Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Nightly Tally

Total Comments for the Last 10 Posts



RCAB = 387

Babalú = 30


What is the meaning of comments?

Comments mean that readers are actively engaged with the blog that they are visiting, not unfamiliar or disconnected; that they feel welcome and know that their opinions matter; that they do not fear being browbeaten, deleted or banned because they withhold their approval or dare to dissent; and, above all else, that they know they are part of a community which is democratic and open to all currents of opinion. This is what all blogs should aspire to be and especially Cuban-American blogs which must be consistent in their opposition to censorship and other undemocratic practices in order to attack our enemies from a superior advantage rather than on their execrable level.

49 comments:

Ms Calabaza said...

MaT,
Congratulations. Thanks for the open forum and free speech.

Fantomas said...

"los 5 gatos de Mat"

te lo he dicho mil y una vez, la calidad, la efectividad, la fama, de un blog NO se mide por los malditos comments..cuantas veces tendre que venir aqui a repetirte eso. Te lo dije mira mi blog, el de real cuba , el Drudge report que recibe 11 millones visitantes DIARIOS y no tiene ni un solo comentario..

bajate de esa nube que de esos 387 hay 69 mios , 25 de fariñas , 30 de vana, 100 de long john, y el resto dos o tres trasnochados de ny y de maryland

5 gatos

Anonymous said...

good job mat

Anonymous said...

long hohn=GUATACON de mat

Fantomas said...

wow que silencio, mande a acostar a la plebe con mi comentario , tal parece

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

There are blogs that do not allow comments; there are blogs that restrict comments to a limited number of individuals; and blogs with thousands of comments on each thread where there is little interaction between the commenters.

A blog can be whatever a blogger chooses to make it. Val & Henry have chosen to make Babalú an anti-democratic blog, which deletes comments and even entire posts at will and shows no respect whatever for its readers. Their readers have responded to Babalú's disdain with their indifference. I think now threads with "0" comments are the norm at Babalú.. It was not so 3 or even 2 years ago. Something has obviously happened. No one can deny it. We are not one-tenth as preoccupied with this development as the Babalunians themselves. They have even, on occasion, alluded to it. It is right now the "Crisis at Babalú." We would be disingenuous if we ignored it.

Vana said...

Manuel:

I must congratulate you, this fine blog is now getting the attention it fully deserves, all Cubans here and there should read this blog to see and understand what democracy is, I'm proud to have found you since it's inception, and proud to call you a friend.

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

Vana & ms. calabaza:

I am profoundly grateful to you both for the time you devote to enriching this blog with your wise and eloquent commentary.

Fantomas is upset because RCAB can boast of dedicated commenters such as yourselves who lend to it consistency and continuity.

If the discussion here were reduced to 3, 4 or 5 commenters, as he wrongly believes is the case, it would still be more interesting than anything that Babalú could conjure because it would be spontaneous and free, not contrived and pieced together from bits saved from the wastebasket.

The Wizard said...

Thank you so much manuel for letting us express how we feel freely.seriously, we all have the right to express our opinion freely.

Cari said...

Manuel,

Although I rarely comment, I appreciate the democratic forum you have created.

Thank you.

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

cari:

I appreciate the fact that our commenters are the secret of RCAB's success. I thank you for your presence here and ocassional comments.

Fantomas said...

Mat iam not saying that commenting here is bad. It is democratic. The point is que un buen blog or web site no puede ser medido por la cantidad de comments que este tenga. Imaginate cualquiera pudiera hacer comments FAMTASMAS y tener cientos de ellos.

si cogemos por ejemplo el blog de joani, veras que inclusive llegan hasta 2340 comments ( cosa que yo no habia visto jamas en ningun lugar) pero, hay un pero

los comentarios son muchos de ellos estupidos, incoherentes, peleas entre comentaristas, egocentricos, copy and paste, es decir una cantidad de basofia que no vale la pena leerlos

Te lo juro yo solo leo loc comentarios chicos , los que tienen mas de 5 o seis lineas ni los miro


demasiados aburridos Mat , ademas no hay tiempo pa lerse esos mamotretos

hoy amaneci kinder and gentler

veremos como se comportan los otros kool aid kids hoy

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

Alex H.:

God knows you are an important part of this blog; your youthful enthusiasm and passion have added much life to it. I am glad also that we may have been the impetus that convinced you to return to blogging. While confronted with threats to Cuban freedom such as Babalú's "magnificent cadre of waiters [Freudian slip, I meant writers]" pose, none of us has the right to quit the battlefield.

Fantomas said...

El Gato mayor dijo

pose, none of us has the right to quit the battlefield.

4/11/2008 7:24 AM

Ahi se equivocan amigos . el battlefield nuestro, our horizon en la lucha no es otro fellow blogger since they are not the ones that brought misery to the cuban people ni facilitate it

our battlefield se encuentra en la habana cuba and thats where our cañones should be aim at

Mat you have now lost it completely

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

You have expended more time on this blog and contributed more comments than any other reader. It is, therefore, odd to see you diminishing the importance of comments. But you are an odd fellow and we do not expect from you much consistent thinking. Your humor, whether intentional or not, makes a valuable contribution to this blog. I wish that you would not inspire so much hate in others, or set that as your goal. Still, it is good to know that on my own blog I am not the most hated person as Val is the most hated person on his (by his own admission).

Fantomas said...

God knows you are an important part of this blog;

oye deja los accolades para otros , a ver donde esta el mio?

tu bien lo sabes que sin mi presencia este blog hubieses pasado a la historia hace ratico ya
y esto me lo han dicho gente de la que tu despise con fervor

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

Well, you said that you don't read comments that are over 5 lines and here you have proved it. I wrote "threats" [plural] to Cuban freedom, not just one threat.

Fantomas said...

Still, it is good to know that on my own blog I am not the most hated person

Mat thats a big lie, Iam the most loved person on this blog and they know it, they just expressed it in a different way , but in the bottom of their hearts,I know they feel much love for fanto, much

Iam so sure of it, so sure

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

I just left you an "accolade" (nice word). But because the comment was over 5 lines, you probably didn't read it.

Ms Calabaza said...

Good morning MaT,

thank you for your kind words!

Fantomas,
it's so nice to hear we'll have the kinder, nicer you today. You must have gotten a good night's rest.

Fantomas said...

see you and I can get along well

it is cuando vienen los trasnochados y los bitters argentinos de BFI que este blog viene con el bad vibe. son ellos los que estan dañando tu blog MAT

Cuando leo una historia mas inventada de gente que sera encarcelada en cuba o que esta en prision por lo que dijo otro aqui en un blog me dan ganas de vomitar
como digo un script holywodense a su maxima expresion

Ese tipo de gente no vale un centavo Mat y te estan haciendo mucha daño aqui.

LET THEM HAVE THEIRS ARE THEIR SORRY ASS BLOG QUE NADIE VISITA . SON UN PAR DE URRACAS LUNATICAS
CADA DIA MA LOCOS SINO FIJATE COMO ESCRIBEN E INVENTAN

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

To All the Anonymi:

Many of our commenters choose to appear here as "Anonymous," in many cases because they fear, and not unreasonably so, retaliation from those on the Dark Side of Cuban-American blogosphere. I, who can see their IPS addresses, know that the "Anomimi" are a huge and varied tribe. Their contributions to the success of this blog I also acknowledge with gratitude, while making the simple request, for the sake greater clarity and less confusion, that each "Anonymous" pick his own moniker for this blog, even if it's just a letter of the alphabet. This will not compromise your anonymity in any way while distinguishing each and everyone of you.

Fantomas said...

it's so nice to hear we'll have the kinder, nicer you today. You must have gotten a good night's rest.


ASI ES calabacita usted se porta nice con fantomas y recibira muchos accolades de el. es cuando entran otros con un programa de destruccion de fantomas como si yo fuera la ultima coca cola del desierto. Dejen a fanto tranquilo que fanto no es ningun agente del g2 y lo unico que el desea es ver una cuba libre ..

no se fajen conmigo, guarden esas energias para los castros

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

Must you always discount or ridicule the pain of others? The lack of human empathy is Castro's dominant trait. Why would you wish to emulate him?

In an e-mail to Killcastro you expressed your outrage at what Val did to him, but in public you suggest that he is a liar and belittle his pain.

Do not be surprised, then, if your attitude wins you his ire and the repudiation of everybody.

Fantomas said...

si te molestan los anonimis cancelalos mat, que se subscriban eso no es censura total

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

The Anonymous have a right to be anonymous. This is another concept that you don't understand. Some are actually anonymous for very good reasons that have nothing to do with humility, such as protecting the lives of their family members in Cuba from retaliation by the regime.

Others, admittedly, assume the diguise of anonymous to do as much harm as they can without being detected.

It is their motives for being anonymous, not the fact that a commenter or blogger is anonymous, which is important. But, in any case, their anonymity should be respected since it is their choice to make.

Fantomas said...

In an e-mail to Killcastro you expressed your outrage at what Val did to him, but in public you suggest that he is a liar and belittle his pain.

primero lo mas seguro que ese e mail haya sido doctored , es muy facil el copy and paste. no he hecho ningun comment sobre eso Y ES PRECISAMENTE ESO LO QUE TIENE MAD A LAS URRACAS LOS MUY HIJOS DE PUTA QUERIAN QUE YO TOMARA SIDES EN LA CONTROVERSIA Y MI RESPUESTA FUE NACARILES ..ESTO NO ES MIO RESUELVAN USTEDES...ESO PUSO DE MUY MAL A UNA DE LAS URRACAS QUE DICEN QUE SON DOS PERO EN VERDAD CREO QUE ES UNA

ADEMAS MAT ETICAMENTE HABLAR DE E MAIL PRIVADOS IN THE OPEN ES LO MAS BAJO QUE SER HUMANO PUEDE HACER EN LA VIDA . UNA PERSONA QUE SE DEDIQUE A HABLAR O PUBLICAR INFORMACION CONFIDENCIAL EN PUBLICO MERECE NUESTRO MAS ALTO REPUDIO . ETICAMENTE HABLANDO ALGUIEN QUE SE DEDIQUE A ESO NO ES MAS QUE UNA PLASTA HUMANA

RECUERDA CON LA TECNOLOGIA DE HOY PHORTOSHOP Y EDITING COPY AND PASTE SE PUEDEN HACER MUCHAS COSAS FEAS TO INCRIMINATE OTHERS

EN ESTE CASO O TE LOENSEÑARON A TI Y AHI DEMUESTRA LA ESCORIA QUE SON ESTOS INDIVIDUOS UE YO NO SE DE DONDE RAYOS HAN SALIDO Y QUE TIENEN UNA AGENDA MUY OSCURA PARA DIVIDIR EL EXILIO HISTORICO..

YO TENGO MAS DE 100 E MAILS DE ELLOS GUARDADITOS Y TENGO COSITAS INTERESANTES AHI LO QUE PASA MAT ES QUE A MI NO SE MEOCURRIRIA PUBLICARLO IN THE OPEN

YOU GOT MY POINT

ELLOS NO TIENE ETICA, MORAL, HONOR

THEY LACK OF IT.. I HAVE PLENTY OF THAT

Fantomas said...

This is another concept that you don't understand. Some are actually anonymous for very good reasons that have nothing to do with humility, such as protecting the lives of their family members in Cuba from retaliation by the regime.

WRONG , WRONG , WRONG, WRONG, WRONG

LAS DOS URRACAS DE KILL CASTRO ROMPIERON EL PROTOCOLO Y ME HAN CHIVATEADO MAT SAME AS YOU IN AN EARIER POST A YEAR AGO, MENOS MAL QUE NO TENGO FAMILIA EN CUBA Y USO 3 NAMES DIFERENTES PARA ESO MISMO PERO LOS DOS COMETIERON EL MISMO ERROR QUE CRITICAS YOU BLOW MI WHISTLE FOR NO REASON Y TE JURO MAT QUE EL DIA QUE YO OBTENGA EL REAL NAME DE ELLOS, SE JODIERON JUST A LITTTLE PAYBACK POR LO QUE ME HICIERON

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

Your name is all over the internet. There was a time that you made absolutely no effort to conceal it. Even photographs of you were published and commented upon in other blogs at the time of your protest at the Pan-American games in Puerto Rico.

It is impossible to reclaim anonymity once you have abandoned it.

Fantomas said...

thats not the poit mat is the action to do harm what shoud be condemn, ademas todo lo que aparecio en los games fue mi primer nombre . Udstedes no respetaron mi deseo de mantenerme anonimo y por eso nada mas tu y ellos se merecen el mas alto repudio de todos los lectores de este blog, para que sepan la calaña de que ustedes estan hechos y tu double talk que vale un taño(un mojon de un grantamaño)

Asi que se acabo el kinder gentler de hoy ahora you got me even madder
now

Fantomas said...

Pan-American games in Puerto Rico.

it was not pan ma games get your info straigth old man

it was the world baseball classic 2006

Anonymous said...

http://www.paperboy.nl/?PID1=E%3CG%2AZH%5BNPOWBWM%3DL%5FN%23%5F9U%3ET%5E7G%3C%25%5D%278L8TNQY%23%5F4%3EX0M%3ENBVM0%20%20%0A

Ms Calabaza said...

Fantomas,

I finally looked up urraca: magpie.
Did you know magpies are symbols of hope and good luck in Chinese and Japanese cultures? Anyways, I'm sorry to hear you are no longer the "gentler and kinder" Fantomas because I was hoping we could have a dialogue.

Please, Fantomas don't use CAPS because it gets very loud and I'm all into peace and quiet and nature and such . . .

Fantomas, I know your name and I haven't even tried to find out. You had it on your blog recently (both your first and last name). I will not mention them out of respect for your wishes but be aware that it is no secret. It is tough to reclaim anonymity once you have lost it. Why does this make you angry at MaT? Methinks your anger is misdirected.

One question: Your contention is that KC and CB tried to recruit you to their side of the feud? How exactly did they do this? Weren't you the one who contacted them and offered support? Yesterday, you stated that you told the Babalu boys that you would not get involved. Now, you are saying that you told KC/CB that you would not get involved. Which one is it? Who tried to recruit you?

I'm just trying to get your version.

Fantomas said...

The Cubans considered withdrawing from the tournament because of "the lack of security and respect" but decided to remain after Puerto Rican promoters made guarantees, the federation said in a statement without elaborating.


An anti-Castro Web site, therealcuba.com, identified the protester only as Enrique, and carried his own account of the incident.

http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/013399.php


Enrique said that during the warmup before the game, he flashed another sign denouncing Castro _ this one saying "Baseball players yes, Tyrants no" _ to the Cuban leader's son, Tony Castro. Tony Castro is the Cuban team doctor.


"He looked down and kept walking and I shouted 'Eso es para tu papa' (That is for your dad). ... I know he heard that," Enrique said, according to the account in the Web site.


Mercado said the spectator, and a second one who also waved signs, had tickets for the section behind home plate, but had moved out of their seats closer to the view of the TV cameras. Cuban state TV was showing the ESPN signal and the anti-Castro signs were briefly visible on television in Cuba.


Police later told the pair to return to their seats, Mercado said, adding that Iglesias was never under arrest.


"The Cubans were upset with the incident that happened last night, and they want to make sure it doesn't happen again," said John Blundell, spokesman of Major League Baseball, which helped establish the tournament. "We are doing everything that we can to ensure the safety of fans and the delegations."


Cuba downed the Netherlands 11-2. Cuba has also beat Panama in the first round of competition.

Fantomas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ms Calabaza said...

"UNDERSTOOD!"- Fantomas

~ gotcha.

So how is the weather in PR today?

It's 61 degrees F, here. . .

Fantomas said...

78 now as high as 85 today and tomorrow

Fantomas said...

off to work a luchar la yuca taino, portensen bien en mi ausencia y no despotriquen en contra mia, after all iam a nice person, very humble

Ms Calabaza said...

sounds like nice beach weather. . . enjoy.

Sharpshooter said...

Fantomas calls himself a humble guy. This has got to be the most laughable comentary from this bufon! .Calling himself humble is like a prostitute saying she is virtuous. He says I commented 25 times in MAT's blog. My comments here recently probably do not amount to more than 10 or 12 if that many. Another lie.
And why does this idiot continuosly uses caps to say what he says? Doesn't he know that is bad manners and denotes shouting?. But then, he does not know anything about manners anyway, so why should we expect manners and good behaviour from him? One does not expect good manners and behaviour from a pig when he eats, so we can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

nonee moose said...

Throwing the anonimi some love, MAT...

Very classy.

\not sarcastic.

The Wizard said...

Thank you manuel for your kind words.I enjoy your blog is great writting and very well put together.

Fantomas said...

You are the most ill bred person in the blogsphere, if you have something to say to KC and CB have the balls to go to their blog and say it there, you say it here hoping they don't notice it, you are a coward,

Vana por si no lo sabias a mi me amenazaron alli y me dijeron que no era bienvenido y que me borrarian, la rAzon de escribirlo aqui es especialmente eso para que ELLOS LO VEAN. a la verdad que eres bien BRUTA

Fantomas said...

fariñas i love paticas de cerdo

pig feet

me encantan

con congri y yuca

Fantomas said...

Ya sabia yo que no durarian los comment mucho alla

mas sabe el diablo por diablo que por viejo

Ellos mismos se lo buscaron por chivatones que son son 7 y los que faltan todavia

Esto empieza ahora

Vana said...

Fantomas:

Wrong! Mas sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo!

Ms Calabaza said...

Vana,

I hadn't noticed, he got the saying wrong . . . tee-hee!

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

Vana:

Very alert.

Fantomas said...

Vana y tu realmente creistes que No lo hice a proposito

Por favor


lol