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ACLU Genius

I don't know if it is because those at the ACLU don't understand technology, of if they're just trying to make headlines, but I just don’t get it.  Why are they fighting so hard to make material inappropriate for children so easily accessible?

Once again America has the classic fight on its hands.  On one side you have the ultra-conservatives who want to completely ban all materials that they deem indecent.  On the other, you have the ACLU who fights against all categorization of such materials.

Adult book/video stores have to identify themselves on the outside of the building and they are not allowed to let children under 18 in.  Why is the ACLU so adamantly against a similar model for web sites?  It would be ridiculously easy to setup without sophisticated and unreliable filtering software.

We have the .com domain names.  Let's setup new top-level domain for adult-oriented sites.  If you put up indecent material on a site without this domain, you get fined.  Any library or home providing internet access to children can simply block those sites - without having to rely upon sophisticated and unreliable software filters.

And if you have a site, but feel your liberties are being stomped-on because the government-sponsored internet requires an adult domain - you have two options.  Take them to court and have a judge decide if your material is indecent, or setup your own internet.

I think adult content should be freely available to any adult who wants it, but parents should have the same freedom to protect their children.  The ACLU fights for some things I believe in, but in this case, they are redefining idiocy.

Chris Rock on Hypocrisy

"White people are the only people who profit from pain.   If black people owned Phillip Morris, cigarettes would be the most [expletive deleted] illegal thing ever.  You'd get 60 years for a pack of Newports! White man makes guns, nobody gives a [expletive deleted].  Black rapper says 'guns,' congressional hearing."

Chris Rock, from his ‘Never Scared’ tour, 2004

Banned Tomatoes

I am beginning to realize how ingenious Procacci Brothers have been in naming their tomatoes "UglyRipe".  It is a smart marketing move that hits the problem head-on.

Banned Tomatoes Part II

I received the following canned reply from Leah Busick [leah@floridatomatoes.org] at the Florida Tomato Committee.  If in fact 70% are making the grade for export, then this is encouraging.  However, 30% is still a lot of tomatoes to be excluded on looks alone.  (I wonder if I would make the grade for a Florida export!)

She also blames poor tasting tomatoes on "improper handling".  Ms. Busick - I've kept my perfectly red, perfectly round Florida tomatoes out of the refrigerator, and they still taste like bland, grainy, wet sawdust.

Banned Tomatoes

It's hard to believe that this sort of thing could happen in the U.S. , but the Florida Tomato Committee has banned the shipment of the most delicious tomatoes available out of state.

The Christian Science Monitor has an article about this subject.

An excerpt from the UglyRipe web site:  "UglyRipe"™ is the Registered Brand Name for the Procacci, Gargiulo, Santa Sweets heirloom variety beefstake style tomato. Heirloom means that the variety at least 40 -50 years old, is open-pollinated and has been preserved and kept true to its purest form. Heirlooms are not hybrid tomatoes which are grown for commercial purposes and tend to lose both flavor and color after several generations of breeding.