(no subject)

Interesting article on copyright infringement, ganked from wisteria: http://www.slate.com/id/2175730/entry/2175731/ (Doesn't tell me anything I don't already know and confirms much of what I wrote in my lengthy post on copyright law and fandom. If you really want to know about this stuff go over to fandom_lawyers (fandomlawyers in case link didn't work.) )

In the Ugly Betty episode - there were two lines that stuck with me, one recently quoted by wisteria and one that ended the show. Betty is upset because her boss, the editor in chief of Mode, didn't like her story. His response: "Betty, did you like it? Because it really is subjective. Whether or not I liked it isn't important. What is important is whether or not you liked your story and you are proud of it." True, but it helps if others like it or you can't get paid for it. The other line - "As I always say, if you have nothing to write, try killing yourself, if you fail you'll have something to write about, if you succeed your troubles will be over." (Hmmm. Doesn't really work in practice and one of those things you may not want to tell certain folks.)

Final bit - every time I get upset about my job loss, I think about the co-worker who got laid-off and is worrying about her husband who has been detained by immigration. Her situation sounds very similar to the movie "Rendition", except she's not rich, she doesn't have a job, and she's Egyptian-American and her husband isn't, as far as we know, being tortured, just detained with potential of being deported to Egypt. The immigration situation in the US makes me ill when I think about it. IT is beyond hypocritical. This is not the same as France or England or Russia say Germany getting upset about immigrants - granted I have issues with their policies as well considering most of their immigrants are from countries they decided to colonize or conguer. But the US is a nation made of immigrants. The only people who may not have ancestors who immigrated to the US are Native Americans (who by the way have been treated like crap). To tell people that they can't immigrate here, when your parents or grandparents did is the height of hypocrisy. Particularly when your parents or grandparents or great grandparents didn't have to go through all the checkpoints or loop holes. It's not only hypocritical it is racist. Ugh. My prayers continue to be with this co-worker. (When I told Wales about all this, she said - wait isn't this the co-worker you couldn't stand and was snotty to you? Yep. But no one deserves that!)