Unfortunately the city I live in seems to be rampant with illegal surveillance and that which is actually conducted by local organized crime. As such, it seems to me that creative and intellectual property theft and identity related crimes are slowly becoming the new norm. Maybe some day soon, the local authorities will get off their duffs and do something about it. Until then the call for superheroes has never been higher and I'm never one to give up though I've always lived by the eidos that the pen is truly mightier than the sword. For one it's easier to conceal a pen than a sword and two, it's ability to fight problems in society without direct bloodshed is always underestimated by the source of those problems. The problem with new identity related crimes is how can you guarantee to others that you're the one who is putting this post up?
I mean part of the problem is that if what you do generates any kind of effective notoriety, or transcends notoriety altogether to take on the form of a social meme, it has a lot of value to the individual who originates it and not necessarily for selfish purposes or self gain. So consistency with concept becomes a big issue in this case. Are you consistent with your own presentation of such ideas on a blog or in a book? With your own address and your name? So the new means of taking anything from a person makes those aspects the new means by which someone is taken from in that regard. Such people who do attempt steal or plagiarize someone else's efforts in that way seek to break those aspects of identity down first because their belief is that if you can't defend your own identity, and the place from whence you originated your creations, then how can you be the one responsible for creating them and why should you get the credit?
This belief of course has created a market for fast and effective means of spying on a person's computer such as by keylogging (which captures their keystrokes as they type them) or by phreaking (which intercepts the electromagnetic emissions from a target monitor and keyboard and reinterprets them visually on a remote computer). All just so someone else can sit and spy on you so they're in the know when you have something worth stealing. Like window shopping for them I guess. In my community (and possibly many others) that sort of thing is rampant. The funny thing is that the spying isn't being conducted by the Government or a secret Government agency. It's literally being conducted by organized crime and in some cases, religious ideologies who of course are the first to blame the Government.
In the case of organized crime the motives are clear. Identity have value and can get you a lot. A new life. A small fortune. Many things that have value for other people which can be traded or sold on a black market not to mention that if you're already in the market for selling black market goods, keeping an eye on those who might be snitching is certainly a good way to protect your investment. The internet begat the intergang who are vastly more effective than Torman's cronies.
In the case of religious spying, I've never been one to criticize one's beliefs, because they're personal (and despite what others might say they're subjective especially in terms of the choice of whether to believe them or not). The kind of people who spy on others based upon their beliefs aren't operating according a common code of rights. In fact they're violating any code of rights altogether in favor of protecting ideals that are less considerate and I'm not saying that because I have something to hide that others should know.
I see this spying to a sort of infectious voyeurism that seems to be infecting society and very rapidly. It's kind of like they're going through a Woman's underwear drawer hoping that they'll find something that is a "valuable personal secret" that they can exploit in some way. Sexy underwear. A personal toy of some form. Something of a deeply personal and secret nature that is not illegal or immoral in terms of rights code of most countries. I really feel sorry for Women in this regard, because such efforts can have a big impact upon them socially and in the day and age of the internet and instant communications, the grapevine is a fast and effective killer at times. The murder or privacy and social well being.
For a guy, society has for the most part given a different set of standards by which their sexual prowess through their privacy is measured and as such the aftermath of their secrets with regard to their personal exploits are often regarded as "studliness" or "exciting" and "daring". So the damage for a guy is usually much less depending upon how they are perceived by others socially. If they're perceived as being prim and proper and their secrets contradict this nature, then it can be a problem. If they are on the other hand laid back and more liberal minded, then such secrets rarely have a serious impact upon them though might affect the views of others about them. Keep in mind that I'm talking about activities in the cases of both sexes that for adults are perfectly natural but are kept in that boundary that separates their public identity from their private identity. You know the one and hopefully quite well, because when you as a lover are brought past this boundary and into his/her life its a big responsibility. He or she is giving you exceptional bias to know things about him or her that nobody else knows. That's how bonds are made between lovers.
So the impact of such people in search of secrets by outside means is a gross invasion of privacy because most often they're looking for the kind of secrets to which a person's lover would be the only person that is privy. Secrets that aren't illegal or immoral but in fact are very very personal and further more, they're not anyone else's business but your own unless you invite someone else that you care about into that part of your world. So when someone else on the basis of their belief system believes that by divine right, they have a right to violate this boundary there is something very wrong. For one they are often attempting to find secrets which give them access to things about said victim that nobody else knows, and hence gives them a power of bias over the victim. After all if they know secrets about you that you only have shared with your lover, then what symbolizes the strength of bias you have for your lover over someone who stole your secrets by invading your privacy?
Some people who do spy on the basis of belief system, do so claiming to be policing the moral code of the world making sure that people are operating to a divine law of some form for which such persons have been "selected" to evaluate the moral conduct of others in their privacy. Now here's something to think about when someone justifies this on the basis of their religion.
The people who would spy on someone illegally counting religion as their motivation to do so (in contravention to the law) are basing this idea upon their understanding of a moral code that they believe is right and should be enforced even if it means breaching the privacy of ordinary citizens. Most often they might cite the motive of trying to find crimes of morality, like pedophilia, rape and sexual exploitation. I certainly believe in protecting the innocence of youth and children for certain as I do believe in protecting the free will and right for a Woman to do with her body as she herself wills so long as she's of a legal age to have the last say with regard to such choices. Until that point her parents or legal guardians have the ultimate say for certain. I have to question the morality of someone who goes through great lengths on the basis of religion to find breaches of morality and ethics. Here's why and if you are devoutly religious, then this is sure to offend you. There's nothing wrong with having a belief at all nor is there anything wrong with having a moral compass but be sure that your compass and your moral code are pointing in the same direction before you start trying to examine someone else's. You have been warned. Keep in mind too that I am a science minded Buddhist more so than anything. I have beliefs regarding the nature of the universe and how it got here, but those are purely my own.
Now the books that various belief systems are founded upon mostly have a few things in common. One, when they were first written there were no censorship laws about what could be written about or included in such a text and often many are accounts of allegorical tale based upon situations that either really happened, or are the allegory or metaphor for a concept often given in some sort of supernatural explanation. This is the foundation of belief itself because it poses the questions: do I look past the outer layer of this tale and read into it contextually and metaphorically rather than literally? This is the subjective nature of belief and is part and parcel of one forming their own beliefs by considering ideas presented as such and hopefully learning through experience and sometimes understanding pain (even the pain of others) what is "good" and what is not "good". I mean if you understand how something makes someone else feel, how it violates them or takes a basic right from them that all living beings should have and have protected, then chances are you understand why something is right and why it is wrong. The ability to conceive of the pain of others when they are wronged is generally how we form such ideas and more importantly, what motivates us to act upon knowing what it feels like when someone else experiences such a thing.
After all, if you know that it hurts when someone hits you with a rock, then why would you cast one at someone else? That's self conduct. Knowing this then the next obvious step is if you see someone throwing a rock at someone else, to stop them because you know that it will cause a pain that you've experienced before. By such, you'll know that the end result is unjustified and wrong for someone to be subject to. That's the conduct of others beyond ourselves. Generally understanding when someone experiences pain that of which they are not responsible for rendering unto themselves (either directly or indirectly) that if you understand the harm that causes, how can you allow it to happen to someone else? The morality seems sound and it is if you understand their pain, but real life is often not so simple and having such simple rules for action and reaction can make us very easy to manipulate and even control.
For instance, what if the person who through the rock is playing with the person who was apparently hit (and hurt) by it? What if they were pretending and they were both in agreement that they were only pretending? That presents a moral conundrum for one who believe that if they understand the pain of others that they must act to prevent it when they see it because sometimes people do play. So when they play and its something that is wrong by our understanding of conceiving how others feel when they are hurt, is it right to let it happen even if it isn't real? What if such persons are teaching others about situations that might happen so that those persons can learn from the experiences without the risk of being hurt themselves? Actually many lessons are taught by such means. Through stories and allegory and metaphor without actually hurting anyone or violating anyone. It's actually been a part of teaching since the very beginning of our civilization from tribal congregations right up to modern day cities. The story.
The story has had a power to teach by example though without risk to one's life or health since the beginning of language and perhaps constitutes our most important technology ever (next to language and grammatical syntax). A very important means of relaying concepts and ideas that have not occurred in hopes of averting them altogether, or in the case that they do occur, what to do. Expanding upon that concept it also gives us the ability to share in experiences once again without risk of harm and sometimes endows us with the ability to understand the pain of others further developing our sense of responsibility in this world to others and to ourselves. A very important part of learning. I mean if you experience pain yourself, how could you cause that pain to others yourself? That's pretty much the golden rule as it stands and though not a law, it works good for most situations unless of course you're someone who likes or thrives on pain.
So the people who do this sort of spying have no conception of this concept or even this way of learning and their primary reason for spying on others is criminal gain, or to have power over their victims by way of knowing their secrets. They hide it behind the claim that they are looking for things of an exploitative nature but spying on someone is exploitative and doing so for the purposes of theft of their creative and intellectual properties more so is illegal but never investigated because they're a religion that are doing it in contradiction to the civic laws. Many are pirates as well meaning that they steal other people's movies, music, books (I'm a writer and I should know) and software. So the reason they're spying is primarily about acquiring opportunities for theft. Like window shopping someone's house so you know what they have to steal. That's basically what they've been doing to myself and despite the rumors about me, I'm not a pirate. I don't steal movies, music, books or software from anyone or any source. I've downloaded shareware and movie clips (legally) but I don't possess pirated software, movies, music or books at all. I'm a writer and one that is trying to build a career. If I understand someone else's pain, why would I subject someone else to that pain by stealing their movies, books, music or software when I'm a content provider myself?
Why am I alarmed about this? Well because first of all, my livelihood depends upon me being able to develop my creations and intellectual properties in secret until they are ready for release. I mean I don't access other people's computers and steal from them or even plagiarize them. I don't steal other people's creations and distribute them or sell them for a profit (which my likely had occurred with books which were pirated from the beginning by a criminal gang in my community which has remained largely investigated despite my repeated complaints and reports to the Police and RCMP).
Also because some of the people involved actually steal my identity and give me the identity of one of their gang members! So I'm treated like that gang member in the community by members of the community for what that person is responsible, while that person is given the credit for whatever good I've done. So this gang are using me to pay for someone else's garbage in that regard while stealing what I accomplish to the point of ruination of my repute and career. Hence why I've stopped writing the books. A criminal gang and organized crime in the area literally have a strangle hold over my and others' computers for the purposes of theft. Yet it remains to be investigated by the Police or RCMP.
I am not talking about a small ring theft ring. I'm talking about a large operation spanning several communities in the city. So that's basically what killed the writing and for a long time I likely wont be continuing until I can relocate safely. I had actually attempted to get a letter from the authorities that would help me to relocate in this manner, but such a letter remains forthcoming. The gang involved works together with many groups in the community as well and as I've said, I am not a pedophile nor am I using my computer for anything of that nature whatsoever. This gang are and have been literally stealing my identity while painting me with theirs in terms of crack cocaine related activity. It's been pretty damaging to my reputation not to mention other such efforts conducted by this gang. Yet they're not being investigated at all nor is their illegal eavesdropping and spying.
I don't quite get how a group of people could justify spying on my computer and then use their spying technology to actually steal my books from me as I write them and yet remain uninvestigated by the authorities. Fortunately most people involved with belief, faith or science and atheism don't conduct themselves in this way and actually respect other people's right to privacy though this group that is doing this use it to steal from their victims and incredibly enough despite the fact that law enforcement are aware of this activity (unofficially) they do not investigate despite the highly illegal nature of what they're doing. I can't even report them to the authorities without them knowing. If and when I do, the gang works together in the community in attempt to make me appear mentally ill or schizophrenic, so that the authorities will regard my claims as being skewed or faulty. Kind of like trying to discredit someone who's on jury duty by making them appear to be incapable of civil service on the basis of their mental stability. It's been pretty bad in that way but maybe after bringing some light to this situation it might be looked at a bit closer by authorities. That a gang can actually get away with this activity in society without repercussion is actually pretty scary.
It has been a few weeks since I've done anything Butterfly Dragon in terms of writing or research although last week I finalized a new design for the Butterfly Dragon chest crest design.
It was something that I'd wanted to fix for a long time as the first designs were pretty much horrible, looking more like a butterfly blob than anything. So about two weeks ago I set out to give her logo and chest piece a redesign. Between verbal attacks from my neighbors and harassment in my community I gave it a go.
I actually broke the job up into two phases, the first being the overall shape of the design, the second being the colors. I wanted the colors to be a lot more prominent in the new design, and even a bit more symbolic and I certainly wanted the design to appear a bit more butterfly-like.
This design will incorporate a lot of changes to her costume as well which are still in progress.
One more thing about that character as always, she's inspired very much by a few real life Women (three of whom are of Chinese ethnicity with one actually being an ex-girlfriend of mine). This distinction is an important part of the story and especially in relation to the mythology of the character.
So progress is being made in slow steps and likely when and if this illegal eavesdropping ring is busted, or I relocate there will be much more progress towards my future plans for the creative property.
Brian Joseph Johns
http://thebutterflydragon.blogspot.ca
