NY Times loves Big Brother

According to Chris Floyd, residents of the Airstrip One province of Oceania (that is, England), were unable to read yesterday's NY Times article about recent developments in the alleged li Quida airplane bombing plot. The Times censored itself in deference to recent statements by Brit home secretary John Reid. The online article was blocked on British computers, and no copies of the NY Times were delivered to England yesterday. The Times stated that

On advice of legal counsel, this article is unavailable to readers of nytimes.com in Britain. This arises from the requirement in British law that prohibits publication of prejudicial information about the defendants prior to trial.

As Floyd points out, no one has more prejudiced the trial of these defendants than Reid himself.

But the NY Times, out of deference to an ally in the war on sanity, censors itself.