Why SOPA Is Stupid

Good morning, blog readers o’ mine.

I wanted to bring to your attention something that really kinda sucks.

No, not that.

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It’s the Stop Online Piracy Act, also known as SOPA. Also known as the “Let’s Just Make The Internet Lame” Act.

Today, major websites like Wikipedia, Reddit, and Google, are blacking out in protest of the act that allows any government or copyright holders to obtain court orders they suspect of copyright infringement.

That’s right, all they have to do is suspect it.

Where did Google go!?

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I’m not going to try to explain it, partially because a friend of mine, Ryan, wrote one of the most straightforward explanations I’ve read so far. I cannot hope to compete with it. It’s long, but I really do encourage you to take a few minutes to read it.

If you don’t have a lot of time, let me quote my favorite part here:

“Basically, if SOPA were to pass and I were to post a link to a YouTube video of, say, The Humpty Dance I would be committing a felony. In the eyes of the courts, it’d be a crime on par with arson, kidnapping, murder, or rape.

Just to reiterate, if SOPA were to pass and I would post that link to The Humpty Dance:

* I’d be guilty of a felony for linking to that video.

* ZWR [Zoo With Roy] would be liable because he owns the site on which it was posted and as such be guilty of a felony and the copyright holder would instantly be allowed to shut down the site permanently.

* The company that hosts ZWR’s webservers is guilty of a felony for hosting the site.

* The guy that uploaded it to YouTube would have committed a felony by uploading it.

* YouTube is guilty of a felony for hosting it and/or not preventing it from being uploaded in the first place and, as such, could be shut down permanently.

* If ZWR were tweet the link to this post, Twitter would also be guilty of a felony and could also be shut-down because they (inadvertently) linked to this post.”

Blank stare.

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So please, sign a petition, write a letter or email, or give your representative a call. Tell them you don’t like SOPA. Tell them you don’t want to be charged for sharing a link. Tell them you want to continue laughing at humorous Photoshops.

My first, and very worst, Why'd You Eat That? Photoshop. It's Buffy the Vampire Slayer + Scrapple. I'm embarrassed.

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And check out this infographic. It’s a good one.

Let’s do this, guys.

Keep eating, asking, and petitioning so I can keep doing my thing, my friends.

Esther

Day 25: The Christmas Bird (Part the Second)

Welcome to Part the Second of The Christmas Bird! This sort of accidentally ended up being the history of the turkey. It’s because I’m like sooooooooo thorough omg.

I am hungry right now and this looks delicious.

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The wild turkey, native to Mexico and Central America, was nothing like the bird we know today. They were incredibly intelligent, brightly colored, and lived in flocks. Certain American Indian tribes, like the Zuni and Sioux, connected the turkey to the sun the same way early Europeans did with the goose. In one early Zuni legend it is said that the turkey, in an effort to raise the sun, burned his head feathers off, and that is why the turkey is bald. The turkey is associated with crops and their feathers were used in clothing and rituals. Later, European immigrants brought their custom of using the wishbone of the turkey to predict events to America.

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Day 25: The Christmas Bird (Part the First)

NOTE: While I had originally intended for this to be one post, I’ve decided to make it two due to extreme length. I’ll put the bibliography in Part the Second. Enjoy.

This year I went to my first real Christmas party. There was food and drink and games and even a little bit of awkwardness. We were playing Christmas trivia and one of the questions was “What is the traditional American Christmas dinner?” I, in my infinite food history genius, knew at once the answer was turkey. Which obviously it was. However, nearly all of the 20 or so people at the party insisted that the traditional meal was ham.

I did not know that Christmas ham included pineapple and maraschino cherries. On a related note, I've never had Hawaiian pizza.

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Uuuuh, no you’re all wrong, I’m right, don’t argue with me because I am a food history virtuoso.

Omigosh I'm like sooooo totally humble you guys!

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Day 24: Cookies for Santa

We all know how it goes. Leave cookies out for Santa, go to sleep, Santa eats cookies, get presents.

There BETTER be an Easy Bake Oven in that bag.

It’s a sure-fire way to make sure your parents get – I MEAN Santa stays fat.

Santa would never go on a diet.

Day 23: Babingka & Puto Bumbong

Onward and downward, my friends.

Like southward downward.

Today let’s take a peek at a Filipino Christmas custom, two desserts called bibingka and puto bumbong.

Puto Bumbong (left) and Bibingka (right).

Day 22: Sugarplums

Everyone knows sugarplums. They’re those little….err…what are they? They’re like…plums rolled in sugar?

Or fairies, right? They’re fairies that rule the Land of Sweets and do ballet during Christmas……….

IT'S A TINY SUGAR-PLUM FAIRY!!

Right?

Not really.

Modern sugarplum. I'll tell you later.

Day 21: Stollen

Believe it or not, I have another fruitcake type food item to tell you about.

Fruitcake.

Seriously, fruit was like the most coveted Christmas item way back when.

This is my most coveted Christmas fruit.

Stollen is a German specialty eaten at Christmas that’s related to panettone, fruitcake, King cake, babka, and dreikonigsbrot. All these cakes were developed in medieval times and were reserved for the holidays because they were expensive to make. The most common and most famous stollen are from Dresden, Germany.