This posting could also be called "What I learned during my four day missing persons obsession" or "Why I blog."
Often the simplest solution is the correct one. This turned out to be the case with the recent bizarre saga of Christian Julian Irwin. A little over a week ago, Irwin made a frantic call at 3:45 a.m. to a friend telling him that he was being chased by men with guns and dogs. He also mentioned that it may have something to do with the "Nigerian Internet Scam" that he was caught up in. That was the last that anyone heard from Irwin. His glasses and shoes were found on a hillside by his house but nothing else. For reasons that I cannot easily explain, I became obsessed with this story as it was unfolding.
With regard to the disappearance, all kinds of theories were floated around from the Nigerians coming to collect to it being a faked abduction. The simplest explanation of course was that Irwin had mentally lost it and just run off. The argument against this theory came from his friends and family who professed that he was mentally sound with no history of such behavior. For the family to be right, the explanation for his disappearance would have to be extraordinary to tie up all of the loose ends.This made the story that much more compelling and it became international news.
Six days later, Irwin was found, not far from where he lived and had last been seen. He was naked and delusional and had been hiding from his rescuers because in his deluded state he thought that they were out to get him too.
The moral of this story is the most basic, simple and obvious solution is usually the correct one--this is especially true in missing persons cases. Think of it as a Occam's Razor for solving crimes.
The day the story broke big, I drove up to Topanga to where Christian was last seen, talked to people who knew him, and took and published extensive photos of his path into the night from whoever was chasing him. I studied up on the the Nigerian scam that he was caught up in, I went to his personal website, I even combed eBay looking for things he might be selling that might have attracted the Nigerians or perhaps give other clues. I read pretty much every article published in the world about his disappearance and combed through the email "tips" that readers were sending in. I also trolled music industry bulletin boards and posted answers to questions people had about the case.
The stories v on Christian got linked by LA Observed, Jossip, Fishbowl LA, 8763 Wonderland to name a few. I tried to be a point person for people interested in this story around the world who knew him or had worked with him.
This brings us to blogging. Sometimes I get asked why I blog, and I typically don't have a good answer. But perhaps I blog because when a story like this comes along and I can get completely immersed into it and even better share it with others.
Insider
Independent Sources
Justin notes below that a blogger has been sued over comments. The news is filtering aroung the blogosphere. Longtime readers will remember that Infotel threatened suit twice and tried a backdoor petition in Montreal because of comments on this post. I think Seobook has a winnable position but he's got to stand firm. If only I could practice in PA.
Exhibit 10 in The Coming Legal Superstorm Against Bloggers can be found here. [Hat-tip: Instapundit]
Notable comments and links related to the case here and here.
Exhibit 9 here.
Instapundit has been out-linked. Heh. Indeed. (Hat tip Conservative Grapevine)
I'm blogging differently. You'll find my biweekly poker column at Blogcritics.org. In addition, I have become part of Vespaquest, a new corporate blog for Vespa scooters. In the next year, I plan to switch from car driver to scooter rider and I'm blogging the effort as well as providing insight into life's journey in general.
Calblog is always looking for contributors. Email me if you are interested. Check out the Bear Flag League and the Special Election page.
A clear cut case of how Western society currently condones the most pernicious forms of censorship under copyright regimes while deluding themselves into thinking that robust free speech is alive and well.
Maybe the artist will have the ability to stand up to the entertainment conglomerates - but why should he have to spend the money and the resources in the first place? Most likely, the speech will be chilled. This is Barbie redux I'm afraid.
This is also a perfect example of how the "parody" exception to copyright schemes are simply unworkable and why courts must adopt Levine's First Rule of Law. Is the Batman work a parody of the characters' sexuality? Or is it supposed to be a "serious" "derivative work" wherein Batman exists in an alternate reality where he just happens to be gay? Or is it more of a comment on homosexuality itself rather than Batman - with our hero only being requisitioned to comment on a larger topic in society?
The answer: Who can possibly know?? But judges certainly should not be able to decide issues of substantive law based on their personal subjective interpretations of artistic works.
And let me once again respond to the unimpressive argument that true censorship must stem from governmental actions rather than private disputes - if the first two branches of government create and enforce laws that enable private citizens to drag others into courts (the third branch of government) to punish them (or drain their resources) for speech that they would otherwise be free to articulate on their own, then it is every bit a case of governmental censorship than if the government were to directly craft a law fining people directly for portraying heterosexual heroes as homosexual. Transferring this function to a private proxy with discretion on when to sue does not change the fundamental character of the censorship via governmental action. The "governmental action" in this case is the passage and enforcement of laws conferring artificial "rights" on one group of people and enabling them to stifle expression of others who wish to comment on the works of the first group.
Outrageous...
[Tyranny of Copyright Part VII here.]
New York Sun—The United Nations bankrolled the production of thousands of banners, bumper stickers, mugs, and T-shirts bearing the slogan "Today Gaza and Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem," which have been widely distributed to Palestinian Arabs in the Gaza Strip, according to a U.N. official. [Hat tip LGF]
Why does this not suprise me?
From SoCalPundit:
Redistricting:Jeff at SoCalLawBlog has the whole story on Prop 77's return to the Special Election Ballot.Would require a panel of retired judges to draw election districts for state legislative, Board of Equalization and congressional offices. Takes away power of state legislators to draw their own districts. Voters would approve or disapprove the judges' redistricting plan. Supported by Schwarzenegger. Opposed by various GOP and Democratic lawmakers.
The California Supreme Court has ordered the Secretary of State to restore Proposition 77 to the ballot for this November’s special election.
Without Prop 77, the entire Special Election was likely to be cancelled or scaled back. Now that it has been returned to the ballot, we expect an interesting battle on November 8th!
Take that Bill Lockyear!
White House press corps veteran Helen Thomas, now a columnist for Hearst Newspapers, told The Hill newspaper that if "Dick Cheney is going to run for President, I'll kill myself... ."
Probably not the preeminent appeal of a Cheney campaign—more like icing on the cake.