On Tue, 4 Sep 2001, Darryl Shannon wrote:
> Email is NOT secret. Everything you say can and will be saved forever
> on some server or another. So, think carefully before you type. We're
> watching you......
Golly, I am ever so f***ed.
There's a flip side to this coin, in my opinion, and that is: if
somebody is going to go digging for something I may have said about him
in private; and if he is going to assume that anything said in a
particular place and time represents my opinions and feelings
forever-and-ever-amen; then that individual deserves whatever upsetting
news he finds. Exceptions may be made for deliberate libel, slander, and
so on, but phrases like, "Jeezus, what a *&#$!" don't count as libel in my
book.
Of course, we may consider our mothers' advice: "If you can't say
anything nice, don't say anything at all." Or, "It's not nice to talk
behind other people's backs." Etc. On the other hand, those same mothers
told most of us that we deserve whatever bad reputations we earn for ourselves,
and reputations (good or bad) don't occur unless people are allowed to
compare notes behind one anothers' backs. Nobody complains when gossip
yields them a good reputation, after all. If you want the good word about
yourself to spread, you have to accept the fact that the bad words will
spread, too.
The bad ones just spread twice as fast.
Marvin Long
Austin, Texas
For music that won't bugger your soul: www.guyforsyth.com
"The ego that sees a 'thou' is fundamentally different from an ego that
sees an 'it.'" -- Joseph Campbell
