WWII Memorial Wired Shut

Disgusting.

Sometimes a little thing is more revealing than a big thing.

What Big Content Really Wants

No transformational innovation allowed. They mean it:

...according to the former Register of Copyrights, Ralph Oman, under copyright law, any new technology should have to apply to Congress for approval and a review to make sure they don't upset the apple cart of copyright, before they're allowed to exist.

The review would be conducted by the same people who write the laws which Congress passes: special-interest lobbyists.

I found the above link through Instapundit. In a related post, he links to this piece discussing the latest from the Against Intellectual Monopoly authors.

The Internet: More USA-Backed Thuggery and Corruption

Ukraine has shut down the Demonoid site as a favor to the USA.

I've said it before, here and here: the USA can no longer be trusted as an honest steward of the Internet.

For the moment we are clinging to control, but losing it is just a matter of time if things continue as they are.

As the USA remakes itself into a banana republic with a parasitical ruling class, it's understandable that other banana republics want in on the spoils.

Afterthought. Helpful note to UN kleptocrats: Justify your efforts to seize the Internet by pointing to US copyright imperialism, and you'll get support. Blend in anti-Semtitic hate directed at Hollywood and you'll get more.

Entrepreneurship in America

To Nathan Myhvold's name, add Steve Gibson's:

Borrowing a page from patent trolls, the CEO of fledgling Las Vegas-based Righthaven has begun buying out the copyrights to newspaper content for the sole purpose of suing blogs and websites that re-post those articles without permission...“We perceive there to be millions, if not billions, of infringements out there,” he says.

Maybe this will finally bring the IP situation to a reductio ad absurdum.

A problem with today's USA is that when you think things have come to a reductio ad absurdum, they're just getting underway.

The intention of intellectual-property social contracts is constructive and in principle I endorse the concept, but they are metastasizing to the extent that society arguably would be better off without them altogether. Apparently it is necessary to end progress in science and the useful arts in order to save it.
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Our wise and good Congress at work:

While many companies ask other publishers to take down potentially infringing material, the law doesn't require content owners to do so before filing suit. The federal copyright statute also provides for damages ranging from $750 to $150,000 per infringement.

To repeat, this issue is tailor-made of the Tea Party. Orrin Hatch is a scumbag. I would be delighted to see him dumped like Robert Bennett was.

I Thought My Opinion of Palin Couldn't Get Lower

The British press reports that Palin is planning a photo op with Margaret Thatcher.

Using a person with dementia as a political prop is disgusting and vile. (Hey, she uses Trig.) Hopefully this will be news--but not in the way Palin intends.

What's next, posing with an exhumed Reagan? (If she asked for a photo op with Nancy Reagan, I hope she got turned down. But Nancy Reagan favors stem cell research, which means she isn't a real conservative...)

Hollywood's Corrupt Sock Puppets

These crooks--thieves of the public domain--have labeled themselves The Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus:

Co-Chairs
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse D-RI
Senator Orrin G. Hatch R-UT
Rep. Adam B. Schiff D-CA
Rep. Bob Goodlatte R-VA

Members
Senator Lamar Alexander R-TN
Senator Barbara Boxer D-CA
Senator Thad Cochran R-MS
Senator John Cornyn R-TX
Senator John Ensign R-NV
Senator Dianne Feinstein D-CA
Senator Patrick J. Leahy D-VT
Senator Charles E. Schumer D-NY
Senator Olympia J. Snowe R-ME
Rep. Spencer Bachus R-AL
Rep. Shelley Berkley D-NV
Rep. Howard Berman D-CA
Rep. Mary Bono R-CA
Rep. John Boozman R-AR
Rep. Robert A. Brady D-PA
Rep. Ken Calvert R-CA
Rep. Eric Cantor R-VA
Rep. André Carson D-IN
Rep. John Carter R-TX
Rep. Judy Chu D-CA
Rep. Howard Coble R-NC
Rep. Steve Cohen D-TN
Rep. Tom Cole R-OK
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly D-VA
Rep. John Conyers, Jr. D-MI
Rep. Jim Cooper D-TN
Rep. Joseph Crowley D-NY
Rep. Diana DeGette D-CO
Rep. William Delahunt D-MA
Rep. Lloyd Doggett D-TX
Rep. David Dreier R-CA
Rep. Vernon Ehlers R-MI
Rep. Bob Filner D-CA
Rep. Randy Forbes R-VA
Rep. Bill Foster D-IL
Rep. Elton Gallegly R-CA
Rep. Bart Gordon D-TN
Rep. Jane Harman D-CA
Rep. Paul W. Hodes D-NH
Rep. Darrell Issa R-CA
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee D-TX
Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy D-OH
Rep. Zoe Lofgren D-CA
Rep. Ben Ray Luján D-NM
Rep. Michael T. McCaul R-TX
Rep. Michael E. McMahon D-NY
Rep. Mike Pence R-IN
Rep. Adam H. Putnam R-FL
Rep. George Radanovich R-CA
Rep. Laura Richardson D-CA
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher R-CA
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger D-MD
Rep. Bobby Rush D-IL
Rep. Linda T. Sánchez D-CA
Rep. Pete Sessions R-TX
Rep. Brad Sherman D-CA
Rep. Michael K. Simpson R-ID
Rep. Lamar Smith R-TX
Rep. Lee Terry R-NE
Rep. Edolphus Towns D-NY
Rep. Chris Van Hollen D-MD
Rep. Diane Watson D-CA
Rep. Henry Waxman D-CA
Rep. Anthony Weiner D-NY
Rep. Joe Wilson R-SC
Rep. Frank R. Wolf R-VA

I looked their states and parties up. The caucus's Website does not list theses affiliations because, you know, the members risen above such narrow things to whore for Big Media work for the greater good.

I'll return to this post later, but notice immediately that 20 of the 70 members represent California. Notice also that some very senior House Republicans are on board.

Scum

The Associated Press ran a photo of a dying Marine in Afghanistan.