Mr. Q over at ILoveQatar.net posted an Al Jazeera story on some local workers not getting paid:



It's cheering to see Al Jazeera pointing out injustices here in Qatar, and not just in neighboring states (even if they do it in an appalling surfer dude accent).

In more chilling news, the Shura Council just called for more stringent punishment for "Qatar-based journalists who write against the ruler, national security, religion and the Constitution," on the grounds that "Qatar’s social and religious values must be preserved at any cost." Very disappointing. The Peninsula almost immediately posted a rebuttal editorial.

I myself think that the Advisory Council should be "stringently punished" for defying the stated emir's desire for press freedom. They're defaming the Qatari Constitution!

Percentage of the world's population who enjoy freedom of the press, according to Freedomhouse.org.

Less flippantly, freedom of the press is one of the Western values I have most come to appreciate and cherish through living somewhere where it is still a work in progress. If people can't talk openly about what's going well and poorly, how on earth can they improve their society? If people can't question each other's political and religious views, even in potentially offensive ways, how can any of us learn and grow and think and change our minds?

We take for granted in the U.S. that I can say "Bush is a stupid, idiot hick" or "Obama is a smug, smarmy elitist," and while I'll definitely offend somebody, I won't get prosecuted for it. I can insult your religious views and you can insult mine, and the conversation will no doubt get heated and we'll all hate each other at the end, but nobody will end up in jail.

We don't appreciate that as much as we should.