Miscellaneous Meta-blogging

I modified my blogroll today; the update was long overdue. I don't particularly enjoy reading American Leftist anymore, but that's less a comment on the quality of Joe's writing than a reflection of how my taste for blogging has changed. I still enjoy many of the conspiracy theories that show up in the comments, though!

Tall, Dark, and Mysterious, one of my new favourite blogs, is among those added. I love Moebius Stripper's writing and 'dark sense of humour'; every new post on her blog is a delight. I wish I had papers like this to grade. Where was she when I was learning algebra, statistics, and calculus?

Timothy Burke, who blogs at Easily Distracted mentioned in a comments thread elsewhere that grad students should remember that even if they abandon their blogs, their names will be forever associated with the arguments they make and sentiments they express. This is something I never even considered, and I'm not going to begin worrying about it now. The RIAA may never offer me a job, but I think I can live with that. Seriously, though, while I would like to think prospective employers won't hold an applicant's past criticism of their organization against him/her, I should know better. Waterstones, the British book chain, is one of an increasing number of companies that have fired employees based on the contents of their blogs. This case particularly irked me because Joe Gordon, the employee in question, was the sort of bookseller I love - knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He is very well known in the Science Fiction world as one of the most influential fans and critics in the United Kingdom and numbers several editors and best-selling authors (many of whom condemned Waterstones for their actions) among his friends. Apparently, doing your job supremely well is no protection.

Though it's got me in trouble more than once, I usually take for granted the freedom to speak my mind. I really should be grateful for the small measure of financial independence I enjoy, and more importantly, the fact that I'm living in a country which celebrates free speech to the extent that I - as a non-citizen! - can criticize the government without really worrying about adverse consequences.