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Iran Suspends Google's Email Service
appl_iran writes "Iran's telecommunications agency announced that it would be suspending Google's email services permanently, saying it would roll out its own national email service." From the short WSJ article that is kernel of this Reuters story: "An Iranian official said the measure was meant to boost local development of Internet technology and to build trust between people and the government." Funny way to go about that. Updated 20100211 9:54GMT by timothy: Original link swapped for a more appropriate, updated one.
"Just nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
"to build trust between people and government"
Because, as China has shown, censoring communication is the fastest and easiest way to built trust. Go Iran!
Consequently, there are now several hundred job openings for "Proof Reading"
Is this the same Irani government which torturers people to try and gain Facebook passwords so they can better track groups who want to discuss politics freely?
Forcing users to use a government monitored service doesn't sound like something that would build trust. It sounds like a move to crush dissent.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
A Nazi official said that the new "Final Solution" plan is meant to boost the railroad industry and help build positive relations between Jews and the Gestapo.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Must be the "punch" they promised. Oooo...I quiver with FEAR!!! Good one, morons.
They want to promote local development by suspending one of many web based email providers? We need more information.
is Buzz. Else they should be blocking every other web mail provider (hotmail, yahoo, etc)
How can this possibly be anything but an infrastructure for massive spying on its own citizens?
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
I propose we start a betting pool for which country bombs Iran back into the stone age -- oh, wait, they're already doing that to themselves!
... they realize that unless they use a whitelisting approach to the whole Internet it's extremely easy to circumvent these measures?
first
stupid
They must hate Buzz as much as I do.
can you run your own email server in Iran without getting shot at?
That's the kind of thing you read and there's almost no response. There just has to be something missing here. "Suspend"? Do you mean blocked Gmail? Why Google's email and not Yahoo's, Microsoft's, or AOL's? Censoring the Internet builds trust between people and the government (I know, they don't really believe that)? Why not boost local development of Internet technology by finding projects that weren't already solved 15 years ago?
If you think that your own government doesn't have the same backdoor access to your email communications or web browsing history (I'm talking to you, US citizens), that Iran will obviously build into their national system then you're fooling yourselves.
They don't even need warrants from judges to get it anymore. National security letters or even post-it notes seem to suffice nowadays
They've even got one of those catchy web-2.0-style names for their new site, mail.ir.
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
Iran's telecommunications agency announced that it would be suspending Google's email services permanently, saying it would roll out its own national email service. Google didn't have an immediate comment about the announcement. An Iranian official said the measure was meant to boost local development of Internet technology and to build trust between people and the government, according to the Wall Street Journal. The measure comes on the heels of celebrations to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Republic.
For once, everything you need to know is safely found in the Slashdot summary.
I'm glad the Iranian Government will be able to trust their people with this exciting new tech.
Free as in "the Truth shall set you..."
They are an extremely oppressive government, of course their goal is to crush dissent. Goes double since they are rather worried now since there was a big uprising recently over the rigged elections.
However, something you'll also discover about many oppressive government is they love lying. They are so used to the idea that their official word is "the truth" that they lie all the time and seem to think everyone, including other countries, will believe the bullshit. Hence they don't tell their people, or the world, that this is to crush dissent, they make up BS about trying to build trust.
We've seen it all before in many other oppressive places, and I'm sure we'll see it all again.
A dictatorship is a dictatorship is a dictatorship. The ideologies, pretentions, and trappings may vary wildly, but inside they are all alike.
"The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (of Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (Feb 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei declared Monday.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8508813.stm
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=124681
Empty threat or glass parking lot in Tel Aviv? What are they up to?
I've seen the Beta. It's actually quite like Google wave where you can edit another's words in real time. And by you I mean government agents.
If you're were in Iran you would have been stoned to death already.
I'm pretty sure the Great Prophet Muhammad explicitly forbade trolling.
Iran Suspends Google's Email Service
In Iran I presume
I thought that Iran was on the US trade embargo list.
This radical regime has no compunction about killing its own citizens, and it has continuously described its intention to destroy another sovereign country. Regime change needs to happen now, or else the world will sleep through a future preventable calamity yet again.
Part of the hardcore faithful who believed in Apple long before it was cool again to do so
I know that my own trust in the US government is hugely enhanced by NSA's monitoring of my communications.
Once the government is managing all your communications, they'll finally be able to trust you.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Iran Away!
Iran T
Iran dom
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
We need to spray Iran with bacon grease. Take a fleet of c130's load em up with tankers filled with bacon grease and spray the entire area liberally. A couple of days should do it.
Edit: sutpid.
>From the short article linked: "An Iranian official said the measure was meant
>to boost local development of Internet technology and to build trust between
>people and the government, according to the Wall Street Journal."
I have to say, I know some Iranians that live over there, and it is all about controlling the media and the information.
If they leave gmail to do this, they lose control of the info, and they do not want to lose control.
So let's tell people you are no longer allowed to use gmail for we are far too controlling, instead use our homemade brew of gmail, and we will be able to read all your emails and that of your friends...
Seriously, I would hate to live over there for this simple reason, let alone all the war and crime presently over there.
How can removing any choice and taking full control over a system create trust. I'm not a huge fan of all the information that Google has, but I trust them a hell of a lot more than I would the Iranian government. Control trust.
Is it within the UAE's interests to try and support new leadership in Iran to try and control a future Irani government and keep it an Arab-controlled Islamic state, or should they wait for the US/UN to eventually send in troops over the nuke issue? Who do they want to organize the formation of the next Irani government?
At this point, isn't an inevitability?
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
Totalitarian governments are afraid of anything they can't control.
Gee, compares nicely with Obama's attitude towards Fox and the Internet doesn't it?
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
Wrong. Muhammad was one of the first trolls in the history of humanity. Being a delusional child rapist who pulled a new "religion" out of his ass, only L. Ron Hubbard was able to out-troll Muhammad.
Which nicely explains why he explicitly forbade everyone else from trolling.
I think it may be a better to roll out the replacement before blocking Google.
It's because Google recently moved gmail to HTTPS. It was an option before, but now its mandatory. Someone's email snooper device stopped working in Iran's ministry of snooping^H^H^H^H^H^H truth, and they threw a fit. Then their prophet-dude probably received a revelation that the country needs it's own "Islamic" email system to be rid of the heathens... etc., etc.
The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead.
Allah gave us free will ... but Allah's most fervent supports spend their entire lives trying to take it away...
If I was most powerful and most merciful i'd set the record strait on this one.
Of course, I'm certain there are no other webmail-based services available now or ever in the future for Iranians to use...right? Right?
Seriously, unless they plan on creating yet another seive like the "Great" firewall of China, how the hell do they expect to "control" an entity like Internet-based email services?
Wow, if you were ever caught using hushmail over there...I can only imagine the punishment.
Google's motto: Don't be evil.
Iran's motto: If it isn't evil, ban it.
Iran just doesn't want the Chinese to be reading Iranian dissident mail before they do.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Ignoring for a moment that this will give the Iranian government a high level of control over standard email communications, (ignoring, IGNORING), I think this is actually a very good idea. Think of it as a technological tariff on free internet services, with the intent to create jobs and a demand for technologically adept people. It's almost benevolent (if it wasn't for the unfettered access to other's communications part).
Google vs. the goverment. What's the difference? Precious little. Trusting your privacy to Google is like mailing your private files to the FBI. American or Iranian, it's all goverment. Wake up and guard your privacy. What little you have left.
We will let you have those WMD's but this is the last straw. You better let Google mine your data or else we will release the hounds. You have been warned.
Will they call it iMail?
Will Apple's brand image be tarnished as a result?
Will Apple try to sue Iran over trademark infringement?
Or will they begrudgingly accept the inevitable Jobs/Ahmadinejad comparisons as having a tiny hint of truth?
I kid, I kid. I know you how you guys love to quash dissent ;)
My best bet to the "closure" of gmail now is because Google are working on social media aspects to add to gmail.
You have to remember that social media sites like facebook have been causing a lot of problems for the iran govt. since the last "failed uprising" was all organised in a quick, chaotic way using social media. So by taking this decision now instead of later, they can cover up the closing of gmail into a "national project" before gmail becomes a problem like facebook,email and social media sites in general.
To these guys, it's all about control. Control of the population thru control of the media.
Peace and happyness to you, by LullySing
They're not idiots. This is no different to poking someone's eyes out so they're forced to rely on you to be their eyes, and so they can't go anywhere or do anything without you. They're also sending a message that they are in power and can do whatever they like.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
I think the issue is with trusting a service that is open to the subpoena laws and intelligence agencies of another country, period.
Google will supply your full email history if order3ed by a court. And, under the "patriot" act, most likely even if not.
Would you trust an email service provided by a country with a government you don't trust? China? North Korea? Iran?
Of course, having the government take that decision away from you is another matter... but still logical.
Iran is almost at war with the U.S. Nothing surprising here.
It is neither an empty threat, nor foreshadowing of an attack on Israel (or any other country).
The "punch" is going to be Revolutionary Guard, Basij Islamic militia, and regular police taking to the streets to violently oppress the peaceful opposition protesters who will also be taking to the streets on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which is Feb. 11. They will thus stun the opposition, and indirectly "the West" who the Iranian government claims is responsible for organizing the protesters.
The BBC article gets it right. The WorldNetDaily article and your post are piles of FUD-mongering dung.
What, is crushing a peaceful pro-democracy movement by killing its own citizens in the name of peace not bad enough for you?
The enemies of Democracy are
Guess who the people get to blame when the email's down.
Maybe Americans should be using Iranmail instead of Google. At least then we'd know the US gestapo wasn't reading it?
are they gonna name the email service.. Husseinmail.com???
If you're were in Iran you would have been stoned to death already.
You can only get stoned to death for adultery.
For everything else that deserves death penalty, in Iran, they practice short-drop hanging (where you slowly strangle to death).
Email reads you!
Hey guys, I think there may be ulterior motives!
The day before the Iran will "strike a telling blow" to the West.
There are no coincidences, nosirree.
Like the justification for govt. running postal service in the USA, maybe the Iranians feel that the only way to provide equal access to this vital service is for the govt. to run the email service.
Makes as much sense as the argument for the USPS monopoly.
Tell me, why single out Islam? *ALL* religions were pulled out of someone's ass at some point. Not just the ones you don't personally like.
Paraphrasing Gunnery Sergeant Hartman:
"There is no religious bigotry here. I do not look down on Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Scientologists. You are all equally worthless."
Iran has banned the wheel permanently. "An Iranian official said the measure was meant to boost local development of technology and to build trust between people and the government, according to the Wall Street Journal." Anyone owning an automobile is required to turn in any round things on their cars (road wheels, steering wheels, hubcap spinners with pictures of Mohammed, etc.) or face severe punishment.
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
Of course it builds trust. When the government runs the only email service out there, you simply have to build trust in the government. You have no other option.
"An Iranian official said the measure was meant to boost local development of Internet technology and to build trust between people and the government"
Just goes to show, even Iranian officials have a sense of humour...
"Amnesty International is concerned that the USA PATRIOT Act:
- Creates a broad definition of "domestic terrorism" that may have a chilling effect on the U.S. and international rights to free expression and association.
- Allows non-citizens to be detained without charge and held indefinitely once charged.
- Infringes on the right to privacy and removes many types of judicial review over intelligence activities."
http://www.amnestyusa.org/war-on-terror/civil-rights/page.do?id=1108209 ...excuse me if I trust these guys more than your anecdotal experience with unidentified politicians.
-- Terry
Who is going to come to trust whom? Anti-government dissidents aren't going to start trusting their government over this, and the government isn't going to start trusting its dissidents. So the only actors we're left with here are the government and your everyday citizen. So why the need all of the sudden to build trust? Is Iran admitting its general population doesn't trust the government? Is it admitting it doesn't trust its general population?
Classic doublethink. You're expected to simultaneously believe a) this trust issue needs some serious fixing and b) there are no trust issues between the people and government.
Tell me, why single out Islam? *ALL* religions were pulled out of someone's ass at some point. Not just the ones you don't personally like.
That's not true!
Some of them were sneezed out of the nose of the Great Green Arkleseizure...
The UN is run by the five permanent members of the Security Council.
The United Nations Security Council 'power of veto' refers to the veto power wielded solely by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States), enabling them to prevent the adoption of any 'substantive' draft Council resolution, regardless of the level of international support for the draft.
And as far as opposing human rights, there are a scant few who can avoid being hypocrites. America has the death penalty, the western world's highest incarceration rate, an indigenous population that still lives in abject poverty, and has invaded dozens of nations with regular and covert military operations. As for the Chinese, the Russians, the British, and the French, you were allowed to learn about their human rights abuses, so I don't need to outline them.
Stop insulting religions. Religions can be pulled out of other orifices than asses!
If you're were in Iran you would have been stoned to death already.
Thanks to the medical pot laws, you can do the same in California.
Stop insulting asses. Religions can be pulled out of other orifices than asses!
Islam was singled out by the GP presumably because this is an article about Iran, whose official religion is Islam.
You think like a ReThuglican Jew
*ALL* religions were pulled out of someone's ass at some point. Not just the ones you don't personally like.
Ah, but not all religions were pulled out of the ass of someone I don't personally like. :)
The enemies of Democracy are
Anyone remember the US government initiative in the 90's to be able to snoop on its citizens phone calls?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_chip
Governments generally don't seem to like it when their citizens can hide stuff from them.
What, is crushing a peaceful pro-democracy movement by killing its own citizens in the name of peace not bad enough for you?
For a WorldNetDaily reader?
They sell help peddle penny stocks, "crisis seed banks," and one of their favorite talking heads literally suggested that we should invade nations, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity. If anything, WND readers are jealous of the Iranian theocracy.
You integrate social networking functions into an e-mail service, like Google is trying.
Now Gmail can be expected to provide the same risks to the iranian government as Facebook and other social networking..
Or perhaps it was the default to always-on SSL support even for reading mail which other webmail providers don't, for increased privacy -- creating difficulty in spying on them, since (unlike China), Iran doesn't yet have its own government-controller root CA. No wonder IRAN wants to nip this Gmail thing in the bud.
Isn't it interesting that the article says nothing about suspending Hotmail or Yahoo mail services?
I think either it's just a rumor, or they see something about Gmail as distinctly a threat. (SSL support or Social networking, I can almost guarantee it...)
Either that or Yahoo/Hotmail were cooperating with them, or their 31337 h4x0rs already rooted Hotmail and Yahoo's servers, so they can read potential protestors' e-mail
The final possibility is they're aiming to block all webmail providers, but publicizing "disabling Google" first, as the highest-profile, most likely one to make people unhappy.
If Iranians go with this, extending the blocks to others will be easy... blocking one at a time avoids pissing off too many citizens simultaneously, meanwhile giving everyone fair warning to switch to the ONLY government-sanctioned e-mail service.
You know.... if half of the Iranian internet users are Yahoo mail users, they might not be too upset (in theory) about a block of Gmail. They can get them later, after the uproar from the 1st round of blockings has died down -- and people switched to the official gov't e-mail provider as recommended by the great leader, everyone forgot, everything's back to normal..
Tell me, are these the sort of people who would force you to change your way of life using violence? BEING AN AMERICAN, I CAN'T IMAGINE LIVING IN A SOCIETY LIKE THAT.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to run to a closed door military conference deciding the fate of Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and a smattering of Latin American countries. It's a good thing we know how to save their poor, wretched souls from their own savagery, isn't it?
PS Do not confuse this with something a conquistador or nazi or British imperialist would say. It's totally different!
Iran Suspends Google's Email Service
What am I going to do for email now? Who knew they had the power to shut down Gmail? I'm in awe. Maybe there's something to this "direct line" to God claim the mullahs in Tehran have...
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
Tell me, why single out Islam?
Just a guess: trolling about say, Mormons would have been off-topic in addition to trolling, and AC has higher standards. If he's going to troll, it's going to be on-topic trolling.
Also around here you CAN'T troll scientologists, any more than you can troll sane people on scientology boards: you just get modded up for it.
that people seem to miss. The government of Iran isn't terribly interested in what the people want. The government is not "by the people, for the people" at all, it is far more "our own damn way". Oh, and by the way, you will like it... or else.
This is one reason that having a nuclear-armed Iran is rather concerning. If the consequences of setting off a nuke were that one of their larger cities was destroyed in the West this would be a catestrophe. Something that the government (you know, by the people and all that) would avoid at all costs. However, in Iran it could easily be viewed as simple collateral damage, accept it and move on.
The well-being of the civilian population is not critical to the leaders in Iran. These leaders do not view themselves as being part of the civilian population, nor would they suffer the same consequences as the civilian population should something bad happen. They would be comfortably secure in their isolated bunker somewhere and the civilian population would (rather unwillingly) get to ride out the consequences.
So what does the government care about Internet communications? Well, they certainly care that these communications can be seized by a foreign government and are not subject to their monitoring. If the US has conclusive proof of a strong dissident faction in Iran there might be some motivation to contact them and work with them. This obviously cannot be allowed. Similarly, next time there is a large riot in Iran it might be useful to others to know how things were going after the Iran state-controlled media shuts off the pictures. This also cannot be allowed.
Another thing that cannot be allowed is for the message Iran is sending to the West to be cycled back to the civilian population. They may want to deliver an entirely different message to their civilian population. Something on the order of "We didn't start it, but by Allah we're gonna finish it!!!"
Sounds like they are moving forward on the agenda of preventing unmonitored and unrestricted communications.
I'll give you a hint: Only one of those three was founded with policies to abuse people, to lie to people, and practices those policies to this day. I won't knock your standing on all religion. But I can at least say that Christians don't have a "Lie to people to control them" policy and especially not a "The point of a law suit ... is to harass ... and utterly destroy [your critics]" policy.
Muslims don't start with "We're compatible with all religions!" then go on with "The Christ is a lie. Mohamed reacted to an ancient alien implant with the resonator. Everything you believe is an alien implant."
Jews don't tell their fellow Jews: "If your (father/sister/best friend) isn't Jewish, you need to handle the person or disconnect."
And none of them have policies which are 'officially' detracted because of PR but still practiced as an unofficial-official order.
I just pulled something out of my ass and I think it just might be Muhammad.
If this means Iran wants to read all its people's email, it probably implies Iran doesn't know how to hack into Gmail accounts or Gmail HTTPS sessions without people knowing... especially considering what it takes to research, build, implement, and service a national email system. One could deduce then the Iranian government probably doesn't know how to attack/hack HTTPS and/or Gmail services.
You fail to understand religions. Religions were all largely created to establish a system of controls over society, by those seeking to attain or maintain power. Religion is basically a derived set of rules to establish a set of morals, these rules are buried within stories and subject to interpretation by the religious leaders and more often by the political power behind the religious leaders. Especially in the period following the demise of the original religious authors. That period where the religion is rewritten to suit the rulers of the days, this is of course obfuscated over time by the simple expediency of killing anyone who disagrees with the later interpretations. This principles is extended in neighboring regions, naturally enough with monotheism unlike polytheism, conflicting gods cannot be accepted but, that provides the excuse to purge, via religious edict unbelievers and confiscate their property (in the favor of the political elite of the day), hence the underlying driver for monotheism as it was actually deployed and used.
See, not pulled out of someones arse, but a concerted conspiracy to enrich and empower a minority at the expense of the majority, the poor get the vacuous promises and the rich and powerful get everything else, including ownership of the poor, modern example of this religious perversity is of course capitalism, where the god worshiped is greed (they still wrap themselves up in other religions but of course they don't show the slightest pretense of adhering to any of the moral principles of those religions, that's for the poor).
The interpretation part is most amusing, take the Christian bible, is it true, absolutely not and I quote "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown". So the bible is a "story" written in parables, not a factual account. Fascinating how the first line describes exactly how typical politicians use the bible for their own "EVIL" uses. So either these parables are true and the rest is false, or the rest is true and these parables are false, but if that is true then the bible still untrue.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
An Iranian official said the measure was meant to boost local development of Internet technology and to build trust between people and the government, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Well, it could be worse: they could have said "We've decided to go with Microsoft Exchange".
Given the uproar in my office when we went to Exchange, that surely would have sparked a full-scale revolution. The one good thing to get out of it: the new Exchange admins all have more attractive resumes now.
That reminds me of my favorite joke of the last couple years: What's the difference between the Mormons and the Taliban?
The Mormons want their virgins up front =)
Christianity beat him by centuries. Judaism before that. And so on.
Mohammed lived in the sixth century and you're going to call him the first troll?
As a troll yourself you should have better knowledge of troll history.
You drank the Kool-aid, didn't you?
Even 2000 years ago there were those who recognized the exploitive purpose of religion:
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful. - Seneca (ca. 4 BC –AD 65)
You already know why, you're just playing the holier than thou act by asking the question.
In most cultures religious bullshit is by and large not the law of the land. Not so in nations under sharia law. http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGNAU2009121014570&lang=e
If you want to encourage understanding of those who are muslim and not bigoted, that's fine and admirable, but to pretend you have no idea where this bias comes from is pretty lame.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
You drank the Kool-aid, didn't you?
Even 2000 years ago there were those who recognized the exploitive purpose of religion:
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful. - Seneca (ca. 4 BCE –CE 65)
-fixed it for you.
New slashdot layout sucks.
Coming from a religion where a Camel is worth more than a woman, it really doesn't surprise me.
They force their women to wear tents over their heads, and have no respect for other cultures.
I am not surprised at all... Bring it on, flame me, insult me, I don't even fscing care.
I've got better things to do tonight than die.
BC and AD still work...
Before Christians, After Deception. :)
It's already morning in Tehran.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a college student who was arrested by the TSA and detained for five hours over a set of Arabic-language flash cards he was carrying.
Among the questions a TSA agent asked him were "Do you know who did 9/11?" and "Do you know what language Osama bin Laden spoke?"
So one of the morons in the TSA, whom I'm sure has the functional skills of an 8 year old child, actually recognized Arabic script. On flash cards. With English on the back. He must have unhappy memories from the times tables he never mastered for multiplication, so he assumes TERRORIST! The student is detained, and the geniuses from the FBI are called in. They have an equivalent mental level of a 12 year old. The one who should have redone a year, but passed by stealing class notes and cheating, who was the class bully. This is where you get the gem: "Do you know what language Osama bin Laden spoke?" Kind of a '"Who is buried in Grants Tomb?" statement from our own so professional law inforcement personal.
This is not "far from perfect". it is a waste of time, effort and resources. They are incapable and uninterested in fighting terrorism. What they really want is to control other people. To assert their power in an arbitrary fashion, and mess with somebodies life.
But it's OK. The people in power all well meaning. And you feel really really safe. And you never have to worry about being detained for studying Arabic. And you don't have to worry about your email, phone, bank records, medical record and confidential employment history being accessed by a group of low wattage workers. People who's primary qualifications are that they work cheap, and have trouble getting employed in more demanding positions (sworn law enforcement/security guard).
Remember the people doing the actual work at TSA and pushing papers for the Patriot Act (aka the War is Peace Double Speak Act) are all private contractors working for politically connected (i.e. Republican political donor) security firms. And they always follow the rules, and never make mistakes, and whenever there is a problem there is always strict accountability. No one lies, and the victim is never blamed.
From the article: The agency said George had been flagged for inspection even before he arrived at the security gate because he was "acting suspiciously."
And during the questioning, George's "behavior escalated to a point where our officers deemed it necessary to contact the Philadelphia Police Department," a TSA spokesman told the news network.
I'm really glad you feel safe, because I'm scared shitless.
Why is Snark Required?
You never shutdown?
When you call someone an uncivilized savage, there's an implication that you find your own society superior. When your own society engages in interventionist wars that have killed and displaced tens of millions of people for half a century, you can't simply ignore this integral part of your culture because it suits your argument. It would be like examining the British based solely on how they treat British citizens.
If you find the "middle east" uncivilized because you think it is savage, I think you are swallowing wholesale the idea that our culture isn't savage. Just because it's mildly tolerant of it's internal population doesn't separate it morally from any other state.
And then, you state without a hint of irony:
If you include everyone in the government, you have to give equal power to everyone. And I don't want uncivilized savages from the Middle East having any kind of say about what goes on in my life.
Last I checked, the "middle east" does not have any military bases in America. The "middle east" has not invaded any part of the Western world since the decline of the Ottoman Empire. So, you live in a society 100% guilty of what you fear of "uncivilized savages" and you're too buried in your own worldview to even realize what you're saying is that you are afraid of what your society does to other people.
And now you claim you don't "believe" in intervention. And that nearly leaves me speechless.
Historically religion, culture and power politics have been heavily intertwined. Recently in the west, the separation of church and state has mostly taken politics out of theology and vice versa (at least overtly).
This is not true in Iran, where theology and politics are one. If you look back to Judaism at the time of Christ, the same was true there as well. The Church of Scientology is not just a passive advocate of theology, but fundamentalist organization seeking sovereign power. They are pretty new to the game, and subtlety often comes with age.
If you look at Iran, its probably a good example of what things would be like if Scientology ran a country. The purpose of the power is to safeguard the theology, and the theology is perfect and beyond question. Because power and theology are intertwined, the power must also seek to safeguard itself, in order to safeguard the theology, at any cost.
"The only way to control people is to lie to them" - Iran was willing to rig an election to control its people - the same is common in the west, but just alot more subtle
"The point of a law suit ... is to harass ... and utterly destroy [your critics]" - Iran doesn't need lawsuits, it can directly arrest, torture and rape to harass and destroy its critics - its also a common tactic of power politics
"The Christ is a lie. Mohamed reacted to an ancient alien implant with the resonator. Everything you believe is an alien implant." - This was one idea is pure Hubbard.
As for "If your (father/sister/best friend) isn't Jewish, you need to handle the person or disconnect." - unless a person has been excommunicated, such rules are enforced informally through social pressure, and if you are a from a "respectable" orthodox Jewish family and live in a "respectable" Jewish community, try marrying/dating an non-Jew and see how "respectable" you are still considered.
As for the official/unofficial policy thing, the Catholic church did much the same thing when it had the small issue of pedophile priests. It took them a while to admit that they unofficial policy was simply to move the priests around after a complaint (which would not have looked to good if that was their "official" policy).
If you stop thinking of the Church of Scientology as a passive religion but rather someone trying to actively play the game of power politics (just like Iran, they consider eternal salvation for all to be at stake) then they will seem just a little less weird, though maybe just a little more scary.
...redirect to a javascript spam page for anyone else? Looks to me like that site's been hacked ...potentially by some Iranian-government supporters out there.
I just thought that people need to know that the story linked to redirects to a very nasty page that hijacked my browser (Chrome on Windows 7).
Cross site scripting attack in the comments of the article. Now redirects to a goatse site. Click at your own risk (or disable javascript). Perhaps the link should be removed until it's fixed ...
"saying it would roll out its own national email service." ...I recommend they use Google Apps, takes all of the burden out of hosting your own email.
fak3r.com
A trojan was detected by Nod32 on the hyperlink: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20100210/iran-suspends-googles-email-service.htm
Seems the ibtimes website is hacked now ... going there leads to an obnoxious website in turn tries to fork bomb the visitor's computer by opening lots of internet connections in other programs and creating a lot of emails without end.
it is good for them..so they dont need to get permission from other to see your inbox...
Do not click on this link! It is hooooorrrible ...seriously! Slashdot needs to pull this article since it is linking to horrible porno now
..at least not with Javascript enabled. The comments on the ibtimes.com site aren't escaping HTML properly, and someone has inserted a script with some very nasty javascript.
I just clicked the link, and the browser got hijacked.. hundreds of windows opening at once, playing some audio file..
They'll call it iMail.
If you quote this signature there'll be 72 copies of Windows ME waiting for you in Heaven.
When I click on the link in the story, I go to a site that takes over the computer and says "I'm looking at gay porno" at full volume! T'was a bitch to regain control of the system. Any clues as to what's happening?
Iranian telecommunications agency will soon debut its new e-mail service, which Iranian officials hope will help develop national technologies and foster a certain level of trust between the government and its citizens. Colopure Cleanse
Anyone else getting redirected to loldongs.eu with the stupid script. Wtf.
That url infected my Mac OSX 10.6.2 Dont Open it! The site URL from this article is infected. It made my mac OSX 10.6.2 go crazy, dial skype numbers, opened like 100 gay and porn sites. it created hundreds of emails and tried to send. also messed up with my Xchat and Adium contacts. Luckily i disconnected WIFI right in time. OMG!! what just happen is unbelievable! Dont open that link! it is very dangerous
Gentoo Linux Administrator, and Ruby on Rails web developer
Yes, same here. Very annoying indeed.
My gmail account is still working. When does it say the service will be suspended?
In soviet Iran, you suspend Google.
In capitalist America, Google suspends you!
"Religion was born when the first con man met the first fool." --Mark Twain
I'd like to buy homeland for our 10 million people. http://twitter.com/mahadiga
Hello !
Your link is rotten:
there's a malware in it !
a marvelous "VBS:Malware-gen"
in it:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20100210/iran-suspends-googles-email-service.htm
amazing, is this a cyberwar ?
kraftonZ of numerama.com
The Link has a virus on it, ESet AV picked it up as : Exploit.DialogArg.A trojan not sure where to post this!
It was previously an option that defaulted to 'off'. Now Google have switched the default to 'On'. So https is now enabled for all GMail users who haven't expressly made a choice about the level of security they wish to apply to the protocol. Details here: Gmail Blog post
Offtopic, but actually you can't.
"The ratio of cannabis material required to produce a fatal overdose to the amount required to saturate cannabinoid receptors and cause intoxication is 40,000:1; consumption of such a large dose is virtually impossible. It is generally considered impossible to overdose on marijuana, as the user would certainly either fall asleep or otherwise become incapacitated from the effects of the drug before being able to consume enough THC to be mortally toxic."
- Effects of Cannabis
For some fun reading, try this site
"Step one: First you must procure enough cannabis to die from lethal toxicity when consumed. Doing so can be a rather arduous process, unless you are able to grow your own. You will have to obtain approximately 1,500 pounds of cannabis, or about 681.81 kilograms."
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
well, from an iranian national security perspective:
it is better that the iranian government monitor it's people than Google in USA !!!
"I think judgment matters. If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines — including Google — do retain this information for some time and it’s important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities."
Google's CEO Eric Schmidt
The website seems to be under attack.
Go slashdot; the target site is apparently -totally- clueless, and allow un-escaped javascript in their comments, meaning this page re-directs to www.hax.on.nimp.org, and has some -horrible- shudder filth thrown into the browser.
That substantially damages my estimation of slashdot as a safe and interesting place to browse, wow it was sickening.
another hypocrisy of iranian government statement
At least christs had that policy and some of them still have that. In the mediaeval times we had the letters of indulgence and other lies still live on like keeping the fear in their followers to follow the words of the bilbe instead of the intent of that book. Masturbation hasn't got the side effects they preach. The bible doesn't forbid homosexual relationships. The bible doesn't enforce celibacy. The bible isn't PC, but just to tell everyone, because the there is no example given for a homesexual relationship, they are forbidden is a lie. Computers aren't listed either. Shouldn't the amish have more followers?
The bible doesn't forbid homosexual relationships.
Well, no... not explicitly. They just say that you have to be executed for doing it (Lev 20:13).
NB: I don't in any way support the position, just pointing out a flawed claim.
"Step one: First you must procure enough cannabis to die from lethal toxicity when consumed.
Doing so can be a rather arduous process, unless you are able to grow your own. You will have to obtain approximately 1,500 pounds of cannabis, or about 681.81 kilograms."
Duuuude. We're gonna need a FUCKTON of Twinkies...
though honestly, how much worse is this than the FBI being allowed to monitor our page view history by making our ISPs keep two years worth of records on everyone's activities.....
We are Iran. We do not do this google-ing, as you call it. We will kill all infidels that google. Freedom to all Iranians. As long as they do not google. Or speak. Or go outside of their homes or government working places between the hours of midnight and 11:59 pm. Thank you to all of our many supporters for their cooperation.
Even 2000 years ago there were those who weren't as cynical as you.
/. is as smug as you come off. You believe in an magical exploding rock, I believe in a Creator.
Not every Christian is out to exploit you. And not every geek on
A buddy of mine who is white was also recently detained by TSA. In my last trip through customs coming back into the country (last May) I saw a Hispanic family behind me detained for some time.
The TSA is a bit overzealous. But people seem to WANT security theater to feel safe. People with knee jerk reactions demand we do something to stop terrorist attacks, without realizing none of htis makes us safer.
And if you want to compare being detained for a few hours compared to not having a right to free speech in Iran, then let's talk apples to apples.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
I haven't in the past, but I guess it's a good time to start doing so.
Offtopic, but why would the "to death" part of the sentence be any less of a euphemism than the "stoned" part? You realize they don't actually throw stones at you when you poke smot either right? At least not in California....
"Iran's telecommunications agency announced that it would be suspending Google's email services permanently, saying it would roll out its own national email service."
They can't have both? What about Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, etc?
Reporter to Iranian spokesman: "Will you be banning Yahoo Mail as well?"
Iranian spokesman: "No - Yahoo Mail is a threat to no one."
/rimshot
I find it particularly strange that Islamists of the more radical type have a special hatred for the West in general and the USA in particular "because they support the Zionist oppressors in Palestine" yet none of them say one single word about the Chinese suppression of Muslims in Xinjiang where Muslims truly are oppressed, where they are only allowed to pray when and where the state allows them to.