Last night I wept. Last night I thought of a family that I have never in my life met. I was surfing through some blogs and I found a post that linked to another blog. Of course my curiosity got the best of me and I clicked the link. I started reading. Not sure of what I had just read, I read it again and again and again. Then it slapped me like a ton of bricks. I was reading a soliders last post.
I read and read and continue to read. I went to other websites to learn more about the person I was reading about. Major Andy Olmsted was a husband, a son, a brother and in retrospect a hero. To me, anyone who fights for anyones freedom is a hero. Here’s an excerpt from his last blog post.
“I am leaving this message for you because it appears I must leave sooner than I intended. I would have preferred to say this in person, but since I cannot, let me say it here.”
G’Kar, Babylon 5“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
Plato*This is an entry I would have preferred not to have published, but there are limits to what we can control in life, and apparently I have passed one of those limits. And so, like G’Kar, I must say here what I would much prefer to say in person. I want to thank hilzoy for putting it up for me. It’s not easy asking anyone to do something for you in the event of your death, and it is a testament to her quality that she didn’t hesitate to accept the charge. As with many bloggers, I have a disgustingly large ego, and so I just couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to have the last word if the need arose. Perhaps I take that further than most, I don’t know. I hope so. It’s frightening to think there are many people as neurotic as I am in the world. In any case, since I won’t get another chance to say what I think, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Such as it is.
You can finish reading his Last Post here.
I sat last night and thought if I had it in me to write a final post. Could I put my feelings in the realm of reality for the entire world to see? I really don’t think I could. I think it takes one hell of a person to tell their story and to leave their mark on this world.
Until last night I had no idea that such a person existed. But for the time I spent reading about this remarkable man, I felt as though I had known him all my life. I offer my deepest condolences to his entire family as well as the others who have lost their lives fighting for freedom.
There’s nothing I can’t stand more than a thief. I’m talking about Feed Scrapers. If you don’t know what a feed scraper is, it’s someone who steals your content from your feeds and places them on their website. Their entire website is made up from other peoples content. Sure they give you credit, but it’s still violating your copyright. There are some very useful plugins to help deter scrapers from stealing your content.
I myself use Angsuman’s Feed Copyrighter Plugin. It’s really simple to install and it allows you to copyright all of your feeds to keep the scrapers at bay. I have been using it for about a week or so now and I haven’t had a single feed stolen.
There’s also the Feed Footer WordPress Plugin. I haven’t used this one, but from what I have read it’s pretty good also. You can customize your copyright to what ever your hearts desire.
I also have a Wordpress Ban Plugin that I use. If I see the scraper showing up in my dashboard I will ban them by their IP and their domain name. At least that way they can not gain access to my website. I customized the ban message and it says “You are banned and are no longer welcomed here”. Once I get time, I am going to make a custom banner to go up there instead.
The battle against scrapers will continue as long as they can get away with it. Hopefully some of these plugins will help you take back control of your content and your feeds.
I love getting awards. I love giving awards. Ev from WackyMom is giving out awards. You’re name may be on her list. But I’m giving out some as well.
First off, I want to thank the people who are receiving this award. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being my friend. For being someone who picks me up when I am down. For being someone who makes me laugh when I feel like crying. For just being you.. for that I thank you!!
Jess
Angry
Paige
Pfunk
Opal
Wander
I won!! I won!!
Someone is really looking out for me during this holiday season. My money is extremely tight and I have won a free Barbie Island Princess DVD via Pajama Mommy’s website. I’m so excited. How cool is this huh? This makes me uncontrollably happy that I have another present for Shorty to go under the tree and I don’t have to worry as much. I would like to thank everyone at the Pajama Mommy community.
This sucks
Why is Google screwing so many people over? Why are they toying with our blogs and all that? I went from a 3 to a 4 and back down to a 2. Why am I being punished for trying to provide for my family by paid blogging? Paid content doesn’t make less of a blog. In fact I think that it’s actually helped me to hone in on my writing some. Granted I’m not Shakespeare or Nora Roberts.
It’s just not me seeing hits below the belt. Big name bloggers that have no paid post on their sites are getting side swiped. Why is Google PMSing on everyone? If my PR stands, honestly I’m screwed and will not be able to afford to give my kids Christmas because of all this. I guess I will have to find other means of work. This sucks monkey balls big time 
Theme Help
Maybe I am just not looking in the right place. Maybe some of you out there can help me. I’m looking for a Thanksgiving theme for my blog. I prefer one that’s free as my assets are tied up if you know what I mean. I also prefer it to be 3 columns. I have been searching all morning, but just can’t seem to find what I’m looking for. Any suggestions?
So I downloaded Windows Live Writer this morning. I’m still not certain how I feel about it though. I downloaded it so I could do some work and save it to drafts and upload it when I get done. Maybe once I play around with it for a bit it will grow on me. Do anyone use this? Any helpful tips for someone too lazy to figure it all out?
Gripes my butt let me tell you
This is so frustrating. I glance at my stats a few times a day. That way if I see someone visiting my page, I try to visit theirs. But here lately I have been getting hits from casinos and insurance places out the wazoo. This is what I have been seeing:
Now I have tried to ban by IP’s manually and I have tried to ban by domain name. And they just keep coming back and most of the time, they are only changing a little bit of the domain and quite frankly it’s pissing me off. Because I do not know what their purpose of hitting my site that many times is. Surely they don’t love hearing me complain that much.
So tonight I went on a quest to eliminate these PITA’S from my blog. I downloaded Spam Karma 2 in hopes that this will stop sites like this from blasting me. I am not sure if I set some of the settings right, but if you run into a problem, please let me know. I’m not completely off my soap box yet, but I’m not jumping on it anymore either.
Look Whose Talkin’