The only war for which Republicans won't go into debt

ASCAP's attack on Creative Commons

 

 

by Lawrence Lessig

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has launched a campaign to raise money from its members to hire lobbyists to protect them against the dangers of "Copyleft." Groups such as Creative Commons, Public Knowledge, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are "mobilizing," ASCAP describes in a letter to its members, "to promote 'Copyleft' in order to undermine our 'Copyright.'" "[O]ur opponents are influencing Congress against the interests of music creators," ASCAP warns. Indeed, as the letter ominously predicts, this is ASCAP's "biggest challenge ever." (Historians of BMI might be a bit surprised about that claim in particular.)

As a founding board member of two of those three organizations, and former board member of the third, I guess I should be proud that a 96 year old organization would be so terrified of our work. And I would be -- if there were anything in this fundraising pitch that was actually true.

But there is not. Creative Commons, Public Knowledge and EFF are not aiming to "undermine" copyright; they are not spreading the word that "music should be free"; and there is certainly not yet any rally within Congress in favor of any of the issues that these groups do push.

I know Creative Commons best, so let me address ASCAP's charges as they apply to it.

Creative Commons is a nonprofit that provides copyright licenses pro bono to artists and creators so that they can offer their creative work with the freedom they intend it to carry. (Think not "All Rights Reserved" but "Some Rights Reserved.") Using these licenses, a musician might allow his music to be used for noncommercial purposes (by kids making a video, for example, or for sharing among friends), so long as attribution to the artist is kept. Or an academic might permit her work to be shared for whatever purpose, again, so long as attribution is maintained. Or a collaborative project such as a wiki might guarantee that the collective work of the thousands who have built the wiki remains free for everyone forever. Hundreds of millions of digital objects -- from music to video to photographs to architectural designs to scientific journals to teachers lesson plans to books and to blogs -- have been licensed in this way, and by an extraordinarily diverse range of creators or rights holders -- including Nine Inch Nails, Beastie Boys, Youssou N'Dour, Curt Smith, David Byrne, Radiohead, Jonathan Coulton, Kristin Hersh, and Snoop Dogg, as well as Wikipedia and the White House.

These licenses are, obviously, copyright licenses. They depend upon a firm and reliable system of copyright for them to work. Thus CC could have no interest in "undermining" the very system the licenses depend upon -- copyright. Indeed, to the contrary, CC only aims to strengthen the objectives of copyright, by giving the creators a simpler way to exercise their rights.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-lessig/ascaps-attack-on-creative_b_641965.html

Where is the anti-capitalist ideology?

The claimed economic and social crisis means circumstances are ripe for a bold ideological response, yet it hasn't emerged

by Antony Lerman

Pro-communist protests such as this one at the Sorbonne University in 1968 were once common, but where is today's movement for change? Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Just as the heatwave ended and the sun went in, the government announced that "the deepest recession in Britain's post-war history was even more severe than previously feared". For some people this news may trigger further rounds of intense discussion about what the economic statistics mean and what the prospects are for a sustained recovery.

Very important, I'm sure. But for most of us, I guess – especially if, like me, your grasp of economic theory struggles to get beyond the 1960s Tory prime minister Lord Home's reliance on matchsticks – our thoughts turn to the human cost, the devastating impact on people's lives, whether for us personally, for already disadvantaged groups, the country as a whole, developing nations, or the more than 2 billion people already living on less than $2 per day.

Predictions about the consequences of the deficit-reduction measures proposed are already dire. And for many millions, the debilitating impact of financial retrenchment is a reality today. Commentators of all political stripes are falling over each other to tell us that state social programmes will collapse. Unemployment will rise massively. Millions will be impoverished. Health services will be curtailed, pensions reduced, infrastructure projects cut, educational opportunities diminished. Worldwide living standards will deteriorate. And things won't get better any time soon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/13/anti-capitalist-ideology-economic-crisis

'60s anti-war rocker Tuli Kupferberg dies in NYC

By FRANK ELTMAN

Tuli Kupferberg, a founding member of the underground rock group and staple of 1960s anti-war protests, the Fugs, has died.

Kupferberg, who had suffered strokes in the past year, died Monday in a Manhattan hospital, said his friend and bandmate Ed Sanders. He was 86.

"I think he will be remembered as a unique American songwriter," Sanders told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home in Woodstock, N.Y. "Tuli had an uncanny ability to shape nuanced lyrics."

Sanders, who is writing a new memoir about the Fugs, said he visited his friend in the hospital on Thursday. Although Kupferberg was clearly ailing, he leaned into his ear and sang him the lyrics to a Fugs classic, "Morning, Morning," Sanders said.

"And then I said, `goodbye,'" he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100713/ap_en_mu/us_obit_kupferberg

Holocaust survivors dance to I Will Survive at Auschwitz

Catholicism, Homosexuality, Hate Speech, and … Incompetence.

Kenneth Howell, an adjunct professor of religion at the University of Illinois, has been let go after sending his students an email about Catholic moral theories of homosexuality that one student described as "hate speech."

Debate on the firing has proceeded along two lines of dispute — firstly whether Howell's perceived bigotry places him outside the protections of academic freedom, and secondly whether the concept of academic freedom can even be properly applied to an adjunct faculty member with a semester-by-semester contract.

But I don't want to talk about either of those issues today.

What I want to talk about is this defense of Howell's email, posted at National Review's "Phi Beta Cons" blog:

The university is making a conscious decision to enforce ignorance on its students. The university would rather see its students remain ignorant of one of the world's most common moral theories than have their delicate feelings damaged. This is not education; it's indoctrination in its purest form.

The charge that UI is "making a conscious decision to enforce ignorance" proceeds from the assumption that Howell is competent to teach moral philosophy.

At least, I hope it's an assumption. Because by the evidence of the email, Howell is utterly ignorant of the subject he was hired to teach:

• He badly bungles his discussion of utilitarianism, as when he asserts that any utilitarian would necessarily regard children and animals as capable of consenting to sex.

• Despite cautioning students against drawing conclusions about human sexual morality unless they "have done extensive research into homosexuality," he bases his own conclusions on a conversation with "a physician"  who told him that gay men "have been known to engage in certain types of actions for which their bodies are not fitted."

• He contends that "what lies behind the idea of sex change operations" is the belief "that we can use our bodies sexually in whatever ways we choose without regard to their actual structure and meaning."

This isn't serious philosophical or theological instruction. It's not a scholarly discussion of human sexuality. It's what we in the academy refer to as "talking out of your ass."

http://studentactivism.net/2010/07/12/catholicism-incompetence/

Exclusive Intifada Interview with Greta Berlin - Free Gaza Movement

By Elias F. Harb

Elias Harb interviews one of the leading voices in the movement to bring freedom to the people of Gaza.

Greta Berlin (France/US, English) has been an advocate for justice for the Palestinians since the early 60s. She is the mother of two Palestinian/American children whose father was born and raised in Safad, Palestine and is a 1948 refugee. She has an MFA in Theatre and a bachelor's in English and, when she's not working with the Palestinians, has spent the past 32 years teaching engineers and scientists how to design and deliver presentations. In 2003, she volunteered with the ISM, working in several villages in the occupied West bank as well as manning their media office, then returned to work again in 2003, 05 and 07.

She is one of the founders of the Free Gaza Movement and was on board the FREE GAZA, the first boat with internationals to reach this besieged strip of the Mediterranean in 41 years. She then helped run three more successful voyages to Gaza between October 22 and December 23, 2008 working on the land crew and media in Cyprus, sending more than 50 human rights workers to Gaza on board the DIGNITY. She is available to speak in Europe or the U.S.

In the pre-dawn hours of Monday, May 31, showing a terrifying disregard for human life, Israeli naval forces surrounded and boarded ships sailing to bring humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip. On the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara, Israeli commandos opened fire on civilian passengers, killing at least 9 passengers and wounding dozens more. The final death toll is yet to be determined.

Elias Harb interviews Greta Berlin Co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement

Elias Harb:Can you tell us what motivated you to the Palestinian Cause and the Free Gaza Movement and when was the movement founded?

Greta Berlin: I married a 1948 Palestinian refugee from Safad and have two Palestinian/American children. I've been part of justice for Palestine since 1967. Once you go and see what has happened to the Palestinians (I call them the final victims of WWII, because they have paid the price for what Europe did to the Jews), it is impossible to leave. I am no longer married, my children are grown, I am still working for justice.

The movement was founded in September/October 2006. A group of us were trying to figure out how to bring to the attention of the world what was happening in Gaza. One of the people working for justice for Palestine, Michael Shaik, emailed us and said, "OK. I have been thinking about this for a long time but am aware that I'm better at ideas than practicalities, so I'll outline what I'd envisaged and let the rest of you do the sanity check. My plan was this: - Charter a big boat to sail from New York. Make it clear that its purpose is to "Break the Siege of Gaza" (that can be the slogan of the campaign). It is very important that the boat have a big send off with speeches by important people that will get it as much publicity as possible." That kernel of an idea is what started the movement (of course, in a much smaller set of boats).

EH: How many times have the Free Gaza movement tried to break the Israeli siege and have you succeeded in getting any boasts into Gaza so far?

GB: The Freedom Flotilla was our 9^th voyage. We successfully entered Gaza five times. This attempt was the fourth time we were stopped. If you look on our website under http://www.freegaza.org/en/boat-trips/passenger-lists, you will find the stories and passengers there.

EH: Israel declares that it had the legal right to confront the flotilla from reaching Gaza. Do you think there is any justification in that stance??

GB: Israel has no right to stop us under international law UNLESS it wants to admit that it occupies Gaza. Since Israel says it no longer occupies Gaza and Gaza is free, they have no right to stop us. In addition, the blockade is collective punishment against a civilian population that is WAY out of line. International law, Amnesty International and the International Red Cross have all said the same thing. Israel's blockade is illegal. The illegal entity in the neighborhood is Israel, not us.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Exclusive-Intifada-Intervi-by-Elias-F-Harb-100714-234.html

'A Chart That Screams, "Extend Unemployment Benefits!" '

 

 

You'll have to excuse me for simply stealing Daniel Indiviglio's headline for this chart, but it's really the right way to introduce it:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/07/a_chart_that_screams_extend_un.html

Boom Times for Millionaires

Wealth accumulation among the richest North Americans (excluding Mexico) grew in 2009, with millionaires in the U.S. and Canada enjoying a 15% increase in their total worth. Collectively, these millionaires possessed $4.6 trillion, according to a report from the Boston Consulting Group.

http://www.allgov.com/Where_is_the_Money_Going/ViewNews/Boom_Times_for_Millionaires_100712

A Fine Line Between Reporter and Publicist.

Last night, The Washington Post posted a very important story:

Gingrich says he's considering presidential run

In other news, I, too, am considering a presidential run.

Newt Gingrich's Walter Mitty campaign fantasies are, well, just that. The former Speaker pretends to "consider" tossing his hat in the ring whenever he's got a book to sell. These trial balloons are, as a wise man once wrote, "as perennial as the grass."

In its defense, The Post, which ran an AP story, isn't the only offender. Outlets of all stripes get taken in.

 

http://instaputz.blogspot.com/2010/07/fine-line-between-reporter-and.html

The Root of Economic Fragility and Political Anger

Missing from almost all discussion of America's dizzying rate of unemployment is the brute fact that hourly wages of people with jobs have been dropping, adjusted for inflation. Average weekly earnings rose a bit this spring only because the typical worker put in more hours, but June's decline in average hours pushed weekly paychecks down at an annualized rate of 4.5 percent.

In other words, Americans are keeping their jobs or finding new ones only by accepting lower wages.

Meanwhile, a much smaller group of Americans' earnings are back in the stratosphere: Wall Street traders and executives, hedge-fund and private-equity fund managers, and top corporate executives. As hiring has picked up on the Street, fat salaries are reappearing. Richard Stein, president of Global Sage, an executive search firm, tells the New York Times corporate clients have offered compensation packages of more than $1 million annually to a dozen candidates in just the last few weeks.

We're back to the same ominous trend as before the Great Recession: a larger and larger share of total income going to the very top while the vast middle class continues to lose ground.

And as long as this trend continues, we can't get out of the shadow of the Great Recession.

http://robertreich.org/post/805148061/the-root-of-economic-fragility-and-political-anger

Just a crutch