Arts And Amy Daily
You know, I don't get excited by holidays, and I don't even celebrate my birthday, but this, this is the coolest thing.
Arts & Letters Daily, one of my favorite sites, linked to my critique of Rebecca Soltnit's long LA Times op-ed snivel about how oppressed women supposedly are by men. (That's me below in red, "Well, almost every woman.")
Here's the live link to my Solnit critique, "Rebecca Solnit Is A Sniveling Idiot."
UPDATE: Check out the comments below my Solnit piece. Hilariously, Solnit sycophants are turning out to support her. Not doing very well at it, but they're trying!
Agreed re: Holidays and birthdays. On Christmas, that holiest of days, the sun rises and sets and not much changes. Likewise birthdays. What's to admire about the passage of time?
Crid at April 20, 2008 12:21 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/04/20/arts_and_amy_da.html#comment-1541308">comment from CridI live every day like it matters, from what I eat, to who I spend time with, to what I do. My birthday wasn't an accomplishment for me. I always say my mother should get the recognition, especially since I won the award for the biggest baby born in Detroit the week of my birth. Ow.
Really, I think people should get recognized for time well spent, not mere passage of it. Gee whiz, you lived another year! Uh, if you're not passing your time shooting up and playing Russian roulette, how hard is that?
Amy Alkon at April 20, 2008 12:25 PM
Eh, I see birthdays as a time to have fun, which is good, because otherwise I'm somewhat of a stick in the mud. But anyway, congrats on the ALD link! Tres cool.
marion at April 20, 2008 3:59 PM
Amy, Congratulations! This is really special! Denis Dutton, well known libertarian and climate change skeptic (there is a cart to hitch your horse to!) has linked to your right wing rant against a left winger. It may be the "coolest thing" but not really surprising given your self-proclaimed fame and the fact the you and DD are peas in a pod!
I know it has been a week or so since I stopped by. I just wanted to see how you are doing here in your ideological bubble. And given your concern with Rebecca's syncophants I figured you'd surely be relieved to hear from someone not among your own.
JJ at April 20, 2008 6:29 PM
So...a "rant" that suggests that women should speak up for themselves is...right wing?
Does that mean being left wing means walking around with a gag in one's mouth?
I'm not quite getting what's wrong with telling women they should speak up.
Can you please explain it to me?
Hilariously, Jim Johnson -- http://politicstheoryphotography.blogspot.com/ -- who posted the JJ comment above, is a poly sci professor who doesn't seem to understand the meaning of right wing and left wing, since I am neither.
I have disdain for both Republicans and Democrats. I'm a fiscal conservative, pretty libertarian except for the notion of open borders, and a person who has social programs all her own (I speak at an inner city school once a month, and there's a homeless guy I help. Also, I give advice free of charge to almost everyone who writes me, although a few e-mails do sometimes fall through the cracks when I'm really busy).
So, I'm...a bleeding heart fiscal conservative?
The thing I find most amazing about Jim Johnson, who posted that above, is that he's a professor of poly sci who is under the impression that it is his legal right to post the creative work of others -- numerous photographers, painters, and cartoonists -- without compensating them, on his blog.
You are vastly disrespectful of others' rights, unable to understand that telling women to speak up for themselves is neither right nor left wing but sensible, and unable to respect that even somebody with different political beliefs from you might have a good idea or two.
You're exactly the kind of dullard that Susan Jacoby was talking about in her LA Times op-ed today:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-jacoby20apr20,0,5722702.story
P.S. About this comment of yours on my source for "fair use": "compared to Amy's preferred source, a cartoonist, it seems pretty reliable"
Actually, I have numerous sources on fair use. I've attended a couple of seminars given by lawyer Alice Neff Lucan, who specializes in this area, and I've also heard Dan Gillmor speak on it.
Alice kinda knows her stuff, as evidenced by this thingie here:
http://www.aan.org/news/lucan_advises_on_web_use_of_images/Aan/ViewArticle?oid=8001
PS I never SAID my source on "fair use" was a cartoonist, but I feel for Gary Larson, a cartoonist whose work you've posted on your blog, and have not felt compelled to take down, despite apparently reading his wishes, linked by me, that people not steal his work (and who would want their work stolen?) and post it on their websites.
Scary that a poly sci prof in the employ of a university thinks this is okay. Not to mention thinking it's legal.
Amy Alkon at April 20, 2008 10:16 PM
"I'm a fiscal conservative, pretty libertarian except for the notion of open borders, and a person who has social programs all her own ..."
Your point is my point. Thanks.
"... unable to respect that even somebody with different political beliefs from you might have a good idea or two."
Look in the mirror, Amy. Since you do not read what I write, nor have you ever been in my classes, you are simply fantasizing here. I can line up a whole string of conservative students who will tell you how wrong you are. That, though, would be a waste of their time.
As for Gary Larson, You censored a comment stating the fair use doctrine (because of your aesthetic sensibilities) and replaced it with a human interest story about an aggrieved cartoonist.
And , by the way, the notion of a libertarian who opposes open borders (you know, freedom of movement) is a cartoon - like a chorizo eating vegan. SO that makes you a right winger. Period. (Right wingers also embrace charity and inspirational speakers as a remedy for social problems too. And they just love to brag about their magnanimous actions. Sound familiar?) Again, your point is my point.
On fair use your head is simply up your
PS: Thanks for the link to the blog. More traffic is always welcome.
PS2: Ask yourself Amy, if your view of the iron logic of copyright law is accurate, why is it that many prominent photography blogs operate just like mine does. Why are the aggrieved artists not lining up to sue us? Because the law does not work in anything like the way you say. Unlike you, though, they at least save their own breath. Try Conscientious or No Caption Needed for example. What the folks for whom you express such outraged concern are getting is free advertising and comment on their work. And, to think, it is all legal!
PS3: I presume you will intrepidly track down and publish the names of all your anonymous sycophants? You know, the ones who circle the wagons any time someone disagrees with you. I'll keep an eye out.
JJ at April 21, 2008 6:05 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/04/20/arts_and_amy_da.html#comment-1541509">comment from JJYou dishonest asshole, I did not "censor" anything you wrote. You posted, a link and without excerpting, a big black block of text from Wikipedia on "fair use" -- in boldface. I deleted it and told you that you were welcome to post the information you wanted, but as an excerpted piece of text (you cannot post others work in its entirety here, and you cannot post huge blocks of bold text), and said you have to post a link.
This is the height of intellectual dishonesty. You are really a sleazebag.
I can tell the kind of person are by your actions. Stuff like this above. And the fact that you take the photographs and cartoons of others, that you do not own, and post them on your site without making payment or obtaining permission. And while you sometimes post stuff for critical purposes (although not as thumbnails linking back to the copyright holder's original work), you often just post stuff without comment for "fun."
I don't usually out the name of those who post here. In fact, I don't think, since 2003, I've EVER done it before. You should be outed, and I hope photographers go after you, and make you pay them for use of their work.
This is not "fair use"; it's anything but.
Amy Alkon at April 21, 2008 6:50 AM
Touchy aren't we? You are being intrepid not out of copyright principle but because I disagree with you. And that is not allowed in Amy-land. I will go away and let you play with yourself. And as my questions on other posts of yours reveal you are a hypocrite to boot. Bye.
JJ at April 21, 2008 7:27 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/04/20/arts_and_amy_da.html#comment-1541525">comment from JJYou keep promising to leave. It's not a surprise you don't live up to your promises. Please do, in this case.
You have yet to show I'm a hypocrite or anything but somebody who's caught you posting the work of photographers, artists, and cartoonists without paying them or asking their permission.
Amy Alkon at April 21, 2008 7:46 AM
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