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Today on TAP: The case for an excess profits tax

Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan celebrates his 60th birthday today. Born David Rashbaum, Bryan is a co-founding member of Bon Jovi and also has co-written several of the New Jersey band's…

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Hamm took the "1" and a "9" scores on his card for Pietrangelo and awarded the former Blues blueliner 19 points, enough to give Pietrangelo the win.

Republicans met for hours Monday to come up with a compromise to redraw Missouri’s eight congressional districts. But the divide between GOP leadership and the conservative caucus in the Senate proved to be too much, sparking a filibuster by Republican senators determined to force through a map splitting Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City […]

The post Republican officials rally supporters to push for ‘7-1’ Missouri congressional map appeared first on Missouri Independent.

One is in critical condition and the other suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Have you struggled to find the right mentor during the Covid-19 pandemic? The St. Louis Business Journal is again putting together a Mentoring Monday event featuring some of the region's highest-achieving women leaders. You'll get the chance to virtually meet and mingle with 35 potential mentors at our annual event — taking place Feb. 28 — through casual group sessions lasting 10 minutes to 15 minutes each. Register for the event here. Mentoring Monday offers attendees the opportunity to…

The awards honor the "numerous contributions and achievements of women who work in or support the arts in St. Louis." A ceremony is set for April 25.

There has been some significant movement on two key Midtown projects in recent days. At the Armory District, a development spearheaded by...

Over a decade ago, we wrote about how Google had to edit out the Australian Aboriginal flag from a logo because of copyright concerns. An 11-year-old girl had won a contest to design a Google logo for Australia Day, and her logo included a simple drawing of the popular Aboriginal flag. Harold Thomas created a (fairly simple) flag design "as a symbol of unity and national identity" for the Aboriginal people in Australia. The flag became quite popular... and then Thomas basically became a copyright landlord, demanding payment for pretty much any usage.

In 2019, Thomas did a big licensing deal with a clothing company and proceeded to send out a bunch of cease-and-desist letters to others. It got so bad that the Australian Senate sought to have the government figure out a way to make sure the public could use the flag.

Apparently it took over two years, but the "deal" has been worked out -- and it involves the Australian government paying over $20 million to basically buy out the copyright and the former licensing deals, but that still doesn't mean the flag is truly in the public domain:

Mr Thomas will retain moral rights over the flag, but has agreed to give up copyright in return for all future royalties the Commonwealth receives from commercial flag sales to be put towards the ongoing work of NAIDOC.

A commercial company will keep its exclusive licence to be able to manufacture Aboriginal flags for commercial use, but the government said the company would not stop people from making their own flags for personal use.

So, given that he retains the moral rights, that suggests he will still have the power to stop anyone from using the flag in a way that he, personally, disapproves of. And the fact that there's still a license for commercial use, means that the government is still effectively enforcing the copyright.

So, in the end this was $20 million of taxpayer money... to basically pledge not to go after people for personal use.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the flag would be managed in a similar manner to the Australian national flag, where its use is free, but must be presented in a "respectful and dignified way".

"All Australians can now put the Aboriginal Flag on apparel such as sports jerseys and shirts, it can be painted on sports grounds, included on websites, in paintings and other artworks, used digitally and in any other medium without having to ask for permission or pay a fee," Mr Morrison said.

"We’ve freed the Aboriginal Flag for Australians."

With a whole bunch of caveats. If it's used in a manner that someone disapproves of, you better believe that it won't be seen as "free" for use. Hell, even the Google example from a decade ago probably wouldn't work, because I would bet the Australian government would argue that was a "commercial" use.

Mr Thomas said the flag's design was his dreaming story.

"The Flag represents the timeless history of our land and our people’s time on it. It is an introspection and appreciation of who we are," he said.

"It draws from the history of our ancestors, our land, and our identity and will honour these well into the future."

Seems just slightly ironic for a landlord who claimed ownership of a concept and then locked people out would call that a representative sample of "the timeless history of our land."

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Kevin and Erin from Cottage Hills Date Met/Started Dating: January 4, 2004 Briefly Describe First Date: We were so nervous that we brought our best friend with us. Date Married: October 4, 2019 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: We are big fans of stand-up comedy. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Communication is literally everything. You have to choose the person every day.

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Council chair has delayed a vote on issuing bonds for the convention center expansion without a commitment on the recreational center.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man died Thursday from injuries he sustained when he was shot in October 2021. St. Louis Police said an off-duty Northwoods Police Officer shot and critically injured a man who fired into a crowd outside a bar on October 28 at 11:10 p.m. Police said the shooting happened outside The [...]

COVID-19 testing has expanded once more in the St. Louis area. Starting today, the St. Louis County Library has added another location where residents can pick up a testing kit, and the county has also made PCR saliva tests available for pick-up at a drive-through testing site.…

As a student in Hickory County R-1 school district, state Rep. Ian Mackey often struggled with following the rules of a classroom. “My way to express myself was usually really …