Melançon Enterprises • a multidivision multinational since 1980

Pat LaMarche (Green Party candidate for Vice President in 2004, what, you don't know her name?) has a nice opinion piece on How Easily Offices Are Stolen in the US that nicely draws the continuum from direct stealing (or assassination) to the indirect stealing of office by limiting options.

siege |sēj|

noun
a military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling the surrender of those inside

The collective punishment – imprisonment and cutting off of needed resources, energy, trade and medicine – cruelly harms and kills people – you know, people, like your friends and family – in the entire region of Gaza in dozens of ways.

Commented on this http://revoltnation.blogspot.com/2008/01/digg-is-game-lets-play-for-real...
here https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8319979103909944076&postID=5348...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/02/6115/

Fairly certain this man does all he does from a wheelchair. I give GE/NBC even odds in a fight to the finish with John Hockenberry.

40% of site visitors (or downloaders I think) paid an average of $6.

The main thing is that they went around the middleman, not just for music sales (CD or digital distributors) but in gathering a database of their fans that they can use in booking concerts, further promotion and sales, etc.

It will definitely work for Radiohead, and other high-profile bands.

And this is the best bet for artists and bands who won't get into the music industry any other way.

Will it work for all the groups in between?

I want it to, but I'm not sure we're there yet.

Some observations:

The few have robbed the many for a long, long time.

not exactly scholarly, but...

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/10/10-reasons-to-h.html

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/31/4935/

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - a 30-member club of nations - compiles the most often cited international comparison. It puts the U.S. at 15th place for broadband lines per person in 2006, down from No. 4 in 2001.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/31/4937/

The Media and Democracy Coalition released its survey the same day the Federal Communications Commission was due to hold a public meeting on media ownership. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants the agency to decide by December 18 on whether to ease limits on how many media outlets a company may own in one market.

Longstanding FCC rules restrict cross-ownership and ban ownership of a newspaper and a TV or radio station in the same market without an FCC waiver.

http://fixyourthinking.com/2007/10/whats-been-going-on-in-last-week.html

Smith was immune from trademark claims because his reference to BidZirk was in the context of news reporting or news commentary. Though the court doesn't equate bloggers and journalists generally, it gives Smith the same protection given to journalists