On this list

[andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk]

Henry M. writes:
> I must be missing something here. Savvy? Show me where. Taking a 
> piss? That's a load of crap! And it stinks. This message that I am 
> writing is closer to "taking a piss." Really!

That's taking *the* piss, Henry. As in running rings round you, making
you look like an idiot (not that looks can't deceive). You must indeed
be missing something. I think it's called a sense of humour.

> Not hate speech? Do you have an academic definition? I call it hate 
> speech because it is an extremely hateful, base attack on a CABAL of 
> decent people who shown themselves to be what others might say is 
> oversensitive to RACISM. Hmmmm.

Oversensitive to something, I agree. Probably decent too. Hateful is
where you just upped and got out of the boat (never get out of that
boat). And base is plain ridiculous. The `attacks' in John's piece
were carefully constructed, exaggerated reprises of previous
comments. I don't suppose he really thinks John M is lower than pond
scum, now. Do you? Ditto for Bonnie and yourself.

And if you want an academic definition of `hate speech' well, you'll
have to apply elsewhere. But I do suggest that one ingredient is that
the `speaker' hates someone, really hates - as in gets the knife out
and deliberately carves up any of the innocent saps who accidently
fuel his fury. By which definition most racists don't indulge in hate
speech, they merely recognise it when they see it, condone and repeat
it like sheep. A bit like us nice, would-be liberal, sensitive,
new-age guys nice guys who fuss over the minutiae of our speech and
carefully strain our words for evidence of minor and incidental
prejudices. Meanwhile Rome somehow continues to crackle.

Now would anyone care to comment on my latest GRGR post? Or is it so
way off base that none of you even think it worth talking about? I'm
bored, fed up, pissed off and generally underwhelmed by this continual
straying into what are essentially trivial, narrow, middle-class US
(it *has* to be said) liberal sensitive spots. It's all such a load of
pompous crap. Maybe that's all we've got here. But I would like to
think it could be otherwise.


Andrew Dinn
-----------
And though Earthliness forget you,
To the stilled Earth say:  I flow.
To the rushing water speak:  I am.