Reply By: ModeratemanPosted: Monday, January 24, 2005I knida treat blogging HERE as a very slow moving chatroom, with.. different sides, with a political bent.

... we were sooooooooooooo apolitical till you came along... we disgussed gardening, knitting, cooking...etc... You came in and there was a complete turnaround... politics politics and more politics.....B O R I N G

Reply #16 By: Manopeace - 1/24/2005 4:11:13 PM Reply By: ModeratemanPosted: Monday, January 24, 2005I knida treat blogging HERE as a very slow moving chatroom, with.. different sides, with a political bent. ... we were sooooooooooooo apolitical till you came along... we disgussed gardening, knitting, cooking...etc... You came in and there was a complete turnaround... politics politics and more politics.....B O R I N G

ummmmm have yer second "brat" of this year.... lol... gee ya mean joeuser was around and doing things before I got here... well!!

ummmmm have yer second "brat" of this year.... lol... gee ya mean joeuser was around and doing things before I got here... well!!

We been here awhile... but I can honestly say Mod that you are a welcome addition....even if I'm a lil to the left of you....just a lil...
That's one of the lies Dharma was talking about lol (me being JUST a lil left of you... not the welcome addition part)

Ha ha ha . . . now I'm dying to know which article(s) you're referring to . . . I guess I'll just have to poke around and see if anything sets off my less-finely-tuned BS-O-meter.

I realize that some people go online to "be someone else" or whatever, and that would be fine except for the fact that it brings other people into their little game, and these people develop relationships or begin caring for someone who is essentially just a fictional character.

I enjoy good fiction (for example, Shovelheat's awesome tales) but I don't appreciate being manipulated or lied to by someone who is presenting themselves as someone other than who they really are. Honesty is something I place a high value on, even in the online arena.

Interesting article, dharma.

I realize that some people go online to "be someone else" or whatever, and that would be fine except for the fact that it brings other people into their little game, and these people develop relationships or begin caring for someone who is essentially just a fictional character. I enjoy good fiction (for example, Shovelheat's awesome tales) but I don't appreciate being manipulated or lied to by someone who is presenting themselves as someone other than who they really are.

It's not even someone pretending to be something that they're not.  It's more a question of them either embellishing the truth or fabricating then entire scenario in order to make a point about the legal system.  There are just some things about the story that I find hard to believe, and I have come out and told the person so.....but have yet to recieve a response.

It's not even someone pretending to be something that they're not. It's more a question of them either embellishing the truth or fabricating then entire scenario in order to make a point about the legal system. There are just some things about the story that I find hard to believe, and I have come out and told the person so.....but have yet to recieve a response.

D--I responded on that article. While I know little about cattle prods--so I can't comment on that aspect--the rest of the story seems believable to me as resident of DC. The beggars and panhandlers around here are often frightening and dangerous but the police don't want to deal with them. Also, in my response over there, I told about a time that I had to call 911 and the operator debated with me whether or not it was really an emergency even though my friend was held up at gunpoint. It's a sketchy city here in the nation's capital. I wouldn't be so quick to assume it was total bull.

The pr0n bloggers have been handing us silly scenarios for ages... unless all those writhing lipstick lesbians, hot for a mixed threesome, really exist...

It is personal ideals, I think. I wouldn't do it, myself, but maybe people feel like putting their ideas in parable form makes them stick better. The downside is well-displayed here, though. If you take too far, you're liable to torpedo your idea because people can't get around the far-fetched story.

wouldn't be so quick to assume it was total bull.

I'm not saying that it was ALL bull, I'm just saying that there are parts of the story that don't make sense to me.  I've been to DC and I've been hassled by the panhandlers, and I also researched the weapons laws there just yesterday....whilst I can understand the person's point about legitimate, law abiding citizens having their hands tied as far as self defense goes, I have a seriously hard time believing some of the things he says in the story....which, to me, undermines the entire thing.

The downside is well-displayed here, though. If you take too far, you're liable to torpedo your idea because people can't get around the far-fetched story.

As usual, Baker manages to hit the nail on the head much more eloquently than I!

I believe the biggest impact a lie has in on the teller, even if they don't know it. If you live for the truth your life will be rich. If you live for lies then your life will be nothing. Embellishment and fantasy are fine, so long as everyone knows this. There have been a number of different posts I've read here and I've wondered how much truth existed in them.

Good on you for calling this one, Dharma.

Cheers,

Maso

PS You have mail...

I absolutely have to comment on this.

My BS o meter went off at the 'I remembered my cattle prod' part of the story too. If I had to guess, I'd say the guy was carrying a Taser or pepperspray to defend himself and embellished that part of the story. The rest I'm not so sure is BS though.

I've been to the part of D.C. he is referring to. I did a 2 week contract there in 2000 (OAS Building, Farragut North metro stop) and have been to the same part of town MW refers to, specifically 1st and O street (between Dunbar High School and Dunbar Corner store). A black guy yelled "I don't like white people!" to my back. A cabbie saw me, pulled over and waived frantically for me to get in. He gave me a free ride into a safe part of town because he thought my life was in danger, that's how rough that area is. Overall, I liked D.C. a lot though.

When I first joined JoeUser I made mention of a 'false charges thingie' that I was going through. When I read MW's article my jaw dropped because his story is so similar to mine. I had a minor dispute with a neighbour who happened to be black. She was being very loud in a public place and I asked her politely to keep it down. I was surrounded by 3 street urchins who were probably carrying knives, fortunately cooler heads prevailed. I was living downtown at the time adjacent to a rough neighbourhood, this was the last straw, and decided to get a non-lethal weapon to protect myself. I ended up moving to the suburbs 6 weeks later, a textbook case of 'white flight'.

3 days later I'm walking down the street and my neighbour is following me and talking into a cell phone. I didn't think anything of it. A few minutes later the squad cars show up. She told the police that *I* was stalking *her* and threatened to shoot her. I did neither. I was arrested and cuffed on the spot for making death threats. Those charges were quickly dropped, but the illegal weapons charge wasn't. At 34 years old it was the first time I'd ever seen the inside of a jail, all on the word of a pissed off black woman. I strongly believe she made the false claim because black women aren't especially fond of white men telling them what to do, so race is most definitely the issue here.

While at the courthouse waiting for my first court appearance a black woman bursts out of a courtroom, screaming "Nobody does *me* like that". Some kind of civil matter. The woman pulls out a pen and says "I'll kill her. This pen is a weapon and I'll kill her!" all within earshot of several cops. The cops ask her to settle down and walk away from the courtroom, as the person she is threatening to kill is about to come out of the courthouse. Black woman refuses to move. Cops ask again, she refuses again. Cops threaten to physically move her, she grudgingly starts moving. No death threat charges for her, though.

A recent newspaper article reports 67% of calls to the police here in Canada are made by women.

As Moderateman so eloquently points out (holy shit that sounds like Swahili) and my lawyer buddy confirms, around 6% of people in jail are there on false convictions, to speak nothing of false charges. So let's chill out on the 'people in jail deserve what they get' stuff I've been hearing lately, because we - in all western countries - are at the mercy of another person's word and tomorrow it could be you in jail on false charges.

The trial was set for Jan 3. My (free, thank God) lawyer phones the arresting officer in early December to examine evidence. In a remarkable stroke of fate, my arresting officer was a former rugby teammate in high school (I come off not so good in this story, so allow me to gloat about the fact that I kicked my arresting officer's ass on the rugby pitch thoroughly and repeatedly back in the day ). We didn't recognize each other at first when he arrested me but we both clued in on the way to the station, but neither said anything about it as it was awkward. Anyhoo, the officer tells my lawyer that after reviewing the situation they don't really want to go to trial on this. I had obtained the complainant's written statement and it was ridiculous some of the things she said, to the point it was obvious she was full of shit. On Dec. 20th I got off on a peace bond, no record. I was very lucky.

In writing this it was very tempting to slant it in a more favourable way, but I swear to God it's true and is a fair portrayal of what happened. If you've ever wondered what particular bug is up my ass, and why I go bonkers here at JoeUser on issues of false charges, death threats, free speech, morality, and political correctness, it is largely due to this experience. Anyhoo, I am happy as hell it is behind me, though it's going to take a little longer till I am really over it. Time is a good healer.

This would probably me more relevant on MW's blog, but he doesn't allow anonymous comments. Whatever you are doing for inner peace, Dharma, it is working great and it shows in your writing. I hope I'm not spoiling your good vibes by posting this here , but I really had to get this out.

David St. Hubbins

"My BS o meter went off at the 'I remembered my cattle prod' part of the story too. If I had to guess, I'd say the guy was carrying a Taser or pepperspray to defend himself and embellished that part of the story. The rest I'm not so sure is BS though."

Just as an FYI, i know several people who call "stun guns" "cattle prods". Basically they are the same thing, just shaped differently with different voltage. His description of the item tells me that it wasn't a cattle prod in the traditional sense, since even the other guy calls it a "stun gun".

I prefer a.40 myself.

Whatever you are doing for inner peace, Dharma, it is working great and it shows in your writing. I hope I'm not spoiling your good vibes by posting this here , but I really had to get this out.

Nope, not at all....and I'm glad that you noticed.  Thanks for stopping by!

Just as an FYI, i know several people who call "stun guns" "cattle prods". Basically they are the same thing, just shaped differently with different voltage. His description of the item tells me that it wasn't a cattle prod in the traditional sense, since even the other guy calls it a "stun gun".

I understand that..but they're still pretty bulky, hard to forget objects. 

Well what got me more than the article was some of his added in comments to the comments that he has up.... From reading that I find it easier to believe he was the aggressor than the assailant. Don't people realize that even the way you show yourself shows a lot about whether you might be credible or not?

I see your point, dharma...

It would be different if articles such as this were somehow designated as hyperbolic articles to prove the inanity of the law (as one such article could well have been)...but when they are promoted as a life experience...well, it undermines one's credibility a tad.