A casualty of free speech

[Shadow]

Prison Planet

"I pass protesters every day at Downing Street, and believe me, you name it, they protest against it. I may not like what they call me but I thank God they can. That's called freedom" - Tony Blair, April 2002

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers" - Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 19

At first light yesterday, Brian Haw was dragged from his slumber by police officers and arrested. His crime was that his bed - or to be more precise his sleeping bag - is within shouting distance of the Prime Minister's bedroom.

Mr Haw may be a dedicated peace activist and human rights award nominee to some but to the two constables standing over him, he was a criminal. "I'm not breaching the peace. I'm fighting for it," he said indignantly.

So on the eve of International Human Rights Day, the 56-year-old - who has spent the past four-and-a-half years encamped outside Parliament to highlight the plight of Iraqi children - became the latest anti-war activist to be arrested.

Since the introduction this April of new draconian laws that forbid spontaneous free speech within a one-kilometre radius of the House of Commons, many demonstrators have fallen foul of the legislation. Only three days ago Maya Evans, 25, was convicted of breaching Section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 after reading aloud the names of the 97 dead British soldiers next to the Cenotaph on Whitehall.

[Doc]

shadow said:

Prison Planet

"I pass protesters every day at Downing Street, and believe me, you name it, they protest against it. I may not like what they call me but I thank God they can. That's called freedom" - Tony Blair, April 2002

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers" - Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 19

At first light yesterday, Brian Haw was dragged from his slumber by police officers and arrested. His crime was that his bed - or to be more precise his sleeping bag - is within shouting distance of the Prime Minister's bedroom.

Mr Haw may be a dedicated peace activist and human rights award nominee to some but to the two constables standing over him, he was a criminal. "I'm not breaching the peace. I'm fighting for it," he said indignantly.

So on the eve of International Human Rights Day, the 56-year-old - who has spent the past four-and-a-half years encamped outside Parliament to highlight the plight of Iraqi children - became the latest anti-war activist to be arrested.

Since the introduction this April of new draconian laws that forbid spontaneous free speech within a one-kilometre radius of the House of Commons, many demonstrators have fallen foul of the legislation. Only three days ago Maya Evans, 25, was convicted of breaching Section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 after reading aloud the names of the 97 dead British soldiers next to the Cenotaph on Whitehall.

Seems we have to be on our 'p's and 'q's when we speak in public now.
In a more rigorous way than even our most congenial, discrete parents did.

I was in a airport a few years ago with a small orchestra. We were checking in. When we did, there was a heightened security status, so we had to open every bag we had for official perusal. One lady musician had an arsenal of bags and cases (all keyboard stuff), which she had to laboriously open and remove---everything. She muttered to me about how much it irritated her, and why the heck did we have to do it?

Then I made my first mistake. I told her what I had been told.
"There's a scare. They are afraid someone has a b_o_m_b."

OK, i did not even say the"b" word very loud.

This same lady from my group, the one who was complaining, arose off the cold, hard terminal floor of the Fort Lauderdale International Airport and said to me, in a somewhat louder voice:
"Hey, you can't say the word "b_o_m_b" in an airport!"

Then I made my second mistake. I said:

"You just did."

She retorted that that was an "illegal" word in Canadian airports!

I said that the very idea of "illegal words" was a terrifying, machiavellian
concept.

She thought that I was being non-progressive and a poor citizen.

I said that in America, good citizens are the ones that fight to retain their freedoms, including the freedom of speech.

She came out with something about how I would not fit in too well in Canada.

To which I asked her how she felt she was doing down here in the States...

In the rather heated exchange that followed, as fellow band mates and a couple of airport employees quieted and calmed us, I came to realize that it isn't important or even propitious to try to win every argument.

We did not really get into any trouble, but it was an embarrassing scene.I was in rare form; the chiauhua that lives within me came out in record
strength, and I regret today that I didn't put my hand---no, both hands--over my mouth until I calmed down.

I just have to remember that she is from Canada, (not a put-down, but, you know, I could have said she was from another state in the US and that can present as big a point of view conflict) and though I don't think it is yet "illegal" to just say the word in regular conversation there or anywhere, I see how the sensibilities of people round the world is getting about language.

It isn't just the laws and the governments, its the people.

Of course you SHOULDN'T say fire/bomb etc at the top of your lungs in a disturbing way---I am by no means recommending indiscretion and the subsequent anarchy that brings. Irresponsible stupidity vs. discrete, proper use of words.

But I don't say the word much, well, I have no real reason to, unless somebody has a new, really hot car, and I just have to exclaim, "Girl, that's the bomme!" But that's altogether different.

If I had to say it at all now, in an airport sometime, I'd say it with the little
lines in between the letters.

I knew you'd understand w_h_y.

[Shadow]

Illegal words... Now that is an interesting and scary concept.

I confess there are some words I try to avoid because they
can be considered offensive in more ways than one.

I'd break out my list but I have a feeling JoJo would have to
boot me out the front door. LOL

However, the idea of a word being illegal is laughable to me.
What do you charge a person with? Foul language? Assault
with a dangling participle? It sounds Orwellian to me.