Stop Freedom of Speech: Support SOPA and PIPA
In the past, if the gov
ernment wanted to shut down freedom of speech, they had to work diligently to find the press that was printing what they didn't like, and shut it down.
But in the modern era, if the government wants to shut it down, all they have to do is tell IP providers, "don't let anybody in our nation connect to these websites." That's what's happened in China, and now it's what SOPA and PIPA intend to do in America.
Their stated reason is to stop piracy and protect trademarks and copyrights, which we support. But it would mean sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, and many other sites would have to police every single post under threat of their site being cut off from every single person in America. There would be no right to a jury, no right to a trial, no "innocent until proven guilty." Besides that, those sites couldn't afford to do that and stay in business.
Currently, someone who sees a violation can report it, and the violation can be removed. But under these laws, a violation could mean blocking the entire website. Even Wikipedia, which has worked since the beginning to remain objective, is going black on January 18 in protest because this could mean a threat to the Internet as we know it.
If you live outside of the United States but post or visit any internet site in America, or you access any part of the internet from America, SOPA and PIPA could affect you too.
For more details, go to https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/how-pipa-and-sopa-violate-white-house-principles-supporting-free-speech. To see the bills, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act of HR.3261) is at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/how-pipa-and-sopa-violate-white-house-principles-supporting-free-speech and PIPA (Protect IP Act of 2011 or S.968) is at http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/show.
The following sites associated with The Loveshade Family decided to go on strike on January 18 in protest: The Loveshade Family, Alden Loveshade, Lorien Loveshade, Discordian Division of the Ek-sen-triks CluborGuild, and the associated Miley Spears. We chose not to put the Loveshade Family Blog on strike because it specifically addresses this issue and allows people to make comments.
While the Order of the Pineapple site decided to place a banner with a link to the protest, it decided not to go on strike because January 18 is Pat Pineapple Day and the day the Order is presented.
It may be hard to believe. But a recent survey reported that regular Fox News viewers actually know less about current events than those who don't watch news at all.
I just got my advance copy of 
A while back I was fascinated by this family photo of two young girls in fancy dresses with two artificial snowmen. Somehow the image got transformed in my mind. I imagined them wearing typical winter clothing as they built a snowman in the yard, and linked that image to how sexism begins at birth: "is it a boy or a girl?"
Has America really become more tolerant since the sixties? In the sixties Rosa Parks got thrown in jail because she didn't sit in the back of the bus. In the sixties blacks couldn't eat at white restaurants or go into a white restroom.
I was certainly glad when Yahoo accepted my story about Dukes v. Wal-Mart; but I just learned it's not only on Yahoo, it was picked up as an official article of Yahoo! News!
I use the genderless "e" for "he" or "she," "emself" for "himself" or "herself," and "es" for "his" or "her" in this report.
What will get the most attention in American media: a few people shot, or millions of Americans being evicted from their homes? If you've been following the news lately, you know the answer. Words like "murder" and "rape" sell more newspapers, draw more TV viewers, and garner more web page hits than words like "homeless" and "foreclosures."
Back in the day when pterodactyls ruled the Earth, The Loveshade Family possessed the website 
This one is primarily for Americans, but anyone can take this quiz. World Public Opinion, which is managed by the 
In a hearing today for the convicted Troy Anthony Davis, a witness testified he saw Sylvester "Redd" Coles fire the shots that killed a Savannah, Georgia, police officer. Benjamin Gordon was a primary witness for the defense, which said enough evidence was presented to get a new trial for the convicted Troy Davis. Ultimately, a judge will make that decision.
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Sue Lowden, a Nevada Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, has got a doozey of a way to 
Like it or not, but often the more political power you have, the less likely you are to let people know what you're really after. You may even de-emphasize who you really are.
And, according to their own responses, the largely affluent members think the current system gives too much help to the poor. And the primarily white members are more likely than most Americans, even than most Republicans, to think too much focus has been spent on the problems of blacks. In fact they are more than twice as likely as the average American to think the current administration favors blacks over whites.
ncess.
Rush Limbaugh, the radical-conservative radio talk show host, said that if health care reform passed in America, he would leave the United States and go to Costa Rica.
You may remember when pushing for breast-milk foods for people was a publicity gimmick done by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals--see below). Well, this time it's real.
"It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business." -- Air America Media
"After eleven months in office, Barack Obama has hardly revolutionized – or even altered – the major dysfunction that confronts our system. A man of obviously good values – read his books and speeches – he has yet to show convictions. He has tinkered to keep terrible problems from getting much worse – a kind of political plumber without access to equipment that would redo the entire system."
Parents, moralists and media are curently attacking Sexting, or sending nude, semi-nude or sexually-explicit images and videos of yourself over phone and the Internet. They're even going after cybersex, or sexually-explicit conversations in chat rooms. Naturally, the biggest concern is when it's done by "young people."
Remember Australia, which used to be such a cool place to visit and live? Well, censors and social prudes are continuing to wage their glorious battle to make the country sterile and oppressed for visitors and natives alike.
It pains us to write this, but GeoCities, one of the Internet's early and most popular places for posting a personal website, ends today.
Social Networks are leaking your private information to tracking sites, according to a WebProNews column by Mike Sachoff (see link at bottom). Are you assuming you have privacy when you visit a website you wouldn't want strangers to know about? You may well be wrong. But keep reading to learn some things you can do to help yourself.
If you remember 1990s American television, you likely remember Miyam Bialik as Blossom. Blossom was the teen who hung around with Six and had a clueless brother named Joey. Now Bialik is becoming known for alternative or holistic parenting.
Yep, we guessed it. Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, was seen alive in a video after he was murdered. Who would have thought it? We would have thought it. Look Below.
We weren't going to even mention this, but....
As of right now, it's been seven weeks since the death of "The King of Pop" Michael Jackson died at age 50. He's been the focus of tremendous media attention, and received what was called "the biggest celebrity send-off of all time," watched by 1 billion people.
The most effective censorship is the censorship you don't know about. If what you can learn is controlled by a government, corporation, religion, you won't know what you're missing. You will likely believe what you're told.
Portions of this were lifted from our report on Gary Gygax, who died a year ago.
In case you aren't an American who has or works with young children, you may not know what all the fuss is about.
If you saw it on FOX News it must be true, right?
Gary Gygax, who with Dave Arneson created Dungeons & Dragons which transformed the worlds of both gaming and fantasy, died at age 69. As Steve Jackson wrote, without Gygax and Arneson, the roleplaying game industry might never have happened, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy likely wouldn't have been made.
I've been trying for three days to come up with something poignant, clever, insightful, and moving about the passing of Robert Anton Wilson. For three days, I've failed. But I would be remiss if I let another day pass and posted nothing.
Is Pluto a planet or not? Many astronomers are up in arms over the declaration of the International Astronomical Union that Pluto, along with a couple other heavenly bodies, are not planets. Pluto has been considered the ninth planet since its discovery in 1930, so why the change? Is it because scientists discovered that Pluto didn't fit the established definition of a planet?
