The Empire State Building and 60 Years of Communist Rule in China...

New York City has decided to commemorate, and perhaps honor, sixty years of communist rule in China by lighting up the Empire State Building in red and yellow lights.

This has not pleased everyone. Those that oppose the move, albeit now being too late, state that this act in effect endorses China's totalitarian government and abysmal human rights record in places like Tibet and the recent crackdown on the Uighurs in the Xinjiang region.

It is certainly an interesting choice considering the Chinese government has a record of suppressing freedoms, such as the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression, and the freedom of association, to name but a few. So, a legitimate question would be, "why is the home of the brave and the land of the free honoring a land whose government seemingly does not believe in those ideals?"

(Photo courtesy of AP)

Obama, The Joker, Hope, and Socialism...

Is this picture racist? Or, is it acceptable under the definition of freedom of speech and freedom of expression provisions? Or, is it acceptable political parody?

The image has been finding itself posted in and around Los Angeles and has caused quite a stir. The racial overtones relate to the fact that it is Obama and the image is supposedly intended to be a take on the black and white minstrel theme in reverse. Or, it could simply be a comment on the current debates surrounding the development of a health care bill.

For those who are fans of Batman, then they will recognize that the picture picks up on the image made famous by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

Interestingly, no one has claimed responsibility or ownership of the image.