Hey, Be Glad It Wasn't XM
Did you catch this one yesterday?

Dish to get free TV
A Texas town has changed its name to Dish in exchange for 10 years of free satellite television service.

All 125 residents of the town formerly known as Clark will get basic service and a free digital video recorder satellite TV receiver, a move that has some people joking that the Fort-Worth suburb will become a town of couch potatoes.

"I'm sure there are some people who are attached to the name (Clark) like the man who founded the town and named it after himself," [the mayor] said. "At the meeting last night we had no naysayers."

The best part of the contract, [Mayor] Merritt said, is the free television will be extended to anyone who moves to Dish and any land that is later annexed by the town. The new town signs, designed and paid for by DishNetwork, were a bonus.

Just think of the potential for some cash-strapped small towns. Sell the town and rename it. Then attract people who want the freebie. Let's see, where would I want to live?

Intel, Oregon or Microsoft, Washington?
BP Amoco, Texas or Ford, Michigan?
Pepsi-Cola, New York or Panasonic, Minnesota?

How about Intercourse, PA (oops. That's already taken.)

Parent to Child to Parent
From the Associated Press today:

Calif. Approves SBC's Purchase of AT&T
By BRUCE MEYERSON AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- California officials approved SBC Communications Inc.'s purchase of AT&T Corp. on Friday, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for the $16 billion deal and opening the way for the historic telephone merger to close immediately.
...
San Antonio-based SBC, one of the regional "Baby Bells" created by the 1984 breakup of AT&T's national monopoly on local and long-distance phone service, announced last month that it would rename itself AT&T upon completion of the deal.

The company was one of the "Baby Bells" in 1984 when the powers-that-be thought it best to break up the monopoly A. T. & T. Now 21 years later the Baby has really grown up and has reached adulthood. A. T. & T. will soon be gone. Long live A. T. & T.