[in-teg-ri-tee]

noun

1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.

3. a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.

~Dictionary.com

Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Integrity can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy, in that it regards internal consistency as a virtue, and suggests that parties holding apparently conflicting values should account for the discrepancy or alter their beliefs.

The word "integrity" stems from the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete). In this context, integrity is the inner sense of "wholeness" deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character. As such, one may judge that others "have integrity" to the extent that they act according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold.

A value system's abstraction depth and range of applicable interaction may also function as significant factors in identifying integrity due to their congruence or lack of congruence with observation. A value system may evolve over time while retaining integrity if those who espouse the values account for and resolve inconsistencies. 

~wikipedia

Note: I had a different piece written here but as usual lately it went off on a rant that might have been a wee bit too pointy for these soft and squishy times so I reeled it in a bit.

Ya wanna know what bugs me? (Ok.....one of the things on the list and yes, it's getting to be a long list.)

It bugs the shit out of me when I see the hard work of someone I know capitalized on by another solely for they're own profit. I think that both sucks and blows, neither in the good way. Only after being called on it publicly did this individual admit that his design is a ripoff, but used the excuse that he's "just trying to do business" and as far as I know continuing with it as before.

What really hurts about the whole affair is that someone I respected a lot has decided to support this rampant douche-baggery by purchasing said rip-off AND declaring so publicly, basically crapping on those who make his place of business solvent. This hurts I suppose because we inherently expect more from people 'in high places' whether that be a politician or a cop or just someone schmuck whose banner we all gathered under online. Seems like if people are supporting you financially you should be willing to give a little support back. At best your bike will be derivative.

I'm done with this at this point, I've said my piece on it and made my position known. It bought me hatemail from people I thought were more heads up. If people want to support products that are at best derivative and at worst a complete rip-off, well....I guess that's your business.

Hand made in a gravel floor garage in West Virginia.

Derivative. Copy. Lame.