You Have Been Wheatoned!

There have been some moments from time to time when I have considered submitting a blog post or two to other publications for consideration. The impetus for these thoughts has always been quite simple… exposure. Because I keep this blog as a hobby and simply enjoy writing the posts, sharing my thoughts, and generally keeping track of life that is all I have really been looking for in the placements. This has always been my motivation with regard to all of my creative endeavors regardless of the genre or medium in which I seek dissemination.

This has always been my choice and when the tables have been turned, the few times that I have been asked for permission to reprint, I have gladly given that permission under a couple of standard contingencies… I retain the copyright and future reprint rights and that the article/blog post is properly cited to reflect the correct name in the byline or, as had been the case recently, the link back to this blog. Nothing groundbreaking or unreasonable. Would it be nice to get paid? Of course it would but, again, this is my hobby not the means by which I support myself and my family.

That is my mentality regarding the writing that I have produced and published in one form or another over the last decade and a half. No surprise, this is not a view that is shared by everyone which what drew me in to reading a blog post by Wil Wheaton, yes that Wil Wheaton, that was shared in my Facebook feed. In the post he writes about a recent encounter with a Huffington Post editor. The basic back and forth can be summarized simply in that Wheaton was contacted by the editor to request permission to republish a recent blog post for no pay but a lot of exposure. As Wheaton points out, it would be one thing if he submitted the article but they reached out to him in this case. Needless to say, he doesn’t need the exposure and declined their offer.

He then took to Twitter and posted a few tweets in quick succession:

The two above were also followed by the following tweet: 

“This advice applies to designers, photographers, programmers, ANYONE who makes something. You. Deserve. Compensation. For. Your. Work.”

This is something that I personally agree with and don’t agree with at the same time. I believe there is a fine balance when your creations are the source of your livelihood. One should get paid for that which they create but there also needs to be a means of advertising your creativity. Sometimes it is well worth forfeiting the nominal pittance that would be offered by a publication such as the Huffington Post in order to showcase your creative skills and gain greater exposure. Of course, I would still push for retaining the copyright along with the contributor byline.

Keep in mind that this applies to a wide variety of publications, situations, formats, genres, and skills. I say all this not ever expecting to have a blog post picked up by the Huffington Post (many of my views and posts don’t play well with the ideologies that are regularly on display on the site) but if I were ever asked I would stick to my usual requirements. In the end, whether you support yourself with your creative endeavors or you pursue them as a hobby, exposure can be more valuable than the pennies that would end up in your pocket if you hold your financial ground.

What Happens In Atlantic City, Stays… On The Front Page

According to the Atlantic County, New Jersey prosecutor it is better to intentionally beat your wife than to accidentally carry a firearm into the state. Something seems a little off with that logic. I don't know what but there is something that doesn't quite make sense. Oh, that's right, one is a crime and the other was an innocent mistake. But recent events have proven that delusional fact as the cases of Ray Rice and Shaneen Allen have caught the attention of the media and the public at large.

In the case of NFL running back, excuse me, former NFL running back, Ray Rice he was caught on camera knocking out his then fiancé, now wife, inside an elevator at a hotel in Atlantic City seven months ago. While most of this is fairly recent new, the case has, in fact, been going on for months. As it turns out, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Michael Donio and New Jersey District Attorney Jim McClain agreed to put him in a diversion program for 1st-time offenders to keep him out of jail. That’s right, he may not be playing in the NFL at the moment but he also isn’t sitting in a jail cell like he should be.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the New Jersey judicial system hasn’t been as understanding with Shaneen Allen. From The Huffington Post (yes, the Huffington Post):

Allen, a mother of two from Philadelphia, was driving in New Jersey last fall when she was pulled over by a police officer. She informed the officer she had a handgun in her purse and a Pennsylvania license-to-carry permit, at which point the officer arrested her and charged her with a felony for unlawful possession of a weapon, because New Jersey does not recognize out-of-state gun permits.

Allen tried to avoid a trial and jail time by applying to a pre-trial intervention program in New Jersey for first-time offenders… But Atlantic County prosecutor Jim McClain, the same prosecutor who allowed Rice to avoid prosecution, denied Allen's application to the program…

Without question, she should have known the law but the dichotomy in the judicial system seems a bit out of whack. While one is a famous football player making millions of dollars and the other is a single mother trying to protect herself and her children, the same opportunity should be given to each of them. As it stands, the prosecutor and judge seem to think that gun owners, however innocent and naïve they may be, are flat out criminals who don’t deserve a second thought while a little boy (I can’t call him a man because of what he did) who knocks out his fiancé deserves a second chance.

I don’t remember reading about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of your wife into the elevator so you can beat the crap out of her”. Did I miss that passage? Was a recent amendment passed? However, I do recall the second amendment which many seem to have forgotten. Interesting how that works.

Thank You Huffington Post For Bastardizing The Word ‘Safety’

I came across an article today that really got me thinking about word selection. If you think about it, even the use of a term or sometimes a word in a title can frame the entire subject matter of the story. There are also the rare occurrences when the use of punctuation can achieve the same end but in this instance it is all about the words. Thanks to Matt over at The Bang Switch for bringing the following piece of fine media bias to my attention.

Usually when my eyes scan by an article from the Huffington Post, an Eloi favorite, I just keep moving and focus my attention on actual news. However, the title of this article happened to stop my glance. When I read “Man Accidentally Kills Self With Gun During Demonstration On Gun Safety” I was honestly a bit perplexed. If he was following the Four Rules of Gun Safety as created by Colonel Jeff Cooper this would be an impossibility. So, really, how could he possibly kill himself if he was honestly trying to demonstrate gun safety? The answer, you can’t kill yourself if you are following the simple rules outlined above.

So, what the heck is this ‘reporter’ talking about? Well, here is what the article said:

The 36-year-old, whose name has not been released, was showing his girlfriend how his three handguns are safe when they aren’t loaded, according to the Detroit Free Press. He was attempting to demonstrate the safety of the handguns by holding them to his head and pulling the trigger.

The third gun fired, and the man was struck in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.  

Three children ages 7, 10, and 12 were in the home but did not witness the shooting, according to reports.  The man’s girlfriend told authorities he had been drinking most of the day before the incident took place. 

This isn’t the first time a gun safety demonstration has gone wrong. In January 2013, 18-year-old Florida resident Alexander Xavier Shaw died doing a similar demonstration. Richard M. McLean, a 22-year-old from Michigan, died in a similar fashion in June 2012. Missouri resident James Looney, 40, was also teaching his girlfriend about gun safety when he shot himself in the head in September 2009.

Notice something? That’s right, this really wasn’t a demonstration on gun safety. This was an act of stupidity by someone who was not following the rules that any responsible gun owner follows. We have rules for a reason. Unfortunately, as was unnecessarily cited, similar acts have taken place in the recent past. None of them were demonstrations of ‘gun safety’ as the article would like the reader to believe. Put it this way, this incident is on par with the movie The Deer Hunter when it comes to demonstrating gun safety.

The sad part, beyond the confines of the story itself, is that this article has a purpose unrelated to the acts described. This is a piece motivated by politics and the Eloi agenda. Thankfully he wasn’t doing a demonstration on wood shop safety or we would have to consider legislation to outlaw or, at the very least, heavily regulate the sale and use of power tools. Think about how ridiculous that headline would sound, “Man Accidentally Kills Self With Power Tool During Demonstration On Shop Safety”.

You know you will never read that headline even though I am certain that it has happened before because power tools don’t look scary (unless you paint them black and put on a collapsible stock). But here we are debating a Constitutionally protected right because people are scared by the way something looks, they don’t understand how it works, and they refuse to place the blame on people for their actions. Remember, the gun didn’t load itself, it didn’t jump on the table and point at the guy, and the gun didn’t pull the trigger. This was a tragedy caused by man NOT a collection of polymer and steel.