Don't Call Us; We'll Call You: Let me get this straight. The people in the telemarketing business are whining about a regulation that is going to make its business cleaner and more efficient.

Watch It On That Table Setting, Punk: The National Society of Newspaper Columnists picked Martha Stewart as "the year's most-ridiculed newsmaker" during its conference in Tucson, Ariz. NSNC President Mike Leonard said Stewart was a runaway winner, with The New York Times and France tied for second.

Swwwwwakkk: I thought New York magazine columnist Mark Wolff's recent comments about the Iraqi war coverage were out of hand. Basically he insinuated that the major broadcast and cable networks were kissing up to the government so they could curry favor with the FCC as they made their media ownership decisions.

Mixed Message: Like a lot of people, I was surprised and impressed by the candor of remarks made by C.J.

No Requests: In case you didn't see it, Musicland announced yesterday that it will lay off 59 employees and cut Request magazine entirely. This follows the untimely death of Tower Records' Pulse magazine late last year, and it's a disturbing trend to me.

Good Cause: Seems like a lot of what you hear about corporations these days is negative. They lay people off rather than invest in people.

OPRs For June 20. They Forgot Bassmasters: From SF Gate Morning Fix: Wal-Mart just recently decided to cover up the covers of other, less garish but apparently equally "naughty" women's mags like Elle and Cosmo (which, BTW, is owned by Hearst, as is SFGate) and Mademoiselle due to racy or suggestive images -- but will not, presumably, cover up the truly dangerous and psychologically debilitating mags like Better Homes & Gardens, Mary-Kate and Ashley and Cake Decorating & Dog Mange Monthly. Go figure.

Heeeeere's Al: I don't really think that one year from now we'll be discussing the launch of Al Gore's cable TV venture. I think the price of entry is way too high and the hassle far too thick for someone who's not already a media owner.

ShopShopShop: Apparently the WPP Group sees a lot of sense in continuing to hold fast to its business model and move forward in acquiring more shops. Published reports say it is very close to acquiring Cordiant Group.

Wall Street And Main Street: Here's what I don't get. I see the following quote in a Reuters story about the rich advertising upfront we all just witnessed: "You look at the Wall Street economy and you look at advertising spending and it's not adding up," said David Doft, media analyst at CIBC.