The Phantom of the Blog

Hitting Below the Pole

2006-03-31T17:00:00.000-05:00

The continuing debate over the new Immigration Legislation that is currently winding through Congress has reached near epic proportions. On Monday March 27, 2006 students from California's Whittier Area placed the Mexican flag above an inverted American flag.

Please make your own decisions regarding the issues before Congress and be sure to let your representatives know. However, I would ask if you feel the need to protest for citizenship and membership in this country, do not disrespect its symbols. I am not referring to the upside down flag, which internationally is a sign of distress (although I highly doubt the child that did it knew what it meant internationally since he had walked out on his free American education), but I am referring to the placement of the Mexican flag above the United States flag. It only makes your argument harder to be heard, and makes those who wish to send you back to that country that you have indicated as superior by your actions, argument the right one.

Of course if you are already a card carrying member of the club known as the United States and over the age of 18, then please feel free to do whatever you want to the symbols. It is your right.

The Power of Blogging

2006-03-30T17:47:00.000-05:00

This is the photo claimed to be of Iraq but was exposed by bloggers as really being in Turkey

Bloggers have power. This article I found on MSNBC under the Newsweek banner is just another great prime example of that. Howard Kaloogian, a Republican candidate in California's 50th Congressional District, was exposed as falsely advertising the current situation in Iraq by using a picture actually taken in Turkey to show a "much more calm and stable" Iraq.

The blogger first responsible for calling the picture into question was anthonyLA of Daily Kos. Then to confirm the lie jem6x found a photo of the same neighborhood proving it is not in Iraq. The photo has been removed from Kaloogian's site and he did explain the mistake away saying how someone stopped off at Turkey before going to Iraq with him.

Bloggers are not respected. As you can note in the case above by reading the original article I found, MSNBC and Newsweek decided not to link to Daily Kos or the blogger's article exposing the lie. The main stream media continues to dismiss bloggers and not give us the links we deserve.

TAGS:MSNBC,Newsweek,Daily Kos,Howard Kaloogian,blogging

Worth

2006-03-29T19:13:00.000-05:00

Worth- Function: noun
1 a : monetary value b : the equivalent of a specified amount or figure
2 : the value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held
3 a : moral or personal value
4 : WEALTH, RICHES

I think the fourth definition of the word is what people usually call to mind when the word is used in conversation. I do however like what the DeMotivators over at Despair.com have done with the word. In fact, I like what they have done period.

Too many times I encounter people in life who are necessary where they are. With puffed out chests, raised chins, and nose tips pointed skywards they will astound you with a barrage of facts as to why they are important. The fact is they are necessary to perform their assigned task but not important in the bigger picture.

The most obvious example I can provide of this is a gas station attendant in New Jersey. Late one night returning from a trip down south, a convoy I was in pulled into a gas station on the New Jersey Turnpike. It was late, and although we all wanted to be home, we were below a quarter tank that would undoubtedly have left us stranded somewhere in the middle of the road if we did not fuel up.

In New Jersey there is no such thing as self-serve at the fuel station. This is something that to be honest we were not aware of. We lined our vehicles up and prepared to engage in fueling when the attendant ran out and insisted that we cease a desist immediately, which we complied with. He then went on to instruct us that this was New Jersey and we are not authorized to pump fuel in the state. As the semi-leader of the group I apologized and then we began to patiently wait for him to start fueling our vehicles.

He proceeded to attend to every other vehicle in the station except ours. When another attendant attempted to help us he was barked upon by the first one saying, "I'll get to them when I can." This can easily turn into a post on poor customer service but this is about worth.

Needless to say, after fifteen more minutes, we pumped our own fuel. He did become flustered and yelled and carried on. We ignored him and proceeded fueling our vehicles. He demanded the manager inside to shut down the pumps, but the manager had seen what was occurring and refused to do as the attendant said. The other attendant at this point realized that the manager was backing our power play and that the first attendant was distracted by his refusal to shut down the fuel. He came over and cleaned our bug splattered windshields.

Before pulling out I made it a point to tip the other attendant who attempted to help us fuel and did clean our windshields. The fact that he made the attempt was worth more to me than anything the other attendant could have done.

For those of you suffering under the assault of Corporate America and their motivational tools then be sure to go to Despair.com. If you do not find it enlightening then at least it should be worth a good chuckle.

The Phantom of the Blog

2006-03-29T16:30:00.000-05:00

In recent weeks, months, maybe even years there have been a large number of anonymous blogs. The "outing" of these bloggers in the real world has been known to wreak havoc in their lives and because of this bloggers prefer to continue their writings and rantings anonymously.

There are also those that reason against them such as Horst Prillinger. It is true as Horst points out that those who post anonymously feel "protected" and therefore will unleash their inner animal. Sometimes this can be good and sometimes this can be bad. It also can be true that anonymous bloggers do not need to apologize for the things they blog about because they can never be wrong. Additionally, as if this wasn't enough, the most interesting things about blogs are the people behind them and their stories. Yes... I am not a big fan of anonymous blogs.

The question undoubtedly being asked is why is this blog anonymous? Well, because I was foolish. In the heat of passion emboldened by the prescence of gnarling alcohol, I did something very foolish. In fact I did something so foolish, I am so embarassed to say what I did, that I won't. Maybe anonymity won't be so bad afterall.

The bottom line is that I was effectively exiled from the blogosphere under stipulations of an agreement. So why am I here? Have I no honor? Does my word mean nothing? I am an honorable person and would honor the agreement on my side had the other side been so honored. The fact is that another stipulation was "bent" by the other party partaking in this. Therefore, I am bending the rules of my exile, and have returned to the blogosphere as this anonymous avenging angel to set records straight.

So for those of you who have an inkling, allow me to say that I have never felt nor been used by any of my friends for either money or work in my real life. Although my imagination is one that can run wild, I am a realist who understands what is and what is not within my grasp. I am also a person of compromise who is willing to compromise on degrees of relationships based on the realism of their existence... but I will not compromise on my values.

Now that that is off my chest... let's see what else is out here begging for my attention.

TAGS: anonymous,blog, phantom, protected