I have never encouraged or preferred a ban on any site, no matter how revolting or useless. But what I cannot pretend to do is to care for sites that promote hatred or biases towards another race or religion. If that makes me politically incorrect or uncool with the ‘free speech’ enthusiasts, I couldn’t be buggered.

“the ‘freedom of speech’ blanket”

“I suggest you start your own campaign to fight for the 12 banned sites, and please be sure to include the freedom of speech of all holocaust revisionists , all KKK/white supremacist web sites, along with all the sites promoting Al Qaeda drivel. Got that?!”

Okay- now for my thoughts on this subject, which of course are going to include more than just blocking blogs in pakistan.

Nic wrote back:

Political freedom is the absence of political restraints, particularly with respect to speech, religious practice, and the press
Freedom of choice, i.e. is free will.
Freedom of speech is similar to freedom of information, but refers to a general lack of such restrictions (on the creation, use, modification and dissemination of ideas) in a society by the government or those that hold power in that society
Freedom of thought is also known as freedom of conscience and refers to the right of an individual to hold a particular thought, belief or viewpoint regardless of those held by others.

I am not speaking with sheltered eyes- I lived in the Middle East as a freelance Journalist for about 15 years- as well as Russia- Germany- and England. I currently reside in Southern California. Censorship in my own personal book:

“Those Who Forget the Lessons of History Are Doomed To Repeat It”
Take for instance “Mein Kampf makes clear Hitler’s racist worldview, dividing up humans based on ancestry. Hitler stated that German “Aryans” were at the top of the hierarchy, and assigned the bottom of the order to Jews and Gypsies. Hitler went on to say that dominated peoples benefit by learning from the superior Aryans. Hitler further claimed that the Jews were conspiring to keep this “master race” from rightfully ruling the world, by diluting its racial and cultural purity and by convincing the Aryans to believe in equality rather than superiority and inferiority. He described the struggle for world domination as an ongoing racial, cultural, and political battle between Aryans and Jews.”
I am Jewish and I do NOT think this book should be censored or forbin from anyone- because it can also be used a tool to teach history. OR we “Are Doomed To Repeat It”
As far as the KKK goes I too feel that they should have their right to own and operate their web sites- spread their words- and if those words should touch someone in an offensive way- then freedom has done its job. If they want to run around wearing little white pointy hats and spread their ignorant rants let’em. -freedom only provokes communication between the masses.

As for the 12 banned sites that have been halted on the Pakistani information highway- personally I feel that that is a shame.

Unfortunately the American media has caved and we as Americans who consider ourselves well educated and with open eyes- have to search out the truth these days. FOX, MSNBC and yes- even CNN have become the puppets for the current administration. We must be our own political pundits.

Nic

Good for you,very nice post.