You are such a tiresome fellow. No amount of waffling on in your relentless but oh so similar posts will make one iota of difference.

It quacks like a duck BOZO; it's as simple as that.

"That is called 'discussion'... but until this thread, I've not seen 'discussion' from you.. just a tirade of abuse. (for which you have been banned in the past)".

As I said; tiresome. Please get your facts correct. A poster refers to the Left being responsible for the mass-killings of Pol Pot. I call him an unintelligent little twerp...; which he was.
I was SUSPENDED for 24hrs. Because, as we all know, being accused of responsibility for mass killings is nothing in comparison to being called an unintelligent little twerp.

You give a mass of information and opinion, without a sceric of knowledge. I take it you have never been suspended.

Frankly, I find that entirely consistent here, I really do.

David

Do I try again. Will you listen. If you want to educate people( and I am not trying to patrinise you) you must be in a position to speak about Australian issues now.

If really serious I will invite you to the next meeting to meet with Leaders {as a spectator only.(because these are animal welfare issues.


You know our email address and the phone number is on the web page.

I am not trying to come across as a smart arse either because I certainly dont have all the answers.
However I will warn you now there are two types of Muslims just like there are two types of Chistians and if we dont support- really support the good guys then yes we will be heading for trouble IMOP

Now there is a great deal I am not prepaired to say on OLO yet if ever.

What I will say and what I am saying is David email us or call us if your "serious about wanting be informed of todays issues" and be involved in building the bridges you are welcome to email us.
If you not interested then I would have to start to be swayed by the many posts of the others who think you are just spreading hatred.
Its ok to hate if there is reason to and In dont care what the bible says so please dont start.
Sometimes we have to hate. Some times we must fight too.- But shouldnt we do all we can to understand the issues and educate ourselves first to try to resolve them
You can be part of that or at least come away knowing something of whats is and isnt going on in todays Mosques.
That is up to you,.
I hope I dont sound hard or cocky because this is a most sincere post David Boaz.

There is either
a) something wrong with my ancient computer or
b) ongoing problems with internet connections here

because whenever I try to get onto a thread that goes past about 4 pages the connection timed out message comes up. This is the first time I have been able to get through most of the pages on this thread. Albeit with one or two missing.

What has struck me about both this and the other on Freedom of Speech is how lightly people take the concept.

If all those who fought, died, were tortured, jailed and killed fighting for our right to freedom of speech knew that we would take that as carte blanche to say "You are a retard" to a total stranger on an internet thread I reckon they would would feel somewhat betrayed. The original idea, I have always thought, was not to say "Marie Antoinette has fat thighs" but "Children are dying because of unfair taxation by the monarchy".

As for PC? Well it has always seemed to me that came about because too many people's mums didn't tell them it wasn't nice to say nasty things to other people, once they assumed they had the right to comment on Marie A's fat thighs.

My experience has been thus far that the stories of "PC gone mad" are apocryphal: they seem always to emanate from unconfirmed sources in tabloid media or from the kind of person who thinks M.A's thighs were the most important aspect about her.

Personally, I don't think ANYTHING gives us the right to slag other people off.

Glad you made it Romany.

The technicalities of computers whizz over my head, so I can't advise!

Glad to see you too Romany. I was taking trying to take this topic seriously, until I started to feel like a board hog, and backed off a bit.

"Personally, I don't think ANYTHING gives us the right to slag other people off."

Really? You don't think the right to free speech gives us the right to slag people off? The problem with free speech is you can't just employ it when you're making meaningful criticisms of others - it goes for everything, even Marie Antoinette's fat thighs. (Which were ridiculed at the time (or her greed, anyway), which did in part mobilise the people, which did in part lead to the overthrow of Louis XIV.)

If we have exceptions to free speech to enforce politeness, then where do we draw those lines?

Personally, I don't think anyone has the right *not* to be offended. Robust debate helps filter ideas through culture. If people are so weak that we feel they need to be protected from the curses of others, then as a culture we need to back them, strengthen them, not silence those who curse. Whose curses may be legitimate and lived to them, and who may desperately want to express them.

Unfortunately, those who died for our right to say what we like have been rewarded with a culture that says what it likes - as long as it's about Brittney Spears. We do not defend their memory by silencing others. We defend it by working toward a more free culture, we seek to remind people they can be free from trivia as well as free to indulge in it.

Thoughts?

Sorry, I can't seem to get my head around "heady" issues today.

The best I can come up with at the moment - is another example of "Political Correctness." I found this cartoon in my files...

A 'creature from the black lagoon'(reptilian monster) is sitting at a dinner table in the swamp, with his lady love drinking champagne. He says to her:

"Well, actually, Doreen, I rather resent being called a 'swamp thing."
I prefer the term "wetlands-challenged mutant."