RECENTLY I posted on YouTube’s yanking of a vlogger’s account due to the torture practices he was exposing that are perpetrated by Egyptian police. I was definitely disappointed in YouTube, although I sort of expect any large corporate entity to ultimately suppress free speech, because inevitably, free speech involves telling the truth, and at the end of that road can be found many ideas that might not support the agenda and behavior of corporate entities. As the RAND Corporation, “a California based think-tank with close ties to the military-industrial-intelligence complex” sees it:

RAND maintains “homegrown terrorism” will not be the result of jihadist sleeper cells. Rather, it will result from anti-globalists and radical environmentalists who ’challenge the intrinsic qualities of capitalism, charging that in the insatiable quest for growth and profit, the philosophy is serving to destroy the world’s ecology, indigenous cultures, and individual welfare.’ …

Further, RAND claims anti-globalists and radical environmentalists ’exist in much the same operational environment as al Qaida’ and pose ’a clear threat to private-sector corporate interests, especially large multinational business.’

—Truthout.org, The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act: A Tutorial in Orwellian Newspeak

So through these types of statements, we begin to see it all come together. The War of the future, already taking place now. Those who refuse to consider any ill effects upon the world and the animals and the poor and simply the common gente, a breed who refuses to let go of a philosophy of greed, despite the mounting consequences of such a failed paradigm vs. those of us concerned first and foremost with the weakest of us, the meekest of us, the poorest of us, and Mother Earth herself.  Read more 

Tim Russert is unhappy about what happened to Don Imus.

Not that this was expressed in so many precise words, but then when are the Beltway 500 ever able to excavate those buried relics of their own assumptions? Take it from me, Timmeh considers Don Imus at worst, a wronged man, and at best, a tragic one. Speaking for myself, I consider this attitude the real tragedy.  Read more 

Let’s review. This important document is pretty clear:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

So I really don’t understand this legal ’logic:’

Mr. Casper and Mr. Klinkerman lost their motion for dismissal, and this week their lawyers filed an appeals brief arguing that their clients had the right to take action against Mr. Young and Ms. Weise precisely because the two held views different from Mr. Bush’s.  Read more 

At an event in honor of the First Amendment, Newt Gingrich said:

“[a] different set of rules” may be needed to reduce terrorists’ ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message.

“We need to get ahead of the curve before we actually lose a city, which I think could happen in the next decade.”

Here’s what I can’t figure out: why is freedom more important than safety to these guys when it comes to the Second Amendment, but not with the First?

Let everyone have assault rifles, but for God’s sake, don’t let ’em yell “peace” in a crowded war room.  Read more 

Oh hell yeah. I hope she sues the pants of that department. Feh, and to think I was just talking with a friend about taking a vacation in Atlanta. None of my money will be going to Georgia any time soon, seeing as how I occasionally decorate my car with free speech indicators:

William Macklin - All Headline News Staff Writer
Atlanta, GA (AHN) - A nurse who got a $100 traffic ticket for having an obscene bumper sticker criticizing President Bush, filed a federal suit Monday against a Georgia county, according to an AP report.
In March, a Dekalb County police officer ticketed Denise Grier, 47, for driving a vehicle with a bumper sticker reading “I’m Tired Of All The BUSHIT.” The officer issued the ticket under an old Georgia law barring lewd decals and stickers.
A Dekalb County court dismissed the ticket in April because the law was ruled unconstitutional in 1990.  Read more 

This is a surprisingly good article on blogs and lawsuits and the future of the “Wild West” Internet. The bottom line seems clear: if on your blog, you make something up about a person with the money to take you to court, you’ll lose. I’m fine with that. Blogs should be a place where free speech reigns, but it’s also the case that lying liars should be held accountable.  Read more 

Akbar Ahmed’s commentary in Newsweek shows the twists and turns we take when we are boundlessly deferential to religion.  Read more 

Do heads of departments like the NSA get sworn in, as in hand-on-the-Bible-and-take-an-oath sworn in? Or does some flunky just show them to their office and take them around to indicate where the cafeteria and the nearest men’s room is? If there’s a preserve-protect-and-defend-the-Constitution rule in effect, which being as this is the “National Security” Agency and all would seem like a good idea, it looks like we may need one of those stand-down time-outs for review of the pertinent operating rules:

Congress shall make no law…abridging…the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Because they seem to have gotten a little confused on the objective here:

Thirteen anti-war activists were given citations Saturday for protesting outside the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade.  Read more 

I’ve never been able to closely follow Russian politics, lacking the languages and proper appreciation of their history as I do. But one thing I’m fairly sure of: Russia today is a perfect model for the study of when the Thugs are In Charge:

Slander Could Be Deemed Extremist

By Oksana Yablokova and Anatoly Medetsky
Staff Writers
The State Duma will soon vote on a bill that would allow courts to shut down parties and news organizations for slandering government officials or threatening possible mass protests, deputies said Thursday.

The Duma’s leadership decided Thursday to send the bill — which includes amendments to expand the list of punishable crimes under the anti-extremism law — to the president and the Cabinet for a review, Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said.  Read more