First session of Congress sees re-introduction of federal hate crime, anti-bullying acts

A new piece of legislation set to be re-introduced in Congress by the Democrats under the guise of anti-bullying would reprimand schoolchildren for verbal criticism of their peers in any context, including sexual orientation, religion or simply expression of an opposing idea. The bill echoes federal hate crime legislation about to be debated as Congress enters its first session tomorrow.

The Antibullying Campaign Act of 2005 was rendered obsolete after the recent expiration of Congress but Fox News radio reports that its most ardent champion, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, is set to initiate its reintroduction.

The bill outlines a $300 million dollar federal program to target bullies who harass other kids about their sexual orientation, gender identity or religion. (more…)

The Iraqi government Monday ordered the closure of the Baghdad office of a Dubai-based television station whose newscaster wore black mourning clothes while reporting on the hanging of Hussein.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said the Al-Sharqiya station, owned by a former chief of radio and television for Saddam, had incited violence and hatred in its coverage and had ignored warnings to stop.

Brigadier Abdul-Karim Khalaf, the spokesman, said the order was issued after an allegedly false report by the news channel about the abduction of three Sunni Arab female students from a university.

But the order also followed criticism of the tone of Al-Sharqiya’s coverage of Saturday’s execution, which struck some as sympathetic to the ousted dictator.

In contrast to state-run television reports that described Saddam as a “tyrant” and “criminal,” a newscaster on Al-Sharqiya - which means “The Eastern One” - referred to him Sunday as “president.” (more…)

Anyone who uses vile language when referring to Pakistan should be executed, said the Islamabad-loyal chief minister of the Balochistan province of the country, Jam Mohammad Yousaf. He made the comment at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Pakistan Muslim League.

It is fine for people living in Balochistan to politically oppose central government, but the use of filthy language will not be tolerated, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported him as saying.

The province, the largest in Pakistan, is also the most violent, with many internal disputes between warring factions, long-running bitter arguments with Islamabad and Islamism spreading across the border from Afghanistan. (more…)

Middle East analyst Flynt Leverett, who served under President Bush on the National Security Council and is now a fellow at the New America Foundation, revealed last week that the White House has been blocking the publication of an op-ed he wrote for the New York Times. The column is critical of the administration’s refusal to engage Iran.

Leverett’s op-ed had been cleared by the CIA, where he had been a senior analyst. Today in an op-ed for the New York Times, Levrett explains more:

[The] Op-Ed article we wrote for The Times, [was] blacked out by the Central Intelligence Agency’s Publication Review Board after the White House intervened in the normal prepublication review process and demanded substantial deletions. Agency officials told us that they had concluded on their own that the original draft included no classified material, but that they had to bow to the White House.

The redacted version of Leverett’s original op-ed is here. (more…)

On Sunday morning, December 17, 2006, syndicated radio host Jack Blood was Pepper sprayed and arrested by Austin PD. He received multiple injuries to his Face, hands, arms, back, and legs in a 12 hour ordeal in police custody.

Following an after party for “The Arab League” with many fans and supporters of Jack Blood at the Jackalope on Austin Texas’s famous 6th street, Jack was standing at the back alley exit of the club waiting to leave, and talking to fans. Out of nowhere a fight broke out between two Hispanic males and one Caucasian victim who turned out to be an employee of the Jackalope.

The victim was knocked unconscious by the two perpetrators who were continuing to attack the defenseless victim. Without any fear for his own safety, Jack Blood jumped in and fended off the attackers and chased them away while dozens of onlookers witnessed the mêlée. (more…)

When First Amendment hits ‘close to home,’ teens care

High school students are much more likely than they were even two years ago to learn about the First Amendment in class, but their opinions about what it says and does present a mixed picture, a study says today.

“There’s lots of discussion happening in schools, maybe discussions about should the government have the right to limit freedoms, if that means better protections” in combating terrorism, co-author Kenneth Dautrich says. “Just because there’s more discussion doesn’t mean there’s more favorable attitudes toward freedoms in the First Amendment.”

The product of the U.S. school system: Of 100,000 polled, 30% think the press has too much freedom, 31% don’t think musicians should be allowed to sing lyrics that might be offensive to others, 46% think that the press should not be able to publish freely and should get government approval, 36% don’t think high school newspapers should report on controversial subjects without approval from authorities. Unbelievable. (more…)

Flynt Leverett — former CIA analyst, NSC member and established foreign policy expert — has written an op-ed for the NYT bashing the Bush admin. for it’s failed policies towards Iran. The Whitehouse, in typical ruthless and authoritarian form, has pressured the CIA to heavily redact his draft on the grounds that it would reveal national security secrets — something the CIA disagrees with — and have even threatened him with criminal prosecution. Leverett, visibly distraught at his press conference today, has countered that this claim is a “fraudulent” and deliberate attempt to silence a respected critic by politicizing the CIA review process.

MANCHESTER – Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich last night defended his call to limit freedom of speech to combat terrorism, comments that last month provoked strident criticism from liberal groups.

Gingrich said the threat of biological or nuclear attack requires America to consider curbs to speech to fight terrorists, if it is to protect the society that makes the First Amendment possible.

“Our friends at the ‘ACLU left,’ of course, were staggered at this concept,” Gingrich told an audience of Republicans at a Christmas banquet. “How could we talk about anything less than 100 percent free speech? How could we consider in any way thinking about this issue?”

Gingrich cited last month’s ejection of six Muslim scholars from a plane in Minneapolis for suspicious behavior, which included reports they prayed before the flight and had sat in the same seats as the Sept. 11 hijackers. (more…)

Exploits fear of sexual predators and basic misunderstanding of Internet to attack blogs critical of the warmongering agenda he fronts for

Republican Senator John McCain has introduced legislation that would fine blogs up to $300,000 for offensive statements, photos and videos posted by visitors on comment boards, effectively nixing the open exchange of ideas on the Internet, providing a lethal injection for unrestrained opinion, and acting as the latest attack tool to chill freedom of speech on the world wide web.

McCain’s proposal, called the “Stop the Online Exploitation of Our Children Act,” encourages informants to shop website owners to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who then pass the information on to the relevant police authorities. (more…)

John McCain has made clear that he doesn’t like the blogosphere.

Now he has introduced legislation that would treat blogs like Internet service providers and hold them responsible for all activity in the comments sections and user profiles. Some highlights of the legislation:

• Commercial websites and personal blogs “would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000.”

• Internet service providers (ISPs) are already required to issue such reports, but under McCain’s legislation, bloggers with comment sections may face “even stiffer penalties” than ISPs.

• Social networking sites will be forced to take “effective measures” — such as deleting user profiles — to remove any website that is “associated” with a sex offender. Sites may include not only Facebook and MySpace, but also Amazon.com, which permits author profiles and personal lists, and blogs like DailyKos, which allows users to sign up for personal diaries. (more…)

An Australian was barred from a London-Melbourne flight unless he removed a T-shirt depicting George Bush as the world’s number one terrorist.

Allen Jasson was also prevented from catching a connecting flight within Australia later the same day unless he removed the offending T-shirt.

Mr Jasson says Qantas and Virgin Blue were engaging in censorship but the airlines say the T-shirt was a security issue and could affect the sensitivities of other passengers.

“The woman at the security check-in (at Heathrow) just said to me, ‘You are not wearing that’,” Mr Jasson, 55, said yesterday.

Mr Jasson, who lives in London and was flying to Australia to visit family on December 2, said he was first told he would need to turn the T-shirt inside-out before he would be allowed to board the Qantas flight.

“I told her I had the right to express my opinion,” he said. (more…)

John McCain has made clear that he doesn’t like the blogosphere.

Now he has introduced legislation that would treat blogs like Internet service providers and hold them responsible for all activity in the comments sections and user profiles. Some highlights of the legislation:

– Commercial websites and personal blogs “would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000.”

– Internet service providers (ISPs) are already required to issue such reports, but under McCain’s legislation, bloggers with comment sections may face “even stiffer penalties” than ISPs. (more…)

The Australian Defence Force has banned soldiers from writing online journals and has deleted blogs from troops serving in Iraq.

Critics say the soldiers are being denied the very freedoms they are fighting for.

The blogs were destroyed in September, hours after pictures of Australian soldiers playing with guns surfaced on the internet in the days before the inquiry into Private Jake Kovco’s death in Baghdad.

Australia’s leading defence think-tank, a civil libertarian and an internet expert have blasted the move as heavy-handed, saying it denied freedom of speech and destroyed Australian history.

“This shows how far behind the times the ADF is,” Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O’Gorman said. (more…)

The gavel has fallen on the 109th Congress marking the demise of entrenched corporate efforts to legislate away our Internet freedoms — and a stunning victory for real people who want to retain control of the Internet.

The fate of Net Neutrality has now been passed to what appears to be a more Web-friendly Congress.

Our Coalition pledges to work with new Members to craft policies that ensure all Americans can access the Internet and enjoy the unlimited choices it has to offer.

The end of this Congress — and death of Sen. Ted Stevens’ bad bill — gives us the chance to have a long overdue public conversation about what the future of the Internet should look like. This will not only include ensuring Net Neutrality, but making the Internet faster, more affordable and accessible. (more…)

German virtual hitmen, among the most feared in the world, could soon find themselves behind real bars if the regional governments of Bavaria and Lower Saxony have their way.

The two states have drafted a bill that would subject developers, distributors and players of video games whose goal is to inflict “cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters” to a fine and a maximum of one year in jail.

The draft law, a reaction to a school shooting that shook German public opinion last month, will come before the upper house of parliament next year. But it is already sending shockwaves through the 2m-strong German online gaming community.

“We have among the most drastic censorship rules for games,” said Frank Sliwka, head of the Deutsche E-Sport Bund, an umbrella federation for German online gaming teams. “Now we are being labelled as a breeding ground for unstable, dysfunctional and violent youngsters.” (more…)