Free Speech's Dead End

Censorship of the internet is a growing problem worldwide, and is growing in favour in developed nations, where those charged with fighting terrorism, repeatedly bleat for the suppression of the internet -- for the filtering and monitoring of sites their citizens visit. For now, internet censorship may be far from our minds, but when does it move from the fighting terrorism to the prohibiting of free speech? Censorship around the world is orchestrated by a few -- those in power, usually authoritarian regimes -- who decide that citizens would be harmed if they were exposed to information about religion, sexuality, culture and worse, politics. The concern for these regimes is only for the preservation of their status quo. A servile populace can only remain obedient if they are ignorant and live in fear.

The promise of the internet as a vehicle of social change is a frightening prospect for repressive regimes -- and those within our country, who fear change. The world shrinks with communication. It did so with the advent of radio and television, and it continues to do so with the internet. Today with the click of a button, virtually anywhere in the world can be visited. The power of linking ordinary citizens without the mediation or scrutiny of their government, is powerful. We move from a world with borders to one where activists can find supporters in the most unlikely of places. In a world teetering on the brink, risks can be removed by citizens who don't have a self-interest in power, but in collaboration for the greater good. The more we learn of each other, the more we come to the realization that we're not so different. The more we realize that those who preach hatred; who deal in the currency of fear; are void of any moral footing, and the louder the voices of reason will be.

How petrified are the repressive regimes? In the liberated Afghanistan, Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, a 23-year-old journalism student, was arrested, tried and sentenced to death by his country's religious judges for downloading a report from a Farsi website -- a report which challenged the oppression of women by islamic fundamentalists as a distorted interpretation of the koran. Kambaksh distributed the report to fellow students and professors in an effort to provoke a debate. Instead, a complaint was filed, he was arrested, tried in secrecy, without a defence, and condemned to death. Without the internet, Kambaksh would not be in this predicament, or have the moral outrage to want to make change. Without the internet, Kambaksh may not have a chance of an acquittal.

You can do something about this by adding your voice in remonstrance. Canada has huge commitments for infrastructure rebuilding in Afghanistan. We have influence. Contact Maxime Bernier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and tell him to stop this.

• Foreign Affairs office number: 613-995-1874
• Bernier at the House of Commons: 613-992-8053 (Fax: 613-995-0687)
• Bernier's email address: BerniM@parl.gc.ca

You can also contact the Afghanistan embassy in Canada at:

240 Argyle Ave.
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1B9
Phone: (613) 563-4223 / 65 Fax: (613) 563-4962
email: contact@afghanemb-canada.net.

A message can also be sent to the Afghan government via this online petition. Where the internet isn't censored and monitored yet, we can still use it to make a difference. Make a difference so that in the future, you won't find yourself in Kambaksh's shoes.

Intolerance

Intolerance is a well practiced; well documented; universal; and comes in many guises. Even in Canada, we're not safe from intolerance. Someone may hate you for reasons you can't begin to imagine. It could be the colour of your skin, your religious affiliation (or lack thereof), your political ideology or sexual orientation. I just came across a forum posting, titled, Why Gays Fight Back. The content is very disturbing. It contains graphic images of the intolerance towards gays from around the world. There is an image of a 3-year-old Ronnie Parris, killed by his father for being potentially gay. Ronnie's father belongs to an evangelical church that preaches a strong anti-gay message.

There is only one reason to be intolerant -- and that is to be intolerant of intolerance itself. We can all make a difference if we speak up against intolerance when it is happening. The worse we can do is remain silent.

Asshole

You're an asshole. You're an asshole, driver of the Volvo S40, license plate ABVR 226. You're an asshole leaving your car running, with no one inside, as you went grocery shopping. The temperature was only -11C. It shouldn't matter what the temperature was -- you're an asshole for leaving your car running. You're an asshole because it's behaviour like yours that contributes to the poor air quality of Toronto. You're an asshole because you're demonstrating a casual disregard for the environment. You're asshole because at the current price of gas, you can afford to waste it, and you've demonstrated that you do. You're an asshole that probably lives in my neighbourhood. I don't like assholes on general principles. I like them even less when they live my neighbourhood.

Gay Computer

There's something deeply disturbing about this picture. There's always something disturbing with homophobes in general, especially those religiously motivated. This protester however, tops the list -- and I'm assuming here that this one ain't a fake, as it seems to be in the middle of an orgy of homophobic display. This protester is specifically targeting Alan Turing, a British mathematician and cryptographer, largely regarded as the father of modern computing and the code breaker that cracked the German Enigma machine in the second world war. Turing was gay in a time when homosexuals were not tolerated, and the law and medical science tried to cure the homosexual affliction. Turing was stripped of his security clearance, which in effect led to the termination of his work for the government cryptographic department. Alan Turing committed suicide at the age of 41, in 1954.