Mind Soup

Today, March 12, is the world day against cyber-censorship. This day was initially launched by Reporters without Borders in 2008 and "is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet without restrictions and accessible to all." Below is a quote from the March 12 website: The fight for online freedom of expression is more essential than ever. By creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. In countries where the traditional media are controlled by the government, the only independent news and information are to be found on the Internet, which has become a forum for discussion and a refuge for those who want to express their views freely.  However, more and more governments have realised this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet. Never have so many countries been affected by some form of online censorship, whether arrests or harassment of netizens, online surveillance, website blocking or the adop...

Pastor Jones during his press conference CNN :  A Florida pastor Thursday called off his controversial plan to burn copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. The Rev. Terry Jones of the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center, standing with a Florida Muslim leader, also said the imam who planned a mosque and Islamic center near ground zero in New York has agreed to move it to another location. But the imam who appeared with him said that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf in New York agreed to speak with Jones about possibly moving the center. A spokesman from Soho Properties told CNN producer Vivienne Foley that "the Muslim community center called Park51 in lower Manhattan is not being moved." Jones, meanwhile, said he will travel to New York on Saturday to meet with Rauf. The pastor appeared at an afternoon press conference with Imam Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, who said he will make the t...

The following is a repost of Fisk's article from The Independent  on Sunday. He is talking about the incidents of CNN senior editor Octavia Nasr and the British Ambassador to Lebanon, Frances Guy . I might have guessed it. CNN has fired one of its senior Middle East editors, Octavia Nasr, for publishing a twitter – or twatter in this case, I suppose – extolling Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah of Lebanon, calling him "one of Hizbollah's giants whom I respect a lot". Well, he wasn't Hizbollah's man, but no matter. He was definitely a giant. A man of immense learning and jurisprudence, a believer in women's rights, a hater of "honour crimes", a critic of the theocratic system of government in Iran, a ... Well, I'd better be careful because I might get a phone call from Parisa Khosravi, who goes by the title of CNN's "senior vice president" – what these boss types do or what they get paid for their gutless deci...

MIND SOUP : A couple of days ago, the news of Octavia Nasr being fired from CNN envaded the Lebanese and Middle Eastern media. It may has come as a shock to the society, yet this denial of free speech has been demonstrated very widely across various prestigious institutions in the region and world-wide. To re-cap, Nasr who held the position of senior Middle East editor at CNN was laid off earlier this week after 20 years of work because she praised the late Hezbollah Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah on twitter. "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot," she posted Sunday morning. This tweet was immediately picked up by Israeli supporters and Nasr was criticized and attacked for sympathizing with Fadlallah. The Simon Wiesenthal Center in the US demanded that Nasr "apologize to all victims of Hezbollah terrorism whose loved ones don't share her sadness over the passing of one of Hezbol...

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(CNN) -- Oprah Winfrey will announce on Friday's "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that she will end her talk show, said a spokesman for Winfrey's Harpo Productions. "Oprah will be ending her talk show," Harpo spokesman Don Halcombe said Thursday. "She will be speaking about it on tomorrow's live show." The show will air live from its Chicago, Illinois, studio at 9 a.m. CT (10 a.m. ET), he said. The show will end on September 9, 2011, as its 25th season draws to a close, according to a letter from Harpo Inc. that President Tim Bennett addressed to partners and obtained by CNN affiliate WLS-TV. "Tomorrow, Oprah will announce live on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that she has decided to end what is arguably one of the most popular, influential and enduring programs in television history," Bennett wrote.  The show has been the highest-rated talk show for 23 consecutive seasons, according to the Oprah.com site. It is seen by an estim...