Conservative Dutch Politician Geert Wilders Convicted For Hate Speech

We have previously discussed the increasing criminalization of speech. Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders has been the focused of another of these past cases, which I have criticized as undermining free speech values. Now Wilders has been convicted of hate speech and inciting racial discrimination for espousing his far right views. One does not have to agree with Wilders — and many vehemently condemn his views — to see the implications of the criminalization of speech in Europe.

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Suspect In Deaths Of Two Women In Kentucky Was Deported Eight Times

3b36cfdf00000578-4017688-miguel_angel_villasenor_saucedo_above_a_40_year_old_mexican_nati-m-4_14813028326593b37718e00000578-4017688-image-a-5_1481302844492As Congress and the incoming Trump Administration grapples with how to carry out Trump pledge for a crackdown on illegal immigration, a recent tragedy in Louisville has galvanized the pro-deportation forces. While most undocumented individuals lead productive lives in the United States, Miguel Angel Villasenor-Saucedo, 40, could well become the next Willy Horton for the crackdown campaign. After it was alleged that the illegal immigrant had killed two people in a hit-and-run. it was discovered that he had been deported eight times from this country. The case shows just how open our borders are when someone like this man can enter so easily after deportations.

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Reid: Democratic Party Not In Trouble After Electoral Defeat

225px-harry_reid_official_portraitWe recently discussed how minority leader Nancy Pelosi fought off a challenge after the disastrous election losses for the Democrats and then promptly declared that the “people [do not] want a new direction.” The statement was widely ridiculed as evidence of how out-of-touch the leadership of the Democratic Party had become and how insulated the members are from voters. Now, retiring Senate minority leader Harry Reid has suggested the same party line that there is no need to change direction after the election.

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Washington Post Issues Correction To “Fake News” Story

220px-Washington_Post_buildingThe Washington Post has been under fire for its publication of an article entitling “Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say.” The article by Craig Timberg relied on a controversial website called PropOrNot, which published what is little more than a black list of website that the authors deemed purveyors of fake news including some of the largest sites on the Internet like Drudge Report. However, the previously unknown group was itself criticized for listing “allies” that proved false. Yesterday, Hillary Clinton ramped up the call for action against “fake news” which she described as an epidemic. Now the Washington Post has published a rather cryptic correction to the fake news story. The controversy is the subject of my latest column in USA Today.

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Nose Tickling Good: KFC Comes Out With Fried Chicken Scented Candle For The Holidays

kentucky-fried-chicken-candleLife just gets better and better. Just in time for stocking stuffers, Kentucky Fried Chicken has come out with a unique present: a fried chicken scented candle. That’s right, you can now have the heavy scent of fried foods at the lighting of a match.

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Weather Channel Gives Glacial Response To Breitbart’s Climate Change Denial

screen-shot-2016-12-08-at-7-29-07-amThe Weather Channel is not where one would expect a media scrum but the venerable channel went after conservative site Breitbart with a haymaker of a video after Breitbart used one of its reporters, Kait Parker, for a story suggesting that the Earth is actually getting colder. The video is below.

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Israel Bars Entry To Boycott Advocate In Major Free Speech Controversy

th-1th-2For the first time, Israel has denied entry to a prominent traveler due to her part advocacy of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. African theologian and academic Isabel Phiri is an assistant general secretary with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. She was refused entry at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Monday afternoon. The decision has raised a long-standing concern over people being barred from Israel for their political views and protected speech. The decision this week raises the concern that millions of people supporting the BDS movement could be barred from entry on the basis of their political support for the movement.

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German Coal Company Allowed To Clear Cut 12,000 Year Old Forest

300px-biogradska_sumaGermany has pledged to cut carbon emissions by up to 95 percent by 2050 by virtually ending the use of coal for energy. However, that will not come in time to save the spectacular Hambach Forest, an ancient woodlands in Germany that lies between the cities of Cologne and Aachen. The forest is 12,000-years-old and is irreplaceable. However, the government has given the go ahead to Germany’s second-largest electricity producer RWE to clear cut the ancient trees to extract the coal underneath.

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Texas Lawyer Challenges Bar Rules Reserving State Board Positions For Women and Minorities

thThere is an interesting lawsuit out of Texas where a white Austin lawyer has sued to strike down a law that imposes a race and gender quote for the governing board of the State Bar. The law requires that four of the positions be filled by women and racial or ethnic minorities. Family law attorney, Greg Gegenheimer, 38, has challenged the law under the U.S. Constitution and federal anti-discrimination laws. The Project on Fair Representation provided the lawyers assisting Gegenheimer. The Project was involved in Fisher case challenging the admission policies at the University of Texas before the Supreme Court.

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Doctor Fired From Private Hospital After Objecting To Mandatory Prayer Sessions In Turkey

220px-Recep_Tayyip_ErdoganWe have followed the rapid decline of civil liberties under the authoritarian rule of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the past few years as well as his empowering of Islamic parties in the once secular state. When Erdogan first ran, he assured Turks that he was committed to the secular traditions and constitution of the country. He then did precisely the opposite in power by chipping away at secular laws, introducing Islamic governing principles, and assuming authoritarian power. After the attempted recent coup, Erdogan has arrested thousands of his opponents. He has suspended civil liberties and shutdown the free media. He has also replaced academics and other professionals with Islamic party stalwarts. Now, we have a chilling story of just how Erdogan’s government has wiped out secular values. Dr. Abuzer Meral, an employee of a private hospital in the Turkish city of Yalova, was fired after merely objecting to mandatory religious studies for children.

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Iran Jails 12 Models For “Vice” After Merely Modeling Clothes

We have yet another example of Islamic Sharia “law” after an Iranian court eight female modes and four male models to jail for simply modeling clothes. Declaring such standard pictures as unIslamic and “vice,” the models were sentenced to periods ranging from one year to six years.

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