Score One For Sanity, And Against The Litigation Mills: Righthaven Loses Big

Dont'cha just looooove lawyers? This group, Righthaven, specializes in...

filing lawsuits for alleged infringement of content created by others with the clear strategy for forcing quick settlements from bloggers who don’t have the resources to litigate a copyright claim in a Federal Court in Nevada.

Sweet.

However, a Federal judge in Nevada has slapped them down big-time.

A federal judge in Las Vegas today issued a potentially devastating ruling against copyright enforcer Righthaven LLC, finding it doesn’t have standing to sue over Las Vegas Review-Journal stories, that it has misled the court and threatening to impose sanctions against Righthaven.

Because he found Righthaven doesn’t have standing to sue, Chief U.S. District Judge for Nevada Roger Hunt dismissed Righthaven’s copyright infringement lawsuit against the Democratic Underground.

But he’s allowing the Democratic Underground to continue its counterclaim against Stephens Media LLC, owner of the Review-Journal. That could be expensive for Stephens Media as the Democratic Underground attorneys from the Electronic Frontier Foundation are asking to be awarded attorney’s fees.

“The court believes that Righthaven has made multiple inaccurate and likely dishonest statements to the court,” Hunt wrote in his ruling, citing specifically Righthaven’s failure to disclose Stephens Media as an interested party in the litigation as Stephens Media clearly had an interest in the outcome of the copyright lawsuits.

“Accordingly, the court orders Righthaven to show cause, in writing, no later than two weeks from the date of this order, why it should not be sanctioned for this flagrant misrepresentation to the court,” Hunt wrote in his ruling.

Ruh-roh...no more free money for them, it appears.

Copyright is supposed to be a means of maintaining order, in the marketplace and in the law, allowing creators to own/control and derive income from that which they create. It was never intended to be a billy-club used to extort money from the world at large.

HT Outside the Beltway.

The Great Non-Story: Sarah Palin's Emails, And A Random Thought Or Two

OS will be away from desk, home and normal life for the remainder of the week, attending a most wonderful conference. He thanks his readers, the number of whom has risen dramatically since the Weiner debacle. (Sorry, did it again...)

Sometimes, though, the things deserving attention are the things that don't generate fireworks.

Toby Harden at The Telegraph points out one such thing--the strange release of all of Sarah Palin's emails from her governorship of Alaska.

The trove of more than 13,000 emails detailing almost every aspect of Sarah Palin’s governorship of Alaska, released late on Friday, paints a picture of her as an idealistic, conscientious, humorous and humane woman slightly bemused by the world of politics.

One can only assume that the Left-leaning editors who dispatched teams of reporters to remote Juneau, the Alaskan capital, to pore over the emails in the hope of digging up a scandal are now viewing the result as a rather poor return on their considerable investment.

In other words, there is a possibility that the woman we see on the cameras really is just Sarah Palin, who has an unnerving way of speaking in a stream-of-consciousness form of English that draws ridicule from the literati. And, yes, she really should take a deep breath and allow the words to line up in coherent sentences before she engages her vocal cords.

One email that did surface was reprinted in its entirety by the LA Times, certainly no right-wing champion.

Among some 13,000 messages was an unexpected, revealing and touching email from Palin to friends and family.

It was initially written, obviously not for publication, in April of 2008 just a few days before....
...the arrival of her fifth child, Trig, who was born with Down syndrome. In her email Palin imagines a letter from God to the family about to launch on its challenging child-rearing experience together.

Here is Palin's entire letter:

To the Sisters, Brother, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Friends of Trig Paxson Van Palin (or whatever you end up naming him!):

I am blessing you with this surprise baby because I only want the best for you. I've heard your prayers that this baby will be happy and healthy, and I've answered them because I only want the best for you!

I heard your heart when you hinted that another boy would fit best in the Palin family, to round it out and complete that starting five line-up.

Though another girl would be so nice, you didn't think you could ask for what you REALLY wanted, but I knew, so I gave you a boy because I only want the best for you!

The remainder is here, go ahead and click on it...OS doesn't wish to ruin the surprise, the good moment that awaits his readers who take the time to read this letter.

OS thinks there are two questions (at least) at play with Sarah Palin:

1. Should she be President of The United States?
2. Does she deserve the vilification she has endured for being herself in public?

On Question 1, OS is not certain he can say 'yes', but only time will tell in that regard. For now, his view is 'probably not, but she has some valuable role to play somewhere going forward'.

On Question 2, OS sez definitively 'no'. Her treatment has been pretty shameful. Granted, the chaos generated by the daughter's out-of-wedlock pregnancy and accompanying soap opera certainly did not help matters, but had this been the daughter of Pelosi or Reid, the tone from the press would have been much more deferential.

OS keeps returning to that idea of 'culture', that common cement of modesty, shared values and civility that holds things together. Every Weiner, Schwarzenegger, Bill Clinton, Teddy Kennedy, Angelo Mozillo, Goldman-Sachs, Henry Paulson, Housewives of New Jersey episode and LeBron James erode that cement.

What, then to make of a Sarah Palin and her letter to her family in contrast to Anthony Weiner and his anatomical tweets to women with whom engages in phone sex while his wife is newly pregnant? What are we to make of those who still prefer a Weiner to a Palin, such as the editors of the New York Times?

None of this will be solved here, obviously. In the meantime, OS hopes his readers will take time this week to display extra kindness to those closest to them--family, colleagues, friends, church and synagogue. No better place to begin re-gluing the culture than where we are.

Have a great week.

Nashville Turns Out To Greet The Sickos From Westboro Baptist

Nashville mourns a fallen Marine, Kevin Balduf, Lipscomb High School, Class of 2002.
As usual, the sickos from Westboro Baptist decided to show up. It was not, let us say, a friendly reception...

Golly-gosh, someone slashed the tires on the SUV of the wackos attempting to spread their poison at the Jewish Community Center.

OldSouth is, of course, appropriately shocked (shocked!!), to hear of this behavior.


Thousands of citizens lined the streets to welcome the fallen Marine home, along with a number of bikers who don't like the Westboro folks. One of those good citizens is a colleague who drove from some miles away to be on hand.

Best sign of the day: 'Ya'll go home, now, heah?'

The link above updates the day's activities.

Peter Hitchens Provides The Quote Of The Day

Is there any point in public debate, in a society where hardly anyone has been taught how to think, while millions have been taught what to think?

The rest of his thoughts are here.

Small-Town Tragedy: The Murder Of Deputy Bellar

OldSouth was away from home most of the week, and heard the sickening news from a family member. It was literally unbelievable. These things don't happen here.

This is a bucolic county, with many years never seeing a major violent crime committed.

Monday, things changed. Deputy Bellar, high school class of 2002, pulled up to what appeared to be a routine car wreck in a quiet neighborhood. What he had actually entered was a violent domestic disturbance between husband and wife, with husband having run wife off the road. As he pulled up, the husband, Jayson Eggenburg, pulled his sidearm and shot the officer while still in his car. He never had a chance, not a clue as to the nature of the situation, before he was shot.

His assailant was a member of the same high school graduating class, who then turned the gun upon himself, and committed suicide in front of his wife

The assailant's good friend reports that Jayson Eggenburg had been in good spirits the night before, nothing to indicate what was to transpire the next day.

Keith Bellar was twenty-seven, leaves behind a wife who adored him, and a six-month old son both parents loved with all their hearts. His funeral will fill First Baptist Church to the rafters. Officers from neighboring counties will take patrol duty to allow his colleagues to attend the funeral.

Jayson Eggenburg was twenty-seven, leaves his shattered widow and family behind, along with a trail of grief, and so many unanswered questions.

OS has nothing to add here, except to ask your prayers for them all. He knows, somehow, that some great good will emerge over time from this tragedy. But, for now, what we have before us is a tragedy. Like Job's Comforters, sometimes it is best just to sit in silence before we attempt to speak.

Weiner's Gonna Extend His Tenure In Congress: After All, The Median Length Of Unemployment In The US Is Now Forty Weeks

I mean, a boy's gotta eat, and what with a rumored Baby Weiner on the way, and that new car for TheMissusWeiner(an Audi A-8 is a good round number), house-complete-with-decorator-spending-money-by-the-wheelbarrow-hunney, the lawyer's fees, the potential alimony and child support....well, it adds up. 'Specially when noooooobuddy's gunna wanna pony up $2500 for the privilege of buying a seat at his dinner, and nooooobuddy's gunna wanna get within camera range of the poh' boy.

Good thing the DemSpinMachine is in high gear to save his ass. Even ABC is no longer impressed.

And, yep, that lil' ole' headwind that Austan Goolsbee assured us about is actually a gale, and a chill one at that. Austan decided to beat it back to academia while he could. Ain't nobuddy gunna wanna be around The One come late November 2012, know-whud-I-mean?

We’ve seen the headline numbers from the monthly jobs report; losing a job means a long stint without employment these days. The median period of unemployment is now at a historic high; 39.7 weeks according to the May Report. That’s the highest it has ever been in the history of the survey.

A new research report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics dug into this trend to offer new details on how long it takes to make the transition from unemployed to employed and found that 11 percent of job seekers took a year or longer to land a new job. Another off-the-chart reading.

Data included in the report shows that between 2000 – 2008 about half of all unemployed people found a job within five weeks. Last year, a little more than a third of jobseekers were able to land a new position in that amount of time.

Hope-'n-Change, ya'll!

A Song For Japan: Music For The Soul

Now, in contrast to the current clown show and Keystone Kops spectacle presented to us as political and cultural leadership, OS wishes to share this moment of beauty with you.

Some of the greatest trombonists of the world (the butt of sooooo many jokes by the literati) have collaborated to create this moving piece of art--in both music and images. You'll hear the trombone sections of the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, artists such as Ian Bousfield and Jiggs Whiggam, each contributing their individual voices to this piece. The piece is beautiful, the performances are glorious.

It brings tears to the eyes, and reminds us of our better angels.

Please enjoy, and share with your friends if it moves you.

Gates Of Vienna: Why We Fight Reason #4558

The authors of Gates of Vienna have been conducting their lonely war against the encroachment of Islam upon the West, recognizing that our survival is at stake, that their intentions toward us are not at all benign.

Today's post, linked above, is a jewel. It reminds us all, each engaged in little bit of The War For The West, of why it matters that we get up every morning, and do what we do in our worlds.

Even if, by some miracle, militant Islam were to evaporate from the face of the earth by lunchtime today, we still face massive challenges flowing from the erosion of our culture from within. OS believes that had we been paying attention all along, and not stood by while the ground eroded from under our feet, that bad actors like Islamists, Chavistas, various Fascists, President Teleprompter and the left side of the Democrat Party (who will rescue TheWeiner, by the way) would not have smelled blood in the water and circled 'round.

So, enjoy the link. Lace up 'yer boots. It's another day.

If TheWeiner's Lips Are Moving, He's Lying

This exchange from a few days ago is just breathtaking--the dodge, the weave, then lecture of the reporter for asking a question, another dodge, another weave, proclaiming himself the innocent victim of a hoax, lecture the reporter on his ethics for even asking a question. On and on it went, one lie layered upon another, charmingly urbane, reasonable-sounding, lie upon lie. This is a sociopath absolutely on his game.

Damn! That Was QUICK! Austan (It's Just A Bump In The Road) Goolsbee Resigns As Obama's Economic Advisor

From NPR:

The White House says Austan Goolsbee, a longtime adviser to President Obama, will resign his post as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers this summer to return to teaching at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Goolsbee has been the face of the White House on economic news, and is a regular every first Friday of the month explaining the administration's take on the latest jobless numbers.

Goolsbee served on the three-member economic council since the start of the administration. He advised Obama during his 2004 Senate race and was senior economic policy adviser during the 2008 presidential campaign.

He took over last September as council chairman, replacing Christina Romer, who left to return to a teaching position at the University of California, Berkley.

Lessee...(September, Octob..November--counting on fingers...)

Damn, Bubbah! Ten months! That's after Christina Romer went scurrying back to the safety of Academia after her successful turn in the post. Every Friday, as the job numbers came out that screamed THIS SUCKS!!, she'd waddle herself out in front of the cameras and claim that everything was working out just fine and things suck because George Bush and how dare anyone question our wisdom, yadda-yadda-yadda.

Ten months, ya'll. But, given his years of service to Himself, the stain on his reputation will remain with him for a loooong time. That dean's chair may just remain elusively beyond his grip. Forget getting past the university board for that provost job, bubbah, it's gone. Those guys know how to do math, even if you refuse to.

No recession here, move on, nothing to see here...

It will be interesting to see who the next sucker advisor will be.

Anthony Weiner may be looking for work in the next few days, know-whud-I-mean?