ISP Information:
A form of digital subscriber line that has the same transmission speed upstream and downstream. It is most often used for business use, and is more expensive than the consumer version, ADSL.
ISP Glossary:
Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line - For most of our nation's lifetime -- especially in the 1860 to 1968time frame, presidential political conventions were held in Chicago.The reason was (take your pick) -1- the city of Chicago and state ofIllinois politics were so corrupted, the national guys felt right athome and welcomed by their brothers of the cloth or -2- Chicago wasthe place where all the railroad trains terminated, and it was anideal place for the national conventions before aircraft travel becamecommon.The correct answer of course is -2-, Chicago was the center ofour nation and very convenient for folks to get to. Usually theRepublican and Democratic conventions would be a couple weeksapart. The earliest conventions were downtown at the Central MusicHall, which stood where Marshall Field's store is located at State andRandolph Streets. Beginning in the early years of the 20th century theconventions migrated south to 15th Street at the Chicago Colliseum,then in the 1930-40's to the old Chicago Stadium, on the west side,which became famous for the number of presidential candidates who werenominated, made speeches and were frequently elected.That one block of West Madison Street -- now a dreadful slum area --is famous for that one fact: A dozen or so presidential candidateswere nominated there, made speeches, etc. The original 'smoke filledroom' where a certain candidate was handed the nomination once was theold (now gone) LaSalle Hotel, LaSalle and Madison Streets. After theDemocrats had their riot in 1968, replete with televised coverage ofthe ugly events along Michigan Avenue downtown that Wednesday night,and the police presence downtown all day the next day Thursday gassingeveryone walking around and using their batons indiscriminatly oneveryone who tried to hide from the gas, all the politicians gotscared and decided to not return to Chicago for about thirty years.I've got a hunch -- just a hunch -- that the Republican conventionthis time around will be as much of a 'riot' as the Democraticone in 1968 was. War protestors and people dissatisfied in generalwith Mr. Bush will hold their own 'convention' around MadisonSquare Garden just as happened in Chicago downtown that hotWednesday night in August in 1968. And more than likely, policewill write them all off as 'terrorists' just as Chicago policeconsidered everyone an 'anti-war protestor' in 1968 as theycracked heads open assembly line style as they gassed them anddragged them off to Cook County Jail. Many thousands of gentlepeople whose crime was they disagreed with those in power. LikeChicago that year, where the convention was held <-- one placeand the protestors were beaten up several miles away --> so asto keep the conventioneer's virgin eyes clean of the scene, inNew York, the 'designated and authorized spot' for protestorswill be miles away, so that Bush and the other delegates don'thave to observe them or grasp the fact that there are manyAmericans who do not agree with them. They'll be known as the'terrorists' this time around.But in 1904, a hundred years ago, things were different when TheodoreRoosevelt was nominated at Chicago Colliseum. On the stage sat theband, the song leader, the master of ceremonies and of course,Mr. Roosevelt. There were precisely *two* pieces of music which everyone stood to sing as the participants walked onto the stage: (1)"Onward Christian Soldiers" as everyone entered, and (2) "Battle Hymnof the Republic" as everyone recessed. (Sorry about that; that is howpolitical conventions used to be in those days.) The band sat on thestage and played vigorously for each song, and of course much flagwaving by the room full of delegates. The first row of seats and thearea in front of the stage were reserved for the most important peoplethere: the stenographers, the telegraph operators and the telephoneoperator. The delegates got to sit behind the ladies and gentlemenwho communicated the whole thing to the rest of the world. In thoselong ago days before tape recording equipment, etc it was up tostenographers to copy
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