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16 October, 2010

Maybe it was Presbyterians who attacked the twin towers on 9/11/2001

We read:

"On her HLN show Thursday, Joy Behar explained to viewers why she walked off "The View" during a heated conversation with Bill O'Reilly earlier in the day.

"Today on 'The View,' Bill O'Reilly had a real pinhead moment," she said. "First he said a mosque should not be be built close to Ground Zero here in New York, and then he said this."

A clip rolled of O'Reilly from that afternoon: "Muslims killed us on 9/11."

"Well I was really angry," Behar said explaining her walk-off. "I thought he was saying something that I construe as hate speech, frankly."

Source

Leftists can't stand the truth. My most recent post (15th. Oct.) on GREENIE WATCH will give you an idea of why they love Muslims so much.



Obama and friends have the Internet in their sights

We read:

"The Obama administration is seeking domestic and worldwide control of the Internet. After the July Wikileaks disclosure of 77,000 classified Afghan war documents and its planned release of 15,000 more, the U.S. wants that control bad –and fast.

The danger from the proposed regulation is not merely to your privacy, security, and civil liberties. Two specific measures would restructure how the Internet works in an attempt to place centralized and almost unlimited control in the hands of the U.S. government. First, in the name of preventing copyright infringement, the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (pdf; also known as the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, Act) would give the government absolute control of the root authority, or top-level worldwide domain registrar. The Act is currently before Congress.

Second, in the name of preventing terrorism, an “e-wiretap” bill aims at establishing government-mandated “back doors” in all communications systems. That bill is currently being drafted.

These controls would be in addition to the so-called 90-day “kill switch,” one of a slew of other Internet proposals coming from the Obama administration. In times of national emergency a president could block Internet traffic and shut down industries that don’t follow government orders.

Source

15 October, 2010

A new method of cracking down on free speech

Apple can stop sexting on the iPhone through a PATENT!

"IPhone maker Apple can stop people from sending and receiving "objectionable" messages better know as sexting.

A patent, which was first submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2008, is aimed at stamping out sexting on Apple's iPhone, The Daily Telegraph said. However, the patent will also enable Apple to view every iPhone user's texts.

According to tech blog TechCrunch, the background info for the patent states in part that currently there is "no way to monitor and control text communications to make them user appropriate.

The push to monitor texts is another example of Apple boss Steve Jobs protecting the "family friendly" brand.

However, the push for further smartphone monitoring has worried privacy groups and many users as phone makers such as Apple collect a variety of data, from geolocation data through to call times and credit card details to pitch ads and other information at phone users.

Source

This will be good for rival products, I guess. Steve Jobs may have jumped the shark.



Must not criticize an airline?

Ryanair is a British budget carrier:

"A website set up to criticise Ryanair has been shut down by an internet watchdog – because it proved so popular it earned its owner money. The founder of IHateRyanair.co.uk – whose strapline was ‘The World’s Most Hated Airline’ – was forced to surrender the web address after the budget carrier complained to the domain name dispute resolution service.

Yesterday the watchdog, called Nominet, ruled that the stinging criticism and passenger ‘horror stories’ published on the site were not sufficient grounds for it to be scrapped. However it ruled that a small profit made by Robert Tyler from sponsored links on the site meant he abused domain name rules.

Disgruntled passengers’ comments have filled the pages of the website since it was set up three years ago by Mr Tyler, of Walthamstow, East London.

Source

Weird: Criticism is not allowed if you make money out of it! A lot of blogs do a lot of criticizing and also have advertising on them. Are they in trouble? Thus is just a weak excuse to shut down criticism of a very arrogant business.



14 October, 2010

Will posting comments on conservative internet sites put YOU on the government’s watch list?

We read:

"Several developments have occurred in recent days that indicate something as innocuous as visiting pro-gun rights websites that are critical of government Constitutional compliance, and especially participating in comments and forums, can results in heightened law enforcement scrutiny and even as a supporting criteria for "legal" intervention.

On Friday, I told WarOnGuns readers I was aware of a child welfare case in New Hampshire where one of the criterion for removing a child from its parents was an ostensible membership of the father in what protective services was characterizing as "a militia known as the Oath Keepers."

Long-time readers know we've discussed Oath Keepers--specifically not a militia group--many times, including attempts by the Department of Homeland Security, the Southern Poverty Law Center, opportunistic politicians, and certain media outlets to conflate them with violent haters.... It appears the father in question's tie to OathKeepers was that he commented on their forums.

Talk about chilling speech! If this is allowed to continue, it will chill the speech of not just Mr. Irish, but all Oath Keepers and it will serve as the camel under the tent for other associations being considered too risky for parents to dare. Thus, it serves to chill the speech of all of us, in any group we belong to that “officials” may not approve of.

Source

The BBC’s new editorial guidelines

"Must not criticize Muslims" is what it is really all about:

"Another new guideline, about religious coverage, says that “Any content dealing with matters of religion and likely to cause offence to those with religious views and beliefs must be editorially justified as judged against generally accepted standards and must be referred to a senior editorial figure.”

However Terry Sanderson, the president of the National Secular Society, said: “This is an entirely retrograde step that will put severe restrictions on comedians, documentary makers, satirists and commentators who want to be critical of religion. Almost anything that isn’t wholly reverential towards religious beliefs can be perceived as offensive by some believers.”

Source

13 October, 2010

More local petty dictators who think that they can over-ride the constitution

We read:

"A South Carolina man says his constitutional rights have been violated after he was told by his local government to remove the Bible-themed signs he had posted on his property.

Oscar Moultrie says a Berkeley County, S.C., ordinance that requires residents to obtain government permission before putting up signs on their private property -- other than "for sale," "for rent," political signs, and a few other exceptions -- violates his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Moultrie says he received no complaints about his signs before the county ordered him in March to remove them or pay $25 to get a permit to post them.

In his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Charleston, S.C., he is asking the court to issue an immediate injunction that bars enforcement of the ordinance and declares it unconstitutional.

Source

The false Leftist narrative about Christopher Columbus



We read:

"Today is Columbus Day, though you wouldn’t know it here in the United States. Christopher Columbus, or Christoffa Corombo in his native Genoese (now part of modern-day Italy), is probably one of the most important figures of the last millennium and his accomplishments deserve recognition.

Unfortunately, Americans have been bullied by the left into believing that Columbus was an evil man who does not deserve to be recognized....

However, if we are going to celebrate a day named after someone, I can think of no better candidate than Christoffa Corombo. After all, his discovery set off a chain of events that led to the American Revolution and the putting into action the idea that people, not kings, are the real sovereigns".

Source

12 October, 2010

KY: “In God We Trust” license plate backers bring lawsuit

We read:

"A Kentucky group has filed a lawsuit after being denied a request to create a specialty license plate bearing the motto, ‘In God We Trust.’

Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana (ROCK) says it first applied for [the] specialty license plate in 2007. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet creates specialty plates to spotlight various non-profit organizations. Motorists can purchase the plates in the process and may choose to make an additional donation to the non-profit in question.”

Source

Going by the Vermont case mentioned yesterday, they should have a win



British city bans smiling

We read:

"A council has asked staff not to smile when dealing with parking complaints - as it may make drivers angrier.

Staff on induction training for the parking complaints team at Brighton and Hove Council were told a smile could make a row worse.

A spokeswoman at the Tory authority said: "The training is designed to help staff use body language that would not inflame the situation."

But Mark Turner, of the GMB union, scoffed: "I find this astounding. They should focus on useful training that employees really need."

Source

11 October, 2010

Vt. man wins religious vanity plates case appeal

"Free exercise of religion" upheld:

""THE REV" and "PSALM48" can join "ARMYMOM" and "DARE2BU" on the license plates of cars in Vermont after a federal appeals court ruled Friday that the First Amendment leaves room for religion on vanity plates.

The three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York reversed a lower-court ruling in the state's favor in a case brought by Shawn Byrne of West Rutland, Vt., whose proposed vanity plate reference to a Bible passage had been rejected by the state in 2004.

Byrne appealed a September 2007 decision by a federal judge in Burlington, Vt., that rejected his 2005 claim that the state discriminated against him when it rejected his application for a license plate that would read: "JN36TN," a reference to the often-quoted Bible verse John 3:16.

"The state rejected Byrne's message only because it addressed ... areas of otherwise permissible expression from a religious perspective," the appeals court wrote. "This the state cannot do."

Source

Heavy metal fan charged over T-shirt

This happened in my home State of Queensland, where speech laws are rarely enforced. But I suppose there are limits even in Queensland. Note that it was a more general law than a speech law under which he was prosecuted. I do think the guy brought it on himself. He clearly intended to offend and that will always risk retribution

"A heavy metal music fan could face six months in jail over an allegedly offensive T-shirt. Alexsei Vladmir Nikola, 34, was due to appear in court this morning on public nuisance charges after Brisbane police officers allegedly saw him wearing the shirt on George Street on May 6.

The shirt allegedly featured the words "Jesus is a c---" in large letters and shows a picture of a semi-naked, masturbating nun.

The offence of public nuisance is characterised by behaviour that interferes, or is likely to interfere with the peaceful passage through, or enjoyment of, a public place by a member of the public. The charge carries a maximum fine of $1000 or six months' jail.

SOURCE

What he did certainly seems to be covered by what he was charged with.

Australia has no first amendment but the High Court of Australia does recognize a fairly broad right to free speech. I think even in America this guy would successfully be prosecuted under obscenity laws.



10 October, 2010

Mustn't call Gypsies Gypsies in Britain

We read:

"Judges have been told not to use the word ‘gipsy’ for fear of causing offence. But the ban has been condemned as ‘confusing’ – by a leading gipsy group.

The edict is among a string of terms banned in a new set of guidelines for judges to make sure they comply with equality rules. They are told the word ‘gipsy’ is disparaging and should be replaced by ‘member of a travelling community’.

Last night, however, Joseph Jones, secretary of the Gipsy Council, said: ‘People in the UK are proud to be called gipsies. They don’t mind being called gipsies.

‘It’s not a name that came from the Romany community and some people don’t like it for that reason. But Romany Gipsy is not a term that’s seen as a negative thing. A lot of British people from the Romany Gipsy community are proud to be gipsies – like anyone from any ethnic community would be proud to be.’

Mr Jones said describing gipsies as ‘members of the travelling community’ was ‘too simplistic’.The problem with that is it confuses the issue by mixing people who are in an ethnic group with people who are not,’ he said.

The edict comes in a summary of the Equal Treatment Bench Book, published by the judges’ training body, the Judicial Studies Board.

The manual also warns about using the word ‘British’. It states: ‘Use of the term as a synonym for White, English or Christian is incorrect and unacceptable.’

Other words banned are ‘invalid’, ‘mental handicap’ and ‘wheelchair-bound’. Instead judges should use ‘disabled person’, ‘learning difficulties’ and ‘a wheelchair-user’.

Source

Must not joke about homosexuals

We read:

"A top Hollywood studio agreed to recut a movie trailer overnight after a string of gay celebrities complained that it featured a joke that was insulting to homosexuals.

The trailer for The Dilemma opened with star Vince Vaughn making a joke to a group of businessmen. “Ladies and gentlemen, electric cars are gay,” Vaughn said. “I mean, not homosexual gay, but my-parents-are-chaperoning-the-dance gay.”

The incident attracted the attention of gay US celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and CNN host Anderson Cooper, who said earlier this week that the trailer reminded him of school bullying. “We’ve got to do something to make those words unacceptable,” Cooper said.

Although executives at Universal Studios claimed to be bewildered by the controversy - alleging that they showed it to gay rights groups in advance – they agreed to alter the trailer, the report said.

Source

I neither get the joke nor see what is wrong with it so I guess that shows how "hip" I am not. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.



9 October, 2010

Wisconsin law bans "race based" names for sporting teams

America's Left-enforced racial neurosis continues

"The homecoming pep rally Friday at Kewaunee High School will have extra drama this year: Everyone in town will learn whether they'll be rooting for the River Bandits or the Storm to beat the Valders Vikings in the big football game.

The selection of a new nickname is the culmination of a sometimes painful few months in this town of 2,745. Under a new state law meant to eliminate race-based nicknames, logos and mascots, a complaint prompted the Kewaunee School District to drop the "Indians" name that had been in use here since 1936.

"This has been a tough time," says Sandi Christman, who chaired a committee that got the whole community involved in the selection of a new name and mascot. "It's like losing a friend."

Source

"Inappropriately-directed laughter" again

We read:

"A New Zealand television station has come in for fresh criticism over its handling of breakfast host Paul Henry's Indian slurs after it continued prominently to feature a clip on its website in which he ridicules the name of Commonwealth Games troubleshooter Sheila Dikshit.

TVNZ has received at least four complaints about the clip, in which Henry deliberately mispronounces Dikshit, despite being told it is said "Dixit". He also says the name "Dick Shit" is "so appropriate" because she is Indian.

The Dikshit clip - which now appears to have been removed - was promoted on the Video Extras section of TVNZ's website under the heading "Paul Henry laughs about the name Dikshit". "The dip shit woman. God, what's her name? Dick Shit. Is it Dick Shit ... it looks like 'Dick Shit'," Henry says through bouts of laughter.

Source

8 October, 2010

Conservative views must not be expressed in front of blacks

Or so claims black businessman below who attended a presentation at the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce at which Frank Luntz spoke.

"Frank Luntz polarized his audience in the first 10 minutes of speaking. He ragged on (Shreveport) Mayor (Cedric) Glover, who was present; he ragged on President Obama; he ragged on Jessie Jackson; and he ragged on Nancy Pelosi. He even ragged on Democrats in the audience.

It was clear right away that everyone in the room knew his political position. I am of the opinion that he was not in the right place to say many of the things he said.

A local pastor stood up and expressed his concern, but Mr. Luntz continued his same platform. I might as well have been at a tea party or a Republican convention. Several people, including myself, got up and walked out.

The Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce owes the African-American community an apology.

Source

He obviously has no conception of how routine it is for conservatives to be confronted with bigoted Leftist speech. But I guess that tolerance is not expected of blacks



MS: Judge jails attorney for not reciting government loyalty oath

Compelled speech is not free speech, compelled loyalty is no loyalty and compelled respect is no respect

"A Mississippi judge ordered an attorney to spend several hours in jail Wednesday after the attorney chose not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in court.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported that Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn told a court audience to rise and say the pledge. People in the courtroom said Danny Lampley of Oxford stood but did not say the words.”

Source

7 October, 2010

Wiretapping the Internet

We read:

"Taking a cue from the authoritarian regimes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, American law-enforcement and intelligence agencies are seeking to re-engineer the Internet and other digital communications networks to make them easier to spy on.

In the week since the plan became public, it has been roundly condemned by civil liberties groups and security experts — and rightly so.”

Source

Crooked Italian/Australian politician says "Syracuse" is racist

We read:

"An ICAC [corruption] inquiry heard state Labor MP D'Amore took "deep offence" at the investigation title Operation Syracuse because she felt the name was a slight on her Sicilian heritage, given it was an Italian city.

A former staffer for D'Amore yesterday admitted to rorting [falsifying] parliament expense claims but claimed she was simply acting on instructions from her boss.

Drummoyne MP Ms D'Amore is being investigated by ICAC over allegations she signed eight false expense claims for the financial benefit of her staff between August 2006 and June 2007.

Ms D'Amore, who will give evidence this week, has denied deliberate wrongdoing.

Source

She comes from Sicily and they name the probe into her doings after a Sicilian city. Seems to me that SHE is the once who has dishonoured Sicily. Anyway, the city is called "Siracusa" in Italian so the allusion is in fact to an English word.



6 October, 2010

Ed Schultz: Hate Speech to Call Me Fat, but OK to call NJ governor a racist

We read:

"Liberal radio host and aspiring MSNBC flamethrower Ed Schultz remains unrivalled as a bottomless pit of buffoonery.

SCHULTZ: By the way, I do want to mention the fact that I've gotten a lot of emails from Beck's fans, I guess, and they always like to say I'm fat, hey you fat. I just want you to know that I was fat right after college, I've been fat for a long time, I was fat yesterday, I'm fat today, I'm going to be fat tomorrow. Why? Because I like to eat stuff. I'm kind of a normal American and I get passionate about issues when I see jobs that are being shipped out overseas. You Beck supporters that have been leaving me hate voicemails and hate emails, bring it on baby, just bring it on.

As Schultz continued talking about Christie yesterday, it became clear the hinges were loosening:

Equal opportunity is a commitment that this country made decades and centuries ago. Equal opportunity, hell, under Chris Christie, women probably wouldn't even be voting if he had his way! Under Chris Christie, we'd probably have people still in the back of the bus.

Source

Dutch politician's hate speech trial suspended after he attacks biased judge

We read:

"Geert Wilders, the anti-Islam politician, told a Dutch court that he stood by his opinions that the Koran is a "fascist book" and Islam is as dangerous as Nazism, as he went on trial for inciting racial hatred.

Last year, the Dutch Court of Appeal ruled that, despite the case being dropped by prosecutors, that it considered "criminal prosecution obvious for the insult of Islamic worshippers" being compared to Nazis.

However, proceedings were suspended for 24 hours, after Mr Wilders demanded that the court's presiding judge be replaced.

After an opening statement by Mr Wilders, Bram Moszkowicz, his lawyer told the court that the defendant would exercise his right to silence and would not answer questions during the trial.

Jan Moors, the presiding judge then noted that Mr Wilders has been accused of being "good in taking a stand and then avoiding a discussion" of the issue. "By remaining silent, it seems you're doing that today as well," he said.

Attacking "scandalous" remarks, Mr Wilders and his lawyers asked for the court to be dissolved. "With this presiding judge and such a panel of judges, a fair trial isn't possible anymore," he said.

If the court rules in favour of the objections, new judges will need to be appointed, delaying proceedings.

"I am on trial, but on trial with me is the freedom of expression of many Dutch citizens," he said.

Source

5 October, 2010

Must not mention that Jews dominate the entertainment industry?

Bob Parks below can see no problem mentioning it and nor can I. CNN talking head Rick Sanchez said that Jews dominate the industry -- and got fired for it

"Let me preface this by saying no tears are being shed here for Rick Sanchez. If CNN canned him for bigoted remarks, if anything they were years late on this one.

But let Rick Sanchez speak ill of a Northeast liberal elite or imply that Jews run CNN (or the entertainment business in general) and that’s an instantly terminable offense.

And I’ve always wondered why people get so bent out of shape over the possibility that Jews run Hollywood; a notion that numbers seem to support.

Unless Jews are hired into the business based primarily on their ethnicity and not relevant prior experience (and there’s no proof of this), I don’t see why people are canned for making an observation that any other group would be proud of?

Source

Silvio is having "incorrect" fun again

We read:

"Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi provoked outrage after an ill-judged joke about Jews and the Holocaust, drawing criticism from the Vatican.

Mr Berlusconi, 74, who is known for his slapstick sense of humour told the blasphemous joke while speaking to emergency workers dealing with the aftermath of last year's earthquake in central Italy.

He made the joke hours after winning last week's crucial vote of confidence. The Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano described the jokes as "deplorable" adding they "offended the sentiment of believers and the sacred memory of six million Holocaust victims".

Mr Berlusconi had told supporters outside his home: "A Jew hides a fellow Jew in his basement at the time of the concentration camps and charges him 3,000 euro a day". He went on: "The Jew paid up because he had the money but do you think he should tell him that Hitler has died and the war is over?"

Mr Berlusconi was unrepentant yesterday and said the jokes were "just a laugh" that were "made in private, not offensive and not a sin."

Source

Getting Italians to be politically correct is an uphill battle -- much to their credit in my opinion.



4 October, 2010

Britain's so-called conservatives to enact PC equality law which means ANYONE can sue for ANYTHING that offends them

Thank goodness I don't live in Britain. With my Australian bluntness, I would be in trouble in no time

"Ministers yesterday announced that the vast bulk of Labour’s controversial Equality Act would be implemented immediately, despite concerns about its impact on business and office life.

The legislation, championed by Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman, introduces a bewildering range of rights which allow staff to sue for almost any perceived offence they receive in the workplace.

It creates the controversial legal concept of ‘third party harassment’, under which workers will be able to sue over jokes and banter they find offensive – even if the comments are aimed at someone else and they weren’t there at the time the comments were made.

They can sue if they feel the comments ‘violate their dignity’ or create an ‘intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment’.

A one-off incident is enough to sue – there is no need for the ‘victim’ to have warned the perpetrator that their comments are unwelcome. They could even have a case against their employer if a customer or contractor says something they find offensive.

Source

No sausage jokes!

Britain:

"Strictly Come Dancing was hit by a string of viewers’ complaints following a quip directed at judge Craig Revel Horwood by contestant Paul Daniels.

Dozens of viewers contacted the BBC to protest after Daniels, 72, told Revel Horwood not to give up ‘his day job tasting sausages’ on the first show of the new series.

The Australian-born judge, 45, has openly talked about his homo­sex­uality in the past and his life with partner Grant MacPherson.

Many viewers assumed Daniels was taunting him about his sex­uality and vented their fury on a BBC website and on Twitter.

But it appeared last night that Daniels was actually referring to Revel Horwood’s upcoming role promoting British Sausage Week, which is launched on November 1.

Daniels, himself a former frontman of Sausage Week, wrote: ‘Media this morn trying to make me homophobic. Crazy. Why do journos and editors want to live in a nasty world of their own creation.’

Source

3 October, 2010

Pregame Prayers at Pee Wee Football Games Are Out of Bounds, Florida father Says

We read:

"Football and prayer don't belong in the same backfield, says a Florida dad who wants his hometown to stop a Pee Wee football league from having kids perform voluntary pregame prayers.

Louie Fromm, an assistant coach for the Holmes County Pee Wee Football Association, formally requested on Monday that the Vernon, Fla., City Council end the league's traditional 50-yard-line pregame prayer ritual, alleging that his and his son's First Amendment rights are being violated.

League officials say they are a private organization that takes no government money, and the city has no right to prevent them from saying prayers on the field before games. But Fromm says the league may be private, but the field on which it plays its games isn't. It's public property, Fromm says, and the city must order the pregame prayers to stop.

Source

The league could well decide that it doesn't want his kid -- and then there would be no-one to be offended by the prayers. The father is just using his kid as a tool, which is pretty low.



Anti-Semitic Imagery Used in musician's Tour

For once I think I agree with Foxy: The guy is a contemptible Leftist bigot but he is entitled to express his opinion

"The Anti-Defamation League is criticizing what it says is the dark side of Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters, claiming imagery the British rock icon used in his latest tour is anti-Semitic.

Waters, a longtime vocal critic of Israel, takes aim at the Jewish nation's West Bank security fence during a segment of his 2010-2011 "The Wall Live" tour by using imagery associated with stereotypes about Jews and money, ADL officials say.

During Waters' recent performances of "Goodbye Blue Sky," an animated scene has projected images of planes dropping bombs in the shape of Jewish stars of David, followed by dollar signs -- an "outrageous" juxtaposition, according to Abraham Foxman, ADL's national director.

"While he insists that his intent was to criticize Israel's West Bank security fence, the use of such imagery in a concert setting seems to leave the message open to interpretation, and the meaning could easily be misunderstood as a comment about Jews and money," Foxman said in a statement.

"Of course Waters has every right to express his political views about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through his music and stagecraft," Foxman's statement continued. "However, the images he has chosen, when put together in the same sequence, cross a line into anti-Semitism."

Source

2 October, 2010

Democrat Senator wants to use IRS to shut down speech

Although U.S. tax law discriminates against various groups (such as churches) by limiting what they can say, that would seem to run counter to the 1st Amendment. So the Democrats might get a nasty surprise if they push the matter so hard that it ends up in SCOTUS

"Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus sent a serious shot across the bows of the growing ranks of groups, most of them on the right, playing aggressively in elections under non-profit 501(c)4 and (c)6 status, with a letter asking that the IRS commissioner examine them for violations of tax law.

A central, and endlessly complicated, legal question is whether an organization's "primary purpose" is politics, and many find ways to spend 51% of their money, for instance, on policy campaigns. Different lawyers have offered different advice to groups on where, exactly, the line is -- but many, like Crossroads GPS and Americans for Job Security, are operating under different versions of the non-profit status to both advertise in elections and keep their donors secret.

The IRS should examine whether the groups' "political activities reach a primary purpose level" and "whether they are acting as conduits for major donors advancing their own private interests regarding legislation or political campaigns, or are providing major donors with excess benefits."

Source

The Left NEED censorship and control of information. Reality is too pesky for them.



Hollywood wants to censor the Internet, and Congress is on board

The following is from the Left-leaning "Salon" but it seems to have some substance to it

"A key U.S. Senate committee will almost certainly vote this week to censor the Internet. A fast-track bill designed to whack copyright infringement is vastly more than that, and if it’s passed and signed into law it will put America into a league with China and Saudi Arabia, among others, as a nation that makes sure most of its citizens won’t find information that a tiny, elite group deems improper for their eyes. Who’s behind it? I hardly have to tell you that Hollywood and the rest of the copyright cartel have persuaded their acolytes in Congress that it’s time to clamp down, and hard.”

Source

1 October, 2010

Italian tourism minister doesn't get the joke



We read:

"Italy's tourism minister has demanded that Apple remove the "offensive" What Country app from its online store after the travel guide described the Italy as the home of "pizza, the Mafia and scooters".

The application, which can be downloaded to iPhones, iPads and iPods, characterises each nation with words and images; Italy is summed up with a road sign which reads "Mafia parking only".

The tourism minister, Michela Vittoria Brambilla, condemned the app as an affront to Italians' dignity, describing it as "offensive and unacceptable". She instructed government lawyers to take legal action against Apple and demanded that the application be removed from its iTunes online store.

"Italy is a beacon in the world for its history, culture and style. I cannot allow our country to be discredited by having it represented by a criminal organisation," the minister said.

Source

Another incorrect sportsman

An Australian footballer this time:

"The NRL has reopened its racial vilification case against St George Illawarra's Dean Young.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the NRL wrote to St George Illawarra and Wests Tigers yesterday seeking additional information about Young allegedly calling Robbie Farah a "f ... ing wog" during their preliminary final clash last weekend.

The NRL match review committee could not obtain sufficient evidence to charge Young but NRL management yesterday moved to further investigate the claim.

If the NRL finds evidence of vilification, it is likely Young would be fined, not suspended.

"The first port of call for on-field matters is the match review committee however in incidents of this nature, there is also the potential for code of conduct implications," NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said.

"We have written to both clubs requesting their version of events before we decide whether any action is required."

Farah has said he would not pursue the matter.

Source

Sportspeople live their sport -- with little time for politics and social sensitivities







Posts from Brisbane, Australia by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).


"HATE SPEECH" is free speech: The U.S. Supreme Court stated the general rule regarding protected speech in Texas v. Johnson (109 S.Ct. at 2544), when it held: "The government may not prohibit the verbal or nonverbal expression of an idea merely because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable." Federal courts have consistently followed this. Said Virginia federal district judge Claude Hilton: "The First Amendment does not recognize exceptions for bigotry, racism, and religious intolerance or ideas or matters some may deem trivial, vulgar or profane."


Even some advocacy of violence is protected by the 1st Amendment. In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously that speech advocating violent illegal actions to bring about social change is protected by the First Amendment "except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action."


The traditional advice about derogatory speech: "Sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you". Apparently people today are not as emotionally robust as their ancestors were.


A phobia is an irrational fear, so the terms "Islamophobic" and "homophobic" embody a claim that the people so described are mentally ill. There is no evidence for either claim. Both terms are simply abuse masquerading as diagnoses and suggest that the person using them is engaged in propaganda rather than in any form of rational or objective discourse.


Leftists often pretend that any mention of race is "racist" -- unless they mention it, of course. But leaving such irrational propaganda aside, which statements really are racist? Can statements of fact about race be "racist"? Such statements are simply either true or false. The most sweeping possible definition of racism is that a racist statement is a statement that includes a negative value judgment of some race. Absent that, a statement is not racist, for all that Leftists might howl that it is. Facts cannot be racist so nor is the simple statement of them racist. Here is a statement that cannot therefore be racist by itself, though it could be false: "Blacks are on average much less intelligent than whites". If it is false and someone utters it, he could simply be mistaken or misinformed.


Whatever your definition of racism, however, a statement that simply mentions race is not thereby racist -- though one would think otherwise from American Presidential election campaigns. Is a statement that mentions dogs, "doggist" or a statement that mentions cats, "cattist"?


Was Abraham Lincoln a racist? "You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this be admitted, it affords a reason at least why we should be separated. It is better for both, therefore, to be separated." -- Spoken at the White House to a group of black community leaders, August 14th, 1862


The spirit of liberty is "the spirit which is not too sure that it is right." and "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it." -- Judge Learned Hand


Two lines below of a famous hymn that would be incomprehensible to Leftists today ("honor"? "right"? "freedom?" Freedom to agree with them is the only freedom they believe in)

First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean

It is of course the hymn of the USMC -- still today the relentless warriors that they always were.


It seems a pity that the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus is now little known. Remember, wrote the Stoic thinker, "that foul words or blows in themselves are no outrage, but your judgment that they are so. So when any one makes you angry, know that it is your own thought that has angered you. Wherefore make it your endeavour not to let your impressions carry you away."


"Since therefore the knowledge and survey of vice is in this world so necessary to the constituting of human virtue, and the scanning of error to the confirmation of truth, how can we more safely, and with less danger, scout into the regions of sin and falsity than by reading all manner of tractates, and hearing all manner of reason?" -- English poet John Milton (1608-1674) in Areopagitica


Hate speech is verbal communication that induces anger due to the listener's inability to offer an intelligent response


Leftists can try to get you fired from your job over something that you said and that's not an attack on free speech. But if you just criticize something that they say, then that IS an attack on free speech


"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper


Why are Leftists always talking about hate? Because it fills their own hearts


Leftists don't have principles. How can they when "there is no such thing as right and wrong"? All they have is postures, pretend-principles that can be changed as easily as one changes one's shirt


When you have an argument with a Leftist, you are not really discussing the facts. You are threatening his self esteem. Which is why the normal Leftist response to challenge is mere abuse.


The naive scholar who searches for a consistent Leftist program will not find it. What there is consists only in the negation of the present.


The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) could have been speaking of much that goes on today when he said: "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."