Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Monday, February 3, 2014
Taizé 101
The Taizé Community is an ecumenical monastic order founded in 1940 by
Brother Roger Schutz in Taizé, France. It is composed of more than one
hundred brothers who originate from about thirty countries around the
world.
The community has become a popular site of Christian pilgrimage. Over 100,000 young people from around the world make pilgrimages to Taizé each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work. Through the community's ecumenical outlook, they are encouraged to live in the spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation.
A Taizé service is a simple prayer service centered around music from the Taizé community. Most of the music has a short refrain which could be four, eight or sixteen bars long. Some of the songs have verses which are generally sung by a soloist or schola and the refrains are simple and easy to memorize after a few repetitions. The reason for the music in being easy and repetitious is so that the average person attending the service may more readily engage in sung prayer rather than reading words, notes or trying to learn the melody.
Musicians love this format for it gives them the opportunity to drop in or out and lightly improvise after the fifth, tenth or twentieth repetition. Some music directors may stifle creativity and organize and plan arrangements regardless how the spirit is moving everyone else. When I organize a Taizé service, I tell the musicians to go with the flow, try things, experiment, come in or out when you want, listen to the people and respond to them. I give them ownership. Using this method, a song may have several climaxes as opposed to one - that is arranged.
When putting together a Taizé or Taizé-like prayer service, one doesn't have to choose music from the Taizé tradition. I like to use psalm refrains. If you belong to a liturgical church, you probably already sing psalms every Sunday with a cantor. Psalm refrains are good to use because they are simple, short, the assembly already knows many of them. They are scriptural, they may be comforting and as I said, psalms may already be in the musical vocabulary of most liturgical churches.
If I was in an airplane and we hit turbulence, I might pray to myself, "Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble, be with me, Lord, I pray," or "The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom should I be afraid?" because I would have sung them during the regular liturgical year or thirty times during a Taizé service so I would know those refrains as Psalms 91 and 27 and by heart.
Churches often mistakenly offer Taizé services because they think it will attract people, especially young people. In the turbulent 1960s, young people began to visit the Taizé community in search of spiritual answers. The first international young adults meeting was organized in Taizé with 1400 participants from 30 countries. In 1970, in response to student protests taking place all over Europe and the world, as well as the Second Vatican Council, Brother Roger announced a "Council of Youth", whose main meeting took place in 1974. At the end of the 1970s, the meetings and surrounding activities began to be referred to as a "Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth". The monastic community decided to focus on youth. Many churches, especially in Europe, send their youth and young adults to Taizé for spiritual retreats.
Faith can not be reverse engineered. When I was a teen, my niece came to live with us because her family was moving, it was her senior year and she wanted to graduate with her class. She loved grunge rock and one day I heard her singing a Bach melody. I asked her where she heard it and she didn't know but she said she liked it. It was something she subconsciously heard me regularly practicing and it struck a chord with her. If youth are exposed to the music of Taizé, they will certainly grow to like it but offering it will not attract them if they don't know what it is in the first place. This is a conundrum that organized religion hasn't figured out yet, but, the answer is so simple.
When putting together a Taizé service, the musicians must focus on what is needed in order to encourage an hour of singing. A successful music ministry is not one that plays for or to the people, it is one that revels in the sound of a participating and singing congregation. The most beautiful sound a music director can hear is the sound of a singing assembly.
Consider our services in the model of the theater; Many church musicians mistakenly think that the congregation is the audience, the musicians are the actors and God is the prompter. This model will surely fail in rapid entropy. It should be that the congregation are the actors, the musicians are the prompters and God is the audience. This is a simple mistake that many churches make and is why church is perceived as boring, because it is done -to- us as in the first model. They reap what they sow.
Within the Taizé service there may be a couple readings and of course a healthy period of silence. Silence can be awkward and uncomfortable for many people because our brains are often sozzled with distractions and noise. Speech must die to serve that which is spoken. Alternatively, I've been to restaurants where I have seen couples sit through their entire meal and barely speak to one another. Sadly it is probably because she married for security and comfort while he married a trophy and they realized that they have nothing in common. Taizé doesn't have to be that way as long as you don't go in looking to be entertained. You have to enter into it empty, open and willing to be filled. Energy begets energy and in order to get something out of it you have to put something in.
The space should be lit well enough to read. A lot of churches turn their lights down low and light a lot of candles for atmosphere. This is nice but one of my churches did this and a woman tripped over something because she couldn't see, she broke her hip and sued the church. The pastor tried lying to her lawyers and encourage the staff to lie but someone who was was socially conscious told the truth. Some churches encourage people to bring their own pillows or provide them with cushions so they can sit on the floor. One church I knew provided tiny little water bottles for dry throats.
The selection of music and text is important too. Consider what is going on in the world, in the country, in the community or in the church. What text can you sing which will break open these issues to create greater awareness or action? Music is an expression of faith not merely entertainment. We don't sing because we're happy, we're happy because we sing. People don't have faith because they love music, they love music because they have faith.
Taizé may not be for everyone. It is like Grappa, you either love it or hate it. It may take work to feel comfortable at a Taizé service because sitting for an hour singing songs over and over can be boring for people without the patience, will or strength. To sit and meditate on a single sentence and contemplate its veracity in their life takes conscious effort. I can promise though, if you do sing, you will be oxygenating your blood, your heart will pump faster, your brain cells will be getting fresh oxygenated blood, your circulation will improve and you will become more alert. In essence you will leave a different person than when you came in. Singing for an hour about thanksgiving, adoration, supplication and contrition will teach us that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact. Out of what we live and believe, our lives will become that. Energy begets energy. Metanoia doesn't happen to those who don't try.
Why should we think upon things that are beautiful? Because thinking determines life. It is a common habit to blame life upon the environment. Environment modifies life but does not govern life. The soul is stronger than its surroundings.
The community has become a popular site of Christian pilgrimage. Over 100,000 young people from around the world make pilgrimages to Taizé each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work. Through the community's ecumenical outlook, they are encouraged to live in the spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation.
A Taizé service is a simple prayer service centered around music from the Taizé community. Most of the music has a short refrain which could be four, eight or sixteen bars long. Some of the songs have verses which are generally sung by a soloist or schola and the refrains are simple and easy to memorize after a few repetitions. The reason for the music in being easy and repetitious is so that the average person attending the service may more readily engage in sung prayer rather than reading words, notes or trying to learn the melody.
Musicians love this format for it gives them the opportunity to drop in or out and lightly improvise after the fifth, tenth or twentieth repetition. Some music directors may stifle creativity and organize and plan arrangements regardless how the spirit is moving everyone else. When I organize a Taizé service, I tell the musicians to go with the flow, try things, experiment, come in or out when you want, listen to the people and respond to them. I give them ownership. Using this method, a song may have several climaxes as opposed to one - that is arranged.
When putting together a Taizé or Taizé-like prayer service, one doesn't have to choose music from the Taizé tradition. I like to use psalm refrains. If you belong to a liturgical church, you probably already sing psalms every Sunday with a cantor. Psalm refrains are good to use because they are simple, short, the assembly already knows many of them. They are scriptural, they may be comforting and as I said, psalms may already be in the musical vocabulary of most liturgical churches.
If I was in an airplane and we hit turbulence, I might pray to myself, "Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble, be with me, Lord, I pray," or "The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom should I be afraid?" because I would have sung them during the regular liturgical year or thirty times during a Taizé service so I would know those refrains as Psalms 91 and 27 and by heart.
Churches often mistakenly offer Taizé services because they think it will attract people, especially young people. In the turbulent 1960s, young people began to visit the Taizé community in search of spiritual answers. The first international young adults meeting was organized in Taizé with 1400 participants from 30 countries. In 1970, in response to student protests taking place all over Europe and the world, as well as the Second Vatican Council, Brother Roger announced a "Council of Youth", whose main meeting took place in 1974. At the end of the 1970s, the meetings and surrounding activities began to be referred to as a "Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth". The monastic community decided to focus on youth. Many churches, especially in Europe, send their youth and young adults to Taizé for spiritual retreats.
Faith can not be reverse engineered. When I was a teen, my niece came to live with us because her family was moving, it was her senior year and she wanted to graduate with her class. She loved grunge rock and one day I heard her singing a Bach melody. I asked her where she heard it and she didn't know but she said she liked it. It was something she subconsciously heard me regularly practicing and it struck a chord with her. If youth are exposed to the music of Taizé, they will certainly grow to like it but offering it will not attract them if they don't know what it is in the first place. This is a conundrum that organized religion hasn't figured out yet, but, the answer is so simple.
When putting together a Taizé service, the musicians must focus on what is needed in order to encourage an hour of singing. A successful music ministry is not one that plays for or to the people, it is one that revels in the sound of a participating and singing congregation. The most beautiful sound a music director can hear is the sound of a singing assembly.
Consider our services in the model of the theater; Many church musicians mistakenly think that the congregation is the audience, the musicians are the actors and God is the prompter. This model will surely fail in rapid entropy. It should be that the congregation are the actors, the musicians are the prompters and God is the audience. This is a simple mistake that many churches make and is why church is perceived as boring, because it is done -to- us as in the first model. They reap what they sow.
Within the Taizé service there may be a couple readings and of course a healthy period of silence. Silence can be awkward and uncomfortable for many people because our brains are often sozzled with distractions and noise. Speech must die to serve that which is spoken. Alternatively, I've been to restaurants where I have seen couples sit through their entire meal and barely speak to one another. Sadly it is probably because she married for security and comfort while he married a trophy and they realized that they have nothing in common. Taizé doesn't have to be that way as long as you don't go in looking to be entertained. You have to enter into it empty, open and willing to be filled. Energy begets energy and in order to get something out of it you have to put something in.
The space should be lit well enough to read. A lot of churches turn their lights down low and light a lot of candles for atmosphere. This is nice but one of my churches did this and a woman tripped over something because she couldn't see, she broke her hip and sued the church. The pastor tried lying to her lawyers and encourage the staff to lie but someone who was was socially conscious told the truth. Some churches encourage people to bring their own pillows or provide them with cushions so they can sit on the floor. One church I knew provided tiny little water bottles for dry throats.
The selection of music and text is important too. Consider what is going on in the world, in the country, in the community or in the church. What text can you sing which will break open these issues to create greater awareness or action? Music is an expression of faith not merely entertainment. We don't sing because we're happy, we're happy because we sing. People don't have faith because they love music, they love music because they have faith.
Taizé may not be for everyone. It is like Grappa, you either love it or hate it. It may take work to feel comfortable at a Taizé service because sitting for an hour singing songs over and over can be boring for people without the patience, will or strength. To sit and meditate on a single sentence and contemplate its veracity in their life takes conscious effort. I can promise though, if you do sing, you will be oxygenating your blood, your heart will pump faster, your brain cells will be getting fresh oxygenated blood, your circulation will improve and you will become more alert. In essence you will leave a different person than when you came in. Singing for an hour about thanksgiving, adoration, supplication and contrition will teach us that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact. Out of what we live and believe, our lives will become that. Energy begets energy. Metanoia doesn't happen to those who don't try.
Why should we think upon things that are beautiful? Because thinking determines life. It is a common habit to blame life upon the environment. Environment modifies life but does not govern life. The soul is stronger than its surroundings.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Facebook and Texting Part Three of Three; We Found A Witch, May We Burn Her?
When I was a kid, some of my favorite TV shows were those animal kingdom
programs. I remember one episode which was about the mating habits of
birds. Many of the male birds would do a little dance, poof out their
feathers, show off their colors and impress the female with their ritual
dance and antics.
When I was in Junior High School, the same thing occurred except with teenagers. The day would start with the boy standing at his open locker and the girl would approach and stand with her back to the lockers as close to the open door as possible in an attempt to get his full attention by being in the way. She would then pass him a note on a piece of paper (ancient form of texting) which was neatly folded in a square and written in colored ink with hearts over the letter "i." When she passed the note to him, their hands would touch and both would get a rush of adrenaline. The boy would read the note during first period and spend the next two classes contemplating what to write back or carefully crafting just the right response. It was a far cry from the instant (and often regrettable) replies of today's texting phones. Maybe his crafted written response would invite her to watch him at soccer practice after school or meet in the hallway or to call him tonight. At lunch, she would sit with the girls and he with the boys. Both on the outside of the table so they could catch discreet glimpses of one another. He would go to the soda machine and she would get up too. They may brush up against one other getting soda and he would pass her his note. Their hands would touch. Electric. At practice, she would sit in the bleachers with a friend and pretend not to watch and he would puff out his feathers, taking chances, being really aggressive on the field and showing off in front of her. Eventually, you know what happens next. We'll just close the curtain here.
Today, kids just text one another and the magic of passing the note and standing at the locker is lost. Kids text one another even if they are in the same room together. They then go home and much like stalking, will check out their Facebook page and all their friends and maybe some of the friends. Something is lost in the mating dance and ritual. Today, texting quickly escalates into sending selfies and it is not long before one of them requests a "show me yours, I'll show you mine" text.
Steve W. of Ohio shared nude photos between himself and his girl friend when they were 15 and he kept all her photos. At the age or 25 he purchased a new phone and had the sales people transfer his data - and they saw the pics. Why would a 25 year old man have nude pictures of a 15 year old girl on his phone? Obviously a pedophile, pervert, sicko so they called the police. Steve got 15 years for possession of child porn. When he gets out he will be 40 but fear not parents. Because he won't be able to live near a school, park, playground or bus stop; this creepy 40 year old guy won't be prowling the bushes for your unattended children.
Today, many parents give their children cell phones so they can contact one another at any time. They can activate apps such as Latitude which will display their exact location at all times. Well, at least their phones. There are also dozens of other spy apps. They enable you to see all of your child's texts both sent or received, listen in on phone calls, know of their location and receive copies of the pictures they take. If your 16 year old daughter receives a nude photo of her 16 year old boy friend, you too will get a copy of it too but don't keep it. For, in 15 years when you get out of prison for possessing child pornography, the sex offender registry won't allow you to live near a school, church, day care, park or playground (unless you have a car, then you can drive there). But at least our unattended children will be safe from you because we'll spend $300,000,00 each year on that glorified photo album to know where you live, but not where you are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axJszKh0qC4
When I was in Junior High School, the same thing occurred except with teenagers. The day would start with the boy standing at his open locker and the girl would approach and stand with her back to the lockers as close to the open door as possible in an attempt to get his full attention by being in the way. She would then pass him a note on a piece of paper (ancient form of texting) which was neatly folded in a square and written in colored ink with hearts over the letter "i." When she passed the note to him, their hands would touch and both would get a rush of adrenaline. The boy would read the note during first period and spend the next two classes contemplating what to write back or carefully crafting just the right response. It was a far cry from the instant (and often regrettable) replies of today's texting phones. Maybe his crafted written response would invite her to watch him at soccer practice after school or meet in the hallway or to call him tonight. At lunch, she would sit with the girls and he with the boys. Both on the outside of the table so they could catch discreet glimpses of one another. He would go to the soda machine and she would get up too. They may brush up against one other getting soda and he would pass her his note. Their hands would touch. Electric. At practice, she would sit in the bleachers with a friend and pretend not to watch and he would puff out his feathers, taking chances, being really aggressive on the field and showing off in front of her. Eventually, you know what happens next. We'll just close the curtain here.
Today, kids just text one another and the magic of passing the note and standing at the locker is lost. Kids text one another even if they are in the same room together. They then go home and much like stalking, will check out their Facebook page and all their friends and maybe some of the friends. Something is lost in the mating dance and ritual. Today, texting quickly escalates into sending selfies and it is not long before one of them requests a "show me yours, I'll show you mine" text.
Steve W. of Ohio shared nude photos between himself and his girl friend when they were 15 and he kept all her photos. At the age or 25 he purchased a new phone and had the sales people transfer his data - and they saw the pics. Why would a 25 year old man have nude pictures of a 15 year old girl on his phone? Obviously a pedophile, pervert, sicko so they called the police. Steve got 15 years for possession of child porn. When he gets out he will be 40 but fear not parents. Because he won't be able to live near a school, park, playground or bus stop; this creepy 40 year old guy won't be prowling the bushes for your unattended children.
Today, many parents give their children cell phones so they can contact one another at any time. They can activate apps such as Latitude which will display their exact location at all times. Well, at least their phones. There are also dozens of other spy apps. They enable you to see all of your child's texts both sent or received, listen in on phone calls, know of their location and receive copies of the pictures they take. If your 16 year old daughter receives a nude photo of her 16 year old boy friend, you too will get a copy of it too but don't keep it. For, in 15 years when you get out of prison for possessing child pornography, the sex offender registry won't allow you to live near a school, church, day care, park or playground (unless you have a car, then you can drive there). But at least our unattended children will be safe from you because we'll spend $300,000,00 each year on that glorified photo album to know where you live, but not where you are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axJszKh0qC4
Friday, January 31, 2014
Facebook; Part Two of Three
There have also been countless studies showing that high traffic users
of Facebook have diminished social and interactive skills and smaller
vocabularies. A more recent study claimed that it promotes poor
memory. From the journal Psychological Science, they suggested that the
act of uploading photos to Facebook may actually diminish what we
remember about objects being photographed. People just pull out their
cameras and they just don't pay attention to what they're even looking
at, like just capturing the photo is more important than actually being
there.
There are so many reasons to dislike Facebook:
Zuckerberg stole it for one. He is nothing more than a thief and plagiarist.
It is a breeding ground for drug dealing, prostitution, burglary and underage sex. 24 year old David Bradt of Colonie, NY was arrested for using FaceBook to meet with teenage high school girls for sex and to sell them drugs.
It advertises what you own and when is a good time for burglars to visit you.
People post pictures of other people without their permission.
It promotes depression because we think other people are having more fun than we are.
It cuts productivity in the work place and in peoples' personal time. Forbes reports that nearly half a trillion dollars is lost in productivity each year because of Facebook.
Facebook steals people's data. This occurs frequently, especially when they have a "glitch" and everyone's privacy settings are reverted to open. Wake up Facebook users you are being exploited.
It destroys the lives of people too stupid to know what NOT to put up there or, friending their bosses or friends of their boss. There was a local story of a man who called in sick then posted pictures of himself at a ball game. Guess who saw the picture? Guess who got fired?
Lastly, it promotes stalking and has turned our society into voyeurs. C'mon, you know you've done it.
It is no secret that Facebook's data mining and relentless exploitation of users is for their own profit. Facebook gathers a lot of information about us and sells that information. Why do you think it is free to the user? They get your address, birth-date, information about your friends, your mothers maiden name, the name of your pets and other information we use for passwords and security.
On August 29, 2013, Facebook posted a blog post about changes to its privacy policy, known as its Data Use Policy. The changes were, according to the Washington Post, that that users’ name, profile picture and information such as brands they like can be used for “commercial, sponsored or related content.” An example of this would be that a business or other company could pay Facebook to display an individual users’ name and/or profile picture without compensating individual users or getting their permission.
There is another "Facebook-type page" called Zurker and thier members' IP addresses are not stored permanently by Zurker. While search engine DuckDuckGo is known for not storing IP addresses, Zurker is the first social network to actually take this step. They expunge your IP information from the logs within 72 hours. Therefore, if - for example - a government agency were to compel Zurker by court order to furnish the activity log of a particular member, that log would not contain the IP addresses of the member, making it substantially more difficult to identify the individual's name and location. Identifying a users' identity is the singular reason court orders are sought by law enforcement when cracking down on whistle-blowers. Facebook General Counsel Ted Ullyot said the Facebook requests in the second half of last year from law enforcement sought data about somewhere between 18,000 and 19,000 individual Facebook accounts.
Zurker is taking this step because in these times, when government intrusion into the lives of citizens is basically unrestricted, it is important to provide members with a shield of privacy. Freedom of Speech is not Freedom of Speech if (a) it is censored, or (b) if the speaker is at risk of losing his/her personal liberty because of what he/she said. In an ideal world, in which the government could be trusted, expunging IP addresses from logs would not be necessary, but unfortunately we do not live in an ideal world. As an activist and community democracy protester I applaud Zurker for this move .
As I said, Facebook promotes crime, gets people fired, wastes time and promotes stalking. It is also a haven for bullying, online exploitation and hate speech. Just go to any media outlet Facebook page and read some of the comments from good people like you and me. Most of us wouldn't speak like that in public but for some reason we think that the world wide web is anonymous.
I once heard a homily about Facebook. The pastor said "It is true, the scripture verse in Matthew which says "Who can add one day to his life by worrying?" One of my sins is envy." the cleric went on to say. "I envy people who are proclaiming on the Internet how glorious there relationship is. I should not be "following" other people too much on the Internet. That is a big temptation these days. You’re out on vacation and you want to make your friends back home jealous, so you post every detail of your itinerary on Facebook, you tweet about it on Twitter and you check yourself in on Foursquare. It’s natural. We all want to brag about how much fun we’re having. In reality, you are providing information which can easily make you a target for burglars."
Social networks have become part of our daily lives, but people need to consider the risks of posting their location on these sites. Facebook burglaries are real and growing in popularity. You may think that checking in at the airport is a nice way to let your friends and family know that you’re going on holiday, but in reality you are also letting people know that your home is empty and an easy target. If you want to share your holiday plans, don’t do it in real time, wait until you are home.
Facebook has added features like a scrolling update of comments friends have made on others’ pages. Although it may be fun to see what your friends are saying to people you don’t know, that also means that people you don’t know may be able to see some of your updates -- including the ones that say, "Can’t wait to leave for Hawaii tomorrow.”
Although, who needs to fear Facebook when your iPhone automatically transmits GPS location data, which experts say can easily be used to track a user's location if it is uploaded onto a site like a blog that doesn't remove the information.
Oh Big Brother, how did you get in when we were not looking?
There are so many reasons to dislike Facebook:
Zuckerberg stole it for one. He is nothing more than a thief and plagiarist.
It is a breeding ground for drug dealing, prostitution, burglary and underage sex. 24 year old David Bradt of Colonie, NY was arrested for using FaceBook to meet with teenage high school girls for sex and to sell them drugs.
It advertises what you own and when is a good time for burglars to visit you.
People post pictures of other people without their permission.
It promotes depression because we think other people are having more fun than we are.
It cuts productivity in the work place and in peoples' personal time. Forbes reports that nearly half a trillion dollars is lost in productivity each year because of Facebook.
Facebook steals people's data. This occurs frequently, especially when they have a "glitch" and everyone's privacy settings are reverted to open. Wake up Facebook users you are being exploited.
It destroys the lives of people too stupid to know what NOT to put up there or, friending their bosses or friends of their boss. There was a local story of a man who called in sick then posted pictures of himself at a ball game. Guess who saw the picture? Guess who got fired?
Lastly, it promotes stalking and has turned our society into voyeurs. C'mon, you know you've done it.
It is no secret that Facebook's data mining and relentless exploitation of users is for their own profit. Facebook gathers a lot of information about us and sells that information. Why do you think it is free to the user? They get your address, birth-date, information about your friends, your mothers maiden name, the name of your pets and other information we use for passwords and security.
On August 29, 2013, Facebook posted a blog post about changes to its privacy policy, known as its Data Use Policy. The changes were, according to the Washington Post, that that users’ name, profile picture and information such as brands they like can be used for “commercial, sponsored or related content.” An example of this would be that a business or other company could pay Facebook to display an individual users’ name and/or profile picture without compensating individual users or getting their permission.
There is another "Facebook-type page" called Zurker and thier members' IP addresses are not stored permanently by Zurker. While search engine DuckDuckGo is known for not storing IP addresses, Zurker is the first social network to actually take this step. They expunge your IP information from the logs within 72 hours. Therefore, if - for example - a government agency were to compel Zurker by court order to furnish the activity log of a particular member, that log would not contain the IP addresses of the member, making it substantially more difficult to identify the individual's name and location. Identifying a users' identity is the singular reason court orders are sought by law enforcement when cracking down on whistle-blowers. Facebook General Counsel Ted Ullyot said the Facebook requests in the second half of last year from law enforcement sought data about somewhere between 18,000 and 19,000 individual Facebook accounts.
Zurker is taking this step because in these times, when government intrusion into the lives of citizens is basically unrestricted, it is important to provide members with a shield of privacy. Freedom of Speech is not Freedom of Speech if (a) it is censored, or (b) if the speaker is at risk of losing his/her personal liberty because of what he/she said. In an ideal world, in which the government could be trusted, expunging IP addresses from logs would not be necessary, but unfortunately we do not live in an ideal world. As an activist and community democracy protester I applaud Zurker for this move .
As I said, Facebook promotes crime, gets people fired, wastes time and promotes stalking. It is also a haven for bullying, online exploitation and hate speech. Just go to any media outlet Facebook page and read some of the comments from good people like you and me. Most of us wouldn't speak like that in public but for some reason we think that the world wide web is anonymous.
I once heard a homily about Facebook. The pastor said "It is true, the scripture verse in Matthew which says "Who can add one day to his life by worrying?" One of my sins is envy." the cleric went on to say. "I envy people who are proclaiming on the Internet how glorious there relationship is. I should not be "following" other people too much on the Internet. That is a big temptation these days. You’re out on vacation and you want to make your friends back home jealous, so you post every detail of your itinerary on Facebook, you tweet about it on Twitter and you check yourself in on Foursquare. It’s natural. We all want to brag about how much fun we’re having. In reality, you are providing information which can easily make you a target for burglars."
Social networks have become part of our daily lives, but people need to consider the risks of posting their location on these sites. Facebook burglaries are real and growing in popularity. You may think that checking in at the airport is a nice way to let your friends and family know that you’re going on holiday, but in reality you are also letting people know that your home is empty and an easy target. If you want to share your holiday plans, don’t do it in real time, wait until you are home.
Facebook has added features like a scrolling update of comments friends have made on others’ pages. Although it may be fun to see what your friends are saying to people you don’t know, that also means that people you don’t know may be able to see some of your updates -- including the ones that say, "Can’t wait to leave for Hawaii tomorrow.”
Although, who needs to fear Facebook when your iPhone automatically transmits GPS location data, which experts say can easily be used to track a user's location if it is uploaded onto a site like a blog that doesn't remove the information.
Oh Big Brother, how did you get in when we were not looking?
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Facebook, String Theory and Zugzwang; Part One of Three
It is no secret that I dislike Facebook. I used to have four accounts.
There was my real one where I had about 250 "friends," my dog had one
and she had about 300 friends, my porch had one and it had about 500
friends (it posted a lot of pictures), then I had one named after a
famous witch and she had 300 friends. The reason I had the fake
accounts was because I didn't want to share personal information on
other websites and I didn't necessarily want everyone knowing where I
was making comments or what I may have been liking. I would often use
my porch or dog to like things in order to get coupons or enter
contests. I would also use these accounts to fill out profile
information. For instance my dog made over $80,000 per year where as my
porch made only $7,000. The witch always declined to answer, as did
I. This way I could keep my real account pure and clean from the
Facebook spy-bots looking to steal my data, profit off of and profile
me.
People today are too sozzled by Facebook, Twitter and texting. I recently sat down with a mother and daughter for an hour of chat. The daughter rarely took her face and thumbs off her phone. The only time she looked up was to take a selfie.
Forbes reports that nearly half a trillion dollars is lost in productivity each year due to employees reading their Facebook pages, texting and not working. The average users spends a cumulative amount of about two hours each day taking occasional peeks at their pages and stalking others.
In string theory, the impact of Facebook on our lives is mind boggling. First, if a person was not spending so much time looking at what other people were doing, they could be outside actually doing something themselves. And, not sharing it would be a plus, too. Nobody really cares what that pizza you are about to destroy looks like.
Other alternative realities which could transpire because of Facebook is that you might post a comment on your homepage which your boss doesn't like and he fires you. Maybe you call in sick but then post a picture of yourself at the beach, your boss then sees it on one of his friend's page and you're fired. Maybe because of you "liking" certain things or commenting on other peoples' pages, a prospective employer takes a look at it and passes on you for employment because he doesn't like your likes or sees you spend a LOT of time on FB or doesn't like some of your friends. Maybe an old high school friend makes contact with you through Facebook and you meet and have an affair. Maybe an old high school friend contacts your spouse, they meet and have an affair. What if someone ignores your friend request? What if someone unfriends you? The alternative realities of this one site and how they can change the direction of our lives are staggering.
I prefer the zugzwang option and not to make a move. In other words, not to have Facebook at all. That eliminates a lot of string theory options which are not in my control. An example of zugzwang would be two parents of a 16 year old child who are getting a divorce and the child is given the choice of living with either his mother or father. Either choice will change his life drastically. Instead, he chooses to run away and live on his own. Not to decide is to decide. Just look it up. It is a chess term.
So the next move is in your hands: Read Facebook each day and watch the lives of your friends unfold or don't read it. Another option is zugzwang and just close your account and go live life yourself.
-Malcolm (who realizes that he could be out on the lake skating but is inside blogging) Kogut.
People today are too sozzled by Facebook, Twitter and texting. I recently sat down with a mother and daughter for an hour of chat. The daughter rarely took her face and thumbs off her phone. The only time she looked up was to take a selfie.
Forbes reports that nearly half a trillion dollars is lost in productivity each year due to employees reading their Facebook pages, texting and not working. The average users spends a cumulative amount of about two hours each day taking occasional peeks at their pages and stalking others.
In string theory, the impact of Facebook on our lives is mind boggling. First, if a person was not spending so much time looking at what other people were doing, they could be outside actually doing something themselves. And, not sharing it would be a plus, too. Nobody really cares what that pizza you are about to destroy looks like.
Other alternative realities which could transpire because of Facebook is that you might post a comment on your homepage which your boss doesn't like and he fires you. Maybe you call in sick but then post a picture of yourself at the beach, your boss then sees it on one of his friend's page and you're fired. Maybe because of you "liking" certain things or commenting on other peoples' pages, a prospective employer takes a look at it and passes on you for employment because he doesn't like your likes or sees you spend a LOT of time on FB or doesn't like some of your friends. Maybe an old high school friend makes contact with you through Facebook and you meet and have an affair. Maybe an old high school friend contacts your spouse, they meet and have an affair. What if someone ignores your friend request? What if someone unfriends you? The alternative realities of this one site and how they can change the direction of our lives are staggering.
I prefer the zugzwang option and not to make a move. In other words, not to have Facebook at all. That eliminates a lot of string theory options which are not in my control. An example of zugzwang would be two parents of a 16 year old child who are getting a divorce and the child is given the choice of living with either his mother or father. Either choice will change his life drastically. Instead, he chooses to run away and live on his own. Not to decide is to decide. Just look it up. It is a chess term.
So the next move is in your hands: Read Facebook each day and watch the lives of your friends unfold or don't read it. Another option is zugzwang and just close your account and go live life yourself.
-Malcolm (who realizes that he could be out on the lake skating but is inside blogging) Kogut.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Why Would The Police Lie?
Three Florida cops have been
suspended for allegedly giving Justin Bieber a police escort from the
airport to a strip club. They were suspended because they did not have
authorization to provide taxpayer paid services to Mr. Bieber.
A few days later, Justin was arrested for drag racing and drunk driving. The rental place where Justin got the car had GPS tracking devices on the vehicle and it showed that he was doing 27 mph at the time of the alleged racing. Furthermore, despite testimony and official police reports about Justin "reeking of alcohol," Justin's actual blood alcohol level was .014 -- next to nothing. Legal intoxication is .08. I can't imagine why the Florida police would be gunning for Justin. He didn't force anyone to give him an escort to a strip club.
In Troy, NY, at the Kokopelli Bar, the police were called, apparently because someone smelled pot, and there was a melee resulting in several arrests. Granted when 200 people are gathered in one place and several police officers come in wielding their authority there are going to be some smart mouthed jerks. There were some scuffles and the media reported that several police officers were injured and had to go to the emergency room but were released.
C'mon media, isn't that standard protocol? First of all, for simple health reasons, second because of workers comp - the officers are going to want to document their bruises if any, and third, in case they can use the line that officers had to go to the ER for community sympathy and additional charges against the defendants. Leave it to the media to spindle and cherry pick the facts in order to sway the public.
I was once going 45 mph up a hill and a drunk driver operating a large Ryder rental truck was coming down the hill at about 45 mph. Suddenly he swerved into my lane and we hit head on. The impact stopped my car dead in its tracks and pushed me off the road, the truck coasted through a few front yards before coming to a stop. If I didn't believe in guardian angels before, I did then. I was somehow insulated from all force and impact. I didn't feel a thing. I've felt greater G-forces coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. I got out of my car and ran to the nearest home, banging on the door yelling for them to call the police. As I ran down to the truck, there was no one in it. The police said whoever was in the truck practically smashed through the windshield (this was in 1989 before airbags were standard). We found out later that the driver was drunk because where would a drunk go? He walked three miles to a bar (undetected by police) where he ordered a beer. The bartender called the police because the man was caked in blood. Three police officers tried very hard to convince me to let them call me an ambulance so I could be taken to the hospital to be checked out. I told them I felt fine but they continued to insist for insurance and liability reasons that I should go. I resolutely refused. Being only a mile from my house I walked home. The point is, it is generally standard policy to get things checked out even if you don't think there is anything wrong.
The police don't like to be talked back to and the law is on their side - as evident in this instance, the town supervisor and police chief are siding with the word of the officers at this point. The community is up in arms and are demanding resignations and suspensions. Surveillance video from the bar was posted to YouTube and shows a man being held against the bar by an officer in one instance and then falling to his knees while being hit in the back with a baton. Another police officer comes over to hold the man down as the first officer continues to hit the man. Police opinion was he that the man was resisting arrest. It has been tossed around that the only thing some of the patrons at the bar were guilty of was being in the wrong place at the wrong time - and being black. Their crime was that their ancestors were abducted and sold as slaves from the port of Badagry in that N-word country. I'm sure the cops are not racist but they should have shown a little restraint when busting into a crowded bar with with a cleintel who have good historical reason to be distrustful of the police. Sometimes it is more wise to know what not to do. Both parties are to blame but the police should be held to a higher standard of compassion, control, respect and restraint. A police response doesn't always have to result in an arrest or beating. Maybe they should be trained to be peace keepers instead of police officers. I met a cop once who said when he pulled someone over for drunk driving, instead of destroying their life by arresting them, he would drive them home, impound their car and pay them a visit the next day and if he had to humiliate them in front of his family, he would. He said that he rarely pulled over the same guy twice. Abraham Lincoln once said mercy bears greater fruit than strict justice. It is time for our law enforcement officers to learn this.
A friend of mine used to room with a cop. The cop would often steal and collect weapons from criminals and from raids he conducted. Apparently his wall was littered with an impressive array of illegal weaponry. What is a criminal going to do, file a report that his illegal weapon was stolen? Another cop once told me that she used to pad her arrests with peripheral charges just to make the "perp" look bad in court and nail him for everything she could (she is not longer a cop for some reason). She said that if she told you to stand still in one spot and you shifted your weight or scratched your nose, she would see that as either an attempt to escape or a threat to an officer. She would then subdue you with any force necessary and if you moved to protect yourself from her nightstick, she could get you on resisting arrest, disobeying an officer and a host of other charges. She also said that if she couldn't get a "perp" on something, she would at least plant drugs on the guy to get him in the system for "something." I met her at a church I was working in. Another confessed to me that when he was a teenager, he used to throw pumpkins off of a highway overpass onto cars. Ironically, when he became a cop, on Halloween night he was assigned to patrol that same bridge watching for those kids who throw things off the overpass.
"Isn't it ironic, don'tcha think?
A little too ironic.
I really do think."
-Alanis Morrisette.
I worked in a Roman Catholic Church where the priest told me he witnessed a DWI accident and someone was killed. The drunk was a police officer and he was quickly taken care of and removed by his police friends. There were no charges posted against him. It was this priest's mission to see this cop punished and he was going to go to the press with what he knew - until he got a call from his Bishop who said "You have three hours to pack up and move to a new parish and you are not permitted to return to that town." The priest took the hint. He told me that everything eventually worked out as the police officer completed suicide several months later - "Justice is served." he said. This priest also gave the most wonderful homilies on grace, mercy, compassion and forgiveness.
"Isn't it ironic, don'tcha think?"
Here is a fun website to peruse. There are dozens like it:
Copwatch.org
A few days later, Justin was arrested for drag racing and drunk driving. The rental place where Justin got the car had GPS tracking devices on the vehicle and it showed that he was doing 27 mph at the time of the alleged racing. Furthermore, despite testimony and official police reports about Justin "reeking of alcohol," Justin's actual blood alcohol level was .014 -- next to nothing. Legal intoxication is .08. I can't imagine why the Florida police would be gunning for Justin. He didn't force anyone to give him an escort to a strip club.
In Troy, NY, at the Kokopelli Bar, the police were called, apparently because someone smelled pot, and there was a melee resulting in several arrests. Granted when 200 people are gathered in one place and several police officers come in wielding their authority there are going to be some smart mouthed jerks. There were some scuffles and the media reported that several police officers were injured and had to go to the emergency room but were released.
C'mon media, isn't that standard protocol? First of all, for simple health reasons, second because of workers comp - the officers are going to want to document their bruises if any, and third, in case they can use the line that officers had to go to the ER for community sympathy and additional charges against the defendants. Leave it to the media to spindle and cherry pick the facts in order to sway the public.
I was once going 45 mph up a hill and a drunk driver operating a large Ryder rental truck was coming down the hill at about 45 mph. Suddenly he swerved into my lane and we hit head on. The impact stopped my car dead in its tracks and pushed me off the road, the truck coasted through a few front yards before coming to a stop. If I didn't believe in guardian angels before, I did then. I was somehow insulated from all force and impact. I didn't feel a thing. I've felt greater G-forces coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. I got out of my car and ran to the nearest home, banging on the door yelling for them to call the police. As I ran down to the truck, there was no one in it. The police said whoever was in the truck practically smashed through the windshield (this was in 1989 before airbags were standard). We found out later that the driver was drunk because where would a drunk go? He walked three miles to a bar (undetected by police) where he ordered a beer. The bartender called the police because the man was caked in blood. Three police officers tried very hard to convince me to let them call me an ambulance so I could be taken to the hospital to be checked out. I told them I felt fine but they continued to insist for insurance and liability reasons that I should go. I resolutely refused. Being only a mile from my house I walked home. The point is, it is generally standard policy to get things checked out even if you don't think there is anything wrong.
The police don't like to be talked back to and the law is on their side - as evident in this instance, the town supervisor and police chief are siding with the word of the officers at this point. The community is up in arms and are demanding resignations and suspensions. Surveillance video from the bar was posted to YouTube and shows a man being held against the bar by an officer in one instance and then falling to his knees while being hit in the back with a baton. Another police officer comes over to hold the man down as the first officer continues to hit the man. Police opinion was he that the man was resisting arrest. It has been tossed around that the only thing some of the patrons at the bar were guilty of was being in the wrong place at the wrong time - and being black. Their crime was that their ancestors were abducted and sold as slaves from the port of Badagry in that N-word country. I'm sure the cops are not racist but they should have shown a little restraint when busting into a crowded bar with with a cleintel who have good historical reason to be distrustful of the police. Sometimes it is more wise to know what not to do. Both parties are to blame but the police should be held to a higher standard of compassion, control, respect and restraint. A police response doesn't always have to result in an arrest or beating. Maybe they should be trained to be peace keepers instead of police officers. I met a cop once who said when he pulled someone over for drunk driving, instead of destroying their life by arresting them, he would drive them home, impound their car and pay them a visit the next day and if he had to humiliate them in front of his family, he would. He said that he rarely pulled over the same guy twice. Abraham Lincoln once said mercy bears greater fruit than strict justice. It is time for our law enforcement officers to learn this.
A friend of mine used to room with a cop. The cop would often steal and collect weapons from criminals and from raids he conducted. Apparently his wall was littered with an impressive array of illegal weaponry. What is a criminal going to do, file a report that his illegal weapon was stolen? Another cop once told me that she used to pad her arrests with peripheral charges just to make the "perp" look bad in court and nail him for everything she could (she is not longer a cop for some reason). She said that if she told you to stand still in one spot and you shifted your weight or scratched your nose, she would see that as either an attempt to escape or a threat to an officer. She would then subdue you with any force necessary and if you moved to protect yourself from her nightstick, she could get you on resisting arrest, disobeying an officer and a host of other charges. She also said that if she couldn't get a "perp" on something, she would at least plant drugs on the guy to get him in the system for "something." I met her at a church I was working in. Another confessed to me that when he was a teenager, he used to throw pumpkins off of a highway overpass onto cars. Ironically, when he became a cop, on Halloween night he was assigned to patrol that same bridge watching for those kids who throw things off the overpass.
"Isn't it ironic, don'tcha think?
A little too ironic.
I really do think."
-Alanis Morrisette.
I worked in a Roman Catholic Church where the priest told me he witnessed a DWI accident and someone was killed. The drunk was a police officer and he was quickly taken care of and removed by his police friends. There were no charges posted against him. It was this priest's mission to see this cop punished and he was going to go to the press with what he knew - until he got a call from his Bishop who said "You have three hours to pack up and move to a new parish and you are not permitted to return to that town." The priest took the hint. He told me that everything eventually worked out as the police officer completed suicide several months later - "Justice is served." he said. This priest also gave the most wonderful homilies on grace, mercy, compassion and forgiveness.
"Isn't it ironic, don'tcha think?"
Here is a fun website to peruse. There are dozens like it:
Copwatch.org
Monday, January 27, 2014
Let us Pray
An organist friend of mine who plays for a Roman
Catholic Church in CO told me that his pastor asked him to help in the
planning for an emergency prayer service in case there is a terrorist
attack in Sochi. They even have the press releases all prepared to
inform the public that there will be a service for peace, healing and
comfort. I'm wondering why they are not meeting now to pray for safety
and that no disaster occurs. As William James once said, "The world is
all the richer for having a devil in it, so long as we keep our foot
upon his neck."
I'm praying that Shaun White can land that triple cork he is planning to execute. His first attempt didn't go so well. Bring it home, Shaun.
I'm praying that Shaun White can land that triple cork he is planning to execute. His first attempt didn't go so well. Bring it home, Shaun.
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