Our First Champion Liar's Award

Very often people live an encapsulated existence. They work, play, and worship with individuals as much like themselves as possible. There's nothing really wrong with that, and even much of that is not by choice, but by nature of the individual's education and career. Then there's the Internet.

In the past 10 to 15 years, the Internet has opened most of us up to new friends...and unfortunately to some we would never choose to associate with in real life. We've become aware of many who support child abusers and rapists, so to encounter some who support those who drink, drive, and kill should be no surprise to us, although it usually is.

We recently published several blogs about a young man who killed his girlfriend in a fiery crash. No matter how good a person this man may be, he still has to answer to the legal powers that be for this young woman's death. Due to complaints from his supporters, our Facebook page was changed to that of a Public Figure last week. Apparently about ten private messages which were sent over a period of time suddenly appeared today on the current Shoalanda Speaks page.

Those who have read our blog for a long time know that we don't use the names of individuals who are not public personages in some way. This would include bloggers, politicians, elected officials, and those who have been arrested/indicted/convicted of a crime. We thought long and hard about that policy today when we received the following message on our FB page:

Hehe. I traced this IP address (well the one for Shoalanda Speaks Blog). It came back to XXXXX XXXXXX. Well I spoke with Mr. XXXXXX and he gave me your first name and cell phone number, because I told him I would like to advertise. I paid to join a website and traced your cell phone number. Just letting you know that I know what your real name. Thanks. And tell Mr. XXXXXX thanks for the help.

That little message contained at least five lies. Let's look at them:

1. I traced this IP address (well the one for Shoalanda Speaks Blog). In order to even have, much less trace, any IP address that Shoalanda has used, one would first have to contact Blogger with a subpoena. One is not going to get a subpoena issued by a judge without hiring an attorney, and you'd better have a very good reason to ask for one in the first place.

2. It came back to XXXXX XXXXXX. No blog has ever been posted from any location belonging to that gentleman, whom we know only online. 

3. Well I spoke with Mr. XXXXXX. The person you referred to has no knowledge of such a call or conversation.

4. he gave me your first name and cell phone number, because I told him I would like to advertise. - Even if you had contacted the gentleman, there's no reason for him to give you any info on any of us since we do not handle our own advertising.

5. I paid to join a website and traced your cell phone number. Just letting you know that I know...your real name. No cell phone companies make their subscribers known without a subpoena--there's that darn word again.

The woman who wrote that message wins our Champion Liar's Award, but what else? Nothing else because we (and probably most of us) don't have the psychological problems she seems to have. What if we did?

Young lady, do you not realize you used your real name to send the message? Tuscumbia is a small town--it wouldn't take much to locate your workplace and discover your supervisor's name. Most employers want just a tad of honesty in their employees. If we contacted him/her, they might not even tell you, but you can be sure your work ethic would forever after be more highly scrutinized and your chances at any promotion a lot lower than they were before.

You might also want to remember in future that not everyone will be as tolerant of your lies as we are being...just some food for thought.

*****

For those who have asked, we have not had any update on the physical condition or arrest of John Clark Burns Jr.



Shoalanda