Me, Her, the Boy and a Dog

Earlier this week I saw an article on CNETNews.com about the city of Bozeman, Montana and how it requires job applicants to hand over the user names and passwords to their social networking sites and other internet-based sites like Facebook, MySpace, Google and Yahoo, so the city could do a complete and thorough background check. This practice has been in place with the city of Bozeman for several years … until yesterday.

According to today’s edition of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the city has suspended the practice. City Manager Chris Kukulski said the city “appears to have exceeded that which is acceptable to our community.” Kukulski added, “We appreciate the concern many citizens have expressed regarding this practice and apologize for the negative impact this issue is having on the city of Bozeman.”

Sorry, but I have to call B.S. on that statement. The city and its citizens have been aware of this policy and have accepted it for several years. Only since the news went viral and international did the city reconsider. Not because the townsfolk suddenly thought it was a bad idea. The negative publicity over a questionable hiring requirement stirrred this pot and Bozeman wanted to stop the bleeding.

Is it a bad policy? I think so. People should have a certain expectation of privacy when it comes to their social networking and online activities. Requiring applicants to provide their user names and passwords (which is a violation of Facebook and others’ terms of service agreements) is tantamount to requiring applicants to have surveillance cameras installed in their’ residences. It is an invasion of privacy.

I understand and respect the city’s intent, which was to fully vet potential employees to hopefully avoid embarrassing surprises, but they went a bit too far. The city said they have merely suspended the policy - not completely abondoned it pending “a more comprehensive evaluation.”

So, stay tuned. Until then, what are you thoughts?  Was the city doing the right thing or did they overstep their bounds?

It’s been nearly a month since the contested presidential election in Iran in which incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by more than 60 percent. Massive protests by the opposition supporters followed the election, which was contested and considered a fraud by most observers.

The Iranian government attempted to shut down Web-based communications as well as traditional media coverage by kicking out foreign press, but the people of Iran managed to stay a step ahead of the hardline Iranian regime and used proxy servers and Twitter to broadcast the violent and deadly crackdown.

I follow #iranelection as do thousands, if not millions of people around the world. And something very interesting is happening - public opinion of the Iranian people has taken a very positive turn, at least from where I am sitting.

I feel that once most Americans got to see first hand what the Iranian people were having to endure, support began pouring in via Twitter with users adding green tints or green ribbons to their profile pictures. Non-Iranians around the world opened their computers and networks up to serve as proxy servers that would allow Iranians to continue getting news out to the world about what was going on in their “democratic” country.

My perception of the Iranian people prior to this series of events was not necessarily negative, but based on lack of information and the public perception of the president they elected - though now I would even question the legitimacy of his original election. Prior to the protests, Tweets and YouTube videos, I had no real reason to follow the daily lives of the Iran people. But, when I saw them being shot and killed for peacefully protesting an election that even their top religious leaders - who usually support the Ayatollah - called illigitimate, I sympathized with them and tried to support their cause by reTweeting their news and educating myself as best I could.

It seems to me that most of the Twitter users I monitor are supportive of the Iranian people at this point. Why? I can only assume that its because those of us in a REAL democractic society can’t imagine having our freedoms infringed upon by our government and are coming to the aid (in a manner of speaking) to those who are fighting and dying for it.

Seriously, think about it for a minute. Can you imagine living in a country where your Internet access and content is filtered by the government? How about living in a country that only allows you to have one child? Imagine not being able to speak out against things in which you don’t believe because you are afraid that masked men will take you away in the middle of night, never to be seen or heard from again. Imagine living somewhere where journalist routinely end up dead because they are critical of the government.

I am often frustrated with my country’s corrupt and greed-fueled political system, but it is still the greatest country in the world and I am constantly reminded of that. All I have to do is read the world news to appreciate even more the freedoms that so many American men and women have fought and died for over the years. I hope and pray that some day, the Iranian people and many more will enjoy the same freedoms.

The disturbing video showing the agonizing shooting death of 19-year-old Iranian student Neda Soltani has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube alone. At first, I was surprised that YouTube did not remove the video, but upon second thought, I realized it would probably be considered censorship. YouTube would likely have been criticized for trying to cover up the terrible events happening in Iran.

I was listening to Steve Czaban this morning on FoxSportsRadio.com and he mentioned having watched the video. His response was that he wished he could “unwatch” it because it’s something that he will never forget and will probably haunt him for some time.

I struggled with whether or not to watch the video. On the one hand I didn’t want to watch it because I knew it would be difficult and probably an image I would never get out of my head. In 2002 journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and brutally murdered by terrorists in Pakistan. The video of his murder showed up on the internet and out of morbid curiosity I decided to watch it. I was a journalist at the time and felt compelled. To this day, I cannot get the horrific images out of my head.

The Neda Soltani video is much different. It was shot by a bystander in the streets, blocks from the actual protests. A basij shot and killed Neda in the streets where she bled to death for the whole world to see. Unlike the Pearl video, there was no morbid curiousity, only sadness. This woman and at least 16 others were killed because they disagreed with their government. It sounds cliche, but I felt I needed to watch what happened so that in some small way her death would not be in vain.

Since her unwilling sacrifice, Neda has become the face of what appears to be the beginnings of another revolution in Iran. The video caused outrage across the world and as tough as the hard-liners in Iran are trying to come across, we live in much different times - their brutality can no longer be contained by shutting down satellites, telephone lines and expelling foreign journalists. They must now contend with the seeminglingly unstoppable power of the Internet.

The original title of this post was “Moral Dilemmas Facing Citizen Journalist,” but as is the case with many posts I write, the focus changed once I started writing. Years ago when I was a videojournalist for an NBC affiliate, I witnessed a law enforcement officer hit by a car going 55 mph. The officer was in bad shape and as a journalist, I should have picked up my camera and recorded the aftermath, but instead, I set my camera down and ran to his aid.

I do not regret my decision one bit, but it did signal to me that I would never be a hard-hitting news journalist. Then again, that was never one of my career aspirations. The 40+ seconds of Neda’s death recorded on a cell phone will resonate for decades and while it is painful to watch for people who weren’t there, imagine how painful it was for the man who recorded it.

Do you think he considered not recording it? Or did he realize the enormity of the situation and the global impact the video would have? Whatever made him hit record during such a heartbreaking moment - his decision to do so put a face with the struggles of his people in Iran.

At one point in the video it looks like Neda is staring at the camera. As a former videojournalist who has had to cover very difficult news events that capture people in painful moments, this really hit me. This guy was recording the last seconds of this woman’s life as she lay bleeding to death and she’s looking right at the camera. That image would haunt me if I were the camera operator.

I am glad there are journalist in this world who have the strength and conviction to cover these types of events - be they professional or citizen journalists. Their determination and sacrifices help ensure that oppressive governments and attrocities are broght to the global spotlight.

Have you watched the video? What are your thoughts and feelings? If you haven’t watched it, why not? Would you have recorded it had you been there? Why or why not?

Virginia Tech guard Malcolm Delaney was on the court at LeBron James’ basketball camp when Xavier’s Jordan Crawford dunked on the “King.” Said Delaney on his Twitter account:

“YES LEBRON GOT DUNKED ON… FACE @ FACE WIT @ HANDS N IT WAS NASTY.. I had front row seats cuz I was playin.. Lmao..”

James reportedly had a brief conversation with officials from Nike (which sponsors the camp) and shortly thereafter, the only two video tapes of LeBron getting posterized were confiscated.

For starters, if these “journalists” work for any news organization, they should be fired. It’s called freedom of the press and they don’t have to turn their tapes over for anything. My response to Nike would have been, “talk to my lawyers.”

Nike claims the reporters signed some kind of agreement that either did not allow them to record the games, but I think that’s a bunch of crap. If they weren’t allowed to record it, why would you allow them in with video cameras? And, why only after LeBron gets embarrassed is Nike enforcing the rule?

But, what isn’t being reported is that James got dunked on again - at least according to Delaney, who posted the following Tweet:

“he [James] got dunked on again yesterday too.. danny green caught it off the rim on him”

Of course, we’ll never know because the Nike gestapo took the tapes. LeBron could very easily have turned this into a positive PR campaign. What bothers me even more, he denied Crawford evidence of what is probably the most memorable moment in his basketball career. Shame on you LeBron and Nike.

Perhaps I am too old to know who he was, but I find that hard to believe since he’s older than me. Check that - he WAS older than me. I was just doing my nightly Google News scan and saw a headline that DJ AM was found dead in his New York apartment. OK. And?

I mean, it’s tragic that someone lost their life, but who was he? I’ve never heard of him and I’m not that out of touch with reality. And it appears that he overdosed on drugs. *Yawn* Another “famous” person dies from an overdose and it’s called “tragic.” Uh. No. The two Virginia Tech students shot to death by an unknown gunman is tragic. Dying from a drug overdose is stupid.

I’ve gone my whole life without even a puff of a blunt. Not one ounce of illegal drugs have ever entered my system and contrary to what you read in the papers about how prevelant it is - I never ONCE saw a drug deal go down or knew of anyone that carried drugs - even through college. I guess it’s because I kept better company and made better friends.

I’m sorry to hear this guy DJ AM is dead. I feel for his family. But it is not tragic. If what the police are saying is true, then he did it to himself. Meh.

…and these two college girls were walking their little yip yip wannabe teacup dogs when Vegas, a 40-pound friendly mutt ran over to great them. But Vegas’ owner - a young woman in her early- to mid-20s, rolled her eyes and told us that the girls didn’t let other dogs around their little princesses. So, what does Vegas’ owner do? She whispers loudly to Vegas, “Go GET ‘EM!” Hehe - we liked this girl right off the bat!

And sure enough, when Vegas reach the little toy dogs to greet them, the girl put her hand out and prevents Vegas from even sniffing her dog. Vegas’ mom let him spin the girl around a few times trying to block him before finally callling him back.

I mean, seriously, who brings their dog to a dog park and then doesn’t let their dog play with the other dogs?

After nearly two years of delays and missed deadlines, the Christiansburg Aquatic Center finally opened on Saturday, July 17, to much fan fare and publicity. It’s two miles from our house and I was excited to be able to get in a great cardio exercise early in the morning that didn’t involve putting thousands of pounds of pressure on each knee as I jogged around the neighborhood.

Yesterday, after work, dinner and mowing the yard, I hopped in the shower to clean off and head to the new pool and do some laps. When I got there at 8 p.m. (they’re “open” until 9) it was closed to the public for a swim meet. No biggie, I’ll just get up early on Friday and head over there.

So, this morning, I get out of bed at 5:45 and head over to the pool. I walk in and the smiling face of the girl behind the desk looked me up and down and immediately, I knew something was wrong.

“Are you here to swim?” she asked as if delivering bad news.

Dressed in swim trunks, flip flops, t-shirt and towel over my shoulder, the early morning grumpiness wanted to respond with, “No, I thought I’d dress like I was going to go swimming but just stare at the water.”

“Yes,” I responded warily.

“Well, we’re actually closed today.” she said.

“Ah.”

Then another staff member, a young man who was standing nearby, came over and handed me a little piece of paper with their hours of operation during the swim meets.

Basically, the “comp pool” which I assume means competition pool (where you can swim laps) is closed today, tomorrow and Sunday for a swim meet. Oh, but it gets better. It’s also closed next weekend - July 30 - Aug. 1 - for … wait for it … a swim meet.

Look, I’m glad local swim teams have a new place to swim, but if it’s a “community” pool and you want families to shell out $450 a year in a membership, it had better be open to the public more than four days a week.

And swim meets are a year round thing, so it’s not like it’s “just that time of year.” If this is how the community can expect the new aquatic center to operate year round, I see interest waning if the customers can’t have regular access to the pool.

Where exactly did these swim clubs practice and compete BEFORE the pool opened? Are those facilities no longer suitable for practices?