In the midst of our ongoing debates over file-sharing and the latest twisted headlines from the RIAA, the discourse seems to have slipped into whether artists need to be compensated for their work (which they should) and whether the poor suicidal copyright watchdogs have gone over the deep end in attacking their own consumers (which they have).  Yet it is important to remember that this is more than just an economic debate – this is part of an ongoing struggle to determine the appropriate line between comodification and our cultural evolution.

Let’s face it – to varying degrees, we all enjoy what Hollywood spews out no matter how trite and repetitive it can be.  Such endeavours require a substantial amount of capital and investors should be able to profit from their work if we expect them to continue being produced.  Much as in the publishing and music industries, copyright law has existed for the purpose of safeguarding this monetisation.  Yet it is important to remember that copyright is meant to be of a finite duration.  This allows artists to profit from their work while also ensuring that future generations are able to continue building on this work when it enters the public domain.  As James Boyle of The Public Domain notes:

Our markets, our democracy, our science, our traditions of free speech, and our art all depend more heavily on a Public Domain of freely available material than they do on the informational material that is covered by property rights. The Public Domain is not some gummy residue left behind when all the good stuff has been covered by property law. The Public Domain is the place we quarry the building blocks of our culture. It is, in fact, the majority of our culture.

Perpetual copyright effectively consolidates our cultural heritage into the hands of a few wealthy industrialists and restricts creative expression worldwide.  This trend must be stopped. 

You can read the full Manifesto here and please take the time to sign it.

Seriously, I could care less about this story.  We all know that Palin has a limited ability to think on her feet, so if she needs a little help to remember her talking points, power to her.  I mean, anything is better than the kind of verbal flatulence she spewed during the campaign.  But when she does it WHILE slamming Obama for using a teleprompter … well, that’s just mock-worthy!

You just can’t make this stuff up!

A high level Pakistani diplomat has been rejected as Ambassador of Saudi Arabia because his name, Akbar Zib, equates to "Biggest Dick" in Arabic. 

Link

I know that desire is the root of all suffering, but next life as a dung beetle be damned - Siddhartha looks tasty!!

Alternate title: Gotta post something or I’ll never post again.

Today marks seven months since Lori’s funeral and it’s not getting any easier.  If anything, I’m just getting more comfortable living in a state of dulled funk punctuated by sudden and unpredictable bursts of anguish.

I’ve nevertheless gotten quite adept at performing my life; indeed, even an idealized version of it.  But even though I’ve sat down to write often in the past few months, I’ve been balked by the omnipresence of my previous post.  Amongst all the happenings in the world, good and bad (and let’s face it, there has been some shocking Bad), there has been nothing sufficiently monumental, earth-shatteringly worthy of bumping Lori further down the home page and into the dank oblivion of THF archives.

And there never will be.

So, either I consign THF to the dustbin of Google-was, or I find a way to take that first step.  And I can think of none better than an inside joke between me and the sister I will forever miss.

I love you sis.

 
Help … Me … !!

A couple of weeks ago, my beautiful sister died while having the time of her life.  She left behind her husband and two children, my parents, myself, and the hundreds of others who knew and loved her.  It was standing-room only at her funeral.  We are all completely undone. 

Lori, you will be forever loved and missed.

Lori Beth Neiverth Key
March 19, 1971 – June 28, 2009

I tend to keep my lifehackery obsession separate from THF, but this bookmarklet seemed to be worthy of the crossover.  If you’re not familiar with bookmarklets, they are bits of javascript that you can store as a bookmark in your browser to perform certain functions.  They are not only speedy, but also prevent you from having to download a bunch of browser extensions you may hardly use.

KTC (or Know Thy Congressman) provides a wealth of info should you find yourself reading the funnies er, the political news.  I used it to capture this screenshot of Pelosi which tells me anything from most used words to who are her major donors.  From their website:

KTC is a bookmarklet that displays an abundance of political and biographical information about current members of the Senate and House of Representatives.

To use it, highlight the name of a legislator on a webpage and click the bookmark. Or, click it anytime to search for a politician by name. To install, drag the link below into your Bookmarks Toolbar.

Nobody knows more about airport security that Bruce Schneier, and his work on subverting the TSA formed one of the central arguments of my doctoral thesis.  Bruce has a new essay up that is worth checking out – if for no other reason than the importance of keeping this issue alive:

The Constitution provides us, both Americans and visitors to America, with strong protections against invasive police searches. Two exceptions come into play at airport security checkpoints. The first is "implied consent," which means  that you cannot refuse to be searched; your consent is implied when you purchased your ticket. And the second is "plain view," which means that if the TSA officer happens to see something unrelated to airport security while screening you, he is allowed to act on that.

Both of these principles are well established and make sense, but it's their combination that turns airport security checkpoints into police-state-like checkpoints.

The TSA should limit its searches to bombs and weapons and leave general policing to the police - where we know courts and the Constitution still apply.

From the same ad team that brought you the homophobic hamburger.  Note the fine print - “Fill your desire for something long, juicy, and flame-grilled.  As Michael Scott would say … well, never mind.

Seriously?!

Betty Bowers, America’s “greatest” Christian, explains the finer points of biblical marriage.