I am writing in opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) currently being debated in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Although I respect the need of media providers to market their works to customers, I feel very strongly that citizens of the United States and the world need a free and unfettered Internet – which is perhaps the last remaining space that remains relatively free from government interference – far more. 

Of course the Internet could hardly have been envisioned by the Founding Fathers; however, it should be recognized that it operates under the protection of two essential rights guaranteed under the Constitution, those being freedom of speech and freedom of association.  The fact that videos and music are occasionally bootlegged on the information super highway is not a valid reason for closing the road or adding "speed bumps".  Laws already exist to protect media giants – law makers and enforcement should use them instead of foolishly attempting to regulate the online activities of the world’s constituents.

In fact, the reality of the situation is that media  companies themselves bear much of the blame for online piracy.  Fifteen years ago music piracy was a major issue for them.  Then iTunes came along, established a legitimate online market, and the problem was effectively solved.  The same thing could and should happen in the video space today.  It will happen soon, once media companies stop squabbling and recognize that Netflix and its competitors are the market for the secondary release of their products.  This will happen in the natural course of events; no irreversible government action is required.

In conclusion, I urge you to recognize that SOPA is a bad idea that does not deserve to be considered by Congress, let alone be passed into law,  and to work diligently to make sure this ill-met legislation is withdrawn immediately.

Thank you,

Marc Moore

P.S.  Frankly I expect more than knee-jerk reactions from Republican lawmakers.  A bill like SOPA is enough to make me seriously re-think my steadfast support for the party I have consistently voted in favor of my entire life.

Nevertheless, when verbal and literary conservative-on-conservative violence escalates to the point of ridiculousness, as now, I find I must speak up, even through the multiple levels of apathy that form my disinterest in the ugly farce is the winnowing process as we know it.

What’s got me so irked? David Swindle’s column bashing Ron Paul contains some valuable food for thought for those wavering on the event horizon of Paul’s influence singularity; however, Swindle goes too far with this outrageously childish bit of non-transitive logic:

If you believe that the ideas of the Old Right have great value and that we should have followed a “non-interventionist” path during the rise of Nazism then you are an antisemite [sic]. You know good and well that the practical consequence of American inaction would have meant an even higher body count in the Holocaust. But dead Jews are apparently not something that concerns you much.

False. There were many valid reasons for not interfering in internal German politics in the 1930s, notably a little economic downturn called the Great Depression. Heard of it, David? The fact is, America had all she could do to stay afloat while Hitler was consolidating power.

Moreover, a casual student of American demographics will be aware that a significant percentage of immigrants to this country came from Germany or neighboring counties. Sympathy with Germany the fatherland, as opposed to Germany the fascist state, was significant, even compared with the strength of our ties to Great Britain. It was hardly a no-brainer to go to war a second time with Germany, particularly when our WW I allies were mincing around the issue themselves.

Now, Swindle is undoubtedly correct in saying more Jews would have died in Hitler’s ovens if the U.S. had not become involved in WW II. The Nazis would not have been defeated without our contribution, so no other argument is possible.

Nevertheless, to equate non-interventionism with anti-Semitism is both outrageous and fallacious. The many valuable successes of post-WW II American interventionism notwithstanding – Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, anyone? – there is no inherent value in our nation becoming embroiled in foreign entanglements. Each action must be carefully weighed and pursued on its own merits. This is what our leaders were doing, in fact, when Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and lost the war for the Axis by forcing us to take sides against them. Perhaps we would have done so anyway, but it is pure folly on Swindle’s part to believe that our participation on the side of the Allies was either demanded or inevitable.

Similarly, the manner in which Swindle applies the anti-Semite label to Dr. Paul – the only popular libertarian presidential candidate in recent memory – nearly 80 years later is galling. It’s clear to me that traditional conservatives are threatened by Paul. This fear causes them to lose their cool and say foolish things. In his panic, Swindle presents such a severe and personal bias against Paul as to render the question of his own impartiality void and his words valueless.

While this shot stretches the usually PG-rated theme that reigns here at Black Shards to the breaking point, the answer has got to be a resounding “No!”

First, it’s Malik’s body – she can do what she wants with it, regardless of whether her claim that editors’ airbrushed out a thong she may or may not have been wearing.

Second, Pakistan’s mullahs have no legitimate authority over Malik nor the right to issue any sort of fatwah against her, as they so famously did against author Salmon Rushdie, thus all but silencing his voice of dissent.

Third, Pakistan’s ISI is hardly a force for internal or international good and Malik and other Pakistani citizens should speak out against the organization and demand its reform at every opportunity, even if it means baring arms.

As beautiful as Malik’s pose is, the purpose in showing it here is not to admire her femininity but to hold this space in reserve against a day that hopefully will not come – the day the mullahs take their revenge on another woman to dared to defy them.

The world is watching.

h/t ZionsTrumpet