Let's face it, on YouTube accusations are thrown around easily by many people. It appears sometimes that just repeating an accusation over and over from various sock accounts as well as having your friends echo you will make it appear more true, when in fact it does not. One may remember that any positive claim about the misdeeds of another requires for the accuser to provide the proof and evidence.
Proper examples of such have been seen when straightdope and various other users have confronted Brett Keane. His plagiarism for example has been proven by comparing his works (from his original videos/audios) with the works of the actual authors. Comments he denies having made were screen captured and shown in full context, the "wife beating incident" was documented in form of filed police reports which made it into the public domain as well as his own wife making a video about the incident back then. While this may not be proof that he is a wife beater, since there is a possibility his wife is falsely accusing him, it is rather strange that they are still together, now both denying it ever happened, coming up with silly excuses.
However, there has been another group of people who love throwing around accusations, and what they claim as proof is nothing but statements from either their own sock accounts or their own friends. When you make the claim that someone drained a whole lot of money out of another person based on nothing but a statement from the person who presents themselves as the victim, you can't exactly present the perceived victim's statement as proof. What would be proof? Transfer slips for example. Screenshots of the demand for money. If you can't provide either, chances are you are dealing with a baseless accusation.
The same goes for interpreting a whole different meaning into something someone says. It doesn't matter how you perceive something, or more precisely, how you would like others to perceive what was said. You will never know the actual intention of the person who made a statement, no matter how much you try to convince others that you DO know. What you CAN do is take the statement at face value. If someone feels harassed by you and warns you that if you continue, they will forward all the information you have provided them with in regards to your person to the appropriate authorities, that is exactly what it means. In short: "Leave me alone, or I will file a police report." Interpreting a "I have shit on you, and I will make your personal life public" into such a statement is absolutely ridiculous, especially when you then look at the fact that a report was actually filed, in other words, the original threat, the face value statement, was followed through.
When you are asked to provide proof for your accusations, it is not just silly, but completely stupid, to refer to screenshots of statements made by people about the person you are accusing, especially if a large amount of these people are not actual people but sock accounts of one and the same person, or if these people have some other agenda to discredit that person. What counts are hard facts and solid evidence. If you can't provide anything but hearsay, chances are you are simply a vindictive troll cunt. Especially when you are offered a fair debate with a completely unbiased moderator by the person you accuse, but keep dodging out of it. It sure shows a lot about you, when you feel like you can't provide anything of substance on neutral grounds.
So before you make accusations, make sure you have actual evidence. Else you may just end up looking really fucking stupid.
You know who you are!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
#OccupyEverywhere
Hello folks,
I haven't had much time to write on my blog, mainly because I have been busy following the #Occupy movement from fairly early on. What started as a small group as #OccupyWallstreet has now turned into a worldwide movement, and I am quite happy to see it grow. It is time the people speak out against everything that is wrong with our economy. It is time the people get together for a better future, and this may very well be the movement that finally gets this done.
Shockingly enough though, despite the masses of protesters, the mainstream media is barely covering this important issue. I have just today talked to a friend in the US who was not at all aware that anything at all was going on, and I do think it's time to change this. The coverage is done mostly via social media and we need to think of those friends of ours not too familiar with today's social media. Please speak to them about #OccupyEverywhere and show them what is going on. Perhaps even teach them how they themselves can keep up with the actual news, not the fake stuff that is presented by the likes of Fox News.
A few tips how to stay informed:
If you do not have a twitter account yet, you might want to sign up for one. Go to http://www.twitter.com and sign up. While you can follow topics, which are marked with a # symbol from the regular twitter page, it is much easier to use a client such as TweetDeck, which you can download at http://www.tweetdeck.com. TweetDeck will open a new column for every # topic you decide to follow. Either way though, you should keep an eye on the following tags: #ows #occupywallstreet #occupyeverywhere and respectively the tags for your area, such as #occupydenver #occupyoakland etc.
Following post with these tags you will often find links to images, videos, even livestreams of what's currently going on. You can retweet them or otherwise spread the links to your friends and family. It is important that we all spread the news, especially to those who are NOT connected to any social media themselves.
For those of you already following everything that wish to help out somehow but don't know how to:
Almost all the #Occupy camps are in desperate need of donations, be it food, hygiene articles or clothing. If there is no local #Occupy camp in your area, but you would like to help out those in NewYork, I have a contact there who agreed to forward anything sent to him to the protesters there, so feel free to get in touch with me to ask where to send things to. Even if you can't donate any items, these folks would be very happy to receive letters of encouragement so they can see the world is watching and appreciating them.
If you are really brave, go pack up your tent, sleeping bag, warm clothing and what else you may need, and join them! The more people are participating, the less our governments can ignore us! I am going to head out next week to pitch my tent with the folks of #OccupyFrankfurt and am already looking forward to it.
If you are interested in finding out more, feel free to get in touch. I may not know all the answers, but I will gladly help you find them.
To those already in the camps: Stay strong, stay united! We're all proud of you and appreciate everything you do for a better future for ourselves and our children!
Lots of love,
Fel
I haven't had much time to write on my blog, mainly because I have been busy following the #Occupy movement from fairly early on. What started as a small group as #OccupyWallstreet has now turned into a worldwide movement, and I am quite happy to see it grow. It is time the people speak out against everything that is wrong with our economy. It is time the people get together for a better future, and this may very well be the movement that finally gets this done.
Shockingly enough though, despite the masses of protesters, the mainstream media is barely covering this important issue. I have just today talked to a friend in the US who was not at all aware that anything at all was going on, and I do think it's time to change this. The coverage is done mostly via social media and we need to think of those friends of ours not too familiar with today's social media. Please speak to them about #OccupyEverywhere and show them what is going on. Perhaps even teach them how they themselves can keep up with the actual news, not the fake stuff that is presented by the likes of Fox News.
A few tips how to stay informed:
If you do not have a twitter account yet, you might want to sign up for one. Go to http://www.twitter.com and sign up. While you can follow topics, which are marked with a # symbol from the regular twitter page, it is much easier to use a client such as TweetDeck, which you can download at http://www.tweetdeck.com. TweetDeck will open a new column for every # topic you decide to follow. Either way though, you should keep an eye on the following tags: #ows #occupywallstreet #occupyeverywhere and respectively the tags for your area, such as #occupydenver #occupyoakland etc.
Following post with these tags you will often find links to images, videos, even livestreams of what's currently going on. You can retweet them or otherwise spread the links to your friends and family. It is important that we all spread the news, especially to those who are NOT connected to any social media themselves.
For those of you already following everything that wish to help out somehow but don't know how to:
Almost all the #Occupy camps are in desperate need of donations, be it food, hygiene articles or clothing. If there is no local #Occupy camp in your area, but you would like to help out those in NewYork, I have a contact there who agreed to forward anything sent to him to the protesters there, so feel free to get in touch with me to ask where to send things to. Even if you can't donate any items, these folks would be very happy to receive letters of encouragement so they can see the world is watching and appreciating them.
If you are really brave, go pack up your tent, sleeping bag, warm clothing and what else you may need, and join them! The more people are participating, the less our governments can ignore us! I am going to head out next week to pitch my tent with the folks of #OccupyFrankfurt and am already looking forward to it.
If you are interested in finding out more, feel free to get in touch. I may not know all the answers, but I will gladly help you find them.
To those already in the camps: Stay strong, stay united! We're all proud of you and appreciate everything you do for a better future for ourselves and our children!
Lots of love,
Fel
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
She knows me so well... (or not)
I found this comment section in one of TruthsFrictionThree's recent videos, which shows yet again how adorably dishonest DmKrispin is, so I decided to address her and this person I don't know by the name of KCKatheist, who seems to think we are on a first name basis.
Fact: I am suffering from aortic insufficiency. What I HAD been putting off for 2 years however was not the surgery, but the regular check ups, since my condition then was not bad enough to indicate surgery and was treatable with medication. I neglected seeing my cardiologist for fear that he might suggest I need surgery at one point, which scared me, but have been to a check-up recently, where it was established that I will have to have surgery within the next year. I do NOT smoke 40 cigarettes a day, although I do smoke. The number DmKrispin mentioned is freely invented for dramatic purpose. She also lies about my diet, which she knows absolutely nothing about, as well as my exercise habits.
DmKrispin has obviously never seen me walk, especially in the morning. I actually DO have problems "strolling around", which is why I opted out of participating in the activities that required longer walks during our Liverpool gathering and fell behind during a rather long walk in London, which anyone participating can testify to as well. As a matter of fact I DO get physical therapy and I do not neglect my general health, having lost a large amount of weight over the past year, contrary to her claim.
I find it amazing how DmKrispin claims to know how little I know about my own condition without me ever discussing it with her. She also assumes I do no PT, which is a blatant lie (I swim regularly, which is one of the physical exercises I can perform somewhat pain free, as there is no additional strain on the joints). Yes, I travel, but she makes it sound like I go on 8 hour flights, not the short flights to England or train trips to Belgium and the Netherlands. Last time I checked, people with disabilities were still allowed to travel. Her observation in regards to "standing or sitting around on uncomfortable chairs" is quite interesting, as we never met in person. I am assuming this information is based on hearsay by the person she mentions in this paragraph. However, that person knows very well that I am on permanent pain medication, as I shared one of my painkillers with him when he injured his knee, which by the way happened unrelated to the playful body slam. Oh, and I did not wrap my arms around his waist, but his upper body and used a rather simple move that takes advantage of leverage (step back, short jerk upwards with little strength used, simply dropping again while moving backwards, so no slam, he only hit the floor with his own body weight, while I simply moved his center of gravity behind where his feet touched the ground - ask a martial artist for details), to knock Rhysz off balance, who, despite his knee injury was running about rather speedily, chasing after another Liverpool attendee. Blaming his knee injury on me is a blatant lie by DmKrispin yet again, since he had it previously to our playful encounter.
Yes, valve replacements are fairly routine, but nonetheless there is a risk, especially when combined with other medical conditions that neither you nor DmKrispin know about, and anyone facing such a surgery has a right to be scared. It is nice how a self proclaimed nurse is trying to put a medical diagnosis and prognosis on me though without a single look at my medical file. You may also be aware that surgery is not performed until absolutely necessary and the condition is often treated with medication if no immediate risk is present, while closely observing the patient in regular checkups. Doctors generally suggest moderate exercise (while strenuous exercise is forbidden) as well as a healthy body weight to minimize risk. I have been on Torasemide for years and have lost a nice amount of weight over the past year.
I remain unrestricted in my mobility? I find this rather funny, coming from two people who have never met me in person. As a matter of fact, I am rather restricted in my mobility. I am on metamizole and diclofenac and there are days I DO use crutches, as those who actually DO know me and have met me have observed and can testify to.
So this self proclaimed medical expert generalizes people on pain medication, claiming they drink to excess generally. Lovely. Well, as stated above, I am on a variety of medications for my various conditions, but do not drink excessively. It is impressive how a mere nurse doubts the diagnosis of various specialists, especially since the specialists have actually seen me in person, have X-rays, CT scans, etc, unlike KCKatheist.
Do you people realize just how retarded you sound?
Have a nice day.
@KCKatheist (this is ALL public from herself) She has a congenital valve defect, and needs a replacement. She's put it off for years, and publicly claims that the surgery is quite life-threatening and she will likely DIE (gasp!!), but privately admits that her doctor says it's actually fairly routine these days. She's still a heavy smoker (40 cigs a day) and she eats high-fat, high-sugar foods, and of course no regular exercise.
Which brings us to her other disabilities
(cont.>>)
DmKrispin 2 weeks ago
Fact: I am suffering from aortic insufficiency. What I HAD been putting off for 2 years however was not the surgery, but the regular check ups, since my condition then was not bad enough to indicate surgery and was treatable with medication. I neglected seeing my cardiologist for fear that he might suggest I need surgery at one point, which scared me, but have been to a check-up recently, where it was established that I will have to have surgery within the next year. I do NOT smoke 40 cigarettes a day, although I do smoke. The number DmKrispin mentioned is freely invented for dramatic purpose. She also lies about my diet, which she knows absolutely nothing about, as well as my exercise habits.
(>>cont.) She claims to have arthritis in her knees so bad that she "can barely walk", but she has no problems travelling & strolling around shopping and sight-seeing whenever she wants. She does no physical therapy for it, and she uses no mobility devices, not even a cane. She also neglects her general health, including allowing her weight to increase, which puts more wear and tear on her joints.
(cont.>>)
DmKrispin 2 weeks ago
DmKrispin has obviously never seen me walk, especially in the morning. I actually DO have problems "strolling around", which is why I opted out of participating in the activities that required longer walks during our Liverpool gathering and fell behind during a rather long walk in London, which anyone participating can testify to as well. As a matter of fact I DO get physical therapy and I do not neglect my general health, having lost a large amount of weight over the past year, contrary to her claim.
(cont) She also claims to have spinal arthritis, but knows surprisingly little about the condition, does no PT for it, travels long distances, going to concerts, strolling, shopping, sight-seeing, etc. She also shows no problem moving around, standing, sitting on uncomfortable chairs or rough-housing. In Liverpool, she got behind Rhysz (who is 6' tall), wrapped her arms around his waist, lifted him completely off the ground, & slammed him back down hard enough to hurt his knee.
Interesting, no?
DmKrispin 2 weeks ago
I find it amazing how DmKrispin claims to know how little I know about my own condition without me ever discussing it with her. She also assumes I do no PT, which is a blatant lie (I swim regularly, which is one of the physical exercises I can perform somewhat pain free, as there is no additional strain on the joints). Yes, I travel, but she makes it sound like I go on 8 hour flights, not the short flights to England or train trips to Belgium and the Netherlands. Last time I checked, people with disabilities were still allowed to travel. Her observation in regards to "standing or sitting around on uncomfortable chairs" is quite interesting, as we never met in person. I am assuming this information is based on hearsay by the person she mentions in this paragraph. However, that person knows very well that I am on permanent pain medication, as I shared one of my painkillers with him when he injured his knee, which by the way happened unrelated to the playful body slam. Oh, and I did not wrap my arms around his waist, but his upper body and used a rather simple move that takes advantage of leverage (step back, short jerk upwards with little strength used, simply dropping again while moving backwards, so no slam, he only hit the floor with his own body weight, while I simply moved his center of gravity behind where his feet touched the ground - ask a martial artist for details), to knock Rhysz off balance, who, despite his knee injury was running about rather speedily, chasing after another Liverpool attendee. Blaming his knee injury on me is a blatant lie by DmKrispin yet again, since he had it previously to our playful encounter.
@DmKrispin Very much so. I'm neuro certified, but worked cardiac ACU for years. Valve replacements are fairly routine. Even aortic valve replacements/grafts are generally uneventful. Deaths I dealt with resulted from secondary issues-blood clots, respiratory emergencies, infections, etc. These were rare and occured in the post-op phase. Smoking, drinking & obesity put valve defect patients at far greater risk if they refuse replacement surgery.
(cont>>)
KCKatheist 2 weeks ago
Yes, valve replacements are fairly routine, but nonetheless there is a risk, especially when combined with other medical conditions that neither you nor DmKrispin know about, and anyone facing such a surgery has a right to be scared. It is nice how a self proclaimed nurse is trying to put a medical diagnosis and prognosis on me though without a single look at my medical file. You may also be aware that surgery is not performed until absolutely necessary and the condition is often treated with medication if no immediate risk is present, while closely observing the patient in regular checkups. Doctors generally suggest moderate exercise (while strenuous exercise is forbidden) as well as a healthy body weight to minimize risk. I have been on Torasemide for years and have lost a nice amount of weight over the past year.
@KCKatheist As for arthritis in the knees, you are aware of the obvious. As she remains quite unrestricted in her mobility, I doubt it's severe. Arthritis in the spine (spondylosis) is agonizingly painful and debilitating. Most patients are on potent pain relievers, muscle relaxers, and anti-inflammatory rx. Lifting a bag of groceries is generally prohibitive-lifting a 6', 200lbs man, impossible. Mobility is severely limited; many patients use wheelchairs or scooters.
(cont..)
KCKatheist 2 weeks ago
I remain unrestricted in my mobility? I find this rather funny, coming from two people who have never met me in person. As a matter of fact, I am rather restricted in my mobility. I am on metamizole and diclofenac and there are days I DO use crutches, as those who actually DO know me and have met me have observed and can testify to.
@KCKatheist Some patients benefit from extensive spinal fusions, but often the surgery fails and patients are left more crippled than pre-operatively.
The pain from spondylosis is extreme. It can be seen in the faces, heard in the voices of those afflicted. It can't be masked. Meds such as Oxycontin are used, often in high doses, to manage this pain. People on such potent opiates who drink to excess generally go to sleep and never wake up.
I doubt her veracity.
KCKatheist 2 weeks ago
So this self proclaimed medical expert generalizes people on pain medication, claiming they drink to excess generally. Lovely. Well, as stated above, I am on a variety of medications for my various conditions, but do not drink excessively. It is impressive how a mere nurse doubts the diagnosis of various specialists, especially since the specialists have actually seen me in person, have X-rays, CT scans, etc, unlike KCKatheist.
Do you people realize just how retarded you sound?
Have a nice day.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Fun in Antwerp and Gent
So I have just arrived back home from a wonderful extended weekend in Belgium and I enjoyed my stay so much, that I am definitely going back there, hopefully in the near future. Here is my little travel diary:
Friday, 19th of August 2011
I rush out of the house at a quarter to 8, knowing I am running a bit late, as usual. I miss the tram I originally wanted to take, hoping the next one won't run late, else I will miss my train. Fortunately there is no delay, and I can finally relax on the first step of my journey, taking the train from Mannheim to Cologne.
Not having had breakfast, I enter the train's board bistro and ask if they accept credit cards, since I am low on cash and am assured that I can pay with my Visa card just to find out after eating the overpriced mediocre food that they apparently have trouble getting confirmation through my prepaid Postbank Visa. Not having enough cash on me, I am at a bit of a loss how to pay the bill, asking them if they are willing to wait in Cologne until I can rush to an ATM and come back with the cash, but they agree to send a bill to my house instead. Works for me, but take this as a hint: Prepaid credit cards are not usable for expenses on Deutsche Bahn trains.
Arrival in Cologne is in time (yes, DB trains CAN be punctual!)and I stroll over to the other platform with plenty of time to spare for my connection train to Brussels. Time to stand in the "smoking zone" and feed my nicotine addiction.
In Brussels I have 10 minutes to find out which platform the train to Antwerp leaves from. Announcements through the speaker system are in French and Flemish and I realize while I understand regular Dutch fairly well, I have a hard time with Flemish. Fortunately there are some nice people around who translate for me and I have a very nice lady sitting next to me on the train who lets me know at which stop to get off the train.
I arrive in Antwerp and spot freethinkeronice, who is waiting for me on the platform. I'm happy to see him but also hungry as hell after the mediocre breakfast, so we stop by the next available food source, which is a hot dog stand and I feel a lot better afterwards, especially when spotting the Starbucks up the stairs, which is where we spend the next hour and a half, since we can't check into the hotel before 4pm. While the Starbucks at Antwerp train station has no free internet (which is unusual for a Starbucks), there is a Telenet hotspot available that you can access if you have an account with them, or alternatively via Skype credit.
We check into our room at Budget Flats in Antwerp at 4pm. The receptionist is extremely nice and perfectly honest about the shortcomings of the flats available, such as the free WiFi cutting in and out in the building where we have our flat, suggesting that it would probably be a waste of money to pay the additional fee for the fast internet, since the WiFi is unstable. We pay the extra 5 Euro anyway and notice a bit of a difference in speed, despite it cutting off now and then, and the 5 Euro will buy you faster internet for a full month. If you need the WiFi only to check mail, you may be perfectly fine using just the free WiFi though. The flat is nice and big with huge windows, but the cleaning personnel could have done a better job. We find some prehistoric ice cream in the freezer, left there by a previous guest and the dishes appear to have just been rinsed off, not washed, so we rewash all dishes we intend to use first.
Later that night we go out to find something edible as well as some fun stuff to do. We end up having some Belgian beer at an Irish Pub (sounds silly, I know) and I realize that Belgians indeed equal Germany when it comes to beer brewing, then move on to a karaoke bar that is simply weird, since the background tracks aren't the original but some cheap version in a key that renders the songs unsingable, since you have to sing either way lower or way higher than the original. We leave after one song since it's late anyway and we still want food. We end up in a turkish fastfood place where I have some chicken, fries and salad, then head back to the flat.
Saturday, 20th of August 2011
I get coffee in bed and freethinkeronice buys fresh rolls from the bakery for our breakfast. Kitchen in the flat works well and I manage to produce some fairly decent scrambled eggs for a good start into the day despite missing a spatula. Afterwards we stroll around Antwerp and do a bit of shopping, then go back to the hotel to relax and have fun.
I cook an extremely late dinner in our little kitchen, we are having Bratwurst, Rotkraut and mashed potatos (why do I insist on cooking typical German food while in Belgium?). We do the dishes and head to bed way too late, having to get up early to check out by 10am tomorrow.
Sunday, 21st of August 2011
I hate my alarm clock, which goes off at 9am, but it has to be done, so we get up, take our showers, pack our things and manage to head out right at 10am. Perhaps we should have gotten up a bit earlier. Rushing sucks. We head to the Antwerp Centraal trainstation again and put some of our luggage into a locker there, since we don't need it all for our one night in Gent. Afterwards we have some real coffee at the Starbucks again, then catch the train to Gent.
We're on the train to Gent shortly after 1pm. The ride takes us 50 minutes. Although we know there is a tram going from the station to the hotel in Gent, we decide to go for a bit of luxury and take a taxi. The driver is odd, speaking no English, no German, barely any Flemish but apparently French. Sorry to say, neither freethinkeronice nor I speak French. If you drive a cab in the Flemish part of Belgium, shouldn't you speak Flemish? Just sayin'.
We check into the Ibis Gent Centrum Opera hotel at around 2pm. The room is tiny, the beds are not the most comfortable, but the location is nice. We inquire about areas to smoke and are told the entire hotel is smoke free and has no terrace, so we have to smoke in front of the hotel on the street, which turns out to be a blatant lie by the receptionist later on.
Hunger is killing us! So we head out on a quest for food and stumble across this wonderful little restaurant in Gent called Mistral. The food is simply godly and I doubt even Gordon Ramsay would have anything bad to say about it. If you ever end up in Gent and are looking for good food, I can only suggest the Mistral. This cook knows his job!
From about 6pm on we sit at the hotel bar, waiting for Skorpys to arrive, debating whether he will take the tram or a taxi. I bet on taxi and am proven right. A taxi pulls up and spits out Skorpys. When he checks in, the receptionist actually asks him if he wants a smoking or non-smoking room! Are they kidding me? I complain that not only was I not asked that question (since I would have taken a smoking room), but even was told there is no smoking in the entire hotel. The receptionist simply ignores me. Am I made of thin air?
The three of us head into the city of Gent to find something edible for Skorpys. Unfortunately the Mistral is closed by now since the owner is celebrating his birthday, so we find another restaurant. While I don't remember the name of the restaurant, the sentence "Nice to MEAT you" on the menu leaves a lasting impression. I wonder if they considered the implications of such a sentence before printing it.
We stroll through Gent a bit more, have another drink at some pub, then run into a group of students having a jam session by the river. The guitar player is simply awesome and there is a female singer with a great voice. We hang out and sing together, having fun jamming until it gets too cold to stay any longer. Phone numbers and Facebook pages exchanged. We will definitely stay in touch and jam again at some point!
Monday, 22nd of August 2011
freethinkeronice is up early, but is a sweety and lets me sleep while he goes and gets breakfast and more smokes somewhere. By the time I get up the hotel doesn't serve breakfast anymore, but Skorpys and I manage to get some mediocre and much overpriced coffee to get us out of zombie mode. Not satisfied with the coffee there, the three of us head into the city again to search for some proper breakfast and find a nice little café in some side street where they make a really good omelette and nice coffee. Ready to face another day!
We head over to the river again and go on a boat ride to tour the city of Gent. I'm filming a lot of footage and while writing this blog entry remind myself to edit it and post it on YouTube! I will edit this post and link to the video once it's done.
The day is over way too soon and we head back to Antwerp in the evening, checking back into the Budget Flats for our last night.
Tuesday, 23rd of August 2011
Where did the weekend go? We check out of the flat at 10am again while a massive thunderstorm is raging and temperatures have dropped. I put on my sweater, since I forgot to bring a coat. At least I have my umbrella. We take a taxi back to the train station anyway, since the rain is blowing sideways. We spend the rest of the time at Starbucks again until I have to get on the train, which is delayed by 5 minutes. I panic just a little, since that only gives me 5 minutes to find out which platform my connection train in Brussels leaves from and get there, but all works out well, since that train has a delay of 20 minutes as well, leaving me with some time to spare. When I get on the train I have to argue a bit with the lady that is occupying my reserved seat before she finally gets up. The connection train in Cologne is on time, but the original 40 minute layover allows me to be relaxed about it. Other than that the trip back is fairly uneventful.
All in all I really enjoyed Belgium and am looking forward to the next time. I just wish I could have stayed longer.
Friday, 19th of August 2011
I rush out of the house at a quarter to 8, knowing I am running a bit late, as usual. I miss the tram I originally wanted to take, hoping the next one won't run late, else I will miss my train. Fortunately there is no delay, and I can finally relax on the first step of my journey, taking the train from Mannheim to Cologne.
Not having had breakfast, I enter the train's board bistro and ask if they accept credit cards, since I am low on cash and am assured that I can pay with my Visa card just to find out after eating the overpriced mediocre food that they apparently have trouble getting confirmation through my prepaid Postbank Visa. Not having enough cash on me, I am at a bit of a loss how to pay the bill, asking them if they are willing to wait in Cologne until I can rush to an ATM and come back with the cash, but they agree to send a bill to my house instead. Works for me, but take this as a hint: Prepaid credit cards are not usable for expenses on Deutsche Bahn trains.
Arrival in Cologne is in time (yes, DB trains CAN be punctual!)and I stroll over to the other platform with plenty of time to spare for my connection train to Brussels. Time to stand in the "smoking zone" and feed my nicotine addiction.
In Brussels I have 10 minutes to find out which platform the train to Antwerp leaves from. Announcements through the speaker system are in French and Flemish and I realize while I understand regular Dutch fairly well, I have a hard time with Flemish. Fortunately there are some nice people around who translate for me and I have a very nice lady sitting next to me on the train who lets me know at which stop to get off the train.
I arrive in Antwerp and spot freethinkeronice, who is waiting for me on the platform. I'm happy to see him but also hungry as hell after the mediocre breakfast, so we stop by the next available food source, which is a hot dog stand and I feel a lot better afterwards, especially when spotting the Starbucks up the stairs, which is where we spend the next hour and a half, since we can't check into the hotel before 4pm. While the Starbucks at Antwerp train station has no free internet (which is unusual for a Starbucks), there is a Telenet hotspot available that you can access if you have an account with them, or alternatively via Skype credit.
We check into our room at Budget Flats in Antwerp at 4pm. The receptionist is extremely nice and perfectly honest about the shortcomings of the flats available, such as the free WiFi cutting in and out in the building where we have our flat, suggesting that it would probably be a waste of money to pay the additional fee for the fast internet, since the WiFi is unstable. We pay the extra 5 Euro anyway and notice a bit of a difference in speed, despite it cutting off now and then, and the 5 Euro will buy you faster internet for a full month. If you need the WiFi only to check mail, you may be perfectly fine using just the free WiFi though. The flat is nice and big with huge windows, but the cleaning personnel could have done a better job. We find some prehistoric ice cream in the freezer, left there by a previous guest and the dishes appear to have just been rinsed off, not washed, so we rewash all dishes we intend to use first.
Later that night we go out to find something edible as well as some fun stuff to do. We end up having some Belgian beer at an Irish Pub (sounds silly, I know) and I realize that Belgians indeed equal Germany when it comes to beer brewing, then move on to a karaoke bar that is simply weird, since the background tracks aren't the original but some cheap version in a key that renders the songs unsingable, since you have to sing either way lower or way higher than the original. We leave after one song since it's late anyway and we still want food. We end up in a turkish fastfood place where I have some chicken, fries and salad, then head back to the flat.
Saturday, 20th of August 2011
I get coffee in bed and freethinkeronice buys fresh rolls from the bakery for our breakfast. Kitchen in the flat works well and I manage to produce some fairly decent scrambled eggs for a good start into the day despite missing a spatula. Afterwards we stroll around Antwerp and do a bit of shopping, then go back to the hotel to relax and have fun.
I cook an extremely late dinner in our little kitchen, we are having Bratwurst, Rotkraut and mashed potatos (why do I insist on cooking typical German food while in Belgium?). We do the dishes and head to bed way too late, having to get up early to check out by 10am tomorrow.
Sunday, 21st of August 2011
I hate my alarm clock, which goes off at 9am, but it has to be done, so we get up, take our showers, pack our things and manage to head out right at 10am. Perhaps we should have gotten up a bit earlier. Rushing sucks. We head to the Antwerp Centraal trainstation again and put some of our luggage into a locker there, since we don't need it all for our one night in Gent. Afterwards we have some real coffee at the Starbucks again, then catch the train to Gent.
We're on the train to Gent shortly after 1pm. The ride takes us 50 minutes. Although we know there is a tram going from the station to the hotel in Gent, we decide to go for a bit of luxury and take a taxi. The driver is odd, speaking no English, no German, barely any Flemish but apparently French. Sorry to say, neither freethinkeronice nor I speak French. If you drive a cab in the Flemish part of Belgium, shouldn't you speak Flemish? Just sayin'.
We check into the Ibis Gent Centrum Opera hotel at around 2pm. The room is tiny, the beds are not the most comfortable, but the location is nice. We inquire about areas to smoke and are told the entire hotel is smoke free and has no terrace, so we have to smoke in front of the hotel on the street, which turns out to be a blatant lie by the receptionist later on.
Hunger is killing us! So we head out on a quest for food and stumble across this wonderful little restaurant in Gent called Mistral. The food is simply godly and I doubt even Gordon Ramsay would have anything bad to say about it. If you ever end up in Gent and are looking for good food, I can only suggest the Mistral. This cook knows his job!
From about 6pm on we sit at the hotel bar, waiting for Skorpys to arrive, debating whether he will take the tram or a taxi. I bet on taxi and am proven right. A taxi pulls up and spits out Skorpys. When he checks in, the receptionist actually asks him if he wants a smoking or non-smoking room! Are they kidding me? I complain that not only was I not asked that question (since I would have taken a smoking room), but even was told there is no smoking in the entire hotel. The receptionist simply ignores me. Am I made of thin air?
The three of us head into the city of Gent to find something edible for Skorpys. Unfortunately the Mistral is closed by now since the owner is celebrating his birthday, so we find another restaurant. While I don't remember the name of the restaurant, the sentence "Nice to MEAT you" on the menu leaves a lasting impression. I wonder if they considered the implications of such a sentence before printing it.
We stroll through Gent a bit more, have another drink at some pub, then run into a group of students having a jam session by the river. The guitar player is simply awesome and there is a female singer with a great voice. We hang out and sing together, having fun jamming until it gets too cold to stay any longer. Phone numbers and Facebook pages exchanged. We will definitely stay in touch and jam again at some point!
Monday, 22nd of August 2011
freethinkeronice is up early, but is a sweety and lets me sleep while he goes and gets breakfast and more smokes somewhere. By the time I get up the hotel doesn't serve breakfast anymore, but Skorpys and I manage to get some mediocre and much overpriced coffee to get us out of zombie mode. Not satisfied with the coffee there, the three of us head into the city again to search for some proper breakfast and find a nice little café in some side street where they make a really good omelette and nice coffee. Ready to face another day!
We head over to the river again and go on a boat ride to tour the city of Gent. I'm filming a lot of footage and while writing this blog entry remind myself to edit it and post it on YouTube! I will edit this post and link to the video once it's done.
The day is over way too soon and we head back to Antwerp in the evening, checking back into the Budget Flats for our last night.
Tuesday, 23rd of August 2011
Where did the weekend go? We check out of the flat at 10am again while a massive thunderstorm is raging and temperatures have dropped. I put on my sweater, since I forgot to bring a coat. At least I have my umbrella. We take a taxi back to the train station anyway, since the rain is blowing sideways. We spend the rest of the time at Starbucks again until I have to get on the train, which is delayed by 5 minutes. I panic just a little, since that only gives me 5 minutes to find out which platform my connection train in Brussels leaves from and get there, but all works out well, since that train has a delay of 20 minutes as well, leaving me with some time to spare. When I get on the train I have to argue a bit with the lady that is occupying my reserved seat before she finally gets up. The connection train in Cologne is on time, but the original 40 minute layover allows me to be relaxed about it. Other than that the trip back is fairly uneventful.
All in all I really enjoyed Belgium and am looking forward to the next time. I just wish I could have stayed longer.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Your August boy and girl!
The AoD has recruited a new spokesperson to talk shit about me, the fire breathing dragon, the incarnation of all that is evil within this world! But behold, this person, while trying his best to further spread the lies AoD is spreading about me via the TruthsFriction channels that have been debunked thoroughly already and hence need no further addressing, is actually suggesting to others to keep me as a "powerful ally". So tell me, Felinoid, are you actually saying it is okay to keep scum around as allies? Or could it be that you know fully well I am not what you make me out to be, but are doing someone else a favour by talking shit about me?
Either way, I nominate you my boy of the month of August, congratulations!
As for my girl of the month, I give you DmKrispin and ScrabbleScore (the latter actually being TemoinsGirl, while claiming to be her RL best friend *awwwww*). It looks like they have to share the girl of the month of August for posting their ridiculous crap on Felinoid's video. Here's what they had to say, as well as my responses. Why not respond on the video, you ask? Because they will just flag the comments for harassment again, as they have done before. Enjoy:
FACT: The reason why my docs are on my blog is NOT irrelevant, even if your wishful thinking makes you believe so. Nobody has the right to abuse a law for doc dropping.
FACT: I had a link to it on my channelpage in the past, but did NOT encourage people to click on it except those in certain YouTube groups I interacted with (German political groups). That link has long been removed. If you insist that having it had on there still gives you the right to constantly refer to it (including showing the URL while mentioning that my docs are on there), I have as much right to continue referring to everything SniperOfBuffalo has at one point in the past posted on his channel page. Telling someone you can find more info using google surely does not require anyone to have a degree in rocket science.
FACT: I have proven evidence. You chose to ignore it. That makes you the ignorant idiot, not me.
FACT: I made a video AFTER my docs were already dropped by Zierota's AArmy friends all over YouTube after filing a counternotice on kookyinc's behalf. So my docs were originally out there BECAUSE of being doc dropped, and I originally responded with that video not caring anymore about my address being out there and a phone number I was not using anymore. The docs AoD are spreading via linking to my German blog contain more than the video does. Nice way of twisting the truth though, DmKrispin.
FACT: You got the age of my child wrong, yet claim to know so much about me. Failtroll.
FACT: TruthsFriction has not dismantled, debunked and destroyed anything, on the contrary. Taking random statements of your own sock accounts and repeating them does not constitute proof.
FACT: I have not been diagnosed with sociopathy. I suffer from depression, which is perfectly well handled by a daily dosage of Citalopram. What you refer to as "documented" is a few slanderous blogs created by you and your cronies. Nice try though.
FACT: I have solid evidence that Zierota is at least one of the people behind TruthsFriction. I will post the proof when I feel like it, because frankly, outing a bunch of trolls do not take priority in my schedule.
FACT: If by saying "had her ass kicked" you mean had her channel false flagged down, I would agree with you. Other than that it's wishful thinking on your part.
FACT: You have no evidence that I am behind any socks, because it's an outright lie. Nice try though.
FACT: I was doc dropped on several occasions, first by the AArmy (and you refer to evidence for that as your "proof" that I dropped my own docs), then by AoD via continuously handing out the link to my german blog via the TruthsFriction channels. Oh, and SniperOfBuffalo tried to reveal my home address on his blog, but failed miserably, since he referred to an address I lived at over 7 years ago.
FACT: You are projecting. I don't flag, I don't troll and I don't harass, unlike you.
FACT: What's good for the goose is good for the ganter. If you consider me being flagged down legitimate, then I would assume the same can be true for the flagging of the TruthsFriction channels as well as Shangi. However, since you acknowledge the existence of false flagging, I am sure you also acknowledge the possibility that my channel was false flagged. Else you are simply a dishonest hypocrite.
FACT: ROFL at tolerated outcast. And I am sure since YOU were present, you know all about it. Oh wait, you were not. I am so glad we cleared that up.
FACT: I receive stuff via sob stories? Surely you can back that up with proof. You can't? Such a damn shame. Another idiotic statement made by a failtroll. I have already disclosed my paypal account on here. Time to serve up your proof. Bank statements of people sending me money? Transfer slips? Anything? No? Seems you are lying out your arse there, dear.
FACT: The AArmy existed long before I entered the circus, as kookyinc already explained to you on the video where you left this comment. Yet again a statement made from ignorance. Grats, you make yourself look more and more stupid with each comment you leave.
FACT: I talked publicly TO my separated husband and his girlfriend. And guess what, neither of them mind me addressing them by their names. Does your family call you DmKrispin? Didn't think so.
FACT: SAP employs over 50,000 people, considering it is one of the largest software companies worldwide. What is your issue with me mentioning that?
FACT: I made a video about the PROBLEMS at my daughter's school, especially with the principal's power abuse. I did not mention the name of the school or the location of it. So what's your problem with that? We are not allowed to point out power abuse in the school system?
FACT: You fail to note that by the time my daughter would have been travelling, she would have been 16 years of age. It is perfectly legal for a 16 year old to go on a 45 minute train ride on her own. Again, what is your issue other than failtrolling?
Either way, I nominate you my boy of the month of August, congratulations!
As for my girl of the month, I give you DmKrispin and ScrabbleScore (the latter actually being TemoinsGirl, while claiming to be her RL best friend *awwwww*). It looks like they have to share the girl of the month of August for posting their ridiculous crap on Felinoid's video. Here's what they had to say, as well as my responses. Why not respond on the video, you ask? Because they will just flag the comments for harassment again, as they have done before. Enjoy:
FACT: She posted her docs on her blog (her reason for doing so is irrelevant)
FACT: She provided a hyperlink to that same blog on her PUBLIC YT CHANNEL, and encouraged people to click on it.
FACT: She has yet to produce one single shred of actual evidence that AoD is "spreading" her address or real phone number anywhere. This is an assumption based on pure speculation; also known as "a wild ass guess".
*sits back and waits for the strawman & goalpost moving*
DmKrispin 18 hours ago
FACT: The reason why my docs are on my blog is NOT irrelevant, even if your wishful thinking makes you believe so. Nobody has the right to abuse a law for doc dropping.
FACT: I had a link to it on my channelpage in the past, but did NOT encourage people to click on it except those in certain YouTube groups I interacted with (German political groups). That link has long been removed. If you insist that having it had on there still gives you the right to constantly refer to it (including showing the URL while mentioning that my docs are on there), I have as much right to continue referring to everything SniperOfBuffalo has at one point in the past posted on his channel page. Telling someone you can find more info using google surely does not require anyone to have a degree in rocket science.
FACT: I have proven evidence. You chose to ignore it. That makes you the ignorant idiot, not me.
FACT: She made a video with her own docs in it, saying she couldn't be bothered to blank the info out. She then asked people to mirror that same video. The mirrors are STILL floating around.
FACT: She put a hyperlink to her UNprotected Twitter (with her full name) on her public YT channel, and asked people to "follow" her.
FACT: She talks openly about living in Mannheim, she talks about her kids by name, she even put the 12-year-old on cam to interrogate her.
DmKrispin 12 hours ago
FACT: I made a video AFTER my docs were already dropped by Zierota's AArmy friends all over YouTube after filing a counternotice on kookyinc's behalf. So my docs were originally out there BECAUSE of being doc dropped, and I originally responded with that video not caring anymore about my address being out there and a phone number I was not using anymore. The docs AoD are spreading via linking to my German blog contain more than the video does. Nice way of twisting the truth though, DmKrispin.
FACT: You got the age of my child wrong, yet claim to know so much about me. Failtroll.
FACT: TruthsFriction has systematically dismantled, debunked and destroyed every claim she's ever made, past and present.
FACT: Her sociopathic, dangerous behavior is now documented not just on YT but all over the internet itself, and any search performed provides the results.
FACT: She's pissed off TF remains a faceless entity she can't blackmail or harass into silence.
FACT: She's had her ass kicked so bad there's no recovering from it.
ScrabbleScore 10 hours ago
FACT: TruthsFriction has not dismantled, debunked and destroyed anything, on the contrary. Taking random statements of your own sock accounts and repeating them does not constitute proof.
FACT: I have not been diagnosed with sociopathy. I suffer from depression, which is perfectly well handled by a daily dosage of Citalopram. What you refer to as "documented" is a few slanderous blogs created by you and your cronies. Nice try though.
FACT: I have solid evidence that Zierota is at least one of the people behind TruthsFriction. I will post the proof when I feel like it, because frankly, outing a bunch of trolls do not take priority in my schedule.
FACT: If by saying "had her ass kicked" you mean had her channel false flagged down, I would agree with you. Other than that it's wishful thinking on your part.
FACT: Evidence she co-created, named and used over 100 troll accounts to harass & dox AoD & friends /watch?v=Sm75IHYsWVw
FACT: She was never doc-dropped but did dox several others /watch?v=2KpWY9ARnt4&feature=youtu.be
FACT: She flags, trolls, doc-drops, bullies, harasses and threatens others /watch?v=AYWCWXixs1U watch?v=OS3WNEBxc-M and /watch?v=5i2yHV4JHuM
FACT: Nothing but evidence against her on every count and she's supplied zero proof for any of her many hysterical claims.
ScrabbleScore 10 hours ago
FACT: You have no evidence that I am behind any socks, because it's an outright lie. Nice try though.
FACT: I was doc dropped on several occasions, first by the AArmy (and you refer to evidence for that as your "proof" that I dropped my own docs), then by AoD via continuously handing out the link to my german blog via the TruthsFriction channels. Oh, and SniperOfBuffalo tried to reveal my home address on his blog, but failed miserably, since he referred to an address I lived at over 7 years ago.
FACT: You are projecting. I don't flag, I don't troll and I don't harass, unlike you.
FACT: She has lost channels due to YT ToS violations that she shows in her videos got yanked for hate speech, bullying and harassment.
FACT: She was a tolerated outcast at the Liverpool meet up.
FACT: She has strong-armed and sob-storied others online and in RL for money in order to receive cash, goods, gifts, equipment, trips and vacations.
FACT: No one ever heard of the AArmy before her and they only make an appearance when she needs to a visible win to promote herself as a champion.
ScrabbleScore 10 hours ago
FACT: What's good for the goose is good for the ganter. If you consider me being flagged down legitimate, then I would assume the same can be true for the flagging of the TruthsFriction channels as well as Shangi. However, since you acknowledge the existence of false flagging, I am sure you also acknowledge the possibility that my channel was false flagged. Else you are simply a dishonest hypocrite.
FACT: ROFL at tolerated outcast. And I am sure since YOU were present, you know all about it. Oh wait, you were not. I am so glad we cleared that up.
FACT: I receive stuff via sob stories? Surely you can back that up with proof. You can't? Such a damn shame. Another idiotic statement made by a failtroll. I have already disclosed my paypal account on here. Time to serve up your proof. Bank statements of people sending me money? Transfer slips? Anything? No? Seems you are lying out your arse there, dear.
FACT: The AArmy existed long before I entered the circus, as kookyinc already explained to you on the video where you left this comment. Yet again a statement made from ignorance. Grats, you make yourself look more and more stupid with each comment you leave.
FACT: She talked publicly about her not-really-exhusband, his girlfriend, and their toddler by their actual names.
FACT: She made a public video detailing her workplace by name and location.
FACT: She made a public video about her daughter's school!
FACT: She talked publicly about when and by what transport her daugher (15 at the time) would be travelling alone.
DmKrispin 11 hours ago
FACT: I talked publicly TO my separated husband and his girlfriend. And guess what, neither of them mind me addressing them by their names. Does your family call you DmKrispin? Didn't think so.
FACT: SAP employs over 50,000 people, considering it is one of the largest software companies worldwide. What is your issue with me mentioning that?
FACT: I made a video about the PROBLEMS at my daughter's school, especially with the principal's power abuse. I did not mention the name of the school or the location of it. So what's your problem with that? We are not allowed to point out power abuse in the school system?
FACT: You fail to note that by the time my daughter would have been travelling, she would have been 16 years of age. It is perfectly legal for a 16 year old to go on a 45 minute train ride on her own. Again, what is your issue other than failtrolling?
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The gloves are off, Joshua T. Schuster!
That's right, I am handing out your full name, including your middle initial, SniperOfBuffalo, and let me tell you why:
I can cope with it when you spread lies about me.
I can cope with it when you doctor screenshots to fake being flagged.
I can cope with you impersonating me.
I can cope with you flagging my channel down.
I will NOT allow you to harass my children!
Yes, I made the mistake of not checking if she was logged out of her channel before I posted a comment, so it went through from her account. I immediately clarified whose account this was, and the channel name should be a pretty obvious indicator that this was a CHILD'S account. Looking at her channel page before I asked her to set it to private you could SEE she is a child.
Despite me informing you of this, you decided to continue posting your vileness to HER, not ME. I asked you to stop and you LAUGHED at me and continued! So yes, I DID threaten you. Because you DO NOT GET TO HARASS A CHILD! MY CHILD!
And then you have the audacity to flag my comments, in which I warned you to not go after my daughter, as harassment? Keep flagging, Joshua T. Schuster of Buffalo, NY. A YouTube comment or video of mine is the LEAST you have to worry about now. You fuck with my children, I fuck you up, it really is that simple. It's on, bitchboy!
To my friends in the greater Buffalo, NY area: Please get in touch. We need a chat.
Joshua: If you want to avoid my wrath, feel free to issue a formal apology to my daughter and promise to leave her alone and this will end. You can continue talking shit about and to me, but my daughter is off limits. Until such an apology to her is issued, you are not just on my radar, but in my crosshairs, and I will have no remorse pulling the trigger on your sorry ass. Are we fucking clear on this?
Dismissed.
I can cope with it when you spread lies about me.
I can cope with it when you doctor screenshots to fake being flagged.
I can cope with you impersonating me.
I can cope with you flagging my channel down.
I will NOT allow you to harass my children!
Yes, I made the mistake of not checking if she was logged out of her channel before I posted a comment, so it went through from her account. I immediately clarified whose account this was, and the channel name should be a pretty obvious indicator that this was a CHILD'S account. Looking at her channel page before I asked her to set it to private you could SEE she is a child.
Despite me informing you of this, you decided to continue posting your vileness to HER, not ME. I asked you to stop and you LAUGHED at me and continued! So yes, I DID threaten you. Because you DO NOT GET TO HARASS A CHILD! MY CHILD!
And then you have the audacity to flag my comments, in which I warned you to not go after my daughter, as harassment? Keep flagging, Joshua T. Schuster of Buffalo, NY. A YouTube comment or video of mine is the LEAST you have to worry about now. You fuck with my children, I fuck you up, it really is that simple. It's on, bitchboy!
To my friends in the greater Buffalo, NY area: Please get in touch. We need a chat.
Joshua: If you want to avoid my wrath, feel free to issue a formal apology to my daughter and promise to leave her alone and this will end. You can continue talking shit about and to me, but my daughter is off limits. Until such an apology to her is issued, you are not just on my radar, but in my crosshairs, and I will have no remorse pulling the trigger on your sorry ass. Are we fucking clear on this?
Dismissed.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
I am stuck in an elevator gate, help!
After reading all the serious blog entries and watching all the serious videos made by serious people with serious faces using serious words and everything seriously spinning out of proportion, it is my time to chime in on the hot topic. After all, it seems to be the fashionable thing to do these days. Elevatorgate, here I come!
First things first: Why the bloody hell does it have to be [insert random incident here] gate all the time? Watergate made sense, after all it was called the Watergate Hotel. But do we really need to make a meme out of this? If these topics are as serious as everyone claims they are, why make a meme out of them? Isn't a meme more of a mocking fun thing? Thought so! So since we named the incident Elevatorgate, does it really make sense to be all serious about it? Not a chance!
So, what actually happened here? What is Elevatorgate? I will try to sum up my view of things, which of course is only the view of an observing outsider, so I am probably not at all accurate. Bite me!
Elevatorgate started, when RKWatson aka Skepchick committed the horrible atrocity of making an unscripted (*gasp*) 8 minute and 3 second video in which she rambled about moving houses, a trip to California, speaking at several meetings, visiting the Mythbusters' set, getting raptured, travelling to Dublin for an atheist conference, visiting the Science Gallery, meeting AronRa and DPRjones, talking on a panel during that conference in which she discussed feminist issues within the skeptic community and a whooping 1 minute and 20 seconds about the guy in the elevator.
So what did she say about the guy in the elevator? In case you were too lazy to click the link and watch the full video, here is a transcript:
So did the guy do anything wrong? I wouldn't call it wrong as such, just incredibly clumsy, perhaps a bit idiotic. He approached someone who had just finished speaking about being sexualized with the words "Don't take this the wrong way, but...". This sentence pretty much guarantees that someone WILL take something the wrong way. It implies that he already KNOWS what the following statement could be mistaken as, and even if he doesn't intend for it to come across as such, which is why he started out the way he did, he knows she will think about this as well. And that alone will be a fairly good indicator, if you are genuinely just interested in chatting and a cup of coffee, that a different approach may be in order. So what do I think of the elevator guy? He is a poor, unfortunate clumsy putz that probably had no bad intentions at all.
Being the geek I am and having worked with people in IT, who are mostly male and mostly clumsy putzes, here are MY few words to the wise. Tips how he COULD have approached Rebecca with a more satisfactory result for both parties: He could have asked her while still at the bar, with others around, or, if too scared to approach her in front of people, he could have asked her to have breakfast in the hotel bar the next day, instead of coffee in his room.
So why did this blow up into "Elevatorgate"?
The radical feminist mob that makes up a huge chunk of Rebecca's audience decided to label the poor clumsy fool a potential rapist. Heaven help us, there is a man who might think a woman is sexy and he takes a chance, albeit a very clumsy one, and approaches her! Ladies, get a fucking grip on reality! Not every man who shows interest in you is a potential rapist. Some, I dare say the majority, are actually quite nice and just genuinely want to share a good time with you, possibly even fall in love, without immediately expecting you to get in the kitchen and remain barefoot and pregnant! While the concept of dating someone of the opposite gender may seem strange to some of you, it can be quite pleasurable, and it usually takes one of the two (or more) involved parties to make an initial approach to indicate interest. They may not always be approaches that you appreciate, they may occasionally be clumsy, but they are not the end of the world, nor are they the opening scene to you being horribly violated. It is thanks to you, this particular type of fanbase, that Rebecca is now receiving more crap than needed, because YOUR statements are falsely attributed to her. And she is fool enough to thank you for it.
But this was not the end of it, of course. Spurred on by complaints from an audience opposing the statements that were now attributed to Rebecca, Richard Dawkins now decided to chime in. And he did so in a way that can only be described as even more clumsy than the best elevator guy himself could have possibly produced. He decided to comment on PZ Myer's blog Pharyngula:
Did it end here though? No way! Nuh uh! We have drama! Let's feed it!
So some people who attributed Rebecca's fanbase's statements to Rebecca chimed in and backed up Richard Dawkins' ridiculous statement, cheering, cajoling, running to Rebecca's video and leaving a tirade of comments that remind me of the scribbling on highschool bathroom stall doors. Pretty much any misogynist insult in the book can be found on there by now, and these are in return falsely attributed to Dawkins by Rebecca's fanbase.
This entire clusterfuck has absolutely nothing to do anymore with the original statements made. It has turned into fanbase vs. fanbase and lost all aspects of reasonable discussion between two intellectuals.
And that is the real shame about Elevatorgate.
First things first: Why the bloody hell does it have to be [insert random incident here] gate all the time? Watergate made sense, after all it was called the Watergate Hotel. But do we really need to make a meme out of this? If these topics are as serious as everyone claims they are, why make a meme out of them? Isn't a meme more of a mocking fun thing? Thought so! So since we named the incident Elevatorgate, does it really make sense to be all serious about it? Not a chance!
So, what actually happened here? What is Elevatorgate? I will try to sum up my view of things, which of course is only the view of an observing outsider, so I am probably not at all accurate. Bite me!
Elevatorgate started, when RKWatson aka Skepchick committed the horrible atrocity of making an unscripted (*gasp*) 8 minute and 3 second video in which she rambled about moving houses, a trip to California, speaking at several meetings, visiting the Mythbusters' set, getting raptured, travelling to Dublin for an atheist conference, visiting the Science Gallery, meeting AronRa and DPRjones, talking on a panel during that conference in which she discussed feminist issues within the skeptic community and a whooping 1 minute and 20 seconds about the guy in the elevator.
So what did she say about the guy in the elevator? In case you were too lazy to click the link and watch the full video, here is a transcript:
"You were all fantastic. I loved talking to you guys. All of you except for the one man who didn't really grasp, I think, what I was saying on the panel, because at the bar later that night, actually at 4 in the morning, we were at the hotel bar... 4am I said, "You know, I've had enough guys, I'm exhausted. Going to bed." So I walked to the elevator and a man got on the elevator with me and said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I find you very interesting and I would like to talk more. Would you like to come to my hotel room for coffee?" Just a word to the wise here: Guys, don't do that! You know, I don't really know how else to explain how this makes me incredibly uncomfortable, but I'll just sort of lay it out that I was a single woman, you know, in a foreign country, at 4am, in a hotel elevator with you, just you. And I... don't invite me back to your hotel room right after I finished talking about how it creeps me out and makes me uncomfortable when men sexualize me in that manner."So what do I think about that statement? Fair enough. This was not a long and detailed analysation of what happened to her or what the man's intentions were, it was merely an unscripted spontaneous statement recalling and wording exactly how she felt at the time. She was creeped out, she thought the guy probably wanted sex (which is likely but not proven) and it remained in her memory enough to mention the incident and how she felt in an unscripted rambly video. Do I think she overreacted? Perhaps a bit, because none of us, including her, knew his intentions. Perhaps he genuinely wanted to chat, who knows. Perhaps he did want sex and was hoping she would return interest. Again, we don't know.
So did the guy do anything wrong? I wouldn't call it wrong as such, just incredibly clumsy, perhaps a bit idiotic. He approached someone who had just finished speaking about being sexualized with the words "Don't take this the wrong way, but...". This sentence pretty much guarantees that someone WILL take something the wrong way. It implies that he already KNOWS what the following statement could be mistaken as, and even if he doesn't intend for it to come across as such, which is why he started out the way he did, he knows she will think about this as well. And that alone will be a fairly good indicator, if you are genuinely just interested in chatting and a cup of coffee, that a different approach may be in order. So what do I think of the elevator guy? He is a poor, unfortunate clumsy putz that probably had no bad intentions at all.
Being the geek I am and having worked with people in IT, who are mostly male and mostly clumsy putzes, here are MY few words to the wise. Tips how he COULD have approached Rebecca with a more satisfactory result for both parties: He could have asked her while still at the bar, with others around, or, if too scared to approach her in front of people, he could have asked her to have breakfast in the hotel bar the next day, instead of coffee in his room.
So why did this blow up into "Elevatorgate"?
The radical feminist mob that makes up a huge chunk of Rebecca's audience decided to label the poor clumsy fool a potential rapist. Heaven help us, there is a man who might think a woman is sexy and he takes a chance, albeit a very clumsy one, and approaches her! Ladies, get a fucking grip on reality! Not every man who shows interest in you is a potential rapist. Some, I dare say the majority, are actually quite nice and just genuinely want to share a good time with you, possibly even fall in love, without immediately expecting you to get in the kitchen and remain barefoot and pregnant! While the concept of dating someone of the opposite gender may seem strange to some of you, it can be quite pleasurable, and it usually takes one of the two (or more) involved parties to make an initial approach to indicate interest. They may not always be approaches that you appreciate, they may occasionally be clumsy, but they are not the end of the world, nor are they the opening scene to you being horribly violated. It is thanks to you, this particular type of fanbase, that Rebecca is now receiving more crap than needed, because YOUR statements are falsely attributed to her. And she is fool enough to thank you for it.
But this was not the end of it, of course. Spurred on by complaints from an audience opposing the statements that were now attributed to Rebecca, Richard Dawkins now decided to chime in. And he did so in a way that can only be described as even more clumsy than the best elevator guy himself could have possibly produced. He decided to comment on PZ Myer's blog Pharyngula:
Well done, Richard. You practically tell someone "cope with what makes you uncomfortable, others have it worse", which reminds me of my grandmother, when she kept telling me to cope with wearing the itchy wool sweater she knitted that kept giving me a mild rash, because other children had no clothes at all. Are you saying in order to be able to properly help other children get clothes I have to wear a sweater that gives me a rash? I felt uncomfortable wearing it, and I had every right to complain, even if other children don't have clothes. I also have the right to complain about bad tasting food in a restaurant, despite all the starving children in the world. Apparently however you don't seem to think so. So the next time something makes you feel uncomfortable, whether it is your steak not being cooked to your liking or being bought some clothes you can't stand to wear: Stop your bitching, because there are children in Africa that have no food or clothes at all! While I do understand your grievance with the FANBASE of Rebecca, I can not understand your beef with Rebecca herself at all. So yes, you are an even more clumsy putz than elevator guy himself, although I will still refuse to call you a misogynist prick like so many of Rebecca's fans now seem to do."Dear Muslima
Stop whining, will you. Yes, yes, I know you had your genitals mutilated with a razor blade, and . . . yawn . . . don’t tell me yet again, I know you aren’t allowed to drive a car, and you can’t leave the house without a male relative, and your husband is allowed to beat you, and you’ll be stoned to death if you commit adultery. But stop whining, will you. Think of the suffering your poor American sisters have to put up with.
Only this week I heard of one, she calls herself Skep”chick”, and do you know what happened to her? A man in a hotel elevator invited her back to his room for coffee. I am not exaggerating. He really did. He invited her back to his room for coffee. Of course she said no, and of course he didn’t lay a finger on her, but even so . . .
And you, Muslima, think you have misogyny to complain about! For goodness sake grow up, or at least grow a thicker skin.
Richard"
Did it end here though? No way! Nuh uh! We have drama! Let's feed it!
So some people who attributed Rebecca's fanbase's statements to Rebecca chimed in and backed up Richard Dawkins' ridiculous statement, cheering, cajoling, running to Rebecca's video and leaving a tirade of comments that remind me of the scribbling on highschool bathroom stall doors. Pretty much any misogynist insult in the book can be found on there by now, and these are in return falsely attributed to Dawkins by Rebecca's fanbase.
This entire clusterfuck has absolutely nothing to do anymore with the original statements made. It has turned into fanbase vs. fanbase and lost all aspects of reasonable discussion between two intellectuals.
And that is the real shame about Elevatorgate.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Ode to the Liverpool Escalator
This poem is dedicated to all the brave YouTubers that overcame the stairs at the Liverpool "ONE" mall during the last gathering in order to have dinner together at the Pizza Hut located on the top floor, when the escalator refused to work for us (probably because none of us were Scousers).
T'was Liverpool, a rainy day,
as I recall some time in May.
After a long day walking 'round,
to find some grub our lot was bound.
And in the shopping mall called "ONE"
we thought our odyssee was done.
Just up these stairs and we'd be there,
a pizza hut, so no despair!
How to get up this massive slope
without a ladder, without rope?
"An escalator!" someone screamed,
and with bright smiles our party beamed.
But oh the horror, oh the shame,
the escalator, it was lame.
It did not move, it did not budge,
seems it was carrying some grudge.
So sick from hunger, in despair,
we climed on foot stair after stair.
Exhausted we arrived on top,
when suddenly we heard a pop.
The escalator started moving.
Was there some point that it was proving?
The thing, it clearly was a hater!
A spiteful, racist escalator!
T'was Liverpool, a rainy day,
as I recall some time in May.
After a long day walking 'round,
to find some grub our lot was bound.
And in the shopping mall called "ONE"
we thought our odyssee was done.
Just up these stairs and we'd be there,
a pizza hut, so no despair!
How to get up this massive slope
without a ladder, without rope?
"An escalator!" someone screamed,
and with bright smiles our party beamed.
But oh the horror, oh the shame,
the escalator, it was lame.
It did not move, it did not budge,
seems it was carrying some grudge.
So sick from hunger, in despair,
we climed on foot stair after stair.
Exhausted we arrived on top,
when suddenly we heard a pop.
The escalator started moving.
Was there some point that it was proving?
The thing, it clearly was a hater!
A spiteful, racist escalator!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
My June Girl (and Boy) - tribute to Alliance of Demons
Isn't it adorable how those who consider themselves freethinkers and skeptics are often those who don't think or question anything at all, and instead swallow everything they are told because they are in one way or another attracted to the person feeding them bullshit? One could say these people are into verbal scat.
Since my beloved stalkers, the AllianceOfDemons, have created the wonderful idea of me announcing a "Girl of the Month", someone new I have "issues" with each month, I decided to pick up on this great idea and nominate them myself to save the trolls the trouble.
So without further ado, here is my nominee for the month of June:
xxxild
You may ask why. Isn't xxxild a respected member of the pro-sex feminist community on YouTube? Perhaps so, but the question should be whether she deserves the respect she is receiving. Other than regurgitating statements made by other feminists over and over again, I have yet to see her contribute anything original. But that is not my reason to have "issues" with her.
Let me elaborate on the actual problem:
Most of you by now know about the problems I had with the AoD after I left them, ranging from online stalking to calls to my house, including death threats to my children, most of which I have posted proof for on this very blog. For those of you who don't know yet, here are a few links:
Why did I leave the AoD?
Some more harassment?
Some people obsess too much...
Oh noes, all the ebegging
Anyway, you get the gist. They enjoy making accusations of all sorts without any proof whatsoever. So why my "issues" with xxxild? Because she actually sides with these trolls. While doing so, she refuses to provide any proof to their claims (as do they), while simultaneously refusing to acknowledge any evidence I provide her with. One can easily compare this to a child sticking her fingers into her ears whilst loudly screaming "LALALALA". She knows fully well if she were to examine the actual evidence, she would not be able to further support her troll friends without being completely dishonest.
How did xxxild come to be on their side to begin with? Because she is friends with their unofficial ringleader. While Zierota (also known as DunZero, some of you may remember) is the official head figure behind the AllianceOfDemons, the actual person pulling the strings is someone people may remember under the name TemoinsGirl. TemoinsGirl is the pitiful human waste that made a laughing stock of herself when threatening people that they are "on her radar"and telling them to "own their shit" while having an intro that suggested that she is either asthmatic or related to DarthVader.
Apparently attracted to the heavy breathing (or the fact that TemoinsGirl enjoys flaunting her bared arse on skype cam to anyone willing to suck up to her in exchange), xxxild was already connected to TemoinsGirl before my trouble with AoD began. While giving me minor shit in comments originally, I still tried to be patient and had quite a few talks with her in the hopes that there is some brain underneath that pretty hair (by the way, is that a bleach job gone wrong, or did you prematurely turn white? Just curious). Patience, so I found out later, that I could have applied to much more useful things such as watching paint dry.
Shit hit the fan with our colourless lady, when I took an issue with another one of her friends, MsBloodWolf, also known as FateWolf, over a video in which she not only made a lot of unfounded accusations claiming to "know shit", but also flat out told a person to kill herself, emphasizing on the fact that she never, not even in jest, told anyone to kill themselves before, but really meant it in this case. While I personally may have had issues with the person in question in the past, I have found her to be someone that is willing to listen and discuss things, and I have major issues with people who, for whatever reason, wish death on other people. xxxild apparently disagrees and thinks it is a perfectly fine thing to do, because after I spoke out against that video she went fully hostile, ending up in a comment exchange in which her only argument was parroting the accusations of the AoD trolls, failing to provide any evidence for these accusations, refusing to look at evidence provided to her and last but not least repeatedly telling me to fuck off. This complete failure of applying unbiased judgement and skepticism has earned her the honorary position of being my June Girl 2011. Congratulations, xxxild!
Inspired by the Girl of the Month idea, and not wanting to appear sexist, I have decided to also nominate a Boy of the Month. June's Boy of the Month award goes to:
SmilingSkeptic
The humour can already be found in his choice of name, since SmilingSkeptic barely ever smiles, nor is he very skeptical. As xxxild, SmilingSkeptic ended up on "my radar" (yes, I went there!), when he left some rather interesting comments on my original video in which I explained why I had left the AoD. In that video I mockingly ate some pastry and in the description linked to my blog post Why did I leave the AoD?. Without ever reading this post, he immediately accused me of trying to cause trouble, which I found a bit strange, seeing how my blog post contained evidence that I had been harassed by AoD long before I made the blog entry and video. While SmilingSkeptic left these pretty nasty comments, I was in a Skype call with DeathOfSpeech and SoretaYuki, both of whom insisted that a chat with SmilingSkeptic would get him to see reason and stop attacking me, so I agreed to have him join the call, although I already greatly mistrusted him. I found out later that until he joined us in our call, he had been in a call with none other than the very AoD trolls that had been harassing me, getting his queue from them.
In our call I heard for the first time that TemoinsGirl accused me of having threatened to make it public that she had gotten raped. An accusation that I found rather odd, as I did not even know that she was a rape victim. Funny that the very person accusing me of threatening to make it public was the one telling me about it, eh? SmilingSkeptic kept insisting that I had made such a threat, yet failed to provide me with any evidence supporting that claim, despite my repeated inquiry. Instead he accused me of having faked my evidence, which is why I offered him access to my Skype account, so he could look at unaltered logs, an offer he turned down with the words "That won't be neccessary." Well no, SmilingSkeptic, of course not, because then you would have no leg to stand on with your continued claims that I altered screenshots, which you damn well know, don't you, you dishonest prat?
Needless to say, SmilingSkeptic joined the AoD team for whatever reason (although my guess is that he, as xxxild, is attracted to RadarGirl) and continued to throw around unfounded accusations while rejecting proper evidence. The continued accusation of rape shaming, something repeated by both xxxild and SmilingSkeptic resurfaced, when I had a discussion with TheAmazingAtheist about "accountability" of the victim, which is nothing other than "rape shaming light", and clearly took a stance against the claim that rape victims should ask themselves whether they shouldn't be partially accountable for the crime committed against them due to their behaviour leading up to the crime itself. DeathOfSpeech made a very good video as a response to mine, and SmilingSkeptic, in his continued vendetta, attacked DoS while yet again referring to me as a rape shamer, as he did in our first talk ever, while defending TJ, the very person who claimed rape victims should accept accountability! He calls me a rape shamer when I did nothing at all, while he actually defends a lighter version of rape shaming? Seriously? So to SmilingSkeptic, the boy who never smiles and lacks skepticism, congratulations for being my Boy of the Month June 2011!
Since my beloved stalkers, the AllianceOfDemons, have created the wonderful idea of me announcing a "Girl of the Month", someone new I have "issues" with each month, I decided to pick up on this great idea and nominate them myself to save the trolls the trouble.
So without further ado, here is my nominee for the month of June:
xxxild
You may ask why. Isn't xxxild a respected member of the pro-sex feminist community on YouTube? Perhaps so, but the question should be whether she deserves the respect she is receiving. Other than regurgitating statements made by other feminists over and over again, I have yet to see her contribute anything original. But that is not my reason to have "issues" with her.Let me elaborate on the actual problem:
Most of you by now know about the problems I had with the AoD after I left them, ranging from online stalking to calls to my house, including death threats to my children, most of which I have posted proof for on this very blog. For those of you who don't know yet, here are a few links:
Why did I leave the AoD?
Some more harassment?
Some people obsess too much...
Oh noes, all the ebegging
Anyway, you get the gist. They enjoy making accusations of all sorts without any proof whatsoever. So why my "issues" with xxxild? Because she actually sides with these trolls. While doing so, she refuses to provide any proof to their claims (as do they), while simultaneously refusing to acknowledge any evidence I provide her with. One can easily compare this to a child sticking her fingers into her ears whilst loudly screaming "LALALALA". She knows fully well if she were to examine the actual evidence, she would not be able to further support her troll friends without being completely dishonest.
How did xxxild come to be on their side to begin with? Because she is friends with their unofficial ringleader. While Zierota (also known as DunZero, some of you may remember) is the official head figure behind the AllianceOfDemons, the actual person pulling the strings is someone people may remember under the name TemoinsGirl. TemoinsGirl is the pitiful human waste that made a laughing stock of herself when threatening people that they are "on her radar"and telling them to "own their shit" while having an intro that suggested that she is either asthmatic or related to DarthVader.
Apparently attracted to the heavy breathing (or the fact that TemoinsGirl enjoys flaunting her bared arse on skype cam to anyone willing to suck up to her in exchange), xxxild was already connected to TemoinsGirl before my trouble with AoD began. While giving me minor shit in comments originally, I still tried to be patient and had quite a few talks with her in the hopes that there is some brain underneath that pretty hair (by the way, is that a bleach job gone wrong, or did you prematurely turn white? Just curious). Patience, so I found out later, that I could have applied to much more useful things such as watching paint dry.Shit hit the fan with our colourless lady, when I took an issue with another one of her friends, MsBloodWolf, also known as FateWolf, over a video in which she not only made a lot of unfounded accusations claiming to "know shit", but also flat out told a person to kill herself, emphasizing on the fact that she never, not even in jest, told anyone to kill themselves before, but really meant it in this case. While I personally may have had issues with the person in question in the past, I have found her to be someone that is willing to listen and discuss things, and I have major issues with people who, for whatever reason, wish death on other people. xxxild apparently disagrees and thinks it is a perfectly fine thing to do, because after I spoke out against that video she went fully hostile, ending up in a comment exchange in which her only argument was parroting the accusations of the AoD trolls, failing to provide any evidence for these accusations, refusing to look at evidence provided to her and last but not least repeatedly telling me to fuck off. This complete failure of applying unbiased judgement and skepticism has earned her the honorary position of being my June Girl 2011. Congratulations, xxxild!
Inspired by the Girl of the Month idea, and not wanting to appear sexist, I have decided to also nominate a Boy of the Month. June's Boy of the Month award goes to:
SmilingSkeptic
The humour can already be found in his choice of name, since SmilingSkeptic barely ever smiles, nor is he very skeptical. As xxxild, SmilingSkeptic ended up on "my radar" (yes, I went there!), when he left some rather interesting comments on my original video in which I explained why I had left the AoD. In that video I mockingly ate some pastry and in the description linked to my blog post Why did I leave the AoD?. Without ever reading this post, he immediately accused me of trying to cause trouble, which I found a bit strange, seeing how my blog post contained evidence that I had been harassed by AoD long before I made the blog entry and video. While SmilingSkeptic left these pretty nasty comments, I was in a Skype call with DeathOfSpeech and SoretaYuki, both of whom insisted that a chat with SmilingSkeptic would get him to see reason and stop attacking me, so I agreed to have him join the call, although I already greatly mistrusted him. I found out later that until he joined us in our call, he had been in a call with none other than the very AoD trolls that had been harassing me, getting his queue from them.In our call I heard for the first time that TemoinsGirl accused me of having threatened to make it public that she had gotten raped. An accusation that I found rather odd, as I did not even know that she was a rape victim. Funny that the very person accusing me of threatening to make it public was the one telling me about it, eh? SmilingSkeptic kept insisting that I had made such a threat, yet failed to provide me with any evidence supporting that claim, despite my repeated inquiry. Instead he accused me of having faked my evidence, which is why I offered him access to my Skype account, so he could look at unaltered logs, an offer he turned down with the words "That won't be neccessary." Well no, SmilingSkeptic, of course not, because then you would have no leg to stand on with your continued claims that I altered screenshots, which you damn well know, don't you, you dishonest prat?
Needless to say, SmilingSkeptic joined the AoD team for whatever reason (although my guess is that he, as xxxild, is attracted to RadarGirl) and continued to throw around unfounded accusations while rejecting proper evidence. The continued accusation of rape shaming, something repeated by both xxxild and SmilingSkeptic resurfaced, when I had a discussion with TheAmazingAtheist about "accountability" of the victim, which is nothing other than "rape shaming light", and clearly took a stance against the claim that rape victims should ask themselves whether they shouldn't be partially accountable for the crime committed against them due to their behaviour leading up to the crime itself. DeathOfSpeech made a very good video as a response to mine, and SmilingSkeptic, in his continued vendetta, attacked DoS while yet again referring to me as a rape shamer, as he did in our first talk ever, while defending TJ, the very person who claimed rape victims should accept accountability! He calls me a rape shamer when I did nothing at all, while he actually defends a lighter version of rape shaming? Seriously? So to SmilingSkeptic, the boy who never smiles and lacks skepticism, congratulations for being my Boy of the Month June 2011!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Transcript of my response to TJ's blog entry
Today's rant is aimed at none other than TJ, also known as TheAmazingAtheist.
A few days ago TJ sent out a tweet, linking to a blog entry of his. The first thing you will see on there is this picture:
I'm assuming that picture was taken during the "slutwalk" protest, which originally began in Toronto and soon spread further after Constable Michael Sanguinetti, a Toronto Police officer, suggested that in order not to be victimized, "women should avoid dressing like sluts."
TJ asserts in his first line, that we are discouraged from looking at complicated multi-faceted answers when it comes to rape. This already makes me wonder in which way we are discouraged, because women stand up against some outrageous statements that still occur way too often. In just about every rape trial the sexual history of the victim is examined in order to make her claim to rape less believable. "If she is a slut anyway, how do we know she didn't want to sleep with this man?"
Since TJ later in the article resorts to comparing rape to being robbed, I will quickly resort to the same measure here. Can we assume that someone who regularly donates money to charity or gives a few coins to beggars on the street also is fine with being robbed? No, we can't. Rape is the only crime where the victim's previous behavior has an influence on the judgement of the person who committed the crime.
He continues by stating
And fortunately nobody really makes a claim like this, TJ. As someone who accused me of strawmanning when I asked if I should wear a burka in a sarcastic exaggeration to your claim we should take "precautions" to not get raped later on in your post, I find your accusation rather hypocritical, considering you did it yourself as early as the second paragraph of your post. Nobody makes this particular claim, however, rape happens due to the nature of the rapist, not
the nature of the victim.
While you refer to rates of rape, what constitutes rape and attitudes towards victims being different from society to society, a discussion which I will gladly enter at another time, it has not much to do with the way your blog entry continues. Plenty of studies have by now shown quite well that rape is not just about the sexual act, but about exerting power over the victim without the victim's consent. If sex were all rapists are after, chemical castration, which is applied in some countries, would be a success in stopping repeat offenders, but it has clearly failed.
So while in Sweden you can be declared a rapist for a burst condom during consentual sex, which I personally find highly ridiculous, it is still perfectly legal in some other countries to force your wife to have intercourse, if needed by applying physical violence. We are all aware of that, but I am fairly sure that the Saudi wife who was married off at age 14 feels just as violated when the husband she never knew before forces himself on her as the woman who had a drink too much at a dinner party in NY and is raped by some stranger that abuses her vulnerability.
It appears to me your little discourse into various ways of dealing with rape in various societies is more or less a decoy to take attention away from the issue you really wish to address later on, and that is the accountability.
You claim that while you know the accountability rests on the shoulders of the rapist, this is out of pragmatism rather than honest inquiry into where the blame lies, and that is where you journey off, slowly, into blaming the victim for the crime committed against her or him.
It starts out with the subtle hint
to none. I call this paragraph yet another decoy to take away from your final assertion. While you can positively assert from these factors that the rapist is influenced by them and hence may be less aware of his wrongdoings, in the most extreme cases to the point where he will not be able to be blamed at all, either due to severe mental illness or because the form of rape he committed is considered acceptable in his cultural and religious society, none of this is anything the victim has any influence on, unless she severely limits her own freedom and personal rights for the sake of safety, and even then these measures often are futile, as a large amount of rapes actually happens within a close circle of friends and family, people you trust or are subject to regardless of precautions.
Video to this script
TJ's blog entry
TJ's YouTube channel
What is SlutWalk?
Rape Myths
My main YouTube channel
A few days ago TJ sent out a tweet, linking to a blog entry of his. The first thing you will see on there is this picture:
I'm assuming that picture was taken during the "slutwalk" protest, which originally began in Toronto and soon spread further after Constable Michael Sanguinetti, a Toronto Police officer, suggested that in order not to be victimized, "women should avoid dressing like sluts."
TJ asserts in his first line, that we are discouraged from looking at complicated multi-faceted answers when it comes to rape. This already makes me wonder in which way we are discouraged, because women stand up against some outrageous statements that still occur way too often. In just about every rape trial the sexual history of the victim is examined in order to make her claim to rape less believable. "If she is a slut anyway, how do we know she didn't want to sleep with this man?"
Since TJ later in the article resorts to comparing rape to being robbed, I will quickly resort to the same measure here. Can we assume that someone who regularly donates money to charity or gives a few coins to beggars on the street also is fine with being robbed? No, we can't. Rape is the only crime where the victim's previous behavior has an influence on the judgement of the person who committed the crime.
He continues by stating
"Don’t get me wrong, blaming a girls flirtatious nature or revealing outfit is repugnant and probably inaccurate. However, just declaring, “rape happens cuz rapists is evul!” is nearly as stupid."Probably? There is no probably about that claim being inaccurate. The worsd should be "MOST DEFINITELY".
And fortunately nobody really makes a claim like this, TJ. As someone who accused me of strawmanning when I asked if I should wear a burka in a sarcastic exaggeration to your claim we should take "precautions" to not get raped later on in your post, I find your accusation rather hypocritical, considering you did it yourself as early as the second paragraph of your post. Nobody makes this particular claim, however, rape happens due to the nature of the rapist, not
the nature of the victim.
While you refer to rates of rape, what constitutes rape and attitudes towards victims being different from society to society, a discussion which I will gladly enter at another time, it has not much to do with the way your blog entry continues. Plenty of studies have by now shown quite well that rape is not just about the sexual act, but about exerting power over the victim without the victim's consent. If sex were all rapists are after, chemical castration, which is applied in some countries, would be a success in stopping repeat offenders, but it has clearly failed.
So while in Sweden you can be declared a rapist for a burst condom during consentual sex, which I personally find highly ridiculous, it is still perfectly legal in some other countries to force your wife to have intercourse, if needed by applying physical violence. We are all aware of that, but I am fairly sure that the Saudi wife who was married off at age 14 feels just as violated when the husband she never knew before forces himself on her as the woman who had a drink too much at a dinner party in NY and is raped by some stranger that abuses her vulnerability.
It appears to me your little discourse into various ways of dealing with rape in various societies is more or less a decoy to take attention away from the issue you really wish to address later on, and that is the accountability.
You claim that while you know the accountability rests on the shoulders of the rapist, this is out of pragmatism rather than honest inquiry into where the blame lies, and that is where you journey off, slowly, into blaming the victim for the crime committed against her or him.
It starts out with the subtle hint
"I’d say victims are nearly entirely ruled out as being anywhere near responsible or “to blame” for what happened to them."Is that really so? Why then, do police investigations in a rape always dig into the sexual history of the victim? Why is it such a common procedure in court to display the victim as someone who is "sleeping around" and "easy"? When you get mugged on the street and your wallet is stolen from you, are you questioned about the possibility that you actually wanted to give the robber money, because you have a history of helping out others financially? The fact remains that people such as Constable Michael Sanguinetti are not that rare, on the contrary. Rape victims worldwide still have to deal with being partially blamed, whether it is because they were drunk at a party or because they "didn't fight back enough". The latter one often being a reason for dismissal of a legitimate rape case, since no signs of injury can be found that resemble anything worse than rough sex. It appears that rape is the only crime where you are expected to put up a fight even if this means your life may be in more danger. Nobody will put any blame on you if you hand your wallet over to a robber, on the contrary, fighting back is considered stupid.
"But we’re in denial if we think that environmental factors, genetic abnormalities, mental illnesses, societal attitudes, belief systems and particular subcultures don’t have an impact."And who ever claimed they do not? However, what impact do these factors have on the amount of blame you wish to impose on the victim? Environmental factors occasionally make it easier for a rapist to get away with rape, yes. Genetic abnormalities may play a part in tendencies to becoming a rapist, yes. Mental illnesses, societal attitudes, belief systems and particular subcultures... What influence does the victim of a violent crime have on these factors? Close
to none. I call this paragraph yet another decoy to take away from your final assertion. While you can positively assert from these factors that the rapist is influenced by them and hence may be less aware of his wrongdoings, in the most extreme cases to the point where he will not be able to be blamed at all, either due to severe mental illness or because the form of rape he committed is considered acceptable in his cultural and religious society, none of this is anything the victim has any influence on, unless she severely limits her own freedom and personal rights for the sake of safety, and even then these measures often are futile, as a large amount of rapes actually happens within a close circle of friends and family, people you trust or are subject to regardless of precautions.
"Saying someone didn’t take the proper precautions to prevent getting robbed isn’t going to upset them—someone who was robbed, even though they’re not directly responsible for what happened, are usually able to accept that maybe they didn’t take proper precautions."It is your proposed but undefined precautions I originally wanted to hear about when I sarcastically asked you whether I should wear a burka, and you have so far failed to elaborate on the precautions you suggest people should take to avoid being raped. We all learn not to accept candy or rides from strangers as children. We are all taught to say "NO" in a loud voice and call for help to put a potential rapist off. A lot of us took self defense classes. But looking at the majority of rape cases, it appears that these precautions are not enough. How do you defend yourself when you are a child or adolescent being molested by a family member? How do you defend yourself when someone puts a knife to your throat? Do you trust your self defense abilities enough to be faster than your rapist's flick of a wrist? Do you suggest we are to be partially blamed for leading social lives, going out to parties and occasionally consuming alcohol, sometimes perhaps a bit too much? I really am curious which precautions you assume rape victims are not taking for you to keep insisting that we SHOULD question whether the victim is to be partially blamed.
"It’s a lot harder for a rape victim to accept that level of responsibility, due to the psychological trauma associated with rape."You assume it is a lot harder for a rape victim to accept a level of responsibility, and I have to ask: Are you joking? The large majority of rape victims falsely blames themselves after a rape. A large amount of rapes never even gets reported because of this. The victim feels ashamed, guilty, filthy and it often takes extensive therapy to get over the feeling of self blame for something she or he had absolutely no control over. And you dare claim they refuse to accept a level of responsibility? Either you really slacked on your research before posting this blog entry, or you are being completely dishonest. I hope it's the first of the two.
"But at the same time, to act as if victims are totally powerless and there is simply nothing they could have done is usually somewhat factually and intellectually dishonest. And it doesn’t really serve the best interest of women as a whole to adopt the attitude that they’re in no way accountable for their own well-being when it comes to rape."And again, I have to ask you which precautions you propose. In the majority of cases the victim IS powerless. It is a crime based on exerting power over someone who is defenseless. There is nothing factually and intellectually dishonest about this, unless you know some miracle defense system that will not restrict the freedom of a potential victim. Because personally, I refuse to give up freedom for security, else I may as well wear a burka and lock myself up in my house. And you can call that strawmanning all you want.
Video to this script
TJ's blog entry
TJ's YouTube channel
What is SlutWalk?
Rape Myths
My main YouTube channel
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Recap of the Liverpool YouTube Meetup
Hello YouTubers and other readers,
I am finally taking the time to write about the Liverpool meetup, which was a weekend of great fun with awesome people. So here is my little diary of the weekend:
Friday, 27th of May 2011
Flying out from Frankfurt Airport, I first headed to Amsterdam, as there are no direct flights to Liverpool. Let me tell you that Schiphol is quite a large airport, and despite a layover of almost an hour, I had no time to relax at all. Arriving at the airport in Liverpool at around 9:30PM I waited for the arrival of my ex-boyfriend Gerard, who also flew in from Amsterdam, but with a different airline. Seems Easyjet knows some kind of shortcut, since his plane arrived 20 minutes before schedule, which was a good thing, as it meant 20 minutes less waiting time for me.
Gerard and I took the bus to Lime Street Station and with the help of a map of Liverpool that we grabbed at the airport we actually found our way to the Travelodge without having to resort to any kind of GPS. Amazing achievement for two geeks! After checking into our hotel room and a quick freshening up, we headed to the Ship&Mitre to meet up with the others fairly late. I can only recommend this place for anyone travelling to Liverpool. For the first time ever I was actually able to drink a proper beer in England!
After a fun time at the pub we headed back to the hotel, while Shredder and a few others went to fetch pizza for all of us, which we ate in the hotel lobby. The fact that our hotel lacked a hotel bar was the only downside to this gathering, but we coped and spent the rest of the evening in Shredder's hotel room, doing a blogTV show.
Saturday, 28th of May 2011
Considering Gerard and I both had a rather exhausting Friday, we opted out of joining the others for the visit of the Metropolitan Cathedral, but met up with them for lunch at The Pump House . Afterwards people opted to see a variety of museums or just hang out. Since coffee at the hotel was horrible, Gerard and I joined Landon and had some coffee while waiting for our turn on The Yellow Duckmarine. We didn't quite know what to expect and originally thought it was going to be a simple sightseeing tour on land and water, but it turned out to be a fun mix of sightseeing and genuine entertainment. Our tour guide was quite a comedian, and I can only recommend you try this out yourself, should you ever stay in Liverpool.
Gerard and I met up with my friend Gareth in the late afternoon, picking him up from Lime Street Station, then we re-joined the others for the rest of the day. Our pub for the evening was The Baltic Fleet, which wasn't too bad, but could not quite compare to the Ship&Mitre. We were however able to take this wonderful picture here:
While at the Baltic Fleet we were also able to finally perform the collaring ceremony of Shredder, something we had been wanting to do in London already. Shredder, being my "blogTV bitch" (ever since I realized that having him co-host gives me more viewers) jokingly agreed to wear a collar and leash, which we put on him that night.
Dinner for that night was consumed at Pizza Hut, and I think I discovered Liverpool's filthiest bathroom there. Having entered said bathroom before dinner, I noticed a lack of usable toilet paper in most of the stalls, since someone with a warped sense of humour had decided to unroll it all onto the floor. Having informed the staff about the situation, I was promised it would be handled, but when I went again after dinner, nothing had been done at all. I hope their kitchen is in better shape than their bathroom.
While some of us (mainly Abby and GingerGreek) went out clubbing later that night, I was still fairly worn out from the day before and had an early night, hugging my pillow instead.
Sunday, 29th of May 2011
We once again skipped out of morning fun with the others, missing the Ferry 'cross the Mersey tour, but joined them for lunch, which we planned to have somewhere in Chinatown. It took us a while to find a restaurant that was able to accomodate all of us, and the food could have been better, but the service was friendly enough.
Afterwards we again split up into little groups, having time for museum visits, shopping tours, etc. Being worn out from walking around (damn you, arthritis!), Gerard, Gareth and I joined Landon in sitting at the café inside the Walker Art Gallery, because what could possibly be more relaxing than having a cup of Latte Macchiato while surrounded by art?
Our pub for Sunday evening was Rigby's, where I devoured Shredder's nachos while he was busy snogging various people (see video). While the food and beer could have been better, the location itself was very nice, with a large outside area in the back. Finally a place where I was able to drink my beer and smoke at the same time.
We ended the evening with yet another blogTV show in Shredder's room, beer courtesy of Rhysz. Having to get up at 6AM the next morning to catch my flight back home, I didn't stick around too long, but still had fun.
Monday, 30th of May 2011
Getting up early sucks. Oh, and did I mention yet that the "business breakfast package" served by the Travelodge is a joke? You get a muffin, a crossaint, cornflakes and orange juice and pay over 4 quid for that. Really not worth it at all.
Anyhow, having to catch my flight, I took a taxi back to the airport. Taxi driver was quite chatty with a typical scouser accent. Hard to understand, but nice fellow. I even had time for some real coffee at the airport before boarding the plane that would take me back to Germany. My layover in Amsterdam was a bit longer this time, so I actually had time to sit around and begin editing my footage. The final result can be seen here:
All in all, this gathering was epic. The people were great, and we had loads of fun.
Just because I know you are curious, here is a list of those who attended:
http://www.youtube.com/abbynormal0ne (who can sing like an angel despite a horrible cold)
http://www.youtube.com/bespokegroupuk (who is really silent in real life)
http://www.youtube.com/bossman103 (who always smiles)
http://www.youtube.com/collinmaessen (who has a cute grin)
http://www.youtube.com/christinepeace (who got screwed over in Bulgaria)
http://www.youtube.com/dlandoncole (who arranged this entire thing! THANKS!)
http://www.youtube.com/gingergreek (who is still the most cuddly man of the bunch)
http://www.youtube.com/gunderson002 (who got his first kiss...from Shredder!)
http://www.youtube.com/habulinec (who looks like FakeSagan)
http://www.youtube.com/hospitalier14 (who is the brother of fakefakesagan)
http://www.youtube.com/latumway (who does the most heartmelting lipsynching)
http://www.youtube.com/mrsoprano0125 (who wasn't around enough)
http://www.youtube.com/mslauwein (who needs to start making videos)
http://www.youtube.com/nauroticdax (who is ticklish)
http://www.youtube.com/nightmare060 (who was only there the first day)
http://www.youtube.com/paulchartley (who had to leave way too early)
http://www.youtube.com/rhysz1 (who got beaten up by girls)
http://www.youtube.com/shredderneverdies (who looks good on a leash)
http://www.youtube.com/stanmarsh1 (who found his feminine side)
http://www.youtube.com/stealthbadger (who can think fourdimensional)
http://www.youtube.com/stefzula (who eats pizza like a real Jersey girl)
http://www.youtube.com/ujames1978 (who made us all feel like midgets)
http://www.youtube.com/watercrane (who can give epic massages)
Without channel:
Katie (who is a total sweetheart and StanMarsh1's girlfriend)
Gerard (whose hair fascinated Katie)
PaulCHartley's wife (whose name I didn't catch, shame on me!)
See you at the next gathering,
Fel
I am finally taking the time to write about the Liverpool meetup, which was a weekend of great fun with awesome people. So here is my little diary of the weekend:
Friday, 27th of May 2011
Flying out from Frankfurt Airport, I first headed to Amsterdam, as there are no direct flights to Liverpool. Let me tell you that Schiphol is quite a large airport, and despite a layover of almost an hour, I had no time to relax at all. Arriving at the airport in Liverpool at around 9:30PM I waited for the arrival of my ex-boyfriend Gerard, who also flew in from Amsterdam, but with a different airline. Seems Easyjet knows some kind of shortcut, since his plane arrived 20 minutes before schedule, which was a good thing, as it meant 20 minutes less waiting time for me.
Gerard and I took the bus to Lime Street Station and with the help of a map of Liverpool that we grabbed at the airport we actually found our way to the Travelodge without having to resort to any kind of GPS. Amazing achievement for two geeks! After checking into our hotel room and a quick freshening up, we headed to the Ship&Mitre to meet up with the others fairly late. I can only recommend this place for anyone travelling to Liverpool. For the first time ever I was actually able to drink a proper beer in England!
After a fun time at the pub we headed back to the hotel, while Shredder and a few others went to fetch pizza for all of us, which we ate in the hotel lobby. The fact that our hotel lacked a hotel bar was the only downside to this gathering, but we coped and spent the rest of the evening in Shredder's hotel room, doing a blogTV show.
Saturday, 28th of May 2011
Considering Gerard and I both had a rather exhausting Friday, we opted out of joining the others for the visit of the Metropolitan Cathedral, but met up with them for lunch at The Pump House . Afterwards people opted to see a variety of museums or just hang out. Since coffee at the hotel was horrible, Gerard and I joined Landon and had some coffee while waiting for our turn on The Yellow Duckmarine. We didn't quite know what to expect and originally thought it was going to be a simple sightseeing tour on land and water, but it turned out to be a fun mix of sightseeing and genuine entertainment. Our tour guide was quite a comedian, and I can only recommend you try this out yourself, should you ever stay in Liverpool.
Gerard and I met up with my friend Gareth in the late afternoon, picking him up from Lime Street Station, then we re-joined the others for the rest of the day. Our pub for the evening was The Baltic Fleet, which wasn't too bad, but could not quite compare to the Ship&Mitre. We were however able to take this wonderful picture here:
While at the Baltic Fleet we were also able to finally perform the collaring ceremony of Shredder, something we had been wanting to do in London already. Shredder, being my "blogTV bitch" (ever since I realized that having him co-host gives me more viewers) jokingly agreed to wear a collar and leash, which we put on him that night.
Dinner for that night was consumed at Pizza Hut, and I think I discovered Liverpool's filthiest bathroom there. Having entered said bathroom before dinner, I noticed a lack of usable toilet paper in most of the stalls, since someone with a warped sense of humour had decided to unroll it all onto the floor. Having informed the staff about the situation, I was promised it would be handled, but when I went again after dinner, nothing had been done at all. I hope their kitchen is in better shape than their bathroom.
While some of us (mainly Abby and GingerGreek) went out clubbing later that night, I was still fairly worn out from the day before and had an early night, hugging my pillow instead.
Sunday, 29th of May 2011
We once again skipped out of morning fun with the others, missing the Ferry 'cross the Mersey tour, but joined them for lunch, which we planned to have somewhere in Chinatown. It took us a while to find a restaurant that was able to accomodate all of us, and the food could have been better, but the service was friendly enough.
Afterwards we again split up into little groups, having time for museum visits, shopping tours, etc. Being worn out from walking around (damn you, arthritis!), Gerard, Gareth and I joined Landon in sitting at the café inside the Walker Art Gallery, because what could possibly be more relaxing than having a cup of Latte Macchiato while surrounded by art?
Our pub for Sunday evening was Rigby's, where I devoured Shredder's nachos while he was busy snogging various people (see video). While the food and beer could have been better, the location itself was very nice, with a large outside area in the back. Finally a place where I was able to drink my beer and smoke at the same time.
We ended the evening with yet another blogTV show in Shredder's room, beer courtesy of Rhysz. Having to get up at 6AM the next morning to catch my flight back home, I didn't stick around too long, but still had fun.
Monday, 30th of May 2011
Getting up early sucks. Oh, and did I mention yet that the "business breakfast package" served by the Travelodge is a joke? You get a muffin, a crossaint, cornflakes and orange juice and pay over 4 quid for that. Really not worth it at all.
Anyhow, having to catch my flight, I took a taxi back to the airport. Taxi driver was quite chatty with a typical scouser accent. Hard to understand, but nice fellow. I even had time for some real coffee at the airport before boarding the plane that would take me back to Germany. My layover in Amsterdam was a bit longer this time, so I actually had time to sit around and begin editing my footage. The final result can be seen here:
All in all, this gathering was epic. The people were great, and we had loads of fun.
Just because I know you are curious, here is a list of those who attended:
http://www.youtube.com/abbynormal0ne (who can sing like an angel despite a horrible cold)
http://www.youtube.com/bespokegroupuk (who is really silent in real life)
http://www.youtube.com/bossman103 (who always smiles)
http://www.youtube.com/collinmaessen (who has a cute grin)
http://www.youtube.com/christinepeace (who got screwed over in Bulgaria)
http://www.youtube.com/dlandoncole (who arranged this entire thing! THANKS!)
http://www.youtube.com/gingergreek (who is still the most cuddly man of the bunch)
http://www.youtube.com/gunderson002 (who got his first kiss...from Shredder!)
http://www.youtube.com/habulinec (who looks like FakeSagan)
http://www.youtube.com/hospitalier14 (who is the brother of fakefakesagan)
http://www.youtube.com/latumway (who does the most heartmelting lipsynching)
http://www.youtube.com/mrsoprano0125 (who wasn't around enough)
http://www.youtube.com/mslauwein (who needs to start making videos)
http://www.youtube.com/nauroticdax (who is ticklish)
http://www.youtube.com/nightmare060 (who was only there the first day)
http://www.youtube.com/paulchartley (who had to leave way too early)
http://www.youtube.com/rhysz1 (who got beaten up by girls)
http://www.youtube.com/shredderneverdies (who looks good on a leash)
http://www.youtube.com/stanmarsh1 (who found his feminine side)
http://www.youtube.com/stealthbadger (who can think fourdimensional)
http://www.youtube.com/stefzula (who eats pizza like a real Jersey girl)
http://www.youtube.com/ujames1978 (who made us all feel like midgets)
http://www.youtube.com/watercrane (who can give epic massages)
Without channel:
Katie (who is a total sweetheart and StanMarsh1's girlfriend)
Gerard (whose hair fascinated Katie)
PaulCHartley's wife (whose name I didn't catch, shame on me!)
See you at the next gathering,
Fel
Monday, May 23, 2011
Dear Desteni Movement...
I have watched you try to scam people for a while now. I have also watched as you filed false DMCA notices and flagged channels down that exposed you for what you are: A cult like organization that is trying to scam money out of people via a pyramid scheme. I have watched as good channels were permanently shut down for the simple reason of exposing you. And I have decided that I won't watch any longer.
As you may have noticed, a lot of the counternotices to your false DMCAs recently filed had MY name on them. That's right, MY name, which is perfectly legal, as I have accepted a co-ownership of the videos you had falsely removed. Falsely removed, because they were covered by the fair use provision. As a bit of a reminder, here is what copyright law has to say about fair use:
17 U.S.C. § 107
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
the nature of the copyrighted work;
the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
You will notice that none of the videos you filed a DMCA claim against were of any commercial interest. The sole purpose of these videos was to critizise and comment on your money making scheme that you so blatantly hide behind your supposed social and environmental program.
Since you had the courtesy to publish my full name on your website after receiving the counternotices (and I have no doubt in my mind that you passed the rest of my details on to your members), I have decided to do a bit more than the friends that have simply tried to expose your scams on YouTube. Your pyramid scheme is illegal in many of the countries you operate in, including the country you operate out of. I may not live in South Africa, but fortunately one can report activities such as yours from outside of your country as well. So I have contacted the Financial Service Board South Africa to report you, and I suggest anyone who got scammed, false DMCAed, doc dropped or otherwise harassed by you do the same.
The website for the FSB: http://www.fsb.co.za/
For residents of South Africa there is a toll free phone number to call:
Fraud and Ethics Hotline: 0800 313 626
For those not residing in South Africa, there is an email:
fsb@tip-offs.com
And to show you I am not kidding around, here is a transcript of the email I wrote:
from XXXXXXX@gmail.com
to fsb@tip-offs.com
date Mon, May 23, 2011 at 12:29 PM
subject Desteni movement pyramid scheme
mailed-by gmail.com
hide details 12:29 PM (1 hour ago)
Dear Sirs,
there is a movement operating out of South Africa that, under the
guise of political and social interests, operates a pyramid scheme
that I believe to be illegal. Their operations by now are
internationally done, but their main location of operation is still in
South Africa, which is also where their website is hosted.
They sell rather dodgy self-exploration online courses, for which you
are supposed to pay a monthly fee of 200 Euro, and give you the option
to earn these courses and additional income by recruiting more people
for these courses. Income generated from these recruits and their
recruits respectively will only be paid to you, if you continue paying
your monthly fee of 200 Euro yourself. To gain a better overview,
please visit their website which clearly shows how their pyramid
scheme is built:
http://desteniiprocess.com/income Overview of what they claim is the
possible income.
http://desteniiprocess.com/pricing Overview of the amounts they
require you to pay.
http://desteniiprocess.com/courses Overview of the "courses" they
offer for these amounts.
The website is registered to the name of
Susan Elizabeth Spies
PO Box 641 Msunduzi
Pietermaritzburg, 3231, ZA
and the listed admin contact is
Andrea Rossouw
Desteni
P O Box 641 Msunduzi
Pietermaritzburg, 3231, ZA
phone: +08 61378364
Any attempt to expose this pyramid scheme online is met by falsely
filed DMCA notices, people who file counternotices have their privacy
violated by this group making contact details public to all their
members.
I sincerely hope that you will investigate this matter. Should you
require further information, I will gladly provide you with any
details I have so far been able to find out about this group.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXX
Now before anyone whinges about me having "doc dropped" these poor Desteni people, let me tell you that this information is freely available when you check on the whois information for the website mentioned above. It does not take special skills to find this info and they publish these names and addresses themselves, unlike the people they have doc dropped after receiving their details from counternotices to fraudulent DMCA claims.
So there we go, Desteni. I hope you enjoy the attention. Have a nice day!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Science and Education FTWTF?
Let me get this straight, I have not always disliked Thunderf00t. Actually, Thunderf00t was one of the first atheist channels I subscribed to when I realized there are other atheists on YouTube. I sat through the time when he received false DMCAs, I mirrored his videos (tiny as my channel was at the time), I began making videos because I wanted to show support. As a matter of fact, that was the reason I even began making videos, to help other people fight against false DMCAs and flags, because free speech is one of the things I value most.
But what has changed since then? Well, first of all, Thunderf00t seems to have turned from what I perceived as a reasonable and logically thinking person into someone who will not listen to reason and logical arguments anymore. It may very well be that my original perception of Thunderf00t was already warped though, who knows.
What I do know is that the more I saw of people voicing valid criticism, the more I saw Thunderf00t dismiss them and instead respond to either trolls or easy targets with no valid arguments, presenting them to his audience as the voices of his detractors. When people I considered friends made video responses with valid criticism, they went completely ignored until the moment we finally resignated and jokingly made a video blowing raspberries. And of all the videos he could have responded to, he decided to pick that particular one, and as if that wasn't enough, he didn't even give me the credit I felt was due, but presented Coughlan666 (now known as Coughlan616) as the organizer of this video. Granted, he was my inspiration, after seeing him blow the original raspberry during the London YouTube gathering, but the idea to get many people on cam to blow raspberries at Thunderf00t was mine, damn it! Credit where credit is due, even if it is for a childish thing!
Back onto the issue though, in his response then, he diagnosed Coughlan with some mental disorder he found on wikipedia... oh wait, that the troll amet found on wikipedia and Thunderf00t just copied, in order to dismiss any of the very valid points Coughlan had raised. When he realized that people did not appreciate this below the belt attack and the voices of criticism grew even louder, he finally agreed to have a discussion with DLandonCole, which went on for quite some time, but ended up with no proper outcome and a lot of drunk people and plenty of drawn bell curves instead.
Thunderf00t then proceeded to actually ask his audience what they would prefer to see on his channel, and the overwhelming majority requested that he goes back to making science videos as he used to. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to happen though, as he felt the urge to continue attacking especially Coughlan with his more than flawed arguments. This however is not my main issue. In his attempt to "pwn" Coughlan, he is going to new heights (or should I say lows?) of unfair attacking. Not only does he quotemine, but he willingly destroys the reputation of an innocent and uninvolved person now in order to make Coughlan look bad. I don't care much about the bickering between Coughlan and Thunderf00t, I am sure Coughlan can hold his own just fine there, as he has proven repeatedly, but what I DO mind is if someone I consider a friend, who has not participated in ANY of this, gets dragged in by Thunderf00t quotemining from a joke made on blogTV and presents it as hard facts, not caring at all if the person who got dragged in has to suffer from it.
So aside from the very good video Peach made on the issue already, my last words addressing the eternal drama whore Thunderf00t will be: Fuck you, Thunderf00t for not even bothering to clarify that LatumWay was in no way connected to all of this. You knowingly threw him to your dogs just to get to Coughlan. How low is that?
Monday, May 2, 2011
Oh noes, all the ebegging!
Funny, how some people insist that I'm paying for the Liverpool trip via e-begging to my paypal account, asking me how else I could possibly afford such a trip. Seems these people don't know about things like Lohnfortzahlung and Krankengeld. However, they keep insisting that I somehow prove that I am not funding anything via e-begged trips, and while I don't owe them any explanation at all, I am quite amused by their repeated attempts to make me look like the shocking notorious e-begger.
So here's the harsh truth, folks! FelidaTheGeek's e-begging income over the past year! Brace yourself for the ungodly amounts I received:
Shall I go into detail about the transactions? Oh, and click on the pic to enlarge for details.
- April 24th: Donating 5$ towards the sex change operation for a transgendered friend.
- April 12th: PayPal refunds withdrawn funds for confirmation of credit card.
- April 12th: I buy a replacement screen for my netbook.
- April 12th: My boyfriend sends me money for the screen (yes, I haz boyfriend!)
- March 22nd: I pay for an ebay purchase (birthday present for my daughter)
- August 29th: I donate to devchelle's HIV/AIDS charity.
Yes, these sure are the steps of a notorious e-begger. As you can see, all the funds to pay for Liverpool must have definitely come from here! ;-)
Have a nice day!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Some people obsess too much...
As you may be able to tell, I have by now decided to mostly ignore the continuous abuse from members of the AoD and dedicated most of my time to more valuable issues. I do however find it rather creepy that despite everything that's going on in the world, such as
The continuing search for victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan,
Ongoing fights in Lybia with Gaddafi's troops gaining on the rebels again,
Planned Parenthood needing support to continue receiving government funds,
and many more issues, they focus on featuring videos about me on their channelpage. Videos that are made by accounts that miraculously sound a lot like the name of one of their users, videos filled with complete and utter bullshit.
Apparently they took the time to do some doc hunting to find anything available about me on the internet, whether it's about my hobbies, my career, my political activities or my personal relationships with other people, screenshotting what they think may be "exposing" me. Funnily enough none of this information is linked to my YouTube account by myself. How pitiful is it, when you have to look up a person on Facebook, Xing and god knows where else, just to gather information on them? Am I that important to them? Why would they care so much about me?
I also find it rather funny that they are now doing the very thing they have accused me of "intending" to do, by publishing rather personal information about me everywhere, and I am not just referring to my full name. It is rather odd that the very same people who insisted that I have some kind of personal details on them and therefor am so much of a danger that they have to close their accounts are now dead set on making all that personal information about me public via links to dubious blog entries, comments referring to my job and health situation and by now over 40 videos.
I am still waiting for any evidence in regards to me "threatening" to make any personal information about their private life public, the very thing they accused me of in order to get people riled up against me, yet they take the liberty to do just that with my private life.
It's a rather unhealthy obsession, if you ask me. And quite a waste of valuable time. But hey, whatever floats your boat, I guess. If you wish to know more about my private life, kinky details about my past, you can get the spiced up version from AoD (guaranteed with special effects and some fabricated claims to sound more interesting), or you can simply ask me. It's not like I ever made a big secret out of anything.
Just one more thing: Repeating false accusations over and over again doesn't make them any more true, guys, and using your own comments as evidence is not really helping either. Just sayin'.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)