Tag: Mohammad Noori

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Free speech and is there anything you are willing to defend?

President James Madison author of the First Ammendment
President James Madison author of the First Ammendment

I am always surprised at how many folks take for granted but few use their right to freely speak their mind in public. However, using your right to speak is a two edge sword. I have always felt that the best way to let a fool reveal themselves is to give them a podium, a microphone or even a blog. This is not to say that everyone should cower and hide from any public interaction in order to not seem foolish, but having an open environment that can test the worthiness of ideas is the best way for a society to address emerging social issues and economic and political challenges. A good idea can stand the test of a little scrutiny, a bad idea shows itself for what it is.

Our future President James Madison drafted the first amendment to the US Constitution to include our right to free speech , but he was not without his detractors. A number of people felt that speech should be strictly muzzled, but this ran against the grain of all those who were trying to get away from the European system of royalty, restrictive rules and trade castes. For example, you might know that George Washington turned down the ‘offer’ to be King. Eventually, other freedoms were added to the first amendment such as freedom of the press and freedom of religion and association. Although this isn’t very popular in academic circles to say, these ‘founding fathers’ got it right.

However, there are those, especially in Europe, that have made it an art form to restrict free speech and there are those here in academia in America who would like to do the same in our country. Let’s just say its wrong morally and it is  unconstitutional.

Not long ago, I took a very strong position in my blog on ‘an issue of public interest’ involving our local university and a ‘Kingdom” not known for it’s toleration or acceptance of diversity or free speech. One administrator took exception to my blogs and sued me for all sorts of bad things. As it turned out, the judge ruled that my blogs were constitutionally protected free speech and that I was blogging on an issue of public interest. (You can search my blog under Saudi Arabia and read more about the issue.)

READ the most recent article here.

The lesson here is not to be afraid, but to stand up and express yourself when it counts on matters and issues that you feel are important to you and those you love. Interesting times are coming and it is important for everyone to be heard.

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terrorists or terrorists? … what one symbol does to a meaning

A retraction buried deep within the bowels of the local paper, but a retraction none-the-less CLICK on the picture to read the original article.

Let’s not dwell too much on the nuances of newspaper misquotes, but as I am cleaning up some of the issues surrounding a  free speech lawsuit in which I prevailed, I thought it important enough to ensure that the record was made clear.

Search  “Cal Poly  and Saudi Arabia” and you will read what the story was really about. It was concerning a large public concern by many – including me – that Cal Poly was planning to do the business of setting up engineering classes  in Saudi Arabia. It seems rather clear — at least to me —  that only certain people would be invited to teach and others would be systematically excluded. Would women be allowed to teach? I think not.

I asked a military officer where all the ‘foreign fighters’ ( our media loves to use words that shows they don’t take sides) were originating?  In the early days, so many were coming from Saudi Arabia, but this torrent has since been reduced to a trickle …  it seems that volunteers are now getting hard to find. Now-a-days, I understand many ‘foreign fighters’  are coming from north Africa.

So given what I just said, my question to Cal Poly was a simple one: was there a chance that we would be providing certain Saudis with skills that could be used against us?  So I asked in my blog:   (is) “Cal Poly … training tomorrow’s terrorists?”

Free speech may have died in England and is crippled in Europe … but for now, if we are vigilant, the right of free speech will continue to help us ask those tough questions which will help us find American solutions to the problems of our day.

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in America, everyone deserves the right to speak

In a previous post, I alluded to the fact that I was being sued for what amounted to exercising my constitutionally protected free speech in a matter of public interest. CalCoastNews.com covered this in a recent story entitled  ” Blogger Wins Free Speech battle, Cal Poly Dean Loses.” Here is pictured the ‘tentative ruling’  … which became the final ruling.

Read  CalCoastNews analysis for their insightful look at the defense of free speech in the public interest!

My Previous Free Speech BLOG: “Without the ability to speak freely, we have nothing!”