Privacy For All

I started following Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore on Twitter.  They are just a handful of famous people that have recently graced the micro-blogging site.

So today, Mr. A-Plus-K gets his camera out and starts complaining about his neighbor's house being worked on at 7:30am.  If you know Ashton and his sense of humor, he's mostly joking, but there's something real or serious in most of his responses.  Obviously, the paparazzi doesn't get the humor in it all.  Even The Huff Post seems to be running with the den of press wolves here.

Plain and simple, if the guy is upset about something, let him be upset.  If he's half joking, let him joke.  Even if it's a mix of serious and PUNKing around, it's just a homeowner that's letting off some steam.

Sure, in the real world, construction workers start early... way early.  Which is one reason why I'm not in construction.  And we can't all have the luxury of dictating the time schedule of construction workers.  So the part that Ashton is half serious about, he needs to get this.  I'm sure he does.  I'm just saying.

And while this particular homeowner is an actor who married a famous actress, and any of their actions or moves brings out every photographer out of the wood work, trying to capture every lucrative image they can get to keep them employed in their stalkarazzi position as long as they can, there still should be some sort of time and space respect.

Still, the questions begs: Why the media circus?  Why camp outside this guys home?

You want photos of him?  Hang out at the awards shows.

You want to see him in his jeans and t-shirt?  Camp out at the airport and nicely take a photo without trying to ride up his ass crack while he's pulling his luggage.

Every other time - Stay away.  Your hunt for the money shot isn't going to help you do anything except put cash into your wallet.

It's about privacy.  Not about how much money one gets for taking the photo.

Now if this is Ashton filming new episodes of PUNK'D, that's cool.  And maybe part of this is based on press that Ashton will get.  That's fine.  But you still have to learn when to back the fuck off.

Why am I writing this, you ask?  I don't like all of Ashton's movies.  I've not seen all of Demi's movies, either.  But this is personal.  If someday, I'm popular enough to where people will be hounding me for a photo, I'd want to have some time and space request.  Take my photo when I'm on the red carpet, but don't clog the road I live on for some dumb shot of me with a t-shirt and hat on.

Enough is enough.  As Ashton said today....  "you all know the truth... shhhhhhhhh"

Ashton's original rant via Qik.com

Ashton's calming rebutal via Qik.com

Red Herring

red herring

- noun

2. something intended to divert attention from the real problem or matter at hand; a misleading clue

------------------------------------------------------------------------

This term gets used a lot in both politics and financial discussions.  Creating something that is simply not true just to divert one's attention from what's important seems to be a good way of simply saying, "I really don't want this to happen"

Case in point.  Barack Obama.  While 52% of the registered voters that actually voted picked him to be our next president, there was a good amount of people that didn't.  At least 40%.  And while the Maverick and his Alaskan running mate went back to their respective states, Mr. Obama went to Washington.

Ok.  Said and done, he's now our Commander-in-Chief, put aside your differences and let's start moving forward together.

Nope.

These arbitrators of herrings that are red in color decide that there's got to be a way to kick this guy out of office.  They tried to keep him out during the election, calling into question the validity of his US citizenship.  More on that in a bit.

So during Tuesday's inauguration proceedings, there's a part that takes place at exactly 12 noon.  It's the Oath of Office.  And it's pretty specific.  Certain words have to be said and in a certain order.  This is the leader of the free world we are talking about here.

So President-Elect Obama is standing at the podium with Chief Justice Roberts, who is there to conduct the big important business of swearing in a new president.  It's a couple of minutes past 12 noon.  It's cold out.  And I'm sure there's a lot of nerves in jumbles.  This is a big moment and a big deal.

Roberts starts out, Obama starts to repeat after him and jumps ahead.  Roberts gets distracted and there's a few words that are not repeated in the proper order.

Not a problem.  They correct themselves, get back on track and finish the Oath proceedings.  It's now official, we have a new president.

But wait.

That's right.  The lovers of all herrings red speak out.

"He's not really president...  they didn't stay it right."

"It was said a few minutes past 12 noon.  It's not official."

"The words were not spoken in the correct order....  Obama needs to step down"

Wha?  Huh?  Are you serious?

Last year, around mid-August, the red herring detractors came out of the woodwork.  They were questioning Obama's citizenship credentials.  In summary, they were doing their best to invalidate his qualifications for being president due to his birth certificate being a fake.

They spent endless amounts of time, energy, blog posts, Google searches and Photoshop editing making sure that they were right.  It was their goal to make sure Barack Obama was not going to "go against the Constitution" and to never take office, let alone even get a chance to be on the ballot on November 4th.

"It's a fake, the lettering is not right."

"He never lived in Hawaii"

"His father wasn't a naturalized citizen"

"His mother left the country after he was born"

And there were many other detailed and outlandish reasons why Obama shouldn't be eligible to be president.  Some even went as far as to suggest that this was one of the greatest conspiracies to happen to the United States.

Yep, 46 years in the making, before Barack Hussein Obama was born, there were some that plotted this out, carefully making alterations to his birth certificate.  Secretly throwing out valid documents.  Changing the laws so that every person with a red herring mission couldn't order a copy of the birth certificate.  Making sure that one day, in 2008, Barack could become a candidate for president, and making history.

Give me a fucking break.

Let's get this straight, people.

There was no conspiracy.

There are no faked birth certificates, except for the hundreds stored on the blogs and hard drives of red herring mongers.

Regardless of the location of his parents after his birth, Barack Obama's eligibility for the office of president met each and every requirement.

Enough, people.

Read this link if you are still clinging onto this utter and complete bullshit:

Obama's birth certificate: Final chapter

Just Stop

And so it continues today with "Flubbergate".  Which, by the way, was properly repeated on the first day in office.  Crisis avoided.

But don't worry.  There will be further red herrings drummed up in order to find a way to remove President Obama from office.  Which is simply another way of distracting from the real goal, and that is unity.  Removing divides and walls and coming together for the common good of everyone.  Putting aside partisan politics and trying to solve current problems instead of creating new ones.

So please, I beg of you.  Stop with these red herrings.  Get over your selfish nature and put aside whatever it is that bothers you that there's no Ultra Conservative Right-Wing President in office.  We have someone who has the chance - and wants the chance - to make this country a better place to live.  Let him at least try to make good on his campaign promises for the next 48 months before you start finding ways to run him out of town.

Thank you.  The world is watching.

Criticism

Since when did a criticism affect me so much?

Later this afternoon, I posted a response to an article I read on the web.  I'm not sure what my point was, but what came out wasn't exactly countering any point in the article.  Someone I respect read my response and called me out on the point I made, which was a correction.

For some reason, I became more defensive than I should have.  After all, I really should have read more of my response before posting it.  In hindsight (what a common phrase that gets used a lot today), I see where I missed the point and now know what I should have wrote.  A bit too late for that, buddy.

Regardless, what came out of this is the fact that person that was nicely trying to point out something to me came across as a heavy dose of criticism.

Back in the day, I used to be able to take a lot.  I mean, hell...  I went through a divorce where regular trashing of me and what I stood for was a regular expectation.  I've worked at companies where dealing with the shit that came down on a daily basis was something I could easily handle.  I've been through a lot and have handled it.  This part of me now... who is this person?  Have I just been dealt with so much lately that this was the final bit of criticism that I could handle before losing it?  I certainly hope not.

I think most of this comes from the fact that I let way too much get in the way of doing what I want to do.  I don't have that control of life like I feel I should.  It's that point of wanting something that I feel I should have.

It's all a process of living life and as I normally do, I tackle the self-analysis side of a situation like this and make improvements where needed.  It's the one part that does take that criticism and turn it into a positive.

"Hey, can I ask you a computer question?"

It never fails.

I get a call from someone, friend or family.

"Hey... how are you? Do you have a minute... I have this computer issue..."

Ok, I know I've been in the IT industry for over 23 years now. I do know some things. And there's some things I'm willing to help with.

But....

What.The.Fuck.

When you see my name or think of me, is it about asking me why something broke on your computer? I hope not, but it sure seems that way.

I don't hear from some of you for weeks and months, then out of the blue, my caller ID shows you calling me.

It would be nice if you wanted to get together and catch up, have a drink or two and talk about anything other than computer issues.

I deal with computer issues all day at work. There's a really good chance that I don't want to deal with them outside of work. Especially when it comes to Windows issues.

As a Mac guy in my personal life, I'll help people switch from Windows to the Mac. I don't mind that and I'll even spend a bit of time helping here and there. But that also doesn't mean I'm the Mac expert and can bail your ass out each and every time.

I get that you are not an expert either. Which is why you are calling me for help. But are you seriously telling me that you do not know anyone else that's good with computers that can help? Am I the only game in town? I seriously doubt that.

I got to thinking about this and came up with this answer: it's because I always say "YES" to people. I'm the one that's not going to chew your ass out for calling me only when you can't figure your shit out. I'm too nice. I'm convinced that's the problem.

Now, this doesn't mean I don't want to help. Not at all. What I'm saying is that I don't want to be your sole connection to getting your computer back up and running. That's all.

And there needs to be some give and take here. Take... take... take... take... take... that burns someone out pretty damn quick. I'm not expecting money or gifts, although I don't *mind* them [wink]. I do like a thank you, but if there's not a single ounce of sincerety in those two words, then don't say it. It means nothing. It's nothing more than you trying to be nice and expecting me to be cheerful and friendly each time you call wanting me to fix your busted computer.

So what I'm saying here is:

- I will help you, but don't abuse it. Stop calling me everytime you have a problem and you don't care to talk about anything else
- If you are switching to a Mac, then I'll do what I can, but I have a life and want to spend it using my own Mac
- If you are really a good family member or friend and we connect on a level outside of the computer world, then let's make it so that every so often, you call me WITHOUT any computer issues.

Deal?

It is the holiday season, so I may put off my Scrooge attitude and help regardless, but after January, if you are calling my ass for more help, I may not be readily available. That means find someone else to help if you really need free tech support because I'm something my time and energy enjoying the new year.