Wolf's Den

1- If you set up a barter/trade with me- fulfill your end of the damn barter/trade. Don't keep giving me excuse after excuse. It should not take SEVEN MONTHS and me asking several times about your end of this, to get any sort of info. And it STILL has not been completed.

To that regard- I can't even go and get my own copy of what was supposed to be sent in exchange, as it's now out of print. Yeah. Royally pissed off about that one.

To that end- unless you are family, or someone I've bartered with before and KNOW you will fulfill your end of the deal, or a friend I've known for YEARS or can completely trust- forget it. No. More. Barters/trades. I'm done. I'm fed up with getting burned.

2- If you don't like something I create, then TELL ME. I won't bite your head off, for gods' sakes. Don't ignore me when I ask. It pisses me off.

3- Don't offer to sell a few of my scarves then bitch about the price I set on them. If you don't think you can sell the damn things, at a REDUCED PRICE NO LESS, then say so and don't make me waste not only my time getting them packaged up and ready to go, but the money to ship them to you.

You aren't doing me any favors. YOU are getting a cut of any that sell, so stop bitching about the price. I don't need your help selling them, I can do that on my own. I thought it would be nice to give you the chance to earn a little bit more cash when you do sell one.

It's ridiculous and it disparages my work. If I feel it'll sell at that price, then you have no business saying it won't. You don't want to sell them, say so.


I. Am. Done.

No more Barters. No more Trades. No more 'gifts'. No more sending my stuff to someone who says they can sell them. It's not worth it. I'm finishing what I have promised people, then that's it. Done.

Heh.

According to the IRS website, I'm a hobbyist, so don't even need a damn EIN!

Still re-looking up info in my City/County, but from what I understand, only if I register/apply for a business license, would I need a 'resale license'- which as I understand it, would really only do me any good if I wanted to buy my 'supplies' at wholesale prices. Well, most of my bead suppliers are fellow 'hobbyists' or on Ebay, so no reason/way to buy anything at wholesale prices there.

Also- I don't buy things from suppliers and turn around a RESELL it with the original tags/packaging, etc, at a mark-up. Yeah. That would make me a reseller. Obviously, I'm not. I buy supplies (beads, dye, scarf blanks, etc), create something from it, then either list it for sale if anyone is interested in it, or donate it to Rescues to auction off with no monies received by me, or plain give the items I create away as gifts to family and friends.

Good thing I'm not trying to make a living from what I do. I give away more than I've ever sold, heh. As for a profit, what the hell is that? I have NEVER made a profit at anything. I have the receipts to show for it too.

When I DO decide to try to make a living from my 'hobbies', then you bet I'll go get a business license and register my name, etc. Until then, this is my hobby. I happen to be good at it and like to do it a lot, as it's a great stress reliever for me, is all.


All this because I reported someone for reselling shit on Etsy.

Edit to add- It seems, that even though the IRS deems my work a 'hobby activity' and does NOT require any licenses, that my State/County/City do, anyway. Well, and so, that's being taken care of this morning. Yes, yes, I should have double checked a long time ago. Oh well, live and learn. I've not made any money off my items anyway and I have records/reciepts to back me up on this anyway. I'm rather anal about my reciepts. Heh.

Seven show dogs die in Jefferson County

( Text for Link Phobic )

The woman told deputies that she went into the home and went to sleep.

Let me get this straight- you left 8 highly expensive show dogs, that YOU don't even OWN, in a van, in the garage, with only a door open, the windows 'partially cracked' and electric fans going, and expected them to be ok??


More Here.

This hits close to home with me, as Akitas are my chosen breed.

The Akita that died? Was the top ranked female Akita and the fourth ranked Akita in the country. She was worth thousands, if not more.

The others? Worth thousands as well- The purebreds included three Golden Retrievers, a Dalmation, a Siberian Husky, a Malamute and the top-ranked Akita named Jersey.

The second article, tthe vet says there's discrepancies in her story. That some of the doghs were already in rigor.

Yeah.

I want to punch the woman through my monitor right now. Instead, I'm going to go hug my Akita.

My thoughts and what I'm doing at the end.

Meta Tags on Etsy Shop Pages Adversely Affecting External Search Engine Results

June 10, 2009 at 6:03 pm · Filed under SEO, Search, Shop Sections, Tags · By GreenMamba

It has been brought to light that changes made to the Meta Tags on all shop pages may be causing Google and other search engines to bypass Etsy in results. What may seem at first to be an insignificant, single-word change - the addition of the tag word ‘handmade’ to all Esty shop section titles - has in fact resulted in dramatically negative results.

According to this Storque article, a number of SEO (search engine optimization) changes were made in April.

Meta keywords are a less critical component to SEO, and various search engines use them differently to help rank relevancy of a page in search results. For Etsy shop pages, we have automatically pulled the Section Titles for the shop to be used as the meta keywords. We observed that many sellers use basic terms for their sections that translate relatively well into keywords. For example, it’s common for jewelry shops to have Section Titles such as: bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings. To edit your Section Titles, go to Your Etsy > Sections. (excerpt)

While Etsy has downplayed the overall importance of Meta Tags, sellers are discovering that the use of the keyword ‘handmade’ in conjunction with shop section titles - regardless of top-level category - has rendered their shops and items virtually invisible to search engines. Running shop URLs through an SEO checker, such as scrubtheweb.com, has revealed some troubling results, among them ‘keyword stuffing’. This practice, repeated use of the same word in the Meta Tags data line, is forbidden by major search engines and could result in pages being bypassed or excluded from results.

Another issue raised by this overuse of the term ‘handmade’ is the fact that it is being applied across the board in every shop, regardless of whether they sell handmade, vintage or supplies, often causing inadvertent false claims regarding the products being sold. (To check your own meta tags, click on View>Source, or View>Page Source, in your browser’s menu bar at the top of your shop page - not Your Etsy page.) Or just pull up a listing and look at the top of the page, see what it says.

( Continue... )

5 minute Major penalty against Kronwall of the Red Wings after a CLEAN, but hard, hit to Havlet of the Blackhawks.

Not only THAT, but KRONWALL WAS REMOVED FROM THE GAME.

What kind of fucked up refereeing is that?!?

So not happy.

I did not need to have to rescue a beautiful Husky from the damn road, where he was almost hit by not one, but SEVERAL cars, only two of which STOPPED (one car alerted me to there being something wrong even before Caena started woofing, because I heard their tires squeal).

Glance out the window to see a car stopped in front of the house, and a guy in the parking lot across the street start to kneel down as if His dog had gotten loose somehow.

Saw a quick flash of white/cream, and KNEW, oh gods, a dog in the road, during lunch rush hour on a Friday.

I didn't even stop to make sure the screen door was secured behind me so my OWN dog wouldn't come running out, before I was down the steps and in my driveway, trying to coax this gorgeous full grown cream/beige Husky out of the road and over to me.

Thank gods he's very social, as he came trotting right up to me, so I could grab not only his collar, but HIM as well, and hold him until his owners, 2 guys in their mid twenties I'd say, came jogging up, thanking me profusely. According to them, he's very stubborn and has run down this way before (I wonder if this is the same dog Eric says he saw, and thought was Dakota, the female up the backhill?).

His name is Ringo and Ringo got a stern admonishment from me to stay out of the damn road, as I've seen way too many pets get hit, or have been found, in front of my house.

Seeing another get hit is something I do not need. Not now, not ever again.

Amazon Says Glitch to Blame for "New" Adult Policy
By Rachel Deahl & Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 4/12/2009 5:49:00 PM
A groundswell of outrage, concern and confusion sprang up over the weekend, largely via Twitter, in response to what authors and others believed was a decision by Amazon to remove adult titles from its sales ranking. On Sunday evening, however, an Amazon spokesperson said that a glitch had occurred in its sales ranking feature that was in the process of being fixed. The spokesperson added that there was no new adult policy.

For most of the weekend on Twitter, in conversations with the hash tag "#amazonfail," users were discussing the fact that the e-tailer was removing the sales rankings for books that it deemed featured "adult content." Many readers, and writers, decried the fact that Amazon appears to be removing the sales ranking for titles that feature gay and lesbian characters and/or themes.

The director of the Erotic Authors Association, who goes by the pen name Erastes, told PW that many of her members "noticed their titles had been stripped of their sales rankings" on Amazon. One, Mark Probst, contacted a customer service representative at Amazon and wrote about the exchange on his blog. Probst wrote that the Amazon rep responded to his inquiry by saying that "'adult' material" is being excluded from appearing in "some searches and best seller lists" as a "consideration of our entire customer base."

Whether a glitch or new policy, titles like James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room and Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain are among the titles who have lost their ranking.

I call bullshit and backpeddling.

Amazon removes rankings of nearly ALL LGBT books.And then some.

Meta Writer Comm has list of books affected, is being updated regularly.

I don't care what the fuck you call it, censorship is censorship is censorship and should NEVER be tolerated in any shape or form.

SmartBitchesTrashyBooks has created a Googlebomb called "Amazon Rank"

Twitter #hashtag - #amazonfail

LATimes blog has picked up the story.

Apparently this deranking by Amazon has been happening since FEBRUARY.

elfwreck says it all perfectly-
Amazon has gone off the deep end.
On Amazon.com two days ago, mysteriously, the sales rankings disappeared from two newly-released high profile gay romance books: “Transgressions” by Erastes and “False Colors” by Alex Beecroft. Everybody was perplexed. Was it a glitch of some sort? The very next day HUNDREDS of gay and lesbian books simultaneously lost their sales rankings...
When asked for an explanation, Amazon came back with,
In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature."
That's right. Amazon has decided all "gay" content is "adult." Including textbooks, and books like "Heather Has Two Mommies."

Book list here, with more being added as people find them.

Anyone know how to file a suit for discrimination in business practices? I'm pretty sure that's not allowed in California.

So I was playing Sims2, building an apartment building.
Game started acting wonky, so I shut it down.

Desktop was wonky. Major wonky. Like started up in Safe Mode wonky.

So I restarted my computer. Or tried to.

It went through the 'Checkdisk' bit, as I ended up having to do a hard restart.

Then it stopped and just... sat there. so I restarted AGAIN. And it did it AGAIN.

Yes, folks, it was at that time I started swearing like the Marine I am.

Fucking computer crashed. Apparently something went wrong in the Windows operating system and the ONLY way to fix it is... yes, you guessed it.. a wipe and reinstall.

No. Just NO. This would have been the FIFTH TIME in TWO YEARS.

I am thoroughly fed up with losing shit. Yes, I've neglected backing up anything OTHER than photos. Those automatically go to the external drive (and gods help me if THAT crashes).

Any Sims2 stuff I've done in the last 3-4 months? Gone.

Any new bookmarks in the last 3-4 months? Gone.

Everything. Gone.

So because I am thoroughly fed up with that piece of shit computer (Dell Dimension DIM C521 Slimline), Mark and I traded computers. He's going to pull the drive, take it to work and see if he can pull anything I want/need off of it before he wipes it.

And now I get to uninstall stuff I'd never use on his computer, reinstall Sims2, Semagic, Kodak photo software, Zune software, ICQ, AIM... and whatever else I can think of.

So tired of this crap.

The general misconception that simply because some of the supplies can be cheap, the finished product needs to be as well.

How do I put this...

I do this for a living, or try to. I KNOW what they cost. I also know exactly how much certain fiber reactive dyed for use with those scarves cost, what it takes in terms of my time and my energy to create ONE of my scarves. I also know how much it costs to simply list a scarf and sell it (20 cents to list, 3.5% of the sale, on Etsy), as well as how much it cost for packaging that I use and what it costs to ship.

Now, given this is my JOB, if I don't pay myself, then, yes, I could probably sell a scarf for roughly 20.00 and make a profit. Especially if they or I don't donate anything.

But given that I value my time, my energy and my talent far more than that, and given the fact that I donate 50% of my proceeds from each sale, I simply cannot sell a scarf at bare bottom prices. Which is what a lot of people do.

Yes, Dharma is relatively cheap, IF you only buy the Habotai, IF you only use certain sizes. I don't just use Habotai, I don't just use the smaller sizes. I use Crepe De Chine, Stone washed Crepe De Chine, Habotai, Charmeuse, etc, etc... as well as a wider range of sizes.

That adds up.

Then you add in the cost of certain fiber reactive dyes, that I do not buy from Dharma, and in order to get any sort of profit from THOSE, you need to buy in large quantities, and for certain colors, THAT adds up.

Add in Soda Ash, Synthrapol, PVC pipe for Shibori if you decide to go that route, string for shibori, Thioxurea for discharging, beads, FireLine, charms, semi precious stones, whathaveyou if you decide to embellish them, whatever soap and fabric softener you prefer to hand wash your finished piece in after rinsing the excess dye out, your water bill, your electric bill, and gee, it's not simply 5.00 to create one scarf anymore.

But customers don't see that. They see a gorgeous scarf at a low price, and they see another gorgeous scarf at a higher price and automatically want the cheaper price. And expect that everyone should sell at the cheaper price.

That's where I'm coming from.

Yes, it is a nice thing they are doing, donating their profits, etc. But for them, this appears to be mostly a hobby.

I don't.

I do this as my job and people coming in saying, oh it only costs such and such amount to create one of these, is wrong. That would be like telling a famous painter that because their paints were so cheap, that their canvases were so cheap, they should sell their artwork cheap too. It doesn't work that way.


Let's break $20.00 for one scarf down-

I mean breaking 20.00 down...

That's-

2.00 for the scarf blank.
2.00 for the mailing of said blank to you.
2-3.00 for a 2oz container of ONE Procion MX dye color, depending on the color, of which you can get maybe 2-3 scarves out of IF you skimp on the dye, so say 1.00 for dye.
maybe 10.00 for the water and electric you use to dye the scarf.
maybe 50 cents -1.00 for packaging, depending on packaging.
then 2-3.00 for mailing if you just stick it in a plain envelope and go regular mail.

Total- 18.50-19.00. You make ONE DOLLAR. That's it. That's not even minimum wage.

That's not even paying yourself for your time or the cost to list the scarf.

IF you list the scarf at 20.00 on, say, Etsy. Well, there goes another 20 cents right off the bat. You sell the scarf, there goes another 25-30 cents, roughly. You use PayPal for receiving payments, there goes ANOTHER 25-30 cents.

That's another 70-80 cents.

You make exactly 20-30 CENTS. That's it.

Could you make a living on 20-30 cents per item sold? I sure as hel can't.

Via Draco-Samhain-

The Elven Blood Art Theft Ring

I am seeking help in identifying artwork in a game that is building a reputation for art theft. My goal is to have every single uncredited artist whose work is used in Elven Blood, to be sought out and contacted. The developers post a link where you can submit work to be showcased, but it seems they favor theft over honest submissions. I don't know how many images are legitimate submissions (very few are credited, maybe 5%) and that is what I seek to find out.

Elven Blood, for those who don't know, is one of four games in the Blood Games series put out by a company calling themselves the Royal East India Trading Company. Originally debuted on Facebook, they have several thousands of players worldwide and have recently launched onto Myspace. They claim to have millions of dollars worth of support from investors. If so, why would they fall so low as to steal so much art? Thefts have not only been from individual artists, but from those creating work-for-hire pieces, which are legally owned by the company they created them for. Whether this company is real or a complete scam, I don't know yet. I do know that of the artists I have contacted and heard back from, that 100% of notifications have been confirmed thefts.

Many of you wanting to help may say that you're not a gamer or even be on Facebook or Myspace. That is perfectly fine. I have supplied screen shots of most of the 78 locations here: [link]

If you do play the game or another in the Blood series:
-I am seeking screen shots of the first few and very last few locations in Elven Blood and any of the shops. I have all locations listed here on the bottom half of the journal. I need shots for locations without an asterisk * : [link] I will add more as I can get to them.

-If anyone has played a significant amount of Blood Lust, Skies of Blood and/or City of Blood and is willing to travel around and gather screen shots, please contact me. I'm not that far in these 3. I can however, create a list of locations such as the one I made for EB.

Please reference the screen shots I've provided for the range of the shot needed. It needs to cover from the top of the location banner down as far as your screen will allow. The location links at the bottom aren't as necessary as they're thumbnails of the banner up top. If you don't want to host shots you've gathered, send me the link of where you've temporarily posted them telling me so. I will transfer them.

The compiled links:

Main project page: [link]
11.23.08 update: [link]
11.6.08 update: [link]

Elven Blood screen shots so far:
[link]

*************************************************



Found list in rough order of appearance:
These artists have already been contacted. Credit to finders will now be listed at the bottom, as some of you have found a lot. Entries without a status are ones I'm awaiting replies on.

~Alfredsson's Knight of the Temple [link] at Saint Castletown. CONFIRMED.

~jnurp's Pirate King [link] located at the Northwest passage

`Saimain's Dark Warrior [link] located at Elven Moonwoods

~kankakanka's Baby Dragon [link] located at the shop in Garden of Eden

*infraberry's Black Dragon Attack [link] located at Orc Fortress

~Dajotoy's Orc [link] located at Orc Fortress

*aaronsimscompany's Satry Concept 1 [link] located at Forgotten Chasm

*ShadowUmbre's Unleashed [link] located at Cyrene Jungles

*Raphael-Lacoste's Masyaf [link] located at Neo St. Castletown

=Pretty-Angel's Drowning [link] located at Dream of the Past. CONFIRMED

=alexiuss's Equinox [link] located at Fourth Circle CONFIRMED

`treijim's black dragon: [link] located in the Ninth Circle. CONFIRMED

`blackeri's 7 sins... ALL CONFIRMED
Vanity [link] ...I forget the location. I just passed it though...
Avarice [link] at the Tangles of Greed.
Gluttony: [link] at Glutton's Desert.
Wrath: [link] at Peaks of Wrath.

*************************************************

Credited images:
=alexiuss's Neurotic Indisposition [link] located at Dream of Despair


(For the actual links and such, see the original article.)

Reading comments like this...

"Oh, and they can be really aggressive towards kids. edit Actually nvm, I think the aggressiveness is from american Akitas, not shiba inus or even akita inus :3" From this post.
*headdesk**headdesk**headdesk*

Sorry, Caena! You, as an AMERICAN AKITA, have to stop being so nice! You're supposed to be AGGRESSIVE! What's wrong with you?!? You're doing it wrong!!!!

Oh and Shiba-Inus aren't aggressive? Bullshit. Tell that to the little fucker that threw itself at the fence, growling, snarling and barking like mad everytime Dante and I were out walking back in North Carolina.

ANY dog can be aggressive. It all depends on the OWNER.

Yes, there is such a thing as an American Akita-Inu line and a Japanese Akita-Inu line. The American line tends toward stouter, larger(heavier) with a more boxy face. The Japanese line is leaner, deeper chested with a more fox like face. Most times they are very hard to distinguish between though.

But they are ALL Akita-Inus.

Oh and thanks to that damn live feed video, Shiba-Inus will most likely become the next 'Hot Ticket Item' for Christmas.

County actions could lead to the disbanding of animal rescue groups who rely on foster homes to house the pets in their care. This would result in additional thousands of pets being needlessly euthanized.

CHANTILLY, VA September 11, 2008: In two separate Virginia counties, animal rescue group foster homes have been cited for zoning violations with respect to the temporary housing of dogs as a volunteer service to a legitimate 501(c)(3) animal rescue organization. In neither case are the foster homes being cited for exceeding County zoning guidelines concerning the number of dogs being kept; the assertion is that dogs are being housed for commercial purposes.


In Fairfax County the relevant sections of the Zoning Ordinance are Paragraphs 5 and 6 of Sect. 2-302. The notice of zoning violation states, in part:
“The keeping of dogs and/or cats in conjunction with an animal rescue service is not a permitted use in the R-3 District. Therefore, … these animals are not for personal use and enjoyment; rather they are kept for commercial purposes.”

Arlington County is more succinct:
CODE OR ORDINANCE VIOLATION
Arlington County Code, Zoning Ordinance,
Section 31.12.b.(6) and Section 31.12.b.(6)
(amended)
Operating a kennel, boarding facility or
adoption center form [sic] a residence
in an R2-7 Zoning District.

The zoning ordinances in each county allow for citizens to keep dogs, within
guidelines, for their own “personal use and enjoyment”; however, since the animals in question are kept in conjunction with a rescue organization, they are being considered “commercial use” and thus the right to house them is being challenged. A primary consideration for classifying something as “commercial” is a profit motive. The foster care providers that work with animal rescue groups are volunteers who offer their services without compensation, and frequently at great personal expense.

If the Counties are successful in classifying these volunteer services as commercial in nature, the ruling would force the closure of many hundreds of foster homes throughout Arlington and Fairfax Counties and would establish a precedent that could be emulated throughout the Commonwealth. These closures would cause an immediate influx of hundreds, if not thousands, of dogs and cats into the County shelters which are neither prepared nor funded to handle such volumes of animals. Since the shelters would be filled beyond capacity, this would mean the immediate euthanasia of many, if not most, of these highly adoptable animals.

Additionally, the classification of volunteer services as a commercial activity could logically be extended to non-profit organizations such as the Girl Scouts of America (troop leaders, annual cookie drive), the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation (fundraising events), church functions (bible study classes, fundraising activities), and innumerable others.

Ironically, even though Fairfax and Arlington Counties are citing rescue volunteers for fostering in their homes, the Counties themselves use citizen-based foster programs within their shelter program (Fairfax) or by their contracted shelter provider (Arlington). (Double standard much?)

The Commonwealth of Virginia has received national recognition for the adoption of strict new dog fighting and puppy mill laws. In a 2007 study, the HSUS found nearly 1,000 puppy mills operating in Virginia. Of those, only 16 were properly licensed. As of January 1, 2009, the date that the new Virginia puppy mill law goes into effect, each of these puppy mills will be limited to 50 dogs over one year of age. The remainder will be surrendered to shelters, sold, or killed.

As evidenced by the recent puppy mill bust in West Virginia, where over 1,000 dogs were saved, it is the rescue groups who step up to handle the sudden glut of dogs – publicly supported shelters do not have the capacity. A finding that volunteer foster homes are serving a commercial purpose could put the rescue group safety net out of service, forcing the euthanisia of untold thousands of dogs and puppies all at tremendous expense to Virginia taxpayers.

A Forever Home Rescue Foundation (AFH) is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) non-profit (Tax ID: 43-1977921) incorporated in Virginia on September 11, 2002. AFH rescues at-risk dogs, provides them with needed medical attention and places them into loving new “Forever Homes”. In an average year, AFH places over 1,000 dogs into new adoptive homes. The organization is also instrumental in the transport of thousands of dogs from rural shelters to other pre-screened, reputable rescue organizations all along the eastern seaboard.

AFH has also been a key participant in many animal-related activities over the years. The rescue group made five separate trips to the New Orleans area following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, rescuing nearly 150 stranded dogs. It was also a keyparticipant in the recent shutdown of a West Virginia puppy mill that rescued over 1,000 dogs from the hardships of a puppy mill life (see www.aforeverhome.org).

During the 2007 reporting year, the A Forever Home Rescue Foundation alone placed 875 dogs with new adoptive families and had 105 animals on hand at the end of the year. When aggregated with all reporting entities in the Commonwealth, the number of dogs and cats that could potentially be impacted by this action on an annuallized basis approaches 250,000.

A Forever Home Rescue Foundation is expending thousands of dollars in legal fees to protect its foster home network. These are funds that would be better spent taking care of the animals. (And they aren't the only rescue group who will end up doing this. EVERY Rescue group with a foster home in Virginia will end up having to use the funds better spent on care for the pets, on legal fees instead.)

####

Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance Paragraphs 5 and 6 of Sect. 2-302:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/zoningordinance/articles/art02.pdf (see Page 9)

Fairfax County Animal Shelter Foster Program:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/animalservices/pdf/FCASDOnlineApplication.pdf

Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals - Appeal Number: A 2008-SP-025
Arlington County Zoning Ordinance Section 31.12.b.(6):
http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/planning/zoning/pdfs/Ordinance_Section31.pdf (See Page 5)

Arlington County Animal Shelter Foster Program:
http://www.awla.org/foster.shtml
Arlington County Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development
Planning Division – Reference Number: CE083516

Virginia Puppy Mill Law:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+3.2-6507.1
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+3.2-6507.2
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+3.2-6507.3
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/companion-animal-breeding/article/357

Virginia Dog Fighting Law:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+3.2-6571
Virginia Department of Consumer Services Online Animal Reporting:
http://www.virginia.gov/vdacs_ar/cgi-bin/Vdacs_search.cgi

####


For additional information, contact Ken Cline at ken@aforeverhome.org

It appears, that despite initially registering, ie the computer recognizing that, yes, I have plugged in my device, when I tried to remove music from my 30gig Zune, it decided to go belly up.

Yup. It completely stopped responding.

When I tried all the troubleshooting tricks the website says, it still didn't work.

When I tried to submit a repair request, because that's what it says to do if you tried to reset the device and get a certain screen instead, the damn repair request website kept crashing.

When I tried calling Customer Service and tried explaining this to them, that I could not get past the submit screen, that I tried three times now, their response was, 'Oh we see the repair request right here'. Yeah, well that doesn't help ME one bit when I have no confirmation number, no address to send it to, no packing instructions, no NOTHING, now does it?

After attempting to explain THAT to the stupid bint, I got so frustrated that I told her to just cancel the repair request and hung up on them. This is the second time I've tried doing anything with the Customer Service via the telephone and have gotten nowhere.

Screw this. Other than the Customer Service, I've not had any issues with my Zune. It'd be easier to just go buy a new damn one. Which is what is going to end up happening by Thursday.

Been saying I needed an 80gig after all.

Because those bills are not about protecting the little guy, ie, you and me. They are about making the big guys even richer than they already are.

Don't believe me? Well, read on.

A friend has done some srious digging, this took mere minutes for her. I can only imagine what she'd find if she really looked. I have permission to crosspost and I highly suggest you do the same.

Spread the word, tell as many people as you can, artists and non artists. Get angry and go out there and do something about this. Don't let the rich guys get richer off our hard work.

"The Orphaned Works Bills are creating a battle that wages on all over the internet, an excellent sample of this can be found here: http://mollykleinman.com/2008/04/16/wonks-and-librarians/

To amuse myself I've been researching the Orphaned Works legislation everyone is wetting their pants over, people are drafting letters and poised, ready to fight. I decided to take a different route, I went looking for where it came from, seeking who pushed for it, and who owed favors that might help get it over the hump before i write any letters. This is probably the most important thing I learned while battling politicians down in Coos Bay Oregon, "follow the money". I ran into some interesting data, don't you just love the internet?

First of all the senate version is also called "The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 (S. 2913) It was introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and lists Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) as a backer, I find this odd because Hatch appears to have drafted this originally. It's named after Shawn Bentley, who was an intellectual property counselor for Hatch for several years before he died from cancer.

Interestingly enough he also worked for years for AOL/Time Warner... who happens to be a major contributor to most of the people heavily involved in both versions.... $41,100 to Leahy alone, but they were not the biggest contributor.
Other major contributors include a litigation attorney who defends infringers, Disney, and TechNet, an interesting little group of tech moguls, (sniff: John Doerr), who do a lot of big money lobbying for "causes" that make their members wealthy.... $81,491 went to Leahy alone last year, that's a lot of gerbil food in my book. I find it interesting that they are already profiting nicely from operating registries for health care and financial information, so why not make a bundle forcing artists to register their works in a registry they run too? AND they are fighting to lower patent violation penalities... http://tinyurl.com/6gmgqq if you read the legislation both versions seek to lower and limit fines to next to nothing on copyright violations.
I feel some deja-vue coming on.... and I suspect people are gonna need to do more than write letters to stop this. I haven't stopped digging but there appears to be some major money behind these bills resurfacing, and some major players, and they are not use to losing. Maybe artists better start taking down their art and locking it up now.

I have to say I haven't had this much fun since I tracked down the skinny on one particularly powerful Environmental Impact Study company in the mid-90's that was up to their elbows in obtaining way too much Federal grant money for performing environmental impact studies (prior to public works projects that seldom actually ever occurred) in financially depressed areas, especially along the west coast. I also found a link from them to suddenly appearing HIGH interest home loans in those areas that were defaulted on at a very high percentage rate, leaving them in control of large amounts of property, some of which they sold off at a loss to local small town politicians, some they kept... the value of all of it rose dramatically within a very short period of time after they got control of it. No one cared then and I doubt they do now, so I imagine that is still going on.

Edit: BTW, It's impossible to ignore the fact that Technet CEO John Doerr sits on the board of Amazon, Google, Intuit (quickbooks), and the investment company he is a partner in is the primary funding behind Zazzle,(sorta like cafepress). I also discovered that additional donations were also made separately from Technet to many of the politicians involved, in the name of John Doerr, his wife Ann, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers ( the venture capital group where John is a partner)... and under the name of everyone I have tracked so far that sits in power at Technet. The contribution numbers will soar much higher than it appears on the surface..... we may never need to buy gerbil food again.

It is always about following the moola, either where it's going to wind up, or who it's being taken from who has friends in the highest places.

I haven't figured the total contributions yet I am still tracking them.

BTW, Doerr is Numero Uno on the Forbes Midas list:
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/99/biz_08midas_L-John-Doerr_2946.html
What a great little capitalist he is.....

I am sure my daughter Ramie would admire the fact he has shoveled a ton of money into backing stem cell research and lobbying for it."

More as she finds it.

These bills are not about protecting our copyrights. These bills are about TAKING THEM AWAY. These bills will effectively take anything you or I create and are unable to afford to either get a Copyright from the Copyright office on or register with the 'database' these bills would create. Thereby opening the door for these people, THE COMPANIES, to swoop in, and take our work, giving themselves the credit, because, according to them, our names won't be on it, as we won't be in their databases, so the works are 'orphaned'.

The bills are about making other people rich. These bills are about making us even more poor. It's high time we told these companies exactly how we feel about their practices when it comes to our hard work and creations.

Apparently, there's an outdated law in Pennsylvania, that says, if you are married to someone or cohabiting with them, you being male, even though you are sterile, have been proven, medically to be sterile, unable to father a child, and your wife gets pregnant, you are 'legally' that child's parent, biological or not. The law does not allow for paternity testing of any sort, does not take into account your medically proven sterility.

So if you divorce, or otherwise separate, because of this law, you are forced to pay child support for a child not yours. You have no recourse. The court will not allow you to have a paternity test to show the child is not yours. You lived with the woman, therefore, even though you didn't father the child, it's considered yours.

This is taking the point of view that the man had nothing, whatsoever, to do with the raising of said child.

I think the law needs to be updated.

Allow me to clarify- the law needs to provide for cases where it is medically proven, the man was and is sterile, incapable of siring ANY children. Adoption laws already cover those- the birth parents' right are severed, that child is YOURS, period, you divorce, it's still yours, so yes, you should support it.

But in the cases where the man was unable to have a child and KNEW this, as did the woman, why should he be forced to pay when they both know the kid isn't his? Why shouldn't the man who sired the kid have to pay? Because the man who was living with the woman was there when the kid was born? That's not fair to him, in my opinion. Especially since/if the woman left, taking the kid with her, not long after the birth of said child.

Siring a child, in my book, does NOT make you a father or a mother. I certainly do not consider the woman who bore me to be my mother in any sense of the word. My step mother, is my mother. That's another post for another day.

However, I do feel that, if you sired that child, you should help support it. And that means YOU should pay the child support, not the cuckolded man. He should only have to pay if HE feels its necessary, if he considers himself the father, regardless of parentage. But in the cases where the man does not claim the child, in ANY way, why should he have to pay, simply because he was under the same roof?

If that were the case, then all these women getting pregnant by random men, their 'Live In' boyfriend who may not have sired any of her kids, would be forced to pay child support simply because he lived with her. And it that's also the case, why, when step families break up, isn't the step parent required to now pay child support for the children he helped raise while married to their mother? He's not related to them, any more than the sterile man is, yet, he's not forced to pay while the medically proven sterile man is.

How does that make any sense?

I agree that SOMEONE needs to help support the kid, so why shouldn't it be the man who sired it? Why should the cuckolded man be the one to take all the responsibility? Simply because he lived with the mom when the kid was born? That's too simple. Because otherwise, there'd be a hel of alot of guys walking around scot-free while someone else not only raises, but also supports THEIR kids.

Oh, wait, that's already happening.


In regards to custody- if the man took the woman to court to fight for custody of the child, the fact that the child is not his could then be used as a reason for him not to get the child. Genetics now come into play. How is that fair in regards to the law?

( I will most likely add or rewrite bits of this as I clarify them in my mind. Comments will become screened if they degenerate into a flamewar. I won't shut them off, but I will screen if needed.)

S 2913 -Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 (Introduced in Senate)

To wit-

"SEC. 3. DATABASE OF PICTORIAL, GRAPHIC, AND SCULPTURAL WORKS.
(a) Establishment of Database-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Register of Copyrights shall undertake a certification process for the establishment of an electronic database that facilitates the search for pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works that are subject to copyright protection under title 17, United States Code.

(2) PROCESS AND STANDARDS FOR CERTIFICATION- The process and standards for certification of the electronic database required under paragraph (1) shall be established by the Register of Copyrights, except that certification may not be granted if the electronic database does not contain--

(A) the name of all authors of the work, if known, and contact information for any author if the information is readily available;

(B) the name of the copyright owner if different from the author, and contact information of the copyright owner;

(C) the title of the copyrighted work, if such work has a title;

(D) with respect to a copyrighted work that includes a visual image, a visual image of the work, or, if such a visual image is not available, a description sufficient to identify the work;

(E) one or more mechanisms that allow for the search and identification of a work by both text and image; and

(F) security measures that reasonably protect against unauthorized access to, or copying of, the information and content of the electronic database.

(b) Public Availability- The Register of Copyrights--

(1) shall make available to the public through the Internet a list of all electronic databases that are certified in accordance with this section; and

(2) may include any database so certified in a statement of best practices established under section 514(b)(5)(B) of title 17, United States Code.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

(a) In General- With respect to works other than pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, the amendments made by section 2 shall apply to infringements that commence on or after January 1, 2009.
(b) Pictorial, Graphic, and Sculptural Works- With respect to pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, the amendments made by section 2 shall--

(1) take effect on the earlier of--

(A) the date on which the Copyright Office certifies under section 3 at least 2 separate and independent searchable, comprehensive, electronic databases, that allow for searches of copyrighted works that are pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, and are available to the public through the Internet; or

(B) January 1, 2011; and

(2) apply to infringing uses that commence on or after that effective date.

(c) Publication in Federal Register- The Register of Copyrights shall publish the effective date described in subsection (b)(1) in the Federal Register, together with a notice that the amendments made by section 2 take effect on that date with respect to pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.

(d) Definition- In this section, the term `pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works' has the meaning given that term in section 101 of title 17, United States Code."

and

HR 5889- Orphan Works Act of 2008 (Introduced in House)

To wit-

"SEC. 3. DATABASE OF PICTORIAL, GRAPHIC, AND SCULPTURAL WORKS.

(a) Establishment of Database-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Register of Copyrights shall undertake a certification process for the establishment of an electronic database to facilitate the search for pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works that are subject to copyright protection under title 17, United States Code.

(2) PROCESS AND STANDARDS FOR CERTIFICATION- The process and standards for certification of the electronic database required under paragraph (1) shall be established by the Register of Copyrights, except that certification may not be granted if the electronic database does not contain--

(A) the name of all authors of the work, and contact information for any author if the information is readily available;

(B) the name of the copyright owner if different from the author, and contact information of the copyright owner;

(C) the title of the copyrighted work, if such work has a title;

(D) with respect to a copyrighted work that includes a visual image, a visual image of the work, or, if such a visual image is not available, a description sufficient to identify the work;

(E) one or more mechanisms that allow for the search and identification of a work by both text and image; and

(F) security measures that reasonably protect against unauthorized access to, or copying of, the information and content of the electronic database.

(b) Public Availability- The Register of Copyrights--

(1) shall make available to the public through the Internet a list of all electronic databases that are certified in accordance with this section; and

(2) may include any database so certified in a statement of best practices established under section 514(b)(5)(B) of title 17, United States Code.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

(a) In General- With respect to works other than pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, the amendments made by section 2 shall apply to infringements that commence on or after January 1, 2009.
(b) Pictorial, Graphic, and Sculptural Works- With respect to pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, the amendments made by section 2 shall--

(1) take effect on the earlier of--

(A) the date on which the Copyright Office certifies under section 3 at least 2 separate and independent searchable, comprehensive, electronic databases, that allow for searches of copyrighted works that are pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, and are available to the public through the Internet; or

(B) January 1, 2013; and

(2) apply to infringing uses that commence on or after that effective date.

(c) Publication in Federal Register- The Register of Copyrights shall publish the effective date described in subsection (b)(1) in the Federal Register, together with a notice that the amendments made by section 2 take effect on that date with respect to pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.

(d) Definition- In this section, the term `pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works' has the meaning given that term in section 101 of title 17, United States Code."



NOW you should start worrying about your works and NOW you should start contacting your Congressmen/women.

But FIRST, you need to read both 'Bills'. Keep in mind, they have only been INTRODUCED. They still have to be approved by Committee before they go to a vote. Also, there are TWO, and while they may say nearly the same thing, they ARE different. Keep that in mind when you contact your Congress person.

Poor rice harvests means there's MAY soon to be a rice shortage, causing some big box chains to limit your purchases of 20lb bags of rice.
This has translated to 'OmG!111 There'S A FOOd ShORtaGe!!11 ThEy'Re RaTionINg Food11!1!!!!'

And 'OMg!111 ThaT'S WhY PrIces are Going Up!11"


Umm.. no.

Rising fuel prices means that the cost to transport that same food stuffs from one place to another has gone up, translating into a higher cost to the consumer when they purchase the food stuffs.

Let's recap- Rising fuel prices=rising transport costs= rising food prices.

NOT rising food prices=food shortages/rationing by all grocery stores.

Can you say unnecessary paranoia?

There now, I knew you could!

Apparently, telling someone to call their vet equates to being a jerk.

Yup.

Cause we all know, calling a vet requires hundreds and hundreds of dollars just to talk to the vet or a vet tech on the phone.

Wait, what? It 'DOESN'T?!? You mean, I can talk to my vet for free? The vet won't CHARGE ME?!?

No! Imagine that!


Out of all the comments saying 'go to the vet' or ' talk to your vet', my lonely little 'call your vet' is singled out as being 'OMGooZZzzz Yer So MeAn!111111!!!11!'


The stupidity, it burns.

Edit-

Nope! Wait! Others are now being told what idiots they are. Except this one, because dontcha know, they answered exactly what they wanted! Never you mind that they don't have a clue as to what exactly the worms are and are giving advice that could potentially harm the animal instead of helping.

Good gods. I do hope this fool is a Troll.


< a href="http://community.livejournal.com/naturalliving/4245088.html?thread=67939168#t67939168"> If only we were so lucky!!</a>


The idiot is now deleting any and all comments that show the least bit of disagreement. Takes real guts to do that. I am in awe. /sarcasm

So, took care of the social security card bit.

TRIED to take care of the renewal of Driver's License bit. I will never understand why if you're renewing, you have to take the fool tests all over again. Which, i couldn't do, as I need new contacts, and my eye appointment isn't until NEXT Thursday.

On a good note, I don't need my SSN card. I just needed my marriage certificate.

I swear, if I knew it was going to be this much of a hassle to change my last name, I'd have kept my maiden name, Marine Corps be damned (they *forced* me to change it.Seriously. I had no choice while active duty).

Picked up Dante's meds. I love her to death, but the expense of her meds, I will so not miss when she decides to go.

Got more topsoil and a couple bags of compost to top off the front iris bed, and fill in the holes in the cinder blocks for the new raised bed. I'm thinking, I'll be planting my seedlings this next week, as it's supposed to rain Sunday, so I'll wait until the dirt is completely settled out, see if I need to add more and do so, accordingly.

We're considering heading downtown again this weekend, Mark wants to go to the Science Museum, I want to hit the Farmer's Market, then we're going grocery shopping, as we really need groceries now. Cupboards are looking abit bare. And the grocery list is getting longer...

My Buddleia bush out front has #$%#$^%&(#!@$!%^*&^&(*_()_+$@%!@#~!$#^%^*&^& aphids. (So is the blasted Feverfew, ARGH!!!) Got them off the Irises, now they're on the Buddleia. Too many for the numerous LadyBugs to dispose of. I'm down to one bottle of Safer Insecticidal Soap. Guess I'll make a batch of water, dish soap and baking soda up.

Driveway needs weeding too. Sheesh.

My Wisteria is doing well, that's all I smell when I go out front. Between that and the Lilac, my yard smells like a perfumery. Yes, I have photos. I'll upload them tonight.

Had to turn the AC on. In April. Yikes.

In other news...

no_comp_neededis a comm that you can join just to express your support for IJ. I personally don't care that we were down for two days. Accidents happen, and Squeaky kept us all informed the whole time on Twitter. It's amazing that he got things back up and running so quickly. And everything seems to be just the way it was before the crash. Besides, if you had lost your journals and didn't have them backed up...SHAME ON YOU, not Squeaky! (Me too--I have not yet backed this up!!!) (copied from techno_goddess}:P )

I joined with this journal, it's perm, what are they going to do? Add 2 days to infinity? Sheesh. I need to join with blackblade, even though that's a free account, it won't be when I get everything else straightened out and have the spare money again. InsaneJournal is vastly worth it.

I guess that's it for now. I need to run to AC Moore before going to get Mark from work.

Oh yeah, Twitter has frustrated me to no end. The sidebar? Isn't being a sidebar. It's glitched itself up to the top of my Twitters and is very annoying, because now, I have to keep scrolling down below it, to read the twitters. AND it keeps eating any posts I make. It ate four in a row today. No response from 'Help' yet, either. Shitty customer service, considering this has been going on since LAST NIGHT. I shut it down, it annoyed me so badly.


I have another rant, but that can wait until later.