CBC News - Canada - Bureaucrats monitor online forums Once you get past the Harper governments proganda(all the seal hunt related distractions), you'll see in eerie similarity between this initiative and Oceania's own Ministry of Truth. I guess you have to start somewheres. Before my words are tossed down the memory hole, I say we have to tear down these organizations with our bare hands, brick by metaphorical brick. Because We have to start somewhere folks, otherwise there will be nothing left on this Earth for us to take back, especially our freedoms.
Sounds kind of what that sweetheart Cass Sunstein wants done here in the States. Crimethink is doubleplusungood.
If all they're doing is raising issue with factual premises, causal logic, and questioning political gain ... um, how exactly is that any different from anyone having a serious discussion about something? Obviously the Orwellian undertones are there but for fuck's sake if I have to read another post that says "CLIMATEGATE PROVES GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX" I am just going to lose it.
I don't really like the idea of the DEA training some guy to sit on norml and grasscity all day to "point the authors to information the government considers more accurate". Wouldn't this program justify this sort of thing?
This is why people don't like Canada. If it was actual discussion that would be cool. Not like some bot user that just posts links and shit. I'd love to be able to insult the intelligence of a government official in (almost) real time.
Right, but it's just information. Hypothetically speaking, let's say there was a guy from the government posting on GC, trying to evangelize the good word about sobriety by posting tired government talking points. Wouldn't the more educated members of the forum easily prove him wrong? That's the power of the internet, you guise. It's not as though his position with the government gives him any more power on the forum than any other member. Corporations do this shit all the time. Sure, I dislike it, but at least it's just information and not them trying to sell me shit.
I get what you're saying--I just don't think the Government should be trying to disseminate the truth... especially when those that 'need' the truth, are the ones the Government is 'targetting'. It will just make conspiracy theorists even more skeptical of the so-called 'truth'. Instead of saying they had no role in 9/11, how about they speak truth to power, and release the goddamn tapes from that stupid hotel and gas station that all the 9/11 nuts go crazy over. I think caving into the relatively lax demands from the conspiracy theorists would be far more effective (and would shut them up) than simply putting up a few lines of text on a website, and then pretend it's perfectly legitimate. And of course, like you said, there's the whole Orwellian overtone thing...
Neither do I, and fortunatly I don't think SCOTUS would allow such a thing to occur. Freedom of Association has been enshrined within our First Amendment, and similar cases have already been ruled on.
