Mortaine’s Blog

If you like to “tweak” your style, you need to read this.

To say I am upset is an understatement. I’m pissed off. I don’t want to go into all of it right now, but I’ve been working for 3 months with the eventual goal of getting full privileges in customization– I care very little about GUnk. As mullenkamp put it: I’m a web design person– this basically cuts me out of volunteering my talents for LiveJournal.

And yes, they’re looking for a few good tutorials. But let’s face it: nobody reads the bloody tutorials now anyway. Nobody reads the FAQ, and when they do, it’s tremendously confusing to find information. The tutorials are pretty lame, not because they don’t provide information, but because there is no good interface for searching for what you want. Despite all the memories and such, LiveJournal is a terribly disorganized system.

Plus, the decision was abrupt, unanticipated, and without input. Staff and admins will say there was input, but that was only from the handful of people who are staff and admin. Not even the volunteers were consulted, or even pre-warned in any meaningful way. It’s kind of like John finding out he lost his job by checking the morning press releases– it’s not the way to do things if you want to keep people interested in helping you.

Sigh. I was spending too much time on Support anyway, I suppose. This gives me more time to focus on my work, novel, training, and all the other things in my life that are important to me.

So, not surprisingly, a fatwa calling for death has been called on Isiome Daniel, the reporter whose article sparked riots during the Miss World pageant– riots that had probably been brewing under the surface for a while.

Mamoudu Shinkarfi, the deputy governor of Zamfara state, said on national television: “Any true Muslim would make sure that this woman’s blood is spilled wherever she is.”

To Ms. Daniel: I want to extend my hospitality– you’re welcome to come stay at my house if you need a safe place to hide out. I vehemently disagree with the idea that suggesting something antithetical to fanatical views could actually provoke rioting, and I would defend to the death a writer’s right to scribe what she wishes and to live without fear of violence for her words. My email address is on my LiveJournal userinfo page– feel free to email me if you need a safe house.

This article explains a little bit more about the fatwa and what it can mean to writers like Daniel and Rushdie.