The Wind Up Bird Chronicle

Deer Tick - Christ Jesus

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 17:40:18 -0700

Deer Tick - Christ Jesus

Fun run. Can you tell I had fun? (No really, it was fun)

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 11:57:51 -0700

Fun run. Can you tell I had fun? (No really, it was fun)

Supreme Court: DNA Samples Can Be Taken From Arrestees Without Warrant

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:20:08 -0700

Supreme Court: DNA Samples Can Be Taken From Arrestees Without Warrant:

WASHINGTON — A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for police to take a DNA swab from anyone they arrest for a serious crime, endorsing a practice now followed by more than half the states as well as the federal government.

The justices differed strikingly on how big a step that was.

“Taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court’s five-justice majority. The ruling backed a Maryland law allowing DNA swabbing of people arrested for serious crimes.

But the four dissenting justices said the court was allowing a major change in police powers, with conservative Justice Antonin Scalia predicting the limitation to “serious” crimes would not last.

“Make no mistake about it: Because of today’s decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason,” Scalia said in a sharp dissent which he read aloud in the courtroom. “This will solve some extra crimes, to be sure. But so would taking your DNA when you fly on an airplane – surely the TSA must know the `identity’ of the flying public. For that matter, so would taking your children’s DNA when they start public school.”

Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler agreed that there’s nothing stopping his state from expanding DNA collection from those arrested for serious crimes to those arrested for lesser ones like shoplifting.

Susan G. Komen Foundation Elbows Out Charities Over Use Of The Word 'Cure'

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:40:17 -0700

Susan G. Komen Foundation Elbows Out Charities Over Use Of The Word 'Cure':

In addition to raising millions of dollars a year for breast cancer research, fundraising giant Susan G. Komen for the Cure has a lesser-known mission that eats up donor funds: patrolling the waters for other charities and events around the country that use any variation of “for the cure” in their names.

So far, Komen has identified and filed legal trademark oppositions against more than a hundred of these Mom and Pop charities, including Kites for a Cure, Par for The Cure, Surfing for a Cure and Cupcakes for a Cure—and many of the organizations are too small and underfunded to hold their ground.

“It happened to my family,” said Roxanne Donovan, whose sister runs Kites for a Cure, a family kite-flying event that raises money for lung cancer research. “They came after us ferociously with a big law firm. They said they own ‘cure’ in a name and we had to stop using it, even though we were raising money for an entirely different cause.”

Donovan’s sister, Mary Ann Tighe, said the Komen foundation sent her a letter asking her to stop using the phrase “for a cure” in their title and to never use the color pink in conjunction with their fundraising. What bothered her most about the whole ordeal, she said, was that Komen forced her to spend money and time on legal fees and proceedings instead of raising funds for cancer.

“We were certainly taken aback by it,” she told HuffPost. “We have partners running these kite events around the country. What if one of them uses, say, magenta? Is that pink? I mean, where are we going with this? We just want to raise money for cancer. What we don’t want is to have our energy misplaced by having our charity partners trying to police the good work that we’re doing.”

Sue Prom, who started a small dog sledding fundraiser for breast cancer called “Mush for the Cure” in Grand Marais, Minn., said she was shocked to hear from Komen’s lawyers this summer asking that she change the name of her event or face legal proceedings.

“I had to call the trademark helpline, because I had no idea what I was doing,” said Prom, who runs the annual sled race with her husband and friend. “We pay for the expenses out of our pockets, and we’ve never personally made a dime from it. We have t-shirts, sweatshirts, domain names, posters, stationery, all with ‘Mush for the Cure’ on it. What do we do with all the materials now? How are we gonna defend ourselves? We’re not like Komen.”

Prom said she’s been running the event for six years, and the most she has raised for the National Breast Cancer Foundation is $25,000. Before the NBCF could accept the money, they warned her to file for a trademark to protect her event legally against the Komen Foundation. But now that Komen has opposed Mush’s trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Prom is looking for a pro bono lawyer to help her figure out what to do next.

“I think it’s a shame,” she said. “It’s not okay. People don’t give their money to the Komen Foundation and they don’t do their races and events so that Komen can squash any other fundraising efforts by individuals. That’s not what it’s about.”

Komen’s general counsel, Jonathan Blum, told HuffPost that the fundraising powerhouse tries to be reasonable when dealing with small charities and nonprofits, but that it has a legal duty to protect its more than 200 registered trademarks.

“It’s never our goal to shut down a nonprofit,” he said, “and we try very hard to be reasonable, but it’s still our obligation to make sure that our trademarks are used appropriately so there’s no confusion in the marketplace over where people’s money is going.”

Blum told HuffPost that legal fees comprise a “very small part” of Komen’s budget, but according to Komen’s financial statements, such costs add up to almost a million dollars a year in donor funds.

“I think it’s important that charities protect their brand, but on the other hand, I don’t think the donors’ intent in giving their money was to fund a turf war,” said Sandra Minuitti, a spokesperson for Charity Navigator. “It’s very important that Komen treads carefully and is very transparent about how they’re spending money on these legal battles.”

Michael Mercanti, an intellectual property lawyer, said he is surprised by the large number of oppositions Komen has filed against other charities—a number he would expect from a company like Toys”R”Us or McDonalds, but not a charitable fundraising organization.

“They seem to be very aggressive in policing their mark, or what they’re claiming to be their mark,” he told HuffPost. “I guess there are a lot of ways to captain a ship, but it seems like there are ways they could protect and police their trademarks and also allow other charities to coexist.”

Mercanti said filing hundreds of oppositions is not only damaging to other charities, but could also be counterproductive for Komen’s brand.

“They could actually be seen as being a bully,” he said. “They’re going to alienate some donors who don’t appreciate them stepping on smaller, worthwhile charities.”

With the help of a team of pro bono lawyers, Kites for a Cure was able to reach a settlement with Komen: They agreed to only use the phrase “for a Cure” in conjunction with the words “lung cancer” to make the distinction clear. But Tighe said they reached a settlement only after many, many months of a free legal team working long hours each day.

“We were very fortunate because we had strong support from knowledgeable pro bono counsel, but it did seem like a misdirection of a lot of people’s energy,” she told HuffPost. “I don’t know what smaller organizations do without free representation.”

Sue Prom said Tighe has already put her in touch with her pro bono legal team, and she is prepared to fight for the name of her sledding event in court. The ordeal has changed her opinion of Komen.

“I used to give money to Komen all the time, but now I’m just kind of wary of them,” she said. “I’m not buying Yoplait yogurt or anything that has the word ‘Komen’ on it. They seem to have forgotten what charity is about.”

(via 500px / Photo “ali” by Adam Lerner)

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:20:01 -0700

(via 500px / Photo “ali” by Adam Lerner)

Cirque Du Duckleil

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 17:40:17 -0700

Cirque Du Duckleil

I think I just found a piece of couples’ jenga. Do they...

Tue, 28 May 2013 14:26:14 -0700

I think I just found a piece of couples’ jenga. Do they even make that?

untitled by Gabriel Ghiggeri on Flickr.

Sun, 26 May 2013 00:37:37 -0700

untitled by Gabriel Ghiggeri on Flickr.

at Manhattan Beach (on The Sand)

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:28:53 -0700

at Manhattan Beach (on The Sand)

Can you imagine how many reviews of The Great Gatsbyalong the lines of “pretty boring...

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:35:00 -0700

Can you imagine how many reviews of The Great Gatsbyalong the lines of “pretty boring man” were posted recently

Yahoo acquires Tumblr in $1.1 billion cash deal, promises 'not to screw it up'

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:51:00 -0700

Yahoo acquires Tumblr in $1.1 billion cash deal, promises 'not to screw it up' :

Yahoo has officially announced that it will acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion cash deal expected to close in the second half of the year, and will keep Tumblr’s David Karp on as CEO. “Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up,” Yahoo says in its press release, “Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business.” In one of its first acts of business, Yahoo has moved its official blog to yahoo.tumblr.com.

“Tumblr is redefining creative expression online,” Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said in the announcement. “On many levels, Tumblr and Yahoo couldn’t be more different, but, at the same time, they couldn’t be more complimentary. Yahoo is the internet’s original media network. Tumblr is the internet’s fastest-growing media frenzy.” In a blog post discussing the change, Mayer insisted that Yahoo won’t “screw up” Tumblr, and that it will operate independently. “The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same,” Mayer wrote.

Yahoo estimates that the deal will grow its audience by 50 percent, and its overall traffic by 20 percent. The company plans to infuse Tumblr with its personalization and search technology, and to fold Tumblr’s massive collection of blogs into its own network. “We think there’s a very compelling search story inside Tumblr,” Mayer said to investors today on a conference call. “We think that there is an opportunity to grow our search business through integration with Tumblr.”

And, of course, the companies will work together on “seamless” advertising opportunities. In today’s call regarding the acquisition, Mayer noted that new ads may appear in Tumblr’s dashboard, saying “we feel we can monetize in ways that are meaningful and add to user experience” — though she said that any dashboard ads would be “light.”

Tumblr CEO David Karp also expressed a “stand pat” attitude, saying that the company will largely remain the same under Yahoo’s ownership. “We’re elated to have the support of Yahoo and their team who share our dream to make the internet the ultimate creative canvas,” Karp said. “Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from.” In his own blog post announcing the deal, Karp writes that “we’re not turning purple,” and that “simply, Tumblr gets better faster.”

Goodbye, buddy.

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:34:54 -0700

Goodbye, buddy.

Viral star Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker wanted for murder

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:40:24 -0700

Viral star Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker wanted for murder:

“Smash, Smash, SmAAaash!!!”

Those words made “Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker a viral sensation. That was his description of how he swung a blow for justice in Fresno to stop a large driver who allegedly ran over and attacked a PG&E employee.

Now those words could come back to haunt him. New Jersey prosecutors say Kai, 24, a.k.a. Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, is wanted for the blunt force trauma slaying of a lawyer.

The Union County homicide task force has a murder warrant for the arrest of McGillvary,a homeless drifter, in the slaying of attorney Joseph Galfy in Clark, N.J.

Galfy was found dead Monday inside his home on Starlite Drive when officers made a welfare check, Union County prosecutors spokesman John Holl said.

An autopsy determined Galfty died of blunt force trauma. Holl said he could not reveal how the hitchhiker was tied to the lawyer’s killing. McGillvary, also known as Kai Lawrence, Caleb Kai Lawrence and Kai Nicodemus, usually wears his hair long and shaggy and may have cut it off to avoid being identified, prosecutors said. Kai is well known on Facebook and YouTube and has traveled the country relying on the generosity of others for lodging, food and transportation.

It was in Fresno that Kai’s meteoric rise to fame via viral video began after he helped a woman who was being attacked. KMPH-TV news captured a memorable interview with Kai in a video that received more than a million hits.

Stephen Colbert aired the video on his Comedy Central show, adding in his trademark commentary that the young man’s heroics had prompted him to rethink his previous prejudice against hitchhikers with axes. McGillvary also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show.

Now authorities say they are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

deliciouskaek: omggggdjflajdfdaj

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:20:15 -0700

deliciouskaek:

omggggdjflajdfdaj

"Much as I enjoy popular New Age commentary on love, I am often struck by the dangerous narcissism..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:40:27 -0700

“Much as I enjoy popular New Age commentary on love, I am often struck by the dangerous narcissism fostered by spiritual rhetoric that pays so much attention to individual self-improvement and so little to the practice of love within the context of community. Packaged as a commodity, spirituality becomes no different from an exercise program. While it may leave the consumer feeling better about his or her life, its power to enhance our communion with ourselves and others in a sustained way is inhibited.”

- bell hooks, all about love: new visions (via ellesugars)

"I am not the first person you loved. You are not the first person I looked at with a mouthful of..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:20:23 -0700

“

I am not the first person you loved.
You are not the first person I looked at
with a mouthful of forevers. We
have both known loss like the sharp edges
of a knife. We have both lived with lips
more scar tissue than skin. Our love came
unannounced in the middle of the night.
Our love came when we’d given up
on asking love to come. I think
that has to be part
of its miracle.

This is how we heal.
I will kiss you like forgiveness. You
will hold me like I’m hope. Our arms
will bandage and we will press promises
between us like flowers in a book.
I will write sonnets to the salt of sweat
on your skin. I will write novels to the scar
of your nose. I will write a dictionary
of all the words I have used trying
to describe the way it feels to have finally,
finally found you.

And I will not be afraid
of your scars.

I know sometimes
it’s still hard to let me see you
in all your cracked perfection,
but please know:
whether it’s the days you burn
more brilliant than the sun
or the nights you collapse into my lap
your body broken into a thousand questions,
you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
I will love you when you are a still day.
I will love you when you are a hurricane.

”

- Clementine von Radics, Mouthful of Forevers (via rabbrakha)

threewordphrase: http://www.threewordphrase.com

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:40:11 -0700

threewordphrase:

http://www.threewordphrase.com

foxmccloud: swagkingmoe: it’s funny that we’re a generation known for being obnoxiously ironic...

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:20:04 -0700

foxmccloud:

swagkingmoe:

it’s funny that we’re a generation known for being obnoxiously ironic while the previous generation wants to only be known for their positive impacts on the world and push all of their mistakes and problems onto us while calling us lazy and selfish.

every

generation

is

the

“me”

generation

Phoenix / North

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:40:11 -0700

Phoenix / North

Photo

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:20:12 -0700