Voices

Every once in a while you run across a bit of news that makes you stop and smile... not that this world isn't as mixed up as ever, but for a moment you can feel like everything is moving in the right direction. Students at Wilton High School in Wilton, CT had written a play, entitled Voices in Conflict, about the Iraq war featuring first-person accounts of soldiers serving there. Predictably, the play had upset some members of the community and school officials banned them from performing it, despite the students' attempts to revise the script to address the presented concerns. Nonetheless, the students were able to perform at an off-Broadway theatre in New York City, before a standing room only audience.

My point isn't to rant about the war -- regardless of my personal views, I understand that reasonable people can come to a variety of conclusions on the subject. I can also understand why families with brothers, sisters, sons and daughters serving in Iraq would have a tough time swallowing this. At the same time, I'm encouraged that a group of young people who were trying to give a voice to those they felt weren't being heard were able to find a voice of their own... despite the attempts to squelch them. Instead of merely accepting what other people told them to think about a controversial subject -- whether those voices were in support or against, they went out, explored the issue and formed their own opinions... and that is a very encouraging thing.

One Percent

According to a recent government study, around "1 percent of Web sites indexed by Google and Microsoft are sexually explicit..." The study, part of the federal government's attempt to revive the 1998 Child Online Protection Act that was struck down by the US Supreme Court in 2004, after having struck down another Congressional attempt to restrict internet porn in 1997. Despite the fact that filtering software can block over 90% of explicit material from minors, the government is still trying to limit what we adults can view... because, as we can see from the government's adult abstinance programs, adults are just kids... only a little older... and therefore we should all be treated as children, right?

This study leads me to the inevitable question... just what is this mythical 99% of non-porn internet content? And does anyone really look at it?