Can't stop the signal
Gun violence
Sunday - 01Sep2019
Expertise and understanding
Thursday - 21Feb2019
❝❝Language is defined by usage, not expert decision and proclamation. It's why there are new words like smartphone and LOL. It's why there are obscure words like gelogenic and aretaics that most people don't know.
Now, do I know science? Yep, I know the scientific method. I know that science works by explaining past phenomena and accurately predicting future change. I know that there is a difference between physics and chemistry, although hardcore physicists will insist that every thing in chemistry is only a subsection of physics. I know that expertise does more to define blind spots than establish authority.
And I know that insight and understanding is not defined by degrees and publication, but by who can explain and predict. I also know that disparaging the source without considering the argument moves from scholarship to dogma. I know that the institution doesn't have value except in that it can produce results.❞❞
Revived 15Jul2018
Sunday - 15Jul2018
These older blog entries have been reformatted and entered into the current directories. Redirect pages have been placed in the old locations.
Underground computer gaming and freedom
Latest efforts of a desperate government
The threat of web censorship
Censorship failing, bit by bit
Blogging anonymously
“Control the Words, Control the Culture”
Tuesday - 01May2018
When government is "responsible" for something, regular people stop paying attention.
Read More...Open and free
Tuesday - 06Mar2018
≠ Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers
Sunday - 17Dec2017
Molecular Robot
Monday - 04Dec2017
“Scientists Create World’s First ‘Molecular Robot’ Capable Of Building Molecules”
Read More...Meetings and updates
Sunday - 19Nov2017
Information on the internet
Saturday - 18Nov2017
Listen
Saturday - 18Nov2017
Last, best hope
Saturday - 18Nov2017
Results
Monday - 21Aug2017
I don't usually submit my articles to reddit, but I did for This last week in free speech. I cross-posted the article on my politics blog Pagan Vigil and my pagan slice of life blog Technopagan Yearnings.
The libertarian link got hardly any views and quickly moved from the front page to the much deeper.
The pagan link got a couple of hundred views in two days and sparked an interesting conversation.
I was surprised at the insistence on historical and political context for violence. It's also interesting that the article kept moving up and down.
I'm disappointed to see how many people believe that "hate speech isn't free speech" and that certain people don't deserve free speech rights.
The libertarian link got hardly any views and quickly moved from the front page to the much deeper.
The pagan link got a couple of hundred views in two days and sparked an interesting conversation.
I was surprised at the insistence on historical and political context for violence. It's also interesting that the article kept moving up and down.
I'm disappointed to see how many people believe that "hate speech isn't free speech" and that certain people don't deserve free speech rights.
☆ This last week in free speech
Saturday - 19Aug2017
This article is cross posted at Pagan Vigil and Technopagan Yearnings. Feel free to repost as long as you credit me and one of those two sites.
Let’s talk about the mess that took over my life this last week. I had a hunch I could be in deep on Friday night when I got some phone calls asking me what libertarians had to do with Charlottesville, Virginia.
Some know I don’t like email and a few have my number. If I had company over or if I had been watching a decent movie, I probably wouldn’t have answered the calls. This was the first I had heard of Charlottesville. I thought at first they were talking about Charlotte, North Carolina. I poked around on the internet and found out about a torchlit protest. Hey, I told folks, they have a right to free speech too. As long as they don’t burn anything down or do any other property damage, it was no skin off my nose.
I didn’t agree with what white nationalists and neo-Nazis stood for, but that is what free speech is all about. They could protest all they wanted as long as they followed the law.
But, all my callers said, it’s hate speech.
So? I replied. I threw out the quote (from me) I had been using for a few months.
After the sixth or so call, the landline and the cell were both quiet. “Nice job,” I thought to myself. Another crisis averted. The folks I talked to would know that libertarians and Libertarians weren’t neo-Nazis or white nationalists. I patted myself on the back.
Then came Saturday. And I got flooded with emails. By Saturday night the phones were ringing.
I should explain. About twelve years back someone at Stormfront discovered Pagan Vigil and decided that I was something I am not. Some of my writings were passed around the internet. Worse, I was quoted out of context. Then some of my stuff was rewritten to make it seem that I supported certain causes and certain ideas. That took forever to mostly fix. But there are pockets left.
Then there was the mess from Florida. Long story short, white nationalists tried to co-opt part of the state Libertarian party. They were kicked out.
But here I was, a libertarian with supposed white nationalist ties. And a (scary? sexy? spooky?) pagan to boot. What did I have to say about vehicular homicide at a neo-Nazi rally?
Free speech is acceptable.
Unprovoked violence is not.
And you’d better be damn careful about “provoked” violence. Especially at a public protest.
People have the right to talk about their beliefs. People don’t have the right to impose those beliefs on others.
If you use force so others will listen, you’re doing it wrong.
All of the above went over pretty well. Here’s what didn’t.
I said that if the neo-Nazis were wrong to use violence first and not in self defense, so were the BLM members, the antifa, and the black bloc who had been doing exactly that for years. If you were a member of the right group, the authorities were mostly looking the other way. Mob violence had become part of American political culture again, and it wasn’t the neo-Nazis or the white nationalists who had made that happen.
Or for that matter, the Christian right, the Republicans, or the libertarians.
Violence was being used to shut down political discussion. What’s more, some groups were claiming moral authority because they had been victimized by American society. No one would be allowed to criticize if the proper groups were involved.
This. Was. Wrong.
This lay the groundwork for tyranny.
As you can imagine, those last five paragraphs did not go over well.
BLM, antifa, and the black bloc weren’t allowed to be guilty no matter what they have done or what they will do.
Anyone who says different is a racist. A fascist.
A Nazi.
And they must not be allowed to speak. At all. Under any circumstances. They must be silenced.
That’s when the pagan stuff started hitting the fan. If a pagan did not IMMEDIATELY drop everything and denounce the neo-Nazis and link them AND ONLY THEM to unprovoked violence, why, they were no better than the Nazis.
And therefore they must not be allowed to speak. At all. Under any circumstances. They must be silenced.
Suddenly free speech was only for the Morally Favored.
This made me angry. Not only was paganism getting dragged into a political situation (AGAIN) that favored progressives, but people were literally talking about Those Who Should Have Free Speech and Those Who MUST NOT BE ALLOWED Free Speech. Violence was ACCEPTABLE against Those Who MUST NOT BE ALLOWED Free Speech. The whole mess was pushing my buttons. I’m afraid I wasn’t always polite about it.
So that was my week. It cropped up again and again. Phone calls, face to face talks, internet discussion boards, and gods, the emails. People couldn’t or wouldn’t accept one simple idea. Take away someone else’s free speech today and you will lose yours tomorrow. Not might, will. The only sure way to protect your free speech is to protect other’s free speech. Even if you don’t like what they are saying.
Especially if you don’t like what they are saying.
Noam Chomsky (of all people) said something very similar.
That’s who I am. That’s where I stand. A right isn’t a right unless the other guy has it too.
— NeoWayland, pagan philosopher, libertarian, and part time troublemaker
Let’s talk about the mess that took over my life this last week. I had a hunch I could be in deep on Friday night when I got some phone calls asking me what libertarians had to do with Charlottesville, Virginia.
Some know I don’t like email and a few have my number. If I had company over or if I had been watching a decent movie, I probably wouldn’t have answered the calls. This was the first I had heard of Charlottesville. I thought at first they were talking about Charlotte, North Carolina. I poked around on the internet and found out about a torchlit protest. Hey, I told folks, they have a right to free speech too. As long as they don’t burn anything down or do any other property damage, it was no skin off my nose.
I didn’t agree with what white nationalists and neo-Nazis stood for, but that is what free speech is all about. They could protest all they wanted as long as they followed the law.
But, all my callers said, it’s hate speech.
So? I replied. I threw out the quote (from me) I had been using for a few months.
❝❝I am certainly against Nazism, supremacist groups, and misogyny. I just think they SHOULD be heard, if for no other reason than they can be laughed off the stage.I said that no libertarian would support bigotry. I could see the issues about protecting the statues and I thought that deserved a very public discussion. But the racist chants shouldn’t have anything to do with that. It was two different issues and they shouldn’t be mixed.
As loudly and as enthusiastically as we can.❞❞
After the sixth or so call, the landline and the cell were both quiet. “Nice job,” I thought to myself. Another crisis averted. The folks I talked to would know that libertarians and Libertarians weren’t neo-Nazis or white nationalists. I patted myself on the back.
Then came Saturday. And I got flooded with emails. By Saturday night the phones were ringing.
I should explain. About twelve years back someone at Stormfront discovered Pagan Vigil and decided that I was something I am not. Some of my writings were passed around the internet. Worse, I was quoted out of context. Then some of my stuff was rewritten to make it seem that I supported certain causes and certain ideas. That took forever to mostly fix. But there are pockets left.
Then there was the mess from Florida. Long story short, white nationalists tried to co-opt part of the state Libertarian party. They were kicked out.
But here I was, a libertarian with supposed white nationalist ties. And a (scary? sexy? spooky?) pagan to boot. What did I have to say about vehicular homicide at a neo-Nazi rally?
Free speech is acceptable.
Unprovoked violence is not.
And you’d better be damn careful about “provoked” violence. Especially at a public protest.
People have the right to talk about their beliefs. People don’t have the right to impose those beliefs on others.
If you use force so others will listen, you’re doing it wrong.
All of the above went over pretty well. Here’s what didn’t.
I said that if the neo-Nazis were wrong to use violence first and not in self defense, so were the BLM members, the antifa, and the black bloc who had been doing exactly that for years. If you were a member of the right group, the authorities were mostly looking the other way. Mob violence had become part of American political culture again, and it wasn’t the neo-Nazis or the white nationalists who had made that happen.
Or for that matter, the Christian right, the Republicans, or the libertarians.
Violence was being used to shut down political discussion. What’s more, some groups were claiming moral authority because they had been victimized by American society. No one would be allowed to criticize if the proper groups were involved.
This. Was. Wrong.
This lay the groundwork for tyranny.
As you can imagine, those last five paragraphs did not go over well.
BLM, antifa, and the black bloc weren’t allowed to be guilty no matter what they have done or what they will do.
Anyone who says different is a racist. A fascist.
A Nazi.
And they must not be allowed to speak. At all. Under any circumstances. They must be silenced.
That’s when the pagan stuff started hitting the fan. If a pagan did not IMMEDIATELY drop everything and denounce the neo-Nazis and link them AND ONLY THEM to unprovoked violence, why, they were no better than the Nazis.
And therefore they must not be allowed to speak. At all. Under any circumstances. They must be silenced.
Suddenly free speech was only for the Morally Favored.
This made me angry. Not only was paganism getting dragged into a political situation (AGAIN) that favored progressives, but people were literally talking about Those Who Should Have Free Speech and Those Who MUST NOT BE ALLOWED Free Speech. Violence was ACCEPTABLE against Those Who MUST NOT BE ALLOWED Free Speech. The whole mess was pushing my buttons. I’m afraid I wasn’t always polite about it.
So that was my week. It cropped up again and again. Phone calls, face to face talks, internet discussion boards, and gods, the emails. People couldn’t or wouldn’t accept one simple idea. Take away someone else’s free speech today and you will lose yours tomorrow. Not might, will. The only sure way to protect your free speech is to protect other’s free speech. Even if you don’t like what they are saying.
Especially if you don’t like what they are saying.
Noam Chomsky (of all people) said something very similar.
““Goebbels was in favor of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re really in favor of free speech, then you’re in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you’re not in favor of free speech.””
That’s who I am. That’s where I stand. A right isn’t a right unless the other guy has it too.
— NeoWayland, pagan philosopher, libertarian, and part time troublemaker
Free speech
Friday - 18Aug2017
The A.C.L.U. Needs to Rethink Free Speech
Codswallop.❝❝That's what worries me most about this. Once people decide that some labels deserve free speech and others don't, where does it stop?❞❞
— NeoWayland
☆ Soundbite politics
Wednesday - 09Aug2017
Barack Obama is a big reason why Donald Trump was elected President.
But I'll get back to that.
Read More...NeoNotes — internet tactics
Thursday - 20Jul2017
I pointed out before that dismissing arguments unheard and without even a cursory search to see if there is any validity just makes you look foolish and uninformed.
Read More...“Solving” net neutrality
Wednesday - 19Jul2017
“Net Neutrality Supporters Should Actually Hate the Regulations They're Endorsing”
Read More...Declaration of Independence
Tuesday - 04Jul2017
The Declaration of IndependenceIn Congress, July 4, 1776The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. — The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free system of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
John Hancock
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
Geo. Walton
Wm. Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
Edward Rutledge
Thos. Heyward, Junr.
Thomas Lynch, Junr.
Arthur Middleton
Samuel Chase
Wm. Paca
Thos. Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Th. Jefferson
Benja. Harrison
Thos. Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Robt. Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benja. Franklin
John Morton
Geo. Clymer
Jas. Smith
Geo. Taylor
James Wilson
Geo. Ross
Caesar Rodney
Geo. Read
Tho. Mckean
Wm. Floyd
Phil. Livingston
Frans. Lewis
Lewis Morris
Richd. Stockton
Jno. Witherspoon
Fras. Hopkinson
John Hart
Abra. Clark
Josiah Bartlett
Wm. Whipple
Saml. Adams
John Adams
Robt. Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Step. Hopkins
William Ellery
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
Wm. Williams
Oliver Wolcott
Matthew Thornton
“American Pravda”
Friday - 30Jun2017
“Project Veritas' new video showing CNN Producer John Bonifield admitting that CNN's Russia narrative is "bullsh*t" and all about ratings”
Read More...“What is Fake News?”
Friday - 30Jun2017
“What is fake news? Is Donald Trump correct when he says CNN, The New York Times, and other mainstream outlets report fake news? Commentator and bestselling author Andrew Klavan explains.”
Read More...Roaming Millenial on the Project Veritas video and student debt
Friday - 30Jun2017
“In this Weekly Rundown, we take a look at the current state of American student loan debt and the newly released Project Veritas John Bonifield CNN tapes that address the media's coverage of Trump and Russia. Fake news confirmed.”
Read More...“Blockstack: A New Internet That Brings Privacy & Property Rights to Cyberspace”
Friday - 23Jun2017
So if you wanted to stay ahead of the curve, you'd read those three papers every day you could.
Read More...Silence
Wednesday - 26Apr2017
The Bad Manners of the Campus Left
❝❝What the hooligans last Thursday at my lecture in Colorado were objecting to was a very different kind of invasion—a peaceful, voluntary offering of ideas they were unaware of, didn’t want to hear, and thought it was their right to prevent others from hearing. Their intent was to intimidate, to harass, to silence, to dominate. This is not conduct that a citadel of education should tolerate for an instant.
Interesting, isn’t it, that what some go to college for, others find “offensive.” As I watched the incident occur, I thought to myself, “I’m standing in a taxpayer-funded institution of supposedly ‘higher’ education, not a Khmer Rouge re-education camp, for crying out loud!”❞❞
— Lawrence W. Reed
Professor says studies don't use science
Thursday - 30Mar2017
J Scott Armstrong: Fewer Than 1 Percent Of Papers in Scientific Journals Follow Scientific Method
❝❝According to Armstrong, very little of the forecasting in climate change debate adheres to these criteria. “For example, for disclosure, we were working on polar bear [population] forecasts, and we were asked to review the government’s polar bear forecast. We asked, ‘could you send us the data’ and they said ‘No’… So we had to do it without knowing what the data were.”
According to Armstrong, forecasts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) violate all eight criteria.
“Why is this all happening? Nobody asks them!” said Armstrong, who says that people who submit papers to journals are not required to follow the scientific method. “You send something to a journal and they don’t tell you what you have to do. They don’t say ‘here’s what science is, here’s how to do it.'”
Digging deeper into their motivations, Armstrong pointed to the wealth of incentives for publishing papers with politically convenient rather than scientific conclusions.
“They’re rewarded for doing non-scientific research. One of my favourite examples is testing statistical significance – that’s invalid. It’s been over 100 years we’ve been fighting the fight against that. Even its inventor thought it wasn’t going to amount to anything. You can be rewarded then, for following an invalid [method].”
“They cheat. If you don’t get statistically significant results, then you throw out variables, add variables, [and] eventually you get what you want.”
“My big thing is advocacy. People are asked to come up with certain answers, and in our whole field that’s been a general movement ever since I’ve been here, and it just gets worse every year. And the reason is funded research.”❞❞
— Allum Bokhari
How dare the FBI investigate her
Monday - 31Oct2016
The most important person you've never heard of
Friday - 25Mar2016
Not all feminists…
Tuesday - 09Feb2016
Certainly not all women are like that. What we have is a very small group that wants political power and public validation in the worst way. Yes, it’s another case of Those Who Want To Be Noticed.
Read More...
This looks promising
Tuesday - 15Dec2015
I stumbled across a very interesting looking website.
No Compulsion. Where Islamic Tyranny Meets Liberty.
Read More...Who is racist now?
Tuesday - 01Dec2015
Introducing the Love Gov
Thursday - 23Jul2015
Recently someone sent me some videos from the Independent Institute where government is portrayed as an abusive boyfriend.
They are amazingly good. Take a look for yourself.
They are amazingly good. Take a look for yourself.
The videos say it better than I can.
Be sure to share with your friends. And maybe some of the enemies you trust.
Free Range Kids
Thursday - 12Mar2015
“You can’t childproof the world. The best you can do is worldproof your children.”
Read More...Rebellion isn't free
Wednesday - 11Mar2015
You are not entitled
Monday - 16Feb2015
Leap of faith
Saturday - 17Jan2015
Why does your enlightenment demand that I sacrifice?
Monday - 30Mar2009
Ah, the delicious irony
Sunday - 20May2007
This is a page from the original version of Pagan Vigil. There are some formatting differences. Originally published at www.paganvigil.com/C1415225799/E20070520143152
Yahoo pulls the plug on fake profiles used by British police
It's hard to fault Yahoo! in this case.
““INTERNET companies including Yahoo! are hindering police investigations into child abuse by closing down the undercover identities used by officers to trap paedophiles.
British child protection police habitually pose as children online, using false profiles to ensnare abusers trying to groom girls and boys for sex.
But the companies say they will shut down all bogus identities on their sites even if they know they are being run to catch paedophiles.
“Everybody using our service, regardless of whether they are law enforcement agencies, has to abide by our terms of service and if they don’t we will close them down,” said Yahoo!.
Its terms of service state that all information used to make up a profile must be “true, accurate current and complete”.
The stipulations are intended to protect users from exploitation and abuse, but antiabuse campaigners say they are frustrating police sting operations on hardcore offenders.””
Why should police have special privileges not available to the general public? Why should a private company overlook abuses of services just because it is government agents?
Yes, I know it is that old saw about "protecting the children," but without that justification, doesn't Yahoo! owe it's customers protection from frauds online?Posted: Sun - May 20, 2007 at 02:31 PM
Blogging anonymously
Tuesday - 17Apr2007
Censorship failing, bit by bit
Saturday - 31Mar2007
It makes you wonder what all those repressive nations are really afraid of, doesn't it?
Read More...The threat of web censorship
Thursday - 15Mar2007
A new category and a story about defying government authority with the internet
Read More...Latest efforts of a desperate government
Tuesday - 13Mar2007
This is a page from the original version of Pagan Vigil. There are some formatting differences. Originally published at www.paganvigil.com/C1415225799/E20070313134228
Chinese government tries to target bloggers
Some will tell you that this article is bad news.
I don't agree.
What this tells me is despite ever increasing efforts to control the internet in China, it is slipping from government control and into the hands of individuals.
And the government is afraid. Very afraid.
Every time I look at articles about the internet and world wide web in China, I am amazed. It's self-organizing, capable of withstanding terrible tyranny, and incredibly adaptive.
The Chinese government can't put the genie back in the bottle.
Fun to watch them try though.
From shore to shore, let freedom ring.
I don't agree.
What this tells me is despite ever increasing efforts to control the internet in China, it is slipping from government control and into the hands of individuals.
And the government is afraid. Very afraid.
Every time I look at articles about the internet and world wide web in China, I am amazed. It's self-organizing, capable of withstanding terrible tyranny, and incredibly adaptive.
The Chinese government can't put the genie back in the bottle.
Fun to watch them try though.
From shore to shore, let freedom ring.
Posted: Tue - March 13, 2007 at 01:42 PM
Underground computer gaming and freedom
Saturday - 10Feb2007
This is a page from the original version of Pagan Vigil. There are some formatting differences. Originally published at www.paganvigil.com/C1415225799/E20070210153538
A new category and a story about defying government authority with the internet
I've said before that the internet is the last, best hope for freedom. Yes, I caged the line from Babylon 5. That doesn't stop it from being true though. So with this entry, I am introducing a new category. "Can't stop the signal" will cover examples of the internet spreading liberty even as government agencies desperately try to control it. And yes, "can't stop the signal" is from Serenity, otherwise known as the Firefly Movie.
What better way to start out the new category than to point to this story about underground internet cafes in China?
What better way to start out the new category than to point to this story about underground internet cafes in China?
““Zhang's ban, which was reported by several Chinese newspapers, was regarded as extreme even by the censorship authorities in Beijing. But it was emblematic of the Communist Party's determination to retain control of what this country's 1.3 billion people see, hear and read despite the vast changes in other realms brought on by economic reform over the last two decades.
Ever since Mao Zedong brought the party to power in 1949, information, art and entertainment have been regarded here as government property, distributed to the public -- or not -- according to what party officials think best. But in recent years, as the number of online Chinese climbed to 137 million by the end of 2006, the Internet has challenged this power in many ways. Zhang's experience in Gedong dramatized how robust the challenge has become.
Eager to speed modernization, China's leaders have professed a desire to see people use the Web widely to seek knowledge and economic advantage. But they also have expressed determination to keep it under party control. The goal, they have said, is to keep Chinese away from sites deemed unfit because of pornographic or politically sensitive content -- or, in the case of Fangshan County, because they waste teenagers' time with frivolous games.
"Whether we can cope with the Internet is a matter that affects the development of socialist culture, the security of information and the stability of the state," President Hu Jintao said at a Politburo study session last month, according to the state-controlled press. Hu, who also heads the party, said the solution is not to deter development of the Web but to "nurture a healthy online culture."
Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based media watchdog group, said Hu's government has deployed "armies of informants and cyber-police" and sophisticated computer programs to prevent Chinese Internet users from connecting with sites the party disapproves of or reading postings that stray from political orthodoxy. Sifting the acceptable from the unacceptable costs China "an enormous amount," the group said, without providing a specific number.””
The kids are finding a way. It's games today, but tomorrow it will be political.
And if the kids are finding a way and there are enough of them to get attention, there are plenty of adults who you haven't heard about who are networking and doing their best to undermine all the restrictions.
Let freedom ring.
And if the kids are finding a way and there are enough of them to get attention, there are plenty of adults who you haven't heard about who are networking and doing their best to undermine all the restrictions.
Let freedom ring.
Posted: Sat - February 10, 2007 at 03:35 PM