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Most Recent Posts Cyber BullyingPosted Jun-29-07 14:00:13 PDT Updated Jun-29-07 14:23:38 PDT Cyber-Bullying In today's society, children often in schools and at home become the victims of what is construed by some as "Cyber Bullying". Unfortunately, those very victims take their own form of negative action via the internet and can end up becoming a Cyber Bully themself. Rumours start being posted about the victim or target. By the time the cyber bully is done, the damage is done also. The kids peers, friends, associates start to talk about the victim. The Children Common Ages that children are often the targets of Cyber Bullies or can become Cyber Bullies:
The Cyber Bully
The mixing of emotions on the internet should not be mixed. Think before you click. Unfortunately, a difference exists online with the internet. The difference being that children learn more rapidly than the adults. Social skills are rapidly developed with the internet. Friends share information informing others about web sites, html basics, etc.. An example of this is what my nephew told me about learning to code a web page with a background. I asked him how he did it and he told me that he just used the "view source" option to see where the code was hosted at. I asked him if he right clicked the background and he told me that he did but only after obtaining permisson in an email from the owner of the background. I asked him if he was a little young at age 10 to have an email address. His reply was that his friends dad asked the owner for him. The above is a positive example. However, children abuse the internet quickly. The usage of Instant Messaging (IM) and Text Messaging is how kids often communicate whereas when we were young, we utilized the telephone. How often do parents really pay attention to their kids when they are using these forms of technology? If you are the parent of a child or children, let us think about this question seriously? Do you have any idea where your child is headed on the net? Emotions often play a key integral part to what is happening online in the cyber world. A mistake in a typed word in a text message such as "iwjk" (I was just kidding) can send the wrong message to the recipient. A wrong judgement is made based on how a word can appear to the reader since there is no body language to observe. Misunderstandings can and do transpire since they are taken out of context. This leads to a snowball effect as the recipient or reader starts to feel scared and often reacts. Walk Away What is one way to deal with all of the above is to inform the child to take a much needed break by simply stepping away from the PC. Time will dispel the negative reaction that can possibly simmer in our children and hopefully prevent them from becoming a Cyber Bully. Other physical activities such as riding a bicycle, taking a walk, are examples of alternatives instead of going back to the PC. This now brings us to the adults? What about the adults? The Adults As adults on ebay we seem to react to what someone else writes about whether in an:
...and your point is... (BTW I live in El Paso, Tejas) Treaty of Gualadupe Hidalgo 1848.. (Yeah, I know...we "stole" it...) ANYONE want to SELL it back? Now, as to the intention or what the poster who commented about the fact that they lived in Texas, the Treaty or the last statement about wanting to buy it back had nothing to do with my Blog. What exactly did this ebayer have to talk about regarding the issue of Habeas Corpus? I found myself becoming a reactionist by replying to the comment. I just had to say something back which ended with: http://blogs.ebay.com/guidereader/entry/Freedom-of-Speech ( I shortened the whole url) I think that you should read this for if it did not exist, you would not have a point. happy holidays. There will be those who will make a comment to your Blog to possibly "push your button" simply because they really have nothing to do. I recall one gal who told me that people on the ebay Blogs area openly discuss their medical issues and what medication that they take to deal with life. If you don't want a fact about your personal life out there on the internet, then simply abstain from revealing the fact about you that sooner or later can be used against you. Emails Here is my story. I met someone online in ebay and we exchanged information about some items that we both had a common interest in. I asked if I could send a link of theirs to a friend of mine. The friend of mine emailed the individual and shared some information. They both shared about 10 to 12 emails between each other. In one of the later emails, after the individual mentioned that they were stalked on the internet, this immediately raised a red flag for my friend and he did the right thing. He did not react and email the individual back for he knew that this person had some issues. The individual emailed him one more time complaining about a negative situation with another ebayer and a discussion that they had. He did not bite. He left the person alone. He walked away. Community Discussion Boards So, this led the individual to posting about being stalked on ebay's Community Discussion Boards. No one took the bait. I noticed that no one reacted to the thread and left the post alone. In other discussions, this individual made some statements that led to negative behavior on ebay. I am not going to go into what exactly transpired since I choose not to empower this individual. There was a situation that others wanted to stop but yet the actions of the posters led to more of the very same actions that they were trying to stop. ebay Guides The individual wrote an ebay Guide with lies twisted in it very well laid out without naming names but mentioning statistics. An example of the statistics would be mentioning the current number of feedback that a popular writer of Guides had or what types of items a certain seller had for sale. Simply put, one could very easily find out who the individual was targeting as their victim. As a result, more negative events transpired on ebay with the Guides. ebay Blogs This negativity which the individual wrote about came back towards them. The one ebay Guide was removed by the writer who then moved it to a Blog. I believe that what really wanted was attention to the Blog in which others would feed and energize the poster. The Blog was a well orchestrated attack via words by twisting the truth. Ebay deemed it as an inappropriate Blog since it had slanderous comments in it without naming any names. Ebay removed the Blog. What was the real Hidden Agenda? My friend told me that this invidual mentioned in emails to him that whatever they shared could be posted on the internet and that he had no recourse. I also noticed a dual identity or split personality since this individual would talk to me in emails one way and post in another way on the Community Discussion Boards. Clearly this had me thinking. It raised a serious red flag. E-Stalking I noticed that the individual basically posted their entire life on ebay Blogs and had later removed them all. What I find most interesting is that the person had some serious issues with e-stalkers and stalkers in general but yet chose to post a lot of personal information as what I see as bait for them. Now, why in the world would someone concerned with stalkers post personal information on the net? This was the very same behavior as the Discussion Boards in regards to the Guides. Well, there are other forms of cyber bullying and for some, the hidden agenda is one thing: "ATTENTION!" This is what was wanted in the very beginning. Also, I did notice a pattern of comments made towards those that we deemed as non-compliant with society since they were incarcerated from making a mistake in their lives. There are those who will commit a crime once and there are those who are recidivists. Repeat offenders. Do we ever stop to think about anyone individual who is wrongly accused of a crime? What about an innocent individual being sent to jail? Well, this individual made some comments about not being a victim and taking power back. I can only assume that some events could have transpired with the individual, internet and possibly a person or persons that they knew in life. In closing I find it rather odd that the so called victims can become like the offenders by constantly stalking them in reverse by finding out where they live and who they work for, etc.. It is strange how the victim can very well become a form of a bully. What happens is that the victim becomes so obsessive and compulsive with events in life, are they just as bad as the perpetrator? THINK.....READ.....ABSORB.....RE-READ.....LEARN.....GROW ebay's Moderation Team and censorshipPosted May-11-07 03:26:17 PDT Updated May-31-07 14:49:17 PDT ebay;'s Moderation Team and their power (Censorship) to stop 1st Amendment rights Hello guidereader, We appreciate your participation in the eBay Community Forums. This email is to notify you that we unfortunately had to remove the following post that you made: Check out this about Me page The post was deleted. In order for the community forums, which are based on the eBay Community Values, to be a place where all members can feel comfortable interacting with each other, there are certain types of posts that we have to remove if reported to us. The guidelines for posting in the forums are defined in the Board Usage Policy. Your post was specifically removed for the following reason: Posting item listing reports or member violations. We understand that most posts that are removed were not intentional violations. Please take a moment to review the Board Usage Policy and policy explanations via the following URLs for clarification about the types of posts that we do allow: policies forums Again, we value your participation in the forums, and we appreciate your support. Regards, Susan eBay Moderation Team I can understand why some people lurk and choose not to post their thoughts about a matter. Have you ever had a thread removed by ebay's Moderation Team? Has this happened to you? I find this one really interesting because the post simply mentioned a FOUR letter word in a about ME page that started with the letter F. In a nutshell, the ebayer who had the page point blank had a caption that stated the four letter word that starts wtih an F and ends with the letter K and the words EBAY! It was not reporting the member, just stating check out this page. My sisters friend in San Francisco emailed me and wants to do an article for the media in the bay area (San Francisco) about ebay and its moderation team and how they have the power to pull what they feel is inappropriate. After all, it is ebay's website and they can do what they want.
I have read on the ebay Review and Guides board that one member had a recent post removed. I am very curious if he received the same email that I received. I just want to note that the page that I mentioned was indeed removed as I write this Blog. Now, I rant and rave about the Freedom of Speech but then again, this is the house of ebay. Follow the rules. Peace.....Paul. Identity Theft by usage of a Photocopy MachinePosted Apr-01-07 08:20:29 PDT Updated Apr-01-07 08:57:49 PDT Photocopiers can lead to Identity Theft. Read, Learn and Prevent ID Theft. What a lot of us do not know is that everyday common Photocopy machines can possibly retain information that ewe copy in their hard drive. Experts warned this tax season as millions of taxpayers go to make copies of their r 1040 tax forms that quite a few machines now have disk drives. Digital versions of whatever they duplicate and save can pose a security risk. Security and Industry experts do not really know of any actual cases of Identity theft happening from a ID thief obtaining information from the disk drives, but it could happen. Unfortunately at this time, many Americans have no idea of the danger that is awaiting us out there by making copies. What can one do? Ask your tax preparers, copy shops or whoever has a copy machine if the machine is encrypted. What really is a definition of Identity Theft? Through the use of fraud and deception, a thief wrongfully obtains your information for his /her personal gain. Personal Data that is targeted often:
In 1998, Congress created a new Federal offense for identity theft after one brazen convicted felon totally thrashed the identity of his victim by incurring over $100,000 of deby by credit cards, purchasing houses and loans and even weapons such as handguns. What was shocking was that the thief even had the audacity to telephone his victim to tease him mentioning that he could pose as the victim indefinitely. At the time, Identity Theft was not a federal crime. The victim and his spouse had to spend four years plus and over $15,000 trying to restore his reputation and good name. What did finally happen to the criminal you might ask? He did not make any repayment of the money that he stole. He served only a very short sentence for obtaining a firearm by making a false statement. The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act: prohibits one from knowingly transferring or using, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law.
Federal prosecutors work with federal investigative agencies to prosecute identity theft and fraud cases.
"Shoulder Surfing": They are watching you as you use your credit card number. They listen in on conversations. They remember. "Dumpster Diving": This is very common and I must only assume that we all have heard of this technique. They go through your trash looking for any type or kinds of statements which have your sensitive information about bank statements, credit card bills, telephone bills, utility bills, etc.. They will even know how you live, your habits, what you are buying, what you are eating, and where you are shopping. This is where the criminals can take your information and apply for credit cards and pre-approved applications by having them sent to a Post Office box, an accomplice's residiness or perhaps even a dummy location. There are companies that require you to activate a card from your home telephone number but not all companies use this measure. People are finding out that a way to deter the efforts of the criminals is to buy a small shredder for documents. There are several varities. One favorite personal one that I bought on ebay is the type that shreds paper to small fine pieces. Less than half a millimeter. Some individuals that I have emailed have told me that they tend to burn sensitive information in the fireplace. Spoof, Spam and Phishing Emails: A common practice recently is for the criminals to send out fake emails that look very official from your financial institution, bank and yes, even ebay claiming that you need to update your account or you have won some sort of prize but need to fill in some information. They hide links in the email which redirect you to a site where they harvest information from people who have no clue that they have been had. Once enough information is obtained, they start with the following:
How to Avoid Identity Theft?
Take action to avoid damage to your financial accounts, loss of monies and your reputaion by contacting:
Additional steps that you can take are:
Equifax:
1. To report fraud, call (888) EXPERIAN or (888) 397-3742, fax to (800) 301-7196, or write to P.O. Box 1017, Allen, TX 75013. 2. To order a copy of your credit report ($8 in most states): P.O. Box 2104, Allen TX 75013, or call (888) EXPERIAN. 3. To dispute information in your report, call the phone number provided on your credit report. 4. To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit and marketing lists, call (800) 353-0809 or (888) 5OPTOUT or write to P.O. Box 919, Allen, TX 75013. Trans Union
You will have to contact all of the financial institutions where you have accounts that the identity thief has taken over. Accounts that have been created in your name without your knowledge. You might need to cancel those accounts. You night have to place stop-payment orders on any outstanding checks that may not have cleared, and lastly change your account of your Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Card and your Personal Identification Number (PIN). You might have to contact the major check verification companies if you have had checks stolen or bank accounts set up by an identity thief. Check Verification Companies:
Someone, somewhere during the five mentioned transactions obtained my information and charged over $2,000.00 in Fish Tanks, Aquariams and parts from a Pet Co in California. I saw the charges on my bill. I called American Express to mention the fact that I had closed the Gold Card. A representative told me that they (Amex) had kept it open as a courtesy. I called Pet Co after noticing that the name on the receipt signed was nowhere close to my name. Didn't the clerk even check the card to see that my name did not match the signature. We will never know is the number was punched manually into the credit card terminal. will we? Pet Co called AMEX mentioning that I had called them. They did not want to take the hit for the $2,000.00 which I think that they should have. In closing, I stopped what could have been a dominoe effect with my credit. I closed all of my cards. I finally opened one new account later, used it very sparringly and basically have used cash for payments. Well, that is until I discovered Paypal and that is another story, which is positive for I have not really had any problems with them. Knock on wood! Olympic Medalist to Hollywood Actor Herman Brix - Bruce BennettPosted Mar-08-07 10:06:33 PST Updated Mar-08-07 10:26:15 PST This is a tribute to the actor named Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett. It is with sad regret that he passed away February 24th, 2007. Harold Herman Brix (birth name) was born in the year of 1906 in Tacoma, Washington. He built up his physique by working in the lumber camps that his father had owned. He attended the University of Washington where he was a track and football star. He played in the 1926 Rose Bowl as tackle for the Huskies. Fame found him at the 1928 Olympic games in Amsterdam where he won a Silver Medal for the Shot-Put event. After the games, he did complete his college education. He graduated in 1928 with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 1929, he moved to Los Angeles after being invited to compete for the Los Angeles Athletic Club. He and became friends with actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. It was Fairbanks who was instrumental in arranging a screen test for him at Paramount Studios. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote "Tarzan of the Apes" which was released on January the 27th, 1918. Burroughs was responsible for:
He was considered a favorite of Burrough's to play Tarzan. He suffered a seperated shoulder from a tackle in during the filming of Touchdown in 1931. The injury was responsible for causing him to fail to qualify for the 1932 Olympic trials while he was holding the world record for shot put. Bennett recuperated. This cost him the role of MGM's Tarzan. The role went to another Olympian Johnny Weissmuller who won a medal in the swimming event. A Hollywood writer named Cyril Hume who was working on an adaptation of Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), noticed Weissmuller's physique as he was swimming in the pool at his hotel. He told Johnny to try out for the part. It should be noted that there have been other Olympians who have made the transition to Tarzan including Buster Crabbe and Glenn Morris. Morris won a Gold Medal in the Decathlon event in 1936. He appeared in only one film, "Tarzan's Revenge" for 20th Century Fox. Interestingly enough, Buster crabbe graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu which still has a swimming pool. Crabbe won a Bronze Medal in the 1928 Olympic games for the 1,500 meter freestyle event and a Gold Medal in the 1932 games for the 400 meter freestyle event. Crabbe starred in "Tarzan the Fearless" which led him on his path in films in Hollywood. 1934 was around the time where Burroughs was very unhappy with the way that Tarzan was potrayed in the films with the actors using monosyllabic words. He has leased the rights of his Tarzan character Metro-Goldywn-Mayer (M.G.M.). This led to little control to the potrayal of Jonhny Weissmuller's Tarzan films which were very popular. So popular was Weismuller in fact that his wife was paid $10,000 by Hollywood to divorce him. Herman Brix was selected for Burroughs own Tarzan movie. The 1935 film featured the New Adventures of Tarzan which was produced by Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises, Incorporated. It was released as both a 12-chapter serial (265 minutes total) and a full-length 75-minute feature. The location was moved strategically from the jungles of Africa to Guatemala. It was filmed in extremely primitive conditions. Ironically, a lot of audiences in the United States did not see the film. MGM blocked widespread distribution of the film due to the strong influence that they held at the time. They did not however factor in the European and Asian market where Burroughs had more success. The film proved to become very popular. By the late 1930's's. Herman Brix decided to leave his identity as a former Olympic athlete and as a former Tarzan. At this time in his life, he took a break from Hollywood. He hid out, studied and he changed his name to Bruce Bennett. He signed a contract with Columbia Studios in the late 1930's. He starred in small roles such as:
He starred in:
He passed away February 24th, 2007 of complications from a broken hip. He is survived by two children named Christopher Brix and Christina Katich, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. His wife Jeanette who passed away in 2000. One of his notable Personal quotes: "I wish I would have had more to do in the film. I hated to get killed so soon" - a reference to his role in the classic film: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). The First Female Presidential Candidate Victoria Claflin Woodhull 1872Posted Feb-19-07 13:57:59 PST Victoria Claflin Woodhull 1872 If one was to go back in time by reading the history of our nation, one would find that the Ohio born candidate named Victoria Claflin Woodhull ran for the office of President in 1872 on the ticket of the Equal Rights Party which was a newly formed party at the time. She was nominated on May 10, 1872, at Apollo Hall, New York City. The nomination was ratified at a convention on June 6, 1872. During her campaign and in the popular New York City weekly newspaper, her main points were: Free love Better public housing An end to the death penalty Suffrage for women Divorce Reform Birth Control Rights of Union workers Strong Child Labor Laws 40 miles northeast of Columbus was a small town named Homer which was located on the northern edge of Licking County , she was born Victoria Claflin on September 23rd of 1838. She was the seventh of 10 children in her family with only a third grade education. In 1853, at the young age of 15, she was engaged to a Dr. Canning Woodhull who also was young at a the age of 28. Some records indicate that his name might have been Channing. The couple had two children. She discovered that her husband was an alcholic and chased other women around. Her idea of free love could have its originations in here first marriage. Women at the time did not have the option of escaping a marriage which they deemed loveless. Any women at the time who was divorced was stereotyped by society. Why were men allowed to have sexual alliances, mistress's and other forrays? Her enemies tried to falsely characterize her views as immoral. She was the first female to become a Stockbroker along with her sister, Tennessee with the backing of Vanderbilt. Woodhull was a Spiritualist who advised the wealthy Corneilus Vanderbilt. Woodhull, Claflin & Company opened in 1870. With the money made from the broderage, Victoria and Tennessee opened their newspaper company on May, 14, 1870 named Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly. She was the first American Editor to publish the "Communist Manifesto" in an English version in its edition of December, 30th of 1871. Very controversial subjects were covered during the six years of the newspaper which included: Sex education Free love vegetarianism Licensed prostitution Women's suffrage Short skirts Birth Control Spiritualism It seems that she used issues covered in her paper as the platform for running for office. She was also the first woman to speak to the United States Judiciary Committee. She also was noted as a Con Artist who sold bottles of medicine which could cure Cancer. She and her sister Tennessee Celeste Woodhull claimed that they could communicate with the dead. 48 years even before women could vote, she made her run for office. The former slave named Frederick Douglass was her running mate. Douglass never acknowledged this nomination. Instead, he served as a presidential elector in the Electoral College for the State of New York. She was a write in candidate and her votes were not officially totaled. Ironically on the night of the election, she was jailed due to a charge of obscenity. Woodhull's newspaper wrote about Harriet Beecher Stowe's brother accusing him of adultery. Stowe was the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." After the re-election of Ulysses S Grant, while still jailed, the charges were dropped. Some of her famous quotes from a autobiography that she started and irionically abandoned mentioned: "Don't mind what the world says; don't try to be popular. Do your duty." "Come out from the ruck of grumblers, who do nothing, who criticize only, and try to do something to help mankind." About a total of 50 women have ran campaigns besides Woodhull way back in 1872, we have to also note some of the other prominent females candidates who have had campaigns: Democrats: Bella Abzug (1972) Shirley Chisholm (1972) Patricia Schroeder (1984) Republicans: Margaret Chase Smith (1964) Elizabeth Dole (2000) The first woman to appear on a presidential ballot printed by the government was Charlene Mitchell in 1968. Looks like we will be adding Hillary Clinton to the list in the future. |
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