Going Too Far, and Then Some

And people wonder why I’m saving for plane tickets out of this country…

Okay kids, new additions to Australia’s growing censorship laws. Maybe voting for Rudd was a bad idea after all. First up on the list is female ejaculation. For those of you who don’t know what that is, go look it up on Wikipedia. This is Someone Wicked, not Someone Erotic. In short, some women are capable of ejaculating while they orgasm.

But because the Church are flexing a significant amount of muscle at the moment, female ejaculation content is being blocked by the net filter. Yes, all you squirter fetishists are now fans of what is more-or-less illegal content. This of course is the Church’s reasoning in that they believe only harlots feel sexual pleasure. I really thought we were growing out of this.

The next one is news even to me, but apparently the government are banning, not just internet-blacklisting, but all-out banning small breasts from adult material. They are unwilling to define ’small’ but common consensus seems to be that anyone in an A-cup won’t be allowed to pose nude for a camera. It’s bad enough the fashion industry has raped the collective self-image of almost every woman on the planet, but now the Australian Government is telling small-breasted women they’re imperfect? Way to go.

Their reasoning of course is that small breasts look like children’s breasts, which could encourage paedophilia. Following the small breasts thing, quickly from behind comes ‘teen’-themed content. Such publications as ‘Barely Legal‘ and ‘Hustler‘ are now banned here. Because even a legal teen is only one step away from being a child. It seems to me that these publications would be seen as a legal alternative to paedophilia, kind of like heroin substitutes. Methadone Porn, if you will.

With these latest addition to the ever-growing banlists, one has to wonder if and when the Government will stop, or when the Australian majority will finally care enough to step up and do something about it. There are groups and organisations fighting to protect that which we are losing to these zealots. We need to do our part before we have the greatest source of knowledge, the most powerful communications tool in the world, taken away from us.

So, in short, just do what you can. Spreading the word is all I ask. I have a comment box, please use it. I want to hear what you have to say. We all need to come together as one and fight the filter. Because none of us, and I mean none of us, can do as much as all of us.

Nerd Rage

You want to know what I hate? Well of course you do, why else would you be reading this? I’m beginning to get exceptionally pissed off, and one could even say intolerant of one thing in particular plaguing society and growing even worse in the new generation of teens and young adults: Intolerance. In particular I am starting to nurse a firm, and I believe, justified, hatred of people who discriminate against alternative subcultures and people of above-average intelligence.

In recent times, I, and people I know, have been mistreated by people, have been treated like shit by people in the street, and even people we would count as friends, or at the very least acquaintances, by being friends with their friends, purely because of our interests and whatever stereotype they can pin on us.

Whether it’s our choice of clothing, the music we listen to, or whatever is done in our spare time, people find reason to give me, or people I know, unjustified shit. And for a long while I have tolerated it, but now, having to deal with it from people closer to me than the random asshole strangers on the street, I am growing very intolerant of their intolerance. I know it sounds like a contradiction and even hypocrisy, but I tire of it. I really do.

So all these people that use labels like “freak”, or “nerd”? Go fuck yourselves. Seriously. Just go die in a fire because your intolerance is a fucking detriment to society and the human race. I don’t want you here and neither do a lot of good people who are continually mistreated by you. Your ilk are no better than racists tearing apart the already weakening fabrics of society. Go die , you pathetic waste of a human life.

Knowing is Half the Battle.

Okay I think I’ve ranted enough on why the Net Filter is bad and I’ve just done little else except link you to sites like NoCleanFeed without explaining what it is. So here I go. And just to warn some of you, I’ve put some of the key points into Bold Formatting just for you tl;dr folk.

The Great Australian Internet Filter is referred to as the Berlin Wall or even Apartheid of recent years. It is an Australian Government project to create and enforce a mandatory firewall that, on the public face of the concept, blocks out child pornography and horrible nasties like that. Which is something I can get behind, I really can. I despise those types of people. But the public face of the Internet Filter is a lie.

In secret, without informing the public, the government has twisted this once-noble sounding project towards another agenda; forcing their own political, moral and philosophical ideals onto the Australian people. At the bat, because the government obviously doesn’t realise that the adults of Australia are adults, content that would be given a rating not suitable for children would be blocked. That’s all that’s been said. So is that an R18+ rating or anything above M15+? Would like some clarification.

Clarification that I won’t receive because the government are keeping the project quiet. And when it is mentioned, it is typically only referred to as blocking child pornography. We’re being lied to about the true nature of the filter. This filter that is blocking Gay and Lesbian content, websites that discuss Harm Prevention to Recreational Drug Users and any webspace that offers discussion of the Geopolitical Causes of Terrorism.

There is, in essence, a Blacklist of websites that will be blocked. This blacklist, while outdated, is up for viewing on Wikileaks. But I do warn you, it has been made clear that reading the ACMA Blacklist on Wikileaks is a crime on a federal level. As a legality I cannot condone reading the blacklist. But for myself… do as you will, and I hope you don’t get caught.

There will also be a panel of sorts that decide what is and what isn’t acceptable for Australian viewing on the Internet. First up on the chopping block is Social Networking. There is a significant chance that Australia will lose the Myspaces, Facebooks and Vampirefreaks’ of the world, just because some idiot teenage girls lied about their age met up with forty year old axe murderers.

And rumour has it that Adult Dating Websites like RSVP and Lavalife, who go so far as to advertise on television, will be banned, for the same reason. Some idiot kid lies about their age and meets up with a psychopath or pervert and the internet gets blamed. The mistakes of a few should not hinder the lives of the many, especially when the few in questions are liars or are just plain asking for trouble.

On the same lines, Adult Content is being blocked. All adult content. From sexuality pages on Wikipedia, just because they have medical pictures of nudity, to pornographic websites. Yes, you will lose your porn from the internets. Because apparently Australian adults aren’t adult enough to decide what is suitable for them.

Internet games that aren’t suitable for children are being blacklisted, thank you very much Michael Atkinson. You are a bad person with outdated ideals. Retire from politics, you useless, hypocritical heap of sagging flesh.

This Net Filter will slow the Australian Internet by up to 87%. That’s a terrible loss for any internet speed, but especially in Australia, because our country’s connection is already equal to, or even lesser than, third world nations. For those of you who wish to challenge this, look up Uruguay and then return to me with your apology and admittal of being wrong. Our internet substructure is terrible, and purely because it is 100% owned by Telstra.

“But there are proxies and ways around it“, some will say. And this is true. Proxy websites and non-Australian Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) exist, but they will be more hindrance than helpful, as they slow down your connection even further. 87% of the typical Australian Internet connection’s maximum capacity is worse than dial-up. Worse. Than. Dial-up.  That is an atrocity.

The Net Filter epitomises everything that is wrong with western society at the moment. It has gone to show how much influence the church really has within Australia, and it disturbs me that I didn’t know the amount of pull they have.To go so far as to block gay and lesbian content and discussion?

We are not being given a choice. The Net Filter is Mandatory. We were not offered a vote. We were not given a say. We are barely being let know about what is happening here. The government knows we would be outraged if we heard about this. For the most part I’ve encountered complacency and ignorance; but I wish to change that. Let it be known that Australians didn’t bend over and take this laying down. Other countries wouldn’t. Americans would be up in arms, fighting tooth and nail (and shotgun) to defend their rights to view the Internet in its uncensored glory.

The Net Filter violates several articles of the United Nations Charter. The articles in question being Articles 2, 6, 12, 19, and 28. And that is just at first glance, with a minimal amount of study. I am sure that with time, study, effort, and heavy books and a decent team of companions, I could find so much more wrong with this in legal terms.

The Net Filter is a very real threat to Australia, a threat that grows greater with each passing day, and it goes unnoticed by the many. You need to spread the word. We need everyone to know about this before it is too late. We need to make the people of Australia realise that this is going to happen, and that the government won’t just back down from it! We need to throw away this complacency that has allowed the Australian Internet Filter to progress to the stage where it is only a matter of weeks before it is implemented!

The government have proven they don’t care about small numbers of complaints. If they truly cared about the Internet, we would have a decent substructure for it. We need to show the government that the whole of Australia stands against this horrendous mockery of justice! This is one of the most un-Australian moves the government has ever made.

We need to fight for the rights that the government are trying to take from us. Protest. Spread the word to your friends and family. Join the Facebook groups. Join the message boards. Read the websites. Do everything you are willing to do in the name of protecting the Internet from a Big-Brother government that is beginning to show the true colours of a budding fascist regime.

So, in short, just do what you can. Spreading the word is all I ask. I have a comment box, please use it. I want to hear what you have to say. The Bold Formatting was used to illustrate key points in the arguments for your ease of use.

We all need to come together as one and fight the filter. Because none of us, and I mean none of us, can do as much as all of us.

The Great Internet War

The past decade has seen the rise of the internet into the mainstream, and eventually, our daily lives. Now we’re seeing advertisements on television that give you little more than a URL and a name as a reference. An unparalleled information tool used the world over, from solving meaningless trivia between friends to helping school students cheat on essays and reports.
From Yahoo, to Google, to Wikipedia and YouTube, the internet has offered enterainment and information resources to the world. With the advent of social networking and dating websites, you can even have a paradoxial life based around being an antisocial shut-in.
Free downloading though, seems to be one of the most popular uses of the internet, and why not? Nearly-perfect anonymous downloading of things that would otherwise cost a lot more money than you actually have.
Downloading things isn’t illegal of course, but downloading copyrighted content is. Although in past years, its really seemed like downloading anything has been an offence to someone somewhere. A major scare campaign against illegal downloaders has shaded the facts and made a major example of anyone caught and found guilty.
In the past few years there has been an ongoing crusade against The Pirate Bay, one of the most popular bittorrent websites. The Pirate Bay Crew have a great sense of humour, and post their replies to angry, threatening letters on their webpage. But the Pirate Bay lost their legal battles and the website was purchased by a company.
More recently, Mininova have lost their legal battle and now have a strict filter to prevent copyrighted content being on their website.
But more information on these events can be found on Torrentfreak. This isn’t why I’m here.

Between censorship, the copyright battles against P2P and BitTorrent technologies, the near stigmata of playing online games and a media frenzy against any website that has attracted attention to itself, (see the media hatred against gothic websites after a girl was found dead), the internet has been a battleground in the past few years.

With the Internet Filters of the world going ahead as planned, the commercialisation of the internet, and the media’s ignorant attacks on certain websites and social groups, it seems that the battlegrounds are spreading across the internet, and the defenders of this online world are rarely, if ever, able to defend it.

We seem to be losing everything that makes the internet such a valued tool in modern life. If censorship goes ahead as planned it could set a dangerous precedent and spread across the world.

My friends, we are in the midst of losing The Great Internet War.

Complacency Kills

Hmm. I am annoyed. And not by the actions of the government or any organisation. Nor am I aggravated by the rampant corruption that seems to be plaguing our society. No, today, the victim of my ire, is the Australian populace.  And I will tell you why.

The Net Filter is going ahead as planned, and it has been legitimised in legislation. And yet some of you seem to believe that the government “won’t do something so outrageous to the Australian people”. Oh,  I’m sorry, were you still under the impression the government cares about the way we feel about them? Where the fuck have you ignorant assholes been for the past ten years?

After two wars nobody has wanted to be a part of, you still believe the government won’t do something we don’t approve of? The Net Filter IS going to happen unless you do something about it! There is still time for us to do what must be done to prevent this outrageous violation of human rights from passing!

Do not be fooled by the government into making you think they don’t have the resolve to do something we don’t approve of! Simply believing that it won’t happen is an act of foolishness, and laziness. If you don’t want it to happen, actually do something about it! Don’t just sit there and hope for the best, get your ass out there and do what the fuck you can to prevent this injustice!

Open your eyes! This net filter is going to happen unless we do something! Your naivety is reason enough for it to happen; as you obviously don’t care if we get censored or not. We stand to lose, at first, all content that would normally be given an R(18+) rating. But given enough time, guaranteed we would lose social networking (Facebook, MySpace and more), YouTube and more. The way our government is going, we’d even lose educational pages like Wikipedia.

Don’t be so fucking complacent. If you care, just do something, whether it’s ranting on a blog or telling people about it. But don’t even think for a minute that the government will just stop because they’re afraid they’ll hurt our feelings. If they stop, it will be because of the efforts of the people working against it!

Stand against the Net Filter, because none of us are as cruel as all of us!

A Letter to a Local Politician Regarding the Net Filter

The following is an e-mail I personally wrote and sent to my local politician regarding the Net Filter initiative undertaken by our government. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment.

Dear <name withheld>,

I am contacting you regarding the mandatory internet filtering initiative undertaken by our government.
I believe that not only is this effort an exercise in futility, as the internet is too vast and ever-changing to be able to block in its entirety, but is also ethically wrong.
While I can agree with blocking access to such content as child pornography, I do not agree that websites that offer space for the discussion of gay and lesbian lifestyles should be blocked.
This internet filter effort, I believe, runs counter to the Australian spirit and has more in common with totalitarian regimes. It is a true step back for our great nation. Australia has already become an international laughing stock due to the refusal to allow an adult rating for video games.
It also violates several articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as passed down to us by the United Nations. The articles in question being Articles 2, 6, 12, 19, and 28.
The protection for children is minor, or at worst, little more than the illusion of safety. This filter does nothing to protect children from real threats like cyber-bullying, online sexual predators, viruses, or the theft of personal information. It will provide a false feeling of security and lower a parent’s monitoring of their children’s activities on the internet.
This effort is a waste of taxpayer money, money that could easily be used for programs that would benefit children further, such as the school systems. It is already clear that content is being wrongly blocked and will reduce the quality and speed of Australian internet connections; connections that are already considered substandard in other western nations.
I, and the people of Australia hope you make the right decision.

Sincerely, <name withheld>

Australian Civil Rights in peril

Recently it has come to my attention that the Great Australian Internet Firewall is going ahead of schedule. To those who do not know what it is, the Great Australian Firewall is the new Net Filter being put in place by the Rudd Government in order to block out things like necrophilia, snuff videos and child porn.

But oh wait, this is in control of a government that hasn’t seen fit to issue us with such nice things as decent internet connections, non-privatised power services or something as rudimentary as a Bill of Rights.

So anyway, the list of blacklisted websites is on Wikileaks, a lovely anonymous data upload website. Conspiracy nuts love it, I’m told. Out of the thirteen hundred sites on the list, less than half of the websites are actually content they’re willing to say they’re blocking.

The Net Filter is also going to block content that the government doesn’t agree with, for political, philosophical or cultural reasons. There was outcry not long ago that a Victorian Dentist’s website was blocked, but that was just the beginning. Now it seems that Gay and Lesbian discussion is also going to be blacklisted, along with any sites that can be used for recreational drug users to minimise harm to themselves.

I can agree with filtering child pornography and horrible things of its kind, but when the government decides to use the censorship for their own agendas, it corrupts what was originally a good idea. Using power for one’s own gain is one of the very ways to define corruption. I admit I may overuse the word corruption but it damn well fits in here. It’s already being referred to by some as the Australian Berlin Wall.

In addition, the government has also made it illegal to know what is on the list. So it’s now a nationa offence to know that the government has chosen to decide what is and is not moraly obstructive to society as a whole.

This is the same idiotic government that has a standing policy of enforcing the most extreme views and limits on laws, which is why we currently do not have an R18+ rating on games. Because South Australia makes it illegal, no matter what the other states say, it has to be so, as they hold the strictest laws. We are a country that is quietly run by religious zealots that are forcing archaic beliefs upon us.

I don’t much know what I can do, but if you’re reading this, spread the word to all you can who’d care. The rights of every Australian are being blocked without their knowledge. Alert all those who you can.

So much for the fun-loving, laid back country that we used to be. Internet censorship and our policy on games has made us a joke worldwide. And our government doesn’t seem to care.

So much for Australia.

A Letter to Michael Atkinson

For those of you who do not know, Michael Atkinson is the South Australian Attorney-General. He is also responsible for Australia not supporting an adult rating for video games, and it is thanks to his efforts that we received edited Fallout 3, a hideously censored Left 4 Dead 2, and the banning of the next Alien versus Predator title. This needless, senseless censorship has become an impediment to myself and others, and is a violation of our civil rights.

It is more than censorship; it is hypocrisy, a hypocrisy that has damaged Australia’s reputation worldwide. This man is one of the reasons I believe that there should be age limits on politicians, but I’ll save that for another entry. I present to you, my few readers, my letter to this overzealous, small-minded fool who clings to his ignorance. I am saddened that I couldn’t unleash my usual brand of abuse, but I must be civil, I suppose. After all, politicians tend to take offence when you call them ignorant vultures.

Dear Hon. Michael Atkinson

I have recently read your letters regarding censorship on games, and would like to pose a question to you; what is the difference between having an R18+ film in a home, than an electronic game of the same rating? Both are at risk of being found by those who cannot legally view them, but at the same time, game consoles, computers and even DVD players have parental-lock features that can prevent children from accessing them.

One cannot simply pick or choose the media he or she wishes to censor, I believe. Films can have a far more drastic psychological effect on people, in my own experience. When I was at school, the more violent students were those who listened to music, or watched movies, that desensitised them to the concept and practice of violence, but the groups of game-players tended to be passive and generally decent people.

The censorship and outright banning of games is damaging local retailers, as some of the latest new-release games have had a major lack of interest due to gratuitous editing, one example being the Valve release Left 4 Dead 2. Many consumers have been importing copies of it from overseas, where the needless censorship was not applied. Many more just chose to pirate the game itself, depriving both the game’s developer and retailers the income they would have gained if not for the censoring.

Australia is becoming a laughing stock worldwide, being the only Western nation that does not support the R18 rating for a visual medium that is turning into a modern art form. It is a deprivation of civil liberties within a democratic society, and that is just wrong. This censorship is little more than a hypocrisy that is having nothing but negative effects on society and our international image.

Yours sincerely, <name withheld>.

Something Must Be Done About Twilight

I make no secret about my succinct hatred for this poorly written abomination that has defiled vampiric lore. But the scowl on my face and the bile in my mouth has more than literary sources. It goes deeper than that. It goes long past my dislike for the mainstream media and teenage culture in general.  It’s about the talentless, but irrefutably hack writer who created it; Stephanie Meyer.

Now, I have read the first book and was emotionally blackmailed into seeing the second film; so any of you fans out there that think I’m just someone who hates it and hasn’t read it, as Bullet-Tooth Tony said so well in Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, ‘Fuck off’.

Let’s start off with something basic. The relationship between the two lead characters, Edward (“vampire”), and Bella (“human”), is little more than a parasitic dependancy founded upon abuse, both emotional and physical. Any idiot can see the signs. And it just so happens, someone HAS seen the signs, as you can see in this here link. But for those of you who can’t or won’t open a new tab, or even window if you’re using an archaic browser,  I’ll summarize. He has literally threatened to kill her, controlled her life, isolated her from friends, family and medical help, abandoned her in dangerous places and threatened to commit suicide. Because these are things sane people do, right?

Let’s face it, if any real person pulled any one of those things, a lot of the time they’d be out on their ass, and their only semblance of a relationship would be their preferred self-pleasure appendage. I’d like to thank kar3ning for bringing this to my attention via the link above. But yet the idiot Bella stays with the abusive bastard.

Which, in an unintended, but happy surprise, brings me to my next point. Twilight is the single-most chauvinistic thing I have ever had the displeasure of reading. Which isn’t entirely surprising, considering that Stephanie Meyer is a Mormon, and the whole disrespecting women thing is pretty much what they do. We’re looking at an off-shoot of Christianity that mistreats women on the same kind of line that Islam does. Because Mormon is to Christianity is as Twilight is to Vampire Fiction; little more than pathetic fanfiction that amazingly gathered a significant following.

In short; Mormonism pretty much claims that men are superior to women, and may pretty much treat them as servants. But hell, so does the Catholic Bible if you look into it.

Let’s do another character analysis. We’ve looked at Edward, the exploitative, abusive, controlling bastard of a pseudo-vampire. I say pseudo-vampire because there’s no scenes with him drinking blood, and vampires in the series can go out in daylight without aid of a MacGuffin. In fact, they fucking sparkle. Blatant heresy.

Bella. Let’s look here… she’s written to be your “average” teenage girl, besides some random mystery that makes vampires want her. Let’s see, she pretty much gives her dad shit, for no real reason that I can see, and even goes so far as to call him by his real name. This guy was the only character I could even BEGIN to stand in it. She’s more or less an airhead, who’s attracted to Edward initially because of his shiny car, and appearance. But wait, wasn’t she flirting with a jock a few minutes before pseudo-vampire wandered onto the scene? Wow. She’s also shallow.

The popularity is such that many fans of the book have begun to judge their relationship by Twilight; drawing comparisons and standards from the so-called “love” portrayed. It has become common practice for a woman to end a relationship because it doesn’t live up to the standards she created after watching Twilight. It has actually been made into a radio show segment in Australia. That’s how often it happens.

But don’t take this to be a book review; I have a point here. The message is that it portrays a shallow, empty-headed girl who defines her existence by a relationship. Which is no real way to define yourself, especially if you’re a victim of perennial abuse like this thinly-veiled Mormon belief is.

And just to round off the Mormon parts, the vampires don’t drink blood because Mormons don’t consume ‘chemicals’ such as wine and caffeine. There’s plenty of Mormon beliefs in Twilight. You just need to know what to look for.

And here’s where my real clusterfuck of anger begins. A portion of the money Stephanie Meyer makes from Twilight, goes to the Church of Mormon, because that’s part of their religion. A tithe, like the kind that was mandatory in the middle ages. So last year, the Church of Mormon spent millions upon millions of dollars in advertising, in their pursuit of banning Gay marriage in California, via Proposition 8. Which was passed, might I add. Very disappointed, voters of America.

Is it any coincidence that they spent such a ludicrous amount of money, in advertising alone, for one state, in the first year of Twilight being in the cinema, and it’s debut to the general public at large? Oh gee whiz, do you think so? So not only is it poorly written and just shitting on the pre-established vampire and werewolf lore, and promoting abusive relationships (as long as the man does the abusin’), but it also gives money to setting back the civil rights movement. Just lovely.

And that’s where my recent thoughts come into it, and the title is finally appropriate. I want something done about it, in the name of the good of society. Uproars have been created over less in this world. The story is empty and shallow, the message isn’t one I’d want anyone I care about being affected by, and it’s skewing the public’s view on vampires.

In the way of Project Chanology and their ongoing battle against the Church of $cientology, I want to raise awareness, at least. People just think this is some new fad of kids; they don’t know the real truth, they don’t know the real message. If Mormon suddenly opened itself up with an advertising campaign as the “Twilight Church”, the numbers they could rake it would be staggering.

Something needs to be done.

Often, when we find ourselves in a situation like this, there is often an organisation or group dedicated to the same task, or views. But there isn’t one for this. That is why I posted this. I want to get one started. It’s up to us; the world wide web, to spread the truth; about both Twilight and the Church of Mormon. The task is at hand, and the task is ours. Embracing the truth will change your fate.

 

P.S. You want a supernatural story that is, at heart, a love story? Try Spawn. Al Simmons literally sold his soul to the devil to a chance to see his wife again.

Do I Have a Country Anymore?

Hello again. If you haven’t picked up on it, or if I haven’t mentioned it enough, I am Australian But soon, all that will mean is that I’m just a semi-American.

As you may or may not know, entertainment is one of The United State’s of America’s prime exports worldwide.  While this may mean you can watch the latest Hollywood movies, and listen to the Top 40 Music Hits, it’s also leading to the downfall of many Western cultures, my own included.

You see, the current generation, which I have said before, and repeat now, is not doing well. We are a generation who’ve grown up with American culture from the very beginning. Popular children’s television shows are, for the most part, American. At the most intellectually perceptive time of their lives, children are being influenced by different accents and phrases; ones that their own parents may not be able to understand.

Sesame Street is possibly the worst offender when it comes to accents and dialects.  While it is a great early educator for children, if not picked up quickly, their accent may be slightly Americanized from an early age. And as the child grows up, it just gets worse. The majority of mainstream music and television is American, and the precious few Australian pieces of culture their are, are either too mature, or lack the allure to the majority that American media does.

The current generation, dubbed Generation Y, are far more interested in America than Australia. Many high-school aged students know more about American history, simply because they watch The Simpsons. So common is American influence in my country, that many pre-teens and teens have slight, or even pronounced Americanized accents and slang.

It has, somehow, even affected me. My accent stands out as American, even if I’ve never left Australia and never grew up around Americans. I, for one, blame this on my old voice chat habits, but it’s still the same, in that American culture is infecting ours, and their variation of the English language overriding ours.

And it seems that there is little we can do… I may be overreacting, but again, the current generation of youths are again, damaging culture and the future of society. And even as I say this, it may already be too late to save it.