Tyranny
Posted at 10:35am on Jun. 19, 2008 Tolerance and tyranny.
By Paul J Cella
Only a man of uncommon obtuseness could fail to predict this. In New Jersey, a homosexual couple wants to get married on a pavilion owned by a Methodist organization.
When Bernstein and Paster asked to celebrate their civil union in the pavilion, the Methodist organization said they could marry on the boardwalk — anywhere but buildings used for religious purposes. In other words, not the pavilion. [Rev. Scott] Hoffman says there was a theological principle at stake.
“The principle was a strongly held religious belief that a marriage is between a man and a woman,” Hoffman says. “We’re not casting any aspersions or making any judgments. It’s just, that’s where we stand, and we’ve always stood that way, and that's why we said no.”
The refusal came as a shock to Bernstein, who says Ocean Grove has been revived by the gay community.
“We were crushed,” she says. “I lived my whole live, fortunately, without having any overt prejudices or discrimination waged against me. So while I knew it was wrong, I never knew how it felt. And after this, I did know how that felt. It was extremely painful.” [. . .]
So the couple filed a complaint with New Jersey’s Division of Civil Rights, alleging the Methodists unlawfully discriminated against them based on sexual orientation. Attorney Lawrence Lustberg represents them.
“Our law against discrimination does not allow [the group] to use those personal preferences, no matter how deeply held, and no matter — even if they’re religiously based — as a grounds to discriminate,” Lustberg says. “Religion shouldn’t be about violating the law.”
Do I even need to tell you which side the court found for? Read on.
Posted in Christianity | Culture | Liberty | Same-Sex Marriage | Tolerance | Tyranny — Comments (100)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:52am on Jun. 4, 2008 Can We Say "Dictator" Now?
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Come on. Can we?
President Hugo Chávez has used his decree powers to carry out a major overhaul of this country's intelligence agencies, provoking a fierce backlash here from human rights groups and legal scholars who say the measures will force citizens to inform on one another to avoid prison terms.
Under the new intelligence law, which took effect last week, Venezuela's two main intelligence services, the DISIP secret police and the DIM military intelligence agency, will be replaced with new agencies, the General Intelligence Office and General Counterintelligence Office, under the control of Chávez.
The new law requires people in the country to comply with requests to assist the agencies, secret police or community activist groups loyal to Chávez. Refusal can result in prison terms of two to four years for most people and four to six years for government employees.
"We are before a set of measures that are a threat to all of us," said Blanca Rosa Mármol de León, a justice on Venezuela's top court, in a rare public judicial dissent. "I have an obligation to say this, as a citizen and a judge. This is a step toward the creation of a society of informers."
Amazingly enough, this development will come as a shock to some people.
Posted in Authoritarianism | Contra Tyrannum | Dictatorship | Hugo Chavez | Tyranny | Venezuela — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:23pm on Apr. 24, 2008 A Thumb In Hugo Chavez's Eye
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
I am for just about anything that increases opposition to Hugo Chavez and flips him the bird politically. Kudos to the Cato Institute for doing its part to give the would-be dictator something to be angry and upset about:
The Cato Institute has announced that Yon Goicoechea, leader of the pro-democracy student movement in Venezuela that successfully prevented President Hugo Chávez's regime from seizing broad dictatorial powers in December 2007, has been awarded the 2008 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty.
A 23-year-old law student, Mr. Goicoechea plays a pivotal role in organizing and voicing opposition to the erosion of human and civil rights in his country. In his commitment to a modern Venezuela, Goicoechea emphasizes tolerance and the human right to seek prosperity.
Venezuela's student movement emerged in May of 2007 in response to a government-ordered shutdown of the nation's oldest private television station, RCTV. In the face of ongoing death threats and continual intimidation due to his prominent and vocal leadership, Mr. Goicoechea has been indispensible in organizing massive, peaceful student protest marches that have captured the world's attention.
By December of 2007, the student movement was credited with defeating a proposed constitutional reform that would have concentrated unprecedented political and economic power in the hands of the government.
"Yon Goicoechea is making an extraordinary contribution to liberty," said Edward Crane, President of the Cato Institute. "We hope the Friedman Prize will help further his non-violent advocacy for basic freedoms in an increasingly militaristic and anti-democratic Venezuela."
Goicoechea may not exactly have best life in the world, right now; as you can tell in the pictures, he was physically attacked by Chavez supporters for his anti-regime advocacy and ended up with a broken nose in the process (I am sure that the regime has more in store for him). It is dangerous to make an enemy out of Hugo Chavez. But it is extraordinarily brave as well and it is to be hoped that the international attention that comes with the award of the Friedman Prize will help ensure that nothing untoward will happen to Goicoechea. Dissidents in Venezuela need all the support that they can get, after all.
Posted in Authoritarianism | Contra Tyrannum | Dictatorship | Hugo Chavez | Tyranny | Venezuela — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 10:31pm on Apr. 20, 2008 Freedom Of The Press
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
It simply does not exist in Russia. Not that anyone thinks it does anymore.
Posted at 1:29am on Mar. 25, 2008 Orwell Weeps . . .
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Though the people Orwell warned us against would approve.
Posted at 2:01am on Mar. 4, 2008 Summarizing The Russian Presidential Election
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
I really can't do better than this:
THREE hours before the close of the presidential election on Sunday March 2nd, in which voters massively endorsed Dmitry Medvedev as Russia's next president, a bull-necked security guard (radio in hand, legs apart) barred the entrance to polling station number 3065. The station had been set up in a vast and heaving electronics market, apparently for the convenience of traders. But the few who turned up to vote were told that the station had closed, either because of a terrorist threat or as a result of some obscure "technical" problems. A brief look inside suggested that, although almost empty, it was in fact functioning.
Outside of the polling station stood a large group of men in black leather jackets. These were the same characters your correspondent saw casting multiple votes in the December parliamentary elections. They were soon led away and a four-wheel-drive vehicle arrived. Men emerged carrying a white plastic ballot box and were allowed into the station by a guard, who then shut the door tightly. A young policeman who came to inquire was instructed to leave by figures in plain clothes and promptly did so.
These latter men (one identified himself as a "representative of the international community") glowered, then lunged, violently throwing your correspondent and another foreign journalist on to the nearby street, with a warning never to come back. One offered a piece of advice: "Go back to England, you can ask [the self-exiled opponent of Vladimir Putin, Boris] Berezovsky and Prince Harry your questions. We'll manage here without you." Your correspondent and his colleague were then forced into a taxi, and the bemused driver was ordered to drive to the British Embassy.
Posted in Authoritarianism | Contra Tyrannum | Dictatorship | Dmitri Medvedev | Russia | Tyranny | Vladimir Putin — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 1:38am on Feb. 20, 2008 The Long Goodbye
Fidel Castro Thinks He'll Go For A Walk. He Feels Happy! He Feels Happy!
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
It may have just gotten a little shorter:
An ailing, 81-year-old Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president Tuesday after nearly a half-century in power, saying he will not accept a new term when parliament meets Sunday.
The end of Castro's rule - the longest in the world for a head of government - frees his 76-year-old brother Raul to implement reforms he has hinted at since taking over as acting president when Fidel Castro fell ill in July 2006. President Bush said he hopes the resignation signals the beginning of a democratic transition.
"My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath," Castro wrote in a letter published Tuesday in the online edition of the Communist Party daily Granma. But, he wrote, "it would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer."
My RedState colleague, Erick Erickson, believes that Fidel Castro will not survive the Bush Administration. I can only hope that Castro lives long enough to see Cuba regain its freedom at long last. Given the state of his health, that would not take long and beyond that, I couldn't possibly care less what happens to the despicable, destructive tyrant. Cuba cannot be rid of him too soon.
Posted in Contra Tyrannum | Cuba | Cuba Libre | Dictatorship | Fidel Castro | Totalitarianism | Tyranny — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:46am on Jan. 18, 2008 For Those Who Continue To Wonder Why We Should Worry About Vladimir Putin . . .
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
This link is dedicated to you.
No, Putin is not a military threat. Yes, he is working feverishly to create a dictatorship centered around him in his own country. Yes, such a dictatorship will serve to make Russian decision-making more opaque. Yes, the increased opaqueness of Russian decision-making will serve to cause countries like the United States to miscalculate when it comes to crafting Russo-American foreign policy. And yes, we should be concerned about such miscalculations and their dramatically deleterious consequences.
Posted in Authoritarianism | Dictatorship | Foreign Affairs | Tyranny | Vladimir Putin — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 7:43pm on Jan. 11, 2008 Venezuela Is Facing A Mountain Of Problems And Crises . . .
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
And so naturally, the Chavez government decides now is a really good time to go after Jews:
Venezuelan Jews, long uneasy with the Chávez government's alliances with Iran and other Middle Eastern countries that espouse anti-Israel views, are concerned that the government is sponsoring anti-Semitism in this hemisphere, a prominent journalist said Tuesday.
''The situation we have now in Venezuela is that for the first time in modern history we have government-sponsored anti-Semitism in a Western country,'' said Sammy Eppel. ``That is why this is very dangerous, not just for the Jewish community in Venezuela but for the Jewish community as a whole.''
Among the examples offered by Eppel:
Venezuelan government intelligence services twice have raided the country's most important Jewish center in a vague, ultimately unsuccessful search for weapons. Publications of the government's cultural ministry run articles entitled ''the Jewish Question,'' along with a Jewish star superimposed over a swastika.
Par for the course from people like Chavez. Can we call him a dictator now?
Posted in Authoritarianism | Contra Tyrannum | Dictatorship | Hugo Chavez | Persecution | Tyranny — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 7:53pm on Dec. 22, 2007 So, The New York Philharmonic Decided To Go To North Korea . . .
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
And Marcus Plieninger has some rightfully uncomplimentary things to write concerning the trip. Do notice that the post takes note of the many, many, many people who, because of state-sponsored oppression, will be entirely unable to enjoy the music of the Philharmonic during its stay in North Korea. I mean, when you travel to a country for Christmas concerts and the rendition of Handel's Messiah could be the cause of increased oppression because the music and the sentiments it expresses are entirely antithetical to the ideology of the North Korean regime, there really isn't much use for the trip, now is there?
Posted at 9:14pm on Dec. 19, 2007 Vladimir Putin: Person Of The Year
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
As a consequential figure on the world stage, I can certainly understand why Vladimir Putin got selected as Time's Person of the Year. For all of its problems, Russia remains a country with great sway and power and Putin is therefore a key player on the world stage. His efforts to shut down a nascent democracy deserve mention, attention and worldwide opprobrium. His efforts to reignite the forces of Russian imperialism via bullying former Soviet republics, a likely recognition of the efforts being made by the breakaway ethnic Russian enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia to achieve independence (this in response to any effort on the part of Kosovo to achieve independence), Russia's withdrawal from the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty and Putin's own efforts to enhance his cult of personality and his political power at home should be of deep concern to any and all Russia-watchers.
I continue to think that General David Petraeus should have been selected Person of the Year. Just as consequential as Putin, he used his talents for good, leading the troop surge in Iraq and helping to set the country on a path towards reconstruction, political reconciliation and full re-integration into the international community. But as I indicate above, the Person of the Year award doesn't just go to good people, though in this case, a powerful argument can be made that a good person (Petraeus) deserved it over a deeply flawed and power-hungry one (Putin). The consequence of this "award" should be a renewed emphasis on the threats a belligerent Russian government poses to its own citizens and to other countries. No, this is not the Cold War. Not even close. But it's nothing to shut our eyes to either.
Or to put matters more succinctly, see this.
Posted in Authoritarianism | Dictatorship | Foreign Affairs | foreign policy | Tyranny | Vladimir Putin — Comments (9)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 7:22pm on Dec. 17, 2007 Paging--Once Again--Mel Brooks
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
It's good to be the President of Russia. Or the Prime Minister of Russia. Or, just to simplify matters, Vladimir Putin:
President Vladimir Putin told a party congress Monday that he would accept the prime minister's post if his longtime protege is elected president, guaranteeing Putin an ongoing heavyweight political role in Russia.
Read on . . .
Posted in Authoritarianism | Dictatorship | Foreign Affairs | Tyranny | Vladimir Putin — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:01pm on Dec. 15, 2007 Sound Familiar?
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
A Russian opposition activist has been sent to a psychiatric hospital by authorities a day before a planned demonstration.
Read on . . .
Posted in Authoritarianism | Contra Tyrannum | Dictatorship | Tyranny | Vladimir Putin — Comments (12)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:58am on Dec. 12, 2007 How Very Convenient
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Just yesterday, Vladimir Putin said that Dmitri Medvedev ought to succeed Putin to the Presidency.
Today, Medvedev showed that he can sing for his supper:
Russian President Vladimir Putin should become prime minister after stepping down next year, his chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev says.
Mr Putin named Mr Medvedev on Monday as his favourite for the presidency. Mr Putin's own popularity is likely to ensure he is elected, analysts say.
Mr Putin steps down in March but is expected to retain political influence.
That last paragraph is possibly the understatement of the year.
Posted in Authoritarianism | Contra Tyrannum | Dictatorship | Tyranny | Vladimir Putin — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 8:41pm on Dec. 10, 2007 Remember How The Recent Referendum In Venezuela Proved That Hugo Chavez Believes In Democracy?
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
So much for that. If it walks like a dictator and talks like a dictator and acts like a dictator . . . well, you can probably fill in the rest. And along the same lines . . .
