Couldn't agree more, I can't stand HuffPo. I also really dislike the layout with one story on a terrible massacre next to an article on 5 ways you're cooking bacon wrong. I'm also opposed to the aggregation model where they just scoop up other news organization's content and use it to make money. If every site did that, they would cannabalize each other. They need to hire real journalists and go after their own stories.

Well maybe if Obama didn't carry on Bush's policies people wouldn't compare the two? Remember Hope & Change(TM)? Obama was elected as the antiseptic to 8 years of Bush/Cheney infection. It seems Obama is just the same virus with a slight melanin mutation.

Why? Because of all the terrible stuff he and Cheney did. Were you not paying attention during those 8 years?

Did the governments of Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc act independently when they forced the Bolivian President's jet to land?

He's lying through omission. Actually he said phone calls, not email. What he didn't mention is that just about everything the NSA can get its hands on is bring stored for future use. Seems like a fairly important detail to leave out.

Sure, there are millions of people who are essentially apolitical, don't expect everyone to be up in arms about this. Still, you're misrepresenting the millions more who ARE very concerned. It'll take awhile to filter through party affiliations (many dems are struggling to find a way to spin this, many repubs are loathe to go on the offensive bearing in mind their guys started us on this path) but this is way too big a deal to sweep under the rug and I bet there's a lot more to come out yet.

The White House has been unbelievably quiet through all of this. First, Obama "welcomed" a discussion. Then, he got caught lying with "the nobody is reading your emails" line. Then, Clapper got caught lying. I think they're keeping quiet because they have a good idea what is coming next. They can't afford to get caught lying again.

Sounds like a possibility. I, also, ANAL but I remember that the ACLU had a case against the NSA dismissed for lack of standing. IOW, you can't sue because you can't provide a victim of domestic spying. Maybe all it takes is for one lawsuit against the DEA to be successful for the floodgates to open. This latest tsunami of shit reaches far outside of the secretive NSA spooks and into regular law enforcement circles. Hopefully that means we might get a whistleblower or two coming forward.

No, I completely disagree. Snowden provided proof of domestic spying and now the story is blowing up big time and going into all sorts of places. The world is waking up to this, now is the time to be indignant. Just because a few people "knew" 15 years ago, it doesn't mean it's old news for the vast majority of people.

So they're supposed to accept that you're only going to play your own songs in your own venue? How is that workable? Are they just supposed to trust you?

You have a choice in the US: ASCAP or BMI. It's not about lawyers, it's about an organization that can collect and distribute royalties on behalf of the artists because there's really no other way to do it. Composers can't track down every usage and demand payment, they wouldn't have any time to write music. If you have a better idea, let's hear it. I'm still unsure as to why ASCAP is getting a beating here.

That's how PROs work the world over. If you want to have music in your venue, you need to register and pay for that so that artists can get paid for their work. Certainly, the system isn't perfect but what would you suggest as an alternative? Venues pay nothing and get to use the music (which attracts customers and makes them money) for free?

1) they would demand payment from the venue, not the musician. 2) There is no annual fee, it's a one-time $50 membership. Another $50 if you also want a publisher membership.

Of all the people with their hands out, making money from music, the performers and writers are the ones creating the content and getting the shaft when it comes to getting paid for their work. Pandora and other streaming services are doing nothing except preserving this status quo.

It doesn't fit with the rest of the movies in the article. It doesn't have any big stars and has a much wider international appeal. Also, it wasn't a bad movie.