A U.S. federal appellate court recently ruled that bloggers have the same First Amendment rights as traditional news media against libel suits.  Read the story here.

This is a good thing; with all the changes in how we get our information, bloggers have picked up some of the slack from traditional journalism.  And, as the article says, how much more free can internet posting be?

Granted, there has been a lot of flap about free speech lately, what with that duck guy (I know his name; I just don’t care to repeat it) and others tossing their opinions out like poop-throwing monkeys.  Let me remind you again:  the First Amendment protects people against government infringement of speech, except under certain circumstances (like in wartime).

You can absolutely be penalized or even fired by your employer for what you say and write.  And you can be sued, if it is blatantly false and damaging to the other party.  Libel is written; slander is spoken.

We’ve all had to be conscious of things like copyright, defamation, disclosure, and fair use.  But now, we bloggers know that if we have something important to say, that anyone attacking us because they don’t like it will have to conform their accusations to the same standard as if we had published in the paper.

Happy New Year, everybody!  Here’s hoping 2014 is better than 2013, which was no better than 2012 (man, that’s depressing.  Blargh!).

I skipped ahead a little on my Tunerville task list.  My friend James Allder agreed to do a first read for me and I emailed it to him yesterday.  Go read his book Western Legend.  It’s got some rootin’ tootin’ Western action in it.  I liked it and I’m not even a fan of the genre.  According to his blog, it’s only 99 cents right now.  So get it!

Since it’s the New Year, and resolutions are a thing, I’ll share some of mine with you.

•  To get my ass off the chair and go to the indoor track (I’ve already started, but the holidays, with their plethora of delicious food, have gotten in the way).

Oh, beauteous white fluffy sugary goodness, I love thee. Get in mah belleh.

Image:  Janine/Wikimedia Commons

• To write more on my own work, no matter how swamped I am with school.  I have a schedule.  I just need to follow it.

• To not bitch about school anymore and just suck it up and deal.  The Universe has led me to this for a reason, I guess.  I don’t know what the hell it is, WHICH WOULD BE HELPFUL, BUT WHATEVAH.

• To finish paying off some stuff.

• To redecorate my house.  I’m kind of sick of the Victorian cottage thing I have going.  The walls need to be painted anyway, so I might as well go for it.

Starting with this poster! Yeah, I know; I’m a huge geek. So what!

Image: vintagestock.com

(I got the poster in their store, which I LOVE)

•  To try mightily to stop eating those damn hot Lay’s Sweet Southern BBQ potato chips I love so much.  They’re not good for me.  They’re not good for me.  They’re not—oh hell.  **crunch**

•  To pass my USFS Adult Bronze freeskate test.  I must master the single loop jump. It’s harder than it looks.  I fall down a lot.  See one at this link.

I also need to get the stupid back scratch spin, an element that is threatening to throw me down and break my face every time I do it.  Here’s a guy doing a counterclockwise back scratch spin (the way most skaters do it):

I do this spin the opposite way (clockwise).  Clockwise skaters do regular spins on the right foot and backspins on the left; counterclockwise skaters spin on the left and do backspins on the right.  I jump the regular counterclockwise way.  It’s messed up, but no one ever corrected it, and it’s too late to fix it now.  It makes for some creative choreography sometimes.

This is a tough spin, because you’re spinning on the foot you don’t normally spin on, and you’re on the outside edge.  You can do other spins this way (you get more points, because it’s harder), but you have to master this one first.

And my coach wants my sit spin to be lower (the one at the link is clockwise—yeah!).  Yeah right—tell that to my knees and back.  I also need to work on Silver Moves in the Field, which have fallen by the wayside when my Moves coach went to Florida.  But my new coach is awesome (and tough!), so we’ll see how I do.

If I can pass my test in time, I can compete at State Games in November at my rink.  Whee!

———-

That’s my resolution list.  I’m leaving out the personal junk, some of which is not completely under my control (come on, Universe).  But I will keep you updated, should there be anything worth talking about, and if I choose to reveal any of it (he he).

Many thanks to everyone who read me this year and all who follow this blog and Clerical Chick.  I wish you a very happy and safe New Year!

Time for the annual report again.  Thank you to everyone who read my posts and who commented!  Happy New Year–hope you have a wonderful 2014.  It HAS to be better than last year.  :}

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,700 times in 2013. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.