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Words I Don’t Use – Memorial Day 2012

I am the father of three and would probably be defined by most people as a liberal (although I generally reject that term these days), yet our eldest child wants to be an officer in the U.S. Navy.  He knows … Continue reading

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It’s not the song, Stupid, it’s the right.

No doubt, the U.S. Pirate Party will be in a caffeinated kerfuffle over yesterday’s upholding by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston of the $675,000 fine being levied at Joel Tenenbaum for illegally downloading and sharing 30 songs … Continue reading

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If you hate Citizens United, think twice about that anti-SOPA campaign.

In late January, Justice Scalia drew the ire of Democrats and civil libertarians when he said the following about the flood of soft-money, political ads flowing from the 2010 decision in Citizens United v FEC:  “I don’t care who is … Continue reading

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Tilting at Wordmills

This morning, a friend sent me a message asking if anonymize is the verb form of anonymous; and my first impulse was to say that no such verb exists, other than perhaps some corporate neologism.  A quick check on the … Continue reading

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Anti-Piracy Battle Reveals Dysfunctional Thinking

    So, last week dealt a few blows to supporters of new anti-piracy legislation, and today, websites around the world, including some biggies, have gone dark in protest of anti-piracy legislation.  The guts of SOPA have been eviscerated to … Continue reading

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Unintelligent by Design

Since the State of Missouri decided to take up this hogwash this week, I thought I’d re-post an old piece of mine on the subject. There is nothing intelligent about the so-called Theory of Intelligent Design.  The fact that this … Continue reading

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Glad Tidings and Misgivings

I’m an atheist from a Jewish family and have celebrated Christmas my entire life.  In my childhood home, Hannukkah meant watching my mother search for our menorah for eight days while the Christmas tree gleamed in the living room and … Continue reading

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Citizen Journalism – The Burden is on the Reader

Yesterday, I was listening to a discussion with Tom Brokaw broadcast on NPR from The Commonwealth Club.  Asked his opinion of news and information in the digital age, the veteran journalist said that he believes the variety of available content … Continue reading

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Beware “The Man” in Boy’s Clothing

Another View of the Battle Over IP legislation. It is no overstatement to say that we live in volatile times bordering on revolutionary.  It is only natural, therefore, to revere whatever is new, young, and iconoclastic, particularly when a vanguard … Continue reading

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Opinion Piece on Copyright Legislation

12/2/11 It isn’t often that the needs of independent artists are aligned with those of men and women in the military; but, as someone who is directly concerned with both, I urge my colleagues in the creative community as well … Continue reading

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