NewsTrust - Freedom of Speech - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Independent)

"Gasland" Director Josh Fox Fires Back at Republicans After His Unfair Arrest

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Ed Schultz - Feb. 02 (Interview) - Gasland director Josh Fox, ... was arrested this week, in violation of his first amendment rights, while covering a Congressional hearing on fracking. In the interview, Fox fires back at the Republicans who have been targeting him

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Jon Stewart Has Some Harsh Words For SOPA And Its Sponsors

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Gawker - By Matt Toder, Jon Stewart - Jan. 18 (Comedy News) - On tonight's Daily Show, Jon Stewart attempted to wrap his head around SOPA and its draconian take on internet piracy. He saved his harshest criticisms for its sponsors in Congress and their inability to truly understand (a) the internet and (b) what their bill will actually do.

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Special Ops: The New Face of War | Truthout

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

truth-out.org - By John Grant - Aug. 14 (Editorial) - What is the most powerful nation in the world with the largest, most expensive, most lethal military in the history of mankind to do when the good times turn bad, the money goes funny and class warfare breaks out on the homefront?

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Rand Paul, ... , Calls For Jailing People Who Attend ‘Radical Political Speeches’

Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Think Progress - By Alex Seitz-Wald - May. 31 (Opinion) - Libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) made headlines last week for single-handedly obstructing the renewal of the Patriot Act, calling the law an unconstitutional infringement on civil liberties. His demand to insert a series of amendments to weaken the law nearly allowed it to lapse and put the country at “risk,” but Paul said it was worth it to prevent the government from continuing to “blatantly ignor[e] the Constitution.” But when Paul went on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s radio show Friday to discuss his opposition to the national security law, he suggested implementing a far more serious infringement on civil liberties.

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Playwright Tony Kushner Speaks Out on CUNY Controversy, Academic Freedom and Israel

Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 10 (Interview) - Tony Kushner appears on Democracy Now! to announce he will accept an honorary degree at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, following a controversy that sparked national attention. Last week, the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York voted to shelve the degree after one member cited Kushner’s critical views of Israeli government policies. But on Monday night, the CUNY board reversed its decision. Kushner says he is still hoping for an apology: "In lieu of an apology, I would accept what is clearly an admission of error of judgment and a lapse of responsibility on the part of the board in defending open exchange and academic freedom."

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It Doesn't Get Any Clearer Than That: "Free speech is a great idea, but we're in a war"

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Reason Magazine - By Matt Welch - Apr. 04 (Opinion) - You know what? We're always going to be in a war, thanks in no small part to the Lindsey Grahams of the world. Which means if we truly value our free speech, we're gonna have to bounce out every politician who subjects American expression to a wartime litmus test. Better yet, maybe start electing some who at least occasionally refrain from supporting new wars against majority-Muslim countries that have yet to make it through a Reformation.

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Sarah Palin's bizarre view of the First Amendment

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Salon - By Justin Elliott - Mar. 03 (Opinion) - Sarah Palin, who has more than once invoked the First Amendment when she or her allies faced criticism, today denounced the Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling allowing the Westboro Baptist Church to protest outside soldiers' funerals with signs reading "“God Hates Fags" and the like.

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Hillary Clinton Talks Freedom as Protester Ray McGovern is Bloodied

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Media is a Plural - By Rory O'Connor - Feb. 17 (Opinion) - Are you as shocked as I am that even Donald Rumsfeld turns out to be a better supporter of free speech than Hillary Clinton? At least the lying SOB former Secretary of Defense didn’t stand by and do nothing as his critics were beaten, arrested and taken away in chains!

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"Systematic and Sustained" Attack on Journalism Demands That U.S. Make a Clean Break With Egyptian Regime

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Nation - By John Nichols - Feb. 04 (Opinion) - When President Franklin Roosevelt outlined the "four essential human freedoms" 70 years ago,he began where every small "d" democrat must: "The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world." From the founding of the American experimen

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US Courts Help Corporations Win

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Consortium News - By Michael Winship - Jan. 20 (Opinion) - Now, on Jan. 13, that same court ruled, as reported in The New York Times, that Joe "could not invoke a journalist's privilege in refusing to turn over that footage because his work on the film did not constitute an act of independent reporting," and that the argument "that he was protected as a journalist from being compelled to share his reporting materials was not persuasive."

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2010: The Year In Crazy, Pt. 2

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

This Modern World - By Tom Tomorrow - Dec. 28 (Cartoon) - An incomplete and subjective look at the year in crazy.

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Half a loaf: the FCC's Weak Rule on Net Neutrality

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The Writing Corner - By Beth Wellington - Dec. 22 (Opinion) - My take: the new rule is another example of the Democrats' "half a loaf" thinking and falls short of pledges by President Obama and his administration to protect the Internet against phone and cable gatekeepers.

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Obama FCC Caves on Net Neutrality -- Tuesday Betrayal Assured

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Timothy Karr - Dec. 21 (Opinion) - The net neutrality rule, which will be voted in during tomorrow's FCC meeting, falls drastically short of earlier pledges by President Obama and the FCC Chairman to protect the free and open Internet.

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The Most Important Free Speech Issue of Our Time

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Al Franken - Dec. 20 (Opinion) - This Tuesday is an important day in the fight to save the Internet. As a source of innovation, an engine of our economy, and a forum for our political discourse, the Internet can only work if it's a truly level playing field. Small businesses should have the same ability to reach customers as powerful corporations. A blogger should have the same ability to find an audience as a media conglomerate. This principle is called "net neutrality" -- and it's under attack. Internet service giants like Comcast and Verizon want to offer premium and privileged access to the Internet for corporations who can afford to pay for it. The good news is that the Federal Communications Commission has the power to issue regulations that protect net neutrality. The bad news is that draft regulations written by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski don't do that at all. They're worse than nothing. That's why Tuesday is such an important day. The FCC will be meeting to discuss those regulations, and we must make sure that its members understand that allowing corporations to control the Internet is simply unacceptable.

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Dear Government of Sweden...

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Michael Moore - Dec. 17 (Opinion) - Dear Swedish Government: Hi there -- or as you all say, Hallå! You know, all of us here in the U.S. love your country. Your Volvos, your meatballs, your hard-to-put-together furniture -- we can't get enough! There's just one thing that bothers me -- why has Amnesty International, in a special report, declared that Sweden refuses to deal with the very real tragedy of rape?

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Bradley Manning: WikiLeaks Alleged Source’s Life in Prison

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The Daily Beast - By Denver Nicks - Dec. 17 (Interview) - The last time Bradley Manning saw the world outside of a jail, most Americans had never heard of WikiLeaks. On Friday, Manning, the man whose alleged unauthorized release of hundreds of thousands of classified documents put the website and its controversial leader, Julian Assange, on the map, turns 23 behind bars. Since his arrest in May, Manning has spent most of his 200-plus days in solitary confinement. Other than receiving a card and some books from his family, his birthday will be no different. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, his attorney, David Coombs, revealed key details about Manning’s imprisonment and kind gestures from his family that provided a bit of comfort in the inmate's otherwise extremely harsh incarceration.

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The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Salon - By Glenn Greenwald - Dec. 15 (Opinion) - Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has never been convicted of that crime, nor of any other crime. Despite that, he has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia for five months -- and for two months before that in a military jail in Kuwait -- under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture.

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Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Michael Moore - Dec. 14 (Opinion) - Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000 of my own money to help bail Mr. Assange out of jail. Furthermore, I am publicly offering the assistance of my website, my servers, my domain names and anything else I can do to keep WikiLeaks alive and thriving as it continues its work to expose the crimes that were concocted in secret and carried out in our name and with our tax dollars.

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Something is Rotten

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

TruthOut - By Dave Lindorff - Dec. 10 (Opinion) - In most countries, including the US and UK, these would not pass the test to be considered a crime, much less qualify as a category of “rape," but Swedish authorities, who in all of this year have only submitted one other request to Interpol for assistance in capturing a sex crimes suspect, asked the international police agency to issue a so-called Red Alert for Assange, who was subsquently asked by police in the UK, where he was staying, to turn himself in or face arrest. (The other Interpol Red Alert sought by Swedish prosecutors this year was for Jan Christer Wallenkurtz, a 58-year-old Swedish national wanted on multiple charges of alleged sex crimes and sex crimes against children.)

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What's Behind the War on WikiLeaks

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Consortium News - By Ray McGovern - Dec. 09 (Opinion) - WikiLeaks has teased the genie of transparency out of a very opaque bottle, and powerful forces in America, who thrive on secrecy, are trying desperately to stuff the genie back in.

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Glenn Greenwald on the Arrest of Julian Assange and the U.S. "War on WikiLeaks"

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Glenn Greenwald, Amy Goodman - Dec. 07 (Interview) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested in London on an international warrant to face sex crime allegations in Sweden. Assange is expected to face a hasty extradition process to Sweden. We speak with Glenn Greenwald, constitutional attorney and blogger at Salon.com. Greenwald says: "Whatever you think of WikiLeaks, they have not been charged with a crime, let alone indicted or convicted. Yet look what has happened to them. They have been removed from Internet … their funds have been frozen … media figures and politicians have called for their assassination and to be labeled a terrorist organization. What is really going on here is a war over control of the Internet, and whether or not the Internet can actually serve its ultimate purpose—which is to allow citizens to band together and democratize the checks on the world’s most powerful factions."

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Don't shoot messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

theaustralian.com.au - By Julian Assange - Dec. 07 (Editorial) - WikiLeaks coined a new type of journalism: scientific journalism. We work with other media outlets to bring people the news, but also to prove it is true. Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately? Democratic societies need a strong media and WikiLeaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest. WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption.

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Censorship in Shades of Black and Gray

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Miller-McCune - By Michael Todd - Dec. 04 (Interview) - John Kampfner, the head of the London-based Index on Censorship, discusses the threats to free expression in the world, from the dictator’s muzzle to the playwright’s pen.

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Sen. Rockefeller: FCC Should Take FOX News, MSNBC Off Airwaves

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Real Clear Politics - By Jay Rockefeller - Nov. 17 (Speech) - "There's a little bug inside of me which wants to get the FCC to say to FOX and to MSNBC: 'Out. Off. End. Goodbye.' It would be a big favor to political discourse; our ability to do our work here in Congress, and to the American people, to be able to talk with each other and have some faith in their government and more importantly, in their future."

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Glenn Beck's Horrific Lie -- He Must Be Fired

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Cenk Uygur - Nov. 12 (Opinion) - I think Glenn Beck should be fired. He has told a lie so grotesque that it goes beyond the pale of even dirty politics. Just when I thought he couldn't shock my conscience anymore, he has done it. Let me explain.

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