[Ruth]

People who bang on about freedom of speech in this country usually mean that they want freedom to be as bigoted and ignorant as they want, without anybody being able to have a go at them about it. They should be ashamed of themselves. When you consider how much freedom of speech we have in this country compared to some.

I mean, I read somebody moaning about their violation of freedom of speech on another thread, because people suggested calling someone a **** was offensive. This person wanted to be able to call someone a **** if necessary. Well, guess what? Calling someone that is offensive, and with freedom of speech, comes responsibility - you should use your freedom wisely and fairly. Try moaning about that to my friend (for example) who was brought up in South Africa under the Apartheid system and was jailed for speaking up against the government. Try telling that to the people in Zimbabwe whose lives were threatened if they did not vote for Robert Mugabe.

And people have the nerve to moan because they feel they are not allowed to be as racist or as homophobic as they like. It makes me sick.