Hostility

So I’d really like to get this out there because I feel like a rant. I pay for music on iTunes and subscribe to Spotify. I pay for Hulu. I pay for Netflix. I pay Amazon for a plethora of things ranging from books to laundry detergent. With that in mind, I’d like to point out that all of these things that I pay for, these things that SOPA and PIPA are supposed to help protect, ARE A GIANT PAIN IN MY ASS.

I have no issues with iTunes itself, nor Spotify, except when music companies have some stupid policy that prevents me from accessing the music I want. I’m also increasingly more intolerant of paying $1.29 for a popular song when other songs on the album are $0.99. I have yet to come across a reasonable explanation for this. Spotify is generally pretty good until a song that I really want to listen to is unavailable and conveniently $1.29 on iTunes. Barf.

Then there’s Hulu. I subscribe to this thing and still get bombarded with ads. *I* pay *you* money. You are making money off of me even if I watch NOTHING every month. When I log in to watch one or two shows, I have to sit through several back to back advertisements. Why? You’ve already made your money off of me. These advertisements regularly screw up my viewing experience and force me to reload the video, thus making me sit through even MORE advertisements for crap I don’t want. I actually rage-tweeted about this a while back and received a response about how the advertisements helped keep the costs of membership low. My ass.

Netflix, while making a few mistakes with their pricing and such, is generally low ass-pain. However, they’re still cursed by the circle-jerk we call Hollywood. Movies that people want to see don’t make it on there until they’ve had every possible chance to squeeze money out of you. If you want to rent a DVD that’s cool until you’re forced to sit through several advertisements.

This Amazon thing is pretty nifty until you buy movies from it. Like my issue with Netflix, the last DVD I purchased had 7 ads that I couldn’t skip through. Why am I paying for this again? Not Amazon’s fault at all, but I’m less inclined to purchase DVDs these days.

I also purchase software like Photoshop which is incredibly overpriced but one of the best tools for the job. If you can offer it to me for $300 because I’m a student and charge everyone else $700, there’s something wrong. I understand that there are costs associated with software development, and I’m not suggesting that software be sold at cost. I’m only suggesting that software companies stop obviously scalping everyone.

Listen up: PIPA and SOPA aren’t going to punish pirates at all. Instead, these acts are going drive piracy deeper underground and continue to punish people like me who are are trying like hell to play by the rules and constantly wondering why. I genuinely feel for people who are getting stolen from every time someone downloads something illegally, but people should really be focused on some of the reasons WHY people download content illegally instead of trying to make it harder for people to do so. One person shits their pants and we all have to wear diapers…seriously.

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Today is a sad day. Jack Kevorkian, aka Doctor Death, has died. You’re probably wondering why you should care.

Dr. Kevorkian was an advocate for assisted suicide and helped over 100 people take their own lives. It’s worth noting that these people had to go through a very rigorous screening process and had to prove that they were terminally ill. He was eventually charged with 1st degree murder and was convicted of 2nd degree murder after giving an ALS patient a lethal injection. Previously, Kevorkian had assisted with the set up of a “mercy” machine that allowed the patients to administer the lethal injection themselves. Due to the progression of the ALS in this particular patient, Kevorkian administered the injection himself after the patient consented numerous times.

Some of you have known me for a while and are probably very familiar with my stance on assisted suicide. For those of you who don’t know me as well, Jack Kevorkian is almost an idol to me. I’m not about to go help a ton of people kill themselves, but I’m glad there are people who are willing to not only take a stand, but *act*. Before you get all uppity about the fact that I’m okay with assisted suicide, hear me out.

Many people think that personal suffering should be endured to prevent the suffering of your friends and family. Frankly, I think it’s selfish to want or even expect your friends and family to suffer like that. Yes, people who commit suicide aren’t the only victims in these cases.Yes, suicide is a permanent solution to a potentially temporary problem (but probably not in this case). If you can find a way to make people who are suicidally depressed see these things and jump off the runaway train that is depression, you deserve a medal. It’s a stupid argument to make to someone who can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. I won’t even get into the religious aspect of this since it’s really not a belief system that I acknowledge.

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Seriously, how ignorant can people be? I stopped watching the news because I’m usually not interested in political bickering, the excessive amount of crime in the DC area, or whatever crap they can find to complain about. The one day I turn on the news, some religious conservative is saying that the Haitian people deserved the earthquake because they “made a deal with the devil.” Pat Robertson, ladies and gentlemen. There are some real twats in the world, but I wouldn’t wish total destruction like that on ANYONE and especially not on people who don’t have much to begin with. What a horrible thing to say. ”Right now, Robertson said, ‘the suffering is unimaginable.’” – No shit? But of course, they deserve this…right Mr. Robertson?

It’s easy for a well-off man to say such things because he can go home to his family tonight and sleep in his bed. There are people who slept in the streets next to houses where their family members were buried – the same streets where the bodies of neighbors and countrymen were lined up because there was simply nowhere else for them to go. It would be hard to sleep under those conditions…I just hope it’s harder to sleep with the weight of such words on your mind, Pat.

I don’t believe in Heaven and Hell, but if Hell exists he has surely secured his place in it. You should be ashamed of yourself, sir.

Credit to Google/AFP for the quote, which can be found here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iX3INESyeqiM9yeUrTNCtT-SYWxg

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