I used to stutter. I still do sometimes when I'm exceptionally stressed out. I went through speech therapy when I was a kid and I got over it. Because I had a hard time communicating when I was younger the one thing guaranteed to really make me angry is when someone tells me "you can't say that".

A couple of years ago  monkey_matt and I had a blazing row in the middle of the department about just that issue (yeah Monkey, it wasn't about whether to put salt in the water when cooking pasta, not after you told me I couldn't say that...)

The majority of the people reading this journal live in democratic countries. One of the basic tenets of democracy is freedom of speech. So you have a right to say anything you want, just as everyone else has the right to say the opposite, or to debate your point.

So when I see people on LiveJournal demanding that other users 'filter' posts that they disagree with it really puts my back up. Someone posts to LJ and - so long as they're not promoting illegal activity or contravening the ToS of the site - they are perfectly entitled to post whatever they want, as publicly as they want. They can say whatever they want.

If someone on that person's friendslist takes offence at what they've said, rather than demanding that the poster removes the content because it offends their poor innocent eyes, they should probably think about why that post/comment/whatever appeared on a page they frequent, and if they are so opposed to it, defriend the poster or remove them from their default flist view.*

They have no right to censor someone else's opinions.

They have every right to disagree with those opinions and say so, but trying to shut down someone else's freedom of expression? That is so far beyond not on.

Yes, there is a specific incident I have in mind here, and no I'm not going to link to it because I don't want either the original poster (who is on my flist) or the other party (who is not on my flist but who I am aware of through other friends) to be targeted as a result of what I have to say.

*I'm not talking about graphics here, it's common courtesy to post graphics (all graphics, not just ones which could be NSFW) behind a cut.

I used to stutter. I still do sometimes when I'm exceptionally stressed out. I went through speech therapy when I was a kid and I got over it. Because I had a hard time communicating when I was younger the one thing guaranteed to really make me angry is when someone tells me "you can't say that".

A couple of years ago  monkey_matt and I had a blazing row in the middle of the department about just that issue (yeah Monkey, it wasn't about whether to put salt in the water when cooking pasta, not after you told me I couldn't say that...)

The majority of the people reading this journal live in democratic countries. One of the basic tenets of democracy is freedom of speech. So you have a right to say anything you want, just as everyone else has the right to say the opposite, or to debate your point.

So when I see people on LiveJournal demanding that other users 'filter' posts that they disagree with it really puts my back up. Someone posts to LJ and - so long as they're not promoting illegal activity or contravening the ToS of the site - they are perfectly entitled to post whatever they want, as publicly as they want. They can say whatever they want.

If someone on that person's friendslist takes offence at what they've said, rather than demanding that the poster removes the content because it offends their poor innocent eyes, they should probably think about why that post/comment/whatever appeared on a page they frequent, and if they are so opposed to it, defriend the poster or remove them from their default flist view.*

They have no right to censor someone else's opinions.

They have every right to disagree with those opinions and say so, but trying to shut down someone else's freedom of expression? That is so far beyond not on.

Yes, there is a specific incident I have in mind here, and no I'm not going to link to it because I don't want either the original poster (who is on my flist) or the other party (who is not on my flist but who I am aware of through other friends) to be targeted as a result of what I have to say.

*I'm not talking about graphics here, it's common courtesy to post graphics (all graphics, not just ones which could be NSFW) behind a cut.

Nice to know you're so damn observant. The reason I was doubled up ten minutes ago is because I was fighting the impulse to throw up. The reason I switched the lights off and spent five minutes clutching my head with my eyes closed is because I have pre-migraine symptoms.

So shut the hell up.

Seriously, I can barely move but I will tear your tongue out of your head if you don't shut up very soon.

Sho

(apart from monkey_matt who emailed me to empathise)

(Two people walked right past me in the worst of it there and neither commented on the fact that my head was just above the desk and my knuckles were white. I could be dying here folks and you'd never know it...)

*sighs*

Steve!! On my phone!!

*it'll be over soon and I'll be bouncy again, soon as my head stops trying to explode*

Nice to know you're so damn observant. The reason I was doubled up ten minutes ago is because I was fighting the impulse to throw up. The reason I switched the lights off and spent five minutes clutching my head with my eyes closed is because I have pre-migraine symptoms.

So shut the hell up.

Seriously, I can barely move but I will tear your tongue out of your head if you don't shut up very soon.

Sho

(apart from monkey_matt who emailed me to empathise)

(Two people walked right past me in the worst of it there and neither commented on the fact that my head was just above the desk and my knuckles were white. I could be dying here folks and you'd never know it...)

*sighs*

Steve!! On my phone!!

*it'll be over soon and I'll be bouncy again, soon as my head stops trying to explode*

let those two little girls turn on the TV without being reminded that their daddy is in hospital. Let's stop pointing the finger until Hamster gets the all clear. Until we know he can go home and be with his girls again.

I don't know Richard Hammond or his family or friends. I've never met them. I do know how fucking scary this must be for his wife and daughters. I do know that turning on the TV and being faced with "but the BBC should never have let him do this" does not help right now.

The man is in hospital. Let him recover. Let his family breathe again. Let everyone breathe again before pointing the finger.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about - Richard Hammond, Top Gear presenter, suffered a serious injury after a major crash

let those two little girls turn on the TV without being reminded that their daddy is in hospital. Let's stop pointing the finger until Hamster gets the all clear. Until we know he can go home and be with his girls again.

I don't know Richard Hammond or his family or friends. I've never met them. I do know how fucking scary this must be for his wife and daughters. I do know that turning on the TV and being faced with "but the BBC should never have let him do this" does not help right now.

The man is in hospital. Let him recover. Let his family breathe again. Let everyone breathe again before pointing the finger.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about - Richard Hammond, Top Gear presenter, suffered a serious injury after a major crash

I mean. Did you really go there?
Or were you only took?

Okay - dodgy rhyme, but t'aint mine. (it's from "One Day I'll Go Walking" by Deacon Blue)

Just saw an advert that has my blood boiling for the most inane reason. Classic book sitting on a coffee table, two kids (boy and girl) sitting on the sofa looking bored as hell. Behind them is a bookcase I would kill for, chock full of classic books, but kids are bored. Never fear! The Daily Mail is here! Mum wanders through the living room and waves a copy of said rag newspaper (I'm not apologising - the Daily Mail is a rag) in front of the bookcase and the books magically transform into... DVDs. Kids are ecstatic, mum grins in that highly-medicated not-quite-all-there way and the Daily Mail has saved the day.

Fuck off.

Read the fucking book!

I mean. Did you really go there?
Or were you only took?

Okay - dodgy rhyme, but t'aint mine. (it's from "One Day I'll Go Walking" by Deacon Blue)

Just saw an advert that has my blood boiling for the most inane reason. Classic book sitting on a coffee table, two kids (boy and girl) sitting on the sofa looking bored as hell. Behind them is a bookcase I would kill for, chock full of classic books, but kids are bored. Never fear! The Daily Mail is here! Mum wanders through the living room and waves a copy of said rag newspaper (I'm not apologising - the Daily Mail is a rag) in front of the bookcase and the books magically transform into... DVDs. Kids are ecstatic, mum grins in that highly-medicated not-quite-all-there way and the Daily Mail has saved the day.

Fuck off.

Read the fucking book!

Headache, feel like crap, it's raining, feeling down. Wanted a half day but we have a meeting this afternoon so I guess that's not gonna happen.

*sigh*

I live in a country village surrounded by farms. It's a coastal village on the West Coast of Scotland, there's all sorts of interesting geological and geographical things going on around the village but the most important part of that means that the roads leading out of the village are hilly and twisty beyond belief. It's a 60mph limit road but because of the type of road it is most people take it at an average speed of somewhere between 40 and 50 mph. So why is it this morning I got stuck behind an arsehole who slowed down to 15 mph on every corner and then accelarated to 60mph on every straight piece of road so I (and the six cars behind me) couldn't overtake? Get a fricking clue! Driving that is irresponsible and causes accidents because the person behind you gets so pissed off they end up doing something stupid. Oh, and you know what else causes accidents? Slowing from 60 to 20 without using your fricking brakes! They're not just there to slow you down you know! When you press that little pedal there's these bright glowy lights that magically switch on at the back of your car. They're not just there to make pretty patterns though, they're there to let the person behind you get an inkling of what you're doing before they ram into you!!

Gah! (and yes his brake lights were working, a hare ran out in front of him and he slammed on the brakes at one point)

The cleaner has just started hoovering in the office now, despite the fact that most of us are already in and working. Or updating journals. Wouldn't it have been a plan to maybe get that out of the way before we showed up since she was in here two hours before any of us started? Oh, and while she's at it maybe she could actually clean the toilets when she's supposed to instead of making sure the damn towel is hanging perfectly straight?!

Okay, my head really hurts now, she's hoovering and my mp3 player batteries just ran out. Screw it, I'm asking for a half day.

Headache, feel like crap, it's raining, feeling down. Wanted a half day but we have a meeting this afternoon so I guess that's not gonna happen.

*sigh*

I live in a country village surrounded by farms. It's a coastal village on the West Coast of Scotland, there's all sorts of interesting geological and geographical things going on around the village but the most important part of that means that the roads leading out of the village are hilly and twisty beyond belief. It's a 60mph limit road but because of the type of road it is most people take it at an average speed of somewhere between 40 and 50 mph. So why is it this morning I got stuck behind an arsehole who slowed down to 15 mph on every corner and then accelarated to 60mph on every straight piece of road so I (and the six cars behind me) couldn't overtake? Get a fricking clue! Driving that is irresponsible and causes accidents because the person behind you gets so pissed off they end up doing something stupid. Oh, and you know what else causes accidents? Slowing from 60 to 20 without using your fricking brakes! They're not just there to slow you down you know! When you press that little pedal there's these bright glowy lights that magically switch on at the back of your car. They're not just there to make pretty patterns though, they're there to let the person behind you get an inkling of what you're doing before they ram into you!!

Gah! (and yes his brake lights were working, a hare ran out in front of him and he slammed on the brakes at one point)

The cleaner has just started hoovering in the office now, despite the fact that most of us are already in and working. Or updating journals. Wouldn't it have been a plan to maybe get that out of the way before we showed up since she was in here two hours before any of us started? Oh, and while she's at it maybe she could actually clean the toilets when she's supposed to instead of making sure the damn towel is hanging perfectly straight?!

Okay, my head really hurts now, she's hoovering and my mp3 player batteries just ran out. Screw it, I'm asking for a half day.