Part two of my blog first posted 16 November 2008.

(By the way today is the day I realized how everyone else titled their blogs. Sometimes I don’t feel like the sharpest knife in the drawer.

In my blog posted 17 November 2008, I asked the question about responsibility of a blog site. Today I “surfed” the web looking for answers. Like the Titanic I seem to be only hitting the top of this ice burg.

First I would like to define certain terms.

Responsible –
Liable to be required to give account, as of one's actions or of the discharge of a duty or trust.
Involving personal accountability or ability to act without guidance or superior authority
Being a source or cause.
Able to make moral or rational decisions on one's own and therefore answerable for one's behavior.
Able to be trusted or depended upon; reliable.
Based on or characterized by good judgment or sound thinking:
Having the means to pay debts or fulfill obligations.
Required to render account; answerable:
Slander –
A false and malicious statement or report about someone.
Libel-
A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation.
The act of presenting such material to the public.
Copyright-
The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.
Freedom of Speech—Right or rights belonging to a person by reason of citizenship including especially the fundamental freedoms and privileges guaranteed by the 13th and 14th amendments and subsequent acts of Congress including the right to legal and social and economic equality.
Defame-
To attack the good reputation of.
Truth-
Conformity to fact or actuality.
A statement proven to be or accepted as true.
Sincerity; integrity.
Fidelity to an original or standard.
Opinion-
A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof: A judgment based on special knowledge and given by an expert:
A judgment or estimation of the merit of a person or thing:
The prevailing view:
Law A formal statement by a court or other adjudicative body of the legal reasons and principles for the conclusions of the court.
Publish-
To prepare and issue (printed material) for public distribution or sale.
To bring to the public attention; announce.
Blog-
A shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies; "postings on a blog are usually in chronological order"

Now comes the part where I tell you how very ignorant I am again. (Just get used to it, it happens very often.)

While researching the net, I found this is a subject that has been long debated about. Frankly I began to feel like I was in the land of Rocky combined with political blogging.

In this corner, the former heavyweight champion, the old media. They prepare to defend their title belt using words like slander, libel, responsibility and deformation of character. They call for a blogging code of conduct. “We can’t act or say what we want so why can blog sites?”

And in this corner, the challenger, the Blogosphere. These multitaskers with attitude enter the ring with an offence of words such as truth, freedom of speech, personal opinion. These guys are on free speech steroid style.

Now in the boxing ring, there is the middle man, the referee, so to speak. In this scenario it is we the people. Too late for Pandora to shut the lid, the internet is out there and so are the blogs. It is the public who will decide how far is too far. It will be the lurkers who must acquire a voice and say “that was very well put” or “this site is so way out there I’m avoiding it all together” or even in extreme severe cases (child pornography) reporting it to authorities.

Please check out this web site from the Blog Herald. It is a statement on their “policies”. I can not vouch personally for this web site but I can give them a big thumbs up on issuing their policy statement.

Please remember that e-mail is like sending a letter but blogging is akin to a conversation, a conversation with a whole lot of listeners. Once it’s out there, it’s out there.

I am adding just one more tidbit for this blog. I have this weird memory. I can’t remember to water plants but I often can recall things I’ve read. Not verbatim, (I’m not Rainman), but in general. The following words were written by Caroline Ingalls in her daughter’s autograph album in 1881.

If wisdom’s ways you wisely seek,
Five things observe with care.
To whom you speak,
Of whom you speak,
And how, and when, and where.

I have been at this for four hours today and I am tired. I may continue this blog again though.

There is much to be noted and I will do responsibly.

Works sited:

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little Town on the Prairie. New York: Harper & Row, 1941.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

While researching the net for my in-class activity I noticed one hard-to-miss factor on blogs concerning The View. The blogs are either very liberal or very conservative, and in most cases, very rude and tacky, often targeting the hosts of the TV shows on personal matters such as weight, religion, and often race.

I started doing research on “the blogosphere” and the “old media”. (Note, I am typing this in word first and the word “blogosphere” was not underlined when I spellchecked, so that term must have been around awhile as my computer system is at least 7 years old.) Blogosphere refers to the bloggin community on the net and the old media to television, magazines, etc. In an old MSNBC segment, news commentator Bill Press condemned bloggers as people “with no credentials, no sources, no rules, no editors and no accountability.”

Was he right? Is there any responsibility to blogging? Do we have a Miss Manners or an Emily Post for the web world?

I enjoy watching the view because it expands my horizons’. I have to admit that I DVR it and will often fast foreword the program because it too can because an ugly and heated. The most famous example was the debate between Rosie O’Donnell and Elizabeth which resulted in Rosie asking to be released from her show earlier then expected.






I guess what I am asking is, what is the responsibility of the blogosphere? Check out an article reprinted on the Huffington Post by Willow Bay intitled Bile in the Blogoshere. In it she states that “the danger we face-and even more so, the young people who grew up on the Web-may start to mistake hatefulness for wit and intelligence.”


Works sited:Bay, Willow. "Bile in the Blogoshere" Town & Country, April 2008

November 10, 2008

Today on The View:

Hot Topics:

Miriam Makeba- Who is that?
California Proposition 8- Not sure I am ready to tackle that can of worms.

Fluff:

Elizabeth’s son turning 1 - She made him a really cute cake in the shape of a dirt pile
and had what appeared as a very large
tonka truck pushing it.
Michelle Obama’s Hair Style - Nice lady, give it a rest.

Guest:

Keith Oblerman - I don't know him, I never watch his program.



Here I go again. Spouting off my ignorance. Yesterday I had never heard of Miriam Makeba. Today Whoopi anounces her passing and having had no knowledge of her I flew to the internet to more information.

Miriam Makeba, born March 4,1932, near Johannesburg NE, South Africa. Miriam, know as "Mama Africa", became the first African performer to gain an international following. During the 1960's not only did she help to bring African music to the globe but also testified first hand to to the United Nations about the horrors of apartheid in South Africa. This led to a three decade exile from her mother country.

Now I am doing exactly what I am not suppose to do. I seem to just be spouting the facts. I find it so hard to believe that this woman lived and I never knew of her and what a fascinating woman she was. It saddens me that I only learned of her because of death.

Now I have my first poll. The beauty of having such a blog is that I will hopefully find out if I am the only person in America who was ignorant such a lady lived.

Being ignorance is hard to admit to. There is a lot of words and current events I don’t understand. I watch The View and other news programs occasionally to educate my self on current events. I like The View because it is from a woman’s point of view. During the past week I have been avoiding the television because of the elections. My mind was made up for a while.
But I have been hearing the word Marxism thrown around. Whoopi Goldburg asked Elisabeth if she knew the meaning of it. (She said it the definition was wrote down in front of them but never said what it was.) I have to admit I had memory, but little knowledge of the meaning of it and was curious of it because of the high usage being thrown around.. I conducted a little survey among my friends to see if someone could tell me what it was. Most of them knew of it but no one understood it. I then went to Google and searched for the meaning.
I explained it to my 15 year old daughter as such. You have an older sister. You both live in the same house. You both have jobs and contribute your paychecks to the house. You make more money and work longer hours then your sister but she has farther to drive to work. Her need is greater for gas money. In a Marxist society she would receive more money for gas because her need is greater then yours even if you made the most by working the hardest. My fifteen year old replied “that’s not fair.”
I agree.
If while watching any program, news or otherwise, and there is something you don't understand, look it up. It is very hard to admit to being ignorant but being uninformed is worse.

I am blogging on a television show called The View. It is a daily talk show on ABC featuring a panel of women. It premiered in 1997. The show features discussions on current events and other bits of filler fluff.
I personally became interested in watching about 4 years ago and have been watching on and off since then. It is not must see TV but it does peak my interest into subjects not normally known to me.
I have often wanted to give my own view on select topics, feeling that something was missed, or portrayed incorrectly as most of the women at the table of discussion are out the realm of so called normal living.
So here goes, my first leap into blogging. Wish me luck.
On Monday, 27 September 2008, the one of the topics of discussion was the cost of Governor Sarah Palin’s political wardrobe.
I am simply bowled over with the life of this topic. The Republican Party spent $150,000 to dress a candidate. It should come at no surprise that political money is thrown around like candy. This is not a new idea. Currently I am reading the novel John Adams, by David McCullough. In it, was discussed the sending of John Adams to the First Continental Congress in 1774. The Sons of Liberty purchased him a new red coat, new wig, silver buckled shoes, gold knee buckles, silk hose, new hat and a gold-headed cane. It seems they felt this simple dresser should look the part of leader of a delegation. They also gave him “a little purse” for expenses. I personally have no idea what that ensemble cost then but with the mention of gold, silver, and silk I sure it was not Wal-Mart pricing.
What I would like to hear from any talk show is details how any candidate can change some of the cons of our economy. I personally have had enough of the mud slinging and pettiness. I think some people need a good time out, politicians and newscasters alike.



Works sited:
McCullough, David. John Adams. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.

The dreaded first night of class introduction of myself

I sit and stare at the computer. All these introductions always seems to belong on a singles web site.
I am a 45 year old photographer. I am a mother to two of the coolest daughters ever to walk this earth. I am married to my best friend, who is also the biggest pain in my ass. My hair has natural curl, which is the gentle way of saying it does what it wants. I am a child of the 70's, which translates to being a TV and movie buff. I am beginning in continuing education after twenty five years of the school of life.
I don't like long walks on the beach or pina coladas.