Really Effing Stupid People

[filkertom]

Perhaps it's too early on Sunday for outrage. I dunno. All I know is this: There are some goddamn boneheads passing themselves off as functional human beings.

Exhibit A: Kellogg's is suing a non-profit because they claim the non-profit's logo infringes on Toucan Sam.

Go look if you like -- the logos are nothing alike, except they happen to be iconisized versions of the same species of bird. Which means Kellogg's is trying to copyright the image of a toucan.

Exhibit B: So we've got a five hundred mile wide storm smacking the eastern seaboard. We've had intense heatwaves and droughts all year, waves of destructive tornadoes, flooding from nasty storms, dogs and cats living together, you get the idea. So what do a couple of the fucking maroons from the Faux Noise web site suggest? Getting rid of the National Weather Service.

The dKos article I linked to has the salient points of their "argument", a combination of The Glorious Free Market and What A Waste Of Money On Government Services. It's completely wrong, of course; the private services they tout, the Weather Channel and AccuWeather and the like, work heavily with and depend almost completely on NWS data. What they provide is the packaging.

They also make the insane argument that the agency has outlived its usefulness on the grounds that it was originally part of the national security system under the Department of War, and apparently that's no longer a big part of its formal mission. Because, you know, weather no longer affects the world, nor the challenges of national defense, and since the agency was removed from the formal military chain of command the armed forces no longer need a weather report.

Fuckin' bozos.

They actually think it is not in the public interest to have a non-profit weather report.

Exhibit C: Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul thinks we don't need FEMA anymore. Great timing, Ron.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Comments

[siliconshaman]

You know, at this point you begin to wonder if this is all some sort of very cleaver conspiracy to destroy America, piecemeal, while pretending to be doing the opposite...

and then you realise no, because an actual super-villain would do a better job of it than these idiots.

[technoshaman]

*like*

[technoshaman]

Somebody doesn't know a bit of history I do.

When I was at Georgia Tech, there was a gentleman attached to our department - Earth and Atmospheric Sciences - from the Air Force. He was good. He was VERY good. One of the two best prognosticators I've ever seen. They could beat the computer routinely.

Well, he defended his PhD in (IIRC) October of 1990. On a Thursday. Sometime early the following week, his butt was on a plane to Saudi, because Stormin' Norm Schwartzkopf needed a weatherguesser, and he was *the best there was*.

If the milatree needs weather people, then so do us mere mortals, who don't *have* body armor nor all-weather vehicles.

(The gentleman in question ended up, eventually, chief of the meteorological services division of NWS. As in, the dude who decides what the standards are for watches and warnings and generally rides herd on the on-the-spot weathermen.)

(As for destroying America, what I want to know is, who benefits from it? Particularly, who benefits from destroying the airlines?)

[louisadkins]

"As for destroying America, what I want to know is, who benefits from it?"


IIRC, there have been numerous articles of Republicans betting against the USA in the stock market/futures markets. They actually put their money behind the idea of the USA failing. The profit, literally, from the country doing poorly.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

I'd <headdesk> with you, but I haven't the energy. These people just wear me down after a while.

[aylinn.livejournal.com]

hmmm. I wonder if this was started by the same congresscritter that tried to cut NASA's GOES Satellite budget. Why? because who needs NASA's satellites when we have the weather channel?

*sigh*

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

Eric Cantor was among the first to call for the NWS's demise, if that helps.

[were-gopher.livejournal.com]

That logo looks more like the guinness (http://www.google.com/search?q=guinness+toucan&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=k3e&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=jC5aTpjzKNC3hAe3n7Ai&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CC0Q_AUoAQ&biw=1260&bih=822) toucan than the kellogs one.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

FWIW, both links go to the toucan story.

Some Congresscritter pulled this once before, but quickly shut up when it was pointed out just where the for-profit services he was touting got their data. The bozos have gotten more shameless since then.

Re above userpic: Hathaway finally got Lewis to like opera?!?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Oops. Thanks. Fixed.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

*g* Lewis is the one who sometimes listens to opera (a holdover from years of it in Morse's company, poor soul)--in one episode, Hathaway is in Lewis's flat and begs him to let him change the CD from Wagner to...anything else. LOL No, that icon is from a piece of art Suzan Lovett did (used w/permission) where they're sharing the earpieces of Hathaway's iPod to listen to Hathaway's music, which is a sort of alternative style that includes medieval madrigals--the art is titled "A Touch of Madrigal".

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

I'm quite fond of your icon. I tend to need huge economy-sized bottles of the stuff.

[djbp.livejournal.com]

both links go to the Kellogg story for me.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Fixed.

[jenrose]

I don't comprehend people.

[zellion.livejournal.com]

I guess on the bright side for me, with the FEMA and NWS ones - at least they're being said at a time when they are the most likely to make the speakers appear to be the giant bat-turds that they are

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

*like*

[lizziecrowe.livejournal.com]

Well said. Now is the best time for them to be making these statements and seem like utter fools.

[mimiheart.livejournal.com]

I need to make a "Stop the world, I want to get off" icon.

Why? Why? Why???

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Regarding getting rid of the National Weather Service:

Bless your heart! They don't make the weather, honey. They just report it. But don't feel bad; there's a book where a character makes the exact same mistake. Of course, that character was a dog,and a very young and inexperienced dog at that, so, on second thought....

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

And then there's the medieval story about a pompous, self-righteous rooster who firmly believes that the sun cannot rise in the morning without his crow. What was his name again?

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Chaunticleer, if I remember correctly.

[melchar.livejournal.com]

Funny - I was going to suggest Rick Perry. ^_^

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

He only thinks he's medieval.

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, I'm thinking of the (likely apocryphal) story of the King Canute, who tried to command the waves not to get his feet wet.

(Per Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnut_the_Great#Ruler_of_the_waves), while modern commentators (including an old children's book I recall) claim it as a show of kingly arrogance, much older sources claim his point was to show that the power of kings, himself included, was nothing compared to that of God.)

There was a steel drum band a while back

[capplor.livejournal.com]

known at the Toucan (or Two Cans, or something) with a toucan logo. Kellogs was suing them, also. I never heard how it came out.

Re: There was a steel drum band a while back

[zellion.livejournal.com]

They have a history of this shit. In 1992 they sued Exxon because they thought the Exxon Tiger logo was too similar to Tony the Tiger. Took almost 10 years of "this judge threw it out, next judge reinstated it" and they finally settled out of court.

I think their legal department needs to find a new line of work.

Re: There was a steel drum band a while back

[catlin.livejournal.com]

Why? It is working for them. People are settling out of court to quit paying legal fees, which means companies are caving to their demands.

Re: There was a steel drum band a while back

[zellion.livejournal.com]

Because they're adding fuel to the fire of "lawyers have no souls" stereotype?

Just wishful thinking I guess.

Anyway, going after a big company like Exxon and going after a small band or other company that doesn't have its deep pockets is certainly less likely to get a settlement to make it worth their while.

Re: There was a steel drum band a while back

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

No souls, but shittons of money. Plenty of people are willing to make that trade.

[batyatoon]

What utter crapulence. Someone needs their head dunked in a bucket of water.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

"Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul thinks we don't need FEMA anymore."

If he was specifically talking about the kneecapped, hogtied FEMA that we had for Hurricane Katrina, I'd agree. As it is, the boy's in desperate need of a dose of Giving A Fuck About Other People.

[caraig.livejournal.com]

These are the people who believe FEMA is some sort of Federal martial law agency that can come in and take over everything and force people into concentration camps. I would recommend googling 'FEMA Concentration Camp' except it's likely to result in massive amounts of WHAT IS THIS I DONT EVEN MAN WHAT, far more than the recommended daily allowance.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

Oh, right. That FEMA. The one that's run by Majestic 15, or has space in Area 38, or whatever it is.

(I've already read a little of that. I was totally lost in WTF-ville from a single web page.)

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

They'll get away with it, too.

People need to understand that civil litigation has nothing whatsoever to do with justice. It is a tool that the super-rich use to coerce everyone else. It does not matter how ridiculous the claim is; a party that can pay six figures to the biggest litigation firms in America will drive any non-millionaire into bankruptcy before a case is finally decided, unless the non-millionaire gives in to its demands.

Kelloggs' precedent is in the McElheney compony of Louisiana, which has effectively trademarked the tabasco pepper, a plant that existed centuries before the McElheney company. They'll sue anybody that uses tabasco peppers in a food and labels it as such, or that uses the word tabasco, and they'll keep suing until the other party is exhausted. They've never lost yet, nor have they actually completed litigation, not once.

Monsanto is also famous for their litigation strategy, but not over trademarked images.

[catlin.livejournal.com]

Monsanto, Kellogs, McElheney, the Olympics... Oh and Riaa...

[james-the-evil1.livejournal.com]

As I noted in a longer reply, this isn't an issue 'f "super rich companies," it's an issue of a defect in the trademark law. It goes both ways, the World Wildlife Fund sued the World Wrestling Federation a few years ago & Vince McMahon had to change his company's LONG established name to "World Wrestling Entertainment."
Even tho no one's going to confuse sweaty guy sin tights with endangered animals the WWF was rightfully worried about losing their mark because of the way the law is written.

[saganth.livejournal.com]

To quote George Carlin, these people make me want to "engage in an involuntary personal protein spill."

[regalpewter.livejournal.com]

Then of course there is the Justice department raid on Gibson Guitars, over the use of wood that violated Indian law, not US Law....
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c993759c-d01f-11e0-81e2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1WLq2zwHg
YIS,
WRI

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

As a woman with a vested interest in maintaining autonomy and reproductive freedom, I did not need any further incentive to loathe Ron Paul. (Funny how most "libertarians"' definition of "Liberty" begins and ends with White Dudes and Their Stuff.)

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

Kinda like how some folks' idea of "religious freedom" begins and ends with "I have the right to a monopoly", eh?

[jovan-scorn.livejournal.com]

Neither FEMA or the NWS are going anywhere. Senators say they'll do lots of things they never do; I assume they all have coprolalia or swallowed too many lead painted Scrabble tiles when they were kids.

If a senator was backing any FEMA dissolution bill I'd bet that he's from a landlocked state that the people living there believe are immune to natural disasters. Some these people may even live near Yellowstone and probably wouldn't survive if the caldera there erupted. The moral of the story is: no place is safe from a natural disaster.

Further such a senator would be blocked by coastal states (Florida alone would fight tooth and nail) who take damage every season from inclement weather. Whether they have the funds to deal with it themselves or not is immaterial; no state wants to spend money when it doesn't have too.

As for the NWS thing, arguments will last about three minutes.

Senator 1: "We should stop paying for the National Weather Service! Spending on anything I don't like is bad!"

Senator 2: "Won't that severely impact navigation like seaborne shipping and air traffic control along with grounding a massive swathe of both large and small business fishing?"

Senator 1: "Oh, yeah. I guess we can't do that, that's a lot of gas to drive back to my state."

Of course 'vanity' throws a veneer over all of this so nobody looks like their wrong, except for people they don't like that day.

[catlin.livejournal.com]

Hmm remember that not all landlocked states are immune to natural disasters. I am from Kansas and can count the number of years without disasters easily on my fingers. We have had to have Fima help fairly often through my life here. Greensburg? Home or Haven this year? Missori's Joplin may never be rebuilt fully.

[jovan-scorn.livejournal.com]

My point exactly. No one, but no one is immune to disasters. But people in some places only equate disasters exclusively with coastal storms like hurricanes. And they total forget that weather disasters can include droughts, blizzards, flooding, hail, and tornadoes.

And they can't imagine at all something like the New Madrid fault going off. Without an organized relief effort (a size of which no for profit group would want to handle) they might as well erect chain link fences around the disaster areas and write them off until the fires burn out and the dead stop stinking. And that's NOT an acceptable way to handle it no matter how much you're in the red.

[muddlewait.livejournal.com]

True story:

I live in John Boehner's district. Last election cycle, my oh-so-red neighbors voted down the school levee (again). In the ensuing budget cuts, bus service to houses within 3 miles of their school was cut off, and a private company was hired to provide pay service (at a rate over ten times higher than bus service would have added to folks' taxes, but hey, this way only the parents had to bear the cost).

First day of school, those who used the bus service (including me) had their kids get to school an hour late. To fix the non-functional system, bus service was/has been been cancelled until Wednesday of next week. The private contractor informed the affected parents of this via an email sent at 9:30 PM the night before the kids had to get to school on their own. Understandably, he parking lot was a zoo the following day; it took an hour to drop off a kid. The person in charge of the contracting company, though, reassured us all in his email that these problems were not his fault and had nothing to do with his own knowledge or ability. So that made everything better. It certainly bodes well for the fixes I hope he's planning to implement. :/

I sure hope nobody got in trouble with their boss or lost their job that day due to the private bus service's incompetence. Maybe in the process losing their ability to cover their mortgage, dropping all the property values, damaging everyone's wealth overall, and hurting the tax base, leading to further cuts. To say nothing of hurting individual people and, fergawdsake, not getting the dang kids to school.

All in the name of making sure not one penny of any voter's money goes for something that doesn't directly benefit him in a way that he can easily see and comprehend.

[james-the-evil1.livejournal.com]

Not that I'm defending Kellog's, but they're not copyrighting anything... they're worried about TRADEMARK. It's noted in the story:
"To be fair to Kellogg, companies do need to be fairly aggressive in defending trademarks against dilution, and it may have intended only to stake out a position for that purpose rather than to go to the mat against a non-profit educational/archaeology group."

Trademark works VERY differently than copyright, and one of the issues of trademark is that if you DON'T vigorously defend it, it gets lost. For instance, "Aspirin" was originally a trademarked term, owned by Bayer, and because they didn't defend it & it got generically applied to salicylic acid based headache pills they lost the mark. "Aqualung" is a trademark, and the owners sued Jetrho Tull, and won, for their use of the term & they had to add disclaimers to his album notes. Non-Profits do it too, the WWE changed names because the World Wildlife Fund sued them over use of WWF. Even tho they're TOTALLY different companies the WWF was afraid people would mix up sweaty guys in tights with saving endangered species.

Disney is, of course, the MOST vicious about anything that comes close to their characters but a LOT of companies with a well know mark are aggressive about defending it because they HAVE to be. A better answer than being mad at companies who defend something like this would be to reform the law.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

OTOH, when a company is being "fairly aggressive in defending trademarks against dilution" other people have to pay. There should be better ways to be fairly aggressive without 1) appearing to be bullies 2) appearing overzealous and 3) not requiring other people to spend thousands on a lawyer just for the sake of appearances.

Disney has a history of being so aggressive that anything remotely similar to something they might have done gets squashed. They even changed the laws in their favor. That goes beyond what they HAVE to do and goes deep into "being a greedy asshole" territory.