YouTube censors Antony and Johnsons, isn’t that silly

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Antony and the Johnsons, banned in Boston

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, January 31, 2009

Yesterday I wrote about a cool new group and their video Epilepsy is Dancing. When I checked my stories at 4:30 PM, my computer locked up. Apparently, YouTube had taken the video down “because it is supposedly indecent!” Although stunning and provocative, the video is hardly indecent, more of cross between Midsummer Night’s Dream meets Debussy’s painter. There is quite a bit of indecent material on YouTube and this video is art not indecent. What is startling is the combination of disability and sexuality, one of the taboos yet in our society.

The video is so well done, with the lyrics, music, dancing and cinematography I recommend it for viewing by adults and children, pre-teens and older, to teach them about epilepsy. It will allay fears about disability and help us to understand another state of human existence. Most children have already seen more sexuality on daytime soaps and rock videos. Of course, nothing is more immoral and disrespectful to life than the brutal violence shown in movies and TV.

Here is the video on PitchFork TV.
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Music copyright is a world gone wrong

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Stephen Pate

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada January 31, 2009

Mike Masnick over at TechDirt has this thing about copyright. It’s his regular obsession. The post Yes, Artists Build On The Works Of Others… So Why Is It Sometimes Infringement? makes the point that we need to be able to transform other works of art. In the current frenzy to copyright, patent and tie down the last nickle from each idea we have we’re stiffling the collective creative process. Musicians, especially the starters, are encouraged to copyright your songs to get compensation for your work. Maybe you’ll get rich one day. Wow, that would be exciting. Wrong, totally improbable that a new artist trying to create original music will write something that makes a million dollars, especially if they build walls around it. It was not how music, especially rock and roll, got so great. Instead of registering your songs with Socan, just send them out to the world on the Internet and see if anyone likes them. You automatically have a copyright by law.
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A little neighborly concern may help avert tragic situations

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Stephen Pate

From BattleCreekEnquirer.com

The death of Marvin Schur should make all of us think about our roles as neighbors and community members in a world where we increasingly are isolated from one another.Schur is the 93-year-old Bay City man who was found frozen to death in his house Jan. 17. The local utility company had installed a power-limiting device on Schur’s house because he owed more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills.
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Fannie Mae employee tried to sabotage computer

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Stephen Pate

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, January 31, 2009
from a story in ComputerWorld

A computer programmer working for US Federal mortgage lender Fannie Mae was suspected of planting a software time bomb to destroy records of his employer. ComputerWorld reports |”Rajendrasinh Babubhai Makwana, 35, was indicted Tuesday by a federal court on a single charge of computer intrusion, according to documents released yesterday.” No damage occurred as another employee noticed the malicious script and deleted it. Continue reading →

Teacher who discriminated against autistic child appeals suspension

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Stephen Pate

By Melissa Barton,

My son Alex Barton was voted out of kindergarten because he has Aspergers Syndrome. His teacher Wendy Portillo was suspended for one year. YET< Monday she fights her suspension in FT Pierce FL. I need your help to prevent this monster from ever teaching again. Please read the article.

Alex Barton teacher’s suspension appeal to be heard Monday in Fort Pierce

From TC Palm, Palm Beach County, FL

FORT PIERCE — Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo, who got worldwide attention after she led her kindergarten students to vote out classmate Alex Barton, will be heard Monday morning as she appeals her one-year unpaid suspension. Portillo got the suspension after a lengthy St. Lucie County Schools investigation into the incident. Alex was 5 years old last May when he was voted out by classmates. He was in the process of being diagnosed with a type of autism.
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World economy worse, US GDP shrinks 3.8%

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Stephen Pate

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, January 30, 2009 8:47 EST
with story from Reuters

The US economy sunk deeper into recession in Q4 2008 by 3.8% the worst decline in more than a quarter century. The Bureau of Economic Accounts reported at 8:30 EST today “Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — decreased at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008,(that is, from the third quarter to the fourth quarter), according to advance estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP decreased 0.5 percent.” Continue reading →

Too hot to handle – Antony and the Johnsons

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Antony and the Johnsons

By Kay Olson, The Gimp Parade, Minnesota, USA, January 30, 2009

Kay Olson publishes one of the most popular disability blogs in North America. Always controversial, she describes herself as “I’m a thirtysomething disabled feminist. Overeducated, underemployed.”

My newest music obsession is Antony and the Johnsons. Antony Hegarty is, as described by SignOnSan Diego, a “brawny-looking, transsexual Irish-American maverick with a wonderfully androgynous voice and a tremulous chamber-pop style all his own.”

Warning: the video contain partial nudity which some might consider offensive although we don’t. Apparently YouTube has removed the video, which would explain why it’s locking up my computer. Try PitchforkTV which works better anyway.
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Big Story – Farmers can’t get any respect and we’ll lose

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Photo,Webshots.com

Farm report misses the point, farming is strategic not just any business

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, January 30, 2009
with story from the CBC

The report of the Commission on the Future of Agriculture and Agri-Food is a predictable urban reaction to farming. City people think farming is just another business which is not true. Farming is a strategic business to life itself. Without food we die, like water and air. Without a domestic food industry we become victims of international food conglomerates. As Opposition Leader Olive Crane reminded the folks in Covehead this week, the amount of first class farm land in the world is very small and PEI has the some of the best, some of the best in Canada for that matter.
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HST for PEI will cost us plenty

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Stephen Pate

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, January 30, 2009
with stories from The Toronto Star and The Guardian

Federal Finance Minister is waving the perennial HST flag asking the provinces to sign onto a blended provincial and GST tax system. Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said the HST would cause Ontario’s gross domestic product to decline. However business groups in Ontario are lobbying for the change since businesses can claim a net refund on taxes paid. Essentially what HST does is shift the tax burden to consumers.
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It only took 28 years to make newspapers redundant

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Stephen Pate

In 1981 they predicted what we have today. Reading the paper still feels good but the waste of paper and flat format is a passing thing.

Almost ripped on Kijiji Mac Pro

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Stephen Pate

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PE, Canada, January 29, 2009

I’m repeating this article from Eclectic Mind – the same guy is trying to rip people off all over Canada, in Winnipeg, MN Fort McMurray, Al, Granby QC. According to one comment “This scammer is also selling motorcycle parts on Craiglists from the Atlantic Provinces.”

So be careful…
I almost got ripped off on a Mac Pro today. David Cole answered my Kijiji add in Charlottetown with a sweet deal that was a total scam. His email addresses are gloryandpride@msn.com and david.cole@msn.com. The add from last month, when my XP box was dying, said