New Media » free speech

Christopher Hitchens. He Never Missed A Deadline

jnarvey — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:53:04 +0000

No, I’m not being mean. Apparently, the man some called the most brilliant writer in the English speaking world really did want that for his epitaph (according to Francis Wheen). Another alternative that he quite enjoyed was ‘I sleep mad.”

Sleep mad, Christopher.

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Welcome to Soviet Canuckistan. Watch What You Say

jnarvey — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:46:57 +0000

For the record, I’m not a fan of Ann Coulter. My contempt is not based primarily on her politics — I just think she’s an idiot, for saying stuff like this: “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”

Context is everything. Ann seems to get off on a big technicality here in that there is no global Christian movement to subvert nations around the world in order to unite a Christian empire that aims to put all subjects under “Christian” law — whatever that would be. The Crusades have been over for centuries and there simply is no modern example of Christian nations going to war to spread their faith by the sword — mostly because outside of the Vatican, there are no countries left that one could identify as Christian. As such, Coulter’s words are pretty much meaningless.

As offensive as she is, she ought to be ignored as anyone would be if they said, “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Zoroastrianism.” Or Keynesianism. Or collective-agrarianism.

Of course, if you had a speaker at a Canadian university that substituted “Islam” for “Christianity” in that quote, heads would have to roll in the university establishment. There undoubtedly is an active global jihadist movement that is killing people (mostly Muslims) every day. In this case, the quote has contextual meaning. But Coulter’s? Her jibber-jabber quotes are made solely for the purpose of boosting book and ticket sales by pubescent-minded Rush Limbaugh fans.

That said, I’m deeply embarrassed for my country thanks to this sad tale of Soviet-style shenanigans emanating from the University of Ottawa:

“Dear Ms. Coulter,

I understand that you have been invited by University of Ottawa Campus Conservatives to speak at the University of Ottawa this coming Tuesday. We are, of course, always delighted to welcome speakers on our campus and hope that they will contribute positively to the meaningful exchange of ideas that is the hallmark of a great university campus. We have a great respect for freedom of expression in Canada, as well as on our campus, and view it as a fundamental freedom, as recognized by our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I would, however, like to inform you, or perhaps remind you, that our domestic laws, both provincial and federal, delineate freedom of expression (or “free speech”) in a manner that is somewhat different than the approach taken in the United States. I therefore encourage you to educate yourself, if need be, as to what is acceptable in Canada and to do so before your planned visit here. You will realize that Canadian law puts reasonable limits on the freedom of expression. For example, promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges. Outside of the criminal realm, Canadian defamation laws also limit freedom of expression and may differ somewhat from those to which you are accustomed. I therefore ask you, while you are a guest on our campus, to weigh your words with respect and civility in mind. There is a strong tradition in Canada, including at this University, of restraint, respect and consideration in expressing even provocative and controversial opinions and urge you to respect that Canadian tradition while on our campus. Hopefully, you will understand and agree that what may, at first glance, seem like unnecessary restrictions to freedom of expression do, in fact, lead not only to a more civilized discussion, but to a more meaningful, reasoned and intelligent one as well.

I hope you will enjoy your stay in our beautiful country, city and campus.

Sincerely,

François Houle.”
‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑
Vice-recteur aux études / Vice-President Academic and Provost
Université d’Ottawa / University of Ottawa
550, rue Cumberland Street
Ottawa (ON) K1N 6N5
téléphone / telephone : 613 562-5737
télécopieur / fax : 613 562-5103
www.uOttawa.ca/vr-etudes-academic

H/T to Blazing Cat Fur

UPDATE: How embarrassing is it for us that we seem to require an American right-wing nutcase to defend Canadian freedom of speech? Good luck with the CHRC complaint, Coulter.

UPPERDATE: The humiliation just doesn’t stop. Canadian thugs stop angry Ann from speaking. Freedom of speech in the True North takes a hit along with our international reputation. Even Warren Kinsella’s embarrassed.

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Protesters No Match for Olympic Spirit in Vancouver

jnarvey — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:15:45 +0000

I wandered among the costumed weirdos and black-masked anarchists at the protest. This was the big anti-Olympics event in Vancouver on the opening day of the Games. I soon came to the conclusion that the Olympics and our city’s politicians have nothing to worry about for the duration of the games and probably for some time to come.

Ask a protester what they were rebelling against that day and you’d almost have to expect Marlon Brando’s answer from the Wild One: “What have you got?” This wasn’t a protest against the Olympics. It was a protest against “the system.” But disaffected oddballs and shadowy loners does not a revolution make.

Accompanied by my friend and fellow National Post contributor Adrian MacNair, I first met a pleasant comrade from the Young Communist League who seemed positively cheerful about the new members his group had signed up. His organization was present to make the point that government ought to be spending more on the housing, students and day care rather than Olympics. Those are actually policies that I’d be happy to get on board with. Still, you don’t have to be a follower of an ideology legitimizing mass murder and gulags to get that done. He seemed awfully polite. I assume he’ll go mainstream at some point an inevitably join up with the NDP.

Then I met the man disguised by a mask imprinted with the words “free speech area”. When I asked him what he actually had to say about the Olympics — or anything, for that matter — he clammed up. Evidently, free speech is a right best reserved for times other than when pretty much everyone in the world wants to know what you have to say.

I met a young Cree woman who carried a sign that claimed “Canada is Illegal”. Her group, “No One is Illegal”, evidently believes that the Olympics organizers ought to have gotten the written consent of every living First Nations person in the country before proceeding with the event. The enthusiastic support of the Four Host First Nations that have actually resided here since before the arrival of the first Europeans evidently wasn’t good enough.

Next up was the lady in town from Sochi to protest having the next Olympics in a region steeped in the memory of the 100-year old genocide of 1.5 million Circassians by Czarist Russia. She seemed earnest enough. But I honestly don’t know if Russians, much less Canadians, will even see a real connection between this historical tragedy and the 2014 Winter Olympics. Besides, if the Russians can’t do anything official on a part of their territory that hasn’t already been steeped in blood or mired in historical injustice, well, the world’s biggest country is going to have an awful time finding anywhere they can hold any sort of international event.

Then there was the group shouting “Shut down the tar sands!” Protest signs indicated that the Olympics were somehow responsible for mass-murder as a result of our odd habit of digging up stuff out of our ground that people all over the world seem to need to run their factories and heat their homes. I have to confess, I never bothered to talk to anyone about this. I’d already gone down enough rabbit holes.

The point is that the protesters against the Olympics are guided by a hundred different agendas. None of them really has much to do with the Olympics. That’s why the event only pulled in a few hundred angry souls, surrounded by a larger number of curious spectators who were not necessarily in sympathy with any of their goals.

The time to disrupt the games was clearly on the first day. But the lunatic fringe seems only to have alienated a wider base by their odd rhetoric. They didn’t pull the numbers and by the time the Olympics opening ceremonies were set to begin, most of the protesters who came out were already sullenly on their way home to plot and plan… and probably do nothing else for the next few weeks. The reinforced lines of police, some on horseback, that came to greet the rally were not pressured as at the “Battle of Seattle” or similar venues. It seems that the Games can safely ignore the divided and not particularly successful protests from here on in.

I decided to find out for myself what these protests were all about

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And You Thought That Mohammad Cartoon Thing Was Over

jnarvey — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 03:18:09 +0000

Not so much. 2010 is already looking a lot like the rest of the last decade since 9/11. The latest incident:

Danish police have shot and wounded a man at the home of Kurt Westergaard, whose cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad sparked an international row.

Mr Westergaard was at home in Aarhus when a man broke in and threatened him. He pressed a panic button and police entered the house and shot the man.

Danish officials said the intruder was a 28-year-old Somali linked to the radical Islamist al-Shabab militia.

Clearly, the strategy of laying low and spending millions of dollars to provide security for those under threat by fanatics isn’t working. Instead, how about locking up those local citizens threatening to carry out such attacks, or who condone such violence? And as a rule, cutting off diplomatic relations with nations that officially issue these sorts of extrajudicial death sentences?

Putting the victim of the threat under what amounts to house arrest indefinitely has obviously done little to actually make them more secure or deter these maniacs. It didn’t work with Salman Rushdie. It doesn’t work today, either. Our freedoms deserve a far more robust defense than has so far been on offer.

Muhammed cartoon artist Kurt Westergaard interview

Further Reading
The Attack On Kurt Westergaard
The Noble Quest to Silence Kurt Westergaard
The Qu’ran Apparently Demands Incompetence

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Canada Less Free than Latvia

jnarvey — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:57:13 +0000

Reporters Without Borders reports that Canada’s freedom of speech has measurably suffered, apparently due in part to the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s censorious activities (Details at Ezra Levant’s blog). Chris Waddell, a journalism professor at Carleton University, criticizes the institution in the CP thusly:

Waddell says the second thing that comes to mind is the Canadian Human Rights Commission, which has come under fire recently over a couple of high-profile cases.

One of those cases involved a Mark Steyn book excerpt on the Maclean’s magazine web site. The excerpt was accused of promoting hatred and contempt of Muslims.

That case was tossed out, but led some to demand that the commission be disbanded.

Mind you, we’re still ahead of the Yanks. Apparently, the Danes are today’s beacon of freedom in the world.

Getting back to the point, though, isn’t it long past time to disband the CHRC?

Rex Murphy’s Take on the CHRC

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