Monday, April 27, 2009
Power tools and summer fun....
When I was a kid, summer fun meant sneaking out to the garage to try and cut two-by-fours on the table saw in order to build a boat so we could float down the creek. Yes, I still have all my fingers and toes......amazing!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Doogan's doo doo
Well, I must admit the first official comment on my blog was an articulate counterpoint to my rant on Mr. Doogan and the right to anonymous free speech.
I feel strangely exposed and fascinated that someone is actually visiting this place other than me. However, Gerbeel Haamster, if and when I find out we know each other: beware! I will be forced to buy you a beer for being able to state an idea and write coherently about it. We are the last of a dying race (refer to obituary for journalism posted earlier in this blog).
I feel strangely exposed and fascinated that someone is actually visiting this place other than me. However, Gerbeel Haamster, if and when I find out we know each other: beware! I will be forced to buy you a beer for being able to state an idea and write coherently about it. We are the last of a dying race (refer to obituary for journalism posted earlier in this blog).
Monday, April 6, 2009
An Email to AK Representative Mike Doogan
Dear Politician Mike Doogan:
I was going to start an anonymous blog about issues relating to mental health, parenting, and politics. But now I see my concerns about being outed and therefore at risk to lose my job, relationships, and my good standing in my community are well-founded.
Anonymity is a double-edged sword. Astro-turfing is unethical. Trying to discuss high-risk issues while wearing a scarf to protect my identity is not. By publicizing the name of the AK Mudflats author, you have guaranteed this woman will suffer. You had the legitimacy and sanctioning of the Anchorate Daily News to share your opinions and get paid to do it. You made that contract with the public from a position of privilege and safety. Many of us don’t enjoy those same luxuries.
I could lose my job for writing about volatile issues. So, I stay silent as do so many others. AK Mudlflats just didn’t want to be a target in a conservative, let’s-throw-water-on-war-protesting-old-ladies-in-Soldotna world. Congratulations. What a legacy you leave. Creating fear for those who would share an opinion in an environment guaranteed to be hostile.
Should a woman protesting the Taliban be forced to put her face, name, and phone number on her subversive blog? I guess that would be ethical and prove she wasn’t an astro-turfing minion. But then, the debate would be short-lived, as she would be killed by her family in the most brutal, incomprehensible way possible.
Your morals are self-serving and your perspective narcissistic. Your ethics are fluid according to your politics of the moment.
Anonymous voices of opposition save lives and encourage discussion. It is one of the most democratic (and safe) ways of overturning cruelty and injustice. Thanks for shutting the door. I am sure our own Alaskan politico-jihadists who feel that targeting a dissenting opinion with prejudice is a God-given right are very happy with your point of view.
Anonymous – Not anymore. And I am sure [this email] will come back to haunt me. Make sure you save all these emails and keep a log of who to attack next.
I was going to start an anonymous blog about issues relating to mental health, parenting, and politics. But now I see my concerns about being outed and therefore at risk to lose my job, relationships, and my good standing in my community are well-founded.
Anonymity is a double-edged sword. Astro-turfing is unethical. Trying to discuss high-risk issues while wearing a scarf to protect my identity is not. By publicizing the name of the AK Mudflats author, you have guaranteed this woman will suffer. You had the legitimacy and sanctioning of the Anchorate Daily News to share your opinions and get paid to do it. You made that contract with the public from a position of privilege and safety. Many of us don’t enjoy those same luxuries.
I could lose my job for writing about volatile issues. So, I stay silent as do so many others. AK Mudlflats just didn’t want to be a target in a conservative, let’s-throw-water-on-war-protesting-old-ladies-in-Soldotna world. Congratulations. What a legacy you leave. Creating fear for those who would share an opinion in an environment guaranteed to be hostile.
Should a woman protesting the Taliban be forced to put her face, name, and phone number on her subversive blog? I guess that would be ethical and prove she wasn’t an astro-turfing minion. But then, the debate would be short-lived, as she would be killed by her family in the most brutal, incomprehensible way possible.
Your morals are self-serving and your perspective narcissistic. Your ethics are fluid according to your politics of the moment.
Anonymous voices of opposition save lives and encourage discussion. It is one of the most democratic (and safe) ways of overturning cruelty and injustice. Thanks for shutting the door. I am sure our own Alaskan politico-jihadists who feel that targeting a dissenting opinion with prejudice is a God-given right are very happy with your point of view.
Anonymous – Not anymore. And I am sure [this email] will come back to haunt me. Make sure you save all these emails and keep a log of who to attack next.
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