Hank's blog: "X_Law"

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I've just been reading to get past level ten you need a salute, now salutes can be a good way of proving you are you, but in the wrong hands they are also a good way for someone else to "prove" they are you. Let me tell you what happened to me 7 months ago. I actually wrote a little bit about this tonite, before I read that you need a salute to level up past level ten. I used to have a salute on this site, before you ever needed one, and I thought I was being clever having one, because I'd seen them on plenty of other sites, but someone who was here at the time, and decided to make trouble for me, ripped my salute from this site, and then proceeded to use it on other sites as a means of verification. As the salute spread around the net more and more people started to use it, and I had a hell of a job trying to keep up with things, and to protect my identity. Now at that time my sister had not long given birth to a new baby, and the baby was very sick, so my offline life was not one where I needed to worry about what was going on online, but around 6-6 1/2 months ago that's exactly what I had to do. On another site, a Canadian based one, someone was again using my salute, but this time they were also spinning a story, and pretending to be raising money for a "charitable" cause. Obviously being a fake person they were therefore committing an act of fraud, and using my face to do it. Now someone just faking you on the net is one thing, but someone committing a fraud in your identity is quite different, so I contacted the site and told them. Of course their first reaction was "well he has a salute, so he must be genuine", but I told them he wasn't, I told them it was me. At that point they said that if I wanted to make a complaint I had to sign up at their site to make it, so I did, and then they told me I had to make a new salute, and publish it on their site, within 48 hours. Well, first things first, I'd got into this mess in the first place, by making a public salute, so I was obviously not that eager to make the same mistake again. But apart from my reluctance I was also unable, as I was at the time living with my sister, trying to help her with the baby situation, and didn't have access to my cam (and she didn't have one, or a digital camera) so I wasn't able to make the new salute within the 48 hours, and was subsequently banned from the site! Because of my salute a fake, carrying out an act of fraud was allowed to stay, and I was banned! In the end I had to go to a lawyer, produce ID, sign a statement, and pay him to approach the site, who then did take down the guys account, but that was a hell of a lot of crap to go through, to protect myself from a potential fraud charge! When I was doing that I spoke to the lawyer about the whole fraud business, and he told me that had the fraud gone undetected for some time, and only surfaced at a later date, with my verified salute being used in the fraud, I'd have had a tough time of it, if it had been linked back to me, and it might have been very difficult to prove it wasn't me who was responsible. I've been browsing around in the last half hour, and based on what I've seen I would imagine that more than half of the salutes on this site could easily be adapted to any other site, or venture, with a little photoshop creativity, and don't forget, even the ones that can't be can still be used to give some level of legitimacy to a fake account, on another site. I'm not saying don't make salutes, or that salutes are bad, but I am saying that anyone who makes one should be aware they are a double edged sword, and just as they can be used to prove you are you, someone else can also use them to "prove" they are you. Making a salute public can be similar to making your credit card details, driving license details, or any other compromising details public. It's a case of saluter beware! I have suggested, in the support lounge, that for those who are more cautious, or don't want to take the gamble, with their personal security, that a private option should be available for salutes. I mean it's still a salute, it's still verified, but you ain't compromising yourself by making it public. I certainly don't think anyone should be compelled to take such risks to move past level ten. I think that's very unfair.

Why can't we all get on? Because we're different. It's a fact of life, and it's everywhere, from the school food hall, thru the mall, to the bars we hang out in. We all split in to our little groups because that's what we do, we split in to our little groups, and interact with those that we get on with. The world would suck big time, if we all got on, because it would mean we were all the same, all liked the same music, the same clothes, the same taste in everything, we'd all love the same man, or woman, and it would be bland and lifeless. Variety is the spice of life, it's our diversity, and uniqueness that sets us apart, that drives us forward, and makes us what we are, so the question isn't why can't we all get on, but the question is why can't we leave those alone who chose to be apart from us? That is the secret to harmony, not to force people together, but to recognise, acknowledge, and respect our differences, and to leave people to get on with their own lives, and their own ways, without imposing yourself on them, without imposing your views, and your opinions on them. It's not a case of bringing people together, but having the courage to let them walk away, and to do what they want, with the people they want to do it with. I don't want to get on with people I don't like, I want to get on with my life, without people dictating to me. It's what block buttons were made for!

When I first signed up here it used to be called Lost Cherry, and the age limit was lower than it is today, in fact that's a good job because back then I was younger than I am now, and wouldn't have been allowed in, in fact when they did raise the age I was only a few weeks over the limit, and only just avoided being culled. I had mixed feelings about that, because at the time some of my friends on here did end up being deleted because of their age, and it made me about the youngest person on the site. However, people were kind to me, and I stuck around, for a while... I had quite an eventful few months here last time, I went from zero to one hundred miles an hour and found myself as the first guy in the top ten, and to have my name in red. I'm still kind of proud of that, I like to think it tore down a barrier here, and told guys they could make it around here (at the time people were seriously starting to question if a guy could get a decent rating). Unfortunately then it started to go wrong a little. I won't go into any details, because frankly it's nobodies business, but my offline life fell apart, and things started going a little weird around here. The first thing that happened was someone put in a stupid complaint against me, and my account got deleted because someone acted on it to fast, and then my salute pic, which had been on this site (I had one before Cherry Tap introduced the feature) started appearing on other sites, and being used to try and make fake accounts seem legit! I suspect, based on evidence collected at the time, that the same person who had put in the bogus complaint against me had lifted the pic, and was behind the fake accounts, it seems the plan was to drive me offline, and then to adopt my personality. Some people need to get a life (and preferably not a borrowed one). Anyway, I got a message, via a friend, from Mike ('babyjesus') to come back and sign up again, and I'd be bumped up a few levels, but yeah... you can imagine that with what was happening offline, and what was happening online, I really wasn't in the mood to come back. Anyway, that was all a long, long time ago now, and finally yesterday, less than 24 hours ago, I decided to give this old site another chance. I mean it was a lot of fun, until the end, and I had a lot of very good friends here, so why shouldn't it be fun again? I've slipped back, over that time, from Mr #9 to Mr #855,805 in the rankings, so I don't know if I'll ever be a red again, but there are more important things. Anyway, that was back then, I wasn't even 18 when I first signed up, but on May 11th I reach 19, so hopefully this time around, now I'm no longer the youngest, things might run a little smoother. Who knows?

You're my sort of girl if you can see beyond the latest fashion trends, and you understand that something like guys kissing guys, actually means your guy kissing someone else, which is cheating, you understand that I wear what I want, because like you I am aware of fashions and trends, but I'm not a slave to them, and I don't just want to look like a clone of what looked hot last summer. You're my sort of girl, if you appreciate it when I try to make you smile, when you feel down, and you return the favour whenever I feel low. You're my sort of girl, if when you secretly catch me trying to smell your hair, you know it's because I love your scent, and not because I'm trying to identify your hairspray, to use on my own hair. You're my sort of girl, if you know when I stand beside you, infront of the mirror, I'm checking out your beauty, not your jeans, to see if they'd look better on me. You're my sort of girl, if the time we spend together is the best, but also if we respect each others independence, and know we don't have to be joined at the hip. You're my sort of girl, if we never have to argue over the remote control for the tv set, because we both understand that anything watched with the other is better than a show watched alone. You're my sort of girl, if you don't mind random contact, and surprise hugs from behind, or other touchy feely moments. I might be a man, who knows he's a man, but that doesn't mean I don't have a heart. You're my sort of girl, if you don't mind me playing with your hair. You're my sort of girl, if our hands find each other, just at the right moment, without the need for words. You're my sort of girl, if you understand the power of love, and realise a several hour drive is worth one hour with you, and that it's the little things, and the effort and commitments, that make a relationship work. You're my sort of girl, if you don't mind when I call, for no reason, just to hear your voice, and if you don't get upset when I don't call, because you know I'm thinking of you anyway. You're my sort of girl, if you don't mind staying up all night, sitting on the beach, knowing that the dawn will be the greatest, you, gently in my arms, as we watch the sunrise, the hot summers day, but the cooling ocean breeze, keeping you huddled close to me, my fingers running through your hair, as the sunlight dances on the ocean, and the gentle lapping waves provide our background music. You're my sort of girl, if you understand that it's not just about the good times, but it's also about the bad times, if you know that I'm not just there for you when you laugh, but also when you cry, to kiss away your tears, and to love you. You're my sort of girl, if you're spontanious, if you can be walking home with me, on a hot summers night, and when it rains just dance with me, let me hold you in my arms, our two t-shirt drenched bodies, clinging to each other, kissing each other, as the rain washes away our tears, and we feel alive... Are you my sort of girl? Leave me comments...

So you are calling me a piece of redneck trailer trash? I'm sure it was intended as an insult, but it was actually a compliment, let me explain why. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a place called the old world, and in the old world there were lots of King and queens, and Lords and Ladies, and as well as those people there was millions and millions of dirt poor people, who toiled the lands with the bare hands, so the Kings and queens, and Lords and Ladies, could all wear nice fancy dresses (yeah, even guys wore dresses back then), and go to parties, and eat nice food, while the dirt poor people shivered in the cold and dark, and went hungry and died from diseases, and other equally nasty things. Now one day this guy is out in his boat, looking to score some goods to get in favor with one particular king or queen, so that he might get enough money to buy a pretty dress, and go to some of these fancy pants parties, when instead of finding some spices, or whatever other shit he was looking for, he stumbles upon this big fuck off brand new continent that the folks back home decided to call the new world. It was probably a play on words, I mean we had the old world, so why not the new world? Anyway this dude comes back to the old world and he tells all the kings and queens, lords and ladies "Hey guys, I just found this hot shit new place that people can hang out at, and I'm going to call it the new world" and the Kings and the Queens and the Lords and the Ladies said "Shit Chris, that's cool, find any potatoes or dope or anything?". So, after this Chris dude tells all the folk about this new place, called the new world, the kings and queens, and lords and ladies decide to set up colonies there and so they send some boats over, with some dirt poor people in, and a few lords and ladies, and start to build a few small places in the new world, but the problem was the new world was this big fuck off new place, and the kings and queens, and lords and ladies couldn't be bothered to leave their parties, and go there themselves, so they couldn't really rule it like they did back home, they couldn't beat the dirt poor people, execute them, burn them, torture them, rape them and rob them, like the used to, so like more and more of the dirt poor people started to say to themselves, and each other "This is fucking cool, we just piss off to this new world, fuck off out of town and suddenly, for the first time in out histories we are free" and that's what they did. Now this is where we get to the point of our story, you see you got to forget any politicians, or aristocrats, the new world was built by the ordinary, free spirited folk that are called "Redneck trailer trash" or "white trash" today. The mountain men, the pioneers, the colonists, the trailblazers, the men that carved farms from the wilderness, they built the nation, and they were common folk just walking into no mans land, and the politician, the businessman, the aristocrat and the slave trader, and finally the slave, followed them, they didn't lead the way. Those that lead the way, and built the new world were the "Redneck trailer trash" or "white trash", as they get called today, so it's hardly an insult, in fact it's a compliment. The sad part of the story comes in the final chapter, you see the sad part is that the politician, the businessman, the aristocrat, the lawyers and the slave traders did follow them, and still follow them, determined to take away their freedoms, and instead of the beautiful nation that was built, replace it with the inequality, and tyranny that those folk left behind in the old world. They want to return the world to one where it's all about the "Kings and Queens, Lords and Ladies" and where every dirt poor person doesn't have a life, freedom, or self-determination, all he is, instead, is a lifeless drone, working his fingers to the bone, to provide fancy dresses, for the "Kings and Queens, Lords and Ladies" to wear to their parties. For hundreds of years now, every free man, every "Redneck trailer trash" or "white trash" person, has been pushed and shoved, from one corner to another, while they try to strip them of everything of any value, but they keep on standing firm, and that's why we are called rebels, and hellbillies, because we rebel against the coming tide of tyranny, and give hell to them lords and ladies, kings and queens, businessmen, lawyers and politicians, and you ain't never going to beat us, because we'll fight to the grave, or even beyond that. So next time someone thinks they are insulting me, or you, by calling us "Redneck trailer trash" or "white trash", just remember this, we built this nation, we are it's back bone, we are free and we will always be free, or at least die fighting to stay that way. Here endeth the lesson...