As long as Palestinians seek as their goal the extermination of the oasis of freedom in the Middle East, Israel, there can be no Palestinian state.

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"Words matter. ...  Intellectual Property (IP) policy can be ill-served by some habitually used but ... not descriptively accurate vocabulary. ...   

    "Here, in my view, are a few too frequently used and usually misleading words [that] misrepresent the IP system and are even less relevant to the economics of innovation and creativity. The use of these words has real-world consequences ...
    "Fortunately, there are better word choices available. Here are a few terms I propose should be permanently 'out' and potential replacements that I believe would help to counteract anti-IP narratives....

OUT: Reward (Synonyms: Bonus, Prize)
Even when promised in advance of the result, a reward is generally understood to be a discretionary bonus. This is distinctly different than a “right” that is consistently and reliably available whenever the necessary conditions are met.

IN: Right (Synonyms: Title, Claim)

Defined as, “Something that one may properly claim as due.” Also, “the property interest possessed under law or custom and agreement in an intangible thing….” ...

OUT: Incentive/Incentivise (Synonyms: Induce, Incite)

Provides “a stimulus, a motive, a goad, or a bonus.” Also, “To make someone want to do something… especially by offering prizes or rewards.”

IN: Enable (Synonyms: Facilitate, Empower, Equip)

“A person or thing that makes something possible.” IP rights enable allocation of resources to long-term, resource-intensive, high-risk investments. ...

OUT: Monopoly (Synonyms: Cartel, Syndicate, Oligopoly)

“A single seller in a market or sector with high barriers to entry, such as significant startup costs, whose product has no substitutes.” Does an exclusive ownership right represent a monopoly? More below.

IN: Ownership (Synonyms: Title, Proprietorship)

“The act, state, or right of possessing something.”

IN: Exclusive/Exclusivity (Synonyms: Incompatible, Undivided)

“Unable to exist or be true if something else exists or is true.” “Excluding or having power to exclude others, or something that is limited to possession, control, or use by a single individual or group.” ...

"The habitual – and I believe largely unthinking – use of the words 'reward,' 'incentive,' and 'monopoly' among IP professionals has contributed to fundamental misperceptions of IP rights and the IP system. These contribute to systemic misunderstandings of the economics of innovation and creativity. Dropping these words from our IP vocabulary will make policy discussions more accurate and understandable for policymakers, economists, and the public, and better policy decisions will result...."

~ Patrick Kilbride from his article 'Words Matter: A Proposal to Change the Vocabulary of IP'

"Subsidy is for art, for culture. It is not to given to what the people want. It is for what the people don't want, but ought to have!"

~ Sir Humphrey, from the episode 'Middle-Class Rip-Off' from Yes Minister

 

Ayn Rand overcame tremendous challenges to publish her first bestseller, The Fountainhead.

The post <i>The Fountainhead</i> ’s Long Road to Publication appeared first on New Ideal - Reason | Individualism | Capitalism.

 

Earlier in the primary season Trumpists encouraged or aided Green crusader/anti-vax conspiracy nut RFK, Jr. -- first as a primary challenger to Joe Biden and then as an independent candidate for the Presidency. They did the latter because they saw him as doing more damage to Biden's prospects than to Trump's.

I disputed that idea months ago, in part due to the kind of voter that finds appealing the likes of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump -- and historically, George Wallace and RFK, Sr.

This morning, I ran across a piece at UnHerd that comments on what it calls "the growing RFK Jr. coalition." It comes from a far-left perspective -- given away by its assertion that the Kennedy's relatively sane position on Israel is a liability.

Most interesting are its quotes from disenchanted Trump supporters:

Steve, a musician, tells me that over the past three elections, he has moved from Bernie Sanders (until the DNC "rigged" the selection) in 2016 to Trump in 2020 to RFK Jr in 2024. "Kennedy talks about issues that the other two candidates totally ignore," he says. "This is Kennedy against the uni-party -- something I thought Trump did until he became President."

Uh-oh.

As a conservative said of Steve Bannon's earlier promotion of RFK, Jr., "Blame Bannon. His monster got out of the cage."

Here's another one of those voters, as well as a Trump supporter who doesn't quite fit that mold:

Anti-vax nuts have been popping up in conservative circles longer than lots of us would care to think. This photo comes from a Tea Party protest. (Image by Fibonacci Blue, via Wikimedia Commons, license.)

Suzanne, another Bernie-Trump-RFK supporter, admires Kennedy for his commitment to prising the US out of "foreign misadventures". "He's not an America First-type like Trump," she says. "His positions are much more considered -- he doesn't want to withdraw us from the world, but merely thinks that we should not be funding all these wars abroad." Along with various other people I speak to there, Suzanne has particular ire for the man she voted for in 2016. "Trump talked a big game, but the debt blew up under him and he was the one that implemented all the Covid shutdowns ... I'll never forgive him for that."

While RFK's views on Covid are well-documented, ranging from the credible to the crankish, it would be misleading to characterise all his supporters as militant anti-vaxxers. Many would rather emphasise the importance of medical freedom in general. "I was vaccinated but I was against the shutdowns and mandates," John Myers tells me. "But this isn't just a Covid thing -- it's about the right to choose what's best for you and not have the government tell me what to do."

To borrow from the UnHerd piece, the reasons former Trump voters might defect to RFK, Jr. range from the credible to the crankish, but I think it is a real possibility that a second candidate positioning himself as outside the establishment is more dangerous to the other such candidate among voters most unhappy about that establishment.

-- CAV