| November | 16 |
| 2004 |
This post will, I am afraid, be of interest to almost no one. But since it's my blog, I am at liberty to bore people, just as you are at liberty to ignore it.
Earlier tonight I spoke at an Adam Smith Institute meeting on blogging (reported here).
The first comment came from a chap who attacked me for being a hypocrite. He pointed out that I had written a piece on Monday on the murder of Theo van Gogh and the dreadful response of Index on Censorship - and yet I had deleted a comment which he had made in response to a piece I wrote last year about tennis. On and on the man went: the Times itself had printed his letter, he informed the meeting, but I - craven and hypocritical being that I am - had deleted it because, plainly, I can dish it out but I can't take it. (I paraphrase but you get the drift.)
I said in response that I had no recollection whatsoever of his name or his post and could not remember deleting it. Indeed I have no memory of ever deleting a comment which has been abusive of me personally - but precisely because I have no recollection, I could not deny having done so. I then made the point that, far from deleting hostile comments, I relish them.
So guess what? I've just got back, looked up the post...and his comment is there, plain for all to see.
I quite fancy suing him for slander. It might be fun. But then he's probably penniless (he certainly deserves to be if he has nothing better to do with his life than store up baseless grievances for seventeen months and then air them in public). Much as I like the idea of worsening his penury, life's too short. And yes, I know I am over reacting to his stupid allegation. But sometimes it's enjoyable to overreact, and this is one of those times.
(I never fail to be amazed - this is a theme which I have aired ad nauseum - at how, of all the subjects on which I express strong views, the one which really gets people going is my hatred of tennis. Truly bizarre.)
UPDATE:
Hilarious. The man who accused me of deleting his comment (which has always been on my site in full view for anyone sad enough to want to look at it) informs us, via the comments section on the original post, that:
within minutes of its appearing on his blog site it had been buried, like Jo Moore's bad news, somewhere in the site's innards.
Er, no. It hasn't been touched by man, beast or machine since being posted. So I haven't, as he goes on,
unearthed my commentI simply did a search when I got home for my piece on tennis, and there his comment was, properly attached to it.
I realise I didn't make myself clear when referring above to slander. I didn't mean, of course, that the comment about me being fat was slanderous. It was clearly true. I meant the accusation of hypocrisy which was made tonight at the meeting, when this rather strange individual said I attacked other forms of censorship whilst taking down comments which were rude about me. That accusation was an outright lie.
He goes on:
I suspect that Stephen is a sensitive violet and I shall monitor carefully how long this comment remains visible on the site before being buried with other bad news.
Sensitive violet! I've been called many things - both in an out of my comments sections - but that's a new one. The latest comment will remain on this site for as long as the original comment. For ever. (To be precise: for as long as this site is up and running, or until I decide to remove all comments which, as the post below indicates, I do unfortunately have to consider. I have a life outside this blog, and it is very time consuming having to police the comments sections for racist, biogoted and potentially libellous posts.)
Lordy. Talk about much ado about nothing. My apologies to normal readers for wasting so much of your time, should you have made the mistake of reading all this.

MessageSpace
I found it quite troubling that this man went to such lengths to track you down and confront you in person about this matter, which was not at all relevant to the discussion of democracy and the blogosphere. I asked him afterward if he was the guy who had banged on about your weight, and he proudly confirmed that he was. I thought it strange that I knew of his comment if it had been deleted, but simply asked him, "And you are surprised your comment was deleted?"
Mr Senior seemed quite proud of his comment and regretful that it had, as he maintained, not been enshrined and left for all to read and admire. Having read it a second time, I am still left scratching my head as to what he thought was so admirable and intellectually damning about his remarks.
i agree with Stephen about half the time. Personal abusinve messages are not on. Someone, not Ian Senior, is paying for the bandwidth on this site.
I think this guy doesn't understand that old blogs go into archives? Stephen you are well within your rights to ban anyone you disagree with, or to remove comments in total. I hope you don't, but others have.
( he writes like a crank, incidently)
I have to agree with Jackie, and possibly go further. Beyond just defamatory remarks, this guy seems creepily obsessive. Does the UK have an anti-stalking statute?
Stephen. I was at this event and this chap's tirade against you made me look for and read your site for the first time. Is it possible to leave comments in green ink? Perhaps I should ask Mr Senior.
Recess Monkey
Further evidence that blogging is a haven for cranks, blowhards and provocateurs, and not the terrifying threat to the mainstream media which some of its practitioners pretend.
When did anything of import ever issue from Speakers' Corner? The blogosphere is just an bigger safety valve of the same kind, with the additional advantage (apart from rare encounters such as the one reported here) that the nutters and flame warriors don't even have to confront each other physically, and can remain anonymous.
Repressive tolerance at its best. What a clever Pentagon to have developed the Internet!
Read his comment, thought it hilarious and bizarre. Don't switch comments off though - it's much better that these things are exposed to the light of day.
You might well have a point about being slandered though! :)
Violets are my especial favourite. Better than being a stinkweed, I would suggest.
I think the whole thing smacks of handbags at twenty paces. Get some duelling pistols and sort it out properly.
As you said on the night Ian Senior made his comment 'Blogs are very good for checking facts'. Proven.
Rather amusing and troubling episode Stephen. I don't actually thing that this post is at all self-centred or odd. It does strike one as a bit odd that he would come to that event to challenge (and try to embarass) you about that something that did not in fact happen. Oh well, guess it proves you are widely known when you get cranks. (I tend to get the sort who believe the Necronomicon is real and that I somehow have a direct line to Lord Cthulhu.)
Satmarvellous: blogging is more useful that Speaker's Corner. I wonder how many people who prattled on at SC ever got regular writing gigs for major newspapers or book deals? There are quite a few bloggers (of which I am one) who have benefited in such a way from their bloggings.
Yes, yes, but how *is* the diet going? Or has it gone?
The 'deleted' comment seems to have been there in the Google cache, so it clearly did not 'just reappear'... so he does indeed appear to be talking out of a mid-body orifice.
When did anything of import ever issue from Speakers' Corner? The blogosphere is just an bigger safety valve of the same kind,...
I'd just like to point out that I have learnt a great deal from my experiences in the blogosphere. There is mud there, but also gemstones.
The ratio of mud to gemstones is far too high; and, as in every gold rush, most prospectors return broke and disappointed.
Effra - the solution is simple ...
STOP adding to the mud, dear !
(innocent grin)
I forget who it was said that 99 percent of everything is crap. Probably an American. It is just as true of the mainstream media as it is of the blogosphere. The blogosphere is just much vaster, so the prospecting tends to be a little more gruelling. But as a journalist, I find it an invaluable adjunct to the day-to-day copy stream. Apart from the 99 percent sewage. Talk radio is by far the most useless, time-wasting public forum extant.
BTW, I wonder if it would not be a good idea to tone down or eliminate the all-pervading green of your estimable site. Ten minutes of scrolling and the after-image is burnt into my retina. My keyboard has gone two-tone.
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