MPAA Ain't the Only Bad Business...
2000-02-25 18:20:33
OK, you got your DeCSS button on your page, you've got a "Fuck the MPAA" bumper sticker, you've handed out informational leaflets at work... still feel like poking at the status quo? The folks at www.u-can.org have a great suggestion for some low-tech semi-passive, semi-legal, low-profile protesting.
When I was out in front of the Sony Metreon the other night protesting DeCSS and getting harassed by rent-a-cops (and later real ones) this well dressed women brushed off my info-sheet saying "Why don't you protest something real, like starving children?"
Now well it's true that DVD viewing, and even freedom of speech is on the low side of the necessary-for-human-survival list, I still felt I had the moral upper-hand. 'Cause see I was protesting something. I was trying to change, to inform, to affect the world around me. I wasn't on my way to a $8 a drink cocktail lounge.
People need to get in the habit of protesting. When something pisses me off, I'm pretty comfortable with printing up a bunch of leaflets and standing in the street on my Friday night and complaining about it. I'm not gonna scream in people's face, and I've only been involved with blocking traffic a few times, but if you want 100 good reason why you shouldn't give Nike or McDonald's you money, I'm happy to let you know.... oh, and I'm not a hippy, in case you were wondering. We had a lot of leather, some very nice latex and no tie-dye in front of Sony-- not that people of the crunchy persuasion should be shunned or anything. I'm just saying.
Which brings me to the U Can folks. The have an amusing and effective idea for spreading the word about clothing companies' labor rights abuses. Now I know a lot of you don't care, you'll shell out your $$$ to the massive Old-Navy-Banana-Dictatorship-Gap machine and maybe even be amused that some 10 year old girl was paid $0.13/hour to put together your3/4 length kakhi cargo pants... and that she can't leave the compound... and the stuff she makes has a "Made in the USA" label cause of some loop-holes ... or that she'll be fired if she gets married or pregnant .... or that Nike could divert about 1% of its ad budget and pay all it's employees a living wage...
Yes, life sucks for a lot of people in the world and you probably aren't going to really help any of them... but you don't have to pay for their problems. You don't have to be manipulated by Old Navy's funny commercials or Benneton's deep emotional multi-racial love fest bullshit. So while you're in a protesting mode and all frothy at the mouth over bad big buisness, take a look at some of the other battles that folks have been fighting...
T O P S T O R I E S
California Glory Hole attracts huge crowds
A glory hole at Napa's Lake Berryessa is drawing huge crowds. According to Chris Lee, the general manager for the Solano County Water Agency, the glory hole hasn't been active since 2019, and only restarted operations on Feb 4. (More...)
Republican State Senator busted after soliciting a teenage girl
Republican State Senator Justin Eichorn of Minnesota was arrested for soliciting a teen girl on Monday just hours after he introduced a bill proposing "Trump derangement syndrome" (TDS) as a form of mental illness. (More...)
Parents claim measles is not that bad after having only one child die
The parents of a Texas girl who died from the measles are defending their decision not to vaccinate their daughter. "She says they would still say 'Don't do the shots,'" an unidentified translator for the parents said. "They think it’s not as bad as the media is making it out to be." (More...)
Delusional rich man tries to fire town staff
"I'm mayor now" said write-in mayoral candidate and founder of Pirate’s Booty Snacks Robert Ehrlich after losing the election for Mayor of Sea Cliff, NY. Then he tried to take over the Village Hall and fire everyone. (More...)
Musk claims Xitter security is staffed by idiots
Earlier this month Xitter experienced a massive outage. In an interview, Musk told Fox Business that he believes the attack came from "IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area." (More...)
The Future Ain't What It Used To Be
Ideas have taken horrifying shape and rooted into our modern reality. (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
Poor Metallica. All they want is to continue to put out the same weak "Heavy Metal" they've been churning out since the "And Justice For All" days? and make gooey wads of cash in the process. The problem is, people aren't buying their bound for the heavy metal scrap heap, over-produced, uninspired, tired crap. And let's face it, their various commercial endorsements won't pay for the lifestyle they've become comfortably accustomed to. Resorting to lawsuits makes perfect sense, when you need spending money. But just one lawsuit isn't going to pay their bills. So, to aid Metallica, I've composed an open letter to the boys in the band, with suggestions as to whom else they might sic their lapdog lawyers on... (More...)
Australian Troops Set for Days of Debauchery to the Tunes of Kylie Minogue
This weekend Australian troops in East Timor will be able to put their feet up and push all the images of mass graves and charred remains from their minds as they relax to the giddy melodies of Kylie Minogue - including exclusive unplugged performances in the militia-ravaged and blood-spattered border towns of Balibo and Suai. (More...)
During a magnificent sunny day in a fast receding autumn, the Spock Science Monitor reporters once again blew the playa dust off of their computers and covered the 2002 Burning Man Decompression – held every year just east of Portola Hill in beautiful San Francisco. Both an afternoon and evening issues were released to the unsuspecting crowd of freaks attempting to in some small way experience the euphoria of the playa – if but for a brief afternoon far from the desolation of Northern Nevada. (More...)
On the Implementation of a Grocery Bag And Overforestation Initiative
Patient Joab and his evil cohort, Patient Steve, develop a proposal for the plastic-v.-paper problem that EVERYONE can be happy with. An EXCLUSIVE from Spock Mountain Research Labs! (More...)
Report from Spiritual Machines
Arkuat gives you the inside scoop on the "Spiritual Machines" panel and conclave. Wacky excitement ensues! (More...)
This was an old standby back in my poor college days. Back then the goal was to get butt fucking wasted for as little money as possible. The problem was we hated dirt cheap beer - and some weekends, even Henry's was far more lucre then we could scratch together. So we invented Red. (More...)