Product Plug: Ugly Things #32...and what you can do to stop the Internet Blacklist Bill

OK, I'll start this announcement out by addressing the more pleasant of the two topics. I'm pleased to tell you that my definitive historical piece (written under my print media nom de plume) on 1960s-early 1970s downstate Illinois rock legends the Finchley Boys is one of the articles featured in issue #32 of Ugly Things magazine. Check it out. And as usual, there's loads of other great reading material in Mike Stax's labor of love.

"DUDE, THE CAMERA'S THAT WAY!" - FINCHLEY BOYS AT THE "CHANCES R"
CLUB, CIRCA 1966 - CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: JIM COLE, GLENN CRONKHITE,
MARK WARWICK, GEORGE FABER, STEVE DYSON, & LARRY "TABE" TABELING

FINCHLEY BOYS MK. II, CIRCA 1968 - L TO R: J. MICHAEL
POWERS, TABE, GEORGE FABER, & GARRETT OOSTDYK

On a more serious note, we here in the United States are once again under serious threat from corporations and the lapdog politicians at their beck and call. This time they want to curtail the information that people can post on the internet. The Protect IP Act (aka the Internet Blacklist Bill) is currently being considered by Congress. The bloated entertainment industry, which does their part in providing the bread and circuses that help keep Americans from thinking about more important matters, wants to have the unchecked ability to censor anything that they claim infringes on their so-called intellectual property rights. Whatever legitimate claims they might have, it's another piece of legislation that throws out the baby with the bathwater since it would essentially give them the power to control how people communicate, thus raising serious issues about violating our cherished freedom of speech. This blog is supposed to be a refuge from unsavory things like politics, so I'm not going to dwell on this depressing subject any further other than to encourage all of you to contact your Representatives and Senators, and tell them to vote against this totalitarian bill.

Read more about what you can do: HERE.

Also, take five minutes to watch this video to learn the pertinent details:

PROTECT IP Act Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.