We're going to try something new for a bit to see how it works. Lots of blogs put up weekly summaries of the posts they want to promote the most, and we've considered doing something like that as well. However, after thinking about it, we decided it might be more fun to have a member of the wider Techdirt community pick his or her favorite posts each week with a short explanation of why they liked those posts. Each week we'll ask a different community member. To kick it off, who better than champion commenter Dark Helmet (aka Tim Geigner), who provided the following.... Wow, what a week. Mike has planned a pretty cool little weekly feature, asking a different regular Techdirt reader to highlight their favorite posts of the week, and he asked me to give it a go this week. Obviously Wikileaks has been the dominant topic, but there was plenty else going on as well. I'll list my top five favorite stories below:
1. If Assange Were In China, US Politicians Would Be Cheering Him On: If there's anything that drives me completely up the wall, it's hypocrisy. This instance is particularly transparent, especially if we keep in mind all the heralding our politicians were doing over Twitter's role in providing insight into Iran's elections and subsequent rioting. It's just never as funny when it happens to you, is it?
2. So Wikileaks Is Evil For Releasing Document...But Dyncorp Gets A Pass For Pimping Young Boys To Afghan Cops: I've made no secret that I think too much transparency is better than too much being hidden with our government. Stories like this show why. Two things spotlighted by this story: I don't think that people realize how many private contractors make up our fighting forces and how detrimental those groups tend to be in our supposed efforts to win over the hearts and minds of belligerent nations.
3. NIH Won't Let Others Supply Life Saving Drug Even Though Genzyme Can't Make Enough: It feels odd to say that I like a story that involves people truly suffering, but examples like this are how you can get people interested in some of the real issues surrounding intellectual property. It's one thing to trot out examples of multi-million dollar corporations bickering with each other over patents, but it's quite another to point at a case like this and say, "Look! People are dying!"
4. Getting Rid Of Fantasy Numbers In Copyright Debate: I enjoyed this post for two reasons. First, I grew up routinely hearing the saying: figures don't lie, but liars figure. The point being, of course, that facts are beautiful things, but the methodology for arriving at numbers can be extremely important. Second, some of the negative comments from the community truly made me laugh ("it does not matter at all, what the actual numbers are"). Awesome in its simplicity.
5. One Way To Deal With Child Bullying: Have The Whole Internet Stand Up For You: As I'm sure all of you can tell, I'm just a big ol' softy at heart. I like chick flicks, puppies, and grandmas. But more than all of those, I adore stories that illustrate the good in people. To hear of this example of a large group of people offering encouragement, aid, and support warms the cockles of my heart. Plus I'm a huge Star Wars fan (who'd have guessed?).
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Source: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101210/10125412235/dark-helmets-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml
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