bookmark_borderSOPA/PIPA continued

Wow. Was that awesome or what? The sheer number of websites that went dark for the entire day. The Big Name Websites that did the same. Wow.

Wikipedia’s English site was completely dark. Not just the front page with a ‘click here to continue’ link. But blocked from one end to the other.

Craigslist, Reddit – dark
Webcomics – available but with a huge notice
Google – available but with censored out logo
Wired – censored

The list goes on.

But it is far from finished. Senators and Congress folk woke up this morning and realized this was serious. Many backed out and said they no longer support either bill. Even many of the sponsors of the bill pulled out. Some tried to compromise. Some tried to wave it off. Most scratched their heads and wondered what the big deal was about. But both bills are still very much alive. One will still be voted on January 24th although it is not expected to go further.

Want to do more?

Learn about it.

There has to be better ways to go after the truly guilty without also taking down the innocent. There are ways to find out the IP addresses of people who upload books and music illegally. There are ways to find the IP addresses of people who download them. With that information, they can be tracked down and stopped. Just the other day a writer got the address and phone number of a woman in Argentina who is uploading hundreds of lesbian fiction. She wants authors to contact her and demand she stop. She also posted a cool pseudo phone conversation that I think we all wish were true. So if this one author can find this information, why the hell can’t the government??!!

Okay, rolling off soapbox now. Stay tuned for more information as the saga continues.

bookmark_borderSOPA/PIPA

UPDATE: as soon as I posted this, I found a growing list of sites that are going dark on Jan. 18th. Sopastrike.com
If this site were bigger, I’d add it officially to the list. Yes, my sites will be going dark for 24hrs.

Below is a modified version of something I posted over at Lesbian Fiction Forum.

I’ve heard bits and pieces about this but not enough to understand it. So I’ve decided to do some research. Here’s what I’ve found so far:

(SOPA is the House version and PIPA (Protect Internet Providers Act) is the Senate version. Most of what I found online was about SOPA and noted that PIPA is essentially the same thing. I’m still looking into PIPA so what I have below is specific to SOPA.)

On the surface, stopping online piracy is a good thing. We authors are fighting this all the time. I was thinking this act is a good thing. But it’s not.

Basically, what SOPA will do is this, using this site as an example:

Let’s say I want to tell you of my love of chestnut trees. I go to Wikimedia Commons and use an image that is labeled as such that I can use it. However, the person who uploaded that image did not have the proper right to do so. The original photographer (or owner of the tree) sees the image on Wikimedia Commons. Now, under SOPA, that photographer can shut down not only Wikimedia, but for anyone and everyone who downloaded that image because by law, the webhost would have to release every IP address of anyone who downloaded it. Including me. They can then shut down my site AND have access to all of YOUR IP addresses as well. AND unless my webhost and Wikimedia Commons webhost could show that they actively tried to censor us, THEY would be punished.

Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but it makes me concerned for the fringe groups such as LGBT. They could shut down as many sites as they want. All they have to do is find one bit of copyright infringement. Not only could they shut down the sites, but also the IP addresses of everyone who visited.

I looked for some stuff of SOPA in plain English. I found a big graphic that helped me to understand it better:
http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/ … ternet.png

Electronic Frontier Foundation has several letters from some big groups against SOPA as well as articles that talk about the bill:
https://www.eff.org/search/site/SOPA

January 18th is Blackout Day. Many sites will be putting up a censorship marker for 12-24hrs or more to show what would happen if SOPA passes. These include Wikipedia (maybe?), Reddit, Icanhazcheezeburger (LOL cats), and several others. The list is growing as the news of it expands.
http://techland.time.com/2012/01/12/sop … ay-follow/

The irony of it all, is the original introducer of SOPA, Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, would be guilty under his own proposed laws and his own sites would be shut down. (although it is a reach since the image is from an archived version of his site)

While I think it is great that congress is trying to do something, I think they have no fucking clue or are getting bad advice. Most sites I read today said a lot of campaign money and donations to the introducers of these bills come from the Big Companies who want to shut down any and all piracy (like the record and movie companies).

And it’s not just that they’d shut them down. But they block the DNS of that website. Every website name is assigned one when that domain name is registered. If my webhost shut me down, I could simply move to another site with the same name. Not so with this. I would have to start over with a new website name. And trust me, real piracy sites are prepared for this and it would just be a blip for them. They’d just move on and restart.

Trust me, online piracy is something all writers know about. I’m not a big enough name that any of my stuff has been pirated but I know people who have. Piracy is NOT “sharing” and it is not “good for the writer”. It is taking money out of the pockets of the writer and their publisher, plain and simple. Want to help me and other writers? Promote our work by encouraging your friends to buy the book. “Sharing” with hundreds of online users is piracy.

But back to SOPA. This isn’t the way to do it. This is NOT how piracy should be stopped. It is akin to killing the dog to get rid of the fleas. They’re just going to go to another dog. And another. And another. And…

Contact your congress person. Tell him/her to not support it.
http://americancensorship.org/ – website with more (and better) information
http://americancensorship.org/infographic.html – good infographic
http://my.americancensorship.org/ – for stuff happening in your state/region

bookmark_border“Over It”

Sometimes, I read an article and am moved. Moved internally, externally, mentally, physically. Moved to tears, to action, to anger, to love, to reach out and hug someone.

I found such an article today. It is a tough article with just enough sarcasm to keep it real. At least for me.

It is about rape and the ‘culture’ around it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-ensler/over-it_b_1089013.html

Eve Ensler: Over It

I am over people not understanding that rape is not a joke and I am over being told I don’t have a sense of humor, and women don’t have a sense of humor, when most women I know (and I know a lot) are really fucking funny. We just don’t think that uninvited penises up our anus, or our vagina is a laugh riot.

bookmark_borderPostal Service

I just read an interesting article about an interesting division of the USPS.

Poor Penmanship Spells Job Security for Post Office’s Scribble Specialists

It describes how, even though machines have greatly advanced their ability to read handwriting, there are still many letters that get bumped out by the machines because it can’t read them. 5% is a good drop rate but it equaled (according to the article) 714,085,866 letters last year.

But the point I want to make is not exactly related to the article. It is related to the comments. And here is my point:

NO TAX DOLLARS GO INTO THE POSTAL SERVICE

Let me repeat that.

NO TAX DOLLARS GO INTO THE POSTAL SERVICE

The money you pay the IRS, not a penny of it goes to the post office. Their entire budget is dependent on the mail they deliver. (however, there may be some miniscule amount that is spent on govmint employees who must interact with the USPS in some way) The current problem as I see it, is the Govmint required them to make a huge ass payroll payment. Which they kinda did. The payment was so huge, it is an overpayment. The post office is asking the govmint to give them a break and not make the next installment. The problem though, is that “income” is counted in the US budget. So removing that huge chunk from the budget would make it short, although it’s not really. Add into that the far too many unions who are not exactly working together very well and the many employees within those unions who are still working without a contract (such as rural carriers) for several years now.

So, bitch all you want about how money is being wasted on sending poorly addressed letters at the same price as perfectly written ones (I kinda agree with you on that one) but, please, show your intelligence and stop with the “my tax money pays for that?” shit. ‘Cause it ain’t. Your tax money goes to more important things. Like a 10 year war in two countries, one of which we never should have invaded in the first place.

[disclaimer: my darlin’ is a non-union rural carrier]

bookmark_borderDoes It Hurt, Vick?

I hate Micheal Vick. I hate who he is and I hate the NFL for letting him back in. I hate the money he is paid. I felt satisfaction at knowing he was hurt during last week’s game as well as yesterday’s. And I hate that feeling. Hatred is not a good thing, it does nothing to further along neither myself nor my species.

But I still feel it.

I turned to Lorna yesterday (we didn’t see the game, just a report of it) and said “Ya know, he ought to be put down if he can’t play, right?”

No one can be involved in dog fighting business for SIX YEARS and be “cured” like he claims to be. How many dogs did he brutally put down (either with his own hands or, at the least, knew about and condoned) for not being able to fight? How many dogs were wounded? How many unagented, unpaid dogs suffered through the fights only to die through yet more suffering? The humans didn’t just inject them, they beat them, tortured them to death.

And yet, the survivors of that racket live on. I believe only four of those dogs had to be humanely euthanized. The others live on either in real forever homes or at that dog sanctuary.

Which species came out ahead of this? Did we, the humans? I don’t think so. Just thinking of him makes me mad. Just thinking of the alleged Humane Society of U.S. and their support of him makes me madder. The NFL for desiring money over conscious. No, it is the dogs that came out ahead. They survived something most of us could not. They came out of it still loving life and, yes, even humans. Would I be able to do that? No, I would not. My reaction toward Vick even after all this time shows the truth.

So, Vick, next time you limp to the sidelines, I hope you think of those dogs you killed. I hope you see the irony of this and I hope you wince. I hope, really hope, that you feel that first inkling of true shame for what you did.

bookmark_borderOn the Fringe

Not that long ago, but before the ADA was thought of, womyn’s groups, festivals, gatherings, whatever were all inclusive almost to a fault. No perfumes, no chemicals; interpreters for the deaf, readers for the blind, wheelchair accessible everything; people of all skin colors, hair colors, and belief sets were welcome. No one was left out. Well, except for perfume wearing racist anti-cripple people.

Now, long after the ADA is law, accessibility and inclusivity is gone. Gay bars? In basements or up stairs. Lesbian dances? In a really cool place up stairs. Womyn monthly dinners? Up stairs. Anyone interesting in moving the venue or making the place accessible? Nope. “Gee, you’re right. Someone ought to get right on that.”

So, again, Lorna and I won’t be going to the Women’s Dance this month. Nor will we go to the Lesbian/Gay Prom. Or the monthly dinner. The LGBT community has a growing case of NIMBY syndrome. (not in my back yard)

bookmark_borderOn Dryers and Cords

Go figure. The first post I have in forever and it’s a rant. Typical.

We got a new washer/dryer just under 2 yrs ago. We got the extended warranty through Lowe’s. When we got it, the cashier happily told us we did not need to keep the receipt for the warranty as Lowe’s keeps it on file under our phone number. “Yay!” I thought, one less thing to keep track of. But I filed it anyway ’cause, you know, stuff happens.

Just under a year, stuff happened. The washer door wouldn’t close. Since it was not a year, we had to go through Samsung which was fine. I pulled out the file with the receipts and stuff to have on hand for all the model and serial number conversations I had over the phone. The washer was fixed and all was well.

Two weeks ago or so, the dryer stopped heating. We checked the vent, the hose, and Ryan (the nephew) even got down on the floor and looked up the exit hole on the dryer itself. Clear. The dryer spins, runs, all the stuff it is supposed to except heat. Lorna tried calling Lowe’s customer service but for some reason she got nowhere. She hates that kind of stuff anyway so I said I would do it. I finally go around to it and this is when the fun started.

We need that receipt after all. We have practically turned this house upside down and I can’t find the file. I know it is the entire folder missing because I can’t even find the manuals. And I always keep the manuals (although they are getting really useless). Problem is, we moved stuff from the living room into the Rose Room/office. Stuff got put here and there as we figure out where stuff is going. You know, stuff. Stacks of stuff. Stuff in bins, stuff in boxes, stuff in piles.

I told the nice guy (he really was nice) what we were told and how we thought the system worked. He said no, that we need that receipt no matter what. That even if we had called in and registered the extended warranty (which we didn’t know we needed to do), I would still need the receipt. He put a search request in for the time frame we think we bought it and if they find the electronic copy, they send it to me via email.

Meanwhile, no dryer. I decided we’ll just call some local appliance place. Lorna had to take Ryan back, Jo was not well, I had to stay home, and life went on. I just today got around to remembering the dryer was dead. Looked it up online for possible causes (how many others have this happen after just 2 yrs?) and I have been kicking myself ever since.

In college I had a job working for a video arcade company. One of my jobs when we did the rounds was to check the non-working machines. Check cord to see if it is plugged in. If so, then unplug the machine, wait a minute or so, then plug it back in. 90% of the time that “fixed” them.

The first thing to do with an electronic-controlled appliance? Unplug it, wait a minute, and plug back it. It resets the electronics.

Now, we’ve had a lot of power blips lately. Anywhere from less than a minute to over an hour. But it is the actual unplugging that works. And it did. Dryer now heats.

I am kicking myself like mad. I SHOULD have thought of that! It is always the first thing I do when anything is broken! But I was thinking mechanical (heating element) vs electronic.

bookmark_borderSarcasm – Gotta Love It

And I do! Oh how I love it. And irony too. Oh, and while we’re at it, I enjoy laughing. A lot.

Which is why I like this article titled “A link between climate change and Joplin tornadoes? Never!“.

Caution: It is vitally important not to make connections. When you see pictures of rubble like this week’s shots from Joplin, Mo., you should not wonder: Is this somehow related to the tornado outbreak three weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, Ala., or the enormous outbreak a couple of weeks before that (which, together, comprised the most active April for tornadoes in U.S. history). No, that doesn’t mean a thing.

It is far better to think of these as isolated, unpredictable, discrete events. It is not advisable to try to connect them in your mind with, say, the fires burning across Texas — fires that have burned more of America at this point this year than any wildfires have in previous years. Texas, and adjoining parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico, are drier than they’ve ever been — the drought is worse than that of the Dust Bowl. But do not wonder if they’re somehow connected.

If you did wonder, you see, you would also have to wonder about whether this year’s record snowfalls and rainfalls across the Midwest — resulting in record flooding along the Mississippi — could somehow be related. And then you might find your thoughts wandering to, oh, global warming, and to the fact that climatologists have been predicting for years that as we flood the atmosphere with carbon we will also start both drying and flooding the planet, since warm air holds more water vapor than cold air.

(…)

It’s very important to stay calm. If you got upset about any of this, you might forget how important it is not to disrupt the record profits of our fossil fuel companies. If worst ever did come to worst, it’s reassuring to remember what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told the Environmental Protection Agency in a recent filing: that there’s no need to worry because “populations can acclimatize to warmer climates via a range of behavioral, physiological, and technological adaptations.” I’m pretty sure that’s what residents are telling themselves in Joplin today.

So yeah, I laughed. But I also wanted to cry. I think often about just what kind of world we are leaving for the kids. While we have professions in “social media”, they’ll have professions in “global clean up” and “how to make rafts out of credit cards”.

I personally know several people who go absolutely frothing at the mouth at the very notion of “global warming”. Each time we got yet another snow storm or the temps stayed below freezing for the second week, there they’d go ranting and raving about how if it is a “global warming”, why is it snowing outside?”. Heavy sigh.

Which reminds me of a joke/parable.

There’s this place that has flood watch out. Neighbors say do you need anything? Guy says no, God will provide.
Then it is a flood warning and they’re told to evacuate. Neighbors say come with us and guy says no, God will provide.
Water is lapping at his porch and the local police, along with the Nat’l Guard, offer him a ride in their Hummer. No, the guy says, God will provide.
Water is now up to the second floor and a rescue boat comes by but, that’s right, the guy says God will provide.
The flood is now up to his roof and the guy clings to the chimney. Helicopter lowers a rescuer but, nope, God will provide.
The guy drowns and he’s standing in Heaven and he says God, why didn’t you provide?
God says “I did, you idiot! I sent your neighbors twice then a Hummer, a boat, and a helicopter!”

So Gaia and God have been trying to tell us we’re about to drown (metaphorically speaking. maybe) yet, we just ignore them.

bookmark_borderThe Value of Proofreading

I have noticed this more and more lately and it is quite disturbing. Usually, it is glaring errors in the article itself but now I’m seeing it in headlines. And not just headlines from small magazines and the like. This one is from CBS News.

A vane Osama bin Laden shown in new videos
CBS News – Bob Orr

(the sad source)

In case you missed it:

Noun
vane (plural vanes)
– (countable) A weather vane.
– Any of several usually relatively thin, rigid, flat, or sometimes curved surfaces radially mounted along an axis, as a blade in a turbine or a sail on a windmill, that is turned by or used to turn a fluid.
– (ornithology) The flattened, web-like part of a feather, consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the shaft.
– A sight on a sextant or compass.
– One of the metal guidance or stabilizing fins attached to the tail of a bomb or other missile.

and

Adjective
vain (comparative vainer or more vain, superlative vainest or most vain)
– overly proud of oneself, especially when concerning appearance
– having very little substance
– effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.

I’m betting my 11 yr old niece (who wants to grow up to be a writer) wouldn’t mix up the words. And I’m betting that if she did, she would see it on the first read through. Real journalists don’t make those kind of mistakes. Real news editors wouldn’t let it go past their desk. But I’m thinking that both species are endangered. Journalism just isn’t what it used to be.

I know it may seem trivial, but it’s not. This was a major news source (CBS News) and a big headline. I knew at a simple glance that it wasn’t right. Had it been Fox News, I would not have been surprised. But CBS? I expect more.

bookmark_borderWe Live in a Broken World

There’s no way to prove it, of course. All we have is circumstantial evidence and personal observation.

Here’s one I offer to you:

I saw someone at the airport the other day who really caught my eye.

Her beautiful, long blond hair was braided back a la Bo Derek in the movie “10” (or for the younger set, Christina Aguilera during her “Xtina” phase). Her lips were pink and shiny from the gloss, and her earrings dangled playfully from her lobes.

You can tell she had been vacationing somewhere warm, because you could see her deep tan around her midriff thanks to the halter top and the tight sweatpants that rested just a little low on her waist. The icing on the cake? The word “Juicy” was written on her backside.

Yeah, that 8-year-old girl was something to see alright. … I hope her parents are proud. Their daughter was the sexiest girl in the terminal, and she’s not even in middle school yet.

That’s from an article titled “Parents, don’t let your little girls dress like tramps“. I knew from the title that the person being described was a child but how did you, just now, feel as you read it, not knowing the person’s age? About the same as Lorna, probably. Shocked? Disgusted? I hope so.

Abercrombie & Fitch came under fire this spring for introducing the “Ashley,” a push-up bra for girls who normally are too young to have anything to push up. Originally it was marketed for girls as young as 7, but after public outcry, it raised its intended audience to the wise old age of 12. I wonder how do people initiate a conversation in the office about the undeveloped chest of elementary school girls without someone nearby thinking they’re pedophiles?

What kind of PowerPoint presentation was shown to the Abercrombie executives that persuaded them to green light such a product?

That there was a demand to make little girls hot?

I mean, that is the purpose of a push-up bra, right? To enhance sex appeal by lifting up, pushing together and basically showcasing the wearer’s breasts. Now, thanks to AF Kids, girls don’t have to wait until high school to feel self-conscious about their, uhm, girls. They can start almost as soon as they’re potty trained. Maybe this fall the retailer should consider keeping a plastic surgeon on site for free consultations.

(…)

What adult who wants a daughter to grow up with high self-esteem would even consider purchasing such items? What parent is looking at their sweet, little girl thinking, “She would be perfect if she just had a little bit more up top.”

And then I remember the little girl at the airport. And the girls we’ve all seen at the mall. And the kiddie beauty pageants.

And then I realize as creepy as it is to think a store like Abercrombie is offering something like the “Ashley”, the fact remains that sex only sells because people are buying it. No successful retailer would consider introducing an item like a padded bikini top for kindergarteners if they didn’t think people would buy it.

If they didn’t think parents would buy it, which begs the question: What in the hell is wrong with us?

It’s easy to blast companies for introducing the sexy wear, but our ire really should be directed at the parents who think low rise jeans for a second grader is cute. They are the ones who are spending the money to fuel this budding trend. They are the ones who are suppose to decide what’s appropriate for their young children to wear, not executives looking to brew up controversy or turn a profit.

(…)

I don’t care how popular Lil’ Wayne is, my son knows I would break both of his legs long before I would allow him to walk out of the house with his pants falling off his butt. Such a stance doesn’t always makes me popular — and the house does get tense from time to time — but I’m his father, not his friend.

Friends bow to peer pressure. Parents say, “No, and that’s the end of it.”

(…)

In 2007, the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls issued a report linking early sexualization with three of the most common mental-health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression. There’s nothing inherently wrong with parents wanting to appease their daughters by buying them the latest fashions. But is getting cool points today worth the harm dressing little girls like prostitutes could cause tomorrow?

A line needs to be drawn, but not by Abercrombie. Not by Britney Spears. And not by these little girls who don’t know better and desperately need their parents to be parents and not 40-year-old BFFs.

We live in a broken world when girls are getting push-up bras at at 7, even at 12, and there not be a huge gawdawful stink about it. But he’s right. Execs at these big stores wouldn’t be trying to sell these things if they didn’t think there were enough people to buy them. And enough means into the thousands, not hundreds. Parents may say “I don’t want my small-chested daughter to be teased”. Fine. But you are doing her more harm by saying her chest is worthy of teasing. You should instead be telling her of how hard it is for big-chested girls. No one knows their eye color (trust me on this). Isn’t it better to just celebrate the body she has instead of supplementing it before she’s 16?