Freedom of speech

It would be ironic and unwise for a blog named "Dull Tool Dim Bulb" to criticize any part of the "legitimate" press, but a recent court decision which found bloggers do not have the same first amendment rights or protection as journalists gives me a little pause. First, because even with my limited creds, I personally may have more journalistic experience (and I might even suggest integrity) than a good chunk of the journalists working today, and second because the so-called legitimate press...Read Full Story

In slogging out this blog over the past two years, there has been a phenomena that some might find strange. Almost all of the homophobic and misogynistic comments have come from those who are politically left of center. Even though I viciously attack George Bush , argue the insanity of our foreign policy, strenuously make the case for same sex marriage , am a PETA supporter and push other issues that are traditionally trigger buttons for conservatives —they continue to come around, make...Read Full Story

With the ever-dwindling number of independent companies involved in media broadcasting, perhaps it shouldn't surprise us that a cable corporation can threaten to pull all funding for a non-profit organization's summer programs just because someone there tweeted something the cable company didn't like...but that is exactly what happened last week. Let's rewind a bit to see how this all fell out. The Communications Act of 1943 established the Federal Communications Commission , a government...Read Full Story

OTTAWA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - An Islamic group's demand that a Canadian magazine publish its response to an article that said Muslims were set to swamp the West has sparked warnings of government-imposed restrictions on freedom of expression. The Canadian Islamic Congress, one of Canada's largest Muslim groups, says Maclean's , a popular Canadian weekly news magazine, subjected Muslims to hate speech with an article in October 2006 by best-selling author Mark Steyn that said a high Muslim...Read Full Story

Happy New Year, It's 1984, everyone! Actually, it's been 1984 for a couple of decades now, but I guess only a handful of us have noticed. For a lot of people, worrying about "Big Brother" means another new episode on CBS, but for those of us who trade in ideas , which can be more offensive than anything some bimbo in a bikini might say or do on T.V. to those in the land of PC, we are acutely aware that we are being listened to, if not watched. We laughed, at first, at the ridiculous social...Read Full Story

In my mind I see you there, crying by your bed I see him screaming down at you How could he curse you for being born I'm trying hard to reach out to you but I am not there We are in two different places and we cannot meet My nightmares are of never being able to reach you I feel as though I have left you there back in time Has he taken you from me forever Tell me where was I when you needed me? I should step into that time to save you I shall wrap myself around you He will not hurt you again...Read Full Story

Appeasing Turkey - but maybe the US might find that this is too big an ego to stroke - as the Turkish are very much geared towards Empire - and this oil game is almost over. It will be difficult to force the people to remain on oil in the future - there are just so many factors working against oil at the moment - which are not likely to let up any time soon - 1) access to information - people can readily access information - that means information is no longer controlled by the few commercial...Read Full Story

Here we go again, once more on the "Fairness Doctrine" merry-go-round. This is how it works with liberals like Harry Reid and Nacy Pelosi ; If it's flag burning or pornography in the streets, it's free speech, but if a guy on the radio says he's tired of illegal immigration or says he's offended by porn in the streets it's hate speech. The thing that free speech and hate speech have in common , apparently, is that both are defined by liberals. Once you realise this, it should not be a...Read Full Story

If someone sent me George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation , I admit it would bore me, but I would not consider myself victimized. But, I am not a professor at the Glendale Community College in Arizona. Last T hanksgiving a rather dweeby tenured professor spammed his colleagues with an e-mail containing the first president’s proclamation, along with a link to the site he snagged it from, which happened to be that of snarly old Pat Buchanan . Math Prof Walter Kehowski is now on the verge...Read Full Story

Since 9/11 it is transparently clear the assault against the West by Islamists is not limited to indiscriminate violence. Islamists also are "using our own legal system as a weapon against us" as Professor John Yoo at the law faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, recently noted. Islamism is Janus-faced with one face bearing the dreadful visage of Osama bin Laden and the unholy fanatics of the Arab-Muslim world. The other face bears the likeness of "everyman," making it...Read Full Story