Whaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

Full disclosure: This happened to me when I integrated four words from a Jackson Browne song into a piece I posted on my blog. Another blogger accused me of plagiarism, and the unmerited charge spread across the Web at frightening speed.

As any conspiracy theorist knows, falsehoods take on an authority all their own on the Internet. So when bloggers willfully defame those with professional reputations to defend, that is a serious breach for which they should be held accountable.

Blogging is one of the best things that has ever happened to freedom of expression and the press, and we should make every effort to protect its scrupulous practitioners. But freedoms come with responsibilities. Common journalistic standards of accuracy and fair play exist for good reasons, and bloggers, like the rest of us, must abide by them. By drawing attention to libelous Web content, the Australian case may force them to. -- Norah Vincent, the latest self-identified victim of a hate crime

Ms. Vincent also remarks that the "blogosphere" is full of "vengeful ravings of half-wits who will say anything, especially about established journalists and writers, just to attract more attention to their sites."

It's Norah's pyschosis, we just live in it.

At least it's nice to see that Norah is in favor of integration.