Link Me Up, Scotty - All Politics, All the Time Edition

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

An examination of the honesty of Hillary Clinton. This is an opinion piece, and should be treated as such, but the author's opinion is better informed than most. Plus there's the fact that PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize winning fact checking organization, backs up her assertions. Something to think about.
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A note about readers and other consumers of creative artistry who think their entertainment should be "free." The money quote:
Besides, there’s this marvelous thing called a public library. You can go there and check out books, movies, and music for free! The best part is the library already paid for these things! And because it’s a loan which you will then return, it’s not stealing. Also, the library paid for these things out of a portion of the taxes you give to your community. So not checking out books from your library is like paying for Netflix and never using it.
Because taking content you haven't paid for - whether it's a book, a song, whatever - is stealing. 

H/T Debbie the Librarian
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This story about a professional cowboy who roped an escaping thief tickled my funny-bone.

H/T Patti
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Dachshund Vivian gets to be the size she thinks she is. So much win, and the photographer is trying to raise money for a picture book about Vivian.
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A blog entry from my favorite sarcastic attorneys about why you're wrong about the First Amendment. One of the best college courses I ever took was a college level civics class at the University of Denver. I learned an amazing amount about our government, how it works, the purpose of administrative law, common law, and yes, how the Bill of Rights affects our daily lives. And I love the First Amendment enough that I followed up with a Great Courses class on the First Amendment that relied heavily on case law. That doesn't make me an expert, but as my friend John notes, "I am not a lawyer but I have played one in my mind."
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Are you a bone marrow donor? I registered years and years ago, but did so again to make sure they know where to find me if I'm a match. The great thing about bone marrow donation is that not only may it save a life, but it'll grow back, so you won't even miss it!
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On America's mistrust of Science. I've always enjoyed Atul Gawande, and he's just one more reason why.
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I loved reading about the Badass Librarians of Timbuktu. Abdel Kader Haidara, you're a credit to your profession and your religion. 

H/T Juan
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Carrie Fisher has a new advice column with The Guardian. I can't wait to read this. 
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Author Jim Hines offers facts and opinions about the tragedy in Orlando. Like the man said, you don't get to pick your own facts, folks. And if one more person says that Orlando's dead and injured and their families "are in their prayers" while simultaneously doing exactly jack shit to prevent these types of occurrences, I believe I'll take their eye out with a spork.
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Mr. Rogers, on tragedy and death.



2 comments:

Unknown said...

With respect, while I agree one should pay for content one consumes--and, in fact, that it's unethical not to do so--it is not stealing. It's copyright infringement, and there are good moral and legal reasons to treat them separately.

The primary difference, to me, is that when one steals a book the owner of that book is deprived of something they rightly have. When one makes an unauthorized copy of that book, the worst case is that you're depriving someone of the profit they may have obtained if you bought the book instead. Which, incidentally, is exactly the same as buying a used book from an author's compensation point of view. While still unethical or dishonest, it's not theft -- and the idea that copyright infringement is theft is used far too often to try and suppress ethical and beneficial behaviors that involve copying material (such as using a picture of a software product box in order to review that software).

Janiece said...

Welcome, Darren.

I still think that taking an eBook from a site specifically designed to share copyrighted material without compensation to the author is stealing from a moral perspective. In this case, you're depriving the author of something that should rightfully be theirs, in this case, royalties on the copyrighted work. Saying they don't legally "own" that money until it's paid is, I believe, a circular argument deployed by attorneys in an effort to keep their own oxs from being gored.

I can't speak to the legal issues associated with copyright infringement, as I'm not an attorney and own no copyrighted material.