Internet Censorship Trials

[psilosophical]

either way...essentially censorship only causes a curiosity as to what is infact censored and why...it doesnt negate the interest of humanity in the depraved.

logical?

 

In some cases yes, others maybe not. maybe some will never stumble upon that bit of information that otherwise would have sparked an interest. people shouldn't have to do some elaborate bypass to access the information they are after. filtering isnt efficient, sites that should be blocked wont, sites that shouldn't will, it'll slow the net down by 87% was it? and all to be bypassed by anyone who is serious about whatever they are doing.

maybe your logic would make better sense if you got the the point, but i'm skeptical.

Don't worry about the winging, don't worry about anything for that matter, it will be censored one way or another. on the internet or in real life (soon enough). just sit back and enjoy the matrix.

Edited December 16, 2009 by psilosophical

[Evil Genius]

[psilosophical]

[Chiral]

SOURCE

One of Australia's top communications experts says the Government's internet censorship trials were designed to succeed from the outset, presented no new information and are now being used by the Government to further its political agenda.

His comments came after Communications Minister Stephen Conroy yesterday announced he would introduce legislation before next year's elections forcing ISPs to block a secret blacklist of "refused classification" (RC) websites for all Australian internet users.

Separately, a report into the scope of content that will be caught up in the net filters concluded that the Government's policy might lead to a wide range of innocuous material disappearing from Australians' computer screens.

Commentators in Australia and overseas have interpreted Senator Conroy's policy as pushing the country towards being like repressive regimes such as China and Iran.

University of Sydney associate professor Bjorn Landfeldt said the Government had still failed to address serious issues such as whether the internet filtering scheme would result in any meaningful reduction in harmful content and whether it was worth the effort, given the risk that the scope of blocked content could widen significantly.

"There's no clear definition of refused classification that can be debated in society ... [and] once you put a label such as refused classification in place, that doesn't mean that the meaning cannot be changed," he said in a phone interview.

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POLL: What do you think of the proposed filter?

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Landfeldt detailed these issues and many others in an official report presented to the Government in February last year, which concluded that schemes to block inappropriate content such as child pornography were fundamentally flawed.

The report, which also questioned whether Australian children were in fact stumbling across child porn and other nasty content while browsing, was kept secret for many months and was only made public after its existence was detailed in media reports.

Filtering trials designed to succeed

Conroy justified his policy yesterday by presenting a pilot trial report, compiled by Enex Testlabs, which found that blocking a blacklist of sites can be done with 100 per cent accuracy and without slowing down the internet.

"The Government would have known since long before our [2008] report was put out that doing blacklist-based filtering on a large scale is very doable - British Telecom has done it for many years and it is a very big organisation," Landfeldt said in a phone interview.

"But so far there's no evidence put forward that this will be effective in putting any serious dent in the availability of such content on the internet. It is clear that there are very strong political motives behind this."

Harmless content will be blocked

The Government has repeatedly pointed to child porn and sexual abuse material as examples of what will be targeted by the censors but, as the leaking of the communications regulator's blacklist in March revealed, the RC category includes scores of legal material.

This was reaffirmed today by a report compiled by the leading Australian media public policy academics, Professors Catherine Lumby, Lelia Green and John Hartley.

They found that, if the filtering plan went ahead, Australian adults would not be able to access material that is completely legal to view under Australian law.

"According to the most recent data only 32 per cent of the sites on the Australian Communication and Media Authority [ACMA] blacklist related to child pornography," the report found.

"The figures indicate 68 per cent of websites on the blacklist were blocked for reasons other than child pornography, including content that has been classified R18+, X18+, RC and unspecified."

The report gives several examples of legitimate content that could well be blocked from the Australian internet:

- A site debating the merits of euthanasia in which some participants exchanged information about actual euthanasia practices.

- A site set up by a community organisation to promote harm minimisation in recreational drug use.

- A site providing a safe space for young gay and lesbians to discuss their sexuality.

- A site that includes dialogue and excerpts from literary classics such as Nabokov's Lolita or sociological studies into sexual experiences, such as Dr Alfred Kinsey's famous Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male.

- A site devoted to discussing the geopolitical causes of terrorism that published material outlining the views of terrorist organisations as reference material.

The Australian Sex Party said today that blocking RC websites would cut off access to 95 per cent of the world's 4 million adult websites as many overseas porn sites have much broader parameters in their X-rating than the classification system in Australia.

"The biggest selling porn movie in the world, Pirates, has been given an RC rating in Australia because it featured an animated duelling scene with two skeletons," party convener Fiona Patten said.

Landfeldt said the RC rating could also encompass footage of war atrocities and other historical events, such as the Holocaust which might not be suitable for viewing by children but could be extremely relevant to adults.

"I have a filter at home for my oldest daughter - it's voluntary and it works really well," Landfeldt said.

The Howard government provided free software PC filters to all Australian families but this was axed by the Rudd Government in favour of its ISP-level filtering plan.

But the Government has acknowledged that even these ISP filters could easily be circumvented by motivated individuals. Furthermore, the filtering will initially apply only to web pages, and experts say online predators will just move to other mediums such as peer-to-peer file sharing programs and email.

Accountability measures questionable

Conroy yesterday released a discussion paper outlining possible measures to improve the accountability and transparency of processes that lead to sites being placed on the blacklist.

But Landfeldt, who analysed the paper, said it appeared that the same government bureaucrats who put together ACMA's flawed blacklist would remain the arbitrators of what goes on the new blacklist.

"It encompasses people and organisations that are currently involved in classification with very vague notions of the general public being able to comment on or having any influence over how this is being carried out and handled," he said.

Landfeldt said one positive to come out of the Government's report was that the focus has been narrowed to mandating "refused classification" content filtering based on a blacklist.

Earlier, Conroy had referred to blocking "unwanted" and "prohibited" content using a dynamic process that would analyse websites in real-time. Experts had warned this would significantly slow down the internet.

But Landfeldt said there had still been no consideration given to how internet usage would change when the Government rolled out its super-fast National Broadband Network (NBN).

"The NBN will enable Australia to move beyond the World Wide Web and into a situation where we have made real use of more sophisticated forms of media, much more streaming media, video, audio content," he said.

"Material may not be as static as it is now, which means that the blacklist will go out of date.

"If you want to mandate this filtering and see if it's applicable to the NBN, you need to conduct different experiments."

Conroy's spokesman, Tim Marshall, has failed to return calls for several days requesting comment.

[mac]

it's for the Australian Christian Lobby - payment for giving the ALP support before the last federal election.

 

Yep i think you hit the nail on the head there

It sure stinks like brainwashed cult of Christianity up to the same old shit

[nabraxas]

Does anyone know about this?

http://freenetproject.org/

D'oh! Apo & I have both linked to it on the first page ov this thread...

I put up a topic about it 3 weeks ago that got no replies.

http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=23033&view=&hl=freenet&fromsearch=1

IMHO they don't have much chance ov getting this through, but it doesn't hurt to learn how to use alternatives like freenet.

Edited December 16, 2009 by nabraxas

[hutch]

Yesterday I sent an email off to my Federal Member, Chris Trevor (labor) to ask him what his personal opinion of this filter was. I didn't warrant a personal reply as all I got was a copy of Chairman Krudds propaganda by an electorate officer which I already new. This really pissed me off as I expected to hear from the bloke I wrote to and not just get fobbed off. Well, we is now at war...

I have started to write various letters to the editor that I will send to every newspaper in the country and I request others do the same. We need to bring to the peoples attention the potential harm this filter will do to our basic rights as Australian citizens.

It's not much but it is all I can do apart from taking a gun and oops This is apperently a good way to bypass the filter. http://www.anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield/ I am not that tech savvy so would appreciate maybe some feed back on it by a resident geek.

Copy of email from Chris Trevor's office..

Hi Wayne and Debbie,

Thank you for your email outlining your concerns about the ISP filtering system. Chris has asked me to respond to you on his behalf.

I am aware that the issue of ISP filtering has attracted criticism from people who are concerned that it will lead to censorship of the internet.

Freedom of speech is fundamentally important in a democratic society. For many years however, most Australians have accepted that there is some material which is not acceptable, particularly for children.

The genesis of this is in civil society where social conflict is governed by the imposition of rules that restrain citizens from harming one another and society, as a whole, accepts that the public interest requires those rules to be enforced.

This is why we have the National Classification Scheme (the Scheme) for classifying films, computer games and publications. Under the Scheme, it is illegal to distribute, sell or make available for hire, material that is deemed Refused Classification (RC).

The internet is already subject to regulation which prevents internet content providers from hosting prohibited content as defined under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 within Australia. Prohibited content is determined by reference to the Scheme. We also have strong criminal laws aimed at preventing people from possessing or distributing material relating to child sexual abuse, including over the internet.

The Australian Government recognises that the internet is an essential tool for all Australian children through which they can exchange information, be entertained, socialise and do school work and research. The ability to use online tools effectively provides both a skill for life and the means to acquire new skills.

Cyber-safety commitment

The Government has committed $125.8 million to a comprehensive range of cyber-safety measures, including law enforcement, filtering and education. Measures include:

• expansion of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Child Protection Operations Team—funding to detect and investigate online child sex exploitation;

• Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions—funding to help deal with the increased activity resulting from the work of the AFP to ensure that prosecutions are handled quickly;

• ISP-level filtering—funding to develop and implement ISP filtering, including undertaking a real world ‘live’ pilot;

• education activities—funding to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to implement a comprehensive range of education activities;

• websites / online helpline—funding to ACMA to improve current government

cyber-safety website resources and to make them easier for parents to use, and to provide up to date information. ACMA has developed a children’s cyber-safety website, www.cybersmart.gov.au, to provide information specifically for children, and improved the online helpline to provide a quick and easy way for children to report online incidents that cause them concern;

• Consultative Working Group—funding for an expanded Consultative Working Group. This group considers the broad range of cyber-safety issues and advises the Government to ensure properly developed and targeted policy initiatives;

• Youth Advisory Group—funding for a Youth Advisory Group which will provide advice to the Consultative Working Group on cyber-safety issues from a young person’s perspective; and

• Research—funding for ongoing research into the changing digital environment to identify issues and target future policy and funding.

International cooperation in relation to online safety is crucial. The Government is pursuing an international agenda for collaborative action on cyber-safety. Progress on this was made through the Minister’s engagement at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) forum in Seoul in June 2008. The Seoul Declaration for the Future of the Internet Economy states that participating economies agree to ‘Ensure a trusted internet-based environment which offers protection to individuals, especially minors and other vulnerable groups’.

Education

The above initiatives will tackle the issue of cyber-safety from a number of directions. More importantly, this approach is based on the key role parents and carers have in the online safety of children, and provides them with the necessary information to assist with this task.

In particular, ACMA’s Outreach program has been expanded to provide additional general cyber-safety awareness presentations to teachers, parents and students which highlight the key issues and strategies to minimise potential online risks. The program will also include professional development on online safety issues for existing and trainee school teachers.

ISP filtering

A part of the Government’s plan is to examine the introduction of ISP-level filtering for RC material. Content defined under the Scheme as RC material includes child sexual abuse imagery, bestiality, sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use and/or material that advocates the doing of a terrorist act.

The Government is also considering additional ISP content filtering options for those families who wish to have such a service.

The Government’s policy on ISP filtering, [including its application to online computer games] – only if raised, is currently being considered. An informed and considered approach is being undertaken, including industry consultation and close examination of overseas models to assess their suitability for Australia.

Filtering technologies have been adopted on a voluntary basis by ISPs in a number of countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, Norway and Finland, predominantly to filter child pornography. In these countries, ISP filtering has not affected internet performance to a noticeable level.

Live pilot

The Government is currently undertaking a live pilot, which will provide valuable information on the effectiveness and efficiency of filters installed in an actual ISP network. A report of findings from the pilot will be publicly released.

The Government is committed to working closely with the internet industry to address the concerns of network degradation, over and under blocking, circumvention and costs. These concerns will be carefully considered during the pilot and will further inform the Government’s cyber-safety policy.

The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (the Department) has prepared material on a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about ISP filtering. This list is available on the Department’s website at www.dbcde.gov.au/cybersafetyplan.

ACMA blacklist

The existing ACMA blacklist is a list of internet web pages which are defined as ‘prohibited’ under Australian legislation. The list has been in place since 2000 and currently contains around 1000 URLs.

The ACMA blacklist is developed by complaints from the public about online content to ACMA. ACMA does not arbitrarily assess and classify content. Online content is assessed in accordance with the Scheme. The Scheme was established by the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995. Content, which is the subject of a complaint, is assessed by ACMA and/or referred to the Classification Board for classification.

The ACMA complaints process has been established by the Australian Parliament through the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and has been in place since 2000. If content is found to be prohibited and is hosted in Australia (i.e. located on a computer or server in Australia), ACMA will direct the content provider to remove or prevent access to the content.

If content is found to be prohibited and is hosted overseas, ACMA cannot have the material taken down due to jurisdictional issues but it must add the material to its blacklist. This blacklist is then provided to 14 PC filter vendors who use the list in their filtering products.

ACMA officers and Classification Board members applying the Scheme are highly trained and apply criteria set out in the Scheme’s legislative framework. Further, decisions made by the Classification Board can be reviewed by the Classification Review Board.

The scope of the definition of prohibited content in legislation cannot be expanded without changes to legislation being passed by Parliament, and the Government does not intend to do this.

I hope this answers your questions and alleviates your concerns about this issue.

Thank you for your email.

Kind regards,

Zac Beers

Electorate Officer

Chris Trevor Federal Member For Flynn

Suite 3, 120 Goondoon Street, Gladstone. Qld. 4680

T: (07) 49725465 | F: (07) 49720888| E:[email protected]

To arms, the British are coming......

Hutch

[hutch]

Opportunity to have a say about it here.

Pleasing to see Jamie Briggs (Liberal) bagging this filter.

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/net-filtering-plan-is-a-fraud/#comments

Hutch

[Smiling Cloud]

So optus is doing the trial. This explains a lot.

I have wondered for a very long time why my interent is sooo shit. It just stops sometimes and won't download anything. Sometimes it disconnects for no reason. My god it is the worst internet since dialup.

I thought it was just my internet but i went to a mates house with optus and his is the same. So them saying it doesn't affect internet speed is a blatant lie, unless optus is just shit anyway?

I've been thinking about changing providers for a long time (because of the service being so bad) but now i def will, i don't want to support a company that supports censorship.

[Evil Genius]

It would be good if People would open up an immense load of blogs about this issue to make sure that the discussion about the freedom of speech gets rolling! You can open up free blogs at many big sites like blogger for example. bye Eg

[Chiral]

The Government has committed $125.8 million to a comprehensive range of cyber-safety measures, including law enforcement, filtering and education.

I can think of 10 other ways that money could spent...I DO NOT want my tax dollars spent on something none of us want...

if you want get a feel for what peoples feelings are on this matter just check out the comments at the bottom of the article HERE I couldn't find a single pro filtering comment out of the hundreds who commented...is there actually anybody supporting this fiasco...?

When is the street demo...?

Where is the street demo...?

If there isn't a demo, why not...?

This deserves people power action... this Conroy isn't talking or listening, he has an agenda and is going to implement it weather we like it or not...he needs to be stopped and held accountable for flagrant misuse of taxpayers dollars to fulfill some neo christian agenda.

We are being blindsided by this evil and they are using Copenhagen as a distraction.

[reptyle]

People are so apathetic when it comes to protecting the things they care about...maybe someone out there in shaman land might get down to business and actually do something...

 

 

sum.

[hutch]

Have your say directly to the minister responsible here

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-truth-about-net-filtering/

The grub posted his own article on the Punch, Comment away....

[Rabelais]

People are so apathetic when it comes to protecting the things they care about...maybe someone out there in shaman land might get down to business and actually do something...

 

I do not think it is apathy so much as taking perceived freedoms for granted. Please do not assume my apathy or what I am, or am not doing.

________

For anyone writing to ministers, the following article will be of use:

Crikey - Bernard Keane’s guide to writing to Ministers

Edited December 17, 2009 by Dale Cooper

[reptyle]

Nothing personal, it's just that either your a radical activist out to change the world, or your doing nothing...

writing to ministers doesn't actually do anything...they have scientific and idealist reasons for making the decisions they are making, its not really a representative, demographically researched thing.

Obviously the whole concpet of "cencorship" causes instant reactivism, they already knew that. The question that needs to be considered is what the underlying reason for taking such an approach would be? I heard someone say they thought it was for political control, though there is nothing stopping correctly formatted information from breaching the filters...so politically its not a tool that would be useful.

maybe they honestly care about the things the community is exposed to, i'm sure their are plenty of studies showing the correlation between a persons mental wellbeing and the types of information they are exposed to, and its not an evil christian brainwashing type closed mindedness they are tunnelling people down, more of a creation of a facade of information with "tags" that can be followed down so called rabbit holes...

i suppose its hard to say how these types of things would effect people, considering i personally never had filters on my life, other than those imposed by life circumstances, and thats i think what it really comes down to...

it's very hard to describe the different types of people in our society and how different information effects them based on how their minds are structured. especially in a "democratic" society, where people are under the illusion that they can freedom and that they know what is going on, people tend to think that the gov't respects them and owes them a service...infact the system is structured in reverse.

imagine if you were on a spaceship with a few hundred people travelling for 20 years towards a distant space station, on board you have a database containing large quantities of data...the computer uses this data to create models of human behaviour and to understand properly how to interact with a changing being...ok, now imagine each citizen on this ship has a computer in their "cell" and has the ability to research information...if you were the captain would you disable certain sections of the data to avoid neurosis and or some form of abherant psychosis known to arise from exposure to perversions?

some humans are still so closely wired to beasts that when it comes down to it they will keep pushing the button until it simply doesn't work anymore and they must move onto something more potent...some people spend their whole live staring into computer screens in a frenzy of self gratification, i dont particularly think that any sort of divine consciousness is living in that vessel and if it is, its trapped behind some sort of illness lost in its own inability to witness its true essence.

now fair enough, people like that are better of on their own, than spewing out their maligned patterns onto women and children and whoever else may be exposed to their inherently distorted being, though maybe these sorts of things are a product of the data stream...

i wonder...what percentage of the internet is filed with porn? and what percentage of the tiem do people think about sex? are the proportional?

whatever happened to the days when sex was depicted on the temple walls and the divine act of union was held as a form of worship?

children were the canvas upon which the glory of the most high was artistically incribed and the garden of the world was a song sung to bring into reality the perfections of the entire universe?

there is a thread of subversion against the divine running from the lowest to the top of government ans society, ignorance and imposition defiling the true underlying foundations of our world.

i suppose it is the Kali yuga...the night before the last day.

these things are symptoms of an illness, the cure is the fruit of the sacred garden.

ANY AND ALL CHANGE IS GOOD CHANGE>>uprising is totally not boring, so uprise.

[apothecary]

Keep writing to your ministers, they don't give a shit about you.

Keep attending protests, like those for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, those for the new anti terrorism laws, those for APEC, those for the Gunns mill, those for all the shit we hit the street for FOR NOTHING.

Sign your petitions, they will throw it in the bin unless there is a lobby group bigger than ACL behind it.

This is all useless action, if you ask me (not that I didn't try it all at one point).

What do I suggest instead? Keep calm. Don't get hysterical over this rubbish. Be patient. Don't waste your energy trying to fight something that hasn't even been introduced to the Senate. Get ready. This sort of censorship will be inevitable part of the internet in the next 20-30 years IMHO. Learn the technicals. Because it's obvious you don't understand them right now.

And for fucks sake people, don't forget! We are living in a world where someone directly implicated in Iran Contra is the US Secretary of Defense. Where Liberal politicians who were involved in blatant lying to the Australian people about the Iraq war and "people overboard" are holding government salaries or pensions. Where the rule of law only applies to the political body for one election term. Where lobbyists become politicians.

You think when this shit falls apart Conroy isn't gonna move into some other cushy govt job? My arse. Just don't forget.

[devance]

Keep writing to your ministers, they don't give a shit about you.

Keep attending protests, like those for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, those for the new anti terrorism laws, those for APEC, those for the Gunns mill, those for all the shit we hit the street for FOR NOTHING.

Sign your petitions, they will throw it in the bin unless there is a lobby group bigger than ACL behind it.

This is all useless action, if you ask me (not that I didn't try it all at one point).

What do I suggest instead? Keep calm. Don't get hysterical over this rubbish. Be patient. Don't waste your energy trying to fight something that hasn't even been introduced to the Senate. Get ready. This sort of censorship will be inevitable part of the internet in the next 20-30 years IMHO. Learn the technicals. Because it's obvious you don't understand them right now.

And for fucks sake people, don't forget! We are living in a world where someone directly implicated in Iran Contra is the US Secretary of Defense. Where Liberal politicians who were involved in blatant lying to the Australian people about the Iraq war and "people overboard" are holding government salaries or pensions. Where the rule of law only applies to the political body for one election term. Where lobbyists become politicians.

You think when this shit falls apart Conroy isn't gonna move into some other cushy govt job? My arse. Just don't forget.

 

---------------------------------------

Your screwed.

http://www.physorg.com/news180082489.html

'Adopting a mandatory screening system would make Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among the world's democracies. Authoritarian regimes commonly impose controls. China drew international criticism earlier this year with plans to install filtering software on all PCs sold in the country. /'

Get used it.

[reptyle]

This guy really seriously disagrees with censorship, and he's not afraid to tell people about why!

If you wanna send them a little note, he was telling me he had a sure fire way of getting it delivered to the man...

It really comes down to how apathetic you wanna be...personally the idea that wisdom is silent rests really well with me, and i can't say i don't think their would be a long line of people waiting to fill the spot of Minister...oh wait i just did...social responsibility much? Why and wherefor?

Better begin to believe its a democracy...and the guy in the foto votes you out!

[Neoshaman]

Most guys i know really into computers don't seem overly concerned seems its probably fairly easy to get around it which begs the question why implement it in the 1st place the guys that really want this kind of info and know what they are doing can easily get it, we got information around in plenty of other ways before the internet was our main line of communication . I just don't like the idea as I feel it contradicts the ideals of democracy plain and simple, I've alraedy printed and saved the vast majority of the stuff I want off erowid and other sites ( probably a good idea for everyone just incase ). But basically it just becomes a pain in the arse and slows down my internet connection. I'm not going to get hysterical and I agree with a lot of apoths points ( lets keep our fingers crossed its rejected in the senate for staters before we get too carried away ) Although I still think we need to do more then hope for the best..We have a government in a Democracy that is implementing laws and regulations that the majority of the populatiuon oppose to me this is a real issue but do you think Tony Abbot will be any less conservative ? any less of a control freak then rudd and those who are saying I'll just vote green or this that or the other well guess what their preferences end up as votes for libs or labour anyway , this country and the world is folowing a path I dislike more and more each day I'd like to propose a solution to this dilemma but due to a number of factors I don't think one is even close to possible at this point in time

[reptyle]

Put that song on repeat please neoshaman.

[Chiral]

One thing these brainless ministers have clearly overlooked is that Australia is one of the worlds most popular tourist destinations, surely something like a restrictive filter is going to have an impact on the way outsiders view this country, perhaps second thinking any holiday plans here. Perhaps it may not have an effect but I'd bet my balls if this filter is implemented and it starts to eat away at a lot of our favorite sites then the younger backpacker variety of tourist might rethink coming here. The repercussions can bounce around and have adverse affects in areas of Australian life we may not be aware of fully until it happens...what then..well it will be too late really won't it. It is of absolutely no use to just assume that things will be right mate and prepare to sit out or watch yet another rule/law be passed down..is this how it's going to be....?

They keep crunching and chasing and moving the goal posts, we keep dodging and hiding and maneuvering to stay between them, this never ending game of cat and mouse, it damn well gets tiring after 20-30 yrs I tell you, not that any of us should just give up, but hey there are heaps and heaps who start out with intentions like ours that give up real quick I tell ya. the fact there is no referendum on this issue is of the greatest concern, damn we had a referendum when undecided about becoming a republic and giving the Queen the flick...in that case there was seemingly a great divide between the population and the referendum sorted out that nicely. Here we have a situation where more than likely %90 of voters are against the minister Conroys plans, yet no mention of a referendum or even a courteous ask the nation would they support it.

How on earth can someone be allowed to perform clandestine testing, conceal and hide the results, not make comments or answer any of the public's questions. I guess you could argue that it's al our own fault for voting in this party, well here we go again cause like everyone is already able to accept that a party change would not offer us anything better, you would think that the opposition would jump at the chance use this amazing opportunity to pulverize the labor gov't with ridicule over this fiasco, I'm not hearing or seeing any of this and I find that rather disturbing. Problem is you vote in a party, they don't perform to our expectations, we elect in it's opposition in protest, the same shit happens again, and again, and again.

These people are all fraudsters who woo us at election time with pictures of themselves at the races, or bowling a cricket ball to all the poor little star foundation children, supping a fosters for the camera whilst watching the boxing day test, there appeal is brought to you by a PR company who specialise in marketing and personal attributes, cuddling koala's, standing in the middle of drought stricken areas with a look of concern, shaking hands with foreign ministers and leaders, attending a series of public schools during talent week so the soccer mums and dads can have something to chin wag about over the back fence to Larry, Curly or Joe. These people are like a can of coke or big mac..it's all about product placement and current people appeal.

Off you go now Mr prime minister, you won their hearts, now it's time to get back to work dismantling that transport system to sell off, or shut down some mines, go overseas and lie about your emissions cuts, make sure you are back for the boxing day test or melbourne cup, we have to keep up the appearances. I think this is why watching parliament is boring, they made it that way on purpose so we couldn't be fucked taking part of giving a shit, they speak in some gobledeegook and we fuck off outside for a smoke or a tinny, when we come back they have installed a filter that prevents adults from viewing adult content.

Time for a smoke and some redback smashing.

[rogdog]

This could be a great opportuntiy for parties like norml and hemp to step up. Carry on their usual agenda, but include reversing this draconian law to their platform.

Another ally is the online poker players, there are a few online poker sites on the blacklist. How rediculous to tell people how to spend the money they have earned, and payed tax on, that they can't play cards because their poker site is banned.

When I first found this community, my city was/still is running a monthly entheo meet. Now is the time to get meets like this organised in every major city. I feel a certain degree of comfort, knowing that if the day comes that I try to logon to this site, and find it shut down, I still know where to go to meet likeminded friends.

[reptyle]

You think 90% of australians are against censorship? hahahahahaha

there's probably about 10% of people with the intelligence to use the internet in such a way as to even have an opinion or even the depth of information to understand what this situation even means...

you need to realise and or accept that human beings are not what they are cracked up to be. they are strange herd like creatures with a violent blood lust which can be supressed through threats of force and or carefully organised environmental systems designed to reduce the availability of and need for extertion of physical energy.

the simple thing about it is, once the human is detached from knowing the unified state of awareness that is God consciousness, it has no qualms about pursuing an egocentric selfish absolute. it will take power where ever it finds it at the expense of everything around it, a black hole of greed. this is a common feature amongst primitive and civilized societies.

fair enough, the motherly instinct is loving and protective, and the alpha male will protect his interests though when this pattern is expanded slightly, it doesn't change activity of the scenario...it is through developed archetypes of absolute surrender within God that humanity is freed from its evils...

It is impossible to have an educated opinion about the effects and or reasons behind these schemes. We, living in our specified strata of society simply do not have access to the grand plan...fair enough, within the imagination, we can justify and create reasonings and project scenarios, though essentially, and this seems the most important element i have found personally...information is mutable, it changes with beliefs and with time and with the mind...it never remains the same, you could read an article 50 times, and then leave it for 5 years and when u read it again, it'll say something completely different...you might not even be aware of the fact that the format that the neurons which represent that object in nature have infact completely rearranged themselves to say something completely different, same label, same mental access code...different words.

This world is change...understanding the hows and why's of these types of changes can be used to create...

submission is the only option sometimes...trust in God, play your part...or disagree, don't be confused, and do not doubt. Attain liberation.

Humanity...haha.

[reptyle]

Step on my trip.

 

[rogdog]

^^ agreeing with reptyle..I doubt 25% of voters care about the issue, and less than 10% will make any noise. You can't expect anybody to stand up and shout that they want to see X-rated porn.

I'm not saying this is good, it's just the way it is