What Daniel Ellsberg, a former United States military analyst, told first-time government employee Henry Kissinger about the power and limitations of the security clearances he was about to receive:

First, you'll be exhilarated by some of this new information, and by having it all — so much! incredible! — suddenly available to you. But second, almost as fast, you will feel like a fool for having studied, written, talked about these subjects, criticized and analyzed decisions made by presidents for years without having known of the existence of all this information, which presidents and others had and you didn't, and which must have influenced their decisions in ways you couldn't even guess. In particular, you'll feel foolish for having literally rubbed shoulders for over a decade with some officials and consultants who did have access to all this information you didn't know about and didn't know they had, and you'll be stunned that they kept that secret from you so well.

After forwarding this interesting piece of history to a good friend he replied with the following:

This is a good quote, especially when you think about someone being in leadership — someone who is your boss. You think, "I could do their job!" or "Why don't they do their job this way?" The fact is, it's easy to criticize whoever is sitting in the captain's chair when you're not the one sitting in the captain's chair. But then you get in that chair and it's a different kind of sleep.

Is $1 million enough money to get Lindsay to leave Hollywood to be the
voice of a Long Island, New York, radio station? Managers at WPTY say
they hope Lindsay will accept the offer, which would have Lindsay and
her mom, Dina, working three hours on-air every morning for a year.
(X17online.com)

What the J-Walk blog found on Floyd:

Floyd Phillips Gibbons (1887-September 1939) was the war correspondent for the Chicago Tribune during World War I. One of radio's first news reporter and commentators he was famous for a fast talking delivery style. Floyd Gibbons lived a life of danger of which he often wrote and spoke. As a World War I correspondent at the Battle of Belleau Wood, France, Gibbons lost an eye after being hit by German gunfire while attempting to rescue an American soldier.

From SFGate (http://j.mp/aC6Jmr):

You've heard, by now, about Arbitron's new device for measuring radio listening: the portable people meter (PPM). It picks up electronically encoded signals from radio stations (even if they're heard over a computer). Any station picked up by the PPM gets credit, even if the person wearing the meter did not choose to hear it. The PPM replaced the old diary system, in which survey participants wrote down what they listened to (or think they did) over a week.

It was imperfect, at best, and so is the PPM. Arbitron's had trouble getting younger people to participate. Many of them already have too many electronic gadgets on them, or don't want to deal with other requirements, involving an array of components, including a base station where participants place their meter at night, a hub that transmits codes to Arbitron and a portable recharger.
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It's a wonder that anyone would want to be a participant, especially for the measly money the company traditionally has doled out.

But I found one. "Angella Sprauve," as she's asked to be identified to protect her privacy, is a product development manager in the cosmetics industry in San Francisco. She was between jobs a year ago when she was approached by Arbitron.

"I don't know how they found me," she said, "but they called and asked some general questions: age, ethnic background, income. They said they'd had difficulty finding people in this area in my age range." Sprauve is 32.

She had never heard of Arbitron but, after checking out the company, agreed to be a "panelist." "They offer incentives," she said, "by paying you based on points you earn for wearing the meter. There's a base of $45 a month, and bonuses, like $100 twice a year. And you're entered in contests for gift cards from Amazon or Visa. It's not a lot; it's just a little extra." (However, when Arbitron gets a family or household to be panelists, the money – and gift cards – can add up.)

Soon, Sprauve was earning her keep. "I was a good panelist," she said. "I wore the meter all the time and followed the instructions. I didn't find it that intrusive. But I wouldn't take it to some occasions, like out to dinner, and they want you to wear it all day, from the time you wake up until you go to bed, and to wear it on your person. You can't just leave it in your purse. And they pick up on it. They'll call you the next day or night and say, 'Hey, you weren't wearing it for 15 minutes yesterday.' "

And if a panelist wasn't home one night? That's what the portable recharger is for. Out-of-town trips required a heads-up to Arbitron headquarters.

"They are very thorough," said Sprauve.

The company, she said, didn't address the issue of accuracy, of panelists picking up signals of stations they had not chosen to hear. "When I was out – at a mall or the eye doctor or wherever – I was conscious that it was picking up other stations," said Sprauve, whose favorite stations include KMVQ ("Movin" at 99.7) for the morning show, KYLD ("Wild" 94.9) and KPOO (89.5 FM). "The only time it picked up what I'd chosen was at home or in the car."

After joining her current company, Sprauve felt less at ease wearing the meter. "Someone asked if I was wearing a pager," she said. "Pagers are like '80s things. And it was bulky." (Arbitron has remodeled the meter into a smaller, sleeker item that doubles as a clock.)

But, she noted, the PPM impressed some of her friends. "They thought it was fun; everyone I knew wanted to get on the panel." Of course, she added, she did tell them about the cash and gift cards.

The Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office will not criminally charge CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40/Mainstream WFLZ/TAMPA staffers who participated in a morning show stunt that set the station van on fire last DECEMBER. In return, TODD "MJ" SCHNITT, DOMINIC "FESTER" SICILIANO and THOMAS CHARLES RAY will do community service, contribute to a charity and appear in a public service campaign. According to a local FOX-TV website, the van caught fire when one of the DJs was trying to fry a turkey inside the van during a live broadcast on DEC 18th, 2009. The van caught fire in the station parking lot and a firefighter who came to the scene was hospitalized with back injuries. What's worse, WFLZ did not have any permits or emergency crews standing by during the stunt. TAMPA FIRE RESCUE had to be called to scene to put the blaze out, and a firefighter ended up hospitalized with back injuries. According to the agreement, three employees of WFLZ involved in the incident will not face criminal charges. For this transgression, the three agreed to:

* 10 hours of community service to support fire/burn victims
* A combined contribution of $15,000 to charities that help fire/burn victims
* A four-week public service campaign to raise awareness for charities that help fire/burn victims, that consists of five recorded announcements per day by the MJ Morning Show, a live broadcast from a location that supports fire/burn victims, and homepage placement of the public service campaign on the station's website

via AllAccess