Bilingual Distortion

Fight SOPA and stop online censorship! 

thedailywhat:

This Is Important, You Should Know About It of the Day: The despicable Internet Blacklist Bill — known as the “PROTECT IP Act” or S. 968 in the Senate and the “Stop Online Piracy Act” or H.R. 3261 in the House — has been discussed on TDW in the past, but crunch-time is upon us as Congress officially began holding hearings today on the most harmful Internet censorship legislation of our time.

An informative video on the bill’s many ills has been posted above, but, in brief, the legislation, if passed, would essentially hand the Internet over to corporations, allowing them to sue and shut down any website that so much as hosts a link to copyrighted material.

Internet Service Providers could be forced to block social media sites, search engines could be required to delete results, and startups could lose their funding — all on the whim of the copyright holder.

Perhaps most distressing of all, however, is the fact that this bill, in true Orwellian fashion, does nothing to prevent actual piracy. The only thing it will succeed in doing is turning the Internet into a dystopic plutocracy where people are no longer free to share ideas and be creative for fear of running afoul of Big Business.

Despite what some would have you believe, the hearings are offensively lopsided, with pro-SOPA voices far outweighing those opposed. A slew of tech companies including Google, Yahoo!, Mozilla, Twitter, and AOL, have undersigned a full-page ad in today’s New York Times opposing SOPA, but it’s doubtful their voices will be heard by those who need to hear it. 

That means it’s up to you to get this terrifying, jobs-killing, Internet-breaking bill off the table for good. Here are a few things you can do:

— Reach out to your representatives in congress. Despite what they might think, they work for you. Remind them of that by e-mailing them this form letter (good), or look them up and write them a personal, heartfelt letter (even better).

— Sign this petition, and also this one.

— Share this post and/or the video above. 

— Get the word out any way you can, because, soon, you may no longer be allowed to.

Lo Que Te Hace Grande by Vetusta Morla

The Spanish music industry is plagued with subpar Latin pop and neutered ‘Reggaetoneros’ but once in a while a band creeps up on the charts that is talented and original. Vetusta Morla certainly surprised me when I saw them in the Spotify charts. Their music is clearly influenced by the European shoegazing alternative scene but they have a much more humble demeanor. Plus, their video fits perfectly with the song. That’s always a good thing to see since nowadays you can even make a horror film out of a happy electropop song. Yeah, I’m talking about you LMFAO. 

Muerte en Hawaii by Calle 13

If you follow this blog, I’m sure you’re acquainted with Calle 13. This Jack-of-all-trades Latin urban duo always deliver awesome videos and I’ve posted a bunch of them. I could talk about the visual coolness of the video or I could blah blah blah. But honestly just watch the video. It’s bloody, sandy and features dolphins. 

1977 by Ana Tijoux 

If you’re familiar with Latin Alternative music you know Miss Ana Tijoux from her collaboration with Julieta Venegas in the song “Eres para mi”. This feisty Latin hip-hop lady now has two solo album with Nacional Records called 1977 and Elefant Mixtape. Personally I prefer La Mala Rodríguez but this Chilean-French MC is no joke. 

Regresa by Helado Negro

I just keep finding these weird Latin Alternative videos, courtesy of Club Fonograma. The song reminds me of something from Beck or Animal Collective with a hint of Gustavo Cerati thrown in the mix. 

If you’re not following my other Tumblr, Seriously Irrelevant, this is the kind of stuff you’re missing out. Unless when you follow me Tumblr makes you auto follow all my blogs. If that is the case… I guess play us off keyboard cat!