July 19, 2006

more on Net Neutrality, other political interference, and the environment

Stopping the Big Giveaway, by John Kerry.

Wyden to Block Telecom Bill Without Net Neutrality

Ads promote pollution, article by David Suzuki in Common Ground. (By the way, Suzuki is pronounced "SU-zu-ki" not "su-ZU-ki".)

This article is about ads promoting carbon dioxide and how it's not a pollutant.. yeah right. It's also about WHY they are present and the effects this propaganda could have. I read in National Geographic that higher temperatures and higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide cause ragweed to grow faster and more potent. That causes some pretty bad allergies for people sensitive to it. The other thing is (and this is not surprising, really), people in developed/industrialized nations are more likely to have allergies than in non-industrialized nations, and those becoming more industrialized are finding this problem to be increasing. Suzuki quotes one of the ads, "There's something in these pictures you can't see. It's essential to life... The fuels that produce CO2 have freed us from a world of backbreaking labour. Now, some politicians want to label carbon dioxide a pollutant. Imagine if they succeed. What would our lives be like then?" What would our lives be like? Well maybe there would be less children on inhalers, for one.

Consider the record-breaking and near record-breaking temperatures sweeping across North America right now. Is that not an indication that something's wrong? Stop denying it, people. Why doesn't it make sense? Why do we destroy without considering the long-term consequences? (Clear-cutting/mass logging, dumping waste, excavation, burning, controlling natural forest fires so they're now beyond our control, etc.)

And FINALLY...
If any of you are musicians or aspiring musicians playing guitar, bass, or drums, or just like to dabble at it every so often, you may have made use of free online tablature. I have just learned that due to copyright infringement, my favourite guitar tab websites have been shut down or crippled. I understand to some extent where the MPA is coming from, but what are young musicians to do? What if there's some underground band whose official sheet music doesn't exist or is impossible to find? What will happen to budding talent? This is all about money in the end, isn't it, not about people.

I played piano for over a decade and never ONCE bought sheet music myself. It was always gifts because I couldn't afford it. I also didn't usually like the arrangements, especially for pop songs and ones with vocals. Sheet music for piano is IMPOSSIBLE to find online, and chances are what you're looking for in paper isn't even there or doesn't exist. I still won't buy it; I'll just go without. I'll just figure it out myself. If I can't get guitar tabs for free, I'll try by ear. The tabs are the INTERPRETATIONS of listeners, where if one doesn't want to tune down to sharps or doesn't own a capo, one can often find an INTERPRETATION that suits one's preference. That's unlikely to happen in official books. (Sometimes those aren't even published in the correct key, period, just to make it easier for players.)

If it's really such an issue, if it's not money but ethics, why has this taken so long?