Thursday eye-opener: Can anybody beat the Celtics or Lakers? - USA Today
December 4, 2008
Thursday eye-opener: Can anybody beat the Celtics or Lakers? - USA Today Thursday eye-opener: Can anybody beat the Celtics or Lakers?
TSN.ca
USA Today -
Shouldn't we just let the Lakers and defending champion Celtics play for the title now? The only team that looks like they could give them a run plays in Chapel Hill.
Rondo sets a hot pace
Rondo's Triple-Double Helps Celtics Post 10th Straight Win
Court says DNA database violates privacy - Reuters UK Court says DNA database violates privacy
BBC News
Reuters UK -
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - Europe's human rights court ruled on Thursday that Britain had violated two people's privacy by storing their DNA profiles, even though they had not been convicted of a crime.
UK DNA Database Violates Privacy Rights, Court Says (Update2)
UK police DNA bank a 'human rights violation'
A storm hangs over BlackBerry Storm - MSNBC A storm hangs over BlackBerry Storm
NewsOXY
MSNBC -
By Suzanne Choney After nearly two weeks on the market, the much-anticipated BlackBerry Storm has lived up to its name, with longtime BlackBerry loyalists frustrated by the smartphone's bugginess, sluggishness and user unfriendliness with its three …
BlackBerry Maker Latest to …
RIM Cuts Forecast
Florida slips in health survey - Bizjournals.com Florida slips in health survey
That Happened!
Bizjournals.com -
High incidences of infectious disease and a high rate of uninsured people caused Florida to drop to near the bottom of the list in a state-by-state analysis of the nation’s health.
Vermont called healthiest state, Louisiana last
Empire State is stuck in the middle on health
Lil Wayne leads Grammy nods - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
December 4, 2008
Lil Wayne leads Grammy nods - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
The nominees Record: “Chasing Pavements,” Adele; “Viva la Vida,” Coldplay; “Bleeding Love,” Leona Lewis; “Paper Planes,” M.I.A.; “Please Read The Letter,” Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Album: “Raising Sand,” Robert Plant and Alison Krauss; “Viva la Vida,” Coldplay; “Tha
India refuses to rule out Pakistan link in Mumbai attacks - Scoop
India is refusing to rule out a military response after linking Pakistan to the terror attacks in Mumbai. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been visiting New Dehli to try to calm tensions between the two countries. India received a warning from the United States before last week’s attacks
Flights resume out of Bangkok as protesters lift airport siege - Guardian Unlimited
Hopes for the hundreds of thousands of foreign travellers stranded in Thailand were raised yesterday when the first international passenger flights left Bangkok’s main airport after anti-government protesters ended their eight-day siege. Within hours of the lifting of the blockade the first
Riley’s message to Obama: A relationship to build - Anniston Star
December 4, 2008
Riley’s message to Obama: A relationship to build - Anniston Star
Over the last six-plus years, it’s been easy to heap praise on Gov. Bob Riley when he defends Alabama’s needs and protects the state’s interests. Whether in overseas trade talks or water tussles with our Southern neighbors, he often seems a skilled negotiator and tough debater. Now, let’s see if he
Vikings react to NFL’s decision - St. Cloud Times
EDEN PRAIRIE — Darren Sharper’s nightmare has come true. When Pro Bowl defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams met with the league two weeks ago to appeal their suspensions for violating the league’s steroid policy, the Minnesota Vikings free safety called the possibility of losing
Flights resume out of Bangkok as protesters lift airport siege - Guardian Unlimited
Hopes for the hundreds of thousands of foreign travellers stranded in Thailand were raised yesterday when the first international passenger flights left Bangkok’s main airport after anti-government protesters ended their eight-day siege. Within hours of the lifting of the blockade the first
‘GM, Chrysler considering bankruptcy’ - Zee News
December 4, 2008
‘GM, Chrysler considering bankruptcy’ - Zee News
New York, Dec 04: General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC are considering accepting a pre-arranged bankruptcy as the last-resort price of getting a multi billion dollar government bailout, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with internal discussions. In response to automakers’ bailout plea
Richardson tapped for commerce post - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
CHICAGO – President-elect Barack Obama selected New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as his commerce secretary Wednesday. At a Chicago news conference, Obama praised Richardson’s long résumé. He served as United Nations ambassador and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, and he is in
Flights resume out of Bangkok as protesters lift airport siege - Guardian Unlimited
Hopes for the hundreds of thousands of foreign travellers stranded in Thailand were raised yesterday when the first international passenger flights left Bangkok’s main airport after anti-government protesters ended their eight-day siege. Within hours of the lifting of the blockade the first
Prosecutors unveil circumstantial evidence against William Balfour in Jennifer Hudson case - Chicago Tribune
Prosecutors detailed for the first time their circumstantial evidence against William Balfour, portraying the slayings of three of actress Jennifer Hudson ’s family members as the work of a jealous husband. Balfour, 27, Hudson’s brother-in-law, stood quietly in Bond Court Wednesday as prosecutors
Money In Beijing Olympics 2008
December 4, 2008
Money In Beijing Olympics 2008
1. Provide information about current events
2. Make money from current events
In the blogosphere, traffic is the key to making more money. Traffic is like food to us webmasters. We need traffic to either sell a product, promote an affiliate program, or to earn from the ads displayed on our sites. The more traffic your blog or site gets, the more money you are likely to make.
For the Olympic Games event, although I was late in optimizing this blog for better SERP, yet I was able to get into the 1st -3rd page of google search results in some keywords. Thus I get over a thousand visits at times.
Unlike other webmasters who reached $600 from adsense because of the heavy traffic, I managed to just pull off over $200. But that’s my quota and I’m sure glad I reached it before the month of August ends.
There is still traffic from Olympic Final Medal Tally, Olympic Final Medal Count, Medal Count in Olympics and other keywords related to Olympics. I hope the traffic continues for more days and I hope to get more earnings from adsense so that I can buy myself a new cellular phone. Oh yes I need a new phone because my old phone has some problems. In the next days I will be talking again about how to make money online and about affiliate programs.
And yes, a million thanks to my visitors!
Olympics Medal Tally Resuts Day 14
December 4, 2008
Olympics Medal Tally Resuts Day 14
Countries in the lead in Medal Tally Results count as of Day 14 5:30PM
1. USA
Gold-30
Silver-35
Bronze-35
Total-100
2. China
Gold- 46
Silver-15
Bronze-22
Total- 83
3. Russia
Gold- 16
Silver-16
Bronze-21
Total- 53
4. Great Britain
Gold- 18
Silver-12
Bronze-11
Total- 41
5. Australia
Gold- 11
Silver-14
Bronze-16
Total- 41
You can subscribe to this blog to be updated instantly for the Beijing Olympics Final Results.
Related Links
Day 13 Olympic Medal Tally
Day 12 Olympic Medal Tally
Day 11 Olympic Medal Tally
Day 10 Olympic Medal Tally
Day 9 Medal Tally
Day 8 Medal Tally
Day 7 Medal Tally
Final Results
Champion of the Beijing Olympics Games
US must halt spread of nuclear, bio weapons - Biden - Reuters
December 3, 2008
US must halt spread of nuclear, bio weapons - Biden - Reuters US must halt spread of nuclear, bio weapons - Biden
BBC News
Reuters -
By Randall Mikkelsen WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The United States has done too little to fight the spread of weapons of mass destruction, US Vice President-elect Joe Biden said on Wednesday, as he got a congressional report warning of their pressing …
Video: Panel Warns of a Biological Attack by 2013
• Court May Decide What Size Award Violates Rights Court May … - Washington Post • Court May Decide What Size Award Violates Rights Court May …
ABC News
Washington Post -
By Robert Barnes In civics books, and sometimes even in real life, the Supreme Court speaks and everybody falls in line, like it or not.
US Supreme Court takes up tobacco case for third time
Philip Morris' Legal Smoke Screen
Beasiswa S2 USA: Master Programme in Advance Management Studies at JAIMS
December 3, 2008
Beasiswa S2 USA: Master Programme in Advance Management Studies at JAIMS
THE FUJITSU ASIA PACIFIC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
A full-tuition Scholarship For Management Training in Hawaii.
Fujitsu is a leading provider of customer-focused IT and communications solutions for the global marketplace, established the Fujitsu Asia Pacific Scholarship Program in 1985. The Scholarship was established to enhance international understanding and cross-cultural communication through management education and training. Fujitsu is committed to promoting the development of both technology and human resources at global level.
East-West Knowledge Leader Program (EWKLP)
An intensive three-month Graduate diploma program at JAIMS in Honolulu, Hawaii. JAIMS is a nonprofit postgraduate institute that has been a pioneer in intercultural management education since 1972. Over 22,000 participants from 59 countries have come to JAIMS to learn skill essential for success in the international arena.
JAIMS
* Intercultural Business Leadership
* Global Marketing
* Cross-Cultural negotiation and Problem-solving
* Business Plan Development and Entrepreneurship
* Business Communication
* One-week field study in Japan
Program Information: www.jaims.org
Application Deadline: January 31st, 2009
Please send your application letter and CV to:
PT. FUJITSU INDONESIA
Wisma Kyoei Prince 10thFloor
Jl. Jend Sudirman Kav.3-4
Jakarta 10220
Indonesia
Attn: Mr. Raditya Padmawangsa
Ms. Ella Lamzia
E-mail: scholarship@id.fujitsu.com
Scholarship information: www.fujitsu.com/scholarship
Duke and the Police
by Jason Trumpbour, FODU spokesperson
Duke and the Police
I have been keeping a low profile recently and that is deliberate. Mike Nifong had tried to make an issue of FODU’s efforts to call attention to his misdeeds. Now that the relevant authorities have taken the matter up, I am content to let them handle it. I will have much to say about the bar hearing, removal proceeding and contempt hearing in due course. In the meantime, I want to call attention to some disturbing information brought to light by the folks at LieStoppers concerning Duke. See also this timeline and the hearing transcript.
If you will recall, last May Mike Nifong requested the court issue a subpoena to Duke University to provide records of card key activity by all members of the Duke lacrosse team and also provide their home addresses. This information is protected by a federal statute called the Family Educational Right to Privacy Act and cannot be disclosed without a showing of need. Nifong’s request was patently overbroad, but Duke University refused to challenge it. Instead, Duke told the lacrosse players that it would comply with the request and that, if they did not like it, they could do something about it themselves. Attorneys for the lacrosse players challenged the request on their own and a hearing was held in July. The judge then handling the case, Kenneth Titus denied the request. It turns out that Nifong’s request was a complete fraud on the court because, as LieSoppers discovered, Duke University had already turned these records over to police months earlier in March evidently in violation of FERPA.
This new information is disturbing as it relates to Duke on several levels.
First, the Duke administration chose to supply personal information about its students to a manifestly unethical and corrupt district attorney in connection with a politically motivated investigation. Do not be fooled by the administration’s story that they did not know what to believe or that they instinctively trust public officials. Duke had been told by the police that the case was bogus and the file would likely be closed after the police had interviewed that alleged victim. How the police later came to aggressively investigate the case is an interesting story. I will have to tell it to you sometime, but not now. Suffice it to say that these circumstances were an additional reason for them to be very suspicious of the motives of Mike Nifong and the police.
Second, the principle beneficiary of this bit of theater would not have been Mike Nifong. He already had indictments against three defendants and he could have subpoenaed their records with no difficulty. Nifong had no need to use the records of the other players at trial, because his position at that point in time was that they had been exculpated by the April 4 lineup. Nor would there have likely been any repercussions for him or the police for merely soliciting a violation of FERPA. The real beneficiary would seem to be Duke University because it would provide a legal fig leaf to cover its apparent violation of federal law. Worse, Nifong’s apparent willingness to cover for Duke shows that Duke, through its own misconduct, had found itself entangled in Nifong’s malicious prosecution to the point that its interests had started to overlap with those of Nifong.
Third, even if the leak of personal information had not been illegal, it was extremely prejudicial to the players. Judge Titus found that Nifong had failed to show any legitimate reason for the police to have this information. Indeed, just as with the Ryan McFadyen e-mail, police used it to as part of a fishing expedition.
Finally, and probably most disturbing of all, this surreptitious leak of private information occurred at a time when Duke was pretending to support the players, had encouraged them to talk to Duke officials citing a totally fictitious student/teacher privilege and had even hired a local attorney who they offered to the players in an ambiguous relationship meant to approximate that of a defense attorney. Now we see what kind of “help” Duke was providing the players. No person truly acting in the role of defense counsel would have volunteered this information without a subpeona.
For those who insisted that our criticism of the Duke administration for its lack of public support for its falsely accused students was unfair because Duke was probably concerned about its students and was probably working behind the scenes to help them, guess again. For those who have insisted that speaking out against the conduct of Mike Nifong might work against the University’s interests and expose it to unacceptable risks, look at the risks the administration was willing to take in order to further the interests of those working against the players.
Speaking of the Ryan McFadyen e-mail, the claim by Sergeant Gottlieb in his post dated notes prepared in July that the police received a copy of the Ryan McFadyen e-mail through a Crimestoppers tip always sounded suspect to me. The affidavit in support of the search warrant application recites that “On 3/27/2006 Sgt. Gottlieb was contacted by a confidential source. The source provided Sgt. Gottlieb a copy of an e-mail sent by email address. . . .” The Ryan McFadyen e-mail was widely distributed because, aside from being tasteless, there was need to conceal its contents. It is possible that some private individual unconnected to the team came across a copy of it. However, the only other people who had access to the e-mail and its chain of replies were Duke University employees. Is Sergeant Gottlieb’s new version of events in July 2006, which characteristically contradicts an earlier document produced by the police, one supplied to a judge no less, an attempt to conceal another surreptitious leak of private information by Duke officials? In his deposition for the bar hearing, Benjamin Himan indicated that, on March 27, 2006, he, Sergeant Gottlieb and Nifong met and among the topics discussed was obtaining “e-mails and stuff like that.” However, we do not see the police or Nifong actually making a formal request for the e-mail records of the players.
I do not believe that the administration actually wanted to help frame its own students. There is some indication that members of the administration initially believed the charges based on their own personal prejudices rather than objective facts. However, the one common denominator present is that there was always some other priority for the administration that was greater than the welfare of its students. They wanted to be on the right side in the eyes of the public regardless of the facts or law. They wanted to maintain their cozy working relationships with local officials. They wanted to appease small, vocal constituencies within their faculty. They did not think the lacrosse players deserved their help.
People, particularly lawyers, keep asking me, “Doesn’t Duke have access to legal advice?” They are puzzled at how a major university with its own legal staff and a top ten law school on campus could continuously make such horrible mistakes and seemingly lack any appreciation for what was going on in the lacrosse case. Duke does have access to plenty of legal advice. The reality is that the administration does not care. I found this out first hand. In settling with several of the players, particularly in the Dowd case, the Duke administration essentially used University resources to pay for the privilege of doing whatever it wanted. They were not mistaken about the consequences of their actions. It was never going to be any other way.
It is impossible to defend the administration’s motives in violating FERPA as somehow a well intentioned attempt to further the cause of justice as it understood it to be at the time. If the administration had truly been committed to justice, it would have pursued it without regard to where it might take them and which side it might be found to lay. Yet, when the time came for speaking up for the due process rights of its students, the administration was silent and remained silent until late December. No, there was never any commitment by the administration to seeing justice done in the lacrosse case at least through December and certainly not in March. In the absence of such a commitment, there was only self interest and playing favorites.
Collin Leaves Duke as Well
In other news, Collin Finnerty has announced that he is transferring to Loyola College. As with Reade Seligmann, it is disgraceful that Duke has not done more to retain a student who suffered because of his Duke affiliation and did so with dignity and character. Reade, Collin and David represented the University well and made us proud.
I live not too far from Loyola College. It is an excellent school with a top notch lacrosse program (they beat Duke last year). The people there are glad to have him and I am sure that they will take good care of him in a way that the Duke administration was unwilling to do. Welcome to Baltimore Collin!
Joan Collins
I do not want Joan Collins’s latest article to be overlooked by bumping it from the top place with this update so, after reading this, keep reading below. I would just like to add that it is not surprising to me that faith was important to all of the lacrosse team members, their families and the Presslers and that it helped them through their ordeal. The deep faith she describes them having was certainly apparent to me by their conduct all along, especially that of Reade, Collin and David. I am sure that there were many, many moments of despair for them. However, they did not give up. They did not let themselves be paralyzed with self pity. They did not give in to hatred. They never lost the ability to see beyond their own concerns and now want to use their experience to help others in similar situations.
St. Louis de Montfort, in his Letter to the Friends of the Cross, described the proper way for people to confront and even embrace the vicissitudes of life, which provide opportunities for spiritual growth and a closer, more uncomplicated and uncluttered relationship with God. To suffer setbacks without hope and without faith is to suffer as the damned do. However, to suffer with hope and with faith is to suffer as Christ and the holy martyrs did. What the three families went through was horrible and they are still suffering materially for it. However, not only were they not destroyed by the experience, as Joan points out, they are better people for it. St. Louis emphasizes that there is nothing meritorious about suffering in and of itself. Recently, someone wrote a letter to the Herald-Sun complaining about all of the legal actions against Mike Nifong and compared him to Jesus. I wish I were kidding. However, to suffer for an evil or unjust cause is to be a martyr not for God, but for Satan. If Mike Nifong would only embrace the, in his case, just suffering he brought on himself, as the penitent thief at Christ’s side did, he too could be a better person for this experience and actually would be like Christ.
While we are on the subject, this was the thought for the week during Mike Nifong’s bar hearing on a site run by Irish Jesuits called Sacred Space:
Jesus urged us not to swear at all: “All you need say is ‘Yes’ if you mean yes, ‘No’ if you mean no.” Only constant honesty with ourselves can make us really sincere. The world knows an honest person. Many would not tell a downright lie, but few, even of the pious, always tell the truth. It was the truth in Jesus that devastated his enemies. In proportion as we live a recollected life, with Jesus as model, we attain a simplicity and lucidity of character which has less and less need for untruth.
I thought the coincidence was remarkable. That should be the lesson for all of us in the lacrosse case, not just Mike Nifong.
The Power of Postcards
December 3, 2008
The Power of Postcards
What’s the fastest, simplest and cheapest way to promote just about any business? The answer is postcards sent by direct mail. You can get your message to a targeted group of prospects or to your existing customers for a cost of about 25 to 30 cents each including postage. You can actually send someone a postcard every 30 days for only three dollars a year. You can generate leads, create sales, ask prospects to give you a try or convince existing customers to buy more or buy more often.
What are the 2 biggest secrets of marketing with postcards?
1. Regular, repeated mailings are the way to create big predictable results. When you mail every 30 days for a year you will cause a dramatic growth in your business. People respond to repetition. If you are a parent you know how hard it is to refuse repeated requests for a cookie or a desperately wanted toy. If you are not a parent, I’m sure you remember asking, even begging for a toy, treat or permission to stay up past your bedtime until your parents finally gave in. Your customers and prospective customers are similar. They need to be asked repeatedly too.
2. There are really only 4 reasons people don’t buy your products and services. Look at your own buying behavior and see for yourself if you believe me when I tell you these 4 apply to you too.
a) No need.
When people don’t buy from you, it’s because they don’t want what you are offering. They may need what you are offering and not know or acknowledge that need, but the bottom line is they don’t want it. Save lots of time, effort and money by targeting your postcard mailings to groups of people who have demonstrated they want your product or service or one’s similar to yours and then mail to them. Follow at least this one piece of advice and become more profitable immediately.
Examples of those who have demonstrated they want your products and services are:
1. your own customers,
2. your competitor’s customers and
3. people who have bought products and services which your products and services supplement or complement.
Target your marketing. Promote your business exclusively to people likely to have a strong desire for the benefits provided by your product or service.
b) No money
Businesses and consumers don’t usually avoid purchases because they don’t have or can’t get the money necessary to purchase. They usually don’t buy because they decide buying something else is more important to them (like food). You can get them to buy from you by making it clear to them that buying your product or service will get rid of something they don’t want or will get them something they do want or will get them more of something they already have that they like having.
It is your job to get your people and businesses to see that your products and services give or get them what they really want. Consumers and businesses rarely avoid buying something because they don’t have (or can’t get) the money needed to make the purchase. They avoid buying what you offer because they place a higher priority on spending money for something else. What is the most nagging problem you can solve for prospects in your targeted market? Make it real to
them how they’ll feel when your product or service eliminates that problem. Use postcards to communicate how they can get their problem solved.
c) No hurry
People tend to drag their feet after they decide to buy something. The longer they wait to purchase the more likely they are to forget why your product or service is valuable or even absolutely necessary to them. Keep your message in front of them with repetitive mailings. If you don’t…You’ll lose the business.
The reason repetitive mailings are so effective is that they remind your customers and prospects of what they are missing by not having your product or service working for them in their life. You can avoid losing sales because of “no hurry” by rewarding customers for taking immediate action and penalizing those who don’t. For example, offer a special discount price or a special bonus for ordering before a deadline. Do repetitive mailings to targeted customers and prospects and you will make more sales.
d) No trust
Most people’s fear of losing something is a bigger concern than getting something that they want. This fear causes them to frequently avoid buying something they truly want. They don’t want to buy and then find out that your product or service won’t solve their problem. They don’t want to be or even feel ripped off or still at a loss over the solution to their problem. You must take away their risk in doing business with you. You must provide a way that they can “trust” you. If you don’t they won’t buy and you will lose business.
Most peoples’ fear of losing something is a bigger concern than getting something that they want. This fear causes them to frequently avoid buying something they truly want. They don’t want to buy and then find out that your product or service won’t solve their problem. They don’t want to be ripped off, feel cheated or even feel at a loss for not getting a solution to their problem. You must take away their risk in doing business with you.
You must provide a way that they can “trust” you. If you don’t they won’t buy and you will lose business. 1. Eliminate the risk with an unconditional money back guarantee. 2. Give them testimonials from satisfied customers and/or provide references that prove the quality and reliability of your product or service. 3. Make it easy for your prospects and customers to communicate with you and get their questions and concerns answered. Let them see you and your business are real and that you value getting and keeping their trust and present and future business. These are really the only 4 reasons why people don’t buy from you.
You can increase your sales and profits by knowing them and doing everything you can to mail your postcards to the people and businesses most likely to want and benefit from your products and services, make it clear to them how valuable the benefits of your products and services are to them, get them to see the urgency of getting the value of your products and services now and finally that they can trust you to help them get the benefits you promised your products and services would give them. When you do all these things, guess what? People will buy from you like crazy.
Postcards are a perfect low cost medium to overcome the 4 reasons people don’t buy from you. Use postcards in repetitive mailings and make your business soar.
This post provided by Joy Gendusa. Using a powerful, simple, extremely cost effective way of communicating with customers has earned Joy Gendusa Inc. Magazine’s recognition as the nation’s fastest growing direct mail postcard-marketing firm with year 2007 revenues close to $19,000,000. Gendusa began in 1998 with zero investment capital. Today, her Clearwater, FL firm called PostcardMania, employs over 150 people and prints 4 million and mails 2 million postcards representing 31,000-plus customers in over 350 industries each week. Visit at www.PostcardMania.com
Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy
November 30, 2008
Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy
This fall [Lawrence Lessig is] coming out with his latest book,
Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy
which argues that the legal system is making criminals out of young people who produce entertaining or informative videos, music, and other art works through piecing together parts of others’ works. He advocates a new type of economy that allows both market competition and people to freely share their art.
Source
[http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3220/in-a-new-book-lessig-says-society-is-turning-artists-into-criminals]
Amazon
The author of Free Culture shows how we harm our children—and almost anyone who creates, enjoys, or sells any art form—with a restrictive copyright system driven by corporate interests. Lessig reveals the solutions to this impasse offered by a collaborative yet profitable “hybrid economy”.
Lawrence Lessig, the reigning authority on intellectual property in the Internet age, spotlights the newest and possibly the most harmful culture war—a war waged against our kids and others who create and consume art. America’s copyright laws have ceased to perform their original, beneficial role: protecting artists’ creations while allowing them to build on previous creative works. In fact, our system now criminalizes those very actions.For many, new technologies have made it irresistible to flout these unreasonable and ultimately untenable laws.
Some of today’s most talented artists are felons, and so are our kids, who see no reason why they shouldn’t do what their computers and the Web let them do, from burning a copyrighted CD for a friend to “biting” riffs from films, videos, songs, etc and making new art from them.Criminalizing our children and others is exactly what our society should not do, and Lessig shows how we can and must end this conflict—a war as ill conceived and unwinnable as the war on drugs. By embracing “read-write culture,” which allows its users to create art as readily as they consume it, we can ensure that creators get the support—artistic, commercial, and ethical—that they deserve and need. Indeed, we can already see glimmers of a new hybrid economy that combines the profit motives of traditional business with the “sharing economy” evident in such Web sites as Wikipedia and YouTube.
The hybrid economy will become ever more prominent in every creative realm—from news to music—and Lessig shows how we can and should use it to benefit those who make and consume culture.Remix is an urgent, eloquent plea to end a war that harms our children and other intrepid creative users of new technologies. It also offers an inspiring vision of the post-war world where enormous opportunities await those who view art as a resource to be shared openly rather than a commodity to be hoarded.
[http://www.amazon.com/Remix-Making-Commerce-Thrive-Economy/dp/1594201722]
Durham District Attorney Election
Today is election day in North Carolina and voters will choose the next District Attorney for Durham County. The Herald-Sun, the great defender of the status quo, predictably endorsed current Assistant District Attorney Tracy Cline. In doing so, it presented a variation of the Durham government party line that Mike Nifong and Mike Nifong alone is to blame for the Lacrosse Hoax stating, “[Nifong’s] actions did not reflect deep flaws within the DA’s office.” On the contrary, the Lacrosse Hoax revealed some very deep flaws within the District Attorney’s office indeed.
Tracy Cline’s problems are well known. She was Nifong’s second chair in the lacrosse case and would have helped him try the case had it gone to trial. In October, however, she claimed that she had very little role in the hoax. According to the Herald-Sun,
Some suggested during the lacrosse meltdown that Nifong’s assistants dropped the ball by not reining in their boss, halting the scandal in its tracks.
Cline agreed last week that attorneys have a duty to report unethical conduct among their colleagues.
But she said she lacked insights into what Nifong was doing.
“I didn’t have any personal information about what went on in the lacrosse case, other than what the media reported,” she said. “My job was to keep the courtrooms running. That is what I was focused on.”
First, the assertion that she did not know the facts of the case is almost certainly false. Having worked as second chair, I can tell you that the second chair knows as much about the case as the lead attorney and often knows more. In fact, in the normal course of things, the second chair handles the day to day chores and basic prep work. Evidence presented at Nifong’s bar hearings suggests that was the case here.
More importantly, Cline did not need to know one thing about the Lacrosse case to know that Mike Nifong was an unethical attorney and that he should have been reported to the bar. From the very beginning of the hoax, I tried to make the distinction between Nifong’s conduct and the facts of the case. Even if one could plausibly claim not to know all of the facts of the case, all of Nifong’s misconduct took place in public for all to see. Anyone with a television set could watch him do it.
North Carolina Rule or Professional Conduct 8.3(a) states,
A lawyer who knows that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the North Carolina State Bar or the court having jurisdiction over the matter.
It is no exaggeration in the least to say that every single lawyer in the District Attorney’s office is an unethical attorney. Mitchell Garrell, another assistant district attorney who is running against Cline tried to make an issue of Cline’s involvement in the hoax at a candidates forum. However, Garrell has some explaining of his own to do.
In any event, the problems with the assistant district attorneys during the Lacrosse Hoax go beyond a passive refusal to report Nifong to the bar. Many actively supported his bid for election and worked on his campaign. They did so with the full knowledge that he was an unethical and corrupt attorney. At a polling place during the 2006 general election, Nifong supporters who claimed to be attorneys in his office were falsely claiming that Nifong had a “smoking gun” that he would reveal at trial. That night, when the results were announced at the courthouse, an assistant district attorney taunted Duke students who were there to support Lewis Cheek saying, “poor little Duke kids didn’t get your way.”
Even after Nifong was disbarred, assistant district attorneys continued to support him and defend his actions. ADA Stormy Ellis pronounced herself “shocked that he has been tainted as a ‘rogue prosecutor.’ It scares me to think that one case can mar you for the rest of your life.” At Nifong’s contempt hearing, I heard a male voice behind me mutter, “Objection!” to a prosecution question it evidently did not like. I did not see who said it, but moments later David Saacks, who is now the acting District Attorney, stood up from directly behind me when he was called as a witness. At this same hearing, ADA Jan Paul, who had come to the hearing to support Nifong, refused to speak with investigative reporter Joe Neff of the News and Observer because she blamed him for Nifong’s downfall.
I do not endorse either of the remaining candidates, Freda Black or Keith Bishop. I just hope the people of Durham can find someone who is willing to provide ethical leadership and surround his or herself with ethical people.
While the ethics and moral outlook of assistant district attorneys might not seem that important, consider that the Lacrosse Hoax was not the work of a criminal mastermind. Instead, it was what happened when a venal and small minded career assistant found himself in a situation that tested his character. Consider also, that he likely developed the habits and attitudes he displayed during the Lacrosse Hoax working in that office for 27 years and who knows what other misconduct he might have committed before his actions became subject to public scrutiny.
Unfortunately, the best chance for positive change in the Durham County District Attorney’s Office was when Governor Easley had the opportunity to appoint Nifong’s successor. What Easley needed to do was appoint someone from outside the Durham legal community who would go into that office with an eye toward firing most of the people there. Instead, he turned Jim Hardin, Nifong’s predecessor back into the office apparently with an eye toward stabilizing the current situation there.
