15 Jul 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Facebook has refused to remove a page dedicated to gunman Raoul Moat following criticism from the Prime Minster. During yesterday’s (July 14) Prime Minister’s Questions Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris called on David Cameron to contact the social networking site and request that the page, which contains a “whole host of anti-police statements” be withdrawn. Cameron, indicated that he would apply pressure for a ban, emphasising that Moat was a “callous murderer” who did not deserve support. However Facebook indicated that they would resist any approach, highlighting that “Facebook is a place where people can express their views and discuss things in an open way as they can and do in many other places. We believe that enabling people to have these different opinions and debate about a topic can help bring together lots of different views for a healthy discussion.” The “RIP Raoul Moat You Legend!” group has attracted over 36,000 members so far although not all posts express support for the killer.
14 Jul 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Yesterday (13 July), the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation to protect US journalists and publishers from “libel tourism”. The SPEECH (Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage) Act will now go before the full senate. The impetus for the bill follows a number of law suits instigated against American writers in foreign courts in order to exploit their weak libel laws. For example, New York based academic Rachel Ehrenfeld was sued in London despite only 23 copies of her book, on the financing of terrorism, being sold in the UK. If passed, the proposal will prevent federal courts from recognising foreign libel ruling that are inconsistent with the First Amendment and will allow affected persons to apply for a declaratory judgement confirming that verdicts against them are non-enforceable. The bill, co-sponsored by Democrat Patrick Leahy and Republican Jeff Sessions, is believed to have a high prospect of being enacted because of its broad cross-party support.
14 Jul 2010 | News and features, United Kingdom
The High Court ruling against the controversial disc jockey acknowledged Jon Gaunt’s right to free speech, but failed to uphold it, says Liberty’s Corinna Ferguson
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14 Jul 2010 | Uncategorized
Hello there, Indexers. Are you thinking it’s a bit of a while since I was writing about tits on a seemingly respectable forum? You are? Well, put that mildly peeved look to one side, because I’m about to do it again. Only this time, they’re real human tits, and not evil doll ones. So that’s a relief.
Are you regular visitors to Spain? I am not. I have skin so fair it’s almost blue and a mild allergy to sunblock, I’m vegetarian and I think bull-running is a Very Bad Thing indeed. So I’ve always given Spain a miss, even though I fancy the art and the patatas bravas. Can’t have everything.
But now, I’m thinking I might go to Salou, on the Costa Daurada. It has, according to today’s Telegraph, become the first place in Spain to ban shirtless and bikini-wearing persons from milling around away from the beach. Wearing bikinis on the beach: fine. Wearing bikinis away from the beach, as though they were an acceptable outfit for shopping, dining and wandering about: fined. And fined €300 at that.
I suppose a better blogger would be concerning herself with the impact on freedom of expression. But I am not. I am all for freedom of expression in the form of words. I am not remotely in favour of freedom of expression in the form of dress. Clothes I would not hesitate to ban include: vests on men who don’t look like Bruce Willis; those weird harem pants which make everyone look like they have parsnip-shaped legs; and especially cloven shoes (usually trainers), which have a stomach-turning gap between the big toes and the other toes, as though the wearer were part-goat. I have heard tell of shoes with ten individual toes, but I assume they are just an urban myth.
The councillor for tourism in Salou, Alberto del Hierro, has summarised things admirably. “It is not normal,” he points out, “to go to the market with your packet on show or round tourist sites in a thong. One shouldn’t be allowed to walk the streets or enter public buildings in unseemly apparel. It gives the city a low-class look”. I would suggest it is not normal to do anything in a thong, let alone go and look at some ruins. Yet that’s what tourists have apparently been doing. Poor people of Salou – no wonder they’ve had to legislate.
So, if you are going off on your holidays soon — and I believe you non-blue-skinned types do, this time of year — remember the basics. Women: try to recall that bikinis are, in essence, bras and pants. Often smaller pants than one would hope. Wearing them in public anywhere is weird. Wearing them in public, not near sand, is weirder still. Men: you do not look like Brad Pitt when you take off your shirt. You look like you, but more so. That is not a bargain. It is a trauma.
I think the Spanish are trying to save us from skin cancer, from humiliation, from ourselves. Thank you, Spain. Now could you come and ban shirtless running in Regent’s Park, before I burst into tears? Summer isn’t accompanied by collective blindness (except in Day of the Triffids), so could we please stop dressing like it is?
