I should have known it wouldn't be so easy. I complained about sleazy ads to myspace and they disappeared within an hour. But today they started creeping back in. I upped the ante with some bulletins, a blog entry and a change to the wording of my MySpace profile. Within minutes I was bombarded by obviously sleazy (photo, name, etc) friend requests and messages via MySpace. My inbox was packed 10 minutes after I presumed to complain about sleaze.
Will I quit MySpace? Ultimately I vote with my mouse clicks. So yeah, I will leave when I am ready. Meanwhile though, I intend to create as much misery as I can for those who use a social networking system by dangling women as bait and fleecing foolish men as their prey.
I quote one of my savvy nieces:
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
So I think I will stomp on this particular brood of vipers for a while before leaving them behind.
I have no power on my own. But I know someone very powerful who despises injustice of all kinds. I'm asking them for help.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Women as Bait and Human Sacrifices
Below is a bulletin wrote on my Myspace site. I was fed up with Myspace ads and was about to quit it altogether. But it pained me that I would leave behind millions of folks who would continue to be used as bait or as suckers. I wrote one comment on Tom's profile (the myspace support guy who is everyone's first "friend", it wouldn't post but it must have gotten to someone!) The bulletin board I mention below is a Myspace feature that allowed me to write a note to all 20 friends at once.
The sex industry ads on MySpace (I include the so called "dating services" in that category, there are legitimate dating services but I doubt that these are legit) have vanished from my screen.One comment on Tom's page. One post to my bulletin board and they simply vanished!
Now I realize I was being targetted. Ladies, you have probably seldom seen the suggestively posed photos with the salacious subtitles. More recently, poor quality video clips of a girl wriggling and bending forward to show cleavage became more common. It is sucker bait. I never clicked on a single one that I can recall. Sad to say, in my checkered past, I had enough experiences to know that such ads are a thinly veiled portal to hard core pornography sites.
Gentlemen, chances are that you are targetted as well. I don't know if my age (56) drew more fire. However, since many of you list bogus ages, I imagine that you are seeing plenty, even if you are under 18.
Please do me a favor. Please pass the word. A comment to Tom protesting the sleaze. A post on your bulletin board to warn your friends. A blog article telling how you feel about the ads.
That is, do that if you think is wrong to exploit young women as meat and if you think it is wrong to lure men into foolish fantasy lands where women are merely there as sacrifices on the altar of lust. If you think all that is just peachy, please stay silent like a good little depraved sheep.
Sometime I'll have to let you know how strongly I really feel about this.
Kent
The sex industry ads on MySpace (I include the so called "dating services" in that category, there are legitimate dating services but I doubt that these are legit) have vanished from my screen.One comment on Tom's page. One post to my bulletin board and they simply vanished!
Now I realize I was being targetted. Ladies, you have probably seldom seen the suggestively posed photos with the salacious subtitles. More recently, poor quality video clips of a girl wriggling and bending forward to show cleavage became more common. It is sucker bait. I never clicked on a single one that I can recall. Sad to say, in my checkered past, I had enough experiences to know that such ads are a thinly veiled portal to hard core pornography sites.
Gentlemen, chances are that you are targetted as well. I don't know if my age (56) drew more fire. However, since many of you list bogus ages, I imagine that you are seeing plenty, even if you are under 18.
Please do me a favor. Please pass the word. A comment to Tom protesting the sleaze. A post on your bulletin board to warn your friends. A blog article telling how you feel about the ads.
That is, do that if you think is wrong to exploit young women as meat and if you think it is wrong to lure men into foolish fantasy lands where women are merely there as sacrifices on the altar of lust. If you think all that is just peachy, please stay silent like a good little depraved sheep.
Sometime I'll have to let you know how strongly I really feel about this.
Kent
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Guilt By Association and Otherwise
One reason I prefer to generate my own content, is that every quote and every link that I use in this blog could be seen as an endorsement for all of the ideas presented by the person quoted. I might be seen as supporting any number of ideas put forward on links connected to the one I have imbedded in my post.
This sort of guilt by association is not unique to blogs. When I quote Jesus of Nazareth, I am delighted to be associated with the Christ, my lord and savior. I am saddened to be associated with some other folks who have quoted my lord and then gone on to espouse despicable ideas and engage in horrific practices.
Jesus was condemned to guilt by association. When he ate with sinners, the religious leaders where quick to take that up as a point against him.
I am infinitely unworthy of better treatment than Jesus. So I will not complain.
I think what is more important is my very real guilt. I am selfish. I want the best for myself and what's left for everyone else. I am quick to take offense and slow to forgive.
In Walt Kelly's cartoon , "Pogo", the title character exclaims, "We have met the enemy and he is us!" Perhaps I should quote the bible to provide more seemly credentials for my thesis. The prophet Zephania speaks for God with a phrase that I hold to be true:
Zephaniah 1:17 Today's New International Version (TNIV)
© Copyright 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society
17 "I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung.
Elsewhere in the bible, it is made very clear that all of us have sinned. Those who suffer any particular horror are , overall, no more guilty than those who are spared. The rich are not exempt. Neither are the poor. No race or nation stands apart. All political parties, all institutions, and even a sweet gathering of a few of my closest friends are all guilty.
I have met many who would protest the word sin. I cannot remember anyone who has seriously thought themselves to be perfect in every word, deed, and thought. Such imperfections are sin as I understand the word. So I have never met anyone who thought themselves to be sin free, as I understand sin.
So as we seek solutions to the world's manifest ills, we would do well to begin with ourselves. We are those who people the nations, who staff the corporations, who establish all manner of human institutions.
A link not many mouse clicks from the video about the global village (below) includes this absurd quote:
The world was watching. But rich countries did not make the decisions that would start to lift millions of people out of poverty. Instead they chose unjust trade policies.
The global campaign for trade justice continues into 2006, galvanized by both the need to win against such resistant opposition and the strength of the campaign so many more millions joined in 2005. Political leaders will see increased pressure on them to not act undemocratically against the interests of the world’s poorest people but to finally deliver trade justice. We will not give up until this victory is won.
We have met the enemy, and he is us. We populate the countries, rich and poor. We choose to support or at least tolerate the political leaders. Often we are leaders, whether we realize it or not.
I refuse to look to countires or political leaders for the solutions to our problems. I refuse to wait for institutions to repair the havoc my sin has wrought. I begin with me. I turn to God and throw myself upon his mercy.
I pray that he will use me to glorify him.
This sort of guilt by association is not unique to blogs. When I quote Jesus of Nazareth, I am delighted to be associated with the Christ, my lord and savior. I am saddened to be associated with some other folks who have quoted my lord and then gone on to espouse despicable ideas and engage in horrific practices.
Jesus was condemned to guilt by association. When he ate with sinners, the religious leaders where quick to take that up as a point against him.
I am infinitely unworthy of better treatment than Jesus. So I will not complain.
I think what is more important is my very real guilt. I am selfish. I want the best for myself and what's left for everyone else. I am quick to take offense and slow to forgive.
In Walt Kelly's cartoon , "Pogo", the title character exclaims, "We have met the enemy and he is us!" Perhaps I should quote the bible to provide more seemly credentials for my thesis. The prophet Zephania speaks for God with a phrase that I hold to be true:
Zephaniah 1:17 Today's New International Version (TNIV)
© Copyright 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society
17 "I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung.
Elsewhere in the bible, it is made very clear that all of us have sinned. Those who suffer any particular horror are , overall, no more guilty than those who are spared. The rich are not exempt. Neither are the poor. No race or nation stands apart. All political parties, all institutions, and even a sweet gathering of a few of my closest friends are all guilty.
I have met many who would protest the word sin. I cannot remember anyone who has seriously thought themselves to be perfect in every word, deed, and thought. Such imperfections are sin as I understand the word. So I have never met anyone who thought themselves to be sin free, as I understand sin.
So as we seek solutions to the world's manifest ills, we would do well to begin with ourselves. We are those who people the nations, who staff the corporations, who establish all manner of human institutions.
A link not many mouse clicks from the video about the global village (below) includes this absurd quote:
The world was watching. But rich countries did not make the decisions that would start to lift millions of people out of poverty. Instead they chose unjust trade policies.
The global campaign for trade justice continues into 2006, galvanized by both the need to win against such resistant opposition and the strength of the campaign so many more millions joined in 2005. Political leaders will see increased pressure on them to not act undemocratically against the interests of the world’s poorest people but to finally deliver trade justice. We will not give up until this victory is won.
We have met the enemy, and he is us. We populate the countries, rich and poor. We choose to support or at least tolerate the political leaders. Often we are leaders, whether we realize it or not.
I refuse to look to countires or political leaders for the solutions to our problems. I refuse to wait for institutions to repair the havoc my sin has wrought. I begin with me. I turn to God and throw myself upon his mercy.
I pray that he will use me to glorify him.
Global Village Updated and in Video
With a bit more searching, I found this link to a nicely done video with updated (2001) statistics. The website itself warns that the statistics cannot be seen as exact. They change rapidly and they are difficult to collect in the first place.
Practically everyone who reads this will understand that they are incredibly blessed and wealthy. And we will realize that vast numbers of people live in abysmal poverty.
http://www.miniature-earth.com/
Practically everyone who reads this will understand that they are incredibly blessed and wealthy. And we will realize that vast numbers of people live in abysmal poverty.
http://www.miniature-earth.com/
Global Village
Generally, I want to use my blog for posting original material. However, recently I received an e-mail which described the population of a village of 100 people that reflected that of the entire planet. It was fascinating. But was it accurate? I'm still not certain, but I have more reason to give it credence. In an article by David Taub, the e-mail's origin is traced back to an article by Donnella Meadows. Since the original article was written in 1990, the statistics would have changed by now, but I believe an updating with the best available statistics would only increase the impact the article was intended to have.
Here is the article which seems to have inspired so many imitations:
Concerning Donella Meadows' original "Global Village" article, this was published as follows:
The Global Citizen May 31, 1990
Donella H. Meadows
STATE OF THE VILLAGE REPORT
If the world were a village of 1000 people:
584 would be Asians
123 would be Africans
95 would be East and West Europeans
84 Latin Americans
55 Soviets (still including for the moment Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, etc.)
52 North Americans
6 Australians and New Zealanders
The people of the village would have considerable difficulty communicating:
165 people would speak Mandarin
86 would speak English
83 Hindi/Urdu
64 Spanish
58 Russian
37 Arabic
That list accounts for the mother-tongues of only half the villagers. The other half speak (in descending order of frequency) Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, German, French, and 200 other languages.
In the village there would be:
300 Christians (183 Catholics, 84 Protestants, 33 Orthodox)
175 Moslems
128 Hindus
55 Buddhists
47 Animists
210 all other religions (including atheists)
One-third (330) of the people in the village would be children. Half the children would be immunized against the preventable infectious diseases such as measles and polio.
Sixty of the thousand villagers would be over the age of 65.
Just under half of the married women would have access to and be using modern contraceptives.
Each year 28 babies would be born.
Each year 10 people would die, three of them for lack of food, one from cancer. Two of the deaths would be to babies born within the year.
One person in the village would be infected with the HIV virus; that person would most likely not yet have developed a full-blown case of AIDS.
With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village in the next year would be 1018.
In this thousand-person community, 200 people would receive three-fourths of the income; another 200 would receive only 2% of the income.
Only 70 people would own an automobile (some of them more than one automobile).
About one-third would not have access to clean, safe drinking water.
Of the 670 adults in the village half would be illiterate.
The village would have 6 acres of land per person, 6000 acres in all of which:
700 acres is cropland
1400 acres pasture
1900 acres woodland
2000 acres desert, tundra, pavement, and other wasteland.
The woodland would be declining rapidly; the wasteland increasing; the other land categories would be roughly stable. The village would allocate 83 percent of its fertilizer to 40 percent of its cropland -- that owned by the richest and best-fed 270 people. Excess fertilizer running off this land would cause pollution in lakes and wells. The remaining 60 percent of the land, with its 17 percent of the fertilizer, would produce 28 percent of the foodgrain and feed 73 percent of the people. The average grain yield on that land would be one-third the yields gotten by the richer villagers.
If the world were a village of 1000 persons, there would be five soldiers, seven teachers, one doctor. Of the village's total annual expenditures of just over $3 million per year, $181,000 would go for weapons and warfare, $159,000 for education, $132,000 for health care.
The village would have buried beneath it enough explosive power in nuclear weapons to blow itself to smithereens many times over. These weapons would be under the control of just 100 of the people. The other 900 people would be watching them with deep anxiety, wondering whether the 100 can learn to get along together, and if they do, whether they might set off the weapons anyway through inattention or technical bungling, and if they ever decide to dismantle the weapons, where in the village they will dispose of the dangerous radioactive materials of which the weapons are made.
Perhaps the one person who can be thanked for getting wider attention for the original article is David Copeland of an organisation called Value Earth, based in New Jersey. David Copeland, with Donella Meadows' permission, had several thousand posters made based on 'The Global Village', for the 1992 Rio de Janiero Earth Summit.
Details of this and the posting of the original article can be found at ttp://www.empowermentsources.com/info2/theglobalvillage
Here is the article which seems to have inspired so many imitations:
Concerning Donella Meadows' original "Global Village" article, this was published as follows:
The Global Citizen May 31, 1990
Donella H. Meadows
STATE OF THE VILLAGE REPORT
If the world were a village of 1000 people:
584 would be Asians
123 would be Africans
95 would be East and West Europeans
84 Latin Americans
55 Soviets (still including for the moment Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, etc.)
52 North Americans
6 Australians and New Zealanders
The people of the village would have considerable difficulty communicating:
165 people would speak Mandarin
86 would speak English
83 Hindi/Urdu
64 Spanish
58 Russian
37 Arabic
That list accounts for the mother-tongues of only half the villagers. The other half speak (in descending order of frequency) Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, German, French, and 200 other languages.
In the village there would be:
300 Christians (183 Catholics, 84 Protestants, 33 Orthodox)
175 Moslems
128 Hindus
55 Buddhists
47 Animists
210 all other religions (including atheists)
One-third (330) of the people in the village would be children. Half the children would be immunized against the preventable infectious diseases such as measles and polio.
Sixty of the thousand villagers would be over the age of 65.
Just under half of the married women would have access to and be using modern contraceptives.
Each year 28 babies would be born.
Each year 10 people would die, three of them for lack of food, one from cancer. Two of the deaths would be to babies born within the year.
One person in the village would be infected with the HIV virus; that person would most likely not yet have developed a full-blown case of AIDS.
With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village in the next year would be 1018.
In this thousand-person community, 200 people would receive three-fourths of the income; another 200 would receive only 2% of the income.
Only 70 people would own an automobile (some of them more than one automobile).
About one-third would not have access to clean, safe drinking water.
Of the 670 adults in the village half would be illiterate.
The village would have 6 acres of land per person, 6000 acres in all of which:
700 acres is cropland
1400 acres pasture
1900 acres woodland
2000 acres desert, tundra, pavement, and other wasteland.
The woodland would be declining rapidly; the wasteland increasing; the other land categories would be roughly stable. The village would allocate 83 percent of its fertilizer to 40 percent of its cropland -- that owned by the richest and best-fed 270 people. Excess fertilizer running off this land would cause pollution in lakes and wells. The remaining 60 percent of the land, with its 17 percent of the fertilizer, would produce 28 percent of the foodgrain and feed 73 percent of the people. The average grain yield on that land would be one-third the yields gotten by the richer villagers.
If the world were a village of 1000 persons, there would be five soldiers, seven teachers, one doctor. Of the village's total annual expenditures of just over $3 million per year, $181,000 would go for weapons and warfare, $159,000 for education, $132,000 for health care.
The village would have buried beneath it enough explosive power in nuclear weapons to blow itself to smithereens many times over. These weapons would be under the control of just 100 of the people. The other 900 people would be watching them with deep anxiety, wondering whether the 100 can learn to get along together, and if they do, whether they might set off the weapons anyway through inattention or technical bungling, and if they ever decide to dismantle the weapons, where in the village they will dispose of the dangerous radioactive materials of which the weapons are made.
Perhaps the one person who can be thanked for getting wider attention for the original article is David Copeland of an organisation called Value Earth, based in New Jersey. David Copeland, with Donella Meadows' permission, had several thousand posters made based on 'The Global Village', for the 1992 Rio de Janiero Earth Summit.
Details of this and the posting of the original article can be found at ttp://www.empowermentsources.com/info2/theglobalvillage
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Does This Picture Make You Sad?
It makes me sad. I am not depressed or maudlin. I am sad because this young lady is someone's daughter. She has friends. She may be someone's sister or mother. Very likely someone flattered her by telling her that she could be a model. As such things often go, she would be hired for a photo shoot and would sign away her rights to how the photos were used. Days, months, or even years later, an editor creating ads for this sleazy dating service decided that her alluring appearance would be likely to draw in more benighted fools that are willing to suspend belief long enough to pay some money to meet a girl that they hope will live up to the fantasies that the photo tempts them to entertain. Some number of those fools are adroitly separated from their hard earned cash. The girl receives no further renumeration besides the dubious distinction of being recognized by friends or family who happen to see the add. Perhaps those same friends and family might encourage her and tell her how great she looks posed, painted, and accompanied by salacious subtitles. I purposely chose one of the less sexually suggestive ads. Nonetheless, the intent of the add is clear. It is all about stirring up passions in hopes of pulling in one more sucker to be fleeced. It amounts to a deception. It is an open and obvious ploy. It must succeed quite well with thousands and thousands of fools who supply the cash to keep lots and lots of these ads running on Myspace and perhaps other web locations. Enough cash is generated to run the adds with plenty left over to line the pockets of the hard hearted people who prey on the weak and who are willing to use the beauty of one of God's children to do so. If that does not grieve you, I ask you to pray to God for eyes to see and for a softer heart.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Caveat
Hey. I just studied up a bit on Schweitzer. Lots of great quotes. But when it comes down to who I really trust, I will stick with what Jesus said:
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Statements like that are what have made him a stumbling block for two millenia to those who do not trust in him as lord and savior.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Statements like that are what have made him a stumbling block for two millenia to those who do not trust in him as lord and savior.
Oh I Like This Quote
Truth has no special time of its own. Its hour is now - always. Albert Schweitzer
Google mail threw it at me. I would say "eternal" rather than "always", but Albert did good, real good. I hope the context in which he said it is suitably edifying.
Google mail threw it at me. I would say "eternal" rather than "always", but Albert did good, real good. I hope the context in which he said it is suitably edifying.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Moving On
I once thought that 18 years was an incredibly long time to go to school. I was right. However, 33 years of working at HP does tend to make the 18 years seem less significant. The 51 year total shocks me. What a very long time to do anything. At first school was generic. Read, write, math, and so on. By the time I was 11 I knew I wanted to work in a scientific field. At 13 my hero was Jacque Cousteau. He was my hero because he invented the scuba regualtor. He developed other undersea gear, and he used what he invented. I determined to study engineering by the time I was in Junior High School. More than four decades have passed since I made the decision to study and practice engineering. It has only been one part of a very full life, but it was a large part that consumed much of my time and energy. Now I am making the decision to move on to other things.
As an engineer I would typically list alternatives and rate them according to a set of criteria I devised. This form of structured decision making would help organize my thoughts and mitigate against biases I might have, even those not obvious to me. But as I said, I am moving on.
I have no clear list of alternatives. I cannot organize my thoughts around objective criteria. I am exploring new mental territory.
Another factor had typically been the need to support myself and provide for my family. God has enabled me to build a modest fortune that presently frees me from the need to be concerned about working for income. As with all I have and all I hope to have, that modest fortune belongs to God and I hope to use it to his glory. He can augment or decimate it as he sees fit. I do not put my trust in the wealth. I put my trust in the giver of all good things.
My health is imperfect. I lack the stamina I had as a younger man. One leg is so damaged that I will soon have the natural knee replaced with a steel and plastic contraption that I hope will free me from chronic pain. However, as disabilities go, it is a mere trifle. I thank God for steady emotions, clear thinking, and a physical apparatus suitable for serving friends and family and for enjoying many of the pleasures God has given to us all. I enjoy sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and the feel of the soft down on my grandson's crown. I can give a warm embrace and enjoy one in return. When the time is right according to God's perfect plan, I will be given a completely new body and a vastly superior comprehension of his love and goodness.
Meanwhile, I am moving on to seek God's will for me in this new chapter of my life on this earth. In the year ahead, I plan to purposefully seek his will. I hope to develop ideas and make decisions that are hidden from me now. I am excited in a very pleasant and positive way. I see the coming years as filled with possibilities. All things are possible in Christ who strengthens me. I can rest in the assurance that God will use the gifts he has given me to fulfill the plan he has had from before the beginning of time. The results will bear witness to his greatness for all of eternity. Oh Lord, free me from the snares and distractions that would hinder me from serving you or from knowing the joy of surrendering my all to you.
As an engineer I would typically list alternatives and rate them according to a set of criteria I devised. This form of structured decision making would help organize my thoughts and mitigate against biases I might have, even those not obvious to me. But as I said, I am moving on.
I have no clear list of alternatives. I cannot organize my thoughts around objective criteria. I am exploring new mental territory.
Another factor had typically been the need to support myself and provide for my family. God has enabled me to build a modest fortune that presently frees me from the need to be concerned about working for income. As with all I have and all I hope to have, that modest fortune belongs to God and I hope to use it to his glory. He can augment or decimate it as he sees fit. I do not put my trust in the wealth. I put my trust in the giver of all good things.
My health is imperfect. I lack the stamina I had as a younger man. One leg is so damaged that I will soon have the natural knee replaced with a steel and plastic contraption that I hope will free me from chronic pain. However, as disabilities go, it is a mere trifle. I thank God for steady emotions, clear thinking, and a physical apparatus suitable for serving friends and family and for enjoying many of the pleasures God has given to us all. I enjoy sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and the feel of the soft down on my grandson's crown. I can give a warm embrace and enjoy one in return. When the time is right according to God's perfect plan, I will be given a completely new body and a vastly superior comprehension of his love and goodness.
Meanwhile, I am moving on to seek God's will for me in this new chapter of my life on this earth. In the year ahead, I plan to purposefully seek his will. I hope to develop ideas and make decisions that are hidden from me now. I am excited in a very pleasant and positive way. I see the coming years as filled with possibilities. All things are possible in Christ who strengthens me. I can rest in the assurance that God will use the gifts he has given me to fulfill the plan he has had from before the beginning of time. The results will bear witness to his greatness for all of eternity. Oh Lord, free me from the snares and distractions that would hinder me from serving you or from knowing the joy of surrendering my all to you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
