Free-speech fundamentalism
Archived Posts from this Category
Archived Posts from this Category
Posted on Nov 26 2007 | Tagged as: Politics, The Stupid, Race, Free-speech fundamentalism
Via Tim, Antonia Bance on Griffin and Irving’s appearance at the Oxford Union:
“And even if they were to, is it not breathtakingly arrogant that Oxford undergraduates believe that in a five minute debating speech they could somehow defeat either, when it took a Cambridge Professor of Modern History weeks on the stand to rebut Irving’s assertions?”
It took a Cambridge Professor of Modern History weeks on the stand to rebut Irving’s assertions to the standard required in a court of law. Hardly the same, is it?
Personally I’d love to see the cream of the UK’s students rubbishing BNP plans to spend a fortune to encourage every last non-white person to leave the country.
UPDATE:
Posted on Nov 13 2007 | Tagged as: Words, Politics, The Stupid, Free-speech fundamentalism
Oh, what a freedom-loving country we are.
First some poor sod gets put on the sex offenders’ register for having sex with a bicycle in the privacy of his own hotel room.
Then an unfortunate woman, Samina Malik, gets banged up for writing shite poetry. Alright, shite poetry about terrorism:
On a mirror were found the words “Lyrical Terrorist” and on one piece of paper she had written: “The desire within me increases every day to go for martyrdom, the need to go increases second by second.”
In her poems she wrote about killing heathens, adding: “Kafirs your time will come soon, and no one will save you from your doom.”
In all probability she’s as mad as a bag of wasps, and there’s every reason to keep an eye on her. But given that she hasn’t actually done anything, prison seems a bit extreme.
I’m hiding my copy of Paradise Lost.
Posted on Jun 10 2007 | Tagged as: TV, Race, Free-speech fundamentalism
Watching Doctor Who last night reminded me of a bit in last week’s episode in which Martha, temporarily living in 1913, was told that it was ridiculous for a woman to study to be a (medical) doctor, and “particularly one of [her] colour”.
Or, if you like, a racist remark.
So if it’s okay for the BBC to screen a scripted racially loaded comment, why isn’t it okay for Channel 4 to broadcast an arguably racist incident?
If “reality” telly is supposed to show us what the real world is like — without it having been filtered through a team of scriptwriters, but within the constraints of showing a dozen brainless fools on a sofa — then unless they’re gong to show it red in tooth and claw then what’s the point?
Posted on Jan 22 2007 | Tagged as: Words, The Stupid, Free-speech fundamentalism
This is thoroughly, grotesquely, stupid.
“An Australian man was denied permission to board a connecting flight within Australia unless he removed the T-shirt titled “World’s #1 Terrorist” with a picture of U.S. President George W. Bush.”
Becaue it’s a security risk and because it might offend people, apparently.
a) No it isn’t.
b) So fucking what?