Of mice and mice

When did free speech become the excuse for behaving like an idiot? I'm all for freedom of speech, but I don't think using it to be petty is exactly a noble use of the privilege.

You can just imagine what those in oppressive regimes make of people who use their freedom of speech to call people 'low-grade bank clerks'.

I mean really..

I've tried to articulate a thought I have quite frequently on here for a while but never got it down satisfactorily. It boils down to a 'great power/great responsibility' type thing; essentially yes we have freedom of speech, but just because we can say something doesn't mean we should. It seems that in our great media age this would probably be lost on a lot of people.

I usually have a lot more than that swirling in my mind tank but I think it's too transient to nail down. As is usually the case I end up writing myself in circles and not posting.

So be glad that I got some of it out at least.

I'm a little further along in my plans post-26 March, but it remains to be seen what timeframe we're looking at here.

Have a nice weekend y'all..

i did not believe the information

It's a strange cultural climate to live in whereby leaders and people in authority are presumed to be lying before we've heard what they have to say but journalists are presumed to be telling the truth until it's shown they're not.

I was reading about Heath Ledger being surrounded by pill bottles in a red-top the other day, but I've read numerous accounts that say the police found his medication in the bathroom. I wasn't there so I don't think I could comment on who's telling the truth (although I know which version sounds more sensational), but I'm guessing that neither will have to publicly step back from their comments when the official police report is made public (if, indeed, it isn't already). And meanwhile people who've read either will go about secure in the knowledge that they know what all went down (in an admittedly trivial issue - trivial that is, to those not close to Heath).

So now we know that all people lie (or at least if you watch House you do), but what happens when the people that lie have their words reported by those who lie? Or when the people that lie have their words reported by those who lie and passed on by those who lie who've read the words.

It boggles the mind.

The Heath Ledger issue has awakened my mind to new depths of despair at the proliferation of the media. Just doing a google news search for him brings up such a multitude of articles all vying to get the scoop; the new angle. And yet who really knows the truth?

The actual spark for this thought was thinking about something else. People always assume the worst of change as directed by management. Or any authority. Maybe they've been burnt before, maybe they see the cracks in the argument. But the thought occurs that trying to second guess what might happen in the future based on assuming that the management is lying to you (but with no proof) is likely to be a stupendous waste of your time and energy.

I'd rather be the change, or move away from the change than always be complaining about the change.

It all screws with your head is what it does.

wordoverandout


As an aside, can anyone give me a decent synonym for headf*** (noun). I don't like to offend those of a sensitive disposition, but I can't for the life of me think of another noun that conveys the same meaning in such a concise way. As used in such phrases as "yeah I know, it's a bit of a headf*** isn't it" etc.)