His lawyers argued that the anticensorship diatribes in Screw made the magazine sufficiently political, though Mr. Goldstein himself ridiculed this defense, insisting that a reader’s erection “is its own redeeming value.”
I never heard of Al Goldstein until now, never read any of his publications, and he sure doesn't sound like he was any fun to be around, but for whatever reason, he seems like he deserves a salute.
The post title is a fragment from the late great Aaron Swartz's "Guerilla Open Access Manifesto." Following is the whole thing.
... but it's worth noting for the record, and, I suppose, encouraging that "[t]he report was welcomed by Heiner Bielefeldt, United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, who said in a brief introduction there was little awareness that atheists were covered by global human rights agreements."
You can download a copy of the full report, Freedom of Thought 2012: A Global Report on Discrimination Against Humanists, Atheists and the Non-religious from the International Humanist and Ethical Union's website, or just click this direct link to the PDF.
(h/t: TC, via email | pic. source)
A four-part video series by Kirby Ferguson, total running time about 45 min. Interesting historical notes, visually appealing, and in conclusion, a powerful message. Highly recommended.
I've chosen not to embed, because I think you should watch it in a larger format than will fit on this blog.
(h/t: Alex Goldman/On The Media)
From Brian McFadden's "How to Have a Highbrow Halftime:"
And don't fail to click on the arrow at the side of the page when you've finished reading that one. Five more pages of goodness, featuring Newt, SOPA, and other reprehensibilities.
I'm not sure, but I think Scientology's Prime Directive must be It's way too late to stop the spread of news, but it's never too late to punish the whistleblower!
Remember Debbie Cook? That ex-high official whose email of a month ago, ostensibly only to other true believers, leaked out right after the latest exposé of Scientology's fund-raising practices was published by Tobin and Childs? Well, this'll shock you: she's being sued, by guess who?, for talking out of church school after allegedly taking $50K to keep her lips zipped for the next billion years. Tony Ortega's post is a good place to start.
While over at Runnin' Scared, I noticed another item that's quite interesting: "The Decline and Fall of Scientology? Skeptic Magazine Makes the Case." Ortega got an advance copy; the rest of us will have to bookmark and wait a couple of weeks.
... watch this:
Thanks for all of your help.
Looks like even Erick Erickson gets why SOPA and PIPA are bad. Good for him.
Also, Paul Ryan completely changed his tune, thanks to grassroots political pressure. Keep up the good work, everybody.
Want more details? See the EFF's recent article, "Blacklist Bills Becoming Hot Button Issue in 2012 Election."
[Added] Useful links in Comments.
99% of the police make the rest of them look bad.
-- Jacob Applebaum
That line was delivered at 55:47* of his joint talk with Roger Dingledine, "How governments have tried to block Tor."
P.S. If you're wondering, "Should I watch this whole talk?", a hint may be gleaned by jumping to the 1:18:05** mark.
__________
* The link should bring you to that point, but for some reason, it's not getting there exactly. Sorry.
** (Same link problem, sorry.)
Because there is music in the background, from time to time. Music about which some giant soulless conglomerate could claim WE HAZ COPYRITE!!!1!
Politics aside, this is why the Internet was invented, and why it is the greatest invention of all time: "The 30 Most Important Cats Of 2011."
Some of the commentary is pretty good, too.
30: The Saddest Kitten Of All Time
Kitten: "Sadness is not a temporary affliction to be shrugged off and discarded. It is a mode of being; a way of life; a heaviness on the soul that can never be lifted because its weight is the weight of existence itself."
You: "JESUS CHRIST LIGHTEN UP YOU ARE A KITTEN."
#24I haven't yet* watched all the videos, but I will say that of the still pix, #24 is my favorite. (As always, clikit2bigit.)
* (h/t: MK, via email, who suggests a healthy consumption rate: "12 days of Christmas = 30 most important cats.")
The government of Switzerland has released a new report arguing that unauthorized file sharing does not threaten Swiss culture because consumers spend the savings on concerts and merchandise. It concludes new laws are not needed.
And that other thing wingnuts always yell!
But if you'd rather read about what happens when the grownups are in charge …
Received the following after directing a petition towards her on American Censorship Day.
Dear Brendan,
Thank you for writing to me regarding S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act of 2011. I understand your concerns.
I am a cosponsor of this legislation because I believe that we must protect American intellectual property against foreign websites that infringe upon our rights. By empowering the Attorney General of the United States to go after foreign infringing websites, this legislation becomes a necessary tool to ensure that U.S. companies remain competitive in the world marketplace. I recognize that there are technical concerns with the enforcement of this bill that need to be addressed. I am committed to working with my colleagues in the United States Senate to ensure that this legislation protects the Constitutional rights of Americans and does not stifle lawful free speech or innovation on the internet.
[...] [more boilerplate] [...]
Sincerely,
Kirsten E. Gillibrand
United States Senator
Ah, well. At least she's honest about who has bought and paid for her. And I'll acknowledge that she's been good on other issues.
But.
She is dead wrong on this one.
Tell her what you think about your Internet being handed over to people who have anything but freedom of expression at heart. Phone number at the bottom of the page, if you'd rather yell than type.
More info at AmericanCensorship.org. Write to your Congressional representatives at FightForTheFuture.org/pipa.
[Update] Overlay banner now removed. Thanks to all who wrote, signed, and read.
Other than in a handful of pockets across the U.S. - including Ohio, Vermont and Washington, D.C. - cable carriers do not give viewers the choice of watching Al Jazeera. That corporate censorship comes as American diplomats harshly criticize the Egyptian government for blocking Internet communication inside the country …
Also:
Readers can demand Al Jazeera English here. Here are the contact pages for Comcast, Time Warner and DirecTV.
INOKIYNAR, evidently.
Tom Scocca reads the only section of the WaPoo more loon-infested than its op-ed page so you don't have to.
(Many updates below. If your feed reader is complaining, I apologize.)
Sean Carroll's latest post, about his surfing experiences on a laptop in a hotel room in Beijing, is an interesting read.
Of course, things could be better here in the U.S., too, as Sean notes by linking to this post on Obsidian Wings. Good ol' AT&T.
(Update, a little later):
On an unrelated note: In an earlier post, Sean weighs in on "the God particle" as terminology, reacting to the same Dennis Overbye piece that I noted a few days ago. Sean is a physicist by profession, and also one of the best at communicating science to the interested lay audience (I've gushed [1], [2] about this before). His views are both worth considering and well-expressed.
(Update, a little more later):
This tends to happen every time I visit Sean's blog: I can't help but link to one piece, and then I keep reading, and another worthy post presents, and then another, and pretty soon, I have my own post that has nothing to do with my title or original thought. Nonetheless, you might enjoy reading what a theoretical physicist means when he says "axis of evil." Prior to that, fire up a separate browser window, visit this post, scroll to the bottom, and fire up some Mussorgsky for background music while reading. A full service blog, indeed.
Update
2007-08-11 23:32 EDT
Okay. Just one more. From the same site, but this time, from Julianne Dalcanton. You want to read a great post on how a real scientist thinks? Read this.
Man. All I can say is, I wish I'd hung with these people, instead of the cool dope dealers, back in my college days.
Update
2007-08-12 00:37 EDT
In another post, Julianne introduces (to me, at least) the term gastrophysics. I like it! (And we know now, at last, whence came gastronomy.)
Further on, she cites a cliché for the distant past: "… back when I was a grad student (you know, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and the iPhone did not yet exist) …"
I don't know how any self-respecting person in her field neglects to add "… and when Pluto was a planet."
Just sayin'.
