Free Speech Monitor: October, 2006

Air Caliphate "The moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible."  Salman Rushdie, banned from Air Canada flights, Sept 2001 Liars Welcomed, but Dissident Loses Laptop to Canada's Politically Correct Customs VANCOUVER. October 9. Canadian free speech activist and broadcaster Paul Fromm was detained for over two hours by Canada Customs and subjected to a minute search of his luggage and pockets. The anonymous operatives for Canada Border Services Agency took one book Race, Intelligence and Bias in Academe as suspected "hate" propaganda. They first cleared then decided to seize Mr. Fromm's laptop for further investigation. Fromm was returning from Seattle for a speaking engagement Oct. 10 in Vancouver, Fromm recalls: "When I went through primary inspection, the female agent wrote  the number "1" on my declaration. I was immediately signalled over after I had picked up my luggage. The secondary inspection takes place in a long hall with 17 stations with stainless steel examining tables. I was first dealt with by two East Indian mals agents who refused to give me their names. My briefcase was examined piece of paper by piece of paper. I objected to the agent reading a note from an elderly supporter in Edmonton. I objected as this note praising one of our recent newsletters is utterly outside their mandate. It's not drugs, or weapons, or undeclared merchandise or currency over $10,000. Their behaviour was bullying, humiliating and intrusive, all the more so as these gutless wonders repeatedly refused to provide me with their names.  A female agent insisted that I accompany her to something that looked like one of those telephone cubicles along the wall. A waist high table was attached to the wall. I was forced to empty all my pockets and turn them inside out. My personal and probably illegible notes and my licence and several other documents disappeared with her into a room with smoky reflective glass. When I objected to the prolonged search of  my ,papers a nameless East Indian with real attitude told me: "I don't want to listen to you." I reluctantly put in the password so that the snoops could examine my laptop in my presence. The last time it was seized in Vancouver in August, 2005, it disappeared into the room with the smoky glass. Afterwards, it had to be debugged from whatever had been placed on it or happened to it. After a long examination, it was returned to me. The agents went off to the dark room to write-up the seizure form -- an activity that should have taken no more than 5 minutes. More than half an hour later, I asked an agent to get the supervisor as I had been there so long. Meanwhile  the original 7 agents I had seen when I first entered seemed to have disappeared. The hall was for some time utterly empty of agents or victims, except me. When the agents returned it was to tell me they were seizing my laptop as well as such accessories as the mouse and battery pack. I objected to this theft. A mouse couldn't possibly contain 'hate propaganda.' One especially belligerent blonde female objected to my use of the word 'theft.' I said: 'This laptop is mine; it's not yours. You have it. I don't. I call it theft!' In the more than two hours I was detained, fewer than 15 people were sent over for secondary inspection. No one on my plane of about 50 was deemed of interest. Most people were handled informally: 'We'll try to get you on your way quickly,' the agents assured them. Two old East Indians in saris were dealt with in some foreign language by the two East Indian agents. Smiles all around. No search of their luggage and they were on their way. Three Chinese were questioned for about 10 minutes. As they left, the agent warned them: 'Next time get your story straight or we can send you back.' He then helpfully escorted the liars to the door and was directing them, whether to a cab or an ongoing flight, I couldn't tell. The only other person detained for any length of time was also White. I shall call him 'the student.' His luggage was searched at length and he, too, had to go through the degrading process of emptying all his pockets. The Chinese trio of liars did not. Nothing was seized from him but the agents seemed suspicious as to whether he was coming to Canada to study as he claimed. It is clear that the theft of my laptop, vital to my livelihood is a form of outright political persecution. The next day, I contacted  Canada Border Services Agency at Vancouver Airport to track my stolen goods. I eventually was directed to the 'seizure control office' with the ominous phone number of 604-666-1811. At  first, and you get used to this with government offices, no one would answer and I had to leave a message. I was persistent and eventually got a FAX number out the nameless woman who answered. I pointed out that, once before my laptop had been seized and my lawyer got it returned within a few days. Lawyer Barbara Kulaszka wrote on October 11: 'It is clear that the seizure of my client's laptop was not made on any determination that it contained hate propaganda. My client informs me that the laptop contained only software that he uses on a daily basis for writing and some private e-mails. 'Hate propaganda, by definition, is a matter that is in the public domain and intended for public consumption, by sale or distribution. My client's private e-mails and software are NOT for sale or for reading by any person other than those private  individuals they are sent to.' The laptop computer should be returned immediately, as it is clear there were no grounds for its legal detention.' The Canada Border Services Agency is a disgrace. Members were involved in a complete breech of trust in a narcotics smuggling ring through Pearson Airport several years ago. On a number of occasions recently, in both Ontario and British Columbia, agents have fled their posts when they learned an armed American fugitive 'might' be headed for the border. Add to this the fact that these courage challenged political police are allowed to operate anonymously and you have a recipe for tyranny. They don't 'stand on guard' for Canada. Few visitors are checked by the agents who seem to spend long periods of time sipping coffee. Liars are greeted and allowed in while political dissidents have their possessions looted. Abolish the First Amendment to "Get" Hate, B'nai Brith is Told One of Canada's most powerful anti-free speech lobby groups, The League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith sponsored the Third International Symposium on Hate on The Internet, September 11-12 in Toronto. The well-funded event attracted high powered people, police chiefs (Canada's new political police), politicians and speakers from Israel, the U.S., Australia, Britain and Canada. To gag dissent or "hate", meaning anything of which powerful minorities disapprove, means overcoming the U.S. First Amendment. That's exactly what one of the speakers told the assembled censors: "In response to charges of alleged US inaction regarding Internet hate, Michal Gennaco, the chief attorney for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, did say that "physical hate threats, over the Internet or otherwise, can be criminally prosecuted. US law enforcement agencies can increase intelligence gatherings and stop the Internet import of terrorism. What cannot be prosecuted is pure hate speech. The American Civil Liberties Union has (successfully) resisted all attempts to increase police surveillance of terrorism." What can be done? Gennaco said: "Change the First Amendment. In fact, a congressional attempt to do this, regarding hate speech, lost by only two votes."  Gennaco suggested that the balance between freedom of speech and hate speech is shifting. "We have to struggle where these lines should be drawn.'" (Jewish Tribune, September 21, 2006) American patriots should be aware that the enemies of free speech have targeted the First Amendment as the way to get at the Internet and "hate speech", which, of course, is muddled up with terrorism and kiddie porn, but basically comes down to anything he who cries "hate" doesn't like: like opposing the Third World invasion of North America; like questioning the Hollywood version of World War II. Other conference speakers were ecstatic at the jailing of dissidents in a number of European countries.  "Prof. Yaman Akdeniz of the Cyber Law Research Unit of the Faculty of Law of the University of Leeds "called the jailing of dissidents 'proactive.'" He rejoiced "that continental European countries such as Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Hungary, Austria, and Belgium have strong anti-hate laws, which have resulted in the imprisonment of hatemongers 'They are very proactive,' he said. 'In Holland, 657 hate web sites were removed. And in Germany, more than 700 hate web sites were shut down.'" One of Canada's leading censorship bodies is the Canadian Human Rights Commission. They too announced that dissent - well, they call it "hate" - will not be tolerated. So much for the apostles of tolerance and diversity - diversity of racial types but not opinions. "Karen Izzard, Senior Policy Advisor of the Policy and Regulatory Affairs Division, Knowledge Centre of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, emphasized the Commission's successes in dealing with Internet hate under Section 13 of the Criminal Code. According to Izzard, 'The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body. It can force a web site to shut down, or risk a $10,000 fine - $20,000 in extreme cases. If one ignores the Tribunal, one can be tried in federal court for contempt, and risk a nine-month jail sentence for a first-time offence. A cease and desist order would apply. Hate will not be tolerated.'" And, of course, there were the highly politicized cops. They, too, are dedicated to silencing dissent, true political police: "Toronto Police Chief William Blair and York Region Police Chief Armand LaBarge, both speaking at a dinner on Sept. 11 as part of the Third International Symposium on Hate on the Internet stressed the need to combat Internet hate more effectively. They were introduced by Aaron Remer, chair of B'nai Brith Canada's Institute for  International Affairs. Blair declared that 'hate has infected the Internet.' York Region Chief LaBarge said: "'Canadian children spend more time on the Internet than in any other nation on earth.' He warned: 'We must attack Internet hate as much as we attack Internet child pornography.'" Once again, we see political opinion equated with child molestation. "Nonetheless, there has been progress towards successfully prosecuting Internet hate. He gave the example of a web site by the racist anti-Semite Brad Love. LaBarge was able to find an enthusiastic Crown who helped to convict Love. Love received the stiffest sentence yet given to an Internet hatemonger." If this report is accurate, LaBarge was lying. Brad Love is a computer illiterate. He had no website and no computer. His more than 10,000 letters, several jabbing LaBarge for buying a $500,000 mobile command post and challenging him to come clean about the role of poorly screened immigrants in York Region crime, were sent to politicians at all levels. You sense the evil power of the politically correct cop censor getting "an enthusiastic Crown" attorney to railroad a dissident letter writing who had criticized the chief into jail. Minority Group Bucks Trend A mob of 400 enraged Sikhs force closure of a British play.  The pope's speech.  The Danish cartoons. Mel Gibson's traffic stop.  Chief Ahenakew's off the record comments.  Despite, or perhaps because of, cue-card ululations of protest, our increasingly hopeless media has made it an article of faith that the only, quote real threat, to spontaneous outbreaks of lighthearted folk dancing is Christian malevolence.  And the more fundamentalist the Christian the better.  Media know-alls notwithstanding, "the collective response of the Amish community in the days following the devastating shooting deaths of five girls in a Nickel Mines, Pa, schoolhouse was [what?  What?!  Beheadings?  Boycotts?  Fatwas?  Riot?  Well, not quite] Amish community leaders appealed to friends and neighbours for kindness and empathy.  Dozens of the faithful attended the funeral of the killer -- Charles Roberts [while] some paid a visit to Roberts' widow to offer their sympathies and welcome her at one of the funerals."  (Maclean's, October 23, 2006) PayPal Censors Political Dissent An English racialist recently wrote to let us know that PayPal denied him the ability to use their system since he sells "insensitive materials" which diminish the holocaust and discuss racial differences. It  looks like folks should avoid using PayPal to keep their linen nice and clean.  Paypal does make exceptions for porn, however: that they will review and decide if it is offensive.  All dissenting political discussion is offensive, per se. But, don't worry. The oh-so-politically correct PayPal folks won't censor on the basis of sexual orientation: "PayPal will not include sexual preferences or viewpoints as a factor in determining what goods or services are prohibited under the Mature Audiences Policy." So, selling publications featuring Bruce buggering Billy is okay for PayPal, but selling material that criticizes some privileged minority and which they deem "hate" is forbidden. PayPal is another corporate enemy of free speech and free thoughts. Post Sincere Views, You Get jail; Defame A Person as a Hater, You Get Probation Canada's justice system seems more bizarre and totalitarian by the day. Defame and frame a person and seek to ruin his life on the Internet by indicating that he hates minorities and you get a slap on the wrist and suspended sentence. Honestly express your views that may be critical of privileged minorities, as Sentana-Reis of Alberta did recently, and you get 16 months in prison and three further years of probation where you're banned from using the Internet. "Using the Internet to accuse a Calgary man of racism was an idiotic move, said a city trucker who was today given a two-year suspended sentence for the crime.  James Gerald Mitchell took the stand and admitted that creating a website under his intended victim's name portraying him as a hater of blacks, Jews and other ethnic groups, was off base.  His actions stem from the one and only run-in he had with Troy Hilliard-Verhaeghe, he said. Mitchell alleged that in October 2003 Hilliard-Verhaeghe nearly ran him down at a Tim Horton's parking lot and proceeded to use profanity and racial slurs towards his Egyptian friend who had problems communicating in English." (Calgary Sun, September 18, 2006) Looks like pretending to be people on the Internet happens pretty frequently.  Chronic Ottawa complainer and filer of human rights complaints about Internet postings Richard Warman will be happy there was no jail sentence imposed. He's lurked on Stormfront, VNN and other places adopting a White nationalist persona.