Genocide, Mosquitoes, Georgia Peanuts, and DefCon

I took the picture of the cat and the background. I tubed the cat. I added the text. Anyone can use this picture except for those who are in favor of DRM and the NSA. And if you fancy yourself some kind of "copyright" police, you are not welcome here at this blog ever.

     I have not written about the Israeli-Gaza conflict/ war/ genocide because quite frankly, the whole thing has been a ball of confusion in my brain. While I'm perfectly willing to have Israel dissolve into Palestine, I'm not in favor of Hamas leading the way. I don't know who tossed the first bomb or bullet [housemate says it was Gaza] but I do know that I want the whole thing to stop. Yes, I do think it is genocide. That is all I will say about it for the present.

     The West Nile Virus seems to be having a hurrah in Louisiana and has now made an appearance in Washington state. That sucks badly. I know that massive spraying cannot possibly been "good" for the environment. I also know that we are dealing with human lives. I'd rather there be spraying than a rising death toll from the bite of a mosquito. I suppose there is or ought to be research to make sprays [that emit from trucks to counter the mosquitoes] more "eco-friendly" or whatever. That can happen as we take steps to prevent people from being infected with West Nile. We can't wait. We ought to be conducting massive spray campaigns now.

     Those guys from the Peanut Corporation of America plant in Georgia who knowingly sent out salmonella-infested peanuts which did in fact cause nine people to die and bunches more to get sick ought to experience legal consequences [other than or in addition to paying fines] for their actions. That the safety of any food depends upon corporations owing up to bad lots is piteous. Let the food inspectors inspect!

     One of these years I hope to go to DefCon. I was heartened to hear that John McAfee showed up to defend privacy. He also set up a new complaint list over at brownlist.com. It is easy to use and I think he is on to something.

radical sapphoq says: I hate what is happening in Palestine. I have no particular love for mosquitoes, especially those that spread diseases. That bunches of peanuts with salmonella were sent out to people is hideous. I hate the N.S.A. and all of the corporations and politicians who do not understand things like privacy. Thumbs up to John McAfee.

References:

http://www.brownlist.com/


http://union-bulletin.com/news/2014/aug/09/west-nile-case-suspected-ww-county/

http://www.ldnews.com/local/ci_26307599/west-nile-mosquito-spraying-coming-soon

http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf/2014/08/second_louisiana_resident_dies.html


http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/u-s-peanut-plant-manager-admits-faking-tests-before-deadly-outbreak-1.1952775

http://www.inquisitr.com/1402304/peanut-plant-manager-admits-faking-tests-before-deadly-salmonella-outbreak-flaws-in-honor-system/

http://www.news-record.com/news/north_carolina_ap/article_05ad8c4f-2f17-5ab5-93c7-55fb832de88b.html



http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28721480

http://vpncreative.net/2014/08/09/mcafee-advocates-privacy-defcon-launches-new-site/

http://www.tgdaily.com/social/123801-john-mcafee-is-not-crazy-he-is-a-revolutionary

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/09/us-cybersecurity-hackers-johnmcafee-idUSKBN0G901J20140809

http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/09/john-mcafee-in-crazytown/

http://www.futuretensecentral.com/

This DRM Stuff

     As a published writer, I am falling increasingly on the side of DRM- free writing. Fortunately, we have baen and tor and calibre's books and Cory Doctorow and his craphound site [and others, it's not possible to name them all] who publish ebooks without the DRM bondage. Because DRM is bondage. No mistake about it. 

     If I go onto a site to "buy books" [actually a "license" to "use" books, Le Sigh] and those books have the DRM, I cannot back them up. Why would I want to back up the books? Bookstores go out of business. A publisher may pull books from a store site. And those on-line places that "sell" books-- I mean a license to read those books on their particular brand of e-reader-- can suspend a customer for any reason or for no reason and BAM that user loses the e-books [or the license to read them] that he or she has already purchased. This has already happened at least once on one major site which shall go unnamed but sounds like a rain forest. Three reasons right there.

     Some writers don't mind or ignore their work being put out on the torrents. Others do. And the publishing companies of course do. Like Cory Doctorow, I want my stuff to be read. If it winds up on the torrents, at least people are downloading it and reading it. 

     The novel I have written I will be self-publishing soon. As long as I am identified as the author, I don't give a damn if it gets distributed via the torrents. I am a pirate, like Jimmy Buffett born a bit too late. Cory Doctorow offers some percentage of his books for free downloads as well as for pay on the book seller sites. I plan to be doing the same. Perhaps I will never be as great or as famous or as talented as Cory Doctorow. I like his stuff because he writes what I call hacker lit. I relate to it. My first novel features hackers and rebels as well as some pure assholes. There will be no DRM chaining my novel up away from the masses.

radical sapphoq says: I've also made the decision not to purchase any e-books which are wrapped up in the DRM. The DRM is crap. From now on, any e-books I review will be read at the bookstores or borrowed from a library. I am through with spending my bisexual radical bucks to help enable the DRM.

     If book companies are so concerned about people reading books for free, then just add a surcharge onto them of a buck or two for the publishers and authors. The shape of the publishing industry these days is a mess.

     Screw the DRM. Screw ACTA and all of the other acronyms which basically mean that Big Hollywood and the United States government are endeavoring to take over the world and dictate what copyright should look like to everyone else. Screw the politicians and their sanctions against countries that don't conform to what the USA wants. DRM stands for Doesn't Really Matter as long as I don't contribute to the madness of the machine.

     I know that it does matter. I hope to be alive when the DRM is a distant memory of a more primitive time. Up the rebels!