Friday, March 22

Counterfeit Edens -

The Retreat at Twin Lakes, which was
the setting for the Trayvon Martin Shooting . . .

was a porously enclosed multi-residential private estate located in Sanford Florida. Its lack of secure boundaries made it a magnetic treasure chest attracting outside marauders.

Instead of reporting the situation as it existed, the Mainstream Media preferred to depict it as a kind of paradise theme park into which George Zimmerman, the villain, introduced Evil.

The American Press is no longer being held accountable for presenting fantasy in place of fact. Lawyer James Beasley, recently hired by Zimmerman, seems to be the only agency able to get results.

Meanwhile . . . the city of Sanford has held a special summit meeting of community leaders to discuss what needs to be done about the current crime rate among its young African-American males which is "spiraling out of control."

Google seems to be in the process of shredding and burying the Blogosphere. People have been reporting that their Google Alerts have not been working properly. And I have been getting Error results lately when I've tried to ping their Feedburner page.

It is no longer possible to use Blog Search to find blogs discussing your topic of interest; the results are highly manipulated, censored, very limited, and usually worthless.

It's beginning to look like Google may have acquired BlogSpot just to destroy it. Most of the space on Google News is now devoted to simply advertising the legacy media giants.

Soon we will have only one
news source: Google, our new Overlords.

The visit of Blogger Yoani Sanchez is throwing the American MSM into turmoil, because it puts on display their frothing hypocrisy. In Cuba the government is hostile to Bloggers, but here in the U.S. it is the MSM which seethes with intense hatred for self-selected alternate perspectives in the Blogosphere.

Clearly, this sinister Coalition of the Swilling is getting ready to crush us. Kent Brockman, as a trusted TV personality, will be helpful in rounding up the gullible to toil in their underground caves.

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Thursday, March 21

G Reader Orphans -

Joshua Rothman engages in a bit of nostalgia for Google Reader, but, in the end, he reluctantly admits to himself
and us:

"I won’t miss Reader when it shuts down, on July 1st. But I will miss the old me - the person I described in Google Reader, without knowing it."

Rebecca Greenfield shares some theories about why Google Reader was doomed and some alternatives.

+ Adding Our Man in Boston to sidebar links.

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Monday, March 18

Trayvon / Zimmerman Update -

George Zimmerman's Defense submitted a motion for the court to reconsider the deposition of Benjamin Crump. And it's worth reading.

# Nearly a third of U.S. adults have stopped turning to a news outlet because it no longer provides them with the news they were accustomed to getting, according to this year's Pew News Media Report.

# When a reporter is assigned to do a project he knows nothing about, he usually does some homework first to prepare for his assignment.

But when reporter Craig Rivera is assigned to interview a woman within the campus of a condo complex, he demonstrates that he knows nothing about condo complexes, how they operate or how they finance their expenses.

Younger viewers may not notice anything amiss with Rivera's performance, but viewers who are in the 55+ empty nest category will, because they are more apt to be familiar with how these communities operate.

After Rivera has passed through the gates of the Retreat at Twin Lakes which bear conspicuous signage warning that you are now entering Private Property, he doesn't seem to believe the signs. He is seen on camera declaring that the communal concrete path he is using is a Public Walkway.

It is not.

The maintenance of the common facilities of condo complexes is financed by the condo owners who pay a special fee to have the grassy commons mowed, the clubhouse cared for, and whatever other amenities the community may offer, such as swimming pool, tennis courts, etc.

Brandy Green says that she has lived in the RATL for four years and has never heard of any crimes happening there. What about reports of a rash of thefts within the estate? She says she doesn't believe the reports.

Her denial absolves her of any responsibility to help her neighbors, who she refers to as "they."

She describes the communal concrete walkways thusly: This is where they walk their dogs. She does not use the word "we," which implies that she is a transient renter who has nothing invested in the community and that she doesn't identify with her neighbors.

This points to the crucial reason why many condo owners are strongly opposed to other owners in their community being allowed to rent out their units to transients.

Many gated communities are enclosed by high walls, but this one was not securely enclosed. According to news reports, there were gaps in the enclosure which allowed intruders, marauders, and trespassers to enter.

Among the more sensitive areas of an apartment complex or condo community is the mail kiosk.

Thieves may loiter about to ask residents what time the mail is delivered, because they may want to intercept the mail person in order to steal the master key for the mail kiosk.

Once they have the master key, they may be able to steal checks from the residents' mail. And much trouble can ensue from such events.

Thus, it is crucial for residents to report anyone loitering near the mail kiosk, especially at inappropriate times.

Although younger viewers may watch this video and not question what they are seeing, more mature and experienced viewers may have second thoughts after watching it.
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Sunday, March 17

Notable Media Developments -

The Boston Phoenix Alt-Weekly has come to an end. Its demise came as a shock to many because it seemed like one of the most vigorous members of its genre. Some say that the era for Alt-Weeklies has passed, but there may yet be autopsies to determine what, if anything, went wrong.

# Google has announced they are retiring their Google Reader and Igoogle. Some Tech websites have been proposing other options, including Feedly, Netvibes, The Old Reader, and many others. If you're interested, you should take a look around.

# Blogger Yoani Sanchez has finally managed to exit Cuba for a trip abroad! She is expected to appear here in SoFlo at Miami Dade College’s Freedom Tower on April 1st.

# One of South Florida's most active bloggers, known simply as Rick, is hanging up his keyboard and calling it quits, probably due to burnout. I hadn't read his blog in years. It made me uncomfortable because he seemed to use a lot of stuff owned by other people or publications without posting legal permissions for doing so. I only learned about the end of his blog belatedly from reading other local bloggers.

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