This thread shall be used by Boycott-Riaa admin primarily for announcements, but feel free to use it as an "open thread" and post anything you feel like saying when a more suitable article for your words can not be found below. Any/all posts to this particular thread that are more than a couple of days old will most likely be deleted. Posts to any of the other threads at our site ARE archived permanently.

NEW VISITORS:

1. Welcome!

2. Please read our "mission statement" found on the left-hand side of this page.

3. To reply to any of the threads you will need to create a user account. (Don't worry, Boycott-Riaa and the Dmusic Network NEVER "spam" anyone and your personal information will NEVER be sold/given to third parties.)

4. To submit an article to our forums, simply click the "news" button at the top of the page, then click "submit".
We prefer articles/threads that are original rather than stuff copy & pasted from another site/source. If you find a news item (or anything else) you think our participants should see, simply put a link to it on this thread or in the most recent "In The News" edition below.

5. We have a Chat Room that you might want to check out!

6. If you have suggestions for the site, or need anything from admin, please do not hesitate to use the "contact" link on the left. (For tech issues, go to Dmusic.com and send a dnote to "fu-dog". For anything advertisement related, send a dnote to "furiousBall".) If you find a song that you would like to see listed as a Boycott-Riaa Pick, or if you are a band/artist who would like to become Boycott-Riaa Certified, just let us know!

7. This site is intendend for intelligent mature adults, but children also often visit. Please refrain from excessive 'vulgar' lingo. You are encouraged to voice your opinion and to disagree with others, but please treat each other with respect when doing so.

8. Boycott-Riaa is a PUBLIC FORUM. Anything you post here of your own is to be considered Public Domain. If you wish to retain strict copyright control over your words, do NOT post them in our forums.

I suppose I should take a moment to introduce myself since I am the primary Admin/Mod for these Boycott-Riaa forums.

My name is Mike (called "Shmoo" by friends and relatives) and I often use the moniker "independentmusician" at this and many other websites. I am at your service!

Boycott-Riaa is technically owned by the Dmusic Network, but it is still-so a PUBLIC forum for commentary and news about music in this digital age. I am not an "employee" of the Dmusic Network, but I do recieve a small fee for my contracted services. However, I am a huge fan and user of leflaw's Dmusic Network as both an artist and music lover. Dmusic has always treated the artists and fans with symbiotic respect and not as a predator! (It is a A HUGE part of why I agreed to give my time and work here!)

To be on the "up and up" with everyone about my own personal motivations, I have to let you know that I am not only an independent musician with a band of my own called Electric Gypsy, but also an advocate of ALL indie music! (Before I became the Admin/Mod here, I had been an active participant in these forums for years, even back in the days when Bill Evans owned/and operated this site, before he sold it to Dmusic.) I really believe in what I preach. The RIAA and the "music industry" have held down the indie artists and snubbed the consumers/fans with illegal/immoral tactics for far too long!

With YOUR participation, I hope that together we can bring about a "sea-change" in the paradigm and give independent musicians a more level playing-field to compete with the monopolists who continually sh*t on the fans, artists, and consumers alike.

Support Local and Independent Music!
Boycott the RIAA!

--Shmoo

A reminder to NEW folk.

You are allowed/encouraged to get "off-topic" either here in the "Welcome to Boycott-Riaa" thread OR in any of the "In The News" threads.

...but PLEASE stay somewhat on-topic everywhere else when visiting Boycott-Riaa!

Okay, just for fun...this was in the paper today.

"If I were gay, Tom wouldn't be on the top of my list...It would be Brad Pitt. I'm
more offended by the rumors saying I'm
Scientologist."



- Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas, in response to rumors that he was caught in bed with Tom Cruise and that he is also a member of the Church of Scientology.

Now, who do you suppose starts rumors like these?

Robert Novak told Karl Rove. So who told Novak?

Cheney? Scooter? Or maybe Ari Fleischer. Maybe even as you suggested before, Judith Miller. She never wrote a story, but they really want her to testify about something, don't they? They have always said there were at least 2 sources. We know Rove is one; but who is the other?

Okay, let's take a stab at this. What if Miller talked to Rove, then passed along the information to Novak. She never wrote a story, and didn't even have notes. Then Novak calls the White House and Rove goes, "Oh, yeah, I heard that." Same for Cooper. Novak says he got two confirmations; I believe the second one was Scooter Libby, but I wouldn't swear to it. So he prints his story; meanwhile, Rove and another person in the White House calls at least 6 other journalists and gives them all Plame's name. (Chris Wallace reports Rove told him Plame is "fair game.") Rove is too smart to make a direct statement, so all of this is done in their usual sideways manner. The key to this puzzle, and the only one who really knows is Miller. She is either refusing to testify to protect a source (which could be Rove, Fleischer, Libby, Rice, or even herself), or she is refusing to testify because it could land her in a lot more trouble than contempt of court. The prosecutor says he knows who her source is--but she has to testify to it in court.

Don't know what this lady expects to gain by this. Look what the Bush boys are doing to Katherine Harris down here. NOW she's a liability, and stupid stories are beginning to circulate (can you say dirty tricks?) about her, like how she ordered "Celestial Drops" to try to cure citrus canker down here...she probably did, but who do you suppose dug up that little gem, just when she's getting to be a problem for them?

What scares me is Rove looks to be so darn happy, this is sure to be a distraction. What is he really doing?

ShadowMom and everybody,

Let's move discussions that are not Boycott-Riaa specific to the "In The News" treads and keep this "Welcome" thread more on-topic about the over-all agenda/ideas (or debate thereof) ...and, for announcements and such so that new visitors will not be distracted.

I'd like the "Welcome" thread to be sort of an "opening paragraph" to what Boycott-Riaa is all about.

Gotcha.

See how quiet it is here now, Shmoo?

That's ok tho.

So... what goes here? I thought it was a chatroom kind of thing and In the News was for... well... news articles.

"You are allowed/encouraged to get 'off-topic' either here in the 'Welcome to Boycott-Riaa' thread OR in any of the 'In The News' threads."

Hi!

Shhh, Sherm. We don't know where Shmoo is....

Good morning. Very interesting (off-topic) posts, ShadowMom. Thanks.

Lachatte, do NOT get me in trouble again!

What the hell..they'll be deleted anyway...Down here in Brownsville, we've dodged the bullet again...Emily passed to our south by about 68 miles. I hope the folks in small towns and fishing villages in Northeastern Mexico are all hunkered down and are safe.

It's been blowing like a banshee all night long but we're talking about 40 to 60 mph instead of 80 to 100 so I'll consider myself lucky. We haven't lost our electricity (yet...knock on wood) but not everyone has been as lucky as us. The nasty aftereffects should be hitting us for the rest of the day as Emily unravels itself and moves further inland. The good thing is the huge amount of rain over the entire Rio Grande Valley without huge amounts of damage due to flooding.

You've been having a drought in Texas, haven't you, pinemikey? It's been hot and muggy with lots of pop-up thunderstorms up here in PA.
Stay safe and dry! It looks like a long hurricane season.

We're in a drought here too. It's been dry as hell. 100 degrees today, and everyday for the next 5 or 6 days. Heat indicies 105-115 everyday.

pinemikey, if you would - please send us some buckets of your rainwater. I will share them with the neighborhood.

Well, hello new people and welcome to Boycott-Riaa.... This is what the people here do...boycott the riaa..

Ok, that was for Shmoo's benefit..now I must add that you folks here are doing a wonderful job of relating the weather down there..better than the weatherpeople up here..keep up the good work!

And I wish you all the best in these trying times, heat, floods, hurricanes..good grief! Hang in there guys!

Hey, pinemikey. I just read that 10,000 people have lost power in Brownsville. Maybe Shmoo went to Brownsville... hmmmmmmm....

We've had a few power outages..most of the customers had power back by noon but again we've been lucky here, all we experienced was a brief flicker or two. My internet was gone most of the day, but is back up and running.

I went out for a drive to scout out any damages. The usual with persistant high winds, signs blown down or blown out, lots of branches and palm tree bits and at least one service station with the pump overhead cover all tore up (why they allow these crappy constructed covers is beyond me...). Overall, the place is in good shape...I'll see how the shipyard handled the storm tomorrow...we have a good bunch to make sure everything is battened down.

Sherm, I'd gladly spare a few buckets, but what fell is already soaked into what was an extremely dry valley. We haven't had a significant rainfall in months.

Shmoo's been gone for two days...anybody heard from him?

Pinemikey, glad to hear it's okay your way. It'll be a mess to clean up, but sounds like your little corner of the world will be fine.

There are some excellent images of Hurricane Emily damages in Northeastern Mexico here in the Houston Chronicle...not sure if you have to register or not.

Picture #70--that's what soldiers should be used for.....

I'm wondering if the National Guard, who are indespensible during emergencies, are now undermanned where they are really needed...here.

I believe the governors discussed this very thing earlier this week. They brought up the point that with the National Guard being shipped to Iraq, and recruitment so low, if there were an emergency here at home, there are not enough Guardsmen to go around. Let's hope we don't need them any time soon. The last throes are likely to take quite a while yet.

You guys still here? Check out the story I posted a few minutes ago in the news section. It will make your day!!!!

ShadowMom and everyone, I am in the middle of having to move across town at the moment. So sorry that I have not been posting as often as I'd like this week. --Also, my financial situation has caused me to have to go back to work at the dreaded "day-job" for a while.

But never fear! I have not, and will never abandon the Boycott-Riaa effort! (Unfortunately, sometimes, the day-to-day food and shelter concerns have to come first.)

...and I just found out today that I gotta switch my ISP from charter to comcast.

NOT a happy camper at the moment.