Yesterday's column incited a number of comments of which none I dared print. At a very young age I learned the Mad Magazine axiom, All the News Fitted to Print, and nothing's changed. If you didn't get it go back and click on BOO!!.
Johnny Law has chosen to begin pulling in the reins yelling Whoa to the wild webbers on the Writers Wild West. Us cowboys always knew that's what www. stood for.
A virtual insult is worth about $3-million a word. In this case there were four of them: 'crook' 'con artist' and 'fraud'. Nineteen alphabet letters.
I knew this was coming a long time ago. I never thought about this aspect of blogging but always thought the obvious: Never write anything you would feel uncomfortable about your mother reading.
Warren Zevon's Lawyers, Guns, and Money keeps running through my mind. Fifty three million bloggers. Lawyers may stop chasing ambulances, start reading blogs, and who knows where that might lead? Insert a Wisconsin-ism here Gary. Two guys standing out in the cold drizzle. One remarks "If this keeps up it might rain." Whoa! It isn't rain. It's drool on the computer keyboard coming from the mouth of an attorney with $$$-signs in his eyes.
The Media Law Resource Center keeps an updated list of Libel and Related Lawsuits Against Bloggers. There's a lot of room for expansion in the legal trade considering the total number of blogs.
Getting closer to home the State Bar of Wisconsin tells us about the Shifting Legal Landscape of Blogging. Scroll down to the section on Defamation Standards. That's the meat of the article. From the conclusion section of the article, written by Atty. Jennifer L. Peterson, she advises that: ...bloggers should "speak" as though they are potentially liable for false and defamatory speech in their postings... and I most certainly agree with her.
I can sense the urgency that might coincide with reading the last paragraph but what's there to erase? The internet is funny that way. You click delete, come back tomorrow, and it's still there (cached)!
Peace.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
NOT in the Northwestern!
DESTINATION VENEZUELA
Hizzonerdamare Bill Castle and County Exec. Mark Harris will be leaving next week for sunny Venezuela. Taking a cue from former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin visiting Fidel Castro in Cuba some years ago, Mr. Castle and Mr. Harris will be meeting with none other than Hugo Chavez. They hope that Mr. Chavez can help Oshkosh and Winnebago County worm their way out of the current budget crisis. Preliminary communications indicate that they will get a warm welcome in Curacas.
To put it bluntly they are going to ask Chavez for some cheap gasoline. Horse-trading will be the order of the day. In return for cheap gas there will be a number of trade-offs. 9th Street will be renamed Hugo Chavez Pkwy. along with a number of other name changes, parks, public buildings, schools and the like. A 'sister-city' 'sister county' will be arranged too. The nice thing is that gasoline throughout the county will be selling for about 30-cents a gallon with snowplows running 24/7. Business will take off here and my favorite: Due to the cheap gas direct flights will depart Wittman Field daily for Curacas bringing folks by the thousands from Milwaukee, Chicago, and the Twin Cities.
G.O.P. MIDWEST CONVENTION
A meeting of the minds is scheduled between the Red Neck Republicans and the Log Cabin Republicans. They will be making a sincere attempt to iron out their differences. The convention will be held in Minnesota since Wisconsin still hasn't passed a concealed carry law. Ripon is disappointed.
STOCK MARKET
The DOW reached 11,700 this week. The last time it was this high William Jefferson Clinton was President. Remind a Republican how good their party is at running the economy.
SOCIAL SECURITY
January 1, 2007 will mark the beginning of a new era. Workers will have no deductions for S.S. until their income hits $90,000. At that point deductions kick in. (What the Hell. It's worth a try.)
POPULATION
Sometime this month the U.S. population will reach 300 million. We are spending 8 billion a month in Iraq. Let's see...
$8,000,000,000 divided by 300,ooo,ooo people. You do the math.
GASOLINE
Gas will go up the first Wednesday in November. Whoa! It will start to go up the week before but not enough to scare the Republicans into not staying the curse.
Peace.
Hizzonerdamare Bill Castle and County Exec. Mark Harris will be leaving next week for sunny Venezuela. Taking a cue from former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin visiting Fidel Castro in Cuba some years ago, Mr. Castle and Mr. Harris will be meeting with none other than Hugo Chavez. They hope that Mr. Chavez can help Oshkosh and Winnebago County worm their way out of the current budget crisis. Preliminary communications indicate that they will get a warm welcome in Curacas.
To put it bluntly they are going to ask Chavez for some cheap gasoline. Horse-trading will be the order of the day. In return for cheap gas there will be a number of trade-offs. 9th Street will be renamed Hugo Chavez Pkwy. along with a number of other name changes, parks, public buildings, schools and the like. A 'sister-city' 'sister county' will be arranged too. The nice thing is that gasoline throughout the county will be selling for about 30-cents a gallon with snowplows running 24/7. Business will take off here and my favorite: Due to the cheap gas direct flights will depart Wittman Field daily for Curacas bringing folks by the thousands from Milwaukee, Chicago, and the Twin Cities.
G.O.P. MIDWEST CONVENTION
A meeting of the minds is scheduled between the Red Neck Republicans and the Log Cabin Republicans. They will be making a sincere attempt to iron out their differences. The convention will be held in Minnesota since Wisconsin still hasn't passed a concealed carry law. Ripon is disappointed.
STOCK MARKET
The DOW reached 11,700 this week. The last time it was this high William Jefferson Clinton was President. Remind a Republican how good their party is at running the economy.
SOCIAL SECURITY
January 1, 2007 will mark the beginning of a new era. Workers will have no deductions for S.S. until their income hits $90,000. At that point deductions kick in. (What the Hell. It's worth a try.)
POPULATION
Sometime this month the U.S. population will reach 300 million. We are spending 8 billion a month in Iraq. Let's see...
$8,000,000,000 divided by 300,ooo,ooo people. You do the math.
GASOLINE
Gas will go up the first Wednesday in November. Whoa! It will start to go up the week before but not enough to scare the Republicans into not staying the curse.
Peace.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Oshkosh, Gallery Walk, Art Walk
Art Walk, Gallery Walk, whatever you want to call it is this Saturday 6-9pm, the October 2006 edition. The first Saturday of every month, certainly an out of mall experience. If you have questions for politicians keep your eyes peeled. You will get the chance to ask them in person. This is a low key event that gives everyone a chance to see artwork, visit friends and neighbors, and enjoy a crisp fall night.
The Oshkosh Public Library will be open for the Art Walk. Not the regular entrance but the Washington Street entrance by the lions. A photograph collection: "Barns of Winnebago County" is the feature under the dome. Michael Cooney is the photographer.
Twenty some galleries will be open Saturday night and maps will be available at most of them. If you don't see one please ask.
Fall is a favorite time of year for me. The cooler air, the crunch of leaves underfoot, and early darkness. It's a bit mysterious, has a foreboding aura.
I have two favorite books to mention:
The Oshkosh Public Library will be open for the Art Walk. Not the regular entrance but the Washington Street entrance by the lions. A photograph collection: "Barns of Winnebago County" is the feature under the dome. Michael Cooney is the photographer.
Twenty some galleries will be open Saturday night and maps will be available at most of them. If you don't see one please ask.
Fall is a favorite time of year for me. The cooler air, the crunch of leaves underfoot, and early darkness. It's a bit mysterious, has a foreboding aura.
I have two favorite books to mention:
- "The October Country" -Ray Bradbury
- "Something Wicked This Way Comes" -Ray Bradbury
They are bone-chilling for fall reading. You'll get up and double check to see if your doors and windows are locked. The second one is takes it's title from the Shakespeare lines:
By the Pricking of the Thumbs, Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Peace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
