Google Defends Speech

Sure, they're a gigantic corporation with an almost Orwellian access to the world's personal information, but I can't help but love the hell out of Google. Maybe their street-level mapping violates my privacy (though it was probably my fault for dropping my pants and sitting on the sprinkler in my front yard), but I use Gmail. I use iGoogle. I use Google's search engine. This blog is even hosted on Google's servers. And when Sen. Joe Lieberman (?-CT) asked Google to remove videos from YouTube (hey, I use that, too!) that he deemed inappropriate, they told him to go screw. Seems Sen. Lieberman was offended that anti-American, terrorist-sympathizing bastards have been allowed to rant into their webcams for the world to see. Google responded with a gentle reminder about America's belief in free speech as an inalienable human right. Kudos to them. However, I can't help but be reminded that Google also voluntarily censors its searches in China in order to appease that country's information-hating regime. Hey, wait a second. Google are a bunch of hypocrites! But did you see how they changed their logo for Earth day? It's the cutest thing ever. More details here.