Of "Porn Filters" and Agendas

Remember July this year, when Joy Smith stood up in Canada's Parliament and suggested we should follow the UK's example and implement a "porn filter"?

Well, Cameron's filter is about to go live, and as one might have expected, it's blocking a heck of a lot more than just "adult content" websites:

Included in O2's "parental control blocklist" are such hotbeds of hardcore porn as Slashdot, EFF, Linux Today, Blogspot, No Starch Press, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and, of course,Boing Boing. 

A more complete investigation is here.

None of the sites listed above are exactly hotbeds of porn.  In fact, more worrisome is that in the list of "blocked sites" are civil liberties groups like the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), and a stack of open source technology sites.

I smell an agenda at work here.  This isn't controlling access to pornography.  This is an attempt to control access to information and technologies that enable people to sidestep the government's surveillance programs, and access to information that could cause people to challenge the government.

The only governments that engage in this kind of activity are the totalitarian regimes that feel they have to control their citizens and fear access to information.

Now... Ms. Smith, would you care to explain to Canadians how this is a "good thing"?

[28/12/13 Update]
Someone has already built a Browser Extension to Chrome that bypasses the UK Porn Block.
[/Update]

McVety's Moralizing on the Arts

Remember Bill C-10 - and more specifically McVety bragging about his influence in it?.

Well, take a read through this little turdgem that he plopped onto the "Christian Government" website.

Following the October 14th vote, Canada’s representative of the Queen will conduct the ceremony inaugurating the nation’s next Government Representatives, Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers. This official ceremony will be conducted with the backdrop of a large homosexual mural called "Androgyny", which means being both male and female.

Huh? Since when was androgyny even remotely related to homosexuality? My goodness, but McVety's reaching here...but wait, it gets better:

The homosexual lobby group EGALE, has pushed this issue for years. During the 2004 election they circulated a questionnaire to all federal candidates asking the question, "will you commit to fighting the discriminatory practice of labeling children male or female at birth?

Ummm...actually, this is a very real problem for Intersex individuals. The real problem is not assigning a gender role to the child, but the common practice of doing "corrective" surgery on the child which they may well choose quite differently when they are older.

However, it is not McVety's ludicrous attempt to tie Intersex and homosexuality together that is most disappointing, it is his statements about the picture's backstory itself:

The Governor General’s website describes the giant 20 foot mural as follows: "In the Okanagan, as in many Native tribes, the order of life learning is that you are born without sex and as a child, through learning, you move toward full capacity as either male or female. Only when appropriately prepared for the role do you become a man or woman. The natural progression into parenthood provides immense learning from each other, the love, compassion and cooperation necessary to maintain family and community. Finally as an elder you emerge as both male and female, a complete human, with all skills and capacities complete." Does the Governor General actually believe that in order to be a complete human you must be both male and female?

So, the painting itself is based not upon themes of sexuality at all. It is in fact a reflection of spirituality of some of Canada's First Nations.

McVety's whining because that spirituality doesn't align with his precious "Christianity". I don't know what notion of Christianity McVety subscribes to, but I do know it's a nasty, small-minded worldview when he cannot even find it in his heart to honor the spirituality of those who occupied this land so long before his ancestors took up residence in the early colonies.

McVety is, essentially, a cultural imperialist - as long as it is his particular notion of "Christian". What a drab world we would live in with he and his ilk dictating what is "culturally acceptable". How many voices filled with beauty would he silence? One can only imagine.

(Oh yes, just to verify that the article on "Christian Government" wasn't a forgery in McVety's name, I went over to Word.ca and looked there to verify that he was splattering the same spewage all over websites he controls directly. Sure enough.)

Shorter Ezra Levant:

Because Richard Warman keeps filing human rights complaints that Ezra disagrees with, the CHRC is an invalid, rogue organization.

Of course, in Ezra's fevered imagination, there is no due process wrapped around the CHRC complaints process, and every complaint that Warman makes is slavishly granted by the tribunal. I've already pointed out how Ezra has distorted the reality of the situation to suit his own ends.

I won't speak to the merits - or lack of them - in Warman's complaint filings - it's actually quite secondary to Ezra's real goal, which is to ensure that Ezra has the absolute right to spew whatever crap about whomever he so chooses - just so long as he stays on the legal side of libelous.

Of course, what Ezra conveniently doesn't tell people in his grandiose tirades about the CHRC is how half-truths that don't fall into the heading of libel can be used to demonize entire populations - quite legally under the comparatively narrow definition that applies in libel law.

The human rights laws in Canada came into play because the issues that they address are not adequately covered by legal concepts such as libel. The kind of remedies available are relatively limited - why? Because the very issues being dealt with are often much more vague than is appropriate in a court of law. Lastly, the option does exist to appeal a decision to the courts.

Contrary to Ezra's repeated claims of a lack of due process, there is in fact a process in place and one that is largely balanced to keep the vast majority of cases from going much beyond initial investigation. It is a sad statement indeed that a lawyer with Ezra's professional background not only cannot see that, but seems so blinded by ego and ideology that he will not admit that there's a lot more to the picture than his strident claims of censorship.

It's Been On The Shelves How Long ???

Okay, the whole uproar over The Golden Compass just became a farce.

According to the CBC, the books have been on library shelves for a decade in Calgary Catholic schools. So please explain to me how it is they are "no problem" for over ten years, and suddenly because a bunch of wingnuts are crying about how "evil" they think it is that the book portrays organized religion as a dark force.

I'm sorry, but bitching about a book after it's been on the shelves for a decade is simply whining.

You Can't Read That ... It's Not Religious Enough!

Apparently, some religious conservative wingnuts in Ontario decided that The Golden Compass shouldn't be in the Halton Catholic School district's libraries because it was *gasp* written by an "atheist" (agnostic actually, but whatever):

Following a recent Star story about the series, an internal memo was sent to elementary principals that said "the book is apparently written by an atheist where the characters and text are anti-God, anti-Catholic and anti-religion."

Why? Apparently because the author has made some "inflammatory" statements:

Pullman has made controversial statements, telling The Washington Post in 2001 he was "trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief." In 2003, he said that compared to the Harry Potter series, his books had been "flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God."

Yeah, whatever. The wingnuts got their knickers in a twist over Dungeons and Dragons when I was in school. Note to the wingnuts - banning the book gives it notoriety, and people will want to read it. In the meantime, if you are that scared about a children's book undermining your child's faith, perhaps it is time to start asking yourself just why your faith is so fragile.