Cracking Down on Covert Media Taping.
California's highest court rules ABC was wrong to secretly record a telepsychics's conversation. "I wonder that a soothsayer doesn't laugh whenever he sees another soothsayer." --Cicero Mark Sanders' powers of prognostication must have been a little defective the day he had a couple...

Tidbits & Outrages.
That's not the kind of job I was calling about An 800 number listed in the Code of Federal Regulations as a hotline for draft status checks is in fact a phone sex line. War is Peace, Black is White ... The ad...

Between tears & laughter.
Officials stage DUI deception at school Seniors at Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, California, were called to a special assembly recently where they were informed that a classmate had died in a drunk-driving accident. It was a sobering message, delivered by school administrators with the...

Back on the Box.
It's easy to forget the consternation that MTV once caused among the faithful. Not just the end of music "as we knew it," MTV was proof that the suits had finally found a way to convert the disloyal yearnings of youth into market obedience. Even if music video did...

Dial-a-spacecraft during comet mission.
On Sept. 11, while a spacecraft called the International Cometary Explorer (ICe) is paying the first-ever visit to a comet by a man-made object (see p. 138), the public will be able to listen in by phone to the actual sounds of the probe as they are transmitted to...

The League of Black Women's Role in President Obama's Administration: Homecoming.
CHICAGO, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Leave it to Whoopie Goldberg to put the 2008 election into terms that resonate with Black women. The day after Barack Obama's presidential campaign victory, "The View" co-host said she felt like she could finally "put down her suitcase." The long years of feeling...

Pay-for-call reimbursement: what's your experience?
Pay-for-call questionnaire Please e-mail your responses to Steven F. Isenberg, MD, at sisenberg@ good4docs.com (1.) Are you currently being compensated for providing after-hours services in addition to whatever professional fees that you might charge? Yes or No? (2.) Do you agree that after-hours...

Still digging at Justice.
Byline: The Register-Guard The best thing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales ever did to uphold the rule of law was resign, but his exit was not sufficient to restore the Justice Department's shattered reputation. His successor, Attorney General Michael Mukasey, took a major step toward restoring...

XLN's Netdialer Helps Customers Slash International Mobile Call Charges.
LONDON, November 11 /PRNewswire/ -- XLN Telecom (http://www.xlntelecom.co.uk/) - the UK's leading telecoms company serving the small business community - is helping customers slash their international mobile call charges by 90% with its latest service, Netdialer (http://www.netdialer.co.uk/). Netdialer is easy-to-use and convenient. Simply download the Netdialer application...

ACPE poll: physician leaders distressed by specialist shortage; On call pay controversial.
Some physician executives are outraged at even the mere suggestion of paying specialists to take emergency room call. "I must be old school because I believe taking ER call is part of a physician's obligation to his/her community ... I am embarrassed to see physicians feel they...