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#killswitch - it's George Orwell .AND. Aldous Huxley (not .OR.)
IainB:
@Renegade opened a discussion thread back in 2010-06-27:
Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers
President Obama will be handed the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight if the Senate votes for the infamous Internet ‘kill switch’ bill, which was approved by a key Senate committee yesterday and now moves to the floor...
...While media and public attention is overwhelmingly focused on the BP oil spill, the establishment is quietly preparing the framework that will allow Obama, or indeed any President who follows him, to bring down a technological iron curtain that will give the government a foot in the door on seizing complete control over the Internet...
...Indeed, China uses similar rhetoric about the need to maintain “security” and combating cyber warfare by regulating the web, when in reality their entire program is focused around silencing anyone who criticizes the state.
--- End quote ---
Ahem... Do the words
[Rude expletive removed]
have any meaning?
Sneaky, and dangerous.
Why is every year 1984 lately?
-Renegade (June 27, 2010, 03:14 PM)
--- End quote ---
I didn't really pay it much mind at the time, thinking that you could probably "read too much" into things like this, if you were skeptical of Big Government motivation.
But a response from @mrainey asked the question:
Why does every political event or medical event, or even current event, spawn a dozen different conspiracy theories?
...
-mrainey (June 27, 2010, 03:35 PM)
--- End quote ---
And an interesting discussion ensued.
Since then, there have been numerous related issues raised and discussed in DCF, including, for example (and in no particular order):
* Reddit Leaving GoDaddy because of SOPA Support
* As a counter-point to the SOPA/PIPA demonstration
* SOPA: Alt view - You need to be Shakespeare or Picasso to Avoid Content Scraping
* SOPA Is Irrelevant - They'll do it anyways...
* Canadian SOPA-clone looming!
* PrECISE - It's the New SOPA/PIPA/ACTA
* SOPA Shelved - ACTA is Worse
* DC going offline to protest SOPA on Jan 18
* SOPA Cabana
* Sorry, This Post Has Been Censored
* "Save the internet"- and quite a lot more besides that.
So the whole subject of the "freedom of the Internet" (or whatever it could be called) would seem to be of concern to several DCF members, to the extent that it seems to be necessarily occupying our collective cognitive surplus, and the site was blacked out in the SOPA protest.
And now this month has seen the moving of the SECURE IT Act (cybersecurity bill) through the US Senate.
So it isn't going to stop. And there are all sorts of justifications (alleged "good reasons") for this, from lobbyists and other proponents of proposed Internet regulation and legislation. It looks like a steady, remorseless creep across the domain of Internet freedom will be the order of the day.
So what did the SOPA protest blackout achieve? Maybe it slowed it's more rapid progress down to a creep in the first place?
Is there a conspiracy? Arguably, yes, there could seem to be.
But, being skeptical, I don't think that would necessarily be correct.
I was gathering some references to George Orwell, and I chanced across this graphic, in a website #killswitch the film. The graphic draws a contrast between Orwell's 1984 vs. Huxley's Brave New World in the context of Internet freedom.
(Large image so as you can read what's written on it.)
Reading it, I realised that all of what each of the authors had predicted as per this diagram apparently already had taken place and/or was taking place. That is, not one versus the other at all.
If this was true, then was it evidence of a conspiracy?
Again, arguably, yes, there could seem to be.
But again, being skeptical, I don't think that would necessarily be correct.
It seems to me that there is a melding of Orwell/Huxley ("Huxwellianism"?) religio-political ideology. Whilst it might be possible to get everybody arranged to collaborate on a concerted attack on and breach of the Constitution and its Amendments, the simpler truth might be that that could be far too difficult a thing to achieve.
It might be much more likely that times and events are such that several disparate interests have arisen which have different objectives but a coincidentally common vector.
Or, I suppose, it could still be a conspiracy in fact, but dressed up to make it look like it wasn't a conspiracy! :D :D :D
Either way, my suspicion is that it's beginning to look like Internet freedom is going to be stopped/suppressed, whether we like it or not - as @Renegade suggests in one of the above links. And there's not much we will be able to do about it except protest as it is chopped up limb-by-limb in exemplary fashion in front of us.
As @Renegade put it:
...It's not a conspiracy when it's right out in the open for everyone to see...
-Renegade (June 27, 2010, 04:29 PM)
--- End quote ---
FidoNet/SkyNet begin to look like more attractive approaches as each day dawns.
Renegade:
A few things in that infographic irk me a bit...
Turkey? Iran? Seriously?
People need to STFU about "North Korea" and look at what is happening AT HOME!
The surveillance state in North Korea? Is this a joke? It's a bad joke... The real surveillance states are the US and the UK, and their doting bunch of lackey followers, like the sheeple north of the US.
How can anyone possible look to "the west" as any sort of "bastion of freedom" when the US Constitution has been systematically eviscerated over the last 10 years or so, and the lackeys are following suit to one degree or another.
Heck, you don't even have the right to free speech in Australia. Never have.
We need to get our own problems sorted first. And no, neither Syria nor Iran are problems. Killing Syrians and Iranians will NOT bring "freedom and democracy" to anywhere.
The problems are the criminals that have hijacked the system. When they are brought to justice, either in handcuffs or in coffins, THEN things can be put right.
The symptoms are all out in the open. There's nothing controversial there. The ONLY thing that is remotely controversial is that the systemic rape of freedom and liberty is intentional and perpetrated by a sick group through a brilliant system of compartmentalization that makes it all too easy to dismiss...
@IainB - Nice round-up of some of the relevant threads! :)
Regarding skepticism, I would certainly count myself a skeptic. That's where my formal education is. :) However, there is a "jump point" where you eventually have to stop doubting because it's no longer productive. This is going to vary from individual to individual, but that's neither here nor there.
It's all about connecting the dots. Now, if we simply want to doubt, then any drawing can be dismissed as merely a collection of dots, and that the picture isn't there - only the dots are.
So the question really is, "How densely packed do the dots need to be before you hit your 'jump point'?"
In the last couple years we've seen a massive acceleration of attacks on freedom and liberty. The insanity has been taken to entirely new levels.
Each day we have new reports of things that simply defy imagination.
Here's one... And this is just being dismissed as "oh, that's ok. That's normal. That's just business as usual..."
Ready???
Fair Warning -- turn back now if you have a weak stomach...
Seriously... Stop reading if you are in any way squeamish.
I'm not going to stick this in a spoiler...
You've been warned...
Pepsi uses aborted human fetal tissue in their flavouring. Look it up! (I'm not kidding.)
And that's "normal"? This is the kind of thing that the world has come to?
Cannibalism is "normal"? Eating babies is OK?
The sheeple have been so utterly desensitized that anything goes now. There is no level of insanity that is off-limits.
We don't think you need freedom of association, so, we're taking that away now.
Oh, ok.
And, your rights to keep your kids, well, we don't really think that's necessary any more...
Oh, ok.
Dom Portwood: Hi, Peter. What's happening? We need to talk about your TPS reports.
Peter Gibbons: Yeah. The coversheet. I know, I know. Uh, Bill talked to me about it.
Dom Portwood: Yeah. Did you get that memo?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah. I got the memo. And I understand the policy. And the problem is just that I forgot the one time. And I've already taken care of it so it's not even really a problem anymore.
Dom Portwood: Ah! Yeah. It's just we're putting new coversheets on all the TPS reports before they go out now. So if you could go ahead and try to remember to do that from now on, that'd be great. All right!
--- End quote ---
Freedom of speech is the first casualty. The first in a long line...
We either speak up now, or we graciously accept the gags forced into our mouths later. Though somehow I'm inclined to think that they'll actually be those gag-balls that you see with plastic gimp outfits in S&M stores and... uh... Not that I would know what's in S&M stores... Movies! Yeah! I saw it in Pulp Fiction! :P ;D
But seriously - speak up now, or be shut up later. We have 2 options there. I'll go with the first. And if I'm wrong, hey, it's a lot better than being right. Better safe than sorry.
mwb1100:
Pepsi uses aborted human fetal tissue in their flavouring. Look it up! (I'm not kidding.)
And that's "normal"? This is the kind of thing that the world has come to?
Cannibalism is "normal"? Eating babies is OK?
-Renegade (March 25, 2012, 11:52 PM)
--- End quote ---
Pepsi does not do this.
What they, or Senomyx, are doing is using the cells in research for flavorings (http://www.change.org/petitions/hey-pepsico-stop-paying-for-research-using-aborted-fetus-cells).
These cells are apparently widely used in biotechnology research: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEK_cell
Note: I'm not saying that the research is just fine and dandy - I'm not saying anything one way or the other here about my opinion on the matter. I'm just saying that there's a factual difference between using the cells in research and development and actually using the cells in the product.
Renegade:
Pepsi uses aborted human fetal tissue in their flavouring. Look it up! (I'm not kidding.)
And that's "normal"? This is the kind of thing that the world has come to?
Cannibalism is "normal"? Eating babies is OK?
-Renegade (March 25, 2012, 11:52 PM)
--- End quote ---
Pepsi does not do this.
What they, or Senomyx, are doing is using the cells in research for flavorings (http://www.change.org/petitions/hey-pepsico-stop-paying-for-research-using-aborted-fetus-cells).
These cells are apparently widely used in biotechnology research: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEK_cell
Note: I'm not saying that the research is just fine and dandy - I'm not saying anything one way or the other here about my opinion on the matter. I'm just saying that there's a factual difference between using the cells in research and development and actually using the cells in the product.
-mwb1100 (March 26, 2012, 01:55 AM)
--- End quote ---
Splitting hairs.
Murder for profit either way. It's trafficking in human body parts. Baby human body parts.
No matter how you cut it, these sick, twisted <insert frothing string of obscenities here /> are simply beyond any kind of forgiveness or redemption.
IainB:
Turkey? Iran? Seriously?
People need to STFU about "North Korea" and look at what is happening AT HOME!
The surveillance state in North Korea? Is this a joke? It's a bad joke... The real surveillance states are the US and the UK, and their doting bunch of lackey followers, like the sheeple north of the US.
How can anyone possible look to "the west" as any sort of "bastion of freedom" when the US Constitution has been systematically eviscerated over the last 10 years or so, and the lackeys are following suit to one degree or another.
Heck, you don't even have the right to free speech in Australia. Never have.
We need to get our own problems sorted first. And no, neither Syria nor Iran are problems. Killing Syrians and Iranians will NOT bring "freedom and democracy" to anywhere.
-Renegade (March 25, 2012, 11:52 PM)
--- End quote ---
The reason I attached that image was that it takes into account that it ("Huxwellianism") seems to be happening all over the globe - if we hadn't already noticed, or needed reminding. I saw a version of the image with Spanish writing on it in place of the English, and for all I know the image has been produced in other languages too.
As for the Western societies - i.e., generally including US, Canada, Europe, and Australasia - again, we already know that it's happening in those societies. That's presumably why there was so much discussion on the subject of "Internet freedom" in the DCF, and why the DCF blacked out for the SOPA protest. You can see that from the concerns expressed by DCF members in the several discussion threads that I listed (and it's not an all-inclusive list either).
I don't see how this is a thing that can be easily fought though. You probably can't really isolate the "culprits" and kill them for treason or put them in jail without discriminating against them and withdrawing their rights in law. They're all over the place. It's like a systemic cancer. If you want to kill it with (say) radiation therapy, then you might end up having to risk killing yourself (the host) as well.
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