Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

My libertarian friends are fond of trumpeting all of the alleged failures of the Obama administration. For the record I find myself becoming disillusioned as well for his less than sterling performance in a few specific areas. "Obamacare:" this was not healthcare reform - this was insurance re-form. What we needed was a single-payer system, like Canada. What we got was bullshit. I don't care what they say, this was a giant french-kiss to the leviathan that is the insurance industry in this country. FAIL. Copyright and Intellectual Property issues : the Music and Movie industries (RIAA and MPAA) have lots of money and absolutely no shame.These are the people who have attempted to argue that the musicians who record albums produced " work for hire ," who use their ratings system to lock out independent filmmakers , who use their army of attorneys to shut down websites without any sort of due process, who work to erode *your* rights under copyright law. Obama ...

At first glance, there is much to admire about California's senior senator, Dianne Feinstein: first female President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, San Francisco's first female mayor, first woman to serve in the Senate from California, first woman on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and first woman to chair the Senate Rules Committee and Senate Intelligence Committee. During the 1990's she led the fight to ban semi-automatic weapons and supported a number of environmental issues, including bills to protect the California desert. Lately she seems to have turned to the dark side. In August 2007, she voted with Republicans to modify the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) making it easier for the government to monitor phone calls and email messages of American citizens. In February 2008, she again joined Republicans in voting to grant immunity to telecommunication companies for illegal wiretapping for Government agencies. In December 2005 she stated, ...

The Recording Institute Association of America (RIAA), primarily four media conglomerates that control or distribute thousands of private labels, was formed in 1952 to administer several technical standards used in manufacturing vinyl records. Nowadays they sue grandmothers and teenagers, threaten universities and internet service providers with lawsuits, and argue their right to profit overrules any and all privacy concerns. In other words, generally acting like a bunch of pompous overweening pricks. Unfortunately, these thugs have found numerous friends in the halls of Washington, including California Senator Dianne Feinstein. Vice President Joe Biden has had a long history of sucking up to both the RIAA and MPAA, sponsoring legislation that would restrict people's rights to record satellite performance, and urging the Justice Department to go after alleged file sharerers. Barack Obama, once endorsed by the likes of copyright reformer Lawrence Lessig and opponents of the RIAA...