Iran Set To Block Access To Google

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Iran Set To Block Access To Google

Posted by timothy on Sunday September 23, 2012 @11:57AM from the haraamph-haraamph dept.

legolas writes "The official state online censorship body in Iran has reported that Google and Gmail are going to be blocked effective immediately, ostensibly in response to the contentious videos that YouTube is hosting. This comes as Iran is preparing the launch of their 'Halal' intranet to replace the current direct (albeit highly censored) access to the global Internet. While there have been several state-organized protests for the film 'Innocence Of Muslims' in Iran, the public in general doesn't seem bothered by it."

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Before we get the usual gaggle of fascists by squiggleslash · 2012-09-23 12:03 · Score: 4, Interesting

This poll seems timely: http://www.gallup.com/poll/148763/muslim-americans-no-justification-violence.aspx
People react to the culture in which they're brought up. And even in the Middle East, it's a small proportion of Muslims acting in the way rightists here want to depict all Muslims as.
As an atheist, I have no dog in this fight, except one: I want to live in a peaceful world. Six years ago I wrote this journal entry. I'm more fearful today than then that a new Hitler will arise, and no less convinced that the chances are equal that such a Hitler will come from the West as they are from the Middle East.

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You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
1. Re:Before we get the usual gaggle of fascists by dskoll · 2012-09-23 13:20 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  People react to the culture in which they're brought up.
  
  So... does it have nothing to do with culture and religion that most Muslim countries have poor human development levels? That most Muslim countries are sexist (in practice even if they deny it) and homophomic? That a disproportionate number of conflicts involve Muslim countries? Or that most people killed in religiously-motivated riots in the last 50 years have been killed by Muslims (and indeed, have probably been Muslim themselves)?
  As another atheist, I think all religion is bad. But just because all religions are bad doesn't mean that all religions are equally bad and at this particular moment in history, Islam is by far the most dangerous religion.
2. Re:Before we get the usual gaggle of fascists by AK+Marc · 2012-09-23 15:29 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Yup. the next Hitler will come from a conservative USA after the economic collapse. There will be piles of "I told you so"s and "this all started with 9/11" and other things blaming the Muslims and such for all the hardships in post-collapse USA. We are getting surprisingly close now, with 47-49% of Americans being lazy freeloading leaches taking government money and not paying any taxes. Like my mother who worked for the government for 30+ years and is retired now, sucking the government dry by not killing herself on retirement day. If a liberal posted the exact words from Mitt, he'd be accused of making it up.
  
  --
  Learn to love Alaska
3. Re:Before we get the usual gaggle of fascists by mjwx · 2012-09-23 16:51 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Most atheists I know have a dog in every fight. Proclaim "There is no God!" is just as annoying as telling everyone to repent. Your anti-believe in God is just as fervent as any foaming at the mouth preachers belief. I'd think that anyone that truly didn't have a religion, if I asked them about the subject they'd just say "Oh I dunno... never really thought about it." Instead you have your own religion, Atheism, and you believe anyone that doesn't agree with your faith is strange and capable of violence. If only they had the same moral compass as you do... perhaps you should try and convert them? Oh wait...
  Sorry, but this is what you want to beleive, not reality.
  
  In simple terms, it's wrong.
  
  It is also clear, you've never actually talked to atheists. It is an utter fabrication you need to tell yourself this in order to compensate for your own self doubt. This is a weakness in your faith, not a aspect of my lack of faith. You seem to be offended when I say, "there is no god" but I'm not offended when you say "there is a god" because I do not fear what you do or do not believe in.
  
  I proclaim, "there is no god", I also proclaim "I dont want you to do anything". What you believe in is your business, I only ask the same courtesy to be returned and for you not to demand I believe in your deity.
  
  Yes, whether or not you believe in god has zero effect on me as I don't believe in god. To use an analogy, your hobby of collecting stamps has not effect on my hobby of not collecting stamps.
  
  The question is, why is your faith so weak that you are so offended that I don't believe in god.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
4. Re:Before we get the usual gaggle of fascists by kbg · 2012-09-23 23:09 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  You don't find it alarming that Obama has a kill list, can kill people anywhere (even US citizens) without any trial or even any evidence of wrongdoing. Runs a prison where people are jailed indefinitely without any trial or jury. It all starts the same way, slowly and slowly your rights are taken away.
how many usb flash drives can fit in one's anus? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-23 12:23 · Score: 0, Interesting

the world may never know.
Re:This was to be expected regardless of this vide by legolas · 2012-09-23 12:27 · Score: 4, Interesting

Iran already tried to address this by forging certificates for man-in-the-middle attacks.
Complete and utter pandering BULLSHIT by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-23 12:27 · Score: 1, Interesting

it's a small proportion of Muslims acting in the way rightists here want to depict all Muslims as.
BULLSHIT!
Pakistan's Foreign Minister has this to say about free speech:
US needs to rethink on free speech: Hina

WASHINGTON - In the wake of anti-America protests in many parts of the world over an anti-Islam film, the US needs to rethink about its concept of free speech, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said.
“It is not good enough to say it’s free speech, it should be allowed. I think if this does provoke action against American citizens or Americans anywhere else in the world, then maybe we do need to rethink how much freedom is OK,” Hina told CNN in an interview.
1. Re:Complete and utter pandering BULLSHIT by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-23 12:30 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Have you been to Iran? I was just there two months ago. The majority of the population hates their government, but they are too scared to do anything about it.
2. Re:Complete and utter pandering BULLSHIT by dskoll · 2012-09-23 13:22 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Every Iranian I've ever met has been erudite, intelligent, moderate and truly delightful. The Iranian people are oppressed by Islamists who justify their power by appealing to Islam. As long as Islam holds sway over a billion+ people, injustices like the Iranian theocracy will perpetuate.
3. Re:Complete and utter pandering BULLSHIT by guttentag · 2012-09-23 14:29 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Every Iranian I've ever met has been erudite, intelligent, moderate and truly delightful.
  This is consistent with my experience. I have the utmost respect for every Iranian I have personally gotten to know.
  
  Then again, every Iranian I've ever met (a few dozen) took huge risks to escape the regime in Iran and request asylum in the U.S. Unless you have wide experience in Iranian cities and rural areas, the people we have met are more extreme than the general population, in much the same way that the steam that rises from a boiling pot is hotter than the water in the pot. I absolutely believe that in Iran, as in Russia, the masses do not believe the state propaganda being produced to keep a paranoid minority in power, but it would be a mistake to assume that the majority of people in Iran are like the ones who escaped. By definition, they're different because they didn't escape (for whatever reason).
  
  It's also important to remember that being erudite, intelligent and moderate doesn't preclude one from being complicit with more radical ideas. About 15 years ago a relative in New York doing business with a factory in Pakistan asked me work with a technically-proficient relative of the owner of the factory to set up a modern communications channel to replace the expensive fax and telex method they'd been using for years. I was expecting difficulty in communicating concepts and file formats because I had no idea what kind of equipment they were using. As I talked with my counterpart in Pakistan, who happened to be a military officer, I was struck by how erudite, intelligent, moderate and practical he was. I liked the guy. We very quickly figured things out and saved both sides a lot of time and money. A year later, when Pakistan tested its first nuclear weapon, he was the military spokesperson quoted in all the English-language newspapers announcing the test. I am sure he was opposed to the test and the increased tensions with India that would result, but that didn't stop him from being used as the mouthpiece that spread fear around the world in the spring of 1998.
4. Re:Complete and utter pandering BULLSHIT by Kiuas · 2012-09-23 20:18 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  enough with the Islam/Christian bashing. Or religion in general. It's a red herring, there to distract you from the real problem.
  "If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people." -House
  I get and fully agree with your point about gullibility being the real issue. However what you're proposing (ignoring the religious part of the matter) sounds a bit like saying that instead of getting treatment for an illness a person should simply switch to a healthier lifestyle and the disease will magically fix itself.
  Complicity to auhtority is an integral part of most religions. And I'm not talking just about muslims here. Members of the abrahamic religions usually gorw up in an enviroment where they are told that their view of the world is the correct one and everyone else - no matter what kind of reasoning or evidence they might use - is wrong. Likewise they are most often than not told that questioning anything told to them by their religious leaders is wrong. No adult would swallow all of this without questioning it but the mind of a child is extremely gullible, especially when it comes to information coming from his/her own parents so they come to accept it as the norm.
  Don't get me wrong. The problem isn't that these people are stupid. The problem is that they've been told to never question anything that comes from a position of authority, no matter how much they dislike it. Many of the Iranian people probably disagree with the regime but - just like they're afraid to question the existence of God (in public) - they're afraid to question their leaders, no matter how vastly they might outnumber the people in power. Some people see and understand this but they tend to escape from the country instead of risking their lives (and the lives of their families) by trying to speak up because they also know that the majority of their fellow men will - out of fear - be demanding their public execution rather than standing with them.
  That is essentially what organized religions are used for by both religious and govermental leaders: as a tool to control people and make them obidient and fearful. So while I agree with you that the true problem is indeed gullibility: I don't agree that religioin is a red herring because as far as I can see the vast majority of these people wouldn't be so gullible if it wasn't for their religion and religious upbringing.
  
  --
  "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
I wonder if someday this could be done here by QilessQi · 2012-09-23 13:31 · Score: 5, Interesting

in the United States. Large swaths of the country are deeply religious, by which I mean some stripe of Christianity. They have grown increasingly suspicious (if not downright scornful) of scientists and educators who challenge their views and threaten to corrupt the views of their children. I suspect that many of these folks sincerely see unrestricted search engines and an uncensored internet as tools of the devil. How far would public opinion have to tip before *all* searches are "safe" searches, and the "sanitized" web becomes the norm?
It seems unthinkable. But when 46% of the U.S. population earnestly believes that humans were created in their present form within the last 10,000 years, you have to be open to what happens if that number goes to 56%, or 96%.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/05/americans-believe-in-creationism_n_1571127.html

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Koans and fables for the software engineer
Hyperbole by INowRegretThesePosts · 2012-09-23 15:10 · Score: 4, Interesting

If you dont think hate is being generated here in the USA by "news channel talk show hosts" or "radio talk show hosts", then you havent been paying attention.
It takes generations to remove hate from a culture, but it only takes a few years to generate it.
The current "hate" is of the sort "I don't want a ground zero Mosque just like a Japanese wouldn't want Disneyland Hiroshima"
The Nazi kind of "hate" is of the sort "Retards and cripples must die, because they are inferior. Jews must all die, because they are monsters"
If you think that these two attitudes are remotely similar, then you are horribly sensationalist.