Posts Tagged ‘freedom’

So what does it all mean?

Monday, February 8th, 2010

A friend sent me a link to this video today and told me to have a look. And now I’m sharing it with you all here as I think it has not only interesting information but some important messages too.

So what DOSE it all mean?

Let me tell you…

It all means absolutely NOTHING if we can’t get our shit together!!!

Let me share a story with you of something that happened to me a few months back. I was returning home to Melbourne from a trip to Queensland. I was driving as I love to drive and, well, I’m a control freak and the thought of getting into a plane being piloted by someone I’ve never even met somewhat disturbs me and for some reason no one will let me fly a plane myself (they keep mentioning something about not having a license…)

Anyway, I decided to stop at the massive radio telescope in Parkes in New South Wales (incidentally this is where they filmed the movie ‘The Dish’) and have a look around. I got there a little before they opened, so decided to drive around and take some photos from different angles. As I started snapping away, the dish began to move in order to point in another direction and it struck me of just how massive this construction was.

Parkes Radio Telescope 211x300 So what does it all mean?

Eventually I made my way back and they had finally opened. They had built a museum and cafe next to the telescope to cater for all of the tourists. I started looking around and reading all of the information of what amazing discoveries and milestones in human history this telescope had been a part of.

Out of nowhere I felt this overwhelming emotion rising inside me. I had never felt anything like this before. As I stood reading about this piece of technology, my eyes teared up, my throat got tight and I wept. It took me a moment to realise and understand what was going on and I was taken by surprise of my own reaction.

You see, this was the first time I had ever stood in the presence of such an amazing technological achievement and had the knowledge and wisdom to understand what it meant. This mish-mash of metal and wires and tv screens, was created and put together by people, mere humans, which then allowed us to view (or listen) across the vast distances of space and explore the truly unknown. There was no Godly intervention or Alien assistance. This was made by humankind. I was truly standing next to one of the greatest human achievements, a technological achievement which at one point was at the cutting edge of science and all that we knew. Even now that the technology has been around for a while, the radio telescope is still at the forefront of exploration and our understanding of the Universe.
And yet with this symbol of all that is amazing with the human species, towering more than two hundred feet above me, I couldn’t help but feel that it all means nothing. And so I wept. I wept for our planet, the Earth, I wept for humanity and our amazing abilities and what a wondrous future we could create, and I wept for the simple fact that we are probably going to destroy both.

You see, what does it matter if we can look deep into space if the governments continue to oppress their people? What does it matter if we develop a computer more powerful than the human mind if it’s programmed by corporations that only seem content on breeding consumerism? What does it matter if we have a communications device that allows us to send masses of information around the world in less time than it takes to blink if most of the people in that world are living in poverty? What does it matter, what does any of it matter, if we can’t get our shit together and save the planet from ourselves?

NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

How could any of it mean anything if we don’t have a planet to live on?

While our governments bicker and argue about what to do, while actually doing nothing, and the corporations with the power to actually do something, ignore the problem and focus on the greed of raping the world of even more resource to gain a financial profit, it is you and me and the other 6.7 Billion people (and yes that includes the leaders of those governments and corporations) who are staring death in the eye and facing total non-existence.

If we become extinct now, nothing we have created will last more than a few thousand years. In a hundred thousand years time, other than some bones in the ground, no trace of our existence will have survived, not even the pyramids. What is the point of any of it if we fall by our own hands and leave this vast Universe without a trace? We must all unite as one people of this great planet and take action to save nothing short of ourselves.

We must take action, regardless of what our governments are doing and telling us. We must take action in spite of what the mega corporations want us to do. We must take action because we want, no, we need to survive.

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Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Silence 450x270 Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.

So I was drinking a bottle of Cool Ridge water today (don’t get me started about the bottled water thing, I’m going in a different direction today.) Anyway I noticed on the bottle a big graphic that states “SCREAM IT OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM – One extreme experience like rally driving and sky-diving to win every day.*” So I think to myself that sounds like fun and decide to go to the web site (http://www.getitout.com.au/) to see what it’s all about.

After the page loads I realise that the competition has ended but the site is still going and looks kinda interesting. Basically it is a place where you can upload or link to videos of yourself venting about something. It even looks like they had a mobile tent that would be set up in different places where you could go and they would film you venting about whatever.

Well, if you’re a regular to this blog, you’ll know that I’ve always got something to vent about so I start thinking about what particular issue (out of the thousands) I’m going to vent about. While I’m thinking about it, I figured I’d take a look at the ‘Terms and Conditions’ of entry. That’s when it hit me and I knew exactly what I was going to vent about.

Item 12.

Item 12 is a list of all the things you are NOT allowed to submit.

12. You must not submit any Vent (including Vent topics and tags) that in any way:

  • is harmful (including due to any virus, worm or trojan horse);
  • is threatening;
  • contains any swearing or offensive language;
  • is scandalous;
  • is (or is likely to be) defamatory or libelous;
  • is inflammatory;
  • is obscene;
  • is offensive;
  • contains any nudity or is pornographic or indecent;
  • is profane;
  • is, or is likely to, denigrate, marginalize or offend any person or class of person based on race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, age, sexual preference, religion, disability, political belief or marital status;
  • refers to or depicts drug use or other illegal activities;
  • refers to or depicts violence; or
  • that could constitute or encourage a violation of any law.

So the first thing that springs into my head is “What the hell are you allowed to vent about?”

How pissed off I am at the moment with the weather being hot one day and freezing the next?

Oh shit, I said piss and that’s considered offensive language.

Oh fuck I said shit…

Damn!!!

I can’t think of one thing to vent about that would actually fit within these rules. I can’t even say that “I hate drug dealers who beat up on their girlfriends.” I would be referring to drugs and illegal activities and violence.

When did we become such a pansy arsed, puncey, pathetic, useless society that is so scared of saying anything in case we offend someone that we just don’t say anything worthwhile at all any more?

We have all been raised with the American bullshit sale pitch being rammed down our throats for years. Yay for democracy, Yay for human rights, Yay for freedom of speech. That is, unless you try and actually practice that freedom. Freedom of speech, the right to ‘speak freely’. It should mean exactly that. You can say whatever you want.

The irony of all this is that I actually have more freedom to speak out against my government than I do to speak about something that may actually offend someone.

It’s ridiculous. You should be able to think and say whatever you want. You should be able to speak out against all those rug munching, ranga, midgets, who film porn while being bounced up and down on some dirty wogs knob, even though they are so old  their tits are longer than their stumpy arms.

Just like, those midgets and the wogs should also be able to speak out about anything they want to as well.

Everybody has become way too sensitive. It’s about time we all grew some nuts and hardened up a little. If people actually had the balls to speak up about things instead of kissing each others ring holes, we may actually achieve some things that are worthwhile.

There you go Cool Ridge. That’s my vent. Print that on your web site ya bunch of limp dick, fascist, suits.

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Say NO to censorship. Help stop the “Clean Feed”.

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

ww govt1 400 212x300 Say NO to censorship. Help stop the “Clean Feed”.It seems that every day another one of our freedoms is being taken away, shit on and flushed down the governmental toilet. Today is no different. Only this time theses pencil pushing, limp dick, do-gooder, chumps are striking at the very heart of freedom. There is a plan in place to force Internet Service Providers [ISPs] to censor the Internet for all Australians. They call it a “Clean Feed”.

The reasons behind this are actually good, but just like we’ve seen time and time again, they are taking it too far and at the end of the day only hurting those of us who are doing the right thing. To sum it all up, they want to stop child pornography and protect Australian children who are using the internet. Like I said, good reasons. I have no problems about stopping kiddy porn. In fact I say that anyone found dealing with kiddy porn, raping or abusing children in any way, should have their nuts cut off, cooked and force down their own throats.

The problem lies here. Blocking certain sites will NOT stop this from happening. Most of the kiddy porn is done privately and not part of the public internet. No matter how we try and censor the net, these people will find access to the material some how. Have people forgotten that this problem has been around a lot longer than the internet has. I repeat, blocking the internet will NOT stop the trade.

So what about protecting our children from questionable material. Once again, I’ve got no problem with this. But should we block the internet for everyone, including responsible adults? The answer is a very firm NO! Software is available for every computer that can filter the internet and make it safe for children. This software will actually be a lot more effective as it will be able to block a lot more than what the government plans to.

This is part of being a responsible parent. If you have children and you have a computer that is linked to the internet, you should prevent your children from accessing the internet just the same way as you would not allow them to see an “R” rated movie. If you are not a responsible parent (which seems to be about 80% these days), then this is where the government should step in. Create a law that states that any household where a child is present, must have child-filters on the computers. Any parent found not doing so should then be prosecuted. The responsibility for a child’s safety is with the parent.

So what is it they actually want to block? Well there are a number of web sites, if not all of them, that I personally will never visit. A lot of porn and stuff of “bad taste”. But then you come across other sites like www.tinypic.com. This is a file hosting web site used for sharing video and images. These sort of sites are used to host media files that you then link to on social web sites like MySpace, facebook, forums, blogs, etc. The problem is that as they are an automated process, they have also been used for sharing pedophile paraphernalia. So do we ban these useful sites just because a few people misuse them? Once again the answer is a very firm NO!

And why not? Well where does it stop. As soon as the government has a precedent in place to stop the free flow of information on the net, they can then use this to increase their censorship into other areas. And that is what they are already talking about. No longer is it just about children and their protection, they now want to censor the flow of games, movies and other material that fits into their opinion of what is immoral content.

This needs to be stopped and we are the people to stop it. Take action by visiting www.nocleanfeed.com. There is plenty more information about the issue there and many ways that we can work together to stop this corrosion of freedom. The web site is run by Electronic Frontiers Australia, a non-profit organisation helping to fight for the freedom and rights of Internet users. Sounds like a good thing to me.

nocensorship Say NO to censorship. Help stop the “Clean Feed”.

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