Wikapeadia is becoming synonymous with “the truth” and this is a problem as some are beginning to find out. Everyone cites Wikipedia. Students in schools, bloggers online, and the casual researcher are all guilty of quoting Wikipedia as if it were undisputed fact. The truth is that many things posted are not only false, but they are considered slanderous.
Take this recent lawsuit by Fuzzy Zoeller over statements that were posted to his Wikipedia biography that were false and slanderous. Over time the statements have been repealed, but for the time that they are posted on the internet anyone who reads them will leave with the impression that they are true.
Overall, Wikipedia gets most things right and as an organization it polices itself fairly well. But what happens when they do make mistakes? (And they do make mistakes.) Who is responsible and should anyone be made to pay for those mistakes? If you or I took out an advertisement in the newspaper slandering a politician or an athlete, do you think we could be sued and/or punished for it? These are the types of questions that are being asked.
As a teacher and a father helping my son with research, I try to ensure that students verify all information by using more than one source, and preferably not all from the internet. It may seem like a small matter, but to Fuzzy Zoeller the loss of endorsement money is not laughing matter.
A month or so ago I wrote a post complaining that Fox #### its loyal bloggers when they put Chris Rose as blog of the day. That post received numerous comments from other bloggers and finally someone at Fox, Kareem, read it and assured us that all Fox blogs that are from their editors would be flagged and thus be kept from the BOTD. Well, it appears they missed their own Fox Game Day blog. It is bad enough that they do not respond to emails from bloggers who have technical difficulties, but when they shamelessly promote their own blogs over their loyal readers it is enough to make me want to quit and go to AOL or ESPN. Too bad Kareem is not heading up the site anymore. Who out their is listening and who at Fox cares about its loyal bloggers?
Just perusing a few headlines over the week and thought I would pose a few questions based upon that content. Run your mouse over the links to see my answers.
What if:
Tom Brady did use steroids? Should he be stripped of his Super Bowl rings?
Floyd Landis’ cheating caused the suicide of his father in law?
Annika Sorenstam, was not competing against media darling Michelle Wie, would the press even notice that she won again last week running her total to 82 victories world wide?
Just a few of the puzzling questions that I deal with on a day to day basis and none of them have easy answers. I have my opinions, but I would like to hear yours. I will respond to each and every one as I have time.
Last year when the story broke that Isiah Thomas was being sued for sexual harassment, I immediately went to his defense. I thought management did the right thing by reserving judgment on the matter and not firing him immediately, but now I have to admit that maybe I was wrong. Isiah will be found guilty. (However, management should have fired him for his insane trades!)
What makes matters worse is that seeing his choices in personnel, I should have known that his acumen for making smart moves is suspect at best. He was definitely one of the best point guards of all times and always made the right moves on the court. But off the court, he has signed the likes of Jalen Rose, Steve Francis, Stephen Marbury, and fired Larry Brown. Not exactly stellar moves. Some how he has been able to talk the management into keeping him around for one more year. A smooth talker he must be, but not smooth enough to convince one Miss Sanders to accept his advances.
Isiah has admitted in court briefs that he did touch Miss Sanders on the shoulder and did try to kiss her on the cheek. By all definitions of sexual harassment that I am familiar with, then he is guilty. How many employees do you have that have tried to kiss you on the cheek? If you are an employee, how many bosses have met you and have any of them tried to kiss you on the cheek? Something isn’t right here, and my guess is Zeke is going down on this one and I do not mean with Miss Sanders.
You would expect a large settlement in a case like this one, but Isiah does not want to settle. That means if she wins in court, then she will get an even bigger payday. The information that we have on this case does not look good for Thomas, but after reviewing the picture of Anucha Browne Sanders, I might have to side with Thomas on this one. Isiah can have his pick of many beautiful women, so why go after Miss Sanders? He has nothing to gain and everything to lose. Could it be that she is just after a fat paycheck or is Isiah really that desperate for her?
I chalk this one up as just one of his failed personnel moves. I truly do believe him and the kiss on the cheek is just Thomas. He is probably just a real touchy feely guy, but somebody please send Thomas to mandatory sexual harassment training before he bankrupts Madison Square Gardens.
Just when you think you have it figured out, they go and change the lay out again. If I am wrong, please tell me, but I can not find the listing that says, "Browse all recent posts" and they have deleted the links to the people who comment in your posts. That is really annoying. One of the things I like to do is to click on those who comment in my blog and make comments in theirs. Now I have to find a recent post from that blogger to go to and write a note.
Also, is anyone else having problems with putting pictures in their posts? I have always been able to use the little picture frame icon and the link icon but now they are missing. Am I the only one having this trouble? Please Fox Blogging Gods, just leave things the way they were. It was finally making some sense to me.
This is my first ever Nascar post and probably my last, but I need some help out there from true Nascar fans. I see an injustice in the system and want some explanations.
Can anyone explain the Nascar Chase for the cup point system to me?How can Mark Martin be ranked number five with no wins and only 7 top five finishes? What about how Jeff Burton is ranked third with only 4 top five finishes? When I look at the standings and results on Fox Nextel sports page, I see some glaring omissions.Gordon is at 9th with 2 wins and more top five finishes.Stewart is at 11th with two wins also and more top five finishes.I understand that a rider can get points every week without winning, but if someone has more top tens, more top five finishes, and more wins, shouldn’t they be ahead of Martin?Kasey Kahne has four wins and 11 top ten finishes and is still behind Martin.This just doesn’t make sense to me.
Last year when the story broke that Isiah Thomas was being sued for sexual harassment, I immediately went to his defense. I thought management did the right thing by reserving judgment on the matter and not firing him immediately, but now I have to admit that maybe I was wrong. Isiah will be found guilty. (However, management should have fired him for his insane trades!)