On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 17:27:30 -0500, ai8o wrote:

The FCC commissioners are all WASH DC political hacks. LOTS of
"connections", but NO TECHNICAL experience.

Technical experience by itself isn't necessary if the Commissioner(s)
has/have an Engineering Assistant whose job is to absorb the technical
stuff and lay it out in a manner that the Commissioner can understand
and act on.

The good Commissioners have all had such folks on their staff. None
of the current ones do, although I could be wrong in regard to
Commissioners Copps and Adelstein, the only two with brains.

Several decades ago a former colleague of mine started a movement to
get the Communications Act changed to mandate that at least one
Commissioner have a degree in engineering or physics or be a
Registered Professional Engineer. Although most of the engineers
supported that, it went absolutely nowhere.

The last "engineer" Commissioner was George Sterling in the late
1940s. During WW-II he had headed up the Radio Intelligence Division
which chased German and Japanese spies using radio. He was also the
last Commissioner who was a licensed ham during his time at the agency.

Common sense and a good grasp of what communication regulation
should be is what is really needed. Rubber stamps can be obtained
at any office supply store.

Two more electron's worth....

--
73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane