Seeds of discontent 

Just idle speculation. I could be completely full of shit, but I wonder if a few signs of discontent I've noticed around the net might have something to do with Jason Calacanis, his move to pay bookmarkers, and especially the rhetoric he used in justifying it. I'm thinking especially of a post having a classic labor union phrase, "When he does sell Digg... he will have done it on the backs of those top 50 members." On the backs. Pot-stirring words.

1. I've noticed in myself an indignant sort of "Damn straight" reaction, though I know have benefited from the time I put in on online hobbies.

2. Norm Augustinus abruptly stopped contributing audio pieces to Yeast Radio. Then a mashup contributor quit in a "me too" move.

3. Adam Curry suggested in response to Steve Gillmor's post about being dropped from the Sirius lineup that Steve stop futzing with the mixing and use the production budget to pay the Gillmor Gang guests. (No rumblings of volunteer discontent in this example, granted, but a recognition on Curry's part that a coin might be tossed to the talent.)

What do you think? Have you seen stirrings of discontent, or felt any in yourself? Could there be a connection or am I making it up? Was there a resentment already there, just under the surface, and Jason woke it up?

Lowest common denominator news 

I agree with Dave about how covering "news" like the kid murder cheapens the cable news channels. I do like Wolf Blitzer and Christiane Amanpour, though.

Just heard something on MSNBC that shows where the anchors' heads are. Alex Witt said "eyeliner" instead of "airliner."

I haven't been watching news much the last few days. I was surprised to hear Dave say that Chris Matthews covered it too. Wouldn't you think their regulars from the news magazines, like Howard Fineman, would ridicule them into understanding how low-rent it is to focus on this kind of coverage?

I kind of understand the mentality. I'll confess to having been an O.J. trial junkie. I was trying to break free from an obsessive relationship at the time myself and it struck a chord. Also, I'd set up a press conference for O.J. once and it all seemed to have something to do with me.

The O.J. trial is what kind of started this whole thing, but for some reason, none of the other stories like this have bitten me, not the slightest bit. Scott Peterson. Nope. Terry Schiavo. Nope. Arkansas high school cheerleader in Aruba. Nope. Susan what's her face, the mom who sent her car into a lake with her kids in it -- God no, I can't stand to think for a second about parents hurting their kids, let alone dwell on it.