Wall-E

How much do I love Pixar?

About as much as I love robots, and I love robots a LOT.

I don't need evidence in a court of law!

Or at least, the MPAA thinks that they shouldn't.  

The Motion Picture Association of America said  Friday intellectual-property holders should have the right to collect damages, perhaps as much as $150,000 per copyright violation, without having to prove infringement.

"Mandating such proof could thus have the pernicious effect of depriving copyright owners of a practical remedy against massive copyright infringement in many instances," MPAA attorney Marie L. van Uitertwrote Friday to the federal judge overseeing the Jammie Thomas trial.

"It is often very difficult, and in some cases, impossible, to provide such direct proof when confronting modern forms of copyright infringement, whether over P2P networks or otherwise; understandably, copyright infringers typically do not keep records of infringement," van Uitert wrote on behalf of the movie studios, a position shared with the Recording Industry Association of America, which sued Thomas, the single mother of two.

Well, yes.  Even in civil suits, we still live in a country with, you know, freedom and a justice system and all that.  And that justice system operates on the idea that the burden of proof rests on the accuser, not the accused.  "But that makes it really hard!" is not a valid argument to do away with that.

Look, MPAA and RIAA: Stop charging so damn much for your mediocre products.  Stop being control freaks and trying to tell us how we can and can't use the media we purchase.  Most people assume that when you purchase a movie or a CD, you're buying a copy of that movie or CD, and not the rights to watch it.  Don't try to install any software on my computer*.  Just make the media affordable and available under reasonable terms, and a lot of this problem will die down.

*Yes, I'm talking to you, Sony.  But I'm also talking to every damn DVD publisher that insists on bundling an automatic installer for some damn 3rd-party media player on the disc.  No one wants that, because we've all got enough damn media players already.  Stop it.  

Success!

I have now baked something entirely on my own, wholly without supervision, and completely without problem.

Granted, it was cookies from one of those refrigerated rolls of pre-made dough, so all I really needed to do was set the oven to the right temperature, gob the dough onto the pan, put it in the oven, and take it out ten minutes later.  But still: my first unsupervised baking adventure.

To balance the sense of culinary maturity, dinner is ramen and a pack of chips from the vending machine.  

Aaaaah

It's amazing how you could be in the foulest, grumpiest, nastiest mood ever...then you go and exercise in some way, and you're suddenly full of happy.  Bonus points for riding a bike along a moderately busy road and skimming on past all the traffic.

Best drug in the world.

Baseball

Phils beat the Cardinals 20-2.  Also, currently number one in the division.  

I swear to god if they screw it up again this year I will never watch or listen to another baseball game ever again.

Lincoln was a topsy-turvy man

Hooray for habeas corpus!  At least a few people in the federal government are beginning to remember that the United States Constitution governs what the United States Government can do.  It doesn't grant specific right to American citizens, it flat-out tells the government: "Here are things you are absolutely, entirely obligated to do.  And here are the things that you may not, under any circumstances, no matter what, never ever ever do."  Sure there's some gray area in the middle, but the beauty of it is where those grey areas aren't, such as Section 9 of Article 1:

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

Huh.  Note that it doesn't say that 'American citizens are entitled to habeas corpus', but rather that the right can't be suspended barring rebellion or invasion.  Last time I checked, there's no rebellion against the American government*, and we sure as hell have not been invaded.  Hopefully, those prisoners will come a bit closer to justice soon.

In vaguely related news - as the last president to suspend habeas corpus was one Mr. Lincoln (which admittedly was during a rebellion) - at work I've been doing an inventory of our reserve materials.  We keep a copy of all program books behind the counter on reserve, for in-library use only, and I'm making sure that what we have matches the list of what we should have and that all the books are in decent condition.  One of the items is some photocopied excerpts from the Lincoln-Douglas debates, used in senior seminar.  It's just photocopies, purchased from the bookstore, in one of those three-hole folders.  I flip it open to make sure it's not marked up and whatnot**, and...the back of every page is upside-down.  Meaning, they're two-sided copies, and while page number 1 is right-side up, page 2 on the back is upside down.

Please understand that most likely, someone with a college degree assembled these packets and thought it was okay to sell them for $2.

Sometimes, this school makes my brain hurt, not in the expected way.

*Hey, guess what?  If we'd get the hell out of some of the places we are, a lot of people will be happier with us!

**If I believed in the afterlife, I would absolutely believe that there is a very specially unpleasant section of hell reserved for those who write in library books.  Ingrates.

Oh boy

I've decided - though I don't know if I'll follow through - to try to begin teaching myself Arabic this summer.  So far I'm working through the beginning of The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read & Write It.  

So far I'm very, very intimidated.  

Happy Griswold v. Connecticut day!

Forty-three years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the state - to paraphrase slightly - has no damn business telling you whether you can or can't use contraceptives.  

Even today, there are some who would take that from others solely to impose their own morality on consenting individuals.  Their platform is built on antiquated religious beliefs, a lack of understanding of our Constitutional rights, and an absolutely appalling ignorance of science and biology.