OK, now I’m pissed
The Librarian of Congress (did’ja know about him?) has upheld a decision to let the RIAA collect fees from Internet broadcasters – the vast majority of whom make no profit and play no ads. One of my favorites, Soma FM, has shut down rather than pay an estimated $176,541 in annual royalties. Visit SaveInternetRadio.org to learn more, and send a fax to your representatives saying how silly this is.
Author: Ruby Sinreich
From the Well-Duh Dept.
Reuters reports on a study by Redefining Progress that says that humans are depleting the earth’s resources faster than they can be regenerated. We are headed toward “ecological bankruptcy.” You need a fancy degree and a big grant to figure that out?
“Thinking more is always good”
So this devout Christian woman was concerned to learn that a friend of hers was getting high. Instead of comdemning her like a good Christian (Jesus would do that, right?), she decided to research the facts on marijuana and try it herself. “I was very surprised that I wasn’t very different than I was before,” she said. “I believe it made me think more, and thinking more is always good.” So the Good Samaritan started this group, Christians for Cannabis. From their site:
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. Isaiah 10:1-2
Give surveillance a red light!
The Chapel Hill Town Council has made several decisions degrading civil liberties recently. (See my entry on panhandling from June 12th, and this story on the Chapel Hill Herald.) They voted to approve red light enforcement via video cameras run by a private company that gives 30% of the proceeds to the Town. In addition to the fact that running red lights is on the bottom of my list of What’s Wrong in Chapel Hill, having a private company do law enforcement sets an incredibly dangerous precent and inserts a profit motive into public safety. What’s next? Perhaps we could hire a management consulting company to do the Town Council’s job.
You can do something about this local issue! Visit this new website www.stopthecameras.org and sign a petition at one of these local businesses: J & J’s Deli at Timberlyne, Johnny T-Shirts on Franklin Street, Lost City Music & Video on Rosemary St., & HELL a bar on Rosemary St. Also, you can e-mail the Town Council and let them know what you think of this.
Strange bedfellows indeed
The Washington Post reports that the Bush administration’s Conservative Christian appointees to the United Nations are working with so-called “Axis of Evil” nations to obstruct family planning, children’s rights, and AIDS funding.
The alliance of conservative Islamic states and Christian organizations has placed the Bush administration in the awkward position of siding with some of its most reviled adversaries — including Iraq and Iran — in a cultural skirmish against its closest European allies, which broadly support expanding sexual and political rights.
For the child rights perspective, visit the NGO Committee on UNICEF. They publish On the Record, a newsletter by and for children lobbying for better treatment by the U.N.
We’re doomed to reapeat it…
Bruce Shapiro writes in Salon: Restoring the imperial presidency that the current administration rivals Nixon’s in the lack of openness and accountability. This photo shows Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld in 1975 as they advise President Ford to veto the Freedom of Information Act (a post-Watergate reform measure). He did, but congress overrode it. Ashcroft is now following in their footsteps by fighting all FOIA requests.
I’m still trying to comprehend this.
CBS News resports that someone, um, “accidentally found” this disk with Karl Rove’s insider GOP analysis for upcoming elections. In addition to the many interesting insights contained in the presentation, the fact that government employees were doing this electoral work on the clock should be a serious issue. (No doubt the media will forget it promptly.) Download the PowerPoint presentation (1 MB).
Gee, and I thought Christianity was about LOVE.
NYTimes: Baptist Pastor Attacks Islam
Rev. Vines called Muhammad a “demon-possessed pedophile”… “Allah is not Jehovah. Jehovah’s not going to turn you into a terrorist that will try to bomb people and take the lives of thousands and thousands of people.”
…
President Bush spoke by satellite to this week’s Southern Baptist meeting, praising the group as the “earliest champions of religious tolerance and freedom.” There was no indication in his remarks that he was aware of what Mr. Vines had said about Islam the evening before.
BZZT! Wrong answer.
Thanks for playing, Catholic Clergy. Your consolation prize: an all-expenses-paid vacation in the monastery where you won’t be near TOO many children…
N.Y.Times: Bishops Adopt Stricter Abuse Policy
When pressed on why the bishops were not including a requirement for laicization, Cardinal McCarrick said that many abuse cases occurred years ago and that the priests who committed the abuse are now in their 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.Keeping them in a protective setting and preventing them from ever working as a priest was the best solution, Cardinal McCarrick said. “That’s a pretty bad punishment and it protects the people,” he said.
Other bishops agreed with the change. “They cannot be thrown out of society,” said Bishop David E. Foley of Birmingham, Ala., “because that would be irresponsible.”
Yeah, now ruining children’s lives – that’s REAL responsible.
Free the residents!
The New York Times reports today that starting next year hospitals will not be able to over work medical residents AS MUCH. “They will limit the workweek to 80 hours, require at least 10 hours of rest between shifts, restrict duty to no more than 24 hours at a time and restrict work outside the hospital.” Remind me not to get sick any time soon.