One of the frustrating things about doing this (blogging) is that there’s only 5 blogging days in the week (4 if you consider Movie Friday) and I don’t like inundating you with blog posts. Maybe once I am able to build a larger reader base I’ll be able to get away with it, but I …
Tag Archive: human rights
Jun 08 2010
Update: Pakistan’s “Everybody be Stupid Day” Facebook/Youtube Ban
You might remember a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned that Pakistan, reacting to a Facebook campaign to showcase the stupidity of bans on drawings of Muhammad, decided to up the ante of stupid and ban Facebook, Youtube, Flickr… basically the whole internet. Of course, this move completely missed the point of the event, …
May 27 2010
Free Speech under attack… apparently EVERYWHERE
Every morning when I come in to work I scan the headlines in the CBC, local news and the BBC. The more interesting stories, or those that I think deserve my special attention, get thrown into a folder in my e-mail that I keep filed away for later. That’s why sometimes I’ll feature news stories …
May 26 2010
Pakistan gets it EXACTLY wrong
May 20th was “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” (Yes, clearly I keep abreast of the latest goings on – I write these 2 weeks in advance, give me a break). People from all around the world drew pictures of what the prophet Muhammad might look like (nobody really knows) and posted them on the internet, as …
May 20 2010
China jails 3 people for speaking out against rape
Good GOD I’m glad I don’t live in China: Fan Yanqiong, Wu Huaying and You Jingyou were found guilty of slander and harming state interests, in a trial which attracted protests outside court. They had posted videos online in which the woman said her daughter died after being raped by thugs linked to police. Does …
May 12 2010
Things make me happy, y’know
I heard second-hand from one reader that this blog reads like a series of angry rants. Of course, this same reader has known me since high-school, so I’m not sure why that surprised her at all… but whatever. If I come across as angry, it’s because, well, sometimes I am angry. There are a lot …
May 06 2010
Critical Mass of crazy
In physics, there is a term called ‘critical mass’ which describes the minimum possible amount of fissile material required to generate a self-powered nuclear chain reaction. If there is less than this critical mass available for the reaction, it will not happen. This concept can be applied sociologically, partially to explain why the forces of …
May 04 2010
Belgian bid to ban book is bad… uh… bdecision
My alliteration has seen better days, it seems. It’s tough sometimes to see how the disparate interests on this blog (religion, free speech, race and critical thinking) fit together into an overall picture. Religion and free speech are often at odds, so that’s an easy fit I suppose. Religion stands opposed to critical thinking, so …
Apr 28 2010
Indonesia lobs one over the plate
I write a blog that highlights, among other things, the pervasive way in which religion detrimentally affects the lives of people all over the world. I also put a fair amount of effort into highlighting issues of free speech, which is something I feel quite strongly about. Indonesia isn’t even trying to make my job …
Apr 15 2010
Why I’m glad I live in Canada
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a big fan of free speech. Free speech means free societies. It also means it’s almost impossible to completely crush a minority group for being dissident to the majority rule. As a black man, I know why ‘majority rules’ isn’t always a positive thing. Which is why these news …
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