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team sports house believes major league baseball should continue allow collisions | Collisions are an example of violence that has no place in baseball. Baseball is not a contact sport. It is not a sport that is supposed to rely on violence. This is one commentator’s point: “if you want to watch violent collisions, you can watch [American] football. Or hockey. Or MMA. There’s no reason baseball needs... |
team sports house believes major league baseball should continue allow collisions | Collisions heighten antagonisms. When someone gets hurt in a collision at the plate, the injured player’s teammates are more likely to hold a grudge—and to try to get even. There are numerous opportunities to do that, whether by aiming a pitch at that player, or by seeking another opportunity to hurt him. When Posey w... |
team sports house believes major league baseball should continue allow collisions | Collisions are unnecessary. Baseball doesn’t need collisions. By requiring the runner to slide, just as they must do when attempting to reach other bases, or disallowing catchers to block runners’ paths, or—best of all—requiring both those steps, baseball can eliminate collisions. Unlike in football or rugby, hits at... |
team sports house believes major league baseball should continue allow collisions | Collisions are dangerous and lead to injury. Ray Fosse and Buster Posey (mentioned above in the Introduction) are just two examples of players who suffered major injuries in crashes at home plate. Texas Rangers star Josh Hamilton, reigning Most Valuable Player of the American League, broke his arm when he collided wit... |
team sports house believes major league baseball should continue allow collisions | A clean hit will not heighten tensions between teams. Players recognize when a collision is “dirty” and when it is entirely within the rules and spirit of the game. After the Posey hit, a baseball columnist summed up “the consensus viewpoint” of baseball professionals and journalists: “It was a clean play.” [1] In the... |
team sports house believes major league baseball should continue allow collisions | Some level of violence is called for in baseball. Just because most plays in baseball do not involve contact does not mean that no plays should involve contact. It has been a part of the game for decades, so it is false to argue that it is not part of the game, or to assert that baseball is not a contact sport at all. ... |
media and good government house believes community radio good | While it is inexpensive to set up and run this is relatively expensive for the community compared to commercial radio, which is free to the user and perfectly capable of promoting the ideas of the free market which have had a proven benefit to democratic structures the world over. In addition to which, realistically, ... |
media and good government house believes community radio good | Radio is cheap to produce and easily accessible. Community radio relies on the power of its ideas and the thirst for those ideas among its audience. It accepts the notion that it is the exchange of information and views, freely given and received, that is more important than the ideas themselves. It doesn’t require m... |
media and good government house believes community radio good | Once again, Proposition is conflating things that tend to go along with community development and those that cause it. The fact that vibrant and active communities, duly engaged in wider society, frequently set up institutions such as community radio in no way demonstrates that it encourages civic participation. |
media and good government house believes community radio good | Community radio gives voices to the people rather than imposing those of the powerful. The events of the Arab Spring (and previous events such as the revolutions of 1989) have shown that effective means of communicating are vital. In a country where people have heard only one perspective, anything that can break the m... |
media and good government house believes community radio good | Community radio can indeed do the many wondrous things that Prop seems to trust it to do. It can also do more or less anything else. If proposition is trying to demonstrate that community radio, per se, supports democracy, then it needs to demonstrate how it does so more than, say, libraries or coffee shop discussion g... |
media and good government house believes community radio good | Community radio evens the playing field against state and corporate broadcasters. Autocracy has, at its root, the premise that only one perspective, or group of perspectives is legitimate. Certain assumptions are unquestionable, certain rules inviolable and, more often than not, certain voices unchallengeable. It’s a... |
media and good government house believes community radio good | It is a platform, but it’s a platform with history – one that has allowed small or marginalised groups to have a voice. Of course a radio station won’t build democratic strength on its own but it is an important tool in normalising the concept that the voices of those communities have both worth and power. |
media and good government house believes community radio good | Opposition is letting state-sanctioned media off the hook fantastically lightly. Just staying within the Arab world, the number of broadcasters that sully the name of journalism by acting as apologists for butchers and torturers is astonishing. One example of this – selected utterly at random from an embarrassment of r... |
media and good government house believes community radio good | Radio is yesterday’s technology. Proposition is right to point out the role that has traditionally been filled by relatively small scale radio – providing a relatively cheap method of getting in touch with anybody willing to listen. However, that has, effectively, been rendered redundant by Internet technology. The po... |
media and good government house believes community radio good | Community radio is just a platform, there is nothing innately democratic about it. To associate a medium with a particular virtue is missing the point. Radio has been used for atrocity and tyranny (Rwanda would be an obvious example) just as much as the promotion and development of democracy. Equally the suggestion th... |
media and good government house believes community radio good | Community radio just gives a megaphone to extremists. Experience suggests that the airwaves, unregulated, tend to attract pedagogues seeking followers more than democrats seeking the views of others. Particularly in areas of high sectarian divisions, technologies that propagate the views of every mullah with a mic are... |
media and good government house believes community radio good | For all of its potential, the idea that the Internet is a worldwide force is something of a Western conceit. That fact is doubly the case when discussing the social media sites that Op seems to think are such a panacea. These sites – and the Internet in general – are overwhelmingly white, Western and wealthy. |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | Proposition are obfuscating attacks on the right to a free expression of religious faith, free of ridicule or threat for doing so behind the BBCs obligation to be fair. This right is established in national and international law where it is not treated as comparable to what someone might find interesting as part of the... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | Many people find the views expressed by much of the church offensive, those views are given airtime, a public service broadcaster should provide a level playing field for ideas. The role of a public service broadcaster, especially one of the stature of the BBC, is to provide a portal for ideas from all perspectives. T... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | It is wrong to suggest that the BBC has any duty on account of its relative funding freedom to give a platform to controversial works of art. On the contrary the BBC has a higher obligation to viewers not to offend them because they are also licence payers. Highlighting the BBC’s global audience also has little meaning... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | This was a piece of art, advertised and described as such, those likely to be offended were quite welcome not to watch it. The allegation made by those who objected to the airing of this show was that it was blasphemous. There were also objections to the graphic nature of the language and sexual reference. It seems st... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | As Proposition suggest, the broadcast had been widely discussed in the media before the event and there had been reviews of the stage performance as well as coverage of the subsequent awards. It cannot have come as a huge surprise that this would attract attention from, and cause great offence to, many people with an i... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | There is clearly a different threshold between the questions “do I like soap operas?” and “do I appreciate having my beliefs excoriated on national TV?” The difficulty here is that many who took offence saw the programme as a direct attack on themselves personally, their beliefs and the others who shared their faith. |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | There is a duty for a broadcaster that is not dependent on either commercial or state funding to give a platform to controversial works of art. The BBC is in an unusual position, simply because of its funding structure, to promote new or challenging works of art. The licence fee means that it is freed of many of the p... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | It is simply impractical for a major international broadcaster to hand out powers of veto to small sectional interests. The BBC would quickly be left with a content either devoid of interest or of content were it to allow such a veto to become normative. Especially were it, as appears to be the case here, to offer suc... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | The BBC may be unusual but it is designed to fulfill particular functions. The very reason for its existence is to provide a platform for the free expression of a wide range of views, tailored to a wide range of viewers. Within that context, it cannot be expected that everyone will feel equally comfortable with every p... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | BBC Director General, Mark Thompson, who is himself a practising Christian, said that he found ‘nothing blasphemous’ about the programme [i] . The protests were small and overwhelmingly organised by one group. There is simply no case for a right not to be offended by something you’ve seen; far less for something you ha... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | Tens of thousands of licence fee payers objected to this, ultimately they are the BBC’s key stakeholder and that view is worthy of respect. As an institution, the BBC may like to position itself as a global media brand but that doesn’t alter the fact that it is funded by, and chartered to serve, the British population... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | Why should those who foot the bill have chunks of airtime from which they are, effectively, excluded. How can it be okay for a broadcaster, funded by a compulsory levy on anyone who owns a television, to willingly produce programmes they know will cause offence to that consumer? The charge of blasphemy is far more th... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | If this work had been an attack on Mohammed it would never have been broadcast, the BBC is applying double standards. A week before the broadcast of the opera, protest by Sikhs in Birmingham about the play Bezthi by the Birmingham Rep, brought the show to a close. Like many organisations, the BBC panics when it believ... |
nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme | In the same way that the BBC is routinely criticised from the political Right for its Left-wing bias and from the Left for a supposed favouritism to the Right, maintaining balance in any sphere of life is difficult. Freedom of speech demands that such a balance is maintained, however hard to do. That balance can mean t... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | The media always want a good story; they are interested in the health of celebrities when there is no clear reason why they should have any right to this private information. The health of the leader is not something that the press or public needs to know about unless it is an illness that is likely to affect the presi... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | The people are interested in the health of their leader The health of the leader of the state is an issue that the people and the media inevitably want to know about. There will always be a lot of interest in it. Occasionally this can be played by the administration as with Kissinger saying he was ill and using time t... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | Administrative capabilities should not be compared to health. Unhealthy leaders may perform better than the healthy ones, people could be misled to choose inappropriate leaders while taking health as a black spot while the leader could actually have a better potential than the rest. If the electorate had just elected o... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | The head of state/government must be accountable to the people Secrecy in relation to the leader’s health shows a distrust or distain of the electorate. Not being open about health issues almost invariably means that the administration is lying to those who elected them, those who they are accountable to. A couple of ... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | If a candidate has a condition during an election campaign then there is a clear right to know when the electorate is making the decision. But does such a right to know apply at other times when it will make no difference to the people? There can only be a right to know if it is going to affect the people, something th... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | All of these procedures could be put in place even if there is secrecy. Doctors are already committed to patient-doctor confidentiality so are unlikely to tell the press if they are told beforehand to be ready to receive the President. |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | Transparency allows citizens to choose for a healthy leader as to ensure proper functioning The health and fitness of a leader is a vital issue when choosing a leader; the electorate deserves to know if they are likely to serve out their term. When health conditions are hidden from the people they may mistakenly elect... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | A lack of transparency can endanger the leader A person is most likely to survive when they have an accident, a heart attack, or some other condition if they get prompt treatment and doctors are aware of any underlying conditions. Mills may well have lived, or lived longer if there had been more transparency about his... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | Deputy leaders are appointed and they are well versed with how the leader is managing issues and are capable of taking up the role immediately after the leader resigns or dies. Being open and transparent about a leader being ill simply creates the lack of stability. If he lives it is best if the illness is not revealed... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | When leaders choose to serve the country they should be ready to sacrifice their privacy for the country. There is clearly a different standard for those who are in government and should be publicly accountable to those who are not. Even more minor illnesses can damage the running of the country through either affectin... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | Rivals could misuse the opportunity While the leader suffers from an illness, rivals can use the opportunity to ease the leader out of office. A period of illness is a period of vulnerability in which the government is less able to respond to external and internal threats. Not telling the public about the leader's hea... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | Damages diplomacy to be too open Diplomacy can be very personal; diplomatic initiatives are often the result of a single person, and the individual leader is necessary to conclude negotiations. Transparency about a leader's health may therefore prevent deals being done; Nixon went to China despite Mao's ill heath mean... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | Markets like stability Business and the markets prize political stability. Clearly when the leader of a country is ill this stability is damaged but the damage can be mitigated by being transparent. The markets will want to know how ill the leader is, and that the succession is secure so that they know what the future... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | Denial of privacy to the leaders The leaders of states deserve privacy in exactly the same way as anyone else. Just like their citizens leaders want and deserve privacy and it would be unfair for everyone to know about their health. Leaders may suffer from diseases such AIDS/HIV or embarrassing illnesses which could d... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | If the leader in-charge is in illness, to avoid any repudiation, the representative from the other side could meet the leader in order to confirm or even have a video conference with the leader in charge. The leader only needs to set the overall policy, not negotiate the fine details. When Nixon went to China the Ameri... |
free speech and privacy health general international africa politics | Transparency is still better than secrecy. There are several reasons why the opportunity of instability is as present when keeping the leader's health a secret. The first is that it is likely that at least some of the leader's rivals are in government so are likely to be in the loop on any illness. In this case secrecy... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | A bargaining chip, by definition needs to be part of a bargain. Using it to demand a change in the structure of the state as a whole is hardly reaching a bargain – it’s dictating a fiat. An invitation from a country to a university is a big step in expressing an interest in how that institution works and the values it ... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | A bargaining chip In much the same way that material investment in countries can be used as a bargaining chip to secure improvements in areas of legislation, so cultural investment can be used to secure rights associated with related fields of endeavour. Free speech is merely the most obvious. It is reasonable for a w... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | Employers measure degrees by the academic results they indicate. The level of political engagement of the individuals is not critical – or even relevant – to that measure. In a global market of tens of millions of students graduating every year [i] an increase of a few thousand in those graduating from top universities... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | The academic tradition of the West The growth of universities as beacons of free speech has been a fundamental part of their history in the West; notably during the renaissance, reformation and enlightenment. The democratisation of that process with the expansion of the university sector in recent decades is merely th... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | Universities also survived the inquisition, the French revolutionary terror and the tyrannies of twentieth century Europe. The issue being discussed here is not in the same league as any of those. There is, as a result, clearly nothing innate that requires an appreciation of free speech for universities to operate. Fur... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | Maintaining the value of the degree Employers and others expect certain degrees to mean certain things; they are more than just an expensive badge. In the case of elite western universities part of what that means is a critical approach to the world and the willingness to challenge ideas, regardless of the authority t... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | There is gradualism and then there is inertia. Refusing to cooperate with governments where individuals can be banned from addressing a group of students would seem to be setting the bar relatively low. In this particular instance, the bar doesn’t appear to have been set anywhere. The example given by opposition is of ... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | ‘Separation of town and gown’ There are two parties involved in this interaction, the state and the university. To pretend that is an entirely one way process is to ignore reality. Contrary to the belief of many Senior Common Rooms, states do not exist for the convenience of universities. Indeed universities quite hap... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | Universities should exchange ideas not impose them Of all possible institutions, for a university to suggest that it is not open to defending its ideas rather than insisting that they be artificially imported seems counter-intuitive. As Asian and European intellectual traditions increasingly interact as a result of ec... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | Argument One: Contact leads to the dissemination of values There is certainly some evidence to suggest the view that trade with a country can benefit human rights as increased wealth provides many with more choice and better standards of living. [i] Certainly that argument has been made by governments and multi-nation... |
y free speech debate free know house believes western universities | Singapore in this particular instance is securing far more than a ‘service provider’ from a university whose foundation precedes that of the state by over a century. Yale is an internationally identifiable brand, as would any other major university be, and Singapore and NUS benefit from that association. Yale is in a s... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | It is usually the task of movie classification organisations such as the MPAA and the British Board of Film Certification to judge whether the content of a film should be cut or altered. In most cases these groups will be politically independent, but may be politically appointed. They will make the decision to cut cont... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | Hate speech The enforcement of the laws proposed in this article will be fraught, complex and difficult. However, the difficulty of administering a law is never a good argument for refusing to enforce it. The censorship of the written word ended in England with the Lady Chatterley and Oz obscenity trials, but this li... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | Banning one type of hip hop is not an effective way to intervene in a market that is in danger of dismantling itself. Governments are not record companies. They are not in a position to make nuanced judgements about the content, meaning and themes of singles and albums. In short, the state cannot be relied on to under... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | Classification, not censorship We should expect fans of an art form that is subjected to public criticism and vilification to leap to its defence. Some of these aficionados- whether the medium in question is cinema, fine art or pop music- make the case for the value of their favourite mode of expression by overstating... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | Crime and deviance existed in marginalised communities long before the creation of pop music or hip hop. Side proposition is attempting to claim that a particular genre of hip hop is harming efforts to improve living standards and social cohesion within these communities. Many of the problems associated with poor soci... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | Defending hip hop artists’ right to free speech The intervention of the state is necessary in order to ensure that aggressive forms of hip hop remain accessible only to adults, especially in neighbourhoods and home environments that are not part of a cohesive, caring community. Some degree of public control over the c... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | This argument makes a claim of bias against academics and commentators who portray the audiences that hip hop music is targeted at as vulnerable. Unfortunately, this is a viewpoint that is closer to the truth than the aspirational narrative provided in the opposition side’s case. Hip hop emerged from environments that... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | Hip hop is a diverse genre. The quote that opened this discussion is taken from a song by the English surrealist rapper Scroobius Pip. His albums cover themes entirely different from those found in “gangsta” rap. Similarly, artists such as MIA, Optimus Rhyme and the Wilcania Mob have used hip hop to discuss the conflic... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | A ban will be ineffective A new legal prohibition on any type of behaviour or conduct can only be set up by investing large amounts of political capital in order to transform vague proposals into a legislative document and then into a fully-fledged law. This expense can only be justified if the ban is effective – if i... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | A ban will further marginalise young members of impoverished communities Hip hop is an extremely diverse musical genre. Surprisingly, this diversity has evolved from highly minimal series of musical principles. At its most basic, raping consists of nothing more than rhyming verses that are delivered to a beat. This si... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | Violent imagery can serve different purposes. Calls for a ban on music that references or glorifies violence are frequently based on an overly simplistic understanding of contemporary and popular musical genres. It is instructive that the loudest voices of protest raised against violent content in hip hop and rock mus... |
living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify | Modern policy making does not rely on the force of law to bring about social change. This is an archaic approach to addressing the harms and deficiencies that might appear in communities. We can reasonably assume that any ban on violent lyrics will be linked to wider reaching education and information campaigns that a... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | Nobody is being forced to perform acts of violence by the words of another; it is their choice to do so. Equally, there are plenty of people who would hold views that could be considered homophobic but would be appalled by acts of violence. It is fundamental to the principles of respect for the individual that I cannot... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | Because religion promotes certainty of belief, divinely inspired hatred is easy to use to justify and promote violent actions and discriminatory practices. Free speech must come second when there is the potential for that speech to cause harm. The mantra of “With God on our side” has been used, and continues to be use... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | Homophobia should indeed be confronted but penalising it is not the solution – just as it wasn’t for racism and sexism. These views should be confronted and challenged, which doesn’t happen by banning their expression. Indeed using legislation in this way is more likely to make the homophobe feel justified. Freedom of ... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | Religion simply justifies reactionary views which many find offensive. There is no reason for vitriol to be tolerated just because it presents a mask of religion. Views on issues such as abortion, women, and what constitutes an acceptable family expressed by those who are extremely religious are simply bigoted views w... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | Religious belief is the most widely used and historically enduring framework for discussion of the universe around us and our place and role within it. Pretending that it not part of civic discourse is simply living in a fantasy world. The views expressed by Hammond are widely and genuinely held and deserve to be heard... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | Ill-informed prejudice has no place in society. The veneer of religion has been used to justify hatred, prejudice and division and should be confronted. Homophobia is the last respectable prejudice [1] and should be tackled with the same passion and force that others have been, and continue to be, confronted. If the s... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | Issues of sexuality tend to raise great passion but to accept that people should be harangued, threatened or intimidated for just getting on with their lives, quite legally and posing no threat to others is absurd. A liberal society should be free to defend that liberalism, if people wish to change that reality then th... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | It is simply unfair to ask people to be the victims in a societal experiment on the basis that it will all be okay in the end. In a context like this the language used is not only offensive but also threatening. This legislation may not be great constitutional theory but provides very real protection of people’s safety... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | There is no right not to be offended, enforcing what is acceptable to be thought or said places far too much power in the hands of the state. It is impossible to ensure that nobody is ever offended and it is questionable as to whether it is even desirable [1] . There is simply no way of protecting against offence. The... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | Silencing views that are considered offensive is self-defeating and would be detrimental to those attempting to advance gay rights. If freedom of speech is to mean anything then it needs to be a principle that is universally applied. Unless speech represents a direct and immediate threat to public safety then it shoul... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | Regardless of the views expressed, freedom of speech means that all opinions should be heard. Allowing politicians to regulate what it is acceptable to say – or think – is not something that has a happy history. This isn’t the result of a purely intellectual construct but one of altruistic self-interest; once people s... |
living difference house would penalise religious hate speech | This is simply a myth. Society routinely legislates to prevent offence with restrictions on what can be said or done within a broadcast or in print. This particular case does not relate to a private conversation between friends but to a public address. As such the response of the police officers was not some Orwellian ... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | Just because groups and individuals have a Freedom of Expression, does not mean it can be used without proper consideration of whom maybe hurt and offended by connotations implied in the image. A White artist portraying the Black leader of the country and the ANC as someone who leads with their genitals goes someway to... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | Pluralism and Political Interference The removal of ‘The Spear’ from the Goodman Gallery and the City Press also hints at a threat to pluralism, especially when one considers the political nature of the campaign to have such images removed. While Jacob Zuma attempted to have the image banned in a personal capacity, t... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | To somehow state that racism is the motivation to criticisms of ‘The Spear’ is fanciful and far-fetched. People were massively offended by the piece and as such used their right to protest to demonstrate the fact. The artwork itself was vulgar, displaying images that would be offensive to anyone, regardless of race. N... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | Artistic Freedom A core principle of art is that it should be free from any form of inhibition, as the particular artwork is an expression of the particular views and ideals of the artist. The subject matter in many instances is their own choice; therefore they have the right to say what they want about the subject ma... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | While public art is valuable, it can serve a purpose to educate and send a message, influencing discourse. Criticism of a political figure, when expressed via an art form, can change perceptions of that figure, particularly when their policy is under scrutiny. However, the image portrayed in ‘The Spear’ does not do the... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | Racialised Opposition Some critics of ‘The Spear’ have criticised the artwork on the grounds that it ‘dehumanises’ black people in general [1] and President Zuma in particular and criticises him based upon his personal life rather than policy, using vulgar means to do it. This line of opposition is part of a dog-whist... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | What is termed a decent or otherwise is largely subjective and depends on an individual’s viewpoint. Those who use the cause of ‘public decency’ to call for ‘The Spear’s removal fail to understand the point of the artwork. Murray created such a visceral image in order to trigger debate and cause South Africans to look ... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | Jacob Zuma had a right to sue, which he made use of before dropping his claim for defamation. However, for his supporters inside and outside the ANC to attack The Goodman Gallery, City Press and Brett Murray personally is irresponsible and stifles debate over the credibility of Jacob Zuma for the office of President. Z... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | Infantilisation and Prejudice Those who dismiss the reaction to ‘The Spear’ forget the historical context which may trigger the sorts of responses seen to the artwork. [1] South Africa’s past problems can be seen to derive from the gross caricaturing of Black people and Black Men in particular as lascivious, overtly ... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | Masculinity The problem with leaving the painting, the spear, up is that to many young men President Zuma symbolises what excessive wealth can ‘buy’ you. He is the figure head of the nation, the pinnacle of capitalism and masculinity, of which the penis and sex are instrumental in this image. By leaving the painting u... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | Public Decency Freedom of Speech is something that is highly valued, particularly in a country such as South Africa, where it was in short supply for a large part of its history, but surely for such speech to be worthwhile, it has to be able to convey a message that actually enriches the public domain. Such messages c... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | Defamation While South African Law does allow for freedom of speech, and the constitution is one of the most liberal in the world for protecting such freedoms, it must be measured against the need for responsibility in the use of such freedoms to prevent offence. Whatever one believes about ‘The Spear’ it is clear th... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | The painting should remain hanging as a reminder to young men that society is noting the particularly high prevalence of cases of rape, that are committed by all peoples within society, from the bottom to the top. This is not to argue that the President has ever necessarily raped anyone, although his defence in his rap... |
reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained | To attach historical abuses to the symbolism of ‘The Spear’ is outlandish, irresponsible and fully indicates the way in which the ANC and its supporters use the past to excuse its poor record in government. ‘The Spear’ followed a theme criticising Zuma and his actions as a public figure. Criticism of the piece is welco... |
free challenge house believes julian assange journalist | A free press can only function if it is also a responsible press. Journalists are allowed a leeway not enjoyed by most because they act responsibly and within boundaries. Realistically, the test of whether the risk posed to third parties is balanced by the public interest is a difficult one. Although much has been made... |
free challenge house believes julian assange journalist | Governments have always struggled with the idea of press investigation and freedom of information, claiming Assange is not a journalist is simply a stunt. We know that most governments struggle with the idea of not having control over information and are suspicious of the media. In a pre-Internet age working with a ha... |
free challenge house believes julian assange journalist | Historically, journalists have been protected from prosecution for espionage (Assange is threatened with prosecution under the Espionage Act) whereas their sources were not. Assange is providing the information which he has acquired illegally. The fact that he, in turn, had a source does not qualify him as a journalist... |
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