5 replies to this topic

[Gene]

Ever since the coup of September, 2006, the international press organization known as Reporters Without Borders has continued to downgrade the status of the free press in Thailand. The 2009 results have just been published and Thailand now ranks 130 out of 175 countries rated. Back in 2004, under the Thaksin government, it was rated 59th.

Six European countries tied for first place as having the most press freedom: Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Ireland and Norway. The worst country was Eritrea, with North Korea, Turkmenistan, Iran, Burma, Cuba, Laos and China all showing little if any sign of press freedom.

The whole rating table can be seen at: http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html

[Tony]

The zionists who always contend that the US must support Israel because it is the only bastion of democracy and free speech in the Middle East might like to read these comments from the report:

"Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s military offensive against the Gaza Strip, had an impact on the press. As regards its internal situation, Israel sank 47 places in the index to 93rd position. This nose-dive means it has lost its place at the head of the Middle Eastern countries, falling behind Kuwait (60th), United Arab Emirates (86th) and Lebanon (61st).

Israel has begun to use the same methods internally as it does outside its own territory. Reporters Without Borders registered five arrests of journalists, some of them completely illegal, and three cases of imprisonment. The military censorship applied to all the media is also posing a threat to journalists.

As regards its extraterritorial actions, Israel was ranked 150th. The toll of the war was very heavy. Around 20 journalists in the Gaza Strip were injured by the Israeli military forces and three were killed while covering the offensive."

http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html

[Hedda]

It's disappointing to see Thailand heading in the wrong direction in the matter of press freedom, but it's probably inevitable to get such lousy results when the government and army have a virtual lock on controlling the mass media. The same goes for many of Thailand's ASEAN neighbors, most of who have little independent press freedom and who rank even worse than the Thais in this department.

One of the most disconcerting aspects of this survey is that China, which is clearly emerging as a international power in business and finance, still has one of the most deplorable records on allowing free speech, mired as it is near the bottom of the ratings barrel. It's scary to think of a world power like China in the hands of a ruthless dictatorial government that looks more like the militarist regimes of the 1930's than a 21st century democracy.

[Gene]

It's scary to think of a world power like China in the hands of a ruthless dictatorial government that looks more like the militarist regimes of the 1930's than a 21st century democracy.

That may be true of their domestic politics, but China has shown absolutely no aggressive, imperial or colonial tendencies as did Germany, Italy or Japan in the last century.

[tdperhs]

China does not have to. They are a patient people. By virtue of their numbers alone they are safe from aggression and have little need for massive military expenditures. At the same time, by virtue of the fact that that the U.S. government does most of its borrowing in Beijing and that the U.S. consumer spends much of his income in the same place, China's economic position will soon be such that it will have far more power than it could hope to have militarily and at less than 1% of the cost.
Very shortly, if the U.S. wants to engage in a military action anywhere, it will first have to secure the permission of the Beijing government.
Anyone studying for a career in finance should begin with Mandarin 101.

[Tony]

Very shortly, if the U.S. wants to engage in a military action anywhere, it will first have to secure the permission of the Beijing government.

No way, Jose. China is as much a prisoner of the US dollar as you or me. Every time the dollar weakens, the US debt to Chinese holding dollars gets smaller, not bigger. As for military operations, China has nothing comparable to the US in projecting power anywhere in the world. If the US consumers ever stopped buying Chinese exports, the Chinese economy would collapse.