May 10,1999


A Map they don't show on TV......

My Times


The internet is forcing us to clarify the laws involving intellectual rights relating to music, movies and everything else that we are beginning to take for granted and that is free for the average surfer to enjoy on the web.
As you know I have been a strong supporter of MP3 files through MP3.com who have been making a valiant effort to promote independent music, of which I am a part of with my own album and singles. The promotional value has been great for many artists including me.
The problem is, when you download a legal mp3 file for free, the artist, and the owner of the intellectual rights, is not earning any money. If downloading the file makes you go out and buy the CD then it was worthwhile "turning you on" to the music through the free download. If you don't buy the CD and just enjoy the mp3 file then it was a bit of a waste of time.
The question is - how are we supposed to make a living from it?

In my opinion, the answer lies in bringing the internet into alignment with the rest of the broadcasting media laws and forcing the providers, mp3.com and many many others, to pay a license fee, just like TV and Radio, for the right to broadcast our artistic creations.
The Digital Media Association are working towards such a goal and a worldwide agreement is likely before the end of this month.
If you are interested in all of these questions then please visit their site and read up on what is being done on all of our behalfs to make this wonderful world of the internet continue to allow the creative forces of our world have half a chance to make a living...



I have been known to disagree with public opinion when it comes to world events! The current crisis in Kosovo is a blatant example of my disagreement.

If all the untruths fed to the media by NATO were true, I still would not agree that bombing could solve the problem.
When NATO says they are only targeting military sites despite hitting Hotels and Sewage plants and Electricity Generators and Bridges and Oil refineries and Hospitals and Shopping Markets and Train Tracks and Highways and Factories and TV Stations and Chinese Embassies and Kosovar Refugees and expect us to believe that these are military targets and that only 12 (to quote them) bombs missed their targets after 9000 bombs dropped to date, then I am the king of France!

In the gulf war they hit every target with every weapon and every aircraft in the arsenal over and over again until they dropped more bombs than they did in the entire Vietnam War. And that was in days not years!
In Kosovo they are repeating the same actions. Hitting the same targets over and over again. The bombs come from B2's, F16's, A10's and B52's. And then they start all over again. Night after night, 46 to date.
I don't care which side of the fence you are on, this is evil destructive madness of a kind that we should not be a participant in, and one that should never be happening at the end of the most barbaric century in the history of mankind.

Before the first night of the bombings the fighting between the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Yugoslavian forces was being monitored by United Nations personnel in every town in Kosovo and was limited to guerrilla attacks by the KLA and brutal displays from the Serb Police forces and Serb citizens towards the mainly Albanian inhabitants of the Yugoslavian province of Kosovo. With many of the worlds peace and human rights organizations on the ground in the towns as well as the worlds media keeping an eye on the situation and forcing dialogue between the Serbs and the Albanian separatists there was hope for a resolution of the conflict.
The day after the bombing started all hell broke loose!
The United Nations monitors as well as 100% of all outside agencies including the reporting media who were keeping the Serbs from getting nasty were forced to leave. The exodus of Kosovars began within 24 hours.
The systematic expulsion of Albanians coincided with the NATO attack.
NATO can not deny this. It is a fact.
How many people have been forced to leave their homes as a direct result of the bombings will only be clear when all the dust settles.

I am deeply disturbed by the suffering that my fellow human beings are going through. I am so angry, some days I can not think let alone work on music. I love this planet and all it's people. I hate the bastards who think that we can solve the problems of the world by killing and destroying and maiming the very people we are trying to help. This bombing campaign by NATO is the most illegal, immoral and disgusting thing that I have lived through and I am ashamed to be a part of any society that permits it.

Here is the latest explanation from Noam Chomsky - May 8 - on the ongoing negotiations for a peaceful resolution to this disgraceful confilct - The Diplomatic Scene brought to us by Zmag and a link to a Real Audio Interview with Noam from Radio Nation - Noam Interview.


" NATO personnel shall enjoy, together with their vehicles, vessels, aircraft, and equipment, free and unrestricted passage and unimpeded access throughout the FRY including associated airspace and territorial waters. This shall include, but not be limited to, the right of bivouac, maneuver, billet, and utilization of any areas or facilities as required for support, training, and operations. ."
Appendix B: Status of Multi-National Military Implementation Force - Rambouillet Agreement


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