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Sunday, April 10, 2005 |
R.I.P., Andrea Dworkin. Robin has the news, in Another Pioneer Passes: Andrea Dworkin.
Word through the Women and the Media listserv that Andrea Dworkin, an original, died yesterday at age 58. Radical feminist of the 60s and onward, she was best known for her writings on prostitution, pornography and violence against women. She first became a public figure when she was arrested in 1965 during a Vietnam War protest...and then wrote about her brutal treatment in the Women's House of Detention in NYC.
With fellow feminist Catherine MacKinnon, she argued that pornography should be criminalized as a civil rights violation against women. She drew a direct causal line from porn to acts of rape, but ran up against constitutional rights to free speech on that front. Don't know what she made of today's popular proliferation of porn on the Internet, music videos and the like. Men and women both have voted with their credit cards, and rape trends in the U.S. have been on a steep decline since the early 90s, following a general reduction in overall crime.
But quiet progress on women's role in society requires that someone shout loudly first, and her writings made enough of a noise to wake us up to a feminist consciousness. Here is an article from 2002 that nicely sums up her career as she donated her papers to the Radcliffe Institute. [Girl in the Locker Room!]
8:42:25 PM 
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Lessig: from the continuing-disappointment-that-is-the-NYTIMES department.
So there's a view about the file-sharing debate held by most people who don't know anything about the debate. It is a view the recording industry likes most people to hold. It is a view far from anything anyone interesting is saying. The view - call it the uninformed stereotype (US) view - goes something like this: that there are just two sides to this debate, those who favor "piracy" and those who don't. Supporters of Grokster are people who favor piracy, and who are against artists. On Thursday, at the NYPL, I had the extraordinarily pleasure of being on stage with Jeff Tweedy and Steven Johnson, for a discussion titled "Who Owns Culture?" The evening started with 15 minutes of me and my "powerpoint" (actually, Keynote), and then a 50 minute discussion with Tweedy and me, moderated by Johnson. There was then time for questions from the audience. It was an extraordinary evening. I had the chance before to talk to Tweedy, so I wasn't surprised. But he was extraordinary — funny, subtle, smart about the issues, and deeply passionate. Suffice it that neither he nor I (as is obvious to anyone on this page) subscribe to, or fit, within the US view. I explicitly denounced "piracy"; Tweedy -- in context -- said nothing to support the view that people should infringe the rights of other artists. David Carr of the New York Times was at the event. He wrote a review. Everyone I've spoken to loved the piece. I think they loved it because it was a piece printed in the Times, and we're a culture that loves attention more than accuracy. The review is filled with quotes from Tweedy, taken out of context, to support the US view. Nothing in the article suggests anything was said at all contrary to the US view. One reading the piece would think, there they go again, those supporters of theft, and haters of artists. I'm not sure why there needs to be a NYTimes, if its role is simply to reinforce what people already think, especially with pieces like this. God forbid the Nation's paper of record should reflect something more subtle or complex than the crudest view of an important debate.
[Lessig Blog]
8:37:13 PM
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Revising the Patriot Act. If Congress becomes too bogged down in the minutiae of the Patriot Act in coming weeks, it will be in danger of missing the larger picture on restoring civil liberties. [NYT > Opinion]
Goodbye to Privacy. In the past five years, what most of us only recently thought of as "nobody's business" has become the big business of everybody's business. By WILLIAM SAFIRE. [NYT > Business]
7:28:18 AM
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Snowblogging.
Bob Lutz: What began as an experiment has become an important means of communication for GM. He adds,
It has given me, personally, an opportunity to get much closer with you, the public. Often, I find your comments insightful and compelling. At times your criticism is harsh. But the fact that you have remained interested and continue to have faith.
This is, literally, public relations (you, the public). My advice to Bob and other GM brass writing on the FastLane blog: speak person-to-person, not person-to-public. Take something one person says, and respond to that. Better yet, add to it. Think of every point you make as "yes, and..." or "no, yet..."
Think of topics, of ideas, of conversations, as snowballs that grow with each link — if they're worth linking to.
Here's one idea: demo-sell cars through rental agencies. This is timely and perhaps opportune — since you've finally retired the Chevy Cavalier, which forced me to retire Searls 4th Law, which said "No matter what car you want to rent, the one you'll get is a Chevy Cavalier."
I rent from Budget for one reason: there's a good chance I'll get a Ford Focus, which is a great little car. I don't know if I've sold any, or many; but I have a lot of readers (for a blog, anyway, which may not be saying much by GM standands; but hey, snowballs start small).
The last few days I've been reporting on my experience with a Ford Mustang that Budget rented me because they were out of Focuses. I started out disliking it, but after four days I began to appreciate its virtues as a performance car. Mustang owners chimed in. I don't know if the conversation started a snowball rolling; but I'm sure the result was net-positive for Ford.
What's more, what I said, and others have said, about Focuses and Mustangs, will stay out there on the Web, attracting and passing along linkage that contributes steadily to Positive Reputation.
I'm looking forward to whatever replaces the Cavalier at agencies like Avis (which seem only to carry GM cars). What I'm hoping, for your sake, is that the new cars sell themselves as well as the Focus and Mustang do. [The Doc Searls Weblog]
7:26:42 AM
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Blog Searching on IceRocket.com.
Ok, this is a shameless plug, I will admit it. If such things turn you off. Read no further.
If however, you are interested in what is happening in the blogosphere, then read on.
At IceRocket.com, we have just completely rewritten and reindexed our blog searching ability so that we now reach more than 10mm blogs. That right . With every portal now with their own blog hosting offering, we have passed the 10mm mark.
If you have an interest in what the Bloggers of the World are saying about you, your team, your family, your favorite celeb, breaking news or any topic that comes mind, we are easily the best way to find out.
Not only can you easily search for key news topics like ”The Pope’s Funeral” to find out who is there, what they are seeing and saying… Or to get the latest news on the “MGM vs Grokster Case”, you can also celeb hunt and or even find out what people are saying about your fave TV show , your soon to be favorite movie Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room (premiering April 22nd ) or about you !
In addition to covering every inch of the blogosphere, if you have a search you use repeatedly and want to keep up to date, we allow you to subscribe to the search and add it to My Yahoo or your favorite RSS reader.
I use this to keep up with stocks - bloggers often have better information than stock analysts. I use it to find out what people are saying about me, the Mavs and my other businesses, and to keep up with the latest technology from tech bloggers.
CHeck it out and let me know what you think. We continue to work hard to make it a great resource that everyone can use. And while you are at it, check out our websearch (with RSS feeds as well),. and our image search (which i think blows google’s away. [Blog Maverick]
7:17:24 AM
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