Spam and the Flag

I am sick of receiving spam comments. All you spammers out there need to leave me alone. I don't want to visit your stupid art site, and I am intelligent enough to know you never looked at my blog, or your comments would look a lot different.

In this vein, I've changed the template so that when you readers out there want to comment, you'll have to type in the generated word before you can submit the comment. It's time consuming. It's a burden. It's vaguely stupid, and probably won't keep the spammers away. But it's better than chasing away all anonymous viewers, and it beats the hell out of that ridiculous flag.

By the way, folks, that flag is a bastion of censorship, a reaching tendril of evil insidiously creeping its way into a strangle-hold on free speech by promising an end to objectionable things. Let me tell you, I find things to be objectionable that many would think nothing of. Spitting in public, for example is something I detest. Men with their shirts off in public I object to on principle--if I get arrested for not wearing a shirt, why do men get to jog down busy streets with nothing but a pair of shorts? Even the law out one way or the other. Let the men go shirtless--and the women, too! Or, let them all swelter in the heat of the day.

Likewise, things others find to be tacky at best and vile at worst probably don't phase me. For example, my writing is filled with violence and darkness, and some very bad things happen to a few of my characters. There are folks out there who would object strenuously, I'm sure. In fact, a close family member has mentioned that what I write is "not wholesome," and that's fine. Different folks find different things objectionable.

The flag is a way for people to force their own perceptions on others. It is not my right to censor another blogger for exercising a first amendment right. Censoring is wrong. What's worse about the *damn* flag is that non-bloggers can also impose their thoughts on others. If someone finds my blog objectionable, they are free to walk away from it, I am free to keep writing it, and other readers are free to continue reading. If that someone flags my blog for content or what have you, I am still free to write, but my readers (all three of them) will have a damn hard time finding my blog. What right does some anonymous git have to keep other folks from a blog? The flagger has not only imposed his concept of "good taste" on the blogger, but also on countless others who just might like what they see.

The flag is tacky, wrong, and just plain evil. If you're the type who enjoys wielding anonymous power in a passive aggressive manner (i.e. is petty and small), go ahead and flag this blog for offensive commentary. Because that's what it's for.

Back on track, I apologize for the added inconvenience of commenting, but still encourage you to do it. Also, I look forward to tomorrow's picture, and wish you all well.

End.