While You Were Sleeping, The Senate Passed a Bill to Kill Art

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS' PARTNERSHIP

Orphan Works Opposition: Plan B

SEPT 27 Yesterday, in a cynical move, the sponsors of the Senate Orphan Works Act passed their controversial bill by a controversial practice known as hotlining.

With lawmakers scrambling to raise 700 billion dollars to bail out businesses that are "too big to fail," the Senate passed a bill that would force small copyright holders to subsidize big internet interests such as Google, which has already said it plans to use millions of the images this bill will orphan.

With the meltdown on Wall Street, this is no time for Congress to concentrate our nation's copyright wealth in the hands of a few privately owned corporate databases. The contents of these databases would be more valuable than secure banking information. Yet this bill would compel creators to risk their own intellectual property to supply content to these corporate business models. That means it would be our assets at risk in the event of their failure or mismanagement.

As David Rhodes, President of the School of Visual Arts has said, the Orphan Works bill would socialize the expense of copyright protection while privatizing the profit of creative endeavors. Copyright owners neither want nor need this legislation. It will do great harm to small businesses. We already have a banking crisis. Congress should not lay the groundwork for a copyright crisis.

--Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, for the Illustrators' Partnership

NOW FOR PLAN B

We MUST try to stop the House Judiciary Committee from folding their bill (HR5889) and adopting the Senate version.

PLEASE EMAIL CONGRESS TODAY.
If you've done it before, do it again!

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Click on the link below, enter your zip code, and take the next steps.
Thanks to all of you who heeded the call to action yesterday.

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11980321

With Councilman Goode, Let's Tackle the REAL Issue Here!

Has anyone out there realize that the problem with Corrupt Councilman Goode ISN'T racism?

It's irritating seeing everyone who paid a little attention to this focus on the race factor. It's great that the entire "reverse racism" argument is being thrown out the window, awesome even, but it's only a SMALL part of the larger problem.

As was reported days ago, the guy fucked a staffer while having beer with her on City Time! COME ON! HE FUCKED HIS STAFFER! Isn't that more interesting than the stupid hand-scrawled signs? Isn't that the BIGGER issue? Or the fact that he's basically used $13,000 in raises for Latrice Bryant to keep his, ahem, "policies in line"? The guy is drinking on tax payer time, has a corrupt office, and instead of cries to fire him, what do we get?

"Well, he shouldn't use the race card and should fire her."

No. Not quite. Fire HIM at the same time. He needs to go! 

We Need Another FDR!

If FDR was alive today, I'm sure he'd be glad to run for a 4th term, and if his mental state held up well, I'd sure as hell vote for him!

Franklin Delanore Roosevelt did something that needed to be done; Get America Smart!

This is a gross oversimplification, but FDR created "The New Deal", an agreement that stated that the government needed to help the citizens of this Republic when they needed it, and cut back spending as well. His plans helped America get out of the Great Depression and made us, by the 1950's, an economic powerhouse.

Right now, we need him.

I don't want to hear another politican talk about Tax Cuts. Fuck it. I don't need them anymore. A tax cut would kick ass, but right now, we're fucked. We are so fiscally fucked this isn't an economy, it's sodmoy on a daily basis! This is, without a doubt, the WORST economic situation since The Great Depression and we're looking at the possibility of a sequal right now dead in the face.

In fact, shut about which politican said what. Right now, let's look at the RAW FACTS:

John McCain has suspended his campaign to go back to Washington to deal with this crap.

Barack Obama has said he wants to continue with the debate Friday.

You know what sucks? The first thing we all think is one of the two; McCain is actually putting his money where his mouth is, or that the fact that he said he's not good at the economy is REALLY bitting him in the ass. Frankly, I think it's both. I think McCain just saw that this economic disaster is worst than he imagined. I think Obama is seazing the moment to boost himself up and, in turn, make McCain look bad.

Me? I don't fucking care!

I don't care WHO says it, but the first person to say, "Look, I know I said I wanted to cut taxes. But because our economy needs all the help it can get and we have to help so many folks, we can't do it. Sorry, folks, no tax cuts." First person to say it get's my vote, PERIOD! It shows one simple thing; they understand that you can't cut back spending anymore and you can't get something from nothing. 

Extra credit? "Not only am I NOT going to cut your taxes, but I am creating an incentive to have the U.S. People buy Bonds. This helps them, their neighbors, etc... then, down the line, they get the money back with interest!" I love universal health care, America needs something close to it, but right now... We can't afford it. Say that, you got my vote.

The first one of these two to say that, to say "I know I promised you the stars and the moon, but right now, we need to get back on our feet first. When we do that, I'll give it to you. But right now, we've got to handle this. If you vote for me, I'll do just that."

Obama, McCain... I honestly hope one of you just say this. We need another FDR.

Councilman Goode, Lock Your Doors! The Citizens are PISSED!

Beer.

I've seen a lot of crap come from City Council members, I've seen them do a lot of shady crap. But this... wow, this takes the case.

As shown by Fox29 Investigators, Councilman Goode, on tax payer time, went home with his legislative aide, took her out to lunch and... brought back beer. It's obvious that Latrice Bryant, the aide in question, got more raises than one now last year. In fact, she got $13,000 in raises this year. Apparently... well, you get the idea.

I'm calling for Goode to be Impeached. Quickly. He needs to be tried and hung out to dry for this! This isn't lying about a blowjob, this isn't licking cream off the breast of a wife... this is freaking flat-out illegal! You have proof that Latrice Bryant only recieved raises, or at least in part, because of a relation she had with her boss. In 99% of America, that's illegal!

Goode, lock your doors. The citizens of Philly aren't fucking happy!

VIDEO OF THE REPORT

The US Economy: This picture says it all.

Actually, the full thing is here:

http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2938

Wendy O. Williams On Sex

You have to go about 30 seconds into this, but it's just hilarious!

What if the US Government Gave US The $700 Billion Bailout?

$700 Billion.

That's how much money the White House wants to give failing insurance companies and investment banks to save their businesses. $700 Billion dollars. That's the single largest government bailout in US History, and the question being raised is who's going to pay and if it will help us in the long run.

To that end, since we already know we, the US Public, are going to have to pay for this... why not just give us the money?

Yes, yes, I know; we got a check not too long ago. And, you know, $300 - $500 isn't bad. It's enough to... well, fill your gas tank, pay a bill. Maybe. Not enough for even ONE mortgage payment, that's for sure. And we all know that a large part of why this economy is so bad is because, you guessed it, a lot of loan defaults.

So how about the US Public get's $700 Billion dollars. How? How would that happen?

Well, first off, let's do the simplest part; divide it EQUALLY over the entire population. So, at about 305,000,000 people, that means we all get... $2300. Who's included in that? EVERYONE. Men, women, kids, grandparents, government workers, prisoners, homeless people, the rich... EVERYONE who lives in the US.

So the next thing we do is eliminate anyone under 18. That's roughly 80,000,000 people. SWEET! That makes it 225,000,000 people! People in prison are next! That's 2.2 million people, so BAM! They're gone, they're in jail. We're now down to 222,800,000 million.

Now, let's just say that the government deserves a bonus this year. OK, now that your done laughing, let's instead of giving the folk in the higher echelons of government the money, we give it to the people who are barely making enough cash to feed their kids, let alone themselves. Seriously, people who work in Social Security aren't exactly happy folks.

Getting the number of people who work in the higher-echelons isn't easy, NOT EVEN CLOSE! There's 100 Senators, 440 people in the House of Representatives, 50 Governors! Hell, the federal government is compromised of 4 MILLION people! That means going in and trying to find who's the working slobs are and who's in the FBI and CIA. Then you have all those LOCAL governments! UH!

OK, so, for the sake of argument, we're going to say 4 Million people in this country are making lots of money a year by being a "public servant" by being President, Mayor, Governor, City council, State Rep, etc...

We're now down to 218,000,000 people.

So, let's not forget the rich! OH YES! The filthy rich folks! The TOP 1% of America who own 32% of America! So that top 1% is 3.2 million people since we're going from that top number of 305,000,000. Now, we can go on and on about where the cut-off should be for what's "rich". That's where it gets hairy. We'll just cut it off at the Top 1%. Why? Because 68% of the US population makes less than $50,000... You know what? Screw it. We're going to make sure that the top 15.73 percent, those making a wonderful $100,000+ don't get this money.

So that's 47,976,500 from the TOP number of 305,000,000. That's 170,023,500 people!

That's a pretty good number! Hell, we've nearly shaved off 135,000,000 people who can't use the cash! We're now dealing with US, the people who NEED this money the most! US, the people who can't pay their bills, afford decent health care, and the people who owe these banks the most cash.

And we just got a check for $700 Billion dollars.

That means we get... $4117.07 each. OK, round that down to $4100. That extra $17.07 per-person can go to back to the government. How much is that? $2,902,301,145! HOLY CRAP! I just found a way to save the government nearly $3 BILLION dollars!

$4100. WOW! Crap, if I had that kinda cash, I'd pay off as many bills as possible! No, it isn't a butt load of cash, but it's nothing to sneeze at. Some people don't even make that much in two months! $4100... for me, that's a few mortgage payments, all my utility bills, and any other debts I may have. Not enough to cover all of it, mind you, but a nice bit.

Now, can we honestly say that giving these massive houses this money could be better? If we're the ones who owe the money to them, if WE'RE the one's that are causing them to lose money... shouldn't we be the ones to pay it back? The government isn't going to wipe OUR debt away, is it? No, we're still stuck with those bills! But for the over 170,000,000 Americans who NEED it, the people who may not have even needed to pay taxes in their lives because they NEVER made enough cash... THEY get the money, too. We ALL do!

Me? I think this is a better idea than anything else we've got right now. We're the ones suffering the most and we're the ones with the debt. I don't see our parents more than happy to cut us a check to pay off all our bills; they need help themselves.

So start writing everyone you can about this, spread this idea like wildfire, and start getting the ears of your local government! I did all the crap work, you just need to send it out there!


REFERENCES (Because for something like this, you need them!):
Population total is an estimate based on the US Census Data.
Number of people under age 18 based on rounding down the numbers. Combined with an estimate of total population, my ballpark is pretty good. Data is here at the US Census.
The number of people who work for the US Government came from Wikipedia, but considering that the overall number is next to impossible for me to get, 4 Million is either a gross over-estimate or under-estimate. We're going to go with it since, when you account for the local governments, it does look like a lot.
The number of people in prison is based on a 2006 number. It most likely is higher.
The number of people making more than $100k a year is from Wikipedia, but those numbers are based on a TON of research.
That awesome cartoon is by Stuart Carlson. That guy rocks!

Sex, Race, and Politics: How Councilman Goode Just Woke Up Philadelphia

"Don't you ever disrespect a black woman that way!"

With those 8 words, Philadelphia City Councilman Wilson Goode, Jr, woke up the citizens of Philadelphia to everything that's wrong with their local government, myself included. With those 8 words, Councilman Goode alerted the public that City Council was back in session after taking their summer vacation. With those 8 words, Goode did something that needed to be done; He woke up the media.

Why did I pick those 8 words to start the story? Because they were given a much more harsh light because of what the aide held in her hands at the City Council meeting and, in turn, ignited the firestorm to begin with.

On a piece of paper, she scrawled the words "Jeff Cole: KKK".

There was so much intriguie as to why this happened that the reporter, Jeff Cole, became part of the story and a discussion, not about race, but about corruption in the halls of our government. In fact, the only people in this entire debate who have the aide and the Councilman himself.

For the past few weeks, Jeff Cole of Fox 29 has been following an aide of Philadelphia Councilman Wilson Goode. According to sources, the reporter found out that the aide, Latrice Bryant, was going to the gym on taxpayer time. The story would have been a standard story was it not for where it goes... She was found buying bear and going to the Councilman's house... and spending the night there. It's worth noting that we were, as you may have guessed, foot the bill for this as it was all done on taxpayer time.

When Councilman Goode was confronted with this information, he refused to answer his question. The local media, in a show of either unity or, even better, force against a corrupt
Councilman, than began to ask the same questions Cole had tried and he answered them. You can watch the video here and, frankly, it tells the story better than I can.

This entire mess stems from one thing: Time sheets.

According to the records attained by Jeff Cole, time sheets show that Latrice Bryant was clocked in for hours before she was spotted going to the office. It is worth noting, because it ties into the overall story, that Latrice Bryant dresses in rather, ahem, REVEALING clothing on a daily basis. A visit to her MySpace, which she made private after a local blog found it and posted images and photos from it, show's racy photos and reveals that her dream was to become a state represenative. Because of her actions, it is very likely those dreams will never come true. And, admittedly, these photos will come back to haunt her.

But this woman aside, Councilman Goode also highlighted his horrible new bit of legislation: By having one-party rule.

Councilman Wilson Goode Jr. wants to eliminate one at-large Council seat for the minority party, amending his original proposal that would have reduced Council from 17 members to 15 members with two less at-large seats. Philadelphia Metro

In part of this story breaking, he's alerted us of this. He's reminded us that, despite a mayor who is trying harder than any I've seen before to clean up this government and make sure Philadelphia shines again, that out our City Council still have members hellbent on destroying it and making Philadelphia the same culture of corruption it was before.

It also showed that the local media, as a whole, have been far to warm to City Council and, in part because Nutter has done so much good on a whole, has become latheargic and lazy about covering the events of the city and, in turn, have not done their job. Which is why I think the citizens of this city should be so thankful for Jeff Cole.

I would like to thank the following people for all the research:

Fox 29 Philadelphia for reporting on this. Philebrity.com for posting the MySpace Page.
And, most importantly, thank you, Daniel McQuade of Philadelphia Weekly! He alerted me first to the story and inspired me to write this. Dan, thanks a million and please, keep up the awesome work!

Disconnect / The Destruction of a Person

I feel alone.

I've felt this way before, a million times or more.

I've felt the ripping pain and agony and wanting to not exist.

I've felt the strains of sanity tear and break.

I've felt the hopelessness, emptiness, darkness, bleakness.

But now, I feel it all and I feel nothing.

This "alone" is an exile.

I was a freak... I am a freak.

But now I feel nothing.

I hate my freak clothing, my style... myself.

The being that is, the being that was, me.

It no longer seems to be me.

I have stepped away from everything,

I have stepped out of what I was.

I have stepped out of what I believe I am.

I see, for the first time, the outside of my world.

The goths, the punks, the metalheads... I see outside my protective world.

See them all as a large group where I belonged.

Where I used to belong.

Where I think I belong.

The exile I've entered is one that I wonder is self-imposed.

The only one who could have sent me away was myself.

Or it could have been a new sense of maturity, although I doubt it.

This exile is painful, lonely, and heartbreaking.

This exile is not being alive.

This exile is a suicide.

And I am in exile.

-Larry West, 9/18/2008

8-Album Mind: I've Already Died

System of a Down - Toxicity ♠♠♠♠♠
System of a Down - Steal This Album! ♠♠♠♠
System of a Down - Mesmerize ♠♠♠♠♠
System of a Down - Hypnotize ♠♠♠♠♠
Tenacious D - Tenacious D ♠♠♠
Tenacious D - The Pick of Destiny ♠♠♠♠
Terror - Always the Hard Way ♠♠♠♠
Metallica - Death Magnetic ♠♠♠♠

Let me get this out of the way first: I was so god-damn psyched about the new Metallica album, it's nothing short of amazing that I didn't crap my pants while waiting for 10AM to come and I could buy the album. Despite that, I'm not doing a review tonight and I'm just going to say this: BUY IT.

System of a Down is a band I greatly admire and love, but it hasn't been easy; in 2005, Casey Chaos, the man behind AMEN, announced that he was angry that he didn't get a writing credit on the album for writing the Grammy-Winning song "B.Y.O.B." Being a major fan of Casey, as well as wanting to make sure he received the royalties he was due (which, at the time, he wasn't)... well, it was hard. I found out late 2005, after I had seen them live and right after "Hypnotize" came out. I decided to do what I could to not support SOAD... at least until they did the right thing. They did, and it's history, but Scars of Broadway... no, I can't listen to it. That was Casey's project, and I wouldn't feel right.

But that aside, Mesmerize/Hypnotize is THE GREATEST Double-album in this decade! PERIOD! Normally the second disc kills an album, but it worked well here! Meanwhile, Toxicity is a classic, period, and I'm glad to see it still holds up great. Same with "Steal This Album!"