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The Australian government is about to introduce a two tier internet censorship regime.

Filters will be applied to block content the government deems to be illegal. You CANNOT opt out of this filtering - these sites will not be available to Australian residents (until your children teach you how to circumvent it)..

A second filter will provide what is called a 'clean feed' - websites will be filtered based on key words etc., so for example no pornography will get through. You can REGISTER to opt out of this level of filtering. The idea is to protect children from content the government deems 'inappropriate'.

You can register your opposition to this proposed legislation by joining this group on Facebook Really Long Link or go to nocleanfeed.com.

There are several things wrong with BOTH parts of this proposed censorship.

Although the 'illegal' blocked content will be based on a published list of material that contravenes Australian law, there is nothing to prevent this or any future government from adding to that list, or changing the criteria for what will be permanently blocked. Once the principle is admitted, it is open to abuse in future. It sets a dangerous precedent.

The inappropriate content filter is an opt-out system, not an opt-in system, meaning the government will have a list of everyone who wants to receive content the government deems inapropriate.

This too is open to future abuse.

The justification for this is to protect children. That is the responsibiloity of the parents, not the government. Only lazy parents cannot or will not manage their childrens internet use. This allows them to abdicate responsibilty for protecting their own child.

Furthermore, the filter is easily circumvented, meaning any parent relying on it to protect their child will have a false sense of security.

It also slows the already pathetically slow (by international standards) Australian 'broadband' network.

Let Minister Stephen Conroy know you oppose this measure and why. It shall not pass.

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: Australian politics, censorship, parenting, popular culture

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ALWAYS ON

October 18th 2008 04:56

I'm Randy - Fly Me!

Coming to a plane near you – internet surfing from the discomfort of your seat. Soon you won’t be getting away from it all at all. Instead you’ll be able to Facebook and Twitter, even in what used to be those blissfull mid-air hours when you could turn the ‘always-on’ society off.

Now you’ll get all those essential updates in real time!

George is waiting for his groomer to come and trim his puppy - (you can take this Masters & Dogs things too far, you know)

Anthony is no longer listed as “in a relationship” – (so he’ll be off his head tonight and absolutely anybody’s)

(By the way, I love those inverted commas, don’t you, as if he was not REALLY in a relationship, just “in a relationship”, know what I mean?)

You won’t have to wait till you reach your destination to find out you’ve been dumped, Millie’s hamster needs a cruciate ligament reconstruction, and the results of your CAT scan are in – call your doctor IMMEDIATELY.

But forget about arranging hookups on the fly. You won’t be able to cruise your favourite internet “dating” site (there’s those ironic inverted commas again). The flying roo has decreed they won’t allow you to access “inappropriate” web content. Yup, they’re going to censor it.

It means you can now have a taste of what the internet’s like in China without even leaving Australia. It’s all part of a “let’s be super-nice to the Chinese, because in this recession we’re all up shit creek without them” effort by local businesses.

No, not really. Just kidding. About the China thing, I mean. But Qantas – along with a host of other airlines – WILL restrict what you can surf while you’re on one of their planes.

This will of course mean that all the usual suspects will soon be out there crying “freedom of speech”, “censorship”, and very right and proper, too. Already we’ve noticed that Qantas has taken to snipping all those items about unscheduled acrobatics over WA and the like out of the onboard news bulletins, and we wouldn’t want to encourage that kind of censorship. But when it comes to sex, maybe the airlines have a point.

While it could be a very handy time-saving guide to the sexual orientation of your flying companions, do you really want to spend several hours trying not to get an eyeful of “Asian sluts doing it with donkeys” on your neighbours seatback?

Or trying to ignore the fat old bearded pouf giving you meaningful winks while he surfs “College jocks get it on for you” and “Hung and horny”, who always seems to need the facilities at the same time you do? You might at least say “Hi!” – ‘cos that’ll be me.

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: discrimination, censorship

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Don’t let them kill the kids (LINK)

July 24th 2008 07:59

Gay Straight Alliances Save Lives

If there’s one thing that gets me steaming mad it’s those so called compassionate loving etc. pseudo-Christians who try to block sex ed from including gay topics, oppose gay-straight alliances in schools, and generally try to keep kids in ignorance and fear.

And now this, which really has me infuriated.

Parents & Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), the evil twin of that magnificent organization Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG), are totally distorting scientific research to claim that gay straight alliances and the like make kids more likely to commit suicide. The truth is exactly the opposite.

In fact, all reputable research (i.e., not the twisted disreputable gimcrack stuff emanating from shonky propaganda outfits like Focus on the Family, Family Research Council and the like) shows the exact opposite. It’s the isolation gay kids suffer from that kills them.

I recently assisted at a presentation to the Victorian Country Football League board on this very issue.

Anne Mitchell, of the Australian Research Centre on Sex Health & Society (ARCSHS) at LaTrobe university had some heartbreaking statistics about the horrendous suicide and self-harm rates among gay and lesbian teens, because there’s nowhere they feel safe – not at school, at home, at the footy club – nowhere.

I especially recommend you take a look at two reports, Writing themselves in, and it's update Writing themselves in again – they’re available on the website.

The shoals of adolescence are perilous enough for any kid, but for a gay kid they’re twice as dangerous. The one thing that saves them is somewhere to belong, which is where gay-straight alliances and other such clubs come in. They save lives. They connect isolated gay teens back into society.

It’s a time when all kids are experimenting with sex and sexuality. Some of the kids will decide, eventually, that they are in fact bisexual, or straight, or gay – but a supportive school environment and gay-straight alliances help guide them safely through these years. THEY SAVE LIVES.

By spreading misinformation and opposing proper sex education and gay-straight alliances, these people are killing kids. Perhaps they believe, like one spruiker for the equally shonky and discredited witch-doctor crap known as conversion therapy said, that they’re better off dead than gay.

They’re entitled to their opinion. But don't tell me they're Christians.

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: religion, gay rights, discrimination, censorship, parenting

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