PROTEST
Protesting is so 2011, but that doesn't stop Wikipedia from blacking out their entire English-language site today to protest two pieces of proposed US legislation. Sue Gardner, Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director posted an open letter to the public on Monday claiming that these laws "would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including Wikipedia."
The first is circulating around the House of Representatives and is called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Basically, the goal of this bill is to restrict access to sites hosting pirated content and therefore decrease copyright infringement on the web. It's hard for US companies to target our favorite foreign sites that host illegal movies, tv shows and music. So, SOPA aims to discourage advertisers from placing ads on the sites as well as flag certain links so they don't appear in search engine results on sites like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Opponents of the bill say it's essentially promoting censorship and becomes a slippery slope if we free-speech-loving Americans are denied access to even a single site on the web.
The Brooklyn-born Jay-Z surely feels an urge to support his fellow New Yorkers in occupying Wall Street. Or perhaps the mogul simply sees the several-month struggle as a chance to promote his Rocawear duds, just one brand among the bevy of businesses he owns. Either way, the rapper was seen rocking his newest tee in the above twitpic, which uses some red Sharpie to turn the now-household phrase into "Occupy All Streets." That's right, if Jay-Z has his way, not even the small towns of Idaho are safe from the movement.
Of all the things Detriot Lions fans have to be thankful for (A 6-2 record, an inspiring head coach, the best wide receiver in football), being graced by the bro-rock of Canada's Nickelback on their annual Thanksgiving showdown is not one of them. Lions faithful are repulsed, in fact. When your team escapes being the running joke of the NFL after essentially decades, you deserve a little something better, right?
"Peaceful" corporate zombies took to Wall Street yesterday for the on-going Occupy Wall Street protest. Activists dressed as "money-eating" zombie banksters represented what one protester called "a metaphor and symbol of corporate greed." Five arrests were made including two zombies. One thing is certain, these protesters are perhaps a little more media savvy than we realized. Between the big Radiohead hoax and zombies, they sure know how to hit on what's popular and get attention.
Ian’s, a popular pizza place on State Street, near the State Capitol in Madison, very generously gave away 1,057 free slices in their store for those who have congregated outside in a rally against a proposed bill by Republican Governor Scott Walker that would reduce public employee union bargaining power. They delivered 300 pizzas to the Capitol itself and were a huge help to the diligent crowd gathered all day in solidarity.
Donations began pouring in first, from a mother in Wisconsin whose daughter had told her of the people gathered on the streets outside their restaurant. Soon, however, workers at Ian’s began receiving more calls than they could imagine. One of the first unexpected calls came from Turkey. Soon, to everyone’s surprise, they were getting donations from all around the world.
The 69 Eyes - Back In Blood
10th studio album from the Finnish Goth- rock band, released by The End Records in the US.
Aluminum Babe - 17
New York City electro garage rock band releases a follow up to their 2007 record Smoke in Chinatown.
Big Star - Keep An Eye On The Sky [Box Set]
Big Star's fan base has been growing long after the band recorded the music for this set. It Spans the Memphis band’s records between 1968 and 1975, released by Rhino Records.
The Black Dahlia Murder - Deflorate
The 4th studio release from the American death metal band named after the famous unsloved murder.
Butterfly Boucher - Scary Fragile
The second album from the Australian singer-songwriter. She recorded almost all the instruments for this album herself.
Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats - Meet the Meatbats
First album from drummer Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s with his new funk-rock band.
DD/MM/YYYY - Black Square
The awkwardly named band’s 5th album is a genre bending rock experiment.
Drake - So Far Gone
New EP from the Canadian actor and recording artist takes off from the success of his mixtape of the same name.
The Dynamites - Burn It Down
Retro soul band inspired by 60's soul and blues legends sounds new with enigmatic frontman Charlie Walker.
Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic
The metal-core band is releasing their first album under Epitaph.
There has been a further strike, this time quite literally, against restaurants trying to shaft their employees. This time, the accusatory finger belongs to one Jian Kui Chen, a former employee of Sushi on Hudson, where he worked as a delivery man getting paid $3 an hour and working 70 hours a week. When Chen confronted his employer in early 2008, demanding that his taxes be reported so that he could receive minimum wage and overtime, Chen was promptly fired.
After filing a charge with the labor department, Chen was rehired but, in retaliation, Sushi on Hudson limited his working hours to a maximum of 40 hours per week mostly during hours where delivery business is slow. Sunday afternoon, Chen headed a strike outside the restaurant where, accompanied by numerous angry workers, he handed out fliers requesting a boycott of the restaurant. [eater]
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