log.illsley.org

The last 2 weekends have resulted in painful legs the following Monday. I need to do more exercise.

2 weekends ago I went to north Wales with a bunch of Ex-Bedlam folks + others from some fun, drinking and walking. It was a really good weekend with all of the above. The only downside to the experience was the return journey… I’d booked tickets on a specific train from Conwy the previous week and yet there were no trains from Conwy that day! Graeme and hos Blackberry came to the rescue, found me a route to Southampton and drove me to Chester where I started a 6 hour journey to Southampton.

This past weekend the pain resulted from a days paintballing with Jim, George, Connor, Alan, Rich, Chris and Dan. It was good fun but I remembered my reaction from last time. It’d be a lot better if you knew everyone on your team. When you don’t it’s just not possible to act coherently as a team with strategy and tactics. I think with them it would be a lot more fun!

First, if you care about US domestic wiretapping, Jonathan has a great post… don’t let it happen.

This week has been crazy, and has turned me into an extremist. Yep, I believe that regardless of it being tasteless, offensive to many and perhaps for some of the follow ups a cynical way to boost sales that newspapers should be allowed to print the kinds of cartoons they have done. I don’t think they did any good to the ongoing ‘clash of civilisations’ but free speech is free speech. It’s something I think we should be proud of and I certainly don’t think it should be curtailed to not cover a certain area of speech because when it was exercised it caused violence. In response a British newspaper has printed an anti-semitic cartoon. Not something I’d laugh at as anyone who’s seen me while a racist joke is being told will know but something which I defend the right of the newspaper to print.

The thing that allows me to live with an increasingly authoritarian, religously inspired state is that I can speak out against it whenever I like. Religon (as it has a strong relationship to morals) is an integral part of politics and as such must not be placed beyond discussion or satire. I agree there is a line between acceptable and unacceptable, shouting fire in a crowded theatre being a cannonical example. But beyond things which cause physical harm and mistruths we must be paranoid in not protecting thoughts from being challenged. If the Church of England were to form a political party and we went down the route of protecting religon from parody or satire the effect on political discourse would be devastating. It is, I grant an unlikely thing to happen but less extreme situations with the same effect are more possible (e.g. a minister running for MP).

Perhaps the most troubling point this week was Jack Straws total ambivalance to freedom of speech. He said that he ‘respects’ the fact we have freedom of speech in a way that suggests that it’s a little inconvenient and one of those things we just have to live with. I’m disgusted.

I urge everyone to defend their right to free speech, to not let the breadth of free speech be narrowed unless there is a broad concensus including the majority and minorities (religous, racial, poitical…and more). I also urge publishers to be thoughtful with their right to free speech. Use it as you see fit but please don’t place it at risk for the rest of us in a cynical attempt to boost sales.

I haven’t had a day since Canada when I actually haven’t done any work stuff. Today is it. Dunno what I’m going to do. Perhaps read a book, watch some TV… rugby… whatever I do it’s all about relaxation.