My Old Station In The News, Drawer Geeks, Dan Grobstein File

It was WTBS when I was there and is WMBR now, but the MIT FM radio station, now and then, was located at 88.1, the lowest spot on the FM dial--one which suffers great interference from the audio channel of any nearby television station 6. Also, badly built radios (back in the days of analog) could not tune 88.1; we called it "WTBS disease." Now there's a new variation, as low-powered "get the signal into your FM radio" devices interfere with reception. Thank you Daniel Dern for pointing this out. Dern also found this:

"Drawer Geeks is a fun thing we do every Friday, where professional artists (mostly from the animation, comic book, illustration, and design fields) all draw their own version of a chosen fictional character."

Dan Grobstein File

• Bush: Stingy with pardons (of course)

• According to Network World's Paul McNamara, the communications director for U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), Todd Shriber, hired two 'hackers' to break into the computer of his alma mater, Texas Christian University, and change his college grades.

• HEALTH | December 19, 2006
  Personal Health: To Avoid ‘Boomeritis,’ Exercise, Exercise, Exercise
  By JANE E. BRODY
  There is much more to becoming — and staying — physically fit as you age than engaging in regular aerobic activity.

• WASHINGTON | December 19, 2006
  Overhaul Moves White House Data Center Into Modern Era
  By JIM RUTENBERG and DAVID E. SANGER
  On Dec. 27 the new presidential decision center under the West Wing known as the Situation Room is to open formally.

• "Let us also hope that Prince Turki al-Faysal, the architect of Saudi Arabia?s jihad strategy of the 1980s and 1990s, did not abruptly leave his post as Ambassador to Washington to take charge of the new jihad campaign."

• James Howard Kunstler points out what really happened to small towns like the one in It's a Wonderful Life. Think Walmart.

• NEW YORK REGION | December 18, 2006
  Please Let It Be Whale Vomit, Not Just Sea Junk
  By COREY KILGANNON
  In a season of strange presents from relatives, Dorothy Ferreira received a huge hunk of petrified whale vomit worth as much as $18,000.
• How about public shaming?

• Cat videos -- unlike NBC News -- don't impart conservative misinformation
• GOP Congressman scuttle severance for their own staff. [Ed. note: Republicans are always a class act when it comes to labor]