Hippos'n'crocs

 Hippos have an odd habit of licking crocodiles — tempting as it may be to want to find out what makes them so yummy, it's not recommended unless you weigh a few tons and have the ability to bite them in half if they protest.

PZ Myers @'Pharyngula'

First look at the 'terrorists'.

LOL! 

(Thanx Fifi!)

                                                                                                                          

Turkey: Future Gaza Aid Ships Will Have Military Escorts

In raw video, reporters claim Israelis fired on activists before boarding ship

In what could be a serious blow to Israel's cover story on the murder of at least nine humanitarian activists making their way to Gaza through international waters, raw video by an Al Jazeera producer, who was filming during the raid, appears to provide evidence that the IDF opened fire on the flotilla even before boarding it.

Israeli forces assert they came under attack by the pro-Palestine civilian group, and video released by the IDF appears to show one soldier being tossed overboard amid a scuffle with unidentified individuals wielding melee weapons, like clubs and chairs.

However, in raw video captured by an Al Jazeera producer and published to YouTube late Monday, two journalists provide a play-by-play of the harrowing event as pops and cracks echo in the background. Even before the Israeli forces were aboard, one says, they were pelting the boat with tear gas and stun grenades, injuring numerous people.

Then he confirms the first death, saying the individual was killed by "munitions," but not specifying whether it was a bullet or something else. Moments later he confirms that Israeli forces were boarding the ship.

Another of the reporters featured in the video works for the Iranian network Press TV. "We are being hit by tear gas, stun grenades, we have navy ships on either side, helicopters overhead," he said. "We are being attacked from every single side. This is in international waters, not Israeli waters, not in the 68-mile exclusion zone. We are being attacked in international waters completely illegally."

"The organizers are telling me now, they are raising a white flag -- they are raising a white flag to the Israeli army," the Al Jazeera reporter said. "This is after one person has been killed; a civilian has been killed by munition. That number could be more ... Despite the white flag being raised, despite the white flag being raised, the Israeli army is still shooting, still firing live munitions."

Early reports put the number of victims between nine and 19, with dozens injured. The actual number has not yet been confirmed, as the IDF took all the Gaza aid flotilla participants into custody. Numerous victims were reported to be from Turkey.

"Our soldiers had to defend themselves, to defend their lives," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said. Other Israeli officials have called the charity organization responsible a group of "extremist supporters of terror." The IDF also alleged that weapons were found onboard, calling the act and the resulting violence a "provocation."

However, if these reporters' immediate accounting of the events proves accurate, the truth of Israel's claim that they opened fire in self defense would seem to be in doubt.

Portions of the raw video were featured by Al Jazeera and AFP, although the beginning segment and the most clear allegations that Israel opened fire before boarding were not included in their entirety.

The action sparked protests around the world within hours.

In Turkey crowds took to the streets in several cities to vent fury after the storming of a Turkish passenger boat in the flotilla that left at least nine dead, most of them believed to be Turkish nationals.

"Damn Israel!", "A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye, revenge, revenge!" yelled protesters in Istanbul where about 10,000 people converged on the central Taksim square after marching from the Israeli consulate.

"Turkish soldiers to Gaza," shouted some, as others torched Israeli flags.

"I call on the government to expel the Israeli consul... And if necessary, we are ready for war," Seref Mangal, 40, told AFP. A banner carried by the crowd read: "Close down the Zionist embassy."

In the capital Ankara about 1,000 people gathered outside the residence of Israeli ambassador Gabby Levy and shouted "Damn the Zionist murderers!" and "Israel will drown in the blood of the martyrs!".

They threw eggs and plastic bottles into the garden of the residency. Reports said demonstrations were held in dozens of cities across the country.

In London more than 1,000 people -- some of whom had friends on the ships carrying aid to blockaded Gaza -- protested outside the residence of British Prime Minister David Cameron and the Israeli embassy.

Chanting "Free Palestine" and brandishing the Palestinian flag and banners condemning Israeli "war crimes", activists blocked a major route through the capital. Hundreds of police stood guard outside the embassy.

"We have close friends on the boat on which people were killed and we are here waiting for news," said Kate Hudson, the chairwoman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

In Paris about 500 people joined a noisy protest near the Israeli embassy, waving Palestinian flags and shouting "Palestine will survive, Palestine will conquer".

Scuffles broke out when a dozen rival protestors waving Israeli flags approached, prompting police to fire tear gas, but calm was soon restored. Another 1,300 people rallied in the city of Lille.

Greek police used tear gas to force back around 1,500 protesters outside the Israeli embassy in Athens, while another 2,000 people rallied in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

In Lebanon thousands of Palestinian refugees and activists waving Palestinian flags and banners marched in the country's 12 refugee camps.

"Where is the international community? Where are human rights?" they chanted in the Al-Bass camp in the southern coastal city of Tyre.

In Beirut hundreds gathered in the city centre called on Israeli embassies in the Arab world to be shut down and for Israeli ambassadors to be expelled.

At a demonstration of about 3,000 people at the Beddawi camp in the northern city of Tripoli, anger also turned on Israel's traditional ally, the United States.

"God is great and America is the greatest evil," they chanted. "Give us weapons, give us weapons and send us on to Gaza."

There were even demonstrations inside Israel, where hundreds of protestors flooded the streets of the northern Arab city of Nazareth as Israeli police raised the level of alert across the country and deployed reinforcements.

More than 2,000 people in Amman protested what Jordan's Information Minister Nabil Sharif dubbed a "heinous crime".

Demonstrators included Islamist opposition leaders and carried banners that read "We Will not Surrender" and "Break Gaza Blockade." They also demanded that Jordan shut down the Jewish state's embassy and expel the Israeli ambassador.

In Iran's capital Tehran, dozens of people pelted stones at the UN office chanting: "This savage regime of Israel must be wiped out."

They burnt the Israeli flag and tore up pictures of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In Pakistan politicians, lawmakers and journalists staged a peaceful protest in Islamabad, denouncing the killings and calling on the United Nations and the United States to intervene.

Hundreds of Bosnians marched through Sarajevo, brandishing Palestinian flags. "We wanted to raise our voice to denounce a new attempt at genocide in modern times," one of the organisers, Edvin Cudic, told Srna news agency.

Around 200 people demonstrated outside the UN's European headquarters in Geneva demanding an inquiry into the raid, while in the Netherlands 400 rallied outside the Israeli embassy in The Hague.

There were also protests in Egypt while in Kuwait activists were planning rallies.

After Israeli PM Netanyahu canceled a planned meeting with President Obama, the White House stressed the importance of "learning all the facts" before jumping to conclusions.

With AFP.

@'Raw Story'

Israeli PM 'regrets' deaths as troops storm aid ships

Israeli army footage claiming to show the violence on board the flotilla - the captions and circled points on this video were inserted by the Israeli army

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed regret after at least nine people died when troops stormed ships trying to break the Gaza blockade.

But he said soldiers had been defending themselves after they were "clubbed, beaten and stabbed".

Pro-Palestinian campaigners say the soldiers opened fire unprovoked when they landed on the aid-carrying ships.

There has been international condemnation of the loss of life, and the UN is holding an emergency session.

As the meeting of the UN Security Council got under way in New York, diplomats said the draft text of a resolution called for condemnation of the operation, the immediate release of the impounded ships and for an international inquiry.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the incident "murder committed by a state" and said Israel had "lost all legitimacy".

But Israeli UN representative Daniel Carmon told the Security Council that some on board the ships had motives other than providing humanitarian assistance, and had tried to lynch Israeli soldiers.

Mr Netanyahu cut short a visit to Canada to deal with the growing crisis and cancelled a scheduled meeting in Washington with US President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip after the Islamist movement Hamas took power there in 2007.

The six-ship convoy had set out to carry 10,000 tonnes of aid from Cyprus to Gaza, despite repeated Israeli warnings that it would not be allowed to reach the territory.

In a statement, Mr Netanyahu defended the Israeli operation, saying troops were attacked when they landed on the largest of the six ships in the flotilla.

"They were mobbed. They were clubbed, they were beaten, stabbed," he said.

"There was even a report of gunfire and our soldiers had to defend themselves, defend their lives or they would have been killed.

"Regrettably, in this exchange... people died. We regret this loss of life. We regret any of the violence."

View challenged Organisers of the convoy have strongly denied the Israeli account.

Contact with activists on the ships was lost after the raids and no first-hand accounts from them have yet emerged.

Arafat Shoukri, of the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) which helped organise the convoy, said those on board one ship had told them by telephone that Israeli helicopters had arrived.

"Then we started to hear screams, shouting, shooting everywhere," he said. "We heard some of them shouting 'We are raising the white flag, stop shooting at us'."

He said Israeli claims that activists had pistols and other weapons were "cheap propaganda".

Audrey Bomse, also of the FGM, told the BBC that the activists were "not going to pose any violent resistance".

The flotilla left the coast of Cyprus on Sunday and had been due to arrive in Gaza on Monday.

Reports say troops boarded the ship about 40 miles (64 km) out to sea in international waters.

Organisers of the flotilla said at least 30 people were wounded in the incident. Israel says 10 of its soldiers were injured, one seriously.

There has been widespread condemnation of the violence, with several countries summoning their Israeli ambassadors.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "shocked" and called for a "full investigation" into what happened.

The White House said the US "deeply regrets the loss of life" and was "currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy".

There was a particularly strong response from Turkey, where many of the activists on the ships are from.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of state terrorism and violation of international law.

In Istanbul, thousands of protesters took part in an angry demonstration against Israel.

Turkey was Israel's closest Muslim ally but relations have deteriorated in recent years.

Greece has withdrawn from joint military exercises with Israel in protest at the raid on the flotilla.

The office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he condemned "the disproportionate use of force", while UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said there was "a clear need for Israel to act with restraint and in line with international obligations".

The BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza says there has been widespread anger there with protests organised by Hamas.

Israel has escorted the ships to the port of Ashdod and says it will deport the passengers from there.

Israel says it allows about 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza every week.

But the UN says this is less than a quarter of what is needed.
@'BBC'

It's not really good enough to say 'sorry' after the event. 

Listen to the explanation from the Israelis: Soldiers confronted by 'rioters'? No - they were passengers on their ship in international waters. 

Two soldiers lost their guns?...this is supposed to be the elite soldiers of the IDF and remember also that we have 30 elite soldiers confronted by the same amount of passengers.
If Israel's 'moral army' shoots people after they have raised a white flag then I really would hate to see how an 'inmmoral' army would behave under these circumstances.

Louise Bourgeois RIP

Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe

Louise Bourgeois

(December 25, 1911 – May 31, 2010)

@'NY Times' 

Guggenheim Exhibition

 

Photographs 

 Deadly Israeli Raid on Aid Flotilla Draws Condemnation

WTF???

A massive, spontaneous sinkhole ("hundimiento") that appeared in Zone 2 of Guatemala City after overwhelming saturation of rains from tropical storm Agatha.

@'boingboing'

Peter Orlovsky RIP

Peter Orlovsky 

(July 8, 1933 – May 30, 2010)

Melbourne Protests the attacks on Gaza Flotilla

Date and Time: 

Tue, 01/06/2010 - 4:30pm - 6:30pm

Location: 

Cnr of Bourke St Mall and Swanston St, Melbourne City.

Contact Name: 

Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Network

EMERGENCY ACTION - FREE GAZA MOVEMENT AID FLOTILLA & 700 HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ATTACKED BY ISRAELI MILITARY - ACTIVISTS KILLED AND INJURED.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is calling an emergency action for Tuesday, June 1 at 4.30pm, Bourke St Mall, Melbourne to protest the Israeli military's illegal boarding and hijacking of boats from the Free Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

Reports from the Free Gaza Movement have indicated that Israeli commandos boarded at least two of the boats and opened fire immediately. Turkish media has reported at least 2 activists have been killed and many more injured. The Free Gaza Movement have reported via their twitter feed that their Israeli attorney has stated up to 10 activists have been killed and that the hijacked boats are being directed to Haifa not Ashdod to avoid media scrutiny.

Please join us to protest Israel's illegal hijacking, attack and murder of unarmed humanitarian activists,
as well as Israel's illegal siege of Gaza.

Please bring banners, noise makers and wear a black arm band.

EMERGENCY ACTION

4.30pm - Tuesday, June 1

Cnr of Bourke St Mall and Swanston St,
Melbourne City.

for more information: 0439 454 375 or 0417 210 528

Why the Gaza boat deaths are a huge deal

Primavera from Metron (Victor Novikov)

As many as 19 killed as flotilla stormed, says Israeli army

Israeli naval forces stormed a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters before dawn on Monday, killing up to 19 pro-Palestinian activists, most of them reportedly Turkish nationals.

The bloody ending to the high-profile mission to deliver supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip plunged Israel into a diplomatic crisis on the eve of talks between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As Israel pointed the finger of blame at passengers for initiating the violence, accusing them of using deadly force, activists from the ships countered with their own descriptions of how events unfolded in raid which took place in international waters at around 5am (12:00 AEST).

 

Click pic for more photos

Live footage taken from the Turkish passenger boat, which was posted all over the internet, showed black-clad Israeli commandos rappelling down from helicopters and clashing with activists, as well as several wounded people lying on the deck of the ship.

"Under darkness of night, Israeli commandos dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck," according to a report on the website of the Free Gaza Movement.

The shaky footage shows scenes of chaos, with the dark profiles of Israel missile boats looming in the background.

The Israeli army insisted its troops opened fire only after they were attacked with knives, clubs and even live fire.

Fairfax Journalist Paul McGeough and photographer Kate Geraghty were out of communication for some hours after the clash, sparking concern for their welfare.

"We are pleased to report that Paul McGeough and Kate Geraghty, who are among the most experienced and well-trained Australian foreign correspondents, are safe, and being processed in an Israeli detention centre," Sydney Morning Herald Editor in Chief Peter Fray said.

"We remain hopeful that they will be allowed to do their job, and that they will have a terrific story to tell when they are released."

Mr Fray said his company had made representations to the Israeli and Australian governments seeking safe passage for the pair.

Unconfirmed media reports from Hamas' Al Aqsa television said up to 20 passengers had been killed, of whom nine were Turkish nationals.

Israeli private channel 10 television reported that Israeli marine commandos had opened fire after being attacked with axes and knives by a number of the passengers on board the aid ships. It did not give the source of its information.

Paul McGeough with the flotilla

It was not clear whether the clashes took place on just one of the six boats making up the aid convoy.

Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television showed footage of black-clad Israeli commandos descending from helicopters and clashing with activists, as well as several wounded people lying on the deck of the ship.

Israeli Defence Force radio was reporting passengers on board the aid-laden convoy of boats tried to wrest weapons from Israeli soldiers, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The Free Gaza organisation said on Twitter that its lawyer in the northern Israeli coastal city of Haifa said 10 people had been killed.

The group said the boats were being taken into Haifa by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

A Turkish diplomat said the Israeli ambassador was summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry today after a Turkish aid ship was stormed.

"The ambassador [Gabby Levy] was summoned to the foreign ministry. We will convey our reaction in the strongest terms," the diplomat, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

Meanwhile in Turkey, local media is reporting police have blocked dozens of stone-throwing protesters who tried to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul following the flotilla attack.

CNN-Turk and NTV televisions showed dozens of angry protesters scuffling with Turkish police, who are guarding the consulate in downtown Istanbul.

The protesters were shouting "damn Israel", the Associated Press reported.

The ships, carrying more than 700 passengers, were on the last leg of a high-profile mission to deliver about 10,000 tonnes of building and other supplies to Gaza, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007.

Huwaida Arraf, chairwoman of the Free Gaza Movement, told AFP earlier by phone from the boat Challenger 1 that the ships had expected a confrontation with Israel today.

The boats had started heading towards Gaza from international waters of Cyprus at 3pm local time (1200 GMT) on Sunday, with organisers saying they hoped to enter Gaza waters during the daylight hours.

About six hours after their departure, three Israeli missile boats left their naval base in Haifa on a mission to intercept the flotilla, reporters on board one of the vessels said before being told to turn off their phones.

Israel has slammed as "illegal" the convoy's attempt to break the Gaza blockade and warned it would intercept the ships, tow them to the port of Ashdod and detain the activists before seeking to deport them.

In Gaza, anti-siege activists on Sunday called on the international community to ensure the protection of the flotilla, which had been aiming to arrive on Saturday but was repeatedly delayed.

"I am asking the international community to protect these boats from the Israeli threat," independent Palestinian MP Jamal al-Khudari told a news conference on a boat anchored outside the Gaza port.

"If Israel blocks them, they have a strategy for getting here," said Mr Khudari, who heads the Gaza-based Committee to Lift the Siege. He did not elaborate.

With the flotilla expected to approach at some stage over the next 24 hours, Gaza fishermen took to the sea flying Palestinian flags as well as those of Greece, Ireland, Sweden and Turkey - all of which sent boats.

Demonstrators also released scores of balloons with pictures tied to them of children killed during Israel's massive 22-day offensive against Gaza that ended in January 2009.

Mr Khudari said the convoy, which is carrying hundreds of civilians and a handful of European MPs, would stop outside Gaza territorial waters before attempting to make landfall.

It will travel "in two stages", he said: "First they will stop in international waters at 30 nautical miles [from Gaza], and tomorrow [Monday] they will reach the shore."

Audrey Bomse, legal adviser to the Free Gaza Movement, said the activists were considering sending "a second wave" of boats later this week.

Israel has called the convoy a media stunt, insisting the humanitarian situation is stable in Gaza despite reports to the contrary from aid agencies and offering to deliver the supplies through its own land crossings.

"This is a provocation intended to delegitimise Israel," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Saturday.

"If the flotilla had a genuine humanitarian goal, then its organisers should have transferred something for the abducted soldier Gilad Shalit as well," he said of the Israeli snatched by militants in 2006 and held by the Hamas Islamist movement, which runs the enclave.

The activists responded on their website that they had offered to take in a letter for the soldier from his family but received no response from their lawyer.

Hamas's refusal to release Mr Shalit is cited by Israel as one of the main reasons for imposing the economic blockade on Gaza in the wake of the group's violent takeover of the territory.

Pro-Palestinian activists have landed in Gaza five times, with another three unsuccessful attempts since their first such voyage in August 2008. The latest is their biggest operation.

@'The Age'

Gaza flotilla clash film

 

Gaza flotilla clash

Film released by the IDF

Download Illegally, It's the Right Thing to Do

The music business is a touchy subject hinged between the pay for your consumption model and the instant gratification/I want it all for free mentality. The problem with the two downloading camps is the fact that they divide us into two distinct societal groups: One with penalty; one with privilege. And more unfortunate than the act of illegally downloading, is this behavior generating more power for those engaged in the practice. Illegal downloading, and the technological knowledge to conduct it effectively is continuing to increase the massive separation between the "haves" and the "have-nots."

Huge multi-national, multi-billion dollar enterprises come into this equation as helpless pawns under the ultimate discretion and control of the end computer user. A 15-year-old boy sitting in his living room eating Fritos is in control as he goes online. The zillions of dollars that have been spent to both stigmatize downloading as "illegal" and occasionally persecute perpetrators comes to fruition as a barely audible whisper as he sees the file dangling in the digital divide waiting to be picked from the tree.

I know this is unstable ground to tread, and this conversation runs deep with people. Warner/Elektra/Atlantic used to have me on the roster as an employee, but due to shifting of assets (read: illegal downloads taking the cash), my regional office in Novi, Michigan was disbanded quickly. I was annoyed after the news and angry at the shape that the music business was transforming into. I've lived with the resentment and, perhaps, had an epiphany. From my 2010 vantage point, after watching the war between the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and illegal downloading for quite some time, I have no option but to say: go illegally download everything you want.

My reasoning for such a bold statement isn't for my own greed, frugality, or to stick it to the man. Instead, my thought process exists to protect the under privileged. We live in an economic period which is widening the class gap between rich and poor, and cutting out the middle. From this reasoning, if a kid in Silicon Valley with a $3,000 silver laptop has the privilege from his Palo Alto technical education allowing him to figure out how to go on ZTorrent (a file exchange program), and download away to his hearts content -- without paying Owl City for Fireflies, or a Mad Men episode, or for the $1,000 Final Cut Pro Suite -- the act of the file showing up on his hard drive speaks more of his societal privilege than of his moral ethics.

In contrast, a large portion of my student body at Wayne State University graduated from Detroit Public Schools and have no concept of how to go about downloading files illegally. Why should an underprivileged student in one of my Detroit classes say she is going to spend $4.50 to go rent a video for my course? She is being blatantly penalized for her lack of a technical education provided by her schools, peer group, and larger community. Her life does not need another penalty.

There are ramifications for my willy nilly sentiments, and I understand them. It is estimated in a March 2010 International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) study that two million people are employed in the broader music economy. Roughly 4,000 artists are signed to major record company rosters. The Institute of Policy Innovation commissioned a 2005 study covering sound recording, motion pictures, business software and video games. The study found that the losses due to piracy in the 2005 U.S. economy accounted for $58 billion in output, over 370,000 jobs, and $2.6 billion in tax revenue. We can expect the ramifications to have increased significantly in a current view.

I also understand there is some serious financial outlay given to signed artists by the record labels, and they deserve compensation for the risks they engage in. The majority of artists signed to record labels will lose money. The current costs associated with breaking a successful pop act in major markets, according to a March 9, 2010 IFPI study, is typically hovering around the million dollar mark per act. That is a big coin to lose if it doesn't work out. It rarely does.

Currently, the labels are still huge corporations operating adequately in conjunction with illegal downloading. Maybe it is just my Detroit genetics, which is quite used to seeing massive companies (a.k.a. the Big 3) scaling back across the board. The industries becoming more lean doesn't mean that they are gone, or even that they are not profitable -- just that they are different entities now than they were before all the globalized hoopla began.

Perhaps it is a good idea to have the music industry give some power back to the people. I think the working class, not the most privileged, need a vitamin B12 shot of support. As of the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, corporations can now provide endless funding to political candidates and now more significantly than ever alter the influence of the individual citizen in the democracy. If that's the case, I am going to make the assumption that corporations have more than enough clout in my society.

Author and media critic Douglas Rushkoff argues in his book, Life, Inc., that, in fact, corporations trump humans in all kinds of ways. They don't die. They don't get sick. They can wait out a new political election to get officials (who they can legally buy off now) into office to amend legislation to fit their needs and bottom lines. Nearly always the changes corporations make to society take power and control away from average citizens for the end goal of providing a higher rate of return for the company shareholders.

Case and point: the RIAA in 2008 convinced Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen to sign a bill (SB 3794) into law which requires colleges in his state to exercise appropriate means to ensure that computers on campuses are not being abused for distributing copyrighted material. Although the 2008 legislation looked to be the start of something big, IFPI released its report on digital music as of 2009. The report says that despite initiatives by the music industry, 95% of music downloads continue to be illegal. This is one of the rare cases in society where the masses are winning against the corporate elite.

Not for long. The RIAA and associates recently trotted to the courts for some more help to quell this nuisance to their gross sales. This time it looks to stick a little more firmly. A May 12, 2010 federal court ruled that P2P service provided by LimeWire and its operators are liable for inducing widespread theft (or information delivery). It didn't take all that long to get the big courts on the side of the company. The RIAA states, "The court decision is an important milestone in the creative community's fight to reclaim the Internet as a platform for legitimate commerce."

Let's look at the act of downloading and the concept of "legitimate commerce." The April 2010 Report to Congressional Committees on Intellectual Property pays respect to the fact that if a consumer "illegally" downloads media, the copyright infringer will have extra disposable income (due to significant consumer savings) and the money can be found to reappear in the U.S. economy as the consumer spends the funds on other goods and services.

Although the act of "illegally" downloading a file is taking away the profit margin from the copyright holder, we see the quest to maintain copyright exclusiveness in nearly all manufacturing/technology industries. Ford Motor Company always loses engineering ideas to India. The iPods and iPads of the world have been reverse-engineered by hundreds of global firms trying to improve their products. It is well known that companies in the global economy need to adopt the leakages into their business models. At least the power as it relates to illegal music downloading in the U.S. keeps the economic funds hanging around our own back door.

The divide of illegal music downloading doesn't exist exclusively from pedagogical differences of communities such as Detroit and Palo Alto. It also rears its head socioeconomically and relates to age. Does the average Wal-Mart shopper, who stereotypically isn't the highest on the socioeconomic totem pole, really need to send $13.50 toward the Britney Spears' camp due to their lack of education, older age, or lack of "know how" in a digital society? The problem here is, due to the restructuring of the industry, most artists do not see much of the $13.50. The money that is being paid by the less advantaged is paying a dying infrastructure that has huge interest bearing loans that are given by some of the top banks who borrow their money primarily from the Chinese.

The plea from the music industry, which seems to have only gross sales in mind, is that if you illegally download you are hurting the artists themselves. This logic is far from true. The Internet sensation Fireflies by Owl City would not have broke without the web. The song now is the most downloaded song on the web and the creator Adam Young has mounted a very profit heavy world tour in its shadow.

Countless other artists have recently gotten success holistically from their own talent. Not just from media campaigns orchestrated by huge multi-national labels, but from homegrown abilities. That seems liberating, fair, and exciting for my future on the planet. Perhaps digital files traded freely due to their usefulness, intrigue, or artistic merit (and not due to affiliation with multi-national companies) is one of the last true democracies left in our country.

If you think I am off track, there are swarms of people who will agree. Ted Nugent stated during an interview with me in 2008 that, "Technology has fucked the music thing. People think they can get bread for free because they have a direct pipeline to the bakery." Someone with the musical tenure of Nugent has seen his fair share of change in musical consumer evolution: from vinyl records to eight tracks to analog tapes to CD to the current end all, be all -- digital mp3s. I wish I wrote "Cat Scratch Fever" when society decided eight tracks were passé and millions had to go out and buy the same song on an analog tape and again on CD. Talk about profit for no extra work. The thoughts of the day would undoubtedly be hinged on what color do I want my new yacht to be.

For more recent artists, the made in the shade profits from album sales is a vernacular never learned fluently. Their lack of submersion in the artist royalty stream never occurred, which made these artists more willing to concede their album sales. Kid Rock is one such artist.

Rock is in direct opposition to Nugent's view and he stated in an interview with me in 2008 that, "I would give my records away for free if I could." His view has made his business relations more than a little shaky at times with Atlantic Records. The record label told Rock he should stand out against illegal downloading. Rock was far from agreement with their plea. Instead, Rock said, "the labels have been ripping off artists for years, now that somebody found a way to rip them off, they want me to speak up for them, fuck all those motherfuckers. I want to go play live, make my money there."

David Grohl of The Foo Fighters is in a similar vein as Kid Rock. Grohl says in a December 2009 Time interview that, "I don't have a problem with people downloading music. To me the important thing is that people come to the shows and see the music live and have that personal experience with the band. I've made a decent living making music. I'd feel greed if I asked for more."

This counterculture voice ringing the tone of "it is ok to download illegally" does not often carry far. Even if you are wielding some serious musical success like Kid Rock or David Grohl, few media channels will promote their stance, and they end up muting the counter arguments. So, when all is left to settle, we end up hearing the voices which promote "fair use" and "legitimate commerce." The voice which promotes illegal downloading is sanitized -- the same company that owns Kid Rock's label owns many of the radio stations that plays his songs and many of the magazines that report on his music. You can best bet a voice against the corporate mission doesn't have a chance.

I believe that if "wrong" is right for some kid in a Silicon Valley coffee shop then "wrong" must be right for all of society, including the less technologically savvy. If we continue to head down this downloading double standard path, we are continuing to hurt communities that have already seen their fair share of hardships and privilege those who are already privileged. From my view, most of the regional communities in the U.S. are in worse shape than the billion dollar record labels.

Jason Schmitt @'HuffPo'