Eye’z is Pizzed Off and So Should Every Blogger Be
“Why have a code?
In Ethics on April 30, 2009 at 9:52 AM
“As the blogging world expands exponentially, more and more people in the culinary world believe that food bloggers—as a group—are unfair, highly critical, untrained and power hungry individuals empowered by anonymity. As writers, trained journalists and food bloggers, we feel it is unfair to be labeled something we aren’t. By creating a food blogger code of ethics, we hope to elevate our craft and draw attention to the food bloggers who hold themselves to higher standards.
Why should I subscribe to the ideas of The Code?
We believe you should be able to write about your experiences as you wish. We know everyone’s truth is different and we thoroughly appreciate the diversity of opinions within the food blogging realm. We are not against free speech. We do not believe in censoring. We do, however, believe in civility, honesty and truth.
We strive to make our blogs stand out from the rest through our writing and story telling. We created The Code because we felt it was important to define what our ethical standards were and clearly state them so that we could hold ourselves to those standards. The Code is not meant to be a mandatory thing for everyone in the blogosphere. This is our way to define what our standards are.
We are proud to be bloggers and hope to give the blogging community a better reputation. We wrote this because we were concerned that food bloggers were being unfairly judged as hacks, which the majority of us are not – with or without journalism degrees. And that by creating a code of conduct should give us MORE freedom to be honest, not less.”
This is a citation directly from the Food Blog Code of Ethics…. http://foodethics.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/why-have-a-code/
The Real Truth is that to be labeled “unfair, highly critical, untrained and power hungry individuals empowered by anonymity” could not be closer to the Truth. Your small elitist clique believe in “believe in civility, honesty and truth” is the biggest lie. I am a case in point and I know I am not alone.
A few years ago, I befriended Jaden Janice Hair and in my naiveté truly enjoyed her articles, manner of writing, what appeared to be her true persona and character. Also at a similar point in time I took great pleasure in reading food blogs written by Elise Bauer (www.simplyrecipes.com), by Diane Cu (http://www.whiteonricecouple.com/todd-diane/), by Jaden Hair (http://steamykitchen.com/) and many others.
It was only two months ago at a time when I was so very inspired by these people, in particular Jaden, when I finally decided to start a blog that I believed I would truly enjoy. For one, I truly enjoy writing…I also have a great love of interesting and inspired food recipes and finally I love the culinary arts.
As I had been in regular contact with Jaden, I learned that she was authoring a Book called The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook and at that time I asked Jaden if she would agree to allow me to do each of her recipes in the Book, comment on them and photograph them in my upcoming Blog. She loved the idea and agreed…so I purchased a domain 2 months ago and named it Eye’z In The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. It took me a great deal of time and effort to acquire a working knowledge of Wordpress to enable me to start on my pursuit of what I hoped to be a fun and interesting Blog.
Several weeks and posts after launching my Blog, Jaden contacts me and asks that I rename my Blog so that the name Steamy Kitchen does not appear. I didn’t understand her reasoning, but I readily complied and invested some money to have my domain and site renamed to Eye’z in a Cookbook. At the time I did not see her true motives.
Then a few weeks later, I decided to make reference to a wonderful recipe in an article in Elise Bauer’s website (Elise Bauer is a very close Blog buddy of Jaden’s) however, innocently and inadvertently, instead of creating a certain type of link, I simply created a hyperlink to her post. This enraged Elise and she blasted me using words not befitting a drunken sailor. She also told me that I do not belong in the food blogging world of their’s as I apparently did not meet their high standards. I was shocked and outraged at Elise’s crude and brutal assault and it was at that time that I realized that the food blogging community was actually comprised of a very small tight knit group of people who had no intention of allowing anyone in.
In response to Ms. Bauer’s rude and antagonistic assault, I stated my mind to her and posted a comment on my own Blog providing my view of what had happened. This created a stir and not more than 2 weeks later, I received an email from Jaden Hair suggesting that I was linked to some person on the Internet who apparently has created some havoc in the community and whose views I have never been privy to. Jaden didn’t even ask…she presumed that somehow our names “popped up” and therefore I was associated with this person. I explained precisely to Jaden that I never had any contact with this person and that I would never be interested nor have a common interest in anything he had to say. I not only advised Jaden but also emailed a number of other known food bloggers to ask if they had heard this same information. Not one food blogger worth their weight replied….an incredible loud silence.
Jaden decided to ignore my explanation and just 2 days ago, on November 21, 2009, she decided to “google” my entire family, including my husband and children. She then proceeded to collude with Diane Cu, another one of her blog buddies, and arranged for Diane to email my daughter demanding to know if she was the daughter of yours truly and her husband and then threatened her that Private Investigators wanted to meet with her. My daughter was in shock….my husband and I were in shock and enraged.
When we analyzed what caused this chain reaction of events, it became clear that Jaden and her clique did not want me in the world of food bloggers and decided to use intimidation tactics to ensure I no longer existed in their world.
This behavior is elitist, snobbish, corrupt and ugly….I now see it is shared by the small group that apparently control this food blogging society. One might ask…what is it that they fear…is it their plagiarizing of other people’s recipes, is it their concern that people will really learn that they are charlatans….is it that their sponsors will learn that they are just smoke and mirrors with no substance…….is it a combination of all of this and more……..what is their fear??
They obviously have no code of ethics but their own distorted code that would lead to the menacing threats they have proceeded to impose upon my own daughter. They clearly have no honesty nor truth as they would not have created the illusion and excuse that I somehow, without any logical basis, would or could be associated with someone who has clearly expressed some very ugly views, not one of which I share.
They profess to be civil, but civility does not exist in their vocabulary…..they are what they are….a gang of thugs whose avarice and low self esteem rejects anyone who is not “one of them”. Yes…I am speaking of Elise….Jaden…..Diane……and a group of silent well known bloggers who stand and watch and do nothing. Shame on you….you people have created unearned reputations with well known newspapers, journals, TV networks and numerous sponsors….these people will all learn your dirty little secrets.
Rest assured that I will not rest till each and every one of you are exposed for what you are…..you started this and I will end it!
And Eye’z in a Cookbook shall go on.
UPDATE
After much discussions amongst family members, it was decided that the RCMP be notified of the email Diane Cu sent. The RCMP because this message was sent through cyberspace across International borders.
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November 24th, 2009 at 10:17 am
You go girl!!!
Then take a deep breath. These playground bullies aren’t worth even one second of your time. The blogosphere is a big place, don’t let a couple of bad apples spoil it for you. Trust me, they’ll reap what they sow on their own, they’re not going to need any help from you.
If I’ve learned one thing in my life it’s that there’s no use in arguing with the ignorant.
November 24th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Walt, unfortunately this is not ignorance. This is a vendetta perpetrated against me; but I could take that. However, the following is an exact copy of the email sent to my daughter.
“Hello Carly! Are you the daughter of Natalie Luffer Sztern and Henry Sztern? Are you the photographer on your mother’s food blog? http://www.facebook.com/l/5a6bd;www.eyezinacookbook.com
If you are the correct Carly, there is a group of private investigators who would like to meet up with you and do an interview. They can come to your house and do a quick meet up at your convenience.
If you are not the daughter of Natalie and Henry, then I apologize for contacting the wrong person and please dis-regard this email.
have a great day,”
diane
This was a cognitive act albeit a stupid one. It’s incomprehensible she didn’t think of the legalities of what she did by contacting my daughter, it was an illegal act intimating a threat.
First let us be aware that she googled my daughter so she knows that my daughter lives in Toronto. She also knows my daughter is an actor and not ‘the photographer’ of my blog. Right there, she is alluding and creating a connection which she knows is an absolute lie.
Further she intimidates her by suggesting there is a GROUP of investigators - not just one AND they want to come to her house.
Why not answer my email and have the ‘private investigator’ get in touch with me? I would even chip in with them to get to the bottom of this. I wasn’t given the opportunity and that, in and of itself, is extremely telling.
Picture yourself and your daughter: tell me what you would do?
November 28th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Someone suggested I read about your problem with food bloggers so I came here to do that. This is not the first time I heard of this situation but I know why it has happened. I cannot post as myself here but I feel it is only fair to let you know what happened to you.
http://www.the-feedbag.com/individual-vendettas/the-strange-case-of-doc-chuck-and-chiffonade
This is what you did. You cannot deflect your posts on the Feedbag off on anyone else, you did it. You associated your name to DocChuck. You do not know the history of Jaden and this crazy man. You also do not know what happened to Chiffonade and him. Yet you found it amusing and thought without checking that you should comment on it. DocChuck has a long history of harassing food bloggers because the man is certifiable. He has sent tens of thousands of emails to people including Jaden, that show just how crazy and threatening he can be. Now although you did not know any of this, you went and backed him up that day on the Feedbag and on that day you ruined your name. We all read it. We shared this information with each other. It was people’s children on fake AOL profiles he created, someone’s deceased mother, people’s families who he used to make jokes. You thought that was funny. People did not think it was funny.
No one wanted to tell you. I want you to realise that when you say you don’t know why people associate you with that man, you just are not being honest or just cannot recall your support of DocChuck. Maybe you cannot recall you were listed as a friend of his on his MySpace! blog. Doesn’t really matter now the damage is done. You are the topic of his war on Jaden posted there http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=432352292&blogId=520010351
Now you know. Jaden is going to do whatever she can to protect herself from DocChuck and you got involved in it.
Anytime someone uses Google to search for your name and DocChuck they are going to find it. She did not ruin your name, You did!
If you posted on my blog I would remove your post because of your association with that man without even reading it. Someone like him needs to be deleted everywhere.
November 28th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Dear Zariah,
Regarding your comments, I would like to clarify and put into proper context certain of your staements:
1. I must thank whomever suggested that you read about the problem a small group of food bloggers appear to be having with me as this adds to my reader list.
2. The fact that this is not the first time you have heard of this situation and that you “know” why “it” has happened, suggests you already have a pre-conceived bias in this matter. You have received only one side of the story from the person who informed you and you have not consulted with me. Therefore the credibility of whatever you say is somewhat diminished in my eyes.
3. The simple fact that you cannot post as yourself either suggests that you are intensely afraid of this so-called Doc Chuck and/or you are equally fearful of the elite group of controlling food bloggers who have put you up to this.
4. You state that you feel it is only fair to let me know what happened to me implies that you therefore are aware that I am NOT aware of the behind the scenes information and events that have taken place. Therefore you should not contradict yourself by stating later in your comments that I am the cause of this issue that has inspired such undeserving ire in the minds of a small group of controlling food bloggers.
5. I have and never had any intention of “deflecting” the fact that back in February 2009, I posted comments on the Feedbag. I stand by these comments and they have nothing to do with what I am told Doc Chuck is or represents. In the first instance I have nor had no evidence whatsoever of the activities of Doc Chuck. What I did is what many other people had done…that is comment on a well written post! That is all.
6. You say that I associated my name to DocChuck. You appear as ignorant as the people you represent. If you have read any of my recent comments, you would know that whatever this Doc Chuck is alleged to have done, if true, does not in any way reflect my opinions, nor would I ever endorse such alleged behaviour.
7. You then state that I “do not know the history of Jaden and this crazy man. You also do not know what happened to Chiffonade and him.” You should then understand that a post on the Feedbag back in February 2009 was entirely unrelated to anything that is alleged to have occurred to Jaden et al and moreover anything that I may have commented on prior to this dubious allegations.
8. You state that I “found it amusing and thought without checking that I should comment on it.” Make sense Zariah!…I have found nothing amusing about this matter and you once again manifest a deep sense of your own ignorance.
9. You state that “DocChuck has a long history of harassing food bloggers because the man is certifiable.” While this may be true, it is only in the last 2 weeks that I have ever learned of these allegations.
10. You continue displaying your ignorance and contradictions by stating “Now although you did not know any of this, you went and backed him up that day on the Feedbag and on that day you ruined your name.” I will forgive the grammar, but I cannot forgive the utter bias and lack of depth of appreciation of time lines. I posted an appropriate comment to a proper post in February 2009 my dear Zariah….I only was informed of these allegations 2 weeks ago. Think this out before you attempt to lay blame. Back in that time period I was a ‘blog reader’, reading few blogs. Steamy Kitchen, The Feedbag and two others I won’t mention. I had been a ‘blog reader’ for two years and only this past September was inspired by Jaden to begin writing a blog. Jaden and I prior to that had many many emails both via comments made by me on her site and through private emails which were always fun, inciteful, inviting and really really friendly. It was Jaden who inspired me to begin Blogging myself.
11. You state “………It was people’s children on fake AOL profiles he created, someone’s deceased mother, people’s families who he used to make jokes. You thought that was funny.” Dear Zariah…where and when did I ever say this was funny…I abhour this behavior as I have dedicated a big part of my own life to protecting the abused….no, I never would accept this and I would never ever consider this funny….So kindly DO NOT state falsehoods on my part!
12. Then you continue in this path of absolute contradiction and stupidity by stating “No one wanted to tell” me. Make some sense and then I can lend some credibility to what you are saying. Your statements are illogical, accusatory and ignorant. Why did no-one want to tell me??
13. You go on …..you state “you just are not being honest”….again…what are you talking about?????? Make sense girl!
14. Then you compound your ignorant statements by stating that maybe I “cannot recall your support of DocChuck.” ZARIAH….WHAT SUPPORT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT. I am ashamed at the low intuitive level on which you communicate your contradictory and illogical thoughts.
15. My Dear Zariah or Sarah …whatever….the only damage that I know has been done pertain to threatening emails sent to my family by Jaden via her crony Diane Cu and what in fact is really happening is that through your feeble attempt at “deflecting” the real issues away from what Jaden et al have done and continue to do are in fact the same as those that these same people are alleging to have been done to them.
Shame on you and the people that you represent. If all the allegations regarding this man are true, as I have stated before, I truly feel bad for Jaden and others who have been harrassed and I sympathize with her situation. However, by attempting to use the same tactics alleged to have been thrust upon Jaden et al upon my own family is equally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.