It’s pretty late at night, and I need to crash. But, I’d really like to give props to the social media community. Many users and companies have been very helpful in distributing our content around the web, and allowing us to engage in conversation.

The entire Talk Radio News staff is working hard to continue coverage from the Democratic and Republican conventions. We provide audio content to talk radio stations all over the country. Talk Radio News is, however, also utilizing social media to quickly publish media from the conventions, and provide perspective from behind the scenes.

Much thanks to the staff at Qik who provided me with a few essential tools for the Nokia N95 cell phone. Qik allows users to stream content live from their phones direct to the web - Jackie, Bhaskar, and the entire Qik staff have been very supportive.

The entire staff at Seesmic have helped us talk to YOU about what types of coverage really matter. Thanks, Seesmic - you’re wonderful!

Twitter / Seesmic user @Tiil has made a VERY cool site that aggregates all the Talk Radio News Service content - Check it out!

Another Twitter / Seesmic @silverton created a Tumblr that also pulls together our pictures, video, and audio posts - thanks, Michael!

Seesmic conversation about Talk Radio News:

Re:aboutRSS mashupfor Convention Coverage PUBLIC Account

Live stream from Qik of Hillary Clinton’s speech:

We have another big day tomorrow, and I’m off to bed. But, once again, thanks everyone!

- Dan Patterson
TRNS Chief UN Correspondent

Tonight Texas put José Medellin to death. Medellin, a Mexican national, was arrested in 1993 and charged with the rape and murder of two 14- and 16-year-old girls. Normally a foreign national would at this point be given an opportunity to speak with his home country’s consulate, pursuant to the Vienna Convention, but Medellin was never informed of this right. Instead, he was convicted and sentenced to death. Only then did he learn of his Vienna Convention rights. He took his case to the International Court of Justice, who ruled that Texas should reconsider his case and that of 50 other Mexican nationals on death row. Texas refused, even though the Bush administration ordered it to reconsider.

That’s right: even the death-penalty-friendly, international-law-ignoring Bush administration disagreed with Texas on this one.

Medellin took his case to the Supreme Court, asking it to enforce the ICJ’s decision. On March 25 of this year, the Supreme Court refused, saying that Congress hadn’t passed legislation making ICJ rulings binding on states. In July of this year, Congressman Berman (D-Calif.) introduced a bill that would have allowed people to go to court to have their Vienna Convention rights enforced. It never even got a committee hearing.

Last week and today, Medellin’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to issue an emergency stay of execution. Normally the Supreme Court summarily rejects these requests, but tonight it issued an unsigned opinion saying Congress and the Department of Justice had had a chance to act and didn’t, so the execution could continue. Four Justices (Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer) wrote dissents. Justice Stevens’s dissent is particularly notable, since he had agreed with the majority of the Court when they heard the case. In his dissent tonight, Stevens wrote that there are serious foreign policy implications of this action, so he’d like to delay the execution and hear the federal government’s opinion on that. Justices Souter and Ginsburg said largely the same thing, and Justice Breyer wrote a longer dissent, giving 6 other reasons the execution should be delayed.

According to the Houston Chronicle, “Medellin was pronounced dead at 9:57 p.m. [Central time], nine minutes after the lethal dose was administered.”

I’ve never seen members of Congress quite so energized. On Friday August 1, 2008 at 11:23am, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) adjourned and Congress went into recess. However, certain Republicans were not happy with Pelosi’s decision, and stayed on the House floor Friday to continue talking. They met again Monday, August 4th, to continue talking in the dark.

Although not technically dark (the base lights in the ceiling were on, creating a dim glow), the floor itself, with no microphones, cameras, or recording equipment that was broadcasting, was technologically dark, save for Blackberries.

Certain members of Congress, such as John Culberson (http://twitter.com/JohnCulberson), have been utilizing Twitter while on the House floor. Via the live-blogging platform, he has been “tweeting” messages of his own thoughts while tourists stream in and out of the floor itself.

I sat in the press balcony, watching. Nearly every seat was occupied-not by members of Congress- and the audience clapped and whistled. When Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) stood and demanded that Pelosi come back and let them vote, the audience gave him a standing ovation.

Recording devices, not normally allowed in the chamber, were present in nearly every reporter’s hand. The reporters pretended they weren’t holding them, and the Capitol Police pretended not to see. At one point, I saw a member of Congress on the floor wave up at those of us in the balcony, and when I turned to see to whom he was waving at, I discovered Congressmen in the press balcony, standing behind me. “Hey, what’s up,” one of them said. I was speechless.

Congressman Mike Pence, (R-IN) summed it up nicely: Americans are not getting a vacation from high gas prices, and so Congress shouldn’t be on vacation either. The audience cheered.

A decidedly empty chamber awaited each Senator as they came in at their appointed time and stood near their desk, waiting for the podium to be brought to them so they could have a chance to speak. I watched as a lone Senator addressed no one in particular and CSPAN observed. A stenographer stood six feet to the Senator’s left with a typewriter like apparatus strapped to a board. It hung from his neck much like an archaic technology-albatross from yesteryear.

From the press box, I looked down, surveying the floor from directly above the presiding member’s desk. All of the balcony areas were empty, save for the area to my right, which was stuffed with eager tourists. The floor of the Senate within the Capitol was eerily silent, as no electronic devices are allowed in and therefore not even the sound of a vibrating Blackberry was to be heard.

From the camera view, the average American will see only shots back and forth as the camera switches from the view of a member of Congress, to the presiding member, and back. They cannot see staffers wandering in and out of the double doors, the lack of people in the balcony, or the odd hollowness that sound creates in such a large, empty room.

Congress frequently puts out the call for a debate on an issue. But heated debate rarely seems to actually occur on the floor itself, since, as is apparent, they are almost never on the floor at the same time.

The Senator from New Mexico put a large, colorful posterboard up on a easel and gestured emphatically at it to no one in particular. The stenographer typed rapidly. The audience, which now included quite a few high school students, strained to see the tiny words printed on the board as the Senator waved his hands around and jabbed a finger into his notes.

All the passion that may or may not accompany a speech is no longer evident once it’s in a transcript. It is likely that a lot of information is going to be passed that way, via a paper or electronic copy of what was said.

It is much more effective, I would think, for someone to actually be seen in person as they give their speech, since the stenographer isn’t likely to point out elements of composure, such as saying that a Senator was ‘so excited that his hair was shaking and his face was beet red,’ or ‘as Senator so-and-so spoke, he was so into it that he spit on the guy in front of him.’

Since most members of Congress are only going to read what was said, the all important element of passion in a speech will be missed.

Pity.

My sister is a proud Republican. She loves lower taxes, big business (She has told me “what’s good for business is good for people.” repeatedly) and an individual-rights approach to the Second Amendment. She’s among the many that are thrilled by the Supreme Court’s ruling to lift the handgun ban in the District of Columbia, especially since she ’s living in DC for the summer. To celebrate she and a family friend went to the National Rifle Association’s shooting range this past week.

They toured the museum and paid for the range. My sister had to fill out paperwork and get a 30-minute evaluation on using a hand gun. She’s been shooting before and has had training. When she passed the written test they indicated a lane for shooting. She asked how much for gun rental. And that is when she got a shock.

There are no guns for rental at the National Rifle Association’s shooting lanes.

Many shooting ranges provide rental for a variety of handguns for those who are recreational shooters but don’t bring or own guns. The leading lobby for gun-owner’s rights takes their mission quite literally– it is helpful to be an actual gun owner if you are interested in shooting there. Hearing this story from my sister was pretty amusing, especially since they had administrated the whole vetting process with her plainly standing there in a tank top and jeans. How many 20-year-old interns do YOU know with a conceal and carry permit? And in that clothing where on earth was she supposed to be packing heat?

Beyond defending the right to keep and bear arms, the NRA kindly suggests you bear them if you want to shoot on their range. Bring your own or go home.

They partied all day and all night.

Although Canada never officially declared independence from Britain (the last vestiges of power were actually shed as recently as 1982!), July 1 is a holiday marking the joining of the British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided, in the process, into Ontario and Quebec) on July 1, 1867.

Canada Day in Ottawa, Ontario, was something to be admired.

Most noteworthy to me was the extent of celebrating. Parade watchers were wearing red, white, and usually a flag. I found that part to be the most interesting: you could buy a Canadian flag, one that you could, indeed, put on a flag pole- and wrap it around your shoulders, make it into a dress, or tie it in a turban around your head. In the United States, no one would ever do that do an actual flag, but here in Canada, if you weren’t decked out in some sort of flag, you were the one that stuck out.

I promptly put a Canadian sticker on my face. I think I’m allowed- my father is from British Columbia.

There were street performers, musical performances, and at one point cannons being blasted off in celebration of Canada Day. Late into the night, people were dancing in the street, screaming “Happy Canada Day!” and watching fireworks.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a Happy Canada Day!

I developed great sadness while making the video about the Christian Solidarity International/Talkers Magazine Trip to Southern Sudan video, and have written an extended post about it on my personal website.

Click here to visit my personal website and read my thoughts on this video.

By Michael Harrison,
Are we not talk radio?

The legally reckless FCC crackdown on broadcast indecency poses a deadly threat to the well-being of talk radio as well as the entire radio broadcasting industry. Worse, it is an affront to the American people that unabashedly infringes on First Amendment rights.
(more…)