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By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
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Last week’s Observing the Web was a little bit…well, out there. I’m not sure every guy on the planet would want their dreams published for all to see — especially when they are…well, bizarre. This week we’ll hop to the other end of the spectrum with some pretty cool stuff from our very own federal government.
There are no blood, guts, gore or untrustworthy kittens on C-SPAN. But you have to hand it to the people that run that network. They put our elected officials on the air and on the record. Just flip on the TV and you can have the best seat in the house — literally in the House -- as in the House of Representatives) or in the Senate.
 And now C-SPAN has put its entire video archive on the Web in a searchable format. Every Congressional session, many hearings, Presidential speeches and more power suits and ties than you can imagine. That’s 23 years worth of history along with a healthy dose of prattle, babble and some stuff that doesn’t always make sense. But that prattle and babble is exactly what makes us the envy of the world — because, unlike a tin-pot dictatorship somewhere, we have rules and, for the most part, we abide by them. In other words, our elected officials only get a few minutes at the microphone so they have to make the best of it.
C-SPAN is not owned by the government but they do have a few rules they have to live with. The network can only point the cameras in ways dictated by Congress. That means, it would be tough for the average person to tell that there may be a few Members of Congress (who shall remain nameless) that seem to enjoy heading over to the House to give fiery speeches into the camera and a completely empty chamber at 2 a.m. Who would know? Makes for good TV, though. Or good YouTube, anyway.
All kidding aside, C-SPAN is truly one of the great things about our nation and now with the archives online, you can find out if your elected officials are saying one thing today when they said something completely different 10 years ago. Is that necessarily fair? Nah, we’re all human, after all, despite what the opinion polls on Congress may indicate. But that is certainly part of the game.
Now there is no reason to believe the email that was forwarded to you suggesting Congressman Such-And-Such or Senator So-And-So once advocated for a federal task force to investigate vampire penguins or zombie guinea pigs. You can find out the truth for yourself.
In all seriousness, this is a shining example of one of the many things that make our nation great. C-SPAN is an independent network dedicated to making the government available (and responsible) to everyone. Every statement, every sling of the mud, every bit of history — more than 160,000 hours worth -- is now available free online. Certainly that is something to celebrate. In addition to the online archives, don’t forget to check out C-SPAN on all three channels — one is dedicated to the House of Representatives, one to the Senate and one to hearings and other meetings.
Visit the archives at www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary.
Also federal government related, the Social Security Administration has a Website that shows the most popular baby names through the years. I was supposed to be named Timothy but on the day I was born, there were already two little, screaming blobs of flesh in the baby ward of the Walla Walla, Washington hospital in which I made my debut. Apparently there was some concern on my parent’s part that they could accidentally go home with the wrong one. Let’s see… what could we do to prevent that? I know! Let’s name him Mitch! I know a lot of Tims but growing up I had heard of only one other Mitch — and that was Mitch Miller. If that name sounds familiar to you then you probably already know all about the Social Security Administration.
It turns out there was reason for their concern. In 1962, Timothy was the 16th most popular name. And today, Mitch doesn’t even rank in the top 1,000 names. But then Timothy hasn’t fared so well, either. It seems 1962 was the zenith for good ol’ Tim and it has generally been declining ever since. In 2008, it was the 108th most popular name.
This is a seriously cool and fun Website and, as a bonus for those who actually remember Mitch Miller, it includes links to SSA benefits. Find out where your name stands at www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames.
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