This is going to be the first in a series of posts about blogs that I keep track of. There are way too many good writers without an audience out there, or who are just misunderstood. Let me know in the comments if you think I missed somebody important.
To start off I'd like to tell you a bit about Second Thoughts, the blog of fellow Herald writer Prokofy Neva. This is not for the faint of heart. Prokofy argues his points with complete abandon, "stating the case strongly" as he puts it. People get angry reading Prokofy when he does that. Controversy abounds.
The thing about Prokofy Neva is that he's both brilliant and completely unafraid to criticize. Criticism is one thing, but eloquent criticism is quite another. Not only that, but he's stated on more than one occasion that he feels it's important to make public denouncements of that which he considers wrong or unjust. This places him in the crosshairs of insular social groups, public figures, and the blogosphere at large.
Prokofy and I fight a lot. I really respect him, but we disagree about all sorts of things all the time. That's not usually a big deal, but you don't just disagree with Prokofy. You get into it, debating the point and exploring the possibilities. The challenges come through fast and furious, and may the gods help you if you're not clear on your point. Every time I begin debating with Prok I know I had better bring my A-game. To be honest, I've ducked out of a few of these conversations when I didn't feel up to it.
There are those who have delighted in goading Prokofy to get him banned from various places (I'm looking in your direction Csven and Christiano 'n co.). Typically these people get personal, or play dirty tricks, or just repeat the same thing ad nauseum... rarely have I ever seen anybody bring their A-game. There have been exceptions, but so often people just get emotionally exhausted and end up calling Prok names and attacking him on an emotional level to try to bring him down to how they're feeling. Many want to see Prok just go away.
What these people don't realize is how important it is for somebody, even if it's just one person, to stand up and say "that's not right". A metaverse without Prokofy would be a pale and inadequate one, not nearly as vibrant or as important. With Prok around, people think before they act. How rare is that?
Prokofy and I agree on one thing: if you care about something, that means it's worth fighting for. He and I have completely different ideas on how to fight that fight, but hell, only fools seldom differ.
Hats off to you Prokofy Neva. You are the ultimate crusader of the metaverse.
"The thing about Prokofy Neva is that he's both brilliant and completely unafraid to criticize."
And an excellent example of this brilliance would be this classic quote:
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"There are those who have delighted in goading Prokofy to get him banned from various places (I'm looking in your direction Csven and Christiano 'n co.)."
Let's set the record straight since you're making the same amateurish mistake you made previously ( Why I Hate "Virtual Thirst")
This started a couple of weeks ago on Clickable Culture as I recounted on Terra Nova:
Since you are obviously unaware, we were both banned from a blog we both commented on for years.
Meanwhile, Prokofy launched into a series of arguably libelous attacks that either were entirely about me or included me:
May 30: on her blog - "Breaking Clickable Culture"
Jun 01: Second Life Herald - "Fear and Loathing in Second Life: The New Sex and Violence Policy"
Jun 02: on her blog again - "You will probably be in jail for the next 3 to 6 years"
Jun 02: and yet obsessively again on her blog - "Uncultured Clickability"
Jun 03: and then because she couldn't stop foaming at the mouth, on Terra Nova - "Prokofy Neva's comment"
and although I announced to everyone that I was leaving the debate on the Second Life Herald, she continued to throw my name around, and continues even now to continue ranting on Terra Nova... where I earlier asked that we both be temporarily banned so as not to drag that community and its blog down into the mud where Prokofy operates. No doubt she's goading me into replying in hopes that we do get banned so she can play the sympathy card with people like you.
And let's be clear, I've only used Prokofy's real name on a couple of occasions; a name which she herself freely allows to be printed in the mainstream press (whose attention she pursues) while others remain anonymous and identified only by their SL names.
Meanwhile, she goes digging deep into my personal life in order to make this kind of sickening insinuation:
Care to explain to me how she knows I have no children? You won't find that on my blog. Or on the portfolio sites to which I link. Or on my LinkedIn profile. Or documented anywhere inside Second Life since the time I registered.
No. She had to go digging deep for something to use. And when all she found was that, she did her very best to spread her slime on it.
Is this... thing... what you consider a "brilliant" individual worthy of respect? someone who admits to being witness to real child pornography in Second Life - who admitted to doing nothing and claiming she merely "forgot" about it all?
Wow. I don't believe I've ever seen standards so amazingly low as to endorse someone who admits to apathy in the face of real child pornography.
Given the above unprovoked attacks initiated by her on Clickable Culture and my own lack of blog posts attacking her, you make yourself look badly uninformed to the actual circumstances... again.
You do a disservice to the Metaversed blog and I can see it's obviously no longer worth reading if it allows your participation.
Feel free to respond, Onder; I won't bother to reply here again. I only hope 57 Miles has the good sense to demand better than this in the future.
Csven anyone is free to post as they like on their own blogs here at Metaversed. They dont go out on the homepage usually.
What goes out on the homepage I take responsibility for, no matter who writes it. What's said on personal blogs on the site, unless against the law or breaking any other 'major' rules (you know, bad stuff....) is the property and responsibility of the blogger.
For my part, i just can't be bothered with all the drama. I'd sooner do something else...
I'm thrilled that Csven took the time to demonstrate why he won't be featured in "Blogs I Read #2". His comments truly speak for themselves. Wow.