a week later, and the gulf oil spill is one week worse.

ok, well, one person wrote me backchannel to say
"this is off-topic", so let me tell you why it's not...

you know when people complain about corporations
extending copyright, thus robbing the public domain?
that's certainly on-topic, and it's worth fighting them.

but if you're gonna fight, you must know your enemy.

so lesson number one: the big corporations who are
paying politicians to extend copyright are the _same_
corporations who exploit the environment shamelessly,
including the off-shore drilling that made this disaster.

don't confuse the issue by saying "b.p. isn't disney".
look, and you will find the same people behind both.
5% of the people in the world own 95% of the wealth,
which means the rest of us just split up the crumbs...

lesson number two: those people are _very_greedy_
they already own 95% of the wealth of the world, but
they want _more_.  it is an insidious disease, greed...

lesson number three: greed makes them _dangerous._
they're the ones behind war, slavery, and exploitation.
these people regard plain human lives as expendable.

lesson number four: greed makes them very _reckless._
it's now become as obvious as the slick in the gulf coast
that these people are willing to put the _planet_ at risk.
40% of the estuaries in the u.s. are located in the gulf.
migrating birds are passing through there right now...
many of them -- who thought they were just taking a
short rest-stop -- will find their trip has gone wrong,
badly wrong, in a tragedy that just might end their life.
plus depending on the various currents that pick it up,
that oil might touch land all up the eastern seaboard.
so we're talking about some very far-reaching effects.
and the gulf itself?  quite dead for many years to come,
and half-dead for perhaps decades, as mother nature
tries to wash away the stain that human greed created.

so what does this all mean?

perhaps you consider debate on "intellectual property"
to be philosophical exercise aimed at social progress.
that's nice.  very polite.  like the way soldiers used to
interrupt battle at tea-time, so they could do a ritual.

four words for you: you will lose.  badly.

because your enemy has all the money, all the power,
and your enemy also has deep-seated greed, which is
causing them to be very dangerous, and to act rashly,
taking _huge_ risks.  the oil slick in the gulf gives you
an idea of how badly some of their risks can backfire.
they knew before; they didn't care; they wanted more.
now you know.  do you care?  are you gonna stop 'em?

this is your enemy.

if you don't know your enemy, if you don't comprehend
the intensity of the battle, you will never stand a chance.

stop whining about "off-topic threads" and start fighting.

-bowerbird