Russian Government, Barack Obama Hate Free Speech

Obama's Unconstitutional Acts - Flopping Aces

Oct. 2, 2012 - What do Russia's government and Barack Obama have in common? For one thing, they have very little tolerance for freedom of speech. Let's look at a few recent ones: Russian punk band Pussy Riot and critics of the prophet Mohammed.

"The Duma, Russia's parliament has proposed a new law that would punish anyone who insults the feelings of religious believers," reports Worldcrunch.com, "with up to three years in jail. Insulting a holy site would carry a penalty of up to five years." 

Granted, Obama's statement was not a direct call for banning such speech. It can reasonably be taken as a tacit all for it, however. Let's be clear: Those who "slander the prophet is Islam," or any other religious figure for that matter, are exercising their internationally recognized right to free expression of speech, thought and opinion. "Slander" can be interpreted so broadly by ordinary people and opportunistic politicians that its legal meaning - which varies from nation to nation - becomes secondary to its emotional importance.

Later in the same speech, notes Elisha Maldonado ("Publius") at IBTimes, "Obama offered an example of those whose opinions should be marginalized: “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see in the images of Jesus Christ that are desecrated..."

New York MTA Gives In To Pro-Savage Complaints, Bans Free Speech In Subway

This advert was too scary for New York's MTA

Sept. 30, 2012 - You KNEW this would happen, didn't you? When New York City blogger Pamela Geller went balls-out and bought space in the city's subway stations for her pro-Israel, anti-Jihad posters, it caused instant controversy.

Sadly, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) of New York is composed of spineless pussies who caved in to the screeches and howls of those who objected to the First Amendment-protected posters.  

Freedom of speech is under assault by the Left, folks: The banning of Gellers subway placards comes on the heels of Barack Obama's recent anti-free speech statement at the United Nations, in which he said, "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam." Obama got that backwards, of course: The First Amendment guarantees you and me the freedom to say whatever we bloody well please about Mohammed, pro or con, or about any other religion or religious figure. The future, then, must never belong to those who would suppress my right to criticize Mohammed, Jesus, Moses, Donald Duck, Winston Churchill, the Chicago Bears or anything else.

The placards simply said, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat jihad." They were not anti-Islam per se. They were specifically anti-Jihad. Reasonable Americans know what that means: Violent, murderous militant radical Muslims. In fact, the words "Muslim" and "Islam" did not appear in the ads.

Will the ACLU weigh in on this issue? They already did, actually. Fox News reported on Sept. 23 that Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, supported Geller's right to run what she called the "patently offensive" ads. "More offensive would be their censorship," Fox quoted Lieberman as saying, "because that would violate the guarantee of free expression of all ideas regardless of how distasteful they are."

Indeed, the First Amendment is supposed to protect speech even if it offends some people.

Frankly, I find the Geller anti-Jihad placards to be much less offensive than Jihadists' videos of beheadings, suicide bombings and hangings. Don't you prefer Geller's approach to protesting against something she dislikes (jihad and savagery) over the manner in which so many Muslims worldwide take?

Was ChrisStevens killed by savages? Well, yes.

You know, like the killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012. Or like the countless numbers of violent protests and attacks and - sure, let's throw these in, too - stoning of women, executions of gay people just because they are gay people, burning hotels and killing guests because they engaged in (gasp) drinking beer ... and so much more.  

"Savage" seems appropriate when describing those things. Doesn't it? Does it describe all Muslims? No, it does not. It only describes the savage ones. This is so simple that it's almost painful.

At first, the MTA used one of their own regulations that allows them to turn down ads if they “demean an individual or group of individuals on account of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation.”

Look at the wording of Geller's placards, and at the MTA regulation that initially banned it, and you see a sort of disconnect from reality. "In any war between the civilized man and the savage," said the placards, "support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat jihad."  Could "savage" be offensive to an unthinking, overly sensitive, guilt-ridden, Jihad-supporting Muslim? I suppose so, but can a reasonable person argue that suicide belt-wearing people bent on killing innocent people just because they are not Muslims are not savages? I think not....

Karl Rove Gets Re-Invited to Loyola in Chicago

January 31, 2011 - Chicago - Karl Rove will be speaking at Loyoal University Chicago after all. Last July, conservative activists at Loyola University Chicago had planned to bring Karl Rove to their campus to speak in the fall semester. Loyola's administrators had other plans, however. Jessica Reynolds reported the story for the Loyola Student Dispatch: After months of controversy, Karl Rove will get his chance to speak at Loyola University Chicago. Rove, senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to former President George W. Bush, and now a FOX News regular, will speak at the university on March 22. Full Story at Loyola Student Dispatch... It's all part of Rove's book tour for "Courage and Consequence," of course. For those of you who just can't get enough of Karl Rove, he will be the keynote speaker at the annual McKinley Club banquet on Feb 22, 2011 at the Niles McKinley Memorial Auditorium in Niles, Illinois. More info here.

Open Letter: "Listen. Because We Are Coming"

The following letter is rapidly circulating around the country and, like thousands of other folks, I received a copy. Let's give it some more traction. The friend who sent a copy to me added, "Americans everywhere identify with this 53-year-old woman. She has given us a voice. Once you read this, you will want to forward it to all of your friends. Let's see how many people cut this woman down for saying exactly what most of us want to yell into the ears of every representative and senator in Washington. This letter is not a slam at the Democrats, it is a slam at the Democrat AND Republican politicians who are screwing up our country." Here is the woman's open, unedited letter to our nation's leadership: "I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues a re that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me? Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation: One, Illegal Immigration: I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration. Two, The Stimulus Bill: I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal. Three, Czars: I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it. Four, Cap and Trade: The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say. Five, Universal Healthcare: I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down! Six, Growing Government Control: I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there. Seven, ACORN: I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate. Eight, Redistribution of Wealth: No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why -- what do you have against shareholders making a profit? Nine, Charitable Contributions: Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves. Ten, Corporate Bailouts: Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us. Eleven, Transparency and Accountability: How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try -- please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me. Twelve, Unprecedented Quick Spending: Stop it now. Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency.. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave. I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far o ff course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending. From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words Stop treating us like we're morons. We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when he will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution. Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you.. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming." Leave a Comment Conservative T-Shirts Follow CNB on Twitter RSS Feed

Every Blogger Should Read This

Chuck DeVore has written, in my opinion, the definitive explanation of why conservative political bloggers blog. He compares (as have I and others in the past) the modern blogger to past heroes of free speech, people such as Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine, and many of our Founding Fathers.

Following are a few excerpts from DeVore's column at BigGovernment.com "These Are the Times That Try Men’s Blogging Souls" (emphasis added):

These are interesting times. Under President Obama and the most liberal Congress since 1965, the United States government is expected to borrow a trillion dollars per year for the next decade while the size and power of our federal government will grow at the expense of our liberties. In this environment, Democrats in Congress are working on a bill to give President Obama emergency control of the Internet (S.773) which would permit the President to seize control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency. 

Let me interrupt here and acknowledge the liberal bloggers screaming "What about us? We blog for the same reasons!" Well, yes and no. Conservative bloggers are trying to preserve the freedoms given to us by the Constitution and God. Generally speaking, Liberal bloggers write in an attempt to destroy those liberties - whether they realize it or not. Every time a Liberal blogger writes anything in support of, say, a rebirth of the Fairness Doctrine, they are supporting an erosion of our freedoms. To stay with DeVore's theme of the Franklinesque blogger, the Liberal blogger's analog would be a pro-England writer in 1776 who thinks George Washington is Satan's son and the King was right to raise the tax on tea. Into this breach come the bloggers. There are about 120 million blogs today. Many of them are political, most are not. America’s political bloggers trace their heritage, their place in the body politic, to the Colonial era. Most of today’s political bloggers would have been quite comfortable defying the British Stamp Act of 1765, were they around 244 years ago. 

Must-See: Goons Attack Cameramen at Muslim Fair in Dearborn, Michigan

This video must be seen. Watch it. Share it with others. Read more about it at Creeping Sharia. Also See: Liberal Media Hypocrisy Test (video) Cool Hats & Shirts for Cool Conservatives Leave a Comment... Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...

Reporting Fishy Activity to the Gestapo

Have YOU seen or heard any suspicious activity ("fishy" as the White House calls it)? Report it to Barack Obama's Gestapo the White House immediately. Here is an example of a letter that you can use to report dissenters to the Gestapo White House: Dear Mr. President, I have seen some things that seem fishy and I wish to report the following items: • A man who is likely constitutionally ineligible to be president has taken office and has failed to produce a valid birth certificate to prove that he was born in the USA. I, however, needed an original birth certificate to get a driver's license. • This usurper has advanced policies designed to enslave the American population and promote the power of his People's Democratik Party, including among these policies a health care plan that will sacrifice older and sicker citizens for the good of the collective. See the rest of that letter...

The Democrats Are Afraid (You Should Be Too)

It seems obvious now that Barack Obama and his Democrat allies in Congress will not make the August deadline for passage of a government-run health care plan. They're afraid not only that this is a fait accompli, but have a long-term fear that it won't pass in the fall, either. You, too, should be afraid, but not of the government-run health care plan failing. Rather, you should be afraid of the way in which the Democrats are censoring the Republicans' speech and emails. Connie Hair wrote about this for Human Events on July 24: Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), the secretary of the House Republican Conference and a former District Court Judge, is having his messages to constituents censored by Democrats on the Franking Commission. Republicans are no longer allowed to use the words "government run health care" in the communications to their constituents. I'll be damned if I'm going to stop calling it "government-run health care plan," a phrase that is entirely accurate but scares the bejeezus out of the Democrats and the White House. Why? Because it gives the American people the correct impression that the proposed legislation (all 1,018 pages of the monster) will be run by - you guessed it - the government. That's exactly what has so many Americans turned off to the idea. After all, for decades we've seen how well the government runs the U.S. Postal Service and border security, and mismanages Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Amtrack, the Veterans Administration, and so on. In their typical Orwellian style, with a dash of Stalin and a pinch of Hitler, the Democrats are demanding that Republicans not use the phrase "government-run health care plan." The Human Events article referred to freedom of speech being crushed: “I would submit to you this is a free speech issue, guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States,” Carter said. A highly-placed Hill staff source tells Human Events this is the new policy being enforced by Democrats. Republicans will be forced to use the Democrats’ version of language describing their attempted government takeover of healthcare on their official communications with their constituents or they will have to pay for the postage personally. The notion of one party stepping on another's freedom of speech is frightening. It is more frightening in the long run, even, than the economic disasters being wrought daily by the Obama Regime. As bad and far reaching as those may be, we can probably recover from them eventually. However, as soon as one party silences it's only viable opposition, we will have a dictatorship. That would be much harder to recover from than even another Great Depression. "All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be. But if, as in propaganda for sticking out a war, the aim is to influence a whole people, we must avoid excessive intellectual demands on our public, and too much caution cannot be extended in this direction." - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, translated by Ralph Manheim. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1943 RELATED: Democrats' Healthcare Censorship Shows How Desperate They've Become‎ - U.S. News & World Report - July 24, 2009 Democrats For Censorship?...Only When It Serves Them... - American Daily - Oct. 14, 2004 Democrats Revamping censorship efforts - The Conservative Alliance - May 21, 2009 Democrats Gore and Lieberman threaten state censorship of US Entertainment Industry - World Socialist Web Site - Sept. 20, 2000 More Democrats Call for Censoring Talk Radio - Infowars.com - Feb. 13, 2009 Censorship and The Slide To Dictatorship - Capitalism Magazine - Feb. 22, 2009 Censorship in Nazi Germany - historylearningsite.co.uk The long history of censorship - beaconforfreedom.org Leave a Comment - See Our Online Store RSS Feed - We're on Twitter!

Penn & Teller on Patriotism and Ambiguity (Video)

Comedic magicians Penn & Teller explain to their live audience why they love working in the United States of America. Thanks to friend Jan Gregory for bringing this to my attention.

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John Galt's Spirit Rises, Anti-Stimulus Protests Beginning

Free thinkers across America, take note! Anti-Stimulus (or "Anti-Porkulus") protests are beginning. They will spread. They will get bigger as they spread. Good friend Anne Leary at Backyard Conservative has compiled a neat list of Anti-Stimulus protest action so far. Go take a look at her post "Anti-Porkulus Rally in Denver," then read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Ready? Put your weary shoulders back and organize your own Anti-Stimulus protest event! Do it for John Galt. RELATED: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years - WSJ.com CNB RSS Feed

Full Texts of Blogger Subpoenas

These subpoenas were filed against Google in an effort gain information about two bloggers in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, as well as information about two neighborhood groups. Links to the subpoenas (PDF files): Wilson Yard Defendants Subpoena to Google (re: two blogs) (01-12-2009) Wilson Yard Defendants Subpoena to Buena Park Neighbors (01-12-2009) Wilson Yard Defendants Subpoena to Uptown Neighborhood Council (01-12-2009) The subpoenas were filed by developer Peter Holsten's attorney Thomas E. Johnson. Holsten is the developer behind a mixed-use project now under construction at the "Wilson Yard" location in Uptown, at Montrose and Broadway. RELATED: Holsten v. Uptown Update and What the Helen (Citizen Media Law Project) Developer Targets Bloggers in Chicago Marathon Pundit: Google subpoenaed about two anonymous Chicago blogs Uptown Update: "Holsten's Attorney Subpoenas Google" Open Letter to Uptown Update: Expose Yourselves Gapers Block: Uptown Throwdown WindyPundit: Google Subpoenaed Over Anonymous Blogs in Connection With Controversial Chicago TIF Project Chicagoist: Don't Shoot the Messenger: Uptown Bloggers Subpoenaed CMLP Blog: Chicago Developer Shovels Out Subpoenas by the Bucketful Over Wilson Yard Redevelopment CNB RSS Feed

Iraq More Democratic Than China Today

On Saturday, January 31, millions of people in Iraq enthusiastically turned out to excercise their still-new democratic freedom to vote for the candidates of their choice. No longer living in a dictatorship, the people of Iraq are determined to never lose their democracy. (A quick note of thanks to President Bush and all of the men and women of the US Armed Forces.) "Many people have seen Iraq as a dictatorship, but today that has changed," he said, casting his ballot in Baghdad. "Others are saying this is a sectarian government, but this isn't true. We can't be a dictatorship again and we won't be." Full Story at The Observer... Even Al Jazeera has a happy report on video (linked here and embedded below). Meanwhile, in China, democracy is faring less well than in Iraq. As another report from Al Jazeera shows (link here), nothing much has really changed since the butchery in Tianenman Square. How ironic that so many Americans are pissed off about "imposing" democracy on Iraq, but so gladly rush to do business with China's dictatorial leaders (creators of the most Orwellian Olympics since Adolf Hitler hosted them in Berlin), the iron-fisted suppressors of free speech and thought. CNB RSS Feed

Developer Targets Bloggers in Chicago

A developer in Chicago is using the legal system to go after at least two blogs based in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. There are several very disturbing aspects to this story, including the possible involvement of the son of Alderman Helen Shiller (46th Ward, Uptown), an attorney who shares an office suite with the developer's attorney. First, let's quickly review the basics as reported in the current issue of News-Star: The attorney representing Wilson Yard developer Peter Holsten in the lawsuit filed against him by Fix Wilson Yard has subpoenaed Google seeking information about two Uptown blogs. News-Star learned that the blogs in question are Uptown Update and What the Helen. Each blog was notified by e-mail that they had been subpoenaed as third parties through Google and that they have until Feb. 4 to file a motion to quash the subpoena. Both blogs are maintained anonymously and neither is affiliated with Fix Wilson Yard. In December, the Uptown community group Fix Wilson Yard, which claims to represent more than 2,000 Chicago residents, filed a lawsuit against the City of Chicago and Holsten Real Estate Development. The attorney is Thomas E. Johnson. His law firm is Johnson, Jones, Snelling, Gilbert & Davis, P.C., located at 36 S. Wabash Avenue, Suite 1310, Chicago. Another law firm in the same suite is Shiller, Rossiter & Co., LLC. The "Shiller" in that second firm is Brendan Shiller. Brendan's mother is Ald. Helen Shiller, who has championed developer Holsten's project at Wilson Yard and has been the subject of much criticism by the blogs in question. Additionally, Tom Johnson has been a financial contributor to Ald. Shiller's campaigns. All this proves is that Brendan Shiller shares a suite with Johnson's firm. One must admit, however, that the coincidence is stunning, and it begs the question: How involved is the Shiller family in this legal pursuit of Uptown Update and What The Helen? The most disturbing aspect of this, of course, is the fact that a developer is trying to suppress the free speech activities of a respected blog, Uptown Update. "What The Helen," a blog whose name is derived from Helen Shiller, the target of their critiques, has been defunct for about a year, so to stay in the present, let's concentrate on Uptown Update. Uptown Update (UU) is enormously popular; it achieved one million hits last week. Like What The Helen (WTH), UU has been critical of Shiller and of the Wilson Yard TIF project at Montrose and N. Sheridan. UU, however, has been somewhat more subtle than was WTH. Additionally, UU reports on a broad range of news in the Uptown neighborhood. In essence, UU is a virtual neighborhood newspaper, providing some commentary and a lot of hard news reporting, with excellent graphics and community events listings. It is not unusual to hear an Uptown resident say, "I saw that on Uptown Update." For a developer's attorney to use subpoenaes to identify the operators of UU and WTH is disturbing. If this action by Holsten's attorney is being done as an attempt to silence Uptown Update and, thereby, the comments made by community members on that blog, then it is frightening. There can be only one or two reasons why this is being done. Those reasons may be: 1) To simply intimidate the bloggers, with the possible intention of scaring them into either shutting down their blogs or to delete past references to Holsten and not make future posts about him or his Wilson Yard project; 2) To discover the bloggers' names to subsequently bring legal action against them. That legal action would most likely be charges of defamation or interfering with commerce; There could be other reasons, of course, but the most obvious ones would seem to be an intention to either intimidate and/or to bring legal action against the individuals behind the blogs if their real names are discovered. It should be noted, for whatever it's worth, that Holsten Development Capital has channeled a lot of money over the years to a number of Democrats in Illinois, including Ald. Helen Shiller (at least $10,000 to Citizens for Shiller, 2000 through January, 2006). A small sampling of other beneficiaries of his largesse includes Citizens for Lisa Madigan (over $12,000), Citizens for David Orr ($8,000), Citizens for Joe Moore (over $16,000), Citizens for the 48th Ward Democratic Party (over $3,700), Citizens for Mary Ann Smith (over $17,000) [Smith is the 48th Ward Alderman], Citizens for Carol Ronen (over $4,000), Friends of Edward M Burke (over $10,000). (Source) It should be noted that I am not implying anything illegal about the contributions referred to above. MORE DISTURBING ASPECTS As mentioned above, Ald. Helen Shiller's son Brendan is an attorney who shares a suite with Holsten's attorney, Tom Johnson. Holsten and Ald. Shiller have both been targets of harsh criticism in the blogs. Both, therefore, have the motivation to squelch the blogs. Both Holsten and Shiller have the means, or ability, to bring the legal tools to bear in order to attempt that. Let me stress that this is theory on my part, but to say the least, it seems unlikely that the Shillers were not aware of the pending subpoena before it was filed. IS HOLSTEN BEING HONEST? Developer Holsten told News-Star that he had no knowledge of the legal action: Holsten said that he was not aware that Google had been subpoenaed by his defense attorney for information about the blogs. "I tend to stay off the blogs," Holsten said "They can get pretty nasty." This may or may not be true, but it seems difficult to believe. While he might actually "stay off the blogs," as he claims, it seems unlikely that his attorney Tom Johnson would not make him aware of anything about him on the blogs that could be deemed problematic. As for Holsten staying off the blogs, Holsten Management Corporation is one of the most frequent visitors to Uptown Update. Now, are we to believe that one of Holsten's secretaries is reading UU, and nobody else in that office, and that no notes are being taken by said hypothetical secretary? Furthermore, it is hard to swallow Holsten's implication that his attorney is lobbing subpoenaes on his behalf without his knowledge. Why would Johnson be seeking the identities of the bloggers? If not for client Holsten, then for whom or for what purpose? Curiosity? Suppose Holsten is being honest about this. Is Helen Shiller behind it? As mentioned, Holsten and Shiller are allies in the Wilson Yard battle. Shiller undoubtedly sees the whole controversy as a threat to her political career in the 46th Ward. I'm not saying Shiller is behind it, but the question must be asked. WHO ELSE WILL BE TARGETED? At this time, the targets of this subpoena is Uptown Update and the defunct What The Helen blogs. However, plenty of other blogs and web sites have been critical of both Holsten and Ald. Shiller, and still more have republished or linked to posts on those blogs. If Holsten and/or Shiller are truly on a witch hunt, they may leave no stake unburned in their attempt to shut down free speech in Chicago's 46th Ward. Worse still, other politicians will be watching this action. If Holsten and friends prevail, it could set a very chilling precedent for citizen journalists nationwide. RELATED: Open Letter to Uptown Update: Expose Yourselves News-Star: "Trial Date Set!" Shiller comes out fighting What is Wilson Yard? City makes change to spur financing for Wilson Yard Tax increase may blunt Uptown’s economic boom UNC ENews - The Truth About Wilson Yard - Uptown Neighborhood Council UNC e-News: The latest on Wilson Yard, Vote, October 28, 2008 Is Illinois the Most Corrupt State? - Capitol Briefing Feds Sued by Community Organizations and Publishers, Charge Computer Searches Illegal Electronic Frontier Foundation CNB RSS Feed

Feds Sued by Community Organizations and Publishers, Charge Computer Searches Illegal

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an organizationt that has been working to protect the rights of citizen journalists ("bloggers") since 1990. They have battled unfair laws and attempts to squelch free speech by advocating and representing in courts.

EFF has brought and defended lawsuits "even when that means taking on the US government or large corporations." EFF has a story posted on their web site about a recent lawsuit filed by private citizen groups against the FBI and other federal entities.

The groups are being helped by both EFF and the ACLU: Data Seizure Violates Constitution and Federal Law San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the ACLU of Northern California filed suit in federal court today to protect the privacy and free speech rights of two San Francisco Bay Area community organizations after the groups' computers were seized and the data copied by federal and local law enforcement. Both organizations, Long Haul and the East Bay Prisoner Support Group (EBPS), are publishers of information for social and political activists. FULL ARTICLE... EFF also has a link to the full complaint here (PDF).

I recently heard of a few bloggers who could use EFF's services, so I forwarded a link to mutual friend (who was previously unaware of EFF), who in turn passed it along to the bloggers. (You're welcome very much, thank you.) Another threat to free speech: Orwellian-Alinsky Dems CNB RSS Feed

Online Porn Just Pretext for Censorship, Group Says

The Chinese government just can't help it's totalitarian tendencies. It is a nation, after all, that has never known democracy and seems hell bent on repressing for as long as possible. Now that the sparkle of the Beijing Olympics has dimmed, the Chinese government feels it can drop all the pretty pretenses of a democratic peoples' utopia. We are able, again, to see the Chinese government for what it truly is: A bunch of freedom-fearing quasi-fascists. An international group of journalists is protesting one of the latest efforts to keep the Chinese people down: Reporters Without Borders regards the campaign against Internet porn that China launched on 5 January as just a pretext for reinforcing online censorship. More than 90 websites have so far been blocked, but some of them have no pornographic content. Foreign ministry spokesperson Jian Yu nonetheless insisted today that “China takes a positive and open minded attitude toward the management of the Internet.” FULL ARTICLE... RELATED: Obama's Pet Reporters Liberals, too, should reject the Fairness Doctrine Subscribe to Chicago News Bench