Wednesday, 22 March 2006 : Can you believe this stuff ?
I am reading in the Seattle P-I today about the facebook.com site and how school administrators are using the posts there, blogs, pictures, etc. to prosecute (and persecute) students at various schools. i.e. They have pics of people drinking liquids in dorm rooms, so they call the students in to ask WHAT was in the vessels shown in the image? No matter, you violated dorm rules by having more than 4 people in the room, we see that here in the picture. Or... someone blogs about something or another that violates the rules... talking about themselves smoking pot, for instance. The administrators give the student the boot for having drugs on campus, though it is all hearsay and no evidence of any wrong-doing is produced.
So here is my issue, not that you nor anyone in Samsara cares. We all know of someone or some people that engage in Internet Personality Shifting (IPS), whether something as benign as pretending to be a lawyer with a Bimmer to impress the females on their preferred forum of choice, to perhaps being one of said females who is not exactly a female, or an AT&T executive trying to lure minors to motels in Connecticut. (I know all three personally) The anonymity of the Internet makes IPS almost a required rite of passage, even in the smallest manifestation of perhaps adding an extra inch to your height.
One could even say that BullShit (BS) is the Fundamental Network Protocol (FNP) of the Internet ('net). We certainly see enough of it out there. Such notables as The Shrub, his progenitor Rush Limbaugh, the very UNREAL Stephen Glass, have taken the art form to the Grand Level (GL) of course, but it is always present, even if on a very Subtle Level (SL).
My concern is that college kids, while practicing the SL of IPS, are prolly doling out loads of BS. I cannot condemn them for utilizing the FNP for certain aspects of entertainment. But those who find themselves in the positions of caretaking should approach any 'knowledge' gleaned from IPS-induced posts or blogs or images carefully. While I am 51% sure that the drinking pictured in the postings on facebook.com was of the alcoholic nature, I have no proof and would not kick someone out of school for my 1% above 50/50 suspicions.
Okay, what I am really trying to say is this : can we be sure that the 'net is the truth as told from whatever entity is producing content? For example, I posted here (I think) and to my blog a story (which WAS real) about a particular guitar practice session that opened the gates of hell and caused demons to appear in my room. While that DID happen, I could see how some people would think it MAY NOT be true. (Mostly atheists and agnostics, because real Christians KNOW that this shit happens, it is in the Bible and stuff) But let us say that it is NOT true, and certain religious types start protesting outside my house because my Slaytanic Guitar Playing (SGP) is bringing hell to Earth and they really aren't ready for it yet because Shrub has not found the Ark of the Covenant in Iraq yet (which by the way is REALLY why we are over there). Or worse, I get arrested and charged with some kind of Heretical Crime (HC) because of something I posted on the 'net and of which NOW there is no proof because I banished them back to Hades with a G#-A# bend. How ridiculous would that be (assuming it did NOT happen, of course)?
See, this is the problem with the 'net. People believe what is here. My Day in the Life, on the LINKS page, shows me waking up in the morning and toking a bongload of weed to start my day. SURPRISE MY HONKIES!!! It was a water pipe with pipe tobacco, because that is how I smoke the stuff, through water to get rid of 99% of the nasty carcinogens in it. But the MAN could come bust into my house and say, On your knees, honky and give us the DOPE! But I have no dope, you see. I am drug free (there may be some Zoloft still rolling around in there somewhere, though). So... DO we believe everything we see on the 'net to the point of prosecution? or do we assume that IPS-enhanced people are ubiquitous, practicing SL and GL forms? When does BS become an invitation to pogrom?
I had apple, carrot, celery, ginger, garlic juice today... freshly made, yum. I recommend it.
OMG - I just watched 1/2 an hour of Country Music Television(CMT). I think my I.Q. went down by 30 points. No offense to you cowboys out there, but what passes for country music, and even worse, the videos, these days... enough to make you jump in front of your John Deere. Where is Hank Williams when you need him? Bill Monroe... *sigh*.
My bartender at the Quarter Lounge, Eric's father passed this weekend and I wanted to give my condolences to him and his family. I hear he was sick for a while, I hope he is encountering a good rebirth.
That is all. - Jim