Tang Hui (a pseudonym) is a mother who attracted international support after she was arrested by Chinese authorities for protesting the lack of action after her 11-year-old daughter was kidnapped, raped and forced into prostitution in 2006. Her story is horrific but not unique. The mother reported the kidnapping to police who did nothing even after she discovered her daughter at a strip club. She took her home and continued to protest the failure to punish her rapists who were still walking the streets. The authorities cracked down in response: the mother was convicted and sent to a prison camp.
Category: Free Speech
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA) has filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights accusing Chick-fil-A of violations of Illinois law, namely the Human Rights Act which prohibits a “public accommodation” from making protected classes “unwelcome, objectionable or unacceptable.” TCRA insists that “this is not a First Amendment issue,” and that “this is about Chick-fil-A having a policy, a corporate culture, which promotes discrimination.”
Continue reading “Antidiscrimination Complaint Filed Against Chick-fil-A”
It appears the fight over Lebensraum is now being waged over liquor store shelf space. An American couple has triggered a free speech controversy in Italy after complaining about the sale of wine with the image of Hitler on the label or other labels for “Mein Kampf” wine or wine with the motto “Ein volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer” (one people, one empire, one Fuhrer). Michael Hirsch, a lawyer from Philadelphia, complained about the sale of such items. In Italy, prosecutors are looking into the matter for possible criminal charges. The question is whether the producer should have a right to supply such bottles and customers should have the right to buy such bottles.
The Vatican has taken the extraordinary measure of rejecting Bulgaria’s ambassador due to a prior book in which he depicted gay sex. Kiril Marichkov is a 39-year-old lawyer with two degrees, married to an Italian woman, and speaks five languages. He is also the grandson and namesake of the man appointed Bulgaria’s first ambassador to the Vatican after the collapse of communism in 1990. However, none of that matters to the Vatican which is upset with some of the scenes in his successful novel, Clandestination.
Continue reading “Vatican Rejects Bulgarian Ambassador Due To Prior Book Depicting Gay Sex”
This video of former Christian radio preacher Michael Leisner’s protest of General Mills seems right out of Saturday Night Live. Leisner is upset with what he says is the support of General Mills for same-sex marriage so he decides to torch a box of Honey Nut Cheerios on their lawn . . . and proceeds to torch their lawn in Golden Valley, Minnesota. He did succeed in reaffirming the company’s new slogan: “You’re on your toes with Cheerios”
Tunisian blogger and political reformer Sofiane Shurabi has been arrested by the government for drinking in public during Ramadan. We recently saw how Saudi Arabia issued warnings to non-Muslims that they were expected to respect the food and drink limitations of Ramadan in public. This arrest comes with added suspicion of a political agenda since Shurabi was a scathing critic of deposed president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and an opponent to the rising control of Islamic parties over the country.
Continue reading “Tunisia Arrests Leading Critic For Drinking In Public During Ramadan”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
While “making a purchase is not an endorsement of the philosophy of the business,” there may be other ethical concerns at play. When that business donates $2 million dollars to groups that are hell-bent on denying civil rights to a particular group, an individual’s purchase contributes (albeit by a minuscule amount) to a cause s/he may find morally offensive.
Twitter appears to be claiming more athletes than drugs or injuries this year. We recently discussed the decision to remove a Greek jumper from the Olympic team over a couple of tweets that were considered offensive. I disagreed with that decision, though many have supported it. Now, Swiss Michel Morganella has been sent home for making insulting remarks on Twitter about South Koreans after the South Korean soccer team beat the Swiss, 2-1, on Sunday.
Continue reading “Swiss Athlete Removed From Olympic Team Over Anti-Korean Tweet”
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that the Kentucky State Bar violated the rights of John M. Berry Jr. who was threatened with an ethics charge after criticizing the state Legislative Ethics Commission. In an important victory for free speech, the panel found that the bar violated the first amendment rights of the attorney.
by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
“Words have a magical power. They can bring either the greatest happiness or deepest despair; they can transfer knowledge from teacher to student; words enable the orator to sway his audience and dictate its decisions. Words are capable of arousing the strongest emotions and prompting all men’s actions.” – Sigmund Freud
“One man’s ‘magic’ is another man’s engineering. ‘Supernatural’ is a null word.” – Robert A. Heinlein
Words are magic . . . or so it seems. Words can make people change their minds. Words can make others take actions even against their own best interests. Words can shape the world, determine the fate of nations and people, create and destroy. However, as Robert Heinlein noted, one man’s magic is another man’s engineering and in the modern world, propaganda is the most engineered form of communication possible.
Magica verba est scientia et ars es.
The magic of words is science and art.
The science is in the methodology and psychology of execution. The art is in making the message appealing. This is the essence of rhetoric. How is this so? Let us first consider the methodologies of propaganda as a form of rhetoric before we look at the psychology behind these tactics. Although the psychology applies to both negative (black), positive (white) and value neutral (grey) uses of propaganda, in the context of this portion of the discussion, the word “propaganda” should be viewed with its maximum possible negative value load, i.e. the kind of bad propaganda designed to get you to act against your best interests or to harm others. Why? Because many of these tactics favored modern political polemicists are rooted in logical fallacies and outright lies. Knowing “snakes” as a category isn’t as useful as knowing “pit vipers” as a sub-category when the survival of the species can be at stake so we’ll consider the dangerous kinds of propaganda first. Why? Because if you treat all snakes like they are dangerous, then you are less likely to get bitten.
Continue reading “Propaganda 104: Magica Verba Est Scientia Et Ars Es”
The fallout from the controversial interview given by Chick-Fil-A president Dan Cathy over anti-gay comments continues to build. While most business leaders work hard to keep their political and religious views from affecting customers or their business, Cathy came out swinging with comments saying that he runs the company according to Biblical commands and that he views gay marriage as a sin. The result has been national boycott, store protests, and most recently moves in major cities like Chicago to bar the restaurant. The suggested legislation in Chicago would be in my view unconstitutional. Despite our disagreement with Cathy, civil libertarians should defend his right to do business without harassment or censure from the government for his views. His company is subject to anti-discrimination laws. Those laws protect his employees from “Biblical” harassment.
Greek Triple jumper Voula Papachristou has been expelled from Greece’s Olympic team this week for mocking African immigrants and expressing support on Twitter for the far-right Golden Dawn party. Despite the obnoxious content of these views for many of us, I believe that the move raises serious free speech concerns.
Continue reading “Greek Athlete Expelled From Olympic Team Over Political Views And Racist Joke”
Indiana University Southeast near Louisville, Kentucky is at the center of a free speech controversy over a school code that bars students from expressing opinions on campus except in designated free speech zones. The code flips the presumption of higher education: students must generally refrain from free speech and even apply for the right to express opinions. The code, first promulgated in 2004, is being challenged as an example of how universities are cracking down on free speech.
Michael Ben-Ari, a member of the National Union Party in the Israeli Knesset, wanted a staff member to film him recently for his constituents to see. While most politicians go for the baby kissing scene or memorial day speech, Ben-Ari wanted to be shown tearing out the New Testament from a bible and throwing it into the garbage — a despicable act of religious intolerance and hate.
Continue reading “Member of Israeli Knesset Rips Up New Testament In Protest Over “Revolting Book””
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
(Updated below.)
I think the following story out of Kentucky is an interesting one. Savannah Dietrich, a seventeen-year-old, is the victim of a sexual assault. Last August, she was assaulted by two boys she knew after she passed out at a party. It wasn’t until months later that Dietrich learned that pictures of her assault had been taken and shared with other people.
The victim told a newspaper that she cried herself to sleep for months. She added, “I couldn’t go out in public places. You just sit there and wonder, who saw (the pictures), who knows?”
According to the Courier-Journal, Dietrich felt frustrated by what she thought “was a lenient plea bargain for two teens who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her and circulating pictures of the incident.” She took to Twitter and named her attackers. She also tweeted, “There you go, lock me up. I’m not protecting anyone that made my life a living Hell” and “Protect rapist is more important than getting justice for the victim in Louisville.”