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Pakistan Blocks YouTube
Multiple readers have written to tell us of news that Pakistan has ordered its ISPs to block access to YouTube "for containing blasphemous web content/movies." This follows increasing unrest in Pakistan over a Danish newspaper's reprinting of cartoons which depict Islam in a less-than-favorable light. The cartoons also sparked controversy when they were first published a few years ago.
Thousands of years of getting offended by the same thing over and over again every time it is republished might have made them look a bit whiny.
The block didn't last long because so many people were (figuratively) up in arms about it. Given the amount of "non-offensive" material (i.e. in this case, material not criticizing the king), the government realized their own stupidity and realized it would be better to have a placated populous than risk unrest over such a small thing.
Are there parallels here? Possibly not, because I guess the blocks are for different reasons. However, it's not like a large amount of YouTube is about the comic or other representations of Mohammed, so... It will be interesting to see if the people cry out and how the government responds...
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
I think if they're so hellbent on censoring everything that offends their religion and interrupting everything else that matters in the process, they are welcome to throw their civilization back centuries behind the rest of the world.
Pissed off at your sister? Commit a crime. You'll get a trivial sentence while your sister gets gang raped.
Wait... what's that? All cultures are of equal value? Oh, OK. Sorry.
As a religion Islam is the petulant, spoiled bully child on the playground - always accustomed to getting what it wants. If it doesn't get its own way, it resorts to acts of barbaric aggression.
naah, it's worse than that. It gets its own way, in countries throughout the world where there is Sharia. Jeez, how many religions would like to have the government make laws in lock-step with their teachings? All of 'em! But Islam is not content with the countries whose laws and mores it already directly affects, it wants to control the 21st Century nations as well.
But I'm a glass-half-full kinda guy, so let's look at the bright side: There is no better incentive for the West to pursue alternate energy sources than the opportunity that represents to stem the tide of Islamic Imperialism.
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Yes I have to agree with you on this.
As a Pakistani who has spent considerable amount of time in and out of the country, this blocking has absolutely nothing to do with "blasphemous content".
The reality is that right now in Pakistan there are serious allegations of vote rigging going around, the Military Junta in its usual dictatorial form has to find a cover story to block news about any vote rigging as they already do the same with the regular news media. They blocked the biggest Pakistani News TV being broadcast from Dubai, GEO TV, a few months ago over the news station airing reports critical of the current government.
I really doubt 90% of Pakistanis even care about the cartoons, this is really an excuse to hide under their real motivations, ie vote rigging.
There are tons of websites that can be stated as "blasphemous" however none of them are blocked, so why block youtube, especially at this point in time.
Reeks of a CYA cover story to me.
Not entirely true. It has been shown to dramatically reduce the HIV transmission rate so it is being used in sub-Saharan Africa to combat AIDS. I should note that this treatment is done with adult males who can choose for themselves, not babies who are disfigured so as to not anger some invisible man in the sky.
Suddenly, the hairy finger of a familiar monkey tapped me on the shoulder. It was time.--G. T.
Now there can be liberal interpretations of Islam - where each individual needs to wage "jihad" against their own evil. But this is not the traditional stance, or even an obvious one just from reading Quran. It is an assimilation of the Christian idea that "the line between good and evil runs not between us and them, but through each of our hearts".
My problem with Islam is that when a person is externally forced to behave well, that might make the streets safer if done effectively, but that person is still not a good person. The evil within them is just biding its time, waiting for an opportunity. And no external enforcement by human beings is perfect. There will always be loopholes and opportunities to do evil.
Actually, no, it does not. Even worse: tell men they are protected (although they are not) and they will not bother using condoms. Ergo, circumcision helps spread AIDS.
Circumcision is child abuse.
Congratulations on failing to read my post or my link. Your link states that it was to "determine the impact of early childhood circumcision" which is *not* what was being discussed. By the way, The WHO disagrees with you, recommending:
1.1 Male circumcision should now be recognized as an efficacious intervention for HIV prevention.
1.2 Promoting male circumcision should be recognized as an additional, important strategy for the prevention of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men.
2.1 Male circumcision should never replace other known methods of HIV prevention and should always be considered as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention package, which includes: promoting delay in the onset of sexual relations, abstinence from penetrative sex and reduction in the number of sexual partners; providing and promoting correct and consistent use of male and female condoms; providing HIV testing and counselling services; and providing services for the treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
Nobody is saying that circumcision now makes you safe. That is your strawman. What they are saying is that it reduces the risk and for that reason it should be used as a preventative measure in certain areas.
I think it is a difference between EU and US. There is a lot of fear among "moderate" Muslims in Europe about speaking up against the extremists. Far the majority of religiously motivated violence in Europe is extremest Muslims attacking other Muslims they don't consider "Muslim" enough. This goes from murder attempts on Muslim political leaders and academics that are speaking against the extremists, to harassment of women with Arabic names who dress in western style.
I'm not sure why this is not the case in the US, maybe it is the lower density, or that the "homelands" are farther away. Or maybe you are simply better at integrating immigrants.
Accidentally posted anonymously, sorry. Another thing that I should note about the recommendations of the WHO is that they also supported circumcision of young children, which is ethically troubling and as you have pointed out it has not been shown to be effective. Perhaps with the report you cited they will change their recommendations on that point, but they will probably still consider adult circumcision to be a useful preventative measure.
Suddenly, the hairy finger of a familiar monkey tapped me on the shoulder. It was time.--G. T.
Here's a quick study for you. Type without your pinkies, and now type with your pinkies - a bit faster, no? You don't need a study to see why pinky fingers are useful.
Disclaimer: For those of you who suffer from sensitivity to "Too Much Information", now would be a good time to skip this post and continue on. All others, feel free to read on...
Personal anecdote: I'm uncircumcised. Still got my foreskin, and nobody's taking it from me. Does it serve a purpose? You betcha. I ended up snapping my frenulum several years ago. I simply bandaged it up for a few days, and it healed nicely. However, this required me to pull the foreskin back and keep it there for the duration.
Woooeeee... lemme tell you, sensitive doesn't even begin to describe it. Y'all circumcised guys might have grown used to it, since you "don't know any better" (assuming they cut on you at birth), but my glans was constantly rubbing, and it drove me crazy. I couldn't wait for it to heal, so I could cover it back up again.
For any gals that might be reading, my wife mentioned it must be like taking a dry cloth and rubbing against your clitoris all day long. Heaven forbid a dry finger come into contact with her clit... cotton or denim? Ha! There's reasons the foreskin and labia exist... and separating the sensitive bits from the irritants sounds like a good reason to me.
Sorry, but calling for violence against innocent people is in no way insightful, mods. And Mr. AC, consider this: if you'd slaughtered the thousands of religious leaders who have done no wrong, all that innocent blood would be on your hands... and you'd be no better than you make them out to be.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
I've heard that HPV rates are lower in circumcised men.
A bit of Googling... Circumcision lowers risk of cervical cancer:
I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.
Unfortunately, if the US did that, the fundamentalists would use that as an excuse to attack the schools for being in collaboration with the Great Satan.
Ultimately, the only solution to fundamentalism is that the surrounding society deems it not acceptable. Education is essential in achieving this; however, it is by no means sufficient. It is perfectly possible to be well-educated and an evil fanatic.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
I'm American, but I've spend quite a bit of time in Pakistan (mostly in rural Kashmir and a bit in Islamabad). People over there are very, very gung ho about getting their kids to learn to read. After the 2005 earthquake that flattened most of the homes in the area, the schools were one of the first things to be rebuilt. I got there in less than 2 months after the earthquake, and kids were already back in school. The system is a bit of a mess, and they have very little to work with as far as materials go, but they certainly are desperate to get educated.
Personally, I think we'd have a much better return on our investment if we took the money we're spending in Iraq and put it into building schools and providing learning materials in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine. While we're at it, let's bring some of their young men and women over here to our colleges. Based on how many times I was asked about whether or not it's hard to go to school in the USA, I bet they'd jump at the chance.
The only time I saw a Qu'ran while I was over there was when I visited a Mosque. People there read pretty much the same sorts things we do.
- "A survey of the 35 female and 42 gay sexual partners of circumcised and genitally intact men, and a separate survey of 53 circumcised and 30 genitally intact men themselves, indicated that circumcised men experienced significantly reduced sexual sensation along with associated long-lasting negative emotional consequences."; Adverse sexual and psychological effects of male infant circumcision.
Boyle GJ, Bensley GA
- "We found no relationship between childhood circumcision age and overall sexual function; however some specific domains of sexual function (i.e. avoidance and communication) seemed to be affected by the age at circumcision procedure in this cohort of sexually active males. In addition, prevalence of sexual dysfunction was higher, with premature ejaculation being the most common dysfunction in the survey. We concluded that childhood circumcision age might affect some domains of male sexual function in adulthood, but not the overall function."; Effects of childhood circumcision age on adult male sexual functions.
Aydur E et al.
People in the US seem to be having plenty of sex, and seem to be happy with it. Right, this is the point where you might hear arguments like "you don't know what you're missing", not to mention that "seem to be happy with it" is a pretty vague statement.Also, you say in a post further down:
All that matters is: does infant circumcision hurt a child physically or emotionally in any lasting way? There does not seem to be anything showing that it does. Try these for starters:- The psychological impact of circumcision; R. Goldman 1999
- Physical, sexual, and psychological effects of male infant circumcision: an exploratory survey;
GA Bensley, GJ Boyle 2001
Excecutive summary: neonatal circumcision hurts the kids.And finally, although circumcised men have lower risk for some infections and penile cancer, WHO states that "some of these conditions are rare while others are uncommon or treatable, and routine neonatal circumcision is not currently recommended on medical grounds". Promoting circumcision is being considered by the WHO as a way of reducing the risk of HIV infections in countries in a particularly dire state, like South Africa. But again, it only reduces the risk, and does not in any way replace the use of condoms. Also, studies are still ongoing on this.
So there. Was there anything unclear?
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
So, what are the steps to secure the IP space in BGP? How likely is this to occur again? What if Pakistan couldn't subnet accurately? sBGP, where are you?
Just out of curiosity, how do you have a double-blind study with circumcision? I mean the point of a double-blind is to ensure that the person who administers and the person who receives some sort of treatment doesn't know whether they are receiving it or not, to eliminate the placebo effect. How on earth can you hide the fact that somebody received a circumcision? I suppose you could create a fake helmet and glue it on... or something...
Sorry to be pedantic, but the concept seems funny to me. I do agree with you that circumcision is a complete non-issue compared to everything else that affects a child's life.
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