Dangerous Speech: Would The Founders Be Considered Domestic Extremists Today?

“If you can’t say ‘Fuck’ you can’t say, ‘Fuck the government.’” ― Lenny Bruce

John Whitehead
By John Whitehead
From the left, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson revise the Declaration of Independence, a document which today may have have been labeled as extremist rhetoric. (Painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris)

Not only has free speech become a four-letter word—profane, obscene, uncouth, not to be uttered in so-called public places—but in more and more cases, the government deems free speech to be downright dangerous and in some instances illegal. The U.S. government has become particularly intolerant of speech that challenges the government’s power,

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Human Rights Watch Warns: Terrorism, Refugee Crisis Curbing Freedoms

The French government has this week voted to extend its emergency powers, which include a ban of public gatherings, which has drawn criticism from liberty campaigners.

Sputnik News
By Sputnik News
Policemen fight with activists during a protest ahead of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference at the place de la Republique, in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015. More than 140 world leaders are gathering around Paris for high-stakes climate talks that start Monday, and activists are holding marches and protests around the world to urge them to reach a strong agreement to slow global warming. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

The leading campaign group Human Rights Watch has warned that the threat of terrorism globally as well as the refugee crisis in Europe have led to many western governments imposing crackdown on basic rights. The issue is particularly controversial in France, which has just agreed to extend its emergency measures, following the November 13

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When Freedom Doesn’t Ring: The US And Israel Are Shining Examples Of International Immorality

The notion of the U.S. as the height of global morality and a beacon of freedom and liberty is little more than proof of a successful PR campaign. The rest of the world isn’t buying it, so why are Americans?

Robert Fantina
By Robert Fantina
Demonstrators burn a U.S. flag in front of the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP/Natacha Pisarenko)

KITCHENER, Ontario -- (opinion) For reasons that only show the effectiveness of public relations campaigns, many U.S. citizens view their government as the height of global morality, a beacon of freedom and liberty in an otherwise broken world. They believe, inexplicably, that the United States is a force for good throughout the world, protecting

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Glenn Greenwald: Internet Is Front Line In Battle Between Freedom And Tyranny

Glenn Greenwald analyzes the Internet’s potential as an “incredibly valuable tool” for democratic participation and citizen journalism, but also as a means to strengthen the position of power elites. According to Greenwald there’s a “battle that is being waged” between the proponents of the free Internet and factions that are already in power.

MintPress News Desk
By MintPress News Desk
Raul Jimenez Algobia

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US Falls Behind Canada, Finland And Hong Kong In Freedom Index

The ongoing U.S. “war on terror” and changes to property laws after the 2008 financial crisis were among the factors cited as causing a loss of freedom.

MintPress News Desk
By MintPress News Desk
In this photo reviewed by US military officials, an American flag waves within the razor wire-lined compound of Camp Delta prison, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba on Tuesday, June 27, 2006. The Supreme Court this week is expected to rule on the legality of President Bush's decision to create U.S. military tribunals for the detainees at Guantanamo, the first such tribunals since World War II.

WASHINGTON --- The United States lags far behind other developed countries in terms of personal, civil and economic freedoms, according to a study released this month. Its neighbor to the north, for example, ranked 14 spots ahead of the so-called “Land of the Free.” Three international think tanks -- the U.S.-based Cato Institute, Canada’s

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Don’t Be Fooled By The Political Game: The Illusion Of Freedom In America

“Being a citizen in the American corporate state is much like playing against a stacked deck: you’re always going to lose.”

John Whitehead
By John Whitehead
Americans Don’t Think for Themselves

“The shaping of the will of Congress and the choosing of the American president has become a privilege reserved to the country’s equestrian classes, a.k.a. the 20% of the population that holds 93% of the wealth, the happy few who run the corporations and the banks, own and operate the news and entertainment media, compose the laws and govern the

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