Are "Stock Photo" websites using pictures they don't own?

Every once in a while, I go searching for pictures I'm interested in, and eventually I come across a site called “Alamy”. I've often suspected that these people sell pictures they have absolutely no right to. Fair disclosure: I hate the website because they ruin the pictures with their “watermark” and because they flood search engines, making it hard to find alternative pics. Well, today, I found out I was right.

This is the alamy picture I stumbled upon:

They charge $19.99 for this photo for “personal use”, $49.99 to use it on a website.
I had already seen it here:

And it's listed as public domain*, and available for download on logging in.

Here's another picture I saw on Alamy

after first seeing it in the public domain*.

* The DVIDShub says in part, “In general, DoD VI that are works of authorship prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are not eligible for copyright protection in the United States...”

It also states, “No Representations or Warranties. DoD makes no representations or warranties of any kind regarding the suitability of using DoD VI for non-DoD purposes. Use of DoD VI is at the user's sole risk.”

And “Publicity and Privacy Rights. VI postings by the DoD do not waive any publicity or privacy rights of any individuals portrayed. For example, to display a photo of the Commandant of the Marine Corps on the cover of a cereal box would likely violate his rights, not to mention infringe USMC trademarks.”

And now I'm sorely tempted to report the website, but I don't know who to report them to.

Black Lives Matter

Several days ago, I saw a sign at one of the protests that said we have to go beyond "Black Lives Matter", and it stuck with me. (Unfortunately, the location of the sign didn't so I can't give credit where credit is due.)

Black lives do more than "just" matter. Black lives have value, they have worth, they contribute to their communities. Black lives are parents, husbands, wives, children, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and cousins. Many are several of those things at once. Black lives are loved by people. And, yes, black lives are friends and coworkers of mine. This is just a part of why black lives matter.

Some people have taken to saying, "All Lives Matter," and aside from the fact that this is a further slap in the face to those black men and women who are being killed, who are under attack, all lives don't seem to matter to these same people when little children are shot down in their schools. All lives didn't seem to matter when we thought the Coronavirus was only killing old people. All lives don't seem to matter as much as getting a haircut or refusing to wear a mask. And all lives don't seem to matter when a 75 year old white man is pushed down to the street during a protest march, or when a young woman is run down by a car. In fact, all lives only seem to matter when someone is trying to silence the people saying, "Black Lives Matter".

A note about the color: I hope the brown background is obvious, as is the black text. The rainbow colors are a nod back to 1968, when Chicago Black Panther leader Fred Hampton used the rainbow as a symbol for multi-racial cooperation and unity. The gay community didn't adopt it until 1979, and it wasn't official as a "gay" symbol until 1994.

Until someone lays claim to the idea -- and I don't know that you can copyright an idea -- the image is free to use, by anyone, free of royalty or fee. I generated it using The Gimp image editing software.

Is Your White Privilege Showing?

This morning, I was greeted by a comment to a friend's Facebook post about the damage that's been done, seemingly to sully the name of the protests, in Minneapolis and elsewhere. The comment said, "We see you. Now, stop it." [emphasis removed]

Do we? Do we see them? Will police officers never again use excessive force on an unarmed black man? Will civilians, who are not police, never again go chasing after a black man because he "fits the description" of a "black man"? That's it, just black man. Will no police officer ever again break into the wrong apartment and shoot a woman for sitting in her own living room after midnight? Will people never again call the police because a black man told them to wear a mask, because a black man had a cell phone, or because a black family was having a barbecue at a park that featured barbecue stations?

While we're at it, have they released all those children from cages? Have they rescinded the order banning Muslim immigration? Have they done anything to ease the income disparities between minorities and "whites"?

Have they removed the Confederate statues from the South? Because, yes, those are offensive to people of Color. Have they stopped selling Confederate flags as at souvenir shops? And these are not just in the South, either; I saw an over-abundance of Confederate flags at a souvenir shop in Pennsylvania, a state that fought vigorously AGAINST slavery and to preserve the union.

It's not enough to say "We see you" or "We hear you," and we, as white people, certainly have a lot of gall telling persecuted blacks to "stop it". To truly see and hear the people who are protesting is to put an end not to the protests, but to the reasons for the protests.

Hypocrisy In Action: The Turnip And The Mail-in Ballot

The guy who said, “No, mail ballots, they cheat, OK, people cheat. Mail ballots are a very dangerous thing for this country because they are cheaters.” and “No, I think mail in voting is a terrible thing, … I think if you vote, you should go.” … has voted in New York in 2018 and in Florida in the 2020 primary, by absentee ballot.

Sources:

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/491674-trump-defends-his-mail-in-ballot-after-calling-vote-by-mail-corrupt

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/politics/donald-trump-vote-by-mail-absentee/index.html

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-in-person-voting-demand-is-obscenely-hypocritical-and-worse

https://www.axios.com/trump-coronavirus-voting-primary-mail-in-1024d311-0c83-4870-a227-8b5dc9f09d25.html

Photo: Getty Images with apologies.

Hold My Beer 2020

With apologies to the people who own the pictures that I stole pieces from.

 I really wanted to draw it freehand, but with everyone posting, "things to do while you're stuck at home," who has time to draw? Heck, I don't even have time to *do* the things to do while you're stuck at home because I'm too busy going through the posts.

Who Wrote That Bill Again?

Did anyone miss this moment from the Feb 25, 2020 Democratic National Debate? (Paraphrased).

The Real Modern Mafia

Last month, I kept seeing this History (Channel) Magazine on the shelves about Al Capone and the American Mafia, and I kept thinking we would be better served if they did an exposé of the modern American Mafia. This is what the cover of that History (Channel) Magazine should have looked like:

If I could reform Congress

These thoughts are currently incomplete. But I found this on my computer (from 6 years ago) and decided it was time to put these things out there. If I ever think of anything else, I'll have to add it at some point.

All across the Internet, I keep hearing the same complaints: that Congress isn't doing its job, that they're over-paid, that they under-work, that they're out of touch with people in the real world, *and* perhaps worst of all, that they have been bought and paid for by big business. So, if I had any power whatsoever, these are the laws I would pass to reform Congress:

I. Income Reform
1. The Congressional Pay Rate shall be permanently tied to the Minimum Wage, so that for every percentage point the Congressional Pay Rate is raised, the Minimum Wage will be raised by the same percentage. This will be retroactive to 1980, and Congress may resolve the current difference by either raising the Minimum Wage or by lowering the Congressional Pay Rate. Congress may still vote its own pay raises, but by doing so, it will raise the Minimum Wage accordingly.
2. Gifts from Lobbyists are to be limited to a nominal value equal to one hour of the Minimum Wage per recipient per day. Any gift from a Lobbyist that exceeds one hour of the Minimum Wage per recipient per day is to be considered a bribe. Any Lobbyist found to be bribing an elected official is subject to prosecution and any elected official accepting a bribe is subject to prosecution.
3. Members of Congress who perform work outside of their Congressional Duties for pay (writing a book, giving a speech, etc) will donate all proceeds from that work to paying down the National Debt. Congress was elected to govern the country, not line its own pockets.
4. The Congressional Recess (hereafter referred to as "vacation") shall be limited to four (4) weeks. This is a perfectly reasonable amount of time for grown, professional men and women to take vacation. Due to the fact that Congress needs to work together, all Congress People will take vacation simultaneously. The Congress shall determine which four weeks it is collectively on vacation prior to the start of each calendar year. When Congress is not on vacation, each Congress Person will be at work, in the Congressional Chambers for at least 3/5 (three fifths) of what is currently considered "full-time employment" (as of 2014, "full-time employment" is considered 36 - 40 hours per week not including meal times). Congress persons will not be eligible for overtime pay, however a Congress person not working full-time when not on vacation will be absent without pay.

II. Campaign Reform
Rather than prohibit corporations from donating to candidates, and thereby buying those candidates' votes while in office, the following rules should be enforced.
1. There will be no campaign ads from any private organization. All campaign ads must come from the candidate. A campaign ad is to be defined as any publication, whether in paper, video, audio, or electronic form, designed to sway voters for or against one or more candidates for political office or political platforms or political stances. All campaign ads must identify the candidate being campaigned for.
2. Campaign ads must tell the truth. Any campaign running false campaign ads will forfeit their candidacy.
3. Campaign ads shall be funded through a collective fund. All donations for campaigns will go to this one fund and the money in that fund will be distributed to all candidates in proportion to the number of people the candidate is trying to reach. In this way, qualified candidates for President will not be eliminated from running just because they don't have multi-millionaires backing their campaigns.
4. The Primary Season will be eliminated. All primaries will be held on the same day, so that voters in New Jersey have the same choices available to them as voters in Iowa.

II.A. News Reform
1. News agencies must tell the truth. Any accidental inaccuracies must be published as soon as they are identified, and the identification of the inaccuracy is to be given the same weight as the initial inaccuracy. News agencies airing the views of political pundits are to identify false statements as false immediately. News agencies shall also identify the opinions of political pundits as opinions immediately.