[Politech] More on Sen. Stevens wanting to extend indecency rules to cable, satellite, Net [fs]

From: Declan McCullagh (declan@private)
Date: Thu Mar 17 2005 - 21:25:45 PST


Previous Politech message:
http://www.politechbot.com/2005/03/15/senator-wants-indecency/


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Politech] Transcript of Sen. Stevens' remarks on Internet 
"indecency" laws [fs]
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 22:02:32 -0800
From: Tom Collins <tom@private>
To: Declan McCullagh <declan@private>
References: <4237C342.7040709@private>

On Mar 15, 2005, at 9:25 PM, Declan McCullagh wrote:
 > except we’re saying, they have the burden to tell you what’s in it
 > like the movie business does

Um, isn't that what TVMA and the V-chip are for?

--
Tom Collins  -  tom@private
QmailAdmin: http://qmailadmin.sf.net/  Vpopmail: http://vpopmail.sf.net/
You don't need a laptop to troubleshoot high-speed Internet:
sniffter.com




-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [Politech] More on indecency rules extended to cable,
satellite, Net [fs]
Date: 	Wed, 2 Mar 2005 08:59:57 EST
From: 	Teletect@private
To: 	declan@private


We have seen freedom after freedom become circumscribed by vague and
inhumane ideas of "decency" and "morality".  These weighted terms are
used to oppose normal human behavior due to "religious convictions" that
are often forms of bigotry.  And the cost is immense.

In the last presidential election, Bush was re-elected in spite of
record opposition to the incumbent -- more people voted against his
foreign and domestic policies than at any time in American history.
However, he was returned to office by a wave of heartlanders who chose
him for his "morality".  Those voters were mobilised by the inclusion of
gay marriage referendi, and their opposition to ensuring equal civil
rights for gay Americans (including the right to divorce when over half
of American heterosexual marriages are so dissolved, so do not fling up
the "sanctity" of marriage) carried Bush back into the White House.

Our elected representatives in Congress have spent tax
dollars considering how to eliminate "illegitimacy", even though any
child born on American soil or to Americans overseas is de facto a
legitimate citizen of the United States.  As we have recently been
informed, at least one illegitimate child could have been legitimized if
Senator Strom Thurmond had married his black mistress, but at the time,
that would not have been "decent".  (In fact, our current government
burden over the last 30 or 40 years has destroyed the "Ozzie and
Harriet" model of parenting.  In order to pay federal, state, and local
taxes, and still maintain a middle-class life for their children, both
parents must work.  The lesser of those two paychecks and part of the
greater are entirely consumed by taxes.)

The War on Drugs is actually a War on Americans Who Use Drugs Without a
Prescription.  The cost in shattered lives due to drug use does not
compare to the destruction caused by imprisonment and violence
associated with "illegal" drugs.  The violence is caused by the money
associated with the prosecution risks of black market products.
Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical companies, and their private army (the
DEA), and their "regulators" (the FDA), are consuming increasing
portions of the economy while serving up poison after poison.
Cyclamates, thalidamide, cox II inhibitors, and so on, are merely the
obvious examples.  There are many drugs that require additional drug
therapies to remedy the side effects.

We have let "morality and decency" gain too much power.  What we need
are ethics and truth.

Greg Jones
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