October 21, 2020

Over 2.1 mil. People Sign Petition to Close Down a Popular Porn Site!

Sorry if this is a repost. This isn’t really a new petition, but I think it’s important.

https://www.traffickinghubpetition.com/

In the last few months, there have been several shocking cases of sex trafficking and child rape films that were hosted on Pornhub. A 15-year-old girl who had been missing for a year was finally found after her mother was tipped off that her daughter was being featured in videos on the site — 58 such videos of her rape and sexual abuse were discovered on Pornhub.

Also in recent news was the case of 22 women who were deceived and coerced by Michael Pratt, owner of GirlsDoPorn, into performing sex acts on film that were subsequently uploaded to Pornhub. These women sued GirlsDoPorn and won a $12.7 million lawsuit against the company. According to a federal indictment, Pratt and his co-conspirators produced filmed child rape and sexual abuse content and trafficked a minor. Pratt reportedly fled the United States for New Zealand and is currently wanted on a federal warrant.

Comments - I am personally not anti-porn (given that it is produced ethically and woman-owned). However, if you use sites like this, you should know what you are supporting.

Girls (not even women yet) are being abused, and their nightmares are being transmitted for other sickos to watch. Then, when they completely reasonably (sigh) demand a site to take down the videos of their rape, they have no power. If a site even has one of this type of video, how is it not rotten to the core?

How is this any different from modern day sex slavery? How are the men watching these videos not victimizing these girls again, since views create a demand for this type of media? How can anyone have a normal mindset after mentally ingesting this garbage? A soulless corporation is knowingly turning a blind eye to the trafficking of girls and women because they know that they can get away with it.

Ignoring the outright illegal content, is it moral to watch videos of desperate women (including run-aways, homeless women, trans women or members of the LGBT+ community, or already abused women) being tortured by men who turn around and take all of the profit for themselves? Women are being cultivated and abused like a commodity for the amusement of men. They are hit, kicked, or abused like animals. They are different degrees of enslaved.

I am not anti-porn. However, when the most popular sites contribute to the objectification of women as inhuman objects for male pleasure, abuse them, and even host outright pedophilia and/or rape, I would argue even visiting a site like that is immoral. I do not believe a site that allows media like this to exist should be allowed to continue.

I’d like to know your thoughts. I think this issue is important, because a lot of men trust sites like this to care when they really don’t. They openly allow women (or men) to be abused for profit. I think we need government regulation on sites like this, as they are openly harming our culture and minds as a country.

July 5, 2019

No, An 11 Year Old Didn't Hack a Replica of Florida's Election Servers and Change the Vote.

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/jul/02/tulsi-gabbard/tulsi-gabbard-exaggerates-saying-kid-hacked-replic/

Appearing on HBO’s "Real Time with Bill Maher," Gabbard, a U.S. representative from Hawaii, told Maher:

"We have to take seriously the security of our elections because of the vulnerabilities that exist — still, now — that really have the ability to undermine our democracy. There’s a hacking conference that’s held every year in Las Vegas, where I think a 14- or 15-year old-girl from Florida hacked into a replica of Florida’s election system in less than 15 minutes."

...

But two points are problematic for Gabbard’s claim.

First, there wasn’t hacking into a replica of the election system — but rather a website made to look like Florida’s Secretary of State website that reports preliminary election results. In other words, not the system that receives and counts actual votes.

And second, what was hacked into was not even a replica — as in an exact copy — of the website — because it did not contain the proprietary security features that the Secretary of State website has.

...



I was annoyed that the media is insinuating that DEFCON proved that Florida’s election could be hacked, and it was so easy to do, an eleven year old did it. This does nothing but to undermine the legitimacy of our elections.

I also cringed when Tulsi Gabbard repeated this fake news as fact during the debate. This story was highly misleading clickbait, and was irresponsible journalism...

July 16, 2018

Pop Culture Detective - Abduction as Romance

This is not an easy watch, but highlights an important problem in Hollywood. This trope is in practically every Hollywood movie, and needs to be retired.

June 27, 2018

Dear movie stars, politicians, rich people, respected community leaders - stop tweeting and start

organizing! I keep hearing that “Twitter is outraged” by Trump’s latest actions. Guess what? This administration doesn’t care! Twitter outrage is easily ignored.

We need money, and lots of it. We need events and protests created to energize the Democratic base. The protests against Trump’s immigration policies were a great start - we need this on a constant basis.

We need singers, movie stars, comedians, respected members of the community, fiery politicians, and people that Trump has hurt to form as a solitary movement to flip the power dynamic in the country!

The regular person isn’t gong to make enough of a dent. We need organization, big names, and most of all, cash!

Where are you, Hollywood? We need you now more than ever! Remember the womens’ March? Do that - often! We can forment a huge movement to take our country back, but we need to lay the foundation first.

May 17, 2018

We cannot let Trump become worse than Bush.

Of course, there’s still time, but with Bush we had:

- The Iraq War, which killed millions of people
- Mercenaries running around shooting people in New Orleans. The President’s mother felt that they were better off this way.
- High profile Liberals being blackballed from their positions because they only disagreed with the Iraq War. You were either “with them or against them,” and free thought was heavily discouraged in favor of rigorously-enforced group-think.
- The media was totally in the tank for Bush, and made its mission spouting cartoonish patriotic platitudes while negatively stereotyping all Liberals.
- The oxymoronic “Patriot Act”
- “Mission Accomplished”
- Dick Cheney and his thirst for never-ending war
- An administration that would have invaded Iran next, had there not been such war weariness
- The prospect of gay marriage looked bleak
- Gay people were literally not allowed in our military. They had to keep quiet, almost like criminals
- A bunch of other stuff that was equally as terrible. Too many things to list.

I know it’s only been over a year, but we will get through this. Not to minimize Trump, but we’ve gone through this and worse before. Now is not the time to fight over petty issues (not that you can’t make your opinion known!) - a united front will minimize the damage Trump and his cronies can do.

We came so far in 8 years, but we’re falling into the abyss again. I’m confident we can get through this, but we need to start rallying now. It’s already 2018!

April 21, 2018

As I grew into an adult, my biggest disappointment was how stupid human adults are.

- Instead of studying climate change, we try to ban all studies of it so that we can pretend it doesn’t exist. Problem solved! Even ostriches don’t really bury their heads in the sand when threatened.

- Money will totally matter when your planet is an environmentally ravaged wasteland.

- We do the same thing with guns. Let’s never study how to make a device that can murder people safer! Something designed to kill people has absolutely nothing to do with killing people! An AR-15, for example, is only modeled after a military assault rifle. However, it obviously has hunting implications, and we should pass them out like candy to everyone, including 5-year-olds and domestic abusers. Only then will we be safe!

- We Kill each other because “God” told us to. Never mind the fact that this God is just like a human (with traits like jealousy and hatred), and chooses not to reveal itself for some reason. We should just accept at face value that God exists, and it loves your money!

- We’re so emotional and stupid that an ape-like buffoon like Trump gets elected to the highest position in this country by exerting knuckle-dragging, primate-like acts of “dominance” over the other candidates. 2020 will consist of candidates slinging shit at each other.
Also, random news stories from Facebook that look like they were vomited out by 1000 monkeys jumping on a type-writer absolutely must be taken as fact. They appeal to our emotions, and everyone knows that how you feel is much more important than logic! If you feel that a story is true, it must at least be as valid as stories from the New York Times!

- We act like a 20-year-old frat douche who surfs Alex Jones’s websites has an opinion just as valid as scientists who got their doctorate, worked in the field for 20 years, and have actually studied what they’re talking about. Everybody’s opinion matters!

- In the event of war with Russia, we will win by firing planet-destroying weapons at them until 99.99999% of people on earth die. Yay! We win!

I’ve never felt more angst for this country’s future. It feels like we’re on a bus being driven by a chimp, and not crashing yet is our version of “success.”

January 10, 2018

I find the following trends worrisome in American politics:

Problem: Making politics about the politician, and not about their ideals.

How many Trump supporters actually know where he stands on issues? Honestly, half the time, I’m not even sure Donald Trump knows where Donald Trump stands on the issues. They don’t seem to care. It’s all about The Donald.

I’m more worried about the potential future candidates our “new normal” is breeding, vs. the one we’re stuck with now. Trump has shown us that style wins over substance now, and telling people what they want to hear is extremely effective. Also effective is creating groups of “others” to rail against and declare as “the enemy.” The genie is out of the bottle, and the bell is rung. Trump may not last the full 4 years, but the terrifying aftermath he is going to leave in his wake will not go away overnight. Trump’s election created an open wound in the American psyche and culture.

History shows us the devastating effects of following cults of personality. Peoples’ minds can be warped to justify anything. We see it happening now - just to less of a degree. Like a cult leader, a President treated in such a way has a monopoly on the truth amongst his followers. This is more terrifying than any weapon - you have millions of acolytes willing to do your bidding, no matter how vile the task is.

Problem: Facebook as a news source

People are foolishly turning to Facebook as a real news source these days. This leads to some pretty ridiculous ideas making the rounds. Furthermore, readers refuse to do the extra step of verifying the news that they read. They simply take it at face value. This can easily be exploited.

Russia noticed this broken element in American society and swarmed it, much like a virus attacking its host. Russia did not make us this way - we were like that before, and they saw an opportunity. We have not improved at all - we are still open for attack. Don’t kid yourselves and think that this is a solely right wing phenomenon either. That leaves your mind open to be preyed upon, and chips away at your intellectual autonomy. EVERY source deserves scrutiny. If a source cannot be scrutinized, then what good is it?

Problem: Childish in-fighting and tribalism

Everyone here has heard the phrase, “divide and conquer.” The problem is, the rifts in our society continue to grow. Democrat vs. Republican, Rich vs. Poor, White vs. Non-White, Male vs. Female - Every rift in America is an open wound subject to festering. When we go to such extremes as wanting to actually fight each other, we become weakened. This gifts unsavory characters like Putin the opportunity he has waited decades for. They’re constantly testing our weaknesses, and are waiting to strike. We cannot take our safety and prominence for granted.

Tribalism also produces perpetual gridlock in our government. When the possibility of the slightest compromise becomes an impossibility, governing becomes impossible. The fact that any form of compromise is viewed as capitulation is a slow poison tearing away at the fabric of American government.



What can we do about it?

You’re never going to stop Russian interference in our elections. Anyone who says otherwise is either a fool or a liar. The problem is not with Russia - espionage and disinformation campaigns are millennia old tactics of soft warfare.

The strength of America comes from its booming middle class and unified spirit. “Unity” does not mean agreement - it is simply the idea that we are all Americans, and that we must not give into nativist rhetoric and outside interference. We must get along, no matter how much we disagree. We must shun racist, sexist, bigoted ideology, and the smooth-talking con artists who constantly think of ways to capture our minds. We must recognize that our society is only as good as its poorist citizens - History shows us that societies cannot survive when wealth is in the hands of a few. The middle class is our nation’s most vital organ.


That is why we are open to attack. Through unity and progressivism, we will become hardened to attacks from the outside. Knowledge is literally power.


Thanks for reading.

January 6, 2018

Any other aspies here?

I was diagnosed with Aspergers at 10 years old. I’ve lived a relatively normal life, and most people don’t know. They just think something is “different” about me. I also have very intense, narrow interests, making it hard to focus sometimes at work (unless if I’m doing computer programming, in which case I’m intensely focused and into it).

I’ve pretty much “grown out of” some of the more glaring deficiencies I’ve had (especially social problems). I was unable to look people in the eyes or hold a conversation for more than a minute previously. I was also overly timid well into my twenties, and would struggle to speak to people. My difficulties also gave me social anxiety, which made my problems worse. I didn’t know (and sometimes still don’t) the minute social intricacies that people take for granted.

Meeting new people is still intensely hard for me, but I’ve improved by miles. I find social interaction much easier now. I still get “drained” very quickly in crowds, and need to retreat to the safety of a quiet area. I’m the type that frequently takes breaks to find the animals at a house party and give them a good belly rub.

Nobody knows, as I don’t want to be treated any differently. I have a fully functioning brain, but people tend to have no idea what autism really is. Message boards are a great medium for me, because I’ve always been terrible with talking, but am perfectly fine with writing. Thanks for reading!

December 19, 2017

Why is There Even a Green Party?

This is something I’ve never understood - What is the point of having a party that:

A - Never wins elections
B - Actually hurts their agenda by stealing votes away from Democratic candidates, giving anti-environmentalists a greater chance of winning?

Wouldn’t they have more success running as Democrats instead? I don’t get it.

November 8, 2017

Mass. Trooper sues after being told to alter arrest report of judges daughter

http://www.wbur.org/news/2017/11/07/trooper-lawsuit-edit-police-report

Massachusetts Trial Court officials and state police are defending their actions after a trooper filed suit alleging that top police commanders disciplined him and forced him to revise an arrest report for a judge's daughter.

Trooper Sceviour's lawsuit alleges that after he arrested Bibaud for driving under the influence near Worcester last month, he was told to revise the arrest report

Two days after Bibaud's arrest, the lawsuit alleges that a trooper came to Sceviour's house and took him to meet with top police officials. There, Sceviour says, he was told to falsify records and remove the references to sex and Bibaud's father so as not to embarrass the judge.

Sceviour says he was told that the changes were "ordered by the colonel" — which he presumes meant State Police Colonel Richard McKeon, who supervises the state police. The suit goes on to say that a state police major told Sceviour that he was being “ordered” to make the changes in the arrest report — an order that came from the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.



OP comment - For every time that you hear about something like this happening, there are probably 100 times that you don’t...