Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombie_babies Apr 11, 2011 14:42:15	Link Say what you will about the face cover ban itself, but arresting people for staging an unapproved protest sounds quite a bit uglier if you ask me.  I mean, if protests have to be approved prior to their actual happening, how the hell would the people be able to protest anything the gov't doesn't want them to?
#2 Jharii Apr 11, 2011 14:52:16	I saw this last night...  I knew it was going to be making an appearance in the OTT. I am not quite sure how I stand on all this.  Freedom of religion vs. National security is a slippery slope.  Both have valid stances.  But this type of confrontation was inevitable.  At least it appears that it is being handled as peacefully as possible. So...  I suppose beekeepers and fencers are subject to this law as well.
#3 ADHadh Apr 11, 2011 15:06:28	Qu'est-ce que? I thought public protesting was a national past time in France. Guess they don't want anyone else on the fun.
#4 zombie_babies Apr 11, 2011 15:08:19	So...  I suppose beekeepers and fencers are subject to this law as well. The way it was worded leads me to believe that they would be if they wore their special hats in public. Que'est-ce que? I thought public protesting was a national past time in France. Guess they don't want anyone else on the fun. Seems they can only protest what the gov't says they can.  What a wonderful arrangement.
#5 Jharii Apr 11, 2011 15:25:49	The way it was worded leads me to believe that they would be if they wore their special hats in public. So what happens if I am a welder, and I am called into downtown Paris to repair a steel gate along a public walkway? What happens if I don a Bieber cut and let it get too long in front?
#6 zombie_babies Apr 11, 2011 15:36:40	So what happens if I am a welder, and I am called into downtown Paris to repair a steel gate along a public walkway? There's probably an exemption or something for that. What happens if I don a Bieber cut and let it get too long in front? Public execution. I am not surprised. Protesters warn the authorities before protesting here too. Are you sure it is not the case in the US? I honestly don't know for certain.  I do know that I hope not.  I mean, it's kind of stupid to need permission from the gov't to protest stuff the gov't does, no?  Cuz they can just tell you to **** off and then arrest you - silencing your protest - if you decide to ignore it.  Kinda what they just did in France. And I really hope it's not like that here cuz I'd rather not have anything in common with Canadian 'free speech' policy - no offense. The law is ridiculus and is a clear violation of individual rights. I can understand laws that demand people show their face when voting or when showing IDs like a passport, but in public their is no need for this. France is rather racist and President Sarkozy is in trouble on his extrem right side. The Front National's (racist party) leader, Marine LePen, is more popular then him. This is a way for him to get popular approval. In theory at least. So much for Fraternity, Librerty, Equality. I'm not gonna say anything about the racist accusations, but I agree with the rest.  If you're truly free and you truly have separated the gov't and religion, this just doesn't work.  People should be required to show their face for ID pics and should be required to show their face if they need to verify that ID photo.  Other than that, I really don't know what to say.  Masks are used to commit crime, sure, but this is religion.  It's expression.  Meh, whatever.
#7 ADHadh Apr 11, 2011 15:37:26	Considering how unpopular burkas actually are among Muslim women this law really is kinda dumb. Of course there's also the security cams argument, but I don't think there's that much more.
#8 erato Apr 11, 2011 15:52:16	Say what you will about the face cover ban itself, but arresting people for staging an unapproved protest sounds quite a bit uglier if you ask me.  I mean, if protests have to be approved prior to their actual happening, how the hell would the people be able to protest anything the gov't doesn't want them to? Isn't that fairly standard? I doubt they actually forbid demonstrations outright, but holding a demonstration without notifying the police so they can take precautions can be extremely dangerous.
#9 Maxperson Apr 11, 2011 15:58:42	I honestly don't know for certain.  I do know that I hope not.  I mean, it's kind of stupid to need permission from the gov't to protest stuff the gov't does, no?  Cuz they can just tell you to **** off and then arrest you - silencing your protest - if you decide to ignore it.  Kinda what they just did in France. And I really hope it's not like that here cuz I'd rather not have anything in common with Canadian 'free speech' policy - no offense. If you are protesting in numbers, I think 25 or more, you do need to get permission to protest.  Not over the subject of the protest, but so as to not disrupt events that may be more important to the Nation than the right to protest.  The usual location for protests is outside of government buildings and sometimes a protest will have to be denied at a certain day and time.
#10 homicidal_squirrel Apr 11, 2011 17:10:43	Are you sure it is not the case in the US? I think it depends on how you want to demonstrate your protest. I don't think you can just gather up a bunch of people and have a march. Everytime the KKK wants to have a march, it comes up in the news that they have been approved for a permit to march. I would guess that if it is an impromptu demonstration where people gather in front of a capital building, there is no need to get a permit.  Here in MIami we had a lot of protests a few years ago. Everytime something happened with Cuba there was a protest. A bunch of Cubans would run out on the streets and block traffic as a form of protest. Cops would be around just to make sure no fights started. Some people even sat on cars to block their way. I remember seeing one guy in a red car just gun-it when this guy sat on his car and try to bounce on it. The car took off, made a quick left turn and the hood ornament protester flew about 20 feet and hit the side walk edge. One day a 7 year old girl in an elementary school started choking. There was another protest and a bunch of Cubans where blocking a bridge to get to the school. the fire rescue sent out was stuck in traffic for 45 minutes. Fortunately the little girl was helped out by someone at the school that managed to get her breathing again. After that a law was passed that prohibited people from doing stupid stuff like that.
#11 pluisjen Apr 11, 2011 17:24:30	Yep, the same kind of law exists here. It's not about topic, it's about execution. They want to have two very large groups of protestors get together in city central and wreck the whole town, so you have to give an advance warning when you want to protest something so that the police can keep an eye on things. They allow everything, sfar as I know, as long as you go about it peacefully. I know there's been some controversial topics here where police presence really was a requirement.
#12 bone_naga Apr 11, 2011 18:31:22	I haven't heard of anyone just not being allowed to protest something here (recently anyway, we can of course dig into some ugly history but that's not the point), even something highly controversial. However, there have been reasonable restrictions, like not blocking traffic, having some space between the protesters and whatever they are protesting, being able to protest outside a government building but not inside it, things like that.
#13 zombie_babies Apr 12, 2011 9:40:13	Yeah, I honestly can't recall a time a protest was denied.  Then again, I do also know that certain groups will inform authorities of their plans in order to assure there's protection.  I dunno.  Doesn't really matter, though, as I still think it's stupid no matter what country does it.
#14 erato Apr 12, 2011 10:59:44	The story didn't say anything about a denied protest, just an unauthorised one, which could just as well be one they hadn't asked permission for.
#15 bone_naga Apr 12, 2011 11:32:06	The story didn't say anything about a denied protest, just an unauthorised one, which could just as well be one they hadn't asked permission for. Thats my guess as well.
#16 homicidal_squirrel Apr 12, 2011 11:46:30	The story didn't say anything about a denied protest, just an unauthorised one, which could just as well be one they hadn't asked permission for. Thats my guess as well. Exactly. Besides, having a protest denied isn't always caused by naffeioous reasons. There may be other things going on in the area that would prevent you from being able to protest in a specific area. Construction sites have safety regulations that would limit your ability to protests there.