But in the modern era, if the government wants to shut it down, all they have to do is tell IP providers, "don't let anybody in our nation connect to these websites." That's what's happened in China, and now it's what SOPA and PIPA intend to do in America.

Their stated reason is to stop piracy and protect trademarks and copyrights, which we support. But it would mean sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, and many other sites would have to police every single post under threat of their site being cut off from every single person in America. There would be no right to a jury, no right to a trial, no "innocent until proven guilty." Besides that, those sites couldn't afford to do that and stay in business.

Currently, someone who sees a violation can report it, and the violation can be removed. But under these laws, a violation could mean blocking the entire website. Even Wikipedia, which has worked since the beginning to remain objective, is going black on January 18 in protest because this could mean a threat to the Internet as we know it.

If you live outside of the United States but post or visit any internet site in America, or you access any part of the internet from America, SOPA and PIPA could affect you too.

For more details, go to https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/how-pipa-and-sopa-violate-white-house-principles-supporting-free-speech. To see the bills, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act of HR.3261) is at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/how-pipa-and-sopa-violate-white-house-principles-supporting-free-speech and PIPA (Protect IP Act of 2011 or S.968) is at http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/show.

The following sites associated with The Loveshade Family decided to go on strike on January 18 in protest: The Loveshade Family, Alden Loveshade, Lorien Loveshade, Discordian Division of the Ek-sen-triks CluborGuild, and the associated Miley Spears.  We chose not to put the Loveshade Family Blog on strike because it specifically addresses this issue and allows people to make comments.

While the Order of the Pineapple site decided to place a banner with a link to the protest, it decided not to go on strike because January 18 is Pat Pineapple Day and the day the Order is presented.

In South Fulton, Tennessee, firefighters stood and watched as a family's home burned to the ground.  Why didn't they fight it?  Because the family hadn't paid a $75 protection fee.

If you have a system where people have to pay to get fire fighters to save their home, then you can't give it out for free, can you?  Of course renters could lose their possessions because their landlord didn't pay, and people struggling to buy food who can't afford the extra money may be out of luck--and a home.  And a fire could spread from an unprotected home to a protected one.

So why make such a system to begin with? Should we have to pay a fee specifically for the police or they won't investigate if we're assaulted, robbed, or raped?  And if we don't pay does that mean we can't get arrested?

In much of America, essential services have been paid out of taxes.  That's what tax money is for.  Protection money is for gangsters.

Read more at http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/tennessee-family-home-burns-while-firefighters-watch-191241763.html

See an earlier case where three dogs and a cat died in a fire in an unprotected home at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/t/no-pay-no-spray-firefighters-let-home-burn/

Image of a house fire using gasoline by Kpahor, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.  For details see http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_fire_using_gasoline.jpg

After four years of blogging about his case, there seems to be nothing more we can do to help him. But we can do something for others, quite possibly including you, the reader

The so-called Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 was passed in the emotional wake of the Oklahoma City bombings.  It had a tremendous effect on one of the most fundamental principles of a free society, that of habeus corpus.  In short, it made it much more difficult for a person who was rightly--or wrongly--convicted to have their case reviewed.

In the case of Troy Davis, his options were very limited from the beginning.  Even though seven of the nine witnesses against him recanted their testimony, some saying they were coerced by the police, and one of the two remaining witnesses was said to have confessed to the killing of officer Mark MacPhail, Davis could not get a true new trial.  The closest was when the U. S. Supreme court did something it had not done in 50 years: let a man be tried to be found innocent.

We will be making an effort to get that law changed, and will post more information later.

For now, here are the last words of Troy Anthony Davis:

"I'd like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I'm not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent.

"The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth.

"I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight.

"For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls."

Article at http://news.yahoo.com/troy-davis-maintains-innocence-final-words-035511137.html

Photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Troy_Davis_Execution_Protest_2011_Shankbone.JPG

You can find all our blog entries on Troy Anthony Davis by clicking on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

So many people would rather take a chance on killing an innocent man than on not killing one who's guilty.  America is a nation that likes to see people killed whether in fiction or fact, whether at home or overseas. A former head of the FBI said Troy Davis' case should be reheard.  Even U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr., who did not find him innocent in an extremely rare U.S. Supreme Court-approved hearing, said he believed a majority of jurors, based on current evidence, would have found him guilty. A majority. You don't convict someone, let alone kill them, on a vote of the majority.

We've been blogging about the case of Troy Anthony Davis for four years, and sincerely hope the so-called Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) of 1996 gets reviewed.  For those who don't know, this relatively new law makes it extremely difficult for a person wrongly convicted of homicide to get new evidence considered.  Because of this law, even with a great deal of evidence of innocence, the wrongly-convicted will likely die.

Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 21.

- - - - -

UPDATE: An eleventh-hour please to the U. S. Supreme Court was made.  Davis' execution was put on hold.

- - - - -

LINKS

See article quoted above at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44592285/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

To see all our entries on Troy Anthony Davis, click on http://loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

Image is from http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/206/images/troydavis.jpg The copyright remains with them.

It appears Davis cannot get another appeal; his lone hope is clemency from the state Board of Pardons and Parole which has set a hearing for September 19.  (Information on petitions people can sign is below).

Troy Davis was convicted on no physical evidence; the primary evidence was that of witness testimony.  But after his conviction, most of the witnesses recanted their testimony, some saying they were coerced by the police.  One of the remaining witnesses against Davis, Sylvester "Redd" Coles, was identified as a possible suspect.  In fact some said they heard Coles admit to the killing.

A conviction requires more than most; it requires unanimous consent of 12 jurors.

Prosecuters said the recants were not valid, and that Coles may have falsely said he committed the murder to enhance his image.

If Davis is granted clemency, he would likely be sentenced to life in prison.  Supporters say that would at least give time to prove his innocence.

The board did not grant clemency in 2008; however, the five-member board now has three new members.

PETITIONS

More than 50 legislators in George; William Sessions, former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and thousands of people worldwide have a signed a petition asking for clemency for Davis based on the questionable level of evidence.

Reps. John Lewis and Hank Johnson have introduced a bill called the Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act.  Under current law, it is extremely difficult to get evidence of a person's innocence heard by the court after a wrongful conviction, and they hope to get that changed in Georgia.

Note: you do not have to be a member of one of these groups to sign the petitions:

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=6oJCLQPAJiJUG&b=6645049&aid=12970 Amnesty International USA Petition

http://www.ncadp.org/#Troy_Front_Page National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Petition

http://www.naacp.org/campaign/davis NAACP Petition

LINKS

http://www.reddingnewsreview.com/newspages/2011newspages/lewis_johnson_11_100000082.html

http://www.ajc.com/news/troy-anthony-davis-execution-1160699.html

http://www.ajc.com/news/parole-board-to-again-1162012.html

To see all our blog posts on Troy Anthony Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

Of course not everyone in Texas fits a stereotype.

Something that definitely does not fit a Texas stereotype is shutting down a prison.  Apparently, it's never happened in Texas before.

The Central Unit in Sugar Land, a century-old prison southwest of Houston, is closing along with three juvenile detention centers.  The reasons given are that rehabilitation works better and is cheaper.

As of the last report I read, about 60 percent of the people in Texas prisons were there for drug-related offenses.  Most of these are people who have some type of dependency.  Studies have shown for a long, long time that incarceration seldom reforms, but Texas has largely ignored them.

So forgive me if my suspicion is that the shut downs aren't being done primarily for rehabilitation, but to save money.  But whatever the reason, I hope it works.

Read more at http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/texas-close-prison-first-time-state-history-175703769.html

Image of the entrance to the Central Unit prison of Sugar Land, Texas, is by WhisperToMe.  This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

I wanted to post this comment in response to

"Sometimes Congress has a hard time doing its job and it can have serious ramifications. Take the requirement that Congress is supposed to reauthorize programs periodically, once the programs are created.

"Congress can't seem to do it; programs remain un-reauthorized for years," and said they had not reauthorized the "No Child Left Behind" act.  The site wasn't taking comments, so here is mine below.

While I appreciate your perspective, I do see another side to this issue.  If they are in agreement, it is easy for members of Congress to reauthorize programs.

But they aren't likely to reauthorize something with which they disagree.

The "No Child Left Behind" act was extremely controversial when it passed.  At the time, however, one political party had control of congress and the executive branch, and it was approved.

The recent scandal in Chicago schools has been linked to administrators and teachers allowing and even encouraging their students to cheat on tests to keep their jobs.  Some teachers were apparently threatened if they did not participate.  Many feared they would lose their jobs because of a law many have called unrealistic, unfair, and counterproductive.  It put many educators in the position where if they honestly did their job they could lose it.

Several states plan to act in defiance of the law that many educators say punishes poor school districts.  Poorer students tend to score lower on standardized tests meaning employees of those schools are in danger of losing their jobs.  Idaho, Montana and South Dakota and possibly other states plan to ignore the law even if it means loss of federal funding.

Some state representatives said they only accepted the law because they needed the funding and believed the law would be thrown out before the 2014 proficiency deadline.

There's also a large question of whether test scores are a true indicator of future success.  How many jobs and career regularly require their employees to take tests?  Test scores do not necessarily translate into real world success or indicate a good education.  I remember one teacher telling me, "It's time to stop teaching and start preparing them for the tests."

The fact legislators do not reauthorize programs does not necessarily mean they're falling down on their job.  It could mean they're doing it.

Photo of a urinating boy with a book is under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licenseby (Juhan Sonin).  We added the red circle-and-slash "no" symbol.  See the original at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Urinating_boy_with_a_story.jpg

Before you read further, I am not being tongue-in-cheek here; I honestly don't understand this.
 
Back in the day, I believed I had some concept of Liberal vs. Conservative, Democrat vs. Republican.  Now, I'm very confused.
 
I remember several years ago I'd read the Libertarian opinions on propositions in California.  Very quickly I figured out that all I had to do was think, "What would a stereotypical hippie believe?"  That would be the Libertarian position.  It worked every time I tried it.
 
Now, the Libertarian Ron Paul is a favored presidential candidate among white-bread, ultra-conservative Tea Party people.  In fact he's largely credited with being the "intellectual godfather" of the Tea Party Movement.  "According to University of Georgia political scientist Keith Poole, Paul had the most conservative voting record of any member of Congress since 1937." (this from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul).
 
Yes, I know Ron Paul has run for president before, but it wasn't until now I put together the irony.  I'm still trying to figure out how Yippies became Yuppies.  But how did the most conservative congressional voter since 1937 become a Hippie?

The 2007 photo of Ron Paul, as a work of the U. S. federal government, is in the public domain.  The 2005 image of a man at a Russian Rainbow gathering was taken by alexkon from Jerusalem, Israel and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

For details and the original images, see http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_Paul,_official_Congressional_photo_portrait,_2007.jpg and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RussianRainbowGathering_4Aug2005.jpg

An opinion of an individual member of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily reflect the views of the entire family.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered an immediate end to the military's "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy.  Congress voted to repeal the law in December 2010, but the Pentagon said it needed more time to review it.

The military did a survey of military personnel, and found general support for homosexuals in the military.

For those who don't remember, the policy was a compromise.  President Bill Clinton wanted to end discrimination in the military based on sexual-orientation, but the Congress resisted.

The question now is, will the military stop discriminating against women?  Will they have to register for service (there is no draft, but registration is required of young men).  Will they have to accept the same duties as men?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/army-suspend-dadt-discharges-accept-gay-recruits-184811496.html