I’ve written here multiple times about screwed up the intellectual property system is in the United States. Particularly since a U.S. Appeals court decided in 1998 that business methods could be patented, the system has completely broken down. The very premise that a business method is an invention is so utterly stupid that any judge that would actually decide such a thing is clearly either too corrupt or too stupid to be on the bench. Every year the system just gets worse, and the cost to society increases.

The latest ridiculous abuse of the system comes from tax attorneys and accountants. As tax laws have become increasingly complex, lawyers and accountants have had to come up with new ways to help their clients avoid paying their fair share. So those same lawyers have started getting patents on their tax strategies. The premise is insane! Now if people want to use a particular tax strategy they may have to either go the lawyer that holds the patent or potentially another one that has licensed the strategy. I don’t generally have any sympathy for people who have enough money to be able to afford these kinds of problems. However, this is yet another really bad patent precedent. If these kinds of things are allowed to continue along with things like patenting genes, who knows where it goes next?

It’s time to stop the abuse of the patent system. Business method patents, need to permanently banned and all existing method patents need to be invalidated. A database needs to be created for the filing of prior art. Procedures need to be implemented to allow people to challenge a patent application after the application is published if they are aware of prior art on the patent. Finally, patent examiners should be given more training in what the word obvious means! Something like swinging sideways should be granted a patent.

In an interview on C-Span, Laura Bush was asked about the stem cell research issue and the ads that Michael J. Fox has been doing in support of candidates who support stem cell research (sum of whom are in fact Republicans). In her response she said ‘It’s Always Easy To Manipulate People’s Feelings’ which is absolutely true because that’s all her husband and his administration have been doing for the last six years. Almost everything the Bush administration has done has been based on manipulation, using irrational fear to get people to accept things that they should not even be considering like illegal wars, domestic spying, eliminating habeas corpus and legalizing torture. The republicans know more about manipulating peoples feelings and than anyone and they have no business calling anyone else on it.

Here’s the video of the hydrogen powered Focus I tested last week.

The first part of my report on the overnight evaluation I did last week on the hydrogen powered Ford Focus is up on AutoBlogGreen right now. There will be three more parts coming out in the next few days along with a video. You can also vote for the article on Digg. This million dollar Focus was definitely the most expensive car ever in my garage. Next up will be my opportunity to drive the Honda FCX fuel car.

I’ve been saying for a long time that traditional mass media will soon be relegated to history. Now it looks like the next stage is coming. Over the last decade Clear Channel Communications has been snapping up radio stations and concert venues all over the country. They now have over 1200 radio stations including 4 of the 5 commercial radio stations in Ann Arbor (they tried to buy the other one a few years but were thwarted). After homogenizing American radio to the point that it became unlistenable and helping to drive people to other sources like mp3 players, they have now decided to put themselves up for sale. The company is heavily in debt and bleeding listeners. They’re apparently negotiating a leveraged buyout, possibly with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the company that years ago bought RJR Nabisco and then proceeded to break up the company and sell off the pieces. With any luck they’ll close the deal quickly and sell it all off. The sooner all the big media companies either split up or die the better. Media is being democratized through blogs and podcasts and companies like Clear Channel are needed or desirable.

In recent days I’ve published a couple of new podcasts. First up is is the latest MewzikCast. Max recorded episode 21 last weekend and it features Danko Jones, Angel Vivaldi, and Chance. I also posted the recording of the this week’s Ypsilanti School Board Meeting. I lost the last five minutes because my recorder was full, but nothing much exciting happened then. There was some discussion of access by military recruiters to students. Apparently the recruiters had been getting essentially free reign to talk to students in the high school cafeteria and a new policy was going to be proposed to limit that access. It turns out there was already a policy in place, but no one was aware of it or enforcing it. There are limits on the access of employment recruiters to students in the school and the policy also applies to military recruiters. There was also a report from the community vision committee. The committee developed a vision for the Ypsilanti Schools and there is some good stuff there that I’ll right more about later. You can hear the audio portion of the report at the podcast site.

In case you haven’t heard the Ypsilanti High School football team won there division this fall and are now off to the play-offs. They went 8-1 in the regular season and they will be facing off against Portage Central in the Division 2 play-off game this Friday night at Shadford Field. If you like to watch football you might want to go check it out. The game is at 7:00pm and the team could definitely use all the fan support they can get.

I wrote a post over on AutoblogGreen about the new hydrogen filling station that opened in Taylor, MI today and my opportunity to drive the hydrogen fuel cell powered Ford Focus. Ford has a fleet of these zero emissions running around the country right now. I’d really appreciate if you could go over to Digg.com and vote for the story. If enough people digg the post it might be able to get to the front page. Even if you don’t digg it, go check out the story! This car is the future of transportation. The only thing that comes out the tail pipe is water!

We’ve just posted a MewzikCast #20, featuring a new song from Ethereal, a classic from Chance and 3 brilliant songs from That Guitar Man from Central Park. Go check it out!

Yesterday Jules and I and a few other people (Carol, Mary, and Ann) went to see an exhibit that started a couple of weeks ago at King Hall at EMU. The show is a mix of photographs and audio. The photographs are all of people who became parents as teenagers. The subjects range in age from 12 to 100. The photographs are displayed in pairs with a chair sitting in front of each pair of photos. Also with each pair of photos is a set of headphones. You sit in front of a pair of photos and listen to a pair of recordings from the subjects of each of the photos. The subjects of the photos tell there own stories of what happened to them.

In some cases the the subjects are still young and had their children recently, including one fifteen year old who just recently gave her child up for adoption. Another story comes from a 100 year old woman who had her first child at age 16. The subjects came from a variety of circumstances and each had their own unique story. The one common thread is that none of them had an easy time of it. Some had supportive families, others did not. All the stories were compelling. The show was put together by photographer Michael Nye. Our friend Ann Schafenacker was on the planning committee for the event. You can get more information on the event at the Washtenaw County public health department site.

The show runs through this weekend and is definitely worth checking out. Set aside an hour or two and pay a visit.

The exhibit will be open for our community October 5 - 21, 2006
King Hall, Eastern Michigan University
Monday – Thursday, 10 AM – 2 PM & 4 – 8 PM
Fridays 10 AM – 6 PM Saturdays 11 AM – 5 PM Sundays 1 – 5 PM
Please join us for this remarkable event!