Author: DhammaSeeker

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.
– John Adams

borrowed from blog.outer-court.com

If you’re from the US, you can sign a petition to help against the RIAA (the Recording Industry Association of America), which likes to copyright-sue the hell out of people… even kids. The EFF has over 90,000 signatures so far, and they say: “If we can get 100,000 signatures, we will deliver the petition to the Senate and House Commerce and Judiciary Committees.”

To The United States Congress:

We are the customers and former customers of the member labels of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). We love music and will gladly pay a fair price for it, but we are outraged by the RIAA’s tactics in suing ordinary Americans for filesharing.

We condemn the RIAA’s choice to force the family of a 12 year-old girl to forfeit $2,000 – money that could have gone to feed, clothe and educate this honor student. We stand with the retirees, parents, children and others who have been caught in the RIAA’s line of fire.

We respect reasonable copyright law, but we strongly oppose copyright enforcement that comes at the expense of privacy, due process and fair application of the law.

We urge you, as our representatives in Congress, to stop this madness.

We oppose the recording industry’s decision to attack the public, bankrupt its customers and offer false amnesty to those who would impugn themselves. We call instead for a real amnesty: the development of a legal alternative that preserves file-sharing technology while ensuring that artists are fairly compensated.

In signing this petition, we formally request that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), as representatives of the public interest, be included in any upcoming hearings regarding the proper scope of copyright enforcement in the digital age.

We sincerely thank you for your time.

The New York Times is leading the widening slump in the nation’s newspaper profits due to rising paper costs and shrinking advertising deals.

The Times, Newsday parent Tribune Co., and McClatchy Co. – which is buying the Miami Herald and its Knight Kidder parent – yesterday reported lower quarterly earnings.

The weak earnings came just a day following a similar gloomy report from the nation’s largest group, Gannett, whose papers include USA Today.

Analysts say newspapers are pressured by circulation declines, higher costs and loss of ad dollars to the Internet and other new media. The Times, publisher of the Boston Globe and International Herald Tribune, said profits fell to $35 million, or 24 cents a share, from $111 million, or 76 cents a share, a year earlier.

[read more….]

http://www.bertmonroy.com/fineart/text/fineart_damen.htm

A testament to persistence – to say the least.

So I got an interesting message and friend request on myspace from Alek Traunic. Apparently, Alek Traunic is a moniker for a completely different Wade Harrell, born just 5 days after me. He’s an accomplished artist in New York City and has quite an impressive gallery.

I was bit on the ass by a dog while on my lunch time walk today. The nearby owner vehemently swore it was the first time ever she (the dog) ever bit someone (on the ass?). I curtly suggested he get his dog on a leash.

tonight, a part of me sleeps in chicago