-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
We have previously discussed the case of Rimsha Masih, an 11-year-old girl who was accused of burning pages of a Quran. In an unusual turn of events, an imam at an Islamabad mosque, identified as Khalid Jadoon Chishti, has been arrested and charged with blasphemy for planting torn pages from a Quran in Rinsha’s trash bag which contained ashes.
Continue reading “Muslim Cleric Arrested For Framing Christian Girl”
Over objections over academic freedom and free speech, the California State Assembly passed a controversial resolution (HR 35) that calls on universities to crackdown on criticism of Israel. Passed by a voice vote, the resolution includes language that equates criticism of Israeli policies and actions as “anti-Semitism.” While the resolutions original purpose is laudatory and does include clear expression of anti-Semitism, its drafters decided to include criticism of Israel and its human rights record in a measure that at a minimum chills free speech by professor and students alike. Drafted by Republican Linda Halderman, there was no hearing or debate allowed on the resolution. Just a voice vote.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has struck down the graphic warning images on cigarette packages in an important opinion on corporate speech rights. I have been a long critic of the images on both constitutional and policy grounds. Previously the Sixth Circuit rejected the same free speech claims.
Continue reading “Graphic Cigarette Labels Struck Down By D.C. Circuit”
Prince Harry’s latest drunken escapade is now laid out for hundreds of millions to see in all of his naked glory . . . except for people in England. The Royal family moved quickly to effectively bar British newspapers from publishing the photos under the English libel laws, which I have criticized in the past as both draconian and restrictive of free speech. Now the Sun is bucking the effective order from the palace and now running the photos. In the meantime, millions of Brits were able to see the photos barred in newspapers but simply turning on their computers.
There is new unrest among students in Prague. No it is not a new Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. This is Prague, Oklahoma where the valedictorian at Prague High School, Kaitlin Nootbaar, was denied her high school diploma for saying the word “hell” in her graduation speech. It would however seem to be in keeping with the school’s mascot: the little Devil (below).
A German court has ruled that the far-right group Pro Deutschland may display cartoon caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed during planned demonstrations outside mosques this weekend. The act is viewed as an effort to provoke Muslims. Past publications of the cartoons led to riots and the killings of Christians around the world.
The ever-watchful folks at the Ukrainian Ukraine’s National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality are reportedly moving against another invasion “aimed at the destruction of the family, and the promotion of drugs and other vices.” His name is SpongeBob Squarepants. The popular Nickleodeon characterhas been found to “present a real threat to children” and is on a list of shows to be banned with The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama, Pokemon and The Telletubbies.
Pakistan may have another opportunity to execute another blasphemer for insulting Islam. This time it is an 11-year-old Christian Pakistani girl Rifta Masih accused of burning Islamic texts. In the meantime, Christians have been persecuted in the area as a local mullah claimed a witness saw the girl burn pages from an Islamic text.
by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
“Silence is argument carried out by other means.” – Che Guevara
“Hello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.”
– “The Sound of Silence”, by Simon & Garfunkel, lyrics by Paul Simon
“Darkness isn’t the opposite of light, it is simply its absence.” – Terry Pratchett
“In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.” – Henry David Thoreau
Just as darkness is the absence of light, silence is an absence. We’ve considered the word and the image as propaganda up to this point, so let us pause to consider their antithesis as a form of propaganda. The phrase “[t]he only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” is often attributed to 18th Century Irish born English statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke, although what he actually wrote in Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents was that “when bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” Regardless of the apocryphal attribution, the quote goes right to the heart of the issue of silence being a form of propaganda. Like most tactics of propaganda, silence has multiple forms and uses. Let us examine some of these variations on a theme.
Continue reading “Propaganda 104 Supplemental: The Sound of Silence”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Floyd Lee Corkins II, 28, of Virginia shot and wounded Leo Johnson at the Family Research Council’s (FRC) Washington D.C. headquarters. Johnson prevented additional violence when he disarmed Corkins. Corkins’ backpack contained ammunition and 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches. Johnson is doing well and there is no word on the fate of the sandwiches.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
When I was young I would religiously watch the Sunday morning news shows, especially NB
C’s Meet the Press. Beginning in 1947, MTP is the longest running show in television history. While the other networks had comparable shows, clearly MTP with its longevity was seen as the show of record.
“The show’s format consists of an extended one-on-one interview with the host and is sometimes followed by a roundtable discussion or one-on-two interview with figures in adversarial positions, either Congress members from opposite sides of the aisle or political commentators. The show expanded to 60 minutes starting with the September 20, 1992 broadcast” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_the_Press#Moderators
Face the Nation, premiering in 1954 is considered to be the other Sunday morning News show of record. FTN’s format is:
“The moderator interviews newsmakers on the latest issues and delivers a short topical commentary at the end of the broadcast. The program broadcasts from Washington, D.C. Guests include government leaders, politicians, and international figures in the news. CBS News correspondents and other contributors engage the guests in a roundtable discussion focusing on current topics.”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_the_Nation
What all of these shows have in common is that they are repeatedly populated by the same people, whether politicians, journalists, economists or political operators. This link gives the background of the truth of Sunday morning “journalism”. http://mediamatters.org/search/index?qstring=Sunday+Morning+Talk+Shows&x=9&y=6 The casts rarely change and in all but the rarest of cases these guests make up what could be called our nation’s “Pundit Class”. They are seen as the “Serious People”, who lead America’s national debate on vital issues. I’ve been a “political junkie” since the age of ten. For many years I was misled into believing that these “Serious People” were really my intellectual betters when it came to public affairs and that political discussion must only exist within the ground rules of debate established by our “Pundit Class”. Beginning with the murder of JFK and in the ensuing disillusionment of the Sixties I’ve come to see that not only is this “Pundit Class” inherently corrupt, but only a rare few can barely be called intellectually informative. This group is in reality the paid propagandists of the elite 1% that rule this country and their main task is to limit the scope of our national debate.
In the last two weeks one of the most heard and most esteemed members of the Pundit Class, Fareed Zakaria, has been suspended from Time Magazine and CNN due to the discovery of plagiarism in one of his columns. Zacharia is also a Yale University Trustee and there is talk that his removal from that august position is under consideration. I’ve never particularly cared for Mr. Zakaria, but I was surprised by his plagiarism, more so by the fact he admitted it so readily and so abjectly. An article in the Huffington Post provided an explanation of Mr. Zakaria’s actions with a surprising explanation that I hadn’t expected and yet one that in retrospect makes perfect sense. Continue reading “The Pretense of Punditry”
Just an hour ago, Judge Clark Waddoups handed down an opinion denying the second motion to dismiss filed by the government. Despite predictions that the motion would succeed, Judge Waddoups has now set the case for final arguments on the merits and rejected the claims of the government that the case is now moot after it announced that it would not prosecute the Brown family.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has called Vladimir Putin and his return to power “a miracle of God.” Orthodox priests try to kiss Putin’s hand like a demigod when he visits religious sites. Well that “miracle” continued today as prosecutors secured a conviction of three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism for a forty second protest in a Russian church protesting the alliance of Putin and the Church. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23; Maria Alekhina, 24; and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, faced a maximum seven years in prison and Putin government sought three years in jail. They got two years. That is one years for every twenty seconds of protest in Putin’s New Russia.
Ecuador granted asylum to Julian Assange today, an act that will further escalate the conflict between Britain and Ecuador. As I discussed on BBC last night, there are some common legal misunderstandings about the status of an embassy, but as a practical matter Assange should be beyond the reach of the English. While the government has threatened to strip the embassy of diplomatic status and grad Assange, it is in my view an empty threat. However, Assange is not likely to see Ecuador any time soon since he can be arrested trying to leave the country.
Continue reading “Assange Granted Asylum As Britain Threatens A Raid On Ecuadoran Embassy”
There is a troubling free speech case in Virginia where a sheriff’s deputy, Daniel Ray Carter Jr., and five other employees were fired for “liking” his boss’ opponent on Facebook. We have been following the growing trend of public employees from teachers to police officers and others being fired for communications or associations in their private lives. In this case, U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson rejected the claim that friending someone is an act of free speech — a view that would by extension move a wide range of speech outside the protection of the first amendment. The decision is found in Bland v. Johnson, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57530 (E.D. Va. 2012).
Continue reading “Court Rules Facebook “Friending” Not Protected Speech Under First Amendment”