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Dahak
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Post by Dahak »

Stormbringer wrote:
We have free speech, in the given limits.


Then it's not really free speech, now is it?
For one, we don't really have "Freedom of Speech", but "Freedom of Opinion/Expression", which might only be semantics.
Decondly, we don't have that religious-like fervour when it comes sown to that free speech.
And seconly, as often said, we regard other rights to be of higher value than the free speech, being human dignity among them.
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Post by Alyrium Denryle »

Stormbringer wrote:
We have free speech, in the given limits.


Then it's not really free speech, now is it?
Oh they have free speech... but come on Stormbringer... Think about it, the Nazis drove Germany into the ground do you really think that the German people will stand for someone spouting nazi propaganda? The wrote their Basic law, and put a coupe limits on free speech, not to oppress people, but to make sure that nazis never came into power again.
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Post by Stormbringer »

Colonel Olrik wrote:
Stormbringer wrote:
We have free speech, in the given limits.


Then it's not really free speech, now is it?
Better that than letting Nazi's wannabes organize parades inside our cities. We have the right to speak freely as long as it's not about how all jews, blacks and muslims should be shot on sight. I don't really find that right worthy of defense.
It's certainly not worth defending and there are plenty of people that spend a great deal refuting it. But it's also a dangerous precedent to have governments deciding what speech is acceptable.
Colonel Olrik wrote:Can you repeteadly shout "death to the president" right outside the White House without getting arrested, btw?
Actually, probably. Though you can expect the Secret Service to start a nice little file on you.
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Post by Alyrium Denryle »

Personally, I think that in Germany, prohibitions on spouting Nazi propaganda, is a pretty common sense limit... I wouldnt want it here in the US, but I can understand why it is there.
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Post by dummnutzer »

Stuart Mackey wrote: Oh, what do the royals have to do with anything?
It was an admittedly lame joke. But the English Royals are omnipresent in the News. I hate it. Important things happen, but the News talk about Royal sexual preferences and the possible Royal succession. Please get rid of them. Please ...
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Post by dummnutzer »

Lord Pounder wrote: BTW dummnutzer those "British Citizens" the SAS shot where IRA men and deserved everything they got. And CCTV is neccessary for coping with crime. Maybe your one of these asshole anarchists who believe than any law is bad.

Terrorist "deserve" a trial. This trial should be fair. If convicted, they "deserve" to be punished according to the law. The UK has no Death penalty, IIRC. Murder is murder, whether the victim is a saint or a terrorist.

The unique CCTV-density in the UK has created a safe and secure Britain. Crime rates are down. Elsewhere, crime is rampant. Wrong. Look at the ROTW. CCTV is not very effective, as it only relocates crimes to other areas of the city. It is a creeping infringement of personal freedom.

I may be an asshole, but I am no expert on ad hominem attacks. But as a jurist I can assure You, that some laws are not totally bad.
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Post by dummnutzer »

Stormbringer wrote: Then it's not really free speech, now is it?



Freedom of speech is great, butreporters rate the US as more oppressive than Germany. Sorry.

And please read the US Patriot Act.

Star Chamber Courts had been abolished in the Glorious Revolution, and now they are coming back.

Declaring US-citizens enemy combatants, incarcerating them, shipping them abroad, possibly torturing them over there.

Until now without judicial oversight. Let us hope the US Supreme Court shows some backbone.


OT: One technical question. Is it possible to use the "quote"-function of this board to have different quotes by different authors in one reply? If yes, how? Thanks.
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Post by Stormbringer »

Freedom of speech is great, but reporters rate the US as more oppressive than Germany. Sorry.
What does that have to do with Germany?


Besides, a lump rating by one tiny fragment of the society means little. Especially with no real basis for the rating given (hint, the fact that lawsuits are given as a criteria suggests it there are other factors than government policy).
And please read the US Patriot Act.
Again, it's a problem and one I hope with go away soon, but that has no bearing on the issue raised.
Star Chamber Courts had been abolished in the Glorious Revolution, and now they are coming back.
Again, this has no bearing on the topic at hand.
Declaring US-citizens enemy combatants, incarcerating them, shipping them abroad, possibly torturing them over there.
Again, this has no bearing on the topic at hand.


Besides, Padilla was conspiring with Al-Quaeda, that would indeed make him an enemy combatant. And if you wish to claim torture has happened, by all means provide direct proof of US involvement.
Until now without judicial oversight. Let us hope the US Supreme Court shows some backbone.
I hope they do but it has little to nothing to do with the issue at hand.
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Post by Colonel Olrik »

Stormbringer wrote: It's certainly not worth defending and there are plenty of people that spend a great deal refuting it. But it's also a dangerous precedent to have governments deciding what speech is acceptable.
It's not the governments. It's written in the Constitution, which means it's the Court job to decide if a certain organization is legal or not. At most, the government can only suggest it. Any changes in the Constitution can only be made, of course, through a 2/3 majority in the Assembly (Portugal) and after being ratified by the Constitutional Court. In any case, the decision is out of the governmnent hands.
Last edited by Colonel Olrik on 2003-11-16 08:17pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by phongn »

Yes. Just use multiple

Code: Select all

[quote="username"]quoted message[/quote]
blocks.
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Post by Stormbringer »

dummnutzer wrote:OT: One technical question. Is it possible to use the "quote"-function of this board to have different quotes by different authors in one reply? If yes, how? Thanks.
Yeah, just hit quote and copy the orginal quote. Go back to the thread, quote the second person and paste in the orginal quote.
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Post by MKSheppard »

Lord Pounder wrote:And CCTV is neccessary for coping with crime.
HA AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

*dies laughing*

*gasp*

I'm sorry? Cameras reduce crime? lol, all they do is show you getting the
shit beat out of you in PAL vision
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Post by dummnutzer »

Stormbringer wrote:What does that have to do with Germany?
I may have been wrong, but there was a discussion going on with quotes from the Grundgesetz; the usual debate about real free speech in the US vs. allegedly limited free speech in Germany.

The statistic was just an example that an isolated part of a constitutional system (e.g. free speech) does not in itself creater greater freedom.
Stormbringer wrote: Again, this has no bearing on the topic at hand.
The discussion was about freedom of speech. Which is currently de facto not sufficiently protected in the US, as one can be arrested without effective judicial oversight. So the reason for this lack of protection is relevant to this discussion.
How can one enjoy free speech, if one can be imprisoned without judicial oversight? Does it matter whether one goes to jail for laesio majestatis or for some bogus act of terrorism?

About the possibility of torture: The US exports suspected terrorists to have them tortured abroad. It allows only very limited access to it overseas prison facilities. There were several death certificates with "blunt trauma" as cause of death in the Cuban prison. But I admittedly have no clear evidence.

----------------------

Thanks anybody for Your responses to my somewhat stupid technical question.
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Post by Durandal »

Colonel Olrik wrote:It's not the governments. It's written in the Constitution, which means it's the Court job to decide if a certain organization is legal or not. At most, the government can only suggest it. Any changes in the Constitution can only be made, of course, through a 2/3 majority in the Assembly (Portugal) and after being ratified by the Constitutional Court. In any case, the decision is out of the governmnent hands.
Actually, it's been suggested (with merit) that the Supreme Court has the power to effectively amend the Constitution through judicial interpretation. Through their briefs and interpretations of the Constitution, they effectively do change it.
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Post by Stormbringer »

I may have been wrong, but there was a discussion going on with quotes from the Grundgesetz; the usual debate about real free speech in the US vs. allegedly limited free speech in Germany.

The statistic was just an example that an isolated part of a constitutional system (e.g. free speech) does not in itself creater greater freedom.
The problem is that your stastic is based mostly on non-governmental activites. It includes things like lawsuits, number of media companies, and such. It doesn't prove much.

It has little to nothing to do with the ability of the government to limit free speech. I'm not saying Germany is an oppresive society, but neither does it have truly free speech. Something which in the hands of the wrong people could be dangerous.

The discussion was about freedom of speech. Which is currently de facto not sufficiently protected in the US, as one can be arrested without effective judicial oversight. So the reason for this lack of protection is relevant to this discussion.

How can one enjoy free speech, if one can be imprisoned without judicial oversight? Does it matter whether one goes to jail for laesio majestatis or for some bogus act of terrorism?
And you have yet to prove that they were jailed for things they said. Rather they were jailed for concrete actions, specifically consorting with known terrorists and planning a dirty bomb attack. If you can't see the difference between the two then you'd better break out the white cane.
About the possibility of torture: The US exports suspected terrorists to have them tortured abroad. It allows only very limited access to it overseas prison facilities. There were several death certificates with "blunt trauma" as cause of death in the Cuban prison. But I admittedly have no clear evidence.

Again, prove that torture took place. Whispered hints aren't worth diddly squat. Prove that blunt trauma was inflicted as torture as opposed to say subduing a resisting prisoner.
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Post by Admiral Valdemar »

MKSheppard wrote:
Lord Pounder wrote:And CCTV is neccessary for coping with crime.
HA AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

*dies laughing*

*gasp*

I'm sorry? Cameras reduce crime? lol, all they do is show you getting the
shit beat out of you in PAL vision
And now the idiot who did that is on candid camera and a public enemy.

The fact that Lancaster and Southport are less violent because of CCTV also seems to help, not to mention the streets of Liverpool, Manchester and so forth.
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Post by MKSheppard »

Admiral Valdemar wrote: The fact that Lancaster and Southport are less violent because of CCTV also seems to help, not to mention the streets of Liverpool, Manchester and so forth.
I was just waiting for someone to do this....newsflash, virtually every
convience store in America is wired for light and sound, and yeah, all
those cameras in the convience stores do a great job of preventing
crime :roll:
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Post by Admiral Valdemar »

MKSheppard wrote:
Admiral Valdemar wrote: The fact that Lancaster and Southport are less violent because of CCTV also seems to help, not to mention the streets of Liverpool, Manchester and so forth.
I was just waiting for someone to do this....newsflash, virtually every
convience store in America is wired for light and sound, and yeah, all
those cameras in the convience stores do a great job of preventing
crime :roll:
It don't work like that here, that's a false analogy since we're talking the UK here not America. CCTV is a very major issue in crime prevention and solving, I never said it made our streets and stores crime free.
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Post by MKSheppard »

Admiral Valdemar wrote: It don't work like that here, that's a false analogy since we're talking the UK here not America. CCTV is a very major issue in crime prevention and solving, I never said it made our streets and stores crime free.
Every convience store here is wired and it does fuck all to reduce the
murder rate of convience store clerks - unless of course, the clerks are
alrady behind armor plate glass and/or have a 12 gauge under the counter...

Course, 7-11 does neither, and relies on cameras and the nice clerks doing
everything the bad guys want, which results in the highest fatality rate in
the business :roll:
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Post by Admiral Valdemar »

MKSheppard wrote:
Admiral Valdemar wrote: It don't work like that here, that's a false analogy since we're talking the UK here not America. CCTV is a very major issue in crime prevention and solving, I never said it made our streets and stores crime free.
Every convience store here is wired and it does fuck all to reduce the
murder rate of convience store clerks - unless of course, the clerks are
alrady behind armor plate glass and/or have a 12 gauge under the counter...

Course, 7-11 does neither, and relies on cameras and the nice clerks doing
everything the bad guys want, which results in the highest fatality rate in
the business :roll:
Which is why you have guns, Shep. :)

C'mon, you live in the wild west nation, what do you expect? Over here it's not like that, though the idiots whom evolution was invented for will inevitably try their darndest to steal or whatever and get caught or beaten to pulp.
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Post by Dahak »

Stormbringer wrote:It has little to nothing to do with the ability of the government to limit free speech. I'm not saying Germany is an oppresive society, but neither does it have truly free speech. Something which in the hands of the wrong people could be dangerous.
Germany's past has shown that too much free speech can be dangerous, as well.
One has got to find a way that works best for a given society, and since Germans weigh things a little different than you, this is the best way for us...
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Post by salm »

stormbringer wrote: Then it's not really free speech, now is it?
well, then there´s no free speech anywhere. you can´t call someone an asshole in other countries. insulting people is illegal about everywhere. saying "sieg heil" or "kill all <insert ethnic group>" is pretty much the same as an insult (plus a threat and incitement), not an insult to an individual but an insult to an entire ethnic group.
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Post by RedImperator »

salm wrote:
stormbringer wrote: Then it's not really free speech, now is it?
well, then there´s no free speech anywhere. you can´t call someone an asshole in other countries. insulting people is illegal about everywhere. saying "sieg heil" or "kill all <insert ethnic group>" is pretty much the same as an insult (plus a threat and incitement), not an insult to an individual but an insult to an entire ethnic group.
I don't know how it works in the rest of the world, but here, you can insult someone until you turn blue and nobody can do squat to you. What you can't do is SLANDER someone, which is deliberately lying about someone in order to ruin their reputation, but a general insult like "He's an asshole" isn't slander.
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Post by Dark Hellion »

Let me get this straight, because the Nazis basically trashed Germany, you made laws against Nazi propaganda. So how the fuck is this propaganda going to be effective if you realize that the Nazis fucked up your country. Are people in Germany really stupid enough to go back to Nazism after what happened last time? If not, why have an arbitrary limit on freedom of speech?
Can one of you Germans please explain this, because its annoying the hell out of me.
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Post by Dahak »

Dark Hellion wrote:Let me get this straight, because the Nazis basically trashed Germany, you made laws against Nazi propaganda. So how the fuck is this propaganda going to be effective if you realize that the Nazis fucked up your country. Are people in Germany really stupid enough to go back to Nazism after what happened last time? If not, why have an arbitrary limit on freedom of speech?
Can one of you Germans please explain this, because its annoying the hell out of me.
Germans are VERY sensitive to *anything* even slightly smelling of Naziism, antisemitism...
To end a political career, you just have to say he's an antisemite and drag up some "evidence". After that, he's dead.
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