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offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

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Human Rights in Ireland
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Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Merz Humiliated as he LOSES Vote to Become German Chancellor Tue May 06, 2025 11:07 | Will Jones
Friedrich Merz,?leader of the German conservatives, was humiliated in Parliament today as he failed to win a majority in a secret ballot to become Chancellor. Turns out selling out to the Left has consequences.
The post Merz Humiliated as he LOSES Vote to Become German Chancellor appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link German Political Class Gleefully Planning to Ramp Up Persecution of AfD and its Supporters, Because ... Tue May 06, 2025 09:00 | Eugyppius
In Germany, 'democracy' now demands that the most popular party be kicked off the media, stripped of its funding and even banned outright, according to leading figures. Germany is a really stupid country, says Eugyppius.
The post German Political Class Gleefully Planning to Ramp Up Persecution of AfD and its Supporters, Because Hitler appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Green Blob Won?t Take This Lying Down Tue May 06, 2025 07:00 | Ben Pile
The Green Blob hasn't spent countless billions of dollars only to abandon the mission when the going gets tough. Expect the pushback after Reform's sweeping victories last week to be strong and venomous, says Ben Pile.
The post The Green Blob Won’t Take This Lying Down appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Tue May 06, 2025 00:40 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Reform to Ban Councils From Flying ?Woke? Flags Mon May 05, 2025 19:30 | Will Jones
Reform has announced a ban on 'woke' flags being flown by councils under its control, with party Chairman Zia Yusuf saying its 10 councils will only be allowed to fly the Union Flag and the St George's Cross.
The post Reform to Ban Councils From Flying ‘Woke’ Flags appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

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Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Microsoft block the words "democracy" and "freedom" on its new internet portal in China.

category galway | rights, freedoms and repression | other press author Tuesday June 28, 2005 21:41author by Dunlo T Report this post to the editors

Puke!, Puke! : Microsoft's "principle" of respecting local laws.

In the Economist : Politics This Week, a summary of the world's main events, 11th-17th June, it is stated that Microsoft agreed to block the words "democracy" and "freedom" on its new internet portal in China. The company claimed that it was acting in accordance with its principle of respecting local laws. In this pilgrim's opinion this is really and truely disgusting, on a par with the western firms who have provided the technology for sealing off the Chinese web from the free internet?.

Related Link: http://www.economist.com
author by mandela was a terrorist according to Thatcherpublication date Wed Jun 29, 2005 03:25author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Microsoft is a big fat corporation so why should anyone be surprised that IT will happily trample over international human rights so that it can continue to maximise profits!

Under corporate law "maximising profits" is IT's legal requirement and raison d'etre - make no mistake that is what a corporation is. Even though the corporation is made up of people who have/are mothers, sons, daughters, fathers, uncles, nieces etc there are no social or environmental obligations

"profit before people" or more accurately " profit before anything" is the only mantra

- a denial of human nature? of rights of existance? are we all just barcodes of consumption in the eyes of the massive corporations that rule the world now?

we have a right to consume and to become more indebt but no right to anything else.

I myself use Linux and openoffice.org and dont pay a penny to this over weight and under moralised entity MIcrosoft so to some extent my consience is clear

lets stop using the .doc format and powerpoint (power confusion)

.txt and .rtf formats are much more fun and have less blood and suffering associated

author by No to spampublication date Wed Jun 29, 2005 03:40author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Ah, shure if they're usin' Hotmail they won't have time to bother with concepts such as "Democracy" and "Freedom". They will be too busy trying to cope with all the spam, whether it is for Viagra or "male enhancement" etc.
"Hotmail" is a disaster zone.

author by Lin Biaopublication date Wed Jun 29, 2005 11:12author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Stop trying to enforce your Western ways on a proud and independent nation.

author by darapublication date Wed Jun 29, 2005 14:10author address author phone Report this post to the editors

hmm..surely the prevalence of freedom fighting struggles in the eastern world shows that the desire to freedom is not purely 'western'. but..state communism can never be said to be freedom, nor does it lead to independence (by which i mean any chance of individual autonomy).

Certainly, China is not now communist, it would take a better brain than mine to understand the complexity of the situation. But, the ferocious appeals to multinationals, training the elite youth for corporate skills, making every effort to portray China as a desirable location for foreign investment etc. etc. indicates that the Chinese state does not wish to be 'independent', it wishes to subject itself to world trade. Is that a 'proud and independent nation'?

To condemn the State's restrictions upon individual communicative freedom (and corporation's complicity in this) is not necessarily an imposition of 'Western values', it is an attack upon all efforts to violate the integrity and freedom of the individual, a violation which exists throughout the world, be it through capitalism, 'communism', patriarchy, racism, hetero-normativity or any other form of hierarchy.

We can condemn this violation of freedom as individuals, whatever hierarchy we suffer from. The desire for freedom is as universal as oppression.

 
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