Holy Shit !
From USA Today, Jonathan Turley writes:
By Jonathan Turley
Around the world, free speech is being sacrificed on the altar of religion. Whether defined as hate speech, discrimination or simple blasphemy, governments are declaring unlimited free speech as the enemy of freedom of religion. This growing movement has reached theUnited Nations ,
where religiously conservative countries received a boost in their
campaign to pass an international blasphemy law. It came from the most
unlikely of places: the United States.
While attracting surprisingly little attention, the Obama administration supported the effort of largely Muslim nations in the U.N. Human Rights Council to recognize exceptions to free speech for any "negative racial and religious stereotyping." The exception was made as part of a resolution supporting free speech that passed this month, but it is the exception, not the rule that worries civil libertarians. Though the resolution was passed unanimously, European and developing countries made it clear that they remain at odds on the issue of protecting religions from criticism. It is viewed as a transparent bid to appeal to the "Muslim street" and our Arab allies, with the administration seeking greater coexistence through the curtailment of objectionable speech. Though it has no direct enforcement (and is weaker than earlier versions), it is still viewed as a victory for those who sought to juxtapose and balance the rights of speech and religion.
A 'misused' freedom?
In the resolution, the administration aligned itself with Egypt,
which has long been criticized for prosecuting artists, activists and
journalists for insulting Islam. For example, Egypt recently banned a
journal that published respected poet Helmi Salem merely because one of
his poems compared God to a villager who feeds ducks and milks cows.
The Egyptian ambassador to the U.N., Hisham Badr, wasted no time in
heralding the new
consensus with the U.S. that "freedom of expression has
been sometimes misused" and showing that the "true nature of this
right" must yield government limitations.
Perhaps in an effort to rehabilitate the United States’ image in the Muslim world, the Obama administration has joined a U.N. effort to restrict religious speech. This country should never sacrifice freedom of expression on the altar of religion.
Around the world, free speech is being sacrificed on the altar of religion. Whether defined as hate speech, discrimination or simple blasphemy, governments are declaring unlimited free speech as the enemy of freedom of religion. This growing movement has reached the
While attracting surprisingly little attention, the Obama administration supported the effort of largely Muslim nations in the U.N. Human Rights Council to recognize exceptions to free speech for any "negative racial and religious stereotyping." The exception was made as part of a resolution supporting free speech that passed this month, but it is the exception, not the rule that worries civil libertarians. Though the resolution was passed unanimously, European and developing countries made it clear that they remain at odds on the issue of protecting religions from criticism. It is viewed as a transparent bid to appeal to the "Muslim street" and our Arab allies, with the administration seeking greater coexistence through the curtailment of objectionable speech. Though it has no direct enforcement (and is weaker than earlier versions), it is still viewed as a victory for those who sought to juxtapose and balance the rights of speech and religion.
The Morning Read
This from Garrison
Keillor;
Conservatives and liberals can agree on the basics -- that the nation wallows in debt, that it is shortsighted of the states to cut back on the most essential work of government which is the education of the young, and that somehow we have got to become a more productive nation and less consumptive -- but the ruffles and flourishes of Washington seem ever more irrelevant to the crises we face. When an entire major party has excused itself from meaningful debate and a thoughtful U.S. senator like Orrin Hatch no longer finds it important to make sense and an up-and-comer like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty attacks the president for giving a speech telling schoolchildren to work hard in school and get good grades, one starts to wonder if the country wouldn't be better off without them and if Republicans should be cut out of the health-care system entirely and simply provided with aspirin and hand sanitizer. Thirty-two percent of the population identifies with the GOP, and if we cut off health care to them, we could probably pay off the deficit in short order. Read entire article HERE
Sometimes the title says it all.
David Neiwert at Crooks & Liars;
Glennbeckians protest outside school full of kindergartners because they didn't like Obama song
Jim Hightower;
Goofing up health care reform
Robert Reich;
The Audacity of Greed: How Private Health Insurers Just Blew Their Cover
Elyse Siegel at HuffPo
Jindal
Fires State Employee Day After She Criticized Him
Conservatives and liberals can agree on the basics -- that the nation wallows in debt, that it is shortsighted of the states to cut back on the most essential work of government which is the education of the young, and that somehow we have got to become a more productive nation and less consumptive -- but the ruffles and flourishes of Washington seem ever more irrelevant to the crises we face. When an entire major party has excused itself from meaningful debate and a thoughtful U.S. senator like Orrin Hatch no longer finds it important to make sense and an up-and-comer like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty attacks the president for giving a speech telling schoolchildren to work hard in school and get good grades, one starts to wonder if the country wouldn't be better off without them and if Republicans should be cut out of the health-care system entirely and simply provided with aspirin and hand sanitizer. Thirty-two percent of the population identifies with the GOP, and if we cut off health care to them, we could probably pay off the deficit in short order. Read entire article HERE
Sometimes the title says it all.
David Neiwert at Crooks & Liars;
Glennbeckians protest outside school full of kindergartners because they didn't like Obama song
Jim Hightower;
Goofing up health care reform
Robert Reich;
The Audacity of Greed: How Private Health Insurers Just Blew Their Cover
Elyse Siegel at HuffPo
Read
more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/09/jindal-fires-state-employ_n_315631.html
at HuffPoat HuffPo
Real ID? Real Stupid
OK. You've got ID, "Real I.D.",
the kind that let's you do stuff. Fly,
among other things. Right? Well, maybe. Does it say, for instance, that
you're Joe Smith? Got reservations for Joseph Smith? Opps, not a match,
won't work. Oh, you do have ID that says you're Joseph Smith. No middle
name or initial? Good. The ID says you're Joseph J. Smith? Bad, not a
match. Bummer
James Fallows over at the Atlantic has a great column describing I.D. stupidity and the T.S.A at it's best. TSA: bringing us ever closer to China!
James Fallows over at the Atlantic has a great column describing I.D. stupidity and the T.S.A at it's best. TSA: bringing us ever closer to China!
Groucho Marx was a republican. Honest
I don't know what they have to say,
It makes no difference anyway,
Whatever it is, I'm against it.
No matter what it is or who commenced it,
I'm against it.
Your proposition may be good,
But let's have one thing understood, Whatever it is,
I'm against it.
And even when you've changed it or condensed it,
I'm against it.
I'm opposed to it,
On general principle, I'm opposed to it.
For months before my son was born,
I used to yell from night to morn,
Whatever it is, I'm against it.
And I've kept yelling since I first commenced it,
I'm against it!
Thanks to the Washington Monthly
It makes no difference anyway,
Whatever it is, I'm against it.
No matter what it is or who commenced it,
I'm against it.
Your proposition may be good,
But let's have one thing understood, Whatever it is,
I'm against it.
And even when you've changed it or condensed it,
I'm against it.
I'm opposed to it,
On general principle, I'm opposed to it.
For months before my son was born,
I used to yell from night to morn,
Whatever it is, I'm against it.
And I've kept yelling since I first commenced it,
I'm against it!
Thanks to the Washington Monthly
Support your insurance Co.
I keep hearing it. The Public Mandate. Let's make everyone buy
insurance. We'll give them some kind of break to buy it. And we'll
punish anyone who doesn't. It's no different from car insurance. Everyone has to buy it. Wrong!
First, while 49 states require car insurance, Tennesee doesn't. One entire state removed from the everyone catagory.
Second, there are people that choose not to drive. Like 1/3 of New York City (Pop. 8,363,710. Number of drivers; 3,286,899).
The people without a drivers license in those states that require insurance for one.
The people without a car.
The people that can't be licensed for one reason or another. D.U.I. convictions, the blind.
Everyone has car insurance? Everyone?
First, while 49 states require car insurance, Tennesee doesn't. One entire state removed from the everyone catagory.
Second, there are people that choose not to drive. Like 1/3 of New York City (Pop. 8,363,710. Number of drivers; 3,286,899).
The people without a drivers license in those states that require insurance for one.
The people without a car.
The people that can't be licensed for one reason or another. D.U.I. convictions, the blind.
Everyone has car insurance? Everyone?
Happy 50 Th. Twilight Zone
October 2, 1959
"You're travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone!"
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