Posted by gary g (208.133.217.147) on July 17, 1999 at 11:57:39:
In Reply to: Re: Our website CH.COM has been blocked! Help Family. posted by Karla on July 16, 1999 at 13:08:45:
what the !@#%&* does this have to do with people's weird need to fly a religious flag everywhere they go- get over it - that part's YOUR business and nobody else gives a sweet ....
TO THE POINT OF CLUSTER HEADACHE AND RELATED INTERNET RESOURCES:
FIRST: there are SEVERAL protocols for "blocking" so-called offensive websites
you're apparently thinking only of the programs in which an "adult oriented" site lists itself with outfits that then provide a very simple program that stops any listed site from opening on your computer if you so subscribe
BUT - another VERY common type "scans" web site keyword lists before you can actually open them (and often the content itself) for banned words -if the word shows up, the program will not allow the site to be opened
Hell - I've got inlaws who have built a large & succesful business designing custom security programs for corporations, govt agencies, etc, that filter out what can or can't come into the system with incredible sophistication - the individual users often can't even tell they're being controlled
what does this have to do with Cluster Headache internet resources ? - well, try and think for a minute:
RELEVANT point #1:
about 5-6 years back, one of the huge international ISPs decided to try offering such a service to members, some puritanical moron put the word "breast" on the screening list, and IMMEDIATELY shut down all access to breast cancer resource sites, for their millions of subscribers
we had a newly diagnosed case of that very disease in our family at the time, and the various medical resource sites went black - guess what my reaction was to these self-appointed word police ?!?!?! functionally, they were EXACTLY the same as somebody who refused medication to a dying child - potential murderers !!!!
you can be damn sure I was off that server within a week
RELEVANT point#2:
a. freedom of dissemination of information has ALWAYS been the solution to problems in the world, and the only absolute defense against abuse by those in power - and this INCLUDES the medical/insurance complex - it is EXACTLY the availability of uncensored, direct exchange of information that has created the ASTOUNDING leaps forward in CH understanding & treatment in the last 2 years alone
b. the issue of pornography (or any other negative activity) is NOT in the content or image, but in the mind of the viewer/reader, and the intent of the person saying/showing it - - -
NO - this is NOT a pornography debate, bear with me:
as in the case of AOL & the breast cancer, it is thus IMPOSSIBLE to screen by automation because there is hardly a word, phrase or image that cannot be seen as both constructive OR negative, depending on context and purpose of posting and usage by the listener/seeker
in the case of CLUSTER HEADACHE, this monster affliction affects our minds, bodies, spirits, families - EVERYTHING - and that means ANYTHING might very legitimately be said/posted that might be of HELP to somebody, even though others might find it distasteful
If you aren't with me/or understand the issue,- this far, then don't even bother reading further -
it's a waste of your time & mine ......
now let's take the argument to the next logical connection:
OKAY -
people might say "but I only want it on MY computer"
THAT'S HIGHLY UNLIKELY - in our area there is a constant frenzy by people who demand these screening programs be placed on computers in schools, libraries, etc - - in which case, as far as I am concerned, they become abusive enemies to the health, education and welfare of everybody in the community - - if you block MY access to valuable positive resources because of YOUR insecurites, you ARE defining yourself as an aggressive enemy to me- - and guess what, just like a recent post, these folks trying to shut down public access to information almost invariably respond, if not start the debate, with a chorus of self-proclaimed christian righteousness, so I am NOT in the least impressed by that as part of the argument
anyone who has ANY background in history, government, technology, etc understands - the more something is slipped into the public arena in bits & pieces, the more it becomes an established alternative, which then has a high danger of growing into public policy - -
don't forget - Hitler was a fanatic Christian as well, as far as he was concerned, and many of the holocaust atrocities got justified as "medical" experiments BECAUSE freedom of thought and information had been all but eliminated
so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - think this stuff through -
as far as I'm concerned, if so much as ONE CH patient is shut off from developing or existing helpful knowledge because some wellmeaning but naive & tunnelvisioned person has actively contributed to the creation of information censorship, then that second person is in effect a dangerous enemy
and, when I said the internet porno furor was hype - I was assuming we were talking about material which showed up displayed on our screens without us taking some action to put it there....something that rarely if ever happens UNLESS you put yourself on lists, and there are many ways of doing that, but the answer is to learn how not to get on the lists to begin with
if somebody's numb enough to open email w/attached files that isn't satisfactorily labelled, or goes looking for this stuff on the web, then what the hell are they bitching about ?