Tag: Texas

Congressman loans out his home

I’m not a big fan of a number of Chet Edward’s politics, but I’m a huge fan of this:

The Texas Home of Waco Rep. (and former Belton Rep) Chet Edwards sat unused much of the time.

It doesn’t now. He has turned it over to a family that fled Hurricane Katrina.

“I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing we had a vacant home in Waco, where there were children of evacuees,”; said Mr. Edwards, an eight-term Democrat whose wife, Lea Ann, suggested loaning out their three-bedroom house since they and their two kids spend the school year in Washington.

(reported in the Dallas Morning News)

Federal Anti-Municipal Wi-Fi Bill Introduced

Mobile Pipeline reports:

A Texas Congressman has introduced a bill that impose a nationwide prohibition on municipally-sponsored networks.

Dubbed by the author, Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas), the Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005, the bill prohibits state and local governments from providing any telecommunications or information service that is ‘substantially similar’ to services provided by private companies.

I can’t believe someone would be concerned about people being able to access the internet…

Until you discover that Pete Sessions is also a “pimp” for Southwestern Bell.

According to Sessions’ on-line biography, he is a former employee of Southwestern Bell and Bell Labs.

Why does corporate America get to chose what legislation comes down the pipeline?

I don’t know where the rest of Congress stands – but it will make for an interesting article in this weeks Belton Journal I’m sure.

We just started a number of free hotspots around town, with leadership from the Chamber of Commerce and help from the school district and UMHB.

The school district has even talked about offering Wi-Fi internet access across the district to every student, so they can get internet access in their homes, whether they can afford it or not.

What’s stopping SBC and other companies from doing the same thing. If they want people to use their service – make a better deal of it.

Personally, I have to pay $30 + a phone line I never use to use SBC DSL. It wasn’t worth it – I shut it down.

Now I use my network at work, or use local hotspots for internet access. And I have no intention of going back to SBC.

Thanks to GarrettDimon.com for the info.