We’re Bringing the War Back Home
Folks, our fighting boys need your help. Here's the email we received today from one of them:
Just to let you know, the US Marines have blocked access to “Wonkette” along with numerous other sites such as personal email (i.e. Yahoo, AT&T, Hotmail, etc), blogs that don't agree with the government point of view, personal websites, and some news organizatons. This has taken effect as of the beginning of February. I have no problem with them blocking porn sites (after all it is a government network), but cutting off access to our email and possibly-not-toeing-the-government-line websites is a bit much.
Initially all web blocking was done locally at the hub sites in Iraq. If you wanted a site “unblocked” you just had to email the local administrator with a reason (like, “I'd like to read my email, please.”), and if it wasn't porn or offensive, they'd allow it. Now, all blocking is done by desk-weenies at the USMC Network Operations Center in Quantico, VA, who really don't care if we get our email (or gossip) out here, as they get to go to happy hour after working 9 to 5 and go home to a nice clean, warm home with a real bed! (Sorry, I'm a little peeved.)
Apparently, when you try to view, say, Condi Rice doing crunches from Iraq, you get this error message: “Forbidden, this page (http://www.wonkette.com/) is categorized as: Profanity, Personal Pages.”
Profanity? Fuck yeah. Personal? It is now. What is this, Red China? What are we fighting for if not the right of all men and women, Iraqi or American, Insurgent or Marine, Sunni, Kurd, or the other one, to hear minute-by-minute updates of Anna Nicole Smith's appearance before the Supreme Court or read birthday cards to disgraced lobbyists?
Anyone know who we're supposed to appeal to about this? Call our Representatives? Should we all send lengthy emails to Romenesko?
(Psst, hey Marine — Tor.)
READ MORE: armed forces, censorship, emails, iraq, marines, war, wonkette
Oh my stars! I'm about to get on a plane to Euroland and I'm not sure if I want to return to find myyyy website banned. Just in case, though, I replaced a reference to Anna Nicole's tits with "t*ts". Tee hee! Filter THAT Quantico Taliban M F's!
Quack!
Wow! Wonkette, you've beat the drums! This is outrageous. I'll definately be calling my Representative and possibly Senators. But they're democrats... and Jon Stewart compared them to Ewoks!
by RyanAdams on 03/01/06 10:30 AM
"If you aint fer us, yer agin us". Wonkette is now a terrorist organization. Pull their funding along with Hamas' money, send it to DeLay's defense fund in Houston. How about a check for Abramofff too?
by Synoia on 03/01/06 12:33 PM
So best. Glad to see the rear-echeloners have their priorities alligned with this war on terror thing. We're censoring it here so we don't have to... read it... there?
Anyway, here are some links that may or may not help get by the USMC censors but are useful for slipping by the censorware of repressive regimes, regimes like our good partners in the GWOT, the UAE!
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/02/27/boingboing_banned_in....
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_...
by original cyn on 03/01/06 02:00 PM
Speaking of China, what about taking a lesson from the democracy supporters there?
Okay, I can't remember all the details, but... I remember hearing recently of a program being used in China to access blocked sites.
The way it was described, it enabled net surfers in China to surf overseas computers that in turn surfed forbidden sites. Net result = happy Chinese net user esentially surfing forbidden sites, but with no ability for evil overlords to block it. Does this ring a bell with anyone else? NPR report I think?
If something like this could be set up for the troops, enabling them to see reasonable sites, it would not only give them a means of overcoming the unreasonable censorship -- it would very likely create enough of a PR pain in the ass to roll back at least some of it. I mean, picture this headline:
"US Troops Take Tech Lesson from Chinese Democracy Supporters to Overcome Censorship"
Okay, actually, picture that headline, but a few drafts better and you get the idea.
(cross posted at Kos, in case it rings a bell there)
by JHlinko on 03/06/06 10:37 PM
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