Slashdot Mirror
US Plummets On World Press Freedom Ranking
Jeremiah Cornelius writes "Reporters Without Borders released its 2011-2012 global Press Freedom Index. The indicators for press freedom in the U.S. are dramatic, with a downward movement from 27th to 47th in the global ranking, from the previous year. Much of this is correlated directly to the arrest and incarceration of American journalists covering the 'Occupy' protest movements in New York and across the country. 'This is especially troubling as we head into an election year which is sure to spark new conflicts between police and press covering rallies, protests and political events.' Only Chile, who dropped from 33 to 80, joined the U.S. in falling over 100% of their previous ranking. Similarly, Chile was downgraded for 'freedom of information violations committed by the security forces during student protests.'"
The American government should shut down this website before the news gets out.
Meaningless metric. What matters is how many places up or down you move.
I'm surprised the US isn't lower.
I don't think they'd rate a Brave New World-esque media as "free".
http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-05-Amusing-Ourselves-to-Death.html
Memorable quotes for
Looker (1981)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082677/quotes
"John Reston: Television can control public opinion more effectively than armies of secret police, because television is entirely voluntary. The American government forces our children to attend school, but nobody forces them to watch T.V. Americans of all ages *submit* to television. Television is the American ideal. Persuasion without coercion. Nobody makes us watch. Who could have predicted that a *free* people would voluntarily spend one fifth of their lives sitting in front of a *box* with pictures? Fifteen years sitting in prison is punishment. But 15 years sitting in front of a television set is entertainment. And the average American now spends more than one and a half years of his life just watching television commercials. Fifty minutes, every day of his life, watching commercials. Now, that's power. "
"The United States has it's own propaganda, but it's very effective because people don't realize that it's propaganda. And it's subtle, but it's actually a much stronger propaganda machine than the Nazis had but it's funded in a different way. With the Nazis it was funded by the government, but in the United States, it's funded by corporations and corporations they only want things to happen that will make people want to buy stuff. So whatever that is, then that is considered okay and good, but that doesn't necessarily mean it really serves people's thinking - it can stupify and make not very good things happen."
-- Crispin Glover: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000417/bio
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, CIA Director
...that the US would plummet on World Press Freedom rankings given that Fox News literally won the right in court to lie to its viewers.
does freedom of the press have anything to do with freedom to go anywhere you want? Freedom of the press is about publishing without interference, not about being able to go anywhere one wants. What happened to the journalists trying to cover OWS was no good, but it wasn't a freedom of the press issue.
Thank the drug war and the war on terror for the militarization of the police.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/164695/former-seattle-police-chief-ows-reveals-militarization-our-police-forces
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
How is 27 to 47 considered falling over 100%?
comment removed
Seven of the nations that rank "more free" than the United States are former Soviet bloc states.
Pretend there is some witty statement here.
In order to have a strong country, perhaps greater stability is indeed more important than freedom. We say Russia needs a strong leader like Putin to clamp down on forces that would fracture the republic, we say Chinese censorship is necessary because wealth comes from stability. These voices on Slashdot were heralded by its viewers, will they too herald similar American voices?
When you start trying to execute journalists and their sources.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
In other news, US dropped 110% in world math rankings...
Given the simply *massive* amount of coverage that the "Occupy" protests got and the sheer amount of "journalists" covering all of the various camp-ins, sit-ins, poop-on-cop-car-ins, etc... that happened, I don't remember seeing/hearing much about any journalists being arrested.
That could be because maybe their freedom of speech was being restricted, although I remember all the countless hours of "our freedom of speech is being violated" interviews, articles, and counter-counter-protests, and docu-dramas -- but not that. /snark
I would like to know the following:
1). The exact *TOTAL* number of reporters that were arrested covering "Occupy" in the US. So far I see one.
1). Percentage, as a whole, of reporters that were arrested or detained directly covering the "Occupy" movement. Raw numbers would be nice as well.
2). Percentage of reporters arrested that were violating a federal, state, or municipal law at the time.
3). Percentage of reporters arrested that were accredited journalists with professional news organizations rather than blogs/activist newspapers/facebook posters.
I didn't see a whole lot of journalistic "repression" going on while I did see a lot of very mixed-up people talk endlessly about how they're being repressed to the nearest video camera or recording device while violating laws. I got nearly two months of media coverage in video, press, and web forms. I couldn't turn on the news without hearing about "Occupy".
Holland keeps its third place but loses a whole 9 points (US lost 14), the only reason we are still 3rd is because everyone started from a worse positin but it is hardly good. Wonder if anyone dares to call out Rukker on this (Previous Prime Minsters was Bakellende, the cambion offspring off Bush and Blair, Rukker is that guys pet rock, an object with absolutely no ideas, opinions or passion)... doubt it, probably everyone pats themselves on the back for still being 3rd no matter how steep the downwards slope is.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I hope this indicates that Reporters Without Borders is moving towards some independence and partisan neutrality, unlike their past performance.
You can either take money from Otto Reich, or you can be an impartial, credible advocate of press freedom. You can't do both.
Reporters Without Borders has chosen to take money from Otto Reich.
As this Wikipedia article explains, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reporters_Without_Borders#Controversies Reich was engaging in propaganda to support military campaigns against left-wing governments governments in Latin America, and he was on the board of the School of the Americas, which trained people in torture and executions.
They accused the Aristide government in Haiti of attacks on the opposition press, but they ignored attacks on journalists under the Latortue government.
"free to do as we tell you" more likely.
Come on here, is this really a big surprise? Its only been, what, 50 years before Americans were easily (without trial or anything) financially and completely ruined because the government suspected that they might hold communistic ideals....
That's right; in the "land of the free" people were easily ruined because the government suspected they had certain ideals. People were attacked for their possible ideas; NOT for what they did or didn't do. Don't believe me (I know I wouldn't believe such a horror story) ? Look up McCarthy or worse: McCarthyism.
Really; this shouldn't come as any surprise what so ever. "The ends justify the means" remember? After all; Saddam Hussein had WOD's too right? And; "If you're not with us....".
"John Reston: Television can control public opinion more effectively than armies of secret police, because television is entirely voluntary. The American government forces our children to attend school, but nobody forces them to watch T.V. Americans of all ages *submit* to television. Television is the American ideal. Persuasion without coercion. Nobody makes us watch. Who could have predicted that a *free* people would voluntarily spend one fifth of their lives sitting in front of a *box* with pictures? Fifteen years sitting in prison is punishment. But 15 years sitting in front of a television set is entertainment. And the average American now spends more than one and a half years of his life just watching television commercials. Fifty minutes, every day of his life, watching commercials. Now, that's power. "
Joke is on you! I don't watch news or commercials!
"The United States has it's own propaganda, but it's very effective because people don't realize that it's propaganda. And it's subtle, but it's actually a much stronger propaganda machine than the Nazis had but it's funded in a different way. With the Nazis it was funded by the government, but in the United States, it's funded by corporations and corporations they only want things to happen that will make people want to buy stuff. So whatever that is, then that is considered okay and good, but that doesn't necessarily mean it really serves people's thinking - it can stupify and make not very good things happen."
Now THIS is important, because Hollywood is the largest propaganda machine in the history. Have you recently noticed the shift from the "bad Colombian drug lords" to the "Ugly, childish and corrupt Venezuelan government"? As countries polish the shoes of the country, they get to pass the "bad looking" press Hollywood can make.
I'd be interested to see if there are any correlations between dips in this rating and the occurrence of election years. Also whether or not this is at all cyclical based on whether a government is in its first or later term.
"They Live" was Rowdy Roddy Pipers crowning cinematographic masterpiece.
THL phish sticks
These "press freedom" rankings are obvious bullshit.
In at least two of these countries ranked higher than the United States on this list, one can be arrested by asserting that certain historical events did not happen as alleged.
That, and there's no way the servile, state-dominated press of places like Sweden can outrank the United States in any honest report.
I am the tool of the government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think Im delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin out
From your tv set
-- Frank Zappa "The Slime"
The arrest of journalist Kristyna Wentz-Graff was not part of some systematic crack down on reporters/journalists. At best it was a swamped cop dealing with a large group and not noticing her credentials, at worst it was an idiot cop, maybe both. To infer, as I think the FA does, that the US is arresting journalists as part of some nation wide crackdown is completely false, or at least very misleading.
If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
"Only Chile, who dropped from 33 to 80, joined the U.S. in falling over 100% of their previous ranking."
To fall 100%, the US would have had to have fallen from 27 to 54. It fell to 47 so it isn't joining Chile.
We're FREE here in 'Murica!!!! [fingers in ears] *la la la la la la la la la....*
giggity
To quote Brother George Carlin:
The real owners are the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians, they're an irrelevancy. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They've long since bought and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the statehouses, the city halls. They've got the judges in their back pockets. And they own all the big media companies, so that they control just about all of the news and information you hear. They've got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying lobbying to get what they want. Well, we know what they want; they want more for themselves and less for everybody else.
But I'll tell you what they don't want. They don't want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don't want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. They're not interested in that. That doesn't help them. That's against their interests. They don't want people who are smart enough to sit around the kitchen table and figure out how badly they're getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago.
You know what they want? Obedient workers people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork but just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it. And, now, they're coming for your Social Security. They want your fucking retirement money. They want it back, so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street. And you know something? They'll get it. They'll get it all, sooner or later, because they own this fucking place. It's a big club, and you ain't in it. You and I are not in the big club.
This country is finished.
~X~
If they consider direct media ownership by government officials as impinging on freedom of information. For example, Italy's Berlusconi owned controlling interest in much of Italy's media. He received quite a bit more consideration than any other politician would in the modern era. For any other politician a sex scandal would have been a blow to their career, while Berlusconi was only sank by Italy's near bankruptcy. As another example, on the same note, there is very little negative coverage of mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg. While he does not technically run the company, he does own Bloomberg LP which owns Bloomberg TV and US News. He is an unmarried man and most people don't even know the name of his girlfriend(girlfriends?). This is quite a fit for a politician of such high visibility. Clearly, the more media a politician owns, the less negative or controversial coverage they get.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
This is just another in a succession of stories on ./ today that has deeply shaken my faith in democracy and liberty in the civilized world. Earlier today (or maybe last night) there was a story posted about proposed legislation that would require ISPs to log all internet activity of customers in HI for 2 years, which would be accessible to law enforcement (or just about anyone) without a warrant or court order. Add to this the articles about DMCA exemptions for jailbreaking of devices, which are about to expire, and ACTA being signed by 22 European countries. Today, ./ also brought news of the demise of the market for used console games (thanks to Microsoft), the NASDAQ delisting a broadcasting company under pressure from the Chinese government, and a new law that would provide for indefinite logging and retention of online activity of Australian citizens.
SOPA may be on hold, but I fear that we might be losing the war against big content providers and others who want to restrict our rights for financial or political gain. While I appreciate being made aware of these troubling developments, I find today's news to be incredibly distressing and depressing. While the war isn't over, I feel the balance is beginning to shift against us. What else can we do to tip the scales?
Facts have a liberal bias.
I'm not going to claim that the US is perfect with regards to the press, but most of RSF's complaints seem questionable to me -- in particular, those regarding covering the Occupy movement. If you put yourself in the middle of a crowd control situation, you risk being lumped in with the crowd, even if you're just covering it, especially since there were a fair number of people who were part of the protest movement while operating in a quasi-journalist mode as well (taking pics/vids to post, etc). Whether you agree with (say) the police clearing out a park where the protestors are camped, someone who is ordered to get out and doesn't, is going to get arrested, whether they're a report or not. I'm not condoning police getting out of control, but it's not a press freedom issue just because some journalists get swept up in it.
There are a few more things like that, regarding countries other than the United States, in the full report. For example, India gets dinged because "journalists were exposed to violence stemming from the persistent conflicts in the states of Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir." Umm, if you go into a war zone, you run the risk of being "exposed to violence." It's as if RSF expects journalists to be surrounded by some sort of holy aura whenever they go into chaotic or even deadly situations. Don't get me wrong, I have great admiration for the reporters brave enough to cover a war, but it's only a violation of press freedom if they get targeted because they're journalists.
"The Greens lynched a hacker in Chicago. Last month, but I think the body's still hanging from the old Water Tower."
Fifteen years sitting in prison is punishment. But 15 years sitting in front of a television set is entertainment.
But I enjoy watching TV shows (not all of them, the ones I chose to wach). I would not enjoy sitting in prison. I would much prefer to do things that I enjoy than things I don't enjoy. Why is it shocking then that I should spend a lot of time doing something I enjoy -- without coercion naturally -- instead of something I don't?
It's not particularly democratic (or respectful of other individuals) to disregard individual preferences even when you might have different ones. This sort of haughty attitude doesn't further your cause either -- it makes it seem like you don't respect other's choices and want to substitute your own.
Some more primitive states in the USA do not have laws requiring the reporting of abuse. My state has had them for a long time. Prior to those laws, every school district had a policy in place to follow and I doubt any of them involved telling the police or the press (that is for management to handle...) If you did you could be fired for insubordination for directly violating the policy and damaging the appearance of the institution or at least punished for it... (don't forget about vindictive administrators who can wait to fire you without reason a year later, unless a union is involved in which case it takes a little more effort and motivation.)
Since that law was passed nobody gets punished for following the law and if they did, it would be a massive lawsuit and bad press if not possibly criminal charges if they made any kind of attempt to suppress the 'leak'.
The culture here is warped on the issues by social issues and selfishness; especially the management mentality we have here. It is so bad we HAD to pass a law separating whistle-blowers from their organizational culture and especially the management's sick biases! IT WAS THAT BIG OF A PROBLEM. Now we end up with some over reporting.
My high school dean was fired for reporting crimes to the press; the school board and principle didn't want the crimes known to the public. They didn't report a lot of what happened because of the city&schools reputation. The Dean was fired for letting the press record a crime and his reward was to be forced into early retirement or be fired. I think he should have gotten fired and gone to the press... our 'right to work' laws ironically undermine all such rights; even more contradictory in labeling than the PATRIOT act.
If you look at what was replaced by the Constitution, is that a bunch of freeloaders called Americans replaced Constitutions article-at-a-time and didn't even pay any consideration for freedoms they supposedly secured.
Just like how many demand free press and rights to post on Slasdhdot but not one ever payed the hosting bill or the editors and journalists.
Personally, if they gave me my own spacious cave/cell like Hannibal Lecter with free WIFI for reading slashdot and visiting FBI trainees asking about C++ rules for sequence points, I'd consider it.
That seems like a kind of "big fish in a small pond" comparison.
Maybe the writers and producers have their own ideas, and as one perceived evil falls apart, they focus on the next. Nah, it can't be that they fancy themselves artist, it's because they are getting payed by Columbians!
This thing reminds me of the doomsday clock.
It's just the opinion of a group of people... the validity of the claim is entirely dependent on their judgment.
Here's a question... what is their judgement rating? Anyone bother to rank them? Is there ever an audit of their reliability?
If not... then how do we know that the broken thermometer isn't telling us it's getting colder or warmer? Have to test the instruments.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Like AC, I'm the exception to the rule. I don't watch television. But, that doesn't affect GP's post, or the analysis in the post. For 50 years, I've watched family and friends sitting in front of that boob tube, allowing their thoughts and views to be shaped by the news, by advertising, by the "entertainment" industry. Like sheep, people watch those media hucksters so that they know what to think, how to act, when and where to shop, and what to buy, what to eat.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
See? Now you know why it's so important to lock up all these internet 'pirates' who threaten this most important propaganda apparatus. We must pass SOPA and PIPA and extend copyright indefinitely. And it would be most wise to look up who funded the Nazi government. Hint: It was private enterprise. A fact that a few goofy, phony baloney 'libertarians' just won't accept, and will defend any authoritarian regime to the death if there's something in it for them
"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's" -- Matthew 22:21
The "God" of your understanding has no place in politics, and if you're really worried about "gays" corrupting society, I think you're pretty misguided. Do you follow all of the commandments of the old testament? Do you still eat shellfish? "But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you." -- Leviticus 11:10
NB -- I'm not religious, but grew up in a very religious family, and I can cite scripture chapter and verse all night long -- I guess I can thank my crazy parents for something!
Facts have a liberal bias.
Get rid of scheduled lunches and other breaks, and you could call it work without a hint of sarcasm.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's" -- Matthew 22:21
The "God" of your understanding has no place in politics, and if you're really worried about "gays" corrupting society, I think you're pretty misguided. Do you follow all of the commandments of the old testament? Do you still eat shellfish? "But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you." -- Leviticus 11:10
NB -- I'm not religious, but grew up in a very religious family, and I can cite scripture chapter and verse all night long -- I guess I can thank my crazy parents for something!
good scripture. The point I was trying to make and probably will fail miserably, when we had some morals (based on the bible), things weren't nearly as nuts. Your probably right, God shouldn't be in politics, he is too smart for that. :) As far as Gay's rights, why does it seem more acceptable than getting prayer in schools, if we offend one person heaven forbid, when you take prayer (or the right to pray), this could offend many and it's banned. Yup, I guess 6 1/2 yrs of being saved and I'm a thumper. My heart hurts everyday for our country going south.
And no, for the record, when Jesus died on the cross and was raised. All the old testament stuff was "washed away". Or so I believe. I'm free in Christ and have a responsibility to speak up. "Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin" Leviticus 18:22 Not my words, those are God's.
Personally, if they gave me my own spacious cave/cell like Hannibal Lecter with free WIFI for reading slashdot and visiting FBI trainees asking about C++ rules for sequence points, I'd consider it.
In reality, the only time you get your own glass cage is when you cant stop other prisoners from throwing urine on you.
In that case, shower time would also be quite an adventure for you.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
You know, this is like the fifth time that I've seen this on Slashdot in the last week. Even so, this is copypasta I can get behind.
At least it doesn't start "Fear, control, etc." and then start ranting about the Zionist conspiracy towards a one world government or something like that...
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
I'm going to have do disagree with George Carlin on the last part of that. What they want is more than enough for themselves, and less than enough for everybody else. That way the can live high on the hog while being securely in charge of everything because everyone else is scrambling to get by. For our parents generation, this meant making people believe they needed more stuff, because there was just way to much of it. But it will not be the same for us. We will all be working our fingers to be bone while our parents retire in relative comfort. Retirement funds and social security will be protected, but younger people will work themselves to death for it. The last round of economic bailouts proved that strategy would work, so we'll probably seeing more of it over the next couple decades.
In "They Live" was the first instance of , "It's time to kick some ass and chew bubble gum...and I just ran out of gum!"
Only newfags think that saying started with Duke Nukem.
I appreciate you having the courage to reply -- it would be nice if you didn't do it as an AC, but I can't really fault you for that.
I think that the Bible, and particularly the New Testament offers pretty good guidance on a lot of thorny moral and philosophical issues (though I reserve the right to disagree at times). I picked up on your assault on "gays" because homosexuality and shellfish are given essentially the same treatment in Leviticus -- both are an "abomination". You could interpret that to mean that homosexuality is bad, or you could interpret it as meaning that homosexuality is no worse than eating shellfish, which most anti-gay advocates do.
The old testament says a bunch of contradictory things as well, which I won't go into here, but I would be happy to discuss at length if you're interested. What I'm more interested in addressing is the new testament and the core values it promotes: that we love our neighbor (broadly interpreted to mean every human being) as ourselves, and that we see spirituality as something that is personal and not political. Nowhere in the new testament did Jesus try to impose his belief system on others. He had followers, but they were free to come and go as they pleased, and governed themselves as they saw fit. Jesus was a revolutionary figure; if he were alive today he would likely oppose all armed conflict and would spend most of his time deriding the rich (as he did during his lifetime). You may think that being homosexual is bad, but the only qualities that Jesus consistently spoke out against were greed, selfishness and inordinate wealth. And if you believe that all the old testament stuff was "washed away", I don't see how you justify being against homosexuality at all, at least scripturally. The new testament is good news for believers. It says, among other things, that you can eat shrimp and be faithful in private. It also means that you should probably take the "beam" out of your own eye before attempting to fix someone else (see Matthew 7:5).
Again, I'm not religious at all, I just know scripture pretty well.
Facts have a liberal bias.
Great movie.
Another great one is: Network (1976)
Some great quotes there ...
Howard Beale: [arms outstretched to the heavens] Edward George Ruddy died today! Edward George Ruddy was the Chairman of the Board of the Union Broadcasting Systems, and he died at eleven o'clock this morning of a heart condition, and woe is us! We're in a lot of trouble!
Howard Beale: [calmly strolling toward the audience] So. A rich little man with white hair died. What has that got to do with the price of rice, right? And *why* is that woe to us? Because you people, and sixty-two million other Americans, are listening to me right now. Because less than three percent of you people read books! Because less than fifteen percent of you read newspapers! Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube. Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube! This tube is the Gospel, the ultimate revelation. This tube can make or break presidents, popes, prime ministers... This tube is the most awesome God-damned force in the whole godless world, and woe is us if it ever falls in to the hands of the wrong people, and that's why woe is us that Edward George Ruddy died. Because this company is now in the hands of CCA - the Communication Corporation of America. There's a new Chairman of the Board, a man called Frank Hackett, sitting in Mr. Ruddy's office on the twentieth floor. And when the twelfth largest company in the world controls the most awesome God-damned propoganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what shit will be peddled for truth on this network?
Howard Beale: [ascending the stage] So, you listen to me. Listen to me: Television is not the truth! Television is a God-damned amusement park! Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, side-show freaks, lion tamers, and football players. We're in the boredom-killing business! So if you want the truth... Go to God! Go to your gurus! Go to yourselves! Because that's the only place you're ever going to find any real truth.
I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, God damn it! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got
One of those rare movies that managed to fold some social commentary into a good action flick. The other one that pulled it off was Robocop which might even be more apropos.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
Bob: You stupid ignorant little girl. You think you can just pout and decide that you don't want to play anymore? I mean where do you think you are? Don't you understand anything that I've said?
Maggie: I mean it.
Bob: You don't know what you're talking about.
Maggie: I'm through! I'm out!
Bob: Listen, which word don't you understand? There is no out, there is no through, there is no out!
"you don't respect other's choices"
WOOSH! And the post went right over your programmed head.
Icelandic journalists complain of losing libel cases when all they've done is to publish court records, of fear of retaliation, and of a climate of self-censorship.
One broadcaster was hit with an injunction to prevent them from publishing details about banking misconduct.
Iceland was one of the top-rated countries in that report.
A day of national rejoice.
A day of national gratitude.
A day when WE say unmistakably to the President of the United States of America to FUCK OFF and BE DEAD.
A day to rejoice.
PS: the tarmac trama was a "Lovers Quarrel"! Obama-Boy will be the first sitting, alive or dead Pres, to Ax (aka Lizzie Borden) his married wife for a blonde "[Wh]'ore.
Snicker snicker
When he says Militarization, he means tanks, heavy automatic weapons and other military grade equipment & tactics. Also, he means the laws to back it up. The patriot act was used against American citizens on US Soil (e.g. provisions of it were employed to allow coordination against protestors). The level of organization, manpower and resources that went into crushing the Occupy Wall Street movement makes the 60s era anti-civil rights movement look like a bunch of hillbillies doing a civil war re-enactment.
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The world's going to hell in a hand basket. Fear is being used to push radical right-wing ideologies just about everywhere. It's pretty hard to imagine anyone improving, much less everyone. This is all understood from context.
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Is that the US would have been in the top 20 since the 1970s....
US "(and I mean quote)media" can't even qualify as a lapdog; unless your lapdog sucks your cock 24/7. After the stories of Nixon (the pardoned traitor) got out, the US news industry has been relegated to being a puppet of the GOP and the industries that own the GOP.
The ranking is somewhat "arbitrary", for example it puts Equatorial Guinea way over Iran and China, in terms of "press freedom".
Well, it is more or less impossible for any journalist to go to EG, and there is no written press at all (only one "free publicity mag", and one randomly published government "daily" that comes out about 5 to 10 times a year, and no library, bookshop, ...)
So of course there is little "oppression", once you suppressed all the press...
In contrast the press in Iran and China is regularly oppressed but at least exist.
Hungary abolished all independent news outlets and moved all public ones under close control of the government while the threat of nationalist-extremists towards any dissenters increases. How the hell are they still at only +10?
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
The press freedom index is little more than a compilation of the opinions and beliefs of journalists across the world, based on questionnaires. There is no calibration for cultural differences, no verification or validation, no guarantee of unbiased sampling, little to ensure objectivity. Look at the questionnaire yourself:
http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/quest_en.pdf
The very first question is "During [the last year], were there any cases of journalists 1. Being illegally detained (without an arrest warrant, for longer than the maximum period of police custody, without a court appearance etc)?" Now think about that. In what way are random journalists qualified to answer this question? How can they even answer that question? In most cases, legality hasn't even been determined in the courts by then. In countries in which the media are fully or partially controlled or operated by the government, "journalists" would have a strong bias in favor of the government and they would be unlikely to be detained, because anybody critical of the government wouldn't even get hired; yes, to some degree this is true even in Western Europe. And in countries with few legal protections for journalists, detentions of journalists would be much more likely to be legal.
Mostly, what this attests to is utter incompetence on the part of RSF and the journalists who sign responsible for it.
Fictional characterisations aren't anybody's saviour. Also, gays? What's wrong with that? Animals do it. You know what animals don't do, though? They don't worship a fictional deity. Suck it, bitch, ain't nobody coming to save your arse when you die. You're just going to stop. No heaven, no hell, no haunting, no reincarnation, and most especially, no big blackness of nothing. You just stop.
Also, the people running big business and government today? They grew up in your fairy tale land of goodness and happy, yet they keep doing their best to screw everyone over. Desperation spreads, and the people are in need.
No, they don't. The "index" is a compilation of the responses from journalists in that country. So, in the case of Italy, they sent questionnaires to Berlusconi-owned media outlets and asked them "do you feel oppressed". What do you think the responses were going to be?
Oh, he would be covered in this kind of report. US journalists might or might not throw dirt at Bloomberg, but in this kind of anonymous survey, their response is likely to be the equivalent of "we here at ____ are not oppressed and are totally rational and independent, but the journalists over at _______ are pressured and biased."
The fact that Berlusconi owns most of Italy's private media works in favor of Italy's "press freedom index" because most of the people responding are going to work for him. The fact that the US has lots of media outlets with a huge range of political views and financing models, whose journalists often hate each other's guts, works against the US press freedom index, because they all are going to point fingers at each other.
Apparently, even Berlusconi has trouble to find enough people to present a better picture and doesn't quite have the control of Il Duce yet. But I imagine that if you had sent this to Nazi Germany, its government approved corps of journalists would have given it nearly perfect marks.
You work for Foxconn too?
If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
But since Leviticus is from the Old Testament, the command to not practice homosexuality would have been washed away no?
And no, for the record, when Jesus died on the cross and was raised. All the old testament stuff was "washed away". Or so I believe. I'm free in Christ and have a responsibility to speak up. "Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin" Leviticus 18:22 Not my words, those are God's.
Who promise wam fuzzies of one type or another.
It isn't left vs right. It's authoritarian vs autarchic.
There are a couple of ironies which are missed in American politics. It's rather bewildering to watch from the outside.
1. On the liberal side: How can liberal ideals, which are literally those which pertain to being free, possibly be accomplished by handing more authority to a centralised bureaucracy?
2. On the conservative side: How can conservative ideals, such as lower taxation possibly be accomplished by increasing legislation, rules, regulations on social issues like abortion, drugs or increasing spending on military or law enforcement?
Both points of view, liberal and conservative are logically inconsistent with the methods being used to achieve them.
It seems to me that you are voting along the wrong axes. The true axis is authoritarian vs autarchic (I won't use the word "liberal" because the meaning has been perverted) and both sides; republican and democrat are authoritarian.
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what a bunch of Euro-worshipping metrosexual apologists there are on Slashtard! ROFLMAO!
*throwing* urine at you? Methinks that there would be a altogether more direct delivery method.
Reporters without borders is about protecting the special prerogatives of professional journalists. It is their habit to conflate these privileges with freedom of expression. Really this is just an index of how free reporters are to thumb their noses at local law and custom, not the ability of the populace to publish dissenting views. Sometimes the two align, sometimes not.
The "liberal" side is somewhat socialistic, and the "conservative" side somewhat authoritarian. Regardless, both are big government. Without a shadow of a doubt.
Most murder stories don't cover the religion of those involved in the U.S. Most murders are Christians murdering other Christians.
Granted, most U.S. citizens are Christian. Maybe there is a good reason to point out the religion, but you didn't make a case for it.
Do you think we should always discuss religion in murder stories, or only bring religion into it if its Islam? Fox News takes the latter stance.
Well, the liberals in charge, certainly haven't had much a problem with passing authoritarian laws and regs....NDAA anyone?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Nor should all speech be entirely free.
There's the canonical case of shouting "fire!" in a crowded movie theatre. There's also fraud -- outright lies intended to deceive and defraud are not protected either, and can be successfully prosecuted. Murdoch's entire business seems to consist of this. And, if memory serves, it's also why the equivalent of Fox News Canada was not allowed to open up shop -- the Canadian courts deemed it inappropriate to hawk known lies as news.
Cheers,
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
Good one. I also enjoy the bit about mixed fabrics. Jehovah's witnesses love it when you ask to check the tag in their shirts. My favourite though, is Exodus 21:17 (a commandment!):
"Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death."
Which is repeated (for emphasis, presumably) in Leviticus 20:9, and Jesus doesn't seem to be particularly against it in Matthew 15:4, which puts it in the old AND new testaments.
A commandment to commit honour killings in the bible. Personally, if I didn't have a problem using the bible as a moral guide before that one, I certainly would after.
Your history needs a little work. The US was founded as a secular nation. The religion wasn't injected back into your government until after WWII (except for "in God we trust" on coins). So unless you're counting 18th century and prior Europe and/or the post-1956 US as "when we had some morals (based on the bible)", you've got a problem. Personally burning heretics and arresting people for allegedly associating with people who might think communism is a neat idea isn't what I'd consider "[not nearly] as nuts."
Of course, most of our morality, including most of what's in the bible, considerably predates it. Particularly the new testament. Speaking of which, if the old testament was "washed away," why do you keep quoting it?
Thank you Collin, I believe this is the most intelligent thing I have heard on Slashdot today (and by heard I mean read. I suppose I could have deleted heard and wrote read (by wrote I mean typed) but my level of OCD doesn't allow me to correct it that way (it's all about knowing your disorder)). Have a great day (or morning, afternoon, evening, night).
You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.- Nietzsche
Why is this absolute bullshit repeated non-stop about the ACA? Or some other bullshit variant like "we have to pass it to see what's in it"? Nancy Pelosi never said that. Nobody ever said that. It is as accurate as saying Al Gore claimed he invented the internet. I guess if you repeat a lie enough, people really do believe it.
Yeah I LOL'd hard at that one. "Forget all that old testament stuff, but fuck gays (in a non-sexual way), look at this Old Testament quote that backs me up."
Leviticus, the book of crazy. Christians would do well to just pretend it doesn't exist. I kind of pity the more level-headed Christians who have to deal with this heaping pile of anti-Christian ammunition.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Although the CBC tends to lean more to the views of the Right, which recently prohibited scientists from speaking to the public without government permission. Maybe we shouldn't be rated this high...
I wonder when that quote is from? That would be interesting.
Very disappointing. Particularly so considering that the drafters of the constitution placed freedom of the press smack dab in the FIRST amendment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mA4HYTO790