Harry Potter censorship row

I just read a dilemma on nation states. Which option would you choose? Write me a comment if you will.

The Issue

The latest "Harry Potter" book to hit schools across Durrrguffy has stirred up the greatest controversy yet.

The Debate

1. "I quite enjoyed the book, until I got to the part where Harry summons evil demons to do his bidding," says religious leader Billy Falopian. "Now that's just wrong. We need to restore some sense to this debate, by which I mean we should remove this book from the shelves, salt it thoroughly, and burn it."
   
   
   
2. Teachers union President Zeke Frederickson says, "Come on, the book is fantasy! And it's a damn good read. I'd like the government to issue a statement of support for our teachers and librarians, so kids can enjoy good books without interference from religious wackos, like Christians."
   

The Government Position

The government has indicated its intention to follow the recommendations of Option 2.
If you wish, you may:

An explanation is in order: What happens to the "spam" I get

Dear friends,

I think I owe everyone who writes in to me an explanation. Whenever I get a message (call, text, email, or so on) that I deem to be "spam", I may choose (at my option) to:

1. do nothing 
2. delete it and do nothing 
3. report it and/or delete it and do nothing 
4. report it and/or delete it and/or do the victory dance and do nothing 
5. something else 

Basically, I am not obliged to follow a certain action when I get a "spam" message. This is not saying that I will not try to stay consistent, it just asks you not to depend on me on being consistent. 

Sincerely,
kushal

Spam alert! from gfnrob@earthlink.net

 If you got a message like this, I urge you to exercise great caution. Please do not click on the links unless you expected such an email beforehand.

from gfnrob@earthlink.net
reply-to nobody@earthlink.net
to [hidden]@gmail.com
date Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 4:35 PM
subject Re: Freq. Asked Questions
mailed-by bounce.earthlink.net

I apologize for this automatic reply to your email.

To control spam, I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have approved beforehand.

If you would like to be added to my list of approved senders, please fill out the short request form (see link below). Once I approve you, I will receive your original message in my inbox. You do not need to resend your message. I apologize for this one-time inconvenience.

Click the link below to fill out the request:

https://webmail.pas.earthlink.net/wam/addme?a=gfnrob@earthlink.net&[hidden]

Once again, if you get such an email, please be aware that I did not send it. Thank you and have a great day!

Update: Network world has an interesting piece on the subject. 

Google Voice Blog: Helping you fight Phone Spam

Google Voice Blog: Helping you fight Phone Spam

Did you want to tag a really annoying person you know as spam but were worried how that would affect your Google Voice account or the person's ability to call others? Fear not! Your tags as spam stay with you. According to Google: "Tagging a caller as spam only affects your account and is not shared with other users." So, even though Google is "blocking tens of thousands of calls on a daily basis", do not worry if that annoying person will lose their ability to call people because the blocks only affect "automated dialers that call thousands of numbers every day".


What is in it for you to tag someone as spam then? In Google's words, "future calls from that number will not ring your phones, will not be in your messages when you check voicemails from your phone, but will end up in a Spam folder that you can check whenever you feel like it, similar to your Gmail spam filter."


I hope this helps. :) I have been using GrandCentral and Google Voice for a while now, and am currently experimenting with Google Voice as a primary telephone number. If you have been doing the same, or using Google Voice in an innovative way, please share it with the rest of us. :)