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from the right-to-speak-but-not-to-be-heard dept.
[Seconding-Ed note: This story is likely to be contentious. In the interests of helping set the tone, I would like to start off by quoting H.L. Mencken:
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Further, this quote which has appeared in various phrasings and attributions:
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
To mind's eye, I must be willing to accept against my own words and actions any that I would wish to see imposed upon another. --martyb]
YouTube Restores Far-Right Channels After Appeal
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
The channels of two prominent far-right YouTubers have been re-instated after the video-sharing site said it made a mistake in removing them. Initially, YouTube gave no reason for changing its decision and just said it had made a "wrong call". Later, it said that while many people found the channels "deeply offensive", they had not broken its rules. The decision came days after YouTube's chief executive said YouTube had to be open to hosting "controversial" ideas.
YouTube removed several channels and accounts this week, claiming they had broken its hate speech policies. Among them was a channel run by white nationalist Martin Sellner and an anonymous British YouTuber known as The Iconoclast. Mr Sellner was reportedly in contact with the man who allegedly carried out the Christchurch mosque shootings in March this year that killed 51 people. Austrian police are investigating his links to the attack. He denies any involvement in the shooting.
Both men protested about the closure of their YouTube channels on social media. They shared information sent to them from YouTube, which said they had "repeatedly" broken its guidelines. On Thursday, YouTube reversed its decision and reinstated the two channels. Several other far-right channels that YouTube banned this week remain unavailable.
An explanation for the change of heart came on Friday. Farshad Shadloo, YouTube's global product policy communications lead, said that after a "thorough review" it had decided that the channels had not broken its rules. "We realise that many may find the viewpoints expressed in these channels deeply offensive," he said. Mr Shadloo added that YouTube had recently updated the way it handled "hateful content".
Earlier this week YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki wrote in a letter to video-makers that YouTube must remain an "open platform". She said the desire to welcome all kinds of views had to be balanced against a "responsibility to protect the community".
"A commitment to openness is not easy. It sometimes means leaving up content that is outside the mainstream, controversial or even offensive," she said. "Hearing a broad range of perspectives ultimately makes us a stronger and more informed society," she claimed.
'I am Talking Directly to You': US Attorney Delivers Powerful Rebuke to White Nationalists
The U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio on Thursday announced new federal charges against a self-avowed white nationalist accused of threatening to commit an attack on a local Jewish community center. James Reardon, who attended the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was arrested last week after authorities said he posted the threat on Instagram. U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said Reardon has now been charged with one count of making threats as authorities continue their investigation into Reardon and whether he my have any accomplices.
Of course, not so much that, but what Herdman said after that.
"I am talking directly to you," Herdman said at a news conference announcing the charges. "The Constitution protects your right to speak, your right to think, and your right to believe. If you want to waste the blessings of liberty by going down a path of hatred and failed ideologies, that is your choice."
Herdman continued, evoking the sacrifices made by U.S. service members in World War II against Nazism, as well as those who marched for civil rights throughout U.S. history.
"Thousands and thousands of young Americans already voted with their lives to ensure that this same message of intolerance, death, and destruction would not prevail - you can count their ballots by visiting any American cemetery in North Africa, Italy, France, or Belgium and tallying the white headstones," Herdman said. "You can also recite the many names of civil rights advocates who bled and died in opposing supporters of those same ideologies of hatred. Their voices may be distant, but they can still be heard."
"The Constitution may give you a voice, but it doesn't guarantee you a receptive audience," Herdman added.
(Score: 3, Informative) by EJ on Friday August 30 2019, @07:31PM (10 children)
If I wanted a copy of the Quran, I'm not even sure where I'd get one. Do they sell them at Barnes and Noble? Does B&N still exist anymore? Can you get one at Walmart? I seriously don't know.
It's like if I wanted to buy drugs. I feel like I'd just get in my car, randomly drive around to some sketchy areas of town, then probably end up getting shot at without succeeding in acquiring drugs.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Oakenshield on Friday August 30 2019, @07:39PM (6 children)
https://www.amazon.com/Quran-Islam-Religion-Spirituality-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=12527 [amazon.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by EJ on Friday August 30 2019, @07:40PM (5 children)
Nope. I'm not going to support Amazon.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Oakenshield on Friday August 30 2019, @07:58PM
Then good luck buying any books that are out of the very general mainstream. B&N never have what I am looking for but always very nicely offer to order it. I have terrible luck finding any computer related books at any local bookstores these days that don't have "For Dummies" at the end of the title. The monster bookstore near my home is as big as an aircraft hanger but unless you want games, calendars, toys or plushies you are out of luck. Amazon is about your only choice.
(Score: 2) by number11 on Friday August 30 2019, @08:06PM (2 children)
Plenty of places besides Amazon. Probably any decent bookstore.
https://www.hilalplaza.com/collections/islamic-books/Quran-and-Tafsir [hilalplaza.com]
http://www.islamicbookstore.com/top100.html [islamicbookstore.com]
https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Koran-9780553587524/2582903 [walmart.com]
Bet if you asked nicely, a mosque would give you a copy.
Bunch of online sites if you don't need hard copy, such as
https://www.clearquran.com/ [clearquran.com]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday August 30 2019, @09:28PM
If your town has a "bookmine" used book warehouse-store, there are probably several interesting editions there...
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by EJ on Friday August 30 2019, @09:49PM
I have no idea where any mosques are either. It's not as though I really have any desire to burn a Quran. I was just pointing out a fact that seemed interesting to me for a moment.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Monday September 02 2019, @02:19AM
There are dozens of sources for free copies online, including archive.org and gutenberg. Also, I've been told if you express interest, any mosque will give you a print copy.
Here it is in a bunch of languages and versions:
http://www.qurandownload.com/ [qurandownload.com]
I'm told that Pickthal is a good translation.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Friday August 30 2019, @09:00PM (1 child)
Plenty of Qur'ans around. Project Gutenberg has several English translations.
I got a copy once to help play a priest in an Arabic D&D campaign. And man, was there some radical stuff in there. I suspect the translation was just a tiny bit biased. The translator used some easily debunked numerology to "prove" the divine origin of the Qu'ran. Used the fact that all sorts of things occurred some multiple of 19 times. Declared that was impossible for humans to do and extremely improbable it could happen by accident, and therefore that meant Allah did it. Took me about 2 seconds to realize that anything that didn't add up to a multiple of 19 could easily be padded until it did. Religious fanatics are often such sad, confused souls, and an embarrassment to the human race to fall for such pathetically weak illogic.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Friday August 30 2019, @10:31PM
Translation: the book was signed with Allah's private key, but using a deprecated protocol.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday August 30 2019, @09:32PM
Find a mosque? If you were sincere and honest you'd most likely walk away with one, the same way most churches would give you a Bible for the asking.
This sig for rent.