HATE MAIL

Hatemail! Run fer yer lives!

Well, here it is: the promised "Hate Mail" section of the site. Judging by the amount of mail that I've gotten this week, this section may not get as much use as it might. Also, being lazy, I think there may be an option to temporarily block a comment and then restore it later. If I can manage to do that, I probably will.

The primary reason for a comment ending up here is that, quite simply, I don't like it. Sad, but true, I may censor comments for basically no reason. This is because it's my site and I can blog what I want to, blog what I want to, blog what I want to – oops, sorry almost started a song. I doubt this is going to happen a whole lot since, quite simply, I don't have that many people contributing comments, but ye be warned.

The more likely reasons for censoring include:

1. Trying to start a flame war or whatever.
2. Making some claim that you don't back up with at least a link to an article, etc.
3. Bringing a conversation that essentially belongs elsewhere here.

Furthermore, if the message is an email rather than a comment, I probably will not bother posting it at all…unless I can make fun of it.

I'm not a big fan of censoring, even if it is in a forum where I have not guaranteed to post everyone's thoughts. Hence the idea is to give things a "cooling down" period of a week. Hopefully, those who thrive on flames and whatnot will not bother posting here, since they will have to wait a week between messages.

Finally, there is no guarantee that the comment will ever be unleashed at all. See the whole "It's my site and I'll blog what I want to" bit for details.

At any rate, to celebrate the opening of this part of the site, I am going to post two pieces of hate mail, though they are both from the same source: the author of Non Compos Mentis (http://noncompos.blogspot.com/). These comments were made in reference to the post I made here on blather (http://blather-n-rants.blogspot.com/2006/11/sleep-of-reason.html) about a week ago. That article, if you want to actually read it, has a link back to the NCM post in question.

Ye first comment from NCM:

I wasn't trying to pick a fight. I was relieved to hear even more evidence in support of going to war, so maybe, finally, people will shut up about it.

If you want me to respond to MM, fine. Here it is:

Yeah, they only had an advanced nuclear program, not a physical nuke. Your point is so very valid, in that advanced nuclear programs aren't there for a purpose - say, to produce nuclear weapons. I wonder what Saddam would have done in You know what? Nevermind. Me having to spell out this line of logic is ridiculous! Everyone knows what nukes are for, and why mad dictators want them.

Moreover, if you're going to get all pissy about sources, you could have looked it up yourself. CNN and the BBC both ran stories on the missiles and the gases/nerve agents. WMDs existed. Deal.

Ye response from moi:

1) Please reference your sources as you did with the NYT article --- rather than "CNN and the BBC both ran stories..." list the URL(s) to the stories you are citing.

2) If you want to respond to MM, do it in your forum, not mine.

3) Please leave out inflammatory comments like "...if you're going to get all pissy..."

Ye final message in this whole, fun-filled affair:

You call me a fanatic (or my actions fanatical), then chastise me for making inflammatory comments? "Hello, pot. I'm the kettle!" Talking about people getting pissy is a reaction to the arousal of anger or hostility in others, not an attempt to inflame said anger. You're just as irrational as Canuckistani. "Logic is useful if and only if it serves my purpose; free speech is fine, so long as everyone says what I want to hear." Pfft! Did anyone else cite sources in your comments section? Would it matter if I had? I doubt it. I disagree with you, so you make any excuse to keep my argument from the eyes of your readers. Well, you know what? If you are concerned about my point of view showing up again, don't worry - I don't post on censored sites. Fascists like you and Canuckistani can go be smug together in your authoritarion dream states, secure in the knowledge that Big Brother is watching. How happy you'll feel claiming the moral high ground while covering up every argument contradictory to your beliefs.

Alex "Few there are that rightly understand of what great advantage it is to blush at nothing and attempt everything." -Desiderius Erasmus

Oh yeah…well…(yawn) nevermind.

On the plus side, these comments were the basis for the whole "Eeee-vile Rant" article.

And there you have it, folks, the first installment of the new hatemail section of the site! This page may or may not be updated, depending on the number of inflammatory comments made. Have fun and avoid gnomes.

For the entrance to this page is guarded by a creature so foul, so cruel...with big nasty, pointy teeth!

Tags: hatemail, censorship, flames Sources

• tim_the_enchanter from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", copyright 1974 National Film Trustee Company, Ltd., Python (Monty) Pictures, Ltd.
• troopers_big_bug01 from "Starship Troopoers," copyright 1997 TriStar Pictures, Inc. and Touchstone Pictures.