Samsara's Sassy Shakti - The Sauciest

No Bacon on McDonald's Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit

2008-07-19T11:43:00.007-04:00

McDonald's, where is the bacon?

Check out the article at my Newsvine column I wrote yesterday regarding the baconless bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. There is apparently something going on in within the golden arches - and if you check the comments of that article - that does not seem entirely golden.

I'll give you the meat of the article before you go clicking.

For the second time in a row I have been to our local McDonald's drive thru and after having ordered a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese biscuit, have driven away and gotten home to discover there was no bacon on my biscuit.

One thing that I did fail to mention in the article, that occurred to me after an ex-employee "admitted" a bacon-less conspiracy, is that both times, I did arrive at promptly the same time.

Could this suggest that McDonald's is engaged in some sort of cost-saving dubious mechanism for skimping on the bacon? And what about the bacon crumble I found on the latter biscuit? Does this suggest that what began as bacon on my biscuit was either snagged by a tweaking employee who needed the bacon more than I, or is the plot more sinister? You decide!

And if you like the article or think it's wrong that McDonald's is skimping on the bacon, please Digg it! We're going for front page status so the world can sit up and say,

"No more McDonald's Baconless Biscuits!"

McDonald's Neglects Bacon on Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit

Technorati: mcdonalds, bacon, biscuits, consumer rights, consumer information, fast food, drive thru, conspiracy, baconless, bacon crumb, food, eating, not loving it, golden arches

Born Straight? Born an Alcoholic?

2008-07-11T14:55:00.011-04:00

My friend, Alan Bamboo who is a gay recovering alcoholic, asks the question "Born Gay? Born an Alcoholic?" and because I agree with him I decided to come out myself.

Born Straight?

Yes. I was born straight. It was nothing anyone could have prevented. I feel that from the tips of my perfectly pedicured toes all the way up to my [not overdone] waxed brows. But lord knows, my Mom tried. She signed me up for basketball as a kid, and I even tried the track thing in the 8th grade but even that was because a boy I liked was on the track team. She encouraged other boyish sports when I was a kid and complete with my "Welcome Back Kotter" shoes and my corduroy jeans, I was almost set; Even put me through a bowl cut when I was just a tender 5. I was 5 for God's sake! Was already missing both my two front teeth; Did I really need the bowl cut Mom? Really? For picture day? WTF? I know you read this! I've seem your bookmarks Mom!

Born an Alcoholic?

Yes. I was born an alcoholic. Remember that stint at track I just mentioned? I joined for the innocent love of a newly adolescent crush. I quit for the same reasons: for the pure love of alcohol and cigarettes. True! I started hanging out with people who had alcohol at their disposal and decided that to continue wasting time with track would not be in furtherance of my better interests. Something about drinking and smoking sounded - even then - opposite of what track was about. You know? [I recently wrote 7 drunk and alcoholic things I did as a kid at my recovery nook.]

I was a Child Alcoholic

Forget Drinking for Fun ~ I Needed it

In two short years, at 15 years old, I would be headed to rehab - and it was called "Straight, Inc", and I tell that story at my Newsvine column - because that was the kind of hold and fast paced number alcohol did to me. I was completely in love with alcohol for no particular reason at all except I had a small taste of it when I was goofing around at maybe 9 or 10...Or maybe I snuck a sip or something at 6 or 7... But whatever the reason, I instantly began craving alcohol.

I was not unlike other kids my age. I had no particular tragedies in my life. I was not a freak of nature. The largest handicap I can think of as early as 5 years old was just "not fitting in." I remember I was painfully shy and felt extremely socially retarded. [I am still socially retarded but have to utilize different remedies other than alcohol. It's not like I ever really grew out of that. :-)] My parents didn't beat me. I wasn't denied food. I never went to an orphanage. All this to say that not one external thing *caused* my alcoholism. It just was. It just is.

Phenomenon of Craving

I was sharing at an A.A. meeting just this week that I am a pure alcoholic; the minute I was born I was already set. I got it honest, too, but I am not about going to mention the demons of my relatives but suffice it to say...if we get it from a gene that is indeed passed on, it wouldn't have mattered who my mother would have been, I would have been born this way. On the other side, it wouldn't have mattered who my father would have been, I would have still been a winner!

I don't want to go too in depth with my theory on the alcoholic gene but let me just say that the Doctor's Opinion in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says a lot more about it and when Dr. Silkworth said all this, it was well over 50 years ago. Science has determined - or at least I have read - that indeed there *is* a gene. Some people can argue about *turning* alcoholic but still. I think one has to have the predisposed gene for it. It's this phenomenon of craving that differentiates the alcoholic from the non-alcoholic and that's it. Doesn't matter how much you drink, when you drink, or what you do when you drink...it's this "craving" that sets in after the first drink that determines whether you are an "alcoholic" [or prone to "alcoholic drinking" for fear of casting labels about].

I'm not writing an article here. Just a regulation blog post where I wanted to give Alan a thumbs up and let him know I'm right with him. You should check out his blog....if you're gay or straight or alcoholic or non-alcoholic... It's an interesting read and his stories are enlightening with respect to his journey as a straight alcoholic and gay man... Alan Bamboo is Straight and Gay! [Yeah. Kinda hurts your brain to think about it doesn't it? :)]

But hey...if you're interested in alcoholism or my opinions or experience on alcoholic recovery, or even my autobiography, I have another place I keep all that. If you think you or a loved one may have a problem with alcohol, I have some suggestions in...How to help an Alcoholic Quit Drinking or Stop Drinking without Alcoholics Anonymous.

Technorati: alcoholism, alcoholic, sexuality, nurture nature, drinking, alcohol, phenomenon of craving, drinking as a kid, young alcoholic, straight, rehab, detox, homosexuality, nature vs nurture, gay, alan bamboo, born alcoholic, born gay, alcoholic gene, drinking

Free and Legal Adobe Photoshop CS2

2008-07-06T10:23:00.002-04:00

Free and Legal Adobe Photoshop CS2

or Other Software

Would you like a free and legal download and license for Adobe Photoshop CS2? Forget cracking and potential warez trojans and the illegality of it all anyway...Right now you can get a FREE Photoshop CS2 download and registration!

Actually, you get your choice from three quality software titles:

Free Photoshop CS2 (including optional plug-ins, sample files, textures, web swatches and stock photography)

Microsoft® Windows Vista Ultimate (UPGRADE with SP1)

VMware Workstation 6 for Windows

But act now because the titles change every week! It's a special incentive program during July and you can read the details and learn how to get the free software from a generous website called bastillwork.net. According to their post, this is all we do...

For website owners, bloggers:

Write an article about this offer on your site, be sure to link to this post (like I did above).
Subscribe to their website for updates via email.
Stumble their article - here - with your comment. [Stumbleupon / Me on SU]

For non website owners or bloggers:

Write at least five quality reviews (or comments) for five distinct softwares listed at their website. (Write a quality review. They will check it after you submit it.)
Subscribe to their website for updates via email.
Stumble their article - here - with your comment. [Stumbleupon / Me on SU]

After you have finished send an email to from the same email you used to subscribe to their RSS feed. In the email include:

State the location of your post/article.

Your StumbleUpon nick name.

One of 3 famous software titles from above.

After 48 hours they will send the license to your email. Et voila! Free Adobe Photoshop CS2 or your choice! According to the post, the software titles will rotate in three's every week so this means that by next week, if I understand it correctly, there will be three different software titles to choose from for this incentivization program. Thanks bastillwork.net!

Drug Addict Friend in Active Addiction

2008-06-12T16:13:00.006-04:00

I am shaking so bad inside right now. I am shaking because I usually leave my alcoholic recovery stuff over there at my other nook; Usually with some damn lesson or some damn helpful information or in the least hopeful advice or sentiment. But I wanted to share it here because it's ugly. It's the ugly side of drug addiction. That and I'm shaking.

I keep my online life separate from my real life probably like most people. But I can't I guess. And my journals are still packed up. And I've already talked to my sponsor about this problem. Well, I've talked to several recovering friends and the sentiment is usually the same: "Shake her loose."

Until a person puts down the drugs or the alcohol I can't "sponsor" them in any A.A. 12 Step program and addicts in A.A. is a different animal altogether. [And is why I don't sponsor addicts! I am an alcoholic; I have no experience to offer. I don't know anything about street drugs like crack, meth, heroin or pill heads, doctor hopping, percocet, oxycontin or vicodin... My experience with pill-heads and doctor hoppers are limited to being on the receiving end of the lies these people tell. That's it.]

Well. So we moved to this new town in October and became quickly involved with A.A. - Alcoholics Anonymous - here. This girl - I say, "girl" but she's my age - cute as a little bug seems to like me. I didn't care for how other women in the room treated her and the gossip I heard about her. So I immediately did the preliminary questioning when she asked if I would sponsor her, "What do I have that you think you want?" She answered [my version of] "correctly". So off we went into the sunset. This has been a few months.

Like I typically do, I developed a friendship with her. Then, like I typically do, I went into a state of confusion trying to get it clear in my mind the responsibilities of friendship versus sponsorship. Well. So when I started noticing weird behaviors I became conflicted. No sooner had it became apparent that she was abusing her prescriptions [or some other drugs] than all hell broke loose.

Hell Started Breaking Loose

In an obsession characterized by pill-popping addicts [I do have experience with being on the receiving end of pill-popping, doctor hopping addicts and particularly their need to control people, their blaming everyone for everything, their "better than thou" attitude toward street users, their attitudes of entitlement, and also their incessant lies. Read Prescription Drug Abuse and Prescription Drug Addiction for more information on this newer phenomenon of drug abuse.] she called one night 6 or 7 times. I ignored the phone. She then called my beloved's phone and left a message vaguely threatening...

..."So tell her that if she does not call me back, I am going to over there tomorrow. I mean no disrespect but I need my sponsor. So I'll be over there tomorrow unless she calls me back"...

I told my beloved - because I am a normally laid back easy breezy unless someone threatens my domain - "She threatened me?! Oh I swear to God I will make her cry. Let her come over here unannounced." [She knew how often I had discussions with newcomers who just dropped in at my house. Let me take that back. I had told her of such situations; I suppose it's possible the drugs I suspect her of being on could have made her forget - but if that was the case why would she phrase her dropping by as a threatened consequence for my not calling her back?]

Friday - She Sneaks Up on Me and She is High

I had planned on calling her back in the morning anyway but after the "threat" I decided to adopt a wait and see attitude. Long story short, the next day I am in my office [which is at home], working a deadline - as I normally do - and I see out my back window...no kidding... She is tiptoeing up my deck steps as if she is trying to go undetected! This means she entered through my back gate to begin with! Not only had she never done this before, but anyone who tries to tell me she wasn't trying to "sneak" in or "sneak up on me", I'll kiss their foot!

I fly - yes, I flew! I attempted to walk fast but I really think I was flying... - to the back sliding glass door before she even gets there, slid it open wide and fast - and she was still tip-toeing looking down at her feet [why? trying to stare them into being quiet? She was so out of it, she did not remember my scenic office view encompassed the deck?] - and made her jump when I did all this in less than .001 seconds: "What the hell are you doing?"

Trying to shorten this up a bit, she does jump and does start crying [but i think it was the influence of her pills rather than me because I was not that harsh!] along with the slurring and cotton mouth and the falling over and the... "I need my sponsor..." I also then noticed she had taken her tip-toeing seriously. She had her shoes off and in her hand! It was sad. I took pity on her. Then she slurred and complete with cottonmouth told me she wasn't high and she swears this was the first time she took this pill that the doctor prescribed. She claimed it was Atarax and the bottle I would see later said 90 pills at 50 mg. That it must be badly reacting with her and she will never take it again. She almost convinced me - like I said, I don't work with people who have drug problems and for the reasons already stated along with the fact I have no interest in learning pharmacology - so I let her hang out with me in our new pool that day. That would be a clear mistake.

Friday Evening - Lies, Lies, Self-Absorption & More Lies.

All evening she was uncharacteristic in talking about nothing but herself. She talked badly about everyone I cared about in the rooms of recovery. She bad-mouthed so and so and said he had an ego problem. She bad-mouthed this girl because she was a drug addict ["not really an alcoholic" she said]. She tried to bad-mouth another sponsee by inventing lies that my sponsee had said she really did not want to work the steps but only wanted to get close to me, to be my friend. I know she lied because that sponsee was over at my house when this phone call ensued as well as other proof.

Later on during our pool time, my beloved came home with his daughter. We all played amid my friends' continual talking about herself. I had to get out from the sun because of my ever-increasing dark skin that nothing prevents from darkening; not to mention my nerves. Eventually she came in and we went to get dinner. When we came back, my beloved had something to show me.

Our 'Lil Bit' had done something she'd never done before. She swam all by herself! Without floatees and without her noodle! She jumped in the deep end, and swam to the shallow end! I laughed and screamed and said, "Hooray!" And I was so excited! That should have been all glory to the almost 5 year old and just a precious time! But.

Friend kept talking. About herself. I said, "Would you stop please? 'Lil Bit' has done something she has never done before and I want to enjoy it. This time is about her." Since that day I bet it has still never occurred to her that her self-absorption was paramount to egomania at its finest. Nevertheless. I still managed to get an awesome video clip of the kid swimming fearlessly! It was a beautiful sight!

Then when her eyes were still at half mast hours later... She lied. Said she'd only tried that pill and that that morning it was the first time she'd taken one. I said, "So 89 are left right?" She said, "Yes." So I counted them. 43.

THEN - like a good addict does - she invents another lie. Says they were originally in a large bottle but she took the label off the large bottle and put it on the small bottle along with putting the tiny pills in a small bottle. ["Why would you change bottles?" I asked. "The large bottle was too big" she said. Uh. Said the pharmacy had run out of large bottles.] Again. I wanted to believe her.

Sunday - This is when I start Losing my Mind

But then on Sunday. On the phone. The lies. She began telling different kinds of lies. I told her our entire relationship was hinging on the lie she continued to perpetuate. I guess in total I gave her 10 point-blank opportunities to just come clean and be honest. She never did. To make matters worse, she added another lie: "All the rest of the pills are here in the big bottle."

"All rest of the 89 pills you are telling me are there with you in the big bottle."
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I swear!"
"This is one of those conversations that define our relationship. Believe that."
"I am not lying! I swear on my grave; My mother's grave."

So I shocked her when I said, "Okay. Then. I'm coming over in 15 minutes to count your pills. If you're lying, I'm done." Shortened version. Different pills were in the big bottle. At least two different kinds. She tried to tell me that pharmacists sometimes put different pills in when they run out of generics. LoL... I shouted this while in her room after I'd counted: "You really do think I am stupid!" I didn't care if her parents heard me. For her to go this far means she is far gone anyway.

I looked the pills up on the internet at a pill identification database. Just in time for her Mom to call me and [not knowing why I had been there that day] tell me she could not find her pain pills. Said she went into her daughter's room and found the bottle though! Coincidentally enough, of the three pills I looked up on the internet, though all of them being circular small and white - but with different imprints - NONE were what was *supposed* to have been in the bottle and one was her mothers pain pill. The other two were 25 mg of Atarax - after telling me she had never had it before. [Considering this last bottle was a 50 mg and 90 count of Adarax and that she would show me an earlier bottle of 25 mg Atarax...I just know she combined her 25 mgs with her mothers pain pills along with the 50 mg Atarax...all pills are white and round but, like I said, naturally different imprints.]

Today, Thursday, I Escort her from My House

For the past week since Sunday she has been calling incessantly. Her story keeps changing. Now she wants me to call the pharmacist because she does not think I know she could have one of her refills filled. She wants me to call the pharmacist because she is using some weird addict logic that I'll not bore you with.

But I am incensed that her "hocus pocus change the focus" keeps pulling me back in. As a result I have been practicing my codependent and al-anon recovery principles but it has not been easy.

Today, for example. She apparently manipulated someone to bring her to my house. I went out to his car and told him I was sorry she has involved him but that she could not stay at my house. We agreed I would give her two minutes and that he would take her back home. In that 2 minutes, she managed to reaffirm her lies and also successfully failed to receive my only requirement for sponsorship; honesty.

From my relationship with my friend, I have discovered that addicts - or at least "righteously using" pill heads - seem to not receive information from other people and particularly when it interferes with their version of reality. I have also learned that when their version of reality [based in their lies] is not bought, that they will talk down everything into a microcosm so that people become so confused and tired by listening to them that the listener just gives up and either sees it the addicts way or pretends to.

I am not most people. I am in recovery. This means that I will allow you so much of my time to screw with. After that, my patience is short-lived. After her two minutes was up, when I said, "Okay let's go." She kept steady talking. [How do you know when an addict is lying? Their mouth is moving.] She did not move. So I grabbed her purse [that has her pills], her notepad [that she is keeping track of her lies with], and her water [to keep the cottonmouth at bay I imagine]. I walked to the front door and opened it. "Come on. He's waiting." Now she starts with the crying again. As it was, I put her stuff in his vehicle and said goodbye to them both.

As I walked back to my front walk I heard her start crying louder and screaming after me. She is still not in his vehicle at this time but I kept walking with a pain in my stomach. I felt saddened with every step I took. With every step I took closer back to my house I wished she could get honest. With every step I took I wished I could believe her lies. With every step I took I wished I could put my arms around her and make her well. And with every step I took I wished there was no such thing as drug addiction.

Technorati: drugs, addiction, al-anon, nar-anon, atarax, recovery, alcoholics anonymous, pill heads, drug abuse, narcotics anonymous, prescription abuse, doctor shopping, doctor hopping, relapse, boundaries, percocet, effexor, lortab, suboxone, oxycontin, valium, vicodin, street drugs, crack, heroin, meth, addicted to drugs, addicted, addicts, alcoholic, alcoholics, alcoholism, narcotics, narcotic addiction, prescription drugs

Hillary Clinton, Stupid Men, and Sexism

2008-05-14T05:43:00.006-04:00

You mean someone loathes Hillary Clinton so much that they are going to invoke an insipidly sexist remark on a poster board and proudly display their idiocy despite the overwhelmingly clear stupidity of this statement?

She Couldnt Satisfy Her Husband
She Wont Satisfy America

I'm sure this guy just made friends with every woman who has ever been cheated on eh? You know what he's saying about you ladies? That cooking your husband's food, cleaning his house and changing his children's dirty asses while probably working 40 hours a week to boot; that it's your own fault he was diddling the sexy new clerk working for the company.

Aw. Poor little man. He was horny and you did not satisfy his primal urge. You know...primal? Like innate. Like, opposite of rational mind, like brains in the balls, like id business here...

The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth. This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes of the instinctive and primitive behaviors. According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.
The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs.
If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink. The id is very important early in life, because it ensures that an infants needs are met. If the infant is hungry or uncomfortable, he or she will cry until the demands of the id are met.

So basically your husband or man or other half or whatever, while stomping his baby feet gettin' it on with the woman not washing his sharted up underwear and not having to put up with stinky breath and nasty body expellations day in and day out, was really a physically overdeveloped child being ruled by his primal urges. Which tells me his logical and reasonable brain wasn't all that developed, but then this guy is telling us it's the woman's fault so don't vote for Hillary Clinton because she couldn't bring the pathetic state of affairs of this country out of it's infantile brain?

So once again, the woman is expected to save the house, save the kids, save the marriage, AND save the day, while simultaneously, being told by these misogynistic twads that they're not good enough, never have been good enough and never will be good enough.

But we're expected to save men from themselves, for us, by satisfying their infantile regressivism? Uh... I doubt that. My man will have the testicles to take care of himself. I don't know about the rest of male population, but if my dearest half needs to go diddle an imitation of me, I would encourage it. Separate the wheat from the chaffe is what I always say.

Yep. That's about it.

Technorati: misogyny, Hillary Clinton, sexism, politics, presidential election, infidelity, cheating, unfaithful husbands, marriage, sexist remarks, bill clinton, hillary clinton, feminism, gender equality, stupid men, id, freud

Mother's Day Every Day

2008-05-11T15:04:00.002-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to the Non-Traditional Mom's

This is a reposted adaptation of my 2006 post to Mother's Day of the not so traditional Mom's in the world. I've been spending time moving servers and working for my other site but wanted to acknowledge the Mother's who still don't seemingly get the appreciation they deserve. Wanted to say I appreciate your Mom status.

Happy Mother's Day to the nontraditional Mother! This is a special Happy Mother's Day. This is not for the Mother's who have children in an obvious or clear fashion but for the nontraditional Mother and in whatever form she's taking.

The seemingly unappreciated Mom. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's who've gone unappreciated or to the Mom's whose kids didn't wish them a Happy Mother's Day. You may have felt lonely or sad this past Mother's Day because your kids or adult children didn't ring you up or send you a card. Let me speak for a moment on their behalf:

Mom, life gets crazy and hectic. I do love you. I feel shame somewhere deep down in forgetting to take the time to recognize this as your day or maybe I just never have thought it meant too much to you. I want you to know though, I do love and appreciate everything you are. Thanks for being my Mom. Not just on Mother's Day but everyday.

The grieving Mom. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's who have ever suffered the loss of a child and from all outward appearances look as if they're not Mother's:

Mom. I can't be with you now but it's not because I don't love you. Circumstances took me away so early and I never had the opportunity to really let you know how much I love you. You're still my mother and I'm still your child...in spirit. I'll remember you and always be a part of you just as you'll always remember me. Mom, prosper in your life and continue making me proud to call you 'Mom.'

The "animal" Mom. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's who have children who are not homo-sapiens. You've raised them to not tee-tee on the carpet, you've taught them better than to jump on strangers, and have taken great pains to insure their well-being when you go out of town.

Mom. We can't comprehend this special day for you because we think you're special every day! Thank you for anticipating our needs and showing us love. Thank you for adopting us - you didn't have to. You're our Mom and we'll always love you enough to trust you. We can't communicate with words, but you always seem to know just what we need! We love you Mom!

The adopting Mom. You may not have given birth to this child, but it doesn't take biology to make a Mom. It takes commitment, nurturing, unconditional love, and a heart so big you can't stand to not give it away. You're the special Mom.

Mom, special Happy Mother's Day. I may not know if I'm adopted right now or not but it doesn't matter because Samsara is speaking on my behalf. I want you to know that if my heart knew what you know I would tell you how grateful I feel that you chose me. You made an effort to secure me and to take me in order to love me. You played for keeps and you didn't have to. I can't imagine where I would be had you not chosen me to be your child. You are the most special Mom I would have chosen, too! I love you Mom. Happy Mother's Day.

The Foster Mom. It's a popular misconception you do it for the money. The government may attempt at subsidizing it but for only the average foster Mom, I know that your own money and love goes into these children. People may not recognize you for the special and unique parent you are. You have to emotionally prepare for all sorts of behaviors from troubled kids, and then you must prepare to detach for when they're moved. You're blessed with being a light in the lives of your kids without knowing too much of their history. God has called you and you've answered.

Dear Mom. I came to you and I was scared. I may have had problems and was scared you'd be like where I came from. I began going to bed with my belly full. I began trusting in the warmth of the blankets. I began understanding that when you hugged me you meant it. You've changed how I view the world. I no longer think it's such a scary place. I love you Mom. Happy Mother's Day.

The StepMom [aka The Bonus Mom]. You don't have to but you do. You may have weighed the options as to whether you wanted to be emotionally present in this other woman's child's life. Your role may be as small as supporting your husband's relationship with his kids. It may be so large that the kids are living with the both of you practically full time to full time. You may all share a type of joint custody where the kids feel open to visit either at any time. The stepmother role is entitled to the "Monster Mother Tribute", as yours is probably the most unrecognized and undervalued role. Fighting the stereotype of trying to either replace the biological Mother's shoes, to being perceived as the wicked stepmother, you stand tall and keep moving forward, perhaps struggling to find your niche within the child's life and how it relates to your husband's. Yours is an effort that I think goes under discussed in mixed company.

"Why did you never have kids of your own?" or "Aren't you blessed you finally have a child?" or "Do you want kids of your own one day?" All of these are severe eyebrow raisers and anyone who asks or implies these questions is in need of a course in sensitivity. The stepmother came about because of no desire "to be a mother" or "to have kids" but because she fell in love with a man who already came with kids and she made the concious decision to accept that, no matter her role. Hers is perhaps a path of acceptance and struggle... an even maybe through Mother's Day without a card, a thank-you, or an acknowledgement.

Happy Mother's Day Stepmom. By the time you read this I'll be an adult and if I'm lucky, I'll have an understanding of what you must have gone through in order to be my StepMom. You picked me up from school to help my Dad. You cooked me dinner, gave me baths, did my hair...You bought me gifts, took me on walks and tucked me in at night. You soothed me when I cried and acted interested in my news. You're not my biological Mom but you are a fine Bonus Mom. I just wanted you to know that as thankless as it may have seemed, getting no credit for being a Mom, I'm grateful for you. Happy Mother's Day. I love you.

Technorati: mothers day, non traditional, mothers, mom, adoption, animals, foster, foster parents, adopting

Mean People Suck

2008-04-02T09:04:00.010-04:00

Mean People Suck. That used to be a bumper sticker and I still remember my sister's clunker with it on it. I dislike mean people. I really do! I know you must be thinking, "so do I" - because who likes mean people - but trust and believe that *your* version of dislike and my version of dislike are probably two very different items when it comes to this odd phenomenon of "mean people."

Clearly, "mean" is a subjective term because your thinking someone as mean may not be my thinking as someone as mean. So, to avoid confusion, for the uninitiated, in no certain order, here are my renditions of mean people. Notice that some may overlap, coincide or exist in the same person.

The Self-Absorbed - They are oblivious to the needs or wants of those around them. This is probably one of the more benign "meanies" out there. They will take the last piece of cake without considering anyone else may have wanted it. They drive 30 mph in a single lane highway when it's posted at 50 and although they notice you behind them, they think you're a show-off for having a new BMW. These same people also have no concept of personal space as they walk right up behind you in line at the market and are so close you know that errant strands of your hair must be in their mouth.

Judgemental people - The intolerant yaks who think that because I or you do a thing differently or think differently, that we must somehow be wrong, deficient, or less than. It would never occur to them they are morally, spiritually or logically wrong for entertaining that theirs is the *only* correct way. These are the more difficult people we encounter online I have noticed. Or shall I say that there are *many* of them online.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but the judgemental asshole will not only not acknowledge that his is an opinion, he will not even argue it. He assumes his opinion as fact and then starts from there. Most people will use points of experience or statistics or evidence in order to share why there opinion is such and such. Not the judgemental.

Said after a person expressed an opinion on the Holocaust as "an awful tragedy". "Were you there? Since your opinion is worthless anyway and since the holocaust never happened, why do you people insist on thinking that Jews were tortured and killed?"

Victims - Not real victims but people who make themselves victims. You say it's pathetic or sad? I say it's mean! They try to manipulate your god-given perceptions in order to ratify some specific view of them they want you to have. It's mean because they will not give you credit to think for yourself, and it's also based in a narcissistic drive to remain the same while the world conforms!

A person had an opinion on someones website that was negative. As the nature of this media allows us to thumb up or thumb down certain websites, it's normal or expected to share your opinion. The *self-made victim* [whose website was the one in question] goes into SEVERAL public forums and not only names and links to the persons website but proceeds to blather about "I was very hurt and extremely upset that this person did this to me!" She also shared how she did not like the tagging system because her site was tagged "badly" and she was not even notified! The fact she threw in a few lies for good measure sure helped her victim status as well! [Aside: When she took her tired "victimize me" complaints to the social-media's core forums, it was hidden. Of course it would be. That's the point of this social network. And the tags are always the viewers choice but she was so important she thought she should have been notified. ]

Authority Abusers - You know. Them. The cop who shoves a kid thinking no one is looking. The cop who dumps quadriplegics out from their wheelchair. The Human Resource employee who enjoys belittling the employees but keeps her job anyway because she is *really* the alpha-omega and no one dare complain. It's said that *these* people have such terrible personal lives, they take out their anger and frustration on the world while wielding and abusing their authority.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Egomaniacs - It could be argued by anyone with a layman's working knowledge of psychoanalysis that the [Freud termed definition of] ego is the basis for all "mean people". So when I say *egomaniac* I mean basically those people whose entire dedicated life is spent activated from ego. The egomaniac is in its finest form when utilizing any and all of the above roles in his life. He can be victim when it suits him, an abuser of authority, and is rather judgemental and intolerant of others. And probably the #1 blatant characteristic of the egomaniac is the unabashedly way in which he does not even try to hide or cover up his mania.

Don't be Mean - or do, whichever. It makes me sad to see so many people like this; losing their humanity so to speak. [Did they ever have it to start with?] Are mean people born or are they made? And with a person so enshrouded in self, is there ever really any chance of true psychic change?

Are they so emotionally or mentally ill that they feel as if they have to keep their carefully constructed world just so, lest they perceptually lose themselves? What are they scared of?

I'm sure every mean person has their story but as for me, I just don't like them. I don't like how they make me feel. I dislike the [HSP?] emotions that become riled in me even when a person is smiling politely to my face, because I know a mean person. And this was just a rant I felt like writing about April 02nd 2008.

Technorati: mean people, egomaniacs, self absorbed, authority abusers, intolerance, judgemental, victims, manipulators, relationships, control freaks, mean people suck, social networks, police brutality, excessive force

Free BackLinks & Revenue Sharing

2008-03-13T07:21:00.012-04:00

Qassia is a relatively new and innovative way to earn backlinks to your websites or blogs as well as engaging in revenue sharing.

1. How it works is first you sign up. You'll need to choose your username carefully because it becomes your subdomain name. So when I chose my username as Samsara, my internet address I would promote became samsara.qassia.com - so click there to sign up. :)

Tip for Newbies: Now, for you SEO-minded folks. I don't have to tell you how important this part of the process is right? So if you want to network your business blogs or your company through this venue, then I would suggest you choose either your company as the username, the name of your blog or website, or the type of business you practice.

2. After you sign up with your chosen name and password and good email address, you will have to, then, verify your email address when it arrives in your inbox. (So no using a fake email for this one!)

3. I then, immediately went into my dashboard to look around. At the bottom I saw a place to input my Google Adsense code. So I did that which is where Revenue Sharing comes in. [I found out that when people visit my Qassia page, it will be my Google ads that display so I have an opportunity to make money from that.]

Tip for Newbies: Do you not know how to make money on the internet with Adsense? I would advise you, to then, read my Monetizing for Beginners and sign up for a Google Adsense account!

4. Then you start grading other peoples' *intel* which earns you Qassia dollars. And why do we need Qassia dollars? To get our websites to rank well. We submit our own *intel* to get a backlink.

Tip for Newbies: Backlink- A link on another website pointing back to your website. Backlinks helps with ranking higher in Search Engine placement. The more you have the higher you rank with the theory being that many people think you have some good quality content to offer so they link to you!

It can be a blog post, a joke, an bit of interest, something original or something you know something about. This is why I would suggest grading other pieces of intel first; to get an idea of what to submit. The grades are a different matter but suffice it to say, the better your intel, the higher your grade and I am sure that high grades play a role in the process as well.

That's all I have discovered so far because, yes, I'm new to it, too. But it looks very innovative, creative, and promising. So I'm giving her a go.

Technorati: monetize, seo, revenue sharing, make money, free links, qassia, affiliate, referral program, entrepreneur, netrepreneur, make money online, backlinks, serps, good idea

GoDaddy Coupon Codes

2008-03-06T16:47:00.004-05:00

I thought it would be neat to help you with my experience today! If you purchase domain names, hosting, email, or other services through GoDaddy, you know they often bribe you with coupon codes right? Well, a little known secret is that you can find Coupon Codes floating all over!

[The challenge is getting some of them to work! So before you GoDaddy checkout and it asks for the coupon code, input the code, and refresh your shopping cart total making sure it changes to a lesser total!]

This is where I come in by making an easy to find compilation of websites and web pages with coupon codes so if you find a dud you don't have to Googling all over again. I make no money through this at all because I am not a GoDaddy affiliate or anything like that but if you find this post helpful, I *would* appreciate just a thanks or something similar. I don't check my logs very often so I hardly ever know what people like here. :)

If you know of other GoDaddy coupon codes or pages that list them, or would report a dead page, I'd appreciate that. [Leave it in a comment at the bottom.] Gee, I hope this isn't against the "rules" or anything.

GoDaddy Coupon Codes and Web Pages

FatWallet Keeps them Updated here!
A few codes...

OYH3 - $3 off / $6.95 any .COM
BTPS7 - 20% any order of $50 or more
OYH1 - 10% off whatever
BTPS20 - 25% any order of $100 or more
BTPS4 - 10% off anything
OYH2 - $5 off a $30 purchase
chill1 - 10% off
chill2 - $5 off $30
chill3 - $6.95 .coms
hash1 - 10% off

Promo Code has em!

These expire March 31, 2008

$6.95 .COM registrations, transfers and renewals
Use promo code CJC695DOM

20% off any GoDaddy shared hosting plan
Use promo code CJC20HOST

10% off any order at GoDaddy
Use promo code CJCSAVE10

Save $1 on any order
Use promo code CJCONEOFF

Save $5 on your order of $30 or more (great for bulk
order)
Use promo code CJCSAVE

Save $10 on your order of $50 or more (great for
bulk order)
Use promo code CJCTENOFF

Save 15% on your order of $75 or more (great for
bulk order)
Use promo code CJCDEAL

Save $20 on your order of $100 or more (great for
bulk order)
Use promo code CJCDEAL17

I hope these sites are helpful. I'll update this post with other places or codes I find, as time permits.

Technorati: godaddy coupons, GoDaddy Coupons, coupon codes, godaddy coupon codes, buy domains, godaddy domain names, shopping, godaddy, internet hosting, web hosting, save money, domain name registration, domain hosting, good idea

Stop Warrantless Wiretapping

2008-02-20T22:23:00.005-05:00

At the heart of the matter is the unconstitutionality of Bush's warrantless wiretapping, email intercepting, and otherwise unlawfully spying on US citizens without cause. For more information see: ACLU vs NSA - The Challenge to Illegal Spying

Over the past few years, the federal government has returned to the bad old days of unchecked spying on ordinary Americans. In 2005, the nation learned that President Bush has repeatedly authorized the National Security Agency to monitor the phone calls and emails of people inside the United States, without a warrant and in violation of the Constitution. Authorized days after September 11, 2001, this warrantless wiretapping program is part of a broad pattern of the executive branch using "national security" as an excuse for encroaching on the privacy and free speech rights of Americans without adequate oversight.

Yesterday, February 19 2008, the ACLU received denial from the Supreme Court to hear the case. I am not surprised. This is a very partisan styled issue for some people; yet for others it's simply about civil liberties, freedom.

For me, it is about freedom. It is about where we've come and where we're headed. But because the Supreme Court has refused to hear the case, we now rely on ordinary US citizens to change things. This is where you come in. This is where I come in.

Below is from my My SU Review

Supreme Court will Hear No Evil

Supreme Court declined to hear the ACLU case on warrantless wiretapping instigated by Bush & Co... From the article: It's up to the House to decide whether Americans whose Fourth Amendment rights were wantonly violated by the phone companies and the NSA will have their day in court. Make your voice heard:

Tell your representative to vote "no" on telecom immunity and "yes" on individual warrants to wiretap Americans.

~ Stop Allowing Bush & Co. Unconstitutional Spying on its Citizens ~
Choose the above link, which is on a secured server, enter your correct zip code [address and name is probably good too] and the website will automatically send it on your behalf to your appropriate representative. As Americans in a reasonably free society do we want to continue down the path of any dictatorship? How ironic, to me, that we're *in Iraq* and "fighting from Freedom" for those guys but on our own homeland, our citizens are at the whim of this administration. Say No! Start Now!

Discuss this on Newsvine

Supreme Court Denies ACLU Petition to Hear NSA Wiretapping Case

Technorati: wiretapping, spying, illegal spying, civil liberties, activism, warrantless wiretapping, ACLU, NSA, National Security Agency, Patriot Act, House of Representatives, Supreme Court, politics, FISA, congress, government, Iraq War, terrorism, homeland security, law

Ban Police Tasers Petition

2008-02-10T11:24:00.001-05:00

I started an "Ban Police Tasers" online petition a few late nights ago in response to outrageous taser abuse by law enforcement.

And so for those of you lucky to have made it here instead of the petition first, let me go ahead and save you time by telling you how the petition reads & since it's a petition [albeit *my* content], I feel anyone can copy/paste this content for their use in promotion of the petition. So yes, feel free. [I grant you a non-exclusive, royalty free license to use the following content in promotion of the petition.] :

Ban Police Tasers Petition
From the Ban Police Tasers Petition

If you think law enforcement use of tasers isn't a problem, you have not been paying attention.

Please visit http://taserwatch.newsvine.com/ which is a repository of information, articles, and videos on real live taser incidents. Incidents, most would agree, should have never happened. People have died due to taser use, been damaged due to taser use, and law enforcement accountability is nowhere to be found.

One could argue that perhaps police need "better instruction" on when using a taser is a feasible endeavor but we disagree. At the heart of the matter belies people who think that by donning a uniform you must do what he says or else.

The Civil Rights Movement could never have happened in 2008 due to this new widespread taser use. If you have read the news accounts or stories you will see that even acts of "going too slow" have incited police to taser the citizen; Much less could an act of passive resistance be sustained without being tasered.

In short, although police will maintain that taser use is a better alternative to using guns, we ask you to ponder these real stories of taser use.

Would the police really have shot the man they found asleep on his own couch in his own home?
Would they have really shot the 17 year girl who was in her own room?
How about the guy they found distraught in a Canadian airport? [Rest in Peace Robert Dziekanski]
Or the [black] diabetic man they found passed out in his car due to a seizure
Or the [black] man who didn't pull out his license fast enough?
Or the woman who was already handcuffed?
Or the man at the Kerry speech [aka "the "Don't tase me bro!" guy
Or the kid who forgot his ID in the school library?
Or the [black] man on the phone outside an establishment who was tasered for seemingly just being black. This abusive officer had waited until his comrades had walked ahead before doing a "walk by" shocking of this citizen.
Or the man who was tasered for filming a warrantless police search?

Would the police *really* have shot these people with their guns? Are any of us stupid enough to believe this?

Or, is it more likely that they want complete submission? Or because they are psychologically imbalanced? Or are human and subject to the same emotions, fear, or prejudices non-police humans are subject to? Or, as heinous as this sounds, they get their kicks?

The police have overstepped. It is time the citizens speak up. "No more tasers!"

Feel free to use this image for promotion of this petition on your own website, blog, MySpace, or Facebook.

End Petition Copy

My Social Psyche

I want you to know I am not an activist in the physical sense although I have strong feelings of justice in my heart. I *am* a Leo and we apparently have very strong feelings of judiciousness as well as loyalty in our personal world view. I do want you to know I am a normal person and it's important for me that you know that so that you understand I am not just a "petition starter."

I do not go out looking for causes to get angry about but this one rather, seemed to have found me. It found me by way of the innocent people who were victimized and some killed by a police officer's taser. It came searching for me, this cause, from the news stories from reputable sources of news, outlining police brutality or excessive force onto citizens who - in some cases - had just been pulled over for apparently a speeding infraction. It stirred the depths of me when a man, not speaking the language in the country he'd just landed, became distraught at no one's helping him, and died as a seeming result of being tasered. The stories I refer to in the petition are all true. They all happened. So this is me. Being affected. Normally. Click here to read my last post which was on taser-abuse.

World's Social Psyche

I think most people in the world would rather not be called to sign a petition. I think most people in the world would rather stay in the comfort of thinking "I could never get abused by the police because I am a good person" or "I obey the law" or "I could never be in a position to get unduly tasered because I simply do what is asked." I get that! I do! I thought the same thing!

But watching some of the YouTube videos and you will notice that these people come in all social classes, genders and colors - which is something not all news accountings divulge. [Which, in my opinion, gives us each the opportunity to use our imagination that the person who had been tasered was simply "not like us." He couldn't have been!]

You know it's normal to look for differences in people that separate us right? That's our ego's job and it is a worthy protector - the ego. But there comes a time that the ego's job is done a little too well and it can blind us to to the real problems occurring in the world that need changing.

Police Abuse of Authority

This problem of police mishandling their authority is their ego. I do not know very many - though I do know some - police officer's who have true humility with the idea that when they don their badge and uniform they they feel worthy and fortunate to be of service. I certainly do know a few. But unfortunately.

Unfortunately the police system is broken when tasers get used for compliance by even a "normal human" who is subject to the same emotions and prejudices and ego-problems most of us are subject to. That is a problem. Adrenaline runs high or fear is pervasive and out comes the taser because the police officer is scared of black people or is scared of retarded people or just plain scared...what-the-hell-ever! Good God.

So then what do you think of a person whose ego runs high and his fear is covered by hate instead? He hates black people, or hates women or hates the mentally slow or hates anyone who doesn't look like him. It's not such a stretch for me. The police see many traumatic situations I can imagine that would "turn" a normal person into a desperate person. He's probably been shot at, hit, punched... So. It seems reasonable to him he would taser first and ask questions later.

But because tasers have been killing more and more people due to the high incidents of use, many times there can be no questioning after - like in the case of Robert Dziekanski or many others. But even if questions could be asked afterward, is is acceptable that we have gotten to the point of "tasering a non-threatening individual first?" Is it my fault the police officer has been traumatized or has an ego problem or suffers fear or do I not still have a right to ask why I was pulled over without getting tasered? Don't I?

Of course I do. You do. We all do.

Start with Banning Tasers

We do have problems with the police. And it seems every week there is something new. This past week, for example, I was extremely distraught to learn of Hope Steffey's story in which [no taser was involved] she was "raped without penetration" by the police.

She had had an altercation with her cousin whereby another cousin called the police for help on Hope Steffey's behalf. The situation ended with Hope Steffey being arrested, being stripped naked by female and male police officer's alike and left naked in her cell for 6 hours with medical injuries that went uncared for. She had to cover herself with toilet paper to stay warm. You can read the story and watch the disturbing video here.

Another insane story I just got wind of was a woman, Dibor Roberts, who was notified she should pull over. It was late at night on a dark stretch of road so she did what women have known to do for years: She slowed down to a snail's pace to indicate she was aware she should pull over. Her intention, however, was to get to a well lit area. According to this source:

On Cornville Road, well before the populated area, Sheriff's Sergeant Jeff Neunum apparently tired of waiting for Roberts to reach a settled area. While he was, in fact, a police officer, he now proceeded to justify every fear an American may have about rogue cops. He raced his cruiser in front of Roberts's car, forcing her off the road. He then smashed her driver's-side window with his baton and grabbed a cellphone she was using to check his identity. Accounts vary at this point. While police deny it, the press has reported that Neunum dragged Roberts from her vehicle, threw her to the ground, and handcuffed her while driving his knee into her back.

We hear and read stories of police brutality and excessive force being used quite often. I have read and watched the news when a police officer is charged because he would exchange sexual favors or force women to perform sex acts. We remember Rodney King. We understand malfeasance occur.

Please Sign the Ban Police Tasers Petition

And so for all the problems and with all the corruption and broken law enforcement systems in this world, for us to entrust these people to use tasers makes no sense to me. At least when a gun is used - the situation a police officer has found himself in in which to make gun use a viability - has escalated into real danger. The cop who tasered Amanda Beets, a mentally handicapped woman, who ran out of her house in order to see what was going on with her mother probably would not have been shot with a gun.

"Evil succeeds when good people fail to act" and I believe this old saying to be a truth. The honorable Martin Luther King said it best: "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." I think at this point, it would be a good time to think of Albert Einstein's attributed words too: "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."

You may be anonymous when you sign the petition by ticking a box. You may also upload an image of yourself or your socially known avatar - in addition to being anonymous - if you'd like to create solidarity with your friends in promotion of this petition. You may use any buttons I have created already for your use or whatever you can do in order to promote this. Thank you.

Technorati: ban tasers, taser abuse, police brutality, tasers, outlaw tasers, taser, excessive force, law enforcement, abuse by police, civil liberties, taser petition, taser deaths, police taserings, tasered, dont tase me bro, taser news, ban taser petition, activism, humanitarianism, anti-taser, activists, police tasering, ban police tasers

Taser Abuse - Taser Use Needs Reform

2008-01-11T08:47:00.000-05:00

With increasing regularity, I have been exposing myself to Taser Abuse articles. I have begun searching them out. I am doing this only after having them seemingly showing up everywhere at first. It started to become that everywhere I turned, taser deaths were in the news. I wrote an article for Newsvine entitled Civil Disobedience = Tasering and in my research, the results were astounding. Heartbreaking really.

I discovered that a man by the name of Robert Dziekanski died as a result of being tasered. He was a non-English speaking Polish man in a Canadian airport.

He had been there for ten hours with no one coming to help him. His mother had even paced the airport for 6 hours continually asking for help in locating her son. Well, as you can imagine, Robert grew increasingly frustrated waiting - with no assistance - for about ten hours in a different area of the airport.

From the Globe and Mail it was an estimated 24 seconds after the police [RCMP] confronted him "to calm him down" that Robert was tasered. He would die shortly afterward. This was a horrible tragedy and it absolutely needn't have happened. I am grateful that the internet community has taken Robert's death as an outrage of justice.

And his is just one such outrageous example of authorities using tasers in non-taser-worthy situations. The point to citing Robert Dziekanski's death by taser and the circumstances that surrounded it is twofold:

Apparently there are people who think that if one obeys the police "quick enough" or who subserviate their liberties and rights well enough, then the police would not have to taser these people. In effect, their deaths are their own fault.
The intent of taser use by authorities was supposed to be for last resort if the officer is in imminent danger and this is no longer the case. The taser has become a weapon of routine force for some police officers and this is the problem.

So what is the solution? We need reform. We need severe reform or we need for the tasers to be taken away from the police. I think maybe taking the tasers away from the police may be the best option for a few reasons.

Police are human. Even if they are trained and trained well, they still suffer the same fears, bias, and prejudices we are all subject to. Look at this article in which Irshad Ahmed is taunted, cursed, and threatened by police after being tasered [and unjustly]. Considering this incident happened in 2006 and in the wake of 9/11, I can't help but think that Middle-Eastern prejudice could have been a contributory factor in this cop's premature tasering and escalating anger and mouthiness.

Some police are authority junkies. How about this article/video in which a man is tasered [or tased] for filming a warrantless police search? Or this one in which a police officer tasered a woman after she was already handcuffed? Fortunately, finally, this police officer was not cleared of wrongdoing but is facing charges. The officer who tasered a Utah man during a routine traffic ticketing was cleared of wrongdoing, however. This Utah man was tasered because he turned his back on the officer. This victim of tasering is your classic case of being smarter than the cop which will almost always lead to being tasered. This gentleman was trying to exercise his rights as a free citizen and at most, perhaps deserved to be arrested on some trumped charge, but to have been tasered is disgusting. I find it completely inappropriate that the police officer would mock the victim afterward. Asshole. No wonder the officer's life has been threatened.

From Taser Probe: Trooper Acted Reasonably: Trooper Jon Gardner remains on leave, primarily for his safety, after numerous anonymous threats were made against him, said Supt. Lance Davenport of the Utah Highway Patrol.

Some Police Officers shouldn't be police officers, much less allowed to play with weapons. Amnesty International has spotlighted this escalating problem asking for reform, and, due to the escalating North American deaths attributed to tasers, the U.N. as recently as November 2007 declared "TASER electronic stun guns are a form of torture that can kill."

For every incident I just cited there are even more that are sure to be even more enraging to the social conscience. In the meantime, there is a TaserWatch group I am Co-Moderator of where we seed taser abuse incidents, taser deaths, follow-ups, taser trends, and virtually all things taser-ish. If you have an opinion or are a police officer and would like to share your thoughts, we encourage you to stop by and share them.

In the meantime, here are a few more articles and incidents I found in my internet travels. I am warning you though. If you suffer from high blood pressure, are a Highly Sensitive Person [or multisensory], or have been diagnosed as or think you are Oppositional Defiance Disordered, take care of yourself first. Nobody needs to have an embolism up in here.

Woman tased in Florida Best Buy because she was "irate." [Video]
UCLA Student tasered while in Powell Library. [Video]
Boynton Beach woman tasered for refusing to get out of her car. [Video]
Diabetic seizing Alabama man slumped over the wheel of his car tasered. [Doesn't remember.]
Las Vegas Man did not take meds. Was driving while seizing. Was tasered. [Died]
82 year old woman with dementia and in a wheelchair. Tasered. [Died]
Man, 36, overdoses on crack, vandalizes store. Tasered. [Died]

Make up your own mind. Is it time for reform or are we doing okay? Necessary losses?

Addendum February 08, 2008

Petition powered by ThePetitionSite.com

See or Sign the Petition
Outlaw Law Enforcement Use of Tasers

Technorati: tasers, taser abuse, tasering, police, police state, taser related deaths, Robert Dziekanski, taser watch, excessive force, police brutality, amnesty international, taser videos, Irshad Ahmed, abuse

Ellen Pleas for Pups Return

2007-10-17T07:25:00.000-04:00

I watched a tearful Ellen on her show Tuesday, October 16th, as the normally perky and bubbly blonde bombshell couldn't contain her sadness. Here's the story as she relayed it.

She got a puppy from a rescue shelter. She spent a lot of money on the puppy. It was too much "energy" in trying to get Iggy to acclimate into their home - apparently Ellen is a cat lover too - due to their cats. But then, according to Ellen, she made a mistake. Here was her mistake.

Ellen was in a conversation with her hairdresser who mentioned that their family had been looking for a puppy. The hairdresser has two girls, aged 11 and 12 [I think I have that right]. So, it seems to be synchronicity at work when Ellen probably exclaimed, "Oh no! You're kidding me! I have just the puppy! Iggy!" Happy happy right? Wrong. That was the mistake.

On Good Morning America this morning, I see the second part of this story and it's awful. Mutts and Moms, the organization that Ellen did not name on her show, apparently had something that Ellen signed stating that if Ellen couldn't care for the puppy it would have to go back. Well, Ellen's human and she made this mistake. So what? What this organization did was awful. Follow this.

Good Morning America relayed that the Mutts and Mom's people, under guise of a "home inspection," visited the family and then took Iggy from the home. This, after two weeks of bonding with this family, Iggy is now again displaced and back at the shelter.

Hey, Mutts and Moms? Guess who will thinks you're heartless? That's right - me.

I saw the owner's snide remarks on the GMA show this morning. "If Ellen wants to get her own rescue organization she can do that." and "I don't tell her how to run her business!" Lady, this isn't about telling you how to run your business. This is about interrupting some hearts here. Iggy's and that family's heart. Or are you too business contrived that you've lost sight of that? What the hell is wrong with you?

Also according to Good Morning America the woman's now getting death threats. Oh great! Just what Ellen needs...you whackjobs thinking you're doing some kind of good. Yeah that's going to work. I can see Iggy going right back to the family half past never.

Poor Iggy. It wasn't his fault this woman had a rule for animals not going to families with kids younger than 14. It was also not his fault that Ellen didn't realize she was supposed to return him if unable to keep him. I think, from what I know of Ellen, that had this been her choice she would have kept Iggy and found another solution. This all came from love. This was born of love. This bred love.

And then this Mutts and Mom place decided they needed to abide their rules first and foremost; And decided they couldn't forgive it for a greater purpose. Because, for love, there is no greater purpose other than itself. If they'd found the home unfit, okay, take Iggy. But because Ellen made a mistake and because the rules state so and so with respect to age...?

Okay. By all means then. Put the rules first if that's the highest good you can muster.

I'll wish you more love in your next life.

October 17th TMZ - Ellen and Portia rushed to the home of the hairdresser Sunday night only to find little Iggy already gone. Watch the videos and see TMZ's commentary.
October 18th TMZ Poll - Out of a so far result of over 434,000 votes on October 18th, 94% respondents believe Ruby should get Iggy back.

Wednesday October 18th Update

October 18th TMZ - According to TMZ, today's Ellen will have her now pleading with the audience to not resort to violence. This is ridiculous that Ellen has to now plead for people to not resort to violence. I am sure the extreme anarchists and whackjobs were unleashing some pent up anger over threatening that woman's life but is that what Ellen is about? No way!

Ellen's spirit is about compassion, love, and light. This is Ellen. Well-intentioned people - to the extent they want the *right* thing to happen - are doing no kind of good by threatening violence on this woman. Ellen is hurt okay. It will not lessen her pain to think she may be inadvertently responsible for this woman's death or emotional harm - even if this woman is perceived as Mama Be-yotch.

Don't you nutjobs see how this looks? The woman is blaming Ellen for the threats because she perceives the threats as coming from "Ellen's camp." Right, wrong, or not at all, we live in a codependent society where we blame all sorts of people for the actions of others. So stop the madness people. This isn't helping.

If you want to help, write a compassionate letter to the owner of Mutts and Moms telling her how sorry you are that she is scared; That people are allowed to make mistakes; That God allows U-Turns; whatever. If you want to help some more, adopt an animal instead of buying one with a pedigree. If you want to help, read the fine print when you sign something as you adopt your next family member. If you want to help, start an internet petition and send the address to Mutts and Moms. If any of this fails to resolve the inside of you, maybe read a little about Gandhi.

Love, Peace, and Light.

Technorati: ellen degeneres, ellen show, puppy, iggy, mutts and moms, animal shelters, television, animal rescue, pets, family, pet adoption, california, ellen cries, dogs, cats, kittens, love

Michael Widger of Erie - Child Sex Target

2007-09-07T08:10:00.000-04:00

Teacher from Erie, PA charged with downloading child porn at school
Michael Widger Charged with Child Porn

I know Mike Widger a little. I am not going to claim his innocence on his behalf so don't read this thinking that. If you want to read the Associated Press story on Michael Widger and his child porn arrest you may do so here. I am going to claim that this morning I was considering writing something else when ABC's Good Morning America, this morning, produced a segment that reminded me of Mike Widger's current state of affairs.

A man, accused of child molestation, killed himself apparently when the media got hold of him and in effect, destroyed him. The irony looking back today, is that according to the man being interviewed, the alleged molester would have never been charged. He was probably innocent. The man being interviewed intimated the man's innocence.

My beloved and I have often discussed among ourselves that even if a person is innocent, once the harsh light of accusation of child molestation, pedophilia, or sexual abuse, or anything even remotely similar to children and sex, you're dead in the water.

Teacher from Erie charged with downloading child porn at school
Associated Press August 31, 2007 9:03 AM

ERIE, Pa. (AP) -- An elementary school teacher was charged with possessing child pornography after police said they found 55 images on the computer he used at school.
Michael P. Widger, 36, of Erie, had already been fired by Millcreek Township School District. He was freed on bond after his arraignment Thursday.
Police said Widger told them he sometimes used his computer at Grandview Elementary School for personal reasons. Asked why he did an Internet search for terms including "transgender," Widger told police that a transgender parent was coming to the school for a meeting and he wanted to send other faculty a joke about it.
The Associated Press could not immediately locate a phone number Widger and it was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. [sic]
School officials had already suspended, then fired, Widger for violating the district's computer-use policy. But that activity was not directly related to the criminal charges.
Widger has filed a grievance to challenge his firing, but his state teacher's license would automatically be revoked if he is convicted. Perhacs said the district will fight Widger's efforts to get his job back even if he is acquitted of the criminal charges.
Information from: Erie Times-News, http://www.goerie.com

Whether Mike Widger is innocent or guilty of child porn on his school computer I would like to offer for consideration a few things to think about before the media decides it smells blood and wants to go after Mike Widger. I am writing this to try to counter the negativity I have seen regarding this...and I mean "even if he IS guilty." I'd like for people to take these general principles and apply them to everyone the media reports on as having been "close to the fire of children and sex."

The article linked to above relayed why Mike Widger told the police he searched on term "transgender" and "she-male." Are you kidding me? A few things wrong with this being reported. First, that's not illegal. [As far as his being fired from the school he'd been with over 15 years, the article admits - at the end- that the firing and the charges were not directly related.] Secondly, why is the Associated Press relaying something so very personal? Listen. If the police wanted to get *me* on telling the search terms they'd find I wouldn't answer the first of questions like that! Clearly they are trying to relate "transexualism" with "sexual abuse of minors" and no. Sorry. That's just more stereotypical redneck Bubba sort of thinking. But I suspect, that being a good citizen [first mistake], he thought that by being cooperative without an attorney would be best for him.

"School officials had already suspended, then fired, Widger for violating the district's computer-use policy. But that activity was not directly related to the criminal charges."

Child porn can sometimes be girls who claimed they were at least 21 but were really 17. When people think of child porn I think they tend to think 9 and 10 year olds where there is no question of "child status."
Possession of "child porn" [the girl who says she's 25 *or* the other kind] or any porn for that matter on one's hard drive does not mean the major user of the computer A.) Knew about it. B.) Is a child molester. When I do on-site computer repair the person paying me is shocked to discover the viruses/trojans/dialers and porn. There is no person in the U.S. over the age of 30 who hasn't been "invited" in one way, shape or other to look at some porn or get forwarded to a porn site or has been enticed to download a trojan disguised as porn...Curiosity or inexperience, accidentally can lead to clicks that may've been better left alone. Why is curiosity apparently a crime?
If the Media Accuses or Casts Aspersions and nobody reads it, are you still guilty? Many people who once read with great interest in the various Erie newspapers or online sources this hardly newsworthy tale of Mike Widger will not follow it to outcome. People who knew of Mr. Widger, regardless of any court date or outcome, will always remember him as the man who had porn on his school computer. To some minds he is already a child molester and pedophilia. Would he ever be able to have a job in a school district even if found not guilty? [...and remember. No one is ever found "innocent." Allegedly here in the U.S. we're supposed to be Innocent *unless proven guilty* but come on...not in the case of someone even whispering anything related to child sex.]
Germaine to Mike Widger's case, it is interesting to note that when he was dismissed from the school that he immediately filed a grievance to get reinstated. Who knows if Mike Widger knew the police would be coming after him but the fact that after his suspension and subsequent firing he immediately filed a grievance is hardly the action of a guilty person. Now I know sociopaths who would do the same thing to "give the flavor" of innocence, but like I've said...I knew him a little. Nothing HSP "bad" or "off" kicked in to make me think he was a sociopath.
I'd like to know something. If Mike Widger was suspended and then fired from the school then why he was fired couldn't have been reasons so very clear cut right? I guess what I am saying is could he have been suspended for potentially damning items on his computer and then while someone was tinkering with it, could someone have a vendetta against Mike that they would put the 55 "child porn" images on the computer? Then he could have been fired after the "investigation" and then the same person who did the "tinkering" could have called the police?

In case I haven't made it clear yet, I'm not taking issue with anyone's innocence versus guilt. I am taking issue with my society's lust for sensationalism and irresponsible journalism. I am taking issue with journalism being part of the problem as far as our judicial system goes when it comes to child sex issues. I am talking about investigative journalism who I have seen entrap people into situations where men would be arrested. I am talking about society judging a person whose private life is now on parade in the media.

Imagine if your "secrets" were paraded in public for the entire world to see?

"I have nothing to hide." I hear some people saying.

"Karma will judge that." is my response.

As for Mike Widger. I hope his community is a community of people who can think for themselves and not allow the media or even people who have nothing better to contribute than gossip, sway them. If Mike Widger is found guilty of anything - or more pointedly - is guilty of anything, let's do what our Highest Good would have us do and not add anymore pain to his bucket. And being judged is painful. Remember when you were judged?

I'm so tired of seeing the world inflict pain on the pained. Aren't you?

God bless you Mike.

Technorati: michael widger, Mike Widger, Erie, Pennsylvania, child porn, pedophilia, school, Millcreek, school district, elementary teacher, journalism, arrested, transvestite, privacy, right to privacy, invasion of privacy, miranda rights, innocent unless proven guilty, freedom of the press, responsible journalism, irresponsible journalism, intrusive, private citizen, civil liberties, right to google, end the madness, tail wagging the dog, karma, judgemental, do unto others, golden rule, compassion, child pornography

Photo Hosting Company Pays You

2007-09-06T07:23:00.000-04:00

Have you heard about the photo hosting company that pays you to host your pictures there? That sounds a little strange doesn't it? A company that will allow you to upload your photos and then pay you to show them off?

Flickr doesn't do that. In fact, Flikr is quite limiting for its free version. Photobucket even. Photobucket, as generous as the allotment, still limits you and they have enough ads there that you do wonder sometimes who should be paying who! ;)

Hey, and what about these other making money benefits?

If you have an Adsense account you can input your own Adsense publisher ID.
You get 10% of the fees your referrals earn when they sign under you and use it too.
Of course you can "hotlink" photos and they even give you the code.
You can make galleries as a directory structure for your photos.
No bandwidth limitations.
No photo limitations.
No viewing limitations.
I think it's .22 cents per 1000 photo views.
Earn credit when you refer someone by way of 10% of their photo view earnings.

Hey if you sign up under me I get a kickback - a whopping 10% of your earnings!

Now since my signing up I haven't made a whole lot. [I think I may almost be up to .02 cents but I am confident that in a week I will be a trillionaire so don't go be no burstin' me bubble!!] Primarily because I don't show off a lot of images of myself but there may be a place for it after all. For example...

My birthday was August 09th - and now that I think about it, it usually is August 09th every year - and this year I travelled to my home state of Florida whereupon I would venture to Busch Gardens and ride Sheikra. If you were to click on the thumbnail to the left there you would see not only a colorized version of me, but also of my petrified friend - who I met in line - with one priceless expression. Seriously. This is the sort of photo that if Ellen Degeneres saw on the internet, she'd be calling me - cause there is a story behind this Sheikra ride I can assure you and it's no coincidence the seat beside her is empty. LoL :) Clicking on the thumbnail I have set to open in a new window will take you to the full size. [Want to see some artwork of mine? I have more there.]

It may be something to consider if you host a lot of thumbnails and want some extra pin money. So good luck! Oh. Wait.

I forgot myself. I have to tell you the downside don't I? Argh. Darn me and my consumer activist side. Okay. Well...there are a few I have discovered in the short time I have been a member. Let me go through them so you don't sign up and then holler at me.

You can only link with either a link or a thumbail because...
To get credit for the view it must be viewed at their site.
Which sometimes will display a full page ad [that you can skip].
And sometimes the thumbnails take a lo-o-o-ng time to load.
And there is no batch processing like Flickr. [only multiple images at one time.]
No comments on your images.
No pull from the web feature like in Photobucket.

So I guess looking at it from this angle... Ahh...Not really. As long as you don't go in expecting it to be Flickr or Photobucket it'll be okay. I can see the perfect scenario: You already use thumbails somewhere. Or you want to start; For example in your Stumbleupon blog or your Myspace or Blogger posts.

Still want to sign up?

Hey if you sign up under me I get a kickback - a whopping 10% of your earnings!

Summary: I think the overall concept is creative. I think the potential to make serious money is not there. BUT if images are how you communicate with the world, you may prove me wrong in no time. I do think Shareapic really needs to work on increasing their server capacity to get the thumbnails to consistently display and I do like how they keep track of your earnings, your viewings, and referrals and the referral number of images viewed.

Technorati: make money, photo hosting, free photo hosting, make money sharing photos, sheikra, pictures, images, referral program, entrepreneur, netrepreneur, make money online, photobucket, flickr, adsense, shareapic

Shocking Judge Rotenberg Education Center Shocks Children

2007-09-05T11:43:00.000-04:00

Did you hear about the school that's getting away with torturing kids? Yeah. Neither had I until I saw this Mother Jones article here: School of Shock. I'm going to reprint the most terrible highlights of the school and then I am going to show you the website of the school. Then I would advise you to visit the article in its 6 page entirety unless you are a woman who needs her makeup flawless. I was crying inside of a minute at the first several paragraphs.

The Mother Jones article was written by Jennifer Gonnerman and published August 20, 2007. It's headed up with the following:

Eight states are sending autistic, mentally retarded, and emotionally troubled kids to a facility that punishes them with painful electric shocks. How many times do you have to zap a child before it's torture?

This is not intended to be an unbiased accounting. What I am writing here has one clear intent: To stop the abuse of children. Being autistic, bipolar, ADHD, OCD, or suffering from Post Traumatic Stress are simply not good enough reasons to shock a kid. And since when has mental retardation deserved infliction of pain?

My beloved brought up a decent point of consideration to me, though, as he knows I can throw reason out the window when my own PTSD, ACE/ADD, or HSP has been touched. He actually took the time to watch one of the video's of the Judge Rotenberg facility at their website so we discussed some situations in which maybe "shock therapy" might work. The only situation I can even get close to thinking it maybe *could* be feasable would be if the child is chronically trying to harm himself more than a dose of shock would.

But even in that situation I would have to try medication first because what we're talking about in this situation is a low functioning mentally retarded or severely emotionally disturbed child. Even after exhausting medication, are we so low functioning ourselves that we can't get a psychologist to work with such a child while utilizing maybe 4 point restraints? I mean, hurting a child, even if he does harm himself... This isn't considered humane is it?

B.F. Skinner be damned - I studied him too. Apparently Dr. Matthew Israel was a huge fan.

When we send dogs to obedience school do we allow the trainers to shock our dogs? And speaking of dog training, I'm even against those zapper training kits that train your dog to stay in the yard and from what I understand even that shock is lower than the 2 second bolt of electricity going through the children at the Judge Rotenberg Center.

As summarized by the Boing Boing article, "Torture School Subjects Students to Lethal Punishments", I guess the reader would have to decide if any positivity outweighs the negatives:

Staff shock kids for "nagging, swearing, and failing to maintain a neat appearance" and once threatened to shock a girl who sneezed and then asked for a tissue.
Some students must "earn" meals by not displaying certain behaviors. Otherwise they are "made to throw a predetermined caloric portion of their food into the garbage."
When students enter and leave the school each day, "almost all" are wearing some type of restraints, such as handcuffs or leg shackles.
"Students may be restrained"--on a four-point restraint board or chair--"for extensive periods of time (e.g. hours or intermittently for days)."
Some students are shocked while strapped to the restraint board.
A "majority" of employees "serving as classroom teachers" are "not certified teachers."
Rotenberg's marketing reps bestow presents on prospective families--"e.g. a gift bag for the family, basketball for the student."
Although the center has described its shock device as "approved" by the fda in its promotional materials, it "has not been approved."
The facility collects "comprehensive data" on behaviors it seeks to eliminate, but "there was no evidence of the collection of data on replacement or positive behaviors."
The facility makes no assessment of the "possible collateral effects of punishment such as depression, anxiety, and/or social withdrawal."

I really do not advocate for simply believing everything on the internet one reads...even if it is on Boing Boing or MotherJones but because this "school" is mirroring closely my own psychologically warping experiences at a residential facility called "Straight, Inc" [minus the shock 'therapy'?] I cannot help but to believe the credibility.

If only 10% of the Mother Jones article is true - and I happen to understand the validity of at least 80% being true based on my own experiences - the Judge Rotenberg Center needs to be shut down. I believe the writer was a credible and reliable witness as she visited the place, spoke with Dr. Matt Israel and provided historical accountings of the school's past controversy. I would encourage every person reading this to spend 20 minutes and read the entire 6 page article and decide for yourself.

As for me, I have already decided.

No.

Technorati: judge rotenberg center, child abuse, controversial education, Skinner, psychology, matt israel, shock therapy, massachusetts, electroshock, matthew israel, autism, mental retardation, learning disabilities, abuse

Censorship in America

2007-04-26T17:53:00.000-04:00

Don Imus and Def Jam Records

I haven't posted anything since the Don Imus problem and if you don't know, he was fired from CBS due to his alleged faux pas. Yeah I said alleged faux pas. I have a lot to say about it but wanted to make sure it was all over before I went for the jugular.

Did you know that chairman of Def Jam records, Russell Simmons, has called for the eradication of 3 words from rap songs?

"He asked broadcasters and record companies to voluntarily remove, bleep or delete the words from music. And he suggested setting up an industry watchdog to recommend guidelines for lyrical and visual standards. "

On the heels of Imus getting fired this made me mad. It didn't make me mad because I want to hear those words in rap songs and would be really bummed if I didn't. It incensed me because it's censorship. Censorship of any kind is still censorship. Kindly volunteering and complicit with suggested guidelines is still censorship. And now it's pervading the arts - if that's what you could call ghetto gangster rap anyway.

We're moving into thought policing. As warm and fuzzy it may feel if you're a person who could be called "bitch," "ho," or "nigger" to know that record producers will be bleeping those terms from songs, what irritates me is that we have the culture of thought that leads to the desire of using these words in the first place and change cannot be effective from the outside in. Change must be effected from the inside to the outside.

Had it not been for rap songs, the gangster ghetto culture that rap songs glamourize, Don Imus would have a job today. He made a comment - meant it facetiously and, to me, sounded more like making fun of "ghetto talk" and now he's fired. Immediately after learning he was fired I wondered and pondered to myself that if most of America gets dumbed down, where is that going to leave the free thinkers, the outspoken, the philosophers of political philosophy? Extinction I think. They'll look at us like we're loons. This is unacceptable in a land we purport as Land of the Free. Absolutely unacceptable. If we're going to travel down that road, let's at least call it what it is: "Land of the free until you disagree."

Chris Rock said: "Fee Fi Fo Figger Boy I hate a Nig___!"
I wonder. Will DVD's, Movies, and Chocolate Jesus' be next?

Censorship is a form of gagging. The thoughts still remain; the culture is still pervasive but hey; "Can't talk about it!" Somewhere in someone's mind they must be thinking, "If we can control the words the thoughts will follow." Ha! Do you think white people don't get together with their friends, and out of a sense of rebellion use words like "pickaninny" and "jigaboo?" Is this what people think? You think black people don't get together and use terms like "cracker" and "nigger" out of that sense of rebellion? If you think this isn't happening I bet you're the one reading who thinks that there are versions of "acceptable censorship."

Non- Artistic Censorship

Lest anyone thinks this is just another "screaming censorship " post I would like for the gentle reader to thoroughly understand the dangers of "acceptable censorship." Whether it's censoring words or images from the arts or censorship from the government concerning scientific news, it's all a form of prohibiting expression.

I wonder if anyone has seen the website where climate change censorship is being purported? Scary thought isn't it? The government has put pressure on scientists regarding "global warming."

The Union of Concerned Scientists found that 58% of the 279 climate scientists working at federal agencies in the US who responded to its survey reported that they had experienced one of the following constraints:

Pressure to eliminate the words "climate change", "global warming", or other similar terms from their communications
Editing of scientific reports by their superiors that "changed the meaning of scientific findings"
Statements by officials at their agencies that misrepresented their findings
The disappearance or unusual delay of websites, reports, or other science-based materials relating to climate
New or unusual administrative requirements that impair climate-related work
Situations in which scientists have actively objected to, resigned from, or removed themselves from a project because of pressure to change scientific findings.
They reported 435 incidents of political interference over the past five years

Who Draws this Line?

Russell Simmons is calling for producers to stop allowing three words. Don Imus was fired due to a phrase that was assumed racism - when the truth is that if ghetto lifestyle wasn't glamourized in television, in music, movies he would never have said it. Therefore if R.S.'s suggestion had been implemented years ago, Imus would have a job today. But censoring isn't the solution. Because why stop with three words?

And of course the culture will affect white people so if Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton aren't liking what's happening, then they need to start in their own backyard cleaning it up - quit blaming the white man for absorbing the culture [or the mocking of it]. And that's what Al Sharpton did! The one's incensed are conveniently overlooking that the black race invented the glamorized ghetto culture and now that it's popular - some people make fun of it. Others integrate into it. Others overlook it. Others rise above it. But it's not really a federal disaster until someone mocks it.

Technorati: censorship, free speech, impeach bush, patriot act, fisa, iraq war, global warming, fascism, nazi, thought police, big brother, 1984 the book, censor, censor image, Don Imus, Def Jam, Russell Simmons

Nappy Headed Ho

2007-04-11T00:55:00.000-04:00

I was nappy headed the moment I arrived. My poor mother tried to hide the secret by displaying my age 5 straight blonde hair pictures more prominently. But I knew. I knew from my baby locks. Nappy. Nappiness. "You have the coarsest and most hair of any child I have ever permed. We're using double solution." The salon lady would look at my Mimi and then at me. "She has your hair." Unlike my sister who had the good hair. And the fair skin. I got the cafe au lait skin. I guess that's life. You get straight hair and you want differently. You get good colored skin and you want differently. I used skin lightening cream to go for that light color and then I'd switch and go into the sun for 15 minutes to darken my shade. My poor sister had sun spots [liver spots] as a teenager trying to darken up like my skin. [I tried explaining I got our paternal heritage pigment.] Regarding the hair though, I'd alternate between perms and straighteners cause anything but the nappiness please.

Imus in the Morning

Imus is under attack currently for disparaging comments of a "nappy headed ho" flavor regarding Rutgers University Women's Basketball Team as a joke that has apparently imploded upon itself. Uh. He attempted to meet Al Sharpton and even President Bush had an opinion?

From FoxNews: Companies Pull Ads from Imus Show
In Washington, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino was asked whether President Bush thought Imus' punishment was strong enough.
"The president believed that the apology was the absolute right thing to do," Perino said Tuesday. "And beyond that, I think that his employer is going to have to make a decision about any action that they take based on it."
"What I did was make a stupid, idiotic mistake in a comedy context," Imus said on his show Tuesday morning, the final week before his suspension starts.
Asked by NBC "Today" host Matt Lauer if he could clean up his act as he promised on Monday, he said, "Well, perhaps I can't." But he added, "I have a history of keeping my word."
Imus said on "Today" that he believed his show should have a regular black cast member and more frequent black guests.
Of the two-week suspension by MSNBC and CBS Radio, he said: "I think it's appropriate, and I am going to try to serve it with some dignity."
The Rev. Al Sharpton also appeared on "Today" and called the suspension "not nearly enough. I think it is too little, too late." He said presidential candidates and other politicians should refrain from going on Imus' show in the future.

Okay. So he screwed up but I guess it's because he was a white man who screwed up. If it had been Wanda Sykes who had a radio show in the morning and did the same thing, would Rev. Sharpton and Pres. Bush have chimed in at all? I mean, is it a "racist slur" or a "gender slur" if the race and gender are the same or similar as the one being "slurred?"

Imus is now being called racist and sexist and companies are pulling their ads.

"I didn't deserve it cause I'll be a doctor one day"

"This has scarred me for life" one of the players had been attributed as saying. I watched with interest as a couple of the players stood up and read notes at a Press Conference telling us how they will be great doctors and attorneys and so forth. This is irritating to me because it looks as if they're trying to educate the public with their worthiness and true nature of really being above these sorts of "comments." Oh balls! Whether they all dropped out tomorrow and decided to become street cleaning panhandlers his comment was still boneheaded and now their comments will be more memorable than his to me because I'll always think, "Who wrote that appealing to emotion sentiment crap?"

Scarred for life? Are you kidding? A radio personality who doesn't know you from Adam - as you point out in your press conference speech - and who had made a really stupid crack is going to scar you for life? She must not have gone to public high school. I did AND I'm a Highly Sensitive Person but still yet...I have a hard time thinking I'd be scarred for even a day based on what some wiseguy cracked about my team.

Oh...and have you seen those billboards by the N.A.A.C.P? "Articulate" is crossed out in front of "black man" implying that to say someone is an "Articulate black man" is an insult by further implication that to be an articulate black man is almost enigmatic right? Here is the Head Coach of the team's response:

Stringer said her players "are the best this nation has to offer ... young ladies of class, distinction. They are articulate, they are gifted. They are God's representatives in every sense of the word."

Were they not articulate or gifted then nappy headed ho would have been okay? Her comment implies that there are nappy headed hos but her team does not comprise them. Imus' comments may have been an impromptu thoughtless thing to say at most - but her comments to me sounded a lot like the opposite of those NAACP billboards. Does Al Sharpton have anything to say to her?

Companies Who've Pulled Ads

I believe in capitalistic self-regulation. If a sponsor thinks what you've done is crap ir if they don't want to endorse you or if they're scared of a backlash they'll regulate your behavior by pulling out or endorse you by "investing" in advertising. Like this blog. Like politics. Like life. If I can't control my bodily functions, my mouth, my attitude I may have to risk losing some friends or social functions. I can regulate myself in order to be accepted if I need to, also.

What's cool about being in my skin is that I'm not a sell out. I'm always willing to lose social acceptance in exchange for my soul. And this blog? If you never came back here I would not care. Well, I might. I might care if I noticed. But I hardly notice. I hardly notice because this blog isn't my income source. BUT when we're talking about our primary source of income, like Imus is I imagine in this context, we all have to answer to somebody.

Uncool that Imus has to not only answer for a stupid comment but now his entire character is being made into question. Labeling somone any -ist has become common and at this moment I am witnessing a black woman "His racist comments..." and a white woman correcting her, "No. Not racist. 'Nappy heade hos' was his phrase..." Blank look. Blink.

Staples, Proctor & Gamble and Bigelow Teas have pulled their ads. Imus has admitted his error and he will be suspended for two weeks beginning Monday. Now I wish he'd quit beating himself up. Everybody else will do a fine enough job of it.

Abortion Ultrasound Bill Illegal

2007-04-04T23:03:00.000-04:00

According to Attorney General Henry McMaster, the proposed Abortion Bill in South Carolina that would require a woman seeking an abortion to "look at the ultrasound" is illegal - Constitutionally speaking.

I said this the moment I got wind of it - anyone with any leanings in Constitutional Law would see this - so don't think I'm smart for putting it together. But South Carolina is backwards so who knows how they seem to get the laws passed they get passed. It's a a surprising and good thing South Carolina seems to have a competent Attorney General. The Constitutional rights of people seem so easily usurped in favor of good ol' boy politics and Blue Laws otherwise.

Positions on abortion aside, when a State of the United States can begin forcing you "to look at anything" then the rights of the individual will be less favorable than the desires of mob rule and special interests. For the state of South Carolina this means that areas like imposed religion, racism, gender inequality, "Civil War" pride, and again - good ol' boy politics.

I remember learning the term "Captive Audience" in Constitutional Law and becoming intrigued. My new phrase for the semester was "I will not be a captive audience." Now usually in conjunction with political speech or whatever...why could the term not be expanded to mean anything? Kidnapping, unlawful detainment, captive audience = It's written out that this bill is Unconstitutional - nevermind the whole Doctor/Patient privilege.

Now, imagine for a moment that the government inserts itself into you and your Doctor's examing room. You thought it was just you and your Doctor didn't you? Well not anymore! Now it's you, your Doctor, and the government. Again, abortion aside. If this can happen with abortion, imagine the possibilities! Precedents are set in such ways n'es pas?

If HIV positive, inquire of sexual status. Check. If male and homosexual, show video of burning in fire. Check. Have subject sign his name stating he watched video. Check. Mail his name, Universal ID number along with certification that he watched video to _______.
If smoker, show X-Ray of lungs. Show video of people dying from lung cancer.
If bacterial infection, show bacteria in electron microscope. Have patient sign waiver understanding they're killing live organisms. Check.

Back to abortion. It's a fact, whether you agree or disagree with abortion, that some women who have had an abortion suffer from something they themselves call "Post Abortion Syndrome." Not all women. Some women.

The government would be responsible, psychologically, for more inflicting even more damage? How does the government know what a woman can or cannot handle? Abortion is legal. As long as it is, a woman may obtain one in any fashion she desires, getting and receiving as little or as much information as she wants regarding what's going on "down there." It's not for the government to say. Period. Ever.
For the women who state they have seen their Ultrasound and that got them to change their mind. I only imagine that to look at the Ultrasound and making this decision was yours and not the government because they, yet, had not determined you as being an incapable and non-thinking female in need of their guidance and paternal version of thinking for you.
Do we want the government in our uteruses? Hey, I stole that from 70's propaganda! Okay how about this. Do we want the government telling a Doctor how to best treat us [regarding anything?] We already have insurance companies doing a great enough job of that so with this proposed legislation's passing - if it does - now we'll have the government.

Technorati: abortion, South Carolina, ultrasound bill, attorney general, pro-choice, government, politics, constitutionality, womens issues, medical treatment, abortion legislation

Blogs and the People Who Correct Them

2007-03-31T19:37:00.000-04:00

Should blog readers correct, in public, the misspellings of a blog writer's posting? How about the Blogger's grammar?

Should blog readers, without being asked, offer their critique on the quality of topic that the Blogger chooses to make a post about? Should they then offer this critical opinion in the form of a comment on the Blogger's own Blog?

And with all this curiousity I am provoking, what does it have to do with Web 2.0? Well, it has something to do with Web 2.0 but I don't want to get into that here - but more to the point, I liked the screenshot from the video i was watching last night so I chose it as the spokesperson for this topic.

The image says "normal person" + "anonymity" + "audience" = "fuckwad" and that about sums it up why I see Bloggers getting corrected for their spelling, grammar or content choices. Of course, those of you who know about Kathy Sierra's latest unfortunate issue may have a renewed appreciation of this.

Netiquette Lessons for the non FuckWad

#1. Spelling. If my misspelling bugs you or you have a genuine interest to help me, take the trouble to look for another way to communicate it to me other than in a public venue. Didn't you read Miss Manners as a child? Even in public if someone mispronounces a word or uses it out of context one NEVER calls their friend out in company. It's rude, non-compassionate, non-sympathetic, and it sounds as if it borders on unoriginal thought as well as envy. "Those who can't think, point out spelling errors."

#2. Grammar. Same thing. What adult likes to be told their grammar is lacking. If blogs were reserved for English majors, Type A personalities, the anal retentive, perfectionist, journalists, or mass communication experts, the wonderful and social contributor known as MySpace wouldn't be as prolifically inundated with the live wit and charm of 14 year olds. So chill Type A! Chill...

#3.Blog Content. Personal blogs especially this is applicable. If you're following a blog that seems to be a teaching blog or a large corporate themed blog, I would never expect an erroneous out from left field post on "Soft cuddly kittens." I would think it had been hacked. But personal blogs that are out there sharing personal opinions; I believe that the person who would try to quell the passion by, again, in public, pointing out that the content wasn't good enough? Jesus.

I can think of several remedies for this most severe problem for the person who needs to point out another person's seemingly flawed/bad content:

Calm down. There'll be another post shortly. Unless that "flawed" content is mine because I am sporadic about posting. Of course if that flawed content is mine I'd prefer for your silly ass to keep travelling. Thank you.
Every blogger/human being is allowed flawed posts from time to time. Even if he smoked half a blunt, drank a bottle of wine and pulled the content directly from George Bush's ass, he is allowed to have an effed up content from time to time and not be penalized from his readership. Can you forgive a person for being human? If not...again I say travel on.
Your opinion on the quality of post topic is not your business unless the blogger asks. Are you paying for this blogger to express herself? Did she ask you to mentor her publicly? Oh no? You mean she's doing it on her own time, providing you with two to ten minutes of entertainment and yet you felt it was your place to point out that the quality of topic chosen sucked? Oh alright.
If it's just eating you up that the quality of topic sucked so bad and you can't take it, how about quit visiting? A person like you I would worry about your blood pressure and you know, Doctors say we need to take care of our health. So take a needed vacation and put the horror of it far away and out of your mind.
If you have grown to have a relationship with the Blogger in question whose quality of posts seem to have somehow changed and not for the better, I would encourage anyone to approach their friend. But have the courtesy to at least feel flustered and uncomfortable when doing so. Don't be smarmy and self-righteous. Whether you choose to do it in public or private is naturally up to you but just think about this: If you were receiving the same message in public would it embarrass you? And then think about this: From what you know of the Blogger, if she received it in public, is she the type who may feel embarrassed? As much as we may feel we know someone based on what they post, we do not necessarily, so we have to use good judgement as responsible people in society. That, or be a fuckwad.

Don't Be a Fuckwad

Technorati: blogs, Blog Authors, type-a, anal retentive, grammatical errors, misspellings, blog critiques, comments, envy, codependent, control freaks, blog nazis, web 2.0, perfectionism

Blogging for Money: A Beginner's Guide

2007-03-31T11:32:00.000-04:00

Blogging for Money is a blog that wants to show you how to blog for money. The methods and ways to make money by way of blogging continue sprouting up on the internet and so no doubt there must be something to it. This guy, though, is keeping an online accounting of his progress daily - starting from Ground Zero. I think it's a grand idea.

What's interesting about this blog is that I found it on the heels of my own "Start from Day 1" SEO Challenge. I thought I was being unique in starting from scratch! Nevertheless I will take a clue from him in what I need to do in my own starting from scratch niche blog.

So Blogging for Money will starting from scratch. He will commemorate what he's doing and ways he finds to make money by way of blogging. What I really like are his detailed explanations. This is a good way to make a starting from scratch niche blog. For example, on Day 18 in his Weekly Contemplation he tells us what he has learned:

I think my biggest mistake is that I've been hanging out too long in MyBlogLog.com, while my Google Analytics shows me that MyBlogLog is only responsible for 19% of my overall traffic. I've managed to have 10 blogs linking to mine, though, so I guess it does well to boost my technorati ranking to around 500,000th now (compared to one million eight hundred something last week).

I have already learned something from him and I wish this blog all the Blogging for Money success in the world.

Technorati: monetize, Blogging for Money, Blogging, make money, money blogs, make money blogging, affiliate, referral program, entrepreneur, netrepreneur, make money online, affiliate programs, niche marketing, good idea

New StumbleUpon Design No Good

2007-03-29T22:37:00.000-04:00

Tonight was the night Stumbleupon would change. I intensely dislike the new design and layout. I don't know who their testers were for this but it's already rubbing me the wrong way.

Bad #1. To begin with. The only changes I have noticed are the Review Pages and I hope the change stops there. When I thumb up [or down] a site and then go to Review the site, I no longer see my avatar as having thumbed the site up. That's bad because I'm not then so sure the vote took. Considering I am used to seeing my avatar with a thumb up [or down] beside it when I go the Review Page and now no longer do, that's ungood.

Bad #2. When I review the site, tag it, and press the Add My Review , nothing happens. It stays there. No page change, no parade, nada, zero, zilch. Nothing. I am using IE6 and it didn't behave that way in FireFox. As much as I understand that StumbleUpon caters largely to a FireFox using demographic, to forget IE users is prejudicial and biased. So naturally, I hope it's a bug.

Bad #3. With the entire Review Page ReDesign, complete with Tag Cloud, tabs, and other changes, they still haven't provided the option to sort alphabetically. Just because I have thumbed up 587 Stumblers does not mean I want to hunt and peck to find my "HSP" category - which I would have to do after guessing around how many times I have tagged pages in some version of the HSP tag.

Bad #4. I am not crazy about the new "Was this review helpful?" feature. I don't know what its goal is. This isn't Amazon and we're not buying anything. We're thumbing sites up and we're thumbing sites down and we're then offering our opinions. Is this additional "feature" going to yield me a prize if I schmooze enough to get a Yes from a large percentage of people who find my review helpful? Or are they trying to simulate Digg? Great. I didn't need that thought to enter my brain.

Technorati: stumbleupon, stumble, internet, website reviews, Stumble Bar, thumb down, social networks, social bookmarking, tags, tagging networks, online bookmarks, web development, internet companies, StumbleUpon Criticism

Shaquanda Cotton Texas Injustice

2007-03-28T10:59:00.000-04:00

Shaquanda Cotton shoved somebody and now she's in prison for 7 years. The story of Shaquanda Cotton is the story that all good elements of racial injustice are comprised of: A southern state, a Judge expressing leniency for a white girl who committed a more egregious offense [isn't arson a felon?], and an incomprehensible prison sentence for the "black girl."

If Shaquanda's story is true then this is good ol' boy southern politics at it's finest. I have to preface it this way because this is a serious charge against Judge Chuck Superville if this story is true to form as told on the Free Shaquanda blog.

To let a white girl off with probation who committed arson but to imprison a black girl for 7 years, who shoved somebody, is hardly equitable. It makes no sense to my proprietary sensibilities. This screams of "Do Something! Anybody!"

Writing this article I have to say I did my due diligence in checking with Snopes. I had to. This is the most screwed up sense of supposed justice I have seen against a child in America and so I hope everyone understands I don't want to believe this happened.

More Research on Shaquanda Cotton Reveals it Happened

But then I read the Shaquanda story in the Chicago Tribune and understand. Paris, Texas it seems, is homegrown and known for their past racial crimes.

There are no plaques or markers to denote it, but several of the most notorious public lynchings of black Americans in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries were staged at the Paris Fairgrounds, where thousands of white spectators would gather to watch and cheer as black men were dragged onto a scaffold, scalded with hot irons and finally burned to death or hanged.

And according to this same article, the School District in Paris, Texas has been repeatedly accused of coming down on black students more so than whites - which could explain the apparently damning link [red herring] in Shaquanda's trial that was due to her write-ups. Write ups like excessive paint in her cup, a skirt that was an inch too short, and the defacing of a desk that school officials would later admit as bearing no signs of destruction.

In the past five years, black parents have filed at least a dozen discrimination complaints against the school district with the federal Education Department, asserting that their children, who constitute 40 percent of the district's nearly 4,000 students, were singled out for excessive discipline.

Related Links in this Article:

Related Links on Shaquanda's Situation:

Saturday, March 31 2007 Update

Thank you to an Anonymous commenter who directed me to the official Lamar County & District Attorney website on Shaquanda Cotton's case. It seems she has been released. I want to say thank you to this commenter for providing additional facts of the case.

I want to remain mindful that even though it's in the newspaper or on the internet, any story can be twisted, spun, or slanted according to what the writier or publisher is trying to accomplish. Bias is normal but as people reporting on news we must remain diligent to seek out the truth for ourselves and NOT put entire confidence over knowing the entire story from one source. Yes, not even mine.

One story may focus on emotional appeal. Another slant may focus on the racial aspect. Still, another story may focus on gender bias. It's a fact: We can twist statistics to look like mostly anything we want to "prove" and with that said, I would encourage you to read the above cited website or the Anonymous commenter on this article.

Technorati: Shaquanda Cotton, injustice, Texas, justice, racism, inequality, race relations, government, Judge Superville, Lamar County, free Shaquanda, prison sentences, juvenile justice, activism

Great Deals on Molestation!

2007-03-23T19:42:00.000-04:00

I am not going to say which "contextual ad system" ran this ad. But let's just say it rhymes with "foogle bradsense"... I am sorry to sound so mysterious but I don't want to intimate that there may be something lacking in "foogle bradsense" that would lead to advertising for eBay on Molestation.

Do we assume here that with certain words, this "contextual ad system" allows Advertisers to insert $strings$ into a generic phrase that would display when triggered? I really hope so but if yes then something needs to be fixed.

I did not make this ad up
It appeared at Living Within Samsara
Article on Shame, Blame, and Manipulation

Firstly, I think that advertising for molestation may be against the law. In the case of eBay and this ad system, one of them is the pimp.

Secondly, eBay should have learned with the whole "organ harvesting" controversy that there are simply some items one should not try to sell on eBay. I think molestation is one of them.

Thirdly, if one were to garner a great deal on molestation, what would it look like?

It's not hardly an excuse that it's some generic ad - with a $string$ inserted - if this is the case. Can you imagine being an incest survivor and visiting an article only to be solicited by an advertisement in the right hand column, "Great deals on Incest!"

There really do exist some people who would not know better than to think it was an advertising goof - an oversight - a careless error. Still others may think they just ran out of space to insert $information$ or $books$ in the ad.

Either Way, Somebody Looks like the Pimp

And it doesn't need to be the publisher

Technorati: molestation, adsense, adwords, contextual advertising, ebay, bad ads, advertisements, monetize, make money, foogle bradsense, make money online, great deals on molestation, internet companies, contextual

Officer Pushes Youth Off Skateboard

2007-03-23T18:33:00.000-04:00

There's a video of a Charleston, South Carolina police officer pushing a kid off his skateboard - as he's skateboarding. It just so happened to be caught on video.

No disciplinarian measures have come against the officer as of posting this and her reason for pushing the teen? Skateboarding is illegal in Charleston.

I browsed some of the comments at the cited Columbia WLXT website. I saw some sense among many of the comments. Other comments were insanity run amock.

Since when is it ever okay for a government employee to use violence on a citizen unprovoked? I think restraint for life, safety, or limb is absolutely okay. But this officer was out of line, derelict in her duties, and committed an act of battery against this child - and I don't even care that skateboarding is against the law.

I appreciated John Q. Public's remarks: Throwing cigarette butts out the window is illegal too. Would this cop try to burn me with one if I did it though? There is no excuse for this behavior. I have to insist she has discipline brought on to her. If the boys parents were smart they'd get an attorney ASAP and sue the police department. THIS is not fascist goevernment [sic] - irrespective of how South Carolina may enjoy thinking it is. Had this been a white male police officer and the youth a black female, I bet he would be suspended already. Reverse discrimination is sickening. How this state continues to function even on the minimal level it seemingly functions is amazing to me.

I am anxious to see how this story plays itself out.

Click here to watch the original home video at YouTube

Technorati: skateboarding, civil rights, Charleston, South Carolina, police shoves skateboarder, Charleston news, charleston police, skateboarder, child abuse, liberties, police state, assault by police, reverse discrimination, race relations