Happy Nuclear Internet Blackout Day! I’m sure you may have noticed that when you got up to have your eight a.m. martini and Lucky Strike (good morning Mr. Don Draper) that your internet was broken (Don Draper, what are you doing in the future?). Okay, so maybe your internet isn’t broken (and maybe you’re not Don Draper), but there doesn’t seem to be as much on it as there usually is. Well it looks like you’re getting the point of this here blackout pretty quickly.

The internet is giving you a gift today. The internet is showing you what the digital world would be like in a few years, if the bills SOPA and PIPA were to pass through congress. Pretty 1984-ish, eh?

Yes, what the internet is trying to convey, is that letting SOPA and PIPA pass, would be like giving the internet gastric bypass surgery. Once the procedure is done, there will be less and less of the internet until it’s rid of all of it’s porn and free downloads. But that’s not all, the internet will continue to wither away like the dude did in Steven King’s Thinner, until there’s nothing left of it but us.gov and the Nyan Cat video.

Okay, maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration. I’m sure you’ll still be able to check your bank statements and apply for wacky scholarships sponsored by Duck Tape. But seriously, the people who are in charge of the largest technology companies in our nation are freaking out about this bill.

Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin likened the act to China’s censorship of the Internet saying “I am shocked that our lawmakers would contemplate such measures that would put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world.”

Not only would websites be penalized for hosting material under copy write law (even if it was written in the comment section by a user) they would also not be able to operate unless they were granted an ISP containing numbers. It gets creepier. Here’s a great article about the more oppressive statutes in the bill.

Beyond that, this is a fight against the government serving the interests of a select few corporations and themselves. Let’s face it, he who owns information and communication, owns everything. But this is a fight that the internet is taking to the streets…. Totally makes sense.

What do you think about today’s internet blackout?

t may not look like it at first glance, but these kids are actually making a politcal statement... It's the aristocracy vs. indigenous people/nature/furry green folks.

In Charlottesville, Virginia, a classroom of third grade students is getting a lot of attention for their lyrical talents this week. These youngsters wrote a song in a workshop, that people are calling “leftist” and “Marxist.”

Yes, you’d better watch out. The kids are going red. The reaction to the song called has been heated, to say the least. The song is called “Part of the Ninety Nine.” It mentions “the one percent,” who had everything but still wanted more, and “the ninety nine percent” that they’re happy to be a part of. The children went through a workshop led by Kid Pan Alley. For the workshop, instructors helped them write their own lyrics to learn the creative process. Unfortunately, the children came out on the other end as song writing socialists.

Conservative bloggers jumped on the story and reported skepticism that the children had come up with the lyrics on their own. Kid Pan Alley founder, Paul Reisler, released a statement that he had in fact added some phrases to the song. But Kid Pan Alley has been quick to say that they don’t condone any political stance after the backlash from conservative bloggers. They have also clarified the rules for lyrical guidance.

Since this blog is about the Occupy movement, we’re probably supposed to hop on board and say that this is freedom of speech. But, I have to say, I’d be outraged if children were taught to sing a song about Mitt Romney’s ideology or something equally politically conservative.

So what do you think? Is this wrong? Was he right to promote the idea of solidarity and unity to a group of young children? Was it wrong for this man to guide children into writing a protest song? Is this leftist and Marxist indoctrination? Or is this a case of letting something that you care about mistakenly seep into your work life?

It’s interesting to watch this movement continue to grow and change over time. Occupy Wall Street may have started to address a very specific set of problems in a nation that has relatively few problems. But “Occupy” has become a buzzword that begins to fuel any kind of mass unrest and protest in the world. Now civilians in nations that regularly face life and death issues at the hands of their governments, finally have something to rally around, in order to start organizing and standing up to their respective “man”. It’s some pretty amazing stuff.

Occupy Nigeria is a protest responding to the governments repeal of a gas subsidy that kept gas prices in the nation at around $1.70 per gallon. Since the subsidies repeal just six days ago, gas has reached over $3.50 per gallon. This has caused food and transportation costs to skyrocket in the nation causing more food insecurity in a country that has a great deal of problems already. Most of the Nigerian population lives on under $2 per day. They experience water and electricity shortages on a regular basis. A large portion of the population doesn’t have access to clean drinking water. Many face hunger on a daily basis. They’re also facing a radical militant group of Muslims that killed over 500 people in the country in 2011. What do police officers do in the face of that kind of violence? Apparently, not enough. We’ll see how active they become when the mass strikes begin on Monday.

“We are sitting near a keg of gunpowder and we are playing with fire,” said Rep. Pally Isumafe Obokhuaime Iriase of the Action Congress of Nigeria. “This will be the last straw that will break the camel’s back if we do not act.” [Christian Science Monitor]

Nigerians are gathering in solidarity to re-enact the gas subsidy which would cost the government $8 billion in the coming year. But many in the nation feel that that’s not unreasonable considering the years of corruption that the populace has had to deal with at the hands of the government. Nigerians have seen billions of oil dollars funneled into politician’s pockets over the past few decades, and they, like us, are tired of being taken advantage of.

What do you think about Occupy Nigeria?

To date, there have been almost 6,000 arrests that have taken place at occupy protests. This may not sound like a lot for a nation-wide protest that’s been going on for over a year. It is a little alarming that nearly all of these arrests have nothing to do with violent crime, property damage or any real form of crime. As the people, we’re supposed to have a right to peacably assemble. It’s a constitutional right. And the constitution doesn’t say how long. It doesn’t say where. It doesn’t doesn’t say who.

So, I suppose you could interpret it as, “peaceably assemble, during the day, for a few weeks, and then go away or you’ll get pepper sprayed.” However, I’m not sure that’s really what our founding father’s intended. The right to peaceably assemble was meant as a safe guard against a tyranical, unjust governement. One that’s fully in the pocket of big business would probably qualify. However, our wonderful checks and balance system can put the people in check like it’s nobody’s business:

“The First Amendment is not absolute,” Deputy City Attorney William Carter tells the Los Angeles Times. Just because the law of the land (literally) allows for peaceful protests doesn’t mean it is really alright, says Carter. For the hundreds of demonstrators arrested during Occupy LA protests in recent months, they seem to think that the US Constitution is of actual importance. For the city officials though, those silly hippies don’t know “habeas corpus” from their hacky sacks. In order to show them what the good old US of A is really about then, the city of Los Angeles is letting those charged with misdemeanors stemming from Occupy LA incidents to forego the legal system in exchange for taking a class on the First Amendment — for the price of $355 a pop. [rt.com]

How awesome is that? You have to pay to be brainwashed in the good ole U S of A. I’m pretty sure it’s free in North Korea. Maybe we should all move there.

Photo: DNAinfo.com

It’s Christmas and the Occupy protests carry on. But it’s different. Things are quiet now. They’re eerily quiet. Sometimes it feels like the movement has come to a screeching halt. After many of the protest encampments have been broken up (with very little hub bub), what’s left of the Occupy movement? The famous inception point for the Occupy protests, Zuchotti Park, was evacuated for cleaning on November 15th. During the evacuation the city said that protesters would be permitted back on the grounds after the cleaning but would not be allowed to bring sleeping bags, tarps or tents with them. The Occupy response was clear: “You can’t evict an idea whose time has come.”

So on Christmas, with occupiers still exercising their right to peaceably assembling at Zucchotti, they have a hard time getting something as simple as food onto the square. And even though there’s a permanent presence in the park, the media can’t seem to be bothered by the protest if there aren’t tales of naked college students, rape, violence and conflict. It seems that, for many, the story has gone stale.

But with many occupiers around the world still holding down their encampments, it’s easy to see that the dedicated are still dedicated. It seems that the power of this movement might seem dormant at the moment, but that the spring may see a resurgence of interest.

Occupy guru, and Adbusters co founder, Kalle Lasn has big plans for the movement when the world begins to thaw:

“This spring we’ll present crystal-clear demands. One of them is a Robin Hood tax. Financial transactions around the world involve 1.3 trillion dollars every day. We’re demanding a one percent tax—that’s billions of dollars every day that can be well spent.”

Some people are proposing a tax rate of ten percent. “You know, one percent is so reasonable that no one can be against it. Even the Pope has said he supports such a tax.” He laughs. “Once the one percent is accepted, and people realise concessions are being made, the door is wide open for more. Just wait and see.” [RNW.com]

What do you think?

This video has rolled around the interwebs since the end of November, so you may have already seen it. Although it got buried by the media, like nearly everything Ron Paul does, so maybe you haven’t. While you probably caught the video of some 99 percenters accosting Michelle Bachman (which was hilarious) you might have missed this one of occupy protesters having a go at Dr. Paul.

After a solid “Mic check” and a short declaration from protesters about the ills of the one percent, Ron Paul stepped up to the podium and returned a cheerful, “Do you feel better?”

He then goes on to let protesters know that he’s been rallying against the 1% since they were just a twinkle in their parent’s eyes. And Paul has been. While you were going to high school, this guy was building a voting record that has been anti-fed, anti-war and anti-war-on-drugs. He’s been doing this for over thirty years, so this means you classes 1978-2011. Maybe it’s just me, but he kinda sounds like our guy.

Occupiers, this is what I’m here to ask you… What about Ron Paul? Sure, he got roped into being aligned with the tea party, but he admits that those people kinda freak him out. Okay, so he’s running on the republican ticket, but are we really so attached to those labels that we can’t see that Paul is a different kind of politician altogether.

This is not to say that I”m ready to hop on Paul’s bandwagon, but you’d have to completely ignore the man in order to miss the fact that he’s not like anyone else running for president these days. And that’s exactly what the media’s doing to Ron Paul. He’s getting a straight up cold shoulder. Remember when they did that to the occupy movement? Perhaps we have more in common with Ron Paul then we think.

Sure, his ideas are mainly theoretical. We haven’t seen a libertarian society in centuries. But what’s wrong with a little experimenting. We’re the first ones to prattle on about our broken system, so why are we so adverse to throwing it out. Better yet, Paul isn’t asking us to throw it out. He wants us to recycle it and make it something new, by the people, for the people… You know. He’s really into that whole constitution thing.

So what do you think about Ron Paul? Would you be willing to give him a shot at breaking down the system?

Black Friday is traditionally one of the biggest days for keeping consumerism alive in America. The day after we give thanks for what we have, is traditionally the day when we set out to buy more. It’s an interesting contrast, one that truly allows us to forget about thankfulness and gratitude and strive for more… and more… and more.

What does Black Friday mean this year? Many Americans are beginning to align with the notion that corporations and conglomerates are consuming our democracy (see: Pizza is a vegetable now). Many Americans are beyond strapped for cash. They’re unemployed and fighting tooth and nail over the limited jobs available. Many Americans are standing up against greed and standing up for a sense of togetherness and love.

On the other hand, many, many, many Americans just don’t care. That’s not even to say that they don’t care. It seems that most people are beginning to realize that we’re all in this boat together. But they don’t want to buck their holiday gift giving tradition. They see today as a way to save money and get cost effective gifts for their loved ones. It’s either shop now and save money, or shop later and spend the money then. Most people don’t see another alternative.

So it’s no surprise that this year’s Black Friday is pegged to be the most profitable in history, raking in $27 billion in the first 24 hours. Don’t worry. When your parents spend the rest of your college fund on tablets, you can always apply for free scholarships. Occupy groups around the country are boycotting Black Friday shopping and staging sit-ins around popular corporate retailers who traditionally bank on this holiday. The message on this years Black Friday from the occupy movement is “Love is Free.”

They’re calling it Buy Nothing Day and instead are setting up things like Real Free Markets and promoting Small Business Saturday, where shoppers are encouraged to support their local economy the day after Black Friday.

Did you venture out on Black Friday? Did you protest or did you hit the retailers to buy gifts?