Guest Writer: Ryan Saunders "Super Bowl XLVI 2012"

Tomorrow millions of people will gather around TVs all over America to watch commercials and eat copious amounts of food.  There will also be a football game being played, the Super Bowl to be exact.  For many people this will be the first and only game they watch this season.   If you are one of these people who are attending a party but haven’t been paying attention to football this year and aren’t sure of things like which Manning brother will be playing, it’s the younger one Eli, or aren’t sure why Chris Canty’s helmet looks like supervillian then this article is for you.  I will briefly cover the teams and issues to get you caught up to speed and surprise the football enthusiast at your party with you knowledge.

First up are the Giants.  They have won 4 games in a row and are playing great football right now.  They had to win the last game of the regular season against the Dallas Cowboys just to get into the playoffs and now, playing every playoff game on the road, have reached the Super Bowl.  They have done this with a combination of a great defensive front four, arguably the best in football, and brilliant play from quarterback Eli Manning.  The defensive has amassed 9 sacks in 3 games and constantly harried the opponents’ qbs.  Eli Manning is playing the best ball of his career and has been brilliant on 3rd down.  The Giants are a staggering 44% on third down and Eli Manning has a Quarterback Rating of 103.1 in the postseason. 

The Patriots have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.  That is all you really need to know.  They are the all-time winningest quarterback – head coach combo in NFL history.  They have won 3 Super Bowl’s together.  Bill Belichick is one of the greatest football minds ever; he is constantly getting guys that will play hard in his system and winning games with them.  This year his new offensive wrinkle is his two dynamic tight ends, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.  These two guys have given New England a unique and almost unstoppable offense this year.  The Patriots are averaging 419.5 yards of offense per playoff game this year, 2nd only to the New Orleans Saints and during the regular season averaged 428 yards per game, also 2nd to the Saints.

In order for the Giants to win tomorrow they must find a way to take away either Aaron Hernandez of Rob Gronkowski.  If they can find a way to take away one or both of these dynamic New England tight ends they can win.  Rob Gronkowski injured his ankle two weeks ago in the AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.  He claims that he will be fine but it will be impossible to know for sure until game time.  They can do this by putting pressure on Tom Brady and making him make poor decisions.  It will be difficult to fluster him but the Giants front four are capable of it.  For the Patriots to win, they must stop Eli Manning on 3rd down.  If they can’t get the Giants offense off the field then Tom Brady can’t score.  They can do this by forcing the Giants into 3rd and long situations and taking away his favorite targets of Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.

In Super Bowl XVII these same two teams battled to an epic conclusion.  The undefeated New England Patriots fell to the scrappy underdog New York Giants.  An incredible play by Eli Manning and David Tyree helped to make the game one of the most memorable in Super Bowl history.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be just as epic.  This year’s game has the ability to be just as good.  The teams are very evenly matched and the Patriots are looking for revenge for Super Bowl XVII, the only Super Bowl Brady and Belichick have lost.  Seeing as how it is impossible to write or talk about the Super Bowl without making a prediction I will make mine here: New England Patriots 38 New York Giants 35.

  -- Ryan Saunders is a graduate student at Baylor University's illustrious Truett Seminary , he graduated from Gardner-Webb, he is aspiring to graduate from Truett with an MDiV with a concentration in sports ministry, his home town is Durham, North Carolina.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We hope you have a fantastic Super Bowl Sunday!

Love from your humble blogger,

The Importance Of Personal Growth: Heroes

      There is a difference between heroes or people we look up to and role models or mentors, at least for the sake of this entry. Heroes are people we look up to that we do not have interactions with, and probably will never do so, this could be a movie celebrity, a music artist, a sports icon and so on. We all have either a few heroes we love or just one person we idolize and follow. This does not mean you are a stalker of said person, it just means that that person is somewhat of hero to you, he or she is someone you resonate with or someone that inspires you to be better, and thus there is an inherent importance of caution when deciding who will be the heroes in your life.

      There are good celebrities and bad celebrities, there are those that we should look up to and those that are headed down a road of destruction that we should stay away from. The issue here is advertising, some celebs are horrible people lacking in good character and function more on selfish actions than anything else, we've seen plenty of those throughout the years, though through TV shows and advertising some celebs that should never be looked up to are regarded as great role models. We aren't saying here that Kim Kardashian is a horrible human being, we are also not saying that she never does anything good, what we are saying is that one should think twice before modeling their lives after hers, that Kim is not the best role model in life, we could include a series of other actors/actress, musicians and so on that one should not look up to like Lindsay Lohan for instance, though Lohan went off the deep end the example stands, there are plenty of good people to look up to and plenty of bad, be careful who you idolize for they will influence your life.

    Though there are plenty of bad people out there, there are some actresses that continually blow our minds with how awesome they are. There are so many good examples here, Natalie Portman is a clear choice, here we have a good actress who doesn't do the whole paparazzi thing and became amazing with her rap on SNL, she won our hearts that day. She is not alone though, there are plenty of other actresses that are regarded as not only good actresses but good human beings like Julia Roberts, or Emma Stone, both of which have been in amazing movies and have had the opportunity to be horrible human beings but have chosen the higher ground and seek to portray good images of themselves, here are people worth looking up to.

   The guys are a lot funnier here, only because their cases are so obvious that only a few people really miss the point here. An example of a bad hero "The Situation" from Jersey Shore, some people actually look up to the guy and every time they do our hearts die a little of sadness, we're talking a guy so ridiculous that Abercrombie and Fitch actually paid him not to wear their clothing on the show, yeah that happened. There are really cool guys out there though, this is also a solid list like Ryan Gosling, Paul Rudd, Ryan Reynolds, and so forth, though our favorite has to be Hugh Jackman. Hugh is not only an awesome actor he is also known for being best friends with his limo drivers, security and so forth, the guy just drips with charisma, he's a man worth looking up to, here is a guy that actually is attempting to live a good life.

    There are those though that inspire us with their words, either written or spoken words, these people come forth and establish an example of what it looks like to attempt to live a life worth re-living. Here we cannot help but mention C. S. Lewis who authored the great Narnia series, here was a good man who gave us great works of fiction and also great works on life. There are so many authors we could bring up here, one notable author who happens to be looked up to within almost all mediums of entertainment is Neil Gaiman. Neil is the author of one of the most famous comic book series out there called "The Sandman", he was also the author of books like "Coraline", "Stardust" which were both made to movies, and now there is talk about his book "American Gods" to be made into a HBO show, which is of course due to his brilliance as a writer but his character played a huge role into him getting as far as he did. Neil is a rare breed in the sense that few people do not like him, everyone that has worked with him love him, thus here is a man worth looking up to, here is a true hero.

NPH is the man, 'nough said

     One might think that who your heroes are does not influence how you behave, but this is not the case, a simple truth in life is that you will always be influenced by the people you look up to, its an inescapable truth, one you should know, for it is important to discern who those heroes are and if they are worthy of being called that, analyze your own life and seek people of good character, thus by doing so you will grow in a positive fashion. To sum up the series, one should always be careful when choosing a mentor, the friends you surround yourself with, and the heroes you look up to, choose people of good character and you will grow to possess good character, so choose wisely.

  We hope you have a great weekend, be safe, and rest well,

The Importance Of Personal Growth: Close Friends

    There is an illusion permeating school hallways and college campuses that you cannot choose who you become friends with, thus indoctrinating the populace as to who can be friends with who, who you are supposed to be close with and who you are to shun and so forth. There is some truth in this statement, in that you cannot choose specific people to be friends with, as in you can't force people to like you and want to be around you, but you can choose a type of friend or people group that you would like to be around, thus placing the responsibility of the friends you choose on you and not on "how the universe works". With this being the case there are characteristics of good friends, these are the characteristics you should seek after and thus by doing so surround yourself with people that will help you grow:

   A Dose Of Reality

     You cannot be friends with everyone, even if you think this is the case we assure you that there is someone out there that does not like you, its a good thing to understand this for by doing so you come appreciate the people you have around you more. In this same light there are groups where you will not fit in, we are not people conditioned to fit with everyone, thus when choosing a group remember that you should seek those people that are similar to you or have similar interests. If you find yourself in a group where you have nothing in common with everyone and are the one being singled out, then there is a good chance you are part of the wrong group of friends. Don't fret though, there are many groups that fit you, this is another truth, there isn't just one group that fits you there are many groups that you may choose from and learn from, for everyone has multiple interests, generally it takes 3-4 interests to get a friendship going, not always but its a good scale to follow.

    Honesty

    If your friends cannot be honest with one another then you are not truly friends, this is a core definition within friendship, the ability to be honest to each other and still retain the friendship. This is honesty with love, not hate, so caring for a friend, be it a form of encouragement, sympathy or simply worry, honesty is an important aspect of good friendship. Honesty is a crucial part of being able to be yourself, thus if you cannot be honest among your friends then that means that you cannot be your full self among your friends, and if you can't be yourself around your friends generally there is something wrong there. Honesty does not mean being harsh or mean to those around you, honesty does not mean revealing all of your thoughts, though honesty is an important aspect of friendship one must always remember that complete honesty is brutality, if you know a comment will hurt someones feelings then don't say it and be a good friend. Honesty is a tough thing to find, so when you do find it make sure to keep those people close for they are worth more than gold.

   Loyalty

    There is no point being friends with people that cannot be loyal to one another, it undermines everything that a friendship is to its core. When you seek a close group of friends you seek to find a group of people that you can be honest with, that you can share the best and worst of yourself with, a group that will love you regardless of what may take place, and thus loyalty becomes one of the most important aspects of friendship. This is also one of the most rare qualities found within people, a harsh reality is that the majority of people out there will always put themselves before you, that you at some point will be betrayed by someone close to you, this is an experience in life that all go through, thus further highlighting the importance of not only seeking loyal friends but acknowledging those friends, holding them close, for loyal friends are worth more than every gem in the world. 

     Superiority

    This is the most overlooked aspect when choosing friends, and no we don't mean you be superior to your friends, we mean finding people that are superior to you, people that have qualities you lack, that have strengths you do not possess, and surround yourself with these people. By surrounding yourself with people that are better than you you will grow and mature in ways that you would not have been able to had you chosen a group of people that are exactly like you or are inferior to you. This superiority can mean different things, it can be a skill, a social presence, a good student, someone that has more drive than you, or someone that is more patient than you, learn from all of these people and you will grow. When it comes to how you will face the world you do not grow the most through a mentor, or a through teachers, the majority of your education is passed down to you through your friendships, these are the people that will shape you and help you evolve, thus seek after people that are better than you.

   Character

     Due to the fact that you will be shaped by the people you surround yourself with, it is important for you to seek after people that have good character. A truth of this world is that you cannot escape being influenced by those around you, another truth is that it is easier to destroy than to build, it is easier to do that which is wrong than to persevere and seek after that which is right. Thus be wise when choosing friends for it will matter when it comes to your personal growth, surround yourself with people of good character and you will grow in a positive light, surround yourself with people that lack character and you might destroy all chances of ever being able to grow. Personal growth is important, not only for your career but also when it comes to living a good life, a life worth re-living, thus seek after those friends that will be truthful with you while being loyal at all times, thus aiding in your growth with wisdom, and helping you evolve in a positive light.

    We hope you surround yourself with great friends that will love you till the end.

Love from your humble blogger,

The Importance Of Personal Growth: Mentoring

   You are not perfect, no one is, this is one of many facts of life that you must accept. Another fact to remember is that you will never be perfect, no matter how hard you try you will never be without fault, these are things one must know prior to facing the world head on, and by accepting this you will have taken step one to your journey of personal growth. Though being true that perfection is unattainable, it is not true that you cannot become a better person and grow to impact the world in a positive light, we should always be striving to become better men and women, striving to grow and mature, specially in your relationship with others and yourself, only through constant growth can one truly live a life worth re-living.

    Mentoring might sound strange, this is not a concept we are grown up with within our culture. We have grown up in a time where individualism is valued above all else, and your personal accomplishments done by your own strengths are recognized highly, though this is a truth and one we should value, there is another truth permeating this phenomenon and that is that the majority of people cannot succeed within an individualistic world, and even those that do, do not do so to the extent that they could for they were not sharpened by a mentor.

      This might shock you but all great athletes have a coach, and all of the genius scientists of our time and past have all had teachers that at some point were smarter than them, shocking I know. The point here is that these people found value within those that sought to teach them and learned as much as they could from that person before proceeding to the next level in their career, this is called wisdom, learning from others so that you might yourself grow. A person can only have one set of experiences, by learning from others you are combining different experience sets and thus molding, shaping, evolving your own person by the good you find in others.  

     No matter what field you are aiming towards, be it competitive dance, be it sports, be it engineering, or teaching know that there is always someone better than you, this will forever be the case. So find those people, find the people that are better than you in all the ways you are weak and learn from them, allow yourself to be mentored by them, and by doing so you will evolve. You must place yourself bellow that person and create a teachable spirit within yourself, placing your pride aside in order to soak up as much knowledge and experience from that person as possible. This is a crucial step in personal growth.

    Know this, if you do not seek out others in order to grow, then others will seek out those mentors and you will be left behind, no one can succeed alone, it doesn't matter what you were taught about individualism, no one can succeed alone. There is always room for growth, always room for improvement, thus if you seek to be the best, if you seek to live your dream, then find those mentors and learn as much as you can.

     There is another key element in mentoring which you must remember and that is character, not your character, but the character of your mentor. When seeking a mentor one must always find someone who is better than you in order for you to grow, this also applies to character, to wisdom, kindness, integrity, and honesty, if your mentor is lacking good character you will end up picking up some of those negative character traits yourself, this cannot be avoided, thus seek after mentors that have good character, and in doing so you will grow to be better than you are now.

     Personal growth for some reason is not something usually talked about, we talk about the shallow ways by which you may grow in beauty or power within the world, but we do not talk about character that much. In everything that you do character will be important, if you are a likeable person you will go further than an annoying person, if you are teachable then mentors will instruct you further than if you retain your pride, if you are kind to those around you, you will always have friends to count on, these are facts of life. Thus work not only on your personal craft but also on your own character.

     We hope you had a great weekend and we pray that this week will be one filled with joy,

Love from your humble blogger,

2012: Sequels and Remakes Strike Again *Take 2*

    Sequels and remakes aren't all bad, there are some of them that still capture our hearts and give us hope for the future of sequels. So far this year we have received a solid list of announced titles, one we are all looking for I'm sure, with titles like "The Hunger Games" and "Chronicle" coming out how can one not be excited about what this year will bring. A side note, we will not be covering Twilight within this article, though we are about to be faced with the fourth movie this series does not apply as a sequel, for its a series, the books were written before the movies began to be released and the whole story was already developed, thus its not a sequel but a story told in parts, like "Lord Of The Rings" was a story told in parts, anyway, here we go:

   Superhero Movie Extravaganza

     We are being bombarded with superhero movies this year, some are original like "Chronicle" which comes out next week, but the majority of them are sequels or remakes. Let's start at the top shall we, the "Avengers" a sequel of sorts, here we have a combination of various other movies puzzled together over a period of time and thus creating a sequel, an elaborate sequel but a sequel none-of-the-less, this movie will be amazing, or so we hope. "Batman Rises" this actually happens to be the sequel of a remake, yeah Nolan rebooted the Batman series brilliantly, and thus we look forward to his conclusion this year, but don't forget that this was a sequel of a remake done well, a rarity. Finally we reach our webbed hero who desperately need a reboot after Toby did the whole emo Venom thing, "The Amazing Spider-man" will be coming out this year, complete with web shooters, Gwen Stacy and the Lizard as a villain, this movie looks legit, guess they figured that if the new ideas were bombing they should go back to the roots to get inspiration, a good move over all we think. 

   MIB III

    We have not had a "Men In Black" movie in a long time, the first one came out in 1997 just so you get the picture, yeah it's an old series but its a good one for sure. This is the role we all loved Will Smith playing in, the role that complimented movies like "Independence Day" and "Enemy Of The State" so well, and now we have old Will back doing another MIB, we can't wait. The preview looks really good and its being surrounded by a good cast which always helps, as long as they keep it simple like the first one and avoid tons of twists like the second one we feel that this movie will come out great. The great thing about the MIB series is the element of humor combined with action, we haven't had a good action movie that was centered around humor for a while, not slap-stick humor but intelligent humor, like the ones found in the first installment of this series. We can't wait for this movie, if you haven't seen the preview yet then do yourself a kindness and go watch it, it looks really good.

    Skyfall

   
     There was a time where we would receive a James Bond movie per year, those were good times, though we're ok with waiting two years for a Bond flick if Daniel Craig promises a repeat blockbuster performance he has shown us in the previous two Bond movies he has done, rather impressive really. One cannot help but be excited about "Skyfall" here we are seeing a complete evolution of the series taking into account our culture of today, our technology and so forth. Though many of us were skeptical about Daniel Craig being the new Bond we could not have braced ourselves for how awesome of a Bond he was, there were some minor quips with the last movie, like no gadgets, but that feels like a minor detail when you take into account the performance shown within the movie. One has only to watch some of the older Bond flicks to see how far we have come, truly a movie to look forward to.

      Oh The Brashness

   What year would be complete without some brash movies to entertain us along the way, this year we are being hit with the father of brashness, "Expendables 2". Before we even start talking about the movie let's review the cast: Liam Hemsworth, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris, Jet Li, Charisma Carpenter, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Scott Adkins, right, this movie perspires brashness to a level beyond understanding. There is one way that this movie could drive the nail home and that is if they had recruited Liam Neeson to this little brash party, surely that would have blown our minds even more so if they had included Steven Seagal to the cast as well, guess they are saving those and others for "Expendables 3", either way this movie is sure to be the brashest movie of the year, no way anyone could even compete.    

Would be the runner up for sure

    And there you have it, proof that not all sequels and remakes are a bad thing, so when you look at the upcoming movies list and begin to feel noxious by all the horrible sequels and remakes, remember that though those will cause us pain, that there are others out there that will bring us plenty of joy.  We also hope you liked the new look for the blog, we are growing more and more so thank you for your support.

  We hope you all had a fantastic week, and have a glorious weekend,

Love from your humble blogger,

2012: Sequels And Remakes Strike Again

    If you have been reading us for a while you know how we feel about sequels and remakes, 9/10 times sequels are wretched and disappointing, and though some remakes are good others are either remade too soon or they are done so while destroying the awesomeness of the original product. This year's movie list is no better than last year, though we have a lesser amount of sequels coming out this year movie theaters will still be hosting a plethora of sequels, remakes and sequels of remakes, some of those we are looking forward to, but these are the ones we are skeptic/worried/mortified about or disappointed with:

   Underworld: Awakening

    Underworld 4 just got released in theaters, and though the movie was enjoyable it was nothing new. Fans of the series will enjoy it and find it stimulating but for the most part there isn't anything in this movie that we haven't seen in the other three. This movie does beg the question though as of why would a fourth release be something that producers would ever feel like would be a good idea when the third one did so badly. I fear they thought that if only they added some good fighting sequences and added scenes of Kate Beckinsale looking hot that the movie would do well, and that's about all we get in this movie. What the fans wanted was a good story progression, a maturing of Kate's character, we longed for an evolution of the first two movies not a remake, hence this movie was a disappointment, but if you are a fan of the series you will still enjoy watching it, if nothing else just to get a little closure from the series, we give it a 7/10.

Ghost Rider 2

     Nicholas Cage needs to stop this, the amount of wretched movies he is in is astounding, and the fact that he releases one per year, sometimes two, is equally mortifying/astounding. Why they thought making a sequel to ghost rider was a good plan I have no idea about, even the comic book fans cringe when they see the preview, it's that bad. The whole thing makes no sense though, honestly, why would they ever think that this was a good idea, and Cage, how is he not tired of being in the same movie over and over again. Last year Cage released "Drive Angry" which basically was "Ghost Rider 1.5: Now He Drives A Car", meaning he has done three movies with the same premise that all require him to be the same character and all are horrible, yeah, one would imagine that he would learn at some point; that's too much to ask I guess.

Total Recall

     The original movie came out in 1990 and hosted a solid cast of Arnold, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin, Ronny Cox and so forth, it wasn't a fantastic movie but it was fun and had a great original feel to it, now 22 years later they decided to remake the movie with Colin Farrell, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale, Ethan Hawke and other great actors, which intrigues us but also worries us at the same time. The remake has an astounding cast of actors, a legit group that could stand up to the original cast, Farrell is no Arnold of course, though still it worries us when we see these remakes of movies that aren't even old enough to rent a car yet, it again begs the question of how young does a movie have to be for it to not be allowed to be remade? This is one of the remakes we are looking forward to, but at the same time we cannot help but be skeptical about, I guess we'll find out in August. 

Taken 2 "Taken again"

    Lol, that is not the subtitle though it should be, "she was taken once, now its their turn to be taken, this summer Liam Neeson is, Taken 2: Taken Again *insert explosions*", one cannot express how much we would die laughing if when the preview for this movie comes out it is said even slightly along those lines.  There cannot be any other reaction to the news of this sequel other than pure wholesome skepticism, we just hope they don't ruin the series completely, lets not forget that Liam has been in a few movies lately that were basically Taken 2, like "Unknown", the success of this movie was probably why the producers thought a sequel to Taken was a good idea, we sure are hopeful for something good, but at the same time cannot help but understand that no sequel to this movie could ever compare to the original and thus it will disappoint us, guess we'll find out soon enough.

   Wrath Of The Titans

    So here's a concept let's remake a movie, make it worse by removing all the great things about the original and then lets make a sequel to the remake by adding more explosions and big monsters to it, brilliant! No, not really brilliant, cringe worthy performance guys. The brashness contained within this movie is palpable, *deep movie announcer voice* "one man, one destiny, against all odds, against the gods, will kill every titan, this summer you will be blown away by this sequel of a remake, Wrath of the Titans: Maybe We Shouldn't Have Annoyed The Gods After All *explosion*".  There are very few redeeming factors to this movie, the story is horrible, the acting will be mediocre, the action sequences will be cool, the explosions will be fun, so bottom line is, this movie's brashness is the only redeeming factor saving it, smh.

  In order to be fair we will be mentioning all the good remakes and sequels coming out this year on our Friday post, this year does hold a few good surprises to look forward to, like MIB III.

   We hope your week has been going well, its one of em' slow weeks this one, so brace yourself and face it like a champ.

Love from your humble blogger,

SOPA/PIPA Vs The Internet

      There is something to be said about the power of the Internet, the ability that the Internet community has is paramount. From celebrity scandals to bringing injustice to justice the Internet community pulls through every time. Though this can also be a force for bad in the end the good out-weights the bad when it comes to defending people's rights and bringing those who prey on others to justice, this is the power of the Internet now has. It truly is amazing to see people come together to fight against a mutual threat, this is not something that could be a reality anywhere else except on the Internet, the numbers alone are astounding, but also the impact that the community has could not be imitated by anyone outside of the Internet, there is power in the web.

    There are many cases that illustrate this phenomenon for instance last week there was a hate crime that was video taped and put on the web, a few kids beating up on an Asian kid, the video was graphic and crude but it was put on the web. After seeing the video the web stood up in revolt for this act and sought to identify the boys in the video, this whole thing happened in a day, it took one day for the Internet to ID, send the info to the police and have them all arrested. Later on we came to find out that this was a retaliation beat down being delivered, for the Asian kid had previous gathered friends to beat down the other kids, though there is no proof of that thus the kid in the video getting beat up was not charged with anything, the other children and the girl holding the camera all got arrested though. This is an important case for two reasons, 1. we were talking about how racism is still around us so here it is (exhibit A) and 2. how we should be watchful of these situations, but also  2a. how people coming together to solve the issue got it resolved in a day. The Internet is a powerful thing.

   There was a more graphic case last year, one that brought the Internet to a full riot, so much so that even the 4chan guys jumped on this and brought this girl to justice. Last year there was a girl in Bosnia that decided that posting a video of her drowning puppies in a lake was a good idea, and said video made its way through various sites within the web. Needless to say people where outraged, the hate this girl received was palpable. No one knew who this girl was, no one knew where she lived, all they did was put out a man-hunt on her and it took two days, where talking two days time, for the Internet to not only find her and get the police to arrest her but also also her Facebook got hacked and spammed, all her online communities where shut down and she was brought to justice. This is a beautiful thing, the fact that people have found a medium to come together and fight for good, this was a case that brought tears to people's eyes, a true portrayal of hope, hope that we can still come together and fight for a common cause, but also it demonstrated the power present in the web.

    Last week Reddit organized a blackout for SOPA/PIPA that was adopted by many major online companies like Google, Huffington Post, Wikipedia, and even XKCD made a cartoon voicing how they are against the bill going through. From this protest Google attained a petition with over 7 million signatures, and awareness of the bill skyrocketed significantly. This protest in a sense highlights what protests will be like in the future, this singular protest day did a solid amount of damage to the bill, they lost various sponsors and its looking like it will definitely not pass. Thus again illustrating how powerful the Internet has become, showing us that we can all make a difference and through this medium we can all be a part of it, from the young to the old, to those that can get out of their house to those that are in bed rest, the Internet brings us all together as one.

     If for some crazy reason this bill goes through or other bills like it go through, we fear the war that might rise up. When the Internet has fought against people before it has been against individual people that had brought harm, but if a censor bill is passed then the Internet will be facing the government, thus possibly bringing about a war that no one wants. The players in this war come to mind, most hacker communities would rise up against it, specially the famous group Anonymous, Anonymous would have a field day with this whole thing and they have already issued a message of challenge against the bill so this does cause us to fear what this whole fiasco might bring about. If any censor bills goes through a user vs censor war would occur, one we should all not want.

      The point here is this, there is power within the Internet, we have seen that time and time again. When we talk about people rising up on the web we aren't talking about a small number but millions of people that when awakened could represent a significant fighting force. This is the predicament the people pushing this bill should be thinking about, it seems that they have forgotten what happened to Sony last year when they attacked one person, that was one person, this is the whole community being censored, the fiasco that could be brought about by this singular bill could be a scary thing. Thus those pushing this bill should remember that the people have a voice, and that people do fight for their rights, and with the Internet the fighting community becomes 10X larger.

      As Google said last week Internet piracy is something we should be fighting against, so the initial purposes of SOPA/PIPA are understood, but this is not the way to go about it. The abuse that can come from this bill is significant and thus why we are in retaliation against it. Here is Google's statement:

   "Fighting online piracy is important. The most effective way to shut down pirate websites is through targeted legislation that cuts off their funding. There’s no need to make American social networks, blogs and search engines censor the Internet or undermine the existing laws that have enabled the Web to thrive, creating millions of U.S. jobs.  Too much is at stake – please vote NO on PIPA and SOPA."

    We stand by Google and other companies that have risen up against this bill and the injustice it would bring, please do go and sign the petition at Google, here is a LINK to it. We encourage you to write to your congressman on the issue and continue to raise awareness to those that are not in the know. We look forward to seeing the Internet continue to grow and the community continue to band together to fight injustice.

In case you want more info on the bill in order to understand why this whole thing is a big deal, a YouTube user recently posted a very informative video, find the video HERE.

   We hope you had a fantastic weekend and may this week be a great one,

Love from your humble blogger,