Please link to this blog post and send it out to everyone you know! This is for all of the people who either believe that Michael molested children or “aren’t sure” about it. I won’t voice my opinion on it, I’ll let you watch the documentary yourself and make the judgment for yourself. Again, make this documentary VIRAL!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_v._Jackson
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
Paul Newman honored by House of Representatives but Michael Jackson is refused because “it is not necessary?”
Yes folks, it’s true. They’ve got nothing.
You were a multi-generational genius who brought joy to people across the world. You will be truly missed by millions. Rest in peace.
…he might be more cooperative. According to a recent article in Time, all it took to get one terrorist talking was a few sugar-free cookies.
The most successful interrogation of an Al-Qaeda operative by U.S. officials required no sleep deprivation, no slapping or “walling” and no waterboarding. All it took to soften up Abu Jandal, who had been closer to Osama bin Laden than any other terrorist ever captured, was a handful of sugar-free cookies
You can read the entire article here
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/30978215#30978215
A 38 year old white mother, Bonnie Sweeten, lied to police that she and her daughter had been rear ended and abducted by two black men, then stuffed in the back of their Cadillac. The truth is the woman had withdrawn $12000 from various bank accounts, used false identification (her friend’s license) to purchase tickets to Florida and took her daughter to Disney World. The woman has been placed under arrest and is charged with with false reports and identity theft, both misdemeanors. Hopefully no black men were arrested or harassed because of the woman’s false story.
Police believe domestic issues between the woman and her husband might have been a motivator in this issue.
UPDATE:
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=134
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQYKXGj2JA4
Part #1
Part #2
Above are a few video clips from the video “Consuming Kids”. It is an amazing film on how marketers and advertisers (aided by deregulation and dilution of power of the FTC in the 1980s & under Reagan) are targeting children like pedophiles. They are extremely aggressive, taking on an amoral approach to converting infants into life long loyal consumers of their products (whether it is good or bad for them). Cartoons were made for the sole purpose of selling the toys. Even schools are now taking field trips to malls and stores, and having gyms sponsored by companies like Pizza Hut or Pepsi. Marketers have done brain scans on babies to see what stimulates them the most. They’ve even followed children into the bathroom or observed how they bathe all as a part of “research” on how to target them to sell products.
This video is extremely eye opening and disturbing. Marketers are only interested in their bottom line, and their actions have contributed to many problems we now face including childhood obesity, attention deficit disorder, social anxiety/depression, teen pregnancy, etc. I have only posted two parts out of seven in this post, you can see the rest on youtube or I may follow up by posting more in an update.
Every parent should watch this video.
When reporting upon the tragic and brutal death of a 15 year old kid in Chicago (the latest in a trend of great violence against youth in that city), CNN did something that America must change if we are to perfect our union. They classified the death as “minority” and from the “streets”. Who cares that the kid was a minority? Does that make his tragic death any less tragic? There should be no special classification of deaths based on race, ethnicity, gender or social economic status. A 15 year old kid is a 15 year old kid, and he/she matters!
The second thing CNN did is added the word “streets”, which implies some kind of gangster/drug trafficking connection. But upon reading about the story, we learn that this youth had no criminal background, showed no sign of being affiliated with gangs, and actually was a quiet, shy, nice kid who was just leaving his girlfriends house. What is “street” about that? Regardless of whether or not the murderers were “street”, when CNN uses that word and places it beneath the image of the victim, it implies that he too had some “street” (criminal) affiliation.
CNN’s story would read much stronger if it was titled “Kids dying weekly in Chicago“. That makes the story universally accessible. Every adult has been a kid, and many adults have kids. By saying “kids”, you make the connection that that could have been your son or your brother or your cousin or you!
CNN should have also just said “Chicago” not “Chicago’s streets”, as if implying some special ghetto gangster subcategory of Chicago that can be easily stereotyped and dismissed. No this is Chicago:
Oprah’s Chicago
President Obama’s Chicago
The White Sox’s and Cubs Chicago
Michael Jordan’s Chicago
The Chicago Frank Sinatra was singing about
The Chicago that is hoping to host the Olympic Games Chicago
Yes, in this Chicago, kids are dying weekly. How can any city who hopes to host the Olympic Games, tolerate such unimaginable youth violence? At least 1 kid a week has been killed since the beginning of this year, some as young as 10.
One good thing that CNN did report was how this story would be covered if that many children had died due to the swine flu. We have to wake up America. The lives of our kids matter greatly, and this violence they face should not be tolerated! It should be exposed for the true tragedy that it is, something that should cause grief to all Americans.
Kids dying weekly on Chicago’s streets
CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — The Rev. Michael Pfleger has ordered the American flag at St. Sabina Church hung upside-down — a historic sign of distress — to symbolize the growing death toll among the city’s youngsters.
Alex Arellano was beaten, burned and shot in the head last week. He was 15.So far this school year, 36 children and teens have been murdered — more than one a week — and Pfleger is among a chorus of weary Chicagoans who say the slayings aren’t getting the attention they deserve.
Had 36 kids died of swine flu this year, “there would be this great influx of resources that say, ‘Let’s stop this, lets deal with this,’ ” Pfleger said.
Instead, because violence is driving the epidemic, “We’re hiding it. We’re ignoring it. We’re denying the problems,” he said.
Pfleger is not the first Chicagoan to express the sentiment. In 2007, after the city recorded 31 murdered children during the school year, Arne Duncan, then-CEO of public schools, expressed similar disappointment.
Duncan, who now serves as President Obama’s secretary of education, said “all hell would break loose” if these killings took place in one of the metro area’s upscale enclaves.
“If that happened to one of Chicago’s wealthiest suburbs — and God forbid it ever did — if it was a child being shot dead every two weeks in Hinsdale or Winnetka or Barrington, do you think the status quo would remain? There’s no way it would,” he said.
Yet the problem has only worsened since Duncan publicly shared his observation. With about a month left in the school year, Chicago’s public schools have topped the number of students slain in the 2007-2008 and 2006-2007 school years — 27 and 31, respectively.
One of the most disturbing slayings came last week when the family of Alex Arellano found the 15-year-old’s body. He had been beaten, burned and shot in the head.
“It’s sad because they didn’t have to torture him that way. He never did nothing wrong, never. He was a good kid. It just gets to me. It’s crazy,” Alex’s friend Ashley Recendez said.
Indeed, police say the teen had no criminal record, no gang affiliation. His family says he was well-behaved and shy, almost fearful of strangers. They had recently taken him out of school to protect him after gang members threatened him.
He was last seen May 1, leaving his girlfriend’s house. His girlfriend told his family that several young men chased him and beat him with baseball bats. She didn’t know why.
The family found his brutalized body in an alley the next day, which at the time made Alex the 34th child slain this school year in the city, according to an unofficial tally kept by the Chicago Tribune.
“Why would they do this to a child that has nothing to do with nothing, and just, on top of that, brutally killing him?” asked Alex’s uncle Juan Tirado.
Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis said scuffles among youth have become more violent and a conflict that 20 years ago would have warranted a pushing or wrestling match now sometimes results in gunfire.
“There’s simply too many gangs, too many guns and too many drugs on the streets,” he said. “We’ve got a problem with some of our young people are resorting to use of weapons and violence to solve any type of conflicts they may have.”
Weis said he concurred with Duncan’s remarks from two years ago and bemoaned that society had become desensitized, almost to the point of acceptance, by the violence in some of America’s major cities.
“That is a very sad state of affairs,” he said. Video Watch how Chicago is struggling with the violence »
But not all officials are convinced the level of violence against children is unique to Chicago.
Mayor Richard Daley said the numbers appear worse in his city because the public school system considers teenagers students even after they drop out.
“The rest of America doesn’t count them. You’re a dropout forever. We don’t think they’re dropouts. They’re students,” he said.
He further said Chicago’s problems are no worse than those in any other American city.
“It’s all over, the same thing,” he said. “You go to a large city or small city, it’s all over America. It’s not unique to one community or one city.”
Despite Daley’s remarks, CNN has learned that none of the city’s 36 victims this year was a dropout.
Also, Daley’s statistics on the number of youths killed in other cities don’t appear to match reports from American cities.
Los Angeles, California, notorious for its gang problems, is larger than Chicago. It has reported only 23 child slayings this year. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is about half the size of Chicago, but it has witnessed only a ninth of the child slayings: four this school year.
In 2007, Diane Latiker, founder of the community group Kids Off the Block, began a memorial on a vacant lot in Chicago. She bought 30 landscaping stones and wrote the name of a slain school-age child on each of them.
Her hopes were that the stark sight of the memorial would shock the city into action.
Today, the memorial includes 153 stones, some for children as young as 10, and there is little indication the pace is waning, as at least two children were killed since Alex Arellano’s body was found Saturday.
“They come by here and they do this, and they come by here in cars and families come and cry,” Latiker said of the burgeoning memorial.
Asked who was failing the kids — police? schools? city officials? — she replied flatly, “We all are.”
Other community activists said they’re at a loss to find any simple explanation. In May 2007, public outrage overflowed after the death of 16-year-old Blair Holt, an honor student and aspiring songwriter.
According to various media reports, Holt was riding a city bus when a gunfight erupted between two gang members. Holt tried to shield a young girl who was in the line of fire and was fatally shot in the stomach.
His death sparked public protests, and grieving family and activists listed a host of scapegoats: lax gun laws, insufficient policing, bad parenting. But two years later, families and activists say they’re tired and discouraged by the torpid pace of change.
Lakeesha Stevens, whose son was shot as he slept in the car last year, said, “It can happen to anyone… you can be walking, you can be anywhere.”
Fortunately, Martrell Stevens survived the shooting, but kindergarten proved a lot tougher for the youngster after the bullet left him partially paralyzed.
Weis said Chicago police work tirelessly to keep the violence out of the schools, and he expressed relief that the city is “providing a safe place for our young folks to learn.”
advertisementHowever, he acknowledged that the conflicts sometimes begin in the schools and are finished off-campus. The violence will continue to be a priority for Chicago police, he said.
“I can promise you the Chicago Police Department is outraged and we will continue to work these cases with high energy and a great deal of enthusiasm,” he said.
Two of the great strengths of our President are his calm demeanor and his ability to communicate clearly and analytically what he believes and why. One reporter mentioned that this latest speech was like an Economics 101 class, in terms of its presentation. To often in politics, substance and reasoned explanations are replaced with high volume emotion and fear mongering. Take Glenn Beck for example. He might very well have some legitimate concerns and good arguments to make against some of the policies from this administration. However, his over-the-top “dooms day” rants, and ridiculously immature behavior (like pouring “gasoline” on a guest spokesman or drawing cartoon pictures of “Jesus” representing the President) prevent many independents and most mature adults from taking anything he says seriously. He just comes across as an idiotic and potentially dangerous buffoon.
While Keith Olbermann might not be as crazy as Glenn Beck, he would still add more credibility to his stories if he calmed down the mockery, the anger rants, the “worst person in the world” garbage, and just spoke plainly about the issues facing our nation. One could argue that these are media personalities, and thus a certain level of “entertainment” value is necessary to increase viewership. But the issues they are discussing are real to the American people. If they are discussing war, torture and our military, or health care or government response to natural disasters, or the record job loss, these are not “entertainment” issues, they are real and should be treated with a manner of seriousness and respect.
And as for the politicians, the Dick Cheneys, Rudy Giulianis, Michele Bachmanns and the like in both parties should remember that we are Americans first and should respect fellow Americans even if they are in the opposing party. You don’t need over-the-top rhetoric or insane fear mongering to prove your point, if you have a good point. If you have sound reasons to support the policies you do, then simply explaining them as the President has here will gain you much greater respect, attention and possibly support.
Even for those that disagree with the President’s economic policies, it cannot be denied (after hearing this speech) that he has thought through them thoroughly and has sound reasons for his beliefs. This isn’t some wild liberal idealism. It is a practical approach to restore the economy and secure America’s future.
Here’s the story So much for keeping the secret until Tuesday, the “official” White House announcement date.
Saw the following in a forum.
Alex Jones tries to make the point that the position of the US Presidency is merely a ‘puppet’ position, and that the real power is held by “secret bankers”. Let’s follow this logic with a series of questions:
preview point. Why would the secret service risk their lives to defend a “puppet” and his family? Puppets are disposable and replaceable, and they have no mind of their own. Who would die for that and make their own family suffer?? Why would our top commanding officers salute a puppet? What would make these brave men and women, who have sacrificed for their country, stand at attention for a mere empty suit puppet?
1. Why would anyone possibly run for “puppet” given that the job pays $400,000 a year, and merely writing a book about yourself could get you $2.5 million?? President Obama’s earning potential is way higher than this. Also, McCain, Romney, and Clinton all already have hundreds of millions of dollars, what would possibly possess them to sacrifice so much to run for the office of “puppet”? What world leader would waste their time shaking hands with or respecting a mere puppet? Why would Gordon Brown be kissing up to a puppet?
2. If Obama is merely a “puppet”, why mention him at all? Why talk about what Obama is doing, or his policies, or any policies at all, because Dems and Republicans are exactly the same and the real power is owned by these “bankers”? The point is, puppets are not significant. In the 1990s movie Casino, a “puppet” was raised to look like he ran the Casino, but everyone who wanted to see changes made in the Casino knew not to go to him, but to the head guys running the Casino. If Obama is a puppet, then arguing against “his policies” is stupid, because he’s not making any decisions anyways.
3. Who the heck are these “secret” bankers? Name names and show figures. Surely they don’t belong to Bank of America, Citi group, or any of the other failed banking systems the government has had to bail out! Why does Alex Jones portray them as secret if he wants to ‘expose’ them? Why does he have a mere “puppet” on the cover of his DVD rather than the names and photos of the entire “NWO” group? After all, Obama is an empty suit puppet, he is meaningless his words are empty and he holds no power. He is merely controlled by someone else.
4. If Obama is a puppet, then who would donate to a puppet? Who would campaign for a puppet? Who would watch a debate amongst puppets who are all working for the same boss anyways? Who would serve a puppet? What military soldier would give his life on the orders of a puppet? We have lost 4,000+ lives in Iraq due to the orders and policies of a mere puppet? Is Alex Jones saying our armed service men work for the bankers? So the international bankers are the commanders in chief?
5. If Obama is a puppet, then there should be no anti-Obama sentiment. There should be no outrage over “Obama’s budget”. There should be no outrage over Obama’s spending. There should be no speculation on who made a better puppet (after all, all Presidents since JFK are just puppets). Anti Obama conservative’s real anger has nothing to do with President Obama at all. After all, he has no power, no policies, no active brain. He’s just there to say “Yes Sir” to some secret bankers somewhere in London, DC, and New York.
Thus, that means the “secret bankers” are socialist. The secret bankers passed the stimulus bill. The secret bankers will raise taxes. The secret bankers have a huge budget. etc.
6. Sayings according to Alex Jones logic:
Is America ready for it’s first black puppet?
Who will run for puppet in 2012?
I hope Hillary will break this nation’s highest, hardest glass ceiling: being a puppet.
You can be anything when you grow up, you can even be a puppet.
MLK and other Civil Rights activists died so that one day in America, it would be possible for a black person to be a puppet for wealthy bankers.
Our armed services follow the command of a puppet.
The world’s leaders lower themselves to meet with our nation’s puppet.
Everyone in Washington wants to have the ear and email of our puppet.
Dems = Republicans = candidates for puppet
Fox News = MSNBC = stations in favor of puppets
Liberals = Conservatives = supporters of puppets
Hillary Clinton = Palin = Romney = McCain = Ron Paul = Huckabee = candidates for puppet
Some Americans were real disappointed that Gore didn’t get to become puppet, and the Supreme court ruled that Bush got to become puppet instead.
Alex Jones is a nutcase.
Saw the following in a forum. Good post
Alex Jones is an entrepreneur.
His product is distrust of authority.
He knows there is always a market for this, because people have doubts and fears and no human can know or control everything.
The agenda of Alex Jones is to exploit those fears and exploit those doubts for his own personal profit.
We hear it all the time from Alex Jones “buy my dvds”, “read my book”, “visit my website”, “tune in to my radio show”, “subscribe for just pennies a day”.
Thus, no good deed, no good policy, no good speech, no good action, no success, no right decision, no problem solved, no noteworthy accomplishment that President Obama could ever make will be lucrative to Alex Jones, unless he injects fear and deception into it. Anything good the President could ever do taints the image Alex Jones is marketing, so he has to skew it to fit into his agenda.
And what of the listener? My opinion is that most of the listeners want Alex Jones message. It is like ear candy to them. They need to believe that Obama is secretly evil, something about that satisfies them.
Thus demand needs supply and supplier is happy to meet demand, but truth is out of the equation.
1 copy is $19.95, it’s also sold in bundles
If Alex released it for free online (or even if he allowed it) it’s for promotional purposes of his show, from which he gains advertising revenue. He wants new listeners to tune in to his weekly fear rants. His “free” version also has ads running through it, encouraging the viewer to purchase a higher quality copy.
Jon Stewart interviews Jim Cramer
Here is the quicktime version
8 minute^^
21 minute clip to watch until the daily show posts the entire episode on their site
See the interview clips above.^^
Visit thedailyshow.com for the complete CNBC takedown by Jon Stewart.
UPDATE:
FULL unedited version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qtvtBGWgBc
Watch this video from 3:00 minutes in up until around 4:30.
UPDATE: Here is the joke isolated, so you don’t have to skip through the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGBTJNkdkws
Rush Limbaugh opens by telling a joke in which he said God was trying to be him. On God’s throne were the words “Rush Limbaugh” because God wanted to be like Rush.
Wow.
This blasphemy should set off an ERUPTION of OUTRAGE and DISBELIEF across the nation, particularly amongst the religious conservative right. Even the Jewish and Muslim communities should get angry at this one.
We’ve heard routine praise about Rush Limbaugh from religious conservatives, most notably from Mike Huckabee who has in the past said he loves Rush.
From worldnetdaily.com:
Huckabee emphasized to Fox News his admiration of the nation’s No.1-rated talk-radio host.
“I love Rush Limbaugh,” he said. “I think he’s one of the great voices for American conservatism, and I’m not sure what information he is basing those thoughts on, but I think he’s been one of the great voices to help people understand what conservatism is.”
Huckabee said he’s “been a big fan of his show for many years, and I hope to make it so that someday he loves me as much as I love him.”
Now that Limbaugh has opened up to the world that he is comfortable blaspheming God, will we see a backlash from the religious right? Will religious conservatives, who rejected Obama’s call for hope and change, speak out against obvious blasphemy? Will Focus on the Family speak out against this powerful radio personality for the GOP? Will we hear from James Dobson? Will Mike Huckabee, who was also a pastor (and might still be) denounce Rush Limbaugh and remind Americans that the GOP does not stand for BLASPHEMY??
WHO FROM THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT WILL DENOUNCE RUSH LIMBAUGH?? Does anyone have the integrity to do so?
America and the world are watching.
EDIT: Will Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson say anything?
EDIT2: Some say this is was just a joke. Is blasphemy a joke?
Football in the Oval Office???
What would conservatives say if a photo of President Obama surfaced with him doing this?
My guess is that they would be horrified!! They would rant on and on about how un-Presidential, childish, “ghetto”, unprofessional, unbelievable, classless, immature, disrespectful and outrageous this is!
I can just hear it: “The President should show some RESPECT for the office!!! What does he think this is??”
“You know, even my 7 year old son knows better than this. He is not allowed to play ball inside, especially not inside of my office. Maybe we should have elected him for President.”
“Now we can see how stupid “liberals” are. They HATE America, and take every chance possible to disrespect it. What a joke!”
“This President is sending a disgraceful image around the world. Who is going to respect us, if they think our President believes his office is a playground?”
I surely hope this is a photoshopped image, and not a real photo, but my guess is it’s the real thing. I wonder where the backlash was? I wonder if this image made front page news.
BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!
They are replacing Jesus Christ with Ronald Reagan!!!!
You’ve got to check out some of these slide shows!
His photos almost have a cinematic quality to them, very very impressive!
Looks like John Gibson decided to play the role of a coward. Rather than listening to the substance of Attorney General Eric Holder’s message during Black History Month, Gibson chose to exchange maturity for racism. Even if he disagreed with the wording that Holder used when referring to our nations responses concerning race, it’s no justification for turning around and being racist. Sadly, Gibson seems much more comfortable being a racist coward than being a man and a mature American.
EDIT: It looks like this video above might have been a hoax. Here is another version of the video that claims to show what John Gibson ACTUALLY said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEVzFDm4hTI
If this video I just posted in the update is true, as it appears to be, then I would like to issue an apology to John Gibson and Fox News for putting out the other video first. I did, however, see the first video on Huffingtonpost.com, so it looks like the video editor fooled them too with the “Blue Strotum” comment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/10/first-lady-obama-tells-te_n_165797.html
From Huffington Post:
FLOTUS POOL REPORT – VISIT TO MARY’S CENTER (February 10, 2009)
The First Lady made her first solo trip into the neighborhood. She visited Mary’s Center a community health organization in Adam’s Morgan. The most interesting part of the visit came in the last fifteen minutes of the nearly hour-long visit. She sat with a group of 9 teenagers ages 16-18 who attend after-school programs at the center. A transcript will be available, but here’s the best part. It came in response to the fifth and final question from one of the students who asked: “Why did you want to come out and meet us?”
“This is the best part of my day, short of being with my own kids. I was raised to believe that when you get you give back…We’ve been visitors but now we live here. This is our community now. We were taught you have to get to know your community you’re in, and you have to be a part of that community and you have to get to know it in order to be actively engaged in it. D.C. is our community now and it’s our home. Barack is real busy right now so I figured I’ve got the time on my hands and while the kids are in school, I figured I would come out and hear about programs and meet students.” She described all of this as if the man she called Barack were an ambitious accountant, not the man who on the previous evening had given the prime time press conference amid the fancy chandeliers.
“I was somewhat where you are. I didn’t come to this position with a lot of wealth and a lot of resources. I think it’s real important for young kids, particularly kids who come form communities without resources to see me. Not the First Lady but to see that there is no magic to me sitting here. There are no miracles that happen. There is no magic dust that was sprinkled on my head or Barack’s head. We were kids much like you who figured out one day that our fate was in our own hands. We made decisions to listen to our parents and work hard, and work even harder when somebody doubted us. When somebody told me I couldn’t do something, that gave me a greater challenge to prove them wrong. …Every little challenge like that and every little success I gained more confidence and life just sort of opened up. So I feel like it’s an obligation for me to share that with you.”
Before leaving, the First Lady posed for photographs and signed a poster for the center. She turned to the kids and said “Always think about where you came from and what you’re going to give back.” The kids, who were a slightly quiet bunch, didn’t immediately respond. “Sound right?” She asked them. They all then said yes.
Classy and generous. It’s good to see the first lady hasn’t forgotten where she came from.
image from Flickr
I saw this on a post recently.
Why not start up a website like goodcops.com or something. The site could be for communities to nominate and acknowledge the good police officers in their communities. There are some good cops out there, but too often they are overshadowed by the rotten ones like that guy at BART.
Truth be told, you only hear about police officers in the news when they do something racist or abusive so that leads to a certain stigma and negative feeling about police in general. A site like “goodcops” could work to counter that stereotype. Pastors in the community along with celebrities could hand out the awards and the site could have other features to drive traffic to it. I think it would work best if a strong effort was made to make being a police officer cool again. (sort of like how Obama made politics cool again).
We can’t just hear the bad about police officers, or it tempts people to think they’re all bad which isn’t true or fair.
I think it’s important for the public to see a balance, so I agree with the poster on that. Maybe a site like “goodcops.gov” or something would be a good and effective way to improve relationships between police and the communities they serve in.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/07/stimulus.cuts/index.html
(CNN) — A coalition of Democrats and some Republicans reached a compromise that trimmed billions in spending from an earlier version of the Senate economic stimulus bill.
Senators worked late into the night to trim billions from the original stimulus bill
Senators worked late into the night to trim billions from the original stimulus bill
CNN obtained, from a Democratic leadership aide, a list of some programs that have been cut — either entirely or partially:
Partially cut:
• $3.5 billion for energy-efficient federal buildings (original bill $7 billion)
• $75 million from Smithsonian (original bill $150 million)
• $200 million from Environmental Protection Agency Superfund (original bill $800 million)
• $100 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (original bill $427 million)
• $100 million from law enforcement wireless (original bill $200 million)
• $300 million from federal fleet of hybrid vehicles (original bill $600 million)
• $100 million from FBI construction (original bill $400 million)
Fully eliminated
• $55 million for historic preservation
• $122 million for new Coast Guard polar icebreaker/cutters
• $100 million for Farm Service Agency modernization
• $50 million for CSERES research
• $65 million for watershed rehabilitation
• $30 million for SD salaries
• $100 million for distance learning
• $98 million for school nutrition
• $50 million for aquaculture
• $2 billion for broadband
• $100 million for NIST
• $50 million for detention trustee
• $25 million for Marshalls Construction
• $300 million for federal prisons
• $300 million for BYRNE Formula
• $140 million for BYRNE Competitive
• $10 million state and local law enforcement
• $50 million for NASA
• $50 million for aeronautics
• $50 million for exploration
• $50 million for Cross Agency Support
• $200 million for National Science Foundation
• $100 million for science
• $1 billion for Energy Loan Guarantees
• $4.5 billion for GSA
• $89 million GSA operations
• $50 million from DHS
• $200 million TSA
• $122 million for Coast Guard Cutters, modifies use
• $25 million for Fish and Wildlife
• $55 million for historic preservation
• $20 million for working capital fund
• $165 million for Forest Service capital improvement
• $90 million for State and Private Wildlife Fire Management
• $1 billion for Head Start/Early Start
• $5.8 billion for Health Prevention Activity
• $2 billion for HIT Grants
• $600 million for Title I (NCLB)
• $16 billion for school construction
• $3.5 billion for higher education construction
• $1.25 billion for project based rental
• $2.25 billion for Neighborhood Stabilization
advertisement
• $1.2 billion for retrofitting Project 8 housing
• $40 billion for state fiscal stabilization (includes $7.5 billion of state incentive grants)
I am writing this post in response to the new found legal troubles that street artist Shepard Fairey finds himself in with the AP. Shepard Fairey became a household name after creating his marvelous HOPE and Progress art pieces that went viral and played such a major role in this past election. Now they might cost him in court.
I should start by saying that I am not a lawyer. However, I have read up a little on copyright law (most notably from the book “Electronic Highway Robbery” by Mary E. Carter) and I have been in contact with lawyers about copyright, patents and trademarks. So with that background and what I consider to be common sense, I have reached the following conclusion.
News organizations such as Reuters and the AP (the press) should not be fully covered by US copyright law, at least when it comes to art.
Why? Well first, let’s examine the copyright law.
To quote Electronic Highway Robbery by Mary E. Carter:
What can be Protected by Copyright?
Section 102(a) of the Copyright Act states:
Copyright protection subsists…in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
The basic requirements that a work of art must meet to qualify for copyright protection are that:
- It must be original. The artwork must be an original.
- It must be creative. The artwork must show at least a minimum amount of creativity.
- It must be fixed in a tangible medium.…
My argument hinges on the part of the law that says “mediums of expression“, which Ms. Carter refers to as “creative”.
Press photographers should be excluded from this category. They given special access to the President of the United States, not for “creative” purposes or a means to “express” themselves, but to inform the public.
In other words, the press acts as our eyes and ears receive information from the President because our real eyes and ears cannot legally be in attendance. Not every Joe blow with a camera has the privilege of gaining such close access to the President. In fact, it is my understanding that the press even accompanies the President on Air Force one.
The only reason that press photographers have the privilege of being so close to our politicians so that they can snap those close up shots, is because they are licensed for the purposes of serving and informing the American public. If that was not the case, then I and half the rest of the country could (and would) grab the Nikon or Canon, head to Washington, and take a front row seat at the next Obama press conference. In that context, I honestly could take “creative” pictures or use my photos as “expressions”. After all, they are my photos, my camera, so I can do with them as I please and I have no obligation to our nation at large.
But what’s not fair is to say only special licensed photographers can gain close up access to the President, and then turn around and treat their photos as art. These photographers are not there to make art. Again, if they are, then I should also be given access. I should have been there when the man shoes were thrown at Bush, so I can “express” how I saw it with my photos. I should have been there when Obama was meeting with all of the governors for the first time, so I could snap shots of Palin’s first facial expressions when meeting the President who “pals around with terrorists” and isn’t from “real America”.
I could take much more artsy photos than what comes out of the AP, guaranteed.
So do not tell me that the same copyright laws that protect Mickey Mouse (a true creative work), such that I cannot just draw up my own Mickey cartoons and sell them on DVD, also protects an AP photographer’s photos when they are only licensed to serve & inform the American public.
America is a young country, yet again and again we surprise ourselves and the world with the living power of our ideals and our values, and the core decency and generosity of our people. On Tuesday, Americans of all backgrounds gathered together in celebration of ushering in our new President, Barack Obama. Just the warmth and civility between the outgoing President and his administration and the in coming President and his administration speaks volumes about the true greatness of America!
Tuesday was not merely Obama’s victory, nor was it merely black people’s victory. No, Tuesday was America’s victory! Citizens and politicians with completely opposing political views to our new President were able to celebrate as Americans, just as much as Obama’s most fervent supporters.
Many people, black and white (and every race in between), fought hard (bled and some died) for what happened on Tuesday. However, their deaths were not in vain. Many nations around the world face fighting and conflicts within their borders, some of which has lasted for generations and generations with no end in sight. But here in America, this young nation has proved, through the power of our ideals and the strength of our Democracy, that we can overcome even our greatest odds and tribulations. As Obama put it “America can change. That is the true genius of America”. And genius it is!
Yes, if you are an American, take pride! Whether you voted for Obama or against him, or even if you didn’t vote at all, take pride as an American! We truly are a great great nation.
