freedom of expression

Propaganda Roundup. Hunger Strike in Cuba, Threats to Freedom, Hamas and Human Rights

January 20th, 2012

The Propagandist's Allies are on the warpath. Better get out of their way, bubba.

Jailed Cuba dissident dies in hunger strike. "Villar launched his hunger strike shortly after he was arrested in November, put on trial and sentenced to four years in prison for crimes including disobedience, resistance and crimes against the state."
Defend Freedom of Expression on 11 Feb. Gladly.
Malawian women protest over 'trouser attacks'. Just try to imagine some retail vendor beating you up and stripping you down in the middle of the street because he doesn't like how you dress. Yes, this really happened.
France gets a clue, suspends all operations with Afghan army after Afghan soldier murders four French troops. It happened again. "Scores of Nato troops have been shot dead in recent years by their Afghan partners raising fears of widespread Taliban infiltration and underlining the tense relations on the ground between the allies."
Hamas says it will investigate attack on human rights activist. Sure. Foxes

Free Speech Firebombed in France

November 2nd, 2011

Years from now, we may see the firebombing of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo as another definite confirmation of a trend: the surrender of free speech to religious fanatics bent on literally burning down the secular state. Or we may see this event as a turning point, as European police and politicians enforce their laws -- and their freedoms.

A firebomb attack gutted the headquarters of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday after it put an image of the Prophet Mohammad on its cover.

This week's edition shows a cartoon of Mohammad and a speech bubble with the words: "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter." It has the headline "Charia Hebdo," in a reference to Muslim sharia law, and says Mohammad guest-edited the issue.

Charlie Hebdo's website on Wednesday appeared to have been hacked and briefly showed images of a mosque with the message "no God but Allah," after which the site was blanked.

Some critics have called Charlie Hebdo's sharia-focused satire provocative. Of course, it was. Satire must be provocative or else it is not satire. Unfailingly, Islamists don't get satire because human freedom, particularly the freedom to criticize, is alien to an...More >>

I Don't Like You

June 30th, 2011

Dedicated to those who love humanity and have big plans for it.

I Don't Like You

I don't like you
but I leave you alone.

You say you love me
yet you want to rehabilitate me.

Of course, you mean
people in general
and I'm a people
though in particular.

I will listen to what you say.
If I don't like your words
I may give you some of mine
or I may not
but I will not accuse you of heresy.

The punishment for heresy
is death
of one sort or another.

You love me
so you say
yet you make my thoughts
a crime.
You forbid me to defend myself
against people who harm me.

If you spare my life
I still lose.
I have to change my name
so I can sweep floors somewhere.
But you will still find me....More >>

The Process On Trial

February 17th, 2011

geert wilders trial holland justice court islam politics Earlier this week, I wrote about the Never-Ending Controversy of Geert Wilders in Holland, and noted that Wilders was back in court on February 7th to hash out some procedural matters: will the trial start up from scratch again, will the venue be moved from the Amsterdam District Court, or will Wilders' trial be dismissed entirely?

On Monday, February 14th, we got our answer. From NIS News Bulletin:

"THE HAGUE, 15/02/11 - The entire court case against MP Geert Wilders will be retried. His lawyer Bram Moszkowicz yesterday obtained the right to conduct his entire defence anew, including challenging the validity of the Public Prosecutor (OM) case.

The lawyer wants to ensure via the challenge - a request to declare the OM's case inadmissible - that the OM loses its right to prosecute. If this is successful the case will have to be dropped. Moszkowicz will among other things argue that it is not possible to prosecute Wilders because he is an MP.

The OM wanted to resume the
...More >>

The Facebook Connection

January 25th, 2011

facebook democracy

An intriguing image has been making the rounds via the Internet: the world according to Facebook. Produced by tracing Facebook connections worldwide, it’s a stark reminder that the electronic revolution that has allegedly been shaping the global village hasn’t yet reached every corner of the world.

Most of the world is accounted for. Europe and the United States are brightly lit. Largely-unoccupied expanses of northern Canada barely appear on the map. Even Western Africa appears as a faint outline.

What is most interesting is what can’t be seen on the map at all. Conspicuous by their absence are Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia. In fact, nearly the entire Middle East is missing, except for a few bright connections between Israel and tourist oases in Dubai and Abu Dabi. The horn of Africa also does not appear in Facebook’s atlas. Egypt, Somalia, The Sudan, and Libya, among a plethora of impoverished and war-riddled failed states, seem to almost vanish into the sea.

It should be no secret that, at any given time, these are the most...More >>

Don't Let The Fascist Crackpots In

September 22nd, 2010

What do you do when a fascist crackpot shows up at your door and wants to use your meeting as a venue to promote their own dumb ideas? You're not obligated to give the wankers a forum. Take a page from Christopher Hitchens and shut 'em down.

If they want to speak, they can damn well rent their own meeting hall and invite all of their fascist freinds.

In case you were wondering, here was the incident in real life from a little while back:

...More >>