 Happy Aloha Friday, and welcome to a brand new episode of Perspectives on Global Justice Think Tech Hawaii. This is your host Beatriz Cantelmo. Today we will examine the First Amendment of the United States and the importance of the Free Press, not just in our country, but across the globe. Without Free Press, governments cannot have checks and balances. The press becomes a propaganda mouthpiece for whomeva is in power and the state and the federal levels. Censorship on just persecution and execution of journalists, human rights defenders, writers, bloggers, and other peaceful critics, and those who dare to have dissenting viewpoints contrary to the views of a government in power will become the new normal. Think, for example, the news that we have just heard from Saudi Arabian Kingdom's special press a few hours ago today about journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder inside the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, which was described as an incident. Finally, no more denials from the Saudi Arabian Kingdom about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul. Now, if we can only just keep it real and not continue to make lies about the reasons why Jamal Khashoggi was murdered, their country press release account of what happened is not just unbelievable, but insulting. Jamal Khashoggi was killed because he got into a fist fight with an unditified Syrian nationals inside the consulate. Seriously? One 60-year-old man decides to take on 18 other guys in a fist fight. Yeah, that happens all the time, right? Oh, and the Saudi Arabian government deeply regrets this incident, two of their top mothers, I mean, employees, the Royal Court Adviser Saud Al-Katani and Deputy Intelligence Chief Ahmed Assidi. And there's more. Saudi King Salman pledged to restructure the Kingdom's intelligence services after Khashoggi's killing under the supervision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and they press the Turkish government for doing their investigative work. Really? Meanwhile, the White House acknowledged in a statement the Saudi announcement on the investigation of Khashoggi's death, quote, we are deeply saddened to hear confirmation of Mr. Khashoggi's death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. Right. I think that his family, fiancee, and the world would be happier if the US Congress imposed stone sanctions on Saudi Arabia, since our rogue president will not compromise his probable business connects in Saudi Arabia. Anyway, on that note, we're lucky to have Kerry Vacho, a local criminal defense attorney and journalist with us. And Kerry is a former correspondent with the Oregon Journal, Tiger Times, Hillsboro, and Anchorage Daily newspaper in Alaska. Well, I cannot think of a better person to have this chit chat with today. Welcome aboard again. Well, thank you, Bia. I'm glad to be here. So where to begin? Let's talk about, I think as a journalist, before you became a criminal defense attorney, you worked as a journalist, and let's talk about the First Amendment in the United States and what that meant and means to you as a professional and to so many journalists around the country and around the globe? Well, I think to a lot of journalists and persons in our country, the First Amendment is just, it's almost sacred to us because it was the First Amendment done by the founding fathers and it was adopted in 1791. It was an interesting time period because freedom of the press has been an issue before in our history. In fact, when John Adams was president, the Federalists had enacted laws that it would make it a crime to criticize Congress for the president. Thomas Jefferson, who was vice president at that time, was very upset about that as well. And as a result of pushing back against central control and authoritarian tenancy to have a centralized government, the 10 Bill of Rights were passed by Congress and adopted in our country. And freedom of the press, freedom of the speech, freedom of religion are all incorporated and freedom to gather and protest and petition to government were adopted by our country in 1791. It's been tested, but there's been a number of great decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court including, I'm thinking of our sports figures that are protesting and raising consciousness to what's happening in our country by standing and not crossing or kneeling down when the national anthem is done. And back in 1989, we had the flag burning cases that happened and went up to U.S. Supreme Court case and former Justice William Brennan had one of the great quotes about the First Amendment. And that, if I might just read that to you briefly, it says, if there's a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable. I mean, I find that quite interesting because I think the First Amendment sometimes gets misconstrued, especially by hate groups. Yep. So we have the outright groups that says we have the First Amendment right to protest. But I don't think not to the account expense of sharing hatred and targeting certain groups. You have a First Amendment right to express yourself, to write, to petition the government. You don't have the First Amendment right to incite or to cause violence or to have child pornography or things of that nature is not protected. But certainly, the right to express yourself no matter what your opinion is. And there's a history in the constitutional law that more expression, whether it's, you agree with it or not, or whether it's true or not or fake news, is not to be suppressed. But the idea being in the expression of many ideas, the truth will prevail. And so there's a number of times that, whether in World War I, we had the Sedition Acts, which had to be visited by the courts and pushed back. But there's a number of cases through the years that have protected the rights of minority groups or people who want to express an opinion that is not in the majority of you, which is really relevant today when we have Trump, our president, you know, attacking journalists at rallies. And matter of fact, yesterday at a rally, I think in Montana, he was praising the representative there for having body-slammed a reporter for merely asking a question. I mean, this is really scary times that we're living in for free expression and stuff. And we need to push back on that. And that representative, that's a crime. That was an assault that he had to plead guilty to. But we have a president that is, you know, fixated on being, you know, more authoritarian. And that's why I think Jamal Khashoggi's case, which you were talking about in the entry, is very, you know, actually horrific. But he also was a major proponent of, you know, free expression. In fact, the Washington Post, one of the great newspapers in our country whose motto is now, you know, democracy dies in darkness, just published his last editorial opinion piece in which he talks what the Arab world needs most is free expression. And one of the quotes in here is which Jamal wrote is where he's talking about almost all the Arabic nations are not free to have free expression. And he's saying, as a result of not being able to have free expression, Arabs living in these countries are either uninformed or misinformed. They are unable to adequately address, much less publicly discuss matters that affect the region and their day-to-day lives. A state-run narrative dominates the public psyche. And while many do not believe it, a large majority of the population falls victim to this false narrative. Sadly, this situation is unlikely to change, particularly when we have a crown prince that is a murdering journalist. Yeah. And they'll take a responsibility for it. Exactly. Because until yesterday, there has been adamant denials that this has happened inside the Saudi Arabian consulate. And I think it's shocking that our own government, which ought to be, you know, promoting the value of life, is instead, you know, worried about money from the Arabic world and is, you know, pushing the lives of journalists in free expression under the rug. Well, and that really, I think, is going to be the testament for democracy in 2018 and beyond. Is $420 billion worth of negotiations with Saudi Arabia justifiable, you know, in terms of looking the other way and buying into this bogus excuses that we were fed by the Saudi Arabian press today about the account of what happened with journalist Jamal Khashoggi. You know, it's just beyond me because we're dealing with this problem right here in the United States right now where people who are trying to bring news, real news and have dissent feelings and thoughts about current government are, you know, shamed, disrespected, put down, bullied by our, you know, president and nothing happens. And we already have the trend across the global with authoritarian governments on what they do with people of the press or who are free thinkers, you know, who dare to share their dissents publicly or exchange ideas with other constituents. And so, it's going to be interesting. I think what Jamal also was talking about is in his own original country, there's hundreds of people have just disappeared. I mean, they've been locked up, they've been imprisoned, they've been killed, and they may not have had the stature of Jamal who was an American, lived in Virginia and had a residency here, but we're trying to struggle and get out information in their own country. In fact, this opinion piece is really good because he talks about there had been hope at one time that with the use of the Internet that, you know, individuals in places like Saudi Arabia that are autocratic regimes would be able to express themselves, but as he points out in his article, these autocratic regimes have cracked down and are suppressed the ability for, you know, citizens or residents of Saudi Arabia or other countries to even access or be able to get out information. In fact, I'm recently was hearing about what's going on in Brazil, you know, where we have apparently, Bonsario, I think, is running for president on a dictatorship, autocrat, faces what's going to happen to what's left of democracy in Brazil, what's going to happen to the journalists, what's going to happen to the Amazon force or even to get news about that if someone like that comes to power on who's publicly advocating overthrowing the Brazilian Congress, overthrowing the democracy. And the government as it is structured right now I don't know. But, you know, what we do know that we've lived under a military dictatorship for 21 years actually was born into that dictatorship. And I remember one of my earliest memories of childhood with the ones of how you are coached by your parents about censorship, where walls, for example, a classic in my house is like wall has ears. So you have to watch out what you say, where you say and whom you say it to. Well, particularly in this era of technology where you could bug homes. You know, the news were censored. There were people from the military government that actually read the program scripts prior to being aired, same with newspapers. So the news were really controlled. And those who had any dissent feelings and thoughts about the government will pay the visit by the military government. That's pretty scary. And they will just come over and pick up these individuals and torture them. The level of torture was just unbelievable. Like right now, you have a lot of survivors or children of survivors who actually witnessed their parents being tortured, speaking about the horrors of that type of regime, to remind people nowadays that is that really the best for Brazil's democracy in country to have this kind of authoritarian and, you know, barbaric regime is just like going backwards, not forward. And so it really is painful to see that and to see that from 85 to 2018, those who survived that regime either got complacent about it or having selective amnesia, but the youth, those who were not at a place to remember, you know, what really happened because they were not even born or very young, they don't understand how bad it was. Right. Well, it's like Voltaire once said, you know, once you give up your freedom, you don't get it back without a heavy price. And I'm fearful that's what's going to happen in Brazil. And it's shocking what happened to Jamali. I mean, he was dismembered. I mean, think of your journalist, would you, trying to write articles, if you know that the government in power could kill you? I mean, that's because that's a silence. Let's take a quick break and get right back on this. All right. Sounds good. I'm Jay Fiedel, ThinkTech. ThinkTech loves energy. I'm the host of Mina Marco and me, which is Mina Morita, former chair of the PUC, former legislator, and Energy Dynamics, a consulting organization in energy. Marco Mangostorf is the CEO of Provision Solar in Hilo. Every two weeks, we talk about energy, everything about energy. Come around and watch us. We're on at noon on Mondays, every two weeks on ThinkTech. Aloha. Hello, I'm Yukari Kunisue. I'm your host of New Japanese Language Show on ThinkTech Hawaii called Konnichiwa, Hawaii, broadcasting live every other Monday at 2 p.m. Please join us, where we discuss important and useful information for the Japanese language community in Hawaii. The show will be all in Japanese. Hope you can join us every other Monday at 2 p.m. Aloha. Welcome back to Perspectives on Global Justice, ThinkTech Hawaii program. This is your host, Beatrice Kintama, and I'm here with Kari Vachu. And we're talking about freedom of the press and the importance of defending it, as our life depends on it, which it does, as we are clearly seeing countries where that is not respected and protected, what is happening to their society, to the people, and to those who really choose this field. You were just talking about what would it mean for someone to work under these challenges and circumstances? Well, I can see a lot of reporters. I mean, who wants to get killed and dismembered? I mean, if you have a family and children and everything, it's the one heck of a tool to suppress any kind of free expression of anything. I mean, look what happened in 2011 when there was some hope that they'll call the Arabic spring, that there'd be free press, and then the Egyptian military junta came to power and just suppressed it. There's hardly any news coming out of there from the free press, and it's not like they can go to another Arabic country either because it's all authoritarian. And I think before the show, you were mentioning that in Africa, there's been some issues going. Yes, actually, today, I got an urgent alert from Amnesty International mentioning that local journalists and civil society activists started receiving death threats, and their family also being threatened since October 10th. And that was because of the monitoring post-stations in publishing live municipal election results in South Africa, specifically in Akala Porto and Nampoula cities. So, you know, I mean, like you were a reporter in your COVID legislative news. Can you imagine covering some election or a bill process that didn't go right and receiving a death threat? We're trying to record an investigative press on corruption within our elected officials. There was a famous case, actually, I stumbled on it earlier. I hadn't heard of it. It was back in 1735. They prosecuted in our country before the First Amendment was even adopted. This publisher, who was critical of politicians, they ended up throwing them in jail in the Vedicostic lawsuit. And that was one of the early cases that eventually led to our own First Amendment. But it's, you know, then to have a president that's currently, you know, trying to shame and call fake news and stop investigative journalism. And in fact, I just saw on the today that they're prosecuting a couple of leakers of information from, I forget which part in the State Department, what are the departments to stop information from getting out? I think all of us as citizens ought to be really concerned about this. We're lucky we're in the United States so far, but so far, you know, and we're lucky we have an independent judiciary so far, and we're lucky that we have a constitution, which many of these countries really don't have. And we're lucky that after the Civil War, you know, we adopted the 14th Amendment, which among other things applied the federal law to the states. So the states have to respect the First Amendment. As a result of that, those decisions being made, but we are very lucky. And that's why I brought up the Brazil one, because Brazilian politics that's happening, because that's really scary, because a country can lose its freedoms. And really quickly. And really quickly if they're not careful and and. Yeah. Even think about North Korea. I know for a fact that there, people even know what Facebook is, WhatsApp, Twitter, they don't have access to that. If you have access to the Internet, it is very limited and the government monitors it. All of the news on TV and radio stations revere, you know, their leader and their government, and there's 70 years of ring there. So people don't know any different. And even those who do, they cannot express it because they will be prosecuted and they will be killed. They're thrown in prison. I can't imagine living in a world where, you know, it's like that. You live in fear. Like I am totally re-triggered and upset, you know, with what has happened in Jamal's case, because this is happening all over the world, you know, for so many decades now. And I think part of what happened to him, the audacity of a government to say, we're going to ambush a Saudi national and an American, prominent US resident inside a Saudi consulate and kill him back. Usually been take a ground and not take responsibility for it. And threats even to have consequences to countries who will, you know, take a position, you know, against what's happening or demanded for more transparent investigation. But I don't think that this would happen in 2018, have the United States not treated Saudi Arabia as allies and back them up the way we do now. And so I do hope that more people catch up with history and with what's going on and have more discussions. And if they're too confused or unaware about what it's at stake that, you know, they seek other sources, you know, to be able to get. And we've always, our country's always been a leader of defending, you know, rights and free expression. And this is a classic example, not to pander to, you know, murder, but to and create our own propaganda to try and cover it up. But rather, we, you know, I would like us to see and join the UN and condemning this barbaric atrocity, you know, and stand up for, you know, our country's always tried to do what's right. You know, we failed at times, but we try to do what's right and be a moral beacon for the world. But it's like we've given that up right now. But our country does have a constitution and the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment really does mean something, but it has to have the support of everybody, you know. Do you ever wonder why we don't have protests or more people out there, you know, in front of the Congress demanding for accountability and for a stronger position of our government? Well, we've had in the past. I mean, I can during the Vietnam War. But like now, 2018, why do you think that, you know, we have this kind of apathy? I mean, people are cooking inside about, you know, and they're sharing their, you know, frustration online with their family or loved ones. But why is it that we're not together, gathered and say, this has got to stop? Well, maybe for a lot of us, it hasn't come home personally like it did for Jamal, and his family or his, you know, his wife he wanted to marry. Or maybe I don't know the answer to that. I know that we had a lot of strings up with the United States court proceedings with Kavanaugh. But I don't know if that's going to last or not. Well, are we that divorced from the illusion that this is so far remote or removed from what could happen to us in our own society, in our own lives in this country that we just pretend that it's never going to happen? I don't think most, I think this whole thing with Jamal is going to have to take some time to get digested into our consciousness as a nation. And I think that whether you're Republican, Democrat, independent, green, these are common issues to be able to express ourselves that are vital no matter what your political persuasion is. And we've always been a country that under the courts have promoted tolerance for different viewpoints. And I think if it, I think if more people, not just journalists, but more people come to see that this is under attack by our own current administration that hopefully there will be pushback, there will be more people that will join together in arms because it's a civil rights issue as well. What's a human rights issue? One of the arguments that I heard a lot at the beginning of this investigation with Jamal Khashoggi was, well, he was not an American citizen. That doesn't matter. Who cares? Exactly. He was a human being. He was a human being. It wouldn't matter if he was not even a resident of our country. It doesn't matter. He's a human being and that's where our values should be in my opinion. Exactly. And so I think that part of doing our work here, ThinkTech, for example, or being able to even write a commentary, you know, in any news article that we can read across the country is important so that people can practice as civic engagement. They can exchange more information and hold governments accountable. But it's not just a government that I'm frustrated with right now. It's really about a call, I think, for every citizen to be able to take their responsibility. I mean, it is a privilege to be able to vote, to be able to speak out your mind freely and without fear of... Without fear of censorship. Being able to write. Exactly. Or without fear of being killed in a fist fight and dismembered right after that, you know, with a bone saw. That's why I'm as pleased like, you know, I mean, there really are advocates and it's not, you know, including the Washington Post, for example, they translated Jamal's opinion pieces into Arabic languages so that people back then try to get it out on the Internet. So despite autocrat societies trying and governments trying to shut it down, hopefully his message gets back to, you know, the people he grew up with. Well, I can't believe 30 minutes went by so quickly. But thank you so much for being here and sharing your perspectives with us and sharing history with us. You know, those who don't know their history are bound to repeat the same mistakes. I used to have a history professor that said that. And so, you know, I hope you can come back and I hope that you can continue to use your skills as a, you know, journalists, as a trained journalist to continue to engage people in our community in anywhere you have a chance so that we can have, you know, a freer and respectful and dignified society for all of us. Exactly. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. Well, this concludes our episode of Perspectives on Global Justice. Thank you so much, Arvires, for watching us. And until next time, we hope.