Phil Robertson Rape Backlash: Freedom of Speech Violation?

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Phil Robertson recently used a parable at a prayer breakfast that left some people shocked and offended.

As featured speaker at the prayer breakfast, Phil Robertson mused about how an atheist might feel if his little atheist wife and two little atheist daughters were raped and killed in front of him, then his penis was cut off and shown to him. Might he realize that there should be some diety-given standard for right and wrong that people should adhere to?

Predictably, Phil Robertson caught hell over what he said. Even some Conservatives decided they had heard enough from this guy and did not want him to represent them any longer.

Phil Robertson is an embarrassment, not a hero, Katherine Timpf wrote in The National Review, and the socially conservative movement needs to distance itself from him immediately.

But Robertson fans and supporters quickly took to an age-old argument. It is the same argument that was trotted out when Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a slut.

Phil Robertsons free speech rights are being violated!

Katherine Timpf answered that succinctly.

Again, Timpf is a Conservative. She built her career and reputation on reporting from college campuses about the marginalization of young Conservatives. But she is tired of seeing the Conservative brand dragged through the mud because of people like Phil Robertson.

But if Phil Robertson fans went after a Conservative for calling out their Duck Commander, you can imagine how they went after Huffington Post and Salon for remarks like these:

That the Duck Dynasty clan leader has a national platform upon which to spew bullshit is basically an indictment of our whole society.

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Phil Robertson Rape Backlash: Freedom of Speech Violation?

Dawson Classic Column: Freedom of speech is no excuse for speaking stupidly

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Award-winning humor columnist Jon Dawson is no longer with The Free Press, but we are celebrating his legacy by re-running some of his greatest columns. Do you have a favorite youd like to see in print? Email Bryan C. Hanks at bryan.hanks@kinston.com. A version of todays column was originally published Thursday, May 23, 2013.

Weve all been in this situation: Youre at a party and you run into an old friend you havent seen in ages. You ask how her husbands doing, and she tells you her hubby hooked up with the baby-sitter, bought a mid-life crisis sports car and moved to Tijuana.

You vow never to start a conversation with any human ever again. People chastise you for being distant and anti-social, but youre just trying to avoid shoe polish breath.

The devastating storm that eviscerated an Oklahoma town this week brought out the best of whats left of our diluted humanity. Legions of people have volunteered their time, skills and money in an attempt to be a small bandage on a massive wound. Its impossible to believe every human on the planet would react in the manner these volunteers have, but thankfully, there seem to be more of them than the two twits Im about to tell you about.

Usually theres at least one jerk out of every 10 people. In the old days, the 90 percent who were deemed moderately decent would drown out the 10 percent jerk factor. Now, with everyone hunched over their smartphones trying to absorb every thought of every human with a social media account, any random jerk can broadcast their jerkdom to the masses.

Side note: Who has more Twitter followers? Perez Hilton an internet troll who recorded a song about gonorrhea and figured out how to make millions by criticizing people who actually have careers, or the American Red Cross a group known for helping the needy, those devastated by disaster, and members of the military and their families? If you guessed American Red Cross, then you are absolutely wrong.

As of this writing, Perez Hilton has around 5.88 million Twitter followers, while the American Red Cross currently boasts approximately 2.12 million. Maybe my 90 percent theory a few paragraphs up was incorrect after all.

The afternoon of the Oklahoma tragedy, Lizz Winstead, co-creator of Comedy Centrals The Daily Show and a noted stand-up comedian posted the following on her Twitter account:

This tornado is in Oklahoma, so clearly it has been ordered to only target conservatives.

Now what shes doing there (I think) is lampooning something Pat Robertson said about God sending hurricanes to Florida because of a gay pride parade that was going to take place in Orlando. Obviously what Robertson said was stupid, but Ill get to him in a minute.

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Dawson Classic Column: Freedom of speech is no excuse for speaking stupidly

Films, caste and violence

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Its happening again. Actor Karthis Komban, due for release this week, is in the eye of the storm after K. Krishnasamy, leader of the pro-Dalit party, Puthiya Thamilagam, demanded a ban on the film saying that it would incite violence in the State.

The call for a ban has stemmed from the fear that the film could be glorifying the Thevar community, dominant in Tamil Nadus southern districts. This has triggered yet another debate on censorship and relevance of censor board in Tamil Nadu.

While freedom of speech and expression must be defended, one must also be empathetic and create space for those who disagree with the film, say intellectuals and filmmakers.

Tamil and Dalit intellectuals have criticised the film for glorifying the Thevar community, a politically and socially dominant community in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu

Filmmaker Prabhakaran's Sundarapandian, featuring actor Sasi Kumar in the lead role, was accused of sensationalising caste pride and honour killing in the opening sequences of the film.

The director of Komban, M. Muthaiah's earlier film was also hauled up for its pro-Thevar tilt. The film was accused of glorifying the dominant caste group in southern districts and endorsing anti-Dalit views.

The adoption of market economy coincided with the nation-wide mobilisation of dominant backward castes in India, which had its impact on cinema as well. Other egs: Chinna Gounder, Ejaman

Ravikumar, a Tamil intellectual and member of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, said there is a difference between freedom of speech and freedom to spew hate. The former must be defended, while the latter has to be condemned, he said.

With southern districts of Tamil Nadu seeing a rise in caste-related violence in recent times, an artist must not just view cinema as commodity to be monetised but as cultural product that will have a social impact, he said.

Just like cinema commodifies sex and violence, it has commodified hate as well. In a society where the message of equality is uncommon, an artist must challenge caste-pride and not normalise it, he added.

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Films, caste and violence

Striking down Sec 66A: Unintended consequences as baby thrown out with bath water

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Section 66 A of the Information Technology Act was struck down last week by the Supreme Court and it was hailed as a landmark verdict. There were several aspects of Section 66A which ran contrary to the Indian Constitution dealing with freedom of speech and expression and there is no doubt that the section could not continue as it was.

However has the Supreme Court thrown the baby out with the bath water? As important as it was to deal with Section 66A, the same could have still been watered down instead of being struck down all together.

Pavan Duggal, an expert on cyber laws speaks with OneIndia about the unintended consequences of the verdict. While it was necessary to deal firmly with the verdict, I still feel it could have been watered down by the Supreme Court instead of throwing it out all together especially in this age of the internet where cyber crime and cyber bullying are so rampant.

Firstly can you share your thoughts on the verdict?

I think first and foremost the Supreme Court has supreme powers to strike down any law or legislation. If the Supreme Court is of the opinion that a law or legislation runs contrary to the Constitution, it can strike it down.

The Supreme Court held that Section 66A is contrary to Article 19(2) of the Indian constitution which deals with reasonable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression.

To that extent SC has taken a correct line. No amount of restriction which is beyond and above Article 19(2) can be imposed. In this case the judgment looked at what are the reasonable restrictions and came to the opinion that since restrictions do not envisage the restrictions under Section 66a it has to go.

What are the unintended consequences that could arise from this verdict?

The fact remains that striking down Section 66A we have now begun to see a lot consequences. The euphoria which this verdict created was justified to an extent since it held that freedom of speech is sacrosanct.

However it has given an impression to the people that there is an unlimited charter to do whatever they want to do. These persons are having a field day. Cyber bullies are having a field day. Cyber bullying is victimizing schools and educational system.

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Striking down Sec 66A: Unintended consequences as baby thrown out with bath water

NASA confirms Hubble telescope successor is on-time, on-budget for 2018

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NASA officials have told Congress that the Hubble Space Telescopes successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, is currently on-time and budget after early delays and cost overruns threatened to doom the project. The JWST offers a number of improvements and enhancements over the Hubble, though NASA has said publicly that it prefers to think of the next-generation telescope as a successor rather than a replacement.

The JWSTs primary mirror is far larger than Hubbles, at over 21 feet in diameter, compared with about 8 feet for Hubble. The new telescopes collecting area is more than 7x larger, and it uses a new type of mirror thats never been deployed at this scale in a space-based telescope. Each pane of beryllium (there are 18 in total) can be adjusted independently of the others. Hubble, in contrast, deployed a conventionally ground mirror.

Despite the vast difference in size, Webbs mirror actually weighs a fraction of what Hubbles does. The conventional mirror aboard the Hubble clocks in at 2,200 lbs, compared to just 1,375 lbs for the JWST.

Webbs mirror design and larger gathering area will allow it to peer farther back in time all the way back to 100 million to 250 million years after the Big Bang, compared with 800 million to 1 billion years for Hubble. The Webb isnt optimized for optical wavelengths its specialization is the infrared spectrum but itll be capable of imaging in spectrums friendly to the human eye, and with far greater resolution than what Hubble can achieve. The image below is a simulation of how the Webb is expected to perform compared with Hubble.

The James Webbs detectable spectrum is also much larger than its predecessors. While still tiny next the largest Earth-based telescopes, the deep infrared capabilities of the Webb telescope and its location should allow it to assist in the ongoing search for habitable planets and even alien life.

The James Webb telescope is years behind schedule, and substantially over its originally proposed budget, which raises the question of whether the telescope can overcome these initial obstacles and achieve successful results. Many of these issues originally plagued the Hubble telescope. Originally, the HST was meant to launch in 1983, but a similar morass of technical issues and the unexpected loss of the Challenger delayed deployment until 1990. After launch, NASA discovered that the HSTs main mirror had been incorrectly ground. For three years, Hubbles mission was severely curtailed, as NASA built a corrective lens to be installed over the improperly ground mirror.

With the James Webb, there will be no such margin for error. Unlike Hubble, which was placed in Earth orbit and designed to be serviced by the shuttle, the Webb will be placed in Sun-Earth L2 LaGrange points. LaGrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational pull of large masses equal the centripetal force required for a small object (in this case, a telescope) to move with them. An object in Earths L2 point remains in approximately the same position relative to our planet and the Sun, and can maintain its location with minimal use of fuel.

More than 20 years after deployment, the Hubble Space Telescope has become one of the most enduring missions NASA has ever launched. For many people, the images Hubble beams back of our universe are the public face of NASA, and thats a mission every bit as critical as scientific research. The James Webb telescope will inherit that mantle when it launches in 2018 heres hoping for a smooth debut and a long, storied career.

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NASA confirms Hubble telescope successor is on-time, on-budget for 2018

NATO Jets: US F-16 jets simulate air strikes in Estonia drills to combat Russian threat – Video

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NATO Jets: US F-16 jets simulate air strikes in Estonia drills to combat Russian threat
NATO was forced to scramble over 400 times in 2014, to intercept Russian military warplanes Check out our website: http://uatoday.tv Facebook: https://facebook.com/uatodaytv Twitter: https://twitt...

By: UKRAINE TODAY

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NATO Jets: US F-16 jets simulate air strikes in Estonia drills to combat Russian threat - Video

NATO Chief On Russian Propaganda: Jens Stoltenberg gives interview to Voice of America – Video

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NATO Chief On Russian Propaganda: Jens Stoltenberg gives interview to Voice of America
NATO #39;s secretary general has been critical of Russia #39;s aggression in Ukraine for months. NATO has shown multiple pieces of satellite and picture evidence, detailing Russia #39;s support...

By: UKRAINE TODAY

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NATO Chief On Russian Propaganda: Jens Stoltenberg gives interview to Voice of America - Video

NATO chief seeks closer cooperation with the European Union on new security challenges

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BRUSSELS NATO'S secretary-general wants more joint action with the European Union to face the security challenges coming from Russia and the violent Islamic extremism plaguing some countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Jens Stoltenberg told a European Parliament hearing Monday that NATO and the EU should combine efforts to make member countries more "resilient" to the so-called hybrid brand of warfare that Western governments accuse Russia of waging in Ukraine. Along with military force, hybrid warfare includes cyber-attacks, the use of social media, deception and disinformation.

The NATO secretary-general also said the EU should assist friendly countries to its south and southeast like Jordan to combat the spread of Islamic extremism.

Stoltenberg told European lawmakers that "the time has come to spend more on defense."

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NATO chief seeks closer cooperation with the European Union on new security challenges

Fort Meade NSA shooting – CNN.com

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Story highlights Two people tried to enter the main gate to enter the headquarters of the National Security Agency at Fort Meade. One died at the scene, and another was wounded, the NSA says.

"Shortly before 9:00 AM today, a vehicle containing two individuals attempted an unauthorized entry at a National Security Agency gate," Jonathan Freed, NSA director of strategic communications, said in a statement. "The driver failed to obey an NSA Police officer's routine instructions for safely exiting the secure campus. The vehicle failed to stop and barriers were deployed."

NSA police on the scene fired on the vehicle when it accelerated toward a police car, blocking its way, according to the NSA. One of the unauthorized vehicle's two occupants died on the scene. The other was hospitalized, as was an NSA police officer.

The two men who officials say tried to ram the main gate at NSA headquarters were dressed as women, according to a federal law enforcement official.

Investigators are looking into whether the men were under the influence of drugs following a night of partying, a federal law enforcement official said.

A man reported his car stolen from a hotel not far away from NSA Headquarters and said he had been with two men who had taken his car. Cocaine was found in the vehicle. The Howard County Police Department confirms that a Ford Escape reported stolen in Howard County, Maryland, is the vehicle involved in the incident.

The FBI said Monday morning that it was conducting an investigation with NSA police and other law enforcement agencies, and interviewing witnesses on the scene. The incident took place near one of the gates to the complex, far from the main buildings. The FBI said they did not think terrorism was related to the incident.

"We are working with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland to determine if federal charges are warranted," the FBI said in a statement.

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said President Barack Obama had been briefed on the incident this morning.

This is the second security incident this month involving the NSA. At the beginning of March, a former state correctional officer was arrested, accused in a string of Maryland shootings, including one at Fort Meade. Gunshots struck a building near the NSA office, according to a police report.

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Fort Meade NSA shooting - CNN.com

Posted in NSA

NSA weighed ending phone program before Snowden leak

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WASHINGTON -- The National Security Agency considered abandoning its secret program to collect and store American calling records in the months before leaker Edward Snowden revealed the practice, current and former intelligence officials say, because .

After the leak and the collective surprise around the world, NSA leaders strongly defended the phone records program to Congress and the public, but without disclosing the internal debate.

The proposal to kill the program was circulating among top managers but had not yet reached the desk of Gen. Keith Alexander, then the NSA director, according to current and former intelligence officials who would not be quoted because the details are sensitive. Two former senior NSA officials say they doubt Alexander would have approved it.

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Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden says he is not under the control of the Russian government and hasn't given Russia any intelligence document...

Still, the behind-the-scenes NSA concerns, which have not been reported previously, could be relevant as Congress decides whether to renew or modify the phone records collection when the law authorizing it expires in June.

The internal critics pointed out that the already high costs of vacuuming up and storing the "to and from" information from nearly every domestic landline call were rising, the system was not capturing most cellphone calls, and the program was not central to unraveling terrorist plots, the officials said. They worried about public outrage if the program ever was revealed.

After the program was disclosed, civil liberties advocates attacked it, saying the records could give a secret intelligence agency a road map to Americans' private activities. NSA officials presented a forceful rebuttal that helped shape public opinion.

Responding to widespread criticism, President Barack Obama in January 2014 proposed that the NSA stop collecting the records, but instead request them when needed in terrorism investigations from telephone companies, which tend to keep them for 18 months.

Yet the president has insisted that legislation is required to adopt his proposal, and Congress has not acted. So the NSA continues to collect and store records of private U.S. phone calls for use in terrorism investigations under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Many lawmakers want the program to continue as is.

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NSA weighed ending phone program before Snowden leak

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NSA: 1 Dead After Car Rams Police Vehicle at Fort Meade

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Two men dressed as women smashed a stolen car into a police vehicle after they disobeyed commands at the closely guarded gates of the nation's spy agency on Monday, prompting police to open fire.

One of the men died, the other was injured and a police officer also was taken to a hospital. Details remained unclear hours later. Initial images from the scene showed emergency workers loading the uniformed officer into an ambulance. Nearby were a dark-colored SUV and an SUV emblazoned with "NSA Police," both heavily damaged.

It was not known why the men wound up at the gate at Fort Meade, a sprawling military post that houses the National Security Agency, or why they did not obey orders from NSA police. Fort Meade is just off Interstate 295 between Baltimore and Washington.

The men were dressed as women, said a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing case. It also was unclear exactly what the men were wearing.

The NSA said in a news release that investigators have not yet determined how the man in the vehicle died, and the conditions of the wounded man and officer were not disclosed.

An agency officer gave the driver "routine instructions for safely exiting the secure campus," but the driver disobeyed them, the release said. The driver then accelerated toward a police vehicle blocking the road, and police then opened fire.

An FBI spokeswoman said earlier in the day that the incident was not believed to be linked to terrorism. The NSA said the incident was contained to the perimeter of the secure campus.

The car that rammed the police vehicle had been stolen Monday morning from a hotel in Jessup, Maryland, said Mary Phelan, a spokeswoman for the Howard County Police Department. She declined to name the hotel, citing the ongoing investigation, or release any further details, referring all questions to the FBI.

A strip of hotels, motels and other businesses is less than 10 miles from Fort Meade in Jessup.

The FBI is investigating and working with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland to determine if federal charges are warranted, FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson said in an email.

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NSA: 1 Dead After Car Rams Police Vehicle at Fort Meade

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