Spy Journal 3.0 Filtering the web for you

I have written before at length about the stupidity of the government in attempting to filter the internet against pornography, or illegal content or in fact anything at all.

The subject of internet filtering and censorship has raised its ugly head here in Australia again. The internet and media has been buzzing in the last few days with the Rudd government’s minister for Telecommunications Stephen Conroy announcing mandatory internet filters.

This article from ZDNet with interviews from the leaders of three of Australia's largest internet service providers - Telstra Media's Justin Milne, iiNet's Michael Malone and Internode's Simon Hackett - summarises the technical legal and ethical arguments the best I have read so far.

I have today responded to two articles written by Cheryl Critchley a columnist for the Herald Sun. I guess she has a job a little like mine sometimes – she writes for a living! I think maybe I do more typing than she does (I average about 1 million words per year).

Anyway the two articles were Is homeschooling good for kids? and the current controversy about the Bill Hensen Underage nude (art) photographs titled Are nude photos of children ever OK?

Nude photos of children answer.

Hi Cheryl

I completely agree with your comment that photos of nude children are inappropriate as forms of public art. While most families have shots of their kids naked, part naked etc they are usually as your photos of your kids are described, candid and funny reminders of times as a family where the nakedness is not the point of the photo, though often the focal point. Rather the point of these photos is the family fun and memories.

Hye over at spaceofreality wrote an article titled "Is money the root of all evil?" I decided to write a comment on that post.

Here it is

If I may I would like to sum up some of the other commenters comments.
the phrase "money is the root of all evil" is oft quoted as you wrote, but it is always quoted incorrectly. As a couple of commenters wrote the correct quote is "the love of money is the root of all evil"
This is quite an important difference.

In an act of cowardly violence, the charismatic former Prime Minister of Pakistand was violently assassinated on Thursday. Bhutto was apparently shot and then a bomb blast ripped through the crowd of her supportrers leaving people dead and wounded. The New York Times has a photo montage worth of Bhutto before her death and the aftermath of the explosion watching. It left me with a sense of horror at the absolute ruthlenssness, and lack of humanity, of the souls who planned, coordinated and executed such a cowardardly act. I can only assume that a suicide bobmber can tationalise this action because he doens.t have to live with the consequences of his actions. No normal, sane person could rip bodies apart deliberately and not have nightmares.