Billoblog ®

I’m not going dark today like the big boys – I write so little now that the distinction would be academic.  However, it’s important to be aware of the assault on our liberties constructed  by the bought-and-paid-for representatives of Hollywood and Big Music.  It’s bipartisan — the author of the despicable SOPA act is a Republican, one of the co-sponsors of PIPA is, unfortunately, one of my own Democrat Senators (Kay Hagan) who is working out her obligation for the six figures Hollywood gave to her.  The biggest shill for the anti-freedom legislation is former Democrat Dodd.  It’s pathetic.

This is not the first, nor the last, such assaullt.  Many of the sponsors of these bills are the “usual suspects” in the assault on liberty.  Remember when Orin Hatch (R-UT) wanted to force computers to have a Hollywood-controlled “kill switch” and give Hollywood the right to hack into, compromise, and inspect every computer owned by every citizen in the country without any warrant or protection?  ‘ That’s the kind of people we are talking about here.

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The tradition of the religion of peace continues, extending the grand tradition previously noted.

Presidents in uniform!

Copied from Ace of Spades

The recent list is here.

And, of course, we can thank Obama for abandoning the Iraqi Christians.  Way to go!  Apparently it’s not just “God damn America, but it’s God damn Christians everywhere.”  What a disaster.

Tradition is a wonderful thing.

Atheists get in the spirit too, with their particular version of tolerance.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
They lived in a land of shadows,
but now light is shining on them.
You have given them great joy,Lord;
you have made them happy.
They rejoice in what you have done,
as people rejoice when they harvest grain
or when they divide captured wealth.
For you have broken the yoke that burdened them
and the rod that beat their shoulders.
You have defeated the nation
that oppressed and exploited your people,
just as you defeated the army of Midian long ago.
The boots of the invading army
and all their bloodstained clothing
will be destroyed by fire.
A child is born to us!
A son is given to us!
And he will be our ruler.
He will be called,
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9 (Good News Translation)

GoDaddy, the large domain name registrar, has come out in support of the SOPA internet censorship bill.  Those who have domains registered with GoDaddy who are appalled at this may want to switch to other providers.  A discussion of GoDaddy’s support of the censorship bill and a list of options of alternative providers can be found here and here.  Lifehacker has produced a “GoDaddy abandonment guide” for those who do not want to pay to support censorship.

I have had a number of domains with them, and will start moving them this weekend.  moved them today.

UPDATE:

Well, that didn’t take long…

Also, it seems that the bill sponsors weren’t entirely truthful in their list of supporters. What a surprise.

People in NC should be aware that Democrat Senator Kay Hagan has come out as a co-sponsor of the internet censorship bill “Protect IP Act” or PIPA, the Senate version of the infamous SOPA bill in the House.  Both of these attempt to institute Chinese-type controls on internet speech in the US at the behest of Hollywood and the recording industry.  I guess basic liberty is worth less to her than $171,900.   To  see one discussion of its implications, see here.  To see how rules like this are used for control of political speech (even though politicians say they would *never* do something like this) see here.

If you live in NC, send Sen Hagan a note and let her know that a free people deserve free speech.

So far it’s not clear where Republican Senator Richard Burr of NC stands.  However, it would not be a bad idea to let him know one’s opinion about this, either.

My Congressman, Republican Walter Jones, responded to email regarding SOPA that did not condemn the legislation.  Instead it said that he was not a fan of bigger government, nor of government intervention in the internet, but wanted to see the bill that came out of Committee before planting a flag.

I’ve been a satellite radio subscriber for some time, starting with XM, and I always enjoyed the Christmas channels at this time of the year. Now that the merger has happened and it’s SiriusXM, I’ve noticed that while there are actually more “Holiday” channels — four or five — there seem to be *no* channels that play traditional Christmas Carols. I’ve been listening avidly, and have yet to hear “Joy to the World,” “The First Noel,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” or any of the old religious favorites. The “Traditional” channel just plays a hundred variants of “Winter Wonderland,” and the “Country Christmas” channel plays “Santa got run over by a reindeer” over and over again.

Please. I understand that there are plenty of bigots around who hate Christianity so much that their head explodes if they hear the name “Jesus” in a Christmas Carol. And if those people hate the idea of Jesus so much, then it’s fine that SiriusXM has stations that will only play songs that ignore the birth of Christ. But is their hatred so great that the mere existence of a channel that plays traditional Christmas hymns will set them off, even if there are four others that ban His name?

I don’t know, but it seems to me that if SiriusXM can have four or five “Holiday” channels, maybe one of them might play some of the old favorites. Perhaps those of us who are Christians should write SiriusXM and suggest it for next year. It annoys me to pay for satellite radio, but have to go to local broadcast to hear “Joy to the World.”

Photograph by Oleg Volk and from his gallery.