Andy Roddick's Twitter Gullibility

via news.bbc.co.uk

I think Andy is being gullible if he believes that everyone in the lucrative game of international tennis are as social media savvy as he is.

Rules are introduced to set boundaries. Its the people at the edges of understanding or of moral rectitude that need to have them defined.

He also underestimates the impact of inadvertent Twttering on Personal Brand and Brand Equity in particular. Just one thoughtless tweet and a Tennis player's reputation and the commercial brand they represent could be tarnished and that would end the earning power of the player.

Just look at what's happened to Kerry Katona. OK she wasn't tweeting but her income was directly linked to her alleged behaviour.

The risks are considerable and they need regulating.

What if, someone found an unattended multi media phone or laptop and started twittering on his behalf? what if he had a bad day a fired off a twitter he later regretted, what if he was in 'party mood' and twittered something inapproriated?

The problem is not with communicating but with the speed and reach of social media. Say something controversial and it doesn't 'stay in the room'

My son has just been on a stag weekend. The rule was 'what happens on tour stays on tour'. That was until one of the group decided to reveal all (sic) on Facebook! Mud sticks and the face to face human impacts of his cyber slips of the tongue (true or false) were huge.

Andy the regulations are not lame they are astute.

Posted via web from Gullibimundi

Kerry Katona's Ex Factor

image credit eyebrow magazine

Kerry thinks: 'What am I going to do nEXt?

In order to be the 'Ex' of something I guess you have to have 'done' something in the first place. She be gullible if she EXpected that her 'public' will stay with her forever, with her alledged cocaine consumption and now the alledged assault on her accountant.

Kerry's list of 'Ex' roles is fomidable, and it will be interesting to see what her next 'Ex' will be.

Let's see so far...:

Ex Atomic Kitten
Ex Wife of Brian McFadden
Ex Winner of I'm a Celebrity
Ex Endorser of Iceland

What do you think her future Ex's will be? Ex-celebrity or even Ex-Con perhaps?

Ali al-Megrahi and the Gullibility of Scottish Statesmanship

The release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi might well become known as:
'The Scottish National Party Gullibility Conspiracy'

Consider this scenario:

The Times commented today that Scotland has spoken for itself and that Mr MacAskill "was at great pains to establish his authority"

It was clear that he was unhappy about the lack of elaboration about the details of the supposed 'agreement' to keep al-Megrahi locked up in Britain. His indignation was self evident. He was aghast at the lack of co-operation from the British government. The British government was unhelpful at best and inept at worst. BUT...

What if he was 'set-up'? What a great way to torpedo the Scottish Nationalists! Give them enough international rope to hang themselves on the global stage. What if Westminster thought...if they want to play in the big boy's playground let's let them have taste of what happens.

Whilst the intention of the Scottish Justice Minister was noble indeed, he and his fellows have displayed a degree of gullibility in the field of international statesmanship.

What 'authority' does the SNP have now I wonder? They have stood on their own two feet and they have released a mass murderer on the basis of attempted philosophical one upmanship.

They seem to forget that al-Megrahi has been treated 'compassionately' enough already. He was tried fairly, he was sentenced fairly and imprisoned fairly. In other countries he might have been summarily executed or locked up in a 'hell hole'

The reputation of the SNP and the cause of an independent Scotland has been undermined because it hadn't the will and foresight to keep a wasting and dying nobody from becoming a martyr.

Some have said 'Why has Great Britain released this murderer. Let's be completely clear about this. It was not Great Britain who did this it was Scottish ministers acting as they aspired to - independently. And they should take the criticism independently too.

Should do wonders for their tourist industry!

48 hours on we can see just how Scottish judgement is viewed on the international stage as FBI director Robert Mueller launches severe critcism and says:

""Your action in releasing Megrahi is as inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice. Indeed your action makes a mockery of the rule of law.

"Your action gives comfort to terrorists around the world who now believe that regardless of the quality of the investigation, the conviction by jury after the defendant is given all due process, and sentence appropriate to the crime, the terrorist will be freed by one man's exercise of 'compassion'."

Not alot of room for misunderstanding there then.

Lockerbie minister facing critics

If you are Scottish and your toes are curling (pardon the pun)at the release of al=Megrahi then you might like to distance yourself from the decision by wearing this:

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Border Reivers

Border Reiver Genealogy and Family Names

Does your family name tell you that you have an exciting family history? If your family name belongs to one of the British Border Reiver clans then its almost a certainty! Rugged families of the English-Scottish borderland from the middle ages, cattle rustlers, mercenaries and tough. If your family has roots as one of the infamous Border Reivers clans these are the people who are celebrated in Mark Knopfler's atmospheric single Border Reiver off his album 'Get Lucky'

As we know, the first man on the moon was Neil Armstrong. He was given the freedom of Langholm the home of the Armstrong clan who were one of the most infamous Border Reiver clans. The Reivers were probably the least gullible of clans people because they didn't 'buy into' the nation state politics of emerging Britain. They were renowned pragmatists siding neither with the English nor Scots in particular.

Respected horsemen they raided the English/ Scottish borders and they are the ancestral clan names of many modern day famous people such as Richard Nixon, Captain Scott, Bobby Charlton, Bobby Robson etc.

A sample of Border Reiver family names includes, Elliot, Bell, Dixon, Johnston, Graham, Charlton, Kerr, to name just a few. These clans were subject to a curse placed on them by Archbishop of Glasgow, Gavin Dunbar in 1525 who was exasperated at their outlaw behaviour. The Curse is remembered in Carlisle UK with a monument called the Cursing Stone and the curse begins:

"I curse their head and all the hairs of their head; I curse their face, their brain (innermost thoughts), their mouth, their nose, their tongue, their teeth, their forehead, their shoulders, their breast, their heart, their stomach, their back, their womb, their arms, their leggs, their hands, their feet, and every part of their body, from the top of their head to the soles of their feet, before and behind, within and without."

Not much love lost there then!

Find out all about the Border Reivers here:
The Border Reivers

Thinking about getting someone a Border Reiver gift?



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Mark Lester Considers Himself Part Of The Family

via news.bbc.co.uk

So, Mark Lester the ex child star of Lionel Bart's 1968 movie Oliver claims to be the biological father of Michael Jackson's children.

In the prophetic words of the song Mark:

Considers himself at home.
Considers himself one of the family.
He's taken to them so strong.
It's clear they're going to get along.
Considers himself well in
Considers himself part of the furniture.
There isn't a lot to spare.
Who cares?..What ever we've goin we share!

In practical terms Mark raises the distinction between the biological and the psychological. Those of us with less gullible bones in our bodies (ask Mark to check them over) will know that Michael's daughter was grieving because of a strong emotional bond, and that Mark's rather timely claim stretches the belief that there is a reciprocal emotional connection based on a prior biological arrangement.

Now I'd never say Mark's on screen experiences were influencing his actions simply because:

In this life, one thing counts
In the bank, large amounts
I'm afraid these don't grow on trees,
You've got to pick-a-pocket or two

You've got to pick-a-pocket or two, boys,
You've got to pick-a-pocket or two.

Why should we break our backs
Stupidly paying tax?
Better get some untaxed income
Better to pick-a-pocket or two.

Clearly Mark doesn't want his intentions to be misunderstood and that:

A man's got a heart, hasn't he?
Joking apart -- hasn't he?
And tho' I'd be the first one to say that I wasn't a saint...

I'm finding it hard to be really as black as they paint...

So Mark...Where 'ere 'ere 'ere 'ere is love? Surely protecting the children from unnecessary limelight and mawkish intrusion into their father's past would be more appropriate.

Posted via web from Gullibimundi

Archbishop Slams Social Networking

via news.bbc.co.uk

Archbishop Vincent Nichols seems to presume that people are gullible when it comes to the majority of us not grasping the adverse impact of social networking. He warns us all in a rather sweeping generalisation that social networking sites, texting and would you believe it e-mails are undermining community life!.

Now lets just run past that again. Modern society is falling apart because of e-mail?! OK...let me ponder on that for a moment. OK...done that and concluded that it sort of runs counter to the evidence given its contribution to long-distance family life and commerce. The same holds true for all other forms of digital communication.

Of course his conjecture will contains grains of truth, and he draws attention to the well worn fact most social media users have been blogging about for years, the well understood phenomenon of 'social networking friendship'

Now, notwithstanding the extreme cases in any large population, I'm pretty confident that most people who have friended and followed me across Twitter, Friend Feed, Blogcatalog, MyBlogLog and so on don't really consider me to their 'bosom buddy'. The label 'friend' in this context is merely an evolved use of the term for use in a social media sitaution. Sure I'm in touch on a regular basis with a handful of fellow bloggers who I've got to know, and I would consider them my 'friend' in the sense of 'pen-pal', and of course we haven't physically 'met'. Nevertheless I do regard them as a social networking Friend (capital 'F'- proper digital friend) not just a social networking friend (lower case 'f'- digital aquaintance)

Had the Archbishop been commenting in previous decades would he have claimed that having 'pen-pals' was socially dysfunctional.?

In his criticism of 'transient' relationships that cause grief and upset when they fall apart. He seems to be describing the common socio-psychological characteristics of any relationship and somehow blaming a technological medium for when they go wrong!! In social networking Trolls and Flamers are socially and psychologically dysfunctional they are not technologically dysfunctional. They would behave as they did in a family, on street, in a village, in a town because that is how they are!.

The Archbishop has missed his target if he has any cause for concern. The clue is in the title. SOCIAL networking. Its the PEOPLE stupid!. The network is merely the technological medium not the attitude and behaviour of its users.

What about all the people who have found enduring relationships through sites like Match.com and so on? People who have traced lost family and friends through Friends Re-United, People who have found work through LinkedIN?

Instead of patronising us by thinking that he can see issues and problems that people less perceptive than himself the Archbishop is foreclosing the opportunity of social networking to his own vocation. Come on 'Bish, you would like to socially influence people about your attitudes and beliefs wouldn't you?, you'd like bigger congregations hearing what you have to say wouldn't you?. Well...just a suggestion...why not consider delivering your message through the medium that a significant number of people choose to use in the 21st century instead of relying on a social networking technology of the the 1st millennium aka the physical Church building. After all isn't the true meaning of Church really about a congregation of people with similar beliefs NOT the physical place they meet!!

Now here's the question. Archbishop Vincent Nichols...will you be my friend?

Posted via web from Gullibimundi