tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post3747873829795965078..comments2024-03-27T18:00:02.032-04:00Comments on Sardonicky: SOPA & PIPA Do the CapitolKaren Garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-91445626698939909722012-01-16T08:44:05.131-05:002012-01-16T08:44:05.131-05:00Well I see Rupert the fossilized dinosaur turd exp...Well I see Rupert the fossilized dinosaur turd expressed his fuming fulmination with President Obama's rejection of the current bill- perhaps hope still remains...<br />This account exemplifies what Washington has become, that's for sure. Karen's being being a little rough on the hookers though... I really don't think they deserve the comparison.<br />Corporations literally EXPECT our government ( that they don't want to pay for, but "we the <a href="http://sgtreport.com/2012/01/fox-news-christmas-card-tells-the-story-they-think-their-viewers-are-sheep/" rel="nofollow">sheeple</a>" are forced to fund ) to go out and enforce their wishes and collect the profits that they contend they're due. Furthermore, anyone who should be bold enough to assert that individual rights equal corporate rights (let alone trump) shall be punished by the enforcement arm of this government. Which shall also be paid for by said individuals (sheeple). That's what really bothers me about corporate types, they exploit individual achievement every chance they get, while constraining individual choices at every turn. These concepts are rooted in conservative collectivism- while they hypocritically proclaim fealty to Ayn Rand, a soviet defector who wrote ridiculous fictional accounts of impossible outcomes from improbable scenarios employing foolish caricatures of cartoonish sadists. ...<br />I'm seriously pissed at President Obama and the Democrats for going along with this garbage but there was a time when they fought for individual rights... if only we could rekindle that spark!The Doktornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-24992490519693792822012-01-16T07:11:21.740-05:002012-01-16T07:11:21.740-05:00@ Zach – “NPR is publically funded by all of our t...@ Zach – “NPR is publically funded by all of our tax dollars;” Why do we expect that it should reflect only a liberal view?<br /><br />No, actually only 5.8% of NPR’s funding comes directly from federal, state, and local government sources. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress, funded by the United States’ federal government to promote public broadcasting, contributes another 10.1 percent. Thus, only ~16 percent of NPR’s funding coming directly or indirectly from government sources.<br /><br />http://www.npr.org/about/aboutnpr/publicradiofinances.html<br /><br />NPR actually receives a lot less money than people think it does. Membership drives, which disrupt regular programming, are frequent.<br /><br />NPR’s ‘liberal bias’ (the faux news right wing political squawk box) is controversial; facts about NPR funding are not.<br /><br />Bill Moyers Responds to CPB’s Tomlinson Charges of Liberal Bias: ‘We Were Getting it Right, But Not Right Wing’:<br /><br />“We’re seeing unfold a contemporary example of the age old ambition of power and ideology to squelch — to punish the journalist who tell the stories that make princes and priests uncomfortable.”<br /><br />“I came to see that news is what people want to keep hidden, and everything else is publicity…investigative journalism could not be a collaboration between the journalist and the subject. Objectivity was not satisfied by two opposing people offering competing opinions, leaving the viewer to split the difference. I came to believe that objective journalism means describing the object being reported on, including the little fibs and fantasies, as well as the big lie of people in power.<br /><br />“In no way — in no way does this permit journalists to make accusations and allegations. It means, instead, making sure that your reporting and your conclusions can be nailed to the post with confirming evidence.”<br /><br />“Without a trace of irony, the powers that be have appropriated the Newspeak vernacular of George Orwell’s 1984. They give us a program vowing no child will be left behind, while cutting funds for educating disadvantaged children; they give us legislation cheerily calling for clear skies and healthy forests that give us neither, while turning over our public lands to the energy industry. In Orwell’s 1984 the character Syme, one of the writers of that totalitarian society’s dictionary, explains to the protagonist, Winston, "Don’t you see? Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050 at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we’re having right now. The whole climate of thought," he said, "will be different. In fact, there will be no thought as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking, not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness."<br /><br />http://www.democracynow.org/2005/5/16/bill_moyers_responds_to_cpbs_tomlinsonDenis Nevillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-707381758953076442012-01-15T21:47:24.218-05:002012-01-15T21:47:24.218-05:00I've often wondered.... NPR is publically fund...I've often wondered.... NPR is publically funded by all of our tax dollars. Why do we expect that it should reflect only a liberal view? You know...shoe on other foot considerationsZachnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-42620289167611454822012-01-15T14:38:22.164-05:002012-01-15T14:38:22.164-05:00@Karen,
Love the exotic dancer silhouettes! It lo...@Karen,<br /><br />Love the exotic dancer silhouettes! It looks like a bunch of them jumped from truckers' mudflaps on the Beltway and decided to have a rockin' party at the Capitol building.<br /><br />P.S. And now for the real reason for my post today. Just wanted to say I like it when you close down the comment sections of previous posts after a period of time. It saves me (and I'm sure many others) the trouble of constantly searching to see if people are adding to old conversations. Thanks!Willnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-82419900044012666212012-01-15T13:59:37.401-05:002012-01-15T13:59:37.401-05:00Debating SOPA on Up w/ Chris Hayes
NBCUniversal E...Debating SOPA on Up w/ Chris Hayes<br /><br />NBCUniversal Executive Vice President Richard Cotton made the case for SOPA. Opposing SOPA was Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit.com. Access @<br /><br />http://upwithchrishayes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/15/10161056-debating-sopa<br /><br />Just as Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Bank of America, Western Union, et al. strangled WikiLeaks, there was also the suggestion to simply cut websites off from all sources of funding instead of using the courts to force search engines and ISPs to block websites.<br /><br /><br />There is another letter by Marvin Ammori, who is an internationally recognized lawyer whose expertise is in Internet and media law, freedom of speech, and cybersecurity law, and who served as counsel on some of the most important cases involving the Internet, media, and the 21st Century First Amendment, that also argues that SOPA and PIPA would violate the First Amendment.<br /><br />http://ammori.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/ammori-first-amd-sopa-protectip.pdfDenis Nevillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-88054747611729553412012-01-15T12:05:04.774-05:002012-01-15T12:05:04.774-05:00@Zach,
thanks for the video, I hadn't seen tha...@Zach,<br />thanks for the video, I hadn't seen that before. I think Ron Paul's position is more nuanced than blanket support for an Iranian nuclear program. Unfortunately NPR didn't get into that, they just said that he supports Iran building nuclear weapons. Which isn't exactly true, he just doesn't think we should interfere with Iran and thinks they have a right to build weapons, especially considering the neighborhood they are in and the USA's past dealings with nuclear powers. But ultimately, they aren't building nukes, Leon Panetta said so! And this is what NPR failed to mention, this what all the media fails to mention! So we will go to war once again under falsified information. It is sad. And once SOPA and PIPA pass, and websites like this one get shut down, we will have less ability and opportunity to inform ourselves and rally against an evil and corrupt system.The Black Swanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03988752808485377434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-46978536962681204732012-01-15T11:11:31.615-05:002012-01-15T11:11:31.615-05:00SOPA and PIPA came from respectable families, once...SOPA and PIPA came from respectable families, once upon a time. Can we rescue them?<br /><br />SOPA springs from the idea that writers, musicians, and all the technicians behind them in publishing, the film industry, bands and orchestras and recording studios who bring that art to the public deserve fair pay for their intellectual property and technical skill. <br /><br />PIPA wants to tinker with free access to the means of communication, especially for the 99% who can’t afford to be gouged every time they want to read a book, watch a game or listen to a diva or a rapper. <br /><br />There is a balance point between the virtuous concerns behind SOPA and PIPA, a balance point that could be reached by reasonable people who aren’t prostituting themselves to the richest johns.<br /><br />Alas, the industries built up around the artist and communications crowds can’t leave it at that. And the people in Congress, poor dears, can’t afford to live on their salaries alone. And the public that sucks up all that learning and entertainment has one rationale or another to steal the work of writers, musicians and other creative artists.<br /><br />Enter the lawyer hacks and the lawmaker crowd who will now pull the desires of SOPA and PIPA even further apart. The most successful entertainers and their corporate backers will get more, and their admirers among the masses will get less, or have to pay more to one side or the other, while having leveling innovations like the web made more restrictive.<br /><br />Forget about making the entertainment corporations less greedy. Forget about making people everywhere less larcenous when it comes to remunerating creative people. The crucial point for applying pressure for a square deal for all would be where the rules are made, i.e., Congress and the Courts.<br /><br />Once again, it comes down to campaign reform and the corporation-monster-person thing put together by the Supremes with Citizens United. If the chief executive and members of congress could learn to get along on their salaries alone, different personalities might be attracted to public service, reason might prevail and the prostitution on all sides would end. SOPA and PIPA and their many sisters would never be pimped by the lobbyists. Who will live so long as to see that day?<br /><br />Maybe the judiciary is the place to apply pressure? And that Bernie Sanders Amendment? See what happens on January 20 on the steps of the Supreme Court and at courthouses around the country. Will the courts get the message? Can enough exasperated people stick together long enough to make the PTB an offer they can’t refuse?<br /><br />Occupy the Courts!Jay–Ottawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360356126450612113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-53966112382960158392012-01-15T10:30:03.349-05:002012-01-15T10:30:03.349-05:00Thanks for another good one, Karen! And we know th...Thanks for another good one, Karen! And we know that we'll all get screwed in the end. The Internet will be controlled by the corporate government for the benefit of maximizing profits at the expense of freedom. Capitalism is so predictable. <br /><br />So where/who is Obama in this scenario? Is he the Whorelord?<br /><br />Apparently, if we are to believe his lying lips, Obama is opposed to parts of both bills, which sounds to me like the crumbs he is brushing off the table to keep his base from totally starving, before he goes on to sign the bills when passed. His hands are tied - to money. When the Chamber of Commerce is for these bills, can there be any doubt they will pass? Obama didn't even threaten a veto, as he did with NDAA before he signed that. <br /><br />Unless we shake up the entire system, we are all going down the tubes. The Democratic Party is tied to big money just as much as Republican Party. The Duopoly should be named the Capitalist Party. <br /><br />To switch to a sports analogy, if we want to see new teams emerge, we need free agents and a fan base that is not blindly loyal to a couple of teams who are owned and run for the benefit of investor profits. Fans are voters who sign up as season ticket holders for the team of their choice, even though the game is rigged. They don't care as long as they see a good fight, like fake wrestling. They go home entertained and the owners and investors go home richer. Personally, I would prefer to see a publicly owned team that plays for the love of the sport/country.<br /><br />So please, don't buy those season tickets. That sends a powerful message. We can't expect anything to change unless we change our own behavior. It may be too late already, but hope does Spring eternal. <br /><br />Dump the Duopoly. Occupy!Anne Lavoienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-14175591051153170402012-01-15T09:38:48.548-05:002012-01-15T09:38:48.548-05:00I’m not lawyer enough to read the actual SOPA leg...I’m not lawyer enough to read the actual SOPA legislation and understand its full implications. <br /><br />However, I do trust Laurence Tribe to be able to understand the bill and its hidden pitfalls, and I also trust his intellect and values enough to accept his judgement regarding SOPA. He opposes it, and so do I.<br /><br />Prof. Tribe has posted a 23-page letter on the Web in which he expresses his opposition to SOPA, which you can find here:<br /><br />http://www.scribd.com/doc/75153093/Tribe-Legis-Memo-on-SOPA-12-6-11-1<br /><br />But you don’t have to be a lawyer and wade through the entire 23-page letter; Prof. Tribe’s objections are summarized in the first four brief and easy-to-understand pages of the document.<br /><br />I encourage you to have a look at Prof. Tribe’s summary of this sweeping bill, and, while reading, keep <i> The Law of Unintended Consequences </i> in mind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-6487683609084459452012-01-15T08:58:22.481-05:002012-01-15T08:58:22.481-05:00SOPA, the “Bring the Chinese Internet to America” ...SOPA, the “Bring the Chinese Internet to America” Bill<br /><br />“SOPA would put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world," Sergey Brin, Google co-founder.<br /><br />Internet censorship by country:<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_by_country<br /><br />SOPA has been absent from mainstream news coverage. All the major media corporations owning TV stations are on record supporting SOPA. Quelle surprise!<br /><br />While major media outlets have largely ignored the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, they have covered repeatedly and at-length Tim Tebow, Casey Anthony, Kim Kardashian's divorce, the British Royal Family, and Alec Baldwin being kicked off an airplane.<br /><br />http://mediamatters.org/blog/201201130015<br /><br />But Stephen Colbert explains SOPA:<br />http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/403465/december-01-2011/stop-online-piracy-act<br /><br />Jonathan Zittrain, et. al., take “A Close Look at SOPA,” exactly what it does and how it does it… why its principal mechanisms make for poor law. <br /> <br />http://futureoftheinternet.org/reading-sopa<br /><br />But former Senator Chris Dodd is vehemently defending SOPA with the same argument that despots have been using to justify censorship for years, “Chris Dodd's Defense of SOPA Makes Him Sound Like a Despot”<br /><br />http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/12/chris-dodds-defense-sopa-makes-him-sound-despot/46177/<br /><br />Ah, the revolving door between corporate and political elites.<br /><br />On Jan 18th, websites will go dark to protest the internet censorship bills.<br /><br />http://sopastrike.com/Denis Nevillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-70289382545023538532012-01-15T02:38:07.897-05:002012-01-15T02:38:07.897-05:00Just read a brilliant slogan carried by an Occupie...Just read a brilliant slogan carried by an Occupier (conveyed in a comment by FranG on Bill Moyers blog) in response to Mittens saying those of us who aren't rich are envious - "I don't mind you being rich. I mind you buying my politicians." Great isn't it?Valerienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-76728696125631393412012-01-15T00:33:25.669-05:002012-01-15T00:33:25.669-05:00@Black Swan
I think you may be mistaken about Pau...@Black Swan<br /><br />I think you may be mistaken about Paul's position on Iran nukes. <br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BDvaTqLlZlAZachnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-64328560520307722802012-01-14T23:35:11.059-05:002012-01-14T23:35:11.059-05:00With Karen’s permission, old stuff related to the ...With Karen’s permission, old stuff related to the “Brisbane Trampled by Thundering Herd” thread (now closed to new comments): <br /><br />@Denis Neville, Zee, Valerie, The Black Swan, and all:<br /><br />I’ll echo Zee’s thanks to Denis for the Rosen articles excerpts and pressthink links. And I agree with Denis on the importance of humor, and satire via political cartooning. Years ago I use to physically clip good political cartoons from the newspaper; now, of course, it takes only a few clicks to find and save them. However, Ted Rall has severely criticized political cartooning as it now is:<br /><br />http://www.rall.com/rallblog/2011/12/22/syndicated-column-who-polices-political-cartooning<br /><br />I agree with Zee’s addition of “data or evidence” to my comment, and with his point that objectivity even in science is a myth. (For those who don’t have the scientific background that Zee has, and are interested in the subject of objectivity in science that he referred to, the classic book, still relevant, is “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”, by Thomas S. Kuhn; however, it has spawned other books that purport to explain what Kuhn meant!)<br /><br />I agree with comments by Valerie and The Black Swan on the failings of NPR and PBS. The way they have too often bent over backwards (or is it forwards?) for far-right conservatives, sacrificing proper journalism in order to keep their small percentage of Congressionally-approved dollars flowing, is obscene.<br /><br />@ Karen:<br /><br />Re your statement “… I am perfectly happy to be a poor blogger in my dotage. People can complain all they want (and they do). But nobody can fire me.”<br /><br />Correct. In that regard, I like the succinctness of that old A. J. Liebling quip I’ve referenced before: “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one”.Fred Drumlevitchhttp://www.freddrumlevitch.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-11010146523030202652012-01-14T23:29:11.982-05:002012-01-14T23:29:11.982-05:00Re SOPA & PIPA:
I think it all boils down to ...Re SOPA & PIPA:<br /><br />I think it all boils down to three main issues:<br /><br />1) While I have a basic belief that intellectual property does deserve protection, my sympathies are significantly reduced by the consolidation and monopolistic practices of many of these companies, and their enlistment of government support for those actions.<br /><br />Consider the progression of exclusivity (selected examples, from Wikipedia): Under the U.S. Copyright Act<br /><br />of 1790: 14 years, 14 year renewal<br />of 1909: 28 years, 28 year renewal<br />of 1976: 75 years, or life of author + 50 years<br />of 1998: 95/120 years, or life of author + 70 years<br /><br />Add in the various actions designed to prevent even the traditional “fair use”, plus draconian punishments for infringers, and I have little sympathy for these corporations. Similar to Valerie’s position, I’m not using pirated content, but I take offense that the forces of so-called law and order in this country have been, and are, more interested in protecting the fantasy of Mickey Mouse than they were/are interested in protecting homeowners from being evicted as a consequence of the vaporware financial fictions of Wall Street. <br /><br />2) One might label a second issue — the assorted consequences listed by Karen such as internet censorship and suppression of free speech — as “unintended consequences” of protecting intellectual property, but that doesn’t reduce the potential adverse effects. And upon consideration, I believe that those consequences are likely <i>not</i> inadvertent. The government, the corporations, and the plutocracy are becoming increasingly aware of the potential power of public information related to their activities, and I consider it a virtual certainty that they are intent on preventing Wikileaks-type information spread, by gaining legal control over all hosting websites and use of the internet, nowadays the fundamental dissemination mechanism for such information.<br /><br />3) Political corruption of legislators advancing these bills. Since Karen has already addressed this, I won’t say much beyond noting how insidious financial contributions are. In the recent attempted acquisition of T-Mobile by ATT, we saw all sorts of non-profit organizations one would think unconnected to these telecom players coming out in support of the takeover. It turns out that they <i>were</i> connected — via donations made to them by ATT. See:<br /><br />http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56660.html<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/09/opinion/09sat2.htmlFred Drumlevitchhttp://www.freddrumlevitch.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-74701266409585396122012-01-14T21:36:29.210-05:002012-01-14T21:36:29.210-05:00Truthdig also has an article on this subject if an...Truthdig also has an article on this subject if anyone is interested in further reading. http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/whos_supporting_sopa_and_pipa_20120114/Valerienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-16436915124725126722012-01-14T19:42:46.469-05:002012-01-14T19:42:46.469-05:00Luddite that I am, I can't make a very meaning...Luddite that I am, I can't make a very meaningful comment on this issue. However, I DO know that this legislation helps big corporations protect their private property and there are a lot of more important issues I would like Congress to be focussed upon - like limiting corporate power. <br />Personally, I don't download anything that I am not allowed to download but I don't really care if someone else does. It is kind of like the hackers - I used to think that was a bad thing when a hacker got into a secure corporate computer system and created mischief. Now I just see them as guerrilla tactics. And I certainly don’t see huge corporations as particularly law abiding and deserving of my outrage on their behalf.Valerienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-82264730458867433332012-01-14T17:08:10.898-05:002012-01-14T17:08:10.898-05:00Reddit's SOPA Blackout
“Reddit, the current k...Reddit's SOPA Blackout<br /><br />“Reddit, the current king of all social media sites due to its massive, influential community and ability to send out hundreds of thousands of hits to a single post, is doing its part to help stop internet censorship law SOPA with a display of force.”<br /><br />Blog reddit, “We will be blacking out reddit on January 18th from 8am–8pm EST (1300–0100 UTC).”<br /><br />http://blog.reddit.com/2012/01/stopped-they-must-be-on-this-all.html<br /><br />The Reddit blackout is perhaps the greatest “money where your mouth is” moment in the entire anti-SOPA campaign so far…But unfortunately, it’s not enough…Google and Facebook must follow, says Paul Tassi at Forbes,<br /><br />http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/01/11/reddits-sopa-blackout-admirable-but-google-and-facebook-must-follow/<br /><br />and “If Facebook Won't Stop SOPA, We Can Do It For Them,”<br /><br />http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/01/12/if-facebook-wont-stop-sopa-we-can-do-it-for-them/Denis Nevillenoreply@blogger.com