Easter Eggs!

So another Pagan festival has passed. It's no wonder children get confused. Does Easter celebrate the old time pagan belief in the beginning of new life in the Spring, or the sad story of Christ on the cross? (That's if you're a Christian believer, of course!) How do all those non-Christians out there cope with it all? And all this eating of rabbits. Eggs is fine, they're common day-to-day fare, but rabbits? I'm quite partial to a bit of well-cooked rabbit. Stew, or roasted, or almost any other way.
 But children, and soft-hearted adults always think of those 'cute, cuddly bunnies' or even the well-known Bugs, as portrayed by that master Chuck Jones. Somehow it puts them off eating the 'fur-bearin' critter'. Yet somehow it's perfectly legitimate to eat rabbits in chocolate effigy. Am I the only one to see the dichotomy in this? From a practical point of view of course, it's much cheaper to buy a solid block of chocolate than it is to buy hollow chocolate figurines, but somehow, most people overlook that fact. Isn't advertising and brainwashing wonderful? I'll bet the manufacturers laugh all the way to the bank. No, don't give me the spiel about it only being once a year, and what harm does it do! It's insidious, and pervades so many corners of Western society. Just because we have more, doesn't mean we should waste more! How much packaging is wasted on moving say, 2 dozen chocolate rabbits, compared to an equivalent quantity of chocolate in block form? 3 times as much? Four? The use of plastic in blown shapes? Just to protect chocolate from breakage! Plastic is made from oil. Why is the world complaining about a fuel shortage?
Ah well, I'd better stop my gripes again. I've been reading again. And laughing at the ignorance of people who try to write. I never knew that spanking was 'capital' punishment! I always thought it was 'corporal' punishment, but I suppose some people take it more seriously than I do! :-)
 I must admit too, some of the errors with phonetic homonyms give me the giggles. The most recent examples have been 'taut/taught/tort', and 'a fowled line'. I still haven't worked what a 'taught butt' is. A 'tort' is found in the practice of law, and 'taut' is tight, but how does one teach a. . .? Or do they mean to educate a goat? Is a 'fowled line' what one uses to tie a chicken with? I know English is confusing, but-Come On! Enough is enuff!
Right! please note; I've reviewed my prices. Only minor revisions, but so many writers of short stories are reluctant to have their work checked, with most of them pleading poverty. Yet they are so often the ones who need to have their work reviewed, in order to present it better. I know that the big commercial editorial services charge a lot more than I do, but I don't have their overheads or investments to think of, so I charge less. All I'll say is- Try me! To start with, my turn-around times are much shorter!
There you go. That's my lot for Easter. Don't smear melted chocolate over everything. :-) R

Heyyy, I came back..

The loneliness off the long distance whistleblower.

Ah, the power of modern Social Media. I recently joined a local “poetry” group. The organiser of the group published a piece of some-one else’s work on the site, without the author’s byline. (And, I suspect, without the author’s knowledge or permission.) A few days later, she admitted that it was not her work, and named the author, but did not take down the publication. Her claimed ratification for the publishing was her admiration for the author’s work.

 I, being an author myself, decided to notify the original author of the work of the event. “Shame!” I hear you cry. I phrased it as a question. ie; ‘Did you know that a piece of your work has been published without your byline on media XYZ, and did you give permission for this?’ .  I note that the work has now been taken down, but also that I have been summarily removed as a group member. No notice, no reason given. No opportunity to ask why, as I have been summarily stripped of any access rights, and can’t even send an e-mail to the organiser to ask. I wonder why? I was not the person who infringed some-one else’s copyright, and the original author surely has the right to demand recognition for intellectual property rights!? The fact that no financial advantage was gained (I believe) is not a valid reason to infringe copyright! Nor is alleged admiration for the author. And to then not even have the courtesy to give the author’s byline can only lead to speculation about motivation.

But this is where the inherent evil of modern media comes in. I am denied the right of any further communication. Good, bad, or indifferent. I have obviously offended the organiser’s self-imposed right to ‘borrow’ some-one else’s work without recognition. There is no comeback, the organiser controls the group’s communications!

 My argument is as follows though: If permission had been obtained, my ‘blowing the whistle’ would have been ignored by the author, and nothing more would have come of it. So, it follows that obviously no permission was obtained. If person B does not report the knowledge of a crime by person A, then that, by law, is aiding and abetting. Does person A then have the right to punish person B for reporting the crime? And, the right to bar person B from justifying such?

Surely, anyone who writes in the public domain knows about copyright? How could anyone organising a poetry group not know of this? How would they feel if some-one else published their work, without acknowledging them as the owner of the intellectual property? Or is it a case of ‘one rule for me, but a different one for you’? Always remember that in today’s shrinking world, it doesn’t matter if the copyright owner lives on the other side of the globe, the copyright is international. What, if anything, have I done wrong?

There you have it. My little gripe for justice.  Any comments? 

And I'm still looking for more work, if anybody wants some proofreading done!