First I want to have a look at Wikipedia’s definition of propaganda, to clarify the object I am going to deal with in this text and my following posts…
“Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.
Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.
—Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion”
I rather dislike Wikipedia for some of it*s failures, but for now I will bow my head before them… this is a nice and short definition! If I should intend to accuse anybody of propaganda, I had to show, that he:
1) Changes information (means a direct lie) to encourage a certain reaction and opinion
2) Reduces information (means to focus information) to encourage a certain reaction and opinion
I will not try to deal with the big media stations of our time – I*ll leave it up to you, to decide yourself, if your media is fulfilling one or both of these two options.
Just a word of explanation, to clarify my own intention and opinion. Propaganda is not an action, that can only be used by dictatorships, or similar forms of government – this is the everyday option to lead the masses in the correct direction in every form of system and in every nation.
To add some more precise information: Every war is in need of an propagandist action, as war never is a popular step, you have to find ways, to MAKE it a popular action – you have to create an enemy. The easiest form of propaganda is to focus on all well known (by your people) negative information about the enemy – partially to recherche new negative information to add it and (as the most aggressive form of propaganda) to spread lies about the enemy and sell them as the one and only truth.
The standard way of dealing with information, that threatens the perspective you wish to create, is to censor them, to bring them down, to damage their reputation or to accuse them of being a collaborator of the enemy.
—>Information: I encourage you to do your own research and to compare the use of propaganda in the different forms of systems we know up to now – I would enjoy your opinion on this topic and would be pleased, if you could point out mistakes in my explanations.
Spoiler:You may for example compare the propaganda done by Nazi-Germany, communist Russia and the USA after, before and during WW2 – I found this piece of information to be very interesting.<—
Non-national Propaganda
What you read above is more or less my standard definition of propaganda, that never has been something special to me, as (I think) we all got – to a certain degree – used to it and knew, that this happens.
Especially during my experiences on the internet I found, that this definition is solely focusing on national propaganda and for this reason incomplete. If you simply watch big media sites like YouTube, you will find nearly all forms of propaganda, spread by nearly all forms of religious groups, all forms of political groups and sometimes – even by persons without any direct extraordinary orientation.
I found myself thinking, that the most common form of propaganda is non-national propaganda – used by common people.
You could say, that these persons are simple carriers of the information given to them and I encourage you too, that you point out that this is true – but I myself compared the official given information of the mainstream media (concerning this and that topic) with the thinking and actions of these individuals and found the following:
A lot of the information is indeed based on excerpts of the mainstream media – these excerpts/quotations/information are selected precisely to focus the message (for example of the video) on a clearly layed out conclusion… Every form of information, that does not lead to this conclusion (even if it is directly linked to the original message) will be ignored.
Many of the propagandists tend to use direct lies, where the truth is not leading to the wished target (compare for example the conspiracy theories on 9/11).
I also found the fact interesting, that individuals, that will add a comment to these videos, which is not providing the wished form of information, will be marked as spam – deleted or be accused of not knowing anything about the truth – being for example accused of supporting the true enemy.
You may agree, that this is more or less according to the definition above – but let me point out again, where this is propaganda:
1) Focus on “bad news” – bringing “bad news” which are not well known to attention.
The difficult thing to divide propagandist efforts from journalistic material, is the natural purpose of propaganda to look as if it was, well researched and entirely based on facts. But a clear sign for me is, that the information, that is given, is not just a journalistic effort, but leading to a certain conclusion, or trying to encourage strong emotions… The second and more obvious sign is, that the given information is not containing any contrary opinions – if a video is repeating the same information again and again and serving a certain purpose instead of providing knowledge, it*s time to examine it (for me).
To focus information on a certain target or opinion is the most common and basic operator of propaganda.
2) Direct lies – Spreading false information – taking original information out of context
is the most extreme, but even the most dangerous form of propaganda. One has to chose the lie carefully and has to think about the possibility, that people will try to examine the information, to show that it is not true.
The easiest way to deal with this is (already said this) to throw some dirt on them, but as this is also the most powerful tool to modify the thinking and feeling of other persons, one should be careful to not lie too obvious – there should not be any doubt, that he/she is speaking the truth…
You are used to that too, as all of us lied in our lifetime, but when acting as a propagandist you have to be even more careful.
3) Shocking audio and video content – modification of text, audio and video material – The use of media in another context – creating a threat through music and images
These is not new at all, but as the abilities of media have grown, the tools for this task have also. The basic target of propaganda is to invoke emotions… besides the intellectual information, you will find music, pictures and excerpts of speeches, which emotionally are creating a threat – this is serving a certain issue… it is to prepare you to believe the information. To make you believe, that you have to defend yourself through the new given knowledge and against the new enemy.
The message itself CAN be believed, but doesn*t have to be believed -
Whether you, for example, believe in the 9/11 conspiracy or not is not interesting – If you FEEL threatened after watching such a video – in fact threatened by the USA and believe them to be the enemy… the mission of the video is accomplished.
To be fair and to give an example for the American reader too… If you heard about the weapons of mass-destruction in Iraq… did you believe it? I say you don*t have to. The basic message is “Iraq is a threat!” if you believed that one – the task of the information is fulfilled.
And to calm down both groups… I don*t judge these, or you – one has to think about this him/herself – Whether you like it or not is your decision – what I want to say is, think about information very hard before you believe it.
My thoughts:
Some of the commentators will defend this information, as if they were defending their own life, they will get angry, thread or insult every opposition.
Indeed some of the videos I am referring to, even made it to encourage myself to feel in a certain way. I would recommend, that this is not underestimated, as some of these are true masterpieces of their art (if you can think the same way of these is up to you).
To give an interesting example (without providing too much material myself) – you may for example compare:
As this movie is taken down very often, I will add the name here, which you have to search for, to find it on Youtube.
[Zeitgeist - the movie]
A very good example, as it is using every operator I talked about. (You may have fun to watch it with this thought in mind – you may even have fun to examine my own text to find out if you can identify propagandist material – and I*m sure some of you will do that (if this text will get any comments anyway) )
My Personal Disclaimer:
These are MY thoughts on certain topics, but I don*t claim, neither that I am the first one to realise it, nor that I am speaking THE TRUTH – as this term is abused in so many ways…
I strongly encourage you, to distrust information, until you’ve examined it yourself. This is including MY information. I welcome you to point out my mistakes and to share your opinion. But I hope, that you will be fair on me and will not insult me for my perspectives.
However – there is no doubt for me, that there exist more intelligent persons on this planet than me, who know more about these topics – If you are one of these persons… I would feel honoured, if you could share your point of view with me.
I allow you to use excerpts of my texts for your own projects, if you wish to, but I don*t allow you to change my message (means to ABUSE my texts.)
The Future:
As I am very interested in these topics, I am planning to add posts where I will try to examine Anti-American (AA) propaganda and my understanding of the “Age of informational warfare” more closely.
Thanks for reading Cern4m (My blog can be found here.)
I found out today that someone has hijacked about 1/4 of my site (or more – but that’s all I have the energy to see right now). He’s not only not given me credit for my work, but has copied the entirety of my posts – one after the next (not excerpts or just links) and has also made it appear that I am responsible for posts that I had not even posted.
UPDATE: I read over here, that it is not a good idea to link to the blog scraping site as they can get more revenue from it! If you want any more detailed info about my stolen posts, just send me an email.
UPDATE 2: Victory!! The offending site was finally taken down after all my complaints to Google Adsense!
Splogging, content theft, blog scraping, hijacking blogs, and ripping off blog posts is becoming increasingly popular, and an infamous site that does this is FAMLOVE.CN.
More information about stolen content can be found on this blog that has a FAQ and tips as to what you can do if it happens to you. You will also see a list of other blog scrapers and sploggers that have been found guilty.
Make your own post about it to spread the word so that when “famlove.cn” is googled, people will see them for who they really are!
WordPress’s Akismet (spam eater) has seemingly hacked into my spiked granola bars and has gone mad!!
Attention: To all those using WordPress.com as there blogging platform, you ARE getting comments. Just look in your spam folder and viola, they’ll be right there waiting for you. While there will be some genuine spam that needs to be flushed away, there may also be REAL comments from REAL people. So, please check it regularly.
I am making comments all over WordPress on dozens and dozens of blogs, but either I get the “discarded” error message or they just go into OUTERSPACE somewhere to which I’ve recently found out that they are simply HIDING in your spam buckets!!So, please pull them out for me, and if you don’t mind, please send a support ticket to WordPress.com and another one to Akismet and tell them I’m not trying to sell penis enlargement pills or “free” ring tones!
For some reason or another, there are some people on WordPress that are having this problem. And it’s a very recent problem.
This is *not* a result of sending a link or some links, sending abusive messages, or being caught in the “moderation queue”. This is a quirk in the system. And it’s quite the frustrating! And for the record, I’ve sent in already 4 support tickets.
UPDATE: My end has been resolved. Finally.
Should YOU have any problems with the aforementioned, this is the message Mark from Akismet left on the support forums:
@anyone else:
If you need to contact Akismet support you must include:
Name
Email
Website (if used)
IP address
If you do not include all that then I will just ask for it and that makes everything slower for you.
I get lost every now and then with the latest in “slanguage” (if you will), and am finding myself looking up the new slang on the Urban Dictionary website. I am either in stitches laughing my ass off or am horrified at what I’m reading. So, here I was looking up another word when I came across the tag for the definition of ‘myspace’. It is a must-read for all of those who are familiar with “the scene”.
Here’s one definition that caught my eye:
Myspace is the ultimate game of testing your ego. It becomes a competition of seeing who has the most friends, so you add everyone you’ve made eye contact with in the past 6 years, constantly posting bulletins telling people to comment on your NEW PICZ PLZ or die. Also a way for every garage band ever to make a Myspace Music profile without even have talent and/or experience as other bands have. Also a new place for every hott girl in the world to prove how slutty they are by making a Myspace and putting pictures of themselve’s where they only have 1/5 of their clothes on with the quote under it “I used photoshop to cover my boobs, So What.”
Comment on my myspace plz LOL! (Written by Brett)
I plead guilty in trying to look up all those whom I’ve befriended since elementary school.
I also plead guilty to getting my cheap thrills when I see this:
Allie had something interesting to contribute as well:
Myspace is an absolutely pointless “networking tool” that high school students overuse in an attempt to gain and then flaunt popularity. A potentially useful dating/networking tool for adults gone awry because it became a contest to see who could get the most “friends” added… (and by friends I mean other insecure teenagers adding you back in order to increase THEIR OWN friends count). An addiction where you must sign on every .3232134 seconds to see if anyone posted a comment, sent you a message, or put up a bulletin (to tell them to check out their new “hawt sexy pics!” a horrible pixelated shot of an underdeveloped highschool freshman in their underwear trying their best to make a seductive face)
Add me on myspace so my popularity can soar!
I do like the numbers, but I am happy with the small cozy count of friends I have. But even more than the numbers themselves, they are people whom I’ve either met online or in real life. I don’t really like email that much, and I’m not all into instant messaging (although I have IM available for those special occasions). For me, myspace is a fun way to stay in contact with those I’ve befriended and have made me smile. Being that I work at home, I don’t have much human contact with others outside my husband and family, so myspace seems to fill that gap for me. I love to meet new people and having friends are very important for me and for my sanity.
Here’s another definition I found funny by deathsymphony.
1. The ultimate contest of seeing how many friends you could have without seeing any of them.
2. A place for people who have no lives to post comments about their new pics in their “friend’s” myspace.
3. A place where loners get semi-celebs.
Ex 1:
Person 1: OMG i have 200 friends on myspace.
Person 2: LOLZ i have 300 friends, loser.
Ex 2:
Person X: i love ur new pix! u better post a comment on my myspace also!
Myspace is an online website for making ‘friends’, and over 70% people up there will have the following things in their profiles:
1. has ’tila tequila’ as their friend
2. the music they like include: my chemical romance, the used, green day, killers, or kottonmouth kings
3. they all hate drama and fake people
4. have a music video playing on their page
5. your computer is more likely to freeze when log on people’s pages if you have an older model due to the over-decoration.
6. we will see this “This profile was edited with Thomas’ myspace editor” somewhere in their profile.
Need an “ice-breaker” or a “pick up line”? Thanks again to Annie for this:
“Aren’t we friends on Myspace?”
“Haven’t I seen you around Myspace before?”
“Your Myspace pictures look HOT…lets fuck”
“Oh my god I was flossing my teeth this morning and I just couldn’t figure out what it was I pulled out from between my teeth and gums, is chicken? It couldn’t be chicken, I don’t eat meat, maybe it’s tofu? I showed it to my roommate and she thought it was cheese, then I remembered I had baked bread and brie last night, so that must be it. Then I thought wow I better run to my computer and blog about this experience on myspace.”
If any of you have any interesting things to share related to this entry, please don’t hold back.
There are millions of bloggers out there, typing away on their keyboards, living for that glorious day of recognition when someone finally comments on their blogs.
True. Is it wrong to want to be read? Is it wrong to want feedback?
Mike rambles on…
You can blog, too. For the uninformed, a blog is any thought posted on a Web site that is not good enough to be printed in a newspaper.
Not good enough to be printed in a newspaper? You say this as if bloggers want to have their news printed in a newspaper. That is not true. I am not interested in becoming either a journalist, columnist, nor do I want anything to do with the media. And I’m sure most bloggers can attest to that regarding their own blogs as well. Us bloggers aren’t tryingto be anything.
It’s like if someone rode a bike everyday for exercise and one angry redneck comes along and says, “You’re just trying to be marathon cyclist”. “You think you’re hot stuff, don’t you?”
And…..?
I don’t get Mike’s point. He continues his little rant.
Here is an example: “President Bush has totally and utterly failed the American people. Almost every day we are presented with further proof why he should not be our president.”
This is from “Bulldog Manifesto.”
Note that you would never see the words “utterly” and “totally” in the same newspaper sentence because they are redundant terms
The usage of “totally and utterly” used in the same sentence are called intensifiers.
But we all know that when someone doesn’t like the content of what they’re reading, they will resort to arrogantly pointing out grammar mistakes (grasping at straws, in my opinion). But what is he really ranting about? If The Bulldog Manifesto were Pro-Bush, he wouldn’t have been the topic of discussion in the Orlando Sentinel on 9-11.
Just a quick word of thanks for your article about blogging. I now see the error of my ways, to
know that I’ve been wasting all my time these years by putting my thoughts, opinions and ideas into the ether for all to see. There was I believing that blogging was something useful – a combination of emotional outlet, method of communicating with one’s peers, a way of storing thoughts, photographs, etc, and above all, fun – and you’ve revealed the truth to me at last.
I should have known that blogging is boring. I should have stopped immediately for fear of posting something grammatically incorrect (for the record: I’ve an English Degree, and a Business Management Degree. I don’t give a damn whether I’m intransitive or not). We should obviously shut the heck up, ignore our right to freedom of speech, and listen only to the garbage pushed out by newspapers and politicians in future. I promise never to think a free thought again, least of all to blogpost about it.
As to some blogs seeming pointless or mundane, I’m sorry you don’t get it; life is like that. Life is often both mundane and boring. It take a brave man to record the mundanity rather than fictionalise the fantastic. I take it you’ve read neither Diary of a Nobody or anything by James Joyce. When people write about their “mundane” lives, they are recording real life for posterity. It’s important to them now, it’ll be important to generations in the future.
I’m sorry most of all that you just don’t get it.
Yours cordially,
In my humble opinion, The Bulldog Manifesto is a very intelligent, well-spoken gentleman. You would know this if you ever took the time to read his blog. I couldn’t even begin to be the good writer he is.
There are 8 million bloggers out there and 32 million people who READ blogs. Why are so many of us addicted to both writing and reading blogs? The answer is quite obvious. You can easily keep a personal journal and keep it private, but bloggers write to be heard.
Some or most of us say things in our blogs that we wouldn’t normally say face to face to anybody. The anonymity of the internet is a huge advantage in getting out our most controversial or non-controversial messages out there. I think this is a good thing. Some may think it’s “cheating”, but I think it’s great that we take advantage of our “secret selves” and “just say it”. Sometimes I may cause some feathers to fly, but I can handle the backlash.
Now that I got out the “whys” and the “need to be heard” element out of the way, I must say that there’s one thing that I don’t understand about some bloggers out there. It makes me scratch my head.
If someone could help me with this…. why are so many of you concerned about the AMOUNT of comments you get and/or the amount of viewers you get per day? Are you comparing yourselves to The Instapundit who gets approximately 300,000 hits per day? Or perhaps other popular bloggers? Are you THAT insecure about yourself that you need to make comparisons that determine your self-worth?
I won’t deny it myself that back in the day when I was blogging like a bat out of hell, I was constantly checking my stats and of course, looking for comments. I also won’t deny the fact that I am flattered to see that people are listening to me and/or taking the time to comment (good or bad). However, I don’t judge my intelligence, the richness of my blog content, my self-worth, whether I’m a good person or not by the amount of viewers and commenters I receive. I want more of both – yes, but I don’t fall prey to suicidal impulses or make an emergency call to my psychiatrist when I don’t. I wouldn’t even go as far as complain about it. Lastly and most importantly, whether I get 10 views a day or 300, this will not stop me from blogging. It’s what I like to do.
Am I supposed to feel inferior or that the content of my blog needs to be in check because I only get comments from just a few people?
When I see people like you out there complaining about “blog stats”, it actually makes me feel like I’m not as crazy as I think I am. While my mental health may be unstable at times, I feel that as far as my sense of “worth” is concerned, I’m not doing that bad.
I am a member of sites which help get my blog out there for the world to see (only used when I blog regularly). I want attention just as you do! But, I will not change my blog content because I’m not getting enough comments from a lot of different people. My blog content is ME! I’ve got my 10 viewers a day. I’m happy and those that don’t like me or my blog have a choice as emphasized in my disclaimer that I keep going on and on about.
Everyone has choice. It’s up to you to decide to make them or let others control you. Which do you prefer?
My biggest most burning question is — Is there any proof that people on the internet are any more of a liar than those people that we meet face to face?
When we meet people face to face, can we really read into what kind of person they are? Really? Are you really sure?
Do Fox News,CNN, and other professional journalists always keep their story unbiased and straight?
What about our own spouses? When they respond to us saying that they’re “not cheating” (even though there’s evidence) can we trust that they’re telling the truth?
THE image of internet dating as a “fickle world” full of liars and chancers is far from the truth, according to research released today.
Instead, relations formed in cyberspace enjoy a 94% success rate, an academic study has shown.
Men who go online for love are more committed to the relationship and more emotionally dependent on their “e-partners” than women.
The study shows that where couples build up a “significant” online relationship by emailing or chatting and then meet face-to-face, 94% went on to see each other again.
Relationships lasted on average seven months, with 18% lasting over a year, according to the University of Bath research.
Dr Jeff Gavin, who carried out the survey, said: “Given that the most successful relationships lasted at least seven months, and in some cases over a year, it seems that these relationships have a similar level of success as ones formed in more conventional ways.”
He said because men went deliberately online looking for love they tended to be more committed, whereas women tended to be more cautious and safety aware.
“Men open themselves up more when chat is anonymous,” he said. “Rather than lying to each other, this means couples can form deep relationships by being more honest than they would be face-to-face.”
Sexual
Women tend to be more sexual online than they would normally as they cannot be judged when anonymous, he added.
And although there may be still a stigma attached to online dating for older generations, for younger people meeting people online is just the same as meeting in a bar, he said.
Some couples who have met online even spend their anniversaries chatting with their partners in cyberspace as the place they met “is special to them”, he added.
Some 229 people, aged between 18 and 65, were interviewed online for the study.
More on People and the Internet
As far as good old fashioned dating is concerned, let’s say that us ladies meet (face to face) a very nicely dressed man who has a very good job, a good education, a perfect IQ, talks very intelligently, is very good looking and tall, comes from a wholesome and religious family, he is rich, and has a good sense of humor to boot.
While there are whackjobs out in this world that are so obviously “criminal-looking” where we can spot them out in a heart beat, there are those who aren’t “criminal-looking” that fool even the most vigilant type of people.
You can do your part to a certain extent to be safe, but we only have so much control.
I’ve just recently heard a complaint made about “the majority of bloggers” that they “use links of others” rather than composing their own original work.
WTF?
Is there really a rule of thumb to follow regarding the content of your blog? Call me ignorant, but I’ve never heard of such a thing.
So, I wonder if this person’s saying that if you own a blog, it must be your own content? Is it considered “stealing” if you find a good, funny, or an interesting post and want to share it with your viewers? Do they know more about my small group of visitors than ‘I’ do?
What if you find a newsworthy topic on CNN and are interested in sharing the link with others along with your comments? Is that bad too? Or just plain boring?
What I’d really like to know is why this kind of “blogger behavior” disturbs people so. How is this “wrong”?
I suspect these Negative Nellies are coming from blog trafficing sites such as Blog Explosion and Blogazoo. They see one post that links to another site not knowing what YOUR blog is really about and running away so fast not realizing that you offer much more a variety than their false assumptions run wild about.
People like original content? While recommending my viewers to specific links can be “unoriginal”, I know my viewers. You don’t. While I may not be entertaining ALL my viewers, there were a couple of viewers I knew who would be interested in the adorable cat picture I found on Orge’s blog.
What are Trackbacks for? I’m guessing that those so readily and enthusiastically pointing the fingers at bad link-sharing blogs, don’t use the Trackback System. They’re completely useless to them because their content is “so original”.
I’m also aware that people constantly bitch about those bloggers that write about their personal daily lives including unedited rants and raves about the cute guy who sits next to them in their high school Biology class and what they ate for breakfast. Many people peek at these blogs, and if they’re lucky enough to still be awake to report these blogs so boring and horribly written, they willwithout hesitation report them. However, we must give those boring blogs credit. They’re original.
I say screw the Negative Nellies. These are the type of people that will bitch no matter what. I get approximately anywhere between 50-100 hits a day, but I’m as happy as a bee in a tree if I get at least 10. I will admit that I’m a crazed attention whore and believe “the more the merrier”, but I will not go to the ends of the earth to satisfy the grumpy miserable hit and run loser types who subject themselves to a painful 30 second time limit just so they can gain more traffic to their site.
Trust me. There are blogs that annoy the hell out of me too – especially those blogs that play music automatically and damn near knock me out of my seat when I click on their site. In fact, I was planning on making a post on my blog to tell these auto-music playing bloggers to turn their blogging radio to manual instead of auto. But the difference between Grandma-Bitchy and me is that I will gracefully give up the potential 1/3 of a point that I can earn from Blog Explosion and screw the 30-second time limit – moving on to the next blog as noted below.
Surfing too fast? You betcha. Negative Nellies? You see that? You DO have other options. Just thought I’d let you know.
What’s my answer? No. No, No, and No. I can’t even understand why this is even an issue so big that it was broadcasted on the news.
From my point of view, I see some VERY clear differences between the two. Journalists go out and interview, quote words taken from the original sources live, and then they gather their information from press conferences, interviews, and whatnots and publish the information whether it be editorial or or not.
For the most part, bloggers rely on the sources that journalists work very hard to gather. We site the source in our blogs (hopefully) and go on either commenting on the issue or make it non-editorial leaving the opinions up to the individual reader or both.
I should have paid more attention to “who”, but one gentleman said on the news that bloggers post false information. Now, I’m sure there are bloggers who DO post false information. But I’ve read many-a-blogs in my day, and I’m sorry but I just don’t see that. Remember, most bloggers back up their factsusing links and blockquotes. If the links are bad ones…. well, that’s not our problem because you know as well as I do that bias exists and who’s to determine fact from fiction?
Next, we bloggers add our own opinion. Since when does an opinion become “false information” ? The last time I checked, an opinion is neither right nor wrong.
6 entries found for opinion.
o·pin·ion n.
A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof: “The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion”
(Elizabeth Drew).
A judgment based on special knowledge and given by an expert: a medical opinion.
A judgment or estimation of the merit of a person or thing: has a low opinion of braggarts.
The prevailing view: public opinion.
Law. A formal statement by a court or other adjudicative body of the legal reasons and principles for the conclusions of the court.
BLOGGERSrequire no journalistic experience. All they need is computer access and the desire to blog. There are other, even important differences between bloggers and mainstream journalists, perhaps the most significant being that bloggers pride themselves on being part of an unmediated medium, giving their readers unfiltered information. And therein lies the problem.
When I or virtually any other mainstream journalist writes something, it goes through several filters before the reader sees it. At least four experienced Times editors will have examined this column, for example. They will have checked it for accuracy, fairness, grammar, taste and libel, among other things.
If I’m careless — if I am guilty of what the courts call a “reckless disregard for the truth” — The Times could be sued for libel … and could lose a lot of money. With that thought — as well as our own personal and professional commitments to accuracy and fairness — very much in mind, I and my editors all try hard to be sure that what appears in the paper is just that, accurate and fair.
Do I sometimes make mistakes? Yes, I’m only human. Do my editors always catch my mistakes? Most of the time, they do. But not always. They’re human too. The “For the Record” corrections published on Page 2 of The Times every day make our human fallibility only too clear.
Shield laws (and the 1st Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press, the philosophical progenitor of these laws) were created to enable the media as an institution to inform the citizenry, without government interference.
And it’s the institutional safeguards of the traditional media that differentiate them from bloggers and the blogosphere, even if those safeguards sometimes fail. When they do, as they clearly did in the case of several recent media scandals, heads roll.
Many bloggers — not all, perhaps not even most — don’t seem to worry much about being accurate. Or fair. They just want to get their opinions — and their “scoops” — out there as fast as they pop into their brains. One of the great advantages of the Internet, many Web lovers have told me, is that it’s easy to correct an error there. You can do it instantly, as soon as the error is called to your attention, instead of having to wait until the next day’s paper.
But the knowledge that you can correct errors quickly, combined with the absence of editors or filters, encourages laziness, carelessness and inaccuracy, and I don’t think the reporter’s privilege to maintain confidential sources should be granted to such practitioners of what is
at best pseudo-journalism.
I’m not saying that all bloggers are lazy, careless or inaccurate. I’m sure many take as much pride in their work — their professionalism — as I do.
That’s right. Bloggers are not edited. This is both good and bad. It’s bad in the sense that those should not be presenting as facts, false information. It’s good in the sense that some of us bloggers could be presenting the REAL truth without the interruption of professional editors distorting reality and promoting political correctness. In other words, sometimes it can be that only the real truth can be found from a blog BECAUSE IT HASN’T BEEN EDITED.
Look at Liberal CNN and Conservative Fox News. Reporters, journalists, and anchor persons all have their spins on almost every societal concern out there. Do they not? Yet bloggers are being condemned for their spins and being told their not journalists (well, which is true).
2 entries found for journalism.
jour·nal·ism
n.
The collecting, writing, editing, and presenting of news or news articles in newspapers and magazines and in radio and television broadcasts.
Material written for publication in a newspaper or magazine or for broadcast.
The style of writing characteristic of material in newspapers and magazines, consisting of direct presentation of facts or occurrences with little attempt at analysis or interpretation.
Newspapers and magazines.
An academic course training students in journalism.
Written material of current interest or wide popular appeal.
Nobody should have to think for you. Stupidity is a word that also should be given to those people who cannot wade through the bullshit they read or hear on the news. But there are a lot of stupid people out there that take what the upper ups in the media say as Gospel. However, more than anything else, selective “listening” is the problem. People believe and attach themselves to certain media outlets that suit their own agendas. They do this instead of listening to both CNN and FOX and then forming their own opinion. But this is too painful for many people as they have too much trouble putting their baggage aside to think rationally.
I’m sorry if I’ve ever posted false information on my blog that wasn’t me being sarcastic or me giving my opinion. I would certainly hope that my readers don’t use me as the only source for the news. I would also appreciate it if in the event I did post false information that my reader (instead of leaving a condescending remark) would take the time to give me a link to where the correct information can be found, and I’d gladly correct it. I’ve been found guilty before and corrected my mistake before. It happens to the best of us.
But don’t assume that I think of myself as a journalist. This is just my little picnic table where I find news events that strike a nerve where you get to hear me stand on the roof tops and scream like a helpless misfit.
I never did say I was normal.
UPDATE! The below was left in my comments section here by Jeremy Bol, a blogger/journalist. I stand corrected.
I think there may be something you’re missing here. Journalists frequently revamp or regurgitate other people’s work. By the standard for a true journalist you state, nearly the only paper in the world we could call “journalists” would be AP News. Most news agencies cite them on an hourly basis. Some bloggers can be classified as journalists, but not all.
The biggest difference between a journalist and a true blogger is that a journalist has the aid of an editor.
I consider myself a blogger AND a journalist. I have been published with my blog material in several publications throughout the internet, not just blogs. Jane Novak (http://www.armiesofliberation.com) got no less than 20 of her articles published in the Yemen Times, Arab News and several other middle eastern papers. Her continued diligence in journalism created awareness in the region and eventually led to the release of a Yemeni newspaper editor.
Bloggers in general are not journalists. Many are though.
Now that I’ve wiped the tears from my eyes from laughing so much, with my re-gained composure, let me share with you the latest Google searches from my visitors that have appeared on my Sitemeter.
I could not resist posting these. In fact, I will try to make a habit out of doing this. I need a good laugh every once in a while.
(The yellow highlights show where my site was targeted.)
As many as 40,000 personal Web diaries — dubbed "blogs" — crop up
each day, reports Technorati, a San Francisco startup that tracks Web
logs.
Overall, there are just over 8.5 million virtual diaries, up from
100,000 two years ago, as Average Joes, CEOs and political foes turn to
blogs opine on everything from Pope John Paul II’s death and "First
Twin" Jenna Bush to the Red Sox and housing costs.
Well, I sure am glad to hear that I’m not the only one without a life. My hobby is consistent with 8.5 million other bloggers and the numbers (40,000) growing everyday. Even politicians have blogs.
Families too have been known to find out on a blog more information than they ever wanted to know about a relative’s uncensored sex life.
YIKES! I actually do find quite a lot of blogs out there about sex. I think this is great if people want to talk about their sex life and I support their freedom to do so. Hell, there’s a lot of people interested in reading about those kinds of things.We are all sexual animals – some repressed sexually and some not.
One day while surfing, I ran into The Spanking Blog, and ah ….I …. couldn’t believe my eyes. However, even though my stomach turns at some of these blogs, I DO appreciate the honesty that rings through these sexual blogs.
On the other hand though, I look down on those bloggers who try to come off denying that they are trying to pick up men in their blogs simultaneously covering up the fact that they are desperately horny and sexually frustrated. Yet when you look at their blogs, there are sexual innuendos all over the place. These women are the trashiest sluts of any kind. Their blogs scream "Fuck me", but when the male sexual predators arrive, they scold them in the form of an entry on their on their "I’m a Good Catholic Girl" blog – thereby trying to convince their readers that they are innocent good little girls being unnecessarily fondled.
I hate those kinds of blogs because of the rampant denial those bloggers are in. If you don’t want sexual predators writing love letters to you, then stop talking about how you’ve had lesbian affairs and threesomes several times in your past IN YOUR BLOG so the whole world can see! Idiots! These are the kinds of women who get raped and then whine to everyone afterwords trying to draw attention to their readers. "Why oh why meeeeeeeee?" "Little innocent me….." Gimmie a break. You’re a skanky whore. Deal with the consequences! Whores are treated like whores. Period.
"If you blog, there are no guarantees you’ll attract a readership of
thousands," states the manual. "But at least a few readers will find
your blog, and they may be people you’d least want to expect….And
there may be consequences."
Yep, just ask me. I am being stalked by a group of 19 year old "Wannabe Lawyers Vigilantes" who are just trying to learn the ropes about their new career and are using me as their guinea pig. But hey, I look at the bright side. At least I’ve proven myself useful in aiding their careers! Look at it this way too: I was the chosen one out of 8.5 million bloggers for their experiments!
A is for Anonymous First, the "no duh" warning: don’t post any
pictures, reveal your name or even confess you work for, say, an
unnamed weekly newspaper in Seattle. "(I)t’s clear that you work in one
of two places," cautions the guide. Posting using a pseudonym is smart
but, if you think using "Leanne" when your name is Annalee is a good
idea, think again.
Technology as Alibi Superficial disguises go only so far when
every wannabe pundit also has a unique — and, unfortunately, traceable
– Internet address. The good news is, there are services like
Invisiblog.com, Anonymizer.com and Tor that specialize in helping you
keep your address and your identity under wraps.
Well, it’s too late for me. As careful as I am, I’ve already been found and my true identity revealed to the American Princess who is suing me for "plagiarizing". I’m a "Backwoods Hick" and now everyone knows.
Be Exclusive You don’t have to let the whole world watch. You
can set up a blog that is password-protected. Blogging services such as
LiveJournal let you decide who gets to see all or parts of your blog.
Turns out, you can also block Google and other major search engines
from listing your blog in Internet search results. To do so, you need
to create a special file called a "Robots Text File."
This one’s a little hard for me. As an Attention Whore, I need all the publicity I can get! Even if this means I have to get stalked by 19 year old drooling law school students.
More than half the blogs at Idiotspace.com are password protected. But then again, they do a lot of things I can’t understand.
Have a Blog and Keep Your Job Mark Jen, the fired Google
worker, isn’t the only blogger to land on the unemployment lines. Delta
Air Lines, Microsoft and Friendster, the on-line social networking
service, have all allegedly canned hired help for blogging. Countless
other employers are taking steps to prevent loose-lipped workers from
disclosing company information on the Internet.
Of course, like any other electronic polls out there, these results aren’t scientific. This poll was an unsuccessful one. Not too many people voted, and I get an average of 530 visitors a day. I might have to start creating XXX polls to get your lazy butts to vote. But to all those who voted, thank-you!
I’m just trying to see if I’m the only one with no life. No seriously, I’ve just been curious what my visitors do. Not too many students come by, and the majority appear to be working full-time.
I can see where the temptation is there for people to think those who interact with strangers on the Internet for hours a day have no life. I thought about this a lot, actually. I could be wrong, but I think it’s because interacting electronically with strangers could be thought of as talking to objects (not real people). I’m guessing that some people think that if you cannot hear their voice or see their face, that the communication is not real.
Let’s say if you spend your days talking to your pillow or your teddy bears that you would be thought of as a lonely person with no life, right? Especially if you think they’re talking back to you! On the Internet, it’s the same. There are, again, no faces or voices – just a bunch of typed words that appear on our computer screens.
More than anything else, it’s the friendly interaction with strangers. Off-line on-lookers who question the quality of our lives assume the interaction between others electronically to be that of a “friendship”. I can only speak for myself, but this is not the case with me. I may call these people “online friends”, however this is not the case when I define the word “friendship” carefully.
I love attention. This is probably the major reason I blog. I love the interaction with others as well. While we aren’t “friends” per the strict definition, it’s brings to me much stimulation and entertainment. I also love to observe people and learn about them as well.
I don’t necessarily feel that if we can’t see the face or hear the voices of others, that they cannot be real or worthy of any trust. Well, it really depends on WHERE in Cyberspace you’re having this communication. For example, if you spend all your time in chat rooms trying to hunt down a “love match” for yourself, I find it a tad bit harder to trust the person on the other end. I’ve heard people to have lied about their weight or their looks so that they can find someone who will fall in love with them. But I guess it all depends on WHO you’re talking to. This whole phenomenon should only be judged on a “case by case” basis.
Those whom have trusted before and have been betrayed badly will probably not trust the Internet as a means to communicate with people.
I think all situations should be judged “case by case” as in real life (face to face interaction), we’ve all been let down, betrayed, used and abused by those we thought loved us. This reminds me of the BTK Killer. He was the president of his church, had a wife and two kids, and worked for the boy scouts. He was trusted, and we all found out the truth in the end. Do you know who your neighbors really are?
Vulnerable and innocent children who put all their faith, love, and trust in their parents get betrayed by them everyday in all sorts of ways in this world. The people whom we expect to protect us, wind up hurting us and turning our souls vigilant, paranoid, and a loss of innocence takes place where the world and it’s people must be interrogated thoroughly before we can trust again.
So, it’s not just the average Joe on the Internet that we cannot trust. In my opinion, we don’t know who ANYBODY is face… or no face.
I understand that there are a lot of people that are newbies to the Internet or about 10 + years behind the advanced world in technology. Also there are quite a few people that are new to blogs. In today’s crash course, I’m going to cover Blockquotes and Hyperlinks.
.::BLOCKQUOTES::.
There is what they call a “blockquote” . Click on the word, “blockquote” for the definition. I will give you a LIVING example here:
Everything that you see on my blog that is “blockquoted” is NOT my own original text. My links provide the sources.
.::WHAT IS A LINK?::.
Next, for those of you who don’t know what a link is or how to identify one. Let me explain:
(I must say that I’m surprised in 2005 that there are STILL people who cannot distinguish a link from normal text – yet somehow wind up on my blog!)
A link is really short for what is really called a “hyperlink”. The best way that I see fit for identifying one is to move your mouse around the text. Do you notice a little hand or symbol appearing over certain parts of the text that are either highlighted, a different color, or where the style of the text changes? Yep. You got it. That is a a “hyperlink” or a “link” for short. And……… if you click on it, it will take you to an EXTERNAL WEBSITE that will give you additional information aiming to prove or back up my case!
An element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different document. Typically, you click on the hyperlink to follow the link. Hyperlinks are the most essential ingredient of all hypertext systems, including the World Wide Web.
There is a site called World Wide Learn. It provides courses and tutorials for those of you who are either still in middle school, lived under a rock all their life and just came out, for Britons, or for those people that have been using a computer for some time and need some brushing up.
The “hyperlinks” you find in my entries cite external sources. It is there, where you can find it’s origin. I hope that I am making myself clear?
It is only then and hopefully then that you will be able to notice the difference between quoting text that’s not my own in the form of a blockquote or just simply copying and pasting text tricking my readers to believe it came from me.
Seriously though, for those making an attempt to comment on anyone’s blog, online news articles/reports or anything of the like REALLY should learn how to use the internet regarding the aforementioned because if you cannot identify blockquotes and links or truly even understand the usage/meaning of them, you will never understand what you’re reading online or at least enough to make a proper comment or contribute to the discussion sounding intelligent. If you, however, are just simply lazy, commenting without having clicked the links in said text that you are responding to, it will make you look like a clown for the whole world to see.
hey idit, have youre ever herd of copy writes looking at your little site hear i counted numeres violations this postink of the garbage vidao is probly the most horible you should respeckt the iintellectual propertyyy of other iwill be forwerding your web adresss two the propper people
First off, I go out of my way to give credit for everything I post on my site. Everything that you see here, I’ve either purchased myself or in the event that I didn’t purchase the rights to what I own, I have properly given credit to the author.
As for the video I uploaded, I gave proper credit to the authors by my linking to them. I own that video. And I’ve purchased it myself.
I don’t do P2P. I haven’t “stolen” anything. I took the video down because after the response I got, I could see where others could grab that video off me illegally. That is where I see a problem could arise. I wasn’t thinking about it when I posted it. And if I was in the wrong for doing that, then I’m guilty as charged and I admit my wrong-doing.
I’m an artist myself (if you look at the photos on my sidebar). I even have a copyright statement there. As a photographer, it’s in my least bit of interest to “steal” from others.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooh, he/she is forwarding my page to the proper people? LOL.
Gayle, thank you very much for the below comment you posted in my blog:
WOW! What a nasty person! Perhaps you could have said this with less jealousy or hate in your tone and maybe the author does not know all the in and outs yet. Did you maybe ask first or give suggestions or is that too mature for you? ((
It’s people like you that make blogging worth my time.
Yes, there are ways to point out someone is doing something wrong. This “person” obviously has no class.
I understand what’s going on today and am carrying the tradition of my ancestors: I am still opposing the things that are wrong. I hope I can share some of these views and make a difference.
Some people are afraid of activism. I don’t know why they are. I’m guessing people have this picture in mind when they think about activists.
Here’s an example list I stole from Cao’s Blog of Conservative Bloggers who passionately support their political views and argue (like I do) relentlessly against the other side (the side that I’m *not* on):
They use images on their blogs to promote the beliefs they hold close to their heart.
Hear from the Republicans:
I agree that Liberals have a tendency of overstepping their boundaries when it comes to protesting or promoting their views, but not all Liberals agree with violent and chaotic protesting.
In essence, both Republicans and Democrats hold their beliefs intensely and sometimes ferociously. But bloggers come by and listen to our rants anyway.
However, the day may come that bloggers have to keep their opinions to themselves. Who knows?
Internet bloggers should enjoy traditional press freedoms and not face regulation as political groups, lawmakers and online journalists said Friday.
In separate letters, Democratic lawmakers and Internet commentators urged the Federal Election Commission to make sure that political Web sites that serve as focal points for political discussion, like Wonkette.com and Freerepublic.com, don’t have to comply with campaign-finance rules.
“Curtailing blogs and other online publications will dampen the impact of new voices in the political process and will do a disservice to the millions of voters who rely on the Web for original, insightful political commentary”, said the Online Coalition, a group of bloggers and online activists.
Fourteen members of the House of Representatives said blogs foster a welcome diversity of viewpoints.
“This ‘democratization’ of the media is a welcome development in this era of media consolidation and a corresponding lack of diversity of views in traditional media outlets”, said the group, which consists of thirteen Democrats and one Republican.
The FEC ruled in 2002 that Internet activities do not count as “coordinated political activity” and thus don’t have to comply with laws that regulate money in politics.
But a U.S. judge struck down that ruling as too broad last year, and the FEC is scheduled to consider it later this month.
If the FEC determines that online “blogs” are in fact political organizations, they could face fines if they work too closely with political campaigns by, for example, reprinting their press releases.
A fellow blogger named Laurie came upon my post on Identity Theft and left a comment that she was going to write about it in her blog. Well, I happened to come across an interesting comment left regarding anonymous blogging. Here’s the lovely comment written by a young Australian who apparently doesn’t follow the news:
“only people who are uncomfortable with who they are or what they are doing remain anonymous”
While Benjamin Solah’s comment did come off as insulting to those bloggers that remain anonymous, I found it somewhat funny in a way. I wrote the following response back to him:
Excuse me? Are you saying I’m not comfortable with who I am because I don’t want to get stalked, my identity stolen, or fired from my job because of controversial things I say in my blog? Are you serious? I can’t believe you can insult a person like that when they’re trying to protect themselves. Have you not heard what has happened to several other bloggers? Do you read American news? I didn’t think so.
If you can prove to me that you’re a safe person, honey, I’d be glad to give you my full name, address, and phone number. Oh yeah, and I’ll even tell you my blood type and tell you if I was born via natural birth or by a caesarian.
One more interesting thing I’d like to point out is how many Australian bloggers are there in comparison to American bloggers? Benjamin has nothing to worry about over there. First off, if you take a look at his blog, you’ll notice that he’s a writer. He doesn’t talk much about controversial issues. Secondly, even if he were to get stalked, do you think someone from another country will take a plane to Australia to stalk him or steal his identity? WTF? He’s also a guy. Anybody with half a brain in their skull knows that women are more vulnerable to stalkers and sexual predators in general. Next, is he at risk of getting fired for blogging? Absolutely not. I am at risk. Obviously, he’s not aware of the woman who got fired at her workplace for having a “Kerry” bumper sticker on her car. I live in a predominantly Republican state. I’ve got bills to pay. I don’t want to lose my job.
I wonder how many people actually read the news or know anything about what’s going on in the world? He obviously didn’t read the other comments posted in Laurie’s entry. There was one girl who had to delete two of her blogs due to stalkers. Now, that I think about it, a male model from Journalspace was even stalked. He used his full name. Some bozo stalker sent him a pair of socks in the mail and wanted him to touch them and send it back. This guy had several stalkers because of his occupation. He eventually deleted his blog.
In any event, I mean no disrespect to those bloggers that use their full name. That’s not the point of this entry. My point is based upon the insulting, ignorant remark telling me that “I’m not comfortable with who I am” if I wish to remain anonymous. Hell, if I was in a little cubby-hole in Australia, I’d give my full name too. By the way, how do you know if bloggers are actually using their real name, anyway. Just because they “say” they’re “Jane Doe” doesn’t really mean they’re “
Oh, by the way, you gotta love those people who say they “don’t care for those who use nicknames”, yet they do it themselves. Now, there may be people that use nicknames in real life (in public). Those people are few and far between, and I find it a bit odd, but I don’t judge them. Who knows what they’ve been through already?
I came to the conclusion long ago that those who write poison pen letters to those people in the public eye getting attention from the media, did not get their basic needs met at childhood. You know, the things that all children need such as touch, love, attention, encouragement, and support. Here’s the perfect example of one who didn’t get that.
Are you familiar with Heather Armstrong from Dooce.Com? If you haven’t had a chance to read her blog, I highly recommend it. Heather is an amazing woman with a superb sense of humor. For those that don’t know Heather, she was fired from her job a few years ago because of her blog — and these entries. Read them. They are hil.ar.ious! She admitted that she knew the risks involved, and when she was terminated, she wasn’t all that bitter; nor was she surprised. If you ask me, she took it very well.
From what I’ve read in her blog, she appears to have a wonderful husband and child. As we all know, nobody has the “perfect” life, but she seems to have what apparently jackson.matt@att.net doesn’t. Matt Jackson is the cretin that sent Heather Armstrong that nasty email.
Oh, and here’s his address just in case you didn’t get it the first time: jackson.matt@att.net jackson.matt@att.net jackson.matt@att.net jackson.matt@att.net
You know, these losers are so transparent, it’s not funny. It’s actually quite amazing and predictable of people of his ilk to get so riled up because someone else is getting loads of attention. If they only knew that they are the ones, attention-starved and needy. They cannot stand someone getting more attention than them. For what they didn’t receive in childhood, they crave so much as an adult now. And they will attempt to destroy those that either got it or are getting it.
For the record, Heather is not asking for attention. The media comes to her. She agrees to talk to them so that others will learn from her mistake. Believe me, I’ve learned a lot from those that have already lost their jobs from blogging. I thank the media and the bloggers willing to cooperate with them. I’m sure because of people like Heather Armstrong, a lot of people are more cautious now or at least know the risk they are taking. And this is why I’m more anonymous than ever! God forbid the people out there find out I’m a Liberal! Ack!
So, you sulkers and cry babies out there that hate to see these people in the spotlight, too damn bad. Blame the media!
Could this be why Republicans hate celebrities so much?
Pretty much the same thing happened to Amber Frey. I know there are a lot of reasons why people hate Amber, but I know some of them are secretly jealous of all the attention she has received.
Moving on back to the fired bloggers, take a look atQueen of Sky’s most recent entry. There are several users at that damned Journalspace who are whining that their server has slowed down since Queen of Sky has been getting so many comments and hits to her blog following her termination. Is this not ridiculous or what? Leave it up to Journalspace users to come up with this kind of crap! If a server cannot handle the bandwidth necessary for a few bloggers to have popularity, they shouldn’t be in business. Blame the f’n server, not the one who is getting all the attention! There are so many blogging platforms out there like Typepad, Blogger, WordPress, Squarespace, Moveable Type, Xanga, Bravenet, Modblog, Blogdrive, Blog City, Mindsay, and more. I have never once heard this problem on another server where the bloggers attack those bloggers who receive a massive amount of hits and using that as a reason the server is slow. Heck, I was a member of Journalspace about a year and a half ago, and that server was all too often slow as all hell! I don’t mean to defame all members of Journalspace, but man-o-man, I have never seen as many crackpots and whackjobs in another blogging community before in my life!
Attention seekers are in denial. They will argue that they don’t need attention and that they don’t seek it. Don’t pay attention to these people. They have never taken the time to look inwards. They are too busy pointing the fingers and whining like big babies for their mama. They look something like this:
…or this:
Go get your OWN attention, and stop sucking on sour grapes!
Why oh why do people use their “real names” on the Internet? There are two different mindsets as to why people particularly use their real names on their blogs. One reason is because they think they are being more “brave”. So, if some passerby uses a nickname in their comments section, they call them cowards. This is the case where a commenter proposes an opposing thought. Another reason people use their real names is so that nobody thinks they’re a coward.
Anonymous is being a coward; using an alias is being smart.
I’ve read some comment policies on other people’s blogs before, and damn… they are asking way too much when they want everyone’s real name. But then again, they may not be asking for their last name too. However, even if you submit your first name, that’s only one step closer to being either stalked or being the victim of either a violent crime or identity theft.
I see the looks on all your faces now. You are telling me that I’m too paranoid. Well, maybe I am. But I choose to be paranoid because the alternative is frightening to me. Why? Let me give you all two very important reasons. Listen up!
I . don’t . want . to . get . fired . from . my . job. While some of you think it may not be that much of a risk, I would rather be called “paranoid” or be told “It’s not your name that gets you fired” than be courageous stupid and find myself the next day on the unemployment line and not being able to pay the electric bill.
I’m leaving this up through Friday night. There have been some odd things happening lately that makes me believe someone is stealing my identity. Others have brought the idea to my attention, based on what’s happened, and I’m beginning to believe it.
1. Yesterday, I noticed an unauthorized charge for $596.18 in my account. Wells Fargo immediately declared it a fraudulent charge and stated that I should suspect identity theft. I shrugged it off and thought that it was a bank error. They have since credited back the money, but have not completed their investigation.
2. The other night, while I was leaving work, I had this strange feeling that I was being watched. When I went to get into my car, an odd boom sound was made close to my car. It was like my trunk door was open and someone had slammed it. All the way home, my car made a rattling sound in the back. I had stupid paranoia thoughts like someone was in my trunk, but then justified that it was stuff that got loose and was moving around. I was right, but it didn’t explain the loud noise.
3. Today, I receive a call from a medical company telling me the following: “Hi, this is so and so from Big Name Medical Company calling to setup an appointment with states my first and last name.” I say, “Um, ok?” And she goes, “So, when do you want to come in to have the surgery done?” I say, “Surgery? I don’t need surgery.” She says, “Were you not in this morning for a check up? You had a insert medical condition here that needs to be taken care of?” I say, “No ma’am, I wasn’t in there today, or ever.” She says, “Ok, well, um, sorry for the inconvenience,” and hangs up. About 3 minutes later, she calls back and says, “HottTxBoi, I have just spoke to my supervisor about this and she suggests that you call our customer service hotline and report this to them. Let them know that they are using your card so that they can take action against it.” I ask her, “What card?” She says, “Your Big Name Medical Company card.” I say, “I’ve never had one of those cards.” She says, “Then you need to let them know that someone is using your number on their records.” I ask her, “Ma’am, what address did they use?” She tells me the address. Luckily, it’s not mine. I would have freaked if it was.
However, why is someone using my number and my name? All of these three things happened in the same week and I’m exceedingly freaked out. Scared, even. So, after tomorrow night, this blog will no longer be open to anyone for a very long time. I hope all is well with everyone during this time period.
This freaked the hell out of me! However, I have to admit, I don’t know whether or not someone really stole his identity. There’s no update in his blog about it. But regardless, it makes you think. If it doesn’t put a BIG FAT WARNING sign in front of your head, I don’t know what will.
You know, I’ve never heard of a person being violently attacked because of something “offensive” they wrote in their blog. It may or may not have ever happened. But I wouldn’t put it past some of these wackos I find every now and then in Cyberspace. I don’t trust a face I cannot see, and even then I’m weary until I actually feel I know the person well enough. I have some very controversial beliefs, and I can easily imagine someone showing up at my front door one day with an AK-47. Yes, I have riled people up that much and even in the past in Blogsphere.
So, here I am trying to keep my life, my job, and my identity intact. It’s worth all the “outrageous” points of views I may have regarding the non-usage of my real first and last name.
Folks, if you want to be considered “non-cowardly” on the Internet, when you leave a comment or write something controversial in your blog or journal, leave your email address and a referral to your blog. How simple is that?
I am Ticklebug and will always be Ticklebug in Blogdom. If someone thinks I’m too cowardly for not using my real first and last name, then the hell with them. I will just laugh in their face if their real identities come back to haunt them one day.
With the advancement in technology these days, I can imagine anything and everything happening. Some people are smart enough to put two and two together with your little clues about yourself that you write in your blog, easily — that is, if they want to. Don’t be naive.
My links are always traceable whether it be by my email address or my blog’s URL. So, if someone wants to reply to my “offensive” comment, they are welcome to do so. If you dish it out, I agree with you all, that you must be strong enough to welcome the reciprocation. But for the life of me, why do some of you feel the necessity to reveal your real name? What purpose does it serve?
lurking around automatic teller machines (ATMs) and phone booths in order to capture PIN numbers (by watching through binoculars as the numbers are being entered, or more simply, by casting a watchful gaze over someone’s shoulder). Travelers are a particularly favourite target;
stealing mail from mailboxes or re-directing mail in an effort to collect credit cards, bank statements, credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, tax information or other personal data. Privacy Journal has also pointed out “how automated credit bureaus freely accept an address change without confirming it or notifying the consumer who is the subject of the file. An impostor can easily have a retail store enter a change of address for a consumer whose identity the impostor has misappropriated, and that is what thousands of credit fraud perpetrators are doing …;
illegally obtaining personal credit reports;
setting up telemarketing schemes to elicit account numbers from unsuspecting consumers;
accessing personal information accidentally sent to the wrong fax number, e-mail address or voice mailbox;
scavenging through the garbage in search of credit card or loan applications, employer’s files, and identification/authentication data such as login IDs and passwords. Similarly, thieves can search erased disks for any retrievable data;
sending false messages on the Internet (spoofing) in an effort to collect private information. For example, posing as travel agents or other service providers, identity thieves can make off with your credit card number once it has been entered to purchase a ticket or service;
sending e-mail using someone else’s computer or e-mail address;
using various software programs such as “signals analysis” and “sniffer” programs to intercept financial data, passwords, addresses or other personal information being sent over networks;
breaking into computer systems and gaining access to personal data. For example, names, addresses and credit card or social insurance/security numbers (SINs/SSNs) located in the databases of governments, financial organizations, employers, creditors, and credit bureaus can be downloaded by employees, former employees or external hackers. They can then sell the information or use it to open fraudulent accounts.
One security expert found that nearly 70 percent of the websites he surveyed in December 1996 had “security lapses.” Surveyed sites included banks, credit unions and government agencies.8 Even more recently, a 14-year-old boy faced multiple charges after making $3000 worth of fraudulent purchases using a collection of debit card numbers that he had downloaded from the Internet.
So, we know there’s no real way to prevent Identity Theft, but there are ways you can decrease the risks. It’s also frightening to think that if your real name is displayed somewhere on the Internet, that someone else can link it to you somehow. It’s happened before! As the odds are slim, I still have to go with the popular cliche expression that “it’s better to be safe than sorry”.
Hello, fellow bloggers and blog-readers! I came across I am the Hermit’s weblog, and found this post. It really made me think about a few things.
I’m convinced that hours of being chained to my seat at stolen hours of the morning and afternoon and all hours of the evening into the early morning hours, clicking on numbers, colors, birds, hearts, hamburgers, elephants, smiley faces, and other matching items on BlogExplosion, BlogClicker, and Blogazoo, has led to severe muscle aches, eye strain and carpal tunnel. My mind is not complaining, my body is. And seriously, before I go to bed, I see the "Congratulations- You’re a Winner!" flashing in my mind’s eye, and before I know it, I’m up again, booting up my computer and driving traffic to my blogsite… click.click.click.click.click.click. Stop!
I applaud her for not being too embarrassed to admit to this. It sounds a lot like me, but I don’t think I’m to that level of addiction yet. However, if I didn’t work and wasn’t tired after returning home from work, I can easily imagine myself clicking, reading, and typing my heart out!
I am not in denial. I admit it–I am addicted to BE, BC and Blogazoo, and when I joined these traffic exchanges, I promised myself I would moderate my time, but alas, this is not the case.
Are there any of you out there who shares my addiction? I’ve spoken to a friend who is a psychologist and she is not happy with me. This would explain her refusal to create a blog for herself. "Get a life!", she says. Gee… but I do have a life…
This is the part that confuses me. Why is that nobody bats an eyelash at addictions to TV, reading, and other electronic forms of pleasure? Isn’t it the same thing? I mean the only difference between being a Book Worm and a blogger is a screen with words as opposed to pieces of paper with words, right? But Book Worms are given the utmost respect.
What about TV? They are both screens that we look at. One activity is audible entertainment or learning from a comfortable reclining chair or sofa, and the other is on your desktop. So, does eating a bag of doughnut holes sprawled out on the sofa watching reruns of "The Beverly Hillbillies" keep us out of the "You have no life" radar?
But back then before the Internet, people fussed about (and unfortunately still do) how TV rots your brain. However, I have to respectfully disagree. Why can’t we just say, "it depends on WHAT you watch". If all I did was watch "The Cosby Show", well then…. I think after a while I’d probably have myself committed! What about "The News", "The History Channel", "The Discovery Channel", "Court TV", and "The Learning Channel"?
I’d like to know what the difference between learning about WWII from a television screen as opposed to gaining this knowledge from a book or in school?
I never appreciated History when I was in school. I do now. I was bored to death by "war stories" in school. I am not any longer. As an adult I’ve become to find History and the people (both good and bad) who made it, extremely fascinating.
I do not call becoming more knowledgeable about the world around me and the people within it from a TV set to be a self-destructing pastime.
Remember years before the Internet made it’s way into everyone’s home, many were addicted to video games and arcades? Now, we can enjoy our addictions in the comfort of our own homes.
It has been said that blogging may have evolved from chat rooms. If this is the case, one can logically speculate that bloggers were also chat junkies at one time and have progressed to a higher developed venue of communication, or so I would hope.
Now, there’s a big difference between a journal and a blog. Wouldn’t you think that those who write in and read blogs have a thirst for knowledge? We like to report our discoveries and debate with our fellow bloggers too.(Although sometimes a debate may be substituted by a nasty quarrel!)
Yes, we are very intelligent people, but there’s something else! We are also attention-whores! I will surely admit that I’m one of them.
My name is Augustine and I am an addict, a blogging addict. I dream at night of things I have blogged, should blog or did not blog. I ruminate on comments that have been made or have not been made on my blog or that I might make or will make in other blogs. I check my stats more than once a day. More than twice a day. Allright, I check my stats a lot. I also check my Technorati rati quite a lot. I read the newspapers and feel guilty that I am not blogging about the news because nobody will know what’s going on in the world if I don’t blog about it. It’s my duty to blog about all the injustice and lies and horror because if people don’t read it in my blog then they won’t know it’s happening.
It’s also my duty to blog about the meaning of life and everything because if it’s not in my blog then where are people going to find out? It’s also my duty to translate my every passing thought and observation and experience into bloggish because if I don’t then, well, then I’m not a good and frequent blogger and nobody will visit me. I get withdrawal symptoms if I am away from my screen for more than a day even when I’m not blogging – I tap my fingers aimlessly on tables or armchairs and look pale and withdrawn. Enough already. I have decided to go into rehab. But since there are not, as yet, rehab clinics for blogaddicts, I have drawn up my own rehabilitation regime. Feel free to adapt it to your own needs.
I guess if your addiction gets in the way of other important responsibilities in your life, it can be detrimental. Oh well, I guess I’m in need of a 12-step program. Anyone else care to proudly join me?
As Jon Stewart put it, bloggers can add another ‘notch to their belt’. After the ‘Jeff Gannon’ story broke (see Daily Kos) more and more interesting things have developed. Tonights opening sketch talked about the bloggers who not only discovered Gannon, but his racy photos. The funniest quote: “CNN broke… the breaking of the story” [clip] “…that’s CNN reporting on why blogs are way more interesting than CNN”.
“Jon, before we begin… before I get ‘outed’ by the bloggers…” Oh, have no fear, we’re always there to ‘out’ everyone right? “The vast majority of bloggers out there are responsible for .. niche reporting .. like Gilmore Girl Fan Fiction… where I draw the line is at those attack bloggers. They have no credibility, all they have is facts.” Haha, enough said.
Eventually, bloggers will gain a “seat at the table” which apparently will entitle us “access, status, money, power” and there will be, heaven forbid, complacency.
Well, congratulations to all you Bloggers out there – even the ones I don’t share the same opinions with. We ROCK, don’t we!?
Evil Clown is very quick with a joke, but his jests always have a barb. He has little patience for in-depth discussions and will often disrupt exchanges between serious forum participants by introducing irrelevant topics, fatuous quips, and offhand comments. His greatest thrill is to taunt and humiliate weaker or more plodding Warriors with his snappy ripostes. Not a particularly powerful Warrior, Evil Clown will attempt to avoid defeat by accusing his attacker of having no sense of humor.
The excuse, “You don’t have a sense of humor!” or “You can’t take a joke???” has grown tired, has it not? My favorite response to that is, “A joke is supposed to be funny”. I believe most of us DO have a sense of humor, yet we are all different as to what is funny and what is not. When in doubt, one should know the person they are communicating with before introducing a joke that YOU know may potentially hurt that person. It’s common sense. In any event, I do strongly believe that those who want to make an insulting comment to another that out of fear of confrontation and the repercussions of said insult, cover themselves up with the cliché, “It was just a joke – lighten up!” if there is retaliation.
PAPD resistance to external demands is manifested in oppositional and obstructive behaviors. These individuals resent having to conform to the standards set by others. On the other hand, they fear direct confrontation. The combination of resentment and fear leads to passive, provocative behavior (Beck & Freeman, 1990, p. 333) and defiant compliance (Benjamin, 1994, p. 276).
Can you tell the truth?
Garble is a mystery: Is he a foreigner with only tenuous grasp of English? Is he on drugs? Does he suffer a serious mental debility? Is he typing wearing boxing gloves? Garble’s rampant typos, malapropisms and execrable grammar can’t be blamed solely on poor typing skills. Garble is all the more puzzling because if one manages to hack his way through the tangled muddle of his messages a discernable idea will often emerge. For example, in a forum discussion about a painting he might say, “Sorry the picchr the har is wrog. The culir. I liike the lips bot teh Paintng is sucs”. When someone refers to his random capitalization Garble might say something like, “oPS i HITTED THE CAPDLOCK”. Garble drives Grammarian and Nitpick absolutely nuts, but he disdains all efforts at correction, and if complaints persist he will indignantly sign exit saying, “yuor forum si stupef. bYE!” HINT: Garble may be Net Rat.
Hahahahahaha! I find the “Garble” very funny. Now, how could we take this type seriously?
Xenophobe is usually a long-term discussion forum participant and he thinks of the forum as his private compound. Xenophobe regards new forum arrivals as mentally deficient and perhaps even having criminal tendencies, and they are invariably approached with suspicion and condescension. Xenophobe will mount a furious attack if a Newbie has the temerity to make critical observations about the forum’s social dynamics, or questions its prevailing opinions.
It was a peaceful and productive forum; lively, congenial and a bounteous source of useful information. Then one day, completely without warning, Godzilla arose from the depths and blew his scalding breath on everything in his path. A phalanx of Warriors mobilized to attack the monster, only to be crushed like so many toy tanks under Godzilla’s mighty feet. Godzilla soon reduced the forum to searing and consuming flames. Just as abruptly, he rumbled back beneath the waves, leaving all to tremble in fear of his return. Net life would never be the same. Sadly, many netizens who survive a Godzilla attack will become Xenophobes.
Aaaaah. This one is too funny!
Grammarian usually has little to contribute to a discussion and possesses few effective weapons. To compensate, he will point out minor errors in spelling and grammar. Because of Grammarian’s obvious weakness most Warriors ignore him.
Every forum has one of these. Heh. When a “supreme being” doesn’t like what you have to say, your grammar and spelling mistakes will be pointed out and corrected. The fact is – is that these “Grammarians” cannot come up with an intelligent, logical response to your argument. They have nothing to say. Your grammar/spelling mistakes fill in the gap for what could be a clean and stimulating debate.
DO keep in mind, if this happens to you, be proud. This just means that YOU are right. If your argument was really wrong, these “Grammarians” would come up with more than resorting to attacking your petty typos.
Grunter always responds to discussion forum messages with a single word or a short phrase, and he NEVER edits quoted material. Profundus Maximus, Philosopher, Tireless Rebutter, and other verbose Warriors find Grunter a particularly exasperating opponent because he will answer their lengthy pontifications with a simple “Yeah!”. “Get a life.”, “Whatever”, “I agree.” “Wrong.”, etc. While Grunter is not a strong Warrior, he is very elusive and difficult to engage in direct battle, and only by his extended silence is there any indication that he has been vanquished.
Only a man, right? This gives validity to the expression, “less is more” because a lot of the times it is! Actually, I admire the type of person who can say everything with just a couple of words. I really wish that I could do that. But I’m the polar opposite and tend to be long-winded. And that’s the female part of me that shines through, I guess. The Cyber Sisters love the long-winded because it gives them even more of an opportunity to put words in your mouth.
Jerk is sarcastic, mean, unforgiving and never misses an opportunity to make a cutting remark. Jerk’s repulsive personality quickly alienates other Warriors, and after some initial skirmishing he is usually ostracized. Still, Jerk is very happy to participate in electronic forums because in cyberspace he is free to be himself…without the risk of getting a real-time punch in the mouth.
I’m assuming that most of you who have your own blogs have experienced being a subscriber to a message board at one time or another. If not, that’s okay because what I’m about to show you, I’m sure some of you will relate to, somehow. Being a part of online communities, journals, blogs, and the like, we’ve probably all ran across these personality types. Or maybe one or two of them … could be you?
ALLCAPS attempts to compensate for his limited rhetorical weaponry through the extravagant use of capitalized words – something netizens refer to as SHOUTING. Sure, a sprinkling of capitalized words can add some zip to a thrust, but they should be used sparingly. Even worse from a tactical point of view, too much shouting alerts other Warriors to the opponent’s verbal WEAKNESS and emotional EXCITABILITY.
People who type in all caps never really bothered me that much. My only complaint about it is that their words are a lot harder to read.
Although sometimes a male, Crybaby is usually a female, and often a close ally of Innocence Abused. When teased or attacked Crybaby will pitch a loud public temper tantrum, holding her breath and kicking her feet. If that defense fails she will run to Nanny for comfort.
Errr…. this sounds somewhat like the way I used to be, and still sometimes am. Ug!
Cyber Sisters are an extremely fierce confederation of fighting females who act something like a shrill Greek chorus, echoing and amplifying one another’s voice until their foes retreat in disarray. They are generally leaderless, but anyone who challenges one Cyber Sister can expect to be savagely attacked by the others. Only the most powerful and battle-hardened of Warriors is strong enough to weather a Cyber Sisters attack.
Oh my… this is the most notorious and the most common behavior I’ve ever (unfortunately) experienced on the internet. I’ve never been apart of this mob-mentality in cyberspace. It’s everywhere. Before you dissent or begin any kind of “touchy” or controversial topic, you better make sure you’re bonded with the popular,“I’m a bitch and I’m proud”, catty, combative, and the evil force of overly female poison. If not, you will be pounced upon and smashed to the ground by a pack of sexually frustrated female clique of wolves. They don’t mess with the popular people because they can dish it out but can’t take it back in return by a group. They are cowards and only go after the newbies or ones not involved in a click. They know in advance that you don’t have a support group or have an entourage everywhere you go. They know if they strike at you, that they will receive support from their catty coalition. And you will be dead and will know better the next time to keep your opinions to yourself! So, in short, if you’re going to voice a strong opinion, do it after you’ve connected with the “girls club”. It’s at that time, you can say whatever you please. Even if they disagree with you, you won’t know about it because they’re ON YOUR SIDE!
Yes, (believe it or not) a lot of these women are in their mid twenties, thirties, and forties. You’d think you were back in elementary school again.
I’ve never seen this type of behavior among men. However, before I had gotten married, I joined a couple of (cough) … ALL FEMALE message boards consisting of engaged prima-donnas or married soccer moms, Stepford wives and trophy wives. After these experiences of being a member of an ALL-FEMALE message board, I never went back and never intend on joining a community like that again!
Men are more logical and so much easier to get along with. They argue with more reason, and if you point out to a man that he dissed you, (if you were really undeserving of an attack by a male and you know it), more than likely, they will apologize to you! No, seriously. Too many women are too strongly driven by their emotions, and don’t have time to stop and think about what they’re doing or saying. If you point out to them their wrong-doings, you will get stomped on again —- but this time EVEN HARDER!
For Ego, the discussion forum is all about him, and he regards discussions that stray from that topic as trivial dalliances. Although tolerant of an occasional shift in focus, Ego grows increasingly restive when the forum’s attention shifts away from his interests, and he will often provoke conflict to reestablish himself as the subject at hand. Ego is one the the fiercest of all the Warriors and will fight to the death when attacked.
“Can we please stay on topic here?!”, “You’re not only off topic, but……”, and along with all other hostile ways of informing a member that they’re off topic — is very commonplace. I had always thought these cries directing people to stay on topic were so petty that it was laughable. What makes it even more humorous is the fact that if you say something nice, nobody mentions a thing. I always found that funny because the measures to get some people “on topic” were only directed at either those of whom weren’t liked or those that said something disagreeable. But if you are a really good boy or girl, you will be sure to post an “O/T” before you speak.
The same applies to blogs in blogdom. I could care less if someone puts comments in my blog that are off topic. I don’t have a problem as long as someone isn’t selling Viagra, Penis Enlargement pills, or attacking the person instead of the subject. But as long as everyone’s conversing and having a good time, so be it. I feel that life is way too short to get all riled up about stupidity like that.
Enfant Provocateur likes to stir up trouble because…because, well…just because. This species of Flame Warrior is almost always young and male – it could be just a hormone thing.
I must admit… I really enjoy this type.
I will continue this topic either later tonight or tomorrow. Please stay tuned for Part II of Flame Warriors!
1. Type “about:config” in the adress field.
2. Set the value of network.http.pipelining to “true”.
3. Set the value of network.http.pipelining.maxrequests to “100″.
4. Set the value of network.http.proxy.pipelining to “true”
5. Set the value of nglayout.initialpaint.delay to “0″
Now watch as the loading times that already beat IE’s go into overkill mode.
It’s not hard to change the values. Just double click on the line that you need to edit, and presto!
Under the pseudonym of Sarcastic Journalist, Rachel Mosteller wrote this entry on her personal Web log one day last April:
“I really hate my place of employment. Seriously. Okay, first off. They have these stupid little awards that are supposed to boost company morale. So you go and do something ’spectacular’ (most likely, you’re doing your JOB) and then someone says ‘Why golly, that was spectacular.’ then they sign your name on some paper, they bring you chocolate and some balloons.
“Okay two people in the newsroom just got it. FOR DOING THEIR JOB.”
YIKES! To think about a couple years back, I could have easily done the same thing without even thinking twice about it.
The day after that posting, she was fired.
Bill Stagg, managing editor of the Herald-Sun, said he could not comment on a personnel matter. But Mosteller, 25, said the blog was one of the reasons she was given for losing her job, and she is still in shock. “Considering I treated the blog as a smoke break, I didn’t think of it as a problem.”
There are 8 million personal Web logs — or blogs — in the United States, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. People write blogs to talk about their day, family outings, dates gone awry and, of course, work. But what might feel like a very personal entry about a dismal workday can mean something quite different to a boss who needs only a search engine to read it.
My guess is that her boss didn’t like her to begin with and was just trying to find a good excuse to fire her. If that isn’t the case, then it’s a very disturbing thought to think that your superiors at work go “googling” throughout the web TRYING TO FIND YOUR BLOG on their free time. Remember “Queen of Sky”? Well, at least for her blog, one can say that Delta had a good reason for firing her because she was in uniform when the questionable pictures were taken. Even though difficult, to an avid traveler, one can tell that’s a Delta uniform. Worrying about their business, Delta stepped into her personal blog and terminated her. But by reading Rachel Mosteller’s blog, one would never know where she works. The company she worked for was not in jeopardy of losing their business over her blog entries. Amazing. And scary.
I love my job, but even if I didn’t, after hearing that people are being fired everyday because of their blogs, the thought wouldn’t even cross my mind to complain about work. EGADS!
Are any of you worried about this? Do you think Funky Fresh Freddie is worried about this? Hate Crimes Towards Your Pee Pee is just one of the ’safer’ posts on his site to view or click on for that matter.
E-mail and Internet policies that have been developed were created to deal with improper employee usage during work hours. Very few companies have rules governing employee computer habits outside work.
Very few now, but just give it a couple months to a year, bloggers will only be limited to writing about how much they love President Bush, the weather, their teddy bears, Karen Carpenter songs, and a great Disney movie they just saw in the theater. Oh! And don’t forget, we won’t be able to smoke in the privacy of our own homes either!
Michael Hanscom started his blog, Eclecticism, before 2000, as a way to keep in touch with family and collect things he found on the Internet. A fan of Apple computers, he found himself working at a temporary job with Xerox on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash.
Hanscom said his family teased him that he would burst into flames when he walked onto the Microsoft campus. So one day, when he noticed a pallet of Macs — the same version he just bought for himself — ready to be delivered to Microsoft, he took a picture and posted it. “It struck my sense of humor,” he said.
A few days after Hanscom posted the picture, he said, his Xerox manager called him into an office. The manager had Hanscom’s blog up, and asked if the picture was his. Hanscom said it was, but said it was posted on his own time, on his own computer. According to Hanscom, the manager then said because it was posted on his own space and time, the company couldn’t ask him to take it down, but he could never come to the Microsoft campus again.
“It makes sense, really,” Hanscom said. “I’ve tried since then to look at it from their point of view. I never gave away any secrets, but I was in a position where I saw a lot.”
And yet, another blogger gets into trouble….
An Atlanta blogger who goes by Karsh says he was fired from a sales position in January after he blogged on company time. He was not so contrite. The writer of BGB, or Black Gay Blogger, said his boss wanted him to apologize for the things he had said about his fellow employees.
Since the other workers were not named, he did not think it was necessary, he said. “I feel like it’s been said and done.”
The blogger renamed his supervisor “Skeletor” and “Wednesday Addams” in an entry about the confrontation. When he was told he would be demoted and had to dismantle his site, he quit, he said.
It is possible to write a private blog, where only those with passwords can sign in to read the entries. But part of being a blogger is wanting to be heard!
The author of “The Papal Bull” attempts to find similarities among the “Fired for Blogging” community:
“When you look at all of these stories, what threads begin to become apparent? Here is what I see:
1) Some did not think anyone from work would ever know about the blog. – Matthew Brown said: “It was ignorant and rude,” Mr. Brown said of his comments. “But it was for nobody except my family and friends. I didn’t give the address to anyone at Starbucks. And I didn’t name the manager.”
- The Washington Post reported on Jessica Cutler: “The electronic bulletin board where Jessica began posting her online diary offered her the option of creating a password so no one could read it without her consent. But I thought that was, like, too much trouble for my friends to have to type in a password,” Jessica says. “I thought there are so many people with their own blogs, mine is not even going to come up on the radar.” After Jessica started to get Instant Messages telling her that Wonkette had outed her, she tried furiously to delete the blog and make it inactive. Alas, it was too late. You can still get to a recreated version of her pages here.
2) Some spent time posting to their blog while at “work.” – Iain Murray apparently falls into this category. “Mr Murray explained that he spent no more time working on the blog as other colleagues spent taking breaks from work to have a cigarette.”
- Daniel P. Finney was at least suspected of doing this, as well: “They say Finney’s hard drive was confiscated on Thursday, December 16, the day after the Unreal item was published.” Clyde Bentley, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, wrote concerning Finney: “Most companies developed policies, similar to their other “moonlighting” policies. Generally, if the material was collected and processed at work, it is supposed to stay at work. Many companies, however, co-opted the process by sponsoring the blogs of their employees and making the blog a part of their regular work.” – Jessica Cutler seems to be guilty of this, as well if one were to take the recreated time stamps at face value :”
I may be fired someday for blogging or I may not. All I can say is that I’m not going to give up something that I love doing on my free time. Of course, I will censor myself some, but so be it. I have to work! Bills need to get paid! I have to sacrifice a bit.
Blog Suicide……. Can there be such a thing? How many times have you sat down at the computer making an entry to your blog about something you are passionate about, your thoughts are flying, you’re reaching down deep, laying it on the line, just as you feel it. And then bam! You
stop suddenly in your tracks and you ask yourself, “Is this politically correct? Am I going to get a bad rating for this? Am I committing Blog Suicide here?
(Raising my hand) This happens to be more often than I wish it would. It’s pretty sad, but it’s inevitable. You know, people with tons of bottled up anger look for controversial reads and use that as an outlet. It’s so wrong. I wonder why people just cannot attack the subject matter rather than the person who presents it?
I try to be careful with those “touchy topics” especially those topics that ruffle the feathers of the Bush Supporters. Let’s face it. Many of us have very strong opinions about war. Well, that’s all good and well until you find some inane, insulting remarks in the comments section of your blog. A very good example of this can be found on the second blog comment in this entry from Unfair Witness.
“i say good job g.i. at least they didint cut off his head with a dull knife. you week minded goof”
The above mental midget who wrote that comment was responding to the tragic death of an Iraqi POW at the hands of our military police. Nice move.
I take risks, though. I take a break from walking on the egg shells. So far no one has posted any offensive comments in my blog, but I know it’s not a question of “if”, it’s more a question of “when”. It happens everywhere. It happens all the time. We have to be prepared for the wacko, crack-heads who read our blogs, and know that some of their comments will offend us — whether we like it or not. But all and all, I still believe it’s worth the risk. However, I’m not always that adventurous.
I think it’s fine to disagree or even be offended by the blog you’re viewing. Some people don’t like to hear
dissenting views, but it’s fair game. If you’re going to bring up a “touchy topic”, you better be prepared for a rebuttal. But there’s no excuse for insults or name-calling. (I’m guilty of this too, but only in response to other insults. Call me a hypocrite, but I personally feel it’s a fair game to fight back whether it’s the right or wrong thing to do.)
These two have GOT to be figures in a wax museum! Anybody have matches??
I got a match….My dogs ass and your face!
The first commenter didn’t offend the poster nor did he/she attack any other commenters. But the second commenter, with nothing intelligent to say, resorted to making an insulting attack rather than staying on topic and commenting on the entry written.
“Oh my God!” The thought of it all sends you clicking away at your backspace button or rapidly hitting the delete button. You lean back, think for a moment, then resume your entry, trying to sugar coat your thoughts in order to create a post that gets your feelings/point across
but stops short of an untimely death. How sad is that?
Very. Some people cannot handle opinions that differ from their own.
And then there’s that blogger or two or three that slams you! Gives you a damn 1 or 2? Hell, that’s almost not even showing up for class! How on earth can you get a rating like that other than spew hatred and vile thoughts? If I don’t like a blog I just keep on surfing. We all have varying opinions. We are individuals; that’s what makes surfing so much fun. Seeing different points of views other than my own, like them or not.
Well, there’s no rating system here, but those who disagree with us, like to punish us for our opinions. God forbid! If there’s no rating system, we get insulted, instead. Either way, it’s punishment. We are bad. Some punishments even take the form of being terminated from your job! because one of your clients got offended at your difference in views. I had to agree with the below commenter in response to the firing:
My condolences on the death of your country’s constitution. Where do we send the flowers?
You can send it to those who at least try to exercise their right to ‘free speech’. But as our men fight in Iraq, isn’t it ironic how we are losing our freedoms by the day?
There are always places and times when certain topics are taboo. You know those topics, politics, religion, sex. The topics that consume us on a
daily basis through media, at work at play, in our face all the time. So why not talk about them in our blogs without fear of blog suicide? If there was ever a time when our country was more divided by party lines, pro /anti war, morality issues, it’s now.
Yes, I reckon the terrorists and all the Anti-Americans in the Middle East love to hear about the division of the Americans. Yes, we hate each other. We don’t disagree with each other. We hate each other. Fifty-one percent VS forty-eight percent, right?
So I ask this, before you slam me or my fellow bloggers with a 1 or a 2 ask yourself this, “Did what they say inspire me? Invoke thoughts of my own? Make me feel passionate about my own beliefs?” If you can answer “yes” to any of those than maybe just maybe the post served it’s purpose and ignited new passions of your own.
In the ideal world, people will listen to other’s point of views and get inspired by them, rather than resorting to name-calling and getting too personal. They get personal because they are taking our comments personally. These are very touchy people and perhaps too thin-skinned to be participating in controversial subject matters with others.
The extreme Libs are just as guilty. Watch out for the extremists – Republicans or Democrats.
Nobody enjoys being insulted, hence for the “sugar-coating” of our words so as not to ‘offend’ those that don’t have the strength and maturity to accept the opinion of another.
One hundred and eleven bloggers have signed a petition already to protect themselves from getting the boot from both their companies and/or organizations they belong to. Wow!
Hear about what happened to a “former” Delta Air Lines flight attendant. If you read the feedback the woman got regarding her getting fired from Delta, some believe she had deserved to get fired while others sided with her and agreed that she should “fight it out”.
You can find more in depth information on “Queen of the Sky’s” story in her blog. There too, you will find the pictures that may have caused her to get fired.
~Hear the Feedback~
In a way, you kinda deserved it. Sorry. I am a very left-wing, liberal type but if I had a company and my employees were globally offending my operation for the sake of a few laughs and their own inferiority complex I’m afraid they’d be fired. Delta might not be the most employee-centric company around, but the idea of ‘team’ is tarnished when one uses her clought-lofted uniform to stage complaints and quarrels about her company.One thought is, if the company is/was so bad why bother working there then or trying to get your job back now? One would wonder if the ‘blog’ was about the job or about
yourself. After all, you do call yourself a ‘queen’. written by Nick Tomkin
Netta Johnson writes If you want it personal, keep it personal.
All in all she should take it with a grain of salt… but we do live in a cultural infrastructure that currently frowns on employees who cant keep private personal information out of the job…ie-employee silliness. Too bad she had to get fired to realize that. Blowing off steam, I could understand, complaints, I could understand, if taken to the source, but what company likes bad publicity, and even worse, self aggrandizement on their dime? Of course there is nothing out here to stop anyone from saying what ever they want to say about anyone else, but as always, you must expect consequences.
The issue isn’t blogging. Nobody is trying to stop anybody from blogging. The issue is you took pictures of yourself in your uniform (during work hours?) in your workplace in sexy poses and then posted them for the whole world to see.If you had taken pictures of yourself looking the slightest bit professional in your uniform, in the plane, smiling, doing your job, I doubt the company would’ve objected. To prance around the airplane, sprawl across the seats barefooted, take
pictures that say “see my tits and ass” in the workplace is so unprofessional as to be unbelievable.
Why do you think that this is acceptable behavior by anybody while at work? If you owned an airline, would you like it if your employees where clearly goofing off on your dime and then publishing it for the whole world to see?
I can’t believe all the people here rooting for this kind of unprofessional behavior in the workplace and missing the whole point by saying it’s some sort of oppression on your “right” to blog. Give me a break. written by Claire
However, some people feel she should fight back!
Why shouldn’t she fight back? Calling it “whining” is a red herring. It’s an elitist comment, and “bending over to take it” won’t solve a thing. People have a right to live their life. I am a business owner, and I feel privileged to work with great people. As
long as their personal business doesn’t affect mine, they can do whatever they feel like doing.In my experience, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In my experience, those who complain about others whining usually are the ones doing most of the whining.
Pathetic!
And J S writes Get the Facts before you judge her.
In reading her site, I see that the reason she is alleging sex discrimination is apparently because there are male pilots who have posted photos of themselves in uniform on web sites, but have not been fired for it.As for “at will” employment: Employment law is very complex and relates to individual state law. Some states are “at will” states, some are not.
My opinion is: she should fight Delta over this, but it would be better to do so privately rather than using the web as her podium.
Just wanted to rebut comments by “Claire.” I don’t think the pics by QofS are “unprofessional,” “unacceptable,” or even “sexy.” They may be considered “sexy” by viewers who deem it so (leg men, fetishists, the like). Those pictures were taken at the beginning of the workday, out of sight of passengers. It was not obvious that the uniform was Delta’s. What she did had no effect on the workday’s activities. And if
you think flight attendants should be humorless and serious all the time consider this. At Southwest Airlines, ground crew and flight attendants crack jokes, announce sport scores, make silly announcements (like “Welcome to Lost Wages” as they pull into McCarran), have singing contests and do other unorthodox, fun acts in front of passengers. As I have stated in previous posts, which airline is the only one making a
profit these days? written by Jimmy
Very interesting. And even more interesting for me because I used to work for Delta!!! Fortunately, I didn’t get fired nor did I leave the company on bad terms. I do not know what it’s like to work for Delta right now, but looking back, Delta was one of the most professional and employee-friendly companies in the US that I’ve ever worked for.
Before I even knew what had been going on in the Blogsphere regarding getting fired or “dooced” as they say, I had always thought to myself that I would keep the fact that I write in a blog a secret from everybody at work — regardless if they were a co-worker or good friend of mine. My real name is not exposed on my blog nor is any of my personal information that would lead anyone to find out “who I am” or “what I do”.
Secondly, I was raised to always “be careful what you put in writing”. This is so true. “Anything you say or do can be held against you….” Sounds familiar?
This is not to say that I don’t believe people should have “online diaries” that are focused primarily on themselves, their lives, their rants, and their deepest personal feelings. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. And yes, “Free Speech” DOES come in to play and is there to “protect” us. However, as others had mentioned in the “Queen of the Sky” case, Free Speech comes with limitations and must be used with caution. Remember one of the last lines in the movie, “Spiderman 1″?“With great power comes great responsibility.” This is pretty much of the same thing. Be prepared for the consequences of Free Speech (if there are any). I guess it all depends on “what you’re saying”, “who” you’re talking about, and how well you keep your identity hidden. For example, never send anyone from your workplace an email with an electronic signature escorting them to your blog!!
I do feel for Ellen Simonetti. I cannot imagine the devastation that comes with getting fired - let alone the embarrassment of “getting caught with your pants down“ with all your little secrets on the internet! Ug! At least, that’s how I would take it.
So, in this case, Delta may have not been in the wrong for firing this woman.
Chris says
I think its amazing that the NBA would fine you for those comments. It is obvious to pretty much anyone that having the season start on election day wasn’t a great decision. By fining you for pointing that out, rather than putting out a statement of reasons for starting the season on election day (assuming they exist), the NBA just looks worse and is cutting off a potential resource. If you’re allowed to make comments and criticisms in public, especially on the blog, the league can get some feedback on their decisions. I guess I just don’t get it.To answer your specific questions, I suppose it makes the league appear weaker, but more importantly it probably makes the league weaker. It won’t affect the way I interact with the league, I’ll still watch on TV and make the hour and a half trip to catch a game every year. It is upsetting though.
Darren comments…
I’ll probably blog about this on my own site, but here’s a quick first impression. When I lived in Europe, I was extremely surprised to see the on-field officials giving interviews after English Premiership (that’s soccer, incidentally) games. The media asked them about incidents in the game, and the officials seemed to answer (more or
less) honestly about what they thought transpired.Why don’t we make league officials answerable? In fact, I’d imagine that referees (et al) would feel empowered by being able to speak their mind in the media.
Lance Anderson makes an excellent point!
What pisses me off is the affect this could have on your blog and perhaps on the blogging community as a whole.It’s becoming more and more popular for executives and business leaders to write blogs. Your name always tops the list of executives that write blogs. I love the idea of more business leaders writing blogs but I’ve checked out some of these other blogs and you can tell that many of them have been proofread by an editor. They’re missing personality and style.
One thing that makes your blog — and all blogs for that matter — popular is that it’s more like a conversation than an article. You get to the point and you say what’s on your mind. That’s what makes blogs great. And a fine like this has the potential to
affect the way you write your blog.
And finally hear what a Public Relations professional has to say on his own blog about it…Since this involves a public relations issue, I thought I would bite on his invitation and respond.
Every organization that has a significant profile – whether it’s in sports or in another industry – will always be subject to public criticism from within. It doesn’t matter if it comes from a blog, an open letter or a comment in the media.
In the end, the public will evaluate the criticism based on who else is validating it and their views of those parties. If an individual is regularly railing against a league because of some personal beef (often the case with players), then it will probably have little impact on the league’s image and will be viewed as one person’s bellyaching. However, if a chorus of criticism arises that is deemed valid by those who cover the league in the press – it carries a different weight.
In the end, it all probably has little impact on sales. Those who are hooked on NBA basketball will probably remain fans – unless the league owners/players disenfranchise them directly by taking their fun away, as every league at one time or
another has done through strikes/lockouts.
It’s happening all over.
And this is not even the tip of the iceberg! There are an enormous amount of cases just like the ones we read above! It’s never ending, it seems…
Blog Interrupted Read here about “When Jessica Cutler put her dirty secrets on the Web, she lost her job,signed a book deal, posed for Playboy — and raised a ton of questions about where America is headed…”
In light of all the hoopla with bloggers getting fired from their workplace right, left, and center, one can only hope there is a resolution to this problem. While some companies and organizations may be justified in terminating an employee for potentially putting their business at risk, I’m dumbfounded by how ridiculous some of these cases are.
I believe several questions are unanswered here.
How does a company find out whether or not you have a blog if you don’t reveal your true name or don’t add it in any signature lines of your email or resume? How are these employers finding out? I guess some
people are making stupid mistakes that get them revealed somehow.
I’d be very curious to hear the opinions from someone in the legal profession about this. What do you think? What are the boundaries? Can bloggers really be protected?
Hello all, and welcome!
In my blog, I discuss Americanophobia, politics, political extremism (my rantings about the extreme right and the extreme left), anthropology, crime news, psychology, LOTS of humor, and try to debunk common rumors spread about the American people. The variety of topics I discuss are in 360 posts ... Continue reading »
“There is a big difference between being anti-American and being critical of the United States….critiques are appropriate and necessary, provided that they rest on facts and address real abuses, real errors and real excesses–without deliberately losing sight of America’s wise decisions, beneficient interventions and salutary policies. But critiques of this kind–balanced, fair and well-rounded–are hard to find, except in America herself…” — Jean-Francois Revel
"The fundamental role of anti-Americanism in Europe in general, and particularly among those on the Left, is to absolve themselves of their own moral failings and intellectual errors by heaping them onto the monster scapegoat, the United States of America. The U.S. is charged with all the evils, real or imagined, that afflict humanity, from the falling price of beef in France to AIDS in Africa and global warming everywhere. The result is a widespread refusal to accept responsibility for one's own actions." — Jean-Francois Revel
"Anti-Americanism is hypocrisy at its finest, You can spend your evening catching the latest episode of "24" and then complain about Guantanamo the next morning." --the Berlin bureau chief of Der Spiegel
"Of course some Americans are stupid, but... "It all boils down to the fact that knowledge and intelligence are two different issues. Rote memorization of world capitals does not equate intelligence.
I do find it interesting that Canadians and Europeans have such strong opinions on this, considering that there are many more pressing issues to be concerned about. Perhaps the steady Canadian and European refrain of "Americans are stupid" is a reflection of their own deep-rooted insecurity. You know -- an inferiority complex." --Mohammed
"As an American, please allow me to begin by asserting that our nation has had its strengths and its weaknesses, its successes and its failures, and its justices and injustices throughout history and continuing into the present. Although I sense much patriotism for my homeland, I recognize our need for humility to understand that our country is not above questioning or reproach but is rather under the same standards as all other nations of the world. I would simply like to ask those who view our country from afar to maintain a balanced perspective and realize too that there exists good and bad in America, both in terms of its domestic society and politics as well as in its relations with other nations.
Whilst there may be growing anti-Americanism in the United Kingdom I do not believe such sentiment to be reciprocated on our side of the Atlantic. I viewed a recent survey that indicated most Americans view England positively, and never have I seen the flag of your country (or any other foreign land, for that matter) burned in the streets of our cities. Clearly we as American citizens have not meant to be your enemies." --Seth
"As someone who takes human rights seriously, I'm appalled by the lack of sympathy the left feels toward the victims of any regime other than the Bush administration. Let's shout it to prisoners everywhere: If you're not harmed by an American, your suffering doesn't count." --Erik Svane
"Ambivalence, antipathy, and resentment toward and about the United States have comprised an important component of European culture since the American Revolution at the latest, thus way before America became the world's 'Mr. Big' -- the proverbial eight-hundred-pound gorilla -- and a credible rival to Europe's main powers, particularly Britain and France . . . . While the politics, style, and discourse of the Bush administration -- and of George W. Bush as a person -- have undoubtedly exacerbated anti-American sentiment among Europeans and fostered a heretofore unmatched degree of unity between elite and mass opinion in Europe, they are not anti-Americanism's cause. Indeed, a change to a center-left administration in Washington, led by a Democratic president, would not bring about its abatement, let alone disappearance." --Andrei S. Markovits (author of Uncouth Nation - Why Europe Dislikes America)
"Is Euro Disney Land a threat to the French Culture? If French culture can be squashed by Mickey Mouse, or more exactly by simply moving Mickey geographically, it would have to be disturbingly fragile." Moreover, Revel argued, culture always circulates and, in the case of Euro Disneyland, California was merely repackaging for Europeans such European stories as Cinderella and Pinocchio. According to Revel, French culture was not being colonized and if any culture was in crisis, he contended, it was that of America with its fad for political correctness and other forms of "neoprovincialism." --Jean-François Revel
"Anti-Americanism is the only face of xenophobia still broadly accepted in Europe." --Mary Fitzgerald (New Statesman)
"Americans find themselves damned either way. If they remain within their own borders, they are isolationist hicks who are shirking their responsibilities. If they intervene, they are rapacious imperialists." --To hate America is to hate mankind
"The British find it very difficult to come to terms with the loss of their global dominance. We felt a deep sense of hurt and loss. We used to run the world, and we don’t anymore. So, in order to palliate that insecurity, we tend to run ourselves down too much. And we’re also snooty about the people who DO run the world." -- Boris Johnson (Member of Parliament)
"It is tragic that Anti-American ideas are so easily passed through rumour, while reconciliatory ideas and notions must be backed up with catalogues of evidence before they are even considered, purely because of the fact that it is so much easier to hate than to keep an objective open mind." --David Hatton
"Other common anti-American objections are ignorance and stupidity. In dealing with these two, I have no reason to suspect that the average American is any less intelligent than the average person from anywhere else. One trait I have noticed is that other cultures are generally much more ashamed of any deficit in the intellect of the individual, especially ours (the British), and as such will make a much greater attempt to hide it. If all cultures bar one are scared of looking stupid and take action to prevent that happening, then that one remaining culture is inevitably going to be lumbered with that image." --David Hatton
"We became not a melting pot, but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams." --Jimmy Carter
"Most of the anti-Americanism these days stems from plain old nationalistic jealousy by a lot of countries that are born of insecurity about their own place in the world and their painful self awareness of their own failings and shortcomings...like the kids in the next block who are jealous of the boy who has a better bicycle or a newer fancier skateboard....phuque 'em all." --Robbins Mitchell
"Europeans, like the rest of the world, hate America and Americans, but love our aid when in distress, and our soldiers to die for THEIR COUNTRIES. You need to work, live and pay taxes from this side of the Atlantic to understand our vision of Europe and the rest of the world." --Jerry
"Unjustified hatred of Americans:
There is much unjustified hatred in the world. There is unjustified hatred of the USA. Much of this arises from the victimisation complex that sweeps much of mankind. Whoever is in charge, whoever is powerful or successful will also be hated. This immature hatred often evaporates quickly with a little reason or thought. There are some some invalid, unjustified criticisms. The most widespread hate is the hate by people the world over who fall victim to their own shortcomings, and want a scapegoat." --Vexen Crabtree
"USA citizens are not given world news in the same way as most the other developed nations, and may well be genuinely unaware that much of the world is as poor as it is. European news is highly world-centric, whereas due to its size most USA news does not have enough time to cover news in all neighbouring states, let alone news from around the world. " --Vexen Crabtree
"Despite the USA's dominance of mass media, it is frequently only the pro-USA, self-congratulatory messages that seem to arrive in Europe, the USA citizens criticism and disbelief of their own government is not apparent, which gives the overall impression that Americans are either gullible, ignorant or honestly uncaring." --Vexen Crabtree
"If a person outside of American culture is a hateful person, they may actively hate and verbally attack America. If the person takes this to include a hatred of Americans themselves, they are inconsiderate and have become a fool. If a person like this is brought up by people with vested interests in attacking America (and there are many), a person can be driven to take his opinions to a violent level. Generic hatred is not solved or soothed by adding more layers of hatred.
There is a belief and hope that if enough nations oppose America, the American people will realize what their government has been doing and will overthrow them. This hope is misguided, as anti-American actions are causing the opposite"--Vexen Crabtree
"I think it is best, when faced with people from other nations, to treat them as individuals. Yes, you can "hate" the injustices that governments perpetuate on us all, and yes, you can despise ignorance in all its' forms. But any sort of blanket prejudice punishes yourself more than anyone else, because it thwarts the opportunity to learn from someone else. It stops you from making potential connections that could ultimately change your life. As an "american" living abroad, I pity my fellow countrymen who still have the wool over their eyes, but I don't hate them. The fact that when I meet them, they are indeed traveling at the time, says to me that they are in the process of opening their minds. Being in Europe, for many Americans, is the first step to realizing that other cultures do indeed exist and thrive, and that other forms of social structures are both possible and desireable.
-----------------
Many ask me why I left. Political reasons aside, when I mention that my family now enjoys free health-care and that my daughter will have the opportunity to go to university virtually for free (O.K. not free exactly, because we all pay taxes, but these services are included in what we as citizens receive for our tax dollars here in Europe,) they always respond with a sigh as they realize that this is the way all societies should be run. They know that something has gone terribly afoul in their beloved "homeland."
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Americans, in essence, need to be re-taught what is possible in the world, they do not need to be shunned. Shunning them will only help to produce more negativity in the world. If we all, from without, can help them to change what is wrong with their country from within, by sharing our knowledge of alternatives, then the whole world will benefit." --Lily
"Sometimes the caliber of a nation is found not in why it is liked, but rather in why it is not." --Victor Davis Hanson
"Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage." --Winston Churchill
"With a military that has become a laughing stock and her increasing irrelevance in the world around her, I believe that the Canada I know and loved is gone. The sad truth is, Canadians have only themselves to blame since they meekly chose to accept everything without question and without fighting back. Most of them even pat themselves on the back for being so “progressive” and “multicultural” and “diverse,” while failing to recognize that all of those things will bring about Canada’s demise. America may not be perfect, but at least there is a strong conservative movement and a population who will fight to keep their rights." --Jayne Gardener (Why I left Canada)
"Regarding Race Relations in the South:
I once read an observation that ONE (and there are many) of the differences between the Northern and Southern approach to race is that the North tends to reject the Individual while embracing the Race. The South conversely seems to have prejudice towards the other Race while embracing the Individuals. It's a generalization to be sure but one with more than a grain of truth.
Blacks and Whites have always lived closely in the South, most southerners have an aquantince of another race whom they like, while at the same time generalizing about the 'others'.
The North has always been more segregated and less mixed in ordinary commerce and interaction. They accept the race but interact with few individuals of another group. Leading to less real experience with the other group. Fewer Northerners subsequently have friends of a different race.
I think we a need to be cautious when making these generalizations but I believe they still offer food for comment.
I guess I'm just saying that one shouldn't assume the South has a less open society because of some who have lingering, isolated, racist attitudes towards 'Canadians'. It just seems that these notions, are more exposed, and carry more gravity due to their past. --JG (reply #70)
"My “two cents” to all you Americans out there: speaking as a Brit, it pains me to see some of the comments emanating from this page by alleged British sophisticates. Much of the real reason for anti-Americanism of this type — though it will be hotly denied — is nothing more than envy. Truth be told, many an Englishman yearns for the day when we were the number one dog in town, with the world sitting obediently at the feet of hordes of short-back-and sides public school boys lording it over primitive tribes of Africans and Asians, whilst men such as Joseph Chamberlain and Winston Churchill sincerely speculated on the chances of the USA being welcomed back into the imperial bosom.
Americans, don't lose heart; you are the great power of the age. It is your lot to be envied and feared. Do not fall for the soft hearted illusion that this translates into moral superiority of any variety." --James
"It is sick that to be Canadian one must hate other people. I've been to US hundreds of times and England as well and they never equate their nationality with hatred of others. It seems we are a nation of people that are in serious need of therapy. Thank god I enjoy visiting other countries and felt no need to hate or denigrate others. When ever I go to United States or England I always leave the Canadian stuff at home and I get along just fine. I would recommend this for others." --Nov. 12th, 2005 5:08PM
"The only thing more annoying that a 'typical American' (and they do exist!) is a Canadian with a superiority complex! Americans do get the piss ripped out of them behind their backs but with the flag on your pack you probably will as well." --travoholic
"I grew up on army bases my whole life and nothing makes me prouder than watching Canadian soldiers do what they can, when they can, to help out more impoverished nations. I do, however, become angered at people who begin talking about who has the better, or bigger army and who can beat whom. Soldiers sacrifice their lives for the betterment of mankind, not to win pissing contests." --Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:12 pm
"I attribute European anti-Americanism to a state of prolonged “adolescence” from being protected by American treasure and military might throughout the post-WW2 era. I think about how teenagers rail against their parents actions and restrictions, all the while knowing, deep down, that they cannot provide for themselves.
On a somewhat lighter note, there was a program on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) a while back about why Europeans don’t like America. One interviewee attributed it to the Europeans knowing that America won’t hurt them." --Denis Eugene Sullivan
"In spite of the constant accusations of “arrogance,” Americans are really very self-deprecating in many ways and often place the French, and other Western Europeans, on a pedestal of cultural superiority; this probably goes further back into world history than virulent anti-Americanism does." --Jennifer
"Yes, anti-Americanism is a sad reality all over the world. I feel its simply part of "hatred of the superpower". Britian for most of its empire's history was mocked harshly by English speaking colonies and much of mainland Europe. Nobody likes the "big kid on the block". I think the fact that American media plays a more dominant role in English speaking societies around the world further reminds us of our inferiority complexes.
In short, America's ok with me. I can only hope that reason and the shedding of jealous ignorance can let other people see that America isn't that bad." --Matt
"Conservatives love America the way a six year old loves his mother. Mommy is perfect, don’t be mean to mommy, etc… Liberals, according to me, have a grown-up love for America — the kind that recognizes faults and works to improve the nation out of love." --Al Franken
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The offending site was finally taken down after all my complaints to Google Adsense!
(trembling in fear)…. I made my opinions public on a website.
((
akismet, bloggers, blogging, blogs, check your spam folder!, commenting, comments, comments discarded, comments not showing up, discarded, frustrating, i am not spam, spam, spam folder, support ticket, wordpress, wordpress bloggers, wordpress.com
Dear Akismet, I am not Spam – Virgomonkey, I am…
In Blog and Web/Tech News, Current Affairs on May 30, 2008 at 1:52 AMWordPress’s Akismet (spam eater) has seemingly hacked into my spiked granola bars and has gone mad!!
Attention: To all those using WordPress.com as there blogging platform, you ARE getting comments. Just look in your spam folder and viola, they’ll be right there waiting for you. While there will be some genuine spam that needs to be flushed away, there may also be REAL comments from REAL people. So, please check it regularly.
I am making comments all over WordPress on dozens and dozens of blogs, but either I get the “discarded” error message or they just go into OUTERSPACE somewhere to which I’ve recently found out that they are simply HIDING in your spam buckets!! So, please pull them out for me, and if you don’t mind, please send a support ticket to WordPress.com and another one to Akismet and tell them I’m not trying to sell penis enlargement pills or “free” ring tones!
For some reason or another, there are some people on WordPress that are having this problem. And it’s a very recent problem.
This is *not* a result of sending a link or some links, sending abusive messages, or being caught in the “moderation queue”. This is a quirk in the system. And it’s quite the frustrating! And for the record, I’ve sent in already 4 support tickets.
UPDATE: My end has been resolved. Finally.
Should YOU have any problems with the aforementioned, this is the message Mark from Akismet left on the support forums: