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"Time travel requires cosmic censorship." George Smoot, 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics
http://www.nobelprize.org/podcast/ http://tinyurl.com/iTunesNobelPrizeTalks How big is the universe? And how do you stay grounded when working in the mind-bending field of cosmology? In this...

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"Time travel requires cosmic censorship." George Smoot, 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics - Video

Stop UK Internet Censorship - Indiegogo Update
The UK is moving dangerously close to internet censorship and we need your help to stop it! Recently the Government, with the help of religious lobby groups, has persuaded ISP #39;s to introduce...

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Stop UK Internet Censorship - Indiegogo Update - Video

Image: Mashable Composite. Wikimedia Commons

By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2014-05-16 19:15:49 UTC

Google and Wikipedia appear to be the latest victims of Iran's online censorship efforts, just two days after the Iranian government repeated once again that it's planning to loosen its grip on the Internet.

Iran has reportedly blocked access to another Google service, the hosting platform Google Sites, and censored at least two sensitive Wikipedia pages in Farsi in the last couple of days. It's unclear at this point if these blocks are government mandated, but if they are, activists think they would expose the Iranian government's double-sided stance on Internet freedom.

Ever since President Hassan Rouhani was elected last year, his government has pledged to open up to the Internet, while, at the same time, it has steadily censored various services and websites, and even jailed 16 tech bloggers. Twitter and Facebook also still remain blocked in Iran, even though Rouhani, as well as other members of the government, routinely use them.

On Wednesday, Iran announced that it was planning to loosen Internet censorship by using so-called "smart filters," which would allow the government to block only specific "depraved and immoral" websites and leave others untouched, according to Communications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi.

Iran has a long history of blocking Wikipedia sites, as previous research has shown, but these latest blocks, activists warn, seem to indicate that the future is more of the same, rather than more freedom.

"The fact that pages on Wikipedia are now being censored is a troubling harbinger of a tighter hold on access to information, as opposed to the notion that these new technologies will allow for 'looser censorship,'" Mahsa Alimardani, an Iranian Internet researcher based in Toronto, told Mashable.

On Friday, Nariman Gharib, an Iranian researcher based in London reported that the Wikipedia pages about the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the one about the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran were inaccessible within Iran.

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Iran Takes Aim at Google, Wikipedia in Latest Internet Censorship Effort

In this March 15, 2014 file photo, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gestures while speaking before the California Republican Party 2014 Spring Convention in Burlingame, Calif. Texas Tech University has invited Rice to take her pick and speak at summer, fall or 2015 graduation ceremonies after protests against her planned appearance at Rutgers University.

Ben Margot, Associated Press

The graduating class of 2014 has seen several college commencement speakers cancel due to student opposition, sparking a debate over whether it is right, or necessary, to censor these speakers.

The list of speakers who will no longer be speaking includes former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, and Robert Birgeneau, the former chancellor of the University of California in Berkeley.

While Ayaan Hirsi Ali was still permitted to speak at Brandeis University, her offer of an honorary degree from the school was revoked due to anti-Islamic comments she had made in the past.

She has her very real personal story, she has her views, and shes free to say what shed like to say, said Maya Berry, executive director of the advocacy group Arab American Institute, in the New York Times. But for an institution like Brandeis to choose to honor someone like this is really disappointing.

Ali, who has said that Islam is a cult of death, and the new fascism, according to the Times, has also supported the idea of closing down all Islamic schools in the West.

She is one of the worst of the worst of the Islam haters in America, not only in America but worldwide, Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the Times. I dont assign any ill will to Brandeis. I think they just kind of got fooled a little bit.

In its official statement on the issue, Brandeis said, She is a compelling public figure and advocate for womens rights, and we respect and appreciate her work to protect and defend the rights of women and girls throughout the world. That said, we cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University's core values. For all concerned, we regret that we were not aware of these statements earlier.

All of the previously listed speakers have been protested for various reasons, including past actions, associations or perceived bigotry. While many students from these respective universities supported the cancellations, other commentators have decried them as needless censorship.

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Censorship on college campuses has left some uneasy

Time Posted: May 15, 2014 2:14 pm

Reports that President Michael Sata is now personally phoning privately owned media houses to harass them over the stories they carry is a serious threat to media and free expression in Zambia.

We are aware that President Sata is very intolerant to opposing views, but the idea of him now personally phoning private media houses, like he is reported to have done to Daily Nation to harass them over the story they carried regarding his impasse with the Paramount Chief Chitimukulu of the Bemba-speaking people makes sad reading.

If the entire Head of State can phone a privately owned media houses to intimidate them about a news story, we wonder how much he personally phones and interferes with government owned media houses to control their editorial content.

We know that this is not the first time he has done such a thing as he recently phoned Joy FM radio to intimidate them when they were having a live programme featuring an opposition leader.

As UPND, we have always said Mr. Sata pre-occupied himself with very petty issues at the expense of important national issues of the economy and unprecedented high poverty levels among our people.

We are also wondering why Mr. Sata is involving himself with issues to do with chiefdoms and traditional affairs when he has limited or no jurisdiction as these can ably be handled by the local traditional leadership themselves or through the House of Chiefs.

As UPND on this matter involving installation of the Paramount Chief Chitimukulu, we stand by the processes and position taken by the Council of of the Bemba Royal Establishment that the recognised Chief Chitimukulu is Henry Kanyanta Sosala, who is formerly Chief Mwamba.

We believe that whether Mr. Sata and his government recognise him or not, the traditional authorities are much older than any Zambian government and hence government recognition is merely ceremonial and purely a formality.

Zambians expect Mr. Sata and his PF government to be seriously dealing with reducing the price of mealie meal, reducing fuel costs, addressing the depreciation of the Kwacha, the high cost of living and delivering a people driven constitution than dwelling on matters of traditional affairs.

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UPND questions to what purpose President Sata is personally phoning media houses