In local.lists.cypherpunks-moderated you write:
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/editorial/0,1012,1561,00.html The Netly News Network (http://netlynews.com/) "A lot of people think this case is about censoring the Net," said Bernie Farber, national director of community relations for the Canadian Jewish Congress. "It isn't. It's about a Canadian violating Canadian law. In Canada and in every other Western democracy but the U.S., there are limits to free speech and one of those points is vilification. I should feel I have as much right to get on the Net and not feel demeaned because I'm a part of a particular group."
I took a short 'course' on hate-crimes in downtown Toronto where this goof was the speaker. In very short order, I had decided that his agenda was merely to be in some small position of authority. He's a pro-censorship freak who wants to protect the chiiillldreeeen from views he doesn't like. It was quite amusing to pin him down a little -- he squirmed and stated that he _did_ want the government to protect him from things he didn't want to hear; in a rather shrill tone. It made me laugh in retrospect but at the time I was, I confess, shocked -- having encountered such idiocy only in print or on USENET. I wish that I had been better at articulating my thoughts during some of the discussions during the 'course'. It was difficult to portray the idea that well-supported arguements are the only _fair_ means to debunk someone else's ideas with which you disagree. I suppose that I should not have been suprised that the other participants in the course were sympathetic to Bernie's right-wing leanings, but there was a woman who owned or ran a feminist bookstore who admitted that many books ordered by her store had been held (or outright banned(?) by Canada Customs based on content; and yet, she was more-or-less in agreement with this proto-tyrant with respect to the issue of supressing the ideas of white supremists. It boggles the mind. -- Steve Thompson Misanthrope System Admin O.B. Spam: bogus@myofb.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lately every time you turn around somebody's saying: "The eighties are coming!" Like at the stroke of midnite on New Year's Eve it's all gonna be _different_! And when you tell 'em, "Come on, you know everything's just gonna keep on slowly sinking," they get downright _mad_! -- Lester Bangs, December 1979