Naviblog "democracy" check

I was going to let this stuff go by the by, but this is getting so insane that I had to reproduce it here... Something to think about when you think you are in a democracy. Just one of those Naviblog "democracy" checks, you know.

1. Democracy in Britain

Who? [MAYA EVANS] A 25-year-old peace protester.

What she said: Read the names of the (then) 97 British soldiers killed in the Iraq conflict, at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

What happened? Ms Evans was [arrested right?, come on say it!,] given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 costs.

-- More here, at the Independent News website.


2. Democracy in Japan

On January 30th, the Osaka District Court turned down a racial discrimination suit filed by Steve McGowan, a 41 year old African-American designer and Kyoto resident, against Narita Takashi, an Osaka Prefecture store owner. The suit charged that, on September 4th 2004, Narita denied McGowan and a black South African friend entry into his eyeglass shop because of their skin color. The plaintiff demanded 1.5 million yen compensation for the store owner's discriminatory remarks.

Narita readily admitted to the court that he did not like black people and that he had told McGowan and his friend to go away. But Judge Saga Yoshifumiruled against McGowan, saying (1) that because McGowan's Japanese language ability was questionable, his testimony was untrustworthy; and (2) because McGowan's wife, in a separate meeting with Narita afterwards, had used the word gaikokujin (foreigner) instead of kokujin (black person), there was no evidence that Narita had discriminated against McGowan because he was "kokujin', as opposed to "gaikokujin'. In other words, because McGowan's wife was not extremely careful about which Japanese word she used in conversation with Narita, the judge found reason to rule against McGowan.

-- More here, at the ZNet website.


3. Democracy in the US

by Cindy Sheehan [...]

I was arrested in the U.S. Capitol just minutes before the State of the Union address for wearing a T-shirt that pointed out how many Americans, like my son, Casey, have been killed in Iraq. The T-shirt simply said: "2,245 Dead. How Many More?" [...]

I intended to make a statement, not a scene. Had I wanted to create a disruption, I would have waited until the president arrived to reveal my shirt.

My ticket was in the fifth gallery, front row. An officer — who a few minutes later would arrest me — helped me to my seat. I had just sat down and was warm from climbing three flights of stairs, so I unzipped my jacket. I turned to the right to take my left arm out when the officer saw my shirt and yelled "protester!" He then hauled me out of my seat and shoved me up the stairs.

The officer ran, pulling me with him, to an elevator, yelling at everyone to move out of the way. Then he handcuffed me as we rode down and then took me outside to await a squad car.

Despite what was said in several reports, I was never asked to change the shirt or zip up my jacket. If I had been asked to do those things I would have and expressed concerns about the suppression of my freedom of speech later. [...]

After my personal items were inventoried and my fingerprints taken, a nice sergeant came in and looked at my shirt and said, "2,245, huh? I just got back from there." I told him that my son died there.

That's when the enormity of my loss hit me. On top of losing my son, I have lost my 1st Amendment rights.

-- More from a transcript of the Los Angeles Times article, reproduced by commondreams.org here.