Month: January 2011

I don’t like definitions, but if there is a definition of freedom, it would be when you have control over your reality to transform it, to change it, rather than having it imposed upon you. You can’t really ask for more than that.
Mark Knopfler

Goodnight everyone, sleep well.

It is very late here and I am not happy about having to collect my thoughts to write this.

I would remind everyone, yet again, that everyone is entitled to express their opinions and that everyone has total control over their posts.

Some people express their opinions more forcefully than others find comfortable. Some may not be aware that others find the way they express their opinions to be uncomfortable, others revel in the fact that people find their mode of expression uncomfortable and some deliberately set out to discomfort others.

I would have thought that by now most people would be able to recognise these differences and make allowances for personality traits without being ‘instantly’ offended. However, what I find most difficult to understand is why those, who deliberately set out to be provocative, should complain when others respond in kind. “As ye sow so shall ye reap” comes to mind.

Nor do I understand why people have a problem with Authors removing comments that they don’t want on their posts – they are the rules, they have always been the rules and I’m not changing them. Scream all you like about “free speech” – my answer will be “You may have the right to speak – I have the right not to listen.”

I try to run a ‘relaxed’ site. I may seem to make ‘rulings’ on the run, but they are well considered decisions, nonetheless.

I have no intention of allowing this site to deteriorate into the MyT mode of “He said this” and “I said that”. Any further posts that I think fall into that category will be deleted immediately.

Isn’t it annoying when those two clash? This thought was brought about by a discussion in my final Romanian lesson – my contract here ends at the end of this month. I was discussing an article in a local tabloid with my teacher. The article itself was about social security in Romania and who should be entitled to it. The article listed the Government criteria which define who should be classed as ‘poor,’ and who should not. Amongst other things, if you own three cows, or pigs, 80 ducks, female turkeys, hens, geese or eating pigeons, or a video recorder, (a what?) a laptop, (but not a desktop,) a video entry-phone a hand-loom, or a coffee grinder, you should not be entitled to social security. The sentence that prompted the discussion read, ‘There are indeed some people who don’t even have a cat outside their door, then there are others who live in villages with windowless houses with little towers.’ What the heck does that mean?

I don’t know if you have noticed, but I seem to be getting up people’s noses a bit. I sometimes think that my contributions are not welcome. I cannot imagine why. Today, two of my comments attached to a post that seemed to be advocating freedom of expression, were deleted by the author without explanation. It is of course the right of authors on this site to edit their posts as they see fit.  In this instance, though, I thought it delightfully ironic and a little curious. But you know me; I am not one to get into slanging matches. Play the ball, not the man is my motto. Now where else have I heard that expression? Continue reading “Fetid fields”

I have now been asked by two people, one of whom questioned my manners, to choose between posting here, or on MyT. Allow me to explain my position. To begin with, my manners are sufficiently well developed to prevent me from intruding where I am not welcome. I came onto this site relatively recently because I was advised by Rick that I would find on here some people with whom I had enjoyed communicating on a site now defunct. So, coming here allowed me to re-establish contact with some old friends, as well as making new ones.

As for MyT, I have been on that site for some years now. There are many faults with it, and many people on it that I choose to ignore. However, there are many sincere people on MyT who respond to my postings, some agreeing with my views, some not.

When I offer a view, I wish to contact as broad a population as I can against which to measure my opinion. Sometimes the response is strong on both sites, but a low response from one site or the other is common. Therefore, though I regret any offence or inconvenience caused, I intend to continue posting on both sites. I shall reconsider my position only if asked to do so by Boadicea, or by a significant number of other people using this site.

Roger Hodgson – Give a little bit

There’s something about abandoned buildings and dereliction. These old dusty places just ooze allure.

This outstanding blog with images, of an abandoned and ruined isolation Riverside hospital on North Brother Island, New York City, once home of Typhoid Mary, made me feel like I was taking a nose around with the writer – and it reminded me how much I love exploring old ruins. Continue reading “Mother’s ruins”

Deaths threats and all the usual hysterical Islamic screams of “racism” have been hurled at an Aussie artist for his mural, above.   Police have arrested seven “activists” who defaced the artwork.

The picture here appears in “news/com.au” in an article which provides links to the parent article in The Australian newspaper.   It is an interesting comment on the differing political biases within the Aussie news media that the article in The Australian shows a different version of the mural, where the image has been photoshopped, presumably to reduce the impact.