UP IN ARMS

Forbes v Bloggers

An Amalgamated Perspectives Editorial


"You might be aware of the pissing match currently going on between the mainstream media, i.e., the corporate 'News' moguls, and the Blogger community. Confronted with the fact that the not-so-new phenomenon of blogging is taking up more and more bandwidth in cyberspace, the media giants take a stand.

Whereas Business Week and Fortune Magazine came out in support and praise of the ever expanding blogosphere, Forbes, while initially positive, published an article by Daniel Lyons accusing Web logs of "spewing lies, libel and invective". Predictably, this affront hit like the proverbial match in a powder keg: Acerbic volleys have been flying ever since.

We cannot help but notice, that BOTH sides are guilty of hyperbole and slander. The very practices that each side condemns, each side also engages in. What does this scenario remind you of? Yes, it is suspiciously reminiscent of the infantile squabbles in kindergarten! Whoa, is it not time that we put these childish rivalries behind us?
Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing except when it is (ab)used for petty and inflammatory obfuscation.

C’m on, guys, enough already: it is high time to kiss and make up. Let us rise above all this self-defeating anger mongering and come together in TOLERANCE and Peaceful Coexistence.


After all: The World Wide Web is big enough for all of us."

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[See also: a Post by Jason Goldman]
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[About us: The AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES Platform]


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Quote-of-the-Month: October 2005

PAUL CELAN, Eastern European Poet and Holocaust Survivor (1920-1970) said,

: :


" Poetry is a sort of Homecoming."


[Artwork by Jassy Lupa]

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See also Argos

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Hola a todos, bienvenidos a: 'AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES Espacio de la Poesía'

NO ES MÁS
por selva oscura...

de Eliseo Julio de Jesús de Diego Fernández (1920-1994)

Un poema no es más
que una conversación en la penumbra
del horno viejo, cuando ya
todos se han ido, y cruje
afuera el hondo bosque; un poema

no es más que unas palabras
que uno ha querido, y cambian
de sitio con el tiempo, y ya
no son más que una mancha, una esperanza indecible;

un poema no es más
que la felicidad, que una conversación
en la penumbra, que todo
cuanto se ha ido, y ya
es silencio.

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[See also: Poet George Tsongas]
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Smooth Jazz: the Alto Sax rules

Listen to the Sound-of-the-Month-Pick :

Bliss out on Jazz Master Paul Desmond's bluesy rendition of "Where is Love?"



[Courtesy of Steve Khan]

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[Please note: This is a .mp3 audio clip that might take a while to load if you have a slow connect speed. Click the PLAY Button on the player panel above to initiate buffering and playing. Make sure you have 'sound' enabled and your Volume Control isn't set too low. - When you navigate away from this page the music will stop. In order to listen to the entire clip, please leave THIS Window OPEN. Enjoy!]
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The Phenomenon of Blogging REVIEWED

An editorial by Ana Elsner


You have signed on with a blog host. You have designed the layout of your pages.
Welcome to the Blogosphere! ... So, what next?

Obviously you feel the urge to communicate. The question is: What do you wish to say, and to whom are you addressing yourself ? - Answering this question will define your blog's platform, i.e., its basic theme and content. It will also determine your blog's readership and popularity.

Weblogs seem to fall into at least five general categories:

- The primary motivation for the blogger novice is to keep an online DIARY of his or her personal life, and share with the world-at-large their innermost hopes, fears and other private matters, concerns, events and affairs. This type of blogging seems to be born out of a sense of isolation and can be understood as an attempt to 'reach out'. These blogs, while often fascinating, can also be too recondite and boring to those of us, not enrolled in PSYCH 101.

- Another type of blog is the 'insider' SPECIAL INTEREST BLOG where all content and links center on a specific hobby, profession, pursuit or mission (such as photography, singers or bands, cooking, pets, to name just a few). These blogs have a devoted and highly interactive online 'tribe' of followers who, depending on geographic proximity to each other, will also meet in person or come together in support of a cause related to their common interest. Such blogs are self-limiting in that they appeal only to an exclusive group.

- Gaining in popularity are TUMBLELOGS. They are a type of modified 'remaindered links' style Linklog with minimal commentary, a maximum of eye-catching visuals, sparse text, little cross-blog chatter and the barest whiff of a finished article. They serve as a sort of 'switchboard' for the trigger-happy blog browser flitting about at break-neck speed, never stopping long enough to investigate any topic in depth.

- A fourth type of blog is pure and flagrant SOLICITATION in the weblog format. It serves no other purpose than to push products or services, which are often of dubious legality. Such blogs are stuffed with popular keywords in order to lure the searchbots to index their pages and thereby drive traffic to their site(s). Should you accidentally land on one of these, your screen will instantly light up with flashing banners, pop-ups and other annoying, if not harmful little programs. In addition to sending out cookies, many of these 'pseudo' blogs run sophisticated listbots on your harddrive that harvest additional data and send it back to their server. Blogsurfer beware!

- By contrast, there are the INTELLIGENT and INFORMATIVE BLOGS that aspire to meet the highest of journalistic standards. They are dedicated to bringing their readership a wide array of well written, well researched and thought provoking articles and news items. They are de facto Online Magazines rivaling those you pick up at the local newsstand. Their content delivery is made with conviction as well as with humor and promotes further reading. Rather than merely compiling a long list of links and condensing each post to the proverbial soundbite, these WEBZINES feature comprehensive articles that develop a topic from start to conclusion. Such blogs are made by writers for writers. They will not, however, appeal to the 'on-the-fly' websurfer with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).

Being a blogger means that you are the captain of your own ship in cyberspace. You map your course by the content you choose to present. Blog on!

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[See also: "On Cruising the Blog-Scene" ]

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[Related Post: "What type of blog is this?"]

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Halloween Interpretation

Six year old Yorkshire Terrier bitch 'Coco' from Long Island, NY, all decked out in her witch costume, is ready to go TRICK or TREAT -ing in hopes of being rewarded with some yummy dog biscuits.

In keeping up with human seasonal traditions she proves the point that

"Dogs are people too"...

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Halloween (Def.): - The evening of October 31; the eve of All Saints' Day; Allhallows Eve; observed in the USA by children [and sometimes by dogs...!] in costumes who solicit treats, often by threatening minor pranks -

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[Coco guest-stars on AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES courtesy of dogster.com - For the Love of DOG]

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Microsoft Windows

! Operating System Alert !

- - -

[See also: The Jesus-of-the-Week Post]

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Whois Craig

We are not entirely sure just who Craig is (successful entrepreneur? media maven? corporate heavyweight? PR hound?), but what we do know is that he has a LIST.

Whenever we jet around among major metropolitan areas in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia we like to prepare ourselves by checking the Local Events Calendar in the Community Section for each city on craigslist.org.

Who knows, there could be a concert scheduled, a festival or fair going on, a poetry reading, gallery opening or book release party planned, an illuminating lecture scheduled, or a public campaign or civic action slated, that we would not want to miss for lack of forethought.
No need to pick up the local news rag upon arrival: all pertinent information is easily accessible ahead of time in this comprehensive online directory ... well before your bags are packed for the trip.

Thank you, Craig, whoever you are!

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[See also: "Do you know what time it is? ]

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Are YOU a craigslist.User? : Tell us! : Click on the 'COMMENTS'/'Post a Comment' Link below:

Licensing eBay Vendors: Say whaaaat

The Public Service Commission of the State of North Dakota has hatched a real doozie of a plot to trip up and tap private individuals who make a buck or two by selling their trinkets on eBay.

Turning the growing popularity of online auctions into a new source of state revenue, the commission seeks to regulate and restrict eBay selling by imposing a licensing requirement and charging a fee to get a "North Dakota Auctioneer's License". Two preconditions apply: each applicant must undergo special training at a state-approved auction school and must obtain a $5,000 surety bond. Other states are eager to jump on the bandwagon.

AMALGANATED PERSPECTIVES Editorial Comment: This is a textbook case of the government insinuating itself into yet another venue of individual enterprise by exerting control and financial leverage.
We say "NO!" to all legislative attempts to impose licensing requirements on online auction sellers. If you are a North Dakotan, please lobby your state government to back away from any such intention, and help prevent this precedent from being established. -

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[See also: Our Picture-of-the-Month Pick for September ]

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The New Chancellor

The wait is over: Germany has a new Chancellor who will soon be turning the "executive men's-room" into the "executive powder-room" ...

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After weeks of negotiations following the German Federal Election of September 18, 2005 the two main opposing parties, SPD and CDU/CSU, entered into a Grand Coalition in order to make up the required majority of seats in the Bundestag. The two parties reached an agreement whereby the CDU/CSU candidate, Angela Merkel, will succeed Gerhard Schröder in the office of Chancellor and the SPD will fill 8 of a total of 16 ministerial posts. Merkel is the first woman ever to hold the position of German Chancellor.

Angela Dorothea Merkel (born July 17, 1954) grew up in the communist GDR (the former East Germany). She graduated with a doctorate in physics. In 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, she entered the political arena, aided by her mentor Helmut Kohl. Her political career culminated, 13 years later, in her election to chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and leader of the conservative opposition in the lower house of the German Parliament (Bundestag) under former Chancellor Schröder.

It remains to be seen, over the coming months, what course she will steer in German national and international policy and, by extension, in the future of the EU (European Union), of which Germany is a powerful and influential member.

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We want to hear YOUR Opinion : Please click on the 'COMMENTS'/'Post a Comment' Link below:

Picture-of-the-Month: October 2005

" Le Roi s'amuse "

Fragment of an original Russian Lacquer miniature painting in egg-tempera created by MSTERA (Mstiora, Мстера) Master Artist Yuri Ikonnikov in 2001, signed and titled

"In no particular Kingdom".

You can see the entire composition of the Dancing King and his Entourage and read a description of the art work by clicking on the picture above or by visiting the Russian Lacquer Fine Art Gallery at Catalog.instaplanet.com.

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[See also: About RUSSIAN LACQUER BOX ART, an Introduction to a unique Art Form from Russia ]

[Related Article: The reasons why many people collect art]

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Agamemnon Flinched

"Senior poet and author George Tsongas blends his Greek ancestry, his world travels, his tenure as a San Francisco resident and habitué of Café Trieste, and his personal observations on the human condition into a rich tapestry of compact word art," - Ana Elsner, author

the mask
(argos)

agamemnon
stares at me, and
when i stare back
he flinches, as
though i've given
him the look
that narrows
the centuries
to what we feel

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----- Read more Poetry -----

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15 Jahre Deutsche Einheit - German Reunification

October 3, 1990: - After more than 40 years, East and West Germany, which had been separated by different political systems in the aftermath of World War II, were peacefully reunited. The fall of the Berlin Wall was the symbol of the reunification of the two countries under a democratic system. On October 3, 1990, East Germany was dissolved and its citizens became citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Excerpts from 'A Message from the President of the Federal Republic of Germany on the Day of German Unity 2005':

"On 3 October the Germans are celebrating the 15th anniversary of national unity in freedom. ... One and a half decades have passed and we have achieved much thanks to the drive and solidarity of Germans in east and west. ... There are new roads, railway lines and modern telecommunication networks. ... Internationally acclaimed centres for science and technology have sprung up. ... But we also know that many problems still remain to be solved. The most pressing is the problem of the millions of unemployed – in the new Länder but also all across . At the same time, we have to deal with the aging of our society. These are major tasks for policy-makers yet these tasks have been identified and the process of renewal has begun. ..."

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AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES Editorial Comment: - October 3, 2005. - Even after 15 years of efforts toward economic integration Germany has a long road to travel in mending the social polarization between East and West. To this day, the East is still unable to survive without government subsidies amounting to some €70 to €80 billion a year. Major long-term structural reforms are needed to bring about social, political and economic equalization. The concept of 'One Germany' is still far from having been made a reality in the lives of its population. -

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[See also: Bundestagswahl 2005 - Elections in Germany ]

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: Unabashed Blasphemy :

Preface: - AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES respects each individual's personal faith, expression of spiritual devotion and code of religious conduct.
We do not wish to offend anybody.

Caution: - If you are a conservative Christian without a sense of humor, please do NOT click on the link below.

To all others, get ready to peruse the Jesus-of-the-Week inventory:

"Looking for the Love of Christ in all the Wrong Places?"

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"These Shoes Are Made For Walking..."

... to paraphrase Nancy Sinatra's 1966 hit (except, of course, Nancy was singing about boots).

The other day, a member of AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES brought us this bi-lingual manufacturer's tag found inside a new pair of shoes.
Talk about "going the extra mile" on a sales pitch ... (see below).
We were so impressed that we decided to post it here exactly as printed on the tag in the German and English version :

"Die Schöpfung hat den Menschen ohne Schuhe vorgesehen. Ohne Schuhe sind unsere Füsse jedoch ohne Schutz. Ein bequemer Schuh ermöglicht es, wie barfuß zu gehen.
Unsere Schuhe wurden von den besten Designern entworfen. Sie sind aus bestem Leder und Materialien gefertigt die dem neusten Stand der Technik entsprechen.
Da wir uns der Qualität und dem Komfort verpflichtet haben, wünschen wir Ihnen ein bequemes Leben in unseren Schuhen."

"Nature intended us to be barefoot. But we need shoes to protect our feet. The next best thing to being barefoot is a good, comfortable shoe.
Our shoes are studied by a highly qualified team and are made out of the best leathers. The most advanced techniques are employed.
As our commitment is to quality, fit and comfort, we would like to wish you a comfortable life in our shoes."

As you can imagine, our entire staff is mobbing a particular shoe-store in order to get their feet into a pair of these wonders and to thereby assure themselves of the promise of a comfortable life...

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How many pairs of shoes are in YOUR closet? Go ahead and 'confess' by clicking on the 'COMMENT'/'Post a Comment' Link below: