Terrance Vestal: Curing the Topix Toxin with Responsibility

Ruidoso, New Mexico. Sunday, August 28, 2011

The National Association for the Advancement of Pathetic People (NAAPP) today called an emergency executive session in response to incendiary comments recently published against them by the Editor of the Ruidoso News, Mr. Terrance Vestal, in his editorial, "Curing the Topix Toxin with Responsibility." Condemning anonymous blogging on Topix, the newly appointed editor of the Ruidoso News took his cues from Mayor "Wrong Way Ray" Alborn, who earlier this year suggested all blogging should be stopped.

Avid "Wrong Wayers," or the We the Sheeple crowd, hailed the editor's efforts to silence We the People as a "Vestal Virtue." Reports are coming in, however, that some former "Wrong Wayers" have made a u-turn and now find the Mayor and his puppet newspaper highly suspect.

An editorial by Vestal from 2003 exposes the new editor as quite a chameleon, who once championed the rights of free speech and stated, "Proper, balanced and fair reporting isn't the only challenge newspapers face...The balancing act comes in when there is a conflict between what citizens want to see from their newspaper and what an advertiser or a community leader might want to see in the newspaper."
http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2003/nov/...

Baffled by this, many "Wrong Wayers" are wondering how Mr. Vestal can continue to carry the Mayor's water, when his bucket seems to be full of holes.

Other citizens spoke out in support of Mr. Vestal's proposal to censor the blogs. Willard Farkel pointed out, "We can't have anonymous thoughts and comments spread around our country. Why, look at the damage the 'We Tip' hotline has caused, not to mention anonymous whistle-blowers, anonymous witnesses placed in the witness protection program or Deep Throat -- though I did enjoy the movie, several times."

The Communist Party in America has announced that Facebook will be the 2011 recipient of its "Commrade in Arms" award for effectively seducing businesses and citizens alike to enroll in their voluntary classification program (which Vestal supports), and Vestal will be given the coveted "Golden Muzzle" award for his unabashed contradiction of his prior stance as proponent of the First Amendment.

Others in the community who wish to put their full faith and allegiance in Mr. Vestal are burning the evening oil, pouring through dictionaries trying to find out what Mr. Vestal meant when he started his commentary with a word foreign to the readership: "Irecently." They will find the word right next to "Irevolting" and "Iridiculous."

Mr. Vestal was unavailable for comment. An "anonymous" tipster reports he is busy trying to scrub the Internet for any evidence of his prior association with the Committee of Concerned Journalists.

My name is Cope so It really does not bother me to put my name on something but it does bother me when someone pretends to be me and says something that I would never say.So let me be clear as President Obama likes to say Mr.Vestal I have no clue how you could become an editor of a newspaper,but between you and Larry the cable guy,when you consider that so many people are out of work, that have talent It makes me happy that people with no talent except pandering can find work.so good for you.As far as the myth about John Hancock you repeated .I recomend that you go back and learn history.Hancock was the secretary and that is why his name is on the bottom in the center as he was the only one that was going to sign the Declaration,then after that other men signed it. The placement of the signatures matched the placement on the map as was custom in those days in other words if you held up a map of the colonies to the placement of the signatures they would match.Whoever started writing crap in other peoples names reminds me of the stories about firemen who start fires.Any way so far with the storys you are running you seem to be the worlds largest Brown Nose ever.My name is COPE and that is my veiw of you Mr.Vestal.So go ahead and put it on the frount page if you like.

Well, now Cope... Surely you don't expect Terrance to know U.S. history when he doesn't even remember his own? You see, I went to the link in the Breaking News post and read what old Terrance had to say about things circa 2003 and at that time said journalist was all about the people, the readers, the citizens-if you will. Among some of the many things he said that are directly opposite what he wrote in his smug editorial in the RN, which I shall atttempt to post separately, was the following :
"a newspaper must reflect the community in which it serves or suffer the consequences of a lack of credibility.
This means representing as many segments of the community as possible so that no segment feels disenfranchised by the publication."
Uh, Terrance, I'm feeing very disenfranchised by the Ruidoso News about now, although I'm quite sure you've made Mayor Alborn and his sidekick Debi Lee giddy with delight. It's quite obvious who you are consorting with and to whom you are catering. Mayor Alborn made it abundantly clear that he hated this forum and also that he wouldn't hear any criticism of his staff at public meetings, thus trying to thwart open dialogue and free speech wherever it might take place. Another poster today in the Ruidoso News said it very well:
"Herme Colquholn · University of Central Oklahoma
Many things go on at the Ruidoso News that fly in the face of "every tenet of journalism".(Um, for example, massive typographical errors in your editorial). You want to silence people with opinions that don't applaud or messed up VOR? Who was the person who was paid to post hundreds of idiotic comments on topix over a three week period? Those posts were used to demonstrate how awful topix was, but those posts were plants. You're as transparent as you are idiotic. We have anonymous tip lines to call for drunk drivers, suspicious goings-ons and to report drug activity. We can report child cruelty anonymously. If I was working in a company where illegal activity went on, I could report it and be protected by the whistle blower act. But, we are not allowed to talk about how Debie Lee got her position lacking the qualifications? We aren't allowed to wonder why the White fire cause has not been revealed? What about the search for a new fire chief? It should be going on right? We dare not criticize the all powerful Dee Hubbard and his extortionist activities? The powers that be can all sleep soundly tonight knowing that they have a minion in place as editor in chief. Wait, you aren't just trying to get our names to hassle and intimidate us, are you?
So what happens now? Will you be deleting those comments you don't like? Those comments that might paint your compadres in a negative light? That's censorship. Topix isn't evil. The motto for topix is "your town, your news, your take". But that isn't allowed is it? Mayor Alborn doesn't allow for criticism.
The internet is about two way communication. This is a scary concept for those who want to see people silenced. Topix has grown to be a top-twenty news site on the Internet. Topix facilitates interactivity in the form of comments, mostly around localized news. Oh editor, are you trying to make your newspaper more profitable? I realize that Topix redirects original content from newspapers, which takes away the revenue associated with that content. Is it getting harder for you to compete with Hubbard's rag? Good luck with the profitability factor. You just cut your nose off to spite.... well, you know how it goes.
Thanks for the good laugh. This editorial had us literally rolling on the floor at the Buttery."
For shame, Terrance. For Shame.

Terrance Vestal (Editor, RN)
Irecently received an email criticizing the fact that the online edition of the Ruidoso News was moving away from Topix, a forum in which anonymous comments can be made regarding any person or any topic, regardless of truth or fairness. The email went on to say that, somehow, by dropping Topix, we are depriving, "We the People," from voicing their opinions.
It is true that we are in the process of establishing a system, most likely through facebook, so that people will have to register to comment online. We want to move away from allowing the cowardly snipes from those who are out to abuse the system with personal, irrelevant and sometimes truly hateful vendettas. We want to promote a more civil, productive discourse
For me, personally, this push to a new system in accountability has been too long in coming.
In this recent email that I mentioned earlier, a reader and user of Topix was vehemently opposed to the move, saying that the voice of "We the People" was somehow being shut out because there would be no more access to Topix from the Ruidoso News web site. This protest was made even after nearly a month had passed since I had asked the reader to present whatever concerns and issues the reader might have in the form of a letter to the editor. Of course, that letter would have to be signed with an actual name, which seems to be the sticking point. Those people who want to spew venom and personal attacks don't want
to be held accountable. They crouch like cowards behind a wall of anonymity, irrelevant, wasted breath, churning up unnecessary controversy, simply to provide a reason for their paltry, pathetic existence, which makes up most of the populace of Topix.
The Internet allows people to foment conspiracy theories, rumors, innuendo, while hiding behind anonymity that Topix affords them. They claim that, somehow, if they have to own what they say, it somehow infringes on their First Amendment rights.
The Fou_nding Fa_thers, of course, never envisioned the spineless attacks and gutter-mentality that takes place on most Topix sites.
John Hancock, one of the original Tea Partiers, made a point of signing his name so large on the Declaration of Independence that no one would have any doubt of his intentions. Anyone who looked at that document knew exactly where he stood. There was no "JH'76." And he signed it under the threat of hanging.
No one is going to hang anyone for expressing an opinion regarding a newspaper article, and if you don't have the conviction behind an opinion that you might express that might anger your neighbors, then you should probably just keep it to yourself.
If it is such a controversial issue that you aren't willing to publicly make a stand, maybe you should check your own faith in what you say you believe in.
This person who sent me this email complained about a lack of access to Topix so she could raise issues about Lincoln Medical Center. She showed her true colors, however, when she said that the person she was targeting, with irrelevant fervor, "wasn't even born in this country."

con't.. Terrance Vestal RN ED

You see, people like this email writer need Topix to make such hyperbolic statement so she can avoid accountability.
With Topix, she can make such an outrageous and stupid comment without anyone knowing who she is and other similar-minded oafs, also under the cloak of anonymity, will respond and make her feel important. That's really the gist of Topix. Personally, I don't believe Topix should have ever been connected with any self-respecting newspaper. It was a trend that caught on and was not fully thought out until it snowballed into something that went beyond the bounds of what is respectable journalism.
Anonymity flies in the face of every tenet of journalism, save for the most dire circumstances when life or national security might be at risk.
Simply, if you know the source of information, you determine whatever agenda might be at play and journalists, or their readers, know from where to get a counter, balanced view. From a passing glance of the trash and trivial that litters most of the Topix threads, there are no reliable sources on either side because you don't really know who is saying what.
And it seems that each entry is made to feed the tiny ego of the poster in one-ups-man-ship against a perceived "other" that isn't so well defined either.
Usually these threads degenerates into personal rants against a person or persons and trickles out to bickering that has nothing to do with the original story.
This is why we push for accountability for what is said regarding what we publish. So we know who really stands up for what they believe and who might just be trying to score petty political cheap shots with friends and cronies, which is simply a waste of our ink and the time of our readership.

I have to agree…shame on you, Mr. Vestal . Who died and made you the keeper of my freedoms? What happened to fair and unbiased journalism? Certain freedoms died again today and you assisted. Shame on you.

We are not journalists here on Topix. Most of us are just ordinary, and in some ways very frustrated citizens. We vent and we sometimes promote “discourse” that others would rather we just kept to ourselves. Some of us used that arena to get the rest of the story out there where your paper may have failed.

There are a few who did abuse it, who spammed it with their “personal vendettas” as you say, but more clearly was THEIR PERSONAL AGENDA. THEY wanted to silence certain voices. And you provided them just that opportunity. THEY crouched like cowards behind you in their very own “ wall of anonymity”,“churning up unnecessary controversy” just to get you to do their dirty work,in my opinion. And YOU fell for it. THEY succeeded. I feel THEY are the cowards who ruined it for all of us.

I resent your conclusion that being anonymous means my existence is both “paltry and pathetic”. Many may have good reason for anonymity. I do. Perhaps if you came down off your high horse for just one moment, you might realize that most posts do not feed anyone’s ego. By your own admonishment they are anonymous...so how could they?

You stated “ No one is going to hang anyone for expressing an opinion regarding a newspaper article, and if you don't have the conviction behind an opinion that you might express that might anger your neighbors, then you should probably just keep it to yourself.“ Do you even live in the real world here? Many HAVE stood behind their convictions without ambiguity and suffered dearly for it, trust me. You might start with your own responsibility by asking questions of your very own staff, both present and past. Perhaps they have some “insights” that would shed light on the true cowards who allowed and continue to allow suppression, harassment, intimidation, and abuse of the common citizens. Citizens who tried to stand for their rights, and who received more than injustice by those very cowards who hide behind their own cloak of “pretend outrage and anonymity”. Some of your own have the facts.

One last thought… for now. Do you have the courage of your convictions to find the real truths behind the posters outrage and anonymity? We shall see in the not-too-distant future, I believe, when you are presented with information that is reliable, documented and NOT anonymous. We shall see if you are truly willing then to write the articles that need to be in black and white. We shall see who really stands up for what they believe and whose “agenda might be at play”.

Sadly, I believe I already know the answer.

Signed: Only Temporarily Anonymous

I will agree that placing one's real name on a blog gives it more credibility. In a perfect world maybe all would feel comfortable signing their names. But, unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world and most (especially in a small village) fear retaliation regarding any strong opinions and criticism of writing skills. It is difficult for me to believe that one reader has moved you to discontinue TOPIX. I do believe that there are those that use TOPIX for trash, but, they are a minority that tend to get ignored rapidly. Readers can sift through the nonsense themselves.
As for the gossip, Peter Jaret states " Exchanging tales over the back yard fence also helps a community of people establish moral boundaries". Even more important in this day of extreme distrust of public officials and entertaining, corporate journalists, Canadian philosopher Ronald de Sousa sums it up best-- "Gossip allows us to exchange truths that otherwise remain hidden".
As for your comments re: our founding fathers never envisioning spineless attacks and gutter mentality-- I think you better take another look at some of their habits. Benjamin Franklin was famous for writing under several different names. Thomas Jefferson, according to Hannah Strange, hired journalist and pamphleteer Thomas Callender to slander John Adams, his opponent.
I argue that it is better to let all comments be released that allows the reader's critical thinking than let an editor filter information for the public.

George had his good friend Karl Rove manipulate the media. Karl forbid anyone saying anything bad about George or the GOP. George affectionately knicknamed him Turdblossom.

Ruidoso News Editor Terrance is our own Turdblossom.

Turdblossom Terrance. It's kinda catchy!

Turdblossom, you fool, remember me? Mark Twain? I used several pen names to conceal my true name, Samuel Clemens. For example, I hated Mormons and I wrote scathing criticisms of them and their infernal "religion." Had you been alive during my time, why, you would have denied me my greatest joy and protection: writing candidly under SEVERAL different pen names.
"A complete bibliography of (Twain's) works is nearly impossible to compile because of the vast number of pieces written by Twain (often in obscure newspapers) and his use of several different pen names."
e.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain
It's ironic that you write a column entitled, "Bleeding the Black Ink," because I once wrote, "Never get in a pissing contest with someone who buys ink by the barrel." But by a great twist of fate in this day and age -- something I could never have imagined -- along came the Internet, and people ANONYMOUSLY get their ink for FREE! Game on, Turdblossom.
You ought to come visit the little children down here in Houston at the Mark Twain Elementary School. They know more about free speech than you do and named their school after me. Nobody will be naming any schools after you, Turdblossom.

What is being proven here is that he not only did us an injustice but himself as well by this action. Though we are still anonymous, we are showing that most of us give our opinions (somewhat) respectfully and are not the "fakers and germes" of the topix world who tried to ruin it for the rest of us. Take a guess how this is gonna work out for the RN in the long run.

Oh man, you can't control what's being said about the VOR, the firestarter, Hubbard, Alborn, etc. It's funny as hell to try. I visited the article at the news and only two opinions on his idiocy there. You know who's got to be happy? Marty Racine. The best thing in the world is to be replaced by someone who can't do your job/fails miserably/makes a mockery of the product, etc.

Mad Max wrote:

Oh man, you can't control what's being said about the VOR, the firestarter, Hubbard, Alborn, etc. It's funny as hell to try....

and don't forget Capitan....lol

Wow, it seems whenever I return to Ruidoso from an out of town work project, there's another outrageous act of treachery being perpetrated upon the good citizens of Lincoln County by some partisan saboteur possessing a modicum of power. Who is this Terrance Vestal who slithered into town during my absence, possibly a friend and former classmate of Debbie Lee at that mystical university from which she graduated, FCUK U? We know Ms. Lee has violated the privacy of her employees to the extent of reading their cell phone texts (due to her insecurities) and also prohibits her staff from having any contact with former management, and we also know her chief supporter, our cowardly mayor, cannot abide the forum and forbids criticism of his staff so it certainly seems likely that a certain editor has been unduly influenced by these two reprobates.

Of course there are many others who would also benefit by shutting down commentary on this forum- a group of greedy realtors who financed a shady election, a shady minister accused of bilking his and other local congregations out of thousands of dollars, a perverted ex-teacher who should be a registered sex offender but was saved by conveniently copping a plea to a lesser felony (a very sweet deal), a perverted millionaire beggar once involved in a prostitution scandal, the rich beggar's brown-nosing sidekicks, and the list goes on (and how!)

This new editor seems like a complete hypocrite who has not only made a decision to quash freedom of speech but has attempted to, as he so accused topix posters of doing, " score petty political cheap shots" by venomously referring to the many RN readers here as pathetic, irrelevant and cowardly, along with a myriad of other like insults. He seems to forget that we are not professional journalists on this forum, but citizens who are expressing our concerns and grievances and imparting and sharing information that might otherwise never come to light. I've taken a few personal knocks on this forum, but no matter, I see the value of this kind of interaction among the concerned citizenry of a community. Mr. Vestal's motives and true colors seem all too clear to me.

I'm reminded of the billboards put up soon after Obama became President bearing President Bush's image and the message, "Do you miss me yet?"

I'm imagining the very same words, "do you miss me yet?" on a billboard with Marty Racine wearing his ridiculous hat and peering down at us with a big smirk on his face!

And guess what, Marty? I think I do!

I don't know if DL is behind this or not. I have a close connection to someone in her office and "big brother watching" is a recurring them. It seems to, big brother will now be watching all who post in the RN forum. All the little puppets dancing maniacally with their heads lolling about; the background an illuminated "Fight back" sign and Cyndi Lynch's snarling grin. This town has gone to hell. Soon it will be a ghost town just like C town. The dam will burst. The water will run. And then there will be nothing but the stank of the VORS sewer.

Terrence Vestal and Alborn together having lunch. Hotdogs grilled over theblackened remains of the bill of rights and US consititution. Afterwards the two were observed to goosestep their way back to their respective offices to bask in their misappropriated power/reign of terror.

Fire in the hole wrote:

I don't know if DL is behind this or not. I have a close connection to someone in her office and "big brother watching" is a recurring them. It seems to, big brother will now be watching all who post in the RN forum. All the little puppets dancing maniacally with their heads lolling about; the background an illuminated "Fight back" sign and Cyndi Lynch's snarling grin. This town has gone to hell. Soon it will be a ghost town just like C town. The dam will burst. The water will run. And then there will be nothing but the stank of the VORS sewer.

Do you know by chance if and when the lawsuit against Debi Lee VS Portales is scheduled? I thought it had been slated for July.

Turdblossom is furious at the response his editorial received! He also wishes that there was no way to link from Topix to his paper! ahahahahahahahahahahah

ahahahahaha

Anonymous by order wrote:

Turdblossom is furious at the response his editorial received! He also wishes that there was no way to link from Topix to his paper! ahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahaha

Turdblossom! Forgot to mention earlier how much I like his nickname. What a bonafide JERK! Possibly the worst editorial I've ever read. Turdblossom you are pathetic!!

In case anyone thinks that complaining here will do any good ,and I don`t think it will, I suggest that all of us pathetic losers click on all the links to media group the parent company and recommend to the higher ups that they read what is being printed by this new guy that`s what I did and it felt real good.and my name is COPE .

Fire in the hole wrote:

I don't know if DL is behind this or not. I have a close connection to someone in her office and "big brother watching" is a recurring them. It seems to, big brother will now be watching all who post in the RN forum. All the little puppets dancing maniacally with their heads lolling about; the background an illuminated "Fight back" sign and Cyndi Lynch's snarling grin. This town has gone to hell. Soon it will be a ghost town just like C town. The dam will burst. The water will run. And then there will be nothing but the stank of the VORS sewer.

I totally agree with you. So happy I don't live in Ruidoso. People don't realize how the whole village is falling apart. Corruption abounds. Now this newspaper restricting the voice of people who know full well if they live in the county you better not speak your mind. Unbelieveable