Top Ten Blog Posts Of 2014

Yes, it's that time of year when folks roll out the ol' top ten lists for the year. In the past, I have listed the top ten blog posts according to readership. This year, I've decided to list my favorite top ten for 2014. It is an eclectic array of topics, as usual. Here we go!

#1 - Race Hatred: THE Divisive Issue - http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2014/03/race-hatred-divisive-issue.html

#2 -  9/11 Museum Of Rich Crass Elites & Tastelessness - http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2014/05/911-museum-of-rich-crass-elites.html

#3 - Forget The First Amendment - Jail Climate Change Deniers! - http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2014/03/forget-first-amendment-jail-climate.html

#4 - Multiple Gunmen Yet AGAIN! and AGAIN! - http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2014/05/multiple-gumen-yet-again.html

#5 - It's Not About "Burger Flippers" It's About The Devalued Dollar - http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2014/05/its-not-about-burger-flippers-its-about.html

#6 - A Tale Of Two Transvestites - http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-tale-of-two-transvestites.html

#7 - Critical Thinking Is Becoming Passé In The 21st Century - http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2014/06/critical-thinking-is-becoming-passe-in.html

#8 - The Cigarettes Of 'The Maltese Falcon' - http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-cigarettes-of-maltese-falcon.html

#9 - Video Of Boy Saving Girl From Sniper Fire In Syria IS FAKE! - http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2014/11/video-of-boy-saving-girl-from-sniper.html

#10 - The Middle East Wars From A To Z - http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-middle-east-wars-from-to-z.html

 

Top Ten Blog Posts Of 2013

It's that time of year again where Americans gather around the computer to check out the top ten lists for the year. Here are the top ten blog posts for Random Thoughts Of A Random Guy From A Random Place Up In The Sky for 2013. This blog is now 2 and-a-half years old and I've written nearly 100 posts in that time. Unlike last year, only one post on this list was written the year previous, and just barely. Based on the number of reads (or hits), here is the list you have been waiting for:

1. "Dead Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Interviewed By Local Paper About Shooting"
After a slow start, this post became quite popular, being number one for several weeks and just beating the number two post by a single read. The official report on the shooting does nothing to clear up this bizarre story, in fact, it doesn't mention it at all.

2. "The Pesky Bill Of Rights"
The way the government has been reacting, these rights are certainly being damned pesky.

3. "Announcing The First Ever Donation Drive"
Circumstances beyond my control forced me to go hat in hand on the internet in an attempt to raise $525. $325 was raised over 3 months, but that extra would still go a long way to alleviating some trauma. Won't you be an angel and help?

4. "President Obama Warns Students To Reject Voices Regarding Government Tyranny The Day After Kent State Massacre Anniversary"
Apparently, only Obama and the sheep he was speaking to missed the irony of this low moment of the year.

5. "George W. Bush - Artist"
Some of former president George W. Bush's paintings were "accidently" released on-line (yeah, right, whatever) and in this post I became an art critic (and why not?).

6. "Michael Hastings, The Car Crash & The Autopsy Report"
After moving to Los Angeles late in 2012, this story became one of the strangest and, at times, most heatedly debated of the entire year. So far, Mercedes has not backed down on their claim that their cars do not explode.

7. "ROBERT F. KENNEDY - The Most Obvious Conspiracy"
The 45th anniversary of RFK's assassination prompted this piece which shows how obvious was this conspiracy and cover-up in that shooting.

8. "Michael Hastings Fiery Car Crash: The Tale Of Two Cars & Disinformation"
Even I make mistakes sometimes and am willing to admit it. This post still supplies perceptions shared by even Mainstream Media (MSM) reporters.

9. "Mass Manipulation - Too Many Gunmen At The Sandy Hook Shooting"
This tragic event was subjected to a variety of disinformation campaigns that nearly boggle the mind. Instead of being boggled, here was an attempt to look at the usual script used once again (if it ain't broke why fix it?).

10. "Gilligan's Island - An Appreciation"
One of my longest blog posts ever was one of the most fun to write. I'm glad it made the top ten.
 

My 1st Year Of Blogging - Here Are The Top 10

(photo by Tammy Harrel-Fraley)

As difficult as it is for me to contemplate, this marks my first year of blogging. After publishing some 60 posts, readers from all over the world have read enough of them for me to create a Top 10 list of blog posts. As I've said before, Americans love lists and nothing is better than reading lists than creating lists. I thought about creating my own personal Top 10 list, but I'll just stick with a list based on reader "views" with appropriate comments. Not surprisingly, the articles about conspiracies lead the way.

1. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/11/jfk-conspiracy-proof-is-in-warren.html
"JFK CONSPIRACY-The Proof Is In The Warren Report" was one of two postings concerning the 48th anniversary of JFK's assassination. This one far outpaced the others on the list and is certainly in my personal top five.

2. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2012/03/john-lennon-conspiracy-of-silence.html
"JOHN LENNON - A Conspiracy Of Silence" wherein I reprinted the original script for the documentary of the same name. Due to time limitations, the documentary was kept just under fifteen minutes, which meant some material was edited out. I felt some readers might enjoy the longer version and apparently they did. The article also includes a link to the video on You Tube.

3. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/10/obama-extrajudicial-mass-murderer.html
"Obama: Extra Judicial Mass Murderer" was by far the most popular blog in terms of page views at the end of 2011. I'm pleased as I feel it is one of my best works.

4. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/11/walter-cronkite-was-source-of-core-jfk.html
"Walter Cronkite Was The Source Of The Core 'JFK Conspiracies' came about after watching the original live broadcasts from CBS News on that fateful day in Dallas. I was amazed how many of the subsequent "theories" were originally reported as facts.

5. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/08/presidents-who-owned-people.html
"Presidents Who Owned People" is still one of my personal favorites. Pictures and history! I got the idea after reading a well researched article about our Presidents.

Rod's Top Ten Blog Posts For 2011

The author contemplates a glass half full! (Photo credit: Tammy Harrel-Fraley)

And so we scamper toward another end of the year. If there's something more Americans like at the end of the year than reading lists, it is creating lists. Although I only started blogging last July, here are the top ten blog posts from Random Thoughts Of A Random Guy From A Random Place Up In The Sky for 2011:

1. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/10/obama-extrajudicial-mass-murderer.html
"Obama: Extra Judicial Mass Murderer" was by far the most popular blog in terms of page views. I'm pleased as I feel it is one of my best works.

2. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/11/jfk-conspiracy-proof-is-in-warren.html
"JFK CONSPIRACY-The Proof Is In The Warren Report" was one of two postings concerning the 48th anniversary of JFK's assassination.

3. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/08/strange-deadly-journey-of-navy-seal.html
"The Strange And Deadly Journey Of Navy Seal Team 6" while placing third was certainly first in the amount of comments it generated. It is one of my best on-the-spot postings.

4. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-short-stark-raving-theatre-brief.html
"In Short, A Stark Raving Theatre Brief" is my theatre memoir about the halcyon days of Stark Raving Theatre. Informative and historical, as they say.

5. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/08/presidents-who-owned-people.html
"Presidents Who Owned People" was my personal favorite. Pictures and history! I got the idea after reading a well researched article about our Presidents.

6. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/09/wall-street-protests-news-blackout.html
"Wall Street Protests News Blackout Disinformation" was one of those "I can't believe people are falling for this" postings. The interweb was abuzz with how MSM was blacking out the Occupy protests, which was completely untrue. So, this was my most informative essay toppling nasty rumors.

7. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-i-wont-vote-for-barack-obama-again.html
"Why I Won't Vote For Barack Obama Again" now here's a posting that will be used for the next 11 months!

8. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-if-there-was-book-about-you-and.html
"What If There Was A Book About You And You Didn't Know It?" oh, by far the most surprising thing to have found on the interweb. Yes, Big Brother is watching you and he wants to make a few bucks off of you, too.

9. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/11/random-thoughts-of-random-guy.html
"Random Thoughts..." is the only fiction posting to have made the list (which tears a little bit at the original writer in me).

10. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/08/shooting-on-shoestring-budget-part-2.html
"Shooting On A Shoestring Budget, Part 2" was part of a series of postings I wrote regarding the shooting of that fabulous new short film, "Our Neighbors"!

WHAT IF THERE WAS A BOOK ABOUT YOU AND YOU DIDN'T KNOW IT?

Yes, the interweb is still a bit of a Wild West kinda place all right. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Amazon books was selling a book about me (yes, me) starting at $39 [plus shipping & handling] all the way up to $50. It is a small 68 page paperback that seems to be available in several languages. How is this even possible I wondered?

It is because in this era of free content there are several publishing companies that exist for no other reason than to publish books complied from these free sources. The free sources in question are Wikipedia, as the cover proudly exclaims, "High quality content from Wikipedia articles". In the case of the book about me, the publisher is Betascript Publishing which is part of a company called VDM (which ironically has a Wikipedia entry), a company based in Germany (it's always the Germans!) with offices in Argentina and Latvia. There are three "editors" credited for the book about me whose names I'll pass on putting in the blog post. Nevertheless, they managed a 68 page book about me from this Wikipedia entry and another about Stark Raving Theatre and who knows where else (and now that you have read the links you know about me without having to spend $40!).