Why I Support The SOPA Blackout Protest

SOPA Blackout Aims To Block Internet Censorship Bill

I am 100% in support of the protest against the STOP ONLINE PIRACY ACT bill that's in congress right now. This bill is nothing more than a bunch of greedy corporations  who are desperate to keep their market shares high and squash the future of  online entrepreneurship and competition.

We can all agree that the act of piracy in itself is not a good thing, but this bill has so many loopholes that it will allow the government to shut down freedom of speech which has offered many people and businesses a platform to be heard. It is truly appalling that this bill will allow telecom companies to charge more for site distribution speed, and automatically restrict the common man from accessing and searching for various websites of their choosing. 

What's going to happen to freedom of the press? What's going to happen to start-up companies with great ideas? What about that unsigned rock band with a major fan following? How are they going to be able to interact with fans and showcase their music against music industry titans who are using this bill to restrict them?

There's a lot of junk on the internet, however, let the people sift through it themselves. Let people choose what they want to look at during their own time. 

I'm all for the government cracking down on online cyber criminals, terrorist plots, and stopping cyber bullying, however, if SOPA passes then the internet as we know it will cease to exist. The interactions we have and information we can gather is going to change. We might be moving into a world filled with more propaganda than ever before. It's downright scary. We're not China, but this bill will move us in that direction. When I went toVietnam for my honeymoon it's very evident that the big businesses there are clearly connected with the government. There's only 1 kind of soda, 1 kind of lemonade, 1 brand of chocolates, etc. Just look at our grocery stores! America is about choices. The SOPA bill is going reduce an enormous amount of variety. It's like Safeway restocking their shelves with only their Safeway brand products. I don't know about you you but I hate the Safeway brand. Gross..and that's what's going to happen to the internet if this dumb bill passes. 

What makes me even more upset is that the majority of the companies who are backing the SOPA bill are the same ones who don't pay their fair share of taxes. Can someone see what's wrong with this picture? 

I applaud Craigslist and Wikipedia and others for standing up to this injustice. More companies should follow suit. I know at my own company this bill can potentially damage a great deal of opportunities to deliver surveys on behalf of our clients. It's true that the people should have a say in this bill, however, isn't it already evident that corporate responsibility and morality are the main forces that will change what's happening on Capital Hill? Will more corporations please stand up and protest? Like it or not, the businesses' livelihood is just as at stake than just the regular Joe browsing the internet on his smartphone. Unfortunately, we are living in an era where the voice of a business is far greater than the voice of the people. 

Having wikipedia or Craigslist shut down today is a real pain in the ass, but this will be nothing compared to what will happen if the SOPA bill goes into effect. Brace yourself people, this is going to change everything...and it might not be pretty.

To join the protest go to : http://www.craigslist.org/about/SOPA

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/



There are many helpful links to get your voice heard.

Is it Too Late to Talk About New Years Resolutions?

Well, It's the middle of January and already I'm wondering if my resolutions will hold up for 2012. Those items include:

1. Eat mostly plant-based meals. Save meat for 3-5x/mo, but do not center entire meals around it. Ian's all for this as he thinks meat is too expensive. All in the name of saving a dollar or so.
2. Eat a 75% grain-free/gluten free diet.  This has not been easy but I'm reading up on a lot of alternatives that I will explore using mostly almond and coconut flour. Save bread and grains for special occasions.
3. Cut out 75% beans. I think beans does the exact opposite in me vs. other people so it hasn't faired so well. It's too bad, too, because I love lentil soup, hummus, and chili, and Vietnamese sweet been desserts.
4. Cut down on refined sugars and explore alternatives to sugar other than agave nectar.
5. Make and drink fresh juice more often and use it to replace meals in times crazy busy schedules at work.
6.Make a note to exercise at least 20-30 min 5-6 days a week switching from interval training, strength, and leisurely cardio, or outdoor activities.
7. Learn how to do basic irish dance steps. I have my dvd dance video to help me and maybe I will graduate to a more advanced dance video in the future. I've been considering purchasing dancing clogs, but I don't have a floor to tap on so not really an option right now.
8. Beer-free January. Quite hard do as Kaylan and I have a beer blog with nothing on it for 2012 yet.
9. Get of out my shell and attempt to make more friends in Portland and network in my respective career fields.
10. Save more money. Already doing a bad job on this, so I need to work on this.
11/ Do at least 2 outdoor activities in the area a month. We already did a snowshoe trip. Maybe a hike through Forest Park might be nice to end January.
12. Plan trip to Europe and decide where to go, what to do. It's kind of hard because we're both so busy with what's happening right now that thinking about a big vacation doesn't exactly feel right at this time.
13. Never forget the bigger picture in every aspect in life.
14. Get back into making and writing music. This will be hard. I miss this but hardly have any time.

They say that writing down your resolutions will help you visualize your goals better. It's kind of weird writing it in a blog for everyone to read but, hey, it's a way to keep me accountable. I can definitely say I've not followed through as well as I would like to. As a middle of Jan QA check I need to step up my game.

Resolutions in general are kind of cliche for New Years, in my opinion, so I'm not even sure why I have a list of 14 items I want to work on. Why wait until every new year? Why not just wake up tomorrow and be a better person then?  There's always something each person can improve on.

"Each day is a new day. Fresh with no mistakes in it." Ms. Barry -Anne of Green Gables.