


What a classy kid (Sarcasm) but nothing surprising though. It is the internet. I was watching the Spurs/Bolton game on TV when Muamba collapsed. Probably one of the scariest moments I've ever witness in sports because nobody had a clue what was going on.





The article says it was a student, not a player, that was arrested.





Unreal. I don't like people using racist language but it is free speech. I bet the same people who defended that one psycho for attacking white people and using racist language against them will say they support this. Well, racist language is racist language but online you should be able to say whatever you want in this case.





As far as I understand it, free speech is in our American constitution, but I truly do not know about the rest of the world and what thier stance on free speech is. Obviously the UK is not one of them, but hey, I dont think one way or another about their constitution. Can I really say Im upset that someone was punished for racist and hateful comments? No, and if the UK feels that is una.... , well, the uk version of unamerican, then well, that is how things are run there, and what the citizens there have to live by.
Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink!
Exactly the point. The UK does have anti-hate speech laws, so this student was punished according to British law, for breaking a British law.
I'm not going to lose any sleep over some drunken lout who writes something despicable and then afterwards pathetically claims that he's not a racist. In vino veritas.
Ultimately though, this isn't about punishing someone for their beliefs. He's been punished because he broke a law that was designed to protect other people from being exposed to this kind of hate. I adore the Premier League (ManU's ahead of City woot woot!!!), but blatant, overt racism is a huge issue in football, both on the pitch and in the stands, and in tweeting the message he did Stacey knew exactly who his target audience was.
Anti-hate laws alone will never end racism, (it's far too ingrained within democratic institutions for that to happen) but they do prevent ish from getting worse. Let Stacey think whatever he wants, but in placing those thoughts on a public stage in Britain he broke a British law. Stacey deserves the punishment he received based upon that alone.





So if I were in the UK and I said I hate pedophiles and that they're all evil, would I be arrested for saying something hateful about a person's sexual orientation, or would they let that slide? I ask because I'm curious if their anti-hate speech laws actually protect everyone (despite unpopularity), or if it ends up being a 'tyranny of the social majority' type situation?





Unless the UK has recognized it as such and I dont realize it, you are assuming that they will consider pedophila a sexual orientation. Whiles its been argued that its liken to or similar to sexual orientation, it is not recognized or accepted as one and is still broadly considered a mental disorder.
Derogatory names and telling someone to go pick some cotton like this guy did is considered hate speech, which are statements made just to offend and degrade a persons race, religion, etc etc. "I hate blacks', as per your example of "I hate pedophiles" is just a statement of opinion.
Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_...gdom#section_1Originally Posted by lestat1
Not one to usually link to Wikipedia - not the most trustworthy source although this article is good.
I'm an English law student. I can therefore only speak on behalf of the English and Welsh legal system - not for the rest of the UK.
Lestat, unless your speech would 'incite others' - or is actually threatening (Criminal justice and immigration act 200you wouldn't break any law. This is obviously a matter of context.
The policy intention behind this law is basically to stop Islamic hate preachers and right wing groups such as the English Defence League. I'll stop there as I don't want to fall foul of the forum rules on politics. But the purpose is not to restrict the opinions of the public.
The tweet about Fabrice Muamba (who is recovering well, by the way) falls under the Public Order Act 1986 - it was intended (or had the possibility to) stir up racial hatred.
In some ways I can see that our laws may be viewed as fairly restrictive - especially when the First Amendment protects free speech to such an extent. However your first amendment goes so far as to protect 'virtual' child pornography (please correct me if recent case law has rectified this) and actually protects NAMBLA's existence. South Park jokes aside... Your constitution protects some rather unpopular people too! It's all swings and roundabouts. There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems.
I hope that reads ok, I'm on my phone.
I almost want to laugh out loud at the "tyranny of the social majority" line. Like I wrote earlier, I love British football, but it has a history of violence that has both historically and contemporarily linked to anti-Black (and anti-immigrant) racism.
Further, racism in Britain has a very specific history based upon differential access to state, economic and social resources (as it does here in North America). As such, comparisons to other groups such as white people (who are NOT an oppressed group) and pedophiles (who are punished for their actions, not their social position in a hierarchical society) are absurd. These situations cannot be treated equally because, well, things aren't equal.
If it's an area that interests you the Celtic/Rangers rivalry is fascinating if you're not already aware of it. Especially now with new anti-sectarian laws. The hatred between Catholic and Protestant, Irish and British, is immense... Between two teams in one Scottish city.Originally Posted by loveshooks





Thank you BlkSharpie and _natasha!
I love that our Constitution protects the speech of unpopular people (NAMBLA, KKK, etc). I bold-faced "speech," lest some reader looking for a fight insist I thought their illegal actions should ever be permitted.
Anyway, I went to the main Wikipedia page on UK hate speech (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_sp...United_Kingdom) and the phrasing actually addresses one of my original concerns. It lists: colour, race, nationality (including citizenship), ethnic or national origin, religion, or sexual orientation. I'm good with that list. I was worried it would be phrased more like the dictionary definition of bigotry: "differing sex or sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, nationality, region, language, religious or spiritual belief, political alignment, age, economic status or medical disability" That political alignment clause gets tricky (neo-Nazis, I'm looking in your direction).
Good! I can think of political affiliations I love to hate (neo-Nazis, the KKK, special interest groups utilizing terrorism, etc). Looks like I'd be free there to keep on hating them, both due to the specific phrasing, and the distinction between opinion and inciting others.
Still, I think we'll skip stealing your UK laws on free speech, and just be happy with taking all of your civil / property / tort law from the last 500 years or so and adopting it as our own.![]()





I'm not sure what you thought I meant, but when I said 'tyranny of the social majority' it was a reference to John Adams' 'tyranny of the majority' phrase when the U.S. Constitution was being written. There were concerns that the popular vote would discriminate against those who held a small percentage of votes. It is a reference to the tendency of a majority/powerful group to become tyrannical towards a minority/unpowerful group.
I added the "social" part to distinguish my concerns as being those of social pressures on free speech rather than the results of voting.





Lestat I too despise hate groups but under our First Amendment. As much as they all deserve to be hated I worry that if we limit their rights then it might lead to all of our rights.
Why do you keep talking about free speech and the first amendment when this has nothing to do with America? This is Britain, a country that was nearly destroyed by a crazy fuck who incited war with racist propaganda, i am sure their feelings on the matter are quite different from ours.
"Well done. Here are the test results: You are a horrible person. I'm serious, that's what it says: 'A horrible person.' We weren't even testing for that."








Too bad (Not really haha) the Rangers are completely falling apart and in administration. I just read the Guardian article saying they could be facing £134m in debt. Ridiculous.
The Old Firm was great back when. Haven't watch it in years besides the recent game the Rangers won (I was with my friends who are big Celtics supporters.)
I'm seeing a HUGE celtic fan at the moment... Rangers will be liquidated and there's talk of a New. Co. but everyone is hoping for them to just die in their pit.
A Strathclyde policeman was recently quoted as saying he isn't a fan of either team - but prefers Old Firm games where Rangers win simply because if they win no one dies, and there are no domestic abuse incidents. Says it all about Rangers fans to me. But hey - it's just a game - right?![]()








Absolutely appalling a country that claims to be civilized could have laws like that.





I kind of had to laugh at that I have to say... My ex travels all the time for work, and he *hates* to travel. Those of us who arent so lucky get so annoyed when hes like..omg I have to go to England next week, jesus. Omg, So I have to be in Canada for a week, I dont know how Im going to make it. And when he gets back, he complains about everything from the transportation, to the food, to the hotels, to the people...and his winning line is "Why cant all these other countries be civilized and do things normally and eat normal food like we do in America?!!!"
It really used to bother me, but I find it funny now..I mean, in the past year alone, hes gotten food poisoning twice, and got locked in a bathroom stall for half an hour in London. I think its karma, for how badly he talks about other countriesBut yeah..perception is everything. I have talked to people from other countries who feel that America is the most uncivilized nation around. Just because something is different, doesnt mean its uncivilized, or that we are better than anyone, or anyone is better than us. Its just a different way of life. Ill never get my ex to understand that
Until every country in the world is exactly like America, he wont be happy. But yeah.
Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink!



Figure some would like to know:
Another player named Piermaorio Morosini had a cardiac arrest during a Serie B game today much like Muamba however he didn't survive. He was 25.
Last edited by The_Adict; 04-14-2012 at 12:00 PM.
How awful! His poor family. I wonder if club medical tests are going to be put under scrutiny... I guess things like this will happen in professional sport.![]()
In fact, sport in general; in school a boy the year below me died long distance running in a PE lesson from an undiagnosed heart condition.
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