Content is Always Free

Today, several of the major free Internet information sites such as Wikipedia temporarily shut down their websites to protest two anti-piracy bills pending in Congress. The piracy at issue is not occurring off the coast of Somalia but rather refers to the constant free accessing of written, filmed and recorded content by just about anyone with a computer, tablet or smartphone. Since this practice (sometimes known as piracy) obviously deprives the content creators of royalties or other payments it is easy to understand why there is a huge controversy. On one side are Facebook, Twitter and the like, claiming of course "free speech" while the legislation is favored by movie and TV studios, publishers of books, magazines and newspapers, record companies, etc. Some newspapers already charge for accessing their online sites-- everything has a price!

No need for you to fear this legislation. If the unthinkable happens and you no longer can get free information on the Internet, you can always depend on The Normal Blog, where content is always free (perhaps because that's all it's worth). Never mind that blog posts appear only sporadically, totally at the whim of the (unpaid) creator. Should the world really need him, TNB might be persuaded to give up everything else to perform a public service by providing pithy descriptions of current events, albeit sometimes tinged with satire.

You might learn, at no cost, for example that the captain of the shipwrecked Italian cruise ship is being not so lovingly described as Pollo di Mer or Chicken of the Sea [this was lifted from the New York Post]. Most would agree that this is adequate reporting on this unfortunate accident.

Or what about the upcoming South Carolina Republican primary? Too bad comedian Stephen Colbert can't get even write-in votes which means that one of the five remaining morons will have to win. OMG. BTW, if you've noticed, Colbert and his buddy Jon Stewart have totally exposed what a fraud super PAC's are. That's enough free info on this matter.

Need to find out about sports? Tonight's NBA scores are 96-89, 101-76, 88-87. The names of the teams might cost you but admit it--we've all been spoiled by the free flow of information, some of which justifiably might cost something in the future. If that thought depresses you, remember where content is always free.