Sunday 3 January 2010
Animalia......(6)
Begorrah, bejaysus and begawd! Ireland's new blasphemy law
Just when you think it's safe to let the Irish back in the house (sorry great-great grandpapa!) they come up with this protection for the pious via a new set of defamation laws which include "blasphemous libel", according to blasphemy.ie:
"From today, 1 January 2010, the new Irish blasphemy law becomes operational, and we begin our campaign to have it repealed. Blasphemy is now a crime punishable by a €25,000 fine. The new law defines blasphemy as publishing or uttering matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion, with some defences permitted.
This new law is both silly and dangerous. It is silly because medieval religious laws have no place in a modern secular republic, where the criminal law should protect people and not ideas. And it is dangerous because it incentives religious outrage, and because Islamic States led by Pakistan are already using the wording of this Irish law to promote new blasphemy laws at UN level."
Go here for the 25 blasphemies published in response to this law which apparently got through the parliament by a margin of one vote.If you're really interested the entire Irish Defamation Act 2009 is here.
Update:
Traffic on blasphemy.ie is apparently so heavy this morning that a 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable notice is currently displayed, so use it's Google cache to read this website if you're having trouble.
Saturday 2 January 2010
Australia Uncensored blows the whistle on who Conroy is actually censoring on the Australian Internet
From Australia Uncensored on 27 December 2009:
The Rudd Government's not censoring the Australian Internet - it's censoring older people
While you were sleeping....more Antarctic whales were being killed
Greenpeace photograph of whales in the Southern Ocean
The whaling fleet subsidised by the Government of Japan is still in Antarctic waters killing whales for so-called scientific research and commercial whale meat. The fleet is not expected to sail back to Japan until sometime between mid-March and April 2010.
This is the person responsible for the ongoing needless slaughter:
So you made a New Year's resolution......
So you made a New Year's resolution again this year to do one or more of the following:
A. Manage your credit card debt a bit better
B. Save money so that next Christmas will be stress free
C. Lose some weight
D. Get fit, maybe even join a gym
E. Quit smoking
F. Drink less alcohol
G. Study hard when school/uni starts again for the year
H. Impress the boss with your get and up and go or just go
I. Bike to work
J. Take up a sport
K. Watch less television and read more
L. Take the pooch for longer walks
Well done! I give you until the end of the month to abandon each and every good intention except for M - we're always attracted to the big mistakes in life.
Yeah, I know, that sounds a trifle jaded, but Professor Richard Wiseman sorta backs me up because his team found that 78% of resolution makers crash and burn.
However all is not lost as Teh Prof appears to have nailed a few decent tips over at his blog:
Last year we tracked hundreds of people who were trying to keep their resolution, asking them to report on their success and the techniques that they were using. The results suggest that many of the ideas recommended by self-help experts simply don't work. We have developed a fun quiz on off the back of this work that predicts the likelihood of you achieving your resolutions – try it here. We have also posted lots more about the work, including ten tips for keeping your resolutions over on the 59 seconds site. Part of the work revealed that you will increase your chances of achieving your aims if you tell others about your goal. So, what's your resolution?
Friday 1 January 2010
How we began the year 2010....
It's now January 2010. The beginning of a new year but not exactly a month with a bright, clean calendar page - it is weighted down by last year's unfinished business.
The Great Australian Internet Blackout is on 25-29 January & Australia Day!
From the protest Website:
What’s the problem?
The Federal Government is pushing forward with a plan to force Internet Service Providers to censor the Internet for all Australians. This plan will waste millions of dollars and won't make anyone safer.
Join us and take action!
The Great Australian Internet Blackout is a combined online and offline demonstration against imposed online censorship. We’re collaborating with Electronic Frontiers Australia to make sure every Australian knows why this draconian policy is unacceptable.
Go to The Great Australian Internet Blackout and find out how you can take part.