Tim Cushing 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Rewriting An AP Story Just To Show We Can

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2009 @ 05:15pm

    Re: Re: Bait away...

    I sit corrected.

    Let Mike help Kevin bait AP.

  • On the post: Author Using Questionable Copying Claim Against Twilight Author For Publicity

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2009 @ 05:04pm

    Speaking of rhetorical...

    Will it have to be proven that both novels in question sucked equally?

  • On the post: Rewriting An AP Story Just To Show We Can

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2009 @ 05:03pm

    Bait away...

    So what? Let Mike bait AP. Will they rise (or sink) to the challenge? I doubt it.

    They're officially not discussing their policy anymore, so I would imagine this would preclude them from jumping into the fray.

    I would imagine they don't have many fans left at this point, much like other entities who have opted to maintain profits thru lawsuits. It would be entertaining if they did, if only to further the amount of cluelessness a supposed "higher journalism" entity displays in its pursuit of money for nothing.

    What are the benefits of the high road at this point? You obviously won't find the discourse there as AP has already proven it will play dirtier than anyone else in the field.

  • On the post: Sculptor Sues Postal Service Over Stamp With Photo Of His Sculpture

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2009 @ 01:45pm

    Re: USPS

    "Besides, the USPS has to profit in some way or another."

    True. They'll make a stamp out of it and sell it, probably along with some first-day issues or posters or whatever.

    But the USPS hasn't turned a profit in years.

  • On the post: Media Consultant: Comments Are Bad, Please Shut Up

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2009 @ 02:40pm

    Re: Seriousasm

    I once had one of those. I was hospitalized for three weeks (five weeks Canadian). To steal a quote from Woody Allen, it was "the most fun I'd had without smiling."

  • On the post: The Problems Of A Legacy Business: Verizon's Union Freaks Out That Verizon Wants To Look Forward

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2009 @ 03:42am

    Union Violence

    I'll take that as a valid point, Dark H. and (of course) AC. I don't have any valid proof for that particular story. But there are several stories like it out there.

    http://www.unionfacts.com/articles/crimeViolence.cfm - lists murder, harassment, beatings, intimidation and threats and the best part is, this is all just union-on-union violence.

    Or try nilrr.org, nrtwc.org or just Google "union violence" if you want more.

    I can hear you bitching already about how these sites are anti-union and not indicative of unions as a whole. As if a visit to the AFL-CIO's site or the United Brotherhood of Sandwich Artists' blog would suddenly present me with an even-handed portrayal.

    But this is all academic. You, and your compatriots, have convinced me that unions are good based on these two powerful arguments:

    1. Wal-Mart has low wages and inadequate benefits.
    2. Your (the unions) best work was done nearly 100 years ago.

    The union's reputation for violence, intimidation and corruption was earned. Like any reputation. Wal-Mart has low wages. So does every other entry level job in the retail field, not to mention food service and hospitality.

    A shoutout to sonicmerlin:

    "Ugh...the stupidity on this topic is so overwhelming. Honestly I have a headache. Go home and watch your Fox News programs and scream at your TV about how "GUB'MINT IS BAD!" over and over."

    I hope you don't use this Fox TV reference as a can of "Instant Superiority" in every argument. Just because I oppose unions doesn't mean I get my news delivered to me by the shouting mouthbreathers at Fox News, whose motto must be "Work Louder. Not Smarter."

    I'd just as soon try to broaden my cultural horizon by perusing the comment threads at Youtube.

  • On the post: The Problems Of A Legacy Business: Verizon's Union Freaks Out That Verizon Wants To Look Forward

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 15 Jul, 2009 @ 04:12pm

    Re: Re: Walmart unions

    @ Dark Helmet -

    "But to indicate that ALL unions are purely co-ercive and use evil govt. blah blah blah is just a total misunderstanding of why they came about to begin with."

    You're absolutely right. Sometimes they don't use the evil government. They're perfectly happy being evil and coercive on their own.

    Case it point, a coworker of mine worked for a small steel company. They were the low bidder on the job but a few days after they began work, the local union steel company (who did not win the contract) showed up and began shutting down their equipment, stranding my coworker thirty feet up in the air while the two crews negotiated.

    The union kicked the steel company out, despite their contract, erected an 8-foot chainlink fence around the jobsite and made some understated threats. The existing electrical work was damaged (conduit filled with cement, etc.) to prime the pump for the local electrical union to move in and charge for removal and new installations.

    So, it's not always the Wal-Marts of the world that beat the hell out of smaller companies. And even if they do, they've never really stooped to criminal activity and coercion to do it.

    The Union - friend of OUR working men. Not yours.

  • On the post: ACLU Explains Why It's Fighting To Protect Info On Anonymous Vegas Newspaper Commenters

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2009 @ 12:05pm

    Asinine comments

    Try this one on for asinine:

    "If you don't vote, you can't bitch."

    Really? I don't vote and I will continue to bitch nearly incessantly. Why? Because I pay taxes.

    And as for these people who advocate killing/bombing politicians to alter the country's course: give me a break. If anyone really thought that would work, it would have been done already.

    What would happen is this: AC#1 kills Pol #1. AC is branded "nutcase." Pol #1 is declared "instant martyr." The media will exult the "bravery" of Pol #1, who has spent his entire taxpayer-subsidized career selling out his constituents, earmarking billions for himself, whoring himself to any special-interest group that'll give him a second look and resorting to chickenshit bipartisan infighting at the slightest provocation.

    And it's not as if taking one politician out really changes the equation. As long as law schools continue to crank out graduates, there will always be a steady supply of jackasses with just enough knowledge to rip their constituents a new loophole while building a paper-thin legal facade to deflect attention.

    Those demanding this info aren't really afraid of a threat to national security or anyone's well-being. They're just used to being able to throw their weight around with impunity. I'm sure they hoped to have the info in hand before anyone could object.

    They're behaving like every cliched corrupt cop in every cliched movie involving corrupt cops. Do this, do that. Yer not from around here. Yer taillight's out. You got the right to stfu. Etc.

    "Because I said so," only works with those under the age of 8. Possibly.