Another nail in the coffin of Free Speech? You decide.
*yawn*
Laws like this have been passed before with basically zero effect. More as a 'backup' in case things get really bad. Realistically, you wont see anyone being arrested for protesting the war.
Not trying to justify it, just trying to clarify it for those who don't live here and haven't a clue
Laws like this have been passed before with basically zero effect. More as a 'backup' in case things get really bad. Realistically, you wont see anyone being arrested for protesting the war.
Not trying to justify it, just trying to clarify it for those who don't live here and haven't a clue
Like I said, "you decide". This thread is agenda-free :up:
I haven't been arsed voicing my opinion on anything of this flavour for a while (most don't care, many don't get it and I'm just over it), so I thought I'd throw this up and let people make their own minds up.
I guess we'll see what we'll see. The cold fact is, though, this current government's set back US economic & diplomatic progress pretty far since 2001 - if you look at the record, it's all a lot worse than it was during the shameful Nixon era (even George's approval rating - hovering around 27% - is worse than Tricky Dick's). I wouldn't be surprised to see a whole lot more questionable declarations coming out of the Whitehouse before 2008 and the citizenry should remain vigilant ... just remember that patriotism is being loyal to your country - not your government.
BTW you don't necessarily have to live in a place to understand what's being done to it - in fact, sometimes, the closer you are to something, the less able you are to focus on it or view it objectively
I haven't been arsed voicing my opinion on anything of this flavour for a while (most don't care, many don't get it and I'm just over it), so I thought I'd throw this up and let people make their own minds up.
I guess we'll see what we'll see. The cold fact is, though, this current government's set back US economic & diplomatic progress pretty far since 2001 - if you look at the record, it's all a lot worse than it was during the shameful Nixon era (even George's approval rating - hovering around 27% - is worse than Tricky Dick's). I wouldn't be surprised to see a whole lot more questionable declarations coming out of the Whitehouse before 2008 and the citizenry should remain vigilant ... just remember that patriotism is being loyal to your country - not your government.
BTW you don't necessarily have to live in a place to understand what's being done to it - in fact, sometimes, the closer you are to something, the less able you are to focus on it or view it objectively
Then why have the law? Wouldn't other laws step in if things "get really bad"? Surely if people riot and burn cities to the ground there should be more than enough laws in place to prosecute the ones responsible?
Frankly, this is stuff I'd expect from 3rd world dictatorships, and it chills me to the bone that they get away with it with little drama.
Reminds me of an episode of 'Bullshit' about gun control. The basic conclusion was that there should be a revolt every so often to keep the gov't in check, and make sure they're afraid of the people... not the other way around. Amusing show, really. Buddy of mine picked up season 3 on DVD at a used DVD place in downtown Toronto. Some funny crap (especially the 'Life Coaching' episode)
I saw that episode and have to agree with it. It's just a shame that most of the citizens of this country have been stripped of their rights and tools to manage such a revolt. If anything, it'd just turn into another masacre of innocent civilians ala The Orangeburg Massacre of 1968. Either way, the government is out of control. Unfortunately, unlike what we're claiming to do, we have no outside countries willing to help the citizens of this country overcome our oppression. Nope, we usually just get criticized as if every American agrees with the current situation
Well, I sure don't think that. I'm positive a large number of Americans know all too well that their most dangerous enemy is their government but feel completely powerless to do anything about it. I mean, how can they be expected to feel inspired to move toward meaningful change when something as simple and small as a viewpoint that conflicts with Washington D.C. doesn't even get mainstream airtime or press coverage? The current government has become so good and so efficient at destroying anyone who disagrees with them or shutting down avenues of discussion or simply clouding and confusing any issue that arises that it's hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel. Taking a man's voice is a lot worse and lot more effective than taking his guns away ...
I pity those who just discovered that the government actually doesn't care about "the people" at all. This is something I have known all along. If you can't beat 'em, be 'em. That's my opinion! *wink* *wink*
One thing is for sure: If you think that once a democrat gets elected you can once again trust the government, you will be in for a big suprise.
And that's basically what the media here has done. Twist it (our voice) and contort it until it suits the larger picture they want to display to the rest of the world. Free press is anything but, in the States
Sometimes, war is inevitable.
Madness? THIS. IS. THE MIDDLE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAST!
Madness? THIS. IS. THE MIDDLE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAST!
That's why you don't protest. Which do you value more, fighting for 'the cause', or your life?
Fighting for the cause is fighting for my life, otherwise I can just sit and wait for a SCUD or a Kassam to hit me.
Thanks for your contribution Bullhorn, totally off-topic tangent that it is. Noone's talking about the war or "THE MIDDLE EEEeeAST!!1one", or "the cause" (whatever that may be - I do have an inkling but it likely demands its own thread). The topic at hand is American freedom of speech and its status as an endangered species.
Although this interview with a long-time AT&T employee, dealing with covert & illegal NSA surveillance of the internet, is a closely related issue.
Although this interview with a long-time AT&T employee, dealing with covert & illegal NSA surveillance of the internet, is a closely related issue.
I just said 'Sometimes war is inevitable', wheel4hummer did the action of derailing it. :3
You've been a member long enough to know not to listen to w4hummer 
j/k hummer =D
j/k hummer =D
There's only one option.
Everyone move to Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, P.E.I, and New Brunswick, to escape from the crazy American.
Fun fact: When Bush got his Colonoscopy, they were looking for his head.
Everyone move to Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, P.E.I, and New Brunswick, to escape from the crazy American.
Fun fact: When Bush got his Colonoscopy, they were looking for his head.
But I wanna live in BC 
On a side note... where is Nanaimo, Dustin? It sounds familiar, but I might be thinking of a snack bar...
On a side note... where is Nanaimo, Dustin? It sounds familiar, but I might be thinking of a snack bar...
I've never been a bush critic, until this year that is. What those guys at the white house nowadays are doing is crazy.
The whole war on terror was based on keeping the values of a democracy intact, which include freedom of speech.
We fight enemies who want to impose different values on us, but now Bush is taking the values of the enemy, and forcing it upon his own people, which is total madness if you ask me
I remember last summer, when i was deployed, that people in tel aviv were demonstrating against the war (which was distasteful imo), but no one prevented them from demonstrating. Imo that is a democracy, and I'm quite disgusted that Bush is redefining what a democracy is.
The whole war on terror was based on keeping the values of a democracy intact, which include freedom of speech.
We fight enemies who want to impose different values on us, but now Bush is taking the values of the enemy, and forcing it upon his own people, which is total madness if you ask me
I remember last summer, when i was deployed, that people in tel aviv were demonstrating against the war (which was distasteful imo), but no one prevented them from demonstrating. Imo that is a democracy, and I'm quite disgusted that Bush is redefining what a democracy is.
You completely mis-understood what I meant. I am talking about the idiots who stand on the white house lawn thinking that they are actually doing something useful by holding a stupid sign.
They are doing something useful and they'll keep doing it, it's just that a lot of idiots (less and less each passing day) don't recognise it yet.
By standing there with a big sign calling Bush a nazi? Yeah, real useful.
Voicing dissent, whether you like it or not, is always a courageous act, and if the Indymedia post is true, it will be even more so.
Watada, Sheehan, Tillman, Sarandon, the Dixie Chicks, Lipscomb... these names are only a few, but you could name thousands of people who paid a price to voice their opinions, whether you like them or not. You fail to understand that crucial point because you don't respect it, and you fail to understand its usefulness because you don't see it as a growing process. I do. I was in Aviano with 15000 people to voice dissent about an impending war. We didn't think we had a single chance to stop it, but we were there to show we cared, with signs too.
It did make a difference at least for my conscience, and it makes a difference now that I can say, as I did time ago, that this war was both morally and strategically wrong, and lost from the start, without losing an inch of my credibility.
Read this to know more about the past and, if you're able to draw comparisons, the present.
So, W4H, you're too much of a chicken to stand there and say that something is wrong? You'd rather see thousands of your fellow patriots, and millions of innocents, die?
That's pretty low.
That's pretty low.
You already live in Canada! Knob
Nanaimo, is a mystical place, not found on maps, and if you get within 100 ft. of either the Horseshoe Bay or Tsawwassen ferry terminals in Vancouver, you instantly disintegrate unless you're born in Nanaimo.
Another nail in the coffin of Free Speech? You decide.
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