Age of Reason

A Summary of All Copyright-related Ethical Issues

One point is all that's needed. From an excellent article in the conservative British paper the Financial Times by James Boyle

Thomas Macaulay told us copyright law is a tax on readers for the benefit of writers, a tax that shouldn’t last a day longer than necessary

Macaulay is exactly right: copyright is a tax. No more need be said.

posted by conchis @ 1:28 PM 23 comments

Rabbi Hammers Frist and the Rapture Right

Via DailyKos

The news that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist plans to join a telecast whose organizing theme is that those who oppose some of President Bush's judicial nominees are engaged in an assault on "people of faith" is more than troubling; it is disingenuous, dangerous, and demagogic.

-- Rabbi David Saperstein, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

posted by conchis @ 8:41 PM 0 comments

Barbara Boxer Defends the American People

And apparently this is one thing that happens when you defend the American people:



Here is the thank you note she posted on Dailykos.

posted by conchis @ 9:08 AM 0 comments

Howard Dean elected DNC Chair

Reward the DNC for good behavior, and do it through this ActBlue donation link, to make sure everyone's aware that this money is coming from grass-roots pro-Dean activists over the web:

  Contribution amount:
  $
 
 
 
 

posted by conchis @ 11:27 AM 0 comments

The New Republic Recaps the DNC Chair Race

From Ryan Lizza at the New Republic

From the congressional leadership to the governors to the Clintons, top Democrats were all terrified of a Dean victory....And yet none of them could stop him.
...
At one of five candidate forums held around the country for DNC members to interview the aspiring chairs, Roemer rose and, glaring at Dean and candidate Simon Rosenberg, lashed out at the "secret e-mails" that were circulating about him. He angrily defended his pro-life record and testily challenged the DNC members to show some tolerance on the issue. It was a brave speech, but it was also the end of his candidacy. Applause was scattered and perfunctory. In New York the next week, he told DNC members, "We shouldn't let a special interest group decide our view on choice." This time, the audience hissed. 

Now I understand better the second half of his closing statement that same week at the meeting in Sacramento (paraphrasing mine):

 Thanks all -- and thank you for not putting me after Howard Dean.  Churchill was once asked "Aren't you going to go outside?  There are 10,000 people waiting to hear you speak."  He replied, "If I was to be hanged, there would be 10 times as many".  There are people here wanting to see me hang.  If I believed everything I read, I might be out there watching.  My mother is a staunch pro-choicer, and I hear from her every day.  As DNC I would not overturn Roe v. Wade.

posted by conchis @ 7:50 PM 0 comments

Howard Dean: On Borrowed Time

From Yubanet (emphasis mine):

All Americans understand that there need to be some changes to our Social Security system because 40 years from now, Social Security will go into deficit if we do nothing. And it is always better to correct problems early than wait until they get worse.

But there is no truth to the Bush administration's claim that there is an imminent crisis in Social Security - the Social Security Trust Fund's potential shortfall is $3.7 trillion over the next seventy-five years. By comparison, the Medicare Trust Fund shortfall will be $8.1 trillion, and the deficit caused by the president's tax cuts will be $11.6 trillion. The crisis is not in Social Security - the crisis is the "borrow and spend" philosophy espoused by Republicans in Congress and the White House. Leadership which has no willingness or ability to think or act in our long-term interest is not leadership at all.

If America is to continue to be great and strong, we need leadership which is great and strong. We need to be told the truth about our financial problems and we need a plan of action motivated by facts, not scaremongering and propaganda.

The Republicans need to start thinking long term and make the following reforms.

* First, stop borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund to finance tax cuts. These are not real tax cuts; these are tax postponements, which Americans will be forced to pay down the road - with interest.
*  Second, balance the Federal budget. There are many ways that this can be accomplished, but they all involve tough choices requiring some combination of revenue increases and program cuts. There seems to be no serious effort in Washington to make these tough choices and our country continues to careen toward fiscal catastrophe.
*       Third, reform the way elections are financed and run. The special interests that finance our candidates' campaigns make it virtually impossible for our leaders to make good choices for the long term. Fearful of losing this source of campaign funding and their jobs, they keep making bad choices that benefit the special interest at the expense of all Americans. In the end, of course, these leaders lose both their jobs, and their self-respect. And our children's debt burden continues to rise.
Sooner or later our children pay for this borrowing with a lower standard of living, an inability to pay for college and health care, and an inability to buy American products to create American job opportunities.

The debate over the future of Social Security - and every debate with this Administration - provides Democrats with an opportunity to drive home the fact that that we are the party of fiscal responsibility, economic responsibility, social responsibility, civic responsibility, personal responsibility, and moral responsibility. On issue after issue, Democrats are where the majority of the American people are. We just have to stand up for what we believe in.

If America is to continue to be great and strong, we need leadership which is great and strong. We need to be told the truth about our financial problems, followed by a plan of action based on facts, not propaganda.


Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, is the founder of Democracy for America, a grassroots organization that supports socially progressive and fiscally responsible political candidates

posted by conchis @ 2:09 PM 0 comments

Dean Will Win, Most Now Claim

Yesterday saw the withdrawal of of DNC Chair candidates Wellington Web, Martin Frost, and Tim Roemer (and Simon Rosenberg, and David Leland), and authoritative sources online (Burntorangereport and mydd) and off (NYT) are now reporting that Dean has won.

We here at Age of Reason are reporting that it ain't over till it's over, but we are pleased.

posted by conchis @ 6:50 AM 0 comments

Barbara Boxer's Post on Dailykos

Condoleezza Rice received 13 votes against her confirmation -- the most votes against any Secretary of State's nomination since 1825.

The note from Boxer is nice, but most important this is history in the making, which comments from 500 greatful Kossacks and an exchange with her staffer who says she did indeed write the post herself. Jay Rosen said at BloggerCon III that people running for Senate ought to write their own blogs. Barbara Boxer at leasty partly gets that.

posted by conchis @ 9:54 PM 0 comments

How Many Bush Administration Officials Does It Take to Screw In a Lightbulb?

None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb. Its conditions are improving every day.  Any reports that it is dark are due to bias from the liberal media.  The light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect.  Why do you hate freedom?

posted by conchis @ 5:15 PM 0 comments