Why PIPA and SOPA  have to go

 

By Ernest Barteldes

 

For the last few days, I have been following the news on of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) bills supported by the entertainment industry that would force Internet suppliers and website owners like Google or Wikipedia to filter out foreign (or American) sites that infringed copyright laws – like, say, an independent musician singing a Beatles tune on Youtube.

Sure, the bills – at least in principle – have noble intentions: to protect moviemakers, songwriters and other creative individuals from having their work stolen and misused online. But given the breadth of the bills, the law would ultimately create censorship on the Internet for countless Americans and potentially for those abroad.

Say, for example, that I posted a video of my band playing “The Girl From Ipanema.” Just the presence of that clip would allow BMI (which administers Jobim’s music in the US) to not only remove the clip but shut down the entire website that broadcast the video in the first place. Such a move would make online phenomena like Justin Bieber never to be noticed (he was discovered after posting clips of himself doing covers of Beatles songs).

The bills would also force the sites to become an ‘online police’ that would filter unauthorized content. Now let’s say that Brazil’s O Globo is doing a live feed of Carnaval in Rio via its site – this could be interpreted as illegal by the international filters and then millions would be unable to see the parades online because the content is likely to lack some kind of Internet license.

Another example: Let’s say that WIkileaks has unearthed more secret documents that expose the American government. The site could be blocked to American viewers due to that (some argue that the legislation pieces were created as an attempt to deflate whistleblowers like Julian Sage).

A few years ago, the American press was very critical of the Chinese government because of agreements made with countless search engines (Including Yahoo) that block what they consider ‘subversive’ content. However, that is indirectly what SOPA and PIPA propose – to censor the Internet should the content be objectionable to a handful of executives with a lot of money.

SOPA and PIPA are just wrong. Sure, we need to bring internet piracy down, but this is simply not the way to go. I urge all to write to their representatives in both houses of Congress so they will withdraw support – as many of already have – from these dreaded pieces of legislation.

 

by Ernest Barteldes

 

When people debate the topic of bullying and its consequences, I just think of the fact that this issue has been around for as long as there have been schools – just watching all those high school-set movies (including Grease, when the T-Birds gang up on this skinny guy with glasses). Though morally incorrect, bullying was sort of a rite of passage for many over the years.

However, in my day (I am 43) there was no Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook or any form of social media. In the vast majority of cases, the problem began and ended in school, and if things got bad they ended up in the principal’s office. Nowadays, things have escalated as bullies utilize the technological advances at their fingertips to take the problem outside the school yard.

Just in the last few weeks, two teenagers in New York and Tennessee were literally bullied to death via cyber-bullying.. The day after Christmas Day, 15-year-old Amanda Cummings threw herself in front of the bus after being tormented via Facebook and instant messaging in addition to what she faced at school. Earlier the same month, Jacob Rogers killed himself after being tormented by his peers simply because he was gay.

These examples – and many others that fail to reach mainstream media – are infinitely worse than the kind of stuff I encountered when I was a kid. In my day, at least I knew who my attackers were and had the opportunity to steer clear of them (or fight them, even if I knew I’d be beat up). Today, cyber-bullies keep doing their evil deeds even after school hours – and this is just what is driving so many teens to get desperate enough to kill themselves. Worse, the perpetrators can do this while remaining invisible to others, since they are acting from the comfort of their homes.

This week, New York state senator Jeffrey D. Klein (D-Bronx) has introduced a bill that would create harsher penalties to bullies. In a statement to the press, Senator Klein said that “”This legislation will give prosecutors the tools they need to treat cyber bullying as the crime it is and also send a message that this type of reckless and potentially deadly behavior will not be tolerated.” Though I praise Sen. Klein for his initiative and believe that other states (if not the federal government) should take steps to eliminate this abhorrent behavior, which has grown both in this country and internationally. Cyber bullies need to be punished for their acts so their victims won’t fear the consequences of coming forward.

But laws alone will not end this problem. Parents on both ends of the problem must educate their kids. We can no longer tolerate the ‘macho’ culture in which boys and girls are encouraged to be bullies instead of being bullied themselves.

It is time to end this now. I encourage readers to sign the recently created Change.org petition demanding social media sites to prevent online ‘trolls,’ and I also urge everyone to write to their representatives to support or create a bill so we can prevent even more people getting hurt – or worse. To sign follow the link below:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-facebook-to-end-cyber-bullying-now-prevention-of-trolling-by-adults-and-peers

For over a decade now, various versions of the DREAM act – which was first introduced in 2001 during – yes – the Bush administration – have been repeatedly rejected by politicians who believe that the law would encourage and reward illegal immigration. In other words, opponents of the bill believe that passing it would be tantamount to granting undocumented aliens amnesty.

However, what these politicians and activists fail to see is the fact that the bill would only benefit illegal immigrants who came to this country when they were minors. In many cases, these kids were no more than babies when they arrived to this country. They had no say about it when they arrived, and many have since reached college age. In some states (even in Rick Perry’s Texas) they are allowed to attend college, but the prospect of a career in this country will forever elude them because of their legal status.

The DREAM act basically allows illegal immigrants who were minors at the time of their arrival to obtain what is called a ‘conditional status’ – they then must either attend college or serve in the military, and once those obligations are fulfilled they will be able to apply for permanent residence status. Also, these prospective citizens must also be of ‘good moral character,’ meaning that this person would not be qualified to apply if he or she had any kind of criminal record (to make it simple). If that individual failed to achieve the act’s conditions, he or she would be returned to their previous illegal status.

The DREAM act would not only benefit these people, but would also potentially reduce the country’s deficit.  It would create jobs in the long run for qualified individuals, and would clearly reduce the burden of Homeland Security.

Over the GOP debates, most of the front-runners have clearly opposed a Federal DREAM act – Mitt Romney has stated that he would veto the law if he were elected, and Rick Santorum called it a “free pass.” However, these two candidates are clearly pandering to the party’s extreme right, which pretty opposes any kind of immigration reform save en masse deportation – which historically has proven to be a failure.

So I urge all my readers in the US to write to your representative in the House in support of this legislation. It’s time to expand the American Dream.

 

It was recently brought to my attention that the United States and Somalia are the only two countries which have not ratified the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of The Child, a far-reaching agreement that protects the welfare of children and teenagers from various kinds of abuse -for instance being recruited to serve in the military before they are 18, being victims of pornography and also to being tried as adults.

It is quite understandable why Somalia has not ratified the treaty – the country has no central government and is basically formed of various tribes. However, there is no explanation why the United States enjoys such dubious company. Sure, a lot of it stems from the fact that Americans oppose government interference with states’ laws (the whole medical marijuana controversy is allegedly based around state sovereignty), but the fact is that without ratifying such conventions we end up being on the wrong side of legal controversies – especially when we sentence teenagers to life over a crime committed when they were under 18.

It is time to end this embarrassment. We should pressure our lawmakers to ratify the convention and reject the GOP-driven resolutions to stop the CRC from being ratified by the United States. After all, this is a resolution that was drafted with the help of the United States. We are not losing our sovereignty by ratifying this law – we are recognizing what the rest of the world sees as the fundamental rights of children.

by Ernest Barteldes

In recent weeks, I have read a lot about how the economic growth of Brazil has made it possible to Brazilians to travel abroad more often and enjoy perks that were considered luxuries not too long ago. In a New York magazine piece, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg was quoted as very happy that tourist from Brazil were here spending their “reals” alongside Japanese with their yens and Europeans with their (suffering) Euros. More recently, The New York Daily News mentioned a ‘surge’ in tourist visa applications from China and – yes, Brazil. Finally, yesterday there was a piece on the New York Times about a current Brazilian ‘invasion’ in South Florida, where successful visitors can walk around in their Gucci’s and Prada shoes without having to worry about being victims of the violence they face in cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

While I am proud of Brazil’s incredible accomplishments in the past decade (who would’ve thought they’d surpass Great Britain as an economic giant?), the truth is that there is still a lot to be done. One thing is to at least reduce the gap between the have and have nots – something that Brazil’s upper classes are not really looking forward to. There is a lot of social injustice there, and this will only end if the same classes that now flood our streets as tourists realize that they have to be open for it.

There are many upper middle class fellows there who are not too happy about the educational programs promoted by the government that have helped to lift its lower-wage citizens out of poverty. I once mentioned here about a friend who was ‘shocked’ that her cleaning lady was taking computer lessons – after all, house servants have gone from generation to generation doing exactly that, and now that this generation is finding a way out of it, the upper middle class is scrambling with the prospect of no longer having anyone to pick up after them.

Also, urban violence is a problem that has not improved – in fact, it has worsened. While I have been lucky enough to never have been the victim of a mugging or anything like that (my bicycle was stolen once, but that happened in Greenwich Village in front of a church), I am well aware of how dangerous big cities have become there.

For instance, two years ago I was walking down Beira Mar Avenue in Fortaleza at around 1 AM and a TV reporter stopped me to ask if I wasn’t ‘reluctant of roaming the streets at that time of night.’ On this year’s visit, a friend insisted in driving us home just a few blocks because she was afraid we’d be accosted by opportunists – and this is in Fortaleza, a city that is comparatively safer than larger cities like Rio or Sao Paulo.

Cost of life is also an issue. During our last visit, we spent a few days in my mom’s apartment, so we didn’t have to go to restaurants – I would go to the supermarket across the street and purchase groceries as needed. It was scary to see how expensive food has become there – food costs almost as much as it does in the US. The same goes with real estate. As the NY Times mentioned, Brazilians are buying in Miami because the costs are much lower than in Brazil.

In the end, while I praise the country’s accomplishments of late, I do have to say that there is a lot of room for improvement… I hope they get there soon enough.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for secularism when it comes to Christmas songs – sure, it is a Christian Holiday and all, but I guess other faiths would like to feel included, and just because a song doesn’t mention Jesus and Mary at the manger doesn’t mean that it should be ignored in the first place. There are gems like “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin that is an evergreen since its release decades ago.  

However, there are some songs I just don’t get – some don’t have much connection with the holiday at all, while others just send the wrong message.

I will start with a tune I actually like – “Winter Wonderland,” a classic that has seen many recordings since its debut in the 1930s. While I enjoy the theme of the joys of winter, I fail to understand why it qualifies as a Christmas song – there is no reference to the Holiday on the lyrics except for the mention of ‘sleigh bells’ early on.  The same goes for “Baby It’s Cold Outside.”What does a horny guy trying to get a girl to stay with him over the night have to do with anything?

 

John Denver recorded many great songs during his career – “Take Me Home Country Roads” and “Leaving on a Jet Plane” being memorable ones– but he did hit a roadblock with “Daddy Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas,” a sad tune whose lyrics feature a pleading child begging a father not to imbibe during the festivities. Thankfully, the song has only been covered by country artists over the years, so it hasn’t exactly become much of a staple.

John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” became an instant classic the moment it was released, so I guess Paul McCartney wanted to get some of the action when he wrote and recorded “Wonderful Christmastime,” a dreary number played around a synthesizer riff. The tune does have its fans, though, and cover versions from the likes of Amy Grant and Kelly Rowland, to name a few. The song’s writer, however, has reportedly said that today he feels embarrassed about having written the song in the first place.

I have never been a big fan of George Michael though I do recognize his talent as a singer and songwriter. Tunes like “Freedom 90”, “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” and “Faith” have become classics in their own right.  But he really flubbed it in his Wham! days with “Last Christmas,” a bubblegum-pop number about being broken hearted during Christmas.

There are two other lonely heart Christmas songs that went on to become huge hits in spite of their awful lyrics. The first is The Emotions’ 1974 “What do The Lonely Do at Christmastime,” a sad ballad that might have driven many to jump off a bridge somewhere. The other would undoubtedly be “Blue Christmas,” a country-and-western number made popular by none other than Elvis Presley – who recorded what I consider to be one of the worse Holiday albums ever.

But the tune that makes me cringe the most is Elmo & Patsy’s novelty hit “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer,” whose offensive lyrics tell the story of a drunken lady who ‘staggered out the door into the snow.”  The song is so divisive that several radio stations have dropped it over the years.

Anyway, here are the goodies for this week – a Merry Xmas (or Hannukkah) to all

Through the end of my childhood and the beginning of adolescence, TV played a large role in my life. I wasn’t exactly a sports-oriented kid, and my interest in music (which I have discussed before on these pages) also kept me quite busy – quoting Lulu Santos, “kids just wanted to play ball, but all I wanted was to play my guitar” – it was a clarinet back then, but you get what I mean.

I was really into classic movies, but there were assorted TV shows that I enjoyed watching. The first that comes to memory is the original Star Trek. It was on heavy syndication back then (which made it a franchise after its cancellation in 1969). But the one I was really into was the Bionics – The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.

I think I was introduced to it via my older cousins when I was eight or nine. As a child, it was awesome to see those characters getting out of all those scrapes, throwing rocks and fighting off bad guys twice their size. I especially liked when they did the Bionic Woman/Six Million Dollar Man crossover episodes (something that lasted until The Bionic Woman went to a different network) – one that lingered in my memory forever was The Return of Bigfoot, a two-part episode that featured Ted Cassidy (who also played Lurch on TV’s The Addams Family) as Sasquatch.

The premise of the series (for those who don’t know) is that both astronaut Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and tennis pro Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) suffered debilitating accidents and had their limbs (plus an eye for Major and an ear for Wagner) replaced by bionics. In return, they had to work for a CIA-like agency – sometimes doing covert work. That itself was kind of ridiculous, since both characters were recognizable celebrities and would be spotted anywhere. But hey, I was ten years old and would believe anything as long as it kept me entertained.

I recently came across DVDs of The Bionic Woman that included the Six-Million Dollar Man episodes that introduced her character. According to the extras, Lindsay Wagner was only supposed to be those two episodes (her character died at the end) but due to her popularity, she got her own show after Sommers was ‘resurrected’ by pioneering surgery. Wagner initially rejected the idea, but producers kept ‘throwing money’ at her, and then she wound up playing Sommers – who would define her career – for three seasons.

 

I know that those inclined to serious literature might scoff at this post, but the truth is that nothing makes me happier than reading a good mystery.  Sure, I might not do that all the time given the other material that I have to read from time to time, but whenever I want to give my brain an easy ride, that is where I go to.

This passion started over a decade ago when I picked up my first collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories at Ao Livro Tecnico bookstore in Fortaleza, Brazil. I was browsing through the shelves with my then-girlfriend back then as she looked for English-language copies of classic novels. I cannot remember exactly what she was after (I think it was D.H. Lawrence, but I cannot say for sure), and I was sort of going through the shelves when I saw this partial collection of Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal amateur detective.  From then on there was no turning back – I read every single story ever published, and from there I moved on to Agatha Christie, Jeffery Deaver, Sue Grafton and countless others. I also read many ‘parodies’ of Sherlock Holmes novels written by other authors.

I don’t read these books all the time, of course. I do have a passion for different literary genres, including biographies, historical novels, political books, Latin American literature and many others – but I do find comfort in picking up a good mystery when my brain gets tired of all that seriousness around. They feel like some delicious food that might not exactly be too nutrient or energetic – but heck, is it delicious and satisfying.

This week I began reading Sue Grafton’s “V is For Vengeance,” the latest installment of the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series that began with “A is for Alibi” and continues to this day. I came across Grafton about a decade ago, when “P is for Peril” came out. I was hooked, and have followed the series since – and even picked up a handful of the previous installment.  I enjoy Grafton’s sense of humor and of course her character, a private eye with a cynical point of view towards people- a trait probably caused by her divorce before the series began.

I still have a pile of unread literary novels I should get to sooner or later – but right now, let’s see how Milhone gets herself out of her latest scrape…

 

 

I was not surprised when I heard that American Airlines announced that they had filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. What surprises me is that more US airlines are not in the red, given the hassle it has become to fly and the constant surcharges that have been created to get more money out of their customers. Also, the quality of the service has become worse and worse over the years, with the result that I avoid using their services when flying abroad – unless I absolutely have to.

Case in point: Over the last sixteen months, I have flown with four different companies. On September 2010, I went to Poland on Air France and was impressed by the service offered on Economy: wide chairs, plenty of leg space, a nice meal that included dessert and drinks. There was no surcharge for checked baggage, and when I missed my connection in Paris, the airline was quick to make arrangements for me to make my connection and provide me with accommodations and meals for the time I was there.

On the other hand, my wife and I flew down to South Carolina on Spirit Airlines on Thanksgiving 2010 because they offered a lower fare and were the only company with direct service to Myrtle Beach, but in the end we had to fork over as much as $ 45 for checked baggage and a seat choice. There is also a surcharge for carry-on, so I had to stow my backpack under a seat.  On board, the seats were uncomfortable with very little leg space, and to add insult to injury, they even charged for water on board – I’m surprised there wasn’t a slot for dollar bills on the lavatory door.

 

Last September, we flew to Brazil on TAM Brazilian Airlines. Like with Air France, there was no extra charge for anything on board – not for earphones, wine or checked baggage. When I asked for another glass of wine as I finished my dinner, the flight attendant quickly obliged. And their service on domestic flights aren’t bad, either: on our connecting flights we got a warm snack (a sandwich), not a small pack of peanuts like most companies here offer. And let’s not forget Air Jamaica with its champagne flights on every class.

Last Thanksgiving, we used Delta to go to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:15 AM, and the company (via Twitter) told us to be there at least two hours before departure time. We followed their advice and when we reached JFK Terminal 3 (the old Pan Am WorldPort) at around 4:15, the space was closed — only to be opened after 4:30 AM.  Delta’s JFK terminal is the worst on JFK – there are no restrooms, water fountains or any kind of simple creature comforts, so we had to stand around and wait until there was someone available to take our luggage.

Sure, Delta airplanes have Wi-Fi on board (at $ 12 per day – also with packages available). However, the system only works when over US territory – no disclaimer on the website, thank you very much, so on our way back from Santo Domingo service was unavailable until we were almost in New York.  Ah, and there is the fact there is a charge for on-board entertainment on domestic flights unless you want to watch network TV on their little screens. There is extra leg space IF you pay for it, of course – but that doesn’t happen with foreign companies.

What US airlines must understand is that as customers, we all like good service, and we’d be lured to any company willing to give us a little more for our buck. JetBlue seems to have gotten the memo, and are easing up on some of the surcharges, and Delta at least stopped giving their miles an expiration date.  But until they can match what their foreign competitors offer for international flights, I’ll continue NOT using American Airlines or any other US company.

Hi

 

Greetings from Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic

 

Whenever I need to go to JFK airport, I always opt to take the LIRR to Jamaica instead of enduring the ever-slow E train. It’s a little more expensive, but it’s far more convenient that other options I might have. Two years ago, Renata and I took the famed “drunk” LIRR, the infamous 350 AM train that leaves Penn Station during the weekend filled with Long Islanders who partied too hard over the evening. It was funny being sober and witnessing a bunch of people laughing, joking around and pretty much living it up while going home.

 

However, yesterday was quite different. On the way to Jamaica station, a fight broke out in our car. We couldn’t really see what was going on because we were squeezed against the door with a group of people. An African American guy was relaying the story, describing ‘blood’ and anger. In the meantime, lots of people broke out their iPhones to document the moment.

 

Lots of people tried to get away from the two individuals, and the fight seemed to move closer to us. In a moment, I saw it. Two white guys were going against each other. They were both bloodied and angry. The African American guy bravely tried to keep them away from their group – which was where we were, but then thankfully the train came to a stop at the station. As many of us exited the train, we walked over to a group of police officers standing by and informed them of the scuffle.

 

The last thing I saw were about half a dozed police officers storming the train. One of the fighters was outside, and his female companion was shouting something at him. We climbed the stairs and headed to the AirTrain, thankful that we didn’t become some bystander hurt by someone else’s problem…