A "star" is on collision course...
Open letter to Miss Carole Raphaelle Davis
Miss Davis,
this is the kind of posts we thought that we would never have to do. It's unfortunate. It's unpleasant. It's embarrassing. And a complete waste of time and energy since whatever we might possibly write, it won't make a difference to the world that we are living in anyway, and probably not even to yours since you don't appear to see beyond your own sorry-little-self, and live on a planet ALL of your own.
The issue that forced me to resort to this kind of "action" is that you called us "plagiarits", "liars", "thieves" and even "assholes". Not that we would have taken offense in the latter, though, but calling people plagiarits, liars, and thieves on public forums such as Facebook and Twitter, is a serious matter. And we cannot let this stand like that because we are none of these. And if restoring the reputation of my organisation, and that of my team, involves exposing you for what you are, then so be it.
The issue is between you and us (OFA) and I would have enjoyed nothing more than to sit with you on the "virtual table", and to discuss this with you. We could easily have got this out of our way, if only you would have get off your high horse, or out of the hole in which you have been hiding yourselves these last two days.
We - just like most people in the animal rights movement - don't want to cause any harm, nor offense to anyone. We are here to raise awareness about all kind of social injustice issues. Our primary interest is in violence with a special emphasis on the state-endorsed institutionalized and legalized violence, violence-relevant socio-psychological trauma, corruption, human, minority and animals rights abuses, the legal and constitutional aspects of the non-governmental and social movement, the protection of civil rights and liberties. And I think that we are doing a pretty good job, as you would know if you would be following our work, and as many would also confirm to you if you would ask them.
But shit happens, as you say over there. Sometimes things just go wrong. Fortunately, when doing what we are here to do, never ever anything went wrong because we have a quite high standard of professionalism and quality. It's only when stumbling over someone like you, that things - silly little things - literally trigger an avalanche of shit.
I believe that everybody, including you, knows what a "liar", a "thief" and an "asshole" is, so I think I can skip that part, and go over directly to the one that is maybe not so well understood by everyone, and definitely NOT by you, and that is what a "plagiarist" is, or better said: what plagiarism is.
Simply put, plagiarism is when you use someone else's work and pretend it to be yours by deliberately hiding where you have the "idea" from. So basically, it involves both stealing someone's work AND lying about it afterward. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source is usually enough to prevent plagiarism, according to plagiarism.org.
That is for a work, like an article, for example, where you quote someone else's work, or something like that. On Facebook it's somewhat different, and even simpler, but still the same. Most people don't write long articles... most only share posts, or articles that they find interesting. And many copy the text of the article that they would like to share with their audience and re-post it on Facebook using a picture for greater impact. It's common practice on Facebook, and there is nothing wrong with that provided the source of the original article is clearly acknowledged. We do that. Others do that, including respected pages. And we did that also with your article where we have acknowledged the source - of course - but didn't think of adding also your name. And that was it - the silly little thing - that triggered the avalanche of "you know what I mean".
But how, oh how, could we possibly have known that we would be stepping on the perfectly manicured little toes of someone with an ego the size of Mount Everest, as my friend Bobby would say?
While such a huge EGO might be an asset in the show business, and especially for someone like you - a soap opera actress - the vicious effects in a non-self-interest environment such as the animal rights community, are obvious. These negative forces do only cause aggression (yours) and distractions (others).
I had posted you a long comment into your bashing Facebook-post yesterday, in the hope that I could lure you out of your hole, and that we could get this silly little problem out of our way, but you didn't dare to face me, and although I know that you have seen my message, I re-post it here below, but that is merely for our readers so that they don't have to go through all the screenshots, although I am sure that they would find them very entertaining.
BTW, did your lawyer advise you to remove the picture from your article? ...the one for which you had no permission?
I have also added some really good music 'made in Luxembourg' for you. Please allow me to explain why. When you posted on our page and started your rant, threatening us with lawyers and lawsuits and all that stuff, I thought I would be dealing with a normal idiot on some kind of ego trip. By the way you behaved, I would never have imagined that you were some kind of "star" from Los Angeles. It was only when people told me that you would be bashing us on Twitter and that you would block those who dared to challenge you and stood up in our defense, that I learned that you were a soap-opera-actress and "singer". Oh LaLaaaa!
And I thought to myself: "Let's see what the lady does when she is not on collision course in the animal rights community..." And I searched for you on You Tube, and heard you sing. I was literally in pain. Also because I felt so deeply sorry for you. As it seems, you, Miss Davis, are not only in need of education on good behavior and good manners, but on good music as well.
That's why I have added these two videos from our Luxembourgian star, Serge Tonnar and his band "LegoTrip" (how very fitting, wouldn't you agree?). The first song on this page should be easy to understand even by people who don't understand our language, and even by you. The second one might be more "subtle" which is why I have added you some captions below the video so that you get a taste of what he's singing about, as I thought that not even your lawyers, who seem to be your only friends, would be able to help you out here.
And because with you one can never know, and just to be on the safe side, I would also like to add a DISCLAIMER:
Serge is in no way involved in, or affiliated to, our organisation. He only happens to be Luxembourgian, like me, and a really good musician (unlike me). So don't shoot the poor man! Don't unleash your deadly poison onto him, too!
I sincerely wish you well, and if I may, I would end my letter to you by adding a picture of Tristeza*, one of Bobby's dogs, before re-posting my latest message to you here, the screen shots, and bid you farewell.
Yours,
Pia Berrend / Founder of Occupy for Animals
* Tristeza is Spanish and means "the sad one". Bobby gave her that name because she had such a sad look on her face as a puppy... but only until she grow bigger and began to smile at everybody that crossed her path :)
this is the kind of posts we thought that we would never have to do. It's unfortunate. It's unpleasant. It's embarrassing. And a complete waste of time and energy since whatever we might possibly write, it won't make a difference to the world that we are living in anyway, and probably not even to yours since you don't appear to see beyond your own sorry-little-self, and live on a planet ALL of your own.
The issue that forced me to resort to this kind of "action" is that you called us "plagiarits", "liars", "thieves" and even "assholes". Not that we would have taken offense in the latter, though, but calling people plagiarits, liars, and thieves on public forums such as Facebook and Twitter, is a serious matter. And we cannot let this stand like that because we are none of these. And if restoring the reputation of my organisation, and that of my team, involves exposing you for what you are, then so be it.
The issue is between you and us (OFA) and I would have enjoyed nothing more than to sit with you on the "virtual table", and to discuss this with you. We could easily have got this out of our way, if only you would have get off your high horse, or out of the hole in which you have been hiding yourselves these last two days.
We - just like most people in the animal rights movement - don't want to cause any harm, nor offense to anyone. We are here to raise awareness about all kind of social injustice issues. Our primary interest is in violence with a special emphasis on the state-endorsed institutionalized and legalized violence, violence-relevant socio-psychological trauma, corruption, human, minority and animals rights abuses, the legal and constitutional aspects of the non-governmental and social movement, the protection of civil rights and liberties. And I think that we are doing a pretty good job, as you would know if you would be following our work, and as many would also confirm to you if you would ask them.
But shit happens, as you say over there. Sometimes things just go wrong. Fortunately, when doing what we are here to do, never ever anything went wrong because we have a quite high standard of professionalism and quality. It's only when stumbling over someone like you, that things - silly little things - literally trigger an avalanche of shit.
I believe that everybody, including you, knows what a "liar", a "thief" and an "asshole" is, so I think I can skip that part, and go over directly to the one that is maybe not so well understood by everyone, and definitely NOT by you, and that is what a "plagiarist" is, or better said: what plagiarism is.
Simply put, plagiarism is when you use someone else's work and pretend it to be yours by deliberately hiding where you have the "idea" from. So basically, it involves both stealing someone's work AND lying about it afterward. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source is usually enough to prevent plagiarism, according to plagiarism.org.
That is for a work, like an article, for example, where you quote someone else's work, or something like that. On Facebook it's somewhat different, and even simpler, but still the same. Most people don't write long articles... most only share posts, or articles that they find interesting. And many copy the text of the article that they would like to share with their audience and re-post it on Facebook using a picture for greater impact. It's common practice on Facebook, and there is nothing wrong with that provided the source of the original article is clearly acknowledged. We do that. Others do that, including respected pages. And we did that also with your article where we have acknowledged the source - of course - but didn't think of adding also your name. And that was it - the silly little thing - that triggered the avalanche of "you know what I mean".
But how, oh how, could we possibly have known that we would be stepping on the perfectly manicured little toes of someone with an ego the size of Mount Everest, as my friend Bobby would say?
While such a huge EGO might be an asset in the show business, and especially for someone like you - a soap opera actress - the vicious effects in a non-self-interest environment such as the animal rights community, are obvious. These negative forces do only cause aggression (yours) and distractions (others).
I had posted you a long comment into your bashing Facebook-post yesterday, in the hope that I could lure you out of your hole, and that we could get this silly little problem out of our way, but you didn't dare to face me, and although I know that you have seen my message, I re-post it here below, but that is merely for our readers so that they don't have to go through all the screenshots, although I am sure that they would find them very entertaining.
BTW, did your lawyer advise you to remove the picture from your article? ...the one for which you had no permission?
I have also added some really good music 'made in Luxembourg' for you. Please allow me to explain why. When you posted on our page and started your rant, threatening us with lawyers and lawsuits and all that stuff, I thought I would be dealing with a normal idiot on some kind of ego trip. By the way you behaved, I would never have imagined that you were some kind of "star" from Los Angeles. It was only when people told me that you would be bashing us on Twitter and that you would block those who dared to challenge you and stood up in our defense, that I learned that you were a soap-opera-actress and "singer". Oh LaLaaaa!
And I thought to myself: "Let's see what the lady does when she is not on collision course in the animal rights community..." And I searched for you on You Tube, and heard you sing. I was literally in pain. Also because I felt so deeply sorry for you. As it seems, you, Miss Davis, are not only in need of education on good behavior and good manners, but on good music as well.
That's why I have added these two videos from our Luxembourgian star, Serge Tonnar and his band "LegoTrip" (how very fitting, wouldn't you agree?). The first song on this page should be easy to understand even by people who don't understand our language, and even by you. The second one might be more "subtle" which is why I have added you some captions below the video so that you get a taste of what he's singing about, as I thought that not even your lawyers, who seem to be your only friends, would be able to help you out here.
And because with you one can never know, and just to be on the safe side, I would also like to add a DISCLAIMER:
Serge is in no way involved in, or affiliated to, our organisation. He only happens to be Luxembourgian, like me, and a really good musician (unlike me). So don't shoot the poor man! Don't unleash your deadly poison onto him, too!
I sincerely wish you well, and if I may, I would end my letter to you by adding a picture of Tristeza*, one of Bobby's dogs, before re-posting my latest message to you here, the screen shots, and bid you farewell.
Yours,
Pia Berrend / Founder of Occupy for Animals
* Tristeza is Spanish and means "the sad one". Bobby gave her that name because she had such a sad look on her face as a puppy... but only until she grow bigger and began to smile at everybody that crossed her path :)
My message from yesterday, 17th of August, 2015:
CAROLE! We have an issue here, now...
I have just been told that, although we have deleted our post regarding the The Dodo article immediately following your complaint, you have continued bashing us on your FB profile and on Twitter, and that you have even blocked some people who "dared" to challenge you and stood up in our defense.
https://twitter.com/caroleraphaelle/with_replies
You could have simply written to us, even posted publicly on our page, telling us something like:
"Listen guys, I don't like the way you have shared my article. Acknowledging only the source doesn't satisfy me. I am on a constant ego-trip and I love seeing my name shine everywhere." Or something like that....
We would have understood. We would have apologized, expressed our respect to you for this well written article, and corrected our post by adding your name. No big deal.
But you chose to make a public post on your profile, tagged us, and told your friends to tell us that we were "plagiarists" because we had "stolen" your article.
When we responded to your post, you have immediately threatened us with lawyers and lawsuits... all that stuff that doesn't impress us at all. We don't bow to threats, Carole. Not to yours. And not to anyone else's.
But we do listen. And we understand. And we reply kindly and we do what ever is being asked from us, including correcting mistakes, if the person simply tells us this in a kind, and non-confrontational manner.
The way you attacked and threatened us, Carole, was not okay. It's not okay to treat other fellow activists like that. We, the animal rights people, are supposed to be the "kind people" and to treat each other, and every living creature, with respect and kindness, even if the other might have made a mistake, or did something that you did not like or agree with. Compassion and understanding is what we are here to preach. We are all in this together and we should be a role model for others. Not an embarrassment to our entire movement.
You have attacked us for downloading YOUR PICTURE, but the picture wasn't even yours. The rightful owner of these pictures is Eduardo Nieto. You admitted on Twitter that you couldn't get permission to use his pictures, yet you did not even credit him in your article. You have simply used them (in your words: stolen them). You preached on Twitter: "stories matter... writers matter..." BUT what about photographers? Do they NOT matter?
BUT if WE re-post a 'The Dodo' article, acknowledge the source, but didn't think of adding also your name, you threaten us with your lawyer-silly-stuff?
See how insane your behavior is?
And then, even after we have taken our post on your article down, you continued with your diatribes, calling us "plagiarists", "thieves" and even "liars" on Twitter, where we did not even notice. It almost seems as if you would derive a tremendous pleasure from this kind of low-level-actions.
Regarding "plagiarists": we haven't plagiarized anything. We have clearly credited our source, meaning the 'The Dodo' website, who's slogan is: "For the love of animals. Pass it on!". By the way we shared their post, it is by definition no plagiarism, given that our source was clearly acknowledged.
Regarding "thieves": nothing has been taken from you, Carole. Right the contrary: we have helped to give your article even more exposure. We have never claimed that these words were ours... we have fully credited the 'The Dodo' website, who have credited you, meaning that we have - indirectly - credited you.
Regarding "liars": you might want to specify where we would have lied? We didn't lie. We have never claimed anything that wasn't true. Why should we be lying? And about what?
We have an issue now, and I would love to sit with you on the virtual table to see how we can get this out of our way now so that we can use our time (and I mean "ours") again to work on things that really do matter. You can also simply say the magic word: "Sorry" and simply remove all posts on us from everywhere you have bashed us.
I give you until tomorrow noon, 12:00 French time that is. Passed that delay, I will expose you for what you are: a soap-opera-actress whose ego got out of control... got bigger than her cause.
We have seen others before you, Carole (never some from our own rows, the animal rights movement, though) and more important ones than you:
http://www.occupyforanimals.net/romania---daciana-sarbu-a-head-with-two-faces---one-face-smiling-at-the-death-bringers-the-other-face-smiling-at-the-protectors.html
http://www.occupyforanimals.net/mep-daciana-sarbu-aka-daciana-ponta-makes-an-impressive-election-pledge-to-help-animals.html
http://www.occupyforanimals.net/our-observations-to-irecs-right-to-reply-from-7th-of-march-2014-concerning-the-article-called-neglect-of-stray-dogs---meps-deliver-damning-indictment-of-romanias-mismanagement-published-by-dr-rita-pal-on-huffington-post.html
http://www.occupyforanimals.net/the-european-institutions-and-the-power-of-inaction.html
http://theinvisiblerapeofeurope.weebly.com/about.html
http://www.exposing-aspa.com/razvan-bancescu.html
http://www.occupyforanimals.net/romanias-animal-police-ansvsas-market-stunt-to-counter-their-image-loss.html
just to mention a few.
And we will - hopefully - also meet many more others, and step on the toes of many more others, and more decisive ones than you.
The ball is in your camp now. The choice is yours.
And please appreciate my kindness and courtesy by allowing you some time to consult with your lawyers.
Pia
CAROLE! We have an issue here, now...
I have just been told that, although we have deleted our post regarding the The Dodo article immediately following your complaint, you have continued bashing us on your FB profile and on Twitter, and that you have even blocked some people who "dared" to challenge you and stood up in our defense.
https://twitter.com/caroleraphaelle/with_replies
You could have simply written to us, even posted publicly on our page, telling us something like:
"Listen guys, I don't like the way you have shared my article. Acknowledging only the source doesn't satisfy me. I am on a constant ego-trip and I love seeing my name shine everywhere." Or something like that....
We would have understood. We would have apologized, expressed our respect to you for this well written article, and corrected our post by adding your name. No big deal.
But you chose to make a public post on your profile, tagged us, and told your friends to tell us that we were "plagiarists" because we had "stolen" your article.
When we responded to your post, you have immediately threatened us with lawyers and lawsuits... all that stuff that doesn't impress us at all. We don't bow to threats, Carole. Not to yours. And not to anyone else's.
But we do listen. And we understand. And we reply kindly and we do what ever is being asked from us, including correcting mistakes, if the person simply tells us this in a kind, and non-confrontational manner.
The way you attacked and threatened us, Carole, was not okay. It's not okay to treat other fellow activists like that. We, the animal rights people, are supposed to be the "kind people" and to treat each other, and every living creature, with respect and kindness, even if the other might have made a mistake, or did something that you did not like or agree with. Compassion and understanding is what we are here to preach. We are all in this together and we should be a role model for others. Not an embarrassment to our entire movement.
You have attacked us for downloading YOUR PICTURE, but the picture wasn't even yours. The rightful owner of these pictures is Eduardo Nieto. You admitted on Twitter that you couldn't get permission to use his pictures, yet you did not even credit him in your article. You have simply used them (in your words: stolen them). You preached on Twitter: "stories matter... writers matter..." BUT what about photographers? Do they NOT matter?
BUT if WE re-post a 'The Dodo' article, acknowledge the source, but didn't think of adding also your name, you threaten us with your lawyer-silly-stuff?
See how insane your behavior is?
And then, even after we have taken our post on your article down, you continued with your diatribes, calling us "plagiarists", "thieves" and even "liars" on Twitter, where we did not even notice. It almost seems as if you would derive a tremendous pleasure from this kind of low-level-actions.
Regarding "plagiarists": we haven't plagiarized anything. We have clearly credited our source, meaning the 'The Dodo' website, who's slogan is: "For the love of animals. Pass it on!". By the way we shared their post, it is by definition no plagiarism, given that our source was clearly acknowledged.
Regarding "thieves": nothing has been taken from you, Carole. Right the contrary: we have helped to give your article even more exposure. We have never claimed that these words were ours... we have fully credited the 'The Dodo' website, who have credited you, meaning that we have - indirectly - credited you.
Regarding "liars": you might want to specify where we would have lied? We didn't lie. We have never claimed anything that wasn't true. Why should we be lying? And about what?
We have an issue now, and I would love to sit with you on the virtual table to see how we can get this out of our way now so that we can use our time (and I mean "ours") again to work on things that really do matter. You can also simply say the magic word: "Sorry" and simply remove all posts on us from everywhere you have bashed us.
I give you until tomorrow noon, 12:00 French time that is. Passed that delay, I will expose you for what you are: a soap-opera-actress whose ego got out of control... got bigger than her cause.
We have seen others before you, Carole (never some from our own rows, the animal rights movement, though) and more important ones than you:
http://www.occupyforanimals.net/romania---daciana-sarbu-a-head-with-two-faces---one-face-smiling-at-the-death-bringers-the-other-face-smiling-at-the-protectors.html
http://www.occupyforanimals.net/mep-daciana-sarbu-aka-daciana-ponta-makes-an-impressive-election-pledge-to-help-animals.html
http://www.occupyforanimals.net/our-observations-to-irecs-right-to-reply-from-7th-of-march-2014-concerning-the-article-called-neglect-of-stray-dogs---meps-deliver-damning-indictment-of-romanias-mismanagement-published-by-dr-rita-pal-on-huffington-post.html
http://www.occupyforanimals.net/the-european-institutions-and-the-power-of-inaction.html
http://theinvisiblerapeofeurope.weebly.com/about.html
http://www.exposing-aspa.com/razvan-bancescu.html
http://www.occupyforanimals.net/romanias-animal-police-ansvsas-market-stunt-to-counter-their-image-loss.html
just to mention a few.
And we will - hopefully - also meet many more others, and step on the toes of many more others, and more decisive ones than you.
The ball is in your camp now. The choice is yours.
And please appreciate my kindness and courtesy by allowing you some time to consult with your lawyers.
Pia
Our "conversation"
- please click on the picture to enlarge -
And you continued bashing us,
although our post had long been taken down since we do not want to be
associated in any way with someone who threatens others with lawyers and lawsuits,
but THAT was it... that made you so VERY angry
Your tweeting
"Leck mëch dach am Aarsch!"
|
In Luxembourgish
LECK MECH DACH ALL AM AARSCH! Ëch fuëren ob d'Belge Plage Ouni Pass, ouni Bagaage Fuëren ëch ob d'Belsch Plaasch Kèng Vignette, kee Payage vun hei bis ob d'Belge Plaasch Äddi a 'bon voyage' Ech sinn ob dër Belscher Plaasch An hunn ech d'Fèiss dann bis am Sand and d'Hoër flèihen am Wand èng Fläsch Bèier an der Hand dann brauch ëch kèng Côte d'Azur kèng Knippercher vum Namur kèng Massage, kèng Pédicure an duërfier soën mier all zësummen: LECK MECH DACH ALL AM AARSCH! Ëch fuëren ob d'Belge Plage Ouni Pass, ouni Bagaage fuëren ëch ob d'Belsch Plaasch Kèng Vignette, kee Payage vun hei bis ob d'Belge Plaasch LECK MECH DACH ALL AM AARSCH! Ëch fuëren ob d'Belge Plage Ouni Pass, ouni Bagaage fuëren ëch ob d'Belsch Plaasch Kèng Vignette, kee Payage vun hei bis ob d'Belge Plaasch Äddi a 'bon voyage' Ech sin ob dër Belscher Pla-a-asch! |
Translation for Carole
YOU CAN KISS MY A. I am on my way to the Belgian "Plage" ("Plage" = beach = symbolic for "peaceful place") Sans passeport, sans baggages I am on my way to the Belgian "Plage" Pas de vignette, pas de payage From here to the Belgian "Plage" Adieu et bon voyage I am on the Belgian Plage And once I have my feet in the sand et mes cheveux qui volent dans le vent a bottle of beer in my hand alors je n'ai pas besoin de Côte d'Azur pas de pralinés de chez 'Namur' pas de massage, pas de pédicure and that's why we ALL say together: YOU CAN KISS MY A. I am on my way to the Belgian "Plage" Sans passeport, sans baggages I am on my way to the Belgian "Plage" Pas de vignette, pas de payage From here to the Belgian "Plage" YOU CAN KISS MY A. I am on my way to the Belgian "Plage" Sans passeport, sans baggages I am on my way to the Belgian "Plage" Pas de vignette, pas de payage From here to the Belgian "Plage" Adieu et bon voyage I am on the Belgian "Pla-a-age"! |
'Made in Luxembourg'
For more good music by Serge Tonnar, and his band LEGOTRIP, please visit: legotrip.lu and see also their Facebook page
DISCLAIMER
Serge Tonnar and his band are in no way associated with 'Occupy for Animals'
