I've been thinking about "Mack the Knife" and how I'm glad it didn't get censored. Still...

Steve "easy answers" T says:

A method for censorship? How about a complaint with a $200 processing fee, refundable if the complaint is found to be valid AND the individual/organization has an income below $25,000. In a free society, you can't stop the creation of hate "art" but you can punish those who spread the stuff. Criteria? Too detailed for this discussion, I think. I'm actually more concerned with giving a chance for society, through the government, a chance to express its opinion that such-and-such a promotion is unacceptable.

An honest expression of rage? So what? What is all this whining about "we should be very careful not to oppress the expressions of rage of minorities?" Come on. Just because you're disadvantaged and suffer prejudical treatment means you can loudly advocate ANYTHING? That sort of thinking just leads the "majority" away from reliance on the law.

How to fix the problem of the ghettos? Get international agreements on social welfare programs. Tax domestically and internationally produced goods which unfairly compete by avoidance of the cost of these social programs. Legalize drugs and give the government a monopoly on the drug trade. Make narcotic stores uninviting and very secure. Don't promote drugs. Get the governments involved in creating broadcasting for the poor -- commercial free programs along the lines of "The Honeymooners" rather than "Dallas." Scrap mandatory education. Pay most education money to students who pass government exams (and assume most of this money will already be promised to the schools/teachers these students have contracted). Reform the tax system so that shareholders don't prefer companies that grow to companies that make profits (give small business a better chance). Encourage banks to make deal with small businesses. I'm not dead certain that these answers are "right." I think they'd be better than waiting for "trickle down" and other "do nothing" apologist justifications.

Regarding censorship of nerve gas formulas, I read an article awhile ago that said it was currently extremely difficult to find that sort of information on the net, but that because of evolving availability of encryption, it will be easier to obtain reliable contacts who can supply such information in the near future.

Am I detached? I guess so. I live in Ottawa. I can walk anywhere in town at three AM. I don't think any cops have been killed here in a few years now. I haven't even heard of one getting shot. I'm pissed off about gun registration in Canada in case, down the line, it becomes easy for criminals to check out which houses have no guns. The only song lyric I remember that ever really pissed me off on a personal level was the one sung by Rod Stewart glorifying "we'll put the speakers on the roof and..." And I'm utterly certain it doesn't deserve censorship.

Easy answers? Most questions have easy answers -- we forget this because we generally only discuss those rarer issues which are very difficult. Like censorship in general. But I still classify censorship of "Cop Killer" as an "easy answer" issue.