(context)

I would like to ask you to reconsider rebranding the TransLink program. Not only would you be setting back the recognition of the TransLink service by a year, but you would be spending a valuable $975,000 that could be spent in other, far more constructive ways. At a time when Bay Area transit services are struggling, Bay Bridge traffic is worse than ever thanks to the S-curve, and morale among the population is low, please consider taking the $975,000 and using it to improve your own services… or donate it to a worthy charity!

Directing so many resources towards branding sends a dispiriting message and is a waste of money by any citizen’s lights. Please reconsider. Thank you for your attention.

Dear Sirs/Ma’ams,

I am Joss Whedon, the mastermind behind Titan A.E., Parenthood (not the movie) (or the new series) (or the one where ‘hood’ was capitalized ’cause it was a pun), and myriad other legendary tales. I have heard through the ‘grapevine’ that the Terminator franchise is for sale, and I am prepared to make a pre-emptive bid RIGHT NOW to wrap this dealio up. This is not a joke, this is not a scam, this is not available on TV. I will write a check TODAY for $10,000, and viola! Terminator off your hands.

(Read the rest here.)

“With Michael Ausiello breaking the somewhat expected news that FOX is benching DOLLHOUSE for November Sweeps and in the process, virtually guaranteeing your availability to direct that episode of GLEE, I couldn’t help but wonder….

“Is it not time to take a page from Felicia Day and her GUILD by cutting the network out of the equation?

“After all, If DOLLHOUSE’s consistently low ratings are any indication, you’ve got at the very least, two million loyal fans devouring everything you touch. Which means, should you ever decide to go THE GUILD route and distribute your own series online for a a mere 99¢ per download, one might expect you to net somewhere in the range of 1.5 to 2 million dollars per episode of [say, for argument sake] FIREFLY: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES. Which, if we’re to believe TV By The Numbers, is a healthy profit considering the average episode of DOLLHOUSE is said to have cost somewhere in the range of 650,000 to 1.3 million per.”

(Read the rest, and Joss’ response, at The TV Addict)

Dear Joss,

Where are you?

I have been looking for you in the Dollhouse lately. I saw you in “Vows” and was confident I’d know where to find you all season. But these past two episodes (“Instinct”, “Belle Chose”), you’ve vanished.

I don’t just mean writing and directing credits. I’m talking about your animating spirit, the confident hand of your creative direction. We fans can feel it on the rudder, and we can tell when it’s been removed. I’m not naive enough to believe that you can handcraft every morsel of a 13-episode series made in enemy territory — and how else can we fans view Fox after season 1’s narrow escape, remembering Firefly as we Browncoats do — but I know you and your team can be awesome, and it’s a mystery to me why you’re not.

And it’s not just about hackneyed plot devices. The last two episodes have been driven mainly by mistakes made by the Dollhouse, which evokes the specter of the malfunctioning holodeck on Star Trek: The Next Generation; yet when your breath is on Dollhouse’s clay, even the cheapest horror-movie tropes (“Epitaph One” had ‘em all) come to vigorous and entertaining life. The same was true of Firefly: “Our Mrs. Reynolds” is riddled with plot holes, but fans don’t (and shouldn’t) care, because it was an excellent episode that drove the characters and series forward. Nihil novum sub sole. It’s not what you and your trusted writers do, it’s how you do it.

For us fans, it’s hard to see you lead with such weak material when Fox is threatening to cancel Dollhouse if the ratings don’t go up (a situation you must by now be able to anticipate). We’ve had two self-contained imprint-of-the-week episodes that keep all the important plates spinning. Why are Ballard and Boyd so docile now? Why aren’t DeWitt and Topher acting on Echo’s composite state, of which they must be aware? Where are Whiskey, November and Sierra, the other amazing women that drive this series?

All these characters seem to be estivating, patiently waiting for the fall — which should have heralded your permanent return — so that they can continue to develop. But it seems as if that’s a few episodes out.

Maybe this is just a bad patch. It’s bad timing for one, but they happen. I hope that the next episodes blow us away, making this letter irrelevant and drowning out the annoying cries of “vanity project”, a phrase I hope never to hear again (and yet it echoes in my ears when I see the Eliza-only intro).

However, I wrote this letter not to hope out loud, but to ask: is everything okay?

I’ll wait for a sign.

Thanks for all you do,

–Dan Shick

DeSantis has a few major points. They include: 1) I had nothing to do with my boss Joe Cassano’s toxic credit default swaps portfolio, and only a handful of people in our unit did; 2) I didn’t even know anything about them; 3) I could have left AIG for a better job several times last year; 4) but I didn’t, staying out of a sense of duty to my poor, beleaguered firm, only to find out in the end that; 5) I would be betrayed by AIG senior management, who promised we would be rewarded for staying, but then went back on their word when they folded in highly cowardly fashion in the face of an angry and stupid populist mob.

I have a few responses to those points. They are 1) Bullshit; 2) bullshit; 3) bullshit, plus of course; 4) bullshit. Lastly, there is 5) Boo-Fucking-Hoo. You dog.

Read the rest here.

DEAR Mr. Liddy,

It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. I hope you take the time to read this entire letter. Before describing the details of my decision, I want to offer some context:

I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.

After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.

(Read the rest here)

Hulu’s website is truly a step into the future of television shows. It works as both a backup (if I miss a show on TV) and a catch up (ensuring I’ll later tune in weekly to watch).

But what I truly don’t understand is why the networks are reluctant to supply full seasons with regular network-timed commercials. When I run across [a] show on hulu that intrigues me[,] I immediately want to watch the whole story unfold. Not pick up mid season with little or no background on the series.

A very few number of shows on hulu actually have full seasonal episodes. But most of the shows that I’ve come to love are posted on hulu in bits and pieces. Ultimately leaving me with very few options.. Wait for the DVD (who buys those anyways?), wait for repeats, or just go download the episodes via any number of ways on the internet.

Read the entire post here.

Mr. President, you need to forget a bipartisan approach and get on with the business of governing by winning each battle. You will never be able to work with the Republicans because they hate you. Believe me, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are the norm, not the exception. James Dobson and the rest are praying for you to fail. The neoconservatives are gnashing their teeth and waiting for you to “sell out Israel” or “show weakness” in Afghanistan, whatever, so they can declare you a traitor.

(read the entire letter)

Dear Senator Feinstein,

It has come to my attention that you are attempting to insert language into the stimulus bill that would endanger net neutrality, the principle that keeps the Internet democratic and prevents corporations from controlling the flow of traffic on the Internet.

Specifically, you seem to be trying to modify the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program so that it “allows for reasonable network management practices such as deterring unlawful activity, including child pornography and copyright infringement.”

I strongly urge you to reconsider this course of action. This country has seen enough grabbing for power under cover of fear-mongering. Evoking the specter of the danger of child pornography is enough to convince many a lawmaker that restrictions on the free flow of information over the Internet are useful and good, but that could not be further from the truth. We have sufficient legislative mechanisms in place to handle the threat of child pornography, not to mention copyright infringement.

I have worked in the Internet industry since 1995. I have a profound understanding of the ill effects the loss of net neutrality would bring. I have written you on this issue before, and I will say it again: your positions on net neutrality are losing you my vote and the votes of all my peers who understand the issue.

You represent California, one of the world’s centers of high tech. We need you to be as well informed as your constituency in order to defend us against corporate interests in government and in telecommunications. Please refrain from endangering net neutrality.

Signed,

Dan Shick

(This letter is being posted on the Internet as an open letter here)

—-

Write her yourself.