Over at Say Yes Australia, some naughty people are trying to post comments which don’t conform to the prevailing orthodoxy or ask uncomfortable questions. Heretics! Comments are being ruthlessly pruned, sometimes on the grounds that the comments were “irrelevant, spam or abuse” but, more often, furtively.
The comments pictured below were removed (or have, at least, failed to appear yet) on the grounds of heterodoxy or inappropriate questioning of authority, perhaps. The third comment, sent by Don, appears under a different poster’s pseudonym because the site (owing to someone’s egregious incompetence) kept displaying other posters’ details over the weekend.
The comments pictured below were removed (or have, at least, failed to appear yet) on the grounds of heterodoxy or inappropriate questioning of authority, perhaps. The third comment, sent by Don, appears under a different poster’s pseudonym because the site (owing to someone’s egregious incompetence) kept displaying other posters’ details over the weekend.
A supportive comment from the late Alena Composta,* however, was published:
UPDATE (8 June): The questions posted by Julia Abstrahenda’st have failed to appear, but a more orthodox comment was allowed by the diligent moderators:
UPDATE II (8 June): The third question posted by Don (as Julia Abstrahenda’st) has now, after several days, appeared, as well as another by me (as Julia Abstrahenda’st); “admin” has replied to the latter with the following:
The assertion, “That the science behind the carbon tax cannot be substantiated is untrue”, is, of course, a lie. The alleged science behind the ‘carbon’ tax—the pseudo-science of CAGW—cannot be validated.
For those whose Latin is rusty, by the way, Julia abstrahenda est means “Julia must be dragged away.”
UPDATE III (11 June): The earlier questions posted by Julia Abstrahenda’st have now, after five days, appeared.
UPDATE IV (12 June): Comments on 45000 Australians Say “YES!” to a Price on Pollution include some by characters from David Copperfield:
UPDATE V (13 June): Observed by the author:
UPDATE VI (14 June): Though allegedly abusive posts have been swiftly deleted, names which consist of very rude invective in Latin are allowed. (“Pedicabo vos” is derived from Catullus’ Carmen XVI):
UPDATE VII (2 July): The humour continues. A polite query asking the moderators whether they know what pedicabo vos means is censored, but obvious spam is not:
* or not; at Verdant Hopes, she spells her first name Alene, and one might think that she of all people would know how to spell her own name. On the other hand, death and its attendant indignities usually rob people of orthographical dexterity.
For those whose Latin is rusty, by the way, Julia abstrahenda est means “Julia must be dragged away.”
UPDATE III (11 June): The earlier questions posted by Julia Abstrahenda’st have now, after five days, appeared.
UPDATE IV (12 June): Comments on 45000 Australians Say “YES!” to a Price on Pollution include some by characters from David Copperfield:
UPDATE V (13 June): Observed by the author:
UPDATE VI (14 June): Though allegedly abusive posts have been swiftly deleted, names which consist of very rude invective in Latin are allowed. (“Pedicabo vos” is derived from Catullus’ Carmen XVI):
UPDATE VII (2 July): The humour continues. A polite query asking the moderators whether they know what pedicabo vos means is censored, but obvious spam is not:
* or not; at Verdant Hopes, she spells her first name Alene, and one might think that she of all people would know how to spell her own name. On the other hand, death and its attendant indignities usually rob people of orthographical dexterity.
1 comment:
One of the great strengths of science is open criticism.
When they try to shut down criticism, they are not doing science.
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