Why am I anonymous?

Last time one blogger asked me who I was. I said check my blog. After she did, she said I was very anonymous. Well, she's right. I used to be less anonymous in the past, be it on my blog or be it on Twitter. In my old blog I never put up photos of me or people close to me, because I am just a careful person. I'm always thinking that while the internet is full of nice people that I want to get to know, read their blogs, share their views, there's some sick assholes as well. And I don't mean those who comment and say "you're an asshole" or those who spam on your blog, no. I mean the ones who are employed by governments of states like Iran, North Korea and China. They are the ones who don't give a damn about freedom of speech. Basically I don't give a damn if my blog is on some Iranian or Chinese black list (I'm sure it is), but if one day I accidentaly fall from a roof or get hit by a car or shot by someone while I travel the world, well, that wouldn't be something I'd like to experience. And you never know, because it's a mad mad world out there. I may never travel to Iran or live there, but the rest of Asia, I never know. But at the same time, I want to say (I mean blog) what's on my mind, I don't want to censor myself.

And there's another reason why I always strived to be anonymous as much as possible. It's incidents like the one, when a so called celeb-blogger picks someone out from the crowd of those who don't like her and slams him to the bone with her horde of angry followers, who think her behavior is ok and they basically try to find everything you ever posted online just to bash you or to humiliate you more. I realized that it's better not to engage with them under any circumstances, because you can't debate morons. You're wasting your time. Even if you're a mere bystander, you're a target. Well, these were lessons learned for the future.

And now I'd like to share a list of my 'controversial' posts with you that I made thru the year. I mean it's ridiculous when I think what some people get upset about, because for me it's really nothing, but some people take themselves so seriously. Here's the list:

1. Maybe my 1st controversial post was Jackie Chan disappointed me, when I started to write about what bothers me regarding China and the way their government restricts all sorts of freedoms and Jackie Chan even commended them for that. That made me angry, I wrote about it and I was surprised when I saw that the infamous Chinabounder left a comment on the post. The other controversial one would be We won't forget Tiananmen '89 我們不會忘記六四事件. Stuff like that probably blocked my blog in China. But I just want to say what's on my mind, that's why I had to write it.
   
2. Posts about beautiful women like Incredible Wang Ruo Yi made some people label me as being sick and having an Asian fetish. I mean, I've seen whole blogs dedicated to all things Asian or all things Japan, where grown up guys post photos of manga figurines and gravure models. I only write about Asian beauties sometimes and I still think I'm within the normal-label. I am not obsessed with anything, I don't have an Asian-fetish, but I like aesthetic photos of gorgeous Asian and other women.
3. Sometimes I write posts about religion. I am an atheist myself and I am very critical of religion(s). If your religion is personal, I have no problem with you. If you say one thing and do another, you're a hypocrite and your religion is only a disguise and excuse for you. I also criticised the Pope in this post: Pope decomposed in 3 steps. I think religion should and must be open to criticism. But I do have many friends who are religious and I can happily coexist with them.
4. I write about Germany and I can be harsh and critical. In Europe, Germany is the most populated country and the biggest economy. And with its sad past, it has a unique standing in Europe and the world. I myself am fluent in German and I also follow German politics and everything that happens there. Two posts, that may seem controversial to some: Germans always want to be number 1 was less controversial. The one that offended some Germans (read comments) was this post: How do Germans feel on D-Day? I guess it's very easy to offend Germans: criticize them or their country and they're already offended.
5. I wrote a lot about Iran in the time of the post election ruckus. That was the first time that I got a lot of feedback, mostly positive, but few very nasty (calling me names) and I didn't publish their comments. I usually don't censor, but I don't publish spam and insults. I mean insults with no explanaition. If you tell me I'm an asshole and give a good explanation, I will publish and try to defend myself. Plain insults are just boring. Here are the posts that sparked minor controversies: Elections in Iran are worth a sack of potatoes, Iran: Real apathy or fake sympathy? and the one post, that really pissed off a German guy, who defended the Iranian regime: Travel to Iran.
6. I am a very international guy and I had my share of travel and interracial relationships, that's why I like to write about race-relations and racism. I realized that these days people are throwing the racist card very easily. I hate being labeled a racist, especially because I am so anti-racist and strive for racial and human equality. My post Are Asian women really attracted to Western men wasn't really controversial, but I got a lot of feedback and I saw similar posts on other blogs that sparked some controversy. This is just ridiculous: People should understand the difference between personal preference (taste) and thinking one race is superior to another. It's a huge difference!
7. So far the post that sparked the biggest anger and most offensive comments (and you wouldn't believe how ridiculous that is, when I tell you that it's the post with the title...) Dawn Yang, best Singaporean blogger! I wrote that post around the time of a minor uproar in the blogosphere, and after I defended the defamed blogger in some previous posts, so many angry supporters of a certain blogger let out their anger on my blog and especially on Dawn Yang - basically bashing her in long essay-like posts that I never published. Or they just trashed me. Well, I could've easily had like 70 comments under that post. Until now I don't understand how some people can get so nasty and angry over some things someone writes in the blog; over opinion, over personal preference. Because of that, they want to hack all your accounts, trash you, your friends (even family). It's ridiculous. That's the time when I learned that I have to become even more anonymous than I already was. I deleted a lot of stuff and made a clear cut from the past and started this blog. But I am well aware that there's no 100% anonymity online. They'll find me one day, but I don't care.
   

Well, I'm only blogging for something over a year now, but I want to blog for a long time. I learned a lot in very short time and that's why I decided to be anonymous as much as possible. However, if you'd go thru all my posts, you'd probably find a lot of info about who I am, where I am from, maybe even my name. It's not like I wanna be perfectly anonymous, I'm just a little cautious, that's all. (I know Google knows everything!) I have to say, that I met many nice bloggers online and I added them to Facebook or Twitter, where they could get to know me better and even see some pics of me. That's why, if I feel I can trust you, I'll add you with no hesitation. But trust has to be built, especially when you know about the dangers that are out there... in the blogosphere and beyond.

And now tell me, did you ever write something controversial? Did you ever delete comments or posts? Explain why and tell me about your experiences with anonymity and online controversies. Thanx.

[Cartoon modified by me, originally by Adam Zyglis]