Society & Politics – Page 16 – Brandon Staggs .Com

Mickey Mouse writes antipiracy law while wearing an Orrin Hatch costume

“Litman said that under the Induce Act, products like ReplayTV, peer-to-peer networks and even the humble VCR could be outlawed because they can potentially be used to infringe copyrights.”

This is very bad. This is Disney being allowed to shape copyright law. Orrin Hatch should be ashamed of himself for promoting such nonsense.

Saying that devices or software that can be used for copyright infringement should be outlawed is just like saying that firearms should be banned because some people use them to commit crimes. It’s bad thinking.

Hezbollah high-fives Moore

Fahrenheit 9/11 gets help offer from Hezbollah: Every liberal’s favorite America-hater and propagandist Michael Moore is finding that Hezbollah thinks his film is their kind of movie.

Kerry likes McCain for VP

McCain Rejects Kerry’s VP Overture

“In recent days, officials close to Kerry have repeatedly reached out to McCain’s advisers in hopes of persuading the senator to join the ticket.”

You’ve gotta question your credentials as a Republican if the Democrats think there is a chance of getting you on their ticket.

Dad investigated for NOT drugging son

Dad Investigated for Taking Son Off Meds

“The detective told me if I did not medicate my son, I would be arrested for child abuse and neglect.”

The “meds” referred to here are drugs designed to alter the personality of the child — specifically, Ritalin. So now we have a government agent telling a father that he is required to give his son drugs to make him less of a boy. That’s what it’s about — the kid doesn’t fit well into the classroom setting, so instead of working with the child in a setting less artificial, dope him up and make him more passive. Rob him of his personality because it doesn’t suit the synthetic “educational” environment he is being forced into.

Ronald Reagan, RIP

The greatest U.S. president in recent history, Ronald Reagan, died today. [Article]

I was pretty young when Reagan was winning the Cold War and curbing the tyranny of absurdly high taxes, and these are a couple of things I remember from then:

My parents let each of us stay up late one night a week when our siblings went to bed. One night when it was my turn to stay up late, I was watching TV and the show I wanted to watch was not being aired because every station was showing the video of our President getting shot. (Later, there would be a successful infringement to the right of US citizens to keep and bear arms, in large part due to this shooting.)

Ronald Reagan was president while I was teaching myself to program BASIC on my Commodore 64. There is a bizarre connection in my mind with the boombing prosperity of the 80s, a great president, and a great computer. I tend to think of all three at the same time.