A Bloy and his Blog

Here are a couple of causes worthy of support (in my humble opinion).

At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the Copyright Royalty Board has increased the royalty payments internet radio stations must pay. That increase makes royalty payments drastically higher for the internet radio industry than those paid by traditional broadcasters. Even more absurd, royalty payments would be owed retroactively, for music that was played as far back as January of 2006 (which is kind of like the petroleum companies telling me I owe them money for the gas bought last year, because the price is higher this year).

When it comes to broadcast radio, I listen only to public radio, and the occasional sports broadcast. If I want to listen to music, I turn to internet radio such as Radio Paradise. Take a look at their playlist. You won’t hear a quarter of those songs on any commercial station.

read the rest of: Advocating independent causes

I just finished watching Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth. I don’t care what your political mindset is, there is no way anyone can see this film and not agree that global warming is an urgent crisis we need to do something about. As the former Vice President says, this is not a political issue, it is a moral one. If the rise in carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase at an exponential rate, the planet’s temperature will rise along with it. Billions of people will suffer fates similar to the hundreds of thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims.

read the rest of: A powerful truth

The Huffington Post has obtained an internal memo from Fox News, which was written the day after the election. From the memo:

The elections and Rumsfeld’s resignation were a major event, but not the end of the world. The war on terror goes on without interruption… And let’s be on the lookout for any statements from the Iraqi insurgents, who must be thrilled at the prospect of a Dem-controlled congress.

I guess the powers that be at Fox News were absent the day they talked about objectivity in journalism school. Be sure and bring this up the next time anyone complains about the liberal bias in the media.

“Fair and Balanced” indeed.

In a couple of weeks citizens in Wisconsin will be voting on two referendums. I’m voting NO on both.

One referendum is asking if the State should institute the death penalty for capital crimes with DNA evidence. Wisconsin hasn’t executed anyone for the past 150 years, and I certainly think we should keep it that way.

The death penalty has always struck me as being a tool of vengeance, which I believe is morally wrong.

read the rest of: Just Say NO

The lead story in the New York Times today was, Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him, with regard to his speeches on global warming, and the ability for the United States to take a lead roll in doing something to reverse this trend. Earlier this week it was announced that 2005 was the warmest year on record. Other climate experts have predicted ice-free summers in the Arctic by mid-century.

But apparently, the current administration thinks having an uninformed public would better suit its policies. Or, should that be “would better suit their corporate interests?”

The U.S. has long taken on the role of world leadership. Where is the leadership when it comes to the environment? What an embarrassment.

Flipping through the Sunday morning talk shows today, I hit upon G. Gordon Liddy criticizing Mark Felt, recently announced as Deep Throat, for his “unethical actions.”

So, here is the man who actually performed the act of political espionage, breaking into the democratic party headquarters, spewing on about unethical behavior in others? Am I the only one who finds this totally absurd?

In the news recently, the Downing Street Memo has finally come to light. How three years ago, the Bush Administration had decided to “fix the intelligence” to support its policy of invading Iraq to remove Saddam Hussain from power. Would that we had someone with the courage of Mark Felt’s convictions, three years ago.

It’s election time here in the United States — time for the endless barrage of political commercials that saturate the television airwaves. Is this any way to inform the public on where our potential leaders stand on the issues? The election campaigns seem to depend more on marketing experts than policy experts. Instead of hearing about the real issues, we get mudslinging.

read the rest of: And they say the government wastes money…