2007

We had an incredibly busy year in 2007. We saw Lorraine leave us to focus on writing a book. JJ also moved on to focus more on Cooking a Snook.

Yet we have seen other amazing writing join us in our daily cooking of tasty dissent : Nez, Kyle, Moiv, Winter Rabbit, Xicano Power, Katie Halper, Man Eegee, Duke.

Can't wait to see what 2008 has in store for us all.

Without further ado, here's the Top 10 post of 2007 :

Well, our internal statistics for 2007 are finally tallied and we have some interesting data and insights about our work.

Most people who stumble upon our site are not looking for articles on politics. It seems like most are trolling for a sexual thrill --or so it seems by the keywords and phrases people have used to stumble upon our site.

I used to think it was funny but after years of looking at the site's stats and knowing that we don't write pornography, all I can think of is that the search engines definition of "optimization" is what we would call in the real world (and if we were talking about real people), plain and simple prejudice.

Search engines (and I am mostly referring here to Google), have decided that this site deals with a certain kind of material and thusly pushes our content up the top of pages that they have decided to have our site ranked in "with prejudice". Meaning that, the better our ranking in a search page, the more prejudiced or biased the search bot learns to be towards our site.

I am not one to believe that software, especially software that presumes to mimick human thought processes (but only faster) are above malice. After all, code and the software that is created with it is the product of the human mind. It is just another form of expression, another language.

Searchbots are meant to find pages relevant to the strings of text "fed" to them by web surfers. At no point are they meant to make sense of the search string based on the context of a site.

I could go on forever on this one and will eventually.

In the end, what I find incredibly interesting about these search strings is that, especially when there are several strings "tied for the same ranking", when read together, they sound like really bad emo poems.

The top 10 rankings for search keywords and/or phrases

Saddam Hussein was hanged just one crime against humanity, and not for the scores of crimes he committed during his decades long dictatorship.

How come, then, can't we impeach George Bush on the following 10 crimes?

1. Violating the United Nations Charter by launching an illegal war of aggression against Iraq without cause, using fraud to sell the war to Congress and the public, and misusing government funds to begin bombing without Congressional authorization.
2. Violating U.S. and international law by authorizing the torture of thousands of captives, resulting in dozens of deaths, and keeping prisoners hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
3. Violating the Constitution by arbitrarily detaining Americans, legal residents, and non-Americans, without due process, without charge, and without access to counsel.
4. Violating the Geneva Conventions by targeting civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, and using illegal weapons, including white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and a new type of napalm.
5. Violating U.S. law and the Constitution through widespread wiretapping of the phone calls and emails of Americans without a warrant.
   
   

This is wishing everyone much health and happiness in 2007.

Remember, in a few hours we will be embarking into a number 9 year which symbolizes completion. 9 represents a cycle reaching its conclusion, and is filled with life's experiences. The experience of 9 is one of integration and synthesis, inclusivity, and universality. 9 is the link we have with the rhythmic ebb and flow of life. It teaches us to return what we have been given so that the creative energy that passes through us may continue to circulate. 9 also brings freedom. When we are free from obsessive personal desires, we are liberated into the world of 9.

So happy new year everyone as 2006, a year 8 (year of all things in balance, rewards & losses) comes to an end. I hope you are able to tie up those loose ends and look forward soon to a new 9 year cycle.