digital detritus

This just in from the folks over at Boing Boing. Seems that the Boy Scouts are now on the side of the MPAA and the RIAA.

Boing Boing: Respect Copyright merit patch from LA Scouts design
This tacky monstrosity is the “Respecting Copyrights merit patch” that Los Angeles Boy Scouts can receive if they consent to being brainwashed by the MPAA’s curriculum. Nice to see an organization in loco parentis shilling for a cartel of Fortune 100 companies.

I have to say that I am not at all surprised by this. Any organization that teaches children that it’s ok to discrimate against folks because of their religious beliefs or sexual orientation is already completely bent in my book. Frankly I’ve completely written off the Boy Scouts for good at this point. I know that other folks still care about the Boy Scouts, but for me, I’m just surprised that this hasn’t happened already.

You can read more here:

• Boy Scouts shill for MPAA with copyright merit badge
• Boy Scouts of America Concerned About Copyright

I’m not at all sure what to say after reading this article. In my dreams this is the way that every community would deal with any sort of terrible event. I’m speechless for two reasons, because of my incredible respect for the Amish community and how they handled this and out of sadness for the rest of us who can’t deal with problems like this. If being an atheist wasn’t a hindrance to being Amish I’d be off to join one of their communities tomorrow.

AlterNet: What the Amish Are Teaching America
The evening of the shooting, Amish neighbors from the Nickel Mines community gathered to process their grief with each other and mental health counselors. As of that evening, three little girls were dead. Eight were hospitalized in critical condition. (One more girl has died since.) According to reports by counselors who attended the grief session, the Amish family members grappled with a number of questions: Do we send our kids to school tomorrow? What if they want to sleep in our beds tonight, is that OK? But one question they asked might surprise us outsiders. What, they wondered, can we do to help the family of the shooter? Plans were already underway for a horse-and-buggy caravan to visit Charles Carl Roberts’ family with offers of food and condolences. The Amish, it seems, don’t automatically translate their grieving into revenge. Rather, they believe in redemption.