This is an interesting piece Carlton. The irony is that the West used to denounce the East for its draconian censorship and for years the split in ideology that led to the split in political streams are coming to a place of confluence. The irony is that the West is not following the East in terms of censorship etc etc. The irony.... On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 3:39 AM, Carlton Samuels <carlton.samuels@gmail.com>wrote:
FWIW, my position is unambiguous and immutable; I denounce and condemn all attempts at censorship, howsoever designed or orchestrated.
Here are some excerpts from a thread I wrote elsewhere in context....
- Carlton ============================== ....We must reject any and all 'star chamber' procedures in this regard as inimical to the public interest.
Here is one moment where so-called ' sunshine laws' should apply in spades. For in matters of conscience [or cant!], light is and remains the best disinfectant......
....I am long socialized to notice and understand the hypocrisy that sometimes get cloaked a s good governance in our societies. So I am unanimous that the ALAC ought not to be witting conspirators for hypocrites.
Reflect on the many statements of condemnation of the Chinese, North Koreans, Iranians, Cubans, and assorted 'enemies of the people and democracy' for their unpalatable impulse to censorship and thought control from 'western' governments, quondam interests and spokespersons.
The fact is the official impulses to censor, to drop the veil secrecy and to basic thought control is not unique to those governments. Recall, for example, how easy it was for the British Prime Minister to suggest censorship and access limitations to Twitter in the recent London riots! Another example, think about the many ways pressure was brought to bear on Wikileaks to heel! The Wikileaks incident saw an immediate conflation of interests to suppress information flows. For example, in its revelations about Jamaica, officialdom was embarrassed by what was told in casual conversations to 'public affair officers' in the US Embassy in KIN. And it is clear that the US State Dept was embarrassed more so on the methods employed for acquiring information; really a concern that the uninitiated would realize how much of 'scuttlebut' and 'verandah talk' constituted 'intelligence'.
We should insist that objection to strings finger not just the target but the objector in an open way. Let us know the courage of their convictions. And leave it to each and every one of us to make our own determination as to motive.
Trust....but verify. Let them do it in the light of day.
- Carlton
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