Thanks for the link on the movie industry,
George. Isn't it amusing that the top movie
is a remake? No new ideas...
The mission here on this site is to boycott
- not purchase products from the RIAA. From
time to time, some posters have suggested
some pretty radical (extreme) methods for
getting the attention of the beast and the
media.
I read this article this morning about a
very intelligent young man who believed that
the end justified the means. Any thoughts?
"Calif. student gets 8 years for SUV
vandalism
Sentenced for 2003 spree that torched
Hummers, other gas guzzlers
Updated: 9:45 p.m. ET April 18, 2005LOS
ANGELES - An aspiring physicist was
sentenced to more than eight years in prison
on Monday and ordered to pay $3.5 million
for his role in a spree of arson and
vandalism that targeted gas-guzzling Hummers
and other sports utility vehicles.
APR 13, 2005
Rejecting pleas for clemency from William
Cottrell, a 24-year-old doctoral candidate
in physics at the California Institute of
Technology, U.S. District Judge Gary
Klausner added more time to the sentence
after finding that Cottrell was trying to
sway consumers with his anti-SUV message.
The slogans Cottrell spray-painted onto
vehicles included “Fat Lazy Americans,” “No
Respect for Earth” and “SUV = Terrorism.”
Cottrell, who admitted only spray-painting
and testified he did not know that two
friends were bringing Molotov cocktails,
promised he would never break the law again.
The two friends have fled the country to
avoid prosecution, authorities said.
“I want nothing more than to be a
physicist,” Cottrell said. “I would do
anything to earn any leniency the court
could show in this matter.”
Cottrell was convicted last November on
seven counts of arson and one count of
conspiracy related to a 2003 vandalism and
firebombing spree that targeted about 125
large sports utility vehicles at four
Southern California dealerships and a few
homes.
Lawyers mount autism defense
Cottrell’s attorneys asked for the five-year
mandatory minimum sentence saying that their
client has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of
autism marked by impaired ability to
understand social situations.
They said it affected his judgment and kept
him from backing out when his two friends
started lighting Molotov cocktails.
But Judge Klausner said high intelligence
should work against a defendant, not in his
favor. “What a talent to have wasted,”
Klausner said. “There’s only one person to
blame for that, and I’m sure Mr. Cottrell
understands that it’s him.”
Attorneys estimated that Cottrell, who had
faced a mandatory minimum sentence of five
years, could spend six years in jail,
including credit for time served.
“The defendant engaged in conduct to send a
political message,” said federal prosecutor
Beverly Reid O’Connell. “He’s a scheming,
arrogant person who is disdainful of the law
and the justice system.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7550964/
Mike (Shmoo)
gdZiemann
pepe512000
mmnuc3
autodidact
