Good point Mr Meisner....I think many of us who post here have stepped over the line a time or two.
Here is a web link that has some interesting ....information unknown to myself until now, check it out!

http://www.writing-world.com/rights/libel.shtml

I'm saddened that the fine Editors of Opinion250 have had to continuously explain bulling, libel, slander and what free speech means.

I was excited to discover Opinion250 with it's up to date local news and the ability of Northern residence to comment on issues that affected them. I had never posted a comment on a web-site until this forum. I signed up, got my user name and thought I would join the conversation hoping that when I posted a comment it would spark constructive debate, perhaps give me the history of an issue or a learned opinion. What I found was that some of the regular posters were ready to spew negativity, thinly disguised racism and plenty of partisan politics. I watched the bulling versus debate and decided to walk away like I would from anyone who practiced this type of communication in a face-to-face conversation.

I am thankful that I have the right to freedom of speech in Canada. At the same time I recognize my responsibility as a citizen of Canada to make sure that my expression of free speech does not belittle, humiliate or degraded other citizens. My love of Canada includes learning about another's culture, the history of those who came before me and the possibilities that the young think up.

I would like to send an invitation to those who feel like I do, to join the conversation and make this a forum that is inclusive, stimulating and respectful.

Thank you to the Editors for allowing me to voice my Opinion and promise to never abuse the privilege.

Now THAT was well said anniemartin!!!

SO i shouldnt post unless i would put my name and address on it? So much for posting then. The point of anonymity is that i dont want people harassing me because i disagreed with them. I have a little experience with this from the newspaper. If i wanted to put my name on it i would write the paper and get much more readership. Really Ben, I stand by EVERYTHING i have ever typed on 250. I dont feel ashamed by any of it. I wouldnt, however put my name address or phone number on it because i dont want to fight with people, I want to have my say, and even have a discussion without having to worry that there will be consequences from people i dont even know.
Please feel free to remove ANY posts i make if they are libellous or slanderous and let me know why. I just dont want peoples ideas censored for the sake of good taste. Nor do i think it very tasteful to reprimand people publicly for taste violations.
I realize i am expanding a discussion which does not at it's core involve me (i didnt even see the posts in question) so i will rant no more on the subject. It's just that the whole issue of civil liberties and freedom of speech is very important to me.

Well, I agree mostly with anniemartin's post.

Still, caranmacil certainly makes an excellent point about his freedom to express a personal opinion which he himself deems to be good taste but which others may judge to be offensive.

I have posted some opinions here based on historically verifiable facts and was taken to task in a fashion that basically inferred that I was bending the truth. Well, I just considered the source where the criticism came from and relegated it to the proper file - #13, garbage.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/bcvotes2009/story/2009/04/13/bc-votes-power.html?ref=rss#socialcomments

The CBC must have very deep pockets because what people are posting there is full of slanderous remarks. No lawsuits?

Amazing.

Actually, if you post them, but do not provide a link to an audio which says the same thing, the post would not be slanderous .....

Civil liberties can be seen from at least three perspectives.

1. The person who says something and feels he/she is free to say anything they wish.

2. The person or entity about whom something is being said that, let's say, puts that individual down because of gender, race, age, etc. etc .....

3. The person who is observing the entire process.

On of the better ways to describe the limits of freedom of speech, and it does haver some limits, is to describe it as the sort of speech which does not violate others' rights or lead to predictable and avoidable harm.

The freedom of speech is not absolute.

At the end of the day, nobody has a God given right to post on Opinion 250. It is a private website and the owners of this website have rules that they expect posters to follow, just like most every other discussion type board on the Internet. If people don't like those rules then either don't post or start your own message board.

Now that being said, I am glad that we have a forum for people to express very different views and opinions. Given some of the stuff that I've seen stick around and not get deleted, I'm actually quite confident in Opinion 250's ability to determine what is over the top and I have a hunch that their bar is much more flexible than what many of us would allow if it were our own website . . .

caranmacil.

You can’t have it both ways. You say,” I don’t want people to harass me because I disagree with them”
Then go onto say,” Civil liberties and Freedom of speech is important to me”
The very basis of freedom of speech allows you to stand before your accuser and have them face you, that is freedom of speech and the basis for civil liberty.
There is a fine line in what you think is right and what really is.

It's possible that when caranmacil said: " I don’t want people to harass me because I disagree with them" he meant actual verbal harassment or worse like slashed tires, a broken living room window or any such thing after having his name printed in a paper. (I speak from a victim's experience!).

We are living in tumultuous times where just the expression of an innocuous opinion can lead to unexpected undesirable results.

Again, the moderator sets the rules. The moderator picks the topics. That's understood.

Just one more thing:

The overall level of quality of comments will NEVER improve if members like anniemartin refrain from posting to this site, a site of which they had great expectations and that disappointed them!

Keep posting! You know what the say about Rome.

I agree that we should have to follow basic rules when posting to this site,treating each other with respect could be a good starting point. Being willing to sign your name and address to your posts would mute most goverment workers from posting anything related to their ministries as it would a canfor employee commenting on anything negative about Canfor. Freedom of speech isn`t free for all

Rome?????

Rome was not built in a day?

Rome, the 1,000 year Empire?????

When in Rome, do what the Romans do?

Rome, the city of seven hills???

All roads lead to Rome???

Rome, the city of visible history????

Everyone sooner or later comes round by Rome???

It's rather sad that grown-up people are wondering about how mean and nasty they're allowed to be, when having a discussion.

The future depends upon our figuring things out, and getting along well enough to discuss the important stuff. And what's wrong with that?

Just now, I tried looking up the 10 simple rules of debate which I remember so clearly from school days. But there's a ton of stuff online now about debate: how to prepare, how to do it, what to avoid, etc.

It's a wonderful topic to Google for the information for organizing our thoughts, verifying the facts, presentation and all that. Oh yes, and the errors to avoid.

Simplified, the errors mean that no, it's not OK to yell at our neighbours no matter how important our big fat political ideas may be. Not OK to be mean and nasty. Definitely not OK to offer lies as facts. Normal stuff.

In fact, the Big Dudes say we get better results with fewer decibels and more clues. Look it up. It's all there under "Rules of Debate".

.

You too are quite right BC Mary. I think we need to respect not each others on here, but also others that we talk about that are news makers for whatever reason.

We cannot force people to care about others.
----------------
On another aspect of this.

Some people say this is a private site. In some sense that is true, but in other senses it is not.

Let me draw the anology of a shopping mall. It is privately owned. They can shut it down at any time they wish. But, it will then cease to be a shopping mall.

Shopping malls have to follow rules. They must give equal access. They can patrol for security and safety, but if they tried to blatently discriminate against a group for no reaons other than the notion "hey, it's my mall, I can do what I want", they could have a legal battle on their hands if it is not a defensible action.

If they wish to make it a private shopping club, that would be a different thing. One can easily make this a private site in a similar way. Put in a password system so that one cannot enter wihtout it. Lots of sites light that on the net.

Or we could have a debating room with a password. A bitchin' room with a password, etc. etc.

The result??? the site would likely die due to compartmentalization.

I find sites like this interesting since the street brawlers and the debaters and the sensitive people who do not like confrontation and a bunch of other types are all thrown together in a mix that they typically do not find themselves in when they are in face to face social settings.

This is not a living room gathering where like-minded people meet. This is a street corner where all walks of life are gathered and they decided to start to talk to each other because of some dealy in their moving on to their destination. A once in a life encounter. Interesting at first. Then, when that encounter gets longer and longer, starting to get rather boring as it gets to be the same old, same old.

I applaud those who have stepped up to the plate and said that they will post under their own name.

If one googles "anonymity and posted comments" there are quite a few hits on existing and pending lawsuits as well as legal opinions concerning this topic. I believe the U.S. tends to be a more litigious society than Canada and hence organizations like the CBC haven't felt the need to curb contributors' diatribes.

Although I understand that some people (the example given above was about hamstrung government or company workers) may wish to comment anonymously, they could at least do so in a respectful and literate manner.

Also, if one can post a clear and articulate argument other readers should just practice a little tolerance when expressing their own and contrary opinion.

Finally, I am curious to know about people who have had their tires slashed or windows broken because of letters they published in the paper. Please enlighten me with some specifics.

"Perhaps it is time for all to take a step away from the computer and take a deep breath before returning to the keyboard and hitting “Post”."

NO WAY !!!! NOT AT ALL !!!!

These are some of the most intelligent posts I've read in months !

Throw some gas on that bonfire !

And I agree completely with Gus: "I find sites like this interesting since the street brawlers and the debaters and the sensitive people who do not like confrontation and a bunch of other types are all thrown together in a mix that they typically do not find themselves in when they are in face to face social settings."

Exactly !

Oh, and by the way, I disagree with most of them !

Except this (I agree): "The CBC must have very deep pockets because what people are posting there is full of slanderous remarks. No lawsuits?

Amazing."

I too, have been amazed (jaw dropping amazed) at the comments that have been made there and not been edited or censored.

Posted by: NMG on April 13 2009 5:43 PM
At the end of the day...

Now that being said

Jesus! Why do people use "At the end of the day," and "That being said," so often? It adds zero,it's complete filler.

It's worthless TV speak like "kick it up a notch," "edgey," "win-win," etc...

Stop using it already, for the love of god. The next time you want to fart out another "end of the day," or "that being said," don't! Leave it out, it's better, I promise. Birds will sing songs, and beautiful maidens will wash their hair in the river while humming softly to themselves over not being said, with no end of the day.

Moving forward >>>>>

When all is said and done :::::::::

give me a break **********

eh????

While in Rome make sure to order Chinese food.

When in Rome; be sure to visit the Vatican for authentic gifts, made in China!
For the record, I too am so sick and tired of hearing "where the rubber meets the road" or " blue sky thinking" and all of the other buzzwords or phrases made popular by someone's definition of a celebrity on television or in the movies, blah!
metalman.

NancyElliot????

I do not think you are the Nancy Elliot I know.

"Jesus! Why do people use "At the end of the day," and "That being said," so often? It adds zero,it's complete filler"

I do it to frustrate you . . . LOL :)

As long as you all remember that I am always right we will get along wonderfully.

Murielle
Prince George, BC
Canada
Earth

*Giggle