The Courts Are Racist 

The surge in racist tweets arrived around October 14th, and was characterized by the spike in popularity of certain hashtags, which allow for easy searching and following of trending topics. The following were among the most prominent: #unbonjuif, #unbonmusulman, #simonfilsestgay, #simafillerameneunnoir, and #prenomdepute, attacking Jews, Muslims, Homosexuals, Blacks, and Women respectively, and they were accompanied by off-color jokes, images, or other offensive content. A number of groups reacted, among them the Union of French Jewish students (UEJF), the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP), SOS Racisme, and the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA), and they brought a lawsuit to identify the authors of tweets using the #unbonjuif, #simonfilsestgay, and #simafillerameneunnoir hashtags.

On January 24th, 2013, Judge Anne-Marie Sauteraud rendered her decision: the UEJF’s demand for the identities of the authors of the #unbonjuif tweets was “legitimate,” but the MRAP’s demand concerning the other two hashtags was not, as the group “wasn’t in a position to act against homophobia” and that the anti-Black tweets weren’t “determined” enough. When our Courts decide to protect groups from hate speech, they do so unevenly and unfairly.

The Courts Have Forgotten Their Jurisdiction

Twitter erased the offending Tweets in January, though this didn’t satisfy the UEJF or the other groups. Sending their demand all the way to California, they insisted that French law requires Twitter to hand over the names of the account owners. Twitter, which runs its service entirely out of California, responded that, as an American company operating in America, they’ll wait for an American court order.  The UEJF is now suing Twitter, as well as its CEO Dick Costolo, in a French court for 38.5 million euros, for its refusal to provide IP addresses.

Should a man in his own country who has done nothing but ignore the racist noise of a foreign tribunal be tried in a foreign Court? If a court in North Korea, Sudan, or America subpoenaed us in France, are we obligated to comply?

In April, 2011, The Mariner broke British law by revealing the name of a recipient of their Super-Injunction, all while never leaving France. Should France have sold us out to Britain’s self-purported “universal jurisdiction?” Of course not. Is it fun to break English law? Why, yes.

Hate Speech Cannot Be Defined

What’s funny for one is hurtful to another. So who decides what crosses the line and should be punished? Right now, it’s probably some frustrated pencil-pusher in a windowless office in some high-rise in a banlieu of Paris. Now does he have his own set of values and prejudices? Of course – we all do. Will his judgment vary from one day to another? Obviously. Is he morally superior to you or me? Probably not. So why does he get to choose what I can say, see, hear, and read? He’s all the more likely to defend his own ideology and the power structure he’s a part of, and all the less likely to welcome criticism of it.  Sir, you suck!

It’s easy to say that some speech should be criminalized. The problem is that everyone wants to be the one who decides what is acceptable and what is not. Limiting speech only serves to put some people’s interests above others.

I found #unbonamericain on Twitter. It hurt a little, but I’m used to it by now. Rather than call on the state to imprison the author of the Tweet, I try to educate. As blogger Cyrus Farivar put it: “Undesirable speech should be countered with more speech, not censorship.”  If I could sue every time I felt hurt or that my human dignity was affronted, I could retire with a single copy of La Dépêche.

France Already Has a Bad Reputation for Internet Surveillance

Just last year, Nicolas Sarkozy proposed a law that would make READING hate-speech a criminal offense. Essentially, if you visited the wrong site more than once, you would have broken the law, never mind if your intentions were scholarly or journalistic. Reporters Without Boarders (RWB) journalist Lucie Morillon reminds us that to technically accomplish this, the French government would have to monitor ALL  INTERNET  TRAFFIC. RWB, itself a French organization, has included France on it’s “Enemies of the Internet” list since 2011.

Remember also that with encrypted chat and email, Virtual Private Networks, the Tor Network, etc; anyone who truly wants to conceal their communications, (i.e. the real terrorists!) can do so easily.

Laws Against Hate Speech Increase Hate Speech

Following the news of their court victory, Sacha Reingewirtz, Vice-President of the UEJF, had this to say: “We’ve already tweeted the decision. And we see on Twitter that the decision has apparently triggered a new rise of anti-Semitic messages directed at our organization.” So after all that, censoring hurtful speech just incites more of it. All this just makes it worse.

So what now?

The harsh and blurry laws limiting free speech and their reckless and unfair enforcement should be moderated, repaired, or removed from the Penal Code. In an effort to preserve Fraternité, we throw Liberté and Egalité into the wind, and end up losing them all, a little like robbing Peter AND Paul to pay Mary, and then just robbing her too.

Our country should stop its expensive international witch-hunt and look toward actually protecting its citizens’ rights. Only if she treats us as free adults can we hope to treat each other as such.

Vote for your favorite over on Facebook

On Sunday, over 100 million people will put aside their work, family, and values, and tune in to watch the 47th annual Super Bowl. Don’t know what a a Super Bowl is? Don’t know how to celebrate one? Don’t worry; we’ll hold your hand through this one.

First, a little background: the Super Bowl is the game that decides the champion of the National Football League (NFL) season – football here referring to American Football. The two teams, having survived various elimination matches, find themselves playing for a giant silver trophy made by Tiffany’s. (Yes ladies, THAT Tiffany’s.)

This year the two teams are the San Francisco 49ers and theBaltimore Ravens. If someone asks you who you’re rooting for, say the 49ers. Or say “the 9ers” if you really want to sound cool. Anyway, everyone knows San Francisco is cooler than Baltimore.

Baltimore native Johnny Eck

Ok, so the game is scheduled for Sunday, but that means the kick-off will happen at 00h30 Monday morning Mariner time. Now that alone isn’t a problem, but depending on your idea of a party you might want to call your boss or email your teachers and tell them that you won’t be able to come in Monday because you’re sick/really sick/unable to walk/have lost all conception of space and time. Try to get Tuesday off too while you’re at it.

The Super Bowl is pretty easy to stream – both cbs.com and nfl.com should set you up. If a site tries to get you to pay, try another. You can hack that shit.

So by now you’ve invited some friends over, and are thinking about what to eat.  Granted, this is a great excuse to load up on the greasiest, saltiest grub you can find, but we could also listen to experience… One Super Bowl I had so much KFC I blacked out before half-time. Don’t let them tell you it was the Budweiser… I know what Bud does to the human body… absolutely nothing!

A classic dish is chip sand dip – try to find a good bag of tortilla chips and a jar of spicy salsa. Bean dip is easy to make – cook and mash some beans and throw in some local duck fat for our own regional Super Bowl treat.  Cheese dips are common at these parties, but remember the word “cheese” starts carrying different meanings once you start crossing large bodies of water.

The very idea of Super Bowl party snacks is paradoxical: The food is both necessary and unimportant – necessary to avoid acute alcohol poisoning and unnecessary because often it merely distracts from the real purpose of the celebration, which depending on the person, is the game, the commercials, the half-time show, the camaraderie, the betting, or the booze.

“The party is more fun without alcohol,” they say, but if you’re going to sit me down in front of a football game and stick Beyoncé’s lip-syncing ass in there at half-time, I’d better be nice and numb.

Budweiser, Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Light are the All-American classic beers. Sure they resemble that couple in the canoe, but there are worse things to drink. If you’re a little more cosmopolitan, then Heineken and Corona are classics. If you want to get ghetto, The Mariner recommends Mickey’s or Olde English. If you want to drink cheap beer ironically, try to find some Pabst Blue Ribbon, and if nothing is too good for you, Miller High Life is called “the champagne of beers.”

Team Edward

But as you well know, it’s not always what you drink, but how you drink it.  Keg stands are great for the warmer months, but here in winter we’re forced to get creative.  “Edward 40 Hands” is a classic game that involves taping giant bottles of beer (generally 40 ounces, hence the “40”) to your hands. You’re not allowed to remove them until they’re empty.  Large bottles are hard to find in France, but recently giant ‘Desperados’ have been arriving in stores. With 2,4L of sickly goodness strapped to your hands, you won’t care who wins the Super Bowl!

A selection of seasonal classics from the Mariner.

Give it to your mother!

Featuring timeless tunes such as:
Eazy-E – Merry Muthafuckin’ Christmas
Run DMC – Christmas in Hollis
The Pogues – Fairytale of New York
Tom Waits – Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
Sufjan Stevens – Hey Guys! It’s Christmas Time!
The Ramones – Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)

Download MP3 here. Or watch the playlist on YouTube.

Click the image to read this month’s issue in pdf.

We have 1250 copies to give away, so take as many as you want…give ‘em to your little brother and grandma. Drop them on the metro, tram and bus and leave them guerrilla-style in bookstores and churches.

Merry Christmas Mirail students -we love you!