According to a report in today's Guardian, Brigitte Zypries, the German justice minister, demanded that Holocaust denial, the sporting of Nazi symbols, and racist speech be criminalised across the European Union and called for jail terms of up to three years for the offences.

A British friend remarked,"What a bunch of Nazis!" I responded,"Once a Nazi, always a Nazi." To which he replied,"That's banned!" Or it will be, if Gauleiter Zypries has her way.

Gary McGath - 1/16/2007

When I noted recently that Germany isn't very big on free speech, a friend who'd recently moved from the US to Germany said that I just didn't understand the German way of thinking, and if I did, I'd see that Germany is pro-free speech in its own way. This is rather funny, since I can read Der Spiegel without much trouble and it's beyond his current ability.