Decius wrote:
] ] If King remains a one-dimensional grainy black-and-white
] ] figure who utters the same sunny sound bite year after
] ] year until it's a cliche, it's because news networks
] ] won't pay for more, and researchers have been kept from
] ] delving deep into his papers to tell us something new
] ] about the Martin Luther King the man, not the statuette.
] ]
] ] And his family wants it that way.
]
] And once again we are promoting science and the useful arts by
] creating economic incentives for people to engage in
] historical events by preventing people from talking about
] them.

Ryan: This timeI am going to have to drop some science on you. Once again, my Copyright prof represented the Estate of Doctor Martin Luther King Junior versus CBS, a landmark copyright case. There are two quick points to remember on this:

1) The estate only charges *normal* royalty rates to commercial entities who, after the MLK v. CBS, have a vendetta against paying for Dr. King's speechs. For any educational purpose, the King estate has *drastically* reduced rates for licensing the speeches, I believe down to $0. That's versus the hundreds of dollars CBS was charging educational institutions for the use of its video clips of the same speeches.

2) Dr. King copyrighted every one of his speeches. He was very much a supporter of copyright because he wanted to be able to control how his words would be used in the future. They could be reported on then, due to fair use (newsworthiness), but he knew there would come a time in the future where people would try to use it in a commercial manner for their own gain.

Now, as much as I have problems with the current IP restraints, this is a circumstance where someone acted to protect their rights for good reasons, and that should be enforced.

RE: You need a license to quote Martin Luther King Jr. (phillyBurbs.com)

] LIN: But there is the opportunity now to interview
] Saddam Hussein to find out about weapons of mass
] destruction, if in fact they exist and where they are.
] Clearly, this is going to be useful to the United States
] and the war on terror.
]
] SHARPTON: Well, if we went to war to get an
] interview, I don't think that's what we were told. We
] went to war because we said we knew there were weapons.
] Not that we wanted to capture and interview him to see if
] there was weapons.
]
] We all know Sharpton can't (and shouldn't) win the
] nomination, but I hope whoever wins puts him in the
] cabinet as Secretary of One-Liners or something.

Ha!

The Talent Show: The rapier wit of Al Sharpton

QUOTE: What's your reaction? Laughing? Loathing? Fine—but be careful. Because the truth is, if average Americans of even 30 to 40 years ago could see us today, they'd think we were all spoiled just as rotten as any young Trump, Newhouse, or Bloomberg.

You know it's true. How many televisions do you have? Do you even know? How many channels do you get? Do your kids refuse to watch black-and-white programs? No one had a VCR in 1970. Now 240 million of us do, but VCRs are history now that Wal-Mart is selling DVD players for $29.

COMMENT: Good point. All people like to bitch and a disappointing number of people are clueless about basic life issues.

Fortune.com - Value Driven - Admit It: You, Too, Are Paris Hilton

] Never before has the House of Representatives operated in
] such secrecy:
]
] At 2:54 a.m. on a Friday in March, the House cut veterans
] benefits by three votes.
]
] At 2:39 a.m. on a Friday in April, the House slashed
] education and health care by five votes.
]
] At 1:56 a.m. on a Friday in May, the House passed the
] Leave No Millionaire Behind tax-cut bill by a handful of
] votes.
]
] At 2:33 a.m. on a Friday in June, the House passed the
] Medicare privatization and prescription drug bill by one
] vote.
]
] At 12:57 a.m. on a Friday in July, the House eviscerated
] Head Start by one vote.
]
] And then, after returning from summer recess, at 12:12
] a.m. on a Friday in October, the House voted $87 billion
] for Iraq.

great article on how the house has been run this year by the other side of the aisle.

TOMPAINE.com - Under The Cover Of Darkness

] Google has introduced a new search feature that turns up
] shipping information from Federal Express and United
] Parcel Service, the company's latest move to expand
] beyond keyword searches.

just when you think it couldn't get any cooler.

Google delivers parcel search | CNET News.com

] Atlanta Traffic Court Judge Gary Jackson says he often
] tacks on banishment as a condition of probation instead
] of a fine or jail time. Sometimes he adds banishment in
] addition to the other forms of punishment.
]
] He says for someone living in Buckhead, banishment is
] like being grounded as a child. He says the offenders are
] not allowed on the streets between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.
] Violators risk serving out the remainder of their time in
] jail.

Ha!

Atlanta,Georgia,11Alive,ATLANTA,News,Weather,Doppler,sports,events

] If they say yes, supporting the war was a mistake, they
] are declaring that in a test case of the most important
] decision a president must make—when to go to war—they
] got it wrong. And if they try to explain their way out of
] this by talking about how the Bush administration
] "deceived the American people," they sound like George
] Romney, who was laughed out of the 1968 presidential race
] for saying he had been "brainwashed" into supporting the
] war in Vietnam.
]
]
] On the other hand, if they say no, I don't regret my
] support for this war, the question naturally arises:
] Well, if everything you're complaining about doesn't
] change your mind about the war itself, why are you making
] such an unholy fuss? Apparently, if you had been
] president, we'd be in the same mess.
]
]
] Like mice frustrated in a maze, the candidates seek
] escape routes out of this logical trap. Sometimes they
] say that the current mess is not the result of the
] decision to go to war. It is the result of Bush's inept
] leadership during the war and/or the postwar occupation.
] He should have waited longer for diplomacy to work. He
] should have insisted on the participation of other big
] countries instead of going it virtually alone. He should
] have been better-prepared for the challenges of
] rebuilding. He should not have been blindsided by
] continued opposition after the official fighting stopped.
]
]
] But the resolution these gentlemen supported gave
] war-making authority to George W. Bush, not to some
] idealized, all-knowing president such as themselves. The
] resolution did not say, "This authorization to start a
] war is valid only when used in conjunction with at least
] two other countries large enough to spot on a
] medium-sized world map." Nor did it tell Bush to wait
] until … until … until when? The resolution gave
] George W. Bush the authority to decide when the waiting
] for friends to join in or the foe to back down had gone
] on long enough. If Bush bungled this authority,
] entrusting him with it was a big mistake.

Good breakdown of the logical fallicies of the Democratic candidates positions on Iraq. a quick read worth reading.

Iraqing Their Brains - How can the Democratic candidates escape the trap they set for themselves? By Michael Kinsley

] "Microsoft will voluntarily dismiss all pending actions
] in Europe against Lindows.com and its distributors and
] will refrain from taking any further legal actions to
] enforce its trademark in Europe if you discontinue use of
] 'Lindows' in favor of a new, non-infringing name. In
] addition, if Lindows.com agrees promptly to such change,
] Microsoft will not seek any monetary sanctions to which
] it may be entitled against Lindows.com, including
] recovery of Microsoft's legal expenses.

The Register: Dump Lindows name or we'll take all your money, says MS

QUOTE: Howard Dean’s December 7 speech is the most important statement on race in American politics by a mainstream white politician in nearly 40 years. Nothing remotely comparable has been said by anyone who might become or who has been President of the United States since Lyndon Johnson’s June 4, 1965 affirmative action address to the graduating class at Howard University.

This is a really interesting article from a perspective many have said would not come around: support among the black community for Howard Dean. I, for one, would like to learn more about how to get the message across, and, of course, what that message should be.

The Black Commentator - Cover Story: Dean Makes Racial-Political History - Issue 68

] Consumer advocate Ralph Nader said Thursday he is leaning
] toward another independent run for the presidency and
] will make his decision public in January.

@#&^@*^& @*#&^* # &^@*#^*#&^@*&^ @*&^#@^ Curse!

CNN.com - Nader eyeing another White House run - Dec. 11, 2003