.