A girl’s life was ruined by young men who thought they were above reproach. They got that way because we make excuses for athletes. We give them a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card.

More importantly, why do we have to “Teach Boys Not To Rape?” Shouldn’t that come under common sense? Why is it necessary? Does anyone really think there’s even the smallest possibility that these thugs didn’t understand what they were doing was wrong? Seriously?? They knew it was wrong. They did it anyway. Their crocodile tears are a result of being caught, nothing more.

And hey, that phone you’re carrying around, the one used to take pictures of that nearly unconscious girl being assaulted, can also be used to call for help when shit like this goes down. Instead it was used to document horrific behavior for the sole purpose of showing the world what an animal you are. I think you should go to jail for distribution of child porn.

An unintended side effect to all this is people begin to believe all athletes act like this. That can’t be true. Right?

About a hundred years ago, I was tagged by kipperny to tell you all “Ten Things About Me.” I set the idea aside, and did what I usually do, put it off until I had time. Procrastination should be my middle name.

Part of my resistance had to do with my desire to hold onto as much privacy as possible. We live in a world where everyone is so desperate to divulge the minutiae of their daily lives. In some cases, when a person is sharing experiences that may be helpful to others, it’s a good thing. But generally, I like to keep much of my personal life private.

Does anyone really care?

I must admit the idea of sharing some personal details is attractive. Who doesn’t want their fifteen minutes of fame? Besides, kipperny asked me to do it, so if the following bores you to sleep, blame her. ;)

So, to make a long story short …too late …here is a little bit about me.

I studied communications in school. My goal was to work as a video editor for a major television network. Times were tough. I couldn’t afford to further my education beyond technical school. But I made a decent living as an A/V Technician.

It was the 1980s. I was that guy at conventions and hotels with a spool of cable slung over my shoulder pushing a cart loaded with equipment through crowded halls. My specialty was assembling slide shows with twelve or more slide projectors. This was before Powerpoint. Everything was manual. It took hours, sometimes days to set up and coordinate the projectors, lenses, dimmers, and cables. God help you if you dropped the client’s slide tray.

•   Today, all you need is a laptop and OpenOffice.

My career as an A/V Tech ended as everything went digital. I got a summer job as a bouncer/door man, and eventually became a bartender at a local bar. What started out as a “temporary” summer job lasted two decades. Interestingly enough, the skills I learned as an A/V Tech served me well at the bar. I used the same digital technology that replaced my career field to create in-house video entertainment and promotions. Unfortunately, when the economy tanked, so did the bar.

•   If I was still tending bar, I’d probably find a way to incorporate social media into a bar experience.

I do Twitter, Tumblr, and am experimenting with Wordpress, but I resist facebook. I don’t feel the need to disclose so much of my private life. This post is probably the most I’ve revealed since adopting the ADignorantium persona.

Because I chose an anonymous identity, I try to keep certain standards for myself. Abuse isn’t my style. It’s too easy to hide behind anonymity. My rants are my opinion. If I write anything other than opinion, I provide a source.

I read and follow opinions that I don’t always agree with. I stand by my opinions, but they are not set in stone. From time to time someone will shed light on an issue and I will see something new. This is called growth. Above all, I try to be consistent.

If I say something that offends you, let me know. But be prepared to explain why it offends you. Understand too, that it’s difficult to gauge tone from a printed page. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment if you don’t have the whole story. Let’s give each other the benefit of the doubt.

I like humor, television, movies, music, reading, Politics, and a good Twitter HashTag game. …and I hope for world peace some day. ;p

It all started with a simple timer.

“Auto Shutoff” seemed like a great option until I woke up one night to find that my TV had turned itself back on and was searching through my refrigerator for a snack.

And now, THIS…

#CISPA #CAS

I’m not naive enough to believe that anything I do online is private. Taking precautions, like regularly changing passwords and avoiding the sharing of sensitive information, helps.

But here are a few things happening that you may not be aware of.

1- The Copyright Alert System (CAS) is in place. So if you’re sharing something with a copyright (everything does nowadays) you can get called on it; or worse, prosecuted.

source

Even FOX News is against CAS

2. There’s also this little thing called Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that sounds like it’s all about protecting America from Cyber attacks that could potentially shut down our country. The trouble is, the wording and definitions are too broad, allowing for unintended consequences.

We are all in support of America defending itself from hacking that could potentially shut down our infrastructure. But let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot.

I encourage everyone to learn about CISPA

and sign the White House Petition to stop CISPA.

BTW- I’m not in favor of Piracy. A person’s hard work and creativity deserves all the credit and benefits it earns. But this isn’t about piracy. This isn’t about the security of the United States, either. This is broadly worded legislation that further chips away at this illusion we call privacy.