Oh that Laura Ingalls Wilder BITCH...thank Jesus for the American Library Association

Tell me, Kemosabe, where can you go to get JUSTICE in this world?

When there's always the threat of book burning and censorship, who will stand up for writers? Who will refuse to bow down to the insane paranoia of the "politically correct?"

Not the AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.

They just changed the LAURA INGALLS WILDER AWARD to...THE CHILDREN'S LITERATURE LEGACY AWARD.

You know who Wilder is? THIS awful bitch:

You'd think that classrooms and libraries would be a good place to teach tolerance and understand sociology. But Mark Twain remains on a lot of BANNED lists for school reading. Shel Silverstein and Tomi Ungerer, two of the world's finest authors of kiddie books are also BANNED in many libraries because they also published in such awful-awful places as Playboy and the Village Voice.

According to the American Library Association, Laura Ingalls Wilder, the beloved author of "Little House on the Prairie," does NOT deserve recognition anymore. She should NOT be listed with that scant group of females who are part of American literary history: Willa Cather, Emily Dickinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay or Pearl Buck.

Why? According to the American Library Association, Ingalls (February 7, 1867-February 10, 1957) was a racist. Quoth the librarians:

"Her works reflect dated cultural attitudes toward indigenous people and people of color."

So, let's be politically correct and ignore her. Never praise her. Don't even make an allowance that what she wrote, like Mark Twain and his "Huckleberry Finn" which had a slave character in it, was very much of its time and considered perfectly normal.

It's fortunate that whatever hung-up dried-up idiots run this "American Library Association" that you and I never heard about till just recently, nobody much gives a damn about what awards they give out, or what kind of sappy political agenda befouls their choices of honorees.

They no doubt think they're doing their part for...what, censorship, intolerance, or stick-up-the-assery?

In the real world, Native Americans continue to be insulted and demeaned. Many live in near poverty on reservations, but because they aren't loudmouth immigrants, or shouting in a foreign language, or breaking windows and stealing TV sets, nobody cares.

Here's a couple of black guys who are happy to play for...THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS.

You think an NFL team would ever be called "The Washington Blackskins?" Or even "The Washington Of-Color-Skins?" What is anyone doing about the obnoxious white guy who owns this team?

Political correctness is not getting better and more sensible all the time; it's only becoming more Fascistic, intolerant and bullyingly moronic. Any author turn down this dopey "prize" because Wilder's book may have a few stereotypical lines in it? Should comedians turn down the "Mark Twain Prize" for the same idiot reason?

Johnny Depp barely got to play Tonto in a forgettable "Lone Ranger" re-make, because..."he's NOT a Native American!" Somebody countered that he might have some distant relative who was Native American, so leave him alone. A professional ACTOR is not allowed to portray a Native American or some other ethnic group despite his skills? Should Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter and Woodrow Parfrey NOT have worn masks in "Planet of the Apes," and REAL APES have played those parts? With maybe...MAYBE...subtitles?

Think the "American Library Association" has called for a ban on any children's book about football that mentions "The Washington Redskins?"

The Real Message behind the Subliminal Ad #490259

WHAT THE AD IS REALLY TELLING YOU...

Bill De Blasio - The Guy Who Runs the Big City .... is Big and Runny

"Hi, I'm Matt the Scab, I'm FLATTERED you want my Video FREE. Take it"

I recently wrote about how scabs are rampant in the publishing world. Tenured professors will work for NO advance and research a book for five years...while a professional journalist starves and ends up taking a day job. That kind of thing.

There are also "SHARERS" who feel it's their obligation to give away music because "we all like music." If a perfect stranger has every King Crimson album, wonderful. "Share it." If we all "SHARE" then we won't have to buy the music we like, and can spend that money on something else, like pizza and beer. THAT is worth BUYING.

Today a bunch of steam pipes exploded in Manhattan near the Flatiron Building. People whipped out their cellphone cameras and dutifully TWEETED and put the images on FACEBOOK. Free. AND...professional scroungers for the major networks and newspapers were right there to ask to use this stuff....FREE.

Who the FUCK is this MATT guy? Why, he's a FOOOOOODIE. He likes to eat FOOOOOOOD. Gosh, most of us HATE food, right? But he's a FOOOOODIE. Goody goody goody goody goody. Welcome, MATT. Oh come let us ADORE YOU.

You don't now what the fuck you're talking about...that was not a FIRE, and since you're NOT a newsman and you do not understand FACTS and how to BACK THEM UP, you just posted your shit. You didn't think you were scaring people, creating panic, or being a stupid fool. You're not a fool. You're a FOOOOOOODIE.

OK. We know TWITTER is just social (disease) media and don't necessarily believe all we see there. But let's see what the comments were like...oh...parasites from NBC and some other joint were all over Matt, asking him to sign a release so they could use the footage:

Sure, go ahead, use it. Give me a CREDIT. That's the Internet. I want to be flattered. We're all good Communists and doing it for the common good, comrade. SHARE and SHARE. This isn't my profession, this isn't how I make my living, to fuck it. GIVE IT AWAY.

NBC also pounced on this, and one person told Matt that these companies are making a profit, they are BIG, and they should be offering PAYMENT. But Matt the Foooooooooooooooodie could care less. The scab.

Somebody else would've said, "Hey NBC, hey SPECTRUM, you are making money on this. You are PAYING somebody to surf TWITTER for you. So why not give ME a taste?"

Not MATT. BUTT...what does this guy do for a living? IF he's a FOOOOOODIE and he works in some chi-chi limp-wristed NoHo joint where a few twigs of salad and a bit of hummus costs $10 a plate, you can bet he'll expect to be PAID to serve somebody. Told to lower his price, he'll say, "Hey, I have to pay to get this hummus, I have to spend time cutting up the carrots and lettuce, and I've got overhead here with the rent. Don't tell ME how to run my business..."

Book Publishers are Doing Well...Authors are NOT -- says a British newspaper

England is noted for its readers...the public love newspapers (mostly crappy tabloids) and support all kinds of eccentric authors (Spike Milligan had ONE book published in America in his lifetime, and a few collections of Goon Show scripts).

The article appears in the Guardian which isn't doing so well either. Any time you visit their website, you get a pop-up telling you to turn off adblock and think about supporting them by buying a subscription.

Of book authors they write:

"Book sales income was up 5% on the previous year, according to annual figures released by the Publishers Association. In sharp contrast, a recent survey of authors’ earnings revealed a 42% drop over the last decade, with the median annual income now below £10,500.

Powering the record year for the UK industry was a 31% rise in hardback book sales income, as well as a 25% increase of income from audiobooks and an 8% uplift from exports. Income from fiction and non-fiction also rose, by 3% and 4% respectively, which the Publishers Association’s chief executive, Stephen Lotinga, said proved that people’s love of books showed no sign of waning.

“The figures did not include publishers’ profits, although the latest results from the two biggest publishers in the UK – Penguin Random House and Hachette Group – suggest increases in sales have not been matched by higher profits. Publishers are paying writers a pittance, say bestselling authors.

However, authors contrasted the figures with a long-term decline in pay and investment in writers, particularly those yet to have a breakout bestseller. The author of Girl With a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier, said: “Authors have seen their earnings chipped away at while publishers thrive.

“Most writers cobble together a living from several sources: teaching, journalism, and odd jobs. Writing is just one shrinking source of income. Shrink it enough and people will stop writing altogether. It literally won’t be worth it.”

Chevalier, who is also the president of the Royal Literary Fund, which supports writers in financial difficulty, said that the charity had noted an increase in applications for hardship grants from younger writers. She said it reflected publishers’ hesitancy to take a risk and support an author for more than one or two books at a time.

“I think writers starting out are getting less support from publishers – not just financial, but a commitment to develop them and see them through several books to build up a readership and steady sales,” she said.

One difference between England and America, seems to be in the demographics. Lady Chevalier grouses that in England, all the publishers want are OLD WHITE MEN. Ha ha ha. Not in AMERICA they don't.

Interesting view from Lady Chevalier, since the black British female Zadie Smith gets a lot of hype here. What, George R.R. Martin sits on her face in terms of sales? It wouldn't be for lack of hype.

"Authors are being sacrificed for ‘wish-upon-a-star celebrity’ publishing..." she says. That's the same the whole world over, and it's a shame, a bloody shame. Back in the day when I could get most any silly lark published ("The Stooge Fans' I.Q. Test") the warning signs were around. The publisher of the Stooge book, Contemporary, won a bidding war for a female romance writer's FIRST book. The company was determined to diversify and grab a hunk of the "women sit on their ass with a box of chocolate and read crap all day" market. The book tanked. The publisher had to close the New York office and retreat back to Chicago.

Long ago, my agent advised me to hitch my paychecks to a star. "Celebrity books ALWAYS sell," he said. Unfortunately, not every celebrity book hits the best seller list, and I recall seeing relatively new books by Roger Moore, Robert Wagner and Tony Curtis sitting in the bargain remainder table...while I was standing around talking to Robert Vaughn who was signing his new book. Yes, even though celebs are forced to sign 500 or 1000 copies at a few bookstore signings, that often isn't enough to cover their advance. And not everybody will buy a celeb book of bland anecdotes if it isn't autographed to them personally.

In England, a big star is David Walliams, a phony (real last name Williams) who has made a big name for himself by pretending to be queer as a judge on "Britain's Got Tail Lint" or whatever it's called. David's increasingly stale act is to deliberately vote through any campy no-talent act (ooh, two men dancing together) and to constantly try to embarrass simmering Simon Cowell. He's also the author of kiddie books. This guy is making a fortune WITHOUT needing huge advances and book publishers pushing him and spending all their publicist time on him. So says the Guardian:

The celeb phenomenon is a problem in many other fields. For example, cartoons USED to be a place where talented but unknown voice actors thrived...the Paul Frees and June Foray types. Now, celebrity voices MUST be behind every big budget cartoon. Their names, even if their voices are bland, help put the little asses in the seats, along with the big asses of the parents, and the bigger obese asses of fanboy adults with no kids or wives but a big fetish for some actress or other.

One thing NOT mentioned by the Guardian is piracy. In forums and on torrents, it's very easy to download any best seller. Demonoid and the others routinely offer the ENTIRE New York Times best seller list. EBAY sellers routinely sneak download books and know that inept and crapathetic book companies such as Penguin/Doubleday won't bother to send a DMCA. Yes, publishers ARE making a good profit, and part of the way they do it is to give all but the top best selling authors the worst advance and the puniest royalty arrangement. I once asked some twat at Penguin/Doubleday (last name Sheridan) if she'd allow me to send in DMCA's on the virulent EBAY sellers. She told me the company employed a firm to handle piracy. Yeah? The firm was only pulling a few BEST SELLER AUTHOR items off the torrents and forums, and NOT even bothering with EBAY. I sent this company some eBay links. In other words: here, YOU make the money, just stop this piracy on behalf of ALL authors, because piracy hurts ALL authors. Guess what. The bitch (last name Sheridan) sent me a caustic email telling me to cease and desist contacting their piracy experts. The ones who weren't stopping the piracy.

The fact about piracy is simple: the more stole'd the less sold. If somebody gets the entire R.L. Stine collection, the entire George R.R. Martin, the entire Stephen King, the entire collection of some "cozy mystery" idiot or romance moron like Nora Roberts, the LESS reason there is to buy anything. As in, "I have more than enough Stephen King to plow through...no need for me to even buy Clive Barker...but maybe I'll ask "anyone want to SHARE it" in a FORUM. You know, one of the ones protected because the UK and USA won't pass laws to allow the blocking of obvious piracy sites doing their dirty work from Putinville.

Authors have never had an easy time of it. Even Philip Roth and Allen Ginsberg ended up teaching in colleges. Authors indeed are encouraged to always keep that DAY JOB. Scott Turow is a lawyer and so are several others. Joseph Wambaugh was a cop first, an author second. Several professors are scabs...they make a good living, are tenured, but they write books for virtually no advance just as a hobby. One of them contacted me asking for advice, phone numbers, and the chance to "pick your brain" because he was writing a book on comedians. He wanted photos, too. I suggested he at least pay me an "honorarium" of a hundred bucks for my time and postage in mailing him two dozen. He complained, "I'm not getting an advance. There's no photo budget." But for the glory of publishing, and the fun of talking to comedians, he was being a scab.

Nobody is renting a bus or a taxi and offering to give free rides just for the FUN of it, or the experience. You can't set up an office and pretend to be a doctor. But an author is scabbed by everybody on the planet. You can be SHITTY like pudgy E.L. James, and be a hit. Publishers know the average reader is not discriminating and will read E.L. James before Anais Nin, Erica Jong or Henry Miller. The publishers also know that some professor will happily spend five or ten years meticulously researching a book on a favorite horror actor and will accept a $500 advance, because he's not making a living he's just having himself a hobby. So, publishers WILL take as much of the profits as they can.

It's a surprise that books are selling at all (probably the British market is better than the American market). What is NOT a surprise is that publishers are making the money and not authors.

Profiles in Cranky, Misanthropic Writers #49294 HENRY VAN DYKE

The forgotten Henry Van Dyke wrote a lot of odes to nature, and seemed to be inspired to write verse on just about anything that he saw. Ah, a bird...let me write something. Ah, fishing...I can make a poetic statement. Etc. etc.

A lot of it had the message of, "I am sensitive and appreciate what I see, so let me tell you something that'll do you some good..." At least, that's the tone of some of his indulgent rhymes.

One of my favorites is of the "curb your enthusiasm" variety. So, you think it would be nice to always be happy? Hell no:

If all the skies were sunshine,
Our faces would be fain
To feel once more upon them
The cooling plash of rain.

If all the world were music,
Our hearts would often long
For one sweet strain of silence,
To break the endless song.

If life were always merry,
Our souls would seek relief,
And rest from weary laughter
In the quiet arms of grief.

Yes, in the original book it's "plash of rain," but as we often find with lousy digitalizations of public domain (and therefore defenseless) books, it's often "improved" to "splash."

Van Dyke (November 10, 1852 – April 10, 1933), who wore a fine, bushy mustache and had a commanding look in his eye, was not just a poet. He was a short story writer and a lyricist (in 1907 he premiered "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" sung to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." One of his poems "Time Is" was adapted into a rock song by the group It's a Beautiful Day.

He was a clergyman, a professor of English literature at Princeton for two dozen years, and the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg under Woodrow Wilson. He was known to Helen Keller, who, despite being deaf and blind, had a pretty good sense of what the guy as all about, and even quoted a typical Van Dyke remark he managed to communicate to her:

"Dr. van Dyke is the kind of a friend to have when one is up against a difficult problem. He will take trouble, days and nights of trouble, if it is for somebody else or for some cause he is interested in. 'I'm not an optimist,' says Dr. van Dyke, 'there's too much evil in the world and in me. Nor am I a pessimist; there is too much good in the world and in God. So I am just a meliorist, believing that He wills to make the world better, and trying to do my bit to help and wishing that it were more.'"

It should come as no surprise that he could be feisty.

In old age he let it be known that he granted autograph requests with a weary annoyance:

Being a professional lecturer, he could also give a piece of his mind while giving his treasured signature. Watta guy...

Freedom's Just Another Word...for PIRACY

A bunch of Eurotrash "lawmakers" decided it would be a shame if eBay had to hire a few extra employees at minimum wage to answer "report item" complaints on bootleg eBooks. Like this:

The illiterate bootlegger states "buyer's" (sic) will get an "external link" for the download. Or the ebook will be sent as an email attachment. Ebay actually does not allow "digital delivery" because it's obviously pirated. You get digital delivery via Amazon and iTunes. Every eBay ad has a "report item" hot link.

BUT...it would be easier and more convenient if Ebay a) blocked this crap by having some employees checking for it, or b) having enough employees that "report item" actually works. Usually it doesn't, and if you literally call eBay on it, they'll say, "Gee, we get SO many complaints and we don't have enough people to handle it. Report it again. And again." Ebay also has a warning that if you report an auction over again, it will drop the request to the bottom of the queue.

So what IS the problem here? EBAY is poor? It makes BILLIONS. It's one of the biggest and richest sites on the Internet.

You notice the excuse from rich Sir Tim Berners-Lee? "Internet freedom" is at stake. FREEDOM is another word for PIRACY?

The jerk who runs Wikipedia is another who screams that any Internet law is an attack on FREEDOM. That's because Wikipedia would have to pay for the photos they use, and not jump up and down shrieking "FAIR USE." They'd have to make sure to quote only a LEGAL amount from copyrighted material. Likewise, all the parasite DECIDER and NEWSER sites that re-write copyrighted news, and play fancy free with the photos would have to give up some of their profits. The Great God Google, which owns Blogspot and YouTube, wouldn't be able to ignore the rampant abuses on those sites, or with their search engine.

Right now, YouTUBE doesn't have to ask its uploaders if they have PERMISSION for ANYTHING. In fact, if you tried to report somebody who used a "Fair Use" excuse, YouTube would ignore you. At best, you'd get a nasty robot-note saying that if you are the copyright owner (not just an intellectual property rights owner, which they ignore), and you jump through all their hoops, fill out all their forms, and PROVE that you do own copyright and that your phone number and email is valid, they might remove the offending item.

On YouTube people upload entire songs, entire albums, entire TV shows, or their favorite moments from any TV show or sporting event, and pretend it's "Fair Use" under an obscure law that doesn't apply:

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Like so:

NO. "Fair use" is using a quote or a clip in a legitimate REVIEW, not just uploading the entire song, or putting together a bunch of clips with NO review or narration. But under the anemic laws, which the Eurotrash just decided not to strengthen, bit powerful rich YouTube is not only NOT obligated to check the site for such obnoxious abuse...they don't even have to respond when it's pointed out. As far as they're concerned, if "Futurama" doesn't send in a DMCA complaint, this IS "fair use." It's FREEDOM to STEAL.

As Puzo.Org, one of the long-running piracy forums declares as a motto: "BECAUSE WE LIKE FREE." Har har har. Pirate Bay, still running, loved to thumb their noses at copyright owners and bully even indie artists who BEGGED them, "Please don't steal my stuff, I'm barely breaking even."

Bloggers (almost all of them using GOOGLE's "Blogspot" for FREEEE) not only upload entire discographies, THEY expect payment. They either shout "Donate by using my PAYPAL TIP JAR" or they use evil foreign-run servers like RAPIDGATOR, who ignore takedown requests. Kim Dotcom, as criminal as he is, at least would remove a link if a DMCA was sent to his Megaupload company.

Julia Reda, a spoiled brat of a twat, actually is a member of a "Pirate Party" in Germany. Yes, the old favorites who attacked the entire world TWICE in the 20th Century, don't mind if a "Pirate Party" exists. You think an "Anti-Jew Party" is far behind? Or that it won't spring up in Sweden or France or other countries weak on ANY type of rights, whether copyright or human rights?

One thing that the pirates all have in common is that they have shit for brains and are not creative. Julia Reda might not too amused if she tried to make a living as a writer, and aside from the long odds and the huge competition, people were giving away her work. She writes a book or a song, and people go to a shoutbox on a blog, or a forum and say "Hey, give me Julia Reda's book. Best regards! I love SHARING."

Another aspect of FREEDOM as defined by the Internet, is the FREEDOM to indulge in revenge porn, Photoshop fakery and forgery. Ebay, for example, and thanks to this MEP bunch refusing to act, can still ignore auctions like this:

Yes, a fake nude on Taylor Swift with a forged signature. The seller has dozens upon dozens of them. Har har. Get some easy money, which eBay shares (making themselves PIMPS) and morality goes right down the toilet. Current Internet law only requires eBay to remove this item if Taylor Swift sends a DMCA. A strange twist is that while eBay actually has rules against selling KKK or Nazi "memorabilia," and bans sellers from selling pictures of tortured animals or an autopsy photo...women are not protected against degrading fakery. ANY woman's photos can turn up on eBay's secret "adults only" section being hawked as "I found this" or "great spread shot of some blonde" or whatever...with NO signed model release of age or consent.

This happens to be against Federal Law. Pornographers have to state on the DVD or the magazine that they have a model release on file. EBAY doesn't care about Federal Law. That's how powerful the Internet hot shots are...EBAY....GOOGLE...AMAZON...WIKIPEDIA...

People applaud Julian Assange as if he's some kind of Robin Hood when all he is, is a vainglorious criminal making money off invasion of privacy and theft. He's also an accused rapist. He steered clear of Putin and exploited America, because he knew he could get away with it. If he stole secrets from Putin, he'd get a poisoned banana shoved down his throat at the Ecuador Embassy. But if he rips off European countries or America, that's fine.

America has already failed to stop piracy via new legislation. Sen. Charles Schumer and a few others put together PIPA, which was supposed to address the piracy and copyright problem. But the cries went up of "Copyright is COPY WRONG," and "The government is interfering with FREEDOM OF SPEECH." Google lobbied mightily to make sure the bill dropped dead.

People are grumbling today that Trump is allowing Putin to do anything and everything, because Trump was bailed out by the Russians, and the Russians helped sabotage the election in his favor. The Russians are happy to screw the economy of America and England by having Communist websites hosting download files. There are supposedly law-abiding and patriotic ADULTS in England and America who cheer "Thank GOD for the Russians" when they get a free Neil Young discography off a Croatian blog and a Ukrainian download company that loads things with spyware. One day they might get upset when all their private information turns up in Russia somewhere and their bank accounts are emptied. Then they'll demand that their government reimburse them.

Yes, artists who support FREEDOM and sing about it, like Neil Young, and artists who simply believe in the morality of copyright and fairness (including the late Prince, and the cranky Gene Simmons) don't appreciate that some hoodlums in Croatia are stealing and profiting and being praised. You'd think that there would be no question that blocking blogs or servers that do nothing but PIRATE material would be a GOOD thing, but monsters like Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia says NO. He is opposed to anything that might interfere with HIS huge profits.

Trump squeezed into office (he lost the popular vote) by smugly announcing he'd "Drain the Swamp" of criminals and space-wasters. So he put all of them in his cabinet, and dropped them after various glaring mistakes of common sense and morality. So he brought in more. He has "ambassadors" in Twilight Zone countries like Croatia who are supposed to use diplomacy to deal with problems. Instead, the Ambassador of Croatia stuffs his face, plays golf, and Tweets to about a half-dozen people about his grand-daughter:

Where is he when it comes to contacting the Croatian versions of Blogspot and saying, "Do us a favor...we give you SO much in foreign aid...the least you can do is honor DMCA requests and remove pirated material." Nah.

People talk about all the cyberbullying that goes on. All the slander. All the flaunting of common sense on Twitter and Facebook. The way everyone throws photos around and "shares" movies, books, songs, games and apps. People talk. Nothing gets done. The moron MEPs made sure that the step forward was kicked back. You wonder how many of those fine, fine politicians download illegally every day, and sit around marveling at how their kids get so much stuff FREE. Getting shit for FREE is FREEDOM OF SPEECH to them?