The Victors: Project OSPREY
(№ 20) Michigan 60-59 Michigan State (№ 9)
15-4, Big Ten 5-2
The best thing about tonight's victory is that the valiant Wolverines prevailed against the dastardly Spartans. The second best thing about tonight's victory is that 'twas the valiant Wolverines' third consecutive triumph over the dastardly Spartans. The third best thing about tonight's victory is that 'twas over a Top 10 team. The fourth best thing about tonight's victory is that the valiant Wolverines would have cruised to victory if they hadn't missed almost all of their numerous three-point shots in the second half; as it was, the Maize & Blue shows true grit in pulling off the nail-biter. An ideal game it was not, but any victory over the dastardly Spartans, our "little brothers," is sweet. A third victory in a row is sweeter still.
Go Blue!
Ye Olde Interweb
Regarding the impending Wikipedia blackout, I do not know who is in the right about the virtues or vices of S.O.P.A./P.I.P.A., Hollywood or Silicon Valley, but I do know that I am going to be deprived of a website that I use daily & enjoy greatly not because of an act of the Congress, nor because of anything done by the Motion Picture Academy of America, but because of decisions taken by Jimmy Wales & the Wikimedia Foundation. The only people responsible for the looming Wikipedia blackout are the stewards of Wikipedia. I do not know if they are in the right in the opposition to the legislation currently making its way through the Congress, but they are absolutely in the wrong to use you & me & everyone else who uses Wikipedia as pawns in their publicity stunt. For shame, Wikimedia Foundation!
The Queue
Recently
Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden, Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire
Bram Stoker, The Jewel of Seven Stars
Tiziano Sclavi, et al., The Dylan Dog Case Files
Currently
Hergé, The Adventures of Tintin: In the Land of the Soviets & The Adventures of Tintin: Cigars of the Pharaoh
Presently
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes
H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines
David Ignatius, Body of Lies
Len Deighton, City of Gold
The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "The Horse Shoe and the Rabbit's Foot" from The Magic of Youth (T.L.A.M.)
Commentary: In the lyrics in the liner notes, the word is given as "horseshoe," but in the title it is "horse shoe." Is there some hidden meaning? Or is this nothing more than a typo?
"I believe the sharkskin and the tortoiseshell,
I believe the houndstooth and the herringbone,
I believe the horseshoe and the rabbit's foot,
And in the morning everything will be all right."
7 comments:
The idea of the blackout is to motivate people to learn about SOPA and Protect-IP. Not only is it a potential result of legislation (though far-fetched, clearly), but also it will raise plenty of awareness and inspire people to look up SOPA. You know... tomorrow once it's unblocked.
So, I rob a museum. The idea of the robbery is to make museum patrons appreciate the art all the more by its absence. My intent does not change the fact that by removing all the art from the museum I have deprived anyone who visits the museum of their right to view the art, even if I return the art the very next day.
Notice that I didn't criticize the Wikimedia Foundation's intent, only its actions.
I say it is more similar to a museum shutting its doors for a day so that the employees can spend the day contacting their elected officials to voice their opinion of pending legislation. Then, putting a sign on the door explaining to their patrons why the museum is closed today and trying to garner their support. I don't think it is wrong to seek support in this fashion.
We'll go with your closed museum analogy, The Guy, but with this one tweak: the museum isn't closed, patrons are still allowed to see two works of art, & told by the museum that these are the only works of art worth viewing. (Wikipedia isn't down, the S.O.P.A. & P.I.P.A. pages are still up & running.) Centrally dictating content in this way is supposed to be antithetical to Wikipedia's mission & ethos of neutrality.
I would think of those two articles as the notes on the door explaining why they're closed for the day.
No dice, Guy, yours is an indefensibly charitable explanation of the two accessible articles, since to present only propaganda about S.O.P.A. & P.I.P.A. in isolation, without any other reference to the very real issues of piracy & copyright violation, is to engage in exactly the kind of "advocacy" Wikipedia's founders swore to which it would never stoop.
I agree with that point, in that unbiased sources should not take stands.
I reconcile this with self-preservation being the premiere "Special Circumstance". And Wikipedia sees a clear and present danger.
Too much and too far? Maybe. But you still wouldn't have to work too hard to find someone who has no idea about SOPA and PIPA right now, and that's what Wikipedia was trying to combat.
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