Oscars 2015 – Full List of Nominees

The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman lead way with 9 nominations this year

Nominations for the 87th annual Academy Awards were announced Thursday morning in Los Angeles. The first set of nominees were announced by directors J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron. The second set were announced by actor Chris Pine and Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs. The announcement began at 8:30 am Eastern.

The dark show business comedy Birdman and the quirky Wes Anderson film The Grand Budapest Hotel led the nominations with nine nominations a piece. The Imitation Game had eight nominations. American Sniper, Clint Eastwood’s movie about Chris Kyle, tied with Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, the movie that took 12 years to make, with six nominations – and Bradley Cooper nabbed a Best Actor nod, nudging out Selma‘s David Oyelowo and Nightcrawler‘s Jake Gyllenhaal.

Winners will be announced on Feb. 22 in the annual Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.

Best Picture

• American Sniper
• Birdman
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Selma
• The Theory of Everything
• Whiplash

Best Director

• Alexandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
• Richard Linklater, Boyhood
• Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
• Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best Actor

• Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
• Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
• Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
• Michael Keaton, Birdman
• Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Supporting Actor

• Robert Duvall, The Judge
• Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
• Edward Norton, Birdman
• Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
• J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress

• Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
• Laura Dern, Wild
• Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
• Emma Stone, Birdman
• Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Cinematography

• Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
• Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski, Ida
• Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
• Roger Deakins, Unbroken

Best Foreign Language Film

• Ida, Poland
• Leviathan, Russia
• Tangerines, Estonia
• Timbuktu, Mauritania
• Wild Tales, Argentina

Best Adapted Screenplay

• American Sniper, Jason Hall
• The Imitation Game, Graham Moore
• Inherent Vice, Paul Thomas Anderson
• The Theory of Everything, Anthony McCarten
• Whiplash, Damien Chazelle

Best Original Screenplay

• Birdman, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
• Boyhood, Richard Linklate
• Foxcatcher, E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
• The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
• Nightcrawler, Dan Gilroy

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

• Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, Foxcatcher
• Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Original Score

• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Interstellar
• Mr. Turner
• The Theory of Everything

Best Original Song

• “Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie; Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
• “Glory” from Selma; Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
• “Grateful” from Beyond the Lights; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
• “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me; Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
• “Lost Stars” from Begin Again; Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Best Animated Feature

• Big Hero 6
• The Boxtrolls
• How to Train Your Dragon 2
• Song of the Sea
• The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Documentary—Short

• Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
• Joanna
• Our Curse
• The Reaper
• White Earth

Best Film Editing

• Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, American Sniper
• Sandra Adair, Boyhood
• Barney Pilling, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• William Goldenberg, The Imitation Game
• Tom Cross, Whiplash

Best Production Design

• The Grand Budapest Hotel, Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
• The Imitation Game, Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
• Interstellar, Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
• Into the Woods, Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
• Mr. Turner, Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Best Animated Short

• The Bigger Picture
• The Dam Keeper
• Feast
• Me and My Moulton
• A Single Life

Best Live Action Short

• Aya
• Boogaloo and Graham
• Butter Lamp
• Parvaneh
• The Phone Call

Best Sound Editing

• American Sniper, Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
• Birdman, Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
• Interstellar, Richard King
• Unbroken, Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Best Sound Mixing

• American Sniper, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
• Birdman, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
• Interstellar, Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
• Unbroken, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
• Whiplash, Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Best Visual Effects

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
• Guardians of the Galaxy, Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
• Interstellar, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
• X-Men: Days of Future Past, Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

Best Documentary — Feature

• Citizenfour
• Finding Vivien Maier
• Last Days of Vietnam
• The Salt of the Earth
• Virunga

Best Costume Design

• Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice
• Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
• Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive, Maleficent
• Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turne

Petrol dips below $1 a litre in Sydney and Melbourne

Prices in Melbourne fall to six-year low

Petrol prices have hit a six-year low in Melbourne and in some parts of Sydney as the price of fuel dropped to 99.9 cents at some service stations.

The current trend of selling unleaded fuel for less than a dollar a litre is expected to be the beginning of a run of low prices around the country. It followed a national trend, with Australian prices falling to their lowest level since May, 2009 earlier this month.

Petrol prices have plummeted since last year as global oil halved from more than $100 a barrel to less than $50.

According to the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) fuel spokesman Michael Case said, it was the first time unleaded petrol had dipped below $1 a litre in Melbourne in six years. “The previous low was at the beginning of 2009 after the global financial crisis,” he said. “We’re now in our fourth month of continual decreases of retail fuel prices. It’s has just been going down, down.”

It marks a low in Melbourne petrol prices, which have plunged from more than $1.50 a litre since last year, and follows a similar drop in prices for Sydney motorists filling up with E10 last week.

RACV said the average price for unleaded across the city on Tuesday was $1.06 a litre, but it said some petrol stations were selling it for 99.9 cents. Prices at nearby outlets in Sunshine, Yarraville and Newport were about 5¢ a litre more expensive on Tuesday and the average price in Melbourne was 106.2¢ a litre, according to price comparison website Motor Mouth.

Michael Case from the RACV said the good news for motorists was set to continue. “Petrol prices have been on the way down continuously since early October,” he said. “The wholesale price of fuel has been trending down now for around three months and there’s no sign of that changing in the short term.

“We expect fuel prices will continue to decrease, at least in the short term. It’s much less than what motorists have been experiencing for years in the vicinity of $1.50, so much cheaper and good news.”

“[There’s] a lot more people on the road travelling longer distances than normal, so it will mean cheaper motoring and it’s good for household budgets and the economy in general.”

But country areas had not been so lucky.

“There are some regional centres that are yet to have decreases in line with what’s happened in Melbourne,” Mr Case said. “Motorists would expect to pay more, because of transport and supply-related costs, but even so the extra cost should be in the order of 5-10 cents. But there are a number of regional centres with much higher prices than they should have, given the recent decreases in world oil prices.” Mr Case also said the cost of diesel was too high across the state and retailers should start moving to reduce the price.

AMP’s chief economist, Shane Oliver, said motorists filling up for 99.9¢ a litre would save about $20 a week. He said inner-city outlets were likely to start discounting petrol to remain competitive. “We saw in Sydney when it did go down to 99.9¢ a litre, within a week other service stations started pushing towards 102¢, 103¢. I can’t see them all going below a dollar straight away, but whichever way you cut it it’s good news.”

The national average price of unleaded petrol last week dropped from 119.7¢ a litre to 115.7¢ a litre, according to the Australian Institute of Petroleum. Prices in country areas remain higher than the city, with the average metropolitan price 111¢ a litre compared with 125.2¢ in regional areas.

Mr Case said while it was impossible to predict how low petrol prices would drop, drivers would continue to save at the bowser in the short term. “With wholesale prices continuing to decline, there’s no reason why the retail price should not also continue to decline,” he said.

NSW signs historic agreement with Indian state of Gujarat

NSW Premier Mike Baird today signed a new agreement with the Indian state of Gujarat that will strengthen cultural, trade and diplomatic relations between NSW and India.

A new Memorandum of Understanding between NSW and Gujarat has come into effect after Mr Baird and the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mrs Anandiben Patel, attended an official signing in Ahmedabad.

Mr Baird said the agreement concludes negotiations initiated by the NSW Government in 2013 and allows both states to share knowledge and expertise across five key areas.

“This historic agreement marks the start of a new chapter between NSW and Gujarat and outlines our mutual desire to share knowledge in the areas of education, skills development, water security, urban technology and sustainable urban development.

“Gujarat is undergoing a major urban transformation. There are plans to build eight cities across the state, which is home to 6.2 million mostly rural residents.

“Our cultural and historic connections to India place us in a fortunate position. We have an opportunity to share knowledge and learn from each other during this major development drive, which will in turn benefit both our state economies.

“The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, which has similarities to Sydney’s financial and residential hub Barangaroo, is under construction in Ahmedabad.

“As part of the MOU, a delegation of planning experts from UrbanGrowth and the Barangaroo Delivery Authority will travel to Gujarat to provide insights into sustainable urban planning to the Indian state as it grows and develops.

“We also have much to learn from how Gujarat is meeting the challenges of its urban growth, and this MOU provides the basis for knowledge and information sharing.

“Education is NSW’s biggest services export and India is NSW’s third largest source of international students. As of September 2014, there were more than 12,000 Indian students enrolled in NSW tertiary institutions.

“This agreement will open pathways for a two-way exchange of students between NSW and Gujarat to give students a global experience and grow networks between our states.

“Water security and clean technology are also increasing areas of concern across India and as part of our partnership with Gujarat we’ll share expertise to assist with waste water treatment and recycling.

Arrested Indian accused of passing secrets to Pakistan's ISI

The police arrested a 35-year-old man on Friday in Odisha, accusing him of passing military secrets to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
Police said Ishwar Chandra Behera was passing on information about missile activities conducted at a unit of India's Defence Research & Development Organisation, where he worked as a cameraman.
"He was providing vital information related to missile tests and other military activities to an ISI agent for the past 8-10 months," Odisha's inspector general of police A.K Panigrahi told Reuters. "He confessed that he had met an (ISI) agent in Kolkata a number of times."
India accuses elements in Pakistan's army and ISI of shielding or working with militant groups, which Islambabad denies.
Tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, which are also at odds over the disputed region of Kashmir, have risen since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called off peace talks in August. Troops on both sides have exchanged fire across the border in recent months.
Police said they found a substantial amount of money had been transferred to Behera's bank account from several places including Abu Dhabi and Mumbai. They are investigating if he was assisted by anyone else.
"We had information that his activities are suspicious and he should be watched ... He confessed he is in touch with the ISI agent and is passing on very vital information," Panigrahi said.
Reuters could not contact Behera, who is in custody.
India has stepped up security, especially in the capital New Delhi, in preparation for a three-day visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, starting on Sunday.

In Focus: Australia Pakistan trade relations

In last five years, the volume of bilateral trade between Australia and Pakistan has ranged between $550 Million to $811 Million. A significantly positive trend in Pakistan’s exports to Australia was witnessed when these grew by 17.35%, rising from $179 Million (in FY2012-13) to $210 Million (in FY2013-14). Previously, our exports had stagnated around $175 Million in last three years.

On the other hand, the import of Australian products in Pakistan declined by 36% (in FY2013-14), falling from $632 Million to $411 Million. Therefore, the total volume of the trade dwindled from $811 Million to $611 Million and the balance of trade (BOT) remained tilted in favour of Australia, as the import of Australian products in Pakistan has always surpassed our exports to Australia. However, the adverse BOT position improved for Pakistan vis-à-vis Australia in last year by 57% when the BOT fell from $453 Million (FY2012-13) to $192 Million (FY2013-14).

The bilateral trade relations between Australia and Pakistan started soon after the independence of the subcontinent from the British rule in 1947 and the birth of Pakistan, when in 1948 a Trade Mission of Pakistan was established in Sydney. Since then the Trade Mission has remained functional in Sydney in one form or another to promote the bilateral trade relations and to facilitate the businesses from both the countries.

A Joint Trade Committee (JTC), between the two countries is an effective bilateral forum for trade discussions and negotiations. JTC meetings are held annually, both in Australia and in Pakistan, on rotation basis. 5^th JTC Meeting was held in Canberra in September 2014 in which issues of bilateral trade, trade policy, market access, technical support and enhanced bilateral exchange of trade delegations were discussed. Important decisions were taken, which included collaboration of Austrade and TDAP for trade promotion activities and provision of technical assistance by Australian government under the Country Assistance Programme (CAP) for strengthening the institutional capacity of Ministry of Commerce and trade related private sector organisations of Pakistan. Both sides agreed to continue technical cooperation in the areas of agriculture, engineering and vocational training. They decided to make use of various tools for market development including business-to-business meetings, awareness seminars and exchange of delegations. Secretary Commerce Islamabad led the Pakistani side of the delegation for the JTC meeting.

On the sidelines of 5^th JTC meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Strengthening Bilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation was signed between Pakistan and Australia at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Canberra.

Promoting business-to-business contacts and exchange of Business Delegations on regular basis are crucial to boosting trade relations among the nations. An increased activity has been witnessed in business interactions between Australia and Pakistan. In order to explore export opportunities and to establish their business networking in Australia, three business delegations from Pakistan visited this region during last one year and a half. In Sept 2013, textile manufacturers and exporters from Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) visited Sydney and Melbourne and held productive meetings with their counterparts. A business delegation of leading towel manufacturers, duly sponsored by Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Towel Manufacturers Association (TMA) visited Australia and New Zealand in Apr / May 2014 and displayed variety of their terry towel products in the Product Showcases organised by Pakistan’s Missions in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. Lately, a business delegation from Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), comprising four businessmen visited Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Gold Coast in Oct 2014 and held fruitful discussions with Australian companies. Several Pakistani businesses are planning their business trips this year including delegations from Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (RECP) and LCCI. Besides, a TDAP led and government sponsored business delegation is due to visit Australia and New Zealand in April 2014.

Effective Business Networking is vital for the success and growth of business. Trade Mission of Pakistan Sydney closely liaises with Australian trade bodies and associations and networks with the leading Australian companies including importers, buyers, wholesalers, etc. The Mission maintains an updated account of all the relevant Australian businesses for developing their linkages with Pakistani exporters.

Participation of businessmen in various International Exhibitions and Trade Fairs is an important tool for flourishing the individual business at micro level and growing trade volume at macro level. In Oct 2013, an Australian Business Delegation visited Pakistan to participate in 8^th Expo Pakistan in Karachi. Next month, an Australian Business Delegation is planning to visit Pakistan and participate in 9^th Expo Pakistan in Karachi (26 Feb – 1 Mar 2015). Similarly, Pakistani manufacturers and exporters participated in Australian International Sourcing Fair (AISF) Melbourne in Oct 2013 and Nov 2014. Pakistani manufacturers and exporters of foodstuff and other related products are being motivated to participate in Fine Foods Australia this year.

Projection of the soft image of Pakistan in Australia is deemed essential to increasing trade volumes with various trading partners / nations of the world. Not only the government authorities but also the leading businessmen from Pakistan share the same view and strongly advocate it. Accordingly, the Trade Mission Sydney has taken several initiatives and planned many more for 2015

Could Windows 10 be a winner for Microsoft?

The hype around the next generation of Windows reached a new high this week with the Windows 10 Preview, held at Microsoft’s Redmond HQ in the US.

With the marketing machine revving at the red-line, the event has settled much of the speculation about this latest version of Windows. No firm release date has been announced, but could be anytime after the Technical Preview ends on April 15 this year.

Windows 10 will be free to download for at least a year for existing users of Windows 7 and 8.1.

What happened to Windows 9?

If Windows 8.1 is the current version, why are we not talking about Windows 9? According to Tony Prophet, Microsoft’s VP of Windows marketing it simply “came and it went”. A case of blink and you missed it.

Skipping a version number creates the perception that Windows 10 is a radical, not just an incremental improvement on Windows 7 and 8.1, according to Prophet:

We’re trying to create one platform, one eco-system that unites as many of the devices from the small embedded Internet of Things, through tablets, through phones, through PCs and, ultimately, into the Xbox.

What’s new in Windows 10?

Avid Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley reports that Windows 10 is based on a common “core” of software that allows it to operate across the range of Microsoft devices.

The core is the foundation of a computing environment, or “eco-system” that is open enough to allow Microsoft to introduce new hardware and software elements to its product range in future versions of Windows.

Here are some of the features we can expect in Windows 10:

Continuum allows a user to shift easily between desktop and tablet modes. Not being able to do this was a major bug-bear for Windows 8 users. So for example, when a Surface Pro user detaches the screen, a pop-up asks if they would like to Enter Tablet mode. When the screen is replaced, the user can Exit Tablet mode.

Windows Holographic is a suite of Augmented Reality (AR) applications that run on a powerful, standalone computer housed in a set of AR glasses called HoloLens. These glasses use tinted lenses that allow holographic images to be over-laid on the physical world. The realistic effect is enhanced by 3D audio and advanced sensors. Working independently of a PC, the unit can be controlled using hand movements, vision and voice commands.

Universal Apps is a common suite of applications that operate across all device types, from desktop to smart-phone. The apps, which include the Office suite, use Microsoft’s cloud-based OneDrive for ubiquitous storage of documents, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations, mail, photos, videos, maps, messaging and calendar.

Cortana is Microsoft’s version of Apple’s Siri that some readers will know from the game Halo. Already something of a hit on the Windows phone, Cortana on Windows 10 is a pleasant-sounding, natural language virtual assistant that can perform tasks and answer questions by searching on your local computer, cloud account and the internet using Bing. Cortana will be integrated into the new Spartan browser (see next item) where text-based enquiries can be entered.

Internet Explorer replaced with Spartan. IE will be replaced by a stripped-down browser called Spartan (another reference to Halo). Users will probably notice some similarities with Chrome and Firefox. IE will continue to ship with Windows for a time to ensure that some enterprise applications that are designed to work with IE continue to work as they should.

Surface Hub is an wirelessly-connected high definition 84-inch virtual whiteboard. Equipped with advanced sensors, pen input support, cameras and microphones, Surface Hub allows brainstorming teams (virtual or co-located) to create text and 3D drawings that can be manipulated and shared.

Xbox integration with Windows 10 becomes possible with a new application that allows games being played on Xbox One to be streamed live to the linked computer. The Xbox app also allows people to record games they are playing on their PC and feed this into Xbox LIVE for a social experience.

The Start menu, once removed from Windows 8, will be restored to its rightful place in Windows 10. The new Start menu will be more customisable than the old, with a space for your favourite apps, programs and websites.

Will Windows 10 succeed?

To succeed in today’s tech world, a computer system must be intuitive and well-adapted to people’s needs – enjoyable to use. Not only that, the system should be defect-free and affordable if a discerning user-base is to be kept happy and coming back for more.

From this week’s Preview, Windows 10 looks like it might meet these stringent requirements. With an extended technical review period that has solicited feedback from millions of participating users, Microsoft has put in the hard-yards to know what it is that people want and have made the effort to give it to them.

But Windows 10 will need to be good if people are to upgrade from still popular legacy products. Windows XP and 7 currently account for around 74% of PC operating systems globally, while the later, supposedly improved Windows 8.x has languished at around 13%.

Will I be jumping in to upgrade my own computer to Windows 10? Maybe, but based on past experience, I think I will wait and see.

The Farce of Western Freedom of Speech

Speaking outside Elysée Palace in the aftermath of this week’s terror killings in France, former President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the violence as “an attack on civilization.” Coiffured, sun-tanned and nattily dressed, Sarkozy’s solemn words made him appear like the embodiment of civility.

That’s a quaint turn in etiquette by a politician who is mired in allegations of sleaze and corruption, as well as war crimes.

Sarkozy wasn’t too concerned about “civilization” when he and his British allies launched the NATO bombing campaign of Libya in March 2011 in stark violation of a UN mandate. That seven-month onslaught led to the murder of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi – from whom Sarkozy had gladly received hush-hush political donations in the past, before stabbing him in the back.

The illegal French-led NATO blitzkrieg on Libya subverted a constitutional government and resulted in the ongoing destruction of one of Africa’s most economically developed countries. Libya has been sacked to become a failed state, over-run by extremist Takfiri militia and tribal warlords, whose warped ideology is shared by the ISIS terror network destroying Syria and Iraq. The same ideology includes the armed adherents who struck this week in Paris, killing more than a dozen people.

So Sarkozy’s concern for attacks on civilization is well qualified –
although you won’t hear it put quite that way in the thought-control Western media. The very extremist forces he helped to unleash from the illegal overthrow of the Libyan state have now killed his own people right in the capital of his republic.

One of the presumed touchstones of Western civilization that was allegedly defiled this week is “free speech” and “freedom of expression.” Sarkozy was joined by other Western political figures, from US President Barack Obama, to British Premier David Cameron, in condemning the murderous assault on the Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in terms of a war on “our values.”

The magazine had previously incensed millions of Muslims worldwide by its publication of images profaning Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). That is believed to have provided the motive for the gunmen who, while fleeing the scene in Paris, shouted: “The prophet has been avenged.”

French President Francois Hollande declared the slain journalists and cartoonists as “heroes” who died for the lofty principle of freedom of speech.

But like other presumed Western values, such as human rights, freedom of speech is a much over-rated principle – over-rated by the Western governments and institutions like the corporate-controlled media, who invoke it as an ideological badge of honor that distinguishes them and makes them superior to others.

In practice, however, such Western values are no more than chimera. They are empty slogans whose mere espousal and conceited, disingenuous profession is for propaganda purposes.

What human rights or respect for rule of law did Sarkozy, Cameron and Obama adhere to when they oversaw the destruction of Libya? Or in the ongoing covert destruction of Syria and Iraq (despite belated Western claims of liquidating the terror network that they spawned in the first place for regime change in Syria.)

Insofar that Western governments support free speech, it is more often for expedient political advantage. It is not a universal ethic, as claimed. And, laughably, they are telling barefaced lies to claim otherwise, as they continually do.

A French satirical publication may have been allowed to denigrate Islam, but it would never be allowed to condemn Zionism and all its provable criminality. It is doubtful the magazine in question would print cartoons of Sarkozy, Obama or Cameron with explosives tied to their heads or dropping bombs on Libya. Even though the latter is not satire; it actually reflects the reality of criminal actions and events.

So, Western “free speech” is really just freedom for the powers-that-be to demean and demonize whomever the West requires for furthering its political interests. When free speech legitimately attacks Western interests, exposes hypocrisy and fraudulence, then it stops being a “universal principle.” Censorship is then the ironclad order.

French comedian Dieudonné, for example, has been banned from public performances by the French government owing to his farcical arm gesture, known as the “Quenelle.” The gesture can be interpreted in many ways, from a vulgar personal insult, to a derisory slur on the ruling class. The French authorities claim that the sign is “anti-Semitic” and a reverse Nazi salute. Dieudonné denies this and instead says the gesture is anti-Zionist” and “anti-establishment.”

The comedian has been banned from travelling to Britain by the London authorities, also as a result of his political parodies. His friend and professional footballer, Nicolas Anelka, was last year banned from playing soccer games in England and fined over $100,000 for signaling the Quenelle after scoring a goal.

Almost a year before the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo magazine this week in Paris, French President Francois Hollande gave notice that there would be zero-tolerance of Dieudonné or anyone else who practiced the Quenelle.
“We will act… we will fight against the sarcasm of those who purport to be humorists but who are actually professional anti-Semites,” said Hollande.

But hold on a moment. That’s just what the French ruling class deems to be the meaning of Dieudonné’s Quenelle. On the basis of their prejudice, the artist and anyone who displays the gesture in public is subject to prosecution. That’s not just censorship; it is state persecution for having an opinion.

Evidently, it’s acceptable to insult Islam, according to Western select use of free speech because it suits political agendas of demonizing Muslim countries so that they can be attacked with Western warplanes or covert terrorist proxies. But it is not acceptable to satirize Zionism or Western ruling classes.

And here is another revealing touchstone. Why is Press TV banned from British terrestrial and satellite television broadcasting? Why is the Iran-based channel banned across Europe and North America? Where is Western free speech in that case? What is the problem?

Press TV is not tolerated. It is banished. Because the truth of Western state terrorism, as practiced by the likes of Sarkozy, Hollande, Obama and Cameron is too much to bear for how it might enlighten and empower public opinion. The truth of Western-sponsored state terrorism as practiced by the genocidal Israeli regime is too much to bear for public discourse; any criticism is shoved down the memory hole under the spurious pretext of “anti-Semitism.” The fact that Western leaders should be prosecuted for war crimes is too much to bear. All such views, no matter how intellectually rigorous, morally scrupulous and legally substantiated, must be censored, and those who articulate them must be hounded into isolation.