Here is the note that the members recieved about the action:
"Dear (member),
"On behalf of songwriters and composers everywhere, I am urging you to support ASCAP's Legislative Fund for the Arts (ALFA).
"At this moment, we are facing our biggest challenge ever. Many forces including Creative Commons, Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation and technology companies with deep pockets are mobilizing to promote "Copyleft" in order to undermine our "Copyright." They say they are advocates of consumer rights, but the truth is these groups simply do not want to pay for the use of our music. Their mission is to spread the word that our music should be free.
"This is why your help now is vital. We fear that our opponents are influencing Congress against the interests of music creators. If their views are allowed to gain strength, music creators will find it harder and harder to make a living as traditional media shifts to online and wireless services. We all know what will happen next: the music will dry up, and the ultimate loser will be the music consumer.
"We cannot afford to lose the support of our legislators either at this time or into the future. To this end, we must urge the members of Congress to support our rights.
"Of course, a legislative campaign of this magnitude requires funds. We are coming to you--along with many other professional ASCAP members-- to help protect your future. Of course, we understand that these are tough times for everyone. Accordingly, we are asking you to make a very small contribution to wage this battle. Our thinking is that if everyone we are approaching responds with the modest sum we are requesting, it will add up to a reasonable result. In line with this, we are requesting that you write a personal check for five dollars ($5.00) or more made out to the ASCAP Legislative Fund for the Arts. If your contribution is greater than $200, federal law requires that you provide the necessary information requested on the attached form. Please send any checks to ASCAP Legislative Fund for the Arts, (address omitted). Please note that corporate checks are not permissible.
"You can also charge the amount to your credit card, if you prefer, by clicking on the following link: (link omitted)
"Think of it as investing in your own future----which is precisely what it is. We will use the funds to advance our agenda in Washington on your behalf. Please read and complete the information requested on the attached form, and say "yes" to helping us help you safeguard your rights and your future income."
(signature omitted)
Sorry, my commenting is a bit rare, so I don't quite have the HTML all down-pat yet. I'll try harder on keeping on top of it, such as on this reply.
Thanks!
It's an utter slug at OpenOffice
i suggest trying out abiword, it also handles
Bullshit. That's the same tired tripe they've been pushing since well before the civil rights movement. You can't discriminate against blacks and you can't discriminate against gays. Get used to it.
Actually, in a democracy you can discriminate against whoever the hell you want as long as the majority agrees with you. Get used to it.
Which is why the United States is not a Democracy, nor has it ever been.
The United States is a Representative Constitutional Republic, and always has been.
I think the reason for the Founder's decision on this form of Government couldn't be clearer, just look at the country today.
You've got an overwhelming majority...who believe utter nonsense.
When you think about it, our system is really only one of two that could contain itself long enough to achieve so-called "Superpower Status". The other (apparently, looking at history) was Communism (speaking of the former Soviet Union).
However, seeing as the United States is still here and still retains it's Superpower status, I believe we've proven that only the mixture of Democracy and Authoritarianism that is the "Representative Republic" form of Government can withstand the long haul of time.
RFC's are like democracy, it is the worst form of government known on the face of the planet, it is just better then everything else we have tried thus far.
At their best they are precise and ambiguous, at their worst they are inscrutable and comprehensible.
Specifications via consensus means that every pissant and their cousin gets to have a whack at making sure their sacred ox does not get gored, or conversely making sure that the sacred ox of someone they don't like does in fact get gored and gored badly.
Having actually sat down and traced through a few of these I feel your pain. At some point they pretty much kinda work, sorta, maybe. After a couple of cocktails and a few huffy e-mails you might actually get to grips with whatever the problem is and get some work done. Unfortunately by then you have forgotten what the hell you were trying to do in the 1st place.
"Whatever the problem is, it's hard to believe it's Windows' fault."
Are you serious? Oh right, I forgot that all things that go wrong with Windows nowadays is someone else's fault - the user is stupid, it was a virus, shitty 3rd party applications, bad hardware, etc. etc.
Never ask two questions in a business letter. The reply will discuss the one you are least interested, and say nothing about the other.