ones now – including this one). There are others who share this internet connection (and thus this PUBLIC IP address)

who may or may not have posted on your blog or anywhere else for that matter – i don’t necessarily follow or control

what everyone else around me does. I speak for myself and no one else.

Side Note ** Just because you know the IP address (it isn’t hard to find ) – doesn’t give you all the answers, nor does

it mean you know who’s behind the keyboard. I encourage you all to be careful with assumptions. Anyway – enough about

that.

But i have to ask – Why would i go thru the trouble of making a comment under my email – and then an anonymous one ? OR

was it anonymous first? and then my e-mail ? Sounds sketchy to me and looks like an awful lot of work for no benefit to

me. What would i possibly have to gain ? It’s not like anything i say is going to change anything…. or is it ?

I don’t trust most internet sites to put my real name down (yes im paranoid) – due to flaming wars and other drama and

nonsense. I also didn’t put my real name down because i’m not the one pointing fingers or making accusations now am i ?

My reputation isn’t at stake in this. If these accusations prove true – what has been gained or lost ? IF these

accusations prove FALSE however (or possibly some where in between as i suspect most things do) Then i wonder what might

be lost or gained ? There’s always 3 sides to every story. Some folks apparently don’t realize that.

In my original post, I merely presented another possible side of this debate and tried to make a conscious effort to not

take sides – but since you don’t agree with what i said – i’m being attacked now? Is the argument that weak, the

accusations so groundless, that personal attacks have to be brought in? Seriously ? In any legal arena – none of the

‘evidence’ would stand, and in truth might backfire on the accuser. But i’m not a lawyer – what do i know ?

Moving on; Perhaps i wasn’t clear in my last post so i’ll try again. Thanks to Trish to clearing up some of my

questions, much appreciated. Althought i must say that my comments and questions were not directed towards Trish or

anyone else directly – that wasn’t my intention – i wasn’t trying to ruffle anyone’s feathers – i merely wanted to ask

some open ended questions to get people thinking. Beyond just the accusations.

In response to Trish’s comments : These are not attacks, merely observations, as all my comments have been.

1) See above
2) I agree
3) I agree – but it can be talked about objectively, without pointing fingers.
4) Fair enough – My mistake, bad choice of words on my part. What should we call it then ?
5) So it’s simply not possible – under any circumstances – for a person to have more than one of an object ? Rare tho it

may be – it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I’m certain that there are other possibilities and explanations that have not

been considered let alone explored. I’ll leave it at that.
6) I agree – they could – but i don’t think it would help. How often do celebrities respond to tabloids ?
7) I agree with the second point – 100% – just not the first point. If YOU choose to work with a product for a month

before doing a review – fair enough your choice – but in my untrained opinion, it would depend on the item being

reviewed, and the knowledge of the reviewer on said product. Wouldn’t it? Your example of a vacuum cleaner – yes i can

see it taking a month to do a proper thorough review, absolutely. But what about a DVD movie ? As mentioned in the

original article – how many times do you have to watch it to review it ? The average movie is what – 90 minutes ? How

long does it take to actually write the review ? a couple of hours ? So for your Vacuum example – yes we have to be very

thorough – i agree – and yes it could take a month or more – i agree. But a DVD ? There are lots of factors to consider

- and blanketing every review with a minimum time frame doesn’t work… unless you’re reviewing the same type of thing

each time?. But again – what do i know ?

Anyway,
If these folks are doing stuff they shouldn’t be doing – then yes it makes everyone else (honest or otherwise) look bad

- it makes the whole operation and system look bad – and yes can make it hellish difficult for everyone else – AGREED.

And it needs to be stopped – AGREED. But i’m not convinced of that yet.

The burden of proof should not be on the defenders – it should be on the accusers. It’s supposed to be innocent until

proven guilty, or isn’t it ?

In all seriousness, i realize that there are lots of honest people doing lots of different businesses out in the world –

And i support them – wholeheartedly. Then again there are also lots of crooks. I also realize that if there are crooks –

it should be public – i agree. People need to know who the crooks are to avoid them – i support the idea 100% – But this

has turned into a witch hunt. This has gone past being a public service and into an expose of some kind.

If these people are doing something wrong – yes i agree – something needs to be done about it. Again – 100% agree – and

i’m not defending these people – please don’t think i am.

But nobody has shown me that they HAVE. That’s my whole point. It’s all questionable at best.

IF (and that’s a big if) the items are being sold as NEW and the items being sold aren’t (assuming it’s the same item) –

then yes that’s not right – i agree. And they need to be called on it.
IF (and again a big if) the reviews are not legit (for one reason or another) then yes – that’s not right – i agree. And

they need to be called on it.

I also realize that there are lots of honest, hardworking mommybloggers and such out there that are struggling to

survive (let alone succeed) and to find their niche in the world – and i’m sorry that crooks make you look bad. It’s a

sad truth, but truth it is. But not every shadow is a monster.

But having said that, I would imagine that if any one of you (or me) were examined under a microscope – we’d all be

surprised, shocked, appalled, disgusted, etc etc etc by what was uncovered. Not only that – but I doubt any of you would

like it? Well I for one wouldn’t, and don’t wish it on anyone. It’s easy to point fingers folks – real easy.

In all truth – i wonder if we’ll ever get the whole story? Begging another question – would it matter if the whole FULL

truth did come out ? would people change their minds ? Not likely – regardless of what came out – i don’t think anything

would change.

I’ve seen these types of attacks before, and when/if the truth comes out – i seriously doubt it will be as dramatic and

sensational as what it is right now. Is real life as interesting as the tabloids ? Usually not – that’s why we have

tabloids – that’s why we have soap operas.

I guess my final question is this :
Do any of you really want the truth ? or do you simply want to hang somebody ? Or do you simply like the drama ? the

attention ? I guess the truth doesn’t draw as much attention or get as much reaction as a good scandal.

I don’t expect a serious answer, or any answer for that matter, it was rhetorical. A wise person once asked me – would

you rather be happy ? or right ? I knew my answer right away – and it hasn’t changed since I was asked.

But I do think that this has gotten way out of hand, and blown entirely out of proportion with the finger pointing. I

was hoping to appeal to the logical and reasonable side of people to encourage them to think before acting, and/or

speaking, (and judging) but it’s apparently being lost on some folks. (You can lead a horse to water….?) And by people

i mean the folks under fire – and the ones doing all the firing.

**Side Note : It’s my opinion that the original author of the article did WAY too much work, put far too much time into

this article, and that they couldn’t have simply ‘stumbled’ onto this. (Whether or not the accusations are true or not

being a separate issue to this one) I sense something far more personal here. There’s too much hate, too much spite and

venom for this to have been random. I think this is a targeted attack and someone’s been headhunting, and if you look

for something long enough – you’ll always find it – whether it’s there or not. Trish, if you know the person who wrote

the original article as you’ve said you do – then there maybe something there or not.

Lastly,I have to believe that all people are going to be held accountable (at some point) for what they say and do (good

bad or otherwise) – cops and crooks and everybody else as well. But i don’t think i’m in a position to judge or

criticize anyone – easy tho it may be. Nothing good comes from hate folks.

If you don’t consider anything else that i’ve said – consider this – Use your brain, it is your single greatest asset,

your greatest defense, and your greatest weapon. Don’t think with the heart. Think with the head – ACT with the heart.

(Preferably AFTER thinking with the head)

Another quote if you care to read it.
“You get what you put in – and people get what they deserve” – Kid Rock

Thanks and I hope that something good comes from all of this – although i’m not sure what that might be. Good luck to you all.

I actually set out to do a review website before I even knew that companies give freebies for that purpose! I was just going to review things I had bought myself. I was amazed when I learned about the possibility of working with well-known companies. Like many others on here, I work very hard to put forth a professional website that will make the best companies feel comfortable working with me. I’m still waiting for my “break”. So far I have reviewed steak sauce. And that’s fine – I was happy to do it, I appreciated the freebies, and made sure I provided a fair and honest review in return. It frustrates me to see unethical people with downright crappy websites getting the great freebies. I think the onus is on the companies to do their homework and make sure the reviews are legit. They need to have higher standards. Maybe other people don’t feel this way, but when I see companies working with questionable bloggers it affects my opinion of the company. It makes me wonder if they think their target demographic are stupid or have low standards. Take note, PR people!