The Pakistani Spectator

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?
My name is Katie, my website is Cosmic Irony.  I am a Twenty-four year old college student who works with adults who have disabilities such as Autism and Down’s Syndrome.  My family are Democrats from at least the Roosevelt days and this shows with the Liberal views I put on my blog.

Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?
I love writing, I always have. With working and going to school full time I don’t have an opportunity to write everyday like many other bloggers, but it has affected the way I write.  I think that it has helped me define my own style of writing.  I research things as I would at school, checking many sources and addressing different arguments, but the attitude and outspokeness are all my own doing.  I feel it is important to write well on a blog because it adds credibility, just as it would to an analytical paper one would turn in to a professor.

I’m wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with blogging?
I remember an argument with another blogger over whether or not allowing a concealed-carry gun permit on the campus of Virginia Tech would have prevented the massacre that happened there.  The title of his article was “Liberal Cowardess to Blame for Virginia Tech.”  After much debate, he changed the title to his article.  Although we could never agree on the American right to bear arms clause in the second amendment, we ended up amicable.

What do you do in order to keep up your communication with other bloggers?
I just try to keep writing about the current news.  I visit other blogs, as well.  I have many in my Google Reader that I subscribe to so I can keep up.  It is still a bit difficult because of school and work.

What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?
I am enjoying very much how Barack Obama’s use of the internet and networking sites caught the other candidates blind-sided.  His campaign thought of it first, his websites still have the most members and friends.  I’m also amazed at how the blogosphere has been the first to report some of the biggest campaign gaffes.  These are ordinary people, not journalists, blowing open stories that the journalists are dying to break.  I think it’s an obvious shift of power to the people.

I am, however, a little worried that the grass-roots blogger movement will eventually be commercialized and capitalized upon, thus making it another part of the big media that only tells what it wants you to hear.

Do you think that these new technologies are effective in making people more responsive?
Absolutely.  It gives people who are tired of the news or who want to find out things for themselves an opportunity to go do so.  Things on the news are up on the internet in minutes.  Access to information is easier and faster.  I read somewhere (I think it may have been Time Magazine) that it has also made the candidates more accountable.  Before Youtube candidates could say one thing one week and then another the next week and have no repercussions because the newsreels were safely tucked away at the television station.  Now that those speeches are on Youtube, one can compare them and find discrepancies, turn around and blog about them and reach millions of readers.

What do you think sets Your site apart from others?
I’m not sure if there is anything that sets it apart.  I’m just a young, idealistic college student that is very upset with what the current government and media have been doing for the last eight years.  I guess if anything sets it apart, it is simply the fact that it is mine and no one else can be me.

If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?
A willingness to change.  Absolutely.  When things get hard, as they often do, I rethink what I’m doing to get what I want or need.  I’m always open to suggestion and I always try to have a plan B if something doesn’t work out.

What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?
The happiest day of my life was the day my nephew was born.  I had turned sixteen the day before he came to this earth.  He’s  beautiful and wonderful.  I wouldn’t be who I am without him.  The gloomiest day is harder to pinpoint because even in my worst hours something good always comes out of it.  Maybe this seems cliche, but there really is nothing that has ever happened to me that hasn’t had some other consequence down the road that actually improve me or my life.  Every cloud has a silver lining.

If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?
Ireland, because Irish is a large part of my ancestry
Africa, so I could work with doctors and health officials to prevent the spread of AIDS
Japan, for it’s rich culture and cutting edge technology.

What is your favorite book and why?
My favourite book is “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess because it shows how any cause, no matter how noble, can become zealous enough to act like the system they are fighting against just to win an argument.  It also shows that human nature is not set at 16 and that people do change, no matter how bad.

What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?
Whether or not they are smiling.

Is there anyone from your past that once told you you couldn’t write?
No.

How bloggers can benefit from blogs financially?
There’s many that do, but I wouldn’t be interested.  I feel like turning the blogosphere into a money-maker would cheapen it, just as Ronald Regan cheapened our media outlets by turning National News into a de-regulated, lucrative circus.

Is it true that who has a successful blog has an awful lot of time on their hands?
I think that depends on one’s definition of success.  I find that when I write an article where people comment and maybe learn something, that is a success, even if it only gets three hits.

What role can bloggers of the world play to make this world more friendlier and less hostile?
That’s a very, very good question, because I have noticed that it is much easier for people to get ugly with others behind a computer screen, whereas they might not act like that in front of that person.  I think that hurts the blogosphere and our relations with strangers outside the internet.  Discouraging labels and blaming while encouraging open discourse and the principle of “agree to disagree” should be very important.  I keep finding arguments on line where it degenerates into someone just saying “It’s the elitist Liberals who hate America that have caused this or that.”  As if any issue is that simple or one sided. What happened to “It takes two to tango?”

Who are your top five favourite bloggers?
Crispy Quips at crispyquips.wordpress.com.  I know this man personally.  He is an Honor Student at UC Davis studying lingusitics.
Will Rhodes, of course, who recommended you to me.
Most of the writers at Daily Kos
And my Political Science professor, who doesn’t get an opportunity to blog often because he’s working on the Obama campaign, but he writes very well.  His site can be found at all-things-political.blogspot.com.

Is there one observation or column or post that has gotten the most powerful reaction from people?
Surprisingly, it was the post on “Animal Precinct” from the Discovery Channel that I got the strongest reaction.  People who used to work at the ASPCA were very upset over the salary of Anne Marie Lucas, the officer represented on that show.  I had to take it with a grain of salt, however, because these were all people who formerly worked at the agency and were probably a little bias and perhaps bitter about their previous employer.  How objective could anyone be if they lost their job and all of a sudden it got it’s own show on the Discovery Channel?

What is your perception about Pakistan and its people?
I believe that the Pakistan people are just ordinary people who want a stable country, a good economy and freedom to from fear and oppression.  The country has been in turmoil for a long time and that must be very, very hard on the people.  I know that when governments and neighboring countries don’t get along, it is usually the politicians, not the people, that are stirring the pot and asking for war.  I do believe Bhutto was politically assassinated, despite the Scotland Yard reports and I hope that the people of Pakistan haven’t given up on free and fair elections because of this.  Even with her shady past and questions of her and her husbands dealings with money, Bhutto put it in the minds of ordinary people that they have the power to change their own destinies, even when facing threats of violence.

Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger?
Will Rhodes surprises me.  An Englishman living in Canada blogging about American politics.  That is a very unique viewpoint, in my opinion.

What is the most striking difference between a developed country and a developing country?
I would say the standard of living.  It is shocking that Americans buy bottles of water to throw in landfills because they have been tricked into believing the water coming out of their tap isn’t good enough.  There are countries where children drink from pools of rainwater on the ground that collect next to piles of rubbish.  I don’t understand how Americans can be so wasteful in the face of such poverty.  It is just as easy to find what one needs at a thrift store rather than at Wal-Mart and it is just as easy to recycle than to throw something away, but still, many don’t do it.

What is the future of blogging?
As I said before, I do believe much of the blogosphere will become commercialized and exploited, but there will always be ordinary people writing and getting the word out.

You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?
Because of work and school, blogging is more of a leisurely activity for me, so it hasn’t affected my personal or professional life very much.

What are your future plans?
I plan to go to college, get married and then travel the world helping people less fortunate than me.  I will either (a) stay in the field I’m in, helping people with developmental disabilities, (b) go to Africa and do work with AIDS prevention, or (c) work with drug addicts to help them find a better way to live, which is something I’ve done on the side for a long time now, as well.

Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?
Thank you for the opportunity to tell you about myself.  Keep reading, keep searching, and keep sharing what you find with the world.  We each can make a difference, no matter how small.