- Greetings Mr. Rense,
-
- I just thought you might like to know that your web site
has been classified as an "Alternative Religion" web site by
an Internet filtering device recently put in place in the Marion County
Health Department in Indianapolis, Indiana. Access is no longer allowed
to your web site.
-
- Your web site can not accurately be described as an "Alternative
Religion". You no doubt have a loyal following but so does "The
Wall Street Journal", "CNN" and any other reporting service.
-
- What is of greater concern is "Why would a government
facility seek to censure any religion?". Which religions do the powers
that be, that control the filtering process, deem to be an acceptable religious
site?
-
- If your site is a religion than it must be "The
Church of the Seekers of Truth and Knowledge". If this is the case,
then sign me up as I am a disciple to the cause.
-
-
- Sincerely,
Nick Juhasz
-
- (Thank you for this email, Nick. We are also (proudly)
named to the official Simon Wiesenthal 'hate site' list for daring to present
both pro Isreal and pro Palestinian viewpoints -ed).
-
-
-
-
- Comment
-
- From Lloyd Pye
lloydpye@home.com
7-7-1
-
- Proud of you, Bud! Keep up the good work!!!
-
-
-
- Comment
-
- From Mark Crowder
Cometoce@msn.com
7-7-1
-
- FOR THOSE WHO ARENT AFRAID TO TALK... WE SALUTE YOU!!
(BOOM!)
-
- M.CROWDER AND OTHER CRAZIES HERE IN THE MIDWEST
-
-
- Comment
-
- From Bob Barnes
bbarnes@fwi.com
7-7-1 Dear
Jeff...
-
- On behalf of those Hoosiers who still have the power
of self-determination (i.e.: those who do not hold public office or work
for elected officials) may I apologize for the abominable behavior of the
"gravy train" crowd. They specialize in sizing up and dismissing
based purely on hearsay, and I'd be willing to bet that most of them have
probably never visited your website. Many probably don't own a computer.
These are the same folks who've turned a recent college production of an
avante garde stage play contrasting the life of Christ to the life of a
modern-day homosexual into a state-wide rallying cry for withholding government
funds from the likes of Indiana and Purdue Universities. Folks to whom
GM is a company that makes Chevies. Too much fluoride in the water here.
Consider the source and keep up the good work.
-
-
-
- Comment
-
- From Will Matthews
will.matthews@ntlworld.com
7-8-1
-
- The product doing the "banning" is a product
called websense. There aim is to categorise every web site on the Internet.
They have around 50 categories and from what I understand UFOs get lumped
into "religion" (maybe they have Sitchin fan??) the process is
part automated, part human intervention. (the main aim of the product is
to stop, people looking at non-work related sites during work time!)
-
- I'm sure if you drop them an e-mail www.websense.com
they'll happily re-classify your site. How do I know? I installed and configured
websense for my company and got the same result, which I quickly changed
so I could view my favourite web site!
-
-
- Comment
-
- From AJ Wuthrich
7-8-1
-
- Dear Mr Rense - I just want to thank you for the impeccable
and incredibly informative job that you do daily in bringing the most intellectually
and important news information to those aware enough to be here with interest
to receive it.
-
- I also want you to know that your web site may be inaccessible
in Marion Co Indiana, but you are still in Kosciusko Co a hundred miles
north. Thank God! God bless you and I pray you may always be able to do
what you do best.
-
-
- From: jr@rense.com X-Sender: sightings@mindspring.com
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 08:48:54 -0700 To: jneff@arkansas.net, webmaster@sightings.com,
nde@ipa.net, jr@rense.com Subject: COMMENT I love your site!! It is the
best!!!
-
-
- Comment
-
- From Jane S. Derry
derryj@gallatinriver.net
7-8-1
-
- I love your site!! It is the best!!!
-
- Since when is your site a religion??? Give me a break
here!!! That is like saying driving Classic Cars is a religion!!! An addiction,
maybe, but not a religion!!! I go to your site near daily, just so that
I can read the news that no one else seems willing to give to the public.
I can always count on the integrity of your site, so don't listen to them,
Jeff. We love you! Keep up the good work, OK??? Someone needs to work the
bugs out of their program, that is all.
-
- Tianca
-
- "Millionaires don't use astrology, billionaires
do." -J. P. Morgan
-
-
- Comment
-
-
- From Jason Leigh
jasonsos@digitex.net
7-9-1
-
- Dear Jeff.
-
- I read the article of Rense.com being banned in Indiana
with much regret, yet also: with much pride.
-
- This clearly illustrates just how important your site
is in bringing the 'truth' of all matters great and small to the light
of the unknowing public, which means: you are doing something right--and
'they' (the banning agency) realize this fact.
-
- I will continue to support your efforts and your tireless
efforts by both you, and your trusted staff. Keep up the grand work and
efforts. This is not a sign of failure--but of true success.
-
- Regards,
Jason Leigh
http://jasonleigh.org
-
-
-
- Comment and Follow-Up
-
- From Diane Harvey
- merak@sedona.net
- 7-9-1
-
-
- Dear Jeff: I felt I had to follow up on the business
of being banned in the USA. For some reason, this really ticked me off
this time. I, too, usually just laugh. But then I thought about the principle
of the thin edge of the wedge. This crude casual use of deliberate, sloppy,
broad-based censorship is ridiculous, and it is also highly objectionable.
These people are very pleased to be unconscionable fatuous fools, I do
see that. But really, I think complaints are also worth throwing over the
fence once in a while, if one happens to be in the mood. Just because.
-
- Diane
-
-
- Name: Diane Harvey
- Email: merak@sedona.net
- Type of feedback: Comment about content
- http://www.websense.com/index2.cfm
- Brief description of feedback: error report
-
- Your feedback:
-
- Your company has erroneously categorized a very popular
alternative news site under the absurd classification "Alternative
Religion"- whatever that is supposed to mean. Do you mean- not Catholic
or not Lutheran, for instance? If you are going to act as self-appponited
Grand Inquisitor for the internet public, you had better publicly define
your terms and demonstrate solid legal precedence to back you up, don't
you think? In any case, since the website in question, www.rense.com contains
over 14,000 documents in such departments as science, health and medicine,
the environment and the paranormal, and none of the over 25,000 pages archived
here is listed under "religion" of any kind, you are generating
quite a bit of richly deserved snickering. Aside from the ludicrousness
of your mistake, the fact that this leads to the website in question being
banned in Marion County makes it a bit more problematical. One would have
to ask oneself if such irresponsible, cavalier treatment on your part might
have potentially undesirable consequences. For instance, there seem to
be some interesting Constitutional issues involved here. For instance,
is it even legal under the Constitution of the United States of America
to cause a website to be banned in this way, through such negligence? You
might want to have your legal department brush up on the actual wording
of the Constitution. And if they can't find it on line, feel free to email
and I'll be happy to direct them to the history of case law in the area
of free speech.
-
- Diane Harvey
-
-
- -----Original Message-----
- From: Websense DB Update
- databasechange@websense.com
- Sent: Monday, July 09, 2001 11:30 AM
- To: 'merak@sedona.net'
- Subject: RE: Comment Submitted Via Web Site: error report
-
- Diane Harvey,
-
- Thank you for writing to Websense. The site
you submitted is correctly categorized in our database under Non-Traditional
Religions. For our category definitions please click here: http://www.websense.com/products/about/database/version4.cfm
If you still would like to access this site contact your System
Administrator and ask for access to either the category or to the specific
URL.
-
-
- Thanks,
- The Websense Database Operations Staff
-
-
-
- From: Diane Harvey [mailto:merak@sedona.net]
- Sent: Monday, July 09, 2001 12:05 PM
- To: Websense DB Update
- Subject: RE: Comment Submitted Via Web Site: error report
-
- Let me work this through then. I take the time to explain
to you that your categorization of a popular website is egregiously inaccurate,
since it is obviously an alternative news site. I point out to you that
out of over 14,000 documents, not one is archived under the heading of
alternative religion. You have no other answer to that than to repeat
the original mistake back to me? As if mechanically repeating misinformation
is your only solution to the dissemination of misinformation? While
most people will see the amusing side of your absurdity, at the moment
I do not. I think it's safe to assume as a working hypothesis that basic
Constitutional rights are encroached upon by your entire operation, and
I am not experiencing the funny side of this at the moment. From what
legal basis do you derive your self-assumed powers of internet categorization
when it leads to such false labels as yours? From what moral basis can
you continue to promote the fostering of misinformation even after you
have been corrected? You are selling yourselves as moral arbiters of internet
content while simultaneously deliberately and consciously allowing lies
to be propagated. This should be a terrible moral dilemma for you, since
your entire business is based on offering yourselves as experts in public
morality and standards. If, on the other hand, you do not find yourselves
disturbed by consciously selling lies, then you are clearly in an untenable
and extraordinarily hypocritical position. Which is it? Diane Harvey
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