Busy busy busy times lately. I’m not dead, though, just beaten and bruised beyond recognition.A short list of what I’m up to these days: shooting a movie designed for web distribution; transitioning to Journal co-editor-in-chief, with all of the usual problems and some unusual ones; assorted essays, assignments, and miscellany; halfheartedly going to galas and parties. Between all of the screw-ups and the bad luck and the bitter fights and the complete lack of food, sleep, and what have you, I’m this close to booking off for the rest of the decade and cloistering myself on some private island in the Pacific. If I had something approaching a fulfilling personal life before this month, it’s certainly all shot to hell now.It’s too much for me to make any sense of right now, and I’m not going to even bother with any of it now. I’d like to instead leave you with this message: the new Throwing Muses album is easily the best album I’ve bought so far this year. That is all.

I’m still not going to watch NASCAR, but I have a healthier respect for the sport now. Fascinating article on game theory andhow it applies to NASCAR, which also serves as a great primer on the sport itself and why it’s not just “left turn, drive straight, left turn, etc.”

According toa Florida appeals court, it is technically legal for news organizations todistort, concealand manufacture information used in news reports. The point on which the court’sargument hinges is that the FCC News Distortion Policy doesn’t qualify as a “law, rule or regulation”, and thus the plantiffs were not covered by the whistle-blowerlegislation upon which they based their case.The problem is not really the Florida court—for what kind of court really wants to rule that news outlets can lie with impunity?—but rather the FCC’s policy. This case seems to be an obvious example of how the FCC has failed as guardian of the public interest where the airwaves are concerned. Say what you will about the appelate court’s reasoning, but the fact remains that a guiding policy is not a regulation with associated penalties and criteria for fulfillment. If the FCC intended the News Distortion Policy to have the full weight of a law, then it’s been caught with its pants down, which is bad enough. If the case is otherwise, however, then someone should remind the FCC of its responsibilities to the public interest.If news organizations cannot be held accountable for their actions, then it implies that said organizations are no longer sources of information, but rather a different blend of entertainment programming. Some would say we’re there already, and that the court ruling is only an after-the-fact official acknowledgement of such.