You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Freedom of Speech’ tag.
This excerpt from Megan Mackin writing on the Feminist Current:
“This review grew out of a discussion with a dear friend who, at the time, supported gender identity ideology. I, on the other hand, had become increasingly frustrated with the loss of women’s rights to female-only spaces and laws protecting us from sex discrimination, as well as with the silencing of dissent to transgender dogma, and had urged her to examine the available information for herself. Then, I told her, we could revisit the conversation. She did, we did, and together we found pockets of dissent where we could speak further. These small spaces for critical thought on the topic of transgenderism continue to grow across the political spectrum. While we are not alone, as feminists concerned with gender identity ideology, we are — through the loss of access to social and other media, and due to threats of firings and physical violence — effectively silenced.
My friend — herself an academic and writer — noted the eerie (apparent) disinterest in Abigail Shrier’s new book, Irreversible Damage, by political and literary communities. Last month, she wrote to me via email, saying “I, too, have been surprised by what appears to be a deliberate silence around [Irreversible Damage] by newspapers and magazines ‘of record.’” She named it, aptly, “a reception vacuum,” calling book reviewers “taste makers and opinion diffusers.” By pretending the book doesn’t exist, they are ensuring the book will not exist for potential readers either, depriving the public sphere of the research and arguments Shrier presents.
Shrier contributes frequently to the Wall Street Journal, and among her degrees is a Juris Doctor from Yale University. She is a skilled writer who offers complex ideas with accessible delivery. It is possible the media would have covered her work had she resorted to obfuscating postmodernist jargon. Shrier has received no reviews from the established liberal press — not from the New York Times, The Atlantic, the Kirkus Review, nor any other mainstream online publications. Amazon, which still sells and thus profits from Irreversible Damage — garnering rave reviews there — has refused to allow sponsored ads to promote the book.
My friend wrote to me:
“Book reviews are a way of creating and nurturing readers by guiding them toward understanding the meanings and significance of a work. That no politically or culturally ‘liberal’ publications online or in print have even dared to acknowledge the existence of Shrier’s exposé of ROGD [Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria], the medical issues endemic to medicalizing children for life, infertility-producing surgeries, mental distress masked as dysphoria, and the real presence of de-transitioners, is no surprise for many of us.”
Shrier is terribly careful. She only addresses a narrow subset of “dysphoria”: RODG — the apparent social contagion spreading among circles of adolescent girls who have never previously expressed discomfort with their sex or sex role (“gender”). She explicitly acknowledges and interviews (favourably) adults who identify as transgender, and concedes that young children who insist they are the opposite sex consistently, from the time they are toddlers, may have a legitimate form of dysphoria. From a feminist perspective, because “transgender rights” mean women and girls must sacrifice their rights (for example, female-only shower rooms, shelters, and washrooms must allow males access, under gender identity legislation and policy), and the concept of fighting women’s oppression is undermined (seeking to become a member of the dominant sex is an absurdly individualist solution), Shrier’s acceptance of transgenderism itself is a great deal of ground to cede! Despite this, Shrier is silenced.”
Abigail Shrier, at least on this topic, inhabits the same area of Limbo as Noam Chomsky does when he writes about American foreign affairs or the the state of the American polity. The established press and the audience connects through them is suddenly no where be found. It isn’t some sort of dark magic; it is nothing more than the suppression of ideas that contradict the current orthodoxy.
Compare and contrast with the idea that the Left is a defender of free speech and a supporter of the free marketplace of ideas. Perhaps not so much. Especially when it comes to defending the rights, boundaries, and safety of women.
Steven Harper, the megalomaniac that he is, gets included just because of the monolithic way he has decided to run his government, therefore the decision to bar former British Mp George Galloway from entering Canada is as much his responsibility as it is the foppishly addled Mr.Kenney’s.
Evil Doer, Terrorist, and Satan - According to the Harper Government.
Fortunately now, our supreme court has reversed the previous nut buttery decision and Mr.Galloway will be allowed into Canada.
“Former British MP George Galloway, who was told he was not welcome in Canada last year over accusations by the government that he supported terrorism, was allowed into the country on Saturday. Galloway, who arrived at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport late Saturday afternoon, was greeted by supporters after he cleared customs.”
His crime? From the Guardian –
Earlier today the Sun said border security officials had declared Galloway, 54, “inadmissible” because of his views on Afghanistan and the presence of Canadian troops there and would be turned away if he attempted to enter the country.
Well disagreeing in Canada has always been one of those things we try to encourage, at least when deluded rightwing parties are not in power. But hey, perhaps our Reform party conservatives are not stark raving mad paranoid super patriots, zealously protecting their ideological directives from god Harper. A representative for Mr.Kenney says:
Protecting Canadians from evil British MP's 24/7!
Alykhan Velshi, Kenney’s spokesman, said that the act was designed to protect Canadians from people who fund, support or engage in terrorism.
“We’re going to uphold the law, not give special treatment to this infandous street-corner Cromwell who actually brags about giving ‘financial support’ to Hamas, a terrorist organisation banned in Canada,” he said. “I’m sure Galloway has a large Rolodex of friends in regimes elsewhere in the world willing to roll out the red carpet for him. Canada, however, won’t be one of them.”
Ahh, check. Guilty as charged.
“The MP said: “This decision, gazetted in Rupert Murdoch’s Sun, is a very sad day for the Canada we have known and loved – a bastion of the freedoms that supporters of the occupation of Afghanistan claim to be defending.
“This has further vindicated the anti-war movement’s contention that unjust wars abroad will end up consuming the very liberties that make us who we are.”
Back in Canada the judicial arm of our country is busy ripping Kennedy and the government a new one for their inanely brutish propaganda designed to “protect Canadians from people who fund, support or engage in terrorism.”
“Justice Richard Mosley called the move “a flawed and overreaching interpretation of the standards under Canadian law for labelling someone as engaging in terrorism or being a member of a terrorist organization.”
Galloway had planned a Canadian speaking tour to voice opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but cancelled when he learned he would be denied entry.”
What? Labelling people with anti-war sentiments terrorists is a bad thing? Who would of thunk that? This is the level of tolerance we get when we elect ideologues into power that have a strong anti-reality bias.
“[Justice] Mosley said he agreed with Galloway’s Canadian supporters that the main reason border agency officials said he would be barred entry was that “they disagreed with his political views.”
Stay away heathen! How dare you express dissent! Did Galloway not read the memo that dissent is most certainly 
not allowed in the Harperland Canada? One would hope that the Canadian people will remember the loopy-crazy decisions such as not allowing Mr.Galloway into Canada because of the views he holds, come election time. I, for one, am getting tired of the secrecy and paranoia fostered by the current government. Not to mention the embarrassment I feel when yet another wacky conservative policy (find any of that unreported crime yet Mr.Day?) is exposed for being based on wingnuttery as opposed to rational ideas.
not allowed in the Harperland Canada? One would hope that the Canadian people will remember the loopy-crazy decisions such as not allowing Mr.Galloway into Canada because of the views he holds, come election time. I, for one, am getting tired of the secrecy and paranoia fostered by the current government. Not to mention the embarrassment I feel when yet another wacky conservative policy (find any of that unreported crime yet Mr.Day?) is exposed for being based on wingnuttery as opposed to rational ideas.
The furour brought about by threatening to burn the koran has made it all the way to youtube as Thunderf00t has recently had to deal with assertions he is ‘bigot’ and endorses genocide for the nations of Islam. Of course, he was misconstrued and most likely misunderstood by the people in question. The key part of Thunderf00t’s message is simply this: We cannot take a step back from our rights to free speech (a cornerstone of civilized society)when they cause a violent reaction in the Islamic world. It is they who have the erroneous expectation that they have the right to apply their religious laws to the rest of the world. Once the centre of learning and advanced civilization the nations of Islam allowed the radical fundamentalists to plunge their world into a backward state of being resembling the Dark Ages (thank you christianity) of old.
When I rail against religion is precisely because of its threat to modernity and civilization. Religious thought is antithetical to most human rights, free speech and progress.
Thunderf00t comes to similar conclusions in his video, but of course multi modally thanks to the wonder known as youtube.
Just Spreading the word here at the quaking in their boots err..Word Press Blogosphere.
Just a quick note, a wordpress blogger Micheal Hawkins had their blog removed at the spurious threats issued by the quack below. Reposting in the name of free speech and keeping quacks firmly in the cross hairs of skeptical inquiry and criticism.
Andreas Moritz is a cancer quack
Category: Skepticism
Posted on: February 18, 2010 5:07 PM, by PZ Myers
The Prime Quack has been identified: Andreas Moritz. He has admitted to getting WordPress to pull Michael Hawkins’ blog, and is also threatening me, now.
Michael Hawkins,
You may blame me for having your blog pulled. WorldPress had to remove your blog because otherwise it would have faced a hefty lawsuit, given the nature of the defamation campaign you had launched against me, and having positioned your blog link second place on the search engines.
I have not yet decided whether to sue you for defamation. I have asked my attorneys to assess the damages your defamation campaign has done to my work, business, and reputation since your blog has been up. I know that they are significant, but if they turn out to be an excessive loss of revenue and reputation and/or if I see any more defaming publications by you or your blog friends against me or Dr. Makoney, I will not hesitate to launch an expensive lawsuit against you that you will not forget for a long time. I have collected all the data of your blogs and publications involving me. Your last email to Dr. Makoney clearly shows that you are instigating a new defamation campaign, at least against him.
My investigations show me where you live and where you study (Augusta, Amine), and if I hear or see any further activities that involve me or Dr. Makoney you will need to hire a good attorney to defend your slanderous actions and campaigns.
My close friend, Dr Deepak Chopra, who in addition to Dr Makoney and myself have been viciously attacked by your friend, the fish zoologist, PZ Myers, are considering a lawsuit against him. Slander is slander, whether it is done online or offline. If your friend is wise, he will immediately remove those blogs from his site.
Just in case you are not aware of it, below are stated the laws that protect people like me against people like you.
Sincerely,
Andreas Moritz
Hmmm, misspelling names seems to be an epidemic among quacks. It’s also interesting that he’s openly threatening an expensive legal campaign against Hawkins.
If the threats of lawsuits and his own crazy snakeoil site aren’t enough to convince you that he’s a loon, consider that he was written up favorably on NaturalNews.com (you may recall Mike Adams, whose mind snapped under the weight of our criticism). Michael Hawkins wrote up an angry rebuttal to Moritz, as did I. He’s not a good person.
Moritz is a cancer quack. He is an evil man who takes advantage of others’ pain for his own profit.
Here’s what he says about cancer.
Cancer has always been an extremely rare illness, except in industrialized nations during the past 40-50 years. Human genes have not significantly changed for thousands of years. Why would they change so drastically now, and suddenly decide to kill scores of people? The answer to this question is amazingly simple: Damaged or faulty genes do not kill anyone. Cancer does not kill a person afflicted with it! What kills a cancer patient is not the tumor, but the numerous reasons behind cell mutation and tumor growth. These root causes should be the focus of every cancer treatment, yet most oncologists typically ignore them. Constant conflicts, guilt and shame, for example, can easily paralyze the body’s most basic functions, and lead to the growth of a cancerous tumor.
After having seen thousands of cancer patients over a period of three decades, I began to recognize a certain pattern of thinking, believing and feeling that was common to most of them. To be more specific, I have yet to meet a cancer patient who does not feel burdened by some poor self-image, unresolved conflict and worries, or past emotional trauma that still lingers in his/her subconscious. Cancer, the physical disease, cannot occur unless there is a strong undercurrent of emotional uneasiness and deep-seated frustration.
Note that he has absolutely no credentials or expertise in medicine; he calls himself a “medical intuitive”. Yet he is dispensing dangerous, defeatist advice on how to manage cancer, such as recommending against chemotherapy. Have you had a loved one die of cancer? It was their fault. Do you have or have you had cancer? It’s your own damn fault for being so negative.
Switch your target from Makoney, errm, Maloney to Moritz: he’s even crazier and more dangerous.
By the way, here is Andreas Moritz.
He’s peddling something called a liver flush — you gulp down a nasty concoction of Epsom salts, olive oil, and grapefruit, and then you go lie down for a while and suffer nausea and diarrhea. If you’re really dedicated, you can poop into a colander and collect strange lumps, as much as 2″ in diameter, that he claims are liver stones flushed out by the oily glop. This will make your knees feel better.
Seriously.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
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