John Colton's blog

I am somewhat a fan of Glee... not all of the plot lines, but the music at least. It's to some extent an extension of my "addiction" (as Pauline calls it) to modern a cappella music, even though Glee isn't all a cappella. The Warblers, for example, are voiced by the Tufts Beelzebubs. However, this time Glee has gone a little too far--they completely ripped off Divisi's classic version of "Yeah", one of the best collegiate a cappella numbers of 2006. See here:

http://popculturebrain.com/post/5645805309/for-comparison-above-is-uo-divisis-award-winning

Unfortunately, beyond publicizing this and hoping that public outcry gets Glee to make amends somehow, I'm not really sure there's much Divisi--and specifically the Divisi member who arranged the song--can do. As I understand things (which could very well be wrong as IANAL), since her version is a derivative work of the Usher original (I'm assuming Usher wrote the song), she & Divisi don't own any legal rights to it, only Usher does. Even if not legally wrong, however, copying someone's arrangement like this with no compensation or even acknowledgement is MORALLY wrong.

If you feel the same way please publicize this information, too.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110517/ap_on_sc/us_space_shuttle_photos

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Groggy from a late night watching the Yankees, frigid from a chilled airplane cabin, Stefanie Gordon stirred to action after the pilot's announcement. Lifting her iPhone to the plane's window, she captured an otherworldly image that rocketed around the globe as fast as her subject: Space shuttle Endeavour soaring from a bank of clouds, its towering plume of white smoke lighting the azure sky.

(click link for rest of story)

In case you haven't heard this story yet, Peter Vidmar (olympic gold medalist and LDS church member) was forced out of his position with the U.S. olympic team due to his religious beliefs about gay marriage, and having contributed $2000 to the Prop 8 campaign. So basically if you disagree with homosexual marriages--which a majority of California voters did!--you get blacklisted. I find this to be unconscionable.

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2011/05/15/former-olympian-canadian-sports-anchor-blacklisted-gays

Peter Vidmar, a 1984 Olympic gold medalist, had to resign as chef de mission for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team because as a Mormon, he donated $2,000 for Proposition 8 in California supporting traditional marriage and appeared at two Prop 8 rallies.

Gay Olympic skater Johnny Weir explicitly tied Vidmar to racists in his opposition in a Chicago Tribune interview:

"Most people would have an issue if the chef (de mission) publicly was against Asian-Americans or African-Americans, so it should be dealt with if the chef is anti-gay...

"It's wrong,"' Weir said in a telephone interview. "I certainly wouldn't want to be represented by someone who is anti gay marriage. It isn't just about marriage, it is being allowed equal rights as Americans. The fact this man who is very publicly against something that may be represented on the American team is disgraceful.''

...
Vidmar resigned by saying he didn’t want his religious beliefs to distract from the U.S. Olympic effort. From USA Today:

"In a statement released Friday evening, Vidmar said, "I have dedicated my life to the Olympic movement and the ideals of excellence, friendship and respect. I wish that my personal religious beliefs would not have become a distraction from the amazing things that are happening in the Olympic movement in the United States. I simply cannot have my presence become a detriment to the U.S. Olympic family. I hope that by stepping aside, the athletes and their stories will rightly take center stage." "