Slashdot Mirror
U.S. Ranks 17th in Freedom of the Press
reimero writes "According to this article on Yahoo! Germany the U.S. has experienced "serious restrictions" in freedom of the press, according to Reporters without borders' first worldwide press freedom index. Finland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands came in tops. An interesting study, to say the least."
pp
You mean reporters without jobs....never heard of them.
WTF? Over?
getting modded down gives me an erection
In my opinion the United States of America would be further down the list. The government censors almost every tabloid out there. The only ones that they do not are Weekly World News and the National Enquirer. Anything the government wishes to remain a secret does. We might just get rumors of such, but never the full story.
Oh my G-d. My sister's dating a goyim!
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
Now THAT'S free speech. Let's watch the Slashbot Nazis moderate this message down!
I'm not the least bit suprised...it's pretty obvious that the media is owned and manipulated by jews...that's why u never hear of the atrocities that goes on in palestine, and why US is supporting Israel massacre the defenseless palestines. just an example.
Hey, fuck you, I'm finnish. Start modding down the other races first, before I shove my big finnish foot up your American asshole!
- - - - - Fear not the reaper, but my shiny white teeth.
Rather than adopting the suggested regime change in Iraq through military force, the United Natioins must instead consider an entirely different course of action. This new course is based upon the facts alone, rather than political pressure. A regime change is indeed necessary, but not in Iraq. The primary regime which needs to be changed, is the one found in Washington DC. The greatest tyrant and true threat to world peace who needs to be ousted, is George W. Bush. The facts which clearly show the need for such a resolution against the U.S. are self evident...they demonstrate a clear and present danger to the world community. America is clearly a nation which aspires to global domination, through the use of the most expensive and high tech military the world has ever known.
In demonstration of the above assertions, let us be very clear about Americas 300+ billion dollar a year expense, for weapons of mass destruction. These include;
The United States possesses, and has openly discussed using, such weapons of mass destruction upon a great number of other nations. Among these nations are those listed in George Bushs' so-called axis of evil list, as well as many others which it says, harbor terrorists. The so-called War on Terror targets Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Columbia, Nicaragua and many others. Upon these nations the U.S. has repeatedly issued a series of very aggressive and threatening statements to the effect of; You are either with us or against us, implying dire consequences of economic, diplomatic and military measures in the case of non-compliance. It has openly discussed the possibility of a first strike use of conventional nuclear warheads, and tactical nukes on the battlefield. Its' military policy of, win no matter what the cost of truth or human lives, as a surrogate for sane foreign relations, has earned the wrath of the world. U.S. belligerency has been a major contributor to international hostilities, instability, war and the creation of reactionary terrorist groups, as well as the oppression of peoples worldwide. Its irrational posture threatens to catapult the world into another, and probably final, world war.
The United States has repeatedly shown its willingness to target civilian populations with weapons of mass destruction, especially via the carpet-bombing of cities and infrastructures. It is the only nation to have ever used nuclear devices in war, and upon civilian targets. Among the structures bombed have been desalinization plants, water treatment facilities, police stations, electrical substations and generators, radar and communications stations, hospitals, highway, railway and other transportation facilities, factories for the manufacture of metal, plastic and wood products, and numerous other civilian centers. Countless examples of this behavior have been witnessed in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The result has been millions of Iraqi and Afghan children dying of unnecessary diseases and malnutrition, due to a severe lack of food and safe drinking water. U.S. allies such as Israel, (whose military it literally makes possible) have also exhibited such behavior, as has Great Britain, through constant urging toward mindless, mutually accomplished war frenzies.
A primary export of the United States is weaponry of mass destruction, including so-called conventional weapons such as guided missile cruisers, bombers, small arms, mortars, rockets, tactical advisors, self guided missiles, attack helicopters, high tech surveilance and imaging systems, tanks, explosives and various other tools desigen primarily for the sake of destroying human life. Added to this list of exports are multi-lingual propaganda, biological agents, tear and nerve gas, atomic weapons and their constituents, as well as technical advice regarding their construction, maintenance and use. The U.S. has frequently urged countries to use these weapons against each other so long as it benefitted its political interests, while simultaneously criticizing those who use them without American sanction.
Permanent State of WarThe U.S. has repeatedly told its own citizenry to expect involvement in what amounts to a Permanent State of War, due to the War on Terror. A large and increasing number of foreign nationals are being held in American prisons unlawfully, often without charges, legal due process or access to legal counsel. These persons are often subjected to psychological and physical torture due to their nationality or religious beliefs. Its' Afghan prisoners of war in Cuba are treated without dignity, in violation of the Geneva Convention. At the same time, the U.S. has insisted that its military personnel must be held exempt from war crimes charges by the international community, regardless of their actions.
The United States repeatedly defies the resolutions and authority of the United Nations, making is clear that it views this body as merely a tool which can be occasionally used to achieve its special interests, rather than those of humanity in general. America has also made it quite clear that if its desires are not met by the international community/United Nations, that it will act on its own regardless of their wishes, and in whatever manner it sees fit. This includes pre-emptive military invasion of any country which dares to oppose its policies, and for whatever flimsy, baseless justification it gives to the world as an excuse for such actions.
The international community must seriously ask itself, Who's next? in this series of American invasions of sovereign lands. Who will die next...by the thousands, tens of thousands or millions... at the bloody hands of American imperialism?
For these reasons and others, it is hereby proposed that:
The functional means necessary to achieve this goal are hereby suggested. They include;
In effect, the United States must feel the full pressure of international sovereignty, as it expresses its supreme dissatisfaction with the US imperialism around the globe.
The United States must also understand that its anti-humanitarian, corporate-minded, industrial-military schemes for global dominance are nothing short of those employed by Hitler, and other fascist dictators and governments, throughout the course of history. [Constantly declaring war and occupying one country after the next demonstrates this.] The international community, and indeed the peoples of the entire world, find this American attitude and behavior unacceptable. They will no longer be coerced or made to feel insecure in their own places of residence and worship, at the behest of American whims.
IZZY ASPER
CanWestGlobal.com
This dude owns the majority of newspapers across Canada. In my area, Vancouver, he owns both major local papers, plus a boatload of other smaller semi-weeklies, etc. Kind of hard to get good unbiased reporting regarding Vancouver & BC-related issues.
He recently fired an editor for writing a pro-palestinian editorial who didn't tow the unstated company line. Oh, did I mention Izzy Asper is a Zionist Jew?
*sigh*
Two comments:
1) On-topic: Your Russian professor is probably one of those fsck-ed up immigrants (russian or otherwise) who came to US with some weird ideas about what it's like here, got a shock when reality disagreed with their dreams and got angry at USA for it. Usually, they are not the brightest of immigrants, and I would advise you to listen to those who appreciate what they have gained by moving to US.
Having spent over 1/2 my life in USSR, I will gladly attest to the fact that the freedom (other than freedom to be a drunkard) in the US is a lot bigger than in USSR. Including freedom of the press.
If you think US is so bad, feel free to move to another country - yet another freedom that people in USSR lacked till 1990s. Such people are a lot worse than those who claim "USA is the best" without having seen anywhere else to compare - at least, the latter are consistent.
2) Off-topic: the fact that he is a professor of Russian, means that quite possible that he is an idiot, from my experience. As one of the examples, my wife's Prof is a total moron, both life-wise and also in terms of knowing his subject. So were some others I've encountered.
-DVK
"The right to figure things out for yourself is the only true freedom everyone shares. Go use it"-R.A.Heinlein
As long as you don't dispute the official story of the Holocaust, don't say anything that can be considered anti-semitic, never say Hitler had any redeeming qualities, and don't try to sell you grandfather's old medals and uniforms in the paper.
None of the above applies to me, but at least in America, if I wanted to be an idiot, racist, insensitive jerk, I have the right to make it known. How many poeple in Germany are in jail for one of the above offences?