If you fancy yourself a secret agent or provocateur, it breaks the mood if you go around using silly-sounding titles like 'Google'. Picture Sean Connery/James Bond going after Google rather than Spectre. Not happening.
"that is not actually the meaning of the word 'sobering' in a context like this."
Those damned Chinese, forcing everyone to be entirely, seriously literal with their new laws banning puns and distortions of language. Damn, but that spread fast.
O.K., this time without jokes or reference to alcohol: if I were to learn that humans are alone in the universe, that this is not the magical and purposeful place created by the hand of the Great Kazoo; that humans, the creators of 'Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo' are in fact the supreme beings in all of existence, I'd have a really hard time taking much of anything seriously. --
So in other words, stay sober? No disrespect to Mr. Clarke, but if I was forced to conclude that humans are alone and the only intelligent life in the whole wide universe, I'd be drinking like you wouldn't believe. You mean, this is it? This planet of idiots??? F@#* me, sober has just been removed from my vocabulary.
But thank the Great Kazoo life's about as common as dirt. --
It's comical how the U.S. government is so completely dominated by corporate power, while at the same time the public believes their Kenyan-Socialist government is too large, too intrusive, and should just go away. Humans are just too bizarre for words.
The devil's in the details. There are "title specific" reprographic royalties that are supposed to go to copyright owners who's works were recorded as having been used. Then there are "non-title specific" royalties, which are some portion of the licensing fees paid by licensees, but not attributed to the use or copying of any particular work. These funds are then distributed to entities in the "arts community" where the theory is that they are at least helping creators in a general way. Over the years the piddly little Graphic Artists Guild has received a considerable percentage of its revenue via the Authors Coalition, part of the CCC's stream of non-title specific reprographic royalties. GAG, being on paper a labor union, files LM-2 financial reports with the Department of Labor / OLMS (file # 513-583) and its reprographic royalty income is revealed in those publicly available reports. If they're getting tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, ($276,123 in 2013 alone) then how much non-title specific money winds up in the pockets of all these other so-called advocacy or "artists rights" groups? I'd love to know.
Don't forget it's not just music, there's also a parallel world of dark shadows involving printed works. I'd love to hear from someone who's a better researcher than I am about IFFRO, and particularly the Copyright Clearance Center in the U.S., as I haven't been able myself to track down just how much money flows through them to the likes of the Authors Guild and Graphic Artists Guild, and other so-called "artists rights" groups, who's business frequently involves poisoning the well of copyright law. As bad as it would be if the money was going to publishing execs buying yachts, it's the question of just how much becomes political dark money that really bothers me.
I recall reading somewhere that the CCC redistributes hundreds of millions, but damned if I've ever heard of anyone being able to track what the real amounts are, or who gets it. --
The older I get, the more I enjoy doing things to get people to not like me. It's liberating, wish I'd started being a jerk sooner. ;-D
Seriously; I don't mean to sound preachy. it's just that IMO there's some seriously high water coming, and we all have the simple but uncomfortable choice of either getting up from the couch and stuffing sandbags, or hoping the couch floats.
Maybe the only bad that will result from too many complacent / disengaged / dispirited Americans are yet more wasted tax dollars, having to learn Mandarin so you can impress your new boss, perhaps losing a kid or a spouse to cancer after drinking too much of that funky-flavored water the government was too lame to do anything about. Same old same old, the world goes on.
On the other hand, maybe we're not too far from having one of history's big moments, when people get to stare at the rubble of their homes and communities and wish like hell they'd been paying closer attention, and had done more when they had the chance. Hard to say.
You need to list a few more "I can'ts," like- "I can't write, can't educate myself or others, can't send money, can't support any group, can't do research, can't march and hold a sign, can't take part in local issues, can't volunteer anywhere. I'm sure there's quite a bunch of others I'm missing.
The people with money and armies have always had a leg up. The choices you have as a citizen remain the same; either organize and work collectively to keep Goldmad Sachs of S**t from ruling the world, or accept what comes your way. Unfortunately I can't think of anything easier, where we do nothing but complain, and somehow things get better.
Some jobs are hard, dirty, nasty, and don't come with any guarantee of success. Way it is.
Not missing anything if you read "participation" to mean more than merely filling in a ballot once in a while. Don't like the choices up for election to office? There are primaries. Don't like who the parties present? Make noise in your party and/or in public; write, speak, protest, give money, maybe run for office your danged self.
Either the democratic process works, or it doesn't; if the work and sweat of getting it to work is too hard, then comes that "a government will be appointed for you" option. Lots of history showing how badly that can suck.
Or his name could just be a joke, like naming a Chihuahua "T-Rex," or "Leviathan." (Or like proclaiming CNN to be "news" for that matter.)
While Wolf's not exactly the archetypical raving, angry "war monger," now that I think about it, the label fits. Lots of conflicts have resulted from the stupidity of dimwits rather than from any real maliciousness or conscious design.
I suspect Blitzer's not really human. "Wolf-Blitzer"; sounds like it could be a new official dog breed at the American Kennel Club. I picture scruffy salt + pepper wolf's fur on a Dachshund, that will do just about any trick you want for a cocktail weenie.
CNN is documenting the collapse of civilization. Personally, I'd never choose to cut myself off from their historic broadcasts. I mean, at the fall of the Roman Empire, the majestic buildings that once housed senates and emperors became shelter for goats for the next thousand years. CNN today is a window on living history, like having a webcam allowing you to actually see the goats that now inhabit the grand places where once intelligent and dedicated journalists worked.
I have to share my favorite CNN memory- during the Gulf war in 1990-1991, Wolf Blitzer and his CNN crew were broadcasting from their hotel roof in Saudi Arabia. It was the middle of the night, and Scud missiles of unknown payload type were reported to have impacted somewhere in the city. Word was sent up to the roof that the bomb shelter in the basement of the hotel was going to be closed and sealed. Not knowing a damned thing about nerve gas (or anything else, for that matter) Wolfie sent a crew member down to the shelter to keep it open and say that he and the rest of the CNN crew would come down, "if we see or smell anything." (After all, who wouldn't want to risk their own life for some dumbass that didn't get the memo about nerve gas being colorless and odorless?) The crew member returned moments later with the news that they'd all been locked out of the shelter. Wolf's expression was priceless, the camera capturing maybe the one instant in his life when he suddenly realized just how big a moron he truly is.
How can anyone not willingly pay serious dough for this kind of entertainment?
Our psychopathic overlords have a choice- keep the public ill-informed and asleep for now while they run out the string on all this deal making / profit taking; or, waiting until after their schemes are implemented to try convincing the torch and pitchfork-carrying public that they're all just ill-informed and to please put away the buckets of boiling tar. But I suppose that answers the question of why we're seeing the construction of a new and improved police state.
The FDA's just pissed that the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has mandated them to be the food safety cops they always should've been. We can't get by with merely issuing recall recommendations anymore? . . F** all 'yall.
You're welcome. I'm actually just recovering from a shock yesterday, of browsing a list of ways hackers can gain access to just about anything. Some marvelous advice went along with that list- "don't keep any money, anywhere, in any form, that you aren't willing to risk losing." I suppose they meant to say "online" or "electronically" but then what other choices are there?
I'm leaving now to go look up how to raise chickens.
"The New Yorker is run by artists and eventually they realize the errors in their ways."
I suppose it all depends on your definition of "eventually." But it'll definitely happen when the reality of the marketplace kills off the last remaining dinosaurs, and there's no choice left but to embrace the horror. Might be soon.
That article would serve nicely as an 'exhibit A' for showing how so many creators fail to grasp the realities of the digital age, and how much they need to revisit a whole bunch of assumptions if they're going to make a living. The author echoes a sentiment that's religious dogma among many of the artists I know-
“Photographs are our work, and our product. So it’s like this: There’s a lot of images on the Internet, right? Just like I see a lot of cars on the street. Am I going to go and steal one of those cars and drive it?
Yeah, well, the digital age has made a zillion cars available. Everyone has a car factory in their pocket. Searchable data and digital galleries can potentially put every car ever made back into service. Cars have become so common that most can be had for a couple of bucks, forcing anyone wanting to be a professional creator to work within the reality of two-dollar cars. To continue with the 'car' analogy, we're unfortunately stuck with old laws for grand-theft auto left over from when cars were expensive, and with legacy car companies doing everything they can, fair or foul, to keep cars pricey and available only in limited quantities.
On reading through a second time, I'd say Menand did an OK job overall despite the errors. Which blindfolded person, in trying to describe an elephant, will get it right? Copyright's a pretty damned large and stinky beast, so I'll cut him some slack.
On the post: Leaked Emails Reveal MPAA Plans To Pay Elected Officials To Attack Google
Re:
On the post: DailyDirt: We Should Have Written Down ET's Phone Number...
Re: Re: Re:
Those damned Chinese, forcing everyone to be entirely, seriously literal with their new laws banning puns and distortions of language. Damn, but that spread fast.
O.K., this time without jokes or reference to alcohol: if I were to learn that humans are alone in the universe, that this is not the magical and purposeful place created by the hand of the Great Kazoo; that humans, the creators of 'Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo' are in fact the supreme beings in all of existence, I'd have a really hard time taking much of anything seriously.
--
On the post: DailyDirt: We Should Have Written Down ET's Phone Number...
Re:
No disrespect to Mr. Clarke, but if I was forced to conclude that humans are alone and the only intelligent life in the whole wide universe, I'd be drinking like you wouldn't believe. You mean, this is it? This planet of idiots??? F@#* me, sober has just been removed from my vocabulary.
But thank the Great Kazoo life's about as common as dirt.
--
On the post: Corporate Sovereignty's Chilling Effects
Embarrassing
On the post: When A Fourth Of Small Businesses In England Complain About Collection Societies, It's No Coincidence
Re: Re: $$ Ecosystem
On the post: When A Fourth Of Small Businesses In England Complain About Collection Societies, It's No Coincidence
$$ Ecosystem
I recall reading somewhere that the CCC redistributes hundreds of millions, but damned if I've ever heard of anyone being able to track what the real amounts are, or who gets it.
--
On the post: Bill Aimed At Shutting Off NSA's Water Starts Moving Forward Again
Symbolism
On the post: Tennessee Drug Interdiction Officers Stomp All Over Traveling Couples' Rights En Route To Seizing Nothing At All
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Moral of the story:
Seriously; I don't mean to sound preachy. it's just that IMO there's some seriously high water coming, and we all have the simple but uncomfortable choice of either getting up from the couch and stuffing sandbags, or hoping the couch floats.
Maybe the only bad that will result from too many complacent / disengaged / dispirited Americans are yet more wasted tax dollars, having to learn Mandarin so you can impress your new boss, perhaps losing a kid or a spouse to cancer after drinking too much of that funky-flavored water the government was too lame to do anything about. Same old same old, the world goes on.
On the other hand, maybe we're not too far from having one of history's big moments, when people get to stare at the rubble of their homes and communities and wish like hell they'd been paying closer attention, and had done more when they had the chance. Hard to say.
--
On the post: Tennessee Drug Interdiction Officers Stomp All Over Traveling Couples' Rights En Route To Seizing Nothing At All
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Moral of the story:
"I can't write, can't educate myself or others, can't send money, can't support any group, can't do research, can't march and hold a sign, can't take part in local issues, can't volunteer anywhere.
I'm sure there's quite a bunch of others I'm missing.
--
On the post: Tennessee Drug Interdiction Officers Stomp All Over Traveling Couples' Rights En Route To Seizing Nothing At All
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Moral of the story:
Some jobs are hard, dirty, nasty, and don't come with any guarantee of success. Way it is.
--
On the post: Tennessee Drug Interdiction Officers Stomp All Over Traveling Couples' Rights En Route To Seizing Nothing At All
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Moral of the story:
Either the democratic process works, or it doesn't; if the work and sweat of getting it to work is too hard, then comes that "a government will be appointed for you" option. Lots of history showing how badly that can suck.
--
On the post: Tennessee Drug Interdiction Officers Stomp All Over Traveling Couples' Rights En Route To Seizing Nothing At All
Re: Re: Re: Moral of the story:
You have the right to an elected government. If you don't participate in elections, a government not of your choosing will be appointed for you.
On the post: Dish Pulls CNN, Doesn't Think Customers Still Paying For It Are Missing Much
Re: Re: Re: CNN and History
While Wolf's not exactly the archetypical raving, angry "war monger," now that I think about it, the label fits. Lots of conflicts have resulted from the stupidity of dimwits rather than from any real maliciousness or conscious design.
On the post: Dish Pulls CNN, Doesn't Think Customers Still Paying For It Are Missing Much
Re: Re: CNN and History
On the post: Dish Pulls CNN, Doesn't Think Customers Still Paying For It Are Missing Much
CNN and History
I have to share my favorite CNN memory- during the Gulf war in 1990-1991, Wolf Blitzer and his CNN crew were broadcasting from their hotel roof in Saudi Arabia. It was the middle of the night, and Scud missiles of unknown payload type were reported to have impacted somewhere in the city. Word was sent up to the roof that the bomb shelter in the basement of the hotel was going to be closed and sealed. Not knowing a damned thing about nerve gas (or anything else, for that matter) Wolfie sent a crew member down to the shelter to keep it open and say that he and the rest of the CNN crew would come down, "if we see or smell anything." (After all, who wouldn't want to risk their own life for some dumbass that didn't get the memo about nerve gas being colorless and odorless?) The crew member returned moments later with the news that they'd all been locked out of the shelter. Wolf's expression was priceless, the camera capturing maybe the one instant in his life when he suddenly realized just how big a moron he truly is.
How can anyone not willingly pay serious dough for this kind of entertainment?
--
On the post: New Zealand's Trade Minister Admits They Keep TPP Documents Secret To Avoid 'Public Debate'
choice
On the post: FDA Is Angry That ICANN Won't Just Censor Websites On Its Say So
Bunched Panties
We can't get by with merely issuing recall recommendations anymore? . . F** all 'yall.
On the post: Payment Wars: How Merchants And Carriers Are Trying To Block Payment Systems They Can't Track
Re: Re: CASH IS KING
I'm leaving now to go look up how to raise chickens.
--
On the post: When Even The New Yorker Is Doing Long Features On The Ridiculous State Of Copyright Law...
Re: Don't get your hopes up...
I suppose it all depends on your definition of "eventually." But it'll definitely happen when the reality of the marketplace kills off the last remaining dinosaurs, and there's no choice left but to embrace the horror. Might be soon.
That article would serve nicely as an 'exhibit A' for showing how so many creators fail to grasp the realities of the digital age, and how much they need to revisit a whole bunch of assumptions if they're going to make a living. The author echoes a sentiment that's religious dogma among many of the artists I know-
“Photographs are our work, and our product. So it’s like this: There’s a lot of images on the Internet, right? Just like I see a lot of cars on the street. Am I going to go and steal one of those cars and drive it?
Yeah, well, the digital age has made a zillion cars available. Everyone has a car factory in their pocket. Searchable data and digital galleries can potentially put every car ever made back into service. Cars have become so common that most can be had for a couple of bucks, forcing anyone wanting to be a professional creator to work within the reality of two-dollar cars. To continue with the 'car' analogy, we're unfortunately stuck with old laws for grand-theft auto left over from when cars were expensive, and with legacy car companies doing everything they can, fair or foul, to keep cars pricey and available only in limited quantities.
On the post: When Even The New Yorker Is Doing Long Features On The Ridiculous State Of Copyright Law...
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