Building a community of intellectual inbreds
August 24th, 2009 by benign0This morning I posted a comment on Reyna Elena’s rapidly up-and-coming collective blog Barrio Siete (BS), and it went like this:
Again, the question arises everytime some bozo-poltician comes up and announces their “candidacy” for this or that office (Whatever that may be):
If they cannot produce then they merely aim to insult the voter’s intelligence like all other politicians in the past.
They are all the same.
But if they want to seriously DIFFERENTIATE, then show us the platform. And if you cannot come up with one, let’s not accept the usual excuse that it is “too hard”. It can be done in four easy steps.
Whether it is Edu Manzano or Vic Pacia. Whatever. If we as voters behave like a bunch of starstruck ignoramuses all the time, guess what: We get ignoramurases leading us as well.
We sow what we reap.
It’s simple, really™.
(The blog article was about an exploration of the prospects of Edu Manzano running for senator)
![edu-manzano5[1]](http://filipinovoices.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/edu-manzano51.jpg)
The thing with me is I usually type out a comment first on Notepad and then copy-and-paste it onto the text field provided by the blog or forum on which I am publishing said comment. So the above reflects the original composition that I posted on the BS entry. My little Notepad text file came unexpectedly handy in this instance.
Now for those fans of mine who’ve followed my online career over the last nine or so years, that’s a typical comment that’s got classic benign0 written all over it — I routinely provide relevant references to support the crystal-clear points I make in my comments, just like any good citizen of the blogging community. Can I help it if the most insightful references I could find on most matters happen to be my own?
The thing with blog and forum Admins, for their part, is that at some point, they actually may decide (bizarre as it sounds) that an entry starts to smell a bit like spam (the level of tolerance varies). When a critical point is reached, they either:
(a) ban the commentor permanently; and/or,
(b) delete the “offending” hyperlinks in the text.
Usually there is a warning that refers to clearly-articulated guidelines on the matter. I should know. I’ve been banned many times before.
However, in my nine years of doing this sorta thing, this is the first time I’ve come across an Admin who made partial modifications on a comment that under-handedly altered its content. And so as of the time a certain “bluepanjeet” responded to my original comment in another comment time-stamped August 24, 2009 at 11:20 am, the text in my original comment looked like this:
Again, the question arises everytime some bozo-poltician comes up and announces their “candidacy” for this or that office (Whatever that may be):
If they cannot produce then they merely aim to insult the voter’s intelligence like all other politicians in the past.
http://barriosiete.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php#comments-form
They are all the same.
But if they want to seriously DIFFERENTIATE, then show us the platform. And if you cannot come up with one, let’s not accept the usual excuse that it is “too hard”. It can be done in four easy steps.
Whether it is Edu Manzano or Vic Pacia. Whatever. If we as voters behave like a bunch of starstruck ignoramuses all the time, guess what: We get ignoramurases leading us as well.
We sow what we reap.
It’s simple, really
The following subtle changes were made:
(1) An additional “z” was added to the URL of the hyperlink labelled “Platform, plez”; and,
(2) An additional “i” was inserted into the antipinoy domain name (spelling it “antiipinoy”) in the URL of the hyperlink labelled “four easy steps”.
Another amusing bit of trivia here is that the “™” mark on the taglines I use that my followers have grown so fond of had been deleted as well.
Classy bunch, aren’t they? Even preying upon a poor cute helpless little itsy-bitsy “™” mark.
Sometimes I wonder if the otherwise smart and educated Reyna Elena (the esteemed owner of BS) really knows the extent of the ironic behaviours exhibited by the people who surround him.
Caught red-handed with his rather childish behaviour, self-described Argumentation Police in Barrio Siete “bluepanjeet” then clarifies the matter:
Its not only “I” that I added. I also added extra “Ps”, Extra “M”s and other extras in your links. Gusto mo lotto combinations pa eh. Since you dont respect the policy of the Barrio, I deleted your links. You are stubborn as a mule. DONT SPAM. MAHIRAP BA INTINDIHIN YUN. Yang mga links mo ilang beses mo na ibinalandra. kung baga sa ka pepe, sobra ka na, libre ka na nga sa advertising ng blog mo, abuso ka naman. Magbayad ka ng 5 dollars per link sa susunod haha. Magsawa ka ngayon. Lalo ka nawalan ng links. Di ka makuha sa santong pakiusapan, pwes makuha ka sa santong DELETAN! pasalamat ka nakakapag comment ka pa. You were given democracy hindi ka naman marunong rumespeto sa binigay sayo karapatan. PWE uli LOL
My point here is that it is one thing to categorically ban or censor a commentor (actions well within the rights of any Admin worth their salt). But there is something to be said about vandalising a comment in the name of Admin “enforcement”. That kind of behaviour brings shame to the Blog Admin community. When you are an Admin, you enforce your site’s guidelines with the kind of integrity, conviction, and consistency befitting a true officer of said site.
I can respect being banned and/or having the URL’s I provide as insightful references to the brilliant points I make outright deleted.
But to have a comment vandalised before any punitive action (in reference to consistent guidelines) is taken? Well, that just makes me laugh.
And we wonder why Filipino society and its Government is such…
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Epilogue:
I do try to take on-board most nuggets of advise that gets thrown my way. So I shall cite an example of the revealing sorts of advise I routinely get over at the venerable Barrio Siete:
If you want readership LEAVE NICE COMMENTS AND DONT ARGUE WITH READERS AND COMMENTERS.
What can I say? It’s a great piece of philosophy, great, that is, for building a community of intellectual inbreds.
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August 24, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Stick with FV kasi. At least here in FV you have BongV and my Manoy Bencard ogling at you with rapt eyes and attention, heheh.
August 24, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Actually, Bert, I tend to learn more from people who regard cute little moi with scorn, as you can see above.
August 25, 2009 at 2:51 am
i call it as i see it, bert. you would attract my attention too if you write something sensible, and coming from the brain, not from your posterior. instead of always sniping blindly at everything that moves, try making an intelligent conversation for a change.
August 25, 2009 at 12:13 pm
I did attract your attention now, Manoy. I must have written something sensible, hehehe.
August 24, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Hhhmmm benigs,
Did you just get mauled by a barangay tanod in Barrio Siete?
When you’re down and troubled, and you need a helping hand:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robruiz/3806875892/
August 25, 2009 at 12:50 am
The Politics of Personality is like a Shabu Addiction to us. We have
a hard time withdrawing from it. The Filipino Politicians using Politics of Personality to be elected have embeded themselves hard in our conciousness and in their own conciousness. Personalities are being promoted, instead of Political Platforms. Through voters information. This can be countered. Just explain it to people in the simplest way of the mechanism of this Political Scam.
We are electing people who offer do to services for us, do we ?
Not to entertain us in Congress or in Senate. Look at what is happening to us by these Personalities Politicians. Le Cirque phenomena will likely to continue.
August 25, 2009 at 4:34 am
I read the exchange — blueplanet doesn’t deny that he will modify. Into any blog-comment, he can put — “San Miguel Beer da best!!!” — quite helpful for advertisers to barriosiete. Dangerous!
August 25, 2009 at 6:24 am
Cute Mr B! Kaya ka ginanyan kasi Insultador ka kasi. Slow down on Filipino insults mate. Love mo pa naman si Mareng Reynz. Reynz has been so nice with you, tapos ininsulto mo the whole barrio and bayan. Barrio Siete is excellenty designed and they are happy group.
In some ways, you somehow deserve to be ignored,insulted, edited or blocked. Life is about wholesomeness and handsomeness Mr B… kaya mag-tiis ang hindi guwapo in ugali…
August 25, 2009 at 7:11 am
Am reminded of an op-ed piece that appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune on September 19, 1996. It was written by Charles J. Sykes, best known as the author of “Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good about Themselves, but Can’t Read, Write, or Add.”
RULE 1……Life is not fair; get used to it.
RULE 2……The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
RULE 3……You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.
RULE 4……If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.
RULE 5……Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
RULE 6……If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
RULE 7……Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents’ generation, try “delousing” the closet in your own room.
RULE 8……Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
RULE 9……Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summer off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
RULE 10…..Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
RULE 11…..Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
August 25, 2009 at 10:40 am
Oh yeah, Bong and thanks for that list, rule 11… I am one… so I am nice to myself as for the rest…uhum… let me look at my window…oops ayon there’s a tree and a little bird… it’s green all around me too
August 25, 2009 at 6:51 am
If it makes you laugh, it makes me irate, as words are a form of art and no one should mess with another person’s expression
I fear this Admin would cut and paste Jonathan Swift, Kafka, or any superb but biting interpreter of the weaknesses of society. Probably tax books, too.
Joe
August 25, 2009 at 7:28 am
Obviously, Ms. CheekyChic, you can’t tell the difference between “being nice” and “being respectful”. I have the utmost respect for Mr. Reyna Elena, his achievements, and the community he’s built over at Barrio Siete, and I exhibit that respect by being consistent in the way I present myself to him, or for that matter anyone (as this consistency of mine recognises no social status, credential, or personal circumstances).
There are lots of “nice” people — but very few consistent ones. And I am one of that elite few.
Tough luck now, but good luck in your future efforts at comprehending.
Mr. Joe, yup. But in a society like the Philippines, you just gotta laugh. Otherwise you simply waste time being frustrated over stuff that may never see the light of sustainable change.
But there is evidence of hope as you will see in that thread in Barrio Siete which Reyna Elena had closed from commenting (and the comments of this bluepanjeet guy deleted — unforunately along with GabbyD’s insightful queries) pending some kind of deliberation that is presumably on-going behind closed doors.
August 25, 2009 at 10:35 am
Benigno, do you have any respect too? Here we go, on quoting what was said. How can you even emphasize on the differences between being “respectful” and being “nice”. But can you? I dont go around blogs to observe, I just read. I commented at times here, as no one seemed to disagree with what you write. Maybe, they just got tired, which I did, in the end. This must have been my first few comments for some time now as it is getting ‘boring’.
Take it easy, Mr B. You should not take blogging seriously.
For someone who lived in the Western world in such a long time, my expectation of you would be of one, who can understand and see the “real differences” but nope you CANT.
Don’t take me for STUPID because I can write simply when you said “Tough luck now, but good luck in your future efforts at comprehending.”. Anong gusto mo Benigno magparada with Diplomas and Certifications everytime one makes a comment.
Anyone who wanted this article magnified, get out of their chair, look out the window, go outside, stretch yourself and take a walk and calm yourself down. Smile nang konti!
Bless you Benigno! and you too Bong! Give it some rest, as I can see that the blog owner has apologized to you.
August 25, 2009 at 8:31 am
Apologies to all you Gentlemen, bluep, benigno and gabbyD. The Barrio Council has spoken, in the end; an executive decision has to be made by La Kapitana.
To Benign0,
In the future, we would appreciate if you would please make a brief snapshot of what it is that you’re trying to explain – if it would take a whole entry inside our blog entry, so be it. Understand that there’s always the possibility of being lost in translation. Given the romantic fights that happened in the past, love wounds are hard to heal. Obviously, continually leaving the same links was misunderstood by some of us, including myself, which you were trying to promote your website.
For World Peace, the same links/comment you originally left on the comments section was re-posted by me. All other comments were disapproved.
La Kapitana de’l Barrio Siete
August 25, 2009 at 10:35 am
four easy steps? great blog benigs..
Building a community is democracy = Our votes ensure that our leader delivers. When the citizens recognize what decisions are made by government and why, the government is said to be transparent. No one even in the past and present may have understood the concept. Tago nang tago parang TNT.. te he.
Basic Secret of Rule management: Don’t wait until the crisis is upon you before you pay attention to the rules. If you keep your eyes on the rules ( rule of law), you won’t have to play catch-up in the end. If our leader breaks the big rules, he/she has to reinstate them with a circle of little rules. Many of them at higher places broke the big rules (human rights, equality, employment, education and using our money/credit wisely) and they restored them with a lot of wishful thinking, broken logic, and a lottery mentality – frail little rules that weren’t really rules at all.
Yup, they sow what they reap.they reap what they sow. It’s bad governance. The innocents remain so very calm until one day….
There is no such thing as “ignoramus” if education has been properly provided. Who is then the provider for this kind of service? It is still the job description of the current administration to prepare and educate the people in building a community that will last strongly.
August 25, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Mr. Reyna Elena. Thanks for your note and the rectifications you made. Your exhibiting command responsibility in this instance is very admirable and a virtue rarely seen in our sad society.
I will, for my part, make it a point to be a bit more descriptive in the comments I make over at the Barrio in the future.
Apologies accepted and please accept mine as well for any mis-interpretations caused.
Cheers,
benign0