tagged w/ Freedom of Speech
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"Chinese authorities shut down 44,000 domestic Web sites and home pages and arrested 868 people while investigating 524 criminal cases during the campaign." Human Rights activists are concerned that porn sites are being used as an excuse to shut down political dissident's Web sites ahead of the Beijing Olympics. The internet sting is scheduled to conclude in September just following the end of the Olympics. "Chinese authorities shut down 44,000 domestic Web sites and home pages and... more
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Geo News began broadcasting again yesterday after Musharraf lifted a ban on the TV station that he imposed almost six weeks ago during his state of emergency. But, it's not free to do whatever it pleases. Geo News had to agree to a code of conduct, limiting criticism of Musharraf, before going back on air. So in other words, they're opened for censored business. I can't imagine that is going to be good for Pakistan's hopes to restore democracy.Geo News began broadcasting again yesterday after Musharraf lifted a ban on the TV... more
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A global network of spies, deception and political pressure must be overcome to prevent the further suffering of innocence. Some Truths Are Intolerable is a short film about the persecution of Falun Dafa (a peaceful spiritual practice from China), at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). From 1992-1999 Falun Dafa was freely followed throughout China, until the government decided that there were too many people studying the energy exercises and meditation. The CCP banned the practice and immediately declared up to 100million innocent people as being criminals. Since then, thousands have been tortured to death for their beliefs, hundreds of thousands are in slave labour camps, and millions have had their lives ruined by their own government. It is the intention of What Is Tough (a project dedicated to releasing a feature film about this issue) to bring to the public's attention this global disaster, before the Olympic Games are held in Beijing, in August of 2008. The atrocities covered in the film continue to this day.
Please visit www.whatistough.com for more information on the project and please sign-up to Current TV to vote for this film, so that more people become aware of the truth about Falun Dafa, because some truths are intolerable!
Thank you.
A global network of spies, deception and political pressure must be overcome to... more
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The world can be a dangerous place for journalists. Each year many are killed covering conflicts. The same can be said for citizen journalists who bear equal risks in reporting or capturing events.
Last month Wei Wenhua was driving in his car, in China, when he witnessed a horrific scene. 50 city inspectors were beating villagers who were attempting to halt trucks dumping trash near their home.
Wenhua took out his cell phone and began snapping photos of the assaults. The inspectors turned their ire toward Wenhua and beat him mercilessly. By the time he arrived at the hospital, he was dead.
The inspectors are known as chengguan in Chinese, and are auxiliary support for police. They are expected to deal with petty crimes, such as cracking down on unlicensed trading. They frequently are seen chasing street vendors off the streets and confiscating their goods.
Recently, sina.com published news of the beating, and the blogosphere lit up with comments from both in China and from around the world.
On blogs and publications around the world, Wei Wenhua is now being called a martyr. He is thought to be the first citizen journalist killed while trying to capture an event as it was happening. The world can be a dangerous place for journalists. Each year many are killed... more
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jhaber
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added this
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4 years ago
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Brighton bars and clubs may loose their licenses if they play music by homophobic reggae performers and rappers. Jamaican gays are regularly attacked, even murdered. Some believe homophobic reggae encourages the violence. Similar attacks occur in the UK. The Brighton City council, who voted for the ban, learned later that their library had a sizable collection of the so called "Murder Music".Brighton bars and clubs may loose their licenses if they play music by homophobic... more
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Is your country becoming a fascist nation?
Let's use this checklist.
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During Belfast Pride a marcher held a sign saying, "Jesus is a Fag!" P A MacLochlainn, a provocative Irish Gay Rights leader, argued on BBC radio, "I believe that a 33-year-old unmarried rabbi living in Israel, in the time that he was living and having a favorite friend among the apostles called John, was quite clearly a gay man." Conservative Christians urged the House of Commons to restrict grants to future gay pride parades based on the contents of the sign. MacLochlainn disagrees, "Someone participating in the parade was holding the placard. I defend the right of that person to carry it.
"To not allow someone to carry such a placard would restrict freedom of speech and religious freedom. The DUP shouldn't be so ready to shout blasphemy." During Belfast Pride a marcher held a sign saying, "Jesus is a Fag!" P A... more
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First off, sorry I wasn?t at the protest. I was otherwise engaged, and when what I was doing had finished, I didn?t see much point of travelling down. To those who were there and acted with decorum, good work.
So, should this event have taken place? I don?t think so. Here are my reasons:
1) This had nothing to do with free speech. It was held in a private members club for starters; only 400 odd paying members could go and see the debate in the first place. The aim was apparently for those great minds at Orxford to generally demolish any arguments of the fascist and the holocaust denier until they were left hanging on to their pretty shabby beliefs. Well, from what I heard from some of the people who were in there, when Irving and Griffin were talking a number of ?educated? people were nodding along hmmming in at least partial agreement of understanding. So, that aim went out of the window then.
2) It seems to me that the debate about whether or not the Union debate should go ahead was purely academic. People were humming and harring about it, some arguing that it?s a restriction on free speech not to let them speak etc. Well, the way I see it people were blurring the lines between controversiality and danger. To be controversial, get TV time and publicity etc is one thing, but to actively endanger people by inviting the BNP, Combat 18 and whatnot in to Oxford at the same time as legitimising a fascist platform is another. Oxford University was actually advising black students not to leave their residences the night of the protest.
Let?s face it guys - the term ?freedom of expression? is vague however you look at it. And when you start to apply it as a literal blanket statement, people can get hurt. You can easily legitimise the protest on a utilitarian basis; the people protesting were firstly larger in number than those actively supporting the debate, and those protesting were also there in the name of the greater good. I can bet you now that not one of those protesters were feeling great that some people might label them as destroyers of free speech, but when the two people inside that building would not have breathed the same air, let alone listened to someone?s point of view simply because they are homosexual, non-white, Jewish etc is simply unacceptable. Why are we even having this debate in the first place?
And as for the Oxford Union, the less said the better. Luke Tyrl is not the accomplished politician he thinks he is. When your own university and even the Comission on Equality and Human Rights is telling you this debate shouln?t go ahead, what spurs you on to be so arrogant as to ignore any call of concern? Plenty of security was put on for the two fascists inside the building, from Union security to the lovely Combat 18, but what about the people outside in the streets, lost in the meleé of bodies and voices?
What would people have thought if Nick Griffin had stood up and said:
?The electors of Millwall did not back a post-modernist rightist party, but what they percieved to be a strong, disciplined organsation with the ability to back up it?s slogan ?defend rights for whites? with well directed boots and fists. When the crunch comes, power is the product of force and not rational debate.?
But of course Griffin is a very intelligent man. He caters for his audience very well. He can act as the oppressed minority in his own country when he wants to. And of course, the bastion of free speech, the Oxford Union, beat down its detractors, ignoring the protesters who broke in and those shouting outside and carried on because they were right. That?s the problem with blind belief - you don?t listen to any other point of view because you are right. End of story.First off, sorry I wasn?t at the protest. I was otherwise engaged, and when what I was... more
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Swiss Chris is no ordinary drummer. This video is his tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient that is in jail for speaking of freedom and democracy in Burma.
Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?
* Known to much of the world as "Asia's Nelson Mandela", she currently leads a popular, nonviolent freedom struggle in Burma.
* In 1990, the year of Burma's last democratic election, her political party, the National League for Democracy, won 82% of the seats in parliament; however the ruling military regime refused to recognize the results.
* One year later, in 1991, while still under house arrest and leading a non-violent struggle for democracy she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
* The regime has kept her imprisoned for 11 of the past 16 years.
* She has won over 70 major international awards for her work on behalf of the people of Burma, including: the Nobel Peace Prize, Sakharov Prize (from the European Parliament) and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In an increasingly jaded world of political apathy and power-hungry institutions, Aung San Suu Kyi is truly that rare heroine of legend - a symbol of hope - championing the rights of individuals in the face of human rights violations and dictatorial oppression. Suu Kyi continues to stand alone in defiance of an unjust and brutal military regime with grace and Gandhi-like resolve.
Throughout 11 of the past 16 years, she has struggled in obscurity, with little or no contact with the world. Due to her perseverance amid growing concern for health and well-being, a determined community of individuals from around the world have rallied in support of Suu Kyi and the plight of the Burmese people.
The video displays his innovative techniques and electronic know how along with his passion for the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi. Besides the ordinary drum kit, Swiss Chris adds electronic pads that when hit with his drumsticks, triggers a multitude of sounds and video that he's prerecorded into his mixing unit. The result is a sound thats like having a backing band, including a vocalist if he wants as well as various video of current news, historic news and just about anything he wants that he gets clearance for.
Swiss has used this technology mainly for his human rights efforts for the Freedom campaign as well as his own organization, Saving With Instruments Samples and Soundz (SWISS). Swiss Chris is also the Music Director and Drummer for 5 time Grammy winner John Legend.
More info on Swiss can be found at: www.myspace.com/swisschristhemanonthedrums
Swiss Chris is no ordinary drummer. This video is his tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi, a... more
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The Official "We're In A Lot Of Trouble" Video
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New World Order- DJ Chris Geo
it's actually a very good song
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Dan Marracino photographs the art of protest signs and protest performance at a DC protest against the war in Iraq.Dan Marracino photographs the art of protest signs and protest performance at a DC... more
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Democracies must have freedoms in order to breathe, just as you and I need air to breathe. In the name of terrorism and security, dissent has largely been quashed. This has had the effect of both banishing protesters from the manstream media stage, as well as having induced federal employees, including the Secret Service, to engage in blatantly partisan and illegal activity.
This is very dangeruos in a democracy.
This is what happened when one journalist stepped outside a Presidential Free Speech Zone and refused to go back inside...Democracies must have freedoms in order to breathe, just as you and I need air to... more
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300,000 people marched aganst the war in Washington D.C. on September 24, 2005. They shared their thoughts on situation we're in today and their hopes for tomorrow,.300,000 people marched aganst the war in Washington D.C. on September 24, 2005. They... more
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A march on 9/11 in New York City to various media outlets calling for truth in 9/11 investigations.A march on 9/11 in New York City to various media outlets calling for truth in 9/11... more
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DKVOVK
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added this
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6 years ago
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Freedom - Aren't you losing it America?
Summer 2003. New York City. Thompkins Square Park.Freedom - Aren't you losing it America?
Summer 2003. New York City. Thompkins... more
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Voytek
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added this
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6 years ago
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After banning Buju Banton from playing last year because of his anti-gay stance and music, Brighton Council now says clubs could lose their licence if they play music 'inciting hate against minorities', Is this a welcome step towards inclusiveness or a step too far for free speech?After banning Buju Banton from playing last year because of his anti-gay stance and... more
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A 23-year-old former Heathrow Airport worker, who called herself the "lyrical terrorist" and penned chilling poems called 'How To Behead' and 'The Living Martyrs', has been spared jail after becoming the first woman convicted under new terrorism legislation.
In her poem 'How to Behead' she wrote: "It's not as messy or as hard as some may think/ It's all about the flow of the wrist." Another section said: "No doubt that the punk will twitch and scream/ But ignore the donkey's ass/ And continue to slice back and forth/ You'll feel the knife hit the wind and food pipe/ But don't Stop/ Continue with all your might."
Since when did writing poetry become a criminal offence? Bar emo moanings, of course.A 23-year-old former Heathrow Airport worker, who called herself the "lyrical... more
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richjm
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added this
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4 years ago
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The head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has asked Oxford University's debating society to review its decision to invite holocaust denier David Irving to speak at a free speech forum.The head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has asked Oxford... more
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Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Oxford Union to voice disapproval of the two controversial speakers invited there to speak: the BNP leader Nick Griffin who heads an organisation that wants to see millions of people deported from the UK because they do not regard them as truly British, and historian David Irving, who is a convicted Holocaust denier.
"Scuffles broke out as anti-fascist groups yelled "Shame on you" at members filing into the union building, and the police shut the gates with the chamber only half full. While a handful of students crushed against the main gate to create a diversion, 30 others scaled the wall and barged past the tight security, occupying the area around the debating table until they were persuaded to leave."
This brings to question freedom of speech. Who is entitled? Who should be allowed to voice their opinions? Is the Oxford Union wrong in inviting these controversial viewpoints? What do you think?Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Oxford Union to voice disapproval of the two... more
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