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What's up, folks, long time no post. I figured here would be a safe space to vent some of my thoughts regarding the events of the past few weeks, because I don't use social media and any other forums I frequent have form for yeeting any stream of consciousness I have felt compelled to post in the past (looking at YOU, DW).

By now, I'm sure everyone (still) here is aware of the UK's Online Surveillance Safety Act - a bill passed under the previous UK government that requires all websites operating in the UK to provide "robust" age verification checks (most of which have been punted on to a third party company run by a very good friend of the government) to ensure that all users consuming 18+content are of legal age, either via facial scans or government-issued ID, all under the banner of "protecting children" - a large section of whom were just granted the right to vote, no less. The same bill also gives sweeping power to the Home Secretary to change what is classed as unsuitable for children on a whim.

Now, every major website, from X to Spotify, from Youtube to Discord, are rolling out these "robust" age checks (which have already been defeated using images of Norman Reedus aka Sam Bridges from Death Stranding) and it is already spreading outside of the UK.

We are told that all of this is necessary to protect children and that anyone concerned about having their online privacy effectively revoked is "shielding predators" (actual quote from Peter Kyle, Minister for Science, who incidentally admitted to having a reading comprehension age of 8), yet the content that has been deemed as "potentially harmful" extends far beyond simple pornographic material - extending as far as criticism of government policy, especially with regards to illegal immigration (quite a hot-button topic in the UK right now).

All of this comes into effect just as the new Labour government lowered the voting age to 16, meaning we now have a new block of voters who are legally forbidden from accessing dissenting opinions or other information which may sway their voting choice away from the establishment narrative.

You may have your own opinions on immigration, etc. We may fundamentally disagree, even, but personally, I am struggling to find a charitable interpretation of this.

Porn is an easy target - nobody in their right mind is ever going to defend it publicly when it comes to formulating government policy. But all too often, it is the trojan hors via which more sinister policy is smuggled into law.

This law does nothing for children - if the UK governments of the past 30 years gave a damn about children, frankly there are many other more effective measures they could have taken to prevent things like the Southport stabbings, 7/7, the Manchester Arena attacks, and so on. Instead, they choose to usher in a new era of surveillance. Digital ID is next, then digital currency. Nothing you do will be anonymous, everything will be recorded, tracked, and used against you for the rest of your life. One wrong word, one false move, and forget about finding employment, you won't even be able to buy groceries with the money you have. Prisons will no longer be necessary - all they need to do is ban/disable your account.

If this sounds ridiculous, it's already happening in China. Lawsuits are currently being drafted in the US to shut this shit down. There have been many attempts to implement laws like this in the past, but they have a nasty habit of bumping up against those pesky First and Fourth Amendments.

Here in the UK, though (I'm in Northern Ireland - technically part of the UK but with absolutely no say in any of this), we have no such constitutional protections outside of Common Law, which has been eroded beyond recognition through decades of power grabs by - let's face it - the disciples of Tony Blair, both on the left and the right.

As for these so-called "protections" under this law, good God. There have already been dozens of fake "age-verification" sites popping up over the last week with the sole purpose of stealing people's ID, and many young people are reportedly turning to the likes of Tor and Mullvad just to use the internet as they were previously. Yes, the Online Safety Act is actively pushing people towards the Dark Web.

I'm not in a good place right now given all of this - I'm of course running a VPN to avoid opening myself up to identity theft - but I shouldn't need to go to such lengths just to chill with some bloody Youtube videos. I feel like I'm in a Black Mirror episode.

Anyway, thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Greetings, Comrade.  It is good to hear from you.  There's not really anything I can add to the raw perspective you've provided here, except for wishing you well and praying that you can stay one step ahead of the UKGB at all times.

If they want to protect Children they should do something about those grooming gangs

But that would be "pandering to the far-right", or something.

One thing I've learned over the last decade or so is that "far-right" is nothing more than a euphemism for "working class" - basically shorthand for, "your concerns are not only to be disregarded, but actively worked against", hence the UK now has the fastest population growth in all of Europe, despite having a negative birth rate, meaning that the sexual and violent crimes are only getting more and more frequent.

Add in the fact that the Home Office, which decides who gets to stay in the country and who doesn't, is effectively run by a network of around 700 Islamists and you have little room for wonder as to how someone like Tommy Robinson was able to get around a million people to march on Westminster just last week for a free speech rally.

I was once a lefty, but the events of the past 15 years have had me questioning everything that I "knew" about the society that I live in, culminating finally in the horrendous events in the US last week and the reactions of people not just online, but who I considered friends. It's been a tough thing for me to navigate on top of everything else going on here. Thing is, I never really paid much attention to guys like Charlie Kirk, but seeing some of the ghoulish shit people have been posting in the wake of his assassination has been sobering, to say the least.

I am definitely saddened by what has happened to the UK.  What has happened over the last century is that people have been pitted against each other, Left vs Right, Republicans vs Democrats, Europeans vs Americans, etc... when it really comes down to good vs evil.  Speaking out against evil has resulted in people being labeled as "haters" or "phobes" by evil's apologists.  It has always been a false equivalency.  Some behaviors should never be tolerated, but being labeled as intolerant is scary, so a lot of people just silence themselves and let things happen.  What happened with Charlie Kirk is the result of tolerating evil for too long and letting those who espouse such rhetoric to go unchecked.  Good people decided it was OK to surrender their rights and authority to the devil, and now we see the hell that has followed.

People label their enemies as haters while being full of hatred, call them Nazis when they themselves are behaving like Nazis, decry leaders as fascist while praising their own fascist ideas.  That is the problem with hypocrites - they are undisturbed by their own hypocrisy.  Meanwhile, there are very rich and powerful people that seek even more wealth and power at the expense of order and sanity.  Questioning, thinking for yourself, and just asking for what used to be considered common sense leads to persecution.  I understand that now in the UK if you're even suspected of nodding your head in silent prayer in the wrong places you'll be arrested on hate crime charges.  Yet, half the country is now bowing to Mecca 5 times a day without fear of any repercussions?  That's certainly not just.

A lot of people - atheists in particular - like to throw around the phrase in the bible "Judge not, lest ye be judged".  There is another phrase I am fond of myself - "By their fruits ye shall know them".  A diseased tree bears rotten fruit.  When looking at anyone - politician, social leader, activist, what have you - I always look at what manner of fruit they have produced.  It doesn't matter what they say they're doing.  If they leave a trail of desolation, poverty, strife, and misery in their wake we know what they are.  They can try to hide by labeling, accusing, and slandering their critics, but the truth is there to be seen.  How people react to tragedy befalling their ideological opponents is very telling.  Anyone that is truly loving, tolerant, and peaceful does not celebrate the murder of someone who simply disagrees with them.  Those people are evil, and I pray for them daily that they would repent and come to learn what true love and compassion really mean.

Well said.

And you are correct regarding silent prayer - the most famous case is a woman named Isabel Vaughn-Spruce who was arrested for silently praying within an abortion clinic exclusion zone (yes, you read that right). She pursued legal action and won her case with West Midlands Police issuing a formal apology, but as with all of these cases, the process is the punishment.

I myself remain areligious. That said, I am no longer willing to allow my moral principles to be used as a shield by those who do not hold them. The same people who were dancing on Kirk's grave and calling for more are now getting sacked, and suddenly they care about free speech now that the cancel cannons have been turned in their direction. Five years ago I would have condemned this - I maintain that no one should lose their job over a tweet. However, it would appear that the only hope for reconciliation is that, maybe, being forced to live by their own principles for a while will finally make them understand why we hold ours.

Cathartic? Perhaps. Pragmatic? Certainly. Effective? I have my doubts, but when these people are more upset by a talk show host getting sacked than an innocent man being gunned down on a debate stage, let alone what happened to that poor Ukrainian lass the weekend before, what alternative is there?

I will bring two comparisons to the table.

Iryna Zarutska vs George Floyd.  One was an innocent refugee that fled from war and was brutally murdered without provocation, the other was a career criminal that was on fentanyl and meth and died while resisting arrest.  The first case has been mostly ignored, the second resulted in riots and burning cities.

Tucker Carlson vs Jimmy Kimmel.  When the first was cancelled it was celebrated by the same people that are decrying the cancellation of the second.  What's good for the goose, as they say.

The worst part of Charlie Kirk's assassination is that his killer did not have to become what he did.  He was influenced by a culture of intolerance and hate that preached violence - a sad irony as that's what, in his mind, he was trying to eliminate - and he chose to embrace that worldview.  He ended two lives that day - Charlie's, and his own.  Those who are celebrating Kirk's death care nothing about the two families that have been utterly devastated by this.  All they see is someone they hate is dead.  Such blood lust is unbecoming of a so-called civilized people.

I would also like to add this classic for a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPbzrgjOi04

Prophetic :doom_love:

(sigh)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cwydl81dg13t

I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. Anyone fancy acting as a sponsor for an immigration visa? :wall:

I'm afraid they do not grant legal rights to birds.  :\

Oh well, maybe the US will start accepting free speech refugees in the next few years. Should give me enough time to save up the money.

Unless, of course, the UK goes full Germany and starts fining people for trying to leave...

Well, the US is accepting refugees from South Africa, so there's that possibility.  I think what the UK really needs is for your fellow countrymen to get fed up enough to rise up and throw the crooks out of Parliament and take their nation back.  Sadly, I don't see any peaceful way this can happen, but who knows.  I have seen stranger things come to pass, so one can always hope.