#abercrombiefk

For their use of children as sex objects, I have refreshed the hashtag on one of the ads on their home page. Here’s a revisited hash tag for them. #abercrombiefk

Here are two examples of original social media response to their crappy corporate citizenship.

#FitchTheHomeless

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111 Shirtless Men in Abercrombie

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To A&F’s CEO from a Former Fat Girl

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However you stand on the issues of children as sex objects, plump women not wanted here, or shirtless male models are okay, but shirtless men are not… Please let A&F know how you feel.

It’s no wonder my 10-yo daughter is possessed by A&F. They are selling directly to her. Trying to make her more sexy and grown up than she should be, at her age.

At least she’s got a shirt on this time. Does A&F care? About what?

Hot male models, obviously.

Maintaining presentation standards? I wonder what that is.

Well, one thing is for sure, they are not interested in hearing from you. There navigation has no hint of FEEDBACK or CUSTOMER SERVICE.

As close as I got was a privacy policy email address: If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding our privacy practices, please email us at Privacy_Policy@Abercrombie.com

Let’s just take it straight to Twitter. https://twitter.com/abercrombie < tell’m #abercrombiefk

Shared by a friend.

UPDATE: In an effort to repel those not already repelled. Of course I mean, attract those not already attractive, the dick in this story responds.

“I want to address some of my comments that have been circulating from a 2006 interview. While I believe this 7 year old, resurrected quote has been taken out of context, I sincerely regret that my choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offense. A&F is an aspirational brand that, like most specialty apparel brands, targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers. However, we care about the broader communities in which we operate and are strongly committed to diversity and inclusion. We hire good people who share these values. We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics.” – Jeffries responds on HuffPo

No, sir, it was not the context or the interpretation of your words. It was what you said that was offensive to those not of your breeding or preference. You’re sexist company can burn in it’s own froth.

Waddayathink?

We Can Change This.

permalink: http://www.meterthis.net/abercrombie-fk/ ‎

Below, a list of the Twitter handles of all of the senators who voted NO on the measure, excluding Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who voted against the amendment on procedural grounds. Please tweet at these jerks and let them know how you feel. hashtags: #guncontrol #voteYES

• Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) – @SenAlexander
• Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) – @KellyAyotte
• Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) – @SenJohnBarrasso
• Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) – @MaxBaucus
• Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) – @SenatorBegich
• Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) – @RoyBlunt
• Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) – @JohnBoozeman
• Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) – @SenatorBurr
• Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) – @SaxbyChambliss
• Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) – @SenDanCoats
• Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) – @TomCoburn
• Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) – @SenThadCochran
• Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) – @SenBobCorker
• Sen. Jon Cornyn (R-Texas) – @JohnCornyn
• Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) – @MikeCrapo
• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) – @SenTedCruz
• Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) – @SenatorEnzi
• Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) – @SenatorFischer
• Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) – @JeffFlake
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – @GrahamBlog
• Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) – @ChuckGrassley
• Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) – @SenOrrinHatch
• Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) – @SenatorHeitkamp
• Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) – @SenDeanHeller
• Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) – @SenJohnHoeven
• Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) – @jiminhofe
• Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) – @SenatorIsakson
• Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) – @Mike_Johanns
• Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) – @SenRonJohnson
• Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) – @SenMikeLee
• Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) – @McConnellPress
• Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – @JerryMoran
• Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) – @lisamurkowski
• Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) – @SenRandPaul
• Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) – @robportman
• Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) – @SenMarkPryor
• Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) – @SenatorRisch
• Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) – @SenPatRoberts
• Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) – @marcorubio
• Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) – @SenatorTimScott
• Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) – @SenatorSessions
• Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) – @SenShelbyPress
• Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) – @SenJohnThune
• Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) – @DavidVitter
• Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) – @SenatorWicker

Please tweet at the assholes. Let them know how you feel.

And here is Mitch McConnell’s Facebook Page (Mitch McConnell for SALE)

We Can Change This.

permalink: http://www.meterthis.net/just-shoot-me/

It might be about internal politics between the members of the schools administration showing these kids a lesson. What’s the lesson? That creative and non-destructive acts of *celebration* (kinda like protest) should be punished? It’s almost like a police state measure. If these kids had spray painted the building, broken windows and chairs, or written scandalously charged messages, the administration MIGHT have grounds to take punitive action.

click to read story on Huffington Post

Why does this chap my ass so much? The kids did a GREAT prank. It’s creative, non-destructive, and according to the story it was partially validated by the “gift” of the key. Sounds like school board politics to me. Somebody’s mom is mad at someone’s dad. But it’s a shame the kids are having to suffer. At least some of them are being arrested during the support sit-in. (suspension the equivalent of arrest at the high-school level.)

Stand up to the bs and share this with others. Let’s see if the HuffPo light can shine some sanity into the situation. Probably not, but it’s worth trying.

Way to go kids. Your prank was AWESOME. Stay strong. You’re almost out of there anyway.

I’m going to come off as a whiney white guy on this one, so let’s get that out of the way right here. I’m white, middle-class and male, and I drive a nice German car. So what!

Since the idiotic strip search ruling I have been pulled over twice for traffic violations. Let me go through each one and see if you agree that there is something to complain about.

Thursday evening, driving through a suburban neighborhood I grew up it, I was astounded when I noticed the police lights in my rear view. I wasn’t in a hurry. I had no idea what I had done.

“Do you know why I pulled you over?” the young officer asked.

“Was I speeding? Really?”

“No sir, you ran that stop sign back there.”

“You are pulling me over for rolling a stop sign? Are you fkin kidding me? (pause) “Pardon my French.”

Under what I understand about the new law, this young dude could’ve punked me at this point and gotten me naked in the middle of my home stomping grounds. But I was pissed. I specifically remembered a car pulling out from the side road as I was approaching the intersection.

“The neighbors have registered a lot of complaints about this stop sign.”

(What I wanted to say, “Yes officer, that’s fine, but I’m an adult and if I rolled that stop sign, it was at a maximum of 3 mph. So you’re saying you’re giving an adult a ticket not for speeding or egregiously running the stop sign, but for for a not coming to a complete stop? Kids, burning rubber through here, speeding, ignoring the stop sign all together, sure, but this, this was bullshit. Either that or it’s about the revenue. But certainly Westlake Hills doesn’t need to revenue from a dumb-ass stop sign stakeout. Does it? I think I’ll ask my friend the Mayor of Westlake, and former design colleague, Dave Claunch how much revenue the City of Westlake makes on stop sign stakeouts.)

Angry with me yet?

The good news is I’m a white professional male, I was in a affluent white neighborhood in a fancy car and committed a negligible offense. Change a few of those variables and the Strip Search enforcement would be ripe for abuse.

I didn’t feel the fear or the burn of those potential actions. I was angry that he was writing me a ticket for “barely” rolling a stop sign, with zero traffic around. And I wanted to know if it was for the money. Was his stop sign stakeout for the money. Cause I certainly was endangering anyone, disturbing the neighbors, or exhibiting reckless behavior. But again, my plight was luxurious compared to some other potential situations.

Traffic Stop #2 was last night. A very different situation, a different type of policeman, and a different outcome.

This time I was speeding and the county Sheriff’s radar gun got the jump on my radar detector. I thought I had scooted by, but he fired up his car and followed for a bit and then ran his lights. Fk #2! I couldn’t believe my luck. Again, I was pretty steamed, but this time I was also clearly in the wrong. Done. Attitude checked at the moment I pulled my radar detector off my windshield.

Nice officer explained that I was doing 66 in a 45. “Did you know the speed limit was 45 here?” he asked.

“No, I thought it was still 60.”

“Nope. Right at the bottom of the hill it changes back to 45. That’s why I sit here. Catch’m all day long.”

GRRRR. I giggled. “Okay.” I handed him my license and proof of insurance.

Again, I was pretty angry, but in no way concerned about getting strip searched by a white Travis County Sheriff on the main road through my mostly-white suburb.

A few minutes later, he came to the window and said, “I’m gonna give you a verbal warning on this one. I have a bigger situation I have to go to. So, please drive more slowly.” He handed me my liscense and I shook his hand.

“Thank you,” I said.

And then I noticed that in front of me, in the parking lot of a closed dry cleaners there were two other Travis County Sheriff cars who turned on their lights and pulled out on to the road. WAIT A SECOND!

Three Travis County Sheriff cars staking out a 60 – 45 speed transition to bust drivers. THREE CARS! Was this for the safety and benefit of the other drivers or was this Travis County revenue 101?

My immediate thought in both cases, “Don’t you guys have something better to do with your time than stake out meaningless traffic violations? Wasn’t there something else three Travis County Sheriffs could be working on this Easter Sunday evening? Anything? Instead of grab assing in the dry cleaners parking lot and busting the affluent white guys cruising into their neighborhoods?”

Is this the best we can do? Is this what makes sense for our LAW ENFORCEMENT to be doing, even on a slow crime night?

Or is this about the money? Is the stake out of suburban affluent neighborhood stop signs, more about ticketing people who are going to pay without any hassle? Was my offense the offense or was it another $150 for the City of Westlake coffers.

And outside of the override that got me a “warning” from the Travis County Sherriff, what is the criteria for giving a ticket verses giving a warning? Well, of course there’s no money in giving warnings.

My parallel is that giving me, or an attractive woman, a warning when flipped around, might be the same as the risk of getting strip searched for no good reason. In another neighborhood, the routine stop might be in the name of catching criminals in the act, and the “cause” for strip search the same subjectively applied “warning” in my affluent neighborhood.

That scares the shit out of me. Cause I’ve only gotten one warning in my life. And it was when I was furious with the policeman from the moment he came to the side of my car. “You cannot be serious!” I shouted. “You must’ve radared the guy who passed me, did you see the guy passing me? Are you kidding? I was not speeding. Damn!”

I don’t think this routine is safe in either neighborhood any more. And my odds of getting strip searched are about the same as a person of color getting off with a “warning.”

We need to do something about it.

Go visit our sister site – 99 Voices – 99 Stickers.

View Amplicate’s GoDaddyHate page.

Confession: my domains are registered with GoDaddy.

I hate their advertising. Their CEO has been playing the pervy old man schtick for a long time. And their superbowl ads are legendary for their sexist content. But controversy is good for business, right? I was thinking about showing you a picture of the CEO’s website, but you’ve seen the crap Go Daddy shows. Why would I give them more promo space. Rather, let’s help the GET OFF. (pun intended)

So who’s going to make it easy to migrate my GoDaddy registrations to their site? I will move in a heartbeat, give me a script, make me an offer, get me off Go Daddy.

Their service has been okay for me. Their control panel for managing your domain DNS stuff is okay.

BUT there is no place for sexist ads. Why? What’s the point? Sure, advertise in Penthouse and Playboy, and you’re welcome to free speech, but your use of T and A to sell web hosting is deplorable.

Let’s move our domains: GET OFF GO DADDY. [I will update this page with any easy to migrate domain registration offers.]

We Can Change This!

@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://www.meterthis.net/godaddy-exit/

I’m going to come off as a whiney white guy on this one, so let’s get that out of the way right here. I’m white, middle-class and male, and I drive a nice German car. So what!

A week ago I was cruising along my neighborhood, being a good citizen and driver. It was a nice Thursday evening and I wasn’t in a hurry or stressed. I made my way through a meandering road, past a radar speed station “You are going 32 mph!” It flashed at me. It was a 30 mph zone.

Two turns and one stop later the policeman appeared out of nowhere.

“Do you know why I stopped you?” the young officer asked.

“I couldn’t have been speeding.” I said. I was quite surprised by his appearance behind me and was unprepared for what he said next.

“No sir, you ran that stop sign back there.”

“You’ve got to be fkin kidding me,” I said, almost reflexively. “Pardon my French. (Pause) You’re going to write me a ticket for rolling that stop sign back there?”

“Yes sir.”

“So, you’re saying I just blew right through it? I was endangering someone or something? The only one around was YOU under the canopy of trees, I guess.”

“Yes sir, you didn’t come to a complete stop.”

“Oh I’m sure I was crusing!”

“Can I see your driver’s liscense and proof of insurance, please, sir?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re gonna write me a ticket for rolling a stop sign with no one around. What was I going 3 mph? This is ridiculous.”

“Yes sir, the neighbors are complaining.”

I handed him my documents and the STFU. Better for me. I could uncork my anger somewhere else.

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Tomorrow I’m submitting an OPEN RECORDS REQUEST to the City of Westlake and my friend, the mayor, Dave Claunch (who also drives a fancy German car, his has a convertible top.) Because I want to know, when they write these kind of other-than-protect-and-serve tickets, in an affluent neighborhood, how much of does this type of nonsense law enforcement generate for this sleepy Austin suburb generate annually. (Considering a Travis County request as well, because they LOVE to run speed traps 100 feet from the Speed Limit signs. But starting with the local government and somewhere I actually know the mayor, well… Let’s see what happens.)

I’m guessing that the contested ticket incidence is low. I mean, who has time to go sit at the Westlake City Courthouse on a weekday morning for 1 – 3 hours, for a ticket that’s easier to pay. And that’s the heart of my question. Is the Affluent Neighborhood Speed Trap about safety or is it about revenue? I think I KNOW the answer, but what I actually know is NADA. I’m going to change that part of the equation for all of us.

We Can Change This!

@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://www.meterthis.net/affluent-speed-trap/

File under: Westlake speed trap, useless speed trap, local law enforcement, speeding ticket revenue, bogus ticket revenue, open records request

Can Skechers ripoff social media darlings TOMS and get away with it? Let’s take this to the streets.

BOBS vs TOMS < the SOPA of SHOES. (initial Sopa of Shoes post from UBER.LA)

Here’s TOMS facebook page.

Again, we may be comparing pills to pumps, but the stark differences in the approach to media sharing and conversations is also quite revealing. Let’s do one more REAL TIME example and see what comes up.

HERE IS SKECHERS FACEBOOK PAGE.

Okay, everything there looks good. Now here’s where the REAL TIME experiment comes in.

Skechers has started a COMPLETE KNOCKOFF of TOMS called BOBS.

Okay, see the similarity with TOMS? Nice to read their quote below the aspirational video, “Inspired by the South American alpargata shoe and the idea of gifting a pair with a purchase…” To be honest they would’ve had to have said something more along the lines of, “You know TOMS is kicking ass, so we’re introducing a clone idea just different enough to avoid a lawsuit.”

Okay fine, so how will Skechers deal with my BOBS knockoff comment on their facebook wall? Will I be deleted, moderated, or answered. And how long will it take. Will they find this post and comment? Will they ask me to take it down? Will Pfizer show up and ask me to remove their copyrighted images? It’s all open in social media. So let’s see what happens.

It is almost 6am CDT (central daylight time). And here’s my post for Skechers wall:

How can your company so blatantly copy TOMS with your BOBS campaign? Do you think the public is going to LOVE your ripoff marketing campaign? Can you brush off the criticism with this kind of response, on your BOBS page, “It isn’t a new idea, but it’s a great idea…”? You should be ashamed of your blatant knockoff of a beloved national brand. In the name of selling shoes you have sunk to a new low. Sure, you’re now going to do good by copying TOMS? Perhaps your statement should’ve been, “Inspired by TOMS and the idea of gifting a pair with a purchase…”

Let’s see how this goes. I’ll post this and keep you updated with any results.

Interesting to find this post on the “From Others” page:

Still no answer to Karen’s question from yesterday. Hmmm? Okay, so let’s try one more thing. If you read this post and want to contribute to the experiment, please visit Skechers facebook page and post your own TOMS v BOBS question. And go LIKE all the other posts by people asking the same question. We can create a cascade of comments that they will have to respond to. This could be the SOPA of SHOES. (I’m pretty sure that’s gonna require it’s own post. So far I’ve liked 15 TOMS vs BOBS post. Facebook told me to “slow down” in my use of that feature or be blocked from using the app.)

So let’s set our screengrab on another site instead. Here’s my post on the TOMS page regarding this issue.

Let’s see how this works out, shall we? (Updates to come.)

UPDATE: TOMS has a BOBS Response page:

If you have seen the Skechers TV commercial for “BOBS” and wondered what the heck it was all about, you’re not alone.  We about fell out of our chairs when we heard the voiceover state, “Skechers is proud to join companies like TOMS,” as they show young women dancing through a forest in what appear to be replicas of our shoe designs.  Maybe “join companies like TOMS”  should have read “imitate shoes like TOMS?”   We’re not quite sure.

Click to visit CodeForAmerica

Okay so what issues, what stands, what movements are we aligned with at this point?

• CodeForAmerica
• 99%Spring
• 99 Voices – 99 Stickers
• Moveon.org
• Change.org – Environmental Causes Page
• Catalog Choice (reduce your carbonfoot print, refuse mailed catalogs, free service)
• Dear 16-year-old Self (cancer awareness)

A few things we’d like to join or start:

• DesignForAmerica (same concept as c4a above, with design as the tool)
• End the War on Drugs (how’s the war working out for us, how’s Mexico doing with our support?)
• Next Gen Teaching For America
• Prisons for Profit Are Wrong
• Cops Need to Police Important Laws – Not Make A Business Out of Traffic Tickets that Don’t Matter

We Can Change This!

@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://www.meterthis.net/re-launched/

In his recent book Bill McKibben’s eaarth has stunning facts and figures about the state of the global environment today. A dear friend said today as they were flying into Florida they flew over the oil in the gulf for close to HALF AN HOUR! So much for the MSM saying 70% of the oil is gone. That just goes to show how HUGE the full-on spill was.

The media has been surpressed, the activists have been threatened and jailed. Pictures of the devastation have been limited and respun for our comfort. But the story is not comforting at all.

After a littany of scary facts, the writer goes on to say:

Don’t let your eyes glaze over at this parade of statistics (and so many more to follow). These should come as body blows, as mortar barrages, as sickening thuds. The Holocene is staggered, the only world that humans have known is suddenly reeling. I am not describing what will happen if we don’t take action, or warning of some future threat. This is the current inventory: more thunder, more lightning, less ice. Name a major feature of the earth’s surface and you’ll find massive change.

The book is already brilliant. Bill McKibben is the author of The End of Nature, that twenty years ago foretold of global warming as a future we must try to avoid. Well, we is there. We IS the future. And we IS in trouble.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://amzn.to/eaarth_book