RTI Directory

It’s nice to have you visit the site. This site is meant to facilitate flow of information on the responses coming out of Right to Information applications. A lot of dedicated RTI activists and individual applicants work hard at finding information on crucial public matters. But are then able to share that information with a limited number of people only. Some of the notable RTIs get covered in the media but only in excerpts.

This site will allow people to upload both their initial applications to a government authority as also the response that they get. Many a time the response may be voluminous and so we are still working on how sharing of that information may be facilitated. Excerpts of the information can be uploaded in the interim.

A very helpful feature of the site will be the facility to comment on individual applications and responses. Thus a discussion could facilitate a future course of action. We will be adding useful features where possible along the way.

We are more than glad to hear from you about what you feel about this exercise and your experiences while using this site and how it can be made more effective. Do write us a mail.
Look forward.
Regards,Team at RTI Directory

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World Environment Day WED

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AVG Anti-Virus System FREE

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.click the pic to enlarge..

when 2 women fight

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...

Someday

Someday I'll be an old record

A picture of what once had been

Someday I'll be an old song

That they heard in a dream or a record machine

Someday I'll be an old fashion

With ideas as dated as yours

Someday they'll laugh at our hair and the clothes that we wore

Like we've all laughed before

Someday I'll be an old record

A picture of what once had been

Someday I'll be an old song

That they heard in a dream or a record machine

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Are you a hippie?
Take this quiz and find out!
(Questions based on the quiz originally located at http://www.albany.net/~lauralee/quiz.htm)
Take the hippie quiz and discover your hippie quotient.
Your hip Q?

How many inches does your hair reach past your shoulders? Are you a male or a female? Male Female- If you're a male: Have you ever gotten flack for having long hair? No Yes- If you're a female: Have you ever gotten flack for wearing no makeup? No YesAre you over the age of 40 and still have not cut your hair? No YesDo you have a brownie recipe that includes ingredients you can not get at the local A&P? No YesIs your dwelling decorated with any of the following: beads hanging from the door, a lava lamp, Fillmore posters? No YesDo you have a bean bag chair in your "groovy pad"? No Yes

Bean bag chairs were very popular furniture among hippies and bean bags are rising in popularity again nowadays, so get yourself some new bean bag furniture or a some comfy foam furniture.- Is the bean bag chair is the only piece of furniture you have? No YesDoes your dwelling have all of the above? No YesIs your home is decorated with homemade art? No YesDo you do pottery? No YesDo you know how to do macramé? No YesDo you know how to do the macarena? No YesWere you at Woodstock? No Yes- Do you think you may have been at Woodstock, but aren't entirely sure? No YesWho is your favorite Beatle? John George Ringo Paul None, the Beatles were over ratedDo you have fire drills to practice getting all your Grateful Dead tapes out of the house? No YesHow many state lines have you crossed on your longest road trip to see a 60s era musical artist or band in concert? Have you ever traveled to another country to see such a band or artist? No YesWere you affected personally by Jerry Garcia's death? No YesDo you know what bag you're in? No YesDo you own an incense burner? No YesDo you own, or have owned a VW bus? No Yes- If so, was the bus painted multiple colors? No YesDo you play the sitar? No YesHave you ever written a song protesting war, bucking the establishment, or containing a reference to illegal drugs? No Yes- Have written songs about all three? No YesWere you actually alive in the 1960s? No YesDo you really, really wish you had been alive in the 1960s? No YesDo you believe that "All You Need is Love"? No Yes- "And a good medical plan"? No YesDoes the word "trip" not make you think of a vacation? No YesDoes the word "man," pepper your conversations? No YesHave you used the word "groovy" or the phrase "Can you dig it?" with a straight face? No Yes- If so, have you ever used both in the same sentence? No YesHave you taken part in a peace march? No YesHave you ever started a petition? No YesHave you ever taken part in a sit-in? No Yes- Have you done all three? No YesHave you ever received junk mail addressed to "dear radical"? No YesDo you think "social action" is a frat party on a saturday night? No YesDo your children have names like Windsong, Freedom or Peace Love Understanding Smith? No YesDo you wish your parents had named you Peace Love Understanding Smith? No YesDo you say "thank you" when someone calls you a hippy? No YesDo you say "Groovy man, like, you think I'm a hippy? Far out, can you dig that?"? No YesDo you wear Birkenstocks/Earth Shoes? No YesDo you make your own sandals? No YesDo you have a bumper sticker reading "save the whales", "think green" or has dancing bears on it? No Yes- If so, are such bumper stickers holding your car together? No YesAre you a vegetarian? No Yes- If so, do you call yourself a "vegetarian" just because you stopped eating Big Macs? No YesDo you smell like patchouli? No YesHave you ever sold any hand-made item in the parking lot of a concert? No YesDo you think money is the root of all evil? No Yes- "And may the devil smite me with it"? No YesDo you think Jim Morrison's poetry is profound? No YesDo you think John Lennon's drawings are art? No YesDo you like Bob Dylan's singing voice? No YesHave you ever heard of Jim Morrison, John Lennon or Bob Dylan? No YesDo you have a necklace with either wooden beads, seeds, a peace or yin yang symbol? No Yes- Do you have all of the above? No Yes- Did you used to have all of the above but you gave them away or traded them for concert tickets? No YesIs your computer screen name or password is related to a 60s musical performer? No YesAre the only cds or records in your collection that were recorded after 1980, recorded by artists who were most famous in the 60s or 70s? No YesHave you ever been to San Francisco? No YesDid you ware flowers in your hair? No YesHave you ever lived in a commune? No Yes- Did you quit the commune because you were tired of being the one to do all the work? No YesDo you own a tie dyed article of clothing? No Yes- Did you dye it yourself? No YesDo you own any clothing items made of hemp? No YesHave you ever practiced Transcendental Meditation, seriously studied Eastern religion, or been a Jesus freak? No Yes- Have you done all of the above? No YesHave you ever had a chemically induced spiritual experience? No YesDid you vote for Ronald Reagan? No YesDid you get this far but forgot to choose an option for each question? No Yes

Quiz Stats
This test has been taken 47,889 times so far.The average score is 54, with 1393 being the highest and -227 being the lowest.2% of test takers scored Anti-Hippie.24% of test takers scored The Establishment.41% of test takers scored Some Hippie.10% of test takers scored Hippie.24% of test takers scored Absolutely Hippie.52% of test takers are Male, while 48% are Female.92% of test takers are under the age of forty, while 8% are over forty.77% of test takers have hair shorter than 6", while 23% have hair that is longer.7% of test takers were at Woodstock in 1969, while 93% were not.54% of test takers prefer John over George at 12% as their favorite Beatle.15% of test takers were alive in the 1960's, while 85% were not.21% of test takers are vegetarians, while 79% are not.11% of test takers have lived in a commune, while 89% have not.11% of test takers voted for Ronald Reagan, while 89% did not.
Copyright © 2005-2006 Robert DeFusco, All Rights Reserved..

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Sonata for three: How composer Vaughan Williams shared his bedroom with a mistress 40 years his junior... and his wife

Keshi has been cursed

she has too many friends
that is a good thing
and bad too

u cant get intimate with many
God has given me only one true friend in the real world

and five in the net world
we communicate intimately

Israel- Myths and realities

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A Naval officer of the Royal Navy remembers

On 14 May, 1948, the Jewish People's Council met at the Tel Aviv Museum and publicly declared the establishment of the State of Israel. The Jews had campaigned long and hard and had suffered immeasurably, for this day to become a reality. Through the whole process, they had met with friends and foes alike. They had been helped by those sympathetic to their cause, and had also been betrayed by some of these.

They had been aggressively opposed by their enemies and were on the extermination list of Satan and his cohorts. Israel by the help of God, miraculously survived through overwhelming odds to emerge as a nation in her own right. The text of the declaration of their independence can be read at http://www.israel.org/peace/independ.html.
The drive for the restoration of the Jewish homeland began in 1897 when the first Zionist Congress was convened in Basel, Switzerland by the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodor Herzl. Since then, active Zionists ceaselessly worked to help bring this dream and conviction to fruition. The first aliya or mass immigration of Jews took place in 1882-1903, the Jews hailing mainly from Russia. Another aliya took place in the years 1904-14, when Jews again from Russia, fled the pogroms (organized massacres) inspired by the Russian government. These Jews settled in Palestine and founded the first kibbutz (collective farm) and the first modern all-Jewish city, Tel Aviv in 1909. In those years, Palestine was still under the control of Turkey. Turkey however lost control of Palestine to the British during the First World War.
Meanwhile over in Great Britain during the ending years of World War 1, God was moving. Right there in the British Cabinet were men who had been brought up on the Bible and who were favourably disposed towards the concept of the formation of a Jewish homeland for the millions of Jews worldwide. One of them, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arthur James Balfour was instrumental in promoting the Jewish cause and on November 2, 1917, Balfour issued a historic letter called the Balfour Declaration which pledges British support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The letter was presented to the head of the Zionist Federation in Great Britain, Lord Rothschild.
Several reasons have been cited for the Balfour Declaration, some political and one which involved a Zionist scientist called Chaim Weizmann who had helped the British in their war effort by developing a process to synthesize acetone, an ingredient used in making powerful explosives. The discovery at that time was like that of the atomic bomb during World War 2, for it gave the Allied Forces a decisive edge over their opponents. Whatever were the reasons, we know that it was the hand of God who had moved events and key people to bring about His purpose in these last days. Chaim Weizmann later became the first President (1948-52) of the new State of Israel.
With the Balfour Declaration, more Jews were encouraged to return to their ancient homeland. From 1919-23, the third aliya took place. In 1920, the Haganah, the Jewish defense organization was founded. Britain was given the Mandate for Palestine in 1922 by the League of Nations. By a twist of events, the land east of the River Jordan which had earlier been marked out as land for the development of Jewish agriculture, was handed over to Abdullah, the grandfather of Jordan's present King Hussein and was named Transjordan by Winston Churchill. Churchill also promised eventual independence for this new territory of Transjordan (took place in 1946). Thus, Israel lost this piece of land, which had been the inheritance of the Reubenites, the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh.
In 1928, there were changes in the British government and Britain began to compromise on the Balfour Declaration as they were also in need of Arab oil. The Arabs began to incite violence against the Jews in Palestine and bloodshed began in 1929. The Jews, not permitted to arm themselves, had their Haganah go underground. Finally, in 1939, Britain issued the White Paper which severely limited Jewish immigration to the Promised land to a mere 15,000 per year for 5 years, after which it had to stop. This was a blatant reversal of the Balfour Declaration given 22 years earlier.
The stage was set for another great calamity on earth, the Second World War (1939-45). Within 6 months of the White Paper, Britain was plunged into the World War. The Jews struggling to survive, faced the most horrid period of their lives. Satan was all set to wipe them off the face of the earth and to prevent the rebirth of the Jewish nation. The Holocaust, born in the mind of a demonically inspired Hitler, started in Europe and by the end of the War, it had claimed 6 million Jewish lives, equivalent to one-third of the total Jewish world population. The fury of Satan unleashed in the horrifying tortures and massacres of the Jews, however served only to promote and to expedite the Jewish cause. Satan's plan backfired. The Jews worldwide were convinced more than ever that they needed a homeland of their own in the midst of an anti-Semitic hostile world. World opinion also swung in favour of the Jews as world leaders, liberal Christians and others alike recovered from the shock of the Holocaust.
The United Nations was formed at the end of World War 2 and on November 29, 1947, the UN proposed that the land of Palestine be partitioned into Arab and Jewish states. The resolution was accepted by the Jews but rejected by the Arabs. The British Mandate (British rule) was due to end on May 14, 1948 and Palestine would be on its own after that. The Jews knew that their hour had come. The odds were against them. The Arab nations stood posed to drive them into the Mediterranean Sea should they take the step to declare their nationhood. They were advised to delay the announcement until they had built up their military strength. Here is what David Ben-Gurion, who later became Israel's first Prime Minister, said,
'Here then was the counsel of a friend and the military appreciation of our situation by one of the world's outstanding soldiers. On the face of it, such advice could not be dismissed lightly. Yet it could not deflect us from our chosen course. For Marshall (the adviser) could not know what we knew -- what we felt in our very bones: that this was our historic hour; if we did not live up to it, through fear or weakness of spirit, it might be generations or even centuries before our people were given another historic opportunity -- if indeed we would be alive as a national group.'
The Jews were resolved to proceed with their declaration. And this they did on that historic day, placing their trust in the Almighty. The United States and the then USSR both recognized the new State of Israel and Israel was admitted into the United Nations as a full member.
The next day, May 15, 1948, the Arabs attacked. Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Transjordan and Lebanon swept into the tiny fledgling nation from all fronts. The Arab armies were well equipped with the latest British and French fighters and bombers, tanks, heavy artillery, bombs and ammunition. The Jewish State however was a sorry contrast. Israel at that time had no regular army but some semi-autonomous paramilitary groups, each having their own command and agenda. They had no tanks, no military planes, no artillery and only 10000 rifles! And a will to survive. About 3600 Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers from about 29 different countries, battle-hardened and experienced from World War 2, men and women, responded to help Israel in her hour of greatest need. They came secretly into the country and were assigned to their units in the newly formed IDF, Israel Defence Forces. These volunteers were called the Machal.
Israel scoured the world for military equipment left over from World War 2 and had them secretly shipped to their country. They bought desperately needed military planes and other equipment and much needed supplies from some willing sellers and were charged highly for them. All these were ferried into Israel in clandestine operations and some of the pilots and air crew lost their lives or were captured by hostile governments in the process.
The IDF fought courageously for about a month and a truce was called by the United Nations on June11, 1948. The fighting resumed on July 9 and by January 7, 1949, the Arabs called for a cease-fire. The Jews had managed to arm themselves and with the help and the expertise of the volunteers, many of them in the Air Force and the Navy, they fought a winning war and the Arabs finally withdrew. The War of Independence was over, one of Israel's costliest and the most decisive war. The Arabs had no choice but to co-exist side by side with Israel.
Today, the State of Israel has about 4.7 million Jews which is about 36% of World Jewry as compared to 84,000 in 1922. The purposes of God can never be thwarted, no matter how hard Satan tries. Though Israel had been judged for their idolatries during the Divided Kingdom era and had been dispersed to the nations, God promised to bring them back to their land before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (Eze 36:24, Matt 24:32-33). Israel is the fig tree, which the Lord instructed His disciples to observe as a sign of His coming (Jer 24:5-7). Today, the fig tree is established and the nation Israel is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year for the 50th year is the year of Jubilee (Lev 25:10).
Israel is certainly one of the main guideposts to watch for the unfolding of God's plan and we must continue to be watchful for the Lord will surely come, at an hour we are not aware of. So let us keep our ears tuned to news from Israel.
Rev Anna LimBA(B.S), B.Arch,M.ThVice PrincipalEl-Shaddai Conventions

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Hamas resists Israel recognition

Hamas says all of Israel is built on occupied Palestinian land

Rival Palestinian political factions Fatah and Hamas have reached agreement on a common political strategy to try to end a damaging power struggle.

However, Hamas negotiators have denied earlier reports that the deal meant the militants would implicitly recognise Israel - a major policy shift.
The full text of the accord has not yet been released. A Hamas minister said it did not have "one word" on the issue.
The deal comes amid heightened tension over the capture of an Israeli soldier.
Israeli tanks and troops have massed on the border and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has warned that a large scale military operation is rapidly approaching.
Palestinian statehood
Palestinian minister Abdel Rahman Zeidan told the BBC the Hamas-Fatah document did not in any way recognise the state of Israel.
DOCUMENT KEY QUOTES
"[Palestinians aim] to establish an independent state with holy Jerusalem as its capital on all the territories occupied in 1967"
"[Signatories commit to] resistance through various means, and confining resistance in the territories occupied in 1967, in addition to political, negotiating and diplomatic action"
"There is no agreement between the Palestinians on specifically this phrase. You will not find one word in the document clearly stating the recognition of Israel as a state. Nobody has agreed to this. This was not on the table. This was not in the dialogue," he said.
However, a Hamas member who helped negotiate the agreement, Ziyad Dayeh, said Hamas support for a two-state solution was nothing new for Hamas.
"When talking about a Palestinian state in the occupied territories of 1967, it means there would be another state on the other part of Palestine. It means, yes, practically, a two-state solution, and it's not a new thing - it has been offered by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin before," he said.
'No room for Jewish state'
The BBC's James Reynolds in Gaza says that the central point of the joint manifesto is the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Traditionally that is one half of a two-state solution, but the existing drafts of the deal make no mention of the second half of this solution - the state of Israel.
This omission is deliberate, our correspondent says.
While some have argued that this means Hamas tacitly accepts Israel's right to exist, it is becoming clear that that is not how Hamas sees it.

Hamas' Ismail Haniya has yet to reveal details of the deal
Hamas negotiators have told the BBC that the entire state of Israel has been built on occupied Palestinian land.
They believe that a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza is a first step - not a final step.
They believe that future generations of Palestinians will reclaim all their historic homeland. And that, in the end, there will be no room for what is now the Jewish state of Israel, our correspondent says.
Mr Zeidan did say, however, that the Palestinian factions had agreed that the Palestinian state would be established inside the 1967 borders - and to delegate Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas "to negotiate with Israel on an agreement, a peace agreement".
'Out of reach'
News of the Hamas-Fatah manifesto came as a standoff over the abduction of Cpl Gilad Shalit, who was seized by Palestinian militants in a clash on the Gaza border on Sunday, continued.
There is one soldier but there have been hundreds of Palestinians kidnapped from their houses
Walid al-Houdaly
Palestinians back releases
Palestinian militants acknowledged for the first time on Tuesday that Israeli tank gunner Gilad Shalit was alive.
"The soldier is in a secure place that the Zionists cannot reach," said Mohammed Abdel Al, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, one of three Palestinian groups involved in Sunday's abduction.
According to Israeli media reports officials believe he was injured in the stomach and hand during the attack near Kerem Shalom.
Difficult choice
On Monday three Palestinian militant groups demanded the release of Palestinian women and youths being held in Israeli jails in return for news of the captured soldier.
Ramallah resident Walid al-Houdaly, whose wife and 18-month-old child are in an Israeli jail, told the BBC News website that he backed those calls:

Israel says time is running out before it moves to free Shalit
"There is one soldier, but there have been hundreds of Palestinians kidnapped from their houses," he said.
Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that the release of Cpl Shalit must be immediate and unconditional.
"The state of Israel does not negotiate with terrorists," Mr Regev insisted. "Unless he is released it is our moral obligation as a government to take action to free him."
Intense diplomatic efforts have been under way since the soldier's disappearance, including mediation by an Egyptian delegation in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli leader must choose between going ahead with military action that would endanger the life of the captured soldier or risk being seen as weak, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Jerusalem.
And the Hamas-led Palestinian government must decide whether they are really willing to go into a full-scale confrontation with the Israelis which could have disastrous consequences.

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Mom

You gave to me all of my life
To do as I please

I owe everything I have to you Mother,
sweet mother of mine

Mother of mine when I was young
You showed me
The right way things
Should be done
Without your love,
Where would I be?

Mother, sweet mother of mine
Mother, you gave me
Happiness much more
Than words can say

I pray the Lord that He may bless you
Every night and every day

Mother of mine
Now I am grown
And I can walk straight
All on my own
I'd like to give you
What you gave to me

Mother, sweet mother of mine


when u died
I did not cry
coz u did not love my dad

now i know u had your reasons

We all have a mother though may be she is not here anymore,

if you are thankful for your mother, grandmother or that special mother figure in your life,

don't keep it a secret, we want to share it with everyone...

So I invite you, sweet friends, to join our appreciation by posting your own “Homage to your Mother” today.... here, at the House in the Roses.

If you have posted, or will be posting anything about Mother's Day, simply add your link to Mr. Linky below.
1. CIELO2. Theresa3. Elizabeth4. Bunny Rose Cottage
5. Saby6. Ruth7. Rosemary8. Grete
9. Miss Gracie's House10. bindi11. Keshi12.
You're next!

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Marianne, out for a stroll, gets caught in the rain, slips, and sprains her ankle. The dashing and handsome Mr. Willoughby rescues Marianne, carries her back home, and wins her admiration.

He comes to visit her every day, and Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood begin to suspect that the couple has secretly become engaged. However, Mrs. Dashwood's sentimental nature prevents her from asking Marianne about her relationship with Willoughby.

Marianne is devastated when Willoughby announces that he must go to London on business, not to return for at least a year.

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young mom

Princess Heidi

"For you created my inmost being;

You knit me together in my mother'swomb.

I praise You because I am fearfullyand wonderfully made;

Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from You

When I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

Your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book, before one of them came to be."

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting."

Psalm 139: 13-16 and 23-24

We are wonderful creatures because God formed us in His secret chamber.

God ordained all the days of our lives because we are special to Him.

Let us become the wonderful creations that He purposed us to be.

Note: The little girl is my youngest daughter - Princess Heidi

The Lord Is Good - Women of Faith

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FLASH NEWS

if u want to tell Keshi
she suxs do it now

Annonymouse block removed
go here

why I love and why I hate blogging

Advantages of Blogs
Blogs are probably the easiest way to have a website. With blog software, it literally takes minutes to have a professional looking site up and running. These are the five things I like the most about blogs:

Blogs are easy to create:
You don't need expensive or complicated web editors or web design software to create a blog. Blog vendors offer you a variety of templates you can choose from. Most likely you will find among them one that offers the look and feel you're looking for. Your only web design expense may very well be to pay a graphics artist to design an attractive logo that makes your site unique.

Blogs are easy to maintain:
Blog software allows you to post online, which means that you won't need to bother with FTP software. This also means that you can post anywhere, not just from your own computer. You may be in a hotel room in China, and if it has an internet connection you can log in and update your website from your web-based control panel. Your blog's software will automatically move your most recent post to the top, while archiving older posts by date or by topic, so you don't ever have to bother to move web pages around.
Set Up Your Blog Now!

Blogs are search-engine-friendly:
Since blogs assign each post an individual URL address, each of them will have it's own, separate web page. If you take care of making each post very focused on a specific topic and carefully choose the keywords that best describe your post (using them in the post title and post body), they will stand a very good chance of ranking well with the search engines. Also, since blogs tend to be updated regularly, search engines will crawl them often (search engines love fresh content), adding your new posts to their index.

Blogs allow you to interact with your customer base:
The best websites allow your customers to interact with you and give feedback. Since blogs offer you the option of enabling a "comments" field after your posts where readers can give you feedback, your visitors will not only be more inclined to come back, but you will have at your disposal an effective and inexpensive way to get to know your customers better.

Many great blog hosts are free:
There are several excellent services that offer blog hosting for free. The most well known of them is Blogger, a free blog service owned by Google. Signing up takes minutes, it offers many different templates and customization options, and also gives you the option of tying your blog with your Google Adsense account. That way, not only is the service free, but you can also make money. The downside to all these great advantages is that they have encouraged the creation of a huge number of me-too and low quality blogs that don't add value and hardly get any traffic.

Don't fall into that trap. Before jumping to create a blog, remember that to be successful you must write about a focused and original topic, or offer a unique perspective on a common theme. In the end, as the cliché says, it all boils down to quality content.

You can freely reprint this article provided that you include the following resource box:Mario Sanchez publishes The Internet Digest ( http://www.theinternetdigest.net/ ), an internet marketing content site packed with useful articles and resources, and SEO Tutorial ( http://www.seotutorial.info/ ) where you can learn the basics of search engine optimization in four easy steps.

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Blogs and Blogging: Advantages and Disadvantages

By Gerry McGovern - Mon, 08/23/2004 - 10:32am.

Isn't it interesting that some of the most significant 'revolutions' of the last twenty years have all had to do with writing?

How retro is that? First we had email, then webpages, then mobile phone texting, and now blogs. All this reflects a trend whereby the world is becoming more formal in how it communicates. Instead of body language and endless conversations, communication has shifted towards endless words on a screen.

Bloggers are people with attitude. They say there's a book inside everybody. Well, the Web and blogs have let the book out! There has literally been an explosion of opinion. Traditionally, public relations was about honing a silvery message that communicated exactly what the organization wanted us to hear. Now, we can hear all sorts of voices on the subject. It's true democracy at work.

The advantages of blogs from an organizational perspective include the following:
1) The consumer and citizen are potentially better informed and this can only be good for the long-term health of our societies and economies.
2) Blogs have potential to help the organization develop stronger relationships and brand loyalty with its customers, as they interact with the 'human face' of the organization through blogs.
3) Blogs, in an intranet environment, can be an excellent way of sharing knowledge within the organization.
4) Blogs can be a positive way of getting feedback, and keeping your finger on the pulse, as readers react to certain pieces, suggest story ideas, etc.
5) Blogs can build the profile of the writer, showcasing the organization as having talent and expertise.

The disadvantages of blogs are:
1) Most people don't have very much to say that's interesting, and/or are unable to write down their ideas in a compelling and clear manner.
2) I have often found that the people who have most time to write have least to say, and the people who have most to say don't have enough time to write it. Thus, the real expertise within the organization lays hidden, as you get drowned in trivia.
3) Like practically everything else on the Web, blogs are easy to start and hard to maintain.

Writing coherently is one of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks for a human being to undertake. So, far from blogs being a cheap strategy, they are a very expensive one, in that they eat up time. As a result, many blogs are not updated, thus damaging rather than enhancing the reputation of the organization.

4) Organizations are not democracies. The Web makes many organizations look like disorganizations, with multiple tones and opinions. Contrary to what some might think, the average customer prefers it if the organization they are about to purchase from is at least somewhat coherent.

There's money in words; real value, real worth. I'm not a blogger but I do have this newsletter and I can tell you that these 500 or so words that I publish every week have seen a major return on investment for me.

As an individual, I would highly recommend that you have some sort of publishing strategy, whether it be a blog, newsletter, writing articles for magazines, website or whatever. This is an age where you will build your professional reputation word by word. Start off by finding something people care about and that you care about.

For your web content management solution, contact Gerry McGovern http://www.gerrymcgovern.com
Subscribe to his New Thinking Newsletter: subscribe@gerrymcgovern.mailer1.net

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I cried because I had no shoes ...

..