We lived in Sydney for twenty five years but now live in regional New South Wales. The following video is unbelievable. The China virus is an excuse for the Police State in which we now live. In fact, every Australian state is a Police State. The freedom and liberty once known is now GONE due to the China virus and the government pushing the notion it is all for public safety. What other freedoms are going to be taken to keep us safe?
Freedom of speech
All posts tagged Freedom of speech
I have seen interviews with Jimmy Lai on Sky News Australia before he was arrested and he said he would be willing to die for Hong Kong’s freedom. Well, many politicians and well to do business people in America and Australia don’t seem to have the same love for their country as Jimmy does for Hong Kong. Jimmy Lai’s situation should disturb all of us who love liberty!
‘Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been charged under the territory’s controversial new national security law.
Mr Lai, 73, is accused of conspiring with foreign forces to endanger national security, and could face a lengthy jail term.
He is the most high-profile person charged under the new law.
Mr Lai founded the Apple Daily newspaper and is a fierce critic of the Beijing authorities.
Beijing has said the new security law will return stability to the territory after a year of unrest, but critics say it has silenced dissent.
Mr Lai was originally arrested under the law in August after a police raid on Apple Daily’s head office, but was released on bail.
However, he has been in custody since 2 December, after being denied bail on a separate charge of fraud related to the lease of a building that houses the newspaper. He will appear in court on Saturday.
Mr Lai also holds UK citizenship and a spokesman for PM Boris Johnson said on Friday that the UK remained “deeply concerned about the Hong Kong authorities’ focus on pursuing legal cases against pro-democracy figures like Jimmy Lai”.
Meanwhile US-based news network Bloomberg reported that its Beijing-based staff member Haze Fan was being held by the Chinese authorities on suspicion of endangering national security.
Ms Fan, a Chinese citizen, had been missing since Monday when she was seen being escorted from her apartment by plain-clothes security officials. Her detention was confirmed on Thursday. A Bloomberg spokesperson said they were “very concerned for her”.
In a separate case in Hong Kong earlier, teenage activist Tony Chung was convicted of desecrating the Chinese flag and unlawful assembly. He could now be facing up to five years in prison.
Chung, the leader of a now disbanded pro-democracy group, is also the first public political figure to be prosecuted under the national security law. He faces a charge of secession, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
China has accelerated its crackdown on Hong Kong’s opposition since the law was imposed in June, with legislators disqualified and dozens of activists charged or investigated.
Three prominent activists including Joshua Wong were jailed earlier this month for their part in pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Who is Jimmy Lai?
One of the city’s most prominent supporters of the pro-democracy movement, Mr Lai is estimated to be worth more than $1bn (£766m). Having made his initial fortune in the clothing industry, he later ventured into media and founded Next Digital.
Next Digital publishes Apple Daily, a well-read tabloid which is frequently critical of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese leadership.
In a local media landscape increasingly fearful of Beijing, Mr Lai is a persistent thorn for China – both through his publications and writing.media captionJimmy Lai told the BBC he would not give in to intimidation
It has seen him become a hero for many residents in Hong Kong but on the mainland he is viewed as a traitor who threatens Chinese national security.
Interviewed by the BBC before his arrest earlier in December, he said he would not give in to intimidation.
“If they can induce fear in you, that’s the cheapest way to control you and the most effective way and they know it. The only way to defeat the way of intimidation is to face up to fear and don’t let it frighten you.”
What is in the National Security Law?
A former British colony, Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 but under the “one country, two systems” principle.
It was supposed to guarantee certain freedoms for the territory – including freedom of assembly and speech, an independent judiciary and some democratic rights – which mainland China does not have.
But the National Security Law has reduced Hong Kong’s autonomy and made it easier to punish demonstrators.
The legislation introduced new crimes, including penalties of up to life in prison. Anyone found to have conspired with foreigners to provoke “hatred” of the Chinese government or the Hong Kong authorities may have committed a crime.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.36.7/iframe.htmlmedia captionHong Kong security law: The BBC’s Stephen McDonell explains what it means, and what people there think
Trials can be held in secret and without a jury, and cases can be taken over by the mainland authorities. Mainland security personnel can legally operate in Hong Kong with impunity.
After the law was introduced, a number of pro-democracy groups disbanded out of fears for their safety.
The Chinese government defends the law, saying it will help return stability to the territory, which has been shaken by pro-democracy protests, and bring it more into line with the Chinese mainland.’https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55271020
‘TRUMP BANNED ON SOCIAL MEDIA
It’s a chilling moment when the speech of an elected US President is banned, anywhere. This is why we fight. This is why we resist the censorship of self-appointed Leftist elites, in all forums. If it can happen to President Trump, kicked off Twitter and Facebook, then what hope do the powerless have in society? It’s also bizarre, even amusing, to read media elites, none of whom saw Trump coming, on what it means now. These conceited spoilt children of the Left are blind to how their own arrogance and manic need to control other people embeds the Resistance to them. Among outsiders, the urge for free speech grows stronger day-by-day. There is a large and growing backlash in Australia (and other countries) to the way in which self-appointed, always-opinionated Lefties are trying to make everyone just like them, to control our speech, our words, our values, our behaviour. Everyday I get tremendous feedback from people, urging me to continue the fight for commonsense, evidence-based policy and person freedom. It’s the greatest encouragement and commitment of my public life not to let these people down. The great people of the suburbs and regions, away from the inner-city control freaks. I’ll always speak out and fight for what’s right. Mark Latham’https://www.facebook.com/MarkLathamsOutsiders/?ref=page_internal
I live overseas but I am still an American and it is so sad to see what has just transpired. The cheating and mafia style of politics that the USA has allowed to occur is unbelievable but not unpredictable. We have voted in every Presidential election but this just may be our last. Why vote when cheating has become the norm. Why vote when a man who shows signs of dementia and a vice president that is an out and out socialist/Marxist at the very least will be given full reign under a Demoncrat Congress! I remember when Communist Russia held elections and the outcome was known before it happened. That’s what America now is!
We sing GOD BLESS AMERICA but I believe God has turned His back on America. God cannot bless a nation that has turned its back on Him. Sadly, Christians are to blame for some of this and perhaps most of it. The churches have thrown God and His Word out. Psychology has replaced theology! Therefore, sodomy and same sex so called marriage is just one of the many things that are now accepted by many who call themselves a Christian. However, this is an offense to a holy God. Then there is the teaching of evolution as though it is a proven fact of science. It is NOT a proven fact. Oh, and when I speak of God I speak of the Creator God found in Scripture that brought all that we see around us into being about ten thousand years ago according to the first Book of the Bible, Genesis! One does not have to understand every facet of every science to believe the Genesis account and what the Apostle wrote in Colossians 1:16, 17 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Oh, and by the way there are a many many scientists that have earned doctorates in various scientific fields who believe in the veracity of the Book of Genesis and other Scriptures such as the one just quoted from Colossians.
Not only have the sodomites and evolutionists been accepted as normal but now those who holler ‘follow the science’ tell us there are more than two genders! This is another fairytale that sprouts when God is mocked and thrown out of a society. What will the American society be like in four years after the Devilcrats have finished? Young people will be so confused that there will be so much mental ‘illness’ that the society once known by those who were born in the 40’s and 50’s will be no more.
Well, you the reader must know the future does not look bright! The China virus, more lockdowns, mask wearing all the time and more travel restrictions are just a sample of what lies ahead in a Biden/Harris world. If a political party will cheat to win an election what will it do after it gains power!? More could be said but is anyone listening? Therefore, I will close with a saying by a man who was a very close friend to the Creator; Even so, come, Lord Jesus Revelation 22:20 .
With a Biden/Harris WH what Rowan Atkinson has to say will be seen in all its fury in the USA.
‘Rowan Atkinson has slammed the Cancel Culture movement, comparing it to a “medieval mob” looking for someone to burn. The Blackadder and Mr Bean comedian has hit out at the movement which took many scalps in his industry throughout 2020. Mr Atkinson told Radio Times the growing movement is stifling free speech and rejects any difference of opinion. “The problem we have online is that an algorithm decides what we want to see which ends up creating a simplistic, binary view of society,” he said. “It’s important that we’re exposed to a wide spectrum of opinion”. The British comic has been known to publicly fight for freedom of expression and free speech, strongly campaigning against laws and movements which attempt to suppress open debate. Mr Atkinson came under fire for his ardent support of free speech when in August he was criticised by online woke trolls for speaking up against Scotland’s hate crimes bill. “(The bill) risked stifling freedom of expression, and the ability to articulate or criticise religious and other beliefs,” he said. He has joined fellow British comic John Cleese in admonishing the toxic cancel culture movement. Cancel culture aims to stifle and ‘cancel’ people who share beliefs which are seemingly contrary to the political correct group-think. Mr Atkinson said it is important within society that people are “exposed to a wide spectrum of opinion”. “What we have now is the digital equivalent of the medieval mob roaming the streets looking for someone to burn,” he said. “So, it’s scary for anyone who’s a victim of that mob and it fills me with fear about the future”. Unfortunately for Mr Atkinson, when other artists and literary figures attempted to call out the movement in an open letter to Harper’s Magazine titled ‘A Letter on Justice and Open Debate,’ they too were cancelled. Hopefully for audiences across the world, Atkinson doesn’t suffer the same fate.’https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6220513004001?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Sky%20News%20Australia%20%20Newsletter&utm_content=Daily%20Sky%20News%20Australia%20%20Newsletter+CID_fac6a43d01fef1dd50b6fd9d42e0930a&utm_source=Daily%20newsletter&utm_term=Rowan%20Atkinson%20Cancel%20culture%20is%20a%20medieval%20mob%20looking%20for%20someone%20to%20burn
If Communism had the answer would the Berlin Wall ever had been built? If Communism was the answer would thousands of Russians and East Berliners have sought to escape the tyranny and brutality of Communism? The answer to these questions is NO! Yet, there are those who still hold to and push the LIE! Here in Australia the Communist Party of Australia said ‘The year 2020 will remain in people’s memory forever and become a reference point for future historians. In the same way we revisited what happened during the so-called Spanish flu a century ago, history books will note the disaster created by the Covid-19 and the failures of capitalism.
Yes, you read that correctly, ‘the failures of capitalism’! The present system is not perfect but it is MUCH better to live under the freedom we have now than it would be to be a slave under Communism!
China analyst Gordon Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” discusses Chinese Communist Party paid propaganda in American news outlets, how Beijing interfered in the U.S. elections, and why China is building a massive DNA database of people all over the world.
How much of the news out of China can one really believe? While the West seems to be in a war against the middle class the news out of China is the CCP is seeking to boost its middle class! Whether that’s true or not this article says ‘A critical mission for President Xi Jinping over the next 15 years is likely to be doubling the size of China’s “middle-income” group after Beijing reaches its goal of eliminating absolute poverty next summer, analysts say.
The Communist Party has not specified the target in its 2035 vision – vowing only to “significantly expand the middle income group” – but the message is clear among top policymakers: China must increase its middle class to avoid the middle income trap, where a developing country’s growth stagnates because of structural obstacles that impede development.
Boosting the number of middle-income earners would also help the government implement its new “dual circulation” economic strategy that focuses on developing the domestic market to offset external uncertainty.
Officially about 400 million Chinese are categorised as middle income, which is generally defined by the National Bureau of Statistics as a family of three earning between 100,000 yuan (US$15,200) to 500,000 yuan annually, though the definition is not always consistent.
That represents less than a third of China’s total population. Japan counts two thirds of its population as middle income and the US about a half.
If China were to increase its middle-income population to near 60 per cent, some 800 million people would fall into the category, creating a consumer market larger than the populations of the US and European Union combined, and giving it huge economic leverage on the international stage.’https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3111929/china-looks-boost-middle-class-it-wraps-xi-jinpings-anti?utm_medium=email&utm_source=mailchimp&utm_campaign=enlz-gme_trade_war&utm_content=20201201&tpcc=enlz-us_china_trade_war&MCUID=6ece799d24&MCCampaignID=0d00512114&MCAccountID=7b1e9e7f8075914aba9cff17f&tc=14
Christians are under attack here in Australia. It seems those on the Left may say or write the most hateful obscene things and seemingly get away with it but let a Christian take a stand for life and truth then that’s different and must be dealt with.
The following is an email from Peter Downie, National Director of Family Voice, Australia. The email reads that Dr Jereth Kok ‘…was a hard-working and much-loved Melbourne Christian family doctor with a wife and two children.
Then last year, the Medical Board of Australia suspended him indefinitely. Two people – not his patients and unknown to him – had made anonymous complaints about his social media posts, along with an article in the Christian newspaper Eternity.
The Board took three months to investigate, paying people to trawl through years of his online articles and comments, before giving him less than a week to prepare his response.
Following his suspension, he appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), but it upheld the Board’s decision.
His indefinite suspension means he cannot practise as a doctor. He has no income, and his patients must go elsewhere.
Last April, Toowoomba GP Dr David van Gend wrote about this extraordinary miscarriage of justice. Among other things, Dr Kok was accused of racism and “endorsing genocide” in a comment he posted on a Christian blog. In reality, he did the opposite. Dr van Gend said (in part):
Free speech is one thing; incitement to violence is another. If Melbourne GP Jereth Kok has used social media to endorse genocide, then the decision by the Medical Board of Australia to suspend his registration is justified. If he has done no such thing, then the Board has acted disgracefully, wrongfully defaming Dr Kok and destroying his medical career.
We can judge for ourselves which is the guilty party.
Below is the only post in which Dr Kok refers to genocide. Context is everything.
Kok is commenting in 2012 on an article by Christian social commentator Bill Muehlenberg entitled, “When Aid Money becomes Killing Money”. Muehlenberg objected to the Australian Labor Government joining other Western governments in funding abortions in poor countries.
He argued that “what we really have is coercive utopians from the West working overtime to decimate the populations of poor overseas nations” and quoted a pro-life leader from the US characterising such policies as “population control aimed at poor dark-skinned women”.
The staunchly pro-life Dr Kok posted this bitterly ironic comment:
Thanks to “family planning”, developed nations (Europe, Japan, North America) are in steep decline and are facing an impending financial and economic crisis that comes with an aged population.
See for example what is happening in Japan: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12296077
Soon, our civilisations will be vanquished, and the Earth will be overrun by Black people. The solution is clear: we must take “family planning” to poor countries and exterminate them before it is too late!
Jereth Kok
Anybody with a reading age above 12 can tell, in context, that this is irony – a rhetorical device by which Kok scorns the decadent West for exporting its culture of death to poor countries.
The Medical Board, however, asserts the exact opposite: that Dr Kok’s comment is an endorsement of genocide!
Incredibly, the VCAT agrees. Kok’s reputation and career are trashed.
The Medical Board of Australia has gravely defamed this GP and owes him an immediate apology.
Friends and church family have helped Dr Kok, but life is tough. He is facing trial on misconduct charges, and will need funds for legal expenses when that time comes.
Please pray for him – especially for guidance about other ways to support his family. And pray for others undergoing similar ordeals.
We are facing increasing persecution – but be strong and of good courage. God is still on the throne.’https://familyvoice.org.au/
1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind
The above Scripture would be offensive, I suppose, to those who were involved in those acts. However, should one be silenced from quoting that Scripture in public because they someone may be offended from what God’s Word says?
whatyareckon 