The internet: A wild west that actually function(ed)

While it is true that there are bad people doing bad things on the internet, these are such a small minority, and they have become somewhat predictable, and almost expected by the majority of users. I see less blind trust from even the most ignorant of computer users that I deal with IRL. The scope of damage that bad people can cause gets smaller as more ignorant computer users become informed that bad people will always choose to do bad things. Ignorance, is the enemy that must be fought in this particular war, that war is always fought with knowledge.

Granted, I think there are worse things being done by worse people that nobody 'official' will be addressing, and will probably be relegated to footnotes if not completely ignored by me in this post as well... An unfortunate side-effect of this world's method of raising minor distractions to cover for the big picture. But, they must work in small increments, and I must protest these small increments to prevent the big picture from getting closer to reality.

Democracy is a lie

It is true that I have no rights in the politics in a foreign country, that does not mean those politics in no way affect me. Politics of foreign nations can trigger my sense of injustice and unfairness.

Politics of other countries can overrule my countries unwillingness to participate in 'humanitarian efforts' and 'regime change' abroad by majority vote in some of the international crime syndicates to which my country pays membership dues like NATO and the UN.

Where to, from here?

In my mind the puzzle of truth is almost complete, the pieces now form the majority of a picture with enough detail that I can stop looking for the final few missing pieces. Those pieces are of little consequence and would not be large or revolutionary enough to redefine the picture as a whole. I may not have all the names and faces but those final pieces may have been stolen (national security) or damaged beyond recognition (redacted) and to continue to look under the rug or sofa would be folly, madness, and an utter waste of time and effort.

Lawful Access: C-51 "Everyone is guilty" "or is guilty"...

OK, I am going to skim through this one for all the most extraordinarily bad bits because I am sick of reading legalese...

342.1 (1) Every one who, fraudulently and without colour of right,

is to be replaced by:

342.1 (1) Everyone is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years, or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction who, fraud- ulently and without colour of right,

The language seems too convoluted... Everyone is................who. Words are free, if we are extending 8 words into 33 words, a few more reiterating that not "everyone is guilty", "or is guilty" doesn't seem like much to ask. I know I am not a lawyer, but this just looks like it is designed to strike fear into the hearts of everyone who reads English... The French version is no better, so include French literates too...  And why is there a hyphen in fraudulently? The original text does not place that word over multiple lines, it is almost right in the middle of a single line...

Lawful Access: C-46 & C-47 aka We don't need no stinking privacy

Well, I said I would review the laws yesterday, so let's begin...
Bill C-46, the Investigative Powers for the 21st Century (IP21C) Act. Basically, this is a revision of the criminal code underlined words reflect changes

Lawful Access?

Every time I turn around I find out that Canada is about to pass some other Criminally insane police-state 'big brother'-ish law!!! Lawful Access Law? All this purports to do is eliminate the need for a warrant to wire-tap telephones (Land and Cell), email, and internet traffic because the existing laws are subject to "privacy laws and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms".

DO THESE PEOPLE HEAR THEMSELVES WHEN THEY SPEAK?

SOPA-CAN-ACTA? AKA: Bill C-11

Yes, Canada, we have a SOPA too. And it's not called ACTA, it's "The Copyright Modernization Act -- Bill C-11". I will agree that there are some points in this act that do not pander to the entertainment machine, but for certain glitches which nullify those clauses which allow us to 'backup media', or transfer them to other devices.

section 29.22(1):

(c) the individual, in order to make the reproduction, did not circumvent, as defined in section 41, a technological protection measure, as defined in that section, or cause one to be circumvented;

'technological protection measure'?

Acta 2: the sobering truth(s)

ACTA has everybody's attention these days. The Blogsphere has analyzed it and condemned it, Europe's been protesting it. And I don't argue that the secretive process behind trying to get this agreement passed is as much to blame as the ACTA language itself, and maybe more-so (even if I disagree with many other points the author makes in his WSJ commentary). Of course the MSM is still maintaining relative silence about it, and the fake news leaves it to the last paragraph of a h4xor story without delving into the bill itself, but that is anticipated.

SOPA and PIPA might attempt to make the rounds again under a different name, but given the megauploads.com situation are any of these bills even needed? Megauploads.com did have valid uses that did not infringe on copyright law, even if it wasn't a perfect sandbox where nothing shady happened. But despite no new laws having passed, and being able to demonstrate a perfectly legal way to operate, that hasn't stopped it from being brought offline... And the raid and shutdown happened across international borders in New Zealand where the site's owner Kim Dotcom awaits an extradition hearing to determine if he will be sent to Guantanamo (or the U.S.A., whatever the kidz are calling it these days) for his public execution.

"I need my pain"

I have begun to realize that despite all the bad (and occasionally fake) NEWS that I read. I am not getting as wound up as I used to... There's plenty to be annoyed with but yet not even the faintest chemical reaction, or precursor to emotional overwhelmedness that I have come to expect from my routine...

Have I worn it out? Is that even possible? When the only driving force I had has been my hatred of the system and my contempt for those at it's controls is gone, what is left?

News from the Precrime™ department

The East Orange NJ police have a new crime fighting weapon. It's a remote operated red spotlight that can 'highlight' a near felon as a, sort of, 'don't do what you are thinking of doing' warning, as well as a reminder that 'Big Brother is watching you'. I presume that the red spotlight will eventually be replaced by a weaponized Nortrop Grumman 100Kw laser cannon once it has become commercially available, at which time anybody who doesn't pooper-scoop after their dog, should relocate to West Orange, NJ...

-DIrtyKID©

Domestic Terrorism® aka "Project Tripwire"®

The FBI (who under the North American Perimeter Security Agreement would likely extend it's operations into Canada) have released some guidelines on how to rat out and disappear your neighbours as a 'Domestic Terrorist'. The whole flyer is available here for you to peruse. I will take some time to point out what I have already misinterpreted.

What? Really?

Fox News Reported: Bin Laden Already Dead on December 26th 2001. No addendum, no corrections, and the article is still on their website. OK, so it's citing a news story from The Pakistan Observer and not actually doing any research of their own, but still... Since when does Fox carry NEWS? Funny, it still does not give any account of Bin Laden taking credit for 9/11 even on his death bed.

-DIrtyKID©

Just in case they take it down:

In Con$erving™, we may need to keep you a debt $lave a bit longer

The Harper Government™ is mulling over the idea of raising the retirement age another two years to 67. I know I did not post it here, but I have said it aloud to many people: 'my retirement shall not happen, it shall dangle further and further from my nose until I am dead'. This statement is usually in association to the shock and horror that I have not locked my money into a banks 'retirement savings plan'...OK, so it is frequently a bank employee or telemarketer representing a bank who is shocked by this attitude.

This is enhanced by the belief that no matter what I save now I will need infinitely more to sustain myself later, heck I need more this year, than I did last year forget 25 years down the road. There is the other fact that I needed less a decade ago when I earned more than I do presently, so really in this equation I am putting money into an account to save 5% in tax now to need it in less than a decade and pay 25% tax on it then, this doesn't sound fiscally responsible to me. Usually they hang up at this point... Nobody likes loosing an argument.

It's OK, I am not even mildly upset at the government (this time), even if I do not see them Con$serving™ anything. I understood the economic law of diminishing returns present in an aging population when I was 15 (I even remember the argument I had about it then), so this move is inevitable. Just like the next two or three will be. I am upset, however, that I was right...

-DIrtyKID©

The word of the year: protester

pro·test    [n. proh-test; v. pruh-test, proh-test]
noun
an expression or declaration of objection, disapproval, or dissent, often in opposition to something a person is powerless to prevent or avoid: a protest against increased taxation.

Well, I guess I can't really argue with this... In fact, from the word dissent on, it's really quite accurate. I still feel like there is something missing, something hollow about it. Dissent, opposition, powerless, it's all there... Oh, right, powerless might not be the proper word.