Friday, February 29, 2008

Backlash targets JuicyCampus.com

I don't usually put up the whole of an article but I think it is needed in the case below:

"The Cornell University junior was in his dorm between classes when the text message came in from a friend. Check out JuicyCampus.com, it said. The student found his name on the Web site beside a rambling, filthy passage about his sexual exploits, posted by an anonymous student on campus. The young man could only hope the commentary was so ridiculous nobody would believe it.

"I thought, `Is this going to affect my job employment? Is this going to make people on campus look at me? Are people going to talk about me behind my back?" said the student, who asked not to be identified. He also wondered about his 11-year-old sister, who is spending more time on the Internet. "What if she Googles me? What will she think about her big brother?" he said.

JuicyCampus' endless threads of anonymous innuendo have been a popular Web destination on the seven college campuses where the site launched last fall, including Duke, UCLA and Loyola Marymount. It recently expanded to 50 more, and many of the postings show they've been viewed hundreds and even thousands of times.

But JuicyCampus has proved so poisonous there are signs of a backlash. In campus debates over Internet freedom, students normally take the side of openness and access. This time, however, student leaders, newspaper editorials and posters on the site are fighting back - with some even asking administrators to ban JuicyCampus. It's a kind of plea to save the students, or at least their reputations, from themselves.

"It is an expression from our student body that we don't want this junk in our community," said Andy Canales, leader of the student government at Pepperdine, which recently voted 23-5 to ask for a ban. The vote came after a long and emotional debate on the limits of free speech, and was swayed by stories from students such as Haley Frazier, a junior residential adviser. She had recently come across a teary transfer student who had been humiliated on the site barely a week after arriving on campus. "I can't imagine the disgust she must have for Pepperdine if that's what (students) say," Frazier said.

College administrators say they are appalled by the site but have no control over it since students can see it outside the campus computer network. They say all they can do is urge students not to post items or troll for malicious gossip - and hope that in the process they learn about how to get along.

That tactic may be having an effect. At a number of campuses where JuicyCampus was a hot topic even just a few weeks ago, students and administrators say use and complaints have tapered off sharply. That's hard to confirm; Internet tracker comScore Inc. says the site's visitor numbers are too low to be counted by its system.

Source

The defamation could have been dealt with by litigation but that would have been difficult and expensive so it is pleasing that informal measures seem to have led to at least a partial solution. It is a pity that the grubs responsible for the defamation have escaped retribution, though.
Victory for Free Speech at the University of Utah

Universities and colleges never stop trying to deny their students free speech, however:

"The University of Utah-FIRE's February 2008 Speech Code of the Month-has eliminated its unconstitutional speech code and now earns FIRE's most favorable speech code rating, a "green light."

Less than a week after the policy was named Speech Code of the Month, administrators from the university's Department of Housing and Residential Education contacted FIRE to let us know that the posting policy we highlighted was no longer the university's practice and was being removed from the residence life handbook effective immediately. A new handbook has been posted online, and the offending policy is now gone.

The policy, which prohibited the posting of any material "deemed to be racist, sexist, indecent, scandalous, illegal, inciting, advertise alcohol or illegal substances, or in any way oppressive in nature," earned the university a poor, red-light rating on FIRE's Spotlight. With that policy now off the books, FIRE has updated the University of Utah's Spotlight entry to a green-light rating for having no policies that inhibit free expression.

Source

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Footballers guilty of joking



Australia:

"Two Central Coast Mariners players are today facing disciplinary action after attending yesterday's Mad Monday celebrations dressed as Adolf Hitler and God.

Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley branded the actions of Andre Gumprecht and Tony Vidmar "stupid" and said he would seek explanations for their behaviour.

German-born Gumprecht's decision to attend the event in Terrigal, on the Central Coast, dressed as Hitler drew criticism from Jewish groups, who described the costume as "disgusting" and urged him to apologise.

The 33-year-old midfielder was photographed alongside Vidmar, who appeared in white robes with his face blackened. He is understood to have been portraying Morgan Freeman, who played God in the 2003 film Bruce Almighty. Vidmar's nickname is God.

Source
Teenagers guilty of joking

Fat jokes and partying! How awful!

"Tech-savvy teenagers are increasingly paying a heavy price -- including criminal arrest -- for parodying their teachers on the Internet. Tired of fat jokes and false accusations of teacher-lounge partying or worse, teachers and principals are fighting back against digital ridicule and slander by their students -- often with civil lawsuits and long-term suspensions or permanent expulsions.

A National School Boards Association (NSBA) study says that as many as one-third of American teens regularly post inappropriate language or manipulated images on the Web. Most online pranks deride other students. But a NSBA November 2006 survey reported 26 percent of teachers and principals being targeted."

Source

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Leftists just don't get it

Susan Estrich is a fairly moderate Leftist. She is even defending John McCain and criticizing the NYT in the excerpt below! But she still thinks that free speech should be used "responsibly" -- i.e. that it should not really be free. Muslims say the same thing.

That what seems "responsible" to me may seem "hate speech" to others is just not addressed. If we avoided saying things that others might not regard as "responsible", we would soon be struck dumb.

"Maybe there should be an asterisk in the First Amendment's protection of the freedom of the press making the point that most of us who are parents of teenagers do on a regular basis: that freedom is not simply a privilege but also a responsibility, that just because you have it doesn't mean you need to push its limits, much less abuse it.

I'm certainly not a McCain partisan. And I don't think I've ever met his old friend, the lobbyist Vicki Iseman, as she is described beneath her smiling picture in Thursday's New York Times. I do know that the definition of all the news that's fit to print has changed if it includes a collage of anonymous anecdotes proving nothing more than that some of the senator's aides might have been troubled by the appearance that he was too close to a woman lobbyist at a time when he was running against the influence of big money in politics."

Source
Google reinstates anti-UN news agency

Backdown! Even Google does not like to be shown up for the biased and censorship-prone organization that it is:

"Google News quietly reinstated Tuesday the articles of a news service that routinely exposes U.N. corruption, a day after FOXNews.com ran a story about the Internet giant's decision to remove Inner City Press from its search engine. Inner City Press returned to the Google News search late in the day, but much sooner than the 'couple weeks' a Google representative had promised.

The week of stories the news service ran since Google News dropped it on Feb. 13 were not restored. The news outlet, run by journalist Matthew Lee, has been critical of the U.N. and internal corruption within the organization. Lee was informed that Google News would drop his organization in a Feb. 8 e-mail."

Source

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Islamic Leader: Free Speech OK If Respectful and Responsible

Post below borrowed from Interested Participant:

(Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) In an Arab Times report, the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, weighed in on the "insulting caricatures of prophet Muhammad" printed recently in Danish newspapers.
"He said it was unacceptable that Islam and Muslims were represented as enemies of free speech. Ihsanoglu reiterated that Muslims have no problem with the freedom of speech as a fundamental human right but expect a minimal level of respect and responsibility in the exercise of this right.

Therefore, as long as you watch what you say, Muslims don't have any problem with you speaking freely. Presumably, this means that it's totally unacceptable to state that terrorists are largely fundamental followers of Islam. That would be disrespectful and irresponsible.

However, it would be perfectly acceptable to freely state that Jews are the spawn of pigs and dogs and they drink the blood of dead Palestinian babies. Hopefully, this clarification will dispel any confusion regarding freedom of speech.
Pakistan blocks 'blasphemous' YouTube

We read:

"PAKISTAN has ordered all internet service providers to block the YouTube website for containing "blasphemous" content and material considered offensive to Islam, officials said.

An inter-ministerial committee has decided to block YouTube because it contained "blasphemous content, videos and documents," a government official told AFP. "The site will remain blocked 'til further orders," he said.

Other officials said the site had been blocked because it contained controversial sketches of the Prophet Mohammed which were republished by Danish newspapers earlier this month.

Source

Christians regularly take all sorts of abuse hurled at them by Leftists and others -- and survive with faith undimmed. But Muslims apparently can't take anything negative at all. What does that say about the maturity of the two groups and their confidence in their faith?

Monday, February 25, 2008

Hate-filled Leftist students at MSU

Accusing conservatives of hate reveals their own hates: Of free speech and conservatives:

"Demonstrating once again the danger of hate speech laws, the Michigan State University Student Assembly voted Thursday to ask the administration to define the difference between free speech and hate speech. MSU President Lou Anna Simon has been adamant that free speech is "at the heart of academic freedom." He's right.

The problem: a string of conservative speakers hosted by MSU's chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, one of them being the head of an unnamed civilian group of volunteers who patrol the U.S.-Mexican border, triggered protests and a few arrests.

Making matters worse, the pro-hate speech law protesters justify their hostility (which looks in and of itself like a "hate crime") by referring to the Southern Poverty Law Center's identification of the MSU Young Americans for Freedom as a "hate group".

Source

The SPLC is a far-Left group so anything they say is unlikely to be objective. I am sure they also call the YAF "Fascists". It's just the normal abuse that Leftists substitute for thought and reasoned argument. They should study what a Fascist really is.

One hopes that the university will NOT fall into the trap of defining any difference -- as there is none. Hate speech IS free speech. Leftists would be almost completely muzzled otherwise.

A bit more info here
Internet Defeats Legal Censorship

We read:

"In a move that legal experts said could present a major test of First Amendment rights in the Internet era, a federal judge in San Francisco has ordered the disabling of a Web site devoted to disclosing confidential information.

The site, Wikileaks.org, invites people to post leaked materials with the goal of discouraging "unethical behavior" by corporations and governments. It has posted documents said to show the rules of engagement for U.S. troops in Iraq, a military manual for the operation of the prison at Guant˜namo Bay, Cuba, and other evidence of what it has called corporate waste and wrongdoing. The site claims to have posted 1.2 million leaked government and corporate documents....

White ordered Dynadot to disable the Wikileaks.org address and "lock" it to prevent the organization from transferring the name to another registrar. The feebleness of the action suggests the bank and the judge did not understand how the domain system works or how quickly Web communities will move to counter actions they see as hostile to free speech online.

The site itself could still be accessed at its Internet Protocol address - http://88.80.13.160/ - the unique number that specifies a Web site's location on the Internet. Wikileaks also maintained "mirror sites," or copies usually produced to ensure against failures and this kind of legal action. Some sites were registered in Belgium, Germany and the Christmas Islands, through domain registrars other than Dynadot and so were not affected by the injunction. Fans of the site and its mission rushed to publicize those alternate addresses this week.....

On its site, Wikileaks compared White's orders with ones eventually overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Pentagon Papers case in 1971.

Source

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Don't Joke in Britain

We read:

"When it comes to making your co-workers laugh, tread carefully. Sometimes even a great joke can lead to the punch line "you're fired." The daily grind has always been fertile ground for practical jokes, witty one-liners, rude gags and general clowning around. But it is becoming harder to avoid crossing the line into offensive territory, due in part to the ease of electronic communication and the workplace's growing attunement to cultural diversity and worker sensitivity.

Take the PR Newswire employee fired last month for using the term "loony-bin-rally" to slug a press release about a march for mental illness. The company published an apology saying it deeply regretted the "error" and understood how "such terminology feeds the prejudice and discrimination associated with mental illnesses."

Then there was the European head of Barclaycard--the credit card arm of Barclays --who lost his job last month, allegedly because of a gag that offended fellow employees. According to The Daily Telegraph, Marc Howells was discussing quarterly results with his staff when he told the following joke: "The results were like Muslims--some were good, some were Shi'ite."

It may be difficult to determine when the punishment fits the crime, but there is no doubt jokes are dangerous creatures in an office environment. Careless e-mails build up a trail of evidence that can look 10 times worse when closely analyzed and wrenched out of context. An offhand riposte about a co-worker can worm its way through the office, resulting in an official complaint or even disciplinary action if there is the suspicion of discrimination.

Which begs the question: Is it even worth making a joke at work anymore? Not according to British writer Toby Young, whose 2003 book How to Lose Friends and Alienate People chronicled his many failed attempts to charm co-workers at Vanity Fair through humor. "It is a risk that simply isn't worth taking," said Young

Source
Jokes Risky in Australia too

In Australia and in Britain, the mayor of a major city is referred to as a "Lord" mayor. The city concerned below is Brisbane, Australia (capital of the State of Queensland). A municipal election takes place there shortly:

"A Lord mayoral aspirant is facing calls for her withdrawal from next month's elections after circulating an email that talks about being gang raped by her Labor opponent. Louise Day - who fronts a rock band under her stage name Punxie - was last night refusing to pull out of the race, saying the email was meant in jest.

Ms Day, a former speech writer for Education Queensland, says she does not feel comfortable referring to Labor's lord mayoral candidate Greg Rowell by his first name "in case he takes it as a come-on and invites his cricket team to gang rape me. "But Rowell just sounds like something I barfed. I think I am just going to call him, 'jug head' because, you know, of his ears," she wrote.

Source

Robust political abuse was once normal throughout the English-speaking world but an artifical politeness seems to be descending. I think the new way is more likely to lead to things being covered up.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Finnish Fascists censor anti-censorship site

Saying it is "child porn"!

"Finnish police are blocking more than 1,000 legal websites, including one belonging to a well-known internet activist, under a secretive system designed to prevent access to foreign sites that contain child pornography, according to a group that advocates for individual rights online.

Among the estimated 1,700 destinations on the secret block list is lapsiporno.info, which has vocally criticized the Finnish censorship program, according to Matti Nikki, the site's creator and a long-time activist.

Of the 700 or sites that have been tested, only two are known to contain inappropriate images of children, said Tapani Tarvainen chairman of the Electronic Frontier Finland (EFFI). The remainder tend to be sites with adult-oriented themes, such as those offering legal porn, and forums for gay sex. In some cases, the sites - which include an online doll store, a Thai Windows advice forum and a computer repair service - have no visible link to porn or sex at all.

The program has its roots in a law passed in late 2006 that was narrowly drafted to filter only foreign websites that contained child porn. To critics, the inclusion of sites like Nikki's, which is located in Finland and contains no pornographic images of any kind, demonstrates the slippery slope that gets started once censorship is allowed.

What's more, the censorship system threatens sites that offer all kinds of content, including political forums blogs and message boards. That's because it requires Finnish internet service providers (ISPs) to block entire web servers, so a single user posting a single inappropriate link has the ability to get an entire service shut out. As a result, plenty of legitimate sites based in the US, Europe and elsewhere, are blocked solely because they share space with a bad actor.

Source

The Finns DID fight alongside the Wehrmacht in WWII. It sounds like the influence is still strong.
Judge jailed over refusing courtroom crucifix

We read:

"An Italian judge was sentenced today to a year in prison for refusing to sit in a courtroom with a crucifix on the wall, his lawyer said.

"I am disappointed by this decision," lawyer Dario Visconti said, adding that Judge Luigi Tosti would appeal the ruling, which also bars Tosti from serving for a year.

"Taking away crucifixes is not a way of offending Christians but only to make the courts truly neutral and secular," Mr Visconti said.

Source

What harm is done by acknowledging Italy's immense Christian heritage and influence?
FBI to Investigate Conservative Blogs?

From this story (slow-loading site) it would appear that the FBI intend to investigate a claim against two conservastive blogs made by a Muslim group. The FBI may decide it has better things to do but if they are anything like the British police they will leap into this boots and all.

The problem stems from exhortations to violence made by commenters rather than by the bloggers themselves so I hope commenters here take note. If bloggers are ever held responsible for what commenters say, most of us may have to close down our comments facilities.

I hereby disclaim responsibility for any comments appearing on this blog.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Larwyn is NOT DEAD- just blocked

The invaluable Larwyn, who surveys conservative blogs and emails to us copies of what she thinks are the best posts, is having big email troubles. Many of the bloggers she emails are not getting her emails. The emails are being "bounced" back to her.

She seems to have been put on some list of spammers -- which she certainly is not. Another Leftist attempt at censorship of dissent, probably.

She is getting a new email address in the hope that that will help but if you have any ideas that might help her, you can email her on greerwynn@gmail.com
Radio Host is Called a Queen



The Australian equivalent of Rush Limbaugh cops it:

"The fight for Sydney radio's ratings crown has turned nasty early, with newcomer Sonia Kruger slammed for calling reigning breakfast king Alan Jones a "queen".

Despite losing listeners in her first survey for Mix 106, Kruger sledged the veteran broadcaster in a report on Tuesday for her other employer Today Tonight.

Yesterday, the flippant quip at his sexuality earned her a savaging from Jones' 2GB stablemate Ray Hadley, who pledged to black-ban the TV presenter and Channel 7 program.

The showbiz reporter, who registered a poor 4.4 per cent audience share compared with Jones' 19.1, antagonised her rivals when interviewed about the survey results, joking: "Now we know the real queen of breakfast radio is Alan Jones."

Source

It was of course a double entendre, though not a very subtle one. And it's not very accurate. I have no doubt that Jones is homosexual (though he has not "come out") but "queen" generally refers to an effeminate homosexual, which Jones is not.

The woman concerned does not seem to have suffered any penalty so far.
Blogosphere Takes out an Official Canadian Goon

Ezra Levant, the Canadian publisher who was dragged before a Canadian kangaroo court for publishing the Mohammed cartoons, has had a win. The video of his appearance in the court went viral and the court apparatchik concerned has had HER little feelings hurt:

"I mentioned that Shirlene McGovern, the "human rights officer" who interrogated me, has resigned from my case. The human rights commission advised my lawyer that McGovern quit because of the public backlash against the commission -- and against her in particular. In other words, she didn't like being called a censor in the blogosphere.

I'm not sympathetic. I believe that any government bureaucrat who makes a living interrogating citizens about their political beliefs ought to be held in public contempt. McGovern truly doesn't get it -- she thinks what she does for a living is perfectly bland, just like her.

Source

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Counselors ordered to argue for homosexuality

We read:

"A ruling by the American Counseling Association that members must not help homosexual clients change their sexual orientation is not sitting well with some in the professional organization who are seeking clarification to avoid "future legal actions."

The official policy of the ACA is that counselors asked by clients for help in changing their sexual orientation must offer only "gay affirmative" arguments. If the client persists, counselors must explore the "religious influences that underpin homophobia that may be harming the client."

Source

Once again, no free speech for those who are critical of homosexuality.
TN: Bill Bans Homosexuality Preaching in Schools

A last-ditch attempt to turn back the tide:

"For one state lawmaker, it's a disturbing trend in public education: Tennessee middle school teachers attending seminars on how to teach about transgender people and a Massachusetts kindergarten class being taught about homosexuality.

State Rep. Stacey Campfield, a Knoxville Republican, has proposed legislation to forbid 'any instruction or materials discussing sexual orientation other than heterosexuality' in Tennessee elementary or middle schools.

'It's such a blatant attack on freedom of speech,' responded Marisa Richmond, president and lobbyist for the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition. Advocates for gay and transgender rights say they have noticed an alarming trend of their own: an assault on their lifestyle, which has required them to raise their profile in Tennessee politics"

Source

But if Christian pastors were allowed to go into all classrooms and preach the Bible message that homosexuality is an abomination to God, that would not be entitled to free speech protections, of course.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Feminist Censorship



Feminists have no sense of humor in Australia either. Just look at the picture of the purse-lipped complainant above. A century ago she would have been a child-flogging nun:

"A billboard promoting a fitness centre featuring the bottom of a whip-wielding woman will be reviewed by the Advertising Standards Bureau. The bureau's communications manager Alison Abermethy said a number of complaints had been received about the Health Club @ Newmarket billboard at the Newmarket Memorial Hall on the corner of Enoggera Rd and Ashgrove Ave.

One of the complainants, Newmarket resident Virginia Druett, said she found the image, which is supported by the words "We'll whip you into shape", offensive. "To portray a woman as just the bottom part of the body is an insult to every woman in Australia," she said. Ms Druett said: ``Women have strived for centuries to be treated with respect and equality and this is just so demeaning. How this has passed through censorship just amazes me.''

The advertisement was designed by a female director of the Health Club @ Newmarket, Kathy Davies. Ms Davies said she had not received any complaints.

Source
Journalist Who Exposes U.N. Corruption Disappears From Google

We read:

"How big do you have to be to earn the wrath of the United Nations and Internet giant Google? If you're journalist Matthew Lee, all it takes are some critical articles and a scrappy little Web site. Lee is the editor-in-chief, Webmaster and pretty much the only reporter for Inner City Press, a pint-sized Internet news operation that's taken on Goliath-sized entities like Citigroup since 1987.

Since 2005, he's been focusing almost entirely on stories that deal with internal corruption inside the U.N., posting several stories online almost daily. He's been especially interested in the inner workings of what could be called the practical-applications arm of the international organization, the United Nations Development Programme.

Many of Lee's stories were featured prominently whenever Web users looked for news about the U.N. using the powerful Google News search engine, a vital way for media outlets both large and small to get their articles read. But beginning Feb. 13, Google News users could no longer find new stories from the Inner City Press.

Over the last couple of years, Lee has proved to be a constant - and controversial - thorn in the U.N.'s side. Though his writing is clunky, his methods unorthodox (and often highly annoying) and his news judgment sometimes more than a little off the mark, Lee has hit his share of bullseyes and became an outlet for whistleblowers inside the U.N.

Source

There is no doubt that Google is politically evil.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Hate speech for me but not for thee

We read:

"McMaster University is light years ahead of Israeli campuses when it comes to distinguishing between freedom of speech and vile bigoted hate! Located in Hamilton, Canada, the university has decided to put a stop to the metastasizing of the "Israeli Apartheid Weeks," organized by anti-Semites and pro-terrorists, onto its campus. Canadian campuses have had as many anti-Semitic Nuremberg Rallies, supposedly against Israeli "apartheid," as US campuses.

First, McMaster Provost office, which is second in authority only to that of the President's office, banned all campus use of the term "Israeli Apartheid" as hate speech. Then it was backed in this by the McMaster Human Rights & Equity Services (HRES). Finally the McMaster Student Union expressed support and approval for the ban. Has civilized behavior at last infiltrated North American college campuses?

Naturally, the local axis of evil uniting Islamofascists and far Leftists was upset at this "suppression of freedom of speech." The same people who would have you expelled from school if you say "Negro" or "chick" or express a negative opinion of homosexual relations want "Israeli Apartheid" to be a subject of academic debate. And after that perhaps more debate about Jews drinking gentile blood on Passover and being cheapskates.

Source
A pain in Spain



The two photos above of a famous statue in Spain differ significantly. The statue is in the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela and is of one of the liberators of Spain from Muslim occupation. The statue originally showed the triumphant Spaniard on a horse rearing over the heads of defeated Muslims. But that has recently become "incorrect". The defeated Muslims are now covered by a bank of flowers.

Conservative Brazilian blogger Luis Afonso has the details.

Monday, February 18, 2008

'I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam,' says Holland's rising political star



A courageous truth-teller:

"A TV addict with bleached hair who adores Maggie Thatcher and prefers kebabs to hamburgers, Geert Wilders has got nothing against Muslims. He just hates Islam. Or so he says. 'Islam is not a religion, it's an ideology,' says Wilders, a lanky Roman Catholic right-winger, 'the ideology of a retarded culture.'

The Dutch politician, who sees himself as heir to a recent string of assassinated or hounded mavericks who have turned Holland upside down, has been doing a crash course in Koranic study. Likening the Islamic sacred text to Hitler's Mein Kampf, he wants the 'fascist Koran' outlawed in Holland, the constitution rewritten to make that possible, all immigration from Muslim countries halted, Muslim immigrants paid to leave and all Muslim 'criminals' stripped of Dutch citizenship and deported 'back where they came from'. But he has nothing against Muslims. 'I have a problem with Islamic tradition, culture, ideology. Not with Muslim people.'

Wilders has been immersing himself in the suras and verse of seventh-century Arabia. The outcome of his scholarship, a short film, has Holland in a panic. He is just putting the finishing touches to the 10-minute film, he says, and talking to four TV channels about screening it. 'It's like a walk through the Koran,' he explains in a sterile conference room in the Dutch parliament in The Hague, security chaps hovering outside. 'My intention is to show the real face of Islam. I see it as a threat. I'm trying to use images to show that what's written in the Koran is giving incentives to people all over the world. On a daily basis Moroccan youths are beating up homosexuals on the streets of Amsterdam.'

Wilders is lucid and shrewd and the provactive soundbites trip easily off his tongue. He was recently voted Holland's most effective politician. If 18 months ago he sat alone in the second chamber or lower house in The Hague, his People's Party now has nine of 150 seats and is running at about 15 per cent in the polls.

He shrugs off anxieties that his film will trigger a fresh bout of violence of the kind that left Van Gogh stabbed to death on an Amsterdam street and his estranged colleague Ayaan Hirsi Ali in hiding, or the murderous furore over the Danish cartoons in 2005. The Dutch government is planning emergency evacuation of its nationals and diplomats from the Middle East should the Wilders film be shown. It is alarmed about the impact on Dutch business. 'Our Prime Minister is a big coward. The government is weak,' says Wilders. 'They hate my guts and I don't like them either.'

But he does want to create a stir. 'Islam is something we can't afford any more in the Netherlands. I want the fascist Koran banned. We need to stop the Islamisation of the Netherlands. That means no more mosques, no more Islamic schools, no more imams... Not all Muslims are terrorists, but almost all terrorists are Muslims.'

Free speech or hate speech? 'I don't create hate. I want to be honest. I don't hate people. I don't hate Muslims. I hate their book and their ideology.'

Source

The Dutch have a tradition of bluntness. Good to see it is not dead.
"Pussy" is a very Dubious Word

Or so it seems. Time magazine's Mark Halperin was reporting the thoughts of the gorgeous John Edwards when he said:

"And I can tell you, he's really skeptical of her ability to be the kind of president he wants. But, he kinda thinks Obama is..he thinks Obama is kind of a pussy.He has real questions about Obama's toughness, his readiness for the office.he has real doubts about Obama, not just as a president, but as a general election candidate.

Source

He has now had to apologize for his "filthy, dirty mouth"

Sunday, February 17, 2008

White BBC Staffer Hits Back at Racism Accusation

A rather amazing show of spirit!

"An award-winning BBC reporter has accused Lenny Henry of insulting her white colleagues by calling for affirmative action employment polices at the corporation. The comedian claimed that racism was still rife within broadcasting and asked why ethnic minorities were often found only in menial roles.

But he was criticised by Olenka Frenkiel, a leading investigative reporter who has produced acclaimed reports for Newsnight, Correspondent and the Today programme. Ms Frenkiel concluded: "For goodness sake, campaign for a person to be Director General - not for a colour. I am still offended by Greg Dyke's lamenting of the BBC as `hideously white'. Why is it okay to vilify white people for their colour not black ones? It's insulting."

Source
Britain: Gurkha restaurant told it cannot fly the Gurkha flag

But the Russian or Chinese flag would be fine! Gurkhas are mountain tribesmen from Nepal (North of India) who have served with distinction in the British army for 200 years. They are generally highly esteemed in Britain for their courage and loyalty to Britain. So it should be noted that the flag concerned is the flag of a BRITISH regiment! This really is a quite grievous insult.

"A former Gurkha has been banned from flying the regiment's flag from his Nepalese restaurant, but he has been told he can hoist the colours of the European Union.

Asbahadur Gurung, whose family served in the Army for 70 years, wanted to display his former regiment's colours above his restaurant, called The Gurkha. Council officials said the green and white flag was a form of advertising and refused him permission. But they advised him that he did not need permission to run up the flag of any country, the UN or the EU

The decision has angered Mr Gurung, whose father Mambahadur fought in the Battle of Kohima in Burma in the Second World War. "I was proud to serve the British Army for 28 years as was my father before me," he said. "We know the British people have a great respect for the Gurkhas and we thought a lot of people would appreciate the regiment flag."

Mr Gurung, 70, spent 28 years in the Queen's Gurkha Signals, eventually reaching the rank of captain. He added: "Our restaurant is called The Gurkha so we thought it would be quite appropriate to fly our flag. I don't understand what the problem is. It is not very good. I don't want to fly another flag or the EU flag - I didn't fight for the EU." ...

The local parish council had no problem with the flags and there were no complaints from local residents. But Purbeck council viewed the Gurkha flag as a form of advertising

Source

Just some horrible Leftist pacifism at work, one imagines. It is absurd to call the flag advertising. It is a mark of justifiable pride. And Gurkha food is brilliant!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Must not Abuse a Homosexual

A customer was dissatisfied with a government manager (Grabauskas) and got frustrated when the manager ignored his complaints. So he began to use rather ripe language in his further complaints.

"Fire the (expletive) Grabauskas, as he is as useless as (expletive) on a bull," Roberts wrote in one e-mail sent Jan. 14, according to a copy provided to the Herald.

In another message dated Dec. 11, 2007, he allegedly wrote, "Run the (expletive) trains on time or fire someone, how about starting with Grabauskas(?)"

Another one of the approximately dozen e-mails referred to a sex act and named Grabauskas specifically.

Source

So the complainant lost his job. Would he have lost his job if the manager had been heterosexual? I doubt it. The manager himself might have been investigated for his poor performance. But there is no hint of that.
Sanity creeping back in Canada?

We read:

"The issue is hate speech. Ezra Levant, Mark Steyn and Maclean's magazine have all been brought before human rights commissions for publishing offensive words and images. In response, Liberal MP Keith Martin has introduced a private member's bill that would strip matters of expression from the purview of the federal human rights commission.

Meanwhile, prosecutors announced they would try David Ahenakew, the former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, a second time for comments he made about Jews and the Holocaust.

Source

I don't think ANY political commentary should be suppressed but it really is absurd to let an antisemitic ignoramus like Ahenakew off the hook while attacking truthful accounts of Islam.

Friday, February 15, 2008

CA Judge Rules that Bible Verse is Hate Speech

We read:

"A federal judge has rejected a claim that the Poway Unified School District violated a teenager's First Amendment rights by pulling him out of class for wearing a T-shirt with an anti-gay slogan.

Tuesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge John Houston reaffirmed an earlier decision in which he found the school district's policy on hate speech lawful.

Tyler Harper sued the school in 2004 after the district said he could not wear a shirt printed with a Bible verse condemning homosexuality.

Source

What was that stuff about freedom of religion?

I wonder how a similar verse from the Koran would have gone?
Some Hate Speech is OK at the University of California

Muslims trump Jews:

"The UCI Muslim Student Union endorses hate speech against Jews, and UCI administrators and local Jewish groups need to do a better job condemning it, according to a report released Tuesday by an independent community task force that investigated anti-Semitism at UCI.

"The acts of anti-Semitism are real and well-documented," according to the group's report. "Jewish students have been harassed. Hate speech has been unrelenting. There is no indication that the university is at all concerned about the disconnect between campus values and the values of the greater society."

Among the criticisms the group volleys at the university is that the faculty is afflicted with a "politically correct" orthodoxy that prevents it from condemning provocative speeches and actions at Muslim Student Union-sponsored events out of fear for appearing biased.

Source

It must be all those Jewish suicide bombers who are the problem.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Danish newspapers defy Muslim fanatics to support cartoonist



"Denmark's three main newspapers will take the provocative step today of reprinting a cartoon showing the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb instead of a turban after the arrest yesterday of three suspected Islamic terrorists for plotting to murder the artist.

The cartoon by Kurt Westergaard was one of 12 depicting the prophet which triggered riots around the world leading to dozens of deaths when they first appeared in 2005. The violent backlash demonstrated starkly the incendiary interface between Islam and the boundaries of freedom of expression in Europe.

Mr Westergaard, who has spent three months moving between secret addresses while security services tracked the alleged plotters, was back at work yesterday to draw a self-portrait for today's editions. It shows him still clutching his pen and a Danish flag, but he is obscured by a dark and bloody cloud featuring Arabic script which declares: "Glorious Koran." ....

"Unfortunately, the matter shows that there are in Denmark groups of extremists that do not acknowledge and respect the principles on which Danish democracy is built," Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish Prime Minister, said. "In Denmark we have freedom not only to think and talk, but also to draw." Jyllands-Posten and two other Danish papers, Politiken and Berlingske Tidende, said that they would reprint the original cartoon as part of their news coverage today. Jyllands-Posten posted it on the front page of its website yesterday.

Source

Don't hold your breath waiting for a major American newspaper to print any of the cartoons
AutoAdmit Libel Case Moves Forward

We read:

"Federal judge approves request to subpoena ISPs for clues to anonymous posters' identities

Two Yale Law School students suing for defamation against anonymous users on the online legal community AutoAdmit made an important stride this week toward unmasking their attackers. A federal judge in New Haven granted their request Tuesday to subpoena Internet service providers in the hopes of identifying the users.

Since sexually explicit and derogatory posts targeting three female Yale Law students appeared on the Web forum in 2005, two students, who are unnamed in the suit, filed against the 39 authors of the allegedly defamatory posts.

The suit claims that the postings, which bore the students' full names and some of which linked to their pictures, caused emotional distress and cost one of the students a job offer. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified actual and special damages from the defendants, on top of $245,400 in punitive damages.

To prevent companies from filing suits as a means of discovering the identities of anonymous posters in order to harass them - as initially occurred when these cases first appeared with employees criticizing their companies on Yahoo! message boards - Morris said plaintiffs must now demonstrate a valid claim before a judge will grant subpoenas.

"Being anonymous online will not protect you if you libel or defame someone," Morris said. "But a mere claim is not enough to breach anonymity. That protects anonymity from inappropriate harassment and protects the ability to speak and criticize."

If the plaintiffs succeed in outing the defendants, they still have a regular libel case to pursue.

Source

It would be great if the scum -- budding lawyers -- who did their best to defame and destroy these innocent women were traced and prosecuted.

Previous posts on this on June 18, 2007 and June 5th. 2007

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

New Australian TV Program Sparks Outrage



We read:

"It has a violent bashing, a sex scene, liberal use of the "F" word and a graphic shooting in cold blood - and that's the first 20 minutes. Family groups are screaming blue murder about the new Channel 9 crime drama Underbelly. It is set to premiere at 8.30pm tomorrow, well within reach of children.

The Nine Network set its own classification for the program - which is based on Melbourne's gangland war spanning 1995 to 2004 - under the accepted rules of the Australian Commercial Television Code of Conduct.

The Australian Family Association (AFA) yesterday threatened to take the matter to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy if the content of the show was anything near that of an unauthorised promotional clip leaked from Nine's production department.

The rogue video clip, circulated via a viral email, contains sensationalised footage of graphic violence, near-pornographic sex scenes including topless shots of women and men's buttocks, and a tag line of "Bang, Bang, You're F. . . . d".

Source

You can see a greater percentage of exposed female flesh than the above on Sydney's beaches any day.

A judge has now temporarily ordered the show off air on grounds unrelated to obscenity.
Must not Criticize Muslims in Australia, either

We read:

"Controversial radio talkback host Alan Jones has been ordered back to court over another attack on the Muslim community. A year after Jones was found guilty of breaching the industry's code of practice, Jones and his employer, leading Sydney radio station 2GB, have been accused of racial vilification and inciting violence against Muslims.

In evidence which will be heard, Mr Ekermawi claims that on July 21, 22 and 25, Jones used offensive comments, which incited hatred against Muslims. He said Jones stated on his program: "There is a fight between Muslims and Christians and Muslims are unable to live within Australian communities."

The "very poisonous propaganda" was followed by a song played on the radio called "My Australia".

Source

The song "My Australia" is actually about the Australian landscape. See here. Pretty offensive!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Australia: Backpackers Fume at Sexist Nazi Artwork

I gather that Nazi caps and uniforms are very popular at homosexual parties and in homosexual haunts generally. Such regalia is apparently viewed as very "macho". But I have never heard any criticism of such behavior. Homosexuals are a protected class, of course.

But woe betide heterosexuals who might have similar attitudes! An Australian hostel owner has pornographic images posted in the men's bathroom and the males in the pictures concerned wore Nazi regalia. Evil! We read:

"A Northern Territory hostel displaying posters of Nazi soldiers degrading women has been accused of lacking moral judgment. But the hostel's owner says the pictures are simply art, and are not intended to offend.

Two female Israeli backpackers were disgusted after seeing the posters on the walls in the men's toilets at Annie's Place backpackers in Alice Springs. They made a report to the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission which is considering further action against the hostel.

Mr Mulga admitted the pictures were "a bit out there", but said they were not intended to offend. "As I said to the girls, it's part of an art scene and they chose to dwell on it," he said. "I said to them 'You shouldn't have been in the boys' toilets anyway'."

Source
Now Wikipedia is in Trouble



We read:

"Online encyclopedia Wikipedia has again stirred up controversy - this time over a biographical entry on the prophet Muhammad. Nearly 100,000 people worldwide have signed a Web-based petition asking Wikipedia to remove all depictions of the Prophet from its English-language entry. "I request all brothers and sisters to sign this petitions so we can tell Wikipedia to respect the religion and remove the illustrations," the creator of the petition at The Petition Site asks.

Source

Above is one of the wicked wiki images -- from a 14th century Persian MS

Monday, February 11, 2008

CA college dean: Flier racist and sexist



Even white clothes are dangerous apparently:

"Fliers distributed last week for a party at Claremont McKenna College were denounced as "racist and sexist" by Scripps College Dean of Students Debra Wood in an e-mail sent to Scripps students.

The fliers advertised a "white party" - organizers said it referred to suggested party attire - and pictured a white man wearing a white-colored disco-era suit and two black women wearing tight-fitting shorts and bikini tops.

In her e-mail, Wood said the fliers promoted a "racist party theme." She urged Scripps students to boycott the party and write letters of protest to student leaders and campus newspapers...

The disc jockey who performed at the event and contributed the images on the flier said he was "kind of astounded" when he learned of Wood's objections. Tim Scarne, who performs as DJ Timbo, said the "white party" theme "meant you were supposed to wear all white because there were supposed to be black lights."

Source
Shut Up and Respect My Freedom of Speech

Post below lifted from Taranto. See the original for links

San Jose's KNTV reports that the City Council of Berkeley, Calif., at its Tuesday meeting will consider backing down from its resolution denouncing the U.S. Marines, which have a recruiting center in Berkeley, as "uninvited and unwelcome intruders." This comes in the face of an effort by Republican senators to cut off $2.3 million in federal money for Berkeley. On this question, Sen. Barbara Boxer is siding against the Marines.

The station reports that one left-wing activist doesn't quite understand the concept of free speech:
"Code Pink announced they would have what they called a "24-hour peace-in" leading up to Tuesday's city council meeting. They will be camping out but will have a lot of company. A group of pro-troop protesters will also be there. "I was under the impression that we have the right of free speech," said Xanne Joi of Code Pink. "To me, I thought free speech meant you get to say what you want without recrimination."

In fact, free speech is reciprocal. Xanne Joi has the right to criminate, but the rest of us have a right to recriminate. It's remarkable how many on the left think their free speech rights are violated when they are criticized--that is, when others exercise their free speech rights.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Leftists Cannot be "Pimped out"

Chelsea Clinton has been taking an active part in her mother's campaign. And some people wonder if that is all her own idea. As a result MSNBC TV host David Shuster referred to her as being "pimped out" by her mother's campaign. The remark created a lot of criticism and he later apologized for it. He has however been temporarily suspended from further appearances.

"Pimped out" could nean "highly ornamented" or "flashily dressed" but that does not seem to have been the intended meaning in this case. Rather the implication seems to have been that her mother's campaign staff were "pimps" by pressing Chelsea into service and that Chelsea was a prostitute for consenting to be used that way.

It would have been a REAL uproar if a conservative had said that! But in any case it is surely a legitimate criticism to suggest that some pressure had been placed on the young woman to act as she has done. But nasty words like "pimp" cannot be used for Leftists, of course. But you can say anything you like about Christians and conservatives.

Details here. There is a big discussion of the meaning of "pimp" here.
No free speech in France

How well the French were treated by the Germans during the German occupation of France in WWII is a matter of opinion -- depending on what comparisons you make. But there is only one opinion that you are allowed to utter in France:

"The French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen received a three-month suspended jail sentence for describing the Nazi occupation of France as "not especially inhumane".

Le Pen, 79, the leader of the National Front, was found guilty of denying a crime against humanity and complicity in condoning war crimes, over the remarks he made in an interview with the far-right magazine Rivarol in 2005. He was also fined 10,000 euros.

Le Pen, who said in the interview that German excesses in France were inevitable, did not attend the hearing, but his lawyer said that he was certain to start an appeal.

Source

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Woman Artist gets Death Threats over Homosexuals in Mohammed Masks



This is from a month ago but I have just found a pic of the wicked artwork:

"The Dutch were debating the limits of freedom of expression last week after an artist who photographed gay men wearing masks of the prophet Muhammad was forced into hiding and her work removed from a museum exhibit.

Speaking on the telephone from an unspecified location in the Netherlands last week, the artist, an Iranian exile who goes by the pseudonym of Sooreh Hera, said she had been threatened with "execution". She accused the director of the municipal museum in The Hague of cowardice for caving in to Muslim extremists.

Source
Queer Jesus no good to Muslims either

We read:

"An Islamic group based in the UK has issued a death fatwa against a playwright whose London stage production depicts Jesus Christ as a homosexual. Terrence McNally was sentenced to death by the Shari'ah Court of the UK as his play, Corpus Christi, opened in London on Thursday night.

The play depicts Jesus Christ and his followers as a group of homosexuals. He is seduced by Judas Iscariot, but is later crucified as "king of the queers". It caused an outcry among Christians when it was staged during the Edinburgh Fringe festival during the summer.

Muslims regard Jesus as a messenger of God, and revere his mother, the Virgin Mary. The play was declared blasphemous by the Al-Muhajiroun - The Defenders of The Messenger Jesus.

Source

I wonder when the Archbishop of Canterbury will be issuing HIS fatwa?

Friday, February 08, 2008

'Don't mention Islamic extremists': British government phrasebook tries to avoid upsetting Muslims

We read:

"The Government has drawn up a controversial phrasebook on the language of terrorism and is insisting civil servants no longer blame fanatical extremism on Islam, for fear of upsetting the Muslim community.

The new counter-terrorism guidelines suggest that phrases such as "Islamic terrorist" and "jihadi fundamentalism" are too inflammatory and imply that all Muslims explicitly are responsible for extremism. Instead the leaked Home Office document advises Whitehall bosses that they refer to violent extremism and criminal murderers or thugs to avoid any link between Islam and terrorism.

However, the war on terror handbook has provoked an unfavourable response from people claiming the Government are bowing under the pressure of political correctness.

Source
Swedish Government Body Disallows Free Speech

We read:

"The Swedish Migration Board has demoted - and in practice fired - Asylum Assessment Manager Lennart Eriksson, 51, for voicing support for democracies such as Israel and the USA on his personal website. The Migration Board has not alleged that Eriksson's personal beliefs have in any way affected the quality of his work, nor is it alleged that he has behaved in any way inappropriately while at work, acknowledging that he manages his website entirely in his own private time. It is for his political beliefs that he is being persecuted. Eriksson is a Conservative.

Over the past five years, up to September 2007, Lennart Eriksson served as manager of an asylum assessment unit. On his return from a year-long leave of absence during which he completed his doctoral thesis, he was immediately called to a meeting with the newly appointed operational manager. The manager informed Eriksson that he had seen his website and that Lennart Eriksson's Conservative views were both "unusual" and controversial. The manager was particularly opposed to Lennart Eriksson's support for Israel and the USA and his online description of WW2 US general George Patton as one of the heroes of the Second World War. Lennart Eriksson was then summarily informed that he had been demoted.

In response, Lennart Eriksson sued the Swedish Migration Board in county court. Eriksson's view is that he has in practice been fired from his job as asylum assessment unit manager, camouflaged in the form of a transfer. Lennart Eriksson feels that whatever the final legal outcome regarding the terminology - demotion or transfer - there is no cause for this move. The Migration Board confirms that Lennart Eriksson has been transferred as a result of the opinions he expressed on his private website. Opinions that are not against anything, but rather for certain beliefs - Conservative politics and democratic countries, specifically Israel and the USA.

The Swedish Migration Board fulfils a vital social function. Protecting human rights and offering asylum to victims of persecution are among the Board's central roles. However, the Swedish Migration Board reveals that it will not hesitate to pursue its own employees for their political beliefs.

Source

Some history on the long-standing Fascist nature of the Swedish system here

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Desperate Leftist politicians muzzle free speech in New Zealand

We read:

"New Zealand's Labour government is pretty absurd. Lead by the vicious Helen Clark this government has more than a touch of nastiness and authoritarianism to it. No doubt in previous life Clark had some experience in the SS or the Stasi. Now New Zealand still remains one of the most economically free countries in the world. And their social liberties are damn good in my opinion -- especially when compared to the sad state of affairs in the United States.

Where Clark and he co-criminals are particularly venomous are in matters having to do with staying in power. They are a desperate lot and they will do whatever it takes, no matter how dishonest, corrupt or despicable to stay in power. For instance they recently "reformed" the election code and basically have forbidden private individuals from expressing public opinions about the Clark regime. Technically speaking these people are still free to speak but they must register with the government, report on what they spend, publicize their home address when they do speak out, etc. And the financial restrictions are so onerous that any organized group would find it difficult to do more than publish one newspaper ad critical of the Clark regime.

Source
'Lolita' bedroom set for girls withdrawn

I know that many conservative bloggers have expressed outrage over this but the libertarian response here is: "If you don't like it, don't buy it". The story is fictional but in it Lolita was an attractive and naturally feminine young girl. Lots of girls are. It was not her fault that some inadequate creep slavered over her.

"A British retailer has withdrawn a bedroom set targeted at young girls that was branded under the name "Lolita" after a furious campaign by a mothers' group, The Times has reported.

Staff at the Woolworths retail group were unapparently unaware that the brand of the bed set was the same as the title of Vladimir Nabokov's famous novel, which told the story of a middle-aged man who became sexually obsessed with his 12-year-old stepdaughter.

"What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest, no one else here had either", a Woolworths spokesman told The Times. "We had to look it up on Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now."

The bed set, which included a wooden bed with a pull-out desk and cupboard, was intended for girls aged six, and retailed for $877.

The campaign was sparked after a mother noticed the product on Woolworths's website and posted a message on the raisingkids.co.uk internet site that read: "Am I being particularly sensitive, or does anyone else out there think it's bad taste for Woolies to have a kiddy bed range named 'Lolita'?''

Source

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Satire attacked in Hawaii



The graphic above is satire of the racist proposal to give special rights to native Hawaiians.

"The Office of Hawaiian Affairs seeks to create its own government via the Akaka Bill. However, the call by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs chair Haunani Apoliana to censor a political cartoon called "Cow Inoa," a play on OHA's Kau Inoa campaign, is giving a hint at what this new Hawaiian government will look like ... one where freedom of speech is squelched and intimidation tactics rule. We have been called the People's Republic of Hawaii before ... now, OHA's helping us to further live up to that moniker.

Source
Nun advertisement Draws Fire

We read:

"An ad for a new upscale Boston fitness center featuring three nuns painting a naked man is getting some flack from religious leaders there, MyFoxBoston reports. 'These are people that work in hospitals, our homeless shelters and in our food pantries,' Terry Donilon, a spokesman for the Boston Archdiocese, told the station. 'It shows a lack of respect for them.'

The two-page ad is the first thing readers see when they open up the latest issue of Boston Magazine. The ad, created by an unnamed Minnesota agency, features three nuns -- one wearing a garter -- painting the chiseled man while a fourth nun
watches from behind a gate."

Source

Doesn't the Boston archdiocese know that you can portray ANYTHING about Christians and it is OK? Now if it had been MOHAMMED in the advertisement ...

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

More Things that you are not Allowed to Say

We read:

"The jousting continued Friday when a top military advisor to Clinton's rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, ridiculed Clinton's implication that she would offer voters the better credentials.

The advisor, retired Gen. Merrill A. "Tony" McPeak, said in a telephone interview that Obama has "real gravitas, not artificially created, focus-grouped, poll-directed, rehearsed gravitas."

He also said Obama "doesn't go on television and have crying fits; he isn't discovering his voice at the age of 60" -- references to Clinton's much-publicized show of emotion during the New Hampshire primary campaign and her speech after winning the contest in which she declared that she had "found my voice."

McPeak later retracted his remarks, and the Obama camp disassociated itself from them.

Source

How sad. Someone in a political campaign spoke the truth for once and got rapped for it. No surprise that it took a military man to call it like it is, though.
The new crime of thinking

A new Federal bill that looks like passing goes beyond the usual attempts to restrict speech. This one explicitly criminalizes THOUGHT. See for yourself:

"It looks like the term `thought police' just might take on a whole new and real meaning. This depends on what happens in the U.S. Senate after receiving House bill H.R. 1955: Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.

This act (now S-1959 - Senate version) is now being considered by Senate committees and, if passed by the Senate and signed by the president, will become law. Common sense would indicate that something this vague and dangerous would not make it out of committee, but considering that the House passed it on October 23 with 404 ayes, 6 nays, and 22 present/not voting, I'm not holding my breath."

The most disturbing aspects of this bill, and there are many, are the definitions noted in Section 899a. The three offenses defined in this document that will warrant prosecution are:

"Violent Radicalization: The term `violent radicalization' means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change."

Source

SCOTUS would probably knock this one of the head but you never know. They let stand the huge restriction on political speech in McCain/Feingold.

Monday, February 04, 2008

A Large Over-reaction

FCC Proposes $1.4 Million Fine for Woman's 'Nude Buttocks' on NYPD Blue:

"The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a $1.4 million fine against 52 ABC Television Network stations over a 2003 broadcast of cop drama NYPD Blue.

The fine is for a scene where a boy surprises a woman as she prepares to take a shower. The scene depicted "multiple, close-up views" of the woman's "nude buttocks" according to an agency order issued late Friday....

The agency said the show was indecent because "it depicts sexual organs and excretory organs - specifically an adult woman's buttocks."

Source

Further comment here
I am Sure it is Wicked of me but I had a Laugh at this one:

Must not mention "beans" in anything to do with Hispanics:

"A city attorney who likened counting Hispanic voters to guessing the number of "beans in a jar" has apologized for the analogy that some people of Mexican descent deemed offensive.

"Beaner" is considered by some a derogatory term for people of Mexican descent. C. Robert Heath used the analogy in a response to a voting rights lawsuit filed by several Hispanic voters last year in the Dallas suburb, which has become known for passing tough laws cracking down on illegal immigration.

"It was just an analogy, and obviously it was ill chosen because it was offensive to some persons," Heath said. "That was entirely unintentional, and I apologize for it."

Source

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Hate Speech Claim in Immigration Debate

Being critical of illegal immigration is "hate speech" apparently. At that rate, we seem very close to being unable to criticize anybody for anything without being accused of "hate" -- though criticizing Christians, conservatives, and whites is always OK of course. Many American universities these days have programs of "white studies" - which consist of one long tirade of real hate towards whites

"A national Latino group said Thursday it is fighting back against what it considers to be "hate speech" that has emerged from the debate over immigration. National Council of La Raza President Janet Murguia announced plans to pressure television network executives and candidates seeking their parties' presidential nominations to clamp down on such remarks.

The group launched a Web site to counter the speech, http://www.wecanstopthehate.org, with clips of what it considers offensive comments on television as well as a tracking of hate crimes.

"Hate groups and extremists have taken over the immigration debate in an unprecedented wave of hate," Murguia said. Although some comments could be considered free speech, "there is a line that sometimes can be crossed when it comes to free speech," she said.

Some of the remarks the Hispanic group identified included referring to immigrants as an "army of invaders" or an "invading force," associating immigrants with animals, accusing immigrants of bringing crime and diseases like leprosy to the U.S., and purveying a conspiracy theory that Latinos are trying to take back parts of the United States once ruled by Mexico....

Murguia accused the television networks of cloaking members of hate groups as anti-immigrant experts on their programs. Among those she singled out was Jim Gilchrist, a co-founder of the Minuteman Project.

In response, Gilchrist called the National Council of La Raza a racial supremacy group that "dwarfs the combination of Black Panthers, KKK, American Indian Movement and Asian gangs." "I'm exercising free speech and I'm giving my opinion," Gilchrist said. "My son-in-law is Mexican and two of my three grandchildren are half Mexican. The Minuteman Project is comprised of every race color and creed. ... She has a right to her opinion, but she's wrong."

Source
Victory at St. Louis Community College

Arrogant college administration again. Unable to accept even implied criticism of themselves:

"Under pressure from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and the ACLU of Eastern Missouri (ACLU-EM), St. Louis Community College at Meramec (STLCC) has fully exonerated student Jun Xiao of hazing and disorderly conduct charges stemming from e-mails he sent inviting his classmates to join him in taking a class at a different college.

Xiao, who holds a Ph.D. from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and has postdoctoral training from MIT and Columbia, signed up for classes at STLCC to fulfill medical school entrance requirements. He e-mailed his Organic Chemistry I classmates in October 2007, informing them that he was withdrawing from the class and asking if anyone would like to retake it with him. In a second e-mail, he informed his classmates of his intention to take Organic Chemistry II at another community college and asked if anyone might like to take it there with him.

On October 24, Xiao received a letter from Acting Vice President of Student Affairs Daniel R. Herbst, who informed him that he had been placed on "Disciplinary Probation" for the 2007-2008 academic year and that he was prohibited from contacting other STLCC students by e-mail. The letter also stated that Herbst?without a hearing?had already found Xiao guilty of hazing, obstruction or disruption of teaching, disorderly conduct, and failure to comply with directions of a college official. Herbst refused to provide any written clarification of the complaints and charges against Xiao.

In the face of public criticism, STLCC informed Xiao on January 2 that Herbst was "dismissing all allegations relating to your inappropriate use of [e-mail]" because "you may have a constitutional right to send e-mails to other students." Nevertheless, Xiao was told that his disciplinary probation would remain because of "remaining allegations of misconduct" of which he had been unaware.

With the assistance of the ACLU-EM, Xiao and STLCC signed a settlement agreement on January 25, under which STLCC agreed to "immediately dismiss all disciplinary charges against Jun Xiao," to remove all related records from his permanent file, and to restore his e-mail access on STLCC's Blackboard class e-mail system.

Source

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Homosexuality Trumps Confidentiality

There is an appalling case at the University of Georgia (also excerpted on today's "Education Watch") where a student was punished for something he wrote on a supposedly "confidential" survey. The university's guarantee of confidentiality to him was rendered a fraud.

How come? Because he wrote a scathing evaluation of a professor who himself admitted that he was "difficult". You still don't get it? The professor was a homosexual. Protecting homosexuals from criticism trumped all the integrity of the university's promises, apparently.

I was appalled enough about it to write as follows to University President Adams:
"Dear Prof Adams

As a survey researcher with over 200 papers in the academic journals, I was shocked and appalled to hear that your administration has failed to protect a guarantee of anonymity that you have given.

I find it hard to believe that you have allowed an emotional homosexual to undermine your integrity in the matter. I refer of course to the affair of Assoc. Prof Joseph Disponzio and student Beck.

You should have refused all co-operation with anything arising from a breach of the guarantee you have given.

You have completely undermined all such guarantees given not only by you but by all of us survey researchers -- guarantees that are essential to social research.

Please backpedal immediately and completely. You are an irresponsible and shortsighted fool if you do not.

I intend to post this letter on the net in order to discourage you from ignoring it. Your actions in the matter so far do not inspire much confidence in you

Yours faithfully

(Dr) John Ray

I was probably not as nicey-nicey as I should have been so I encourage others to add their voices to mine. The email address for Adams is: presuga@uga.edu
Blacks Trump Indians

The comments below on the recent huge uproar in cricket are excerpted from moderate-conservative Australian commenter Andrew Bolt. To avoid being too incorrect, he writes as if it was pro-Australian bias rather than pro-black bias that explains the biased treatment of the Indian cricketer. But he does reasonably ask: "Why not fine Andrew Symonds for abuse?" -- where Andrew Symonds is the black cricketer who instigated the abuse of the Indian player. If the instigator of the abuse had been white, there is no doubt that it would have been the white player rather than the Indian player who was penalized. In the preposterously bigoted world we live in, black trumps brown but brown trumps white.

"If Harbhajan Singh has been fined for abuse, why not Andrew Symonds? The Indian spinner, on the evidence of a formal hearing, has done nothing that the Australian all-rounder didn't do first and worst.

The second Test became explosive when Symonds, Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden informed captain Ricky Ponting they'd heard Singh call Symonds, of Caribbean descent, a "monkey" or "big monkey".

We were absurdly glad we could finally call brown men racists and prove our redeemed goodness by defending a coloured player of our own. But the Indians appealed, and the International Cricket Council got a real judge to check the facts. And suddenly the picture shifted. Consider the following evidence, taken from Hansen's judgment.

On that last tour of India, Symonds and Singh shook hands on a deal not to talk trash to each other again, but Symonds snapped in Sydney when Singh paid bowler Brett Lee a compliment, of all things.

Says Hansen: "I have reviewed the television evidence . . . It is clear that Mr Lee bowled an excellent yorker to Mr Singh, who was fortunate to play the ball to fine leg. As he passed Mr Lee, while completing a single, Mr Singh patted Mr Lee on the backside. Anyone observing this incident would take it to be a clear acknowledgement of well bowled."

"Symonds took objection to this and . . . approached Mr Singh, telling him he had no friends among the Australians in foul and abusive language." This clearly was just the kind of sledging for which the Australians are now infamous -- the crudity that too many fans admire, but which comes over to Indians as the kind of colonial crud they no longer need tolerate.

He lashed back in what Symonds said was a mix of English and a foreign language - actually Punjabi. And among the jumble of words was what Symonds took to be "monkey".

But Singh insisted he'd not suddenly broken into English, but had called Symonds "teri maa ki" - or something like "motherf. . ." in Punjabi. Teammate Sachin Tendulkar, who'd been standing closest to him, agreed the Australians had simply been mistaken. (Such are the absurd politics of race that calling a man "monkey" is now a bigger crime than making vile sexual slurs against his own mother.)

The judge quite reasonably felt the reason the Australians couldn't make out any other words than what they took to be "big monkey" could well be that Singh wasn't abusing Symonds in English. Singh's defence seemed to him plausible and he dismissed the charge of racial vilification, fining Singh simply for foul language.

Source

Friday, February 01, 2008

Irish airline rapped for 'sexy' schoolgirl ad



And it gives a good reply:

"A flight promotion featuring a young woman dressed as a schoolgirl has landed Irish low-cost airline Ryanair in hot water. The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which monitors publicity material but has no powers to fine transgressors, said the image was "irresponsible" as it appeared to link teenage girls with sexually provocative behaviour.

Ryanair told the ASA that the number of complaints was insignificant compared with the newspapers' combined readership and that the model's short skirt and bare midriff was merely reflective of modern trends.

Ryanair's head of communications Peter Sherrard said it would not withdraw the advert, as many leading British newspapers regularly run photographs of topless or partially dressed women. "This isn't advertising regulation, it is simply censorship. This bunch of unelected self-appointed dimwits are clearly incapable of fairly and impartially ruling on advertising," he said.

Source
Anti-abortion slogan okayed on Arizona license plates

The 9th Circus gets it right for once. It must have been a strain for them:

"An Arizona agency wrongly denied an anti-abortion group permission to print their message "Choose Life" on license plates, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.

The Arizona License Plate Commission allows nonprofit groups to highlight their cause on license plates, but the commission in 2002 and 2003 denied the Arizona Life Coalition permission for a specialty plate with the "Choose Life" slogan.

The Arizona Life Coalition alleged that the denial violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

Source