On the eve of the latest Republican Presidential debate at the Reagan Library, Think Progress reminds us that the putative heirs of Ronald Reagan would profess to find much of his program revolting. You know, raising taxes every year but one, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, occasional compromise with Democrats. This reminds me of the time someone called into the Rush Limbaugh show to tell him that President Reagan did-so raise taxes, and Mr. Limbaugh demanded to know the source of that info, and then said he thought the caller's source might be Media Matters, because, you know, MEDIA MATTURZ BAD!!!! That's all right-wingers have left anymore: personal attacks.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals insists that corporations can't compel video services to take down videos that allegedly violate copyright without first making a good faith effort to determine whether the video constitutes "fair use." You'd think this would be common sense, but to big corporations trying to extract unearned money wherever they can, it's apparently not. And Universal Music really stepped in it, first saying they did-too determine fair use, then saying that having to determine fair use could slow down their anti-piracy efforts boo-freaking-hoo. I don't think it's that hard to tell the difference between piracy and fair use -- unless, again, you're trying to leverage your copyrights to redistribute income from other folks to yourself.
Michelle Chen, writing at The Nation, describes how bad the "sharing economy" can be for workers -- and lists some actions workers can take, including using the Big Stick of Bad PR whenever Uber or Lyft has you working 15 "flexible" hours in a row. Oddly enough, I just received an offer from one of my credit card providers promising a "rewards upgrade" -- and one of those upgrades just so happens to be a 20% statement credit on Uber rides through April. Needless to say, I won't be taking them up on that offer, because that's is how the big corporations get you to act against your interests, and the interests of other working families.
Study suggests that "Racial Diversity in Alternative Press May Be Declining." They're doing better with women and LGBTQ populations than folks of color, which, sadly, doesn't surprise me. You'll also be sadly un-surprised to learn that a lot of folks who do the hiring at alternative presses say they "reach out to everyone" or "look to the best candidates regardless of race," which is much too similar to what people say when they don't care to make the effort.
Finally, Talking Points Memo editor Josh Marshall calls Scott Walker a "Dead Man Walkering," given his Trump-aided plunge in recent polling. The truth is there's nothing wrong with Scott Walker's campaign that $900 million in Koch Brothers money can't fix. Still, a man can hope that a happy side effect of the Trump ego trip is that Mr. Walker can't find the spotlight again, so he has to go back to Wisconsin and face the consequences of the corporate welfare state he's created there.
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